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GP Has Had Enough of Me - Advice?

Dzr
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Hello,

I have posted here a few times before and I hate to keep coming back and troubling people who have a lot of confirmed diagnoses but I just don't know where to turn.

Won't go through all of it in detail again but since February I have had Loss of Appetite, Weight Loss and a ton of GI issues and breathing issues. I have had a lot of tests (abdominal and Pelvic CT, chest x-ray, Endoscopy, Blood Work etc) and all has come back normal. The problem with the CT is the majority of the GI issues didn't start until a week or 2 after it was performed.

More recently, I've been getting a lot of pain in my left hip despite not really being active and really bad fatigue. I mean it is awful, some days I can't even look after my own children and I can barely function at my job. 

My GP is at the point where I can tell he has just had enough, he said I have had so many tests and imaging I need to start looking at this as anxiety/stress related. Some of my symptoms simply cannot be down to anxiety or stress, for example my urine is always really dark no matter how much water I drink and sorry I have found a painless lump in a bit of a sensitive area that I'm really concerned has been the source of my problems this whole time. Anxiety cannot cause these things and when I say this to him he says 'oh I dunno about that.. the mind can do some really crazy things to the body'. 

He won't refer me for anything else through the NHS so I have asked for some private referrals. He said on the NHS you don't get what you want, you get what you need and I have gotten everything I need. I totally disagree with this, I'm not over exaggerating when I say I feel like a totally different person and in the most awful way.

I tried to change Doctor at the practice but I was told based on my 'complicated history' my current GP was the best person to continue helping me. The longer this goes on, the crazier I sound and I can even see that as I type this out but I just know deep down something is not right. Nothing is getting better, I just get a little worse day by day.

Has anyone been in a similar situation to this?

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    This may come across as not what you're wanting to hear, but at which point will you accept the answers you are being given by those running those tests etc? At which point will your mind be put at ease? Reading your posts, it's obvious no answer will suffice.

    I mean, say you get your hip looked at, but 2 weeks later a new symptom appears, will you go back to square one?

    Believe it or not, stress and anxiety CAN and DOES cause all those issues you've mentioned. Your body is in a permanent fight or flight state (which will tire you out easily), and because you're tense, it can and does cause aches. Tense muscles are more prone to strains and injuries. GI issues are a well documented symptom of stress/anxiety too. Plus, by your own admission, you've not been very active. Your joints tend to be more susceptible to pain when you're inactive than when you're active.

    I'm not knocking you at all, but you're worrying your life will be changed by something you haven't even been diagnosed with, yet you're already worrying your life away.

    Sounds like health anxiety, and you see it a lot on forums like this. Health anxiety can be crippling so I'm not under playing it, but it's not life threatening like cancer.

    You're correct in what you say, there are people on here who are actually living through a cancer diagnosis, and their life has been put on hold. To be clear, your GP has sent you for a battery of tests, so s/he hasn't just brushed you off.

  • Offline in reply to ProfBaw

    I guess my mind will be put at ease when I have an explanation for what's happening to my body. Like I don't have a history of health anxiety, every hair on my body fell out about 8 years ago and I had a few visits then but really that's about the extent of it.

    What's been going on recently all came on so suddenly, like I felt like the happiest guy alive a few months ago and it all changed very quickly. I don't doubt I have health anxiety now but I didn't when this started and I knew something wasn't right. There's a lot of things it could be but the things that made me think the worst was the loss of appetite and weight loss, I've never had issues with either of things in my life. There has been a lot of cancer in my family though so unfortunately, I know what some of the warning signs are.

    I do have 2 private referrals coming up and I did agree to a mental health referral from my GP if nothing comes from them.

  • Offline in reply to Dzr

    Hello Dzr,

                    it would appear that you accept stress can cause issues just not your issues.From your post you give the impressioon that these have been going on over many years.given that this is a Cancer site,l wonder how you view the correlation between the two.The passage of time would suggest that the early stage cancer would have progressed to a point of being so obvious it would be difficult not to spot it for what it is.

                        Perhaps you should keep a journal  noting down timelines and symptoms,which give an informed overview of your journey thus far,allowing for 3rd parties and yourself to have a greater understanding of what is at play.At the very least it would be an informative start point at any future consultation,allowing the professional to probe your history with very focused questions,At best it may trigger the realisation that several seperate issues when taken together might lead to a resolution.

    Best wishes and l hope you get satisfactory answers,

                                                                                            David

  • Offline in reply to gruntifen

    Hi David. My issues only began in February and the deterioration has felt pretty rapid. I only mentioned my hair loss from 8 years ago as the last time I visited my GP with any real frequency. Honestly up until a few months ago, I felt great.

    I have kept a journal of my symptoms and I did show it to my GP, it's how I was able to point out the majority of my GI issues came on after the CT scan. I do accept that some of my issues are anxiety/stress related but you're right, some of them I do not. The dark urine and pale stools is a big one, my grandad had liver issues so I've seen this before and it just looks identical it's scary.

    People are probably reading this shaking their head thinking this guy is never going to learn and I get it, I'm aware of how all this looks. It's just I have 3 kids and 1 has autism, I know he needs me, they all need me. It's just really hard to accept the anxiety and stress thing when deep down I know there is more to it and there is so much at stake.

  • Offline in reply to Dzr

    Nope, they won't be sat there shaking their head thinking you won't ever learn, they will be sat there thinking how they wish they were you. That's the thing about these type of forums, as bad as you may think you have things, many people sat here wish how their symptoms, their partner's symptoms hadn't been cancer after all the tests they initially had. Most would trade anything to be in your position.

    As i said in my previous post, I am not underplaying how crippling health anxiety can be, because it can be awful, but it's stopping you from living your life. A life you're already beginning to waste, worrying about something you're not likely to have after the tests you've had. I do understand why it is a concern after what you've detailed about family members, but I just hope those private tests are what's needed to finally let you live your life again.

    There are numerous stories on here about people with cancer not being afforded initial testing, or being brushed off by their gp's umpteen times before they are given the tests their symptoms deserved. But you're not one of them, and that's my point. Your gp simply can't keep sending you or anyone for tests when everything always comes back as normal. The NHS simply haven't got the resources for that type of testing without more evidence to justify extra use of their resources. Sometimes when everything comes back normal, it is normal.

    Also remember, you can have a sore hip, and it not be related to your GI issues at all.

     

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    Hi, Sorry to hear what you're going through, but you know, stress and anxiety CAN cause you to feel really ill, with fatigue and aches and pains.  I know this because in my early 20s I had a nervous breakdown and I felt absolutely dreadful........exhausted, pains all over me.  There were days I barely had enough energy to get to the bathroom.

    Lots of folks have health anxiety issues and if this is what you have then it is counselling you need.  I am not dismissing you, and it is very possible that MAYBE your Doctors have missed something, but it really is possible that you have suffered a breakdown and this is what is making you feel so terrible.  A lot of what you describe is exactly what happened to me:  Loss of appetite which of course resulted in weight loss, breathing problems which resulted in panic attacks.  Anyway, all the best, Violet, x

  • Offline in reply to Dzr

    The fact that the GI issues mostly came on after the CT scan makes it sound like they could well be anxiety related. That is a thing about GI issues; if you are worried, and honestly, you will be, if you are experiencing health issues, it can cause GI issues, which then increase your worries which then increase your GI issues.

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