Hi from new member.M.E recovery/ pandemrix

[PaulaB]

Hi everyone.
I'm Paula, aged 50. I thought I would join this group for two reasons, one to give my history in the hope of going towards identifying how you get M.E and secondly to give encouragement to others for improved health/possible recovery .
In October 2009 all NHS workers were advised to have the swine flu jab..I was feeling physically well but was emotionally struggling with a domestic issue at the time; I had the jab, pandemrix and the next day started to feel flu like symptoms. .over a course of a few weeks I felt worse to the point my work colleagues thought I was having a stroke. I eventually went sick and had 3 months off..my symptoms were...constantly exhausted, sleeping all the time but not refreshed, felt freezing inside but normal temp, sensitivity to sound, light and touch, no appetite, lost 2 stone, severe joint pain, IBS, I was like this for about 6 weeks which I don't remember much about. My Dr.then diagnosed CFS, I decided I may never get back to work so took advice from my chiropractic and did gentle exercise every day,the light and sound sensitivity started to recede but anxiety kicked in. I eventually went back to work part time and for the next couple of years suffered exhaustion, anxiety
( eventually succumbed to antidepressant medication, although I was not really depressed, just anxious) I gained new symptoms. .felt suicidal at first then had further joint pain and bad muscle spasms. This carried on for the next 5 years. Over last year I have massively improved, joint pain is not so regular, anxiety improved, muscle spasms tons better, tired rather than exhausted. IBS much improved.Now back to working nights and longer hours. What's changed ? Not sure why I feel better, I started to get a few migraines and vomited badly and since then it felt like my whole stomach had gotten rid of a poison, I also try not to eat too many artificial foods like margarine, I eat more natural food like honey, yogurt, butter, whole meal bread, I try relaxation techniques too and stay part time. I try not to overload myself and rest often. I am convinced whatever I had was triggered by the pandemrix injection.

 

[Strike me lucky]

Hi @PaulaB
Good to see you here. I hope you find more info and we can learn from you.

It seems quite common to get cfsme from a vaccine although mono/viral infections are the most common. Have you had any imuune testing or infection testing? Guessing its possible vaccine could have reactivated an old virus like ebv or cmv too.

Good luck.
Ps nights are hard yaka with this crap too.

 

[PaulaB]

Hi @PaulaB
Good to see you here. I hope you find more info and we can learn from you.

It seems quite common to get cfsme from a vaccine although mono/viral infections are the most common. Have you had any imuune testing or infection testing? Guessing its possible vaccine could have reactivated an old virus like ebv or cmv too.

Good luck.
Ps nights are hard yaka with this crap too.

Thanks for your reply,
To be honest I struggle to remember what happened with tests, I think Dr. initially did some blood tests and couldn't see anything obvious so came up with the diagnosis of CFS, I then generally saw my chiropractor who I trusted more and he uses a lot of herbal extracts, I had some chinese medicine which seemed to give me a boost and got me back to work and since then I have not been sick with 'M.E' as I then just try and survive to stay in my job, I have had very low hours and money for a long time.
Various 'dramas' followed with family members which meant I needed to support them rather than worry too much about myself so I have just got on with it without much medical input, this last year I feel so much better and have a bit more time so have been looking at a few of these forums out of curiosity, especially since seeing an article on child narcolepsy, a lot of the these children seem to have had the same 'batch' of pandemric as me.....around Oct/ Nov 2009 ..

 

[PaulaB]

Also forget to mention.. one really annoying thing I get is a speech problem, it actually seems worse at the moment, I try and talk and totally the wrong words come out.. eg. I say black and mean white, I am sad but mean happy etc.. to a point I have to slow my speech down and think very carefully, I am quite embaressed about this, everyone laughs and says it is my age but it is a really hard thing to explain, I did speak to my Dr. but she wasn't concerned

 

[RuthAnn]

Hello Paula, I know someone else from France who had an adverse reaction to Pandemrix. I'm glad your symptoms are easing up. I have read that the reason the vaccine was causing so many symptoms is because of the adjuvant.

 

[RuthAnn]

@PaulaB the very specific symptom of using wrong words might be a sign that the homeopathic remedy Lycopodium might be helpful for you.

It's very interesting that Lycopodium is a plant that absorbs aluminum, and therefore is good for symptoms caused by aluminum toxicity. The adjuvant in Pandemrix contained aluminum, which might be one reason it caused toxicity.

