Misdiagnosis

BlueDaisy that is horrific! I am so so sorry that the lawyers couldn't do anything - my issues began with a misdiagnosis from a Gynaecologist initially - I knew MY body better than they did and I was telling them something that they should have listened to but didn't bother - I now have multiple chronic health issues and have been unable to work for over a decade now due to disability .... I am one of those living the life of Riley on disability benefits - such a wonderful life that I am having to sell the roof over my head

All these stories in a pretty small representation of the General Public but of a certain age presumably, are very worrying indeed!

Jane10 Exactly

I find threads like this quite troubling from two viewpoints.

The first is the worry that so many mistakes are made by doctors but, as Barrygirl said, they are not magicians. They can only gather up the symptoms with which they are presented and make a judgement. Sometimes the judgement is wrong. No doubt there are doctors who are not good at their jobs and as an ex ward sister of many years, I can testify to that. I can also testify that the majority of them are doing their level best to do the job, for which they trained, efficiently.

The second viewpoint is simply that, when mistakes are made, the stories are given so much publicity that the huge percentage of successful diagnoses and treatments tend to get lost. I wonder how many people would contribute to a thread about successful outcomes.

For those of you who have told of poor/misdiagnoses, please don’t take this as criticism. It is human nature for bad things to be remembered and good ones to be forgotten.

I have a friend who is a GP. She's told me that she worries constantly that she might have made a wrong diagnosis. With a new patient every 10 minutes I'm not surprised that sometimes doctors get things wrong.
I remember going on holiday once when my GP Dad suddenly said 'Oh my God its Guillain Barre syndrome,' turned the car back and drove back home to arrange an assessment for a patient whose symptoms he'd been worrying about. Turned out he was right and the patient made a good recovery in the end.
Doctors are human too and there are so many many things that can go wrong with the human body.

My DD was told her pain and disability (she could hardly walk) were down to stress. She got a second opinion and stress was diagnosed again. Eventually she saw a retired doctor who was an old family friend and he said she had kidney disease. He was right and within days she had recovered.

Hi Nankate, well what a huge worry for you and for so many years.

But isn't it interesting, just how many replies your story has prompted re wrong diagnoses!

I have the same type of story. After 22 years, I finally got a diagnosis of PPMS. There was a wrong one in among.

If it hadn't been for my daughter changing jobs and working for a great neurologist, I would never have got diagnosed.

I hope you are as well as you can be.

Take care xxx

I had a major back surgery in 2000 and the consultant put me on HRT to strengthen my bones after the op even though I was too young to be going through the menopause. This consequently caused fibroids and other women problems’ which became so severe I ended up having an emergency hysterectomy. For 2 years I became so unwell after that in the end I knew I was actually dying, I was admitted to hospital and given steroid facet joint injections, but told all my severe symptoms were ‘the menopause’ even though most painful back pain you can imagine, I knew the doctors were talking rubbish but couldn’t get anywhere with any of them, it was impossible, I told my stupid GP I had at the time That I thought I had spinal infections, he replied by saying there’s no such thing! Consequently my mother begged me to see her new GP because I was so ill so I gave her address and signed on with them. I went for the new patient check up with the nurse one morning and she asked why the sweat was running off me, I explained I felt so ill and I knew I was dying but nobody believed me, she promptly called a lovely lady doctor in who looked at my back and said I’d got an abscess on it but she could tell it was more serious than that and she was calling an ambulance, I was admitted straight to hospital, long story short, I had 3 big spinal infections with numerous bits and bobs of bacteria as well, all my metal was loose due to the bugs in the metal in my back, consequently another 8 hour operation and I was in hospital for over 3 months on IV antibiotics and 6 years after on oral antibiotics which have knocked my immune system out and caused lots of health problem. All the infections caught during the hysterectomy. I tried sueing the hospital etc but it was stressful, it cost me £8k and they stuck together like a can of worms to get out of paying up even though they ruined my life and yet Leslie Ash got just 1 of the spinal infections I contracted and sued and got a million Pounds or so!

After getting out of breath when walking up hill etc, was diagnosed with asthma in my fifties and was treated with inhalers etc and continued like that for a couple of years with no improvement in my breathlessness. I then had to go in hospital for day surgery for another condition and they were concerned that I wasn’t breathing properly during the operation, they kept me in and did further tests, they found that I had a tumour that was so large it was laying on my lung and my lung had collapsed hence the breathlessness, I was lucky it was found removed and I made a full recovery, pity the GP didn’t send me for a chest X-ray I could have been treated sooner.

After having a permanent cough for 5 years I kept asking for a referral but ended up with a prescription for antibiotics which helped for 2 weeks then back to coughing. Eventually barely breathing I staggered to the surgery and told them I must be referred to the respiratory clinic. The doc looked up from his desk and asked, 'Would you like an appointment in two weeks or go to the hospital now?' I said "Now, please". I was kept in for a week while they diagnosed I had TB!! I am now clear of TB but have been left with Bronchiactasis!!

I had a thunderclap headache (the feeling of being hit with a 2 by 4) on the Tuesday. Got off a bus on Friday and couldn't walk straight, felt sick, and didn't feel like I was thinking coherently. Went to my GP, and saw a locum to the practice. He checked me out, spoke with a neurologist, and told me to go to hospital, to the GP Assessment unit. (Every journey an hour on the bus.) Was eventually seen, and doctor sent me for a CT scan, and admitted me. Lumbar puncture next day, MRI 5 days later. All told 10 days in hospital to be told that it was because of my blood pressure improving, so I needed to stop taking the medication. Episodes of dizzy, lightheadedness continued for years. Had tests for Meniers disease (which are unpleasant) and so forth. Finally saw a consultant who decided that I had vestibular migraines (little or no pain, just the other symptoms) so needed to avoid certain food triggers! Grand total of 9 years, and countless tests, not to mention NHS time and money.

