Dear Trooper and Beckie,

I have a friend who is computer illiterate, but asked me to help him with a diagnosis. He is in the Army National Guard, and was deployed to the Gulf during Desert Storm. He said everything began when he and his wife went to Hawaii, about a year after returning home. He developed flu like symtoms, chilling and fevers, which lasted for two days.

He has been to numerous doctors because of pain in his legs, he said the pain comes on like a contraction, rises to a peak, then goes away. It is moving into his right arm, and has muscle spasms. He says he has diarrhea about once every three weeks, just for 1 day. He also has rashes on different parts of his body, mainly the body trunk.

His only trip to the VA rewarded him with a doctor that asked if he was trying to get disability. He told him he was just trying to get an answer.

He has had ultrasounds, MRI, CTscans, bloodwork, and dye through his veins. He said one of the guard doctors gave him an antibiotic for a sinus infection and he felt better after taking the drugs. Drs say everything from possible pinched nerve in back to heel spurs.

He is still in the guard, 64 yrs old, and works every day in construction. He just wants to know how to find a doctor who will listen to him and dig deeper into the symtoms and causes. What he'd really like is relief from the pain.

Thanks again,
S. Boothe

Start to look for a Dr. that will look at CFS, FM, or MSC.

These poorly defined illnesses such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune disorder, and multiple chemical sensitivity may play a big roll in GWI.

Also keep on eye on your thyriod. My stopped working soon after the gulf.



[This message has been edited by moderator1 (edited 04-19-2002).]

The goverment is finally compensating soldiers who have PGS Persian Gulf Syndrome. If your friend did not get things documented in the military then getting help is going to be a little more difficult, but there is hope because the goverment's new definition is any medically unexplained chronic illness having one ore more symptoms. Maybe all he needs is proof that he served in the gulf and then help should come his way. Good luck

My advice, as a SENIOR veteran of Gulf War Illness, is to get your hands on as much presription medications outside of military and VA facilities as possible. The VA has no infectious diseases experience and little gastrointestinal knowledge to deal well with your problems.

I speak from an over-abundance of personal experience: Gulf War Illness has four infectious parts -- Viruses, bacterial infections, fungi, and parasites.

Those flu-like symptoms you speak of are not viral at all, but need to be treated with antibiotics. And you can find an Infectious Diseases doctor who will tell you this: Doxycyclene for six weeks, two weeks off, two weeks of Augmentin, if not allergic to penicillen. If allergic to penicillen, treat with Biaxin for two weeks. Continue in the same regimen until the symptoms go away.

If you fail to continue with antibiotics, the pain and contractions will go to full-blown paralysis and death. I know, I almost died.

The diarrhea is parasites which can be treated with a simple 7-day course of flagyl (or metronidazole). And stop drinking tap water. Bottled water only, with reverse osmosis filtering.

The most horrible thing about Gulf War Illness is the fungus. USA sold Candida Albicans; the Russians sold Red Fungus. To make a long story short, once your friend has reached the end of the antibiotics and anti-parasitics, he must go on a very strict diet of nothing but white meats (fish and chicken)and vegetables with anti-fungals such as Sporanox, Diflucan, and Mycelex.

Get away from government healthcare if you want your friend to live a normal life ever again. He's apparently earned his stripes the hard way.

Originally posted by Beckie99:
My advice, as a SENIOR veteran of Gulf War Illness

May I ask what you consider to be a "SENIOR veteran of Gulf War Illness"?

Hi S. Boothe,

I have to agree with Beckie, get as far away from the government's "doctors"!! They will not help you. Sure they ordered all of those test for your friend, but none of the right ones. He needs to be tested for Mycoplasmas. Tell him to find an infectious disease doctor on his own. Some of his problems can be cleared up with a simple antibiotic. This isn't going to be an easy task, as I'm still trying to find one myself.

You have no idea what was unleashed during the Gulf War.

Wishing the best for your friend,
Trooper

I call myself a senior veteran of Gulf War Illness because I was one of the first to be so sick that my civilian doctors suspected my service during the Gulf War had a lot to do with my rapid health decline. My first experience with Gulf War Illness occurred before Gulf War Illness had a name. I am one of the first veterans to aggressively track the death rate and the overall deterioration of Gulf War vets' health. I am also one of the earliest veterans to be tested, aggressively treated, and to improve with prescription medication and hospitalization.

I call myself a senior veteran of Gulf War Illness because the string of Army Reserve and civilian doctors I visited beginning in 1991 vowed that there was no way I could have the diseases showing up in my lab reports. But, almost all doctors either repeated the tests to confirm their findings, or they aggressively treated me with medication. Since 1996, all civilian doctors I have visted have tested me and/or treated me, based on the lab reports and medical records I collected upon my discharge from the Reserve and from many clinics and hospitals across the nation.

I call myself a senior veteran of Gulf War Illness because I am the only veteran I know who has tested positive and/or has been treated for four of seven categories of Gulf War Illness. Those categories are 1.) bacterial or microbial infections not found or rarely found in the U.S. before Desert Storm, 2.) chronic viral infections not found in the U.S. before Desert Storm, 3.) parasites not normally associated with the area of the United States where I live and where I had lived prior to my service, 4.) fungus not stemming from surgical infections of over-use of antibiotics, and responsive to medications normally reserved for AIDS patients or patients recovering from chemotherapy.

The remaining three categories probably could not affect me: 1.) in-theatre environmental factors 2.) PB pills 3.) chemical exposure.

I am the only veteran I know who has been as sick as I was beginning with my overseas and military vaccines in November 1990, and who has survived the infections. Unfortunately, the sick vets I knew or met through the Internet or through the media during those early years are dead now.

I am the only veteran I know who has successfully approached a civilian Infectious Diseases specialist with lab reports in hand, and who has successfully been treated so that I can still function in society.

And last, I call myself a senior veteran of Gulf War Illness because I was older when I joined the service, but not so old that my age could have caused any of my health problems. I was too old to have suffered somatic disorder, as my tests at the V.A. in Dallas proved.

I hope my explanation has answered your question.

Beckie you think you're fantastic

Beckie IS fantastic!!!

To Euro: I hardly ever have to think about it anymore. Because I KNOW!

To Blessed Twice: Thank you so much for your voice of support and your vote of confidence.

To All: The information regarding GWI on the worldwide web is expanding daily. And the promise of sending ground troops into Desert territory with air assaults blasting laboratory contents into the winds is rapidly approaching.

I want us all to be prepared for the next wave of veterans coming back sick from the Middle East;
the next wave of spouses spontaneously aborting fetuses;
the next wave of children being born with noticeable or hidden-but-deadly birth defects;
the next wave of elderly people and fragile young adults showing up with infectious diseases unknown to the U.S. for the past 50 years;
the next wave of pets dying from mysterious ailments;
the next generation of autoimmune system victims;
the next wave of all generations who cannot tolerate vaccines administered without aforethought to their devastating long-term effects.
God Bless us all!