I?m bothered by my girlfriend?s mysterious illness that affects her
from time to time.  As yet, no doctor has identified anything wrong
with her.  I?m convinced she suffers some rare condition that is just
not known by most doctors, so we will list here everything we know
about the symptoms and hopefully someone can shed some light on the
situation:

The main symptoms she suffers are:
-	Major loss of energy / general drowsiness.
-	Nausea.
-	Bloated feeling.  

This sounds fairly simple, but she gets the above symptoms to such a
degree that she can hardly move, or the day is otherwise a total
?write-off?.  It comes on very quickly.  For example, she can be fine
upon waking and then, as I am talking to her a few hours later and can
tell she is getting ill as her speech becomes a little labored and she
begins to look visibly drained and becomes lethargic.  She then has to
rest for the remainder of the day and does not eat.

The symptoms normally last for the remainder of the day and then
she?ll sleep at a normal time.  The next day the symptoms are gone. 
This is usually the way it happens ? it wears off as quickly as it
comes on ? all within a 24-hour period.
 
I?ve no idea if this is relevant, but she has always been asthmatic. 
She gets ill like this irregularly, maybe one to three times a month. 
It does not seem to be related to her menstrual cycle at all.  She is
otherwise pretty healthy and does not suffer any other identified
conditions.  She eats healthily (she is a Weight Watchers member and
takes it very seriously).  She exercises regularly (aerobics / cardio
workout and treadmill).

She has spent a lot of time being seen by various doctors who have
tested ?everything they can think off?.  They have taken blood samples
several times and turned up nothing.  They say her liver is fine,
thyroid is fine.. ..the doctors refer to other specialists and consult
with each other but they are all puzzled and say they don?t know what
to tell her.

No-one else in her family suffers, or has suffered, these symtoms. 
That?s about all we can think of right now.  Does it sound like some
sort of dietary intolerance or deficiency?  Could it be her metabolism
going haywire?  We have no clue and I?d really like to discover what
is going on in case there is a simple solution.  Please feel free to
ask for more information - she'll try to answer!

What do I expect for $14?
You do not have to cure her - but what I read in response to this
question might get us looking in the right direction or asking the
right specialist for help, and if that leads to a cure then it would
be fantasic.
I'm looking for some good suggestions.  If anyone recognises what I've
written about from their own experience or through someone they know
and can explain how they dealt with it, that would be good too. 
Please don't be afraid to have a go at answering if you think you can
help - I will not quibble with an honest attempt.  Many thanks,

Izzard-ga

---

Clarification of Question by izzard-ga on 19 Feb 2004 10:59 PST

Thank you ALL for your thoughtful comments.  They are very logical and
we will take them all on board.  It's true, I left some useful
information out:

She is 26 years old.
She is 'pure bred' black Zimbabwean.
She doesn't smoke and she drinks occasionally.

She already keeps a reasonably good log of what she eats for Weight
Watchers :)  The idea of keeping tabs on alcohol (and everything else
going on in her life is a good one too).  The doctors *have* seen her
while she was suffering 'an episode', but that didn't seem to help
them work it out.

I find the whole thing very frustrating because I hate to see her
suffer.. ..and then I think it upsets her that I worry so much!  I'm
just convinced there must be something that triggers this off, so we
should follow the advice here to try and figure what it is.

Once again, thank you all.  If I find out any more, I'll try to post
it back here. It could be useful to others in the future,

Could it be an allergy?

A friend of mine suffered severe migraines for THIRTY YEARS and saw
various doctors, specialists and visited clinics, etc. without any
joy.

Then, one day he picked up a book from the library and figured out for
himself that he had an allergy. He quickly pinned it down to yeast
and, unless he inadvertently eats/drinks anything with the slightest
trace of yeast, he's now OK.

Worth a thought!

A further thought.

I would suggest you diarise events to see if there is any correlation
between what she has done/eaten with the symptoms.

Some folk are, of course, allergic to domestic animals, nuts, almost anything.

Hi Izzard, The symptoms are familiar. Try looking up, on the net, a
couple of things. 1. CYTOMEGOLOVIRUS [ CMV] and EPSTEIN BARR VIRUS
[EBV] These two nasties can affect different people in different ways.
When you arm yourself with all the facts available on a whole range of
websites, you could then approach your G.P. and ask for a viral
serology test. Be prepared for the G.P. and even the specialists to
"play it down". They do not like "ordinary people" trying to self
diagnose. Hope this helps.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a condition that can come and go, and it
can involve all the symptoms you describe.

