A Medical Question for everyone on ATS...

I have a friend who always seems to be ill...

It will either be constant headaches, not one day goes by that she does not have a headache or some kind of pain in her head.

She always has aches and pains in her body, her arms or especially her hands will always ache and be sore.

She gets nauseous alot, stomach pains and stomach cramps.

She says she can feel everything inside her body, like she can feel every breath, every movement, every ache, like she is overly concious of everything that goes on inside her body.

She had been to a few doctors, had blood tests done etc.

But nothing, they usually just say it's a virus or a this or that and give her antibiotics, but it doesn't help.

They can't find a cause for any of this.

So it's come to her conclusion, mine mostly, that it is a mental thing.

Can stress, anxiety and whatever else cause these kinds of problems ?

Any advise if very welcome...i am stumped and very worried for her.

[edit on 20-1-2009 by Gears Of War]

First off, I'm not a medical professional (yet).

This is interesting, please keep us updated as to how this pans out.

This sounds a lot like the simple flu...muscle aches, nausea, headaches... Answering some questions would help.

How is it different? Can you explain any other symptoms, or those in more detail? How long has this been happening, and how have the symptoms progressed? What does her diet, sunlight exposure, and exercise (walking counts) consist of?

It can be psychological. I don't know if those symptoms match, but aches, nausea, and headache seem to fit the bill. But they also fit tons of other diseases, too. I can't think of anything that wouldn't show up off hand (and I'm exhausted, last thing before bed), but I'll look after you post with more detail. Maybe some others will have better luck.

reply to post by Gears Of War


check out fibromyalgia, a non fatal but chronic condition that can & often does lead to many of the symptoms you have described,it is often brought on by shock,stress,trauma or virus,it may make sense?

Could be a lot of things. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors dismiss someone who presents with a plethora of symptoms such as you discribe as a hypochondrac.
Antibiotics don't help with viruses, so any doctor that prescribes them indiscriminately for viruses is being irresponisble.
I would suggest two courses of action.
1. She should have a mental health evaluation by a psychiatrist.
2. She should talk with a doctor and ask if this could be fibromyalgia. A lot of doctors don't believe it even exists as a disease, but there are specific guidelines for diagnoising it. And there are a couple of medications that seem to help.
She may have to hunt for a doctor who is willing to consider the diagnosis, but it's worth a shot, especially if everything else has failed.
The mental health evaluation is important, because your friend may be suffering from some form of schizophrenia, or she may be severely depressed.
Anyway, that's where I would start. (By the way, I've got a little expereince in this stuff. I'm an RN.)

This may be what she has...

en.wikipedia.org...

How old is she and her weight?

sounds very similar to what i went through in my early twenties but not a single doctor was able to give me any answers. In hindsight, i attribute it to a combination of things including:

Very high stress levels and anxiety
Poor diet
lack of sleep
too much exercise
Being too thin

... and did i mention stress.

Hmm... I am a medical professional... and I might be able to help here.

However, we need to know much more about her condition. How long has she had these symptoms? Does she have a history of anemia? Does she have any other symptoms? (fever, weight loss, enlarged spleen, abnormal lab results)

There are several types of viral conditions that can cause fatigue, pain, and headaches... some for months, even.

Epstein Barr ( mononucleosis is a form of EPV) virus can cause illness for a long period of time.

We actually need much more information on her symptoms and what she has tried (antibiotics, rest, alternative meds, etc...) to be able to help her.

What does her diet consist of, and how often or how much on a daily basis does she eat 3 well-portioned meals?

Malnutrition and lack of sunlight (Vitamin D?) come to mind, as well as what others have said, fibromyalgia. My Ex-wife has been dealing with fibromyalgia and Lupus for the last 11 years or so (just as docs were starting to notice them and name them), and the symptoms sound much like hers. Still, they are a bit vague, and more info is needed to delve as deep as possible. She has always had a hard time eating with any regularity or nutritional sustenance, and because of Lupus - has to stay out of sunlight. I've tried time and time again to get her to eat normally - even doing my best to take her out to eat because she says when she cooks it, the smell makes her nauseous, to no avail.

The trips to the Doctor's you stated she's been through sound exactly the same. No one new anything, or even wanted to risk an educated guess. They always gave her Prescriptions to cover all her symptoms separately thus causing a huge vicious circle of side-effects (different thread's worth) leading to even worse symptoms. At one point, she was taking 21 prescriptions at once and some twice a day. Psychotropics were the worst bar far. Supposedly for 'neuropathy' (bad brain signals), it didn't take long for her to exhibit very serious and physically detrimental symptoms of schizophrenia as well. Thankfully, that didn't last long.

