Any idea what ails me?

[Loose rivets]

Notwithstanding I have issues with being allergic to gluten, wheat, soap (- yep, washing up liquid.) I now have a miserable series of aches that may or may not be connected.

I had about 3 weeks of arthritic-like pain around the hips and groin. Stopped my evening walks. I then got a tennis elbow - well, like that. Deep rooted rather sickening pain when pressed deep into surrounding muscles. I then developed a bad neck.

The neck problem seemed muscular in nature, and was more noticeable when trying to rest, but seemed to be getting better with not sitting under my AC outlet. However, this morning, it was horrible. Mostly on the right side and deep in a muscle. I had to grip my hair to bear to lift my head. I also felt generally poorly with diarrhea, though this may well be a red herring.

I can't help feeling there may be a connection, because the elbow seemed to start with minimal stress on the joint. They are all just rather similar in nature.

Any ideas? A roaming virus/bacterium - that kind of thing?

Strangely, today's sudden worsening started after not eating much yesterday. Almost nowt. I did manage my mile walk with no problem, however.

[Good Business Sense]

Doctors are not very good on this one !

[Lightning Mate]

This is what I use....

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/Lightning_29/Scotch_zpsd57bea67.jpg

[40&80]

I get all the same symptoms you describe watching the falling apart of my old airline. The best antidote to avoid slashing my wrists over this is pictured above.
Cheers!

[peacekeeper]

The neck problem sounds like a very bad Tension headache I once had for a few weeks, I was convinced it was something really serious!

If your under allot of stress it could be the root cause.

[Loose rivets]

Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Thanks. I'll read up on that.


I have two bottles of Scotch I can't touch. About the second night of a tipple or two, I'm aching like hell everywhere. Don't know much about wheat in Scotch, but one of my kids can't touch it either.

Brandy is fine.

The tension headache/muscle spasm, is something I'll look at carefully. I've been getting some cramps while sleeping. (sweating a lot in the heat this summer) And just about where this muscle is, was where I had a spasm after a bad fall at judo when I was 30-ish. Indeed, it was the sole reason I was eventually given Valium. I wound up during the day and was misery by evening. Once the cycle is broken, the need for a relaxant goes away, but unfortunately, my liking for the power of Valium, didn't. (I was on a break from flying then, you'll be glad to know.)

(Valium worked like magic, but then caused symptoms that were horrific when it wore off. Hence my sticky years ago about Benzodiazepines)



Yesterday was horrible. A bad start to being 73!!! But it's eased considerably today.

My doc at home has pulled probably a dozen blood samples over the last few years. He just glares at me and says, "You're better than I am in practically all the tests, and I'm half your age." Great, but this slew of reactions has made me ill for months before I got a handle on some of the more weird reactions - like soaps. Now they tell me there's soap in wine - to stop the it sticking to the bottle. Oh, my. :ugh:

[gingernut]

Polymyalgia rheumatica is a realistic working diagnosis in a chap of your age (sorry LR!)

There are several diagnostic criteria including this which seems a little complicated.. diagnostic criteria for polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) - General Practice Notebook (http://gpnotebook.com/simplepage.cfm?ID=x20120808142451509679&linkID=75329&cook=yes)

At the very least, you need an ESR taking.

or Would it be worth adopting a "wait and see" approach for a couple of weeks?

[sevenstrokeroll]

you should go to a doctor within 24 hours

have you had any injections of steroid in the lumbar recently?

meningitis?

[Loose rivets]

Er, I think there's some good doctors and medics on here, and I can't afford to go to a doctor unless I'm in danger of spontaneously combustionizing . . . or worse.;)

No, I saw the adverts for lawyers wanting to sue everything that moved about the lumbar injections. Haven't had one of those since 2000. Then it was only to find the company hadn't been paying the BUPA dues, and I was uninsured.

I was very down yesterday. It was a horrible birthday. Better today unless I forget to turn my body when looking left or right. Turning my neck still gives a serious owie.

So much has been done to find what I react to, but I've never been to a specialist in the field. This living two lives spread across the Atlantic makes an awful splits of one's life, to miss quote Ian Flemming.

