Hello.
I'm really hoping someone can help direct me as to what type of doctor I should talk to or what this may be.
When I sometimes speak, especially about things I really want to convey the emotion of my experience with it I get EXTREMELY fatigued while I talk- Its actually a painful experience mentally- I feel compleately drained and it gets hard for me to form words. I HAVE to go quiet and can't speak any more because it feels painful and I just don't have the means to anymore. Also, my parents for a long time now have also said I get LOUD when I'm speaking. They tell me I am shouting when I don't feel that I am at all. It surprizes me to hear them say I'm shouting or being loud when speaking. Everytime I'm on the phone with someone, or having a conversation with a friend I get this. The longer the conversation the more drained I am. People I know have attributed this to just "stress"- even the whe-you're-happy kind. I am not stressed everytime this happens.. It happens too when I get excited about happy things. I become drained almost instantly. This is seriously disableing and has been going on for years. IT might help to note: I am 29 years old. I have been ill (disabled) for the last 10 years. I have been diagnosed with Reactive Hypoglycemia and Hypothyroidism. Both have been controlled well for the last year but I'm still getting this symptom mentioned above.
Can ANYONE help me with this? Anyone ever hear of such a thing? What should I have my doctor look at? I want to get an MRI- just to be sure. I have had some vision disturbances and lack of coordination and balance too. Thanks, hoping for a reply soon. -L

i DO really think seeing a good neuro doc would be the best place to start here.it really does sound like something may not be really totally normal within the brain or some connections.a good neuro would be ableto do the best type of eval and send you for any testing he feels may be needed.getting an MRI is just one of a few different types of testing he can use totry and determine the cause.this could also be stemming from some possible meds you may be on as well.this is why you really do need to see your Rxing,or primary doc fisrt so he can rule out other possibilities and then send you to see the neuro with at least something to go on,you know what I mean?but this does really need to be evaluated by a specialist,and that would be either a neurologist or a neurosurgeon.i personally prefer the neurosurgeon over the neuologists but for an initial eval of your particular symptoms at this point,a neurologist would do the trick.just set an appt with your primary and go from there.this could also be a possible auditory(hearing)type of issue as well.thus the need for the neuro.please keep me posted on what you find out,K?hopefully this is just a med reaction or some other minor easy to treat issue.Marcia

Thank you so much Marcia for responding. I too think something is seriously up with this. Its highly unusual but I know it has been going on for some time and in some respects its getting worse. I have told my regular doctor about it and I even think I told the endocrinologist I go to about it but they didn't seem overly concerned. I just told them that when I talk I get really tired. So maybe I didn't push the issue hard enough with them. I have appointments to see both of them soon and I am definately going to bring this up again.
No one notices anything unusual about the way I talk, accept that sometimes I get loud. I have been loosing my balance more lately and also my periods have become irregular- which they never were in my life before. I attributed this to my hypoglycemia and the new diet I follow because of that or maybe because I exercise a lot.
If I find out anything I'll keep this post updated.. in the meantime, if anyone else has anything else to say please post. -L

i have similar symptoms. my sister always tells me i am loud when i am on the phone and i talk fast and it makes me feel worn out. i even feel this way when i read a book to my son. my whole body gets this stressed and fatigued feeling. i also have many other symptoms with my health problem and the doctors don't know whats wrong. i am gonna go see a neurologist soon though. i also get discompfort in the left side of my chest,face and head but not only when i speak or read. i feel this all day everyday. do you feel these symptoms too?

