Before you answer "heck no" I'm not talking about my sense of humor, my politics, my sexuality or any of the multitude of things about me someone might consider "Out of the Norm."
This is more of a medical question.
All my life I've hurt, just a little bit, all over. aches here, pains there, most of the time not too noticable or easy to ignore. I've never thought much of it. I figured everyone was like this.
But this morning the aches and pains were a little bit worse than normal so as I reached for an Aleve it occured to me... Is this normal? Might I have a condition of some kind and not know it?
Now I sit here in the glow of an OTC pain reliever. my muscles don't hurt (near as much) my joints don't ache. As I concentrate on the parts of my body that just half an hour ago were hurting, they feel... nice... Is this how a normal person feels?
Or was I right in the first place and everyone just hurts all the time and I'm being a big baby?
Pix
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Ever been tested for fibromyalgia? Not that I know anything about that, but it kind of sounds like a mild form of how my neighbor described how she feels most of the time.
And no, it's not normal. Go see a doctor. ((Pix))
Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
There IS no test for fibromyalgia. It's a diagnosis of exclusion only.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
That sounds incredibly horrid... I'm going to look that up and definately mention my pain to my doc at my next checkup.
I mean, since I've had it my whole life it's not killing me, right? and it doesn't hurt THAT much that an aleve doesn't fix it...
What'll prolly happen when I mention it, though, is it will be put on my medical record and the next time I try to get health insurance (outside of work of course) they'll notice it and deny me coverage because of it. And the doc will just tell me to take Aleve when it hurts...
Thank you Jeni. It's nice to know it's not normal. That I'm not just being a baby.
Pix
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
No, it is not normal to be achey all the time. There are conditions benign and not-so-benign that can cause that. For instance, me, myself, I have joint pain all the time and take medications for it every day. But then again, I have lupus, and that can cause joint pains.
Fibromyalgia, a more benign, but certainly undesirable, condition, has muscle aches as a hallmark sign. It may be due to a sleep disorder, and can be managed with tri-cyclic antidepressants, even though it is not due to depression.
A good place to start would to go for a physical with your regular physician and explain your symptoms. Bloodwork can indicate what kind of problem you are having, and may lead to some treatment to manage it.
A caveat for long-term Aleve users: Aleve is an NSAID, a class of drugs that can cause stomach problems over the long term. Long-term use may put you at risk for ulcers. Always take it with food to protect the stomach.
Posted by firebird (Member # 1971) on :
Pix ...
The quick answer is that I don't think that is normal.
However, there was a long period of time that I had very simillar symptoms. I ached all over, my joints hurt, I was exhausted a lot of the time.
It turned out that I was alergic (intolelrant) to a large number of foods and that when I ate them, the food (once digested) atacked my white blood cells leaving me essentially 'sore' all over.
I can't find his website at the moment ... well ... I can't find the one I was looking for that had a list of symptoms but here is a link to what appears to be his new site
If not, I really suggest that you see a doctor ... it does not sound right to be in pain everyday.
Good luck!
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Little aches and pains are pretty normal. Having to take OTC painkillers on any sort of regular basis because of them isn't. If it's something that you have to take something for fairly often, I think you should mention it.
Mentioning aches and pains to your doctor doesn't mean you're going to lose your health insurance. When applying for health insurance, it's standard for them to have you fill out a questionairre (which asks about serious and diagnosable things - like stroke, heart attack, heart disease, cancer, etc.). It's not like they read your medical record.
Fibromyalgia won't kill you. It just makes life miserable and is incurable. Like Theca said, there isn't a test for it. They test for everything else that could cause similar symptoms first.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Firebird: THAT is probably it!
I'm allergic to almost everything. But usually I associate hey fever, migraines and tummy trouble with that. It didn't occur to me that it could be causing my general malaise as well.
Unfortunately there's no way to cut foods I'm allergic to out of my diet. Corn, pepper (red, white, black, paprika, etc) and potatoes are in almost everything...
