I get this sometimes when i'm stressed/emotionally het up or weather is cold/wet -achy knees,wrists etc and flushed/flu like feeling that lasts about 6-24 hours .
Think it might be autoimmune/stress related to some degree.

Yes, I would agree. Have you seen an allergist or a rheumatologist about this? With changes of weather, allergies can flare ( being allergic to the tree's pollen that the front brings through?) Joints that react are often arthritic in some fashion. Good wishes! TC. JD

I believe that chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia can do that too.

I have fibro (have had it for over 15 years -- caused, I believe by a chemical spill from a heating/air conditioner at work; 15 out of 20 people came down with various 'permanent' illnesses).

I think that people with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibro and other immune-response diseases are like the canary in the mine-shaft. They're an early warning system that something's 'not right' in the environment.

Tim, you might want to talk with your doctor about trying either Cymbalta or Effexor XR. They are chemically similar and they both (especially the Cymbalta) have an unbelievable response on fibro-like pain -- pain that's pretty widespread and constant throughout the body but not in 'exactly' the same place every time -- basically a body immune system that's 'shot to heck'.

In addition to the fibro, I also have a blood condition that causes neuropathy and pain in the hands and feet and forearms and forelegs (??), a compressed spinal cord in my neck, and a functional deformity that's getting worse in my spinal lumbar area. The Effexor XR actually knocks back pretty much all of this pain and allows me to function. If I had been given this drug more than five years ago, I would not have had to stop working.

Good luck. BIGGEST HUGS!!

Barb

ooo.. that fibromyalgia sounds awful.. can't imagine ongoing pain. I just had the bad flu-like pains the first 3 months. And such weakness..

I would think I was tons better, then try walking the sidewalk to the mailbox. When I got back, I'd be so weak the rest of the day. Then, as I was improving, I would drive 5 blocks to the grocery store, walk inside and get a loaf of bread (real close to the checkout) and after I got home, I had to be in bed at least for a day. CRAZY stuff.

After several years, besides rejection, I could have an episode of low-grade fever and fatigue come on, and I would be wondering, "What happened???" -- and then I would realize that I had been eating peanut for several days in a row.

L-Lysine is an amino acid. And there is another amino acid found in large quantities in nuts -- and it depresses L-Lysine in the body. Taking lots of L-Lysine (up to 36 tablets a day) would bring me out of a relapse.

For years, I kept up a minimal dose of 8 tablets a day.. then 4. These viral things that keep attacking my body (even crops of warts that all pop up at once and have to be removed). It's getting old.

Canary in the mines, eh?? I always have tried to avoid airborne chemicals. Never ANY insecticides, even when I live in apartments. Not that I eat healthy, but at least I'm not breathing many bad things.

I am so surprised about the air conditioner stuff. Was that one of those big on the roof things or something? I know about freon, but I'm uncertain what else they may contain... but so many of you getting illnesses, it sure does sound like the tie-in factor.

Theresa

No, Theresa, it was the units that run along the wall in office buildings here.

The one that leaked was right next to my desk.

There were 20 of us in a confined area. 15 of us got sick immediately. And, after follow-up, turned up with various permanent 'things' -- from asthma to allergies to fibromyalgia.

Wasn't freon. Some kind of green stuff that the manufacturer claimed you could eat. Yeah, right, that's why we're all so sick.

The immediate response for the 15 that got sick was: nausea, extreme sore throat (from the nose to the bronchial tubes), vomiting, dizziness.

The state EPA did find some problems with the area that we were located in -- the outside air vents were closed (a huge NO-NO) and the cubicle partitions were too high for good air circulation. Nobody addressed the green stuff.

If I had the brains then that I do now, I would have sued. I did win two-year unemployment claim against them

Hugs.

Barb

Tim, it MIGHT be CFIDS. I have that. For YEARS, I would get fever real easy, when there was emotional stress. Took L-Lysine for it - really worked. Had to avoid nuts - peanuts, cashews, stuff like that. If I ate a can of cashews, I would get a very low-grade fever and feel exhausted, so weak.

My immune system is more compromised than it used to be. A few days of stress, and I can have cold sores develop, stuff like that - you name it. Maybe I should start the Lysine again. When the fevers finally went away after quite a few years, I thought I was home free.

I asked for a forum.. and I will look for some good information. But with your losing Brenda and the terrible stress you were under the year before, it could certainly happen. It can be the result of cumulative stress.

You know when I get it the worst? When I feel rejected. That horrible, horrible feeling of being rejected. Once I put it all together, it became much more manageable - not as severe.

I'm not saying you have it for sure -- and I only had those terrible flu-like aches the first few months, but just telling you what I know about what it was like for me..

Theresa