What's wrong with me?

[VictoriasImage77]

I put this in the allergy section, but it might not be, so I'm asking you instead. I'm hoping it is an unusual symptom of allergies I have developed over the past few years to my job and not something more serious.

The past 6 months I have noticed drainage down the back of my nose and slightly itchy nose/eyes. I handle thousands of rodents and other animals each day at work, as well as being exposed to various drugs that we are testing so I just chalked it up to that. Well, I went on vacation almost 3 months ago and a few days after I got back my outer ears started swelling. They aren't red, don't hurt (though sometimes they feel "hot" when I get stressed out.....I don't mean temperature-wise). The cartilage is thickened, and the lobes are swollen, as well as the top "ridge"....it feels like a layer of fluid is in there....like I can grab more skin or something. They aren't really obvious, but they look like they belong to a much heavier person than I am.

They put me on antibiotics with no results. They sent me to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor who removed a salivary gland stone and said my nose looked allergic, and that I probably have TMJ, but said, and I quote, "I have no idea why your ears are swelling like that, and neither will any other doctor. It's likely some weird autoimmune condition." I was like um, you went to med school......right? So he removed a stone I had been having trouble with and I had a horrible reaction and had to be hospitalized, they pumped me full of steroids and antibiotics intravenously and everything cleared up, EXCEPT my ears.

It's getting worse. Not the swelling in my ears per se, that's pretty constant. My ears feel plugged all the time and are especially bad in the car. I can feel what I'm thinking are my ear tubes draining down the side of my face. I feel like my lymph nodes ache, but that's nothing new. My jaw (parotid glands maybe?) is slightly swollen, worse on one side, but I don't know if that is because I clench my jaw and have TMJ or what. And I feel wheasy a lot. I'm worn out quicker than usual. I've seen several family doctors and that ENT and nobody has a clue. Finally I asked for a referral to an allergist.

So in the meantime I have been googling anything and everything that can cause this, and I'm finding nothing that seems like it fits. From common stuff to rare diseases like Sarcoidosis and Relapsing Polychondritis. Of course I always think the worst, and when that comes to mind for some reason cancer pops into my head. So I guess I'm kinda freaking out a bit.

Also I should mention I am being treated for LPR reflux (basically acid reflux) and high blood pressure. I'm about 75lbs overweight and working on that. Maybe my body is just quitting.:o

Anybody ever seen or heard of this?

 

[Dairy]

You might try Googling "paleo diet". It's been found to be decent at lowering blood pressure, helping with acid reflux, and it's considered helpful for those with auto-immune conditions.

I can attest to the diet, it helped me greatly with a chronic GI condition. I pray that if you take a look at the diet, that is provides relief. That sounds awful to suffer from.