You can look at the symptoms that Lycopodium is good for, down the page in the category of "mind" you will see that it is good for when you use the wrong words in speaking. You don't have to have all the symptoms for it to be the correct remedy.

http://abchomeopathy.com/r.php/Lyc

 

[Cort]

Hi everyone.
I'm Paula, aged 50. I thought I would join this group for two reasons, one to give my history in the hope of going towards identifying how you get M.E and secondly to give encouragement to others for improved health/possible recovery .
In October 2009 all NHS workers were advised to have the swine flu jab..I was feeling physically well but was emotionally struggling with a domestic issue at the time; I had the jab, pandemrix and the next day started to feel flu like symptoms. .over a course of a few weeks I felt worse to the point my work colleagues thought I was having a stroke. I eventually went sick and had 3 months off..my symptoms were...constantly exhausted, sleeping all the time but not refreshed, felt freezing inside but normal temp, sensitivity to sound, light and touch, no appetite, lost 2 stone, severe joint pain, IBS, I was like this for about 6 weeks which I don't remember much about. My Dr.then diagnosed CFS, I decided I may never get back to work so took advice from my chiropractic and did gentle exercise every day,the light and sound sensitivity started to recede but anxiety kicked in. I eventually went back to work part time and for the next couple of years suffered exhaustion, anxiety
( eventually succumbed to antidepressant medication, although I was not really depressed, just anxious) I gained new symptoms. .felt suicidal at first then had further joint pain and bad muscle spasms. This carried on for the next 5 years. Over last year I have massively improved, joint pain is not so regular, anxiety improved, muscle spasms tons better, tired rather than exhausted. IBS much improved.Now back to working nights and longer hours. What's changed ? Not sure why I feel better, I started to get a few migraines and vomited badly and since then it felt like my whole stomach had gotten rid of a poison, I also try not to eat too many artificial foods like margarine, I eat more natural food like honey, yogurt, butter, whole meal bread, I try relaxation techniques too and stay part time. I try not to overload myself and rest often. I am convinced whatever I had was triggered by the pandemrix injection.

Thanks for sharing Paula and congratulations on getting better. I hope you continue to improve.

Did you do anything to address your IBS - dietary changes?
Are you still taking the Chinese herbs?
How good have your been at pacing and how much do you think that played in your getting better?

 

[Remy]

Welcome @PaulaB!

 

[EYAKLLE]

Hi Paula,
Welcome.Everyone has issues.Not everyone with issues gets sick.So you should not blame at all your domestic issue.Whatever happened would ve happened anyway. That much is clear just from the sheer impact of it.Just saying that in case any psychobabblers tried to brainwash you.

 

[bobby]

hey @PaulaB A while ago I saw a documentary about children in the UK and Scandinavia that had gotten narcolepsy following a Pandemrix vaccine (2009, as you say). If I remember correctly the drug company has made a statement that the link between the two is indeed real, which I think is a sign of the fact that there is undeniable proof. Otherwise they'd never admit to it.

Glad to hear you've been feeling better!

 

[ScottTriGuy]

butter

It helped me a lot due to butyrate.

 

[PaulaB]

Hello Paula, I know someone else from France who had an adverse reaction to Pandemrix. I'm glad your symptoms are easing up. I have read that the reason the vaccine was causing so many symptoms is because of the adjuvant.

That sounds interesting.. thank you

 

[PaulaB]

Thanks for sharing Paula and congratulations on getting better. I hope you continue to improve.

Did you do anything to address your IBS - dietary changes?
Are you still taking the Chinese herbs?
How good have your been at pacing and how much do you think that played in your getting better?

I didn't do anything drastic other than try not to eat too many 'diet' or artificial products, I have eaten quite a lot of yogurt, butter, cream, cheese, which is not necessarily good for weight but something has definitely changed in the last year.
The funny thing is I don't generally get the coughs cold etc everyone else gets at work, I am generally a healthy person except for when the M.E symptoms were bad, the better I get the more I realise how exhausted I was.
I am sure the couple of times I was violently sick has contributed to me feeling better, my gut feeling is that some thing bad was in...my gut !!
I think the gut then feeds poisons to the brain, brain fog is still an annoying symptom.

I took the chinese herbs for a few months initially and that got me back to work I feel.. so much has happened over the last few years life has been a surviving blur..

I get as much sleep and rest as I can, I work shifts dispatching ambulances... for relaxation I play the trombone..the work life balance is very important and although I would love more money balancing my health is more important than money.

 

[PaulaB]

thanks for all your comments, I'm a bit overwhelmed, I really didn't expect many replies and so soon, although I may not have commented on all your replies I have read and appreciate them... thanks

 

[EYAKLLE]

Team Spirit n all that !