My DH had bowel cancer. Surgery and chemo, good result. 6 years later he was in agony and passing what could only be described as being the colour of best burgundy. A & E found and treated an infection but Dr mentioned with DHs history situation should be monitored. Even with my little knowledge of the male urinary tract I knew an infection was unusual. No follow up from GP. Only when two years later the night time visits to the loo started did GP test for prostate cancer. Surgery required. He has had 14 years but mow on anti cancer drugs as cancer has metastasised. I am convinced if checks had been made following A & E visit he would have been totally cleared.

Doctors do make mistakes, in 2000, I noticed a really black, tiny mole that was driving me potty with itchiness. I told the doctor at my next appointment, he had a quick look and said it was nothing to worry about. I showed him the same, slightly larger mole 6 months later, he again told me that as we get older we do get more moles. 6 months later I saw a locum. He took one look and phoned the local dermatology department. I was seen for an excision the same day, and had surgery a week later to remove a stage 3 melanoma, the excision required a skin graft, and 6 months of oral chemotherapy.

The GP was devastated when he heard about it and very apologetic. He also went to the skin department and underwent further training.

42 years ago, I was suffering from excessive bleeding and went to see my ageing, male GP. 'It's your age, Mrs X', he explained. I was 37!. A few months later, we had moved and I consulted my new GP who quickly discovered that the culprit was my IUD (coil) which had malfunctioned. Coil removed, I was back to normal immediately.

I was told by my family GP following a chest X-ray that I had something seriously wrong and we all know what that means. He arranged a mammogram which turned out clear.
He then sent me for another X-ray and a scan which also showed no results and I was given the all clear but still felt short of breath.
2 weeks later I had a huge pulmonary embolism.
The Dr must have been having an off day!
Needless to say that was last December just before the virus. If it had happened a few months later I expect I would still be waiting for the initial X-ray.

I was diagnosed with asthma due to a continuous cough and wheezy chest.

It was a lazy decision as far as I was concerned - I never thought it was asthma - I've grown up in a household with several asthmatics so I know the symptoms better than most.

I went to a different GP as the cough was no better and I told him that I did not think I had asthma. He sent me for a 'Mannitol Challenge' test which is quite unpleasant but you get a definitive answer straight away.

So, no I don't have asthma but since I have refused the Flu Jab I no longer have the continuous cough through the winter either.

I seem to remember you having asthma at school. Was that the precursor to this?

All my children (and their cousins) are what are known as Zebras. It means that when the Dr's view them, they see them are horses which is the way they are trained but in fact, they have more complex problems which are often not seen if you are seeing a horse rather than a Zebra. This has meant that they have been misdiagnosed quite often. It has taken years of fighting to get a proper diagnosis and, even then, it is a fight to get the proper treatment for the comorbidities they face. For example, traditional physiotherapy can be more harmful as it can damage their joints further causing early onset arthritis. My daughter was told that the way she stands is what causes her pain and she should stand up straight. An MRI (which we fought tooth and nail for) shows she has scoliosis, a prolapsed disc (completely impossible according to the Physio) and arthritis in her sacroiliac joint (doesn't move unless you have been in a car crash). All of these things are quite normal with a person with her condition. My son was 17 when his first disc prolapsed, I was 14. We are Zebras not horses!

Not a mis-diagnosis, just miscommunication; my optician, at my eye test, referred me to the Out patients at our Eye Hospital. I was there most of the day, and was examined by 3 different doctors. The second doctor said I'd need an injection in the eye; I was then seen by a consultant, who said they'd just see me again in 4 months.
The next day I was phoned by someone to make an appointment for the injection! I suggested she spoke to the consultant who had said I didn't need it, and I never heard any more about it.
If I'd been less assertive, or hadn't been listening properly to the consultant, I could have had an injection I didn't need.

My neighbour had a mild stroke and then had to take tablets which gave her some side effects, and use a stick as she was slightly wobbly. After about four years she had a letter from the NHS to say she must stop taking the tablets as they had caused nasty developments for some. Within days she threw her stick away - she had in fact made a full recovery from the stroke and all her symptoms were due to the medication.

I had a sore throat and for months the GP prescribed antibiotics. Then a locum, a young Vietnamese, actually examined my throat. It was a hiatus hernia. The reflux of stomach acid was burning my throat.
Another occasion I was prescribed an antibiotic . Good thing I read the leaflet. In big red letters it said “Do not take if you are taking Statins. Danger of death”.
I do not trust doctors.

My DH was diagnosed in 1990 as epileptic (he had in fact been having seizures) It took until 2016 for them to decide that in fact he suffers from dissociative (stress-induced) seizures; for which the anti-convulsants he had been taking for 26 years were doing nothing at all! He is now on anxiety meds, and his seizure rate has dropped dramatically.

LadyGracie that is awful!!

Nannypiano try Irwin Mitchell Solicitors - they will only take you on if you have a case - you have 3 years after the event, no win no fee - sadly despite them 'missing cancer' as it has now been found (via neglect!) I have no case as it has done me no harm as is now being treated!

After almost 4 years of Dr’s visits because of problems with her voice and throat, my sister has just been diagnosed with laryngeal cancer.

Juicylucy

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and believed that’s what my problem was until another Dr told me it wasn’t, it was osteoarthritis and sent me for bone scan which proved second Dr was correct with his diagnosis.

Juicylucy - let's call it Fibromyalgia until we know what it is!! I have osteoarthritis too - particularly bad in my hands and my back is suffering badly too