May Be a Shot in the Dark

[TheRoof]

Yeah I'm not really the hypochondriac type so no worries there..I was just looking for any input into similar situations or experiences..just to point me into some other directions that I haven't already looked..that's all.  I really do thank those of you for your help and consideration.  I've had more replies and help through this forum than on any of the health forums and websites!

[bluntmaster]

my cousin has been seriously sick for the past year and half, maybe two years and they couldn't figure it out at first.  they initially thought it was just mono or something.  he'd get numbness in his arms and different places.  I forget his other symptoms.  they removed his gallbladder and all this crazy shit and he was still sick, he's basically confined to his room most of the time now.  I asked my dad what the name was but he couldn't remember.  it's something that athletes get and blood clots in different parts of their body causing the numbness.  they couldn't figure it out for so long because there are only 3 doctors in the US who are specialists.  one is in ohio.  sorry I can't remember what it was called.  not really much help.  hope you get it figured out.

[Jenny]

haven't read all the posts in this, but you might be anemic.
have you had mono? it might be a post-viral idiopathic thing. it's funny, i'm experiencing the same thing. try getting a lot of sodium.
i have tmj, too. just odn't chew gum or over exert your jaw, it comes in waves for me.

you might be orthostatic... you might want to get your kidneys checked, too. mine aren't abosrbing sodium at the moment... i've been perscribed gatorade, cup-o-soup and also some pill i have to take every three hours.

good luck, seriously. being sick sucks.

[getinthevan]

i have tmj, too. just odn't chew gum or over exert your jaw, it comes in waves for me.

I also have TMJ.  I remember at first they said that caffeine can affect it as well.  Sometimes my jaw starts to hurt and I'll get splitting headaches.  I also have problems when atmospheric pressure changes drastically (weather fronts, large storms, etc).  Luckily the last few days we've had massive storms and I've been fine.  

Mygeetah - I hope something someone has said helps, even in the slightest.  

[capt. scotty]

Yeah all the bloodwork (full blood panel) came back a-ok....I've tried a Chiropractor which felt really good but no improvement

Well, some of those problems I think can definitely be corrected by a chiropractor. Your numbness (especially), tinnitus, and possible TMJ are illnesses that chiropractors have consistently helped. Chiropractors, through manipulating and removing subluxations of the spine, make your nervous system function a full capacity. Your nervous system, which is basically the Fed Ex for your brain, receives sensation messages from sensory nerves and delivers them to your brain, which your motor or movement nerves then send the brains message to your muscles and internal organs. Those problems I just listed clearly deal with the sensory portion of your autonomic nervous system, or involuntary motor system. Which is different from the voluntary motor system which would be nerves that allow you to move your arms and legs and such.

Im only in my 1st trimester of chiropractic school, so outside of that its hard for me to elaborate on what you said where the main problems - dizziness and disorientation.

How often did you visit this chirpractor? For the conditions you're listing, I would recommend 3 visits a week for probably 2 months and see if your debilitating condition diminishes somewhat and if your spine seems to be reacting favorably to the adjustments and becoming aligned normally. Based on the results of the bloodwork and lack of help from MD's, I sincerely recommend you see a chiropractor 3 times a week for a month or 2 and see if you start to feel better and your ailments lessen

[capt. scotty]

Don't let those fake doctors crack your neck, unless they did and that's why you are in this mess in the first place.

Jaimoe, I enjoy and respect your hockey insight, but this quote deserves a big FUCK YOU

Not that its all your fault, because you see chiropractors as 'neck crackers' which is not the case. Aside from the fact we take as many, if not more in some instances, hours of classes as medical doctors, chiropractic care deals more with helping your body so you dont have to go to a MD. As I just said, your nervous system is the system that pretty much controls your body and what everything internally is doing. If your spine is misaligned in various places, it impacts those nerves that are exiting that vertabrae, whether it be to your hamstrings, shoulder muscles, or liver. If these nerves cant relay the messages the brain wants them to send, that leads to many complications, including pain, restriced movement, and possibly disease.

My dads an MD, and MD's are without a doubt a necessity, but holistic medicine, especially chiropractors, in combination with MD's, is the best way to monitor&maintain health, as well as to prevent acquiring a disease. Its even being researched right now how chiropractic care helps lower your blood pressure. So would you rather take some BP medication every day, or see a chiropractor once a week or something? Going to a MD when youre sick or in pain only occurs when you get to that point, visiting a chiropractor helps prevent you from getting to that point by allowing, among many things, your immune system to function at its full capacity

[ItStillJaimoe]

I made the "fake doctors" crack more tongue and cheek a la George Costanza more than anything. After having a severe case of sciatica two years ago (I had it for five months), I went to a progressive chiropractor that works more with muscle manipulation and acupuncture. After around eight sessions I was cured. I know chiropractic medicine is invaluable, but it can be controversial, like the aforementioned neck-cracking. My family friend lost years of his memory due to a chiropractic neck-crack. This is not an isolated case and you know it isn't. I know of other chiropractors that manipulate babies. I have a problem with this. If you don't, then fuck you too buddy.

[capt. scotty]

Ive absolutely never heard of someone losing memory from an adjustment. Its definitely a skill and you need to know youre doing, and neck (cervical) adjustments are the most intensive as far as knowing what youre doing, but ive never heard of a memory problem due to an adjustment - was this publicized at all?

Secondly, I have no problems with adjusting babies. Adjusting babies is different than a normal adjustment - force is minimalized and unnecesary bc muscle development in babies is obviously minimal (and muscles make adjustments, or adjustments holding, difficult typically).  Neck adjustments, where a typical adult or child would have their head twisted, are not done on babies.

