Vent about your health

[Mermaid Adriel]

Depression. Again -.-

[deepblue]

FYI, there is a mental health issues thread, too: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthre...-health-issues

Personally, I'd like depression to stop being called a mental health issue, since if can often be quantified physically- but only after death, when the brains of people who lived with severe depression are studied and found to be lacking in the now well known serotonin and norepinephrin, which is how the medications for depression were designed. When a clearly physical illness causes mood and emotional issues, they don't suddenly call it mental. And since we know so much more about depression than we once did... well I'd like to see a lot of changes based on what we know now. Depression causes so many physical problems- I get a lot of muscle pain, super tender all over. The fatigue, insomnia or oversleeping... one could go on and on.

In any case. Just stopping in for a moment to update. My blood tests revealed exactly what I suspected.

The allergy I have developed seems to be causing me to have the migraines constantly. I finally got the allergen out of my system, stopped accidentally getting it, and my head was pain free for a few days. It was amazing. Then last night I started on a supplement to take its place, and I woke up with a bad headache. It might be that my system is still adjusting though, since I'm not covered in hives and my throat isn't really bad. Plus, paint fumes nearby are a possible cause, sucks that I can't really tell, because it's important.

But a deficiency in the particular vitamin I'm allergic to ALSO causes migraines.

In any case. I have to make a major change in my life that I never thought I would. It is extremely hard, very upsetting, and in ways only some people would get so I'm being vague. But I will say that after all the other health crap I have dealt with, I am very grateful that it looks like I can do this with minimal medical attention. As long as I proceed carefully, because I have got this ridiculously sensitive system and could find myself allergic to the new way of doing things.

Thank gods for my boyfriend. He is so supportive and understanding even though his paradigm is quite different from mine when it comes to all this.

I don't know how I'm going to make myself do what I have to, but I have to.

[deepblue]

Know what? I realize this might already have been read, but I've changed my mind. I don't want to talk about it.

[AniaR]

I know some of you ladies have endo like me, I am wondering if you experienced autoimmune progesterone dermatitis during your treatment for endo? it's where your body develops a sensitivity to the progesterone in treatments and it causes annoying symptoms like burning skin and cancor sores etc. I've been reading it goes hand in hand with endo treatments for some women who didn't know they were sensitive and I'm fairly certain I've got it. I'm on a wait list for a dermatologist which could take a year, ugh!

Even without endo, maybe some of you tried porgesterin based birth control and found out the hard way you were allergic.

I'm just scowering the net looking for solutions I can try while I wait to see a specialist! Thought someone here may have had experience.

[Kishiko]

3rd week with this stupid cough... It started out being a sore throat and a barking cough (I've had it twice before, it was pertussis aka whooping cough) so I didn't think anything of it. Then it got worse, and I kept coughing... A week later still coughing... I figured it was just persisting. So now in week three at the beginning of the week my throat was swelled up really bad but the swelling went down. So I thought I was fine (seeing a pattern here?) And now for the last few days it's not just barking, it's more like choking. My throat closes up when I cough and I physically can't breathe any air in between coughs. Feels horrible and hurts my chest like you wouldn't believe. I literally double over and have to sit for a few minutes afterwards just to breathe normally again. Oh yeah let's not forget the constant headache, fatigue, insomnia (although that's probably from coughing all night) chest and stomach pains and the fact that no cough medicine does ANYTHING Now going through that for three days I finally decided to go viisit the doctor so I'm going in tomorrow.... Sigh

[Mermaid Momo]

We don't know what's wrong with me and my mom is really worried that I could be really sick. It all started when I threw up all day the day after my period ended in March. I had intense pain in my lower abdomen,so bad that I couldn't even sit up and this eventually led to me throwing up. For a whole month I had this pain in my lower abdomen and nausea but I never threw up again until the day before my April period was supposed to start. I couldn't eat or drink anything or else I would throw it up. Even water. Then I missed that period, I panicked a bit because I was worried that I might be pregnant but my mom took me to the doctor a week later and my test came out negative (she also bought me 2 home tests which also came out negative). At the doctor's I found out that I lost 5 pounds. I went from 118 to 113 in a matter of one day, so she said that the weight loss and the stress of being sick may have affected my period and that I was also so constipated that she could feel it when she pressed on my stomach. She told me to drink lots of water and that i'd feel better.

