Any further news Al - did you manage to get to the docs? The stress thing could be a factor as andy says - given what you have said about how much you have to juggle with work placements, part time job (with a tw@t boss by the sounds of it) and uni, and worrying about running!
Hi Al
You haven't said much about uni and the surveying side of things? How stressful is it?
It's ages since I did my degree but not so long ago since I was going through the process of getting chartered, and I can remember very clearly the pull it had on my time and loyalty to running.
Could it be that you are stressed because the heart and legs want to run and the head says you should put all the time towards work and study? Building surveying is a tough degree with an extremely varied range of skills and knowledge to acquire, and especially in the current economic climate it would be natural to feel anxious.
If it is stress based it could leave you as quickly as it arrived when the pressure is off. Take another good hard look at all the factors in your life and try and get everything into perspective. You've got everything going for you and you will get through this. You're maybe just working too hard, taking everything a little too seriously and not having any fun.
IBS is a very real and very common disorder and can be controlled and managed effectively, but to diagnose it everything else including all damaging scary stuff has to be ruled out first; if it's nothing else it's probably IBS is about the long and short of the diagnosis I suspect! I have two close rellatives who have been through the process and have been diagnosed. As others have said, you must keep going to the gp and try and make sure every possibility is investigated.
Stress can do a lot of damage. I had a severe immune illness that started when I was working in a factory over the summer holidays before I went to uni. I was admitted to hospital and was told not to go to uni as I was too ill. I thought I was going to die and was determined to go at least to see what it was like, so I went anyway. After endless tests I had been diagnosed with SLE. I was being treated accordingly, but when I left hospital I was being weaned off the medication and on arriving at uni the symptoms started to get steadily worse. The Doc wasn't interested and would not refer me to the consultant I'd been transferred to (uni wasn't near home and I'd been staying with an aunt away from home when I was admitted the first time).
I was in complete agony and spent most of the second term in hospital barely able to move. I was taken into hospital again because my boyfriend feared I was nearly dead; I'd slept solidly for 3 days and nights and hadn't been to meals. He said he went to the hospital and refused to leave until my consultant agreed to see me. He bought me a chinese takeaway, took me to the hospital, and I was admitted straight away. That boy was a bit of a hero really! I didn't have SLE after all, some blood tests returned to normal that never would have if it was. To this day I don't know what it was. It took me a good two years to recover but I survived and got my degree.
I'm telling you this because I know how what it feels like to suffer from something you know isn't right but no-one can put a name to. You're not alone, please try not to despair. The fact that you don't have a diagnosis isn't necessarily bad - it might mean that despite your symptoms you are ok and just need to work through this as best you can. I survived and it all went away with no permanent damage done.
Good luck with the doc's, keep at it and be strong.
Hey Al
I suffered with hideous stomach cramps / nausea / lethargy for years before I got diagnosed with Coeliac Disease (stomach wall gets attacked by Gluten - the protein in wheat, barley, etc)
It didn't help when carbo-loading ready for a race either - stuffing myself full of pasta, bread, cakes, etc had exactly the opposite effect to what I wanted to achieve !
Stress can bring on the symptoms too (I do still get them but less frequently).
After years of suffereing it was a major relief to get tested and to remove one of the causes of my pains.
Whether it is Coeliac that you're suffering with, or IBS, Chromes, or simply stress, there's only one way to find out - go to a GP who will listen and who will act on what you tell them.
Good luck with it, and I look forward to your coming back to (further) liven up the forums :wink:
Cheers Guys!
I have managed to get myself in to see the specialist at Preston Hospital on the 30th Dec. Im not sure who he is but hopefully he wont be retired 2 weeks after seeing me unlike my original doctor.
Im going to make sure I explain everything to him, right from day 1...and I want to request a camera down my throat as Im convinced it is somehow involved with the acid in my stomach, be it too strong or too much of it I dont know.
As for the stress thing which alot of you have mentioned. I am quite an uptight person and I do get myself worked up (not as in I break down and cry, Im a man!...I just boil over abit inside - alot) so this word called "stress" which I have never thought I would ever say I have, and I still dont know I f I could ever accept that I was stressed - Although working the hours I do it would be normal.
With regards to andy k and it starting last september. It started on the three shires fell race, which I make to have been...19th Sept, so I would have been back at uni in my 2nd year. Although I do remember having morning sickness on the bus to uni each morning when I was in my first year.
Maybe it was the stress of uni that set the ball rolling, and I just never knew it was affecting me.
Anyway, Ive been coping pretty well without running. I havent run now for over 4 months...and aslong as I dont look at my new shiney England champs medal, or at any race photos/pictures/reports...it doesnt get me down, I suppose working the hours I do doesnt really give me the time to dwell on missing it. When I do start to get fed up, I just keep telling myself that If I was to try and fit in running alongside working It would make me quite Ill.
Thanks alot for all the suggesting guys and girls.....and Daz, I'll never forget how much you made me dig deep at the Anni Waltz. Has to be my proudest race!
Last edited by Al Fowler; 23-11-2010 at 09:13 PM.
Good news re doctors appointment Al
You coming to XOTF?
Poacher turned game-keeper
I dont know yet....I am on the verge off doing my driving test...and I can only do lessons on a saturday...and Im planning on doing it a few days after XOTF's....thus my last chance of a lesson would be the weekend of XOTF - If that makes sense.Originally Posted by Derby Tup
Sounds like you've a lot going on at the moment Al. Good luck with the driving and hope to see you if you can fit it all in!
Poacher turned game-keeper
Pencil me in for a run in the lakes late on next summer
Sounds great!Pencil me in for a run in the lakes late on next summer
Poacher turned game-keeper
Best of luck with the driving and everything else Al:thumbup:Pencil me in for a run in the lakes late on next summer
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