It really all depends on how the birth goes, but difficult and even normal births put stress on the baby. Theyre being pulled out of the birth canal by the head and neck - this causes stress on the spine and spinal cord. These days, many pregnant mothers get chiropractoc care not only to assuage this but to help with nutrients being supplied to the baby, as well as to support normal development. C-section is really the best way to go because it puts less stress on the baby's spine compared to normal birth that I described(not to mention allows for a quick birth as opposed to a 10 hour labor), but as I just said and think backed up, adjusting babies is not out of line by any means

Im really interested to hear more about this memory loss though. Ive heard of stroke complaints, but never memory loss

[ItStillJaimoe]

C-section is not the best way to birth babies. Vaginal births squeeze the amniotic fluid out of the babies lungs. C-sections are not that safe for women either. Unless I trusted my pediatrician, I'd never let my baby go to a chiropractor. You know working on babies is not an easy thing due to fragile bones and chances of nerve damage.

I really can't believe you've never heard of the chance of memory loss and other more severe problems from neck manipulation: http://www.chirobase.org/15News/neurol.html

[ItStillJaimoe]

BTW Capt. Heady, if you want me to find out more about my family friend regarding his memory loss, I'll try to contact him soon. He still made out ok since the incident; he's a math professor at Penn State.

[capt. scotty]

Wow, thats kind of eerily full circle because I graduated from Penn State in 2007..I just opened that link you posted and will read

[ItStillJaimoe]

Did you take math? My friend's name at Penn State is Professor Fabbri and he organizes some pick-up hockey at the school - and even some good old fashioned Canadian road hockey.

[capt. scotty]

No, didnt play hockey and dont recognize the name

I read the article you posted and honestly, its hard for me to register it as proven fact. I may be wrong, but Im pretty sure Canadian insurance doesnt include chiropractic care at all. Not to mention, that 'article' even has grammatical errors - I dont see those in medically peer-reviewed articles. Articles like that are what make a random web browser wary when they probably shouldnt be bc its a biased article/web page. Ive even listened to renowned US chiro's talk about the state of chiro care in Canada and they talk about how basically it goes with their acknowledgement that its not needed. So basically, Canada blows it off as beneficial care for one's health.

Anyone can post articles or make web pages on the net, and that page reminds me pretty much of just that.  There is absolutely no science or research that backs that page up at all.

Care in the US has gotten to the point, even in these economic states, that chiropractic care is covered to a degree by insurance. There is the chance that problems may occur from an adjustment, but malpractice cases in chiropractic are basically non-existent compared to medical doctors. That in itself almost tells the story

[ItStillJaimoe]

Government chiropractic medical coverage was dropped in 2004 in Canada, but most businesses  offer benefits that cover extended health care and provincial governments run other extended health care plans. Anyway, this may not make sense to you, but Canadians aren't big on malpractice suits and suing compared to our US cousins. It's just the way it is here. I rarely hear of malpractice cases in Canada in the news, medical and/or chiropractic related.

But back to Mygeetah, I hope he gets better ASAP.

[capt. scotty]

The malpractice statement wasnt to single out Canada. Actually, I meant it more towards the US. I realize more ppl see MD's than Chiro's, but the malpractice frequency really speaks for itself

and agreed, I hope Mygeetah gets better. Its only been a few hours since my original post, so Im interested in his response to that first post way back when where I wondered how much chiro care he actually received

[ItStillJaimoe]

I'm actually concerned if he did indeed see a registerd dietician and not a nutritionist. Also, local drinking water and parasites from traveling to different countries can cause symptoms that he is experiencing. My wife had a virus for two years after our trip to Venezuela four years ago.

[Hawkeye]

I've been through a similar situation.  It was around October 2003 when it started.  I had the worst flu of my life around that time.  Around 2 weeks later I started getting bright red blotches around my eyes after showering, no other symptoms.  Then 2 weeks later horrible stomach pain.  Not sharp, just like constant indigestion.  Then headaches, blurry vision at times, skin abnormalities (I had like 50 neurofibromas on my forearm, google them, they're gross).  Then blood in the stool (red, not black).  Also ringing in the ears, nerve "sensations", etc, etc.  Basically they (the symptoms) were really bad and really bothered me for about 6 months.  After that, the stomach pain pretty much went away.  The skin lesions lasted about a year, then mysteriously vanished, other than a few here and there that come and go.  I still have some symptoms but have learned to just deal with them as best I can.  I have already wasted far too much of my life worrying about these problems.  I have been put on anti-depressants (cymbalta), but decided to quit taking them after 2-3 months.  They didn't seem to help that much and had some unpleasant side effects.  If any symptom changes or gets worse, sure I'll see the doctor.  But until then I'm just not going to worry anymore.  Just wanted to share my story so you know you're not alone.  The best advice I can give you is not to let it control your life.

[Penny Lane]

i would do anything other than see a chiropractor---maybe change your diet completely to see if that makes a difference? i've heard accupuncture helps, also.

good luck to you ;-( i hope you figure it out.

[bowl of soup]

Hey now, lets not all diagnose this poor fellow with MS etc... We aren't doctors and it's not fair to get someone worried even more than he already is (if you are a he?). Just get more tests done, go to a bigger city with better specialists. I hope your American medical system and health insurance won't fail you.

No diagnosis made.  Our friend in here posted looking for some help and his story sounded very similar to what my mother experienced - I related the story and I think that was the purpose of the original post; you know, to get some ideas.

Don't be so prickly, it's not our fault that God planted you north of the border.  Oh Florida, my home and native land..........

[Jaimoe]

I really don't think I warranted a jab. We are all trying to help this poor fellow out and he never mentioned what insurance he has or if he even has insurance. As for God planting me in the north, well, I'm agnostic but hope there is a god so I can one day shake his or her hand for "planting" me here.