Fast forward to Mid-January. Something hit me like a ton of bricks. It was (mis) diagnosed as Coxsackie and mono (mono was ruled out by one of those 2 minute plastic-box blood drop tests--I don't know whether they even ran a test for coxsackie). Someone on healthboards with a similar diagnosis turned out to have Q Fever.
I was a strong, 44 yr old cyclist used to cycling 7 mi/day when I rode past a very unusual grand guignol roadkill situation (2 possums and a raccoon or vice-versa, plus something on the other side of a fenceline in a cow pasture that was much more interesting to the buzzards than any of the dead animals I could see on the road--I'm thinking maybe a placenta or aborted calf--if either of those was aerosolized by the action of the buzzards and I was downwind ... boom!, ya got ya Q Fever right there...). Within a week I was utterly debilitated, running 103.8 fevers at night with heavy night sweats, fatigue, chills, lethargy, extreme loss of appetite, headache behind the eyes, low back pain, apthous ulcers in the mouth, and my liver enzymes, ANA, and lymphocytes went off the charts. The chest X-ray showed something, but the radiologist reviewed it and ruled out pneumonia. I'll note here that I was also at the Ringling circus in early January, including a visit to the paddock area and participation in the actual show (if you buy the pricey front-row seats, they come and get you and put a Bello Nock plastic wig on you and ride you around the arena floor a couple of times in giant versions of Disney's teacups). Suffice it to say in January I was around plenty of strange and wonderful animals. And in a crowd to boot.
The walk-in clinic saw test results and was very panicky and called and wanted to send me for a liver ultrasound and to a hematologist and they even broached the "C" word. My primary belayed all that pending a second round of blood tests, and they did indeed come back better. The first round of antibioltics (clarithromycin) worked for a couple of days then the fever returned in force, however 10 days of levoquin knocked out whatever I had.
IMHO, Q Fever is underdiagnosed because as a reportable disease, finding it means extra unpaid paperwork for the doctor. Also, the testing requires a lab that takes biohazard-type precautions against the infectiousness of potentially Q-fever tainted blood.
I'm slowly regaining my strength and stamina.
Having taken Clarithromycin without incident (I believe--though I know I had a black pigment stone incident or two some years ago as well) back before the statins got into the picture, and having wound up with liver damage this time, I'm wondering whether the Lescol had a permanent effect in the spleen or liver that has made me more susceptible to bacteria as well. Although Q Fever is highly infectious (a single microbe inhaled can give you the disease), it also is silent or very mild for the vast majority of people. Whatever I had was meaner than a snake, and that's unusual...
Does anybody know what the exact nature of statin damage to the liver and spleen is, what's reversible and what isn't ... what heals over time and what doesn't?
