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    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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  1. sickness

    Curious about What they used to blame the swollen lymph nodes and low grade fever on

    It may sound strange, but I have named one of my lymphnodes Bruce, as it has a tendency to 'hulk-out' when I'm feeling sicker. I was told by a doctor that sometime lymphnodes just do that for no particular reason ooooo-kay........:cautious: I'm another one who actually has a frequently low...
  2. sickness

    "Secret home remedy" to angular cheilitis??

    Yes, it annoyed me too! If someone really wanted to help people they wouldn't charge money for it. I wouldn't give them my money, just on principle. take care, ness
  3. sickness

    "Secret home remedy" to angular cheilitis??

    Hi, I haven't paid for the 'secret home remedy', but I have seen the sites. My gut feeling is that it's a con. I have had angular cheilitis a few times in the last year. After doing some research, I found that one of the problems is that it is constantly moist. So I tried wiping it with...
  4. sickness

    Neurological? breaking out in a sweat with hot drinks

    Yep, I definitely get this. Pretty much everytime I drink a hot drink. I've put it down to an autonomic thing. My body just can't seem to regulate it's temperature properly. I have the opposite problem when I drink cold drinks too. I guess my thermostat is just broken! I usually wait till my...
  5. sickness

    Red spots anyone?

    Thanks Guys, Erythema Multiforme seemed like a very good candidate, until I read that it starts in the extremeties. Shingles is a good one too. Weirdly, I wouldn't be surprised if you are both right and it is related to my previous chicken pox. I was going to go to the doc if it progressed at...
  6. sickness

    Red spots anyone?

    Hi, I know there has been a recent post on petechiae, but I am talking about larger red spots I have on my back. If I hadn't already had chicken pox I would be sure that is what they are. They are only on my back and have been there for a few days and don't appear to be spreading at all. I...
  7. sickness

    Petechia - tiny red spots - mainly on arms (burst blood vesels)

    Hi, I have tiny pinprick, and slightly larger, red dots all over my arms (and probably elsewhere too). There are hundreds of them, if you look closely enough. There don't come and go, but are there all the time, so I think mine are cherry angiomas...
  8. sickness

    stiff neck what helps?

    I get a very stiff and sore neck, but it is actually part of my migraines. Sometimes anti-inflammatories help, but usually only my migraine pills will really get rid of it. I only use them when it is really bad though (which is most of the time, lol). take care, ness
  9. sickness

    large appetite

    I have this same issue. It seems as though I am ALWAYS hungry. I try to fill up with lots of veges. Doesn't always work though. Salad especially doesn't cut it for me. I eat it a lot, but it never fills me up. I have always thought that it must have something to do with the body's lack of...
  10. sickness

    Since your ME/CFS onset, have you caught the Cold & or Flu more or less frequently?

    In the year following my Glandular fever (my trigger) I thought that I caught a lot of colds, but it actually could have all been my ME. Since then, I could probably count the number of colds I've had on one hand. That's in 14 years! Even when everone around me has them, I don't usually get...
  11. sickness

    If CFS is an autoimmune disease, could boosting the immune system be harmful?

    I always wondered why I got worse when I stopped smoking and drinking. It could have been that these things were depressing my immune system somewhat, and that stopped when they did. Just my two cents worth. take care, ness
  12. sickness

    Looking Bad

    When I was still able to work, I would get people telling me I looked awful. But only if I hadn't put make-up on! On the days when I was wearing make-up, no comments. It used to make me laugh, because basically it meant that the 'real' me looked terrible. take care, ness
  13. sickness

    Healthy until contracted ME/CFS?

    A lot of this sounds very familliar to me Little bird, especially the bit about thinking I was perfectly normal!! Up until the last few years I though everybody was in pain all the time! I really feel like quite an idiot about some stuff. I have wierd sort-of static all over my vision, I though...
  14. sickness

    Healthy until contracted ME/CFS?

    Great thread, very interesting! I always thought that I was perfectly healthy up until I got sick with ME following Glandular fever. With the benifit of hindsight, I think there was stuff going on all my life. Apparently I had very bad measles when I was quite young, don't know if that has...
  15. sickness

    Herpes Simplex 2 and Twitching

    Personally I think that herpes viruses are definitely a factor. I had Chickenpox in '95 and EBV in '96, never was the same again. Both of these are herpes viruses. I also had a doozy of a coldsore soon after that. Herpse viruses are nasty little things, have a real affinity for nerve tissue and...
  16. sickness

    This Requires A Very Good Explanation

    I agree, Dr Judy must be one of the most scrutinized scientists right now. She would have absolutely nothing to gain by doing this deliberately. She knows that everybody is watching her very closely. People make mistakes, simple as that. Hell, I've probably made over a dozen, just in this post...
  17. sickness

