opus88

I'm so envious! I have a very long, skinny face with a long, scrawny neck and excessively thinning hair. I look like an absolute freak with short hair, and can't even do bangs to soften the look because of the terrible thinness. My only saving grace is that my hair is somewhat wavy, so I have a little volume at the sides. Some days, just holding my arms up long enough to wash my hair in the shower is really difficult. But I guess I'm not ready to sacrifice my already far-from-model appearance for the convenience of the short hair. Sigh . . . vanity wins.

Hi, Rubbernecker! You may want to consider switching from Gatorade to Emergen-C powders - low or no sugar and high in electrolytes. (You can get them at health food stores or online.) Also, avoid all artificial sweeteners. B6 and magnesium are a huge help to me for just those symptoms you mentioned, especially the fatigue. I get the best results from magnesium lactate, and do ok enough on mag oxide. Mag citrate is supposedly one of the best absorbed, but many people have intestinal trouble from it. Celtic sea salt is much better for us than table salt. It retains its natural chemical components which help our bodies in many ways. Table salt is stripped of everything and then artificially fortified with a tiny bit of what was taken out. If you want to try the Celtic sea salt, get the damp-ish kind instead of the dried out, easy pour stuff. Another potential situation is that you may be negatively reacting to something - maybe dairy or grains, particularly wheat and/or gluten. These things (plus other things as well) can cause the bloated, tight feeling. Been there - it's pretty miserable. Good luck - hope you feel better soon!

Hi, all! Just wondering if anyone has pain in their hands. I've never had this, but over the past few months it has appeared and worsened. Not that I can't use them (thank God - I'm a pianist!) but picking up a book or stack or papers is very painful. It doesn't seem to be in the joints, but rather in the length of bone, or maybe muscle or ligament running from one joint to another. I can also feel it a bit in my feet, and sometimes very mild throughout most of my body. I'm worse upon wakening, along with stiffness and a feeling like it's swollen even though there's no visible evidence. It's not fibromyalgia - I don't have the pressure point sensitivity. Any thoughts?

I had this trouble really bad for many months and was able to easily deal with it without prescriptions. I learned that my specific gravity was low. I had to use 4 different cell salts mixed in 3 cups of water twice a day (just drank that mixed water throughout the day). Sure enough, my body began holding onto the water, and not only did the frequent urination go away, but the chronic dehydration was greatly improved along with lightheadedness and the gray-outs upon standing. Before I struggled with the frequency issue, I had constant middle-of-the-night problems - often twice, sometimes 3 or 4 times awakening to hit the potty. Taking parsley capsules got rid of that trouble for me.

See http://fmaware.org/fminfo/brochure.htm#diagnosis to get more answers about fibromyalgia, including the pain points. National Fibromyalgia Assn. (I've never inserted a link on this site - hope it works!)

I just sent info and the link to a local news person who does daily interviews - everything from silly to serious. I suggested a week-long series on chronic invisible conditions and what "healthy" people can do to help. Hope he'll take the ball and run with it!

You are not alone! 1. Absolutely. Between lack of desire and lack of energy, it's a killer - even with a wonderfully understanding partner. 2. Once in a while but more overall than one-sided. 3. Palps, etc. have been there in the past, but never so bad I had to quit. Sometimes helps to cough. Because I know it's more annoying than harmful, I don't worry about it. 4. Yes - it's from an adrenaline rush that our bodies don't handle properly.

Carol, While I have not personally read the HeartMath book, I have heard really wonderful things about it. (Actually, I think I bought it a couple of years ago but never got around to reading it! I'll have to check my shelves when I get home.) Whether you have POTS, NCS, diabetes, asthma, arthritis or even NO health trouble, biofeedback is an excellent tool. As for the salt, if you use properly processed (almost completely unprocessed) Celtic sea salt instead of table salt, it has the synergistic nutritional qualities still with it. Regular table salt is processed until it's dead or almost dead, then synthetically beefed up again. I've seen a positive change since starting on the sea salt a few months ago. Good luck - keep us posted on what you decide!

I'm pretty vocal about my frustration and disgust with the medical world. They are brainwashed in med school (and the western world has been brainwashed into believing doctors know everything about the human body). They know how to test for everything and how to interpret those tests accurately every time, right? Everything can be cured by a drug, right? If you don't respond to a drug or they can't make sense of your symptoms, you need to stop wasting their time because it MUST be in your head, right? It makes me SOOOOO angry! Their actions and inactions have driven me to alternative therapies. And you know what? It was the best thing that could have happened. I feel SOOOO much better working with nutrition than I ever did with their drugs. Am I cured? No, and probably never will be. But I'm definitely healthier overall and feeling tremendously better since I stopped allowing them to make me sicker while they used me as a guinea pig.

Yes, mine is typically worse in the morning. My nausea seems to be much less troublesome than many others here, but it's still far from pleasant!

I'm not as restricted on the eating times as I used to be, but if I eat the wrong thing or the wrong balance of carbs to fat to protein, I'm doomed for anwhere from an hour to a week. Absolute vigilance is critical for me, with virtually no room for flexibility. But if that's what it takes for me to feel fairly decent, then it's worth it!

Garlic is known as a helpful supplement for those with high blood pressure. But it also makes my blood sugar drop, creating even more trouble.

Have any of you tried taking digestive enzymes? Some are made specifically to take before meals, some after. I take both, but I don't remember how/why they are different. Maybe some of you would find some relief through the enzymes.

Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome (note the word Syndrome, meaning it's not just MVP) is a very real form of dysautonomia, and is what I have struggled with since the age of 6. POTS is not one of my biggest complaints at this time, although I cannot stand for very long without feeling faint, and I have low BP and chronic dehydration (among many, many more symptoms). Some suggest that MVPS and POTS are actually the same thing, and that what it's called depends on your most prominent symptoms and the knowledge of the person who gives you the diagnosis. Don't expect an MVPS diagnosis from a cardiologist - most have never heard of it and the majority of those don't care to be educated about it. Your daughter's situation sounds very much like MVPS to me - stronger POTS symptoms may or may not present as she gets older. But my feeling is that I don't care what they call it and I don't need to see a doctor to help control the symptoms. (I did my share of that - 20+ doctors over the years, none of which made me feel physically or mentally any better, and most making me feel worse.) I've worked like crazy thru nutrition instead of drugs (magnesium and B6 being very high on my list of important supplements), giving me a relatively normal life in spite of this condition. But I was lucky enough to not have the debilitating type of symptoms until adulthood, so maybe that makes a difference. There is an MVP Center in Birmingham, AL. Maybe that's even farther away for you than Vanderbilt? The MVP Center has info at www.mitral.com - you may want to take a look.

Briarrose, My back spasms have almost completely disappeared (actually, they only show up on occasion now, and are short-lived). It started to improve after beginning hefty B vitamins and magnesium, and now I rarely have to think about it, much less deal with it.

I have read that the 24-hr. test doesn't really give a clear answer. Think about it - it's just averaging your output, not showing surges and drops. There is another way to test, but I don't remember now if it's hourly collections or exactly how often. I wish I knew where I had read that, but maybe you could ask your doctor about it.

I don't know if it will be the right thing for you, but I get incredible results from a homeopathic remedy called Nux Vomica. My nausea isn't nearly as severe or constant as what you describe, but this remedy is nearly miraculous for me. I almost always only need to take one dose and the nausea is gone. Considering your history, it might take more doses for you, but it's very inexpensive and has no side effects, so it would certainly be worth a try. You can take one every 15 min. if necessary until the nausea subsides. Just be sure to take it at least 15 min. before or after food or drink. You can get this at most health food stores or online.

Hi, Carol! I wonder if the Gatorade might be at the least not helping, or at the worst, causing some extra trouble. Some of us with this bizarre set of symptoms have found that sugars (even natural) and carbs can trigger an adrenaline rush, which may in turn trigger the racing and pounding heart. Just a thought. If you are trying to add electrolytes, you might want to consider Emergen-C drink powders instead. You can get them at health food stores and even some grocery stores, or on the web. Good luck with your test - I hope it tells you what you need to know.

Definitely look into the ear rocks. Also, have you tried chiropractic work? The dizziness along with numbness could very well be from something pinched or out of alignment.

Blackwolf, Can you take plain old no-caffeine aspirin? Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, you may be better off with that than with ibuprofen anyway. Most of the time if I need something, aspirin works for me.

Hi, Jessica! You asked why it takes longer for you to fall asleep if winding down by watching TV. It's because our brains respond to movements on TV in the same way we respond to real movement. We perceive the quick movements, sudden noises and color/lighting changes as potential dangers; therefore our brains are constantly preparing us for either fight or flight. Since we do not have an outlet to respond to that physical reaction while watching TV, stress (think catecholamines, adrenaline, etc.) builds and can even spill over into everyday life. Even with our eyes closed, the flickering lighting, changing sound, etc., from the TV keeps our brains alert for danger, which of course keeps us from falling asleep. There is more to it than what I mentioned above, but think about what just those flickering images do to children's developing brains. We are setting our children up for tremendous stress at a very young age just by allowing them to watch TV for more than a few minutes a day - no matter how "educational" the programs may be.

I had horrible trouble with back pain for about 5 years, especially lower back, until I started taking magnesium. It calms the muscles and nerves, among many other things. B6 also can play a role in muscle pain. Magnesium helps B6 to work, so maybe it's really the B6 that helped my back. But either way, I seldom have any real back trouble any more.

Migraine, My health trouble has ruined 2 successful careers - one as a school music teacher, the other as a choral conductor & workshop leader. It has also completely taken away my ability to sing - not only can I no longer stand long enough for a concert, but I can't breathe deeply enough (never had much lung capacity to being with) and can no longer find the muscle strength to support the tone. As of about 3 1/2 years ago, I have lost my ability to match pitch - I never know from one note to the next if it will come out right. And I was a voice major and still teach private voice lessons! I can't tell you how much I miss it . . . I've also had to give up theater due to nerves that never used to be a problem, horrible memory problems and brain fog, and of course never knowing if I'll feel well enough to get through a rehearsal or performance (which just adds to the stress, therefore creating that intolerable cycle that's nearly impossible to break out of). I do still perform as a pianist with an outstanding and fun choral group, but I must take a beta blocker and do a lot of praying to get thru the shows. I HATE relying on a drug!!! But it's the only one I take - and without it, that would be the end of my music, which has always been my life's purpose. Doesn't it make you wonder why you would be given a talent and a passion, only to have it slowly taken away from you? How do you deal with that?

Migraine, My blood pressure sits low but I haven't had any trouble with magnesium making it worse. I just did a quick search on side effects, and none of the references mentioned anything about blood pressure. In fact, the only real side effect could be loose stools/diarrhea, in which case you just cut back on the dosage. That seems to happen often with citrate, but I haven't run into it yet with the lactate form I use. (And yes, magnesium is very helpful to most people with migraines.) Sorry about your apnea - hopefully the CPAP will help. Keep us posted!

Could that person have been referring to Familial Dysautonomia which mostly afflicts those with a Jewish heritage? I don't know much about it, but if I remember right, I believe the FD could be seen as a cousin to MD, and is most often a terminal condition. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here!) I've had a couple of people mention the FD when I say "dysautonomia" and I have to explain that mine is just dysautonomia, not familial dysautonomia.