History of my illness pt 2, the diagnosis

So after I changed that horrible doctor and got off all their drugs, things got a bit less intense. I wasn't in and out of the ER all the time. But I was still very very ill with bizarre symptoms that no one could understand including intense all over pain. My arms constantly felt like they were coming off.  I was dizzy, severe headaches, felt short of breath, zero energy, nausea etc, etc....

I went to one specialist, holistic practitioner  or another and none of them could figure out the problem. I just had too many symptoms for them to make heads or tails of it.  A friend of ours was a sales person of the company Usana which is a high end vitamin/ supplement company. They were affiliated with a place in  Baja California called Sanoviv (http://sanoviv.com/about-sanoviv/index.html).     It is a cutting edge medical institute that back then had just opened up. They concentrate on nutrition, detoxification and an integrative testing, diagnostics and treatments in a paradise like setting. It was extremely expensive and luxurious. For 2 weeks we were given  raw vegetables to eat, did breathing exercises, stretching, massage, blood tests as well as tests that aren't available in the U.S. with cutting edge equipment from Europe (mostly Germany.)  They also took out the amalgams in my teeth and replaced them with composite fillings. But after 2 weeks they found nothing other than my blood being too sticky. (they were actually on the wrong track because my new doctor had thought I had porphyria  and that was the angle they were  looking at. Another dead end) Even though I went home with no answers, some of the detoxification treatments as well as the diet did help somewhat. A couple weeks after I went home I did start feeling a whole lot better but still no answers, still very sick even if not that sick. Also the things I learned in their nutrition classes were so advanced and dead on. I constantly read new articles on nutrition, supplements, and other natural remedies that I had already heard of in Sanoviv.

We decided that Southern California wasn't for us and packed up and moved the family back up to Northern Cali (Marin County.) I don't think I mentioned that my daughter was 3 when I got really sick. It was so hard on the poor thing not having her mother 'present' in those developing years. It was miserable not being able to be part of her day to day life. So she was 4 1/2 when we moved to Marin. The doctors here are soooo different than Orange County. They listen, show interest (well, they used to.) Anyway I found  a new primary care physician who was a very dear and caring man . He was my doctor for 6 years before he retired. He really tried to figure out what was wrong with me. My tests were always perfect. I went to a rheumatologist a year after we moved here and after 10 minutes he diagnosed me with fibromyalgia.  My primary doctor didn't buy it though. He said he had a lot of fibro patients and none of them had the extreme and extensive symptoms I had. Hmm....

Even so, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders after the diagnosis. I wasn't crazy, I wasn't dying of some mysterious disease, I had something to say to people who just thought I was lazy and there was nothing wrong with me. I had something to tell people who asked what was wrong. A  lot has changed since I was diagnosed 10 years ago. Back then practically nobody knew what fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue was. I had to spend so much time explaining to each person what it was. The rheumatologist , Dr. Davidson, who had diagnosed me  suggested nothing but pain medications and more  ssri's (NO THANK YOU!)

I did a lot of research and found this doctor in Dallas.  http://www.ehcd.com/   Dr Rea of the Environmental Health Center in Dallas. This guy is so famous that people travel from all over the world to see him.  His specialty is in environmental sensitivities of all kinds. Anyway we went there twice. He couldn't find any food or environmental allergies. He did find some weird digestive stuff and also an overload of a pesticide. I was supposed to go back for a 3rd time but it had gotten soooo expensive, I regret to say I didn't go back.  This pattern, unfortunately is one I kept repeating. Going to a doctor a few times and then giving up on them. You never get anywhere by not continuing, not following through. I don't know why I did that. I guess I was looking for someone who looked me in the eyes and said "This is what is wrong with you, and this is how we can fix it." I was in lala land I guess, looking for that 'cure'.....oh well, (in a whisper) I still am looking for that miracle. Someone somewhere will have an answer. It won't be easy as 1-2-3 but I have to stick with some protocol and it will work!