No ... you're not barred from sending a PM, you just have to follow the advice from my buddy Chucky !! Specifically pay attention to the last line in his walkthrough, about changing the editor to "enhanced" !!
(this is how Chucky describes how to fix the "blue screen shading" over your PM message box)
"Go to your profile, click on : send private message.
To the left is : My settings
Go down under : My account
Click on general settings.
Go down to Miscellaneous options.
Look at your : Message editor interface.
I had standard editor. My posting box and pm box was shaded in. I could not type in them unless i did what i said in the post above. But i changed my standard to enhanced interface and every thing is fine now."
That should fix your problem, but if it doesn't ... reply back here & we'll figure it out !!
... cp