tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post5452483143261413312..comments2023-11-05T04:05:03.588-08:00Comments on A Chronic Dose | A blog about chronic illness, healthcare, and writing.: Structural Humor and Other Musingsā¦Lauriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10392908564921877962noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-49544914792365191222008-06-03T17:28:00.000-07:002008-06-03T17:28:00.000-07:00You have some really great articles here.I too am ...You have some really great articles here.<BR/>I too am so tired of doctors saying <BR/>"it's all in your head"<BR/><A HREF="http://www.undiagnosedillness.org" REL="nofollow"><BR/>Undiagnosed Illness</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-89020084794214231872007-12-10T08:15:00.000-08:002007-12-10T08:15:00.000-08:00I too get sick in those two months quite often. Wh...I too get sick in those two months quite often. When I am stress, I do tend to get colds and flus and all those lovely things.<BR/><BR/>I still wouldn't use it as a cop out though.jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05665566227297863569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-62795706244019469382007-11-22T19:09:00.000-08:002007-11-22T19:09:00.000-08:00Thanks, Barbara! I'd glad I now found yours, too!A...Thanks, Barbara! I'd glad I now found yours, too!<BR/><BR/>And, btw, I totally agree--at this point in my life, I don't care which combination of conditions and life factors cause which symptoms--I just care about what I can do to get back to my life.Lauriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10392908564921877962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-25815381972302859672007-11-22T09:44:00.000-08:002007-11-22T09:44:00.000-08:00I know stress did not cause my chronic pain condit...I know stress did not cause my chronic pain condition, and certainly having pain shoots my stress level through the roof. I do believe that stress does have an impact on my pain. As do changes in the weather, diet, work load, and life. After so many years of this cycle (pain->stress->pain->stress), I have come to see that my body, my pain, my spirit, and my world are always intertwining. What matters to me now is not what causes what - but what can I do to alleviate pain when it spikes and to be in life as much as possible.<BR/><BR/>btw - you are a terrific writer! I'm glad I found your blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-55121233579564131042007-11-21T21:48:00.000-08:002007-11-21T21:48:00.000-08:00It is quite sickening--pun intended--how doctors a...It is quite sickening--pun intended--how doctors are quick to blame the patient when they are stumped. <BR/><BR/>I have a genetic heart condition that has caused my heart walls to be thick and stiff. I've spent YEARS being told by "top" cardiologists that chest pain is "not a symptom" of my condition and that it must be from something else.<BR/><BR/>How about stupidity? Can your ignorance give me a headache?SEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02897195184190375798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-80498268605630680522007-11-20T19:46:00.001-08:002007-11-20T19:46:00.001-08:00Ah, I knew I'd strike a chord here. It's amazing h...Ah, I knew I'd strike a chord here. It's amazing how no matter how different the ailments are, the experience with stress is the same.<BR/><BR/>Clearly stress can make breathing problems worse. But did stress cause severe infections that resulted in 20+ surgeries, multiple hospitalizations, collapsed lungs, daily green phlegm, and respiratory failure, to name a few? Um, no. But perhaps an immune disease, PCD, and bronchiectasis could cause all that, no?<BR/><BR/>I am so grateful I will never hear that line of questioning again!Lauriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10392908564921877962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-75274531839700145602007-11-20T19:46:00.000-08:002007-11-20T19:46:00.000-08:00Ah, I knew I'd strike a chord here. It's amazing h...Ah, I knew I'd strike a chord here. It's amazing how no matter how different the ailments are, the experience with stress is the same.<BR/><BR/>Clearly stress can make breathing problems worse. But did stress cause severe infections that resulted in 20+ surgeries, multiple hospitalizations, collapsed lungs, daily green phlegm, and respiratory failure, to name a few? Um, no. But perhaps an immune disease, PCD, and bronchiectasis could cause all that, no?<BR/><BR/>I am so grateful I will never hear that line of questioning again!Lauriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10392908564921877962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-65258890766679628692007-11-20T16:55:00.000-08:002007-11-20T16:55:00.000-08:00Do you use an electric blanket? I know, that's mor...Do you use an electric blanket? I know, that's more off-the-wall than Stress. But I would swear and my DH agrees that using an electric blanket made me sick all winter for years.Rangermomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18160223307451216102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-29564923979343896802007-11-18T23:04:00.000-08:002007-11-18T23:04:00.000-08:00It's a total cop-out to blame it all on stress, an...It's a total cop-out to blame it all on stress, and it's a cop-out that aggravates me to no end!<BR/><BR/>I loved the structural humor, and I hope you've met your end-of-semester illness quota!Girl, Dislocatedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16246314456328743646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-82386371423513380312007-11-18T14:39:00.000-08:002007-11-18T14:39:00.000-08:00I so get this. When my oldest son first started g...I so get this. When my oldest son first started getting sick - I took him to his pediatrician with a list of symptoms we had seen for the previous 18 months. He told me - it wasn't him, it was me, and that I didn't know how to parent. he suggested I get couseling to deal with my obvious feelings of being overwhelmed by parenting. I fired him. I demanded my son's medical records, and I never, ever looked back. Yes, not only does your stress cause your own illness, it can cause your childs too according to that doc. Seriously, one of my concerns was that in 18 months he had NEVER had a formed stool, that he had constant diahrrea. Apparently a stressed out parent caused it. <BR/><BR/>We have friends who actually had their son taken from them and put into foster care for 28 days because some idiot doctor accused them of causing their sons disease (yes, a mitrochronindrial disorder - a GENETIC condition, and an immune disease).Daynahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00378574876984217892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-90272807523680395042007-11-18T14:12:00.000-08:002007-11-18T14:12:00.000-08:00"Know what I mean?"Yes, I know exactly what you me..."Know what I mean?"<BR/><BR/>Yes, I know exactly what you mean. The idea that my illness CAUSES stress, rather than is CAUSED BY stress, is something I have had great difficulty getting people (and doctors) to understand. Yes, stress makes my illnesses worse, but I do my best to manage that. But the stress my illness make worse - those are harder to control, harder to deal with. (Like spending Christmas and Thanksgiving in the hospital...) Here's hoping that your illness is indeed out of the way for this season: I'll keep my fingers crossed.Never That Easyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04008749218695113192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-91555030007341031522007-11-17T21:37:00.000-08:002007-11-17T21:37:00.000-08:00BTW, I am also so sick of people telling me my GI ...BTW, I am also so sick of people telling me my GI issues are stress-related. That's so astute of your piece that it often is people putting the cause back on us. I never thought of it like that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25073771.post-32249396228767901602007-11-17T20:36:00.000-08:002007-11-17T20:36:00.000-08:00Ugh. I've had so many doctors who wanted to blame ...Ugh. I've had so many doctors who wanted to blame my illnesses on stress. The doctor I saw during my college years, every time I turned up with some kind of illness, would ask me about my class load, social life, jobs I was juggling, and conclude that the reason I was sick was because I was doing too much. "Just take it easy," he'd always say. "Do a little less."<BR/><BR/>I've been fortunate that most of the doctors I've seen for the undiagnosed illness I've had since June have tried to blame it on stress. When I was in the hospital, with a heart rate hitting over 200 bpm whenever I got out of bed, nurses would ask me if I had a history of anxiety attacks. Well, no. But I'm feeling pretty anxious since I've been here and seen my heart rate doing things it shouldn't. <BR/><BR/>I guess I don't really have a point to make other than that I understand and have had similar experiences. And good for you for never accepting those doctors who tried to blame your illness on stress.Avivahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16411667763810131618noreply@blogger.com