Alita Bylsma
In 1991 I was diagnosed with a flu type virus in the brain part of my body and was being treated with fluoxetine an anti depressant till 3 months ago, essentials, magnesium being intraveneously put into my body. Symptoms: enlarged eye pupil, headache, moving lights in front of eyes, nausenousness, musclepain and pins and needles in body. Nobody told me it is CFS or M.E. I have realised it 2 days ago as I thought it were something to do with endogenic depression. It took me 5 years to recuperate but were never well. Always struggeled with allergies, sinus and muscle pain and a deep tiredness which I thought were depression.
3 Months ago I stopped the fluoxetine whereafter I developed bad headaches, rheumatism in my back and hips and wrists, hormonal imbalances, sinusitus with glands that were swollen whereafter I went to a homeopath. After 3 months of treatment I am considering to go back on fluoxetine as the costs involved to be on natural products is really high. Here in South Africa we bear the costs ourselves. I am going back to the homeopath to talk to him about it: his tests revealed the following 3 months ago: high hormonal imbalances as I am in menopause stage, a liver not funtioning well and he said together with the sinuses it brings on the rheumatism (with a lot of burning pain in my back and in my head and the swollen glands and bacterial infections. After 3 months of treatment there is definiately a positive change with the hormonal imbalances. But the sinuses and rheumatism and pain is better but still worse than before I went off the fluoxetine.
It seems that there is a ME organisation in South Africa but I can not get hold of them as there emails come back.
I found however a lot of information on the internet as well as on this website.
I have had CFS for 33 years and have learned to cope with a lot of my symptoms along the way. The hardest part is the BIG setbacks that put me back into bed for weeks or months at a time, and ...
Alita Bylsma commented on Dreambirdie's post Dealing with ISOLATION