Hi Tina,
Yeah, I have been seeing doctors for years now (but not about this problem but of a whole lot of little things, mostly fatigue) but no one has really taken a good serious look. This one problem is getting much worse. In fact, as I type this I am having difficulty. I can't breathe right- its like my lungs are too heavy to lift to expand to get air in them. My eyesight gets worse-blurry and sometiems I feel crosseyed. Its hard to form words in my mind.. One symptom I know for sure is that I have low blood pressure when this happens. Its not terribly low, but it is below 'normal'. My posture becomes bad, the muscles in my face 'fall' and droop. I have a hard time with balance and often sway and have to catch myself on things around like walls and chairs and banisters. Just standing up I have to find something to support my body it feels so heavy. I feel so weak. I also have discomfort in my chest from time to time but not when I get this speaking illness- sometimes I get a feeling like a needle is being stuck in my heart and other times it feels like blood is swishing not very hard, like its just sort of sitting in my heart not getting anywhere- like its pumping too lightly- I know that sounds llke how could I possibly feel that? but it just feels like that. I try to read books to my nephews and I get this from that as well. I am DRAINED compleately and really utterly useless- I have to go to bed and I then sleep for hours, deep and like I am in a coma. Its hard for people to wake me up and its hard for myself to get up. I have been having nausia too lately- especially when I get this way after speaking. Anytime we have company I get this way because of the talking. It is really effecting my life seriously-friends may think I am trying to avoid them. I cannot drive a car when I get like this... I feel as though I am drunk (but not in a fun way- in a sick way) and I can't make decisions fast enough in order to drive properly. My endocrinologist is sending me to a neurologist this week. I'm hoping he will not be like all the other specialists I have seen and just chalk it up to me being a "nervous woman" or other stupid things like "you're depressed"... which I'm not- except for the fact I get ill and I can't LIVE!!! I dont get this everyday, but it comes often enough to seriously effect my life. I cannot work because of it. I had a job as a secretary and there were times I'd get ill, answer the phones and couldn't even put together a coherant sentance. People must have thought I was on drugs or something I was slurring so much and not able to speak. At these times I was feeling like I was going to pass out or rather like I needed to pass out. I also couldn't make out what they were saying and kept having to ask them over and over what they just said- even short and simple things such as remembering their name. (I have always had excellent memory) They'd say it and I'd forget it by the time they were done speaking it. Its VERY embarrassing. Its only getting worse. I'm really scared about seeing the neurologist but after today's bought with it.. I really must figure this out. Something is REALLY wrong.
Do you go through anything like this? May I ask how old are you?

hi laurah, i am 20 and i will be 21 in august. i think my problem is different than yours but i do have the fatigue when i speak or read aloud like i said. i always feel like i have to take a deep breath too and i feel like people notice how i always take deep breaths. and then other times my voice sounds like its straining and it does that even with people i am comfortable with. see my problem started 4 years ago after a bad experience after i did some illegal drugs,speed.i have a post about it but i will go ahead and write about it. well one night i was up all night with my friends doing speed. well a while later my heart started racing real fast like it was pounding out of my chest and i was freakin out thinking i was gonna die. ever since that night i have had some symptoms like the breathing and fatigue,i feel like my lungs wont expand all the way, i get pressure in head,numblike feeling around mouth and lips,pressure and discompfort in chest where heart is. everyone keeps telling me i have anxiety but its not like i have an anxiety ATTACK. i feel this way all day everyday. i am a real nervous person too and i think my problem has made it worse. i am so nervous that i can't even drive but i think alot of that is because i am afraid i will have the problem you have where you don't think fast enough.my memory is also worse now,and i get stressed and easily agitated alot easier than i use to. i use to be a more patient person and i am not as patient now. i really think i have anxiety but i also think i may have something physical too but who knows. i guess the doctors keep telling you what they tell me,that its anxiety. sometimes i feel like people think i am lying about my problem or that i am crazy.

oh and you also said "the muscles in my face 'fall' and droop. ", well i don't get that feeling but my grandma has something called bells palsy and it makes her face and eyes droop like that. have you read up on bells palsy. i am not sure what other symptoms you have with it but maybe you should look it up and see if it sounds like what you have. i don't think my problem is as severe as yours.

