Why Chronic Abdominal Pain Persists—Even When Your Tests Are “Normal”

The experience of chronic pain is incredibly overwhelming and exhausting. When you go to the doctor and hear, “Great news! Your labs are normal.” Empty reassurances about it being just stress or not “seeing inflammation.”  It’s very human to interpret these messages as “it’s in your head.” 

In GI Psychiatry, I follow the following rules:

Pain ≠ imagined

Pain ≠ weak coping

Pain ≠ something you caused

Chronic abdominal pain doesn’t mean your body is broken—it means your nervous system is stuck

Later this week: A bonus newsletter on biofeedback in GI Psychiatry