The PainLab

Chronic Pain Symptoms
Can stress/anxiety bring on these chronic symptoms?

I have had anxiety/stress everyday waiting on my HIV results.. I have 14 more days until I get my final results but I have been scared to death for 3 months (thats how long it takes for antibodies to show up) For the past 3 months, EVERYDAY I feel like this -

It is a good possibility that your stress and anxiety about your results could be causing these symptoms. I would advise you to talk to your doctor about these symptoms to rule out any other cause, and at the very least get some medication to curb some of these symptoms. I am sure they are really affecting your ability to function at school/work and life in general. I know this probably isn’t much help, but there are a lot of conditions that could cause these symptoms. I hope this helped and best of luck with the results. If they do turn out positive it is not the end of the world. We have great medications these days for the treatment of HIV, and if you adhere to your medication regimen than you can live a long and relatively normal life. I spent time interning at and HIV clinic and many of our patients had absolutely no symptoms from the virus, and were as healthy as anyone else because they took their medications like they were supposed to.

Chronic Pain Symptoms

Dealing with chronic bladder pain. and IBS symptoms. need a nutritionist.?

I need some natural remedy advice, someone who is a nutritionist or someone who knows what they are doing. i need some ideas on natural treatments..supplmentation ect..food choices. What vitamins should i be taking daily. what type of water do i drink, with all these crazy ideas of water it is a difference everytime i switch water and idk which one is best. lost..need some serious help and ideas from people.

Hi Sunflwer. There are a lot of potential issues in your question. I will assume (always have to be careful when you assume) that you have had a thorough workup for these issues and that no identifiable cause for your bladder pain and your bowel symptoms was discovered.

Here are a few possibilities that may not have been evaluated by your medical doctors:

1) Celiac Disease (often misdiagnosed as IBS)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19908341

2) Other food allergies – especially to the food group called Nightshades

http://www.organicfoodee.com/inspiration/craig/nightshadefoods/

3) Spinal Bio-mechanical and related neurological dysfunction can cause bowel and bladder symptoms. A thorough evaluation by a top-notch Chiropractor might we worthwhile.

You may find the following books helpful:

“Pain Free in 6 Weeks” by Sherry Rogers, M.D. Dr. Rogers thoroughly discusses the role nightshades can play in chronic pain problems.

http://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Weeks-Sherry-Rogers/dp/188720203X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273786546&sr=1-1

“No More Heartburn”, also by Dr. Rogers. Do not let the title confuse you, this book is all about diagnosing and treating the various CAUSES of chronic bowel problems.

http://www.amazon.com/More-Heartburn-Days-Naturally-Effective-Gastrointestinal/dp/1575665107/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273786633&sr=1-1

“Digestive Wellness” by Elizabeth Lipski. I have not read this newer edition of her book, but the first edition was excellent.

http://www.amazon.com/Digestive-Wellness-Strengthen-Digestion-Completely/dp/0071441964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273786741&sr=1-1

Best wishes and good luck.