Hey there my fruity brethren,
This is my first post on 30BAD and while I want to introduce myself and get chatty with all of the wonderful people I know I'm going to meet here, but my health comes first in this situation. I know it's a long read but please bare with me.
I've been vegetarian since I was 13, vegan for two years, HCRV since early this year, and recently 80/10/10 but for the past couple of months, I've had a strange feeling in my head. At first, I didn't pay any mind to it because the symptoms were common to me and it didn't seem all that threatening but now it is a full-blown nightmare that I just want gone immediately. The biggest issue I have had is a sucking feeling/feeling like there's a lack of oxygen in my brain. Everyone I've talked to calls it a 'headache' but it isn't one, not to me at least. There is very little pain, it just feels like my brain is swelling or in serious trouble, I know it is because it is so severe now and it affects everything. The next biggest issue is the fact that I've had many heart palpitations within the last five or so months. This was diagnosed firstly as stress/anxiety/panic attacks, since I've been prone to them in the past, but it's gotten increasingly worse over time and completely uncontrollable, I never know when my heart is going to self-destruct next. I'm just going to cut to the chase with the other symptoms I've been experiencing on & off during each day and list them here as there are too many:
If I left any out, then so be it, but you can get the general idea as to why I'm freaking out here. Last night I felt like I was going to faint, like literally faint because this brain issue got so bad, it's getting worse and worse every night. Something interesting here is that when I eat large fruit/green meals, the symptoms seem to be weakened for a few hours but then return immediately afterward and they are worst at night, before bed. It's worthy to note that I do have a vitamin D deficiency but I have been supplementing for almost a month now with 10,000 IU vegan D3 daily and getting sun whenever possible (it's cloudy as hell here for some reason this year). I recently had extensive blood work done to check on my current health. I have improved leaps and bounds going HCRV and the results proved it with everything reading perfect EXCEPT for my vit. D, however upon leaving the doctor I also noticed that my b12 was quite low at a score of 205 and even though I know the proper test to figure out my real b12 levels was not performed, I feel as if low b12 might be playing a role in all of this.
Late last week/early this week, I've had some scares with all of this. First, I woke up to heart palpitations (not out of a nightmare, just a strangely peaceful dream), which has never happened before and I immediately began breathing exercises to try and quell them. They did not improve, only worsened doing this and I got up to walk around and calm myself down. At this time, my left arm went numb and began to spasm. I thought I was having a heart attack but convinced myself it was just a severe palpitation and that everything was going to be alright but then my body went into chills and I started having tremors. So I drank some water and laid down flat, with everything off and the window open. Within around two hours, it was completely gone. The next incident was just that night as I was sitting in bed talking to my mother about what had happened that morning. Without any warning, I felt a lightning bolt (this is what it felt like to me) pierce my brain, then my heart and fizzled out down my lower abdomen. It was there and gone in an instant, but the pain I felt in that instant was unlike anything I had ever felt, it was so severe and scary. The last incident was two days ago when I went with my grandmother to an Asian buffet (they have raw fruit there) and right when we were about to pull in, my brain felt as if it were going to explode. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I don't blow things out of proportion or exaggerate in regards to my health. I am honest in saying that my brain felt as if it were swelling and my head was going to explode. I never, ever want to feel these things again and just thinking & typing about them is making my heart beat faster.
I have this eerie feeling that this has been going on for years but is just now coming to a head, due to the fact that I've been experiencing toned-down versions of symptoms like these on and off for many years, though they've always been passed off by doctors as panic attacks, anxiety, vertigo, paranoia, etc. I can tell you that the doctors where I live probably should not be practicing or considered professionals. I live in the south (U.S.) and here doctors are very quick to pass off symptoms as meaningless or they will generalize them. It's a "get 'em in, diagnose 'em, give 'em the latest drug, then get 'em out" type of medical environment here and I've had to go to Nashville (capital of my state) to get anything done in past years. My doctor didn't even pay attention to me when I visited him last week regarding this issue and was expressing my concerns and symptoms. His assistant even went as far as to argue with me about how I was wrong and had generalized anxiety disorder (don't get me wrong, I know it may look like that from a distance but it isn't if you bother stepping close and examining me). He insisted I see a cardiologist, even though in his words "There's nothing wrong with your heart." and I had to insist many times on seeing a neurologist until he caved. It's no surprise that I had to make the neurologist appointment myself and that he is taking his time on the referral for that particular appointment only. I never get angry but these 'doctors' are pissing me off. You can mess with me all you want, but messing with my health, especially when I'm in such a vulnerable position right now. I can even tell typing now that something is wrong with me. I used to be so articulate and now my words just seem jumbled together and dumbed down.