Here we are, 2 weeks later and i still haven't had my period (my mom's going to take me to get another pregnancy test, though she doesn't think it's that since I don't have any symptoms of being about 6 weeks pregnant). I'm not nauseous anymore, I don't have the pain either (mom bought laxatives after drinking water didn't have any effect) But now I have to gain back the weight I lost (I lost even more now. So much more that if I look in the mirror naked, my stomach dips inward under my rib cage now instead of swooping slightly out.) I'm eating more, my mom is forcing me to eat even if i feel full, and I'm drinking Ensure. But now I'm getting bruises . I had one on my knee and my knee hurt so badly whenever i put weight on it that i limped all day. Then the next day I had a huge bruise on my shin. And I always get so tired and my eyes water constantly (though these can be my allergies acting up.) I really hope I'm not really sick.

[Mermaid Galene]

You should see a doctor. It could be appendicitis.

[Mermaid Galene]

Well, this is a heckuva thing for a mermaid to have, and dang it, I'm 99 percent sure I do!

"Solar urticaria is a form of chronic hives that is caused by exposure to sunlight. People with this condition experience itching, redness and hives on areas of skin exposed to sunlight."

And now I know why my "sunburned" skin is driving me mad with itching. I thought it was weird that I got sunburn so quickly during our beach photoshoot, in spite of wearing a lot of SPF 30 sunscreen.

"It appears that people with solar urticaria make allergic antibodies against various proteins found in their own skin. These proteins' structure changes with sunlight, allowing the allergic reaction to occur, causing hives. It is possible for a person with solar urticaria to experience anaphylaxis if enough skin is exposed to sunlight."

Even more delightful.

I guess I'd better take antihistamines and use a parasol for any gigs that expose me to direct sun.

In the meantime, I want this burning and unbearable itching to go away!

[Mermaid Zaffiro]

Depression and panic attack....again...


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[Aziara]

I will start my rant with this: I am intensly allergic to all traditional lubricants due to them containing vitamin E. I went to the OB for my first pregnancy checkup on monday. I had no idea they had to use lube (never been to a OB before). Walking out of the office, I suddenly felt like someone lit my panties on fire. I realized then that they must have used lube on me. I ran to a bathroom and tried to clean off as much as possible. Finally thought of heading to a gas station nearby, as they have the sink and toilet in a single locked room. I got all cleaned up, but I must have absorbed enough, because my chest started to close up and it became difficult to breathe. Later my heart decided to get in on the party and refused to beat with anything resembling a rhythm. Luckily I have several homeopathic and other remedies that are always in my purse, so I was able to avoid the hospital (if I went to the hospital every time this happened, I'd be there every week. Sometimes twice). The next two mornings my guts 'purged'. I wasn't sure whether to sit on the toilet or hug it. All this... because the f*cking FDA considers 'vitamin E' to not be an allergen. I really hope my little one is going to be ok.

[maressa]

^Ouch ouch! They didn't ask you if you had any known allergies before they treated you? Epic fail

[Grey Gambit]

I'm really annoyed with my chest, as the doctor I went to see last week took an X-ray and said my ribs weren't deformed and looked perfectly normal looking, yet agreed with me they looked a little odd when he was poking around feeling the ribs (which hurt). My friends think it might be stress fractures, which don't always show up on X-rays and I have been binding my chest for a few years now... and can't now as it's reached a point it hurts too much. I just want to figure out what's wrong so things will stop hurting.