Guess I'll just be takin' Aleve (with food) whenever I feel particularly bad...
Pix
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I have many general aches and pains. Some of them are allergy-related, some are just auto-immune stuff. You CAN at least minimize allergies in your diet, if you want to. You just have to be vigilant and cook a lot of your own food (or find alternate sources that are non-allergenic for you.) You can also talk to your doctor about allergy medications which may help improve your quality of life dramatically. And it doesn't hurt to rule out an auto-immune disorder, just in case. (Like I said, in my case, symptoms are both allergic and auto-immune, not one or the other.) Just be open to solutions; if you just give up, it will probably only get worse, not better.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
You may want to talk to a doctor though. taking pain relievers, even OTC ones on a regular basis can be tough on your liver.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
I've been having this done. It seems to work fairly well for me.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Pixiest: Firebird: THAT is probably it!
I'm allergic to almost everything. But usually I associate hey fever, migraines and tummy trouble with that. It didn't occur to me that it could be causing my general malaise as well.
Unfortunately there's no way to cut foods I'm allergic to out of my diet. Corn, pepper (red, white, black, paprika, etc) and potatoes are in almost everything...
Guess I'll just be takin' Aleve (with food) whenever I feel particularly bad...
Pix
That may not be it, though.
Your statement that "you'll just be taking Aleve" whenever you feel bad worries me a bit.
You can't know for sure what is causing your pain without consulting with a health care professional. I definitely think you should discuss it with a doctor. As others have said, having to take Aleve and similar painkillers on a regular basis due to your aches and pains is not normal.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:I've been having this done. It seems to work fairly well for me.
That just sounds too much like Scientology for me to be interested.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
NAET is based on acupuncture. If you want to argue about acupuncture, prepare to leave this forum or lose.
Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
I think accupuncture is great for many things. This, however, is just wrong. Or at least, not proven correct yet. So NAET sounds pretty iffy to me:
quote:We now know that most illnesses (i.e.headaches, back aches, joint pains, addiction, PMS, indigestion, cough, body aches,etc.) are caused by undiagnosed allergies
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Hi steven! I missed you. You are always great for livening up a health-related thread with non-traditional alternatives.
Explain to Pix about the microclusters of rhodium and irridiuim, and the RAF and the facial remodeling.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:NAET is based on acupuncture. If you want to argue about acupuncture, prepare to leave this forum or lose.
It's not "based on acupuncture". The site you linked to was full of all kinds of mumbo-jumbo, mixed in with just enough legitimate scientific fact, medical information, and CAM information to get everything quite confused. I'm wary of anything that claims that an allergy can be "cleared" in "one session", then doesn't back it up at all. I believe acupuncture is very helpful for many things, my mom goes herself and she's an RN. But that doesn't mean that anything that integrates acupuncture and other legitimate alternative therapies and traditional medical therapies into its program is wholly legitimate.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
Tante, you are a wicked, wicked woman.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Indeed.
Burn her! Witch!
She turned me into a newt.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
A newt?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I got better!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I will need my largest scales.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Hey! I'm not THAT fat! Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
I always feel a little bit uncomfortable (neck tension, or a very very minor ache), but it's so very low-level I don't notice unless I turn my attention to it. I don't know if it's the same thing.
Posted by firebird (Member # 1971) on :
I can eat chicken, beef, white fish, leeks, zucchini, aubergines, feta, fennel, salt, lemon, mustard, honey, bananas, corn, rice, potatoes.
It's not easy, but I generally stick to it. I have to cook everything myself and I nearly always eat steak and chips at a restaurant ... But it can be done.
So, please don't allow yourself the excuse that it is too hard to avoid: Corn, pepper (red, white, black, paprika, etc) and potatoes
I wish my list was that short!
Also, I was very very strict with myself for 3 year and now I can be a little easier on myself. So it is worth persevering.
