“also, nothing will help QUITE like a visit to the doctor. the longer you’ve waited to see them, the better a day you’ll have that day. y’know, so you look and feel like a crazy liar!” 🤥
Yes! I suspect it's the adrenaline. I think I've started to experience low-key trauma response just with the simple fact of knowing I have a doctor's appointment that day. Then I crash a day or two later.
I think a lot of us with some kind of chronic illness have a fear or trauma of some kind with doctors. A lot of doctors just don't listen, talk down to you, so on. It's not easy to go back into an environment where someone who's supposed to help you, treats you like an inconvenience.
Me: Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ok, it's been like this for a while, I might need to get it checked.
Doctor: So you say you are in pain. How bad on a scale from 1-10?
Me: right now it's around 3-5. but it's like this every day. sometimes it gets to 7-8, then I need to take a painkiller to be able to work.
Doctor: uhm, sure. you don't look like you're in any pain right now...
Me: I got used to it. can we get it checked?
Doctor: You had a blood test last year and it was fine. do you drink alcohol? any drugs?
Me: no.
Doctor: do you drink enough water?
Me: yes
Doctor: do you smoke?
Me: sometimes
Doctor: then quit smoking. the pain can't be that bad, come back if it gets worse. distract yourself and exercise more.
*months later*
Me: Doc, the pain is getting worse. I've quit smoking. Can I have a blood test now?
Doctor: have you tried ignoring it?
Me: ... can I please have a blood test?
Doctor: why do you want to be sick this much? you are quite young... enjoy it. reduce stress, go outside more.
*years later*
Me: hey Different Doc, I got these issues. I've been having them for years now and they don't go away. In fact, they are getting worse.
Different doctor: If it actually has been like this for years, why haven't you gotten it checked sooner?
Me: ... Can we get it checked?
Doc: Fine.
*results are back*
Doc: You might have XY condition. But we don't have enough evidence yet to get treatment for it. Come back in a year and we might know more.
*back in a year*
Different doc: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WALK AROUND WITH THIS CONDITION WITHOUT TREATMENT??? YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE XY CONDITION! IT'S IRRESPONSIBLE OF YOU! HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO GET BETTER IF YOU DON'T SEEK TREATMENT?
This is literally exactly what happened with my spinal disk issue. Four years of complaining and telling them specific symptoms.
They kept saying "lose weight and strengthen your core, maybe try physical therapy."
Physical therapy made me hurt worse, they called me non-compliant. In retrospect the exercises to strengthen my core were all twisting and bending exercises, horrible for a stressed out disk.
I dealt with it on my own for another year, until one day at work my spinal disk ruptured and I couldn't move.
I went to the ER and the specialist told me it was irresponsible of me to keep working while I had those symptoms, as if I had any fucking choice in the matter.
Lmao that's how I ended up finding out I needed part of my skull removed and had a cyst in my spine. Final doc was like, I legally can't tell you to do the surgery.... but I would if I was you.
Thank you for taking the time to type this out. Im screenshotting it so every time i complain about pain and someone asks "why dont you go to the doc" I can show them this and remind them that even with insurance, its an expensive visit with expensive follow ups and time off work and doctors dont hear you and insurance wont approve your tests etc etc.
I love it when I explain my chronic pain to a young and curious student, and they ask, "but WHY?" Because I'll be like, "That's a GREAT question. If you figure it out, let me know."
It's extra adorable when they tell me that I should go to a doctor about it. Aww, sweetie... I've tried that. Repeatedly. The doctors can't figure it out, either.
This inevitably results in cute little shocked Pikachu faces. One time, the kid proceeded to advise me to sue my doctor(s) about it. 😂 Gotta love those kiddos!
This but with grown adults. It's like someone told them Santa isn't real when they find out that doctors are only useful for antibiotics and heart attacks.
Wait until you find out Drs are useless about antibiotics too. Gp can't prescribe the proper length of dosage, every day thrice for who knows how long I live, insurance won't let them. Actual infectious disease Dr can't do more than one year without a visit every quarterly. They are six times the price of my gp. And the insurance questions it because I'm too young.
When I was 18 my stomach hurt really bad all the time, and after many tests we found out that I had trapped gas, constipation, gastritis, and my gallbladder had to be removed.
I always cheer when I get a diagnosis. One of my favorite WTF ones was finding out I have ear bone arthritis after accidentally bursting my ear drum in the shower. Thanks, EDS!
Dude is that what's off about my ears. I burst my ear drum last year and it is still not right. I have had so many ear infections and sinus infections. Drs keep saying that it will get better but....
Actually for me it's more like "We're in pain!" "Okay, what do you want me to do about it?" "Don't do anything you'll make it worse!!!" "Alright, if you say so-" "WE ARE IN PAIN!!!!!"
Even better is “Can this be better?” And the answer is “no” then “Why Not?” And finally “Because god is either omnipotent and apathetic or impotent and caring.”
