Every person who has POTS! Like duh I feel anxiety, my body is a cortisol factory. Now let’s talk about the equally real structural problem I came to doctor number 428 to talk about.
Wow. Once again you’ve found the words for something I’ve been feeling so deeply without fully realizing what it was doing to me until I read this…
I’ve slowly started to understand that anxiety is a major trigger for my migraines, but no doctor ever named that connection for me. My therapist recently brought it up so gently, while also making it clear that my migraines aren’t “just anxiety” and that I can continue managing them with support alongside my neurological treatment.
The mind-body connection feels so powerful, yet admitting there may be a mental or emotional component still somehow feels like giving up or invalidating the physical pain. Thank you for articulating this so beautifully 💛💛
So glad to hear that my words clicked for you, Amanda! And it's great to hear that your therapist was able to make a connection between your migraines and anxiety without dismissing you, love to hear that
I sometimes experience (justifiable) anxiety when I have new, concerning symptoms. Once, they were so bad that I reported the, to my GP at the time. Cognitive disfunction so bad I forgot how to use a zipper. Joint pain. Endless headaches (non migraine so unusual for me). So exhausted a walk to the kitchen made me dizzy. Short of breath. Abdominal pain. All new symptoms and I was worried that it was a worsening of my MECFS.
His words - you seem anxious. Let’s get you a referral to a psychiatrist.
Then, we’ll do some blood work also.
Result of blood work? Iron levels so low it was shocking I was still upright at all.
Result of psychiatric assessment? No anxiety present.
Me too! And my symptoms were classic for low iron…. So often we get dismissed because we have underlying issues and we’re not tested for simple things.
I hope whenever that doctor gets sick, that he is treated like he treated you. I know that unfortunately probably won’t happen, but I deeply wish it. For fucking all of them.
As someone suffering from severe Hyperhidrosis, thank you. I’ve been told my anxiety and Hyperhidrosis are like “the chicken or the egg” that they can’t figure out so nothing is done. I will be 49 soon and I’ve been suffering my whole life.
I couldn’t agree more! And not just about anxiety- but any notion of illness being “psychosomatic” when used as weapon or dismissal instead of as the deeply complex, nuanced, and frankly mysterious realm that it could be if taken seriously. So much potential for better understanding of how illness might be affected by a myriad of conditions and circumstances. And like you said - the worst thing about this isn’t just the horrible feeling of being pathologized and dismissed - it’s that so many people are missing out on all kinds of levels of improvement, since having to protect themselves against the reductive and insulting ways these medical “suggestions” are being made. For me personally, incorporating targeted emotional work, in very specific ways, has been one of the most transformative tools with chronic pain, after years of trying anything and everything. Yet I’m still offended and dumbfounded when a professional asks me “have you thought about the possibility that this is… you know… psychosomatic?”
To which I should say : “Dude no one has thought about it more than me! but I also took the time (the years) to REALLy think about it. To learn what that means and to practice and experience different possibilities of working with it - have you?”
Yes I have experienced this when my low weight was explained as must be an eating disorder. It wasn’t. But then, years later, I did develop pathology that can be seen as an eating disorder. The result: I spent a lot of time in treatment trying to prove I didn’t have an eating disorder. The confusion was driving me insane. Fellow patients saw me as the one without the eating disorder in ed treatment, all while I was silently experiencing an increase in thoughts and behaviors.
As someone who suffers from both chronic illness/disability and complex PTSD which is partly from lifetime of medical trauma, I have had this experience more times than I care to think about.
I've had my symptoms and certain conditions downplayed or completely dismissed as a "trigger'" or as health anxiety when, in fact, it has been a very real physical condition.
That's the reason I am currently confined to my home with a knee injury so bad that I can barely walk and a knee joint that has no cartilage left and almost all of the ligaments are either torn or so stretched that they joint doesn't stay in place at all anymore.
I finally went back to a surgeon I know very well from a previous condition, after discovering he specialises in knee replacement surgery, and he is the kindest, most compassionate doctor I've ever met.
He listened to my symptoms, did a through examination and, after seeing just how bad it had gotten, he put me on his waiting list for semi urgent surgery.
symptoms of anxiety can often have a biological mechanism and basis that is being overlooked... also being unwell can be anxiety inducing!
Say it loud!!
