did you know that if you're mental* you can't have anything physically wrong with you as well

[yesimmental]

It's all in your head

Horrible it was, but I was satisfied that after speaking to me for more than two seconds he then felt like a bit of a prat for asking what he did.

UncleT, sorry to hear that. You're clearly encountering more equal-opportunity arseholes than I have. (And, now I think about it, nearly all the other mentals I know are female, and from listening to them, the content of this thread is no surprise at all; perhaps I'm drawing conclusions from a too-limited data set?)

I appreciate that we tend to go by our own experience, friends and so on, so no offence taken. It's very much a topic that is close to my heart though. I honestly think that the chronic pain I've now had for nearly two years has been dealt with in only the most cursory way at least in part because of my history. Having recently fled the country I'm going to try tackling it with a 'clean slate' as it were - - and get an appointment when I need one albeit for money--.

Apparently also grief is a natural thing and you can't be signed off from work for grief after loosing your mum at a very tender age.

This happens to me all the time, I was told a couple of weeks ago by a locum that I couldn't possibly be having symptoms of lactose intolerance, it was all in my head and did I maybe come off my anti-depressants too soon. Asking if it might be related to coeliac disease I was told that lactose and wheat allergies had nothing to do with each other. I really had to push to get her to take my tiredness and other symptoms seriously and she did order bloods but not a coeliac screen because she felt I might be obsessing.

Tests came back showing I had really low iron and my usual G.P called and said I might benefit from a coeliac test due to low iron and my lactose issues.

Thing is I hate going to the doctors and only go when it's really really bad so to have them be so dismissive is maddening, especially now I have to have a second set of bloods for a test that could have been taken with the rest of them.

I live in Mexico and a friend's mother lives in an isolated village in the mountains. The old lady got sick and after ten days without improvement friends and family carried her for four hours down the mountain to the nearest road to take her to the doctor only for said doctor to treat her as a malingerer.
I despair sometimes

Beard isn't infallible, I'm afraid.

My DH, who had a Y chromosome last time we checked, was fobbed off for three years that his extreme muscle fatigue was just a symptom of his bipolar. (During that same time he went to the GP on a number of occasions with a persistent cough and was told it was a viral chest infection.)

Turns out he has a chronic chest condition as a result of untreated pneumonia, which has left him with impaired lung function and the muscle fatigue is because he's not getting enough oxygen to his muscles, and he now has to take an antibiotic every other day for the rest of his life

And if you have autism and can't say what is wrong then any slapping, biting and scratching yourself that you might do is because of the autism and not because you might actually be in pain with a treatable condition.

I was thinking about doing my dissertation two years away about how HCP treat physical illnesses of those with dementia, so this is all very interesting to me.

I know if my head fell off it would be because I am fat, not because of a chopper taken to my neck!

If you have any diagnosed additional need or learning disability you CANNOT also have a mental health issue at the same time. In fact in my area you would be under the 'special needs service' and they would be unprepared to ask anyone from another team to see you. You are there till you die. Suffering. It goes against 'protocol'.

I woke one morning in agony with one side of my jaw twice the size as normal. I went to the dentist who said she wasn't going to even look in my mouth because I was obviously a drug seeker as I couldn't speak properly. Of course I couldn't speak properly, I couldn't open my mouth properly. I changed dentists.

I've had many an argument with GPs over it's all in their head argument. Along the lines of :how do you know it's not a chest infection when you've not even seen them never mind listened to their chest"

DH has discovered that if you have diabetes, then any ache or pain you have is diabetes-related neuropathy. Including a broken bone and a trigger finger.

This affliction is also between parents and children.
Every time I asked about my sons difficulties in interaction and socialising the doctors would say 'Oh no problem..and how are you coping Boaty?'With the sympathetic smile and pat on the head hand. I had PND when they were tiny. This was up to age 15ish.
He has been assessed Aspergers aged 26!

Oh yes, I am so familiar with this attitude. You are definitely not bu! Got brushed off with the "anxiety /all in your head" nonsense for 15 years regarding some pretty serious palpitations / dizziness / breathlessness I was experiencing. I actually ended up believing it was just anxiety myself. Until I happened to mention that I was getting "slight palpitations" (by my standards) when I was in labour. I was hooked up to a monitor, and it became apparent that I had a very, very unusual heart rhythm caused by a structural heart defect, requiring surgery (something called slow-slow Avnrt).

