I went to the doctor and complained.. a lot. I hurt so much, and they ran a full battery of tests looking for HIV, Lupus, SLE, rheumatoid arthritis, all different types of arthritis, etc. I contracted Scarletina (Scarlet fever) twice within a few months of each other. (Incidentally, I just contracted Scarletina again just this week.)

I had swollen aching joints, like my thumb. It would swell, become red and tender, and the next day it would be another joint. She mashed all the "tender points", and they all hurt. I payed cash for these tests because I was so desperate to find some pain relief. Over 700 dollars on these tests!

I was 165 lbs at 5'7", and wearing a size 8/10. I worked out religously 6 days a week weight lifting and doing yoga. I was almost solid muscle, eating no more than 7 grams of fat per day, always under 1,200 calories. I took lactic acid for the burn before workouts, carefully measuring and weighing all my food and writing down every bite, every drink and tabulating my daily totals. I would carbo load before a hard workout, then return to the low fat diet.

"Fibrositis" (fibromyalgia), she said, "though your thyroid is on the low end of normal, but that's fine." She offered no assistance, no relief, "You just have to live with it."

And I did. I would get up in the morning, begrudgingly dreading the first few steps out of the bed. I could not stand up straight at first, nor could I place my feet flat on the floor. I limped bent kneed to the bathroom.

Minor chores and daily living became difficult. Just brushing my hair took exhaustive effort. (I have waist length hair) I could no longer stand to cook a meal. To this day, I have to sit on a stool to cook and do dishes, though I find myself standing a lot more. I could not grocery shop, nor take care of my pool or my yard any longer.

I wept to see my strong lean body melt away into a jiggling, pain ridden lump. I had pitting edema and no known cause, they just constantly fed me lasix, up to 60 mg per day. I became plagued with frequent gallbladder attacks, being told I had "food poisoning" or "intestinal flu." I even called the health department on a restaurant after being told they gave me bad food!

Ok, so I go on and ask a couple people about it

"That's just a diagnosis they give you when they can't find out whats really wrong."

"Thats just a diagnosis they give you when they think you are a hypocondriac. It makes you feel better to have *some* diagnosis."

I was *so* ashamed, and felt helpless.

That was more than 10 years ago. For 6 months last year (2002) I couldn't walk when I awoke, it took about an hour for me to be able to put my feet flat on the floor and to have a normal gait.

I slept 16 hours a day and could only stay awake for 4 hours at a time. I became addicted to caffiene, because it was the only way I could hold down a job. (Which is supposed to actually make the condition worse.)

I have actually lost some feeling in my left leg after it tingled and went numb over a peroid of several months.

I started Atkins, taking Centrum, and calcium January 4th, 2003.

3 Weeks into it, a little light bulb goes off above my head. The pain.. is almost totally GONE!

I had gone upstairs to get something, and it wasn't till I came downstairs I realized! OMG, I just went up the stairs and didn't hurt! I no longer have to live on the bottom floor, sleeping on the sofa because I can't climb the stairs to get to the bedroom.

Not sure if it was the supplements, or the diet, or perhaps both, but it is amazing!

I have occasional small pains, but after learning "to live with it",
I am now not buying Tylenol and Advil in bulk, huge bottles, in fact, I haven't needed it since about a week after I started the diet.

Not sure what it all means, but who cares? Whatever I am doing, it has to be right!

~Fantasia

I am so glad you finally found relief!

...and so sad it took so long. And after all the doctors, you did it yourself.

I also had very severe gall bladder attacks last year during flareups. They said they could find anything wrong.

Sorry to hear you too had to suffer. I know the pain you went through, and how it feels to be told they can find nothing. My heart goes out to you for the suffering I know you have endured. You know you aren't imagining it, and common sense says pain like that means something is terribly wrong.

My first gallbladder attack happened when I was pregnant with my son in 1984 misdiagnosed as stomach flu. Even though I was hospitalized in premature labor for 3 days, I was not diagnosed until 1998.

I hope that you get someone to listen if you are still having the problem. My gastro ordered a Hida Scan, but with no Kinevac injection (this makes the gallbladder contract so they can measure the output). He diagnosed me with IBS. Even when I went to the hospital, the staff doing the scan seemed highly puzzled as to why the Kinevac wasn't ordered. Said it was extremely rare.

A week later, I asked the surgeon for a Hida Scan WITH the Kinevac, and bingo! Normal ejection fraction is 35% or more. Mine was a meager 14%, and in a near constant state of contraction. Acalculous cholecystitis, meaning inflamed gallbladder with no stones. Not everyone fits the gallstone diagnosis.

Be persistant, even if it means finding another Doctor. The damage caused to other parts of your digestive system over the long run is just not worth waiting and seeing.

~Fantasia

I am new here~tho, not new to FMS/Lupus and
re-newed to Low Carb (did it three years ago,
lost twenty five pounds, which I now need to
remove again...my bad...)
Anyway, your post was heart wrenching
and yet uplifting at the same time
because we feel so alone, so ashamed, so lazy,
so out of tune with others when we have
these ailments...tho, a good rheum. doc. helps,
it is still hellish hard.
We are SO lucky, tho, considering the ways
of the world and the suffering people
must undergo...
still, it was so comforting to read your posts
on "our" subject. God BLESS you all!!!!!

Another newbie. I suffer from CFS and chemical sensitivities. I see a doctor that specializes in these ailments. I'm quite sure that she would tell you that you have allergies to wheat, corn, starchy vegetable. All the things that you have eliminated from your diet, and now you feel better! That's so great! Keep it up. You might want to try dairy-free at some point also. Diana

I have been suffering with similar symptoms since a car accident a while back. My doctor had me go on a low carb diet. (He said it has helped almost 1/2 his fibro patients.)
I am curious, what does gall bladder pain feel like? I've been getting an odd pain in my abdomen for a week or so.
Thanks!

Wow Fantasia,

Your symptoms are exactly like my own. One morning I could hardly get out of bed, let alone do stairs. After 3 weeks of this pain, I saw my internist. He told me I had age related arthritis, he could see it on my xrays of my back, but most of my complaints were from fibromyalgia.

My pain had a name. I have been on Bextra 20mg. twice a day and it helps quite a lot. He approved of my doing the Atkins WOE. I will be curious to see if my fibro goes into remission with this new way of eating.

Hi Chloë Mae,
My doc says those whose symptoms don't dissapear are at least lessened with a LC diet. (in his experience) I say it's definitely worth a shot.
What is Bextra? Does it have side effects? Most pain meds make me itch or

I took it and it helped me....but I took it specifically for low back pain that I suffered with. It is a non steroidal anti-inflammatory. It is very expensive and my HMO would not approve me to take it for Fibro or anything less than a major debilitating arthritis....

I hope this helps...