Published on 12, July, 2020
Yesterday I had 2 tests.
One is called an 'Oesphageal Manometry' and I found it horrific but managed to survive it and do what was asked.
Whilst the tube was down my throat I was trying not to gag all the time, my eyes were streaming and I was panicking.
Then I had the '24 hour Oesophagael pH test' which was far worse, even though it was meant to be easier, according to the medical professional doing it.
So the tube is put through your nose and down your throat, it's attached to a monitor and you are meant to keep it in for 24 hours to monitor stomach acid.
I knew immediately that I wouldn't be able to tolerate it - I was so aware of it in my throat that I was trying not to gag all the time and when I sat in the car I could feel it moving around.
I was acutely aware of the tube and it made me feel very panicky.
Once I got home I removed it - never again.
This may mean that I won't be able to have an operation to help with stomach acid/chronic cough, as the hospital won't have the results they need.
However, it was simply totally intolerable.
When I have had gastroscopies it's been similar but I know it's for a limited period - they do it as quickly as they can but I gag constantly and they write on my report 'excessive gagging'.
I'm curious as to whether this is because of autism.
I know that we have sensitivities - touch is a major one.
I don't know how others can bear to have this thing in their throat and down their gullet, so is this to do with touch sensitivity internally?
Here's a reminder that I've just read about our sensitivies, but it doesn't talk about invasive procedures:
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/sensory-differences/sensory-differences/all-audiences
How barbaric. There must be other ways to test the stomach acids at this late date. I won't even let the docs do a mammogram or a colonoscopy. If I am under the knife and not aware and I wake up with a problem gone I am happy and grateful. I actually look forward to operations like that as I know I won't be "around" for it.
I get very nervous about touch too. When they take blood I can do it if "dissociate" and keep my eyes on the needle going in and the tubes filling. It is interesting that way and not really happening to "me".
Here in the states, where people are quite litigious, doctors, especially male docs, will stand quite far from the patient and have a "chaperone" in the room at all times. I'm going through gastrointestinal distress issues around some pernicious bacterial laden food I ate while in an evacuee facility. I want my body back. It feels right now, like ti's someone else's to dither with.
I would have done the same as you did with that infernal tube. That is such a draconian demand such a .. a violation. Touch, for me is specific. I love a hug if it is strong, or pressing a hand or such. It's light touch or holding extended contact that gives me the yips! I also cannot abide any medical internal penetration while I'm conscious. It feels like a violation and a loss of control. Odd thing is I like to actively touch things very much, like seeing a texture and having the impulse to touch. I also enjoy tasting metals and stones with my tongue to taste the molecular makeup (not or azurite or cobalt or the like).
For me touch and sight are sometimes interchangeable for things that are up close. Do you get that too?
Uhane said:I won't even let the docs do a mammogram or a colonoscopy. If I am under the knife and not aware and I wake up with a problem gone I am happy and grateful.
I understand but they won't do operations here via the NHS unless there is proof of the issue via 'investigations'.
Uhane said:I also get cannot abide any medical internal penetration while I'm conscious. It feels like a violation and a loss of control.
That is so well expressed and I feel the same but I've let it happen because without the results medications and operations will be withheld.
We don't have the right here to choose to be unconscious for procedures that can be and are routinely performed conscious.
We can ask, but we rarely get.
All the best with your own health issues.
Yes it is similar here with no choice about being under or not. I once had to have a camera up my nose and I had to white knuckle it all the way. It's the bloody "proof" and the insistence that there is only one way to get it and the "patient" needing to suffer the indignity of it.
I would love if you PMed me about what's wrong. I have had so many gastrointestinal issues in my life and a persistent army of irritant allergens, hell bent on invading and ruining my day, that I now have a few hacks for balancing gut PH etc..