health issues

[lerenard]

Hey there.

 

I just need an advice, something other that "go to the doctor", as I am aware of that myself and I will do so, but for now...

How to tell one health issue from another when symptoms are so similar, and doctors just close their eyes and do nothing to be more sure?

I had a lot of stress and hard-work in the last couple of years, but my life was crazy all together for 5 years in total.

I am doing much better now, but in terms of physical health it shows a lot what a mess was going on.

When I last time went to a doctor because of my tiredness and constant switching off and hot flashes, after looking at my sugar test and touching me here and there she asked me if I had big stresses in life just recently, and after my positive answer she sent me off to psychiatrist and an eye-doctor, just in case.

Both of them also told me nothing, just to relax. I felt very burn-out and tired.

A lot of people/articles also told me that diarrhea can as well occur due to post traumatic stress disorder or anxiety disorder, so when I started to have it I thought OK, now it is for sure, I have PTSD and severe anxiety. Because I know myself, and most of my health issues were always in my head. I once almost killed myself with fear I have stomach cancer or else, couldn't sleep, was sick all the time and then I was clear on all the tests in the hospital!

So this time I started to work on my anxiety, but not so long time ago I came accross one article about celiac disease and symptoms are very similar. Some things I don't have, but I also don't have the whole list of symptoms from PTSD or severe anxiety. So it is hard to understand which one of these it can be. The only food allergy I ever had and still have now that I am aware of and that shows reaction right away is for yogurt. But lately I have strange moving feeling in my stomach right after every meal, and at the same time I need to go to the toilet often right after my meal. I am a vegetarian for 7 years now.

Any advice?

[KyleS]

I know you said you don't want anyone to say this, but the way to know if a health condition is the case or not is to go to a doctor and get tested for it.

 

I agree though that often doctors misdiagnose as they did countless times with me, or rather, they diagnose the symptom but not the cause. I still feel upset that I could go to the same few doctors every fortnight for many years and them not suspect that there was a wider problem going on until it had already taken its toll on me and affected my life.

 

It's obviously not a good idea for most people to diagnose themselves without knowing what they're doing, but I personally choose to do it because I know what I'm doing and have always successfully treated any condition I've had or known when to go to a doctor or the hospital for it.

 

While I don't put my full faith in doctors, I do believe they know what they are talking about and it's good to get their opinion and knowledge; after all, you can't deny that they have a lot of qualifications and are very experienced. I think a good balance of trying to work out what's wrong yourself and then taking those ideas to a doctor is the best approach - I know that my doctors are always willing to listen to any ideas I might have about what might be causing something and it can be good to help the doctor along with a list of candidates you think it might be. They'll most likely go through the list with you, rule out anything they can, then test you for anything they aren't sure about.

 

I have celiac disease so I can try and answer any questions on that. It's definitely a possibility if you are tired, going to the toilet a lot, getting weird feelings in your stomach after eating or experiencing moments of fear, panic or anxiety as you described.

 

I don't have PTSD, but my understanding of it is that it's where a recurrent past traumatic memory constantly plagues your mind and makes it difficult to do anything. Things you do constantly remind you of it in vivid detail and you struggle to cope with the stress or get over what you experienced. I expect someone here will have experienced it or be experiencing it and be able to explain it better.

 

Do you have any traumatizing memories from your past that may have caused PTSD and/or anxiety? PTSD is generally caused by something traumatic, but anxiety is often (at least partially) caused by traumatic periods as well.

[NymphaeaLilly]

I'm just a med student and I haven't examine you but reading your post I got a feeling that you are hypochondriac.

At first hypochondriacs read about different diseases and try to find their "symptoms" in one of them but since they aren't really physically sick they can't fit themselves into any category. But since out brain is extremely powerful tool, after some time we can really become sick and physically suffer from a real disease all because we convinced ourselves we are sick. Those diseases are called psychosomatic and most often they affect digestive system.

 

You need to stop focusing so much on those symptoms and start dealing with problems that are stressing you, that's the best way to get better.

[lerenard]

Thank you, KyleS. Yes I had traumatic period, as I said in the beginning, and it was most concentrated in 2009-2012 (a lot of changes in life, abusive maniac bf that was trying to kill me and himself a lot of times and then moving to another county for 2 years, where a friend of mine died from cancer), but all together I had a very stressed, anxious life for 5 years now.

 

You are right, NymphaeaLilly. But if I start having strange symptoms I always check with psychosomatic reasons of these. My attention was indeed concentrated on my body and my health for a long time now, because I had a lot stress, and was afraid something bad is going to happen. Especially after the incident that was a center piece of my trauma - my good friend died from strange form of cancer, that came from HIV, and he also gave it to his wife. She was talking all the time about her health issues so I was checking with myself quite often if I have these symptoms as well, and sometimes I found them sometimes not, so I forget all about it.

This time it was the other way around - first came the symptoms and only then I started too look what they can be. And a lot of health issues gave me the same symptoms. And one doctor told me its all in my head (PTSD) other told me its in my stomach, but nothing serious just too much acid, so I eat 5 times a day small meals instead of 3 big ones.

[Tinnku]

At the beginning of every year we promise ourselves we will live a healthier life, and exercise more. The year starts with the best of intentions, but many times we are unable to keep up with very high goals. Good news is a healthy lifestyle is achievable and it's all about making small changes that make a difference.

 

News on healthy lifestyles say that the key is moderation and consistency. There are so many health and wellbeing products out there in the market promising many things. And although many may be genuine, select carefully choose organic certified and chemical free products.