Every person who has POTS! Like duh I feel anxiety, my body is a cortisol factory. Now let’s talk about the equally real structural problem I came to doctor number 428 to talk about.
Right! Anxiety is just another reason to keep looking
Wow. Once again you’ve found the words for something I’ve been feeling so deeply without fully realizing what it was doing to me until I read this…
I’ve slowly started to understand that anxiety is a major trigger for my migraines, but no doctor ever named that connection for me. My therapist recently brought it up so gently, while also making it clear that my migraines aren’t “just anxiety” and that I can continue managing them with support alongside my neurological treatment.
The mind-body connection feels so powerful, yet admitting there may be a mental or emotional component still somehow feels like giving up or invalidating the physical pain. Thank you for articulating this so beautifully 💛💛
So glad to hear that my words clicked for you, Amanda! And it's great to hear that your therapist was able to make a connection between your migraines and anxiety without dismissing you, love to hear that
I sometimes experience (justifiable) anxiety when I have new, concerning symptoms. Once, they were so bad that I reported the, to my GP at the time. Cognitive disfunction so bad I forgot how to use a zipper. Joint pain. Endless headaches (non migraine so unusual for me). So exhausted a walk to the kitchen made me dizzy. Short of breath. Abdominal pain. All new symptoms and I was worried that it was a worsening of my MECFS.
His words - you seem anxious. Let’s get you a referral to a psychiatrist.
Then, we’ll do some blood work also.
Result of blood work? Iron levels so low it was shocking I was still upright at all.
Result of psychiatric assessment? No anxiety present.
No apology from GP.
We’re allowed to feel anxious when we have new symptoms! Glad your doctor ran the blood tests too
Me too! And my symptoms were classic for low iron…. So often we get dismissed because we have underlying issues and we’re not tested for simple things.
I hope whenever that doctor gets sick, that he is treated like he treated you. I know that unfortunately probably won’t happen, but I deeply wish it. For fucking all of them.
As someone suffering from severe Hyperhidrosis, thank you. I’ve been told my anxiety and Hyperhidrosis are like “the chicken or the egg” that they can’t figure out so nothing is done. I will be 49 soon and I’ve been suffering my whole life.
Sending you love, Rae <3
I couldn’t agree more! And not just about anxiety- but any notion of illness being “psychosomatic” when used as weapon or dismissal instead of as the deeply complex, nuanced, and frankly mysterious realm that it could be if taken seriously. So much potential for better understanding of how illness might be affected by a myriad of conditions and circumstances. And like you said - the worst thing about this isn’t just the horrible feeling of being pathologized and dismissed - it’s that so many people are missing out on all kinds of levels of improvement, since having to protect themselves against the reductive and insulting ways these medical “suggestions” are being made. For me personally, incorporating targeted emotional work, in very specific ways, has been one of the most transformative tools with chronic pain, after years of trying anything and everything. Yet I’m still offended and dumbfounded when a professional asks me “have you thought about the possibility that this is… you know… psychosomatic?”
To which I should say : “Dude no one has thought about it more than me! but I also took the time (the years) to REALLy think about it. To learn what that means and to practice and experience different possibilities of working with it - have you?”
Yes I have experienced this when my low weight was explained as must be an eating disorder. It wasn’t. But then, years later, I did develop pathology that can be seen as an eating disorder. The result: I spent a lot of time in treatment trying to prove I didn’t have an eating disorder. The confusion was driving me insane. Fellow patients saw me as the one without the eating disorder in ed treatment, all while I was silently experiencing an increase in thoughts and behaviors.
As someone who suffers from both chronic illness/disability and complex PTSD which is partly from lifetime of medical trauma, I have had this experience more times than I care to think about.
I've had my symptoms and certain conditions downplayed or completely dismissed as a "trigger'" or as health anxiety when, in fact, it has been a very real physical condition.
That's the reason I am currently confined to my home with a knee injury so bad that I can barely walk and a knee joint that has no cartilage left and almost all of the ligaments are either torn or so stretched that they joint doesn't stay in place at all anymore.
I finally went back to a surgeon I know very well from a previous condition, after discovering he specialises in knee replacement surgery, and he is the kindest, most compassionate doctor I've ever met.
He listened to my symptoms, did a through examination and, after seeing just how bad it had gotten, he put me on his waiting list for semi urgent surgery.
I hope you get the support for you knee soon, Lulu. And glad to hear that you found a compassionate and kind doctor.