Chronic weird bothersome symptoms, Docs can't figure them out.

[bweb]

I have had strange symptoms, with the common denominator of fatigue for the past several years.  I have been checked for ulcers, lower bowel problems, had blood tests, and even most recently an MRI of the head.  Finding always come out normal.

I am continuing to suffer and it is affecting the family.  Symptoms are fatigue, sometimes almost passing out, lately a lot of pressure behind eyes (not sinuses, had them checked too), sometimes nausea...I am not depressed. I kind of feel like I am "poisoned"...just not right.

Any ideas, anyone?  I am thinking maybe that a nerve or blood vessel is being crimped by a problem in my neck or something.
At wits end...appreciate any opinions.

bweb.

[PlateletGal]

You are right when you say chronic fatigue syndrome is real. I was just reading last night that Dr. Paul Cheney had found that all of his CFIDS patients' have all had abnormally low uric acid levels. Most people's uric acid levels are 4-6 and CFS patients' are 1 or 2. Mine is 2. Uric acid levels are also extremely low in people who have MS. 80% of people who have CFIDS are undiagnosed. I think that is why we see so many people here with symptoms that could be from CFIDS.

I don't know what treatment you are on, but I thought I would mention that Dr. Paul Cheney has a treatment plan on the internet. Go to google and type in "Dr. Paul Cheney" + "treatment for CFIDS". Most of his recommendations are supplements. Also, licorice root will help the fatigue. It is available in liquid form and it actually helps your adrenal glands. CFIDS affects the adrenals, causing patients' to have more stress, inflammation, allergy problems & fatigue. Of course I would talk to your physician before trying any of this. If worse comes to worse, you can nuke CFIDS with the Marshall Protocol like I am.

[PlateletGal]

"And if so, why is it that everything else seems to be a little bit better since I'm not working any more therefore, stress is reduced. Any ideas?"

That makes perfect sense and the licorice root should help when you are stressed or physically worn down. The CDC recently found that the DNA code in people with CFIDS is different in genes that are important to the immune and sympathetic nervous systems - mainly to the three genes related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Therefore, when you have anything that wears or tears your body, including stress, your symptoms are worse.

CFIDS affects the nervous, immune and endocrine systems. It affects everyone differently... some people are lucky enough to recover; others don't and some get progressively worse.

[PGB]

Hi.  Thanks for the info.  I will be checking into it.  Is there a connection between TMJ and CFIDS?  I was diagnosed recently with TMJ and like the CFIDS I have good days and bad ones.  Today, for example, is an extremely bad day for it.  I hurt and ache in my jaw, neck, and ear so bad that I have literally been sitting at home by myself like a 33 year old baby crying most of the day.  I have taken my meds but they just don't help sometimes.  I have also taken a lot of Advil as another poster on here told me that it helped her in large doses.  Like my prescriptions, it helps sometimes and sometimes it doesn't.  I'm wondering if there is a connection between the 2?  And if so, why is it that everything else seems to be a little bit better since I'm not working any more therefore, stress is reduced.  Any ideas?

[PGB]

I am looking into the MP myself since posting on here and reading everyone else's posts.  I have never heard of it before today!  (Being in the back woods of rural Mississippi, it takes us a little longer to catch up to the rest of the world!HA HA)  I'm not sure if it is for me or not.  But it does bare thinking long and hard about.  I recently got laid off from my job and just in the 2 weeks I haven't been working I have started to feel a lot better.  The stress at work, having 3 kids, and my husband being a full time firefighter who works 24 hour shifts was just about to get me down for the count.  I didn't realize the stress was as bad as it was.  I had (and still have)  swollen sore glands in my neck.  Trouble sleeping.  And when I did sleep, I didn't feel rested the next morning.  The tiredness was unbelieveable.  I would literally fall asleep sitting up helping my kids with homework, but when I went to bed I would lay there awake for hours!  Chronic Fatigue is very real and without treatment, I believe it would have ruined my life completely.  Hope you get some help soon and get to feeling better.  Keep us posted on how you feel and if this is really what is wrong with you.

[PlateletGal]

I forgot to mention that I'm also on the MP, along with Hityty. My physician had two other CFIDS patients' who he prescribed the MP for and both of them are 95% better. There is a lab test your physician can order to give you an indicator of whether or not the MP would help you.

[PlateletGal]

I'll jump in here too, since I also have CFIDS! The good news is that there is a lab test (not approved yet, but in the works) available to diagnose CFS now. ( Red Labs USA  - they have an internet website ). Recently CDC researchers' discovered that the DNA code in people with CFS is different in genes that are important to both the immune and sympathetic nervous systems - pointing, in particular, to three genes related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which affects stress response. All CFS volunteers had a high allostatic load --- basically, cumulative wear and tear on the body resulting from inadequate biological responses to the environment as well as physical & emotional stressors. I think that is a reason why people should get treated for their symptoms as they come.. just my opinion.


bweb,

I rarely had the sore throat and didn't have the painful glands. Every case, they say, is different. To make a diagnosis for CFIDS, you must have 4 out of 8 symptoms:

Weakness and exhaustion, lasting more than 24 hours, following mental or physical activity
Unrefreshing sleep
Substantial impairment of short-term memory or concentration
Muscle pain
Pain in the joints, without swelling or redness
Headaches of a new type, pattern or severity
Tender armpit and/or neck lymph nodes
Sore throat

In my case, I had other abnormal labs because my adrenals dysfunctioned. I also have high ANA titers.