I'll read the links tonight, hopefully.

[Loose rivets]

Oooerrr. First quick read though has me convinced I've got it, and everything connected with it. :rolleyes:

It's bein' so cheerful that keeps me goin' :} (you'd have to be old to remember that.)

[gingernut]

I have the feeling that I may be visiting you at the age of 108, causing mayhem with the care staff, the only diagnosis being "RTD"

(Refuses to die)

In the mean time, enjoy your self :ok:

[Lightning Mate]

It was a horrible birthday

A belated birthday greeting. :)

[Pace]

Loose Rivets

My guess is your suffering from BS !!! No not bull**** but boredom syndrome :( It is a very serious disease and can cause all sorts of effects you mention.
My best friend was a ferry pilot at the age of 78 bringing 30 single engine wrecks over from the USA to Europe and beyond in the last three years of his life.
He had a love of life which was amazing and acted like a man 20 years his junior.
Sadly he stuffed it crashing one of the aircraft 2 years ago but he was a happy man.
A true inspiration!

Get a life age has NO LIMITS to what you can do in your life only man does

[dirkdj]

Try soaking in a hot bath with Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) for 20 minutes. You need to put about 600 grams (about two coffee cups) of magnesium sulfate in a hot bath. It will be absorbed via your skin. Epsom salt can be bought for about 1-2 € per kg if you buy a 25kg bag.

[Loose rivets]

The links above are intriguing. So many 'hits' and some very subtle possibilities to connect whatever-this-is to some known science. Just one small one being, the dry cough. Never occurred to me this was anything but allergies, but it happens in Texas and Essex, and goes on for days. Then, clear as a bell again. It has never made sense . . . until now.

One glaring omission is the absence of headaches. Thank heavens. But I do get periods of diminished clarity. It's a very subtle difference, a bit like having a head cold, and is always accompanied by an increase in tinnitus - a warning I associate with having a simple virus - but a very definite indicator something is wrong.

The thing is, when I get a break from these issues, everything seems bright and clear and I'm back to being a bouncy 30 year old for a while. Want to polish the cars, paint the house and flirt with the pretty girl down the road. My systems are capable of working fine. All I have to do is find the formula to keep the reactions turned off.


The rest is a compulsive ramble and not for the hardworking professionals.


I remember baths. I used to have one I could swim in back in Essex. Now, with this protracted visit to America, I'm in a land where it's as though folk don't actually bath, but just dip bits of themselves into an eggcup. When I got chiggers, (garden is a bit wild) I needed to really heat the little buggahs out. Red hot bath, then surgical spirit on the affected areas. Nothing else has ever worked. However, never could get my considerable mass submerged an American bath, and that includes being a guest in quite nice houses. But it sound nice, and I'll try again.:p

When I was in the UK, my mate implied this gung-ho thing. Just do it, says he. In this case it was take a friend from the east coast to LHR. I'd had a beer or two with him, reacted badly, and was really ill. I said, you just don't understand. I wouldn't make it to Chelmsford, let alone Heathrow and back - not if my life depended on it. He'd been 'power walking' for miles with me the day before, and just didn't believe the difference. Sometimes I can't believe it either. Just a packet of crisps, with the wrong stuff sprayed on them can leave me virtually bedridden. Some UK crisps (chips in the US) were fine, but with some, I can almost feel the chemistry going in.

I haven't mentioned recently the Anaphylactic reaction I suffered c 2001. Thank God I wasn't flying by then. I was totally disabled on the side of the road, talking to an imbecilic 999 operator who said I had to have an address to be ill at. It was like a nightmare, as until that moment, I was the holder of a class one medical and I had no idea what was happening. I hadn't eaten a thing that morning, but had used hospital soap to wash my hands. My hands became fat, red and very, very itchy before the affect became 'global' and I was falling out of my car trying to dial.

One of the wags at the pub dialed frantically after being stung by wasps. He knew he hadn't got long to live and couldn't get to his epi-pen He was way down a farm lane near nothing whatsoever, and the Medivac team landed beside him and saved his life. Just the luck of the draw. Although he didn't know it, as he dialed he was virtually line of sight with the aircrew.