Tool Panel on RH disappears after I press 'Fullscreen' - 'Auto hide mode', keeps turning back on - how to permanently turn off.

Hey folks - I'm hoping somebody can help - this is driving me nuts.  I have my work panel on the R/H side with all my tools for processing.  After I've finished an image and if I want to view it in 'fullscreen' I press shortcut 'F' (Mac).  Then when I press 'F' again to get my panel back to process my next image, the side panel has now disappeared (I can hover the mouse over and it will come up, but not permanently, once I take the mouse away it disappears again)!.  I do not have 'auto hide mode' turned on.  It is so frustrating, because each time I have to then press 'Comm T', and the toolbar comes back on, as it turns 'auto hide' off.  But of course if I press 'F' again, the whole crazy cycle repeats itself. I go round and round it circles, and it drives me nuts.I have a wedding, and a big all day event shoot coming up in a couple of weeks, with a few thousand images to grind through, and this thing is killing me.  Can anybody help please?  I've spent ages trying everything in the book, but to no avail. 

Cheers

Philip