Or neurologist? I don't really know which one...
Right now I'm going through this anxious and depressed phase about how I have been feeling. I know it's not normal to feel as uncomfortable as I do, but I've been told so many times by so many different people that I am basically a whiner/complainer and should disregard how I feel... that I sometimes wonder if they are right.
So I'll try to make a long story short:
I am male, 31. I'm for the most part healthy, I'm active, I walk, run, play sports, swim. I LOOK healthy, my vitals are usually very good, as far as i know my cardiac system and vital organs are good. I recently had some bloodwork done that all came out normal.
So I am still left wondering why I feel the way I do.
I have some issues, I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid in 2009, and contracted H1N1 influenza in 2009 as well, and ever since then I felt a lot weaker and had nausea that has never gone away. For the last three years I've had symptoms of Addison's disease or some kind of adrenal problem, which came to a point about 2 1/2 years ago where I was basically imcapacitated and relegated to my bed for 6 months. Apart from getting prescribed Xanax to calm me down (my panic was unimaginable back then) and basically telling me I was in no need of any tests, doctors did next to nothing to help me. You can read my other post if you want to know the story there, but it's not necessary.
I have STILL not been able to get in to an endocrinologist for my adrenal symptoms, but am hoping for the bet now that I have new and very good insurance. (I live in the US btw).
Let me tell you a bit about what's going on. I've been having dizzy spells, orthostatic hypotension, and weakness for about 3 or more years now, but only in the past 2 years or so is it beginning to turn into pain. Right now I'm getting this aching pain every day mostly in my middles arms, middle legs, and sometimes shoulder area. On a good day, it's well in the realm of tolerable, on a bad day, it feels like I've been beat up. But it's kind of always there. I take over the counter pain medicine for it but it only does so much and often does nothing at all. I also get a lot of weird nerve sensations which started around 2007. All I can say to describe that is that it feels like every last nerve is being pinched independent of each other. It's a bizarre feeling and it's mostly in the arms. i flex them a lot as some kind of nervous reaction to it. I also get migraines that sometimes last for days but most of the time they only last a night. I also feel as though I can't stay upright for too long. If I'm sitting up or standing up long enough (a couple hours or more) my back starts killing me and I HAVE to lay down... the discomfort subsides very quickly once I do. I continue to exercise routinely, though I get a lot of pain when I finish. Swimming is like heaven for my pain reduction, but the effects only last a couple of hours.
I've been to the ER three times in the last year, not as bad as two years ago though. I pulled a muscle near my back while lifting weights a year ago and went in and was only treated like I could be trusted when they found blood in the urine sample and thought it was possible a kidney stone. They gave me pain medicine and a short term script for pain pills. Then last march I went in for a migraine and they were very nice, but among the med cocktail they gave me through IV was a "neuroleptic" called haldol that made me SO nervous (unlike anything id ever experienced) for about a day after that I will never again allow anyone to put something like that in my system again! I had to go to the ER again 2 weeks ago, while I was in my relatives' town and they gave me IV pain medication but not a script. To be fair, I did not ask for one, but I know that with chronic pain people in the ER they get to a point where they don't want to prescribe anything. The ER doc there said he was baffled as to why my GP had not ordered an MRI on me due to my long term dizziness spells.
Anyway, I just had a routine eye exam and a routine dental exam and my eyes and teeth are in good shape. I'm hoping the improvement on my teeth may help me feel better.
In a few days, I have a home care appointment with a nurse who is going to talk to me about my symptoms. I'm going to have to explain to her that I was recently in the ER for recurring migraines and how I have these limb pains and back discomfort that does not cease. I have also been trying to get into a sleep study to find out what's behind my years long sleeping issues.
What I'm worried about is this... the fact that it sounds like there is a list of issues I want to look into. In my experience, once you start sounding like it's a list, doctors start thinking you're just some anxious hypochondriac and write you off as crazy. It's happened to me before =/ I'm frustrated that I have not found a doctor willing to look into the CAUSES of how I'm feeling and devise a suitable treatment plan. I don't think it's normal to feel how I've been feeling at 31 years old. It also hurts my feelings greatly when anyone looks at me with suspicion or distrust.
I can live with how this feels, I can learn to accept it, but it's very hard for me to tolerate people who seem to think they know more about how I feel than I know myself.
Anyway, what should I do? I've gotten so frustrated that I sometimes think of swearing off doctor altogether and just trying to grin and bare what's going on... but I'd really like to find a way to figure out the CAUSE of this, treat it, and make me feel better, whichever way works. Maybe, and I'm hoping, the cause is something that could be fixed permanantly. I can only hope.