Good luck .... and seriously ... it is worth choosing to be healthy rather than just treat the symptoms ...
Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
It's impossible to be allergic to sugar. If your doctor told you that you are, then I would suggest you start looking for another doctor asap.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
firebird: My list ISN'T that short. That's just the really hard ones to avoid because they're in everything. I'm also allergic to (among other things) bananas, shell fish and chocolate. I have my worries about gluton (wheat, oats, etc), all forms of squash (including zucchini), all forms of nuts, and milk, but I haven't been tested.
I also have high cholesterol so I have to worry about beef, cheese, and other foods with high cholesterol and fat.
Where I to trim back to only what I know I should be eating, I'd be having baked salted chicken over rice with a glass of water for every meal.
Pix
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
*interested*
Why is it impossible to be allergic to sugar? That's a really cool bit of trivia.
Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
It's such a basic molecule. It's everywhere. We tend to have allergies to proteins. "Sugar" has no protein covering.
I have a problem when eating bananas. My throat starts to itch. One of my friends (usually an unreliable source) said it may be that I'm not allergic to bananas but the cyanide they use to spray the bananas (to kill bugs, I assume). She thinks the very small amount that gets through to the peel is what is causing the itching. Theaca, what do you make of this? (My BS meter is going off)
Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
That sounds pretty weird, yes. I don't know why cyanide would cause itchy throat. Do bug sprays actually use cyanide? That sounds unlikely. I might look it up later.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
There is a correlation between allergy to latex and allergy to bananas. If you are allergic to latex, that may have sensitized you to bananas.
As latex allergy grows more common, banana allergy (which used to be exceedingly rare) becomes more common.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
I don't think I've developed an allergy to latex (yet). I do get itchy with the powered ones (which I haven't used in long time anyway).
Edit: I'm talking about gloves.
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
A couple I know has a son who was allergic to everything. He was only a year old when I babysat him, but already he was allergic to many fruits, wheat, corn, milk, potatoes, most or all nuts, and a whole bunch of vegetables.
Over time he kept developing new allergies. They moved to Arizona, and I didn't hear from them for two years. When I next heard from them, he had developed allergies to every known food except deer, elk, pears, cauliflower, and . . . rice? I don't remember the fifth thing.
They took him to a children's hospital near my home, which is why I saw them, obviously worried that he'd develop allergies to those foods too and would eventually starve to death or die of a severe allergic reaction. I don't know what the hospital did, but whatever it was, it worked. I remember them talking excitedly about how eagerly he ate french fries for the first time.
I'm not sure why I'm adding this except that maybe if you have that many allergies, you may have some sort of immune disorder underlying the problem, and if they can treat such a thing for a child, they might be able to treat it for you. Who knows, though.
Posted by Samarkand (Member # 8379) on :
Is it possible that you have a very bad mattress? I dunno, that would make me achy every day. You also might try yoga - I know that the little twinges and tension I get from time to time go away if I'm good about stretching and such. Most of us use our bodies so much less than they were designed (or perhaps I should say evolved, but that's another thread) to be used, and I can't help thinking that contributes to some of our achy joints and so on.
Also, maybe investigate whether you have some sort of low level arthritis. Which yoga is also good for. Feel better!
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
quote:I have a problem when eating bananas. My throat starts to itch. One of my friends (usually an unreliable source) said it may be that I'm not allergic to bananas but the cyanide they use to spray the bananas (to kill bugs, I assume). She thinks the very small amount that gets through to the peel is what is causing the itching. Theaca, what do you make of this? (My BS meter is going off)
Ha! Yes! Finally! Me, too! Ever since I was little and people think I'm crazy.
I recently had someone who knows tell me about how bananas get here and the kinds of chemicals they are treated with and I think you and I are better off without them. Nasty things!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Being allergic to sugar (were it possible) would essentially be a death sentence. All cells do cellular respiration -- which is how they get the energy to do EVERYTHING -- by processing glucose. And table sugar (sucrose) is simply glucose combined with fructose, so I can't see how one could react to one and not the other.
