hi, i'm very concerned about my sister who until five months ago was a very active and hard working girl. She began feeling tired just doing the most basic tasks and this was accompanied by constant nausea and muscle weakness. She felt dizzy and that she had trouble focusing visually. Initially the nausea subsided when she lay flat but the fatigue was not relieved. She had pain around her diaphragm area and neck pain. The diaphragm area was so painful that she has not been able to wear her bra since. She has had every blood test under the sun and all seem normal.She lost 2 stone in weight and has had to stop working and was even admitted to hospital for 2 weeks but to no avail. She has had ultrasound scans of her abdomen and ct scans of her neck, barium enema -all normal. She is awaiting a brain scan. She has recently gained about a stone which has been down to my mum who is really trying to feed her up. The nausea is 24 hours a day still but she says that she feels hungry all the time.But the nausea does not go away even when she lies down now.She is 40 years old and is feeling very depressed and says that she can not cope with feeling like this any longer. I have read a lot of info on CFS and it does seem very similar but the nausea doesn't seem to be mentioned often as a symptom.Can anyone help please?

Look at toxins in the workplace or home. It's classic chemical sensitivity symptoms. (Google multiple chemical sensitivity for more info.) Has there been building/renovation work or insecticide spraying going on? Air conditioning systems are also sources of bacteria that can aggravate the problem. Goes without saying that stimulants (caffeine, prescription and non-prescription drugs) and sugar should be looked at and if possible eliminated, as there is usually candida or parasite involvement and adrenal burnout. Organic diet, filtered water is needed. Had this myself when I worked in an office and nausea was a major symptom.

Your sister might try Bio-Ex Therapy. It is highly likely that she has toxins and pathogens. Have a look at www.bioex-therapy.com and if you need any further information, my email is there too.

I suggest your sister sees a Homeopath asap if she hasn't already done so. It sounds to me like a toxic overload possibly viral...medics rarely find them and can do little anyway. If she is in UK then a Homotoxicologist is her best answer. If you wish I can give you info and am quite happy to speak to you.

My contact details are stephanie.ginn@btinternet.com or tel 01442 825148...I am a Homeopath by the way...

All the best

Stephanie

I wonder if there was anything that may have triggered this?

It does sound like chemical sensitivity and if this is so, electriosensitivity could be a factor too. I have both and is due to long term underactive thyroid which I am now getting help with. I feel nauseous sometimes when I sit at the computer which is one of my electrosensitivity problems. Its not bad but noticeable.

My chronic fatigue was triggered in 1990 after a car accident, 3 vaccines and a third baby all close together. I have never known which was the trigger but suspect that all contributed to damaging my already weakened immune system in some way. 

Adrienne.

Hello there,

I just had to reply to this thread, because I am suffering with the identical symptoms outlined in the original message!

I'm 63, and have spinal stenosis, prolapsed discs, arthritis and degeneration in my lumbar area, and bad spondylitis in my neck.

I'm awaiting epidural injections and then surgery, but they are trying mixtures of painkillers(that's a laugh!.. no such thing! Pain-relievers maybe...), and at the moment I'm taking 200mg of Tramadol a day; 240mg of codeine a day; plus anti-inflammatory drugs, blood-pressure drugs, stomach protection drugs, and statins!!

Can anyone throw any light on whether the nausea/fatigue etc. etc.. symptoms I'm suffering, are being created by the above cocktail?

Thanks in anticipation for any help.

Trikeman(Andrew)  :)

Hi Trikeman(Andrew)

 

Please check your statins for side effects.  They are not so good if your body doesn't agree to them.

Also original message - if on any medication - check side effects first - doctors don't always do this.  Best to ask pharmacist as they have this information.

Good Luck to both of you and hope you can change your symptoms shortly.

 

Take care.

Your sister could well have ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis).  These words  mean "muscle pain" and "brain inflammation". Personally I am in a remission phase, I caught the disease in 1995 and it took me about 3 years to sort-of recover. My blood tests were all normal.

I read an article in Reader's Digest about ME and it didn't tie up. Obviously whoever wrote the article had no first-hand experience of ME. The trouble is, most people with ME are not up to writing well about it.  A few notables do. An affected doctor, Charles Shepherd, has written much sensible stuff.

I have a personal analogy, which explains all symptoms. Imagine your brain as a pinball machine. The ball (virus) bounces about, hitting one area then another, virtually at random. Your brain has a vomitting centre and it can hit that. OK that's simplistic, but it DOES affect all the brain and differently in different people.    

The disease ME used to occur in outbreaks in isolated communities, and was given various names, like Icelandic Disease, Tapanui Flu, and notably Royal Free Disease. It attacked most of the staff at the Royal Free Hospital in 1955 or the early 1950's (sorry I can't remember the exact dates offhand but you can find them easily). It attacked mostly the working population, not the patients, a unique feature of the disease. Around 256 doctors and nurses were hit - some recovered, some had long-term effects, just as nowadays.

Unfortunately, because no-one could find the virus that causes it, the Psychiatrists got hold of it and said it was a "mass hysteria". 

Previously the Psychs called MS (muscular sclerosis) "a hysterical disease" - they would (and will) be out of business when we find the root cause of ME. The disease is much more "endemic" now, with easy air travel, so clear-cut epidemics are rare.

The Psychs have tried to change the name to "CFS" - Chronic fatigue syndrome - and thereby hogged the subject for themselves, claiming it is "all in the mind", and gave it the trivial title "yuppie flu" - meaning it affects only working people, and is caused by their deranged thinking. This suits the insurance companies and the Governments (of all countries) who would otherwise have to pay out for sickness benefits for physical diseases.

ME however occurs worldwide, regardless of culture. If it were purely psychological, wouldn't it be different between different cultures?   

There is now enough evidence of physical changes to the body and brain to define and diagnose ME (see  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGq0BH6AHw

There is little if any REAL research being carried out into the actual cause of the disease, as all governments have been willingly hoodwinked by the pyschs into calling it a psychological disease. The MRC (Medical Research Council) in UK is responsible for government financing of all research projects and is still funding "research" into cognitive behaviour therapy (teaching you that it's all in your mind) and graded exercise therapy (gradually increasing your exercise rate). There is an alarming number of alternative therapies being promoted, from simple vitamin treatments to "Lightning Therapy" - well Esther Rantzen's daughter was said to have recovered using this form of CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy). It's a "Talk Therapy" - 'nuff said?

If it were that simple, we'd all get better. Most sufferers have tried everything, despite their poor financial positions. The quacks are preying on them. It doesn't work.

I have suffered from M>E> for over two years and believe you may be a sufferer. You need to see an M>E> doctor to be diagnosed.  I have just read the letter from illswift and will agree that we all try everything to get over this terrible illness.  The lightning process has changed my life so please if you are given the M>E diagnosis look up the lightning process on line and go for it.  I was very sceptical but felt I had to give it a go for my sake and my families.  I feel very strongly that people are putting this process down when they haven't tried it.  I felt my life was over, but now I am beginning to live again.    Despite our poor financial position, and as there is no other help out there, this alternative therapy was the only way to go and it does work and I want to shout it from the roof tops even though there is no financial gain for me.  PLEASE PLEASE TRY IT.

has your sister ever come into contact with isecticides. I had very similar symptoms in the 1980,s which eventually led to being hospitalised with severe cardiac problems. The nausea caused serious weight loss and the muscle spasms and skin crawling were very difficult to deal with. I was handling sheep every day and led eventually to a possible diagnosis of Organophosphate poisoning. This product is in many things including crop protection and difficult to trace. It is also very difficult to get a diagnosis and treatment. The web site of OPIN has really good information.

My daughter had similar problems.  We had her tested for food intolerances and Candida and discovered she was 70% Candida. She is now following an elimation diet for a period, along with taking Oregano Oil.  Her symptoms have greatly improved over the last six weeks and she is now only 30% candida.  Maybe having a food intolerance  and Candida test might shed some light.

Having watched my wife slide in to an undiagnosed slow onset ME situation, my advice is that someone needs to get your sister in front of a reasonably up to date GP and ask specifically is the symptoms indicate ME/CFS.  Browse the web for the list of symptoms, sounds like your sister my have a disturbing number of them.  If you can get her to said up to date GP,

1. DO NOT LET HER SEE ANYONE ALONE. 

2.Take a list of symptoms and also a list of the things she used to do and now can't.

