Question: In the evening of January 22, I suddenly became aware that my legs felt very heavy when walking. I attributed that to general exhaustion. (My husband and I had been caring for our 17-month-old grandson for 6 days while our daughter and son-in-law attended a conference. We also lost sleep almost every night, because the baby woke up at least once a night, sometimes several times.) The next day I still had the leg fatigue and some unsteadiness in my gait. I also starting having diarrhea, with about 14 episodes over 2 days. I attributed the diarrhea to food poisoning from a buffet dinner the night before, although all the food tasted fine and the other 2 people with me didn't get sick. That day my husband and I flew from Atlanta, the conference site, back to our home in Tucson; the trip took a total of 15 hours, with airport waits and layovers. The leg fatigue continued, but I assumed it would eventually pass. Although it seemed to be slowly getting better, a couple of days ago my arms and hands started feeling heavy and weak. Now I have a generalized feeling of heaviness in all my limbs, almost as though I'm completely submerged in water, so that movement is more difficult and uncertain. Although I'm close to 66 years old, I'm generally in good health. Up to this point, I've had good stamina and a fairly high energy level. My previous activities have included walking, hiking, yoga, dancing, workouts at Curves. The weakness is on both sides, so I don't think I'm having a stroke. I've always had normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels. What can you advise, other than to see my own PCP (which I intend to do if my symptoms persist into this coming week)?

Why did a pediatrician answer my question, rather than the family practitioner who was originally shown? Why did the website imply that I would receive an immediate answer, and only after I paid $18.00 I found out that the response would take up to 24 hours? This was $18 wasted, as far as I'm concerned.