Posted by bookgurl99 on July 2, 2002, at 8:27:01
In reply to Re: I Will Find a Way to Live » bookgurl99, posted by Mark H. on July 2, 2002, at 1:04:08
Mark, thanks for your sweet note. :D
I just wanted to say that one of the frustrating aspects of h.e. -- if I do have it -- is that the people who have it know they're in decline, but still test well on intelligence tests. I know one woman who's had it for 2 years -- she said dr's didn't believe her either, because she was so smart to begin with that with a 20% reduction in brain activity, she still functioned normally.
It's such a mythology that people with some form of organic dementia will be severely confused. Your confusion can come in a really mild form. (Momentarily not recognizing places you've been before, trouble learnign new things, etc.)
I would believe that this was psychological -- and maybe some of it is, in response to the stress of the illness -- if it were not for the fact that I basically woke up with my symptoms. They were not increasingly severe in onset, and in fact my life was going really well at the time. They just showed up.
So, it's tough. I go to the hospital. Doctors assume I'm depressed, because I was treated for depression 7 years ago. I was misdiagnosed with OCD 3 years ago (relabeled w/ severe anxiety), and there's a subset of OCD folk who worry about rare illness.
Do not _ever_ come down with a 'physical' illness while in treatment for 'mental' illness. Doctors behave as though one will protect us from the other. What they don't seem to ask is whether the two could be related.
Anyways, I am off to the endocrinologist today to talk about the possibility of h.e. I hope she considers my plea.
Thanks,
bookgurl99
poster:bookgurl99
thread:488
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20020702/msgs/504.html