A while ago I read here something about medical gaslighting. When professionals tell you that your symptoms are not medical/physical and don't believe what you tell them is true. And I'm looking for the opinions of other people here at The Mighty.
I've been #chronicallyill since 2007. It started with pain in my back, and then #Fibromyalgia , #ChronicPain and #Fatigue . I live in The Netherlands and found out in Germany that I had the #LymeDisease . My GP (doctor) back then didn't believe me, and said that Lyme couldn't give me these symptoms.
Fastforward to 2020, I've got a lot of labels, and my body started to hurt like hell, so my legs sometimes just stopped working. I went to the Neurologist, but he couldn't find any physical reason for that to happen. I got the diagnosis#FunctionalNeurologicalDisorder , which basiccally means: you've got neurological symptoms, but we don't know what caused it. And the diagnosis #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis , Chronic Pain takes a lot of energy out of me. I've been to physiotherapists and went through a lot of psychotherapy, and got some psychological labels too. I know that I have to take breaks, I know I have to talk about my feelings with my friends. They taught me that excersising or moving my body can't hurt. And all medical specialists told me that the Lyme Disease can't be present, because I had it treated twice.
Now it's the end of 2021, I'll turn 33 soon, and I'm a frequent #WheelchairUser . I can walk small distances, but I have to think about 'how' I take my next step, and that costs a lot of energy. I got new painkillers, but the sharp pain gets right through.
I got all the help I could get from my Uni, where I graduated in 2008, from friends and the municipallity, who got me my (Quicky Helium) wheelchair 5 months ago.
Last week I had a good talk to my awesome GP. She said that she doesn't know how to help me (very honest, I like that), and asked me if I had any more ideas. And if I had the idea that there was any unexplored route. I answerd that I think this is it, but that I really want to find a good pain-management strategy. And I was thinking: all those specialists I saw the last 14 years, all those people who came up with diseases that you can't easily pin down. The specialists who told me I have to live with this, and have to accept it. They all planted a seed in my head that this Chronical illness, that they can't pin down, won't kill me, won't break me down and is something I can grow old with. But is that true, because at the moment every month I can do less things than the month before.
I just realized I might have been Medically gaslighted. I'm the glass is always half full kind of guy, but where do I start from here with my helpful and awesome GP?
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