Anonymous #2 4d

side note, the way this pairs with lifelong chronic pain is extremely surreal—I can notice when my body feels “slow & heavy” or “restricted” but I frequently forget to identify that as “pain”

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Anonymous #2 4d

i was wondering if this may have been chronic pain from pushing myself for so long or if i’m just reaching because i genuinely can’t tell. my body does feel heavy and restricted and i keep thinking it’s just heavy fatigue (all of the time apparently). and thank you for the info! its def my poor interoception, but i recently realized the pain was coming from my chest specifically. like burning (possibly acid reflux)

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Anonymous OP 4d

oh that’s so interesting, I’d considered asking if you might be dealing with some form of chronic pain too but then I figured that was just me projecting… cause yeah, personally my interoception re: pain is fried way worse than any of my other bodily signals, and like you said, I definitely do attribute that to a kind of numbing I developed from having to constantly “push through”

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Anonymous OP 4d

I know dealing with the medical system can be kind of a draining & Sisyphean type of ordeal, but if possible, it might be worth bringing that up to your doctor—not just the acid reflux but also the sense of your body feeling overly heavy & restricted all the time

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Anonymous #2 4d

i tried to do that and she just gave me pepcid and called it a day. i’m also on ssri’s so i asked if this (the exectutive dysfunction) had anything to do with my meds and she was just like “oh do you need a break?”. that’s it. i’m def going to reach out again though because i have been wondering if this is just acid reflux or if this is a sign of chronic pain. i actually didn’t consider chronic pain being a possible explanation until yesterday and i broke down when i realized that could be it

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Anonymous OP 4d

but i kinda just feel the pain in my chest and shoulders right now unless interoception isn’t letting me identify anything else :/ my body does feel achy and restless normally though. sorry if this is tmi i just find it soothing to talk about this to someone that’s also nd

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Anonymous OP 4d

oh goddamnit 😭 I’m sorry, that’s frustrating. I always wanna encourage other people to investigate potential signs of chronic illness since I know we often go undiagnosed, but I also realize that the majority of the time, it’s not like someone simply forgets to bring it up to a doctor… cause if doctors weren’t so apathetic and dismissive on average, underdiagnosis wouldn’t be such a problem in the first place 🤦

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Anonymous OP 4d

so I do think it’s a good idea to try again or seek a second opinion, but oof, obviously much easier said than done. having to push for care re: an issue your doctor already brushed you off over is lowkey torturous. and I know the prospect of a chronic pain diagnosis is a lot to contend with, but on the bright side, diagnosis can lead to treatment that makes daily life easier & more fulfilling 🙏 (def not TMI either, I like chatting about disability in general)

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