My point: Definitely look into the Fibromyalgia and Lupus angles before it gets too bad. Try to make sure she gets at least some nutrition and sunlight into some semblance of daily routine - if it's as low as it sounds, it might just be enough to start turning things around.

Also, if it's as bad as it sounds (bad enough to post something here), she most likely IS very depressed. Don't let her get suck(er)ed into taking more than her fair share of drugs if you can help it, pharmacom rarely cares, although (on a good note) it IS possible to find a pharmacist with dignity and integrity every now and then who may actually pay attention. Certainly don't give up on that search without completely exhausting the possibilities.

All the best in your mutual endeavor, and I must say, Bravo to you for helping her in such a manner, for I'm sure you feel her pain almost as much as she does.

I had headaches early on in my life (first 20-25 yrs) I finally grew? out of them, but the tests found only that at some point I had a small stroke or blood clot that had caused some damage.

But I distinctly remember when I was young having very bad pains all over my body as a boy. Every morning it was the same, I would hurt very bad...didn't know why, and just toughed it out.

I think if she is younger, it could have something to do with the shots we all receive as kids. Very nasty those shots, worse than the diseases they are meant to counter to some.

I wish her the best. Prayer helps.

hrmm im no doctor but it could be an allergic reaction to reality.

It could be a tumour in the brain, or maybe stress and anxiety built up. Then again one om my mates used to smoke the pot alot and got constant migraines. They only stopped when he stopped the pot.

Thanks for all the responses, it is appreciated.

i've read through all your replies and will be asking all the questions to her in more detail soon, probaly sometime tonight, then i'll be able to give you some more detail.

Now, I wonder if our own friend, Donalds approved chemical, aspartame may have anything at all to do with her symptoms, perhaps she can cut out the diet pops and all the other artificially sweetened crap she eats or drinks.

Recently I let down my guard and began drinking soda's containing Equal and noticed that I was experiencing headaches and more body aches and pains. I am once again attempting to break away from Equal as a sweetening agent but now with the new found evidence I'm reluctant to use Splenda as a substitute. Since most of my sweetener intake is the form of diet soda's I've decided to choose the Splenda as the less of two evils but am trying to limit my intake of even that artificial sweetener, allowing myself to savor more real, raw sugar and readjusting myself to drink more water. In essence the verdict is still out on whether I will see any improvement in my condition.

Has she been checked out by an eye doctor? My wife has a condition called pseudo tumor cerebra. It causes headaches, nausea, blurred vision, and quite a few more.
She also was diagnosed with a form of myalgia. Because of a nerve that was/is pinched behind her ear.
If she hasn't been checked out by a good eye doctor I would suggest it. They can see behind the eye to see if you have pseudo tumor cerebra. They also can test your spinal fluid pressure to check it.

In addition to my previous post, be sure to mention sleep patterns.

If you think it is mental, make sure to see a PSYCHOLOGIST, not a PSYCHIATRIST. Big difference there, only see a psychiatrist if a psychologist can't help.

Mononucleosis is a possibility (like the flu), but I would think (not sure here at all) that a blood test would find that.

For eyes, I have no idea, but it IS is good idea to go to get an eye checkup every so often. This is the perfect excuse to go to an opthamologist (not an optometrist as you suspect illness - worth the extra money), so I would.

It doesn't sound like lupus, but myalgia is a symptom. A wiki page for things to look into:

en.wikipedia.org...

I'd be afraid of anything neurological, that's probably the worst case scenario.

Good luck.

Stress, depression can cause a multitude of physical symptoms, as can the side effects of the medication to help the patient.

These can include : Muscle pains. A feeling of being able to map your internal organs by the pain you are feeling. Tiredness due to lack of sleep . Constipation pain and many, many more physical symptoms.

I hope your friend gets a diagnosis, sometimes just knowing what is actually wrong with you can make such a diffirence.


Respects

[edit on 21-1-2009 by captiva]

Sounds to me like Deperession / anxiety with a touch of hypochondria.

I suffered similar a couple of years back, the aches and pains, stomach cramps and such like is the anxiety / panic attack, your body can go into what is called fight or flight where it draws supplys from the rest of your body to keep the vital organs going, the stomach cramps especially are a sign of this.

Because of this you will / may develop hypochondria, because you start to think something is going wrong with your body, and then you can hear your heart beat all the time, you notice every little thing that happens inside you.

The two can fuel each other really bad and it can take a full health examination to even start to get you to stop thinking about it.

I have fibromyalgia, it's kind of like that.
The hands, knees, legs, back, neck, stomach, head... yep.
Stress makes it worse. Antidepressants, in my case, did not help.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


Have you ever found anything that helps ?

reply to post by Gears Of War


heres a link for you. Linky

Its extremely rare and hard to diagnose.