    CFS, PMS and Perimenopause

    Two medications which have helped me are Naramig (naratriptan) and Maxalt (rizatriptan). They are the only things to ever help with the pain. Unfortunately, here is Oz they are quite expensive. About $7 per pill!! Not so great when you usually have migraines for 1 out of every 4 weeks! Still...
  18. sickness

    Simon Wessely's Warped Mind Strikes Again

    On a broader scale, M.S., Polio and AIDS were all considered hysteria at some point. Even when people started to die. I remember reading a quote once about AIDS regarding this where the person explained away the deaths by saying that it was just a really bad psychological disease :Retro eek...
  19. sickness

    CFS, PMS and Perimenopause

    Bummer, I was hoping that taking some progesterone might help with my migraines! Apparently my Testosterone, DHEA, and Oestraliol are all low. So guess what? More tests!! Geez, that never gets old:Retro rolleyes: Oh yeah, I also have an overgrowth of Strep in my gut. Add it to the list...
  20. sickness

    I don't get it...

    My 'good' doctor has actually described me as stoic, when it comes to pain. I ignored most of my pain for years, but the all-over muscle pain is hard to ignore. I have started to get what I think is neuropathic pain, and that is quite nasty. 'Normal' pain, like after my nasal sinus cautery, or...
  21. sickness

    CFS, PMS and Perimenopause

    Hi Spitfire, sounds like you have really been put through the wringer lately, you poor thing! I too have migraines with my monthly cycle, however, I get mine the week of my period. Just came out of a week of being migrainey, seems to be lasting longer and has definitely got worse in the last...
  22. sickness

    Article: Pt. III: The Success Stories: Dr. Klimas's Heart Rate Based Exercise/Activity Management Pr

    While reading this article, I thought 'I wonder what my heart rate is?'. So I took it while I was sitting here, quietly, at the computer. It was 124. I can't imagine what my 'safe' heart rate would be! I've had POTS issues for ages, but I think this is the highest my 'resting' heart rate has...
  23. sickness

    How long does PEM take to kick in?

    For me it seems that if I use a muscle at all, it will hurt the next day. Even if the activity is something I do all the time. It really is a case of the more I do, the more I hurt. As far as PEM goes, I will pass out very heavily immediately after overdoing it. Feel very shaky etc, and often...
  24. sickness

    ME/CFS like MS?

    Nearly every doctor I have been to thought I had MS, until my MRI's came back negative. Then they just kicked me out the door, with no help or advice. Apparently they were only interested in helping me when they thought I had MS. One neurologist even told me I should consider myself fortunate...
  25. sickness

    What Are Your Most Amusing (Or Disconcerting) Brain Fog Experiences?

    Had another doozy last week. I quite literally couldn't recognize a pregnant lady when I saw one. I was at the doctors, and had a medical student examining me. When I first was introduced to her my mind registered that she was, um, large. At one point her very prominant belly was right in my...
  26. sickness

    What Are Your Most Amusing (Or Disconcerting) Brain Fog Experiences?

    Hmmmmm.... Headed off to my Nan's funeral without a bra on. The truely priceless thing was my hubby asking if I wanted to go back and get one. Yes I want to go back and get one!!! Thankfully we were only two minutes down the road. Put my empty cup in the bedroom wardrobe. My hubby said "Why...
  27. sickness

    For Aussies

    I agree with you 100% I'm sending small amounts to the WPI when I can too. Just yesturday I had a doctor here in W.A. suggest GET for me. She said it was the only thing shown to consistently help people with ME/CFS. Reeeeaaalllyyy....... I feel like we are still in the dark ages. Because she...
  28. sickness

    Chronic longterm tonsillitis - anyone else?

    Hi Tulip, Just today I started a thread about my recent tonsillitis, I am wondering if it is actually a reactivation of my EBV. I can relate to the pus on the tonsills, I had that last week! I haven't really had it before (that I know of anyway). I don't think I actually looked at them when I...
  29. sickness

    EBV Reactivation?

    My triggering event was glandular fever, for which my first symptom was a huge lymph node on the right side of the front of my neck. Ever since then this lymph node has fluctuated up and down, but definitely seems a major part of my ME/CFS. Just this week it swelled up hugely, and my right...
  30. sickness

    Alcohol Tolerance Poll

    My alcohol tolerance is now officially zero. I stupidly had two smallish glasses of white wine the other night and was soooooooooo sick the next day. My stomach couldn't digest anything. I eventually brought up everything I had consumed that day, in the evening. Even all the water I had been...