Not so much as an apology from my GP.

lilmiss coeliacs and lactose intolerance go hand in hand so I don't get why your GP said that?! DM has coeliacs and lactose intolerance, has done for ~ 40+ years and research has shown why it occurs(!)

I agree Fibro = never having anything else...

Lunar1 YES absolutely everything is because you are over weight. YES I'm shouting.

My DM is in hospital at the moment because my DSIS can't cope with her mobility problems.

Yes her weight doesn't help, but doctors going on and in about it, stopped her bothering to go near them.

Good arthritis care and physio years ago might have reduced the mess she's in now.

She can't just lose weight at the flick of a switch, she's genetically predisposed to put on weight eatting a normal amount of food, so is my poor DSIS. (We ate the same as DCs and much the same now, neither of us does much exercise I'm a 16, she's a 26, it's not fair!)

Daisy- that's what I heard so went thinking I better get it checked out. She was convinced it wasn't though and I didn't want to say well the internet says I might have it as I knew I was losing her.

Luckily another doc took a look at my notes and ordered the test.

Agree with the age one. My MIL was fobbed off by her GP for over a year with hip and back problems. He rold her it was just her age and she would have to live with it. She eventually went to see another GP and got scans etc. It is still ongoing but it is most definitely not just 'getting old' that is the issue.

Good to know about the thyroid one, as I have recently been diagnosed with overactive thyroid. The nurse who did my original blood test was nicely condescending though. GP was testing for anaemia, diabetes and other things as well as thyroid, and she said, oh are we a busy mum feeling a bit tired?

I was not impressed! If I had been feeling a bit tired I wouldn't have gone to the Dr. I was on my knees with exhaustion.

If you have given birth to a healthy baby you cannot have PND according to my GP who sent me away after I'd been to see her begging for help as I was suicidal.
" You're lucky, you have a healthy baby, go home and enjoy her " is what I was told.
When it later transpired that I did have mental health problems it was concluded that it was because my partner had left me, not because actually I'd been suffering for the 10 months before that and him leaving was what pushed me over the edge.

Oh yeah, I also had obstetric cholestasis from16 weeks pregnant but didn't get a diagnosis and medication until I was 27 weeks. I burst into tears at an appointment with my consultant because I was so frustrated and sleep deprived from constant scratching. All he could suggest was putting up the dose of my anti depressants .

It took a lot to convince him that actually, I wasn't depressed, just frustrated by a physical problem and the only cure for that frustration was to stop the bloody itching. He gave a dramatic sigh, rolled his eyes and said "ok, we'll do a blood test. It's very unlikely to show anything but it doesn't hurt to rule everything out". He was so very wrong. My ALT' s (liver enzymes) were 267. Anything over 50 is enough for a diagnosis of OC.

This just goes to show that not only are you not allowed to have anything physically wrong with you when you have mental health problems, your normal emotional reactions are also dismissed as just part of the 'crazy'.

The worst part of all, is that the more you insist there is something physically wrong with you, the more 'mental' you come off. It upsets me that medical specialists have such shitty attitudes towards mental health.

Ooooh yes, the fat thing.

I'm absolutely sure I get taken more seriously because I'm skinny.

Right up till they discover I'm mental, of course: then I'm manipulative for not mentioning that first in every consultation.

MammaTJ you might be interested in this news story.

Radical new idea for dealing with dementia patients showing agitation and aggressio: treat their fucking pain.

Exactly this time last year my mil went to her GP as her eye lid was slightly closed. She couldn't open her eye. Mil had a complex health history. GP wanted to increase her anti depressants, no examination or tests.

She had been an alcoholic for years but had been dry for 10 years...

GP sent her away 3 times. Mil had a brain tumour. Diagnosed in July. She died 5 weeks later...

My sister comes across this all the time amongst her colleagues. She's a learning disability nurse in a MH trust. Some docs and nurses can't see diabetes or heart disease when it's under their nose if the patient has autism or psychosis. She's even had patients having heart attacks sent back from A&E because 'they are too difficult'.

Thing is doctors know full well about diagnostic over-shadowing but they still do it.

Apparently every stomach complaint imaginable is IBS - until you end up in a+e and it turns out it's actually your gallbladder and it needs removing asap!!