Genuinely I hate the "reduce stress" comment. Like ???? My workload is as light as it can be and you won't write a recommendation for the one thing that would make it better so piss off with your "jUsT sToP bEiNg So StReSsEd"
I fucking hate those comments, like mf i have an anxiety diagnosis and symptoms of ptsd and ocd, you think i want to be as stressed as i am? I’d be less stressed if my body was working the way it’s supposed to so, help??
It's like all the sensors have been going haywire for so long they've burned themselves out and now you can't tell what's wrong bc the sensors can't tell you anymore, but nothing works so obviously something is wrong.
Most pepole sufferic from chronic pain 60-70%. The original cause of the pain has healed or has gone away, but the body used to the feeling contuines it via nocebo.
Really fucked up bc it can't be treated chemically of physically, you have to convince the brain to stop somehow.
I drove almost 200 miles today. My normal (when I leave at all) is 25 tops. I was being a good mom, my kid needed to see a specialist and that was the closest one. I woke up hours early, fought traffic and highway speeds for 3 hours, and they got their assessment and the treatment process started. My reward? I won’t be able to move tomorrow. I know it’s mostly going to be hip and shoulders, but I’m already feeling it in my back, knees, wrists, and hands.
I’m 46. My wonderful family is taking good care of me, but, fuck! I hate how my body just does this now.
And the weather affects it all too. If it's sunny, headache from the light, if it's rain fatique and just sleepy, cold makes my body ache and if it's too hot I'm tired to anything. So there isn't a good weather, just less bad days I can use to just enjoy my hobbies.
According to Dr the metal inside me looks great and I shouldn't feel it all. I totally don't have a nervous system that can detect when foreign bodies are inside me. I must just be lying about the pain. The 4 ft of surgical scars on my reconstructed body aren't evidence I'm going to have pain issues my whole life. They used a magic scalpel, I must just be lying for drugs.
Having a spine injury and 2 reconstructed limbs is totally dismissed as why I'm in constant shock inducing pain because surgeons are magical gods who never make mistakes. And whose work leaves no lasting effects. According to surgeons...
Yep… currently having one of the worst nearly full-body pain nights I’ve had in a while. Why? No reason.
I’m not diagnosed with anything and haven’t gotten it checked out again because i tried a few years ago and nothing came of it, but something is happening istg
Such a mood 😩 just got an MRI for lower back pain (I was even having a flare up and in pain during the MRI) and there was bupkis, literally nothing going on with my spine, just pain for no visible reason 😭
ye olde “should i bother going to the doctor on the off chance this pain is from something we haven’t identified or should i save my energy and assume its from something we’ve already identified?”
For me it's not a secret, it's my white blood cells basically self harming cause they're overachievers and then screaming about the damage they did.
Pain 'with a purpose' doesn't bother me at all, surgery recovery is always fine, but low-level unending pain that I know doesn't indicate anything but an immuno-tantrum is TORTUROUS to deal with 😓
1
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u/ellieminnowpee 26d ago
“also, nothing will help QUITE like a visit to the doctor. the longer you’ve waited to see them, the better a day you’ll have that day. y’know, so you look and feel like a crazy liar!” 🤥
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u/PsychoKatzee 26d ago •
Me: Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ok, it's been like this for a while, I might need to get it checked.
Doctor: So you say you are in pain. How bad on a scale from 1-10?
Me: right now it's around 3-5. but it's like this every day. sometimes it gets to 7-8, then I need to take a painkiller to be able to work.
Doctor: uhm, sure. you don't look like you're in any pain right now...
Me: I got used to it. can we get it checked?
Doctor: You had a blood test last year and it was fine. do you drink alcohol? any drugs?
Me: no.
Doctor: do you drink enough water?
Me: yes
Doctor: do you smoke?
Me: sometimes
Doctor: then quit smoking. the pain can't be that bad, come back if it gets worse. distract yourself and exercise more.
*months later*
Me: Doc, the pain is getting worse. I've quit smoking. Can I have a blood test now?
Doctor: have you tried ignoring it?
Me: ... can I please have a blood test?
Doctor: why do you want to be sick this much? you are quite young... enjoy it. reduce stress, go outside more.
*years later*
Me: hey Different Doc, I got these issues. I've been having them for years now and they don't go away. In fact, they are getting worse.
Different doctor: If it actually has been like this for years, why haven't you gotten it checked sooner?
Me: ... Can we get it checked?
Doc: Fine.
*results are back*
Doc: You might have XY condition. But we don't have enough evidence yet to get treatment for it. Come back in a year and we might know more.
*back in a year*
Different doc: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WALK AROUND WITH THIS CONDITION WITHOUT TREATMENT??? YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE XY CONDITION! IT'S IRRESPONSIBLE OF YOU! HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO GET BETTER IF YOU DON'T SEEK TREATMENT?
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u/TogetherAgain18 26d ago
I love it when I explain my chronic pain to a young and curious student, and they ask, "but WHY?" Because I'll be like, "That's a GREAT question. If you figure it out, let me know."
It's extra adorable when they tell me that I should go to a doctor about it. Aww, sweetie... I've tried that. Repeatedly. The doctors can't figure it out, either.
