Pains of unknown origin

[LadySerenity]

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Hello,

I'm seeking an advice regarding to my friend.
I have no formal eduication in psychology or any related field, just trying to help someone...

It's a lady of about 40 y.o., a good friend of mine.
During the last half a year she began to feel pains that doctors fail
to treat. She has been having pain in one of her eyes for a few months, and a few days ago she started having a stomach ache. Doctors fail to explain & treat it, and she's suffering and quite unhappy with that.

I'm sure she is suffering for real, however I suspect her pains are psychosomatic, couse she is a quite anxious and pretty dependent type of person. I suggested her to try psychoterapy, couse as far as I know it can be very helpful in some cases... I'm not sure she'll really fo for it, couse she seems to be very resistant to the idea.

Please, write your ideas about what kind of treatment she should seek, what are the chances, etc.

Thanks! 🙂
Anna

 

[Portlymutt]

Hi, At first glance it sounds like a migraine. I'm not a health professional, but I've had migraines in the past and my eyes and stomach both hurt. Mine were certainly caused by stress, though not all are.

If she's already been to her dr. my advice would be for her to go to an alternative medicine professional, such as an acupuncturist or an herbalist. That way, she can still seek treatment, and since they often treat holistically, then she'll be treating her psyche as well. It's possible that her pain is psychosomatic, but it's also possible that the doctors are missing something. I have nerve damage and it took over a year for the doctors to diagnose it. Meanwhile, they suggested that I was either a drug seeker or just under stress. Until they know the problem, the problem is the patient's fault.

I realize this sounds offensive, but I mean no offense to any doctors or student doctors here. I've since met some very kind and decent doctors. Unfortunately, the majority are too busy to spend time troubleshooting your problem. So, the patient needs to take an active role in his/her treatment.

Hope this helps,

Christina

 

[lazure]

She has been having pain in one of her eyes for a few months, and a few days ago she started having a stomach ache.

Has she seen an ophthalmologist and not just a GP? It's possible that her anxiety is secondary to her pain i.e. one needs to treat the pain first to alleviate anxiety. The stomach pain is more recent and thus also requires medical assessment. The first thing any psychologist worth their salt would do would be to insist on a thorough medical assessment. There are also pain specialists who may be consulted (the med students who lurk here - help me out).
At the same time, even if the pain is entirely biological in origin, there are psychological strategies that the patient can use to manage the pain. I would suggest that your friend consult both a health psychologist and an ophthalmologist.

 

[50960]

I agree with Lazure. However, there are still alot of MD's out there wanting us to rule out "some psych thing" before they do a big work up on such things as fibromyalgia and idiopathic pain syndromes. I understand this line of thinking as well, but people should know that a good psychologist will require an MD to rule out medical etiology as a general rule. I even do this for weird depressions as it could be thyroid, pancreatic tumor etc... It is good practice. 🙂