lv08+@andrew.cmu.edu (Lili Velez) (02/26/91)
This is going to the net because the mailer at Eng.Sun.com doesn't believe in Valhalla: I have an odd disorder myself (diffuse esophageal spasm: it _feels_ like angina, it's actually treatable with calcium-blockers used for angina, but doctors thought I had ulcers, hiatal hernias, and an overactive imagination prior to final diagnosis), and so have great sympathy with others who have difficulty convincing their doctors that something is really wrong. What finally got me diagnosed and treated was a combination of changing doctors and keeping good track of my symptoms and when they occured, along with anything that I had tried to make them go away. In your case, perhaps you could invest in one of those liquid-crystal thermometers, and carry it around with you. That way you could have a good idea of your normal baseline temperature, and when the symptoms showed up, you could pop in the thermometer and see if it's a real body temperature change, or maybe a surface temperature change. I've never met anyone with cold flashes, although what you describe as your second odd condition seems almost like a variety of hot flashes (which, granted, would clash a bit with your gender, but biology is a mysterious realm...). How long have you had these problems? Lili Fox Velez Dept. of English/Dept of Biological Sciences Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 lv08+@andrew.cmu.edu