Summary-line: 30-Dec n, wilcox@cis.ohio-state. #Dyslexia, Panic Attacks, and Allergies Return-Path: Date: Sun, 30 Dec 90 11:46:44 pst From: cnorman (Cynthia Norman) To: cnorman, wilcox@cis.ohio-state.edu, luna@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu, ames!chinet.chi.il.us!chaz@ucsd.edu, anasaz!john@asuvax.eas.asu.edu, dwyer@nosc.mil, jgautier@ads.com, b-davis@cai.utah.edu, richter@triton.unm.edu, hxkpy@slacvm.slac.stanford.edu, botteron@bu-it.bu.edu, rollo@xylogics.com, proud@ihlpy.att.com, bill@picard.att.com, jsparkes@bnr.ca, island!green@uunet.uu.net, ann@snow-white.merit-tech.com, iex!neptune.iex.com!bert@uunet.uu.net, siang@biochem.umass.edu, smalley@pilot.njin.net, king@reasoning.com, mnetor!perle!kevin@cs.toronto.edu, afc@shibaya.lonestar.org Subject: Dyslexia, Panic Attacks, and Allergies Reply-To: cnorman@ucsd.edu *** EOOH *** Return-Path: Date: Sun, 30 Dec 90 11:46:44 pst From: cnorman (Cynthia Norman) To: cnorman, wilcox@cis.ohio-state.edu, luna@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu, ames!chinet.chi.il.us!chaz@ucsd.edu, anasaz!john@asuvax.eas.asu.edu, dwyer@nosc.mil, jgautier@ads.com, b-davis@cai.utah.edu, richter@triton.unm.edu, hxkpy@slacvm.slac.stanford.edu, botteron@bu-it.bu.edu, rollo@xylogics.com, proud@ihlpy.att.com, bill@picard.att.com, jsparkes@bnr.ca, island!green@uunet.uu.net, ann@snow-white.merit-tech.com, iex!neptune.iex.com!bert@uunet.uu.net, siang@biochem.umass.edu, smalley@pilot.njin.net, king@reasoning.com, mnetor!perle!kevin@cs.toronto.edu, afc@shibaya.lonestar.org Subject: Dyslexia, Panic Attacks, and Allergies Reply-To: cnorman@ucsd.edu In response to: Date: Fri, 28 Dec 1990 11:01 PST From: "Diana Gregory" In-Reply-To: cnorman@ucsd.EDU -- 12/27/90 23:54 Wow - when I started reading your mail, I had to look and see if it wasn't me writing it in SEVERAL places. I, too, have apparently been dyslexic all my life. It was never diagnosed when I was young because my mother was adamantly opposed to the method used to teach reading skills in the California School system in the 50's (I was born in 1952). She taught me to read herself when I was four - using the phonetic method. This method, I understand, is what is now used to teach people who have been diagnosed as dyslexic. I was always VERY good at reading, and had a terrible time with math. Because I could read so well, and read so voraciously none of the teachers ever diagnosed me [stuff deleted] My mother taught me to read when I was 2, but she used the whole-word method. I learned (or was taught) phonics in school (Calif school system late 60's/early 70's) but never got the hang of it. When I finally labeled my problems learning disabilities/dyslexia, my mom was afraid she had caused it by teaching me to read the "wrong" way. But the truth is, I didn't learn phonics because it just doesn't work for me. It wouldn't have changed things had I learned the other way, though I might not have loved reading so much. Strangely enough, I'm very good at phonetic transciption and reading (as in the International Phonetic Alphabet). Actually, my main problem isn't dyslexia, it's dysgraphia; I write things backwards. I also have a neurological symptom connected to that. I do the usual of reversing letters (b for d or p), interchanging letters (usaul for usual), etc but I also often interchange one "function" word for another (in, or, and, if, of, out, etc) or one suffix for another (ing, ed, tion, etc). I mess up numbers and mathamatical formulas too (though I'm good at math). An even weirder thing is that I have a mild right-side neglect. For those of you who know neurology, you'll know that left-side neglect is common among those with right-side brain damage (usually strokes) but right-side neglect is almost never present even with extensive left-brain damage (note that most language skills are in the left-side). The doctor who diagnosed me said he's tested 1000's of children and adults (and is LD himself) but has never seen anyone like me (what a comforting thought :-). His report uses the word "unusual" over and over. This was c. 5 years ago. What I find strange is that my symptoms change in response to my allergies/immune system. The Doctor actually did not diagnose me as LD, he gave a list of "problems" and recommended special