On 3/19/07, I went to the ER because my ear was acting weird. When we got there, the whole waiting room was filled with people throwing up and coughing. Anyway, about a week later, me and my whole entire family got sick. It was THE most horrible flu/intestinal virus that we've ever gotten. I mean, I was dry heaving. I had nothing to throw up, but yet, I still felt like I had to. Anyway, skip to about 2 months later. It started with heartburn and these weird icepick like headaches. Skip all the way through 2007 and 2008 to now, and I've gotten so many strange symptoms. My doctor did diagnose me with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome on 4/3/08 (which is a genetic connective tissue disorder). I don't see why more symptoms of it would be showing up all of a sudden. This makes me question if that virus caused me to get fibromyalgia or CFS or some kind of dysautonomia or something. Here's some of my symptoms. They're intermittent:
*Headaches (pressure/stabbing sensations)
*Frequent urination (tests showed nothing/was clean)
*Painful periods (stabbing pains in lower abdomen/rectum/can't have a BM sometimes cause of it)
*Muscle aches
*Electric shock sensations
*Fatigue/unrefreshing sleep
*Muscle weakness
*Diarrhea/constipation/stabbing sensations in stomach/cramps
*Eye pain/eye floaters
*Itchy skin
*Hot flashes/chills
*Stinging/burning sensation in genital area/vulvodynia
*Nausea
*No weight loss, but clothes are somewhat looser on me (even when they're new)
*Allergies (eyes, throat, nose). Never had allergies before/feels like they're getting worse
*Sore throat
*Post nasal drip feeling
*Dizziness (always had this/EDS)
*Low blood pressue (always had this/EDS)
*Gastroparesis (didn't have test, but doc thinks I have it. Goes with EDS)
*Tingling sensations (finger, legs, arms, hands, sometimes face/neck)
*Cognitive difficulties (memory, thinking of words, confusion, etc...)
*Shortness of breath
*Tachycardia
These are most of my symptoms. What really bugs me is that I do have OCD and depression among a few other psychiatric illnesses, and people automatically assume it's all in my head. I've had OCD and Depression since I was little, why all of a sudden would I start imagining these feelings. My family doesn't believe me when I tell them about my symptoms. My mom doesn't even believe I have Ehlers Danlos even though my doctor diagnosed me in front of her.
I've already had a stool sample done, a urinalysis, ANA screen, SED rate (all clean), MRI and CT scan. Had a fatty tissue in brain, but ti went away. My WBC was 10.9 at one time. Had an HIV test done(NEGATIVE!) I am not sexually active or do drugs or anything. AGA levels for celiac were slightly elevated. Thyroid levels were fine.
What do you all think? Sorry this was long.
Thanks! I am a 20 year old female also. You sounds like me, I went through a lot of the same stuff so I will tell you what lengths I went to to get better.
I have discovered while researching my issue that a lot of it was simple food allergies and nutrient deficiencies. All of that and years of antibiotics lead me to get a systemic yeast infection and leaky gut syndrome. This added anemia and most of your other symptoms to my plate. I started out with just scoliosis which causes me a lot of pain, so that confused my final diagnosis a bit and it took a few years to figure this out.
So, what I had to do was find out what I was allergic to. You can get an allergy test from the doctor but I had to go to another city for that so I couldn't go through with it. What I did was took out the top 5 food allergens from my diet, as well I already knew I had issues with soy and had stopped eating that which helped a lot. The other allergens are: wheat gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts and sugar. I removed them ALL from my diet, and started to feel much better.
But because of the systemic yeast issue and the leaky gut, I couldn't absorb nutrients properly and any time I took vitamins, they went right through my intestinal wall into by body causing a severe overdose reaction, even though I took only a bit. What I eventually had to do, and this worked magically, was I got the Yeast Buster Cleans Kit from a local herbal shop.
This cured my leaky gut issue and I started being able to absorb nutrients again. I started to include a multivitamin in my diet to make up for all the deficiencies from years of bad digestion. I also continue to take a probiotic every night to make sure I always have plenty of the good guys there to kill off excess yeast so I won't ever have a systemic issue again.
After all this, I find that my allergic reaction to food is greatly reduced, but I personally still stay away from wheat gluten, dairy and soy as much as possible, but now if I have them occasionally I don't suffer, but I am still not going to push my luck.
I have to continue to make sure that I eat a rainbow of fruits and veggies because if I get low on B vitamins, magnesium, calcium or omega 3, I start to have mood issues again. You can track your nutrient intake on www.fitday.com and you can easily see at the end of the day if you come up short on anything, and supplement accordingly. I also make sure to take a multivitamin once a day just for an extra boost.
I would recommend you try some of these things and see if you get better, because I would bet that you do. I will leave some information resources below to help you in your journey, I read the free information on these sites, you don't have to buy anything from them. Good luck to you, I hope for the best for you. I know what it is! You have Hypochondria! Chronic fatigue syndrome, or CFS, causes you to feel so tired that you can鈥檛 complete normal, daily activities. While chronic fatigue syndrome has no known cause and is difficult to diagnose, its major symptoms can be treated.
The main symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a devastating tiredness or exhaustion that has lasted at least 6 months and does not improve much with rest. This fatigue also is so severe that it interferes with your work, your play, and your social activities. The fatigue and other symptoms described below may begin suddenly or they may develop gradually over weeks or months.
Other long-term symptoms include:
Forgetfulness, memory loss, confusion, or difficulty concentrating.
Sore throat.
Tender lymph nodes in the neck or armpits.
Muscle pain.
Joint pain without redness or swelling.
Headaches that are different from other headaches you have had in the past.
Unrefreshing sleep (waking up feeling tired or not rested).
In some cases, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) develops after an illness such as mononucleosis (mono) or flu, or after a period of unusual stress. But it may also develop without warning, even if you have not been sick.
The fatigue may come upon you gradually or quite suddenly. Because fatigue can be vague and can be caused by many things, you might not pay attention to the problem for several weeks or months. It is hard to say what is normal with CFS because the diagnosis often is not clear for some time. |
