I can't believe theres only 6or7vets on this page. 39,000 vets have died since the end of the war and nobody wants to talk about it. Ladies and gentlemen we are dieing slowly everyday from the symtoms we brought home in which we gave to our wives kids girlfriends ect. I know I'am sick I can't work or hold a job down. No body hires people with PTSD, fibromyilgia with will be in about 5 yrs or less turn into MS,Parkinsonsor the worst ALS which is deadly. Well I'd better get off for now. talk to you all later . Mike

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I feel both for you and with you. I was fired from my job and flagged by the unemployment office as a liability due to an undiagnosed medical condition without a treatment plan. Please feel free to talk all you want about it. My problems began in the blood and have continued to the point of permanent neurological damage. I am a 35 year old mother of 4, and thank God every day that I haven't passed this to my children. Sorry, I haven't been here in a little while due to a dispute at some other locations on the web. I am here now and will help you in anyway I possibly can.

There are many that comes here just to read.

4-5 FA

Fellow veterans,
Please do not think that other, sick veterans that are still able to function as of now, are not doing anything.while I still can, I have made every effort to write to cogress,to the papers, and now I have signs on my vehicle that reads, In search of the cure; Gulf war Illness. everyday people read these signs, I put it in the publics face, lest we forget, most of the public already have or do not want to remember the fact remains,we are dieing, our memory fades daily , and for some , having the energy, willpower, or even the strength to get up each day is a task,remember one cannot stand alone in this fight, our numbers fall daily, keep the faith, and may your god bless each and every one of us,
paul

i was on the uss missouri, i think i got sick from the pills we took one day in general quaters, cant remember
much. i was sick but not like some of you, ive learned to deal with symtems and stay away from things that
make me sick or break out. its been so long now if im still sick im so used to feeling this way i live with it. i didnt know 39,000 vets died, i dont know if any
of my friends got sick i dont know much. since i was a sailor im not sure anybody believes i got sick out there.

Howdy, just joined here: 82nd ABN /GW Veteran

3rd Armored Cavalry Gulf War vet here. That many have died since the war? Does that count traumatic deaths? How about things like heart disease in some of the older veterans that were in their 50's already during the war?

Keep asking those questions.

I started learning a lot from the Gulf War vets on various discussion forums.

If you check my other posts - you will see that I feel I learned about what Gulf War vets with 'the syndrome' are dealing with after studying about 2-butoxyethanol used on the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup - Very similar health concerns. Have your doc check Retic ratio if you have fatigue with no other explanation. You may be approaching hemolytic anemia. It took me over a year to find this out. This is a very valuable check; and not many doctors will think it is necessary. But if it turns out that you all have too many immature (or low functioning) red blood cells, you will point research in the right direction)

Of course it is the central nervous system diagnosis that gets the most attention: difficulty sleeping; difficulty concentrating; depression; suicidal tendencies, etc ... endocrine disruption: headaches in back of head; odd readings on thyroid, or blood sugar, or blood pressure; concerns with skin, liver, kidneys, reproduction concerns

'Mother Margaret'

Keep asking those questions.

I started learning a lot from the Gulf War vets on various discussion forums.

If you check my other posts - you will see that I feel I learned about what Gulf War vets with 'the syndrome' are dealing with after studying about 2-butoxyethanol used on the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup - Very similar health concers. Have your doc check Retic ratio if you have fatigue with no other explanation. You may be approaching hemolytic anemia.

Of course it is the central nervous system diagnosis that gets the most attention: difficulty sleeping; difficulty concentrating; depression; suicidal tendencies, etc ... endocrine disruption: headaches in back of head; odd readings on thyroid, or blood sugar, or blood pressure; concerns with skin, liver, kidneys, reproduction concerns

'Mother Margaret'

The whole depression/fatigue/lack of concentration/trouble sleeping can really be narrowed down to one thing in my opinion. If you have one it can lead to all the others in many cases. All my bloodwork was normal, I think my problem was depression but I did not want to admit it, I did not want to be diagnosed with such a thing. I was having marital and work problems at the time as well as moving to a new home. Throw all that together and you one depressed guy who cant sleep, and as a result is fatigued all day and can't concentrate for crap. I was worried about GWS, but I think it was more a situational thing. Since then I have started working out heavily and am changing jobs. Doing pretty good now.

There is more in the blood than shows up at first glance. Borderline normal is not OK for your group. And that is what shows up for RBCs most likely.

First the RETIC ratio will give a preliminary indication if solvent damage to red blood cells ... by their dying off prematurely. As long as bone marrow is working, it produces more and more red blood cells (thus the count doesn't look off) BUT they don't do the function that red blood cells should do: thus the fatigue.

The lack of sleep, the difficulty in relating in marriage and at work, the depression ... are symptomatic of the Central Nervous System Damage. The headaches are not likely in the brain as doctors would first think. Are your headaches like red hot pokers & in the back of the head and down the neck? I suspect damage to the pituitary gland.

For support from other vets there are several active Discussion forums where you can give and take and learn a lot. Gulf war vets; gulf war help would be good search words.

Keep checking this out. I believe the military is on the verge of learning the secrets of your harm. And you will be helping the public and today's military, too! God Bless you!

i was on the uss missouri, since i was a sailor im not sure anybody believes i got sick out there. Thank you for your comments, Eric. I believe it! What job did you do in the Navy? I heard that a large percentage of the Navy Seabees came down with 'gulf war syndrome' symptoms ... also several who were in aviation ordnance ... even non gulf war time periods. Could you share more about whether you felt a fatigue take over? Do you remember a time when your eyes burned & hurt & maybe your urine turned dark ... came down with 'flu like symptoms' headaches, etc?

A lot of soldiers are too sick to deal with the problems that we have been inflicted with and many have died since 1990! I am here though but I don't know for how long? My insides are all messed up so it is anyone's guess how long I'll be around... :( hooah! for all its worth!