"Here are seven things 'everybody knows' about my illness that just aren't true.

In My Humble Opinion
41

Its what’s happening to me too.

What I’ve been told by my doctors is that my pancreatic function is slowly (or not so slowly) decreasing to the point that the dosage of tablets I’m on at the moment is almost a last ditch attempt to squeeze my pancreas to produce enough insulin. Its not a question of my body’s become more insulin resistant and needs more insulin, but rather, that my body simply can’t produce enough insulin anymore. Once these tablets stop working (repaglinide), there won’t be a lot for it, and it’ll be onto injections, which I’ll be dependant on in the same way that a Type 1 diabetic is.

42

Yeah, I used to get that a lot. Since i’m doing a psychology degree now there’s less point-blank stupid remarks, as a lot of people I know have some knowledge of it, and my friends that are also on the course are very accomodating (especially around exam times when i’m stressed, like now).

The question I get most often (and has already been covered) is “Well, why don’t you just not do those things?”. Yep, thanks, you’re right! If only i’d figured that out before, I would have been cured years ago! How foolish of me not to realise I could just choose not to do them! :rolleyes:

43
  1. Coworker: “I had a migraine yesterday and I took an Excedrin. It went away in about 15 minutes. Why doesn’t one Excedrin work for you?”
    Because what you had was a regular headache, not a migraine.
    Migraines and headaches are two different things.
44

These are excellent examples of OCD related complusions and similar (although completely different at the same time) to the things I was dealing with before I began taking medicine for it.

The way it completely interrupted her life is dead on as well, and is (I believe) one of the ways OCD is clinically differentiated from the less invasive personality disorder version.

It was agonizing to fight OCD and try to keep my job. Normal taks became incredibly difficult to complete and it was near impossible to hide from my co-workers the highly bizaare and ritualistic behaviors the OCD forced me to do.

Agree. Aside from the misery, I find my OCD to be fascinating look into my brain and in some ways I know myself better for it. For the years before medication, I had to find a lot of unique ways to deal with the stress and the compulsions and thats given me some measure of self control in my life that others may not necessarily have (if that makes sense). Maybe a better way to put it is, I am not any more disciplined or motivated than other people, but I understand in more detail WHY. :slight_smile:

As for Ray Kroc, I hadn’t heard he had OCD, but it can definitely be harnessed for good in certain circumstances. It’snearly impossible for me to forget to lock my car doors for instance…

45

Oooops. It is 1-2 percent. One in one hundred, not ten. Damn decimals!:wink:

46

More on diabetes (Type 2 in my case):

If you get pregnant, you and/or the baby will most likely die. No, we won’t. Quit watching Steel Magnolias, wake up, and realize that we are now living in the 21st century with excellent prenatal care and medication.

Artificial sweeteners make your blood sugar go up just as much as regular sugar does. No, they don’t.

So does coffee. No, it doesn’t.

I bet if you lose 5 pounds, your diabetes will be cured. That’s what happened to my friend’s roommate’s dog’s owner’s husband. I bet you’re wrong. I lost 40 pounds after the birth of my first child and my overall blood sugar levels didn’t change a damn bit. (I know that some people are apparently very sensitive to weight loss and that for those people, losing even a small amount of weight CAN make a big difference in diabetes control. Sadly, I am not one of those people.)

I could never [use an insulin pump/inject insulin/monitor my blood sugar daily/restrict carbohydrates/etc]. This comment annoys me more than all the other ones put together. What, you think this is a walk in the park for me? You think I’m doing this for personal enjoyment? No, I was faced with a potentially dangerous medical condition and I adjusted my lifestyle in order to deal with it, and YOU WOULD TOO IF YOU HAD TO.

47

I get the same B.S. as the GERD and depression bunch so I won’t post about those.

I’m hypoglycemic. It’s real, it can be a problem. It’s not the same as just skipping a having low blood sugar. I have to eat every couple of hours.
It can happen 30 minutes after a meal if I don’t eat the right things

No, it’s not diabetes (thankfully) I don’t take insulin, check my blood sugar or take pills.

No I cannot eat a piece of that cake you made after you served me a plate of pasta. No, not just a small piece, no I’m not a fuddy dud. It will make me sick.

Yes, I have to stop at this gas station and get something to eat, NOW. If I don’t soon, I will pass out. If you think I’m a pain in the ass now, wait until my sugar drops even lower. If I pass out, it will take a few days to recuperate.

No, I’m not drunk. When the sugar drops, I stagger, slur my speach, depth perception is gone, my vision gets blurry, and I giggle uncontrollably. No, really, I’m not drunk. Now go get me a piece of cheese and some juice!

And finally, no, my hypoglycemia is not caused by not eating enough sugar. (Now really, co-worker, how would that even make sense to you, just because you consume twice your weight in soda and candy bars every day?) Sugar makes the level spike then drop extremely low. This is why I have to watch my carb intake as well as my sugar intake. It keeps the insulin and sugar levels at a more even level.

No, I’m not making my hypoglycemia up, Mr. Ignorance. I was actually diagnosed by a real live doctor. :rolleyes:

48

Actually, and YMMV, I’ve found that if I have coffee with breakfast, or a diet pepsi with lunch, then my blood sugars will stay higher than if I have the same meal with decaf coffee or say water, but that’s just my experience, and could be down to something unknown instead.

I’ve seen a couple of cites for this effect, but there appears to be a mixed bag of effects – some studies suggest that coffee actually decreases one’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes (such as this one), and other studies (like this one and this one) suggest that there may be an effect whereby caffiene inhibits glucose metabolism and hence leads to higher blood glucose levels.

49

I have the type of OCD that I read is called “pure O”, where it’s less compulsions and more just obsessing. Instead of rituals, I sit there and try to reason out my fears, and it only feeds into it and makes it worse. Good times.

I also have ADHD. Here are some misconceptions:

  1. No, I’m not that way because I wasn’t disciplined as a child. If anything, my parents were pretty strict about proper behavior.

  2. No, Ritalin does not “dope me up.” Get a clue-Ritalin is a STIMULANT. If anything, it would make me wired.

  3. ADHD is not a phony diagnosis because I can concentrate on an art project just as well. ADHD is complicated-sometimes you hyper-focus, which means you shut everything out to the point that you forget to eat, you forget important tasks, and concentrate on something so miniscule and pointless that it’s just a complete waste of time.

  4. No, a teacher did not diagnose me and put me on Ritalin. Only a doctor can do so, dumbass.
    And I can’t think of seven. Dammit.

50

Okay. I’m willing to believe that this is one of those things that varies by individual. I drink a crapload of coffee on a daily basis; I did give it up for about a month once in an effort to see whether it really had an effect on my blood sugar, and it did not seem to change anything at all.

51

I still drink a crapload of coffee, but it only affects my blood sugars if I have coffee plus food, otherwise, it doesn’t affect mine. I did give it up for a while totally, but it didn’t change things too much, so I just replaced the coffee with breakfast with a decaf, and grab a proper coffee when I get into the office.

52

An ophthalmologist (eye doc who is also an MD) diagnosed it as a kind of tonic pupil. It differs from a classic tonic pupil in some way I don’t understand. It caused me to be misdiagnosed as having a concussion, and that’s how I found out about it. I looked at childhood pictures, and I apparently have always had it. I can partly adjust to it, but it can’t be fixed.

Here’s what it does. When a bright light is shined on my left eye, the pupil shrinks; that’s normal. Shine the light in my right eye, and there’s no response, or it will react after almost a minute. I can see with both eyes, but having the wrong aperture size screws up the focus sometimes. If I walk out to get the paper on a bright morning without sunglasses, my right-eye vision will be flashbulb-blind for a few minutes.

53

Not my condition, but my kid’s condition (he has high-functioning autism):

  1. You’re imagining it because your nephew is autistic (from my mother)

  2. He just needs to be spanked (ditto)

54

I’m sure you’ve heard someone say that autism is caused by vaccines, and that your kid wouldn’t be autistic if you didn’t let him eat junk food, sort of like how I wouldn’t be depressed if I ate a more “natural” diet.

55

I’ve been told that the depression I have is/was caused by the pot I smoked and LSD I dropped in my early twenties. :rolleyes:

Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Barnyard Psychiatrists. So, the fact that I was enjoying the rollercoaster ride of depression since childhood means nothing, eh?

I would also imagine that the family history of depression is irrelevant. Hmmm

56

Augh! No shit!

My son is very high-functioning (he may actually be off the specrum in a couple of years), and for those busybodies who think they know everything-

  1. My son’s autism was not caused by a vaccine, or a preservative used in the production of a vaccine.

  2. My son’s autism will not be cured by a vegan diet, nor a wheat/gluten/sugar/whatever free diet. While diet modifications can sometimes help with symptoms, they don’t change my kid’s behavior one bit.

  3. No, my son does not wear a helmet or bang his head against the wall. All autistic kids don’t do that. Get out of the 70’s.

  4. When my son has a tantrum, it’s usually because he’s four, not necessarily because he’s autistic.

  5. Playdates will not fix my son’s social issues.

  6. Me staying at home instead of working will not solve the problem. Professional, qualified aides work with my son every day, and it costs me a bloody fortune. But early intervention is the only thing that seems to show results. Me doing more arts & crafts and taking him to the park ain’t gonna cut it.

57

I was diagnosed on Thursday with anorexia. I’ve been uderweight for a while, so a lot of people have been bugging me to see a doctor and when I finally did, they heard about it. and boy did I hear some interesting ones:

  1. NO, you were not anorexic for a week. I don’t care if you only ate twinkies and grapes and thought you were fat. if it lasted a week, you weren’t anorexic.

  2. No, I can’t just eat. If it were that simple, I would not weigh 68 pounds.

  3. Me thinking I’m fat does not translate into me thinking you’re fat! I don’t care if you weigh twice as much as I do. for the love of God, stop using this stupid twisted non-logic on me!

  4. I’m not anorexic because I want to look like Kate Moss or Lindsay Lohan or because I want to be an actress or a model or even because I want to be a ballet dancer or especially because I want boys to look at me. It’s not out of vanity- I know I’ll never be pretty and I know I’m nobody’s idea of pretty right now.