[Mermaid Lily_Pad]

Ack Azaria! That is seriously not good. You may want yo wear a med aleart bracelet while you're pregnant explaining your allergen. They use ALOT of lube when you're pregnant. Every time you get any kind of ultrasound or any internal exam they use lube. You need to pin your doc and techs down and make sure they know exactly what you're allergic too and never let them do Anything until they explain every step and you remind them of your allergen.

[Mermaid Lily_Pad]

Hey Grey, does it hurt to raise your arms up above your head?
I once slept on a really hard mattress and when I woke I was in really bad pain. I thought I just pint he'd something but over the next few days if started to get worse and worse. We were on vacation and the flight back was hellish. I ended up at the doc who sent me to a physical therapist. It turns out I dislocated a rib! I didnt even know you could dislocate a rib LOL. My PT had to work the muscles that had gotten all screwed up because of the rib and eventually the pain eased up but let me tell you it was Agony! I couldn't breath, couldn't move, couldn't raise my arms up...it sucked. You may want to see a chiropractor who should be able to tell if something has gone all wonky in there. While the rib relocated itself on its own, the damage to the tendons and muscles from the displacement is what hurt.

[Grey Gambit]

I can still move my arms around and above me without pain, it's mostly my left side is really tender and sometimes feels like it's catching on something when I move around and stretch. But it mostly pains me when I lay on that side, or poke at it too much, or wear my binder (or pretty much anything that is tight on my chest.). And I think if it was dislocated it would have shown up on the X-ray? I have an old childhood injury in that area though, but when I saw a doctor about it way back they said it wouldn't cause me any trouble later in life.

[Mermaid Wesley]

Do you have a good binder? Is it safe? It sounds to me like bone bruising which can take years to heal but are otherwise not bad for you. If your binder is too right it can bruise your ribs


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[Ilyena]

On the matter of childhood injuries not causing trouble later on in life, my mum had an incident with her back when she was 16, and they said the same thing. Only in the past 10 years has it come to cause heaps of pain and required treatment which would have been quicker and simpler if it had been treated properly in the first place. Cannot be too careful with injuries, hopefully it stops hurting soon

[Aziara]

^Ouch ouch! They didn't ask you if you had any known allergies before they treated you? Epic fail

Yeah, they actually did, but I told them 'gluten and wheat'. That's why I made the comment about the FDA, even though the vast majority of vitamin E is derived from wheat germ oil, the FDA claims that it is too 'pure' to have any allergens remaining. I can say from multiple personal experiences that is totally false. I actually get worse reactions from vitamin E sometimes, because like in this case, it took me several minutes to realize something was on me. If I had mistakenly come into contact with something obvious (like grabbing a bag of flour instead of a bag of sugar because they look so much alike) I would be running for a bathroom immediately to compulsively scrub.

[Mermaid Galene]

I always tell doctors every single thing for which I have an intolerance, even if they think I'm bonkers! That includes codeine, sulfa, gluten, FODMAPS in food, acidic foods, whey, lactose, and UVB (sunlight). That being said, no matter how careful you are, it's very easy in medical facilities for one or more of the many people involved in patient care to either miss or ignore the list. When my Mom, who is glucose, lactose, and and FODMAP intolerant, was in the hospital with hip fractures, I personally told every nurse, dietician, and food-delivering orderly about her sensitivities. I even posted a list in her room and on her bedside tray. And every single meal, they brought her stuff she couldn't eat! Great way to further debilitate their patient! That was not a fabulous hospital. =8-0

[Grey Gambit]

Wesley: The binders I've been using were supposed to be safe to use, at least from what I found out from researching different ones. But I just thought it weird that it was only after 3-4 years of binding that my ribs started looking a little funny to me; dipping down on one side, flaring up, and dipping down more as you go down the ribs. But only on that one side. And the doctor says there's nothing wrong with them. Idk what's going on with my body, but the pain doesn't seem all that bad some days, and then others the slightest movement sets everything off on that one side.