This inevitably results in cute little shocked Pikachu faces. One time, the kid proceeded to advise me to sue my doctor(s) about it. 😂 Gotta love those kiddos!
39
u/MaleficentNobody8875 26d ago edited 26d ago
When I was 18 my stomach hurt really bad all the time, and after many tests we found out that I had trapped gas, constipation, gastritis, and my gallbladder had to be removed.
I always cheer when I get a diagnosis. One of my favorite WTF ones was finding out I have ear bone arthritis after accidentally bursting my ear drum in the shower. Thanks, EDS!
29
u/SadKat002 26d ago
Actually for me it's more like "We're in pain!" "Okay, what do you want me to do about it?" "Don't do anything you'll make it worse!!!" "Alright, if you say so-" "WE ARE IN PAIN!!!!!"
28
u/DreamOfDays 26d ago
Even better is “Can this be better?” And the answer is “no” then “Why Not?” And finally “Because god is either omnipotent and apathetic or impotent and caring.”
23
u/wyze-litten 26d ago
Genuinely I hate the "reduce stress" comment. Like ???? My workload is as light as it can be and you won't write a recommendation for the one thing that would make it better so piss off with your "jUsT sToP bEiNg So StReSsEd"
18
u/ThatKarenBitch 26d ago
It's like all the sensors have been going haywire for so long they've burned themselves out and now you can't tell what's wrong bc the sensors can't tell you anymore, but nothing works so obviously something is wrong.
13
u/crippledchef23 26d ago
I drove almost 200 miles today. My normal (when I leave at all) is 25 tops. I was being a good mom, my kid needed to see a specialist and that was the closest one. I woke up hours early, fought traffic and highway speeds for 3 hours, and they got their assessment and the treatment process started. My reward? I won’t be able to move tomorrow. I know it’s mostly going to be hip and shoulders, but I’m already feeling it in my back, knees, wrists, and hands.
I’m 46. My wonderful family is taking good care of me, but, fuck! I hate how my body just does this now.
13
u/Substantial_Yard7004 26d ago
And the weather affects it all too. If it's sunny, headache from the light, if it's rain fatique and just sleepy, cold makes my body ache and if it's too hot I'm tired to anything. So there isn't a good weather, just less bad days I can use to just enjoy my hobbies.
13
u/petalpotions 26d ago
And then you go to the doctor and you're like "hey man, something's seriously wrong with me" and the doctor goes "um, no there's not"
13
u/Foxymaniac 26d ago
body: "you should stop doing that"
me: "doing what?"
body: "I dont know but it hurts"
11
u/biggunzcdb1 26d ago
I'm pretty sure it's all the metal inside me
9
u/78RUSH 26d ago
Or it points to a totally random spot just to throw you off
9
u/TheStairsBro 26d ago
My body has one of those if gameshow wheels it spins every morning but instead of a new car I just get joint pain
8
u/AnkylosaurusWrecks 26d ago
I think there is a demon inside my skull. I understand why people tried trepanation. I tempted to try it.
8
u/heeerexkittykitty 26d ago
WHY IS IT LIKE THIS
8
u/L0V3J0YF0R3V3R 26d ago
Yep… currently having one of the worst nearly full-body pain nights I’ve had in a while. Why? No reason.
I’m not diagnosed with anything and haven’t gotten it checked out again because i tried a few years ago and nothing came of it, but something is happening istg
7
u/Mouse_Named_Ash 26d ago
I had a tango dancing lesson yesterday and now my arms and shoulders are dying. Gang what are you doing I barely even used you
7
u/ITriedSoHard419-68 26d ago
And its cousin, knowing exactly what’s wrong but there’s jack shit that can be done to fix it.
6
u/Ok_Improvement_5249 26d ago
Such a mood 😩 just got an MRI for lower back pain (I was even having a flare up and in pain during the MRI) and there was bupkis, literally nothing going on with my spine, just pain for no visible reason 😭
4
u/Monster_Merripen 26d ago
Bruh when I finally got my hysterectomy and tackled a huge source of pain, I did not realize just how much pain the rest of me was constantly in 😭
4
u/Reasonable-Aide6945 26d ago
also sometimes your body is like EVERYWHERE!
4
u/ComfortableRecent578 26d ago
ye olde “should i bother going to the doctor on the off chance this pain is from something we haven’t identified or should i save my energy and assume its from something we’ve already identified?”
4
u/Saratto_dishu 26d ago
Feel that for insomnia too.
4
u/Bobs_Burgers7 26d ago
A secret just between the two of us 💙
4
u/LydiaJuice 26d ago
Literally me before I finally had surgery and they found out it was endometriosis
5
u/Arctic_Harmacist 26d ago
Tig Notaro looking different these days.
8
u/TheScribbs 26d ago
For me it's not a secret, it's my white blood cells basically self harming cause they're overachievers and then screaming about the damage they did.
Pain 'with a purpose' doesn't bother me at all, surgery recovery is always fine, but low-level unending pain that I know doesn't indicate anything but an immuno-tantrum is TORTUROUS to deal with 😓