Jenn, I am just like you! 4 years ago I started sleeping for 16-18 hours a day, always fatigued, I would start vomiting uncontrollingly for hours on end, and I finally got fired from my job. I did get long term disability which was great (it was based on my salary PLUS tips which I made a lot of as a casino dealer and this was before the recession) but it gave me time to figure everything out. Even the Mayo clinic couldn't help me. But finally it came to light that no doctor EVER gave me a thyroid test. I had severe hypothyroidism. My levels were over 4x the highest normal range (40x the lowest) and once I got on the thyroid meds I felt great, except for the stomach. My stomach problems were diagnosed with two colonoscopies, three endoscopies, two gallblader tests (gallbladder was dead, they did surgery to take it out), and I was finally diagnosed with a hiatal hernia (behind my sternum), severe acid reflux disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I also lack an enzyme that helps digest food, so if I don't take the pill it sits there in my stomach and rots until I threw it up. So while we were looking for one disease, I had six problems. I had all the symptoms and mental attitude of a hypochondriac and could tell no one really believed my symptoms, and I hated that feeling because I don't lie. Since then, I got my job back a year ago, have doubled the amount of thyroid meds because they are helping so much but my levels still aren't low enough (getting there, last test was around 8, normal is .45 to 4.5 and I started at a 17.4!), and am on several acid reducers and digestive meds. I know that all I could talk about was my illness because that was really all I had in life at that time, but I wasn't a hypochondriac. Okay, enough about me, just sharing a similar story on why people talk about their illnesses. If it a true hypochondriac (headache = brain tumor, red spot = deadly spider bite), call them on it and say "until you get the results don't worry about it. Let's talk about something positive to keep your mind off of that". If you say that often enough they will quit coming to you for sympathy. But only do this if it is a true hypocondriach. My mom's and my relationship was damaged really beyond repair because she thought I was faking, and she called me "lazy" because I slept so much and couldn't eat certain foods (she is a great cook and teaches cooking, but she likes to use spices I can't have and still won't cook with my illnesses in mind). Like I said, if you really love and care about the person, change the subject every time until they get the hint. Tell them firmly "we are only going to talk about POSITIVE things here" and be prepared to walk away if they don't quit the "sick" talking. If it is a casual aquaintance, cut them out of your life the best you can. Not easy, but it has to be done. Jenn, let me know what happens in your case. I am really interested in this subject.

"Hang with people who've already had chickenpox" Great way to get shingles. You get chickenpox when you are young & it stays in your body, then it can get reactivated if you touch kid with chicken pox, touch money that mom pays store clerk after she touches her kids sores from chickenpox telling them not to rub them. My niece gave me a big kiss Christmas Eve 1 year as she loved what I got her. She had a nice pox sore on her lip- I got shingles about 7-10 days later. I was going to paint, noticed a 50 cent size raised spot on head just into hairline didn't think too much about it got the paintbrush & drop-cloth down & got on ladder when I felt like I was being electrocuted, instead of painting I called the dr. I had planned on painting for & told him what was going on & went right down. By time I got in his exam room my eyebrow was itchy & red. He really got worried & said I could go blind so I got a shot, cream & pills, some were Corticosteroids,cream & pills for sure as he said I was facing going blind & he had to pull out all the stops. I went home & couldn't really do anything. Second the electric shock happened your hand shot up as it hurt so bad but by time you got it touching it it stopped only to happen over & over again. There was no waiting, I had felt the raised area about 8 & by 9 I was in his office getting checked out. GF had uncle who had shingles for rest of his life which was about 20 years, he became very deformed. My mother gets them often around her waist but I am careful not to touch her if I know she has them & I wash my hands often when I am there caring for my dad who had a mild stroke but has to use a wheelchair. So 1 of best ways to avoid shingles is to stay away from kids who have chicken pox, wash hands often with hand sanitizer while out especially after buying something, use hand sanitizer cloths at grocery stores to wipe down handle on cart, your purse & your hands (you can also improve your own health by using them-kills e coli etc) If they don't have them yet(our grocery stores do) take some with you or get some nice hand sanitizer from Bed, Bath & Beyond or someplace like that. They smell nice! Don't like cheap stuff. Anyway don't mess with shingles, a raised area, sudden sores, oozing,burning or electric shocks, odd shaped patches of red sores that are raised are all signals that need to be checked out.

Hi Jenn, Are you sure you don't grind your teeth? I do something weird with my mouth at night. I have my mouth closed, but yet I am pushing down real hard with the front of my mandible......which causes the TM joint to be squished for long periods of time. Maybe that's happening to you? I have fibromyalgia, and have learned that every day, there's going to be a "pain du jour"! Sometimes it hurts so bad, I'm sure it's something serious. But I've learned just to take some tylenol, and wait for it to go away, and most of the time it does. But it is important to consider what riverrat said too. I will probably die of a heart attack, because I've been through the mill with funky pains in my face, jaw, neck, arms, chest, etc., and it's never my heart! So I'll probably ignore "the big one". hahaha Also....I am learning that the mouth, especially the maxilla (the upper part of the mouth) is chocked full of tons of nerves that travel here and there....(especially the sinuses), and can give all sorts of unexplainable pains. I don't know about you, but I seem to have a mouth that will always be the center of pain for me. Good luck with this, and I hope your pain goes away soon. Try to baby it for a few days, and see if it goes away.

There's a very large (140 comments at last check) thread started in 2008 about aches when getting out of bed. I also recently just started aching like an old lady (I'm 54) a few weeks ago. I noticed I had pain in my upper thigh that came and went but started staying longer and longer as time went on. While reading through that long thread I came across some who suggested using MSM. I decided to give it a try. My MSM arrived a few days ago and I immediately took a dose. Within 2 hours, my leg pain was completely gone. Since then I've had maybe 2 slight pains but they haven't lasted. I am able to get out of bed without looking like an old lady hobbling for the bathroom in the morning. It's still early for me to give MSM a raving review, but so far I am VERY happy about it! I figured if it didn't work I'd be out the $23 or so it cost me on Amazon but if it did work I'd be over the moon happy about it. Now I'm hoping to see the improvement in my once strong nails that just continually break off from being brittle and full of ridges. That would be the icing on the cake. No, I don't work for a company that produces MSM, just wanted to share my results and thank those who mentioned it in the old post. Hoping for continued success!