Relationship between medical (chronic pain) and psychiatric (ptsd)

[Hope4Now]

@ground crew thank you so much for sharing your story! I'm so glad you have found some things that are working for you!

 

[Hope4Now]

Today, I go to my primary care physician's office to see a nurse practitioner. At my request. I am going to dive in and see if they will look at the possibility that my current diagnosis of fibromyalgia may be only a part of my larger problem. I'm feeling very nervous about going because it will be the first time after my insurance company notified them about my DID and I am well aware that once a physician can chalk you up to "crazy" they don't listen much to physical issues--especially the wide array of issues that accompany chronic fatigue syndrome (which I have sort of assumed I have for a long time but it has never been officially diagnosed). But I think if I tell them very concisely and specifically about my physical symptoms (the ones in addition to the pain), perhaps they will listen and begin to help me or get me to see someone who can.

And...the weirdest thing. I got a check from my disability company on Saturday. The company that cut me off in July because their mental health benefit ended and they set out to "prove" that my fibromyalgia was not a disabling condition. I wrote a long letter in response, and my doctor's office wrote something as well (not sure what). So maybe, just maybe, my push-back worked. Not sure. It could also just be the final payment that covers the time between the cut-off and the final decision. I suppose I will find out today when I email my representative. It would be a huge relief to be approved under a medical condition because although I receive SSDI, this benefit provides a small but much-needed additional monthly income. So keep fingers crossed.

 

[The Albatross]

@ground crew - yup, yup, yup... you got that right: "Pain feeds depression I find. It is a drain. And when you are in pain, the lymbic system seems to be more irritable. I think I understand why old dogs are often growlly and “mean”, they are in pain and limited in mobility, they are afraid, the lymbic system is in protect mode."

 

[DharmaGirl]

I am well aware that once a physician can chalk you up to "crazy"

Isn't that the truth! I had a PCP who allowed my blood sugars to be in the 500s for 2 weeks, saying it was stress. Meanwhile, I went to the hospital, and said my doctor did nothing, and they didn't believe me! After the 3rd time at the hospital, I was so close to a coma that the doc ordered 2 kinds of insulin as well as pills. My doc was surprised!

 

[Hope4Now]

My visit to my PCP this week was a wash for lots of reasons. It is seriously time for me to move on. I am now on the waiting list to see a PCP who has experience with mindbody medicine as well as (supposedly) fibromyalgia and CFS/ME, but there are 80 people on the waiting list.

I did manage to find a clinic (3 hours away :banghead:) that takes my insurance and specializes in treating people with chronic illness using "integrated medicine" which is a catch-all term for mind body understanding. I had my first appointment on Wednesday. I liked the nurse and the place, but I'm still not sure they will actually be helpful to me (neither they nor my PCP was willing to do the assessment for orthostatic intolerance, which hugely frustrated me as it is so simple, but of course it takes time). I know I have this issue and that it is related to all my other issues, but I do not have an "official" diagnosis from an MD. Same goes for CFS/ME. Anyway, they took a dozen tubes of blood--retesting for many of the things I have been tested on before :sour:, but a few new ones that measure hormones. They seem convinced they will "find something"--I kind of doubt it, but it is my only recourse at the moment.

I need these diagnoses so that I can access the appropriate treatments for them. The treatments for fibromyalgia have just made me worse--the anti-depressants exacerbate my PTSD symptoms, and the exercise exacerbates the chronic fatigue. Can you hear me screaming? :arghh;. I want to :dead:. But I will not. Not yet. Not until I am certain that I am unable to get better than I am physically right now.

Now, to add insult to injury, my disability insurance company is requiring that I undergo a functional assessment with a physical therapist because my physician did not bother to write a letter telling them that I am not fit to return to full-time work. This assessment, of course, spells disaster because these tests are designed to assess physical injury or predictable and measurable physical issues--not chronic illnesses such as fibromyalgia or CFS/ME. I can never guarantee how physically functional I will be on any day or at any given time, but I am still pretty strong physically and can power through things when I need to--the crash comes later. Which, of course, will not get documented. :banghead::arghh;:banghead::banghead::banghead:. I won't lose my government benefits, thankfully, in any near-term time. But the small monthly income I get from my private insurance policy from my past employment is still a big deal thing to lose. And the terrible invalidation I feel is not helping my psychological state at all. But I am fighting back as best I can. Unusual for me, but it is just so wrong.

It's a rather new experience for me, feeling a righteous anger on my own behalf! Testimony, perhaps, to four years of psychotherapy.

 

[DharmaGirl]

I had a functional analysis test, and they found I could not work. My long term disability company sent me to a doctor who told me he was not going to test me, just write down what he thought. I have an attorney, who said that's what they do, and they get away with it. It is totally unfair that I have 3 doctors and the functional test saying I can't work, and their doctor "writes down what he thinks" and I am denied. Now I am suing.

 

[DharmaGirl]

You have to do a formal appeal in a certain amount of time, or you will lose it. You might want to contact an attorney, who will get paid out of anything you get. If you don't get anything neither does the attorney.