HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

therapy for chronic illness?

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 7/14/2009 1:49 PM (GMT 0)
hi there! Does anyone here go to a therapist, just for dealing with a chronic illness? No other issues, problems, etc? I feel like I'm stressed all the time, due to the "what if" scenario... I feel like I worry 24/7 about my health- if it's not the UC, it's something due to the meds I take, or getting the flu & having it be worst-case scenario due to the immunosuppresants, etc. It's gotten bad- I try to just live in the moment, but it's tough! So..... if any of you do this, did you have to find a therapist who deals with chronic illness? And has it helped you?
Posted 7/14/2009 1:54 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, in the last year with my colon, and at wits end about being chronically ill, I sought help from a psychologist who deals with the chronically ill. She was able to help me with visualization and meditation techniques to reduce my anxiety. I found her by doing phone interviews of local psychologists and asking them about 5 or 6 questions. I immediately connected with her on the phone and chose her over the others.

Sue
Posted 7/14/2009 2:46 PM (GMT 0)

thanks Sue- it's just that I never feel *good*- I wake up in themorning & feel tired, despite having had a decent nights sleep. I'm always spacy & fatigued & headachey until late morning, then it finally wears off & I feel ok. Maybe it's the Imuran....I'll have to ask my GI next time we meet. So then what happens, is every day I wonder "Am I coming down with something?" And of course I think it's swine flu or some other awful thing. I think part of is because I did get so sick after an infusion one time, & wound up in the ICU for a week. Every time I go for a Remicade infusion I worry, & am super vigilant for the next 10 days or so. I just need some tips to deal with it.

Posted 7/14/2009 3:16 PM (GMT 0)

Eva Lou

I'm wondering.........have you ever even considered the option of surgery? My son was terribly sick with UC, the meds seemed to make him sicker and he was overcome with anxiety all the time. He opted for the surgery at MT Sinai, and though he's ony through with stage one of three stages, he is remarkable better already. I'm not suggesting that it's any easy choice, but the truth is that even after only the first part of the surgery, he has gotten back his quality of life and is free of all those meds. Maybe it would help you to just get a consult so at least you can find some comfort in knowing that it's an option if everything else just gets to be too much for you. My son went from a confident, jolly young man in the business world to a panic-stricken depressed person because he felt totally out of control of his life. The disease, in less than a year, totally took over his life. Good luck - as a side note, when we suggested that he really might want to see atherapist, his answer was, "I can't even imagine fitting in another doctor in my lefe right now - between the GI doc, the infusion doc, the migraine docs and the assortment of ER docs we encountered, he was overwhelmed at the prospect of another doctor. Had he opted against surgery, I'm sure he would have ended up with a therapist, though. My  family wishes you the best

Maria

Posted 7/14/2009 3:59 PM (GMT 0)
Have I?!?!?! I had it scheduled twice, a full proctocolectomy... then chickened out both times! I did go into a state of semi-remission though, due to increasing the dosage & frequency of Remicade. So it wasn't all me being scared! It's funny, I too think that I ought to just go ahead & get surgery finally, & be done with all the meds & the worries they cause. But I'm just not doing badly enough right now to justify it. My husband thinks I ought to go ahead & have surgery, as I will probably need it someday. But again, unless I'm flat out in the hospital, IV steroids & all, I don't want to do it. Or if a scope found dysplasia, or cancer. But yes, I have had surgical consults & am well aware of the actual surgery & the process around it. It's something I think of often.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply