Life with Chronic Pain and Illness
Life with chronic pain and illness is a daily struggle, particularly when our symptoms don’t just magically disappear because of normal test results.
For many people, getting ill is feeling sick for a few days, perhaps having a test or two, then feeling better in a short amount of time. Sadly, for those of us who live with chronic pain and illness, it’s not that simple.
For us, it does involve doctor appointments and tests. It also involves knowing that doctors will look at your skeptically and gaslight you. And when the test results come back, the provider will happily tell you they’re normal, as if those words will magically fix everything you have going on. They’ll wonder why you’re not excited at the news. Unfortunately, life with chronic pain and illness is knowing that the symptoms don’t magically disappear with “normal” test results … because, many times, “normal” for someone else doesn’t mean it’s “normal” for you. Instead, it’s one more hurdle to jump because you know your body. You know that what’s going on isn’t normal. It’s different, painful, and frustrating. And it’s devastating, because those results say everything is fine/normal, so will you be able to get anyone to listen to you when you try to explain that’s not the case?
 I had this happen very recently. Tests came back showing nothing too amiss, and nothing that I didn’t already know. However, the symptoms I have been experiencing the past few months are different than any I’ve had in the close to thirty years I’ve lived with chronic pain and illness. Yet the provider seems to believe that I should happily accept the “good news,” as though my body will suddenly say, “Oh. Okay. I guess I’m not really feeling this because everything is ‘normal.'” Boy, do I ever wish it worked that way! Sadly, it doesn’t. So my search continues. I’ve reached out to a few of my providers. I’m currently awaiting their responses to see what the next steps will be. I have no plans to stop trying just because tests are “normal.” I know my body, and I know when something is “off.”
Over the years I’ve learned there are two ways to move forward:
- Take it to the Lord and ask for His wisdom and guidance and
- Advocate for yourself with providers.
Those of us who live with chronic pain and illness know we're not a quick fix. However, that doesn't mean we're undeserving of care, time, and compassion from our medical providers. Share on X
Have you ever experienced medical gaslighting*? If so, I’m truly sorry. You didn’t deserve it. and I’m curious to know how you handled it. Your experience and advice could help me and others when we’re faced with this scenario.
I hope you have a blessed, low-pain day.
If you’d like to read more Life with Chronic Pain and Illness posts, click here.
*And if you’d like to know more about medical gaslighting, how to spot it, and what to do about it, check out this article from The New York Times.