Somatic Illness

Every time I eat anything lately I get exhausted, get a headache and feel sick - feel my throat start to close, coughing - same as with milk and corn. I also feel thirsty and dehydrated after eating

I would guess its another food intolerance, but I am so tired of this.
I have a corn and milk intolerance already. Does this have anything to do with DID?


My sister has a long list of foods she is intolerant too. She says she thinks many are somatic. I am unsure what somatic means - other than it's all in the head!

Maybe it's somatic (i.e. "all in the head") or maybe it's not- only a doctor can tell you that.
But, I find that I feel like that a lot during periods of extreme depression and/or anxiety.
When the body is overwhelmed it isn't able to properly digest food. So it's just tiring and disgusting.

I have gone to so many doctors and had so many tests and they never have a clue. Their last resort is to try and eliminate foods. Food Allergy tests are negative.

The worst pains are were my ovaries use to be, but Doc's just say there is nothing there. I have even had surgery before with Doc's looking for things wrong and can't find anything. I am as healthy as can be! - but always sick. I had an MRI of my abdominal region only about 2 weeks ago, and some blood tests. Nothing at all was found.


Was that disgusting or digesting. Feels like both.

Have you read Alice Miller's book on illnesses or something,...I haven't, but her other book on childhood abuse was good.

I was diagnosed with fibromayalgia, which is a bunk to me anyway. I do know mine acts up from stress.

I guess on the note of odd illnesses, I had broken out in a whole body allergy, but it mostly effected my right side(toes to hand), I didn't go to the Doctor because my tongue didn't swell. Anyway, I don't get it. I do know that I got "asthma-like" symptoms from the stress from my mom's harassment. Everytime, she called my lungs would swell up, and start coughing up water. The drs. said I have asthma, except, it came on suddenly, then went away suddenly. The inhaler didn't help much either, so I was on steroids, ugh. anyway. All the stress seems to have a long term negative effect on one's body. Have you looked up adrenal fatigue?

So if the drs. can't find anything, then maybe it's caused by a more subtle reason, maybe DID maybe not. IDK, sorry no help.

My sister has fibromayalgia too - she or at least the Doc's think it's somatic.

I will look into those books.

I just have a hard time thinking I could have somatic illness. My sister appears to be a mess - she is sick with everything! I have always been the strong one that nothing bothers.

You already made the distinction between food allergies and food intolerance, so that's good. In order to focus on my body (hoping it was the "real problem" with me), for about a 1.5 years I became vegan 2008-2010. For six months, I also eliminated all wheat, barley, rye, oats (some doubt about relatedness to wheat), dairy (obviously), sugar, soy, and corn. Shopping was not easy. My energy level and clear-headedness increased dramatically (but I still had DID!) and bad cholesterol dropped 55 in 6 months, which was original cause of going vegan, and I lost weight.

I started looking into the wheat thing because one day I ate a big bowl of cous-cous (it's wheat protein that people are intolerant to) and it made me vapid, foggy-brained, and I just wanted to take a nap. Tried it again next week, same thing. Started reading about food intolerance, which is developed rather than genetic. Eliminating wheat was key because when I started eating it again after six months, it didn't have the knock-out effect anymore.

Sugar is likely key to all food intolerances. It's probably no coincidence that the set of foods people become intolerant to most commonly are often found along with large amounts of sugar.

Food intolerances are strange because it's the exact foods your body has a reaction (that you become intolerant to) that you crave. Because proteins from food you're intolerant to create a reaction as they pass into the blood stream, the effect is foggying, like really mild, not necessarily unpleasant dissociation. So I think there may be a connection at that level for those with DID.

Then I got massively triggered in 2010, got super depressed, didn't care if I ate dirt frankly, and stopped being vegan and eating healthy. I need to get back there because it was good for the mind. But I don't think it had much to do with DID, not for me personally. Healthy food intake and exercise obviously help the body overall, which helps the mind.

By the way, the ugh-y feeling I used to have physically mostly went away when I was vegan and especially when I eliminated all those suspect foods. But I still had DID so I wasn't in heaven, just not so tired and feeling drugged for inexplicable reasons.

That all makes sense. If only I (and the rest of me) avoid the extremes that make us sick. We would never touch anything very milk or corny, but many parts of me fall victim to things that have some of that in them. I have not touched peanuts today and my throat is swollen. I thought it was gluten once - that was not fun! This is not easy for someone with an eating disorder already.

To be correct: somatic symptoms/illness are seen as coming from the body.

And psychosomatic symptoms are those that are seen to come from your head.

Last spring, when I had a major EP intrusion/flashback from my inside, I had this nausea, sickness, and eating made it worse. My stomach just wasn't the usual. It lasted for a couple of months, slowly disappearing...
Even smoking a cigarette, the smoke in my throat, or opening my mouth made me feel like vomiting.

Don't know if this hels at all, just some experiences...

quadretto wrote:To be correct: somatic symptoms/illness are seen as coming from the body.

And psychosomatic symptoms are those that are seen to come from your head.

We all know I love to categorize - So which would it be with DID or can it be either?

Well, I think they are psychosomatic, unless you can see them in some test etc. (although I don't believe that the tests nowadays can show everything...)

tylas, I guess you remember the somatoform dissociative symptoms from "the Haunted Self"?

In no way I'm devaluating this things. I'm happily, usually, without such symptoms. Emotionally it's something different.
My mother and two children, however, have many somatoform symptoms.

My problem is basically the opposite. I'm going to see a rosen therapist to be able to feel more connected with my body.