Trial & Error Woes
I’ve been diagnosed with HSD/hEDS, Orthostatic Intolerance (POTS-like symptoms), Chronic Migraines, ADHD, PTSD, and Fibromyalgia. Most of my medications prescribed are alternative use as treatments for my conditions, except my ADHD medication. So, it’s a lot of trial and error to see what works because of the general invisibility of my conditions & most being poorly understood, if not stigmatized.
Which brings me to why I’m posting - not only is this exhausting and frustrating for myself, but my partner gets extremely upset whenever I decide to try a new medication prescribed or try adjusting my medication with provider recommendation. Although it is voiced and agreed that we want me to feel better and not be so impacted by my conditions, it seems like trying out a medication to see if it helps is something that isn’t acceptable for him.
Some of the concern I understand as I have these anxieties about trying new medications. But I’m also willing to try something if it’s known to be used for my conditions and there’s a chance it will make me feel better, which in turn makes both of our lives easier… I’ve tried medication for my PTSD, but that didn’t work for me, so my provider and I agreed to discontinue since I found therapy to be efficient. That and HSD/hEDS are the only conditions I do not take medications for right now (most medications for hEDS/HSD are for chronic pain and comorbidities, though). But those 2 are mainly managed through other modalities; some of my medications can help reduce the frequency or severity of symptoms caused by those 2 conditions. It’s not perfect, and I’m still struggling to get better management of my symptoms that I get the relief needed to function more.
However, I need to alert my partner in case there’s side effects requiring medical attention. And I think fear is partially why he gets upset, but it’s directed at me in a way like I don’t actually need this medication or at least have no reason to try it to see if it works. He will make comments as if I have not looked into the medication before trying it out & as if I have not been significantly more impacted by my unmanaged symptoms over the past couple years that I can’t even do half the things I used to be able to do.
But all my conditions require(d) trial and error; at least with ADHD, the trial and error was brief in comparison to all my other conditions, which were more delayed in receiving diagnosis & dismissed for over a decade. And it’s also why multiple modalities are worth exploring since the delayed diagnoses have resulted in more complexity requiring longer recovery time overall.
So I ask…
How do you cope with all the trial and error with treatments/medications for management of dynamic and often poorly understood conditions?
How do you help the ones closest to you understand that this trial and error approach is what it takes to hopefully be able to function better with complex, dynamic, and multiple health conditions?
#JointHypermobilitySyndrome #HypermobilitySyndrome #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #ChronicOrthostaticIntolerance #Migraine #ADHD #PTSD #Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #ChronicFatigue #MentalHealth