\n<\/p>\n
Finding myself \u201con the couch\u201d and baring my soul to a mental health therapist wasn\u2019t a situation I\u2019d ever imagined to be in, but I remember that first visit in mid-2023 well \u2013 the picture of me sprawled on a chaise longue. Therapy was, admittedly, my last bastion of hope.<\/span><\/p>\n For more than a year before that, I had been living with mysterious chronic pain \u2013 it got so debilitating that I sank into despair (and depression) after countless hospital visits bore no answers.<\/span><\/p>\n From rheumatology to orthopaedics, neurology, gynaecology and pain management, I was referred from one department to another \u2013\u00a0and hospital visits became part of my weekly routine.<\/span><\/p>\n Multiple blood tests, a one-and-a-half-hour magnetic resonance imaging scan for multiple sclerosis and two full-body bone scans later, doctors gave me the \u201cgood news\u201d. Nothing was particularly amiss \u2013\u00a0just the usual wear and tear due to ageing, I was told.<\/span><\/p>\n Each time, the doctor would ask if I wanted a referral to see a psychiatrist instead. The lack of a conclusive diagnosis soon made me wish I\u2019d been slapped with a life-threatening diagnosis \u2013 at least I would have an <\/span>answer<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n The pain started innocuously enough in early 2021, when I felt an ache in my right knee. I was quick to put it down to \u201cageing\u201d (after all, it was not uncommon to hear of the same complaint from friends my age). I was then 49.<\/span><\/p>\n But as the months wore on, the pain took on a life of its own and spread to my left knee, arms, legs and even my ribs. I started to experience stabbing, piercing, tingling sensations, and numbness all over my body \u2013 the symptoms and flare-ups were random and unpredictable.<\/span><\/p>\nIT STARTED WITH AN ACHE<\/span><\/h2>\n