HI Tina,
Your post has actually been VERY beneficial..Thank you! I think I may know what is causing this (In both of us maybe) and all due to your honesty, which I am SO thankful for. Although our symptoms are different, they are similar and also our backgrounds sort of. I have never done illegal drugs.. honestly, it really just turns my stomach to think people do that to themselves, however I don't dare judge you and your past..(AND I hope you learned enough to make sure illegal drugs ARE your past!) None of us are perfect and we all make mistakes and that's that. I'm very glad you mentioned it since I think that this may be a bit clue as to what is effecting us both.. let me explain....
I wasn't going to say anything here on the message board but about seven years ago I was put on anti-depressants and a few mood stabilzers (being an artist in nature and with the situations they were at the time, they thought I had bi-polar disorder. I don't. And have since proven I don't via medication changes and the discovery of a blood sugar problem.. that was all it was really along with some life circumstances causing hurt and anxiety. All has been just fine and dandy as long as I stay on a no sugar diet.) However, when I got off the anti-depressant a few years ago I had a terrible withdrawal for about four weeks. I spoke with my doctor about it and he prescrbed a benzodiazepine. I didn't want to take it but I did. The withdrawal from Effexor (the anti-depressant) was not that bad at that time, I was getting over it, however my doctor assured me taking the benzo would be safe and to just "go ahead" to take the edge off. So, I did but I shouldn't have. Some people here may disagree with me, but Benzos AREN"T safe and should be taken with EXTREME care IF taken- some docs whip them out like its 'nothing'. Through research I know MANY people now who have been SO harmed by this stuff like me. Amazingly, some people aren't effected the same though- just the way human nature is.. we are all made different...yet still the medical community chooses to 'diss' the 10% of the population that does have a severe reaction to it. After 10 months of taking the lowest dosage daily and taken directly as prescrbed I started to have some serious medical problems that esculated into a world of hell when I finally decided to get off that 'medicaton'. I'm serious, it was pure HELL on earth 24 hours a day 7 days a week for about 5 months straight. I survived only by the help of Jesus and that is TRUTH. Really, no laughing matter at all. I have since then studied up on benzos intensely. They do a WORLD of hurt on the body and brain.. just like illgal drugs can do, just like speed. I think maybe now (and I'll still go get checked out just in case) that perhaps both our problems maybe caused from the drugs/meds we were on in our past. I have long speculated that my speaking problem might have been caused from this benzo but I could not understand why it would be getting worse so that's why I posted. I'm also not sure if I had this before the benzo. I sort of think I did, but then it could still be from the anti-depressant or mood stabilizer, perhaps, though unlikely as that has been years ago. Frankly I"m not sure when it started- so I'm still concerned about that. I have heard it takes years for the brain to heal and readjust to its normal state after taking these types of brain-affecting stuff. I would assume it is the same for people who have either taken illegal drugs or been alcoholics..I read it effects the brain in similar ways in the same areas of the brain, something having to do with GABA. I also read its not uncommon for people who used to take illegal drugs to have all sorts of brain related problems because of the harm it did. It is reassuring to me to hear your story since now for me its sounds that this may well be still the effects of having taken that strong 'medication', the benzodiazepine called klonopin. It sounds too like your problem might be caused by your mistake in taking illegal drugs. I say this with upmost care, please, sweetie, do not experiment in that type of crap again. Be well and gaurd your health! I'm not trying to patronise, I'm sure you agree now it was a mistake to take that. Pass on your experience so that other kids younger than you know the harm that crap does so that they may not make the same mistake you did. It just boils my butt to hear about people taking illegal drugs.. all my friends did it and it would piss me off royaly since I wished to God I was just healthy (i've always been a prone-to-illness kid) and they took their health for granted and decided to smoke it all away. It feels like a slap in the face to me, having been a sickly person just desiring to have health so I could have a life. Hmmn.. anyway, getting off my soap box. Apologies since I don't really mean to disrepect you by my anger/feelings. I'm not angry with you at all. I just hope you can understand my anger toward it. At least you were honest about it and I appreciate it very much. Like I said, I think that is a HUGE clue as to why both of us might be having what we have been experiencing.
Anyway, I'm still going to get this checked out since I'm no doctor. I'll try and post the results of what they found.
Oh also, the benzo also made my heart race very fast at times....it was so frightening. My heart felt like it was going to just give up, and it was pounding rapidly on my chest wall. It caused panic. So, some simularities there also. I'll have another look at bell's palsy.. I have looked it up before but for some reason I though I read and decided that I couldn't have that, but I should look again.
Thanks again for your honesty Tina. I really respect and appreciate it. I pray that your affliction will heal. I know in time it will as long as you choose health. God bless you! I'll post if I learn any more.

hello i too get this but i had brain injury 4 year ago and they tell me its cognitive functioning problem you need to speak with a nuerologist i think hope this helps i get problem with multi tasking too same symptom...wish you success bye

hi laura,it's been awhile and i am just now getting around to replying back to you. i understand that you hate when people do drugs. i made many mistakes of doing dumb things when i was young and beleive me i regret it now. drugs messed up my body and not only that my babys father got bad on drugs twice and now is in jail and cant see his son. he hasnt seen him since he was a month old because he got on drugs bad and i had to leave him and move out of state to my parents. drugs can mess up peoples minds so i completely agree with you on hating drugs.