GAD

[SecondLife]

For some time my hubby had severe pain in his stomach, sometimes through the day and possibly worse in the evening. Had several investigations and then they decided it was anxiety caused by asbestosis, so they prescribed 10mg of antidepressants daily. This seemed to work but now the pain has returned with a vengeance. I am at a loss as to what to do next (I always seem to be fighting his corner) and as I am sure you will all agree that although he is in pain, it affects me as well.

[downandout]

Hi there

Its so hard to see people that we love in pain, you did not say what medication or how long he has been on them, to be honest my first thought is to get an appointment with the doctor and see if there needs to be an adjustment, remember also that its a stressful time of the year for us all and well maybe he is worried about that too, i dont know if your both working or not but it does sound like something is either triggering it or it needs to be adjusted, the truth is some drugs work for some people for a long time and with others they only work for a short time or never work, dont give up though it sounds like he is very lucky to have you fighting in his corner and it may just be he needs a slight increase in the med, but i would definately make an appointment with the doctor as soon as possible so that both of your minds can be put to rest xx

Helen

[SecondLife in reply to downandout]

Cheers for this, the list of meds would take the rest of this page lol, we are both retired now which probably makes it worse as I am there 24/7. The other side of this is that I do not believe in anti depressants and certainly this 10mg is making him tired all of the time so do not really want to increase it. Will make an appointment with our Doc and see where we go from there.

[downandout]

no 10mg should not make him tired all the time unless its within the first 3 weeks of taking it as it takes time to settle into the system, being tired could be so many things and could also be a massive sign of depression hate to say it but if he has been feeling limited in what he can get out and do then he may be feeling a bit low and not be wanting to say anything here is hoping its nothing to worry about, and just to reassure you i am on 225mg of an anti depressant and it does not make me feel tired at all xx

[Hidden]

Hi

If there is any question of asbestosis then it may be worth getting his symptoms investigated by an expert in that field, you might find someone by googling. I think usually people develop asbestosis as a result of coming into contact with asbestos which has been a listed substance for very many years- we had absestos removed from our cellar and it cost thousands of pounds as the men dealing the the material had to wear space-man like suits and the whole house had to be protected from any flying dust or fumes, the house looked like a war zone. If your husband's health problems have been caused by working with asbestos there is I think conpensation available which would at least make his experiences more comfortable and buy the best medical care.

Suex

[SecondLife]

Thanks. He was diagnosed with asbestosis about 4 years ago and we see our consultant about every 4 months, we dd put in a claim mainly due to the fact that 3 months after he was diagnosed I had to spent 3 weeks in hospital with a bad chest infection and I was worried what would happen to him if I were not there. Hopefully this claim will be finalised in the very near future.

[Hidden]

Oh that's great, I did feel concerned that the mention of asbestosis had perhaps just been raised in passing. Whilst you can't solve the problem at least it is something that is being taken seriously. Stress can cause acute pains in the stomach, I used to get the same and IBS which links with stress too, the only think your hubby can do is to relax, so maybe you can help him with that? He needs to find things he enjoys that distract him from thinking about how awful he feels.

Sue

[SecondLife]

I have been thinking about relaxation techniques and came across autogenics, found someone who does it but then of course the cost is mentioned £60 per session and you need a minimum of 6. At the moment he finds that if he has something small to eat when it start to hurt it helps, but we are going to book an appointment with our GP (bet he will be pleased to see us - not) - to see if perhaps there is a therapist he can send us to or try something else. Sorry if I sounded as down as he must feel but I wrote it first thing this morning while hubby is still asleep and I wonder what the day will bring. Not been a bad day so far.

[Hidden]

Hi, don't apologise for writing when you are down, it's what the website's for!

Hope things go ok with the GP, Sue

[downandout]

Hi there hope it all went well at the doctors, yes i admit i did read that with an alarm and did not mention it as well I know nothing about Asbestosis, but I am going to say how sorry I am that this has happened to him and so pleased that you have it all under control with the correct people in place

Helen

xx

[SecondLife in reply to downandout]

Thanks. Think that sub consciously the disease worries him as it affects the whole body not just the lungs and also the compensation case makes him annoyed every time a letter from the solicitor drops on the mat. Oh well onwards and upwards GP does not work on a Wednesday but will try and make an appointment with him tomorrow. We are booked on a flight next Wednesday to go and spend Christmas with our son in Canada, after a lot of letters from the consultant and the airline, so I am hoping that he will enjoy himself and relax during that time.

[downandout]

Ah that is just so very lovely I really wish you both a wonderful Christmas with Your son, that will just be so fantastic, just great news, and yes I can relate very much to whenever certain letters come through the post as I am in the middle of a Major court case myself, and everytime i see an envelope in relation to it i start to panic then i open it get mad calm down and then two days later i just crash downwards, as I am not able to get legal aid due to the nature of the case and as such I am doing it all myself, Now solicitors have enough problems understanding all the laws for me its just a Minefield, thankfully I have found some fantastic people on line that well we all work together and help each other out to win all our cases as they are all to deal with our children xx

But Please you to relax and enjoy your Christmas with your son too so Happy that you have this to look forward to

[Optimistic9]

Hello, I find it very strange that your husband was given antidepressants for a condition caused by asbestos. Have you asked the doctor why?. Antidepressants are a harsh drug full of unatural chemicals which change brain chemistry and also have many side effects. They can also irritate the lining of the stomach so they are probably causing his stomach pain to get worse. I definitely think you should go and see another doctor. I think too many doctors nowadays are dishing out too many antidepressants for all the wrong reasons without thinking of the long term effects like addiction and damage to general health. You should definitely complain .

[SecondLife]

I couldn't agree more, asbestosis can spread and cause stomach problems, but they did every examination they could and found only 3 tiny gallstones so they decided it was being caused by him worrying.