Have I got a disease for you ...
... and by got, I mean I have it myself.
I've been ill for 18 months, sometime severe enough I gave up DU around the February of the new year for several months.
I would be ill for a week or more and then be well for two or three days. I went though a period of feeling well for five or six months after two visits to the ER and being prescribed a series of antibiotic for what was assumed to be a urinary infection. An accurate diagnosis was complicated by the bag I need since my bladder cancer surgery in 2019. The bag would show an infection whether there was on or not.
By November it came back and my primary physician (whom I am very satisfied with) ordered another round of antibiotics which stopped symptoms until January or early February.
The symptoms were all over the book, it was as if they put the complete list of symptoms in front of me and I ticked the box of every one of them. None of them by them selves bad enough to turn me into an invalid I was becoming but enough of them to bring me down while confusing my physician who worked hard to find a cause and to get VA to escalate to finding a cause.
Two weeks ago she made an appointment with an infectious disease specialist. This was appointment was a week ago last Wednesday, the appointment went on longer than an hour - unusual with VA where 20 minutes is the average appointment and it ended with taking about 15 blood samples, with another visit for two week because some of the test went 2 weeks before showing results.
This last Thursday the Infectious Disease Doctor called because some of the results had come back and asked if I could show up at VA/Temple and when I said yes, she said she'd call me right back. Less than five minutes later she called me back.
I was admitted before 11:00AM and by noon had a bunch of blood taken again.
The protocol at VA was the out patient testing was done through the day and I would be tested in the evening.
About 1:00PM the doctor came and told me they were sure I had Brucellosis.
Brucellosis is a disease that affects about 20,000 cases a year in the US. It's caused by consumption of unpasteurized milk products or people who work with cattle. Two things I don't do.
It is a tough diseases to beat, the antibiotics need to be taken for a month and one has the annoying side effect of turning all body fluids orange that stains what they touch.
The testing started at about 6:00PM and went onto 9:00 or so - CT-scan, MRI, X-rays, more blood, and an ultra sound of my heart.
The disease settles into various parts of the body, joints, muscle, organs (heart as endocarditis - which I had in in 91 when I had a heart attack). They found antibodies for Brucellosis that indicated I had two flareups they think were rebuffed by the two antibiotic regimes from the ER last year. And that it flared up again this year.
I've been plagued with extreme tiredness and inability to do things, napping all the time, loss of appetites, night sweats and then extreme chills, headache, vomiting, never all together so I could justify going into the ER.
I began to wonder if it was all psychosomatic. I am grateful for VA and how hard my primary physician worked for me.
I still feel like warmed over patootie, but I have hope.
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As long as your skin doesn’t turn Orange! That is not a good look!
I am so glad that they finally have a diagnosis.
Get the rest you need and know we are all here for you.
and cattle more often, though. Many hunters are unaware they can also catch it when dressing deer, elk or moose.
Wishing you a speedy recovery 
I hope this round of meds makes you well.
I'd been through a long period of recurrent UTIs and had more than one doctor who did not actually respect my long history with them, until finally last year I got a urologist who listened and respected me. She even tried a dilatation and I was so grateful and hopeful at that point that this would work (which it had for 10 years from ages 28-38). However, it did not and soon I had another infection and when that came back as ESBL e coli (multi-drug resistant "super bug"
, she said okay we need to remove your kidney stones.
The stones had been there for at least 10 years and I had repeatedly been told that they were in diverticula and not causing a problem for me so no treatment required.
The stones were removed in January, it is now August and I have not had a UTI this year. The only worry now is the stones coming back and she's working with me to do everything possible to preclude that. We have not done any kind of study to see whether my body is otherwise colonized with the super bug, but all signs as of today point to it having originated from just one of the 3 stones I had.
I am not exaggerating when I say I love that doctor. I do. I love her. I'm really happy that you have a doctor who's that good, it makes a huge difference. I can imagine the frustration you've been enduring as I went through that with my issue, but on a much smaller scale.
I miss Warren...
Hoping you get better soon.
And I hope the antibiotics wipe it out asap.
VA docs are great.
You're right, if for the sake of "world's better than anyone else" you get this kind of sick, then it's not better and not worth the risk. Here's to your getting better soon. 
not all umami foods are good for any of us. As you know about ultra-processed foods.
Humans are ominivores, true, but their bodies need a balance between blander nutritious foods and their taste desires.
Like my old Tai Chi teacher used to say back in the day, "All things in moderation, including moderation!" We'd chuckle but he made an important point!
You have to know that we couldn't manage without you! 
and how sad/crazy what it turned out to be
i'm glad you're finally able to start feeling better with the proper treatment
take it easy. feel better soon soon soon!
Sounds horrid, hope you feel better soon
I'm glad someone was able to nail down the cause of that ordeal. I know there is a large segment of the population here and abroad who demand "natural", and that includes unpasteurized dairy products. Raw milk is not permitted to be shipped across state lines as FYI. Lawsuits challenging the ban included a highly publicized big one just over a decade ago, which was dismissed. There have been continual lawsuits since then. Trying to catch this from imports can be difficult because imports sampling is limited.
I know cheese was mentioned but it's also something that could be in any unpasteurized milk product including yogurt or sour cream, or ice cream. And I can see where such could slide into farmer's markets or roadside stands (including vendors who make small batch finished products for sale that contain it).
Some info here.
Given your own medical history, you were definitely more susceptible.
First time I’m hearing about this one.
Glad you’re receiving good care.
I'm not a doctor and I've never heard of brucellosis, but it sounds really awful. It least you're past the scariest part when you know there's something wrong, and you've no idea what it is.
Now you know, and the doctors can help make you healthy again.
Here's hoping the recovery part is quick and pain-free. Best of luck my friend!
Take one day at a time and wishing you a quick recovery and continous healing vibes!
I prayed for you. It can't hurt.
... and I am sure you're not hell -
Glad they found out the root cause. Hope you recover soon. Good health is right up there with good neighbors and good family relationships in having a good life. 
For those of us who get weird reactions or weird symptoms quite often, doctors that actually stay with it until they get it, are rare and precious.
I hope everything starts getting turned around for you, marble falls!
treatment, cure, rehabilitation. I love your PCP just from reading your story.