3.Take a note of when these problems started.

4.Find out if there is ANY reason or happening in your sister's life that may have psuhed her into depression.. Doctors love to diagnose depression before agreeing ME/CFS

5. Be aware that most doctors will not consider the possibilty of ME/CFS being diagnosable until the symptoms have been present continuously for at least six months.

6. It is important to distinguish between activities that tire her out because she may have become 'unfit' and those activities that she did on a very regular basis without problems.

7. Find out about those simple routine repeat activities that your sister finds she gets tired out quickly.  Like drying up dishes - you start off doing one or two and there is no problem. Then after three or four your arms ache a bit. then for 4,6,7 you start to wonder what you must have done because your arms are feeling likem they are holding heavy weights. Then you have to put the dishes down, sit down. You feel, "This is daft, they're only dishes, what's the matter with me?" You go back and the next dish is okay but the one after is very heavy, the next one you have difficulty picking up, maybe you drop it. Your head is throbbing.  You sit down but find you can't quite think straight.  The phone rings, you manage to pick it up, its your friend but you have trouble working out what they are saying. You try to answer but you find yourself stumbling over simple words, phrases you know but find you are losing your way around.  Talk to your sister, see if any of this strikes a chord.

8. For nearly ten years now I have been with my wife and her ME/CFS - I do hope I am wrong but this does sound like ME/CFS and if it is, despite what is said by many alternative practitioners, there is little that has been shown to be reproducibly effective.  The most effective step is to reduce activities that exhaust, slow down, rest but do not become inactive. Eat less or get fat.

9. If ME/CFS is diagnosed, watch out when your sister goes to the dentist, many pain killing injections have adrenalin in their formulation - this is almost a diagnostic occurence, ME patient has injection, dental treatment, gets part way home and suddenly feels massive energy drain that lasts for several hours. My wife no longer has adrenalin in her injections and indeed many dentists will not use such formulautions for reasons other than ME reacting patients.

 

Good luck 

I identified with a lot of the symptoms you mention and I also had blood tests that didn't reveal anything.

It was later discovered that I was very low in iron, the blood tests hadn't checked that, only the haemaglobin which is the last thing to show a decrease in apparently.

I am unable to take iron by mouth & had an iron infusion. The difference was unbelievable. Like getting a new life.

Hope this might help - good luck, because the symptoms are awful - not a life at all.

 

I would recommend that she pushes to see an endocronologist to rule out addisons disease, diabetes (does not normally cause abdominal pain) or another endocrine problem.  With pain in the diaphram area, you need to think of conditions that cause pain in that region but give relatively normal blood tests.  

 Nausea and diaphramatic pain can also be gall stones and she is certainly the right age, but I do not know about fatigue in relation to stones.

Nausea and diagphramatic pain can also be caused by stomach or duodenal ulcers, these patient do get a 'gnawing hunger.'  With more serious stomach conditions such as cancer, patients can have nausea but cannot normally eat much becuase they get filled up quickly.

I would also request a copy of the blood tests and try and find a private GP to review the case because sometimes blood tests are not normal, but simply mis-read.  Having been chiropractor for 13 years and regularly asking patients to get a copy of x-ray reports and blood tests,I am speaking from experience here!

Hi,

 

Further to my earlier posting about ME and my comments, wife experience with ME etc,  I forgot to include possibly the most helpful hint of all....

surf over to the two major websites for ME/CFS support in the UK, jot down their helpline phone numbers and talk to someone.  In a case like this, talking to someone enables that essential interflow of question and answer - they know more about the range of symptoms and will say if something 'doesn't add up' for an ME diagnosis.

 

As someone else said earlier, ME tends (for some) to scramble the brain especially when in quick tempo conversation, in jargon mode or very often, when there is a background noise (others talking, TV, radio, even traffic noise can throw some folk off when they have ME) Normally this wouldn't impact on concentration but with ME rules tend to wobble.

 

Yes, do get the iron levels checked out but shortage of iron doesn't normally impact what you describe - the ability of ME to impact assorted muscle groups seems at times to mimic some flu symptoms, especially in active folk.