Published on 12, July, 2020
Does anyone else struggle explaining how they feel with pain? I saw my GP this morning cause I've been having pains and when she asked what sort of pain it was I couldn't answer her because I don't know. Pain is pain to me. It just hurts, I couldn't elaborate on that anymore. And then she asked me what scale my pain was on from 1-10. I couldn't answer that either, it just hurt I didn't know how to explain it.
I'm pretty sure she rolled her eyes at me though can't be 100% sure of it but I'm pretty sure I saw that. She definitely gave me a look though like I was wasting her time.
I left feeling really awkward and lonely because no one around me gets what this is actually like.
It reminded me of when I was little and had tummy pain and my mum asked me what type of pain it was then too and again I didn't know I just said it hurt.
I'm wondering if this is autism related?
This can definitely be autism-related :)
Some more info:
"Autistic people can therefore respond differently to pain. This means they may not be able to describe bodily sensations or be believed when they do. Clinical investigations need to take this into account.
Autistic people may not be able to provide an accurate assessment of the intensity of pain as a number using a traditional 1 to 10 pain score. They may see pain as a colour, or a picture. Being asked if the pain is a score of 10 – the worst they have experienced – may cause a significant delay in response. The pain may not be like anything they have experienced before. Responding literally could mean the pain is either over or under scored on the traditional scale. An autistic person may not even be able to pinpoint pain due to sensory overload from internal or external stimuli"
From: https://www.cqc.org.uk/how-you-see-me-matters-perspectives-autistic-people-using-primary-care-services/key-findings#:~:text=Autistic%20people%20may%20not%20be,a%20significant%20delay%20in%20response.
More info about sensory differences here:
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/sensory-differences/sensory-differences/all-audiences
Thank you so much!
This is very helpful and extremely reassuring. I'm so glad it isn't just me who's like this. And thanks for the links.