FOOD ALLERGY SYMPTOMS: SUSAN’S STORY
Susan was reasonably well as a child, apart from frequent colds and chest infections. At the age of 21, however, she suffered a bad bout of diarrhoea when travelling abroad. Although she recovery from this, her bowels never really returned to normal. A mild form of diarrhoea stayed with her so that she needed to go several times a day, often at the most inconvenient moment. As the years passed this problem gradually got worse, and unpleasant pains began in the lower part of her stomach. When she finally consulted her doctor about this problem, she was told that this was irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, and that she should try to relax more.
For many years Susan also suffered headaches, but thought little of them- she simply took aspirin when she felt one coming on. One day, just after ^er twenty-eighth birthday, she experienced a strange sort of headache that was on the left side of her head only. She took some aspirin, but the pain did not go away – indeed it became more intense, and she began to feel slightly sick. Eventually she had to draw the curtains and go to bed because she could not bear the light. There were more of these attacks over the next few months and Susan eventually went to see her doctor again. He told her that these were migraines, and again recommended that she should try to worry less and learn to relax. Although she followed his suggestions, the migraines continued, and so did her bowel problems.
Over the next few years, Susan had to give up alcohol and chocolate as these always seemed to bring the migraine attacks on. But despite avoiding these items, her migraines continued to become more frequent. She also felt excessively tired, especially first thing in the morning, and she sometimes felt light-headed and confused, or very edgy and irritable. To add to these problems, she began to get odd little pains in her knees. These gradually grew worse, and by the time she was 34 she could no longer run up the stairs without pain, and she was forced to give up jogging and riding a bicycle because these activities made her knees so much worse. The pains spread to some of her other joints and she began to feel that there was something seriously wrong, because she was ill most of the time.
Susan had previously accepted her doctor’s diagnosis that most of her problems were due to her ‘nerves’, but at this point she began to have doubts. She was now married, and had a good job that she enjoyed. Apart from her health problems she had few worries – indeed she felt more settled and happy than at any time in her life – so why was her health getting worse instead of better? She went to see her doctor again, and he gave her a thorough examination, but could find nothing wrong. He repeated his earlier diagnosis, and suggested that her joint pains were also psychosomatic.
*3\180\8*
Related Posts:
Tags: General Health
No comments 
Category: