Alternating between looking for a 'cure' & accepting this is how it is?

[KatyMac]

Handful of diagnoses (Fm/cfs/me/ibs/hm/allergies and more recently menopause and hypothyroidism)

I seem to swing (emotionally and intellectually) between searching out that miracle cure (which most likely doesn't exist) and accepting that I will.always be in this position with pain/energy/motivation

Obviously it isn't a real acceptance or I wouldn't have the searching bit!

I have had nearly 30ish years a lot of counselling to accept the situation/deal with the pain and I feel that was negated (or destroyed) by completing the PIP form, acknowledging and itemising my problems has caused huge trauma

Not quite sure now how I envisage the future

I'm sure filling in the PIP forms is a real downer when, as you know, the general way of coping is to try and focus on the positives...

But perhaps it helps to think that you're doing the right thing with these forms - it really doesn't help to downplay the problems - you need to convey the very worst! It's tough but it's necessary.

So, having done that, try to draw a line under it - ring fence that experience and think of it as a job well jobbed. Now be extra kind to yourself and seek to raise your mood again to a good 'coping' level. This is not negating your issues, it's just doing the best you can with what you have right now. 🤗

I've read an awful lot of your health posts over what must be well over a decade now and I wonder if some at least is perhaps down to health anxiety? I think I also recall a lot of posts about your daughter's health too.

Please don't think I'm insinuating you don't have all these conditions - but I just wonder if there is something else at play too perhaps

Almost certainly & probably has a detrimental affect to my health/mental wellbeing - I also have a certain amount of fear/anxiety whenever I go to an appointment

But I also cant manipulate blood tests or scans and I think being ill for 28 year warrants an amount of anxiety - even if I dont deal with it well

& this has been a big knock to my psyche, acknowledging and listing my inabilities - triggering a loop which will take a while to make my way out of

& MN is my dumping ground so you may get more than other people!

Hi OP, I’m very similar to you. I have various chronic conditions with fatigue as my worst symptom but lots of other fun and games too. I swing between desperately trying different things in the hopes of finding the magic cure to the miserable understanding that this is it for the rest of my life and I’m basically waiting to die because I’m never well enough to do anything.

However, I will say that keto works minor miracles for me when I manage to stick to it. It’s expensive and a pain in the arse because it’s so restrictive but it’s like a magic button when I’m on it - the fatigue is so much more manageable, pain recedes a lot and the allergic symptoms lessen. Might be worth a try for you even if just for some temporary relief.