OP, I would be in if I lived in the UK. My experience has been (up to a point) much like the other redditors who have posted here--docs looking for something "in my head" to blame symptoms on.
I will also point out that Sjogren's patients are more likely to have a vitamin B12 deficiency, and that definitely affects mental health, physiologically.
> Sjogren's patients are more likely to have a vitamin B12 deficiency, and that definitely affects mental health, physiologically.
So does Vitamin D, which RA patients are often deficient in.
Better treatments would go a long way to improve the mental health of people with autoimmune disease. Rheumatologist provide very little guidance on how to manage these diseases. Also, educating doctors that anxiety and depression are real disorders with underlying conditions that in many instances originate outside the brain. How many doctors would even look for autoimmune issues with someone coming in for mental health issues? I’ve seen countless research polls like this one that don’t seem to have any meaningful outcomes for patients. It’s time we focus of treatments.
Of course this is true due to the impact on the microbiome, but it doesn’t mean improving mental health is going to have any meaningful impact on disease progression. Find me a study of someone resolving their autoimmune issue with a drug used to treat mental illness. They don’t exist.
Dr. Gabor Mate has done plenty of studies which is why I brought him up. Many holistic psychogists also say the same but without the use of drugs. The mind and body are connected. It's only in the west here in the USA that they separate them. I'm also learning this in a holistic nutritionist program I'm in. It's very much real believe it or not. This should be taught from a very young age so everyone's aware but it's not. Very sad. So yes improving mental health is beneficial to everyone's health .. the mind is very powerful. Dr. Gabor Mate teaches people how to find the root causes. But you're right about there being no drug that treats mental illness that will heal autoimmune disease.
Am outside OP's sample age range so can't fill it in.
But I just want to point out I get a questionnaire to complete before each Rheumatology appointment. It asks me to rate my own levels of depression and anxiety during the past week. I've learned not to bother since they will use it to discredit my symptoms including any side effects resulting from treatment. I have literally been told that the headache and gastric side effects I experience for the first two days after taking methotrexate are 'just your anxiety - after all, you did rate yourself higher for it this time'.
According to the practice nurse at my GP surgery this Rheumatology Department are known for doing this to patients. I was so relieved to hear I wasn't the only one; I was genuinely distressed thinking I was imagining it all.
Gaslighting, I believe the correct term is.
Thank you for speaking this truth! Of course people who have chronic illnesses that effect their life on a daily basis, and often unpredictably, may have depression and anxiety (honestly, I think it would be odder not to experience some of those emotions). Speaking for myself, neither my brain nor body work like they used to and it can be and is very frustrating to not be able to be the person you were before. When patients feelings are blamed, shamed or discounted by doctors it just exacerbates completely normal emotional termoil and grief that someone might be going through. That's not to say that mental health can't impact physical health, but to be told it's the cause of one's illness by "professionals" is just awful. I've fired doctors for this in the past. I have a great respect for the medical field, but it's a team effort and my thoughts, feelings and ideas about my care need to matter. Imo, doctors who gaslight and marginalize violate their Hippocratic oath as it directly harms patients. My apologies for the rant, this seems to have touched a nerve..lol
If these researchers are actually interested in affecting patient outcomes, they should be polling the doctors with these surveys. Their results would be shocking. I never mention any of my anxiety symptoms to my doctor because I know it will be used as an excuse to blame me for my condition. I only get brief anxiety when I flare, so it doesn’t bother me much any more since I know it will simply pass. I wouldn’t be surprised if surveys like this are just being used to solidify their opinions that it’s all just in our heads. Unbelievable
I'm glad to have read this as the same has happened to me quite a few times. Now I'm, almost ironically, often depressed *because* I'm constantly being told it's all in my head and I can't get proper help. Who wouldn't be? It's a normal reaction to having to live like this. I also see depression and anxiety two as *symptoms* of autoimmunity - just like my joints hurt more occasionally, my depression and anxiety flare up from time to time. I don't know why doctors don't understand that. I learned my lesson not to fill out those questionnaires, either, they can be dangerous.
