I have always had some chronic health symptoms like fatigue, gastroenterology symptoms (I was diagnosed with UC when I was 8), I have always joked about how I am young but my back feels 90 (back pains), and for as long as I can recall I have dealt with this mystery rash that appears and then disappears (I have always just assumed I have naturally dry skin but no amount of lotion has helped).
I also have other pain which does not have a diagnosis and has grown progressively worse over the years.
And more recently these symptoms have grown even worse. Though I have been in denial, justifying each as "It must be the weather making me feel like this" or "I just need to eat more today or take a tylenol and rest" or "I must be over exaggerating it is not this bad"
But now it is getting more difficult to ignore and I have begun to ask myself. Is it even worth it to schedule all of these appointments to see these doctors just for them to be dismissive of my pain or not take me seriously or treat me with bias because of my psychiatric history? Is it worth it to get all of this blood work done and try to figure this out when the entire medical community won't even take me seriously?
Honestly I am not entirely convinced that it is worth it. Yes these physical symptoms are greatly interfering with my quality of life, yes they make it hard to function. My peace of mind is more important to me than anything, I worked long and hard for years to achieve this level of inner peace and contentment. So I am not convinced that going to doctor after doctor for them to treat me like I am exaggerating or making this up or dismissing my pain is even worth it. I am not going to beg for help from the Healthcare system when they don't want to help me and aren't going to help me.
Honestly I might just leave the whole Healthcare system behind and not bother with them any more. I honestly already hate dealing with Healthcare professionals and I avoid it when I can. But I am about to just be done and not interact with it at all. Yes I am in a lot of pain physically, but this is the most happy with life I have ever been and I am not going to let a bunch of small minded, biased doctors try to destroy that because they think they know me.
And it is a shame that the health system is so corrupt.
I will protect my soul and my joy and my peace above all else. I will never ever again allow my soul to become poisoned by their vile treatment of me.
Unfortunately since I have so many chronic health conditions I cannot completely leave the healthcare system. But I can limit my interaction with it and only engage with it as absolutely necessary. I am going to seek out a physical therapist for pain management and hopefully these symptoms will improve with time. And of course I still have to get my medication for my autoimmune disorder and my ADHD meds. But again, I am going to restrict my interactions as little as possible.
The thing I have learned with this system is, the more I say or the more I tell them, the more material they are able to use to weaponize against me. It is very unfortunate that it is this way, but it is.
As for the rest of it I was looking into, all of the blood work, testing to find answers,appointments with specialists, I'm not going to bother.
The healthcare system in the United States is terrible. If it were more affordable and the doctors actually listened, it might be worth going regularly. However, due to how expensive it is, and how dismissal they are of any abnormal symptoms, going to the doctor often ends up being a waste of time. An alternative you might look into is an N.D. (naturopathic doctor), which are doctors who focus more on natural healing versus the conventional medicine way.
Something interesting is that there is often a natural alternative to conventional medicine cure. For example, when I had a bloated face, instead of taking a diuretic medicine pill (which can have drastic side effects), I looked up natural diuretics, and found dandelion tea to be a natural diuretic. Even reading the reviews of the tea on Amazon, some people said it performed better than diuretics that doctors prescribed them. A natural alternative for Tylenol as a pain killer for example, could be turmeric and ginger, though I haven't read the reviews and comparisons.
Not to say the natural cure is always the best, sometimes things like surgery, chemotherapy, antibiotics, antiviral medicine, and other examples in conventional medicine is much more effective (although they can have serious side effects and risks as well). It may help to try both.
@JustMegawatt That is a really good idea, thank you! I have been looking into aquatic therapy, I am pretty sure I know what I have at this point so I am not going to be getting that surgery I was trying to get because it wouldn't help. I most likely have fibromyalgia, where basically you are always in pain and always tired, except during a flare up it is 100000 times worse. So I am going to be looking into aquatic physical therapy, other people have said that ha helped them. I joined some support groups for chronic pain online and am feeling much more encouraged. The thing is, there will always be idiot and rude doctors, I am not going to let them keep me from getting quality healthcare that I deserve. Anytime a doctor refuses to do a test or even try to look into something, from here on out I am going to have them write a signed doctors note stating what they are denying so that they have to actually stand on their words. I am sure it will go fine with my PCP this week, she will most likely do one or two more blood tests which will rule out one or two last other possibilities, and then give me an official diagnosis which will help me to afford aquatic therapy. I will also look into the naturopathic doctor, that is a good suggestion! Thanks :)
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