Dear Doctors, 32 days ago I work up with pain and weakness in my back thigh muscles; I thought I had perhaps pulled some muscles lifting something at work. As days went by the pain and weakness increased and my back and front upper arm muscles became involved; I have a very hard time combing the back of my hair, washing my back in the shower and lifting things at certain angles. In the beginning, I had to physically pull my legs up to get into my car to go to work because of the pain and weakness; that has now improved and I can step into my car fairly normally now. Next the lymph nodes in my neck became sore and my jaw muscles were sore a bit. I have no fever, but sometimes limited chills. I visited my P/A who sent me for bloodwork. I do not have copies of all of it yet (tomorrow), but she indicated that my antinuclear antibodies were elevated. I do know that my AST/SGOT is 175, ALT/SGPT is 70 and estimated GFR is below 60. She told me that my Lyme tests came back negative, but I understand that sometimes the tests show negative at first in people who do actually have the disease. In fact, three of the volunteers that work with me have had this happen in the past few years. I live in rural Maine with woods on three sides of our yard; this week my adult nephew found 13 ticks (not sure what kind) in our yard. I have not found any ticks on my body, but my deceased dog had many ticks that we found on his body over the years. This past week my P/A put me on Prednisone because I was still feeling lousy, which is totally abnormal for me since I have always been in excellent health, except for two glitches (I am 58, 135 lbs. I take Synthroid 125 mcg (for approx. 30 years) and had successful colon cancer surgery three years ago); the Prednisone is helping a little more each day with the pain and weakness, but this muscle involvement seems to continue to spread a bit since my abdominal muscles seem to be slightly involved today. P/A has scheduled me to see a Rheumatologist in July, but I am concerned that something may be cooking in me that I should be dealing with now and quite honestly, I am not functioning at a normal level, which is very disturbing to me. I am not depressed, my joints do not hurt. I love life, have much to live for, including the most precious toddler granddaughter anyone could want - and, I have a job I love. I just want to feel better. I have not missed any work, but it is a struggle, to say the least. I I am not tired or sleepy, but those particular areas are very weak.....I have always been strong, happily, so this is quite unusual and upsetting. I eat a pretty decent diet, mostly homemade meals ( I rarely eat meat, but get my protein from nuts and seeds); my glucose and cholesterol levels are, and always have been, well within normal range. Unfortunately, I have been a long-time diet Pepsi drinker, but gave it up when this began....just in case. I walk daily for exercise. I am a non smoker and non drinker....never touched either. My family history does not include anything like this, as far as I know; it does include my maternal grandmother who died of a sudden stroke - and, heart disease in my father (who smoked ). I hope this gives you a decent picture of my current situation. Please know how much I appreciate your input. I thank you wholeheartedly, in advance, for any information you can share. Many Blessings, Debbie