Re: early onset?

December 31, 2007

I think most of us who have these things can trace a few symptoms back to early

childhood. I know I had ADD (undiagnosed, as nobody really knew about it in the

early 50s) but was always getting notes from teachers or on my report cards

saying... " not living up to potential " or somesuch crud! I was also ill a lot,

and got no sympathy from my parents, they thought I was making excuses not to go

to school. AND, I always had my days and nights confused. I couldn't get up in

the mornings, and my father's favourite way to awaken me was to turn on the

overhead light, so it would shine directly into my eyes. It was agony and

torture, and would always set my day off on the wrong foot. I was angry and

hurt. Of course, I wasn't allowed to express any such feelings to my parents.

When my mother was angry she would slam pots and pans about, or otherwise make a

lot of racket, and that would also set me off. I too have always been overly

sensitive to loud noises, bright lights and odours. I cannot bear fluorescent

lights, both cos of the quality of the light itself, which I find disturbing,

and the noises they make. I hate them, and though we are all meant to be using

them these days as they are so much more energy-efficient, I just cannot do it.

Oh yes, and I ALWAYS caught whatever cold or virus was making the rounds. My

doctor even commented on it when I was young, telling my parents that they

needed to protect me as much as possible from coming into contact with anyone

who was ill. My mother, who was an RN felt differently though. She thought that

getting all of these illnesses would somehow build up my immune system. She

certainly was wrong about that!! Add to this the fact that we traveled

world-wide during my childhood, and each three years I had to undergo the entire

series of vaccinations that were available. There's a lot of talk about

childhood vaccinations now. My daughter did have all of hers, but only on a

'normal' schedule, not constantly repeated every few years. So, I don't know if

vaccines could have anything to do with things or not. We have all been through

so many different experiences, I don't know if they will ever find a single

causative agent for any of these so-called syndromes!!

Peace and Love

Caroline

> It sounds like you did have early onset. I also cant stand bright light

> lights and loud noises. When Mike watches tv (which is all the time) I

> have to keep turning it down and he has florescent bulbs in the lights

> and has those on alot. Drives me crazy! My sense of smell is very strong

> and bad orders make me sick. The joys of fibro! Theresa

>

> Ruthie Dyer wrote: Starting to wonder

> if I wasn't pre programmed to have Fibro. I remember as a child I was

> terribly intolerant of loud noises and bright lights (still can't stand

> either) and always complained to my mother that my knees hurt. I was told

> it was " growing pains " . I was about 5 years old at the time. As a young

> teenager, I had what was referred to as " intercostal neuralgia " which

> just means pain between the ribs. It was like someone stabbed a knife in

> me. I would scream from the pain. I had chest X-rays and naturally

> nothing showed up. The doctor said I was " too thin " and the pains would

> go away if I fattened up. Glad to say those knife stabs did go away. And

> yeah, I fattened up. LOL! I also have a phenomenal sense of smell. My DH

> calls me his " bloodhound " . Comes in handy when you are tracking down a

> pet mess smell. Oh, and I have a pretty strong ESP as well. Don't get me

> started on that. My stories are weird! Anyway, The FM

> monster may well have been lurking in here all along just waiting for

> something to bring it out in the open which I believe was my fall and

> back fracture. Or it may have been those three concussions over the

> years? Um, or the carbon monoxide poisoning? Oh well, the old devil is

> here for what ever reason and I just have to find a way to live with him.

> I am NOT going to let him ruin my wacky sense of humor though. That he

> cannot have.

>

> Ruthie (off to la la land)

>

December 31, 2007

Ruthie - I firmly believe I had symptoms as a child. I had frequent tummy

aches, and general achiness. The nurse at school and my mom thought I was

just trying to get attention. So I tried to toughen up. I had more and

more psych issues as I went into my teens, but my mom didn't want to believe

I had any real problems. It was the 70's and people didn't talk about

mental health, much less in kids. It's all just gradually built up until

the day when I couldn't function anymore at work. So, yeah, there are some

genetic components. My 14 yr. old daughter was diagnosed 4 years ago.

Jeanne in WI

> Starting to wonder if I wasn't pre programmed to have Fibro. I remember

> as a child I was terribly intolerant of loud noises and bright lights

> (still can't stand either) and always complained to my mother that my

> knees hurt. I was told it was " growing pains " . I was about 5 years old at

> the time. As a young teenager, I had what was referred to as " intercostal

> neuralgia " which just means pain between the ribs. It was like someone

> stabbed a knife in me. I would scream from the pain. I had chest X-rays

> and naturally nothing showed up. The doctor said I was " too thin " and the

> pains would go away if I fattened up. Glad to say those knife stabs did go

> away. And yeah, I fattened up. LOL! I also have a phenomenal sense of

> smell. My DH calls me his " bloodhound " . Comes in handy when you are

> tracking down a pet mess smell. Oh, and I have a pretty strong ESP as

> well. Don't get me started on that. My stories are weird! Anyway, The FM

> monster may well have been lurking in here all along just waiting for

> something to bring it out in the open which I believe was my fall and back

> fracture. Or it may have been those three concussions over the years? Um,

> or the carbon monoxide poisoning? Oh well, the old devil is here for what

> ever reason and I just have to find a way to live with him. I am NOT going

> to let him ruin my wacky sense of humor though. That he cannot have.

>

> Ruthie (off to la la land)

December 31, 2007

We are all going to be in trouble when they no longer sell incandescent bulbs

in, I think, 2009. I hope they will make some dimmer florescent bulbs so those

of us who are sensitive to bright lights have an option. We have florescent

lights at work and at the kid's nap time it is a relief to be able to turn them

off. Theresa in Tn

Caroline Witte wrote: I think most of us who

have these things can trace a few symptoms back to early childhood. I know I had

ADD (undiagnosed, as nobody really knew about it in the early 50s) but was

always getting notes from teachers or on my report cards saying... " not living up

to potential " or somesuch crud! I was also ill a lot, and got no sympathy from

my parents, they thought I was making excuses not to go to school. AND, I always

had my days and nights confused. I couldn't get up in the mornings, and my

father's favourite way to awaken me was to turn on the overhead light, so it

would shine directly into my eyes. It was agony and torture, and would always

set my day off on the wrong foot. I was angry and hurt. Of course, I wasn't

allowed to express any such feelings to my parents. When my mother was angry she

would slam pots and pans about, or otherwise make a lot of racket, and that

would also set me off. I too have always been

overly sensitive to loud noises, bright lights and odours. I cannot bear

fluorescent lights, both cos of the quality of the light itself, which I find

disturbing, and the noises they make. I hate them, and though we are all meant

to be using them these days as they are so much more energy-efficient, I just

cannot do it.