caching issue (i think) making it impossible to edit pages

this started a few weeks back and i have no idea how to handle this. i need to clear cache every single time i go into edit mode on a page in order to get the wysiwig or page options to load. every time. it's amazing. it's driving me nuts. it's making me seriously consider giving up drupal once and for all.

i've attached a screenshot of what the initial edit screen looks like.

if i flush theme registry or page requisites everything is fine. otherwise, that's what i get.

help!