Hi! It is Winter. I want to share my story with all of you and how Dr. Guggenheim got to the bottom of my health issues when no one else could/would and figured out that I had contracted a very rare infection.
Back in June of 2022 I came down with a mystery illness. I had a fever, chills, severe joint pain in each and every single joint in my body. The pain and stiffness was so bad. I was desperately holding heating pads on my joints in hopes of some pain relief and warmth from the chills. Nothing helped.
The next morning brought with it a stiff neck and stomach pain that felt like a stabbing into my lower left abdomen. As the day progressed and the symptoms worsened. I had never been this sick in my life. I went straight to the emergency room and explained my symptoms, at this point the left side of my face became numb. After blood-work and a chest X-RAY the doctors found nothing. They sent me home with a prescription for Motrin. This didn't help at all and I remained this sick for just over a week.
The symptoms subsided and life moved on as normal and I thought I just had a weird bug, maybe a strain of COVID or a flu. But a few of the symptoms lingered. The pain in my abdomen continued, the numbness in my face, the aches in my joints. I slowly dissolved from someone who was kick boxing multiple times a week to a person who was hardly able to comfortably watch T.V. By the end of July new symptoms started popping up. My left big toe feels like it is constantly "asleep", migraines and severe exhaustion were added to the list. I just did not feel good.
The stomach pain began to get worse by the end of August. A sharp stabbing in the lower left quadrant of my abdomen that would not go away. I started to worry something was very wrong with me. I went to see my GP who told me to go directly to the emergency room and get a CT Scan. The scan showed "constipation" I was sent home and told to eat hydrating fruits and vegetables. After a few days, I realized that couldn't be the case. I followed up with my gastroenterologist about a week later who said that the CT scan did not show constipation and recommended a colonoscopy ASAP. She diagnosed me with colon spasms and gave me a prescription medication that was supposed to help. It did not.
After this entire ordeal I knew that the only way I was going to get the help I needed was from Dr. Guggenheim. Dr. Guggenheim discussed everything with me and ordered extremely extensive lab work. If any one was going to get to the bottom this it was her.
The lab results came back and I was positive for Brucella IgM. Dr. Guggenheim found out what everyone missed. If she hadn't tested me I would not have been able to get better. She referred me to an infectious disease specialist and 3 weeks ago I began treatment. With out her thoroughness this infection would have continued to fester in my body and could have caused some serious complications.
Something that should be noted. My fiancé did find himself feeling very ill a couple of weeks ago, he asked specifically for a test for Brucella, because if I could pick it up there is a chance he could've as well. The doctor refused, exclaiming "we don't test for that".
This was not only an interesting finding because Brucella is so rare but also because I had not been in any of the usual positions to contract this. I did not consume unpasteurized dairy nor do I hunt, work in a slaughter house or consume raw meat. I do not know for sure how I contracted this, one theory is a possible tick bite during a visit upstate.
The specialists I have seen have been astounded by the lab work that Dr. Guggenheim runs, she does not let anything slip through the cracks. Working with Empire City Labs Dr. G can test for toxic mold exposure, Lyme and co-infections, unexplained chronic fatigue and run full adrenal, thyroid, advanced cardiac, food allergy panels, irritable bowel/leaky gut panels, hormones, heavy metals, viral syndromes, genomics and pharmacogenomic testing for medications to see if you should or should not take certain drugs AND Brucella.
If you are struggling to find the root cause of what has been making you sick go see Dr. Guggenheim at Second Nature Care. She will not only run the labs for you, but will also go through all of your results with you thoroughly once they come in. You will not be left questioning any of the results.
More information about brucellosis can be found by clicking on the link below. If you believe you have similar symptoms to the ones listed on the CDC website contact Second Nature Care today and see Dr. Guggenheim. She will listen and take it seriously.
https://www.cdc.gov/brucellosis/index.html
