5 Ways I Cope With My Undiagnosed Pain Condition

Coping with an undiagnosed pain condition can be extremely difficult, but there are five ways I try to cope while waiting for a diagnosis.

1. The main way I try to cope is to stop my mind from going into overdrive and overthinking what the cause or diagnosis could be. This is much easier said than done, since not knowing what is causing so much pain can be terrifying for me, but it’s vital to try to keep this to a minimum, otherwise, I would be constantly scared and obsessing.

2. I keep notes of anything I think is important, such as what level my pain is at different times, what affects my pain (such as exercise, activity or rest) and any other symptoms I notice. This means when I go to doctors’ appointments or to see specialists, they have all the information I can give them, so they have the best chance of finding out what is wrong and how to help me.

3. I try to rest when I feel exhausted or when I’m in a great deal of pain. This can be very frustrating when I want to just get on with things, but it’s important to allow my body to rest when it needs it.

4. When I’m in a lot of pain, I try to distract myself from it as much as I can. This is pretty hard to do as the pain is always there, but rather than just focus on it, I try to focus on anything else: my work, my writing, seeing friends, spending time with my pets, spending time with my husband or watching a film. Anything that will keep me occupied.

5.  I talk about how I feel. Having an undiagnosed condition can be emotionally overwhelming, so to deal with those emotions when they come up, I make sure I talk to someone in my support system to help me deal with them.

These things help me to cope and to stay as strong as I can during this process of hopefully getting a diagnosis. 

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