To just want to cry after seeing doctor

[Soubriquet]

I’ve been in constant pain since August. I’ve been to A&E 3 times last year to try and get a handle on it.

I have symptoms 3 pages long. I’ve had numerous blood and urine tests. I’ve had an ultrasound, I’ve had a CT scan, I’ve had an MRI and it’s all clear.

I’ve been waiting since September for an endoscopy. I was supposed to be on the urgent list..heads nothing yet. He’s told me to ring them and push for it to be done quicker. Not sure what my word will do but fine I’ll do it.

I went to the doctors today (first time this year) because the pain had increased noticeably and the medications I have weren’t working.

He did his mumble bumble, gave me more blood tests to do, more urine tests to do, and then prescribed me….sunshine.

He even asked me if the wheelchair I was in, which I have a blue badge for, was necessary!

Im just so frustrated. I can’t walk properly. Literally stumble to the toilet and that’s it. I can’t do stairs. I can’t stand and cook. I have to rely on my husband as a carer.

I can’t be a mum to my kids because I’m having to be stuck in bed as it’s the only place where I get some form of comfort

I’m just stuck.

He asked me what I think it could be, and I mentioned MS and fibromyalgia.

Got told it’s extremely unlikely to be MS as no one else in my family has it, and there’s no point diagnosing fibro as the it’s a waste of my time and doesn’t benefit me.

I just want to cry now

You don’t necessarily need a diagnosis for a blue badge. If you receive PIP with a minimum number of mobility points you can (or at least under my council - they all have different rules and processes) get a blue badge.. PIP isn’t based on a diagnosis but how your condition affects your life.

You don’t need to smoke it! The edibles or the oil will work just as well. I use the edibles from time to time. And I gave the oil to my dog after she had surgery to remove a tumor.

Recreational cannabis is completely legal where I live and had been for many years, before I get flamed.

Could potentially be functional neurological disorder (FND).

One of my friend's family members developed this after having covid. Very hard to get a diagnosis and no defined treatment though.

Both fibro and m.e/cfs can start after a viral infection and cause very severe widespread pain including stomach pain. The poster who stated that this can't be fibro because fibro is not severe enough to need a wheelchair is very wrong as it certainly can be.

I'm sorry for what you're going through op. Keep pushing for answers and eat as well as you can.

To me it sounds like gallstones I had all the similar symptoms

I don’t want anyone to jump on me for this but it sound like you have valid pain but with pregabs being your pain medication and it could eventually be something fixable I honestly would be careful resorting to the use of a wheelchair muscle wastage ect could put you in a position that’s really hard to get out of, I have had gall stones and I have a chronic pain diagnosis I have been through all the pain medications available even oramorph by the bottle full weekly (obviously not a long term solution) cocodamol wasn’t strong enough at the highest dose age along side tramadol and I’m now on a drug called buprenorphine which is patch that administers the drug directly in to the skin and I change it every 7 days, I think prehaps a referral for pain management could be good for you as white pain there is a lot of mental components and blocks that they help to deal with, I could too a blue badge and a wheelchair as I qualify completely it just seems like that would honestly be a last resort it would be so hard to climb out of that hole

The blue badge application has zero to do with an actual diagnosis. I got one about a year before I had a formal diagnosis. Same with PIP, it has nothing to do with a diagnosis and all to do with how your health impacts you on a day to day basis.

I knew for a year that I needed crutches to walk and the crutches were prescribed by a specialist and physio, it took them a year to figure out why.

@Teamofsix for many of us if we didn’t have a blue badge, we wouldn’t be able to actually live our lives. Having a badge isn’t a hole, it’s a tool to help you live. Same with a wheelchair. ultimately there’s nothing that immediately “qualifies” you for a blue badge, it’s based on need and if you are doing without it, then do you actually need one?

@Antisocialfluffmonster I completely agree with you. Without my wheelchair my life would be so much smaller. I physically can’t walk from one end of a supermarket to another. I wouldn’t be able to travel to visit family because I can’t walk through the station. I do hope to get the damaged joint repaired, but until then avoiding agony doesn’t make me weak! I didn’t get the aids I needed for a long time because of comments like that, so I do hope no one else reading is put off.

I do worry about muscle loss when using the chair, but I honestly see no other choice right now.

I walk as much as I can in the house as much as I can but it does intensify the pain which then circles round to not being able to walk…

it’s a never ending circle

Well, my doctor has proved once again how bloody useless he is.

Just went to go for my blood tests, only to be told that one of them is time sensitive and needed to be done at 9am.

Doctor never mentioned that!! So now I have to rebook and go again.

I am so sorry, OP. I've seen you on mumsnet for years but I never knew you faced such unbelievable difficulties. One thing to mention, your doctor asked you to chase up the hospital. Our GP's receptionist had asked us to chase up the hospital for bloods. The hospital told us off because only a doctor can apparently request results and hung up abruptly (although it had been over 3 weeks and normally blood results are delivered within days). Maybe be a bit economical with the truth and say that you were fobbed off, felt embarrassed and they demanded the doctor call them? It is their job to chase the hospital up.

I hope you get to the end of your troubles soon

@PartingGift Did your friend find out what that actually meant? Is s/he better now despite no treatment?

Hi there. Twelve years ago I had gone through something similar, it all started will a swelling knee and it all gone wrong from there. It took six months to get to the right specialist and by then the rheumatoid flare up was everywhere doing havoc to my body and not being able to walk. Certainly the most outrageous was the pain! Never ending pain, falling asleep only when I was tired of suffering and waking up after an hour or so, again, because of it. The never ending pain. In my case, I was lucky enough to have been sent to a team of amazing specialists @ Mile End Hospital in London and they are looking after me since then. I have tried quite a few treatments, but most importantly whatever treatment I am on, makes my pain bearable. I actually have been very well at the beginning of their treatments but as I got older other health complications made it difficult.
There is light in the end of every tunnel. I just hope it will be as soon as possible for everyone 🤞
Maybe ask an appointment with a rheumatoid arthritis specialist?

@Soubriquet I mentioned this upthread and said I would get back to you.. I spoke to the specialist pain nurse yesterday who advised to continue combining pregabalin / codydramol / an NSAID so it must be ok to take them together. I did wait a full year almost from referral to appointment though, but it still might be worth you asking about a referral to the pain clinic.

@Soubriquet I hope you are taking SH with you to the appointments with the DR? You seem to be getting mucked around a lot.

You know that you can demand a referral to a specialist.

Have you seen a podiatrist? It may be worthwhile given your foot pain.

I'm really interested to hear more about this. I have applied for my 84yr old mother for a blue badge and we have been told she needs to provide evidence of a diagnosis/treatment within the last 12 months. The reality is that she is 84, has osteoarthritis, has had 2 hip replacements 10 years ago but doesn't see her GP because there is no cure/improvement likely. So far she continues to be rejected.

@Nowfeeltheneedtopost
Every council has their own blue badge process. With mine, if you have already been through the assessment process for certain benefits (and that usually involves a medical assessment and dwp contacting your gp / specialist / etc) you get passported to automatic approval. If you’re not on one of the listed benefits or meet one of the other automatic criteria, then you have to provide the medical evidence or diagnosis or what have you to the blue badge team. This will often apply to elderly people who have declining mobility but aren’t eligible for working age benefits.

You just need to jump through the hoops if you want the claim to be successful. See GP, get referred to consultant, then get letter from both to support her claim. That’s all it takes.