GP Trying To "cure" Me

Hi Angel, I can relate to the stomach/digestion issues and also to feeling misunderstood by GPs and mental health issues. For me it was more that I had GPs that did not believe me that I was not deliberately loosing weight, which was so damaging as I am constantly battling to keep up my weight/ gain weight despite issues with digestion and challenges around eating. It will be good to have the digestive issues assessed and in the mean time a food diary can be useful. For me they never found the cause of the digestive issues unfortunately, (so IBS) but I did realise I react to some foods like garlic/onion, dairy make it worse. Unfortunately I seem to react to a lot of other things too and stress makes everything worse as well. I am actually currently not in good physical health but I was also putting off seeing a GP out of fear of being misunderstood again- I ended up writing my concerns (eg. about being misdiagnosed with eating  disorders etc) on the online form which my practice uses for appointment requests so that it is out in the open, which has helped and I was met with much more understanding.  You mention you also tried writing down your concerns but it didn't help? Did they read it? 

Goodness.

This is difficult and none of us are qualified to make definitive pronouncements on MH. But a few things to consider...

On the one hand people who are genuinely psychotic often lack insight into the fact that they are ill. However, as a Spirtualist, I believe there are other possible explanations for so-called "imaginary" friends, and I'd wouldn't close my mind to the possibility your friend is very real indeed, albeit I can't know which is the case for sure for you.

Now, what is it that your GP is really trying to medicate and with what? I'd ask them to be really clear about that and even write it down. What are they prescribing and why? NICE guidelines make it really clear that the core features of autism should NEVER be medicated. There are no medications for autism. There just is NOTHING in a bottle that will "help" your autism. They may try to medicate MH problems, but sometimes the ones used for NTs aren't any good for our neurologies.

Your GP certainly needs to get a grip on the fact that whilst your digestive issues warrant  investigation and "curing", your autism does not.

I sympathise with the medical anxieties - Big time. I have those too. But they are likely born of your sensory issues and general medical people can and should try to modify how they treat you and the environment to make those tests as easy on you as they can in the circumstances. If they aren't doing that you could ask for an advocate. Mind or google will tell you which organisation serves your area. It's free and they can go to appointments with you, communicate for you and try to ensure that they do make reasonable adjustments for you.

Yeah, every hour or so, take 10 deep breaths in and out.  Try and see if this works.

Regarding your stomach pain, it is possible that you have a food intolerance. I had years of stomach pain and horrible indigestion, I even had a gastroscope because it was thought that I might have had a gastric ulcer - which I didn't. Eventually the penny dropped, for many years I could not drink cask-conditioned beer, I just vomited if I tried it. What connects such beer to an everyday food, bread? Yeast! At the time I was eating a French bread baguette sandwich most weekdays for lunch. I cut out all leavened bread and my stomach symptoms disappeared completely.

Try keeping a food diary, to see if any food is associated with your symptoms.

Hello Angel,

I experience stomach pains most weeks so can understand how you feel. I too was mi-diagnosed as having MH issues when trying to discuss autism related issues with a GP. It is so frustrating trying to make yourself heard at times.

I have found that eating small portions helps me so maybe worth a try? I would not be without my squeeze vest for dealing with anxiety. Have you tried one? You can rent one on trial and NAS members get a discount.      

Hello, thank you for the tips. Sorry to hear about your motion sickness but glad to hear that this helped you. I'm going to give it a try as well, can only help. I'm very tired 97% of the time so sleeping well definitely help hopefully.

Hello chh104 great to meet you.

Thanks for suggesting the deep breathing. I tried a breathing technique for anxiety a few years ago but ended up nearly fainting, don't think I did it right lol! Hopefully I'll have more luck with yours.

They don't have a clue with autism where I am, no one seems to know a thing about it. I wish doctors had to study it, I think that would be helpful for so many.

Thank you it's a lovely community. Already been more help to me being here than seeing my GP.

I had a motion sickness as a kid when travelling by car or by bus. I came up with an idea if I fall asleep before I get nauseated I'll be fine, and it works. Or another solution I heard recently about, if you put a plug in one ear only it should help.

Hi Angel!

I’m sorry to hear about your stomach pain.  Maybe try to take deep breaths in and out to relieve some of your pain.  You can also get support from others here who have experienced stomach pain themselves.  

I’m so sorry to hear about the way you were treated when you were with MH services.  You should never have been involved with them in the first place.  

You can talk openly in this community about how you feel and we will listen and help in any way we can.

Yes I'm with you on that most are Jobsworths I think. I'm glad you got your Key Worker, sounds like a really nice person and lots of support.

No I've not tried that before but thank you for the suggestion I'll give both a try next time. Thank you Desmond I appreciate this!

Some people are just Jobsworths. Thank God my Key Worker is understanding enough, and knows about my diagnosis; from over thirty years ago, when I was a child.

Have you ever tried ginger sweets, to settle the stomach? Or, even, sitting on a newspaper? Those things settle my stomach. I always used to get travel sick.