Hi all, I am 19 years old, and am really going to try to make this as short as possible. Any input would be GREATLY appreciated. I have suffered from fatigue for about 5 years now. Around the time this developed (seemed to start around the times I suffered from shingles and mono), I started getting tremors in my hands and twitching of my eyelids, eyebrows, and thumbs.My doc ordered some blood tests, all came out clear, and was told I probably have CFS, which I am convinced I do not have. The women on my mother's side seem to have a major predisposition to neurological disorders, mostly alzheimers, but also some ms. My grandfather had pernicious anemia at a young age. My symptoms are starting to come about in stages, one right after the other.

Stage1: (I call this the sleep disorder phase)
*Extreme fatigue with uncontrollable napping during the day along with remembering vivid dreams every morning and occasional sleep paralysis.
*Extreme lightheadedness almost every time I stood up, passing out on more than a few occasions.
*problems with word recall and concentration
* Quick stabbing pains in my head and arms
*problems with swallowing. I feel as if my swallowing reflex has degraded, which at the time I attributed to a tonsillectomy I had before the stage started.
lasted about 2-3 months

Stage 2: (off-kilter phase)
*problem with gait, balance
*my legs just giving away on me quite often
* noticed my left foot would kind of turn out a little when I walked
*started noticing floaters in my eyes which could be attributed to my astigmatisms
* While plucking my eyebrows, I noticed that I have some sort of blind spot. I can't look up to the left, and feel as if I just can't control my eye movements very well.
*unable to perform precise movements with my hands
*feeling of sunburn on my arms
lasted about 1 month

Stage 3: (tension/pain phase)
*Started developing a daily headache that felt like a buildup of pressure on the right side of my head.
* a lot of these headaches seemed to stem from a spot on the back of my neck. It could be just tendons or a lymph node, but I swear I feel something moving around back there. When the spot was pressed, I could feel the pain spread up to my head.
*constantly dropping things
*. Every once and a while my right hand will start tingling and turns extremely red. (possible Raynauds?)
*sciatic pain upon standing for too long
* scalp tingling for a few seconds on the right side
*tremors almost totally magically disappeared
*extremely cold feet, but yet warm upper body.

I am back in the sleep disorder phase, and feel like I keep coming in and out of the flu. I have also started to experience tingling on my left thigh. I have done massive research, have found many disorders with some of my symptoms, but no disorders with all of them. I feel like I am gonna have a nervous breakdown, because I am sick of feeling like this, and everybody thinking that I'm a lazy hypochondriac! Thanks a bunch.

hey there, just wanted to reply to let you know youre not alone. im 19 too and since about a month ago have had quite a lot of similar symptoms to you and although mine dont seem as bad as yours, i know how you feel to be ill the whole time and no-one to understand. lots of people have told me its in my head and no-one has any idea whats wrong with me.
press on with your doctor and if you dont think hes doing anything, swap doctors. make a list of possible conditions from your research maybe, and get the right tests to tick each one off.
dont give up.
you have a right to feel better.
dont let anyone tell you youre a hyperchondriac.
pester those doctors until you get some results.
above all, try to keep positive because the body is a whole and a positive frame of mind will help, honestly. try some calming techniques because feeling anxious about your illness (which is completely understandable!) might make some symptoms worse.
good luck, and i really hope you start to feel better soon xxxxx

Thanks so much for your reply. Don't you just hate it when people try to tell you that you're a hypochondriac? I can't wait until I can get my insurance together, find out what's wrong, and say haha! to everyone whose told me that I'm just lazy. :-)

HOLY FREAKING COW....you have so many of the symptoms that I have! I have been chasing doctors yelling trying to get answers and haven't gotten much of anything.

I've been told that it's NOT Carpal tunnel (nerve conduction study was ok), that it's NOT heart-related, but that it is related to depression and/or anxiety. At least that's what they keep telling me...

I guess it's part of the depression, but I feel mentally fogged -- heavy somehow, like nothing much matters or is worth remembering.

I also have strange visual distortions -- color smears that seem to be triggered by pressure to the back of the neck.

The only thing I can think of is that there's something wrong with my neck and/or the nerves that do things back there. They muscles there are tight like a bunch of fists...

~dRowning (Mike)

Have you had any MRIs at all? It's a shame that doctors are chalking everything up to mental problems such as depression nowadays. I'm sure that most people with undiagnosed illnesses out there have plenty of depression symptoms, because dealing with the stress of the illness and no one understanding brings on depression. I'd be very interested to know about your symptoms if you'd like to email me. We could be limboland buddies. :-)

Oh yeah, I guess this would help:

Brynnderella123@aol.com

Hi all, I'm so sorry for all you're going through. I've been through the mill too. After a lifetime of suffering I'm finding (through a great deal of research) that many MANY undiagnosed problems are being caused by food allergies.

Did you know that every one of the symptoms you've listed here can be caused by gluten intolerance? Many can be caused by dairy, yeast, wheat and egg intolerance too. And these are just the biggies.

I'm not saying a food intolerance is causing anyone's symptoms, I'm just offering this as a suggestion for you to explore.

There is currently no test for gluten intolerance. You just have to stop eating gluten for a couple months and see if you feel better. Gluten is found in wheat, barley, and rye. Do some research on this as gluten is used in many foods and has LOTS of names. There are no gastric symptoms and recovery is very slow.

Hope this helps!

[This message has been edited by riceneuroni (edited 09-03-2003).]

That's really interesting, I was actually looking at Celiac disease as an option, because I have also had intestinal problems since I was a kid. It's said to run in families, and my mom has what the doctors have said is IBS her whole life. It gets worse when she eats pancakes, which is very suspicious of a gluten intolerance I would think.

I've had MRIs done up the ying-yang...*LOL*. MRIs of brain with and without reflection, both negative. MRIs of cervical spine and lumbar (some bulging discs in the lumbar region with a lesion? so far no word on that). Also had a CT scan on the stomach area, which was negative. It's interesting that you mention food allergies, Riceneuroni (awesome nick BTW!). I'm on flonaze and have been on allegra for allergies, but I don't know what exactly I'm allergic to. I'd love to go to an allergist to find out!!

Same here about the allergy thing. I've tried allegra, claritin, clarinex, zyrtec, flonase, and rhinocort, but with no results. Have you always had nasal allergies? I feel like mine have multiplied since I started feeling worse.

Docs don't usually mention that a dairy intolerance can have chronic sinus allergy symptoms. I'm sure other food allergies can too. I just thought of one, I've read yeast can too.

I started finding my major food allergies by just picking one and eliminating it for two weeks then moving on to the next. The docs refused to let me have food allergy testing. It took me two years before trying dairy. With sinus and/or stomach problems, I'd start there. Best wishes.

[This message has been edited by riceneuroni (edited 09-03-2003).]

I understand and have suffered from most of the problems you have described. A couple of years ago I finally began to get a grip on the situation. In my case, it was several related problems with somatoform at the center. That sounds like a mental problem and it partly is, but it is also physical. May I suggest you do a web search for "The American Family Physician" site on the subject of "Somatizing Patients: Part I. Practical Diagnosis." There is also a Part II (for doctors) and a page to help patients understand a little of what is going on. I think you will find many of your problems descibed and potentially delt with there. I have more information on this if you think it fits your problem. Good luck.