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338 points glasscannon | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.438s | source
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nwienert ◴[] No.44464404[source]
As someone who had years of undiagnosable pain and after many years (and more than one doctor trying to suggest it was all in my head) I just want to say to anyone reading who has it -

Don’t let yourself be gaslit that it’s all mental. It seems some do have that, but there are also many hard to diagnose and completely valid physical health conditions that cause terrible chronic pain. And don’t give up on trying to find out what they are. Once I did, I was able to largely manage mine, and more importantly, to stop constantly questioning my own sanity.

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1. Aurornis ◴[] No.44465023[source]
> Don’t let yourself be gaslit that it’s all mental.

I agree, though this is a very difficult subject. Often, the people who would benefit the most from psychosomatic interventions are often the most resistant to accepting those explanations. Meanwhile, many of the physical chronic pain sufferers I know have desperately tried various mind-body programs (without success) because they will try anything that might help.

If people match the description of the author of this post and blog, where the pains are widespread, vague, and popping up around different parts of the body without explanation then you really should explore psychosomatic explanations like this author did.

However, I’m growing weary of the trend of people who fit this description starting newsletters they want you to subscribe to (like this one), writing apps they want you to download/buy, and making comments implying that they know better than doctors about chronic pain (while putting an obligatory “not a doctor” disclaimer juxtaposed to their comments complaining that doctors don’t know what they know). I think it’s great when people share their experience, but it’s getting tiresome to see it productized and generalized as a more universal explanation.

EDIT: Another trend in this space is to productize by building an audience (please subscribe to my Substack) and then introduce the monetization plan later: A subscription app, an e-book, a partnership with some product. It’s possible this person organically decided to quit their job, sell their house, and focus on writing a no strings attached Substack blog series to share information. However, I’ve seen this play out across enough health influencers that I recommend everyone stay cautious about people who claim to hold some information that will change your life but they need you to subscribe first. Be careful.

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2. glasscannon ◴[] No.44465120[source]
> and making comments implying that they know better than doctors about chronic pain (while putting an obligatory “not a doctor” disclaimer juxtaposed to their comments complaining that doctors don’t know what they know).

I am not claiming to know better than doctors whom are proficient in pain science/medicine.

Rather, that most doctors are not adequately educated on this topic. If you ask the average doctor they will tell you how little it is taught in most medical education programs. Case in point, most pain sufferers will tell you how many doctors they had to bounce between before they finally got some answers/direction (if they were lucky).

FWIW I was preparing for two months this year after I left my job to sit the Australian med school entry exam. Ultimately, I decided I would be able to help more people today, with tools readily available (including a computer and substack) than spending the next decade of my life preparing for a medical career.

I would consider amending that part of my post to say something more narrow like "Not a pain doctor", but it seems more straightforward as it is now.