So being chronically ill myself (but without diagnosis and decent treatment, so I feel weird) I thought I'd start a thread where people can discuss such things if they suffer from them. Or learn more about them. Anything like that.

First, I guess I'll define chronic illness for those who may not be so sure what the term means, or what such an illness entails. So here are a few of the best definitions I could find.

Quote:

In medicine, a chronic disease is a disease that is long-lasting or recurrent. An illness that lasts for a long time, often a lifetime, whereas an acute illness comes on suddenly and resolves in a short amount of time. A condition that lasts a year or longer, limits activity, and may require ongoing care.

To put it simply, a chronic illness is any illness that is long lasting, or incurable. They can often be treated, but never completely cured. There are a lot of illnesses like that. Fibromyalgia, arthritis, lupus, and even a lot of mental illnesses are considered chronic, because things like depression and eating disorders are rarely CURED, and most people have to stay on top of things like that they're whole lives.

While I don't have a diagnosis currently, I started suffering from debilitating symptoms about four years ago, which have gotten progressively worse, and are sort of ruining my life. Among these are widespread pain, chronic headaches, anxiety, and depression. I have lot of other smaller symptoms as well, but those are the big ones that I can think of right now.

So does anyone else here suffer from any chronic conditions?
Feel free to talk about anything pertaining to the subject here.

I have very severe depression, labeled under "dysthymia". I've actually had severe depression/ suicidal tendencies for the last 12 years. I guess you could say its chronic. Not really sure :/ That's kinda the reason I disappeared for several days. I just couldn't find the will to move.

I do suffer from chronic migraines. They never haven't figured out what causes the migraines but I'm currently on an anti-epilepsy medication that helps for the most part.

My depression/anxiety are definitely chronic. I hate having no support from hardly anyone around me. My poor excuse of doctor NEVER gives me real help even though I tell her what's wrong with me. It's always "oh you'll feel better if you exercise". I DO exercise and this past time I told her I have been; she told me to increase the exercise to 4-5 times a week. She also constantly tells me to lose weight and that just makes me feel even worse, especially since I'm trying to do that.

Well, I always figured chronic illness was an illness you had your entire life, and not always untreatable it was uncureable, but hey, I learned something new today!

By that definition, I guess one could list a few things that have been going on in my life for the past 8-9 years. I've been diagnosed with depression, although that was almost four years ago and I've not kept in touch with the psychiatric health care in those years, mainly because my psychologist and I did not get along but also because now I'm legally an adult and have to go to ''Adul Psychiatry Care'' as it's called here, and the closest clinic is about at least 2 hours away and costs money. Seeing how I don't have any means of transport except by bus - which I do not have time for with school and all - and I'm basically broke, and I don't want to ask my parents for financial or transportational support since my mom would just freak out if I told her I still wasn't fine, I've just never really bothered.

But my depression started when I was 11, and it has been coming in leaps and bounds since then, with episodes in between of good/normal mood, first I had the symptoms for a year until they spontaneously disappeared, and I felt fine for another year, then I relapsed for three years, began therapy, felt even worse, then it was alright for a few months, then relapse, alright for about two months, relapse, alright, relapse and now it's alright again. My bad periods have varied in severity, it's been debilitating in my school life - I've flunked at least 9 classes and have more than a 60 % absence from most school years - and my social life, sometimes I can't stand to be alone and hang around my friends everyday, other times I isolate myself, it can go as far as me not even managing to have telephone conversations or talk to people on MSN. It's affected my interpersonal relationships as well, as according to my psychologist I also have anger management issues, and I'm just an overall oversensitive person, or I get apathetic and underinvolved in the people I love.

It's been a rollercoaster alright, but my positive episodes, like the one I'm having now, make me feel like all the things I've been told of how it's just a phase or hormones I just don't really take it all that seriously. One guy even suggested that birth control pills would stabilize me and solve most of my problems, so I guess I'm just whiny. On top of that I got diagnosed with anorexia, which I feel started at around 13, and I was let go after 10 weeks of therapy, considered fine, but I've never felt completely fine. Mostly the thoughts have stayed, lesser sometimes, greater at others. There have been two periods when I've been feeling healthy and ''normal'' again, with no eating disordered thoughts or behaviours whatsoever, but I've had a handful of relapses ever since I got treatment. I don't know. I don't think one ever really recovers from such a thing, it's changed who I am and my way of thinking and I think there's always going to be a trace of the disease left.

I've had other problems, sleeping related and obsessive compulsive ones, changing in severity since I was 13 and 11 respectively. But I guess it's alright. What bothers me now is that my anger, which has been a constant part of me my whole life, is suddenly gone. It just freaks me out not knowing what is going on. But whatever, I guess, I'm considered healthy and right now I'm mostly symptom free.

I've had my depression for around 7 years now and despite treatment, it's hardly changed so I'm guessing that would be chronic and personality disorders...recent diagnosis of Sktiziod which is too early to be called chronic but I'm thinking that my Borderline diagnosis would come under chronic illness. I don't know. Either way, the illnesses are still there.

It really fucking pisses me off (sorry, is swearing allowed) how the mental illness rate has gone up in Australia and instead of doing SOMETHING about it, they minimize the number of visits to a psychological professional so now you see them 10 times a year (on medicare) and then you have to pay yourself. 10 visits is hardly "treatment" and I use up my visits really quick, like by march, we have to start paying. It's just ... really expensive and it makes me feel really bad because in my large family, we are already paying for dental fees and last year we struggled with that and my psych appointments AND having 5 children at school, 3 in high school. It's just too much...