What next?

Hi, so I'm looking for advice on how to talk to a doctor because last time i went i got all tongue tied and wasn't a very good advocate for myself and kind of accepted a diagnosis I didn't feel fit very well.

About year ago I started getting moderate headaches which I attributed to stress/not eating well.  They were of the pulsing variety but not unbearable.  They started to get more and more frequent over the next couple of months and then gradually my neck began to hurt too.  One day I woke up and felt horrible.  I had a headache, again not unbearable, but I also felt foggy, exhausted, and my neck felt so stiff. I went into work and had to leave after an hour because I could barely keep my eyes open and everything seemed to be spinning.  I stayed in bed for two days only getting up to use the bathroom and once to eat.  I felt incredibly weak and my whole body ached horribly.  After two days I made a fairly complete recovery.  But over the next couple of months I noticed that my daily walk made me exhausted, and that i felt achy often.  Then in December the same thing happened minus the stiff neck.  I woke up, feeling incredibly tired with a mild-moderate headache, went shopping with my mother and had to come home after an hour because I felt as though I were getting ready to black out.  I stayed in bed for the rest of the day and night and the recovered.  At that point my mother insisted I see a doctor.  I went in and tried to explain my symptoms but it seemed like the minute I said "headaches" he was convinced I had migraines.  He did however test me for anemia, and he tested my blood sugar that day without fasting and everything came back normal.  So I took a couple of samples of migraine meds to try if it happened again.

For the next couple of months I was fine and then in March I began to notice that I felt stiff quite often and sometimes would get shooting pain or numbness in my feet.  Then in early April I had another episode, this time without a headache.  It was so bad that I literally couldn't think straight enough to fix something to eat. This lasted again for two days then mysteriously I was fine again.  I had moved during this time and hadn't found a doctor yet so I didn't go to see one about this.  Then everything seemed to return to normal so I forgot about the whole thing, Until this week when it all came crashing down again.  The really bad part of the episode lasted a full day and now for the last six days I've been gradually getting a little better (less tired, less brain fog) but I'm still in a lot of pain.  My shoulders feel like they are pulling out, my fingers are aching, my hips ache and my knees ache.  I'm only 24!!!!  

I feel weird walking into a doctor and saying "hey, i was really really tired for a day and now I'm hurting all over!" I am not sure how to explain my symptoms.  I feel like I should go in when I'm in the middle of the worst part of an episode but I can't muster the energy or mental power to get to a doctor when I'm having one.  What should I do/say???  Any clues as to what I might be dealing with here?

Thanks all, sorry for the length.  

[undiagnosedtoo]

It doesn't matter how old you are... perhaps take a friend or family member in with you next time to the doctors. That way you have a bit of support and can really voice your opinion and have your family or friend back it up.

Hope you get answers soon
xxxx



Living With an Undiagnosed Illness
http://www.undiagnosedillness.org