Lived Experience Forum

[Cmoon1337]

Hi I am new here and have always been a generally high anxiety/depressed person even throught childhood/teen years. 10/11 months ago I suffered a pretty bad chest infection and ever since then have had chronic pain on left side of body, went through multiple doctors to not find and physical symptoms but instead diaganosed with illness anxiety disorder (hypocandra) it’s caused me to become even more recluse and unable to do many things which has affected my life greatly. I am currently in Physiotherapy and starting a new job soon in hopes to help better manage it. I’m just wandering if anyone here has had or is currently suffering from the same thing or something similar and what has helped with dealing this sort of condition. Sorry for the long wall of text but any advice would be much appreciated, thank you.

[RiverSeal]

Hey @Cmoon1337, thank you for sharing your experiences with the community here on the Forums!

It sounds like you have had a lot of physical pain to deal with for some time. You are demonstrating your resilience and strength by reaching out to your peers. It's good that you have a diagnosis now and you can treat your anxiety and have some physiotherapy too. I hope your new job goes well and you can better manage your health.

There are some great places on the Forums where you can connect with other people if you want to take a look: Looking for a space to connect with others? Find a... - SANE Forums

Thanks again for sharing your story on the Forums!

Take care

RiverSeal 

[D1ng0]

Hey @Cmoon1337, welcome to the forums. Here is my experience with chronic pain, if it will help...

Much like you, I have always suffered from anxiety and depression. Throughout the years I have also experienced unexplained pain, following diagnosed physical conditions/injuries. Pain persisted even when the conditions resolved and medical testing showed no ongoing injury, and nobody could explain why I was still experiencing pain. This was always very frustrating and distressing for me, as I never understood why I was living with persistent pain which seemed to have no solution. I got on with my life and ignored it, until a significant medical/physical event which led to severe pain that didn't go away once the physical harm was long resolved.

I was forced to seek multiple second opinions until I actually found answers. I saw two different physiotherapists who misdiagnosed me and instructed me to perform rehabilitation exercises... which made my pain worse. I finally got answers when I was diagnosed, by a pain physiotherapist and a pain doctor, with nerve sensitisation and central sensitisation.

I'm not saying that you are the same as me, or that my experience is universal. You may absolutely have hypochondria. I'm sharing my story because I want to let you know that the medical field of pain management is really complex, and many of us who experience persistent pain are branded as time-wasters or "difficult" patients, when what we really need is appropriate care that correctly identifies the cause of our pain. Pain is not a straightforward thing. Advocating for yourself can be so exhausting, especially if you feel ignored or dismissed by medical practitioners.

If you do have hypochondria, I really hope you can get therapeutic help, because you are clearly suffering. You deserve support and I hope you're doing okay, when you read this.

[NatureLover]

Welcome, @Cmoon1337 , I'm sorry to hear.

You can type anything into the Search bar above to find threads on that topic, for instance, "pain" or "hypochondria". You might find something helpful.

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