Living with Stress

I was in a motor accident in 1998 and was diagnosed with whiplash and it was found i also had arthritis. i was 36 at the time, my doctor told me it was untreatable and i had to learn to live with it with the help of painkillers, which after a while just didnt work anymore and i was put on a codiene/paracetamol combo which was much better though made me lightheaded because of the strength i couldnt drive while medded.

Unfortunately my 10 year old daughter died of cancer soon after and my anxiety problems grew. i went to see the doctor and was unfortunately abused by a locum who got me to get 200 tabs of a homeopathic nature and bring them back to her, she then gave me two tablets to take in the following days to CURE my anxiety i didnt bother going back for a long time and tried to deal with it myself.

But having no proffesional help i drifted into a codiene nightmare that made me withdraw from society and i became a recluse , my anger , anxiety , stress taking an invisible toll on me for 5 years, a lot of which i dont remember.

Three years in, i had a heart attack and was treated for the condition and given meds for life, 6 pills a day . I was alright for a while but still withdrawn because i was in so much pain i was spaced out most of the time anyway .

My doc as you can guess was pretty useless and although i complained of pains he just said i had to learn to live with it and keep taking the painkillers, which i had but not very successfully.

Anyway my ex girlfriend came around and found me in a terrible state , she started to rehabilitate me herself and i withrew from the pain meds to a horrendous reality .
My stress had caused me cfids [chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome] which in turn had led to several infections unbeknown to me , since this time i have been diagnosed with cervical spondylosis , thoracic outlet syndrome, myofascial pain disorder and cervogenic headache , unbelievably this isnt the lot , the codiene may have shrunk my brain and caused a neural myopathy and mental heath changes ,
now diagnosed with multiple personality disorder too as a result of untreated childhood trauma i have been PTSD since the age of 13 and have now have to face minimum two years treatment which may not even work in the long run .

It appears my daughters death was the catalyst for a re-emergence of stress that unbeknown to me i had been carrying for years, my hypertension leading to heart disease and acute m.i.

Even now the doctors are still astonished as apart from my back pain i look pretty healthy on the outside and was treated like a total nut when i first reported to A & E after a stress breakdown ( scary) life flashing before eyes etc..

Despite my gp apathy, i researched like hell volunteering for scans at local universities in an attempt to get some sense into what was happening to me. this became invaluable when abnormal results i showed to the doctors finally made them sit up and take notice of (the nutter).

M.S. still hasnt been ruled out and the moral of my story is…

Stress is a killer. do not try and handle stress yourself or your seretonin and cortisol will destroy your body invisibly from within and if you suffer stress .. you must deal with it beacuse of the spectacular domino effect i have just described.

Unbelievably i still have good days but the physical and mental exhaustion i suffer is very debilitating and i have a long long way to go .but lucliky im still here battling away and my advice is clear. If your doctor isnt 100% behind you in helping you with your problems….Find a new doctor and keep on fighting for your rights as a patient to be heard and treated with diginity even if they do think your a fruitcake anyway.

Thanks for reading
And the best of luck to you all in your battles with health problems.

Cheers, Baz