(Completely leaving aside Theaca's point, which has much more to do with the actual reason. )
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Of course, I think you can be sensitive to too much sugar. Not allergic, but sensitive. I'm allergic to rubbing alcohol. At least, it's gotten to the point where I describe what happens if I'm exposed and they put it down as an allergy.
[ November 11, 2005, 06:41 PM: Message edited by: ketchupqueen ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Certainly. We call that diabetes.
*flees*
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
*sigh* She ran away before I could hit her. Not diabetes, just sensitivity-- like I'm sensitive to pork products and milk. Not allergic, just have to limit them or my IBS acts up.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I know exactly what you mean. And certainly, one can have food intolerances and/or sensitivities to almost anything. That's largely because they are not (as far as they are understood, which I believe is not well) mediated by the immune system. Antibodies are triggered by proteins; other reactions may well not be.
Posted by firebird (Member # 1971) on :
Theaca, before telling me that I'm wrong perhaps you could first ask me to explain a little more clearly?
I'm intollerant to all the foods above. Specifically I'm intollerant to glucose and dextrose although I can eat fructose.
If I eat glucose of dextorose I start to shiver uncontrollably for about 20 mins before falling asleep for about 2 hours. When I wake up I am fine again. You may no believe it is possible but nevertheless that is what happens.
I was very ill, unable to eat anything and keep it down, was throwing up 3 times a day, weighed practically nothing and was sleeping about 20 hours a day but after the Alcat tests that were run by my doctor, and he told me the foods I should avoid, I was eating again within three days, sleeping 10 hours a day and not aching. You may not agree with or understand the medicine he is practicing but it WORKED when nothing else did.
Posted by David Bowles (Member # 1021) on :
Damn, Pix, I'm glad I'm not you!
I was going to recommend you look into a better mattress before the whole allergy/white blood cells explanation arose.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by firebird: If I eat glucose of dextorose I start to shiver uncontrollably for about 20 mins before falling asleep for about 2 hours. When I wake up I am fine again.
Ever have stomach surgery?
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I avoid sugar not because I'm allergic to it but because my immune system seems to take a vacation when I consume it. The more I consume it, the more sick I get. The more I avoid it, the healthier I am.
Not an allergy, no. But sensitive? Yeah, looks that way.
BTW, I also have a very long list of foods I'm allergic to. I avoid them the best I can and I do better. But then, we don't consume much in terms of prepared foods (helps that not much is available here in prepared form), I make almost everything from scratch so I have total control of what we're eating. And doing it that way also means fresh fruits & veggies, which are healthier than canned, frozen, etc. anyway.
You do what you have to. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
(I wish what I had to wasn't reminding every health care provider around not to get near me with the ubiquitous rubbing alcohol when I'm in pain/labor/bleeding copiously... )
Posted by firebird (Member # 1971) on :
Tante Shvester,
Thank you so much for the link. It really describes my symptoms ... the palpitations, the sweating and the alternative diarrhoea.
However, never had stomach surgery so there is no reason why that valve should not function ... maybe I should see the doctor. Or maybe I should just eat smaller meals more regularly .....
Thanks again! Jo
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Yeah. See a doctor. Who will likely refer you to a gastroenterologist. They can take a peek at the integrity of your pyloric sphincter by having you swallow some radio opaque barium (Yum!!) and then taking X-ray videos of where is goes. You can watch on the video screen to see what you look like in there.
There is also this wicked cool thing where you get to swallow a wee little video camera that is mounted on the end of a cable. They take videos of the inside of you. You can choose to be sedated (most people do). Or you can watch on the screen to see what you are like deep inside.
With this diagnostic testing, they can find out what the problem is, and let you know what to do about it. Like having tummy surgery to shore up your sphincter. Or recommend a change in diet to manage your symptoms.
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