[Katie]

Dear Ali,

I can empathize with most of what you are saying. Up until last September, I spent the previous eighteen months curled up in bed, with not only the pain from five herniated discs, but this all over feeling of illness.

It felt like a combination of the worst hangover ever mixed in with a bad case of the flu. I ached all over, was nauseous as well as had bad vertigo, and could not move most days without the room spinning around me. My joints were all puffy too, along with a lot of other symptoms.

I was sent to an ENT specialist for the vertigo, etc, and he could find nothing wrong.

It turns out that I had developed some pretty serious food sensitivities, along with any additives, etc. to the food and environment. One doctor originally thought that I had fibromyalgia although that hasn't been firmly diagnosed, but I did look it up and found that an elimination diet might help.

I got rid of dairy and that was not bothering me, then I went on to grains and bingo! I've been off all grains, including rice, barley, wheat, etc. and I'm feeling much better. While I've only seen a 'regular' allergist, he suggested that all my medications, many of which I can't tolerate and had to stop, have triggered this. And he could find no 'allergies' through skin tests. While my diet is very narrow, it is much better than the agony I was going through. And the grains I have had to avoid do not make sense, like the rice...it is not supposed to be a common one for sensitivities, but when I eat it, I get horrid abdominal cramps, etc.

All I'm saying is that you may be going through something similar....check out what you are eating in regards to the puffiness you are experiencing, and the depression. It can affect you on both counts. Unfortunately it is very hard to get a single doctor to diagnose anything like this. You may be better off going to a naturopath, if there are any near you. They often can help when conventional medicine can not.

If you can eliminate the side issues, then the pain does get a bit more bearable, and if you can get a friend in to help with the paperwork, then that stresser will be lifted off your shoulders also.

Please take care of yourself. This forum is a blessing, and we will try to help you through this.