Anyway, I won't go any further and will leave it at that. If you read through all of this, major kudos to you and I love you for it. I will try and respond to comments but all I feel like doing right now is lying in my bed. Thank you for your help.
Tags: D, anxiety, b12, brain, breathing, disorder, extreme, fatigue, heart, help, More…
Permalink Reply by Chivalry on Hey there, Diospyros. I don't have the cash for it right now (though I should soon) and the only place to get proper sublinguals in my town is a small health food store with jacked up prices. I also thought that shots would be far more effective at this point.
Permalink Reply by Fruitpixie on Hi Chivalry,
It sounds like you could have fibromyalgia. The symptoms vary between people but my partner has fibro and has most of those symptoms. Most doctors will just tell you your stressed or have sinusitis and ignore the other symptoms because they do not fit into their textbooks. My partner had to push and push for every test, scan e.t.c under the sun but everything came back as being fine. This is a very common situation for people for fibro and it can be really depressing.
You would need to see a rheumatologist for a diagnosis.
:)
Permalink Reply by Fruitpixie on He really does have most of what you listed and other things to. He has also had stroke like 'episodes' (we both thought he was dying once) and gone to the emergency part of the hospital to be told it was a panic attack! Grrrr
Permalink Reply by Chivalry on Pixie, thank you!
I never thought it could be fibromyalgia, never made those connections before. My mother has fibromyalgia but it's a very mild form and she take Lyrica for it (I would never put that in my body, though). I really hope I don't have to go through as many tests as your partner had to but whatever I can do to find out what this is, I will do. His story really does sound similar to mine, doctors always tell me those things and I just want to curse them and walk out sometimes but that just isn't my way. I will look more into this.
Permalink Reply by Greenmama on My husband took Lyrica briefly for peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes. It was awful! He couldn't concentrate or read. He got suicidally depressed and had obsessive thoughts and fears. I don't know how people take that drug.
Permalink Reply by Chivalry on That's awful! I'm really sorry that happened to him but yes, I'm aware that these things do happen to people on this drug. I worry a lot about my mom being on it but I can't convince her off of it, she really thinks she needs it and it messes with her motor skills when she takes it (as in, she begins talking nonsense at random moments, laughs/cries involuntarily, can't come up with words, balance is off, etc.). Idk how people take it either.
Permalink Reply by Greenmama on Aw, I'm wondering if you just feel really sad and wish you could help your mom. My husband is much better now, thank you for your kind words.
Permalink Reply by Chivalry on I do, but I realized a while back that we all must choose our own paths and even though people are hurting, we have to allow them to until they stop refusing our help. I'm glad he is better now and thank you for the kind words.
Permalink Reply by Greenmama on Yep, you can't force anyone to change. :) But sometimes it meets needs to mourn for the pain that they go through.
Permalink Reply by Peter Csere on Fibromyalgia is a collection of symptoms rather than an actual testable, quantifiable disease. It can be caused by many things. Many doctors will tell you "it's just in your head" then will try to prescribe you antidepressants or benzos. Fibro is a real thing. It can often be agitated by MCS, which you may have. Another disease which big insurance denies exists and then big pharma tries to prescribe addictive psychiatric meds. Also, people with fibro tend to be ultra-sensitive to EMR (electro-magnetic radiation). Think of it as electric smog. Try turning off all electronic devices in your room when you sleep. Turn of your cell phone as much as possible. Turn off the wireless router at night when not in use, or just plug in and disable the wireless function.
"Curing" fibro usually involves a lot of little things rather than one or two big things. Don't wait for a doc; order some B12 shots online. There are a lot of threads here that give suggestions of reputable places to order. Read up about MCS and see if there are things in your life that you can eliminate that might be triggering some of these symptoms. Or air filter in your room etc. Try to get as much EMR out of your life as possible. Eat as much organic fruit + vegs as possible (as opposed to non-organic.) Try to find as many things as you can that are negatively interfering with your health and eliminate them. Also adopt a yoga/meditation practice. Yoga heals. Also listen to lots of calming music. Music heals. Get lots of sleep.
Permalink Reply by Greenmama on MCS = multiple chemical sensitivity
Also, I know people with fibro who have gotten help from Bowen Therapy (google it). It also helped my husband with his neuropathy caused by diabetes.
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