services (my reason for the testing--I was a college student at the time). I knew then that I was in a "low" LD time when he tested me. Still, I tested at least borderline. When I'm in a "high" LD time, I write nearly every word wrong, misread countless things, and am spaced out beyond belief. I've discovered over the years that the things that make me high or low are all related to my blood sugar (hypoglycemia) Low blood sugar makes me an emotional wreck, spacy, more LD, and depressed. There is a point where, if crossed, I will suddenly snap into a "state." Starting in my senior year of high school (1982), I got panic attacks. I had them an average of every 6 months for the next 6 or so years. They were awful, violent things, and I felt like crap for days afterward. Starting in 1986, the panic attacks were proceeded by a period of hyperventalation so severe I would swoon (though I've never passed-out). Last summer, I had my first attack of hyperventalation without a panic attack. That one was due to cigarette smoke exposure and I have had c. 6 since then. I find the following lower my blood sugar: not eating enough protein (this is the worst culprit, my own fault), eating sugar (even juice can do it), breathing cigarette (or, to a lessor extent, pot or insense) smoke, eating yeast products (part of my allergy), and stress. If I have very low blood sugar formed over several days, smoke or stress can then trigger an attack. I need a combination of things over time to get to the trigger point. All of this is my own speculation. Does anyone else have sugar connections to emotional state/panic attacks/asthma (one possibile diagnoses for the hyperventalation)? Does anyone have a better/different explaination? Yeast infections started when I was in my early 20's - as did Migraine headaches. I was on the pill for a while, and had had tetracyclene(sp?) for an adult re-occurrance of acne (probably due to the pill?). Even after I was off the pill, I still get both the headaches and the yeast infections fairly regularly in the week before my period - along with the other symptoms of PMS. Have you ever read a book by William Crock (Crook?) called the Yeast Connection? You would be a classic case, (I am). I don't take the book literarly because it's only one explaination and his treatments didn't work as well as I had hoped. But, it is a useful book. It descibes Candida. But I had no wish to become an agoraphobic. Strangely enough, I never felt connected to the "panic attack community" for this reason. Others I knew who had panic attacks said the attacks were an extreme manifestation of an underlying anxiousity (sp?-yeck) or agoraphobia. I never had that. Perhaps they have different physiological mechanisms. Maybe I'm just ignoring the obvious. I also am allergic to cigarettes. I have some stubbornness that allows me to go to a bar when I REALLY want to - and ignore the reactions I I also have a little control, but I can't go to bars. Sometimes I can stand next to a smoker outdoors or sit in a resturant with a smoker across the room. I get headaches and nausa. have, but for the most part - it can kick off a beaut of a migraine on one whiff (and WHY do people who smoke insist on wearing perfumes that I'm allergic to also??? I'm becoming more and more sensitive to perfumes. I'm not allergic (yet?) but 5 years ago I wasn't allergic to cigarettes either. Again - I seem to be hyper-sensitive around the PMS time. Have you noticed that also? Not really. I sometimes get nasty cramps and the pain often causes me to be a little extra bitchy (hardly a surprise). I haven't found the direct connection you have. On the other hand, I haven't been looking for it. I have a friend who is supposed to be going to work for the National Institute of Health (Medicine?) in Bethesda in January. After he's been there a while - I'll ship off some of your (our?) questions and see if he can find someone or something to refer to... Great. The more sources, the better chance of finding something. Diana For those of you who think this list is becoming my problems and peoples' responses to them, well, help me stop it. I write about my problems because I certainly can't write about anybody elses' in depth (I might throw in a few friends as case studies now and then). So,