  5. I’m not doing it for attention or to be cool or popular. I think I would have given up on it by now if it were just an attempt to get attention.

  6. I’m not anorexic because I’m vegetarian and I’m not vegetarian because I’m anorexic. I’m vegetarian because I love animals and hate being part of something that harms another living being and I’m anorexic because… well, I’m not really sure why, but it’s got nothing to do with loving animals.

  7. no I do not wear a red bracelet! I do not worship the “ana goddess,” I did not pick it up from “pro-ana websites,” I do not keep a “thinspiration journal,” and I can’t stand Mary-Kate Olsen, Nicole Richie, or Lindsay Lohan! I am not an “ana girl.”

58

Shortly I am going to have to find a new GP, because we’re moving. My first visit will be a request for painkillers for dysmenorrhoea- period pain. I suspect this might be a difficult visit.

I have primary dysmenorrhoea- it’s been like this since my first period, it runs in my family, I vomit, faint and have gastro-intestinal symptoms and it has no underlying pathological cause (i.e. no infections, anatomical problems, endometriosis etc).

Now, while you might have painless periods, I do not.
While you might be able to take an Advil and go to work like normal, I cannot.
For 3 days when the pain is worst I take Codeine/Ibuprofen tablets at 4hourly intervals just to be able to walk, never mind function- the reason I need to get prescription pills is because I realise that I’m at the upper limit of what OTC medications can do. I need the painkillers when I am in pain- I take them during those days and at no other time.

Cutting back on coffee, salt and alcohol may help you. It doesn’t help me- I’ve had this since I was 13, if clean living was the cure, I think I’d know. Neither do B vitamins, Soy, Evening primrose, brown rice or homeopathy, and believe me, it’s not for wont of trying.

The pill helps, but only to the extent that I can plan for the worst days to fall on a weekend, and can take 2 packets back-to-back to give me fewer periods. It is not a magic cure for every menstrual problem- stop telling me it is.

It is not in my head. I have a strong pain threshold, and other pain I can deal with. This is not like other pain and what is worse, I can timetable in exactly when I’m going to feel it. If every six weeks you know that around 4pm on the Saturday someone is going to punch you in the belly until you want to vomit and isn’t going to let up until about 6pm on the Monday, you would have some idea.

59

[QUOTE=Green_Means_Go]
I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Not sure I can come up with 7, but here goes:

  1. It’s all in your head! No, OCD is a medically treatable condition that is readily controlled by various medications (SSRI’s).

2)** You should just stop doing the compulsive behaviors!** No, this only manages to severely heighten my distress and even if I DO manage to curb one type of behavior, a new one immediately steps up to takes it place.

  1. What you need is behavioral therapy! No, what I need is 50mg of Luvox and a glass of water. (In fairness there is some evidence that combined behavorial and pharmacological treatments are effective)

Green_Means_Go, I’ve had every one of these directed at me. I’ve also had:

“Sounds like one of those ‘made-up’ things like ADD and all that, you know, stuff the drug companies make up so they can sell more medications.”

Really? Try living with it and see if it’s all “made up”.

“You bring it on yourself. You’re too anxious, a vacation would relax you and you could stop all this.”

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

And to think I spent all that money on doctors when I could have just booked a flight to Tahiti.

“Well, my house/car/whatever has to be spotless or it just drives me crazy. I must have OCD too, I guess.” No, probably not, if that’s your only symptom. And while I have OCD, I’m not qualified to diagnose it in other people, so if you’re concerned, please go see your doctor right away.

I didn’t know I had OCD until I was almost 20; by that time I’d been symptomatic for nearly seven years. The symptoms worsened as I got older until finally, in desperation, I sought help from the university medical center at the large university I attended.

I lucked out. Not only were the psychs very knowledgeable about it but they were doing a study on OCD and some other related disorders and invited me to participate. I gained a whole new insight into my condition and got excellent treatment.

I grudgingly admit that OCD has a small plus. As an adult, I excel in my profession because I’m very detail-oriented. I don’t miss a thing because I check it fifteen damned times! :smiley:

60

I had a hard time getting diagnosed and I suffered with it in silence for quite some time before my behavior became so bizaare my parents realized something HAD to be up.

It was made worse by my fathers reaction which was definitely in the “it’s all in your head, suck it up and be a man” category.

I went to several psychologists who tried various types of therapy on me and then in desperation put me on prozac because, well, I think just because it was the thing they were giving everybody. It didn’t do much for me except make me feel bad and ruin what little sex-life I had.

After several rounds of this with random medications, the experience pretty much scared me off medication for 5 years or so.

It wasn’t just that the stuff didn’t work, it was that the doctors at the time really had no idea WHAT it was going to do. It was like:

Dr: Well, I have these purple ones… have you tried the purple ones?
Me: What are the supposed to do?
Dr: Well, they are… (looks at bottle)… purple… and stuff…

I finally got hooked up with a guy who was a “Biological Psychologist”. He specialized in the new medications that were coming out and had a lot of experience using them with OCD patients.

It was very freeing when the medication started to work. For the first time in years I wasn’t completely anxious and off my rocker all the time.