Do you think my health problems are primarily physical or mental?

Again, apologies for the wall of text.

I am far from qualified to help you, but I wonder if you have been checked for bacteria levels.. Our bodies are supposed to have certain bacterias which are beneficial. Just today I was hearing again about it on the radio. I’m not saying I think it is the problem, I’m just trying to think of what may have been missed.
.
Yes, some people can have psychosomatic episodes, having real symptoms to no real condition, but it sounds worth pursuing. It does sound as if you may have a mild depression, and yes, that can stem from physical causes.
I think you should tell your concerns to your current MD. That is where you should begin with your concerns of possible depression. With the added information, your doctor may have a different view of what may be the root of it all.
Sometimes medical problems are tricky, and just keep fooling us for a while.
Try to find a doctor you feel you can stick with. Sometimes after seeing you a few times, something clicks, and they think of something which hadn’t occurred to them before. We all have that happen, I think.
I wish you luck.

First thing I thought of was along @Here2_4‘s answer, and also Candida. Candida (yeast) overgrowth can cause all of those symptoms. In addition, the by-products of yeast mimic estrogen so much that they can fill up all the estrogen receptors in the body. This can play havoc with your hormones.

That said, do you crave sugar? Most folks do because most folks have had enough courses of antibiotics to throw off the bacteria/yeast balance in the gut. The bacteria is killed by antibiotics, the yeast takes over the job the beneficial bacteria was doing, and it takes on a life of its own.

@Here2_4

Well I appreciate the effort anyway :-)

I have heard of the bacteria thing as well, and that might be a worthwhile test. One possibility that’s been raised to me is the overgrowth of certain gut flora (specifically Candida, as you say, @snowberry) which can be caused by taking antibiotics. I did a course a few years back and it’s possible that they did more harm than good.

The trouble with going to an MD is that because I’m in a new city, I don’t have a regular relationship with any doctors in the area. I’m sure I could find something though. As you say, I just want to find someone I feel I can stick with. Someone sympathetic to my situation and knowledgeable about both mental and physical problems but who isn’t a quack. That, by the way, is what worries me about the candida thing: there seems to be a lot of quackery associated with it. It’s obviously a real issue, but there’s a lot of confusing and contradictory information out there about candida overgrowth issues.

As far as craving sugar… it’s hard to say. I like sweet things, and I suppose I do have a bit of a sweet tooth, but it’s not like I binge-eat candy or anything.

I didn’t know the bit about mimicking the effects of estrogen and thereby screwing with hormone levels. That would explain some things, but again, there could be other causes.

Anyway, thanks and lurve to both of ya!

Most MD’s aren’t willing to prescribe an anti Candida medication except under certain circumstances. Besides that, the medication they would use is very hard on your body, and you sort of feel horrible for a week or two. An alternative is to go to a naturopath or master herbalist who can tell you how to deal with it naturally. It takes much longer, but you don’t feel so awful. (PM me for details)

Regardless of what route you take, you will have to change your diet to get better, and it’s long term. The challenge of changing your diet is partly in your mind, partly figuring out how to eat. Let me know if you want to know more.

Can I just say I think it was brave of you to give us the wall of text and I think we may feel complimented by your trust.

Now you need a doctor you can feel you can trust in the same way (or better!). It may be arduous, but that is the Hero’s Journey.
You can’t shift this alone. And it’s really serious. May the force be with you, along with all of us.

@snowberry

My understanding is that systemic candida overgrowth infections can and do happen, but almost always in patients who are already have compromised immune systems (chemo patients, people with HIV / AIDS, etc). I haven’t been able to find any reputable research on similar systemic problems in otherwise healthy people. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, but there also does seem to be a lot of psuedo-science around the issue. For example, the “spit test” to supposedly see whether you have candida overgrowth was cooked up by a company trying to sell supplements, and actually just roughly measures how thick and full of mucous your saliva is. At least that’s what I’ve gathered from research on the internet. I have considered speaking to a naturopath or alternative medicine practitioner, but as I said my concern is that there are a lot of quacks and snake-oil salesmen. Plus insurance usually doesn’t cover their consultation and services. I don’t know if mine would but I doubt it. Thank you though, and I’m not dismissing the possibility, but I am also hesitant to just jump on board with it.

@susanc

Thank you, I really, truly appreciate that :-)

Joseph Campbell would be proud, I hope. I just wish I could battle literal dragons and demons instead of the invisible ones inside myself. It’s much simpler to fight something you can see.

@Hobbes You’re right. Insurance won’t cover it. If you’re going to demand a medical test to prove you have candida overgrowth in your body, you’re going to look a long time.

The medical community isn’t terribly motivated to deal with this anyway. All I can offer is anecdotal stories of how it’s worked on me or people I know. Good luck.

