The Problem of Overview

My health problems cover many areas.

• I suffer from anxiety, and from mood problems - dysthimia or depression.
• I have fibro-myalgia - widespread pain, fatigue, and difficulty concentration.
• I have recently been diagnosed with a hiatus hernia and have complications from that - difficulty and pain swallowing, constant indigestion and acid reflux (sometimes accompanied by intense pain).

So I went to the doctor today to say that the treatment for the swallowing problem and eventually got referred back to the Gastro-enterologist. But part of my problem is that I'm in pain all the time and I have been taking Non-stroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID).

Now NSAIDs reduce the ability to protect the stomach lining from acid, and exacerbates acid reflux. So I've had to stop taking them. Which means I'm experiencing more pain. I can take less powerful NSAIDs (codiene/paracetamol) but it doesn't work that well. I need help with pain management, and I'm thinking of paying for a pain management course because the NHS does not seem to offer non-drug pain management. I can use my TENS machine, but it's expensive and not always effective.

All of this is making me pretty anxious about my health. I no longer take anxiety or depression drugs, and I try to manage without.

The GP manages to just about deal with the eosophagus problems, by getting me a referral. She glosses over the pain control problen, reassures me about the NSAIDs (I'm worried about my liver). But she doesn't really address my anxiety or mood, or overall pain problem at all. My quality of life is sucking at present. And no one amongst my medical support people have an overview of my health - not even my GP who is the generalist. The specialists only deal with problems in isolation - the are not able to link anxiety, FM, and other problems. So it's up to me to have my own overview, but I'm not in a good position to do that. I'm intelligent enough to understand medical jargon and concepts (I have a degree in science) but I don't have the resources and I don't have the emotional robustness.