Anxiety over future...
Posted , 3 users are following.
I am having a lot of anxiety and I am in need of support and/or advice from someone with more experience than I have. I have a lot of health issues. I am 24 years old and had to un-enroll from school and quit my job at a preschool this past summer due to health issues. I am still in the diagnosis process and the beginning of treatment process (depending on which issue).
My body is completely exhausted, in pain, not tolerating food, etc. Its been this way for months. There are so many different things wrong that its taking all the different doctors a long time to figure it all out. My anxiety, though, is that with all of the different health issues I will not be able to work again. I want to go to school and work and have a life. I am fearful that I will have to enter a disability battle, and even more fearful that if I DO have to apply for SSI, that my doctors won't all agree that I'm not able to work. But I WANT to work and finish college. It just isn't fair. These are just a few of many worries that I have.
The chronic medical/mental health issues (aside from simple things like mild asthma, allergies, ovarian cyst, and lactose intolerance) I have been diagnosed with so far are: Lupus (recent), Fibromyalgia (recent), Interstitial Cystitis (recent), GERD (will be getting surgery for esophagus), GAD, PTSD, Anorexia (in 2-year remission until recently), and MDD. However, I have not been tolerating food and have bad diarrhea and am still being tested for suspected gallbladder problems, Ulcerative Colitis, and/or Chron's disease.
I know that my symptoms are worse right now because I am either still in the diagnosis process or just started treatment, but I'm truly afraid. I have had several jobs that I have been unable to hold for more than 4-5 months over the past three years due to all of these issues. I know how exhausted I have felt all of this time and how much pain I have been in, and I'm afraid it will always be that way. Does anybody have experience with similar diagnosis? Does it seem more like I should be looking at a life on disability, or is there still hope for a normal life? I have been losing sleep over these anxieties. It is just a lot of health issues, a lot of pain, and a lot to take in. My parents were abusive and besides my grandparents I have little support. My grandparents are on disability for their own illnesses, so we have little money and I have NONE. I do get food stamps and medicaid. I am so scared of what my life is going to be like.
0 likes, 2 replies
margaret22116 cmmusiclover
Posted
Hi. I din't have Lupus but diagnosed with Behcet's which is very similar. I understand your fears. I had to give up my career 13 years ago I was so unwell. I changed career and opened a smalk business which was really driven by the fears you speak of about not wanting to rely on disability etc.
Thanks to good treatment I am in a kind of remission now. My worst symptoms have gone and I have mild symptoms I can cope with. I understand it looks bleak at the moment but there are many treatment options available these days. Be ready to change docs if you feel you are not getting good treatment. It is important.
There are help and information groups out there. Try to join one. There are great private groups on facebook where people share experiences and great tips on how to overcome certain issues.
13 years on I feel better, happier and am still working and no sign of me having to give that up. I think also trying to get some help with your anxiety issue would help enormously. I am nit sure if you get free help with that in the States. We do in tge UK though it is becoming nore and more difficult to access thise services here too.
I din't think your life is over. I think you can really help by being armed with as much info on your condition as you possibly can and using any support which is available.
anne35710 cmmusiclover
Posted
I know how overwhelming it can be to feel that your health will limit your life, especially when you are still going through diagnosis process which means treatment is not in full capacity yet. You will need to put on your boxing gloves and fight. Part of that will involve getting better treatment. Try not to think about everything at once it seems as though it's piling up on you and overwhelming. Being on disability is definitely not a fun life, so I can totally understand why you would be fearful of that. Maybe you can look at other options for work and find something that is not stressful because stress is very bad for digestive issues which it sounds like you have quite a few. You need to develop a plan and think it through, when you are not feeling overwhelmed or on a really bad day health-wise. When you are too weak and miserable is not a good time to be thinking about career options. The first step should be to get feeling better emotionally and physically. Get all of your diagnosis and find out what your treatment will be and how long that will be to be effective. Strategize a plan and don't give up. On your bad days squeeze in rest whenever you can, and push out thoughts that you can't do it. It is normal to have all these fears and I have them too, I can totally relate. One suggestion I have is to find a job where you make the call when you can work and when you don't work. I don't know if you have any experience with children or not but there are a lot of people out there who want good caregivers for date nights. You can sign up online to be available on call, and then when they contact you you can either say yes or no based on how you're feeling that day, so you're not calling in sick. Another idea is to sign up with a temp agency for whatever jobs match your skills, office work,and etc.because you work for a while but have breaks in between, to catch up on rest and medical appointments. Wishing you the best and will keep you in my prayers, hang in there.