Comic Strips

I wish so many comments on this post didn't support what you're saying. And the guy in the comic isn't even asking for help, just showing that he's suffering.

Long story about healthcare workers.

I went to the ER for chest pains this summer. EKG was good, did a scan, and didn't see any blockages. They determined it was probably heart burn.

I started taking prevacid and that helped but I still wasn't feeling great. Doc said to try the three main over the counter heart burn drugs to see what worked. So I tried nexium next.

By the time I finished that bottle I was feeling very nauseous, dizzy and would get sharp quick headaches that lasted a few seconds. On top of that still feeling pain in my left shoulder/ chest area. It got to the point that one day at work I just felt so bad I had to go back to the ER.

Another round of scans and tests and they still said the old ticker looked good but did give me an IV and anti nausea that helped. The ER doc this time asked if I had anxiety and I said sure because at that moment I was very worried about my health.

They discharged me and I went home for the day and set up some doctors appointments. I went to my doc and talked about everything going on and she looked at the test results. Then she says the ER doc says you have anxiety and gives me a bunch of pamphlets about mental health and suggests talk therapy.

I've got nothing against therapy and could probably use some, but I don't think it's the cause of my chest problems. I was perfectly fine before the first ER visit. Anyways I fired her and went looking for a new doctor.

I found one and set up a physical. We did all the basics and he went over all my tests results. I felt like I was being listened to and we were getting somewhere.

His big suggestion was to lose weight... Again not a bad idea but maybe not the core of the problem. He thought that or nerve pain.

Well losing weight seems more appropriate than talk therapy so I set out doing that for a few months. I'm down about 15 lbs, got another 30 to go. Hasn't really helped, but I am looking better.

In the mean time I'm still taking prevacid because that helped and I didn't have any side effects. Except one time I bought a bottle of Prilosec instead by accident. I got about halfway through and started feeling dizzy, and nauseous again, so I cut that out and went back to prevacid.

I looked it up and turns out Prilosec and Nexium are closely related and do have those side effects. Nexium just was worse for me. Prevacid is a completely unrelated drug and does not cause me issues. So second ER was probably all from the Nexium and no one caught that despite me informing them of what meds I was taking.

We also scheduled a colonoscopy and endoscopy to look for a root cause of heart burn issues but found none. The new doc who told me to lose weight said let's try a nerve blocker so I said okay. Turns out it's also an anti anxiety med as well... so I think that suggestion was based off ER doc saying I'm anxious.

I decided to take it anyway even though I don't think I need anti anxiety meds. It's been two weeks and shoulder pain is pretty much gone which is great but I'm having way too many side effects from this drug. Wake up in sweats, always thirsty, low libido etc.

I go back next week to talk to doc about it see if there's something else to try since this path seems to be working.

Finding a doctor, making an appointment, keeping that appointment, trying who knows how many medications until you find one that helps, etc. is not the easiest thing in the world when you have trouble just getting out of bed in the morning.

I want medication for my ADHD and instead the doctors I would see kept trying different antidepressants. None of them helped. In fact most just added more problems, like not being able to get an erection, weight gain, and fatigue. I would tell them and they would either switch to a different antidepressant or up the dosage.

I know the cause of my depression and I want to treat that; not the fucking symptoms of depression itself. But I also have shitty insurance that's only accepted by 2 different networks of health care where I am, and they are so understaffed for the mental health shit that making an appointment anywhere is always 6 to 8 months away, and even if you show up the doctor might not.

And that's not even taking into account the miseries of:

1: Fighting with insurance to let you have what you desperately need at a price that wouldn't bankrupt you.

2: Fighting with your pharmacy over prescription issues.

3: Dealing with sudden nationwide shortages.

Fuck...

This^

My GP called to mock and say she hadn't called the crisis help for an appointment yet. Two weeks she let fly by. No doubt more if it wasn't for a family member calling her.

I actually never interpreted it that way - I though it was just showing it getting worse - but that's a good point and you may be right. It could be showing that he "fixed" the problem by pretending it doesn't exist as much as he can around others, since none of them take it seriously anyway. Of course, that won't help anything and will likely make it worse.

This is about others not taking depression seriously. The difficulty in getting treatment is another matter.

Which of course is a symptom.

“My leg is broken” “Then walk to the hospital, duh” “I can’t, my leg is broken” “Why are you choosing to live in pain?!”

And when the doctor decides you're an attention seeking malingerer and refuses to help, what then?

Notice how the "friends" are completely dismissive of the hand? If they actually thought it was cause for concern, that would be an improvement.

It really sucks being a parent with ADHD having a kid with ADHD understanding the struggles while also having to say "You need to figure out what will work for you to focus on this stuff. Also, just try some of these suggestions to see if they work instead of refusing to try at all."

Like I understand the struggle and still end up sounding like that just because figuring out something to improve the situation is necessary although it isn't quite the same thing as 'try harder'. Just keep trying until you figure out something that improves the situation.

ADHD sucks. It's a pain in the ass to get my meds, the meds help, but I still have good days and bad days. I don't think it's nearly as debilitating as a crushed hand, I don't even put it on the same level as depression. That said everyone has a different toolbox for their issues, and some people are better equipped than others.

Well at least you have bones amiright?