Thanks so much. I do appreciate your honestly. I agree that nursing may not suit me due to the high physical demands. That really sucks though. But I've been considering other career paths, such as special education. I just wish I knew more of how they're doing in this economy, and I don't believe the salary is anything to run, skip and jump about. Money only matters to me because I'm already poor and chronically sick, which is a bad combination. The poor only get sicker! But I have a big heart for those with down syndrome, autism, MR, etc. And teachers can walk around with walking aids, etc. That's definitely less of a problem in that field/setting. So I will see...

Hppy, the funny thing is... I don't drink alcohol, I don't drink sodas, I hate coffee... I drink all water all of the time. I have severe acne too so I try to watch what I eat and drink, as blood sugar spikes = inflammation = more acne. I have noticed the pattern. I buy gluten-free foods when I can afford them... unfortunately, I often can't afford them, but when I can, I stick to them until they run out. I don't notice much difference in my pain, fatigue, etc. either way. I never take OTC pain relievers or sleep aids or ANY medications whatsoever. They never even TOUCHED my pain in any way, so there's no point in taking them. I don't like sugar or sugary foods or desserts, and I especially don't use artificial sweeteners. Seafood is my favorite food and chicken is the only thing other than that that I eat. I have a great diet, but I still suffer in pain. I don't eat much red meat at all, as I was a vegetarian for 5 years so I still prefer to not even eat meat every single day. I eat a lot of fresh vegetables and seafood.

However, I can't eat anything anymore without getting hives. I have so many food allergies and intolerances, it's disgusting. The list keeps building on. I wish I could get to the bottom of it. I may be close to getting a full-time job, so I'm going to see how this pans out. If not, I'm going to look into ACA plans.

Now, I'll admit I do not exercise other than when I was at my retail job. I have had a lot of SEVERE pain from working out in the past, even only moderately or lightly. I would still suffer from it. I would also get weird symptoms when I would get hot from working out. I would get blurry vision, my legs would feel like rubber -- they would give out, my balance would be all over the place; I have a lot of trouble getting hot and sweaty. (This is why my doctor suspected MS). So over time, I just stopped trying. It hurts too much and causes too many problems. I LOVE swimming, but I don't often have anywhere to do so. Oh, how I wish I had my own indoor pool! I'd be swimming EVERY DAY And believe it or not, my college doesn't even have a pool! Ughh

Sleeping is tough. I have slept for 12-16 hours at a time, and then some nights, I can't even sleep for 2. My sleeping has always been a mess, and a lot of times when I can't sleep, it's because of the pain I'm in. I can't get comfortable.

I have issues with my kidneys, actually, since you mentioned them. I have mild kidney damage, but they don't know from what! But due to having recurrent bladder infections over the years (despite taking cranberry tablets and doing all the right things), it eventually caused recurrent pyelonephritis. And now I have kidney infections frequently and proteinuria. They ran tests when I had insurance through my dad for a few short months (before turning 26), I went to a urologist -- they found that my kidneys don't function properly. But we never learned why. He did find a cyst in my bladder though. I've had issues with staph in my bladder and kidneys. I used to have staph infections in my throat all the time as a kid! I have recurrent infections all over my body, viral infections, etc. All of my lymph nodes are almost always swollen. I keep getting pain right where my spleen is, as well.

They've done all of the blood work for years, on and off. My blood never shows anything abnormal, from what they say.