Unfortunately, there is no sure-fire medical test to diagnose CFS, and
some physicians do not believe that it exists, other than in the minds
of those who suffer from it.

Worse case scenario might be the onset of multiple sclerosis. A friend
of mine has this disease and this sounds very similar to what happened
to her. It is sometimes very difficult to diagnose and it's not
uncommon for people to be tested for a variety of things before
someone finally pronounces it. In my friend's case, it took two years
and many visits to so called "specialists".

Good luck
tutuzdad-ga

Would be helpful if you could provide a more detailed history:

her age, weight, ethnic background, etc

include better description of symptoms:  when did they first occur,
how long do they last, description of symptoms, etc

Does she have any other medical problems?  Taking any medications? 
drugs? acohol use? tobacco?

What type of work does she do?  Is she exposed to chemicals at work? 
Any environmental risk factors such as lead paint in her home?  Any
other members of her home or community with similar symptoms?

Finally, has she been to see a gynecologist?   Unfortunately, i do not
know much of your friend's history and it is very dificult to make any
rash judgements - however, ovarian cancer should be considered ( the
most common complaints of patients with ovarian cancer are: Abdominal
swelling due to ascites, bloating, indigestion, gas, constipation and
fatigue).

More comprehensive information on ovarian cancer can be found at:

http://www.ovariancancer.org/content/1-2.html

Just a thought.
-d

No answer here, but an idea ... 

It sounds to me like she?s been through legions of doctors who have
found nothing concrete to treat. They run their blood tests and scans,
but really can?t nail anything down.

Btw .. has a doctor ever seen her in the full throes of an episode?
That could be key to diagnosing this because they could run tests then
and there.

That aside however, it may be time to take things into her own hands ?
NOT as far as treatment goes, but in terms of diagnosis and providing
more information to the next doctor she sees.

What she should do is start keeping a detailed diary of everything and
anything that you and she can think of that might be related to the
onset of her symptoms. This is what doctors recommend to people who
suffer headaches or other recurring symptoms that they can?t diagnose.
The doctor can?t see what?s going on in her life and she can?t
possible think of all of the variables in retrospect.

In between episodes she should keep track of EVERYTHING: food she eats
(most important!), sleep patterns, menstrual cycles, alcohol
consumption, drug and medication use, sexual activity, exercise, other
physical symptoms (headaches, upset stomach etc), mood, chemical
exposure (eg: paint, auto exhaust, detergents, perfumes), maybe even
the weather..who knows?!

She should also document the exact course of her symptoms when they
occur ? time of onset, physical and mental symptoms and how they
progress, duration, and, importantly, where they occur (is this only
happening at home?). You can help her here because you may be able to
better assess her mental and physical state if she?s feeling ?fuzzy.?

What I?m saying is, there may be some obvious pattern that you and she
are missing. You may find, for example, that her symptoms occur within
48 hours of eating pizza or only on days when the barometer falls or
exactly in the middle of her menstrual cycle or on the morning after
you put fresh fabric-softener laden sheets on the bed, or some
combination of things that you can?t see yet.

And don?t narrow your analysis to any time-frame before the onset of
symptoms. As an example, I was just reading about toxic mushrooms
recently and was surprised to learn that some take up to 11 days
before the poison affects your body, and some leave non-toxic
chemicals in your body that only become toxic if you ingest alcohol
within 5 days of eating the mushrooms. (Imagine how someone figured
that out!)

So, to wrap up here, since the doctors are unable to find anything
internal wrong with your girl friend, maybe if you go at with the
attitude that something external is causing this you might be able to
nail it down.

Good luck to both of you ... 

-K~

I'm the originator of this question.  It's now 9 months later so I'm
just giving an update on the situation.  Shortly after the question
was posted, my girlfriend got very serious about improving her health
and her weight.  She started working-out regularly, going to the gym
and eating a healthy diet.  She has lost about 60 lbs and
toned-up...and now she never gets this illness anymore.  She is like a
different person (and, by the way, I have just married her).  I hope
this helps anyone who might recognise theses symptoms.

Many thanks, Izzard, for sharing your great news.

And the warmest congratulations on your marriage.

I am sure that I speak for many when I wish you both all the best for the future.