Hi All!!

First off, i have to say, reading through posts on here it's great to finally find some people who understand just how painful whatever it is i'm going through!

In january 2008, i fell ill, felt like the flu...i became very ill and ended up in hospital, turned out to be a urine infection! which i thought unusual at my age (21!), they put me on antibiotics (amoxicillin) for 2 weeks, though i stopped after the first few as i woke up in the morning with nasty burning that was unbearable...but went away as soon as i stopped the medication.

The day after i started suffering from acid reflux which has taken nearly 6 months to go away!! during this time i suffered from minor infections like the common cold, sinus issues and a constant migraine after banging my head slightly during my sleep thanks to nightmares (again, started after taking amoxicillin).

The migraine has lasted from late january through to now, it's still there every waking moment and it makes me feel dizzy, disorientated and confused.

During early febuary i had eye pain which i can only describe as 'lightning' bolts shooting through my optic nerve in my right eye, the next morning i woke up to 'fireworks' in my vision which over the next few days turned into the condition known as 'visual snow' which has put me under alot of stress, very much so infact that i now suffer from depression as after images came, both positive and negative.


Doctors could not work out what was wrong with me, though as i live in the UK my GP's are quite useless and refused to send me for any type of scan and still do to this very day, only thing they have offered is anxiety medicine, which at the time i did not find helpful!

Ever since the migraines started, i've felt my health slip away abit, i became in a slump, became very depressed, sat in very awkward positions in my pc chair all day watching movies, tv shows, anything to keep my mind off it, dropped out of work...at first i didnt really feel like i was getting worse, but over time after sitting this way i started noticing when i leant on the table it would hurt my muscles, i just thought it was general fatigue, until october that is, when i felt a migraine coming on and despite my back hurting i decided to sit in the same position again (if you're wondering, i sat like i was crawled up like you do on the floor when you are crying, but on my pc chair so alot of pressure was on the bottom of my back/spine and on the back of my shoulder area) and after a few minutes, i felt the bottom of my back feel numb, i got up, rubbed it, feeling went back so i didnt think much of it, but a few minutes later as stupid as i am i sat in the same position again, could not get comfy,numbness came back and migraine was pure hell so i decided to go lay down for a while...

That's when my life turned to hell...within minutes of laying down, i was feeling burning all down the right side of my body, mostly in my arm...

I managed to not freak out and fell asleep, when i woke up in the morning, the burning wasnt there, until i sat down, then all hell broke loose, it was everywhere, my arms, my hands, my legs, my back, you name it, it was there, i went to the doctor who said it was probably just stress and to get rest, so i did and the next day came and went...the burning finally settled down...but then i noticed, when touching things it now hurt, a strange feeling, a little annoying and bothersome but not to the point i wanted to scream in pain, this turned into a sensation of being 'scratched' when light clothes touched my body, i had to be careful about what clothes i put on, i saw the doctor quite a few t imes concerned with this and kept getting told it was anxiety and stress....

Roll on 2 weeks later, i feel my shoulder/neck/back area is very tense, but i have work to do and head off into town, was out for about 10 minutes and noticed my legs really started to ache, like they was very tense, strange i usually walk into town at least once a week without problem, i guess i must be stressed.

I get up the next day, my legs hurt like i have ran a marathon, just tried to relax but again i had abit of work to do, i got up and within minutes felt my lower back area tense up and feel as if 'muscle' is trapped so i have to sit down, i fall asleep, when i awake, the sensitivity to touch has got worse by at least 20%, this scares me and i end up back at the doctors, again i'm told its stress related and sent on my way home.

I notice i'm tensing up even more and sit with my left arm on the pc table, bad posture and my chin leaning on my hand, feels like im stretching my left arm out of place, but i'm depressed, i dont care, boy i wish i had because the next day my left arm feels out of place and 'lighter' than usual, over the next week this progressed from feeling light and out of place to 'being hard to control it', even to this day, i have a hard time getting it to do basic things, it still feels out of place.

Back to doctors i go, who again tells me its stress and i've pulled a muscle, ok i say, they put me on amitriptyline as a muscle relaxant to try and help, i take it before i go to sleep, i wake up and can barely move, for 3 days i was asleep most of the time, little bit more relaxed but very dizzy and feeling generally unwell so i have to go off that, it affected my vision too, have blurry vision now and feels like i have abnormal eye pressure!

Things settle down for a while, whatever is wrong with me, does not progress.

Until 2 weeks ago, my back was hurting me to the point i was in agony, they send me to an osteopath who says my back is extremely tense, so she gently massages it to try and loosen the muscle, works on my lower back, which admittedly felt great and i could move about a little more, until the next day that is when again, sensitivity to touch is a little worse, although main pain is better, i see this as more of a plus sign...so a week later, my next session, she does work on my upper back/shoulder area to try and release the tension and get rid of what i call a 'buzzing' sensation on my left side...after a few minutes of work she has to stop because i'm in agony, my arms are aching and that's the end of the session.

Before i even manage to get home the top of my back is burning, especially the shoulder area, this does not go away, by morning i have stabbing pains all down my arms, my muscles hurt and i feel like i have been beaten up, and now i am here, 2 weeks later, that pain has got worse, the sensitivity to touch has got much much worse and turned from a scratching sensation to a scratching sensation AS WELL as what feels like sensitivity to touch but with pressure too, like squeezing my hand hurts, holding a cup hurts, opening the door hurts, my arms still ache, i get this nagging pain behind the shoulder blades.

I've been back to the doctors twice and cannot get ANYWHERE, they say it's all in my head.

I get a maximum of 2 hours a sleep a day before i'm waking up in major amounts of pain, i cant feel my left leg, it's very numb, my right leg feels very tense and both legs feel swollen when i wake up yet when i check them they are fine, i feel like i am going insane! i have stabbing pains all over my hands/feet/arms/legs and even in certain private areas from time to time, is this really neuropathy? i need answers!

I need something for the pain, i just cant handle it anymore and i'm starting to wish i wasnt alive!!!

Thankyou for taking the time to read this, i know it's very long but it feels great getting so much off my chest, i hope this great community can help me.

From your post, I see that you are not receiving proper treatment for a chronic headache.

You claim to bang your head against the wall? Then you have a headache unremitting since last Jan 08? Something is very wrong here.

Migraines are vascular headaches. A migraine that lasts almost a year with no relief? That is a very serious thing.
Sometimes people call headaches --migraines-- and perhaps this term is not really what you have?

I don't know how medical protocols are done in UK, but I can't see any doctor not addressing a year long headache.

I think you should start there and get help for that.

Hi. I am so sorry for what you are going through. Mrs. D is correct. The first thing that popped out at me was when you described your headaches and the eye problem. My friend Marilyn had the exact same thing. Her doctor called it an Ocular Migraine and gave her migrane meds. It helped.

To go to a doctor with all your symptoms and then be told "it's all in your head", well I wonder how they became doctors at all.

Can you go and see a neurologist on your own? Or do you need a referral where you live.

Again, I am so sorry for what you are going through.

You have found some friends here. Keep posting. Someone will come along and give you better advice than I ever could.

We even have members who live in your neck of the woods.

Take care

Melody