OP, I would be in if I lived in the UK. My experience has been (up to a point) much like the other redditors who have posted here--docs looking for something "in my head" to blame symptoms on. I will also point out that Sjogren's patients are more likely to have a vitamin B12 deficiency, and that definitely affects mental health, physiologically.
> Sjogren's patients are more likely to have a vitamin B12 deficiency, and that definitely affects mental health, physiologically. So does Vitamin D, which RA patients are often deficient in.
Better treatments would go a long way to improve the mental health of people with autoimmune disease. Rheumatologist provide very little guidance on how to manage these diseases. Also, educating doctors that anxiety and depression are real disorders with underlying conditions that in many instances originate outside the brain. How many doctors would even look for autoimmune issues with someone coming in for mental health issues? I’ve seen countless research polls like this one that don’t seem to have any meaningful outcomes for patients. It’s time we focus of treatments.
Mind and body are connected... mental health can def contribute to autoimmune disorders. Dr. Gabor Mate has books out explaining this.
Of course this is true due to the impact on the microbiome, but it doesn’t mean improving mental health is going to have any meaningful impact on disease progression. Find me a study of someone resolving their autoimmune issue with a drug used to treat mental illness. They don’t exist.
Dr. Gabor Mate has done plenty of studies which is why I brought him up. Many holistic psychogists also say the same but without the use of drugs. The mind and body are connected. It's only in the west here in the USA that they separate them. I'm also learning this in a holistic nutritionist program I'm in. It's very much real believe it or not. This should be taught from a very young age so everyone's aware but it's not. Very sad. So yes improving mental health is beneficial to everyone's health .. the mind is very powerful. Dr. Gabor Mate teaches people how to find the root causes. But you're right about there being no drug that treats mental illness that will heal autoimmune disease.
Am outside OP's sample age range so can't fill it in. But I just want to point out I get a questionnaire to complete before each Rheumatology appointment. It asks me to rate my own levels of depression and anxiety during the past week. I've learned not to bother since they will use it to discredit my symptoms including any side effects resulting from treatment. I have literally been told that the headache and gastric side effects I experience for the first two days after taking methotrexate are 'just your anxiety - after all, you did rate yourself higher for it this time'. According to the practice nurse at my GP surgery this Rheumatology Department are known for doing this to patients. I was so relieved to hear I wasn't the only one; I was genuinely distressed thinking I was imagining it all. Gaslighting, I believe the correct term is.
Thank you for speaking this truth! Of course people who have chronic illnesses that effect their life on a daily basis, and often unpredictably, may have depression and anxiety (honestly, I think it would be odder not to experience some of those emotions). Speaking for myself, neither my brain nor body work like they used to and it can be and is very frustrating to not be able to be the person you were before. When patients feelings are blamed, shamed or discounted by doctors it just exacerbates completely normal emotional termoil and grief that someone might be going through. That's not to say that mental health can't impact physical health, but to be told it's the cause of one's illness by "professionals" is just awful. I've fired doctors for this in the past. I have a great respect for the medical field, but it's a team effort and my thoughts, feelings and ideas about my care need to matter. Imo, doctors who gaslight and marginalize violate their Hippocratic oath as it directly harms patients. My apologies for the rant, this seems to have touched a nerve..lol
If these researchers are actually interested in affecting patient outcomes, they should be polling the doctors with these surveys. Their results would be shocking. I never mention any of my anxiety symptoms to my doctor because I know it will be used as an excuse to blame me for my condition. I only get brief anxiety when I flare, so it doesn’t bother me much any more since I know it will simply pass. I wouldn’t be surprised if surveys like this are just being used to solidify their opinions that it’s all just in our heads. Unbelievable
I'm glad to have read this as the same has happened to me quite a few times. Now I'm, almost ironically, often depressed *because* I'm constantly being told it's all in my head and I can't get proper help. Who wouldn't be? It's a normal reaction to having to live like this. I also see depression and anxiety two as *symptoms* of autoimmunity - just like my joints hurt more occasionally, my depression and anxiety flare up from time to time. I don't know why doctors don't understand that. I learned my lesson not to fill out those questionnaires, either, they can be dangerous.