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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to have SO MANY health issues at once?

66 replies

Brittapie · 28/10/2013 21:37

Sigh. More "is my body being unreasonable" really. GRUMP.

OK, so. I have fairly severe bipolar disorder, which is bad enough in itself, but I also take various meds which give me their own side effects and stop me being able to take things like ibuprofen (or any NSAIDs) and the pill. I see someone at least once a week for various aspects of this, and have to bear it in mind when eating, drinking, exercising, sleeping and making any kind of decision. I also have to deal with a lot of prejudice, stigma and harassment.

I have SPD (yes, the pelvis thing that people get in pregnancy, even though my youngest is nearly 4) that makes me limp and be in pain sporadically. I see a physiotherapist and it limits my options with various physical things. Luckily not my dancing - I do lindy hop which is really energetic but for some reason doesn't often hurt my pelvis. I do have to be very fussy about only dancing on slippy floors in slippy shoes though, but a lot of people are anyway. The main effect it has on my life is pain, but mostly at a low level.

I have terrible periods. Heavy and painful. I take tranexamic acid but still sometimes have really long periods that are sometimes till fairly heavy. The prescription painkillers I was taking I can't any more because they interact with other medication, so this month is going to be horrible. I'm going for an ultrasound scan tomorrow.

I have mystery bad joints. Creaky and stiff. I have no idea why. I went for blood tests and nothing showed up.

I am anxious about a lot of medical proceedures - I'm having to get better at blood tests because I'm having them all the time at the moment. I've never had a smear test. I have a mole that looks really dodgy. Two of my teeth have snapped off and I have been on a waiting list to be sedated so they can even look at them for nearly two years (not the same list - I moved after a year on the first one so had to join a new list)

I can't swim, I'm scared of heights, milk makes my entire face hurt so I avoid dairy, I'm diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia, I can't have more babies because of birth complications.

I'm only 28 FFS! I feel like people are rolling their eyes behind my back. I know some people think I make the things up for my own twisted amusement or to skive off or whatever. I've had some utterly horrid things said to or about me recently regarding my health. None of it is stuff I can prove either, well not without inviting them to read my medical notes. I probably look fairly normal.

Can we all be disapproving of my body? Stupid body.

Has anyone got a "healthy pill"? That's all I want really... Grin

OP posts:
Mitchy1nge · 28/10/2013 21:42

would you like to learn to swim?

Original poster
Brittapie · 28/10/2013 21:45

I would like to not have to interrupt peoples plans with "er, sorry, I can't do that..."

One of my best friends is getting married soon, and wants to go to a "go ape" style thing for her hen do. I'm going to have to sit most of it out because of one issue or another, and it will look like I'm asking for "special treatment" agai, when really I would love to be able to join in but know that if I did it would end up with too much focus on me and not the bride to be. I know some of them think I am just being a misery guts and not joining in on purpose. :-(

OP posts:
MrsBennetsEldest · 28/10/2013 21:48

YANBU, I doubt you chose to have any of these problems so I think what you need is a hug and some support and understanding. Reading your post as certainly put my poorly ankle into perspective.

MammaTJ · 28/10/2013 21:50

Nope, can't mange to get judgemental over your extreme bad luck, no matter how hard I try! Sorry. Grin

Friends, or real friends (the only type I tollerate) know your limitations and inderstand them, surely!!

Mitchy1nge · 28/10/2013 21:51

it's just that you said you can't swim so I wasn't sure if it meant you hadn't learned or were physically incapable of swimming

it might be a good thing for you to learn? something to offset all the things you can't do, a new ability to be proud of

I'm sorry people haven't been very understanding about your problems

CaptainSweatPants · 28/10/2013 21:51

The teeth & joints suggest osteoporosis or similar maybe ?
You poor thing

Original poster
Brittapie · 28/10/2013 21:54

I think the bipolar is the biggest thing. Obviously the condition itself is fucking shit. But all the rest... the appointments, the medication, the side effects (currently raging thirst, non existent appetite, random shakes and twitches). It is under control more or less, but I have no hope in hell of working or living a normal life in the near future.

People seem to think I am just slightly depressed sometimes.

Add in the fact that I have all the other physical stuff going wrong too and I feel like I should be broken up for scrap :-(

OP posts:
Original poster
Brittapie · 28/10/2013 21:57

Come on MammaTJ! Try harder! Grin

OP posts:
TheGonnagle · 28/10/2013 21:57

Didn't want to read and run, just to say that I hear you.
SPD, low level constant pain, joint issues, heavy periods, birth complications....could I suggest that you go and have a read about Ehlers Danlos Syndrome? PM me if it rings true to you.

TheGonnagle · 28/10/2013 21:58

Oh, and the teeth. And the bipolar fits with certain pictures.

Troubledtimes · 28/10/2013 21:58

Crikey op we have sooo much in common but it's late. I'll PM you over the next few days, take care and kudos to you for still lindy hopping I'm a bit jealous!

Mitchy1nge · 28/10/2013 22:03

ah you must be on lithium Grin I struggle with the thirst too, have you been taking it for long?

trish5000 · 28/10/2013 22:03

Sad Poor you. And how awful that people are not understanding and empathetic.

One thing that jumped out of me from the above is the dodgy mole. Please get that checked as soon as possible. It is important for all dodgy moles to be looked at as soon as possible. Sorry to add to your woes. It may be nothing to be concerned about, but better to be safe about it.

Punkatheart · 28/10/2013 22:06

We understand.

I send you a hug - sorry that's the best I can do.

Hermyninny · 28/10/2013 22:06

Dyspraxia is also associated with Ehlers Danloss. Check out hyper mobility.org.uk. Or pm me.

Original poster
Brittapie · 28/10/2013 22:07

Mitchy - well guessed! Not been on it long, nearly two weeks. Really not looking forward to my first period on it with no pain relief. It is meant to be really good though, and I've previously been refused it because I wasn't stable enough so I am determined to give it a good shot.

OP posts:
Original poster
Brittapie · 28/10/2013 22:11

I'm not hyper mobile, I'm like an old stiff woman. I googled as well, and it says loose skin, which I don't have.

The not being able to swim is I think a dyspraxia thing. I can doggy paddle, but only for very short distances, and I find it very hard to be in a swimming pool because everything just grates on my senses. I've not tried my little doggy paddle since I have been dancing though, my general fitness is massively improved so I might find it easier now. I mostly spend any time I'm in a swimming pool trying to quell the mounting panic every time I get splashed or someone makes a horrible echoing sound so I make other people take the dds swimming now Grin

OP posts:
Mitchy1nge · 28/10/2013 22:16

I am in a love/hate relationship with the stuff but started it over ten years ago, with a few years in between on something else (lamictal)

I have a lot of faith in it, it is the ONLY med which is known to reduce the risk of suicide, it's been around for a very very long time so there is lots of evidence for it and quite a lot is known about it, and really once you're at a therapeutic level it's not such a pain with the blood tests only every 3 months. I do struggle with the thirst but am on a high dose at the moment because mood went up earlier this year.

I think the one sort of helpful thing I can think of about bipolar is that it's a condition (unlike most others) that we can have a lot of influence over - diet, sleep, routine, exercise - once the mood is more stable. Other things you have so little control over, but at least bipolar is not progressive or degenerative, it's something that you can in time learn how to manage even if it doesn't truly go away. I hope the lithium starts to work for you, it does take ages though x

Mitchy1nge · 28/10/2013 22:17

(I can't swim either, it's always on my want-to-do list)

Original poster
Brittapie · 28/10/2013 22:17

Any ideas for something light hearted but assertive I can say when I see people doing the "here she goes again with another excuse for not doing something" thing?

When people are just being bigoted twats they are a lost cause.

OP posts:
trish5000 · 28/10/2013 22:20

Is it family or friends or strangers?

Mitchy1nge · 28/10/2013 22:22

I don't know, my first psychiatrist advised me to let people know I had 'a severe mental disorder' when I asked for advice about how to handle certain social situations

I suppose social suicide was better than actual suicide but I do quite like using the phrase these days :)

Original poster
Brittapie · 28/10/2013 22:23

I'm also on lamotrigine! (lamictal) I've found lamotrigine to be really good, but it is best for the bottom end and I was finding that some hypomania was breaking through, and there was worry that it might have been causing my joint pain. So hopefully I can reduce it once my lithium levels are right.

I've tried ten different medications for the bipolar up to now, with various combinations and doses, so fingers crossed...

I know what you mean about the control. It's just a case of not only learning it, but actually accepting it. Bipolar makes you want to do the things that would make it worse!

OP posts:
Mitchy1nge · 28/10/2013 22:24

maybe keep a secret mental list of alternatives you could propose, so if the suggested activities are too much you could say 'I'm not feeling up to that but could we . . . instead?'

most people, I think, are quite nice and willing to accommodate where possible

MammaTJ · 28/10/2013 22:25

I know, I am shit at the judgmental thing, being a bit ok at the fisrt year student nurse thing!!

I also worked in a psych hospital for the first few years of my working life! NOT A CHANCE!! lol

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