I’ll say probiotics cured my i.b.s. Get the highest quality you can find if you decide to try. We are talking 50 billion plus…

I can relate to a lot of your symptoms, even the moving which has honestly left me spinning. I am TOTALLY alienated. Reading your post I kept thinking of a food allergy like wheat or lactose. I get the same bowl symptoms as you, but I have noticed that it is more frequent if I eat milk products and/or wheat. I haven’t been diagnosed IBS, but suspect I am. (IBS by the way is irritated by wheat or milk and sugar intolerance or allergies).

When under stress our bodies (apparently) can create allergies which then go away at a later time. So, it is not always that helpful to do an allergy test. Have you tried to omit certain foods? Wheat allergy or intolerance can cause many of the symptoms you describe including dizziness, anxiety and mood swings.

If you are depressed you can get help for it as you know. Depression anyway is always better managed with correct diet and exercise (sounds easy but far from it, I know).

Some personality disorders can create a general feeling of depression, anxiety, alienation and psychosomatic symptoms. Going to a psychiatrist might help in the long term because if you have a personality disorder (for example) you can be taught how to manage it. (Speaking from experience). Plus, many people PD’s but very few seek them out, so mentally ill? Pah! it’s more common than you know. The good thing about getting ‘into the system’ is the help you could get.

I am of course assuming there is no underlying illness that has not been diagnosed so am going on what you say. It’s strange to read ‘my story’ in a lot of what you have written and I suffer with BPD, Bipolar and also PTSD. Gosh, what a handful eh? I do believe that most of my symptoms come from a deep and persistent feeling of generalized anxiety. I hope this helped in some way.

and by the way candida as some suggested is also tied into wheat. We also produce too much cortisol . Maybe check out adrenal exhaustion.

As others have mentioned, I think you should redouble your efforts to find a doctor you can work with, feel comfortable with and have confidence in. Whether your problems are biologically/physically based or a mental health issue or a combination of both is best determined by a medical professional.

That being said, have you been screened for celiac disease? It would explain the gastrointestinal symptoms, the weight loss and the fatigue and may possibly explain the depression too (see symptoms). And if that is what’s wrong with you you couldn’t ask for a better time to be diagnosed because gluten-free diets are all the rage now. The only people who really need to be on gluten free diets are people who have celiac’s but the fad has really increased the number and variety of gluten-free products for the disease’s sufferers and a gluten-free diet is the only available treatment for celiac disease as far as I know.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I was thinking celiac too from what I’ve read. But I am in way a doctor.

Hey all! I have been screened for celiac and the test was negative, but that’s what I thought it might be as well. Wheat may still be part of it though. Anyway, I’m going for the weekend so I won’t be on for a few days, but thanks again for all your answers!

I think it is not in your head or caused by your head. Did it start with a jew sex partner. I know you ruled out STD’s but I firnly believe there are bacterial infections that are passed sexually that are not classified as STD’s that can cause problems. Chlamydia was considered to me nomral flor until about 50 years ago.

Have you tried antibiotics and seen any improvement while taking them? Not once you stoped taking them, but maybe around day 3,4,5,6 was there any magical relief?

Did they test your urethra for micoplasma and ureaplasma? These are in question for whether they should be considered STD’s. They are treated with drugs like doxicycline, which you possibly were given already even if your tests were negative.

Augmentin is the winder drug for me, but I am not saying go out and take a bunch of antibiotics, but the next time you get a sinus infection try the augmenin instead of the zpack, just to test it.

You also might try cipro if they have not given you that med. It treats a bunch of stomach bugs and also can treat UTI’s.

@JLeslie – I KNOW you didn’t mean to write “did it start with a jew sex partner” but it made me laugh the moment I figured it out.

Lol. Yeah, new.

Proof reading is helpful.

My GUESS is that you have a very poor diet and very bad lifestyle that is now taking a toll on your health mentally and physically. I’ts telling you, it’s payback time. You are extremely under stress. Stress isn’t just about emotion related stuff or worrying etc. When you sleep late ( like what I’m doing now), when you eat crap every day, not enough rest, even too much exercise can contribute to stress. So start by doing a lifestyle change and make sure to stick to it. Give it some time to work. Be honest with yourself. Do not fool yourself. You would be surprise how it can tremendously help you to be healthy again mentally and physically. Eat healthy. Cut down processed food. Find some healthy but at the same time tasty, affordable alternatives that YOU will like, not what others like. If you have insomnia then do something about it like training yourself to go to bed at the same time everyday, use fan as white noise. For insomnia google decalcify pineal gland and how pineal gland is related to melatonin. Drink pure cocoa everyday I highly recommend it. To relax your mind try meditation or yoga. For candida, avoid eating too much sugary food but IMO the real main culprit is not sugar but fatty and oily food. So limit eating fatty and oily food and eat lots of green leafy vegetables such as lettuce and broccoli everyday. (wash lettuce and broccoli properly if it’s not organic, you can use water and vinegar to wash it.) Eating small frequent meals btw can avoid too much acidity in the stomach. Most of all try to relax, avoid worrying. Not worrying too much is part of the treatment to good health. Good luck!