Hi, my name is Renee & I am 43 yrs. old. I am a new member & new @
this but I would like to share my life's story so that others can see
that they aren't crazy & there are others that are going through the
same thing that they are.I have been made to think that I am crazy &
my illness is mostly in my head.I have just this week found this site
& learned about cvs.I have been suffering with this illness for 31
yrs.I have read numerous stories this week that are like my own & I
am so glad to know that I am not the only person that has this
illness because there is no doctor that knows what exactly is wrong
with me.This is my story & it is a long one. The first time that I
got sick was @ the age of 12. I became very nauseated & immediatly
began vomiting. For the next yr. this would happen off & on when I
got worried about something. I had no other systoms. Between the age
of 13 to 14 it became much worse with unbearable abdominal pain,
severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sweaty then the severe chills. I
would be taken to the ER where they would run every test they could
come up with, all with negetive results. Sometimes I would be
hospitalized for 2 to 5 days. I would be given IV drips, pain &
nausea meds, gastric tube down my nose & throat with no relief. It
always has to run it's course. I would have nothing to vomit but
green & yellow bile. The retching is unbearable.At 16 I was sent to
UAB Hospital in Birmingham,Alabama to a specalist & of course more
tests were done all with negative results. After about a wk. or
longer I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I was
hospilized so many times throughtout my teenage yrs. to early
twenties that it seemed like a normal part of life for me but was
always told that it was a virus, flu or that they just didn't
know.
My bouts come mostly during my periods but not always. It almost
always starts in the early morning hrs. I wake up very nauseated,
severe abdominal pain, diarrhea & then the vomiting starts. About
every 3 to 5 min.I am vomiting, after about 1 hr. the retching
begins. After 3 to 5 hrs. of this I have to start sticking my finger
down my throat to try & get relief. I try to hide this fact from
family & nurses because they get very upset with me saying that I am
only making it worse. I have to do this trying to get whatever I can
up. I have smoked pot off & on over the yrs. as this seems to relax
me & helps with the mild nausea but once the severe part takes over
even pot doesn't help. I lay in a fetal postion most of the time when
it gets full blown as I can't stand to move. I become very dis-
oriented & weak. The last 2 yrs. have been very bad for me, I had to
give up my job & move in with my mother because I was was so sick
daily that I couldn't function. My ER & hopital stays bacame so
numerous that I could go to the ER & have to return the next day.
Hospital stays could be 2 to 3 times in a month. Since nausea &
vomiting aren't a systom of IBS the doctors never know what to do for
me. My family has become fed up with my illness & keep saying that I
can over come this. When I am having a full blown bout I aways think
that it would be better to be dead. I live in daily fear of when the
next attack will happen because I know that the doctors & their meds
won't help me. I have read that very young children have this illness
& I can't stand the thought of them suffering the way that I have.
It's sad to know that there are others like myself but it is
comforting for me because I now know that there is a name for what
is happening to me.I am gathering as much in-fo as I can for my
doctor in hope that he will see that I do an illness called cvs &
prescribe the correct meds for me including marinol. I hope that one
day there is a cure & we can all get our lives & sanity back.I live
in daily fear of this illness. Good luck to us all.