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Medical gaslighting?

Mother.of.demons

Hi all, brand new here and I have a question.

Is chronic pain caused by autism??

Let me explain, because even writing it out, that sounds like a really stupid question 

My daughter (diagnosed this year after 8 years of fighting with the nhs) has started suffering with leg pain, numbness, tingling and most worrying of all sudden collapse in the last 3 months. The gp did routine bloods which of course showed nothing of note, but during a follow up appointment I mentioned her autism as she was tired and the mask was gone, which is rare for her, but we needed the gp to take time to understand her.

I think this was a mistake.

At the end of the consultation he said he thought the pain was sensory (isn't all pain sensory??) And a result of her autism. I was too taken aback to question or ask about management. Was this just abject gaslighting? Is it a thing? Ive been scouring the Internet and can find a lot about autism pain being dismissed but nothing about it being a cause. Im at a complete loss, dd already has zero faith in the medical profession after being gaslit for 8 years. I feel like a fraud insisting she should see a Dr only to be dismissed.

Please help.

Parents

  • I don't think you're being gaslit; it's possible your daughter has a high sensitivity to pain. Speaking from personal experience, this can be a nightmare when it comes to trying to accurately describe your problems to a doctor; sensations which others brush off take far more out of me. I can't even stand exercise as, to my body, there's no difference between regular "exercise agony" and just plain agony.

    There does need to be more medical staff specially trained to work with autistic people due to some having a higher or lower pain sensitivity than most people. I think, in the meantime, do what others have suggested and get as much data on your daughter's pain as possible, then pass that info on to the doctors to help give them more context.

Reply

  • I don't think you're being gaslit; it's possible your daughter has a high sensitivity to pain. Speaking from personal experience, this can be a nightmare when it comes to trying to accurately describe your problems to a doctor; sensations which others brush off take far more out of me. I can't even stand exercise as, to my body, there's no difference between regular "exercise agony" and just plain agony.

    There does need to be more medical staff specially trained to work with autistic people due to some having a higher or lower pain sensitivity than most people. I think, in the meantime, do what others have suggested and get as much data on your daughter's pain as possible, then pass that info on to the doctors to help give them more context.

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