Right now I'm going through this anxious and depressed phase about how I have been feeling. I know it's not normal to feel as uncomfortable as I do, but I've been told so many times by so many different people that I am basically a whiner/complainer and should disregard how I feel... that I sometimes wonder if they are right.
So I'll try to make a long story short:
I am male, 31. I'm for the most part healthy, I'm active, I walk, run, play sports, swim. I LOOK healthy, my vitals are usually very good, as far as i know my cardiac system and vital organs are good. I recently had some bloodwork done that all came out normal.
So I am still left wondering why I feel the way I do.
I have some issues, I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid in 2009, and contracted H1N1 influenza in 2009 as well, and ever since then I felt a lot weaker and had nausea that has never gone away. For the last three years I've had symptoms of Addison's disease or some kind of adrenal problem, which came to a point about 2 1/2 years ago where I was basically imcapacitated and relegated to my bed for 6 months. Apart from getting prescribed Xanax to calm me down (my panic was unimaginable back then) and basically telling me I was in no need of any tests, doctors did next to nothing to help me. You can read my other post if you want to know the story there, but it's not necessary.
I have STILL not been able to get in to an endocrinologist for my adrenal symptoms, but am hoping for the bet now that I have new and very good insurance. (I live in the US btw).
Let me tell you a bit about what's going on. I've been having dizzy spells, orthostatic hypotension, and weakness for about 3 or more years now, but only in the past 2 years or so is it beginning to turn into pain. Right now I'm getting this aching pain every day mostly in my middles arms, middle legs, and sometimes shoulder area. On a good day, it's well in the realm of tolerable, on a bad day, it feels like I've been beat up. But it's kind of always there. I take over the counter pain medicine for it but it only does so much and often does nothing at all. I also get a lot of weird nerve sensations which started around 2007. All I can say to describe that is that it feels like every last nerve is being pinched independent of each other. It's a bizarre feeling and it's mostly in the arms. i flex them a lot as some kind of nervous reaction to it. I also get migraines that sometimes last for days but most of the time they only last a night. I also feel as though I can't stay upright for too long. If I'm sitting up or standing up long enough (a couple hours or more) my back starts killing me and I HAVE to lay down... the discomfort subsides very quickly once I do. I continue to exercise routinely, though I get a lot of pain when I finish. Swimming is like heaven for my pain reduction, but the effects only last a couple of hours.
I've been to the ER three times in the last year, not as bad as two years ago though. I pulled a muscle near my back while lifting weights a year ago and went in and was only treated like I could be trusted when they found blood in the urine sample and thought it was possible a kidney stone. They gave me pain medicine and a short term script for pain pills. Then last march I went in for a migraine and they were very nice, but among the med cocktail they gave me through IV was a "neuroleptic" called haldol that made me SO nervous (unlike anything id ever experienced) for about a day after that I will never again allow anyone to put something like that in my system again! I had to go to the ER again 2 weeks ago, while I was in my relatives' town and they gave me IV pain medication but not a script. To be fair, I did not ask for one, but I know that with chronic pain people in the ER they get to a point where they don't want to prescribe anything. The ER doc there said he was baffled as to why my GP had not ordered an MRI on me due to my long term dizziness spells.
Anyway, I just had a routine eye exam and a routine dental exam and my eyes and teeth are in good shape. I'm hoping the improvement on my teeth may help me feel better.
In a few days, I have a home care appointment with a nurse who is going to talk to me about my symptoms. I'm going to have to explain to her that I was recently in the ER for recurring migraines and how I have these limb pains and back discomfort that does not cease. I have also been trying to get into a sleep study to find out what's behind my years long sleeping issues.
What I'm worried about is this... the fact that it sounds like there is a list of issues I want to look into. In my experience, once you start sounding like it's a list, doctors start thinking you're just some anxious hypochondriac and write you off as crazy. It's happened to me before =/ I'm frustrated that I have not found a doctor willing to look into the CAUSES of how I'm feeling and devise a suitable treatment plan. I don't think it's normal to feel how I've been feeling at 31 years old. It also hurts my feelings greatly when anyone looks at me with suspicion or distrust.
I can live with how this feels, I can learn to accept it, but it's very hard for me to tolerate people who seem to think they know more about how I feel than I know myself.
Anyway, what should I do? I've gotten so frustrated that I sometimes think of swearing off doctor altogether and just trying to grin and bare what's going on... but I'd really like to find a way to figure out the CAUSE of this, treat it, and make me feel better, whichever way works. Maybe, and I'm hoping, the cause is something that could be fixed permanantly. I can only hope.
Be honest, does it sound like I need a pain specialist?
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire