“What is Wrong With You?”
It’s a phrase that echos through my childhood. And I want you to say that in your head with the frustrated tone behind it that can only come from people who had to put up with someone who had endless sensitivities, constant hyperactivity, and mysterious health complaints.
Well, what was wrong with me was that I had a mitochondrial disorder caused by a Partial Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase Deficiency, and a subsequent zinc deficiency that lead to my mitochondria producing way too much ATP, GTP, and ITP. I will explain how that all works in future posts, but for now I just want to give you a little history and a list of my maladies.
I am a 58 year old white male and I have been on Divisibility for the last 20 years for my main symptom of Schizoaffective Disorder Bipolar Type (SDBT). What is that?
Schizoaffective disorder symptoms may vary from person to person. People with the condition have psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions. They also can have symptoms of a mood disorder. This type of schizophrenia could be the bipolar type, which features bouts of mania and sometimes depression.
While SDBT was my main health issue and led to several hospitalizations, it was just one in a constellation of physical changes and neurological symptoms. And instead of dragging all this out with a long story, which I find myself pressured to do, I will just provide this list of symptoms, not presented in any particular order.
Many of these I no longer suffer from but in combination, they took me from a Network Engineer at Cisco Systems making six figures to being homeless, living in a minivan on disability. My hope is now that I seem to have gotten a handle on my disorder I can regain some of what I have lost.
But I see I am getting pulled into story telling, so let me stop and give you the list. And make sure to subscribe to my Substack to find out how I discovered my mitochondrial disorder and the genetics that caused all that follows.
Mental Illnesses
A family legacy, which for me included:
Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Type
Diagnosed at 33 but living with it since I was 16 if I go by my hallucinations.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Diagnosed at 40, mostly fear of contamination with poison and chemicals. Also lived with this since I was a teen.
Panic Disorder
Diagnosed at 33
Asperger’s Syndrome
Diagnosed by a therapist in my 40’s.
Sleep Disturbances
Insomnia
Nightmares
Dyslexia
Self diagnosis since it was missed in my childhood.
Diagnosed by doctors with no testing.
Some of the worse pain I have had to deal with
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
This waxed and waned with my Bipolar Cycle
Family legacy
Fibromyalgia
Probably up there with my Schizoaffective Disorder as far as disability goes.
Plantar Fasciitis
General hip and back pain at times disabling
Dupuytren's Contracture (Viking’s Hand)
Right hand only
Family legacy
Undescended Left Testicle
Removed when I was 3 years old
Tinnitus
Monocytosis with low White Blood Cell Count
Mild
Reoccurring
For me this was not as innocuous as it sounds.
Family legacy
Zinc Deficiency
Antiphospholipid Syndrome (?)
My results were Mild Positive at 16.1 MPL-U/mL
Since this was only review by a horrible Doctor and not a Rheumatologist I am up in the air about the significance.
Pulmonary Nodules (Noncancerous)
Probably from an immune deficiency
“Stable scattered bilateral subcentimeter pulmonary nodules measuring up to 0.6 cm”
Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disorder
I saw this comment in my medical records. It was never really explained to me mostly because they had no idea what was wrong with me.