[adada]

I was admitted into hospital on Wed' because I was having trouble breathing,I saw a consultant A&E doc, a junior doc and a consultant diagnostitian. I explained that I've been unwell for years, but particularly since Nov.06,I listed my symptoms as .... Headache,photo sensitivity,dry nose with sores,dry mouth , raspy voice, swollen glands. Fatigue. muscle and joint pain, pleural pain,swollen abdomen,stomach upsets, rashes and depression. I also let it be known that I suffer from emphysema and temporal arteritis.

Now it's not rocket science to work out that this woman (me ) has something strange going on,or is a complete hypochondriac!

So what did these highly educated and trained super -beings come up with?
A VIRUS!******* ****** *****RS (INSERT YOUR OWN EXPLETIVES).

The outcome was "theres nothing we can do for a virus, go home, rest and take painkillers before you catch a super bug in the hosp". I GIVE UP!

 

[MelissaLJ]

so understand where you are coming from..

I can't believe that you were told you had a virus! Wow. Over here they are so incredibly thorough in their testing, that is a good thing at least. Well, if the tests actually showed results!

I hope your pain eases soon and that you are able to feel at least a little better. Being so ill for so long is incredibly draining.... do you use a nebuliser for your breathing?

For my other issues regarding gyno stuff, it took years for me to be correctly diagnosed and I was also told it was in my head by one Dr. By the time I was correctly diagnosed it was a HUGE ongoing battle involving 10 surgeries as was so bad. It is hard to keep believing that the symptoms are real when so-called experts tell us they "can't find anything"..grrrrrr.....

Hang in there and I am right next to you in banging your head!!!

Melissa

 

[Joandublin]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear hno:

:wall::wall:

No wonder you're frustrated. Did they not do any blood tests at all?

I know you are seeing a Rheumatologist for your Temporal Arteritis (by the way, how was this diagnosed - through a biopsy?) WHat age are you by the way? TA is rare among people under 50 (though of course not impossible).

When are you due to see your Rheumatologist? If its soon then I think you need to make it clear at your appointment that you have concerns that there may be something else going on besides your TA. Do you know what blood tests the Rheumatology Dept ran? It would be great if you could find this out but if not I do think its time that a few simple blood tests were done. If your appointment is far away you may need to engage your GP to try and get a more urgent one.

How do you get on with your GP? Your GP can order some tests to get the ball rolling. I think I mentioned the ANA before but also he could run a full blood count, ESR (which I presume would be raised with your TA anyway), B12 and Thyroid Function tests for a start. Also push for that referral to a dermatologist to check out those rashes.

The only consolation I can offer you is that if it turns out that something autoimmune is the underlying cause for all your symptoms, you can march yourself up to the A + E with your diagnosis and sweetly hand a copy to those wonderful doctors you met Oh the joys of revenge being served cold

Hang in there. Dont be defeated. Keep taking notes of everything. Many of us have had similar frustrating experiences but the feeling of vindication, when eventually someone joins the dots and an autoimmune disease is revealed, is immensely satisfying - a sort of double edged sword I guess.

Take care and let us know how you are going

Cheers
Joan:rose:

 

[halfpintfl]

Hi Adada, wow !! "the Flu?" hummm, nope, can not in a thousand years believe that one. Ya know when you are at school, there are always about five -10 people that just barely pass ( with a D+), they are the bottom of the class.
Where do you think they all go to get a job? Yep, everyone of us is now thinking, is it my hospital?. Well my only message to you is: Do- not- worry. We can't tell anyway.
So, since I do understand, I am joining you at the Head Banging Wall.
Please de-stress, as stress=pain.:wink2:

 

[ALWIN]

I am disgusted.

I am so disgusted I can barely bring myself to comment.

What I am doing is squashing the ingnorant insignificant little pip squeaks by crushing them between my thumb and my desk WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE.

Do not give up. Forget them and go somewhere else. Get a new referral asap and stand firm.

If they did not do any diagnositic tests what ever they must be true Gods to have the answer. Most sensible doctors do a bit of WORK before they come to a conclusion.

It is extremely insulting to think that these people think it is perfectly ok to have you wait for an appointment then not even bother to listen, fail to do any thinking and not perform any actions at all.

I had one of those blighters. He told me it was normal to have aches and pains a be a bit tired at the grand old age of 43, so he saw no need to do blood tests, etc. I had not described my symptoms in that way - but that's how he translated them. He effectively closed the door on my chance of getting answers and I had waited over 6 months for that appointment whilst suffering a lot.

Following advice from this site, a private appointment, then a local referral to a specialist in autoimmune disorders I have been diagnosed with 3 autoimmune disorders. OK, I am fortunate in that I only have mild SLE, but it is an important condition that should be looked after by peole who know what they are doing.

That man would have let me continue suffering and I suspect, had I gone back (he said I could!) I strongly suspect he would have played the 'depression' card. He'd tried the 'menopause' one, but I was able to thwart that cos I'd already got myself checked before I saw him.

Sometimes you get somebody in an incompetent mood.

Don't bang YOUR head against a wall. Imagine doing it to them instead.

I am very sorry you have experienced this. :angry:

 

[LucyOscar]

we must have had the same doc

LOL. I was told the same thing. Its a virus. As a matter of fact they prescribed me MOTRIN 800 even after I told them I had just gotten diagnosed with gastritis/ulcers and H. Pylori. Taking Ibuprofen could cause me to bleed. Thanks doc! I even have a large rash across my back and started getting the rash(petecchia) on my face as I sat in the ER, but it must have been that pesky virus. And when I was sobbing from pain my nurse snapped at me and said your urine was normal whats wonrg why are you crying.
I am still so mad.
Good luck 2 you, hopefully we get well soon from our "virus".

 

[Katharine]

Haha,

Well when I went to A&E last week the doc there kind of insinuated that I couldn't breathe because of stress, that I had got myself in that state all on my own.

He even listened with his stethoscope and said that I was trying to breathe further than my lung capacity - now why? oh why? would I do that!!!
The fact that, the odd time I could manage a yawn, I was getting huge relief, just didn't dawn on him.

Luckily when I had to go and see my GP two days later (same emergency), he obviously has a better stethoscope (or pair of ears) as he said it definitely wasn't imagined and took it very seriously.

We are now looking into Interstitial Lung Disease as I have a myositis overlap with my lupus.

It is very head bangingly frustrating indeed!!

Katharine

 

[elle-co]

can I join in the head banging please!!! lol

I once went to my hospital with excruciating pain in my chest and back. At the time I was a bit of a regular at a&e as i was suffering from very bad asthma and allergy problems. But despite this the 'I know best' doctor decided that it must be a pulled muscle (not quite sure how I was supposed to have pulled anything as at the time I could hardly peal myself off the couch to use the toilet lol) His solution.......a hot water bottle and a painkiller.
hmmmmmm turned out I had pluresy, caused by a blood clot.

Thank goodness for GP's

elle x

 

[halfpintfl]

Hi Adada, since I first answered your post, and now tonight I am checking up on it, I was feeling down, so went to see my GP, and guess what??? in that amount of time, he says " You have the flu, go home, stay in bed, rest, and don't see anyone." Wonderful.
Keep banging your head, youre out of beat with me.!!!!

 

[Karly1964]

:tantrum: :wall: :wall: I will join you...I find that if you have an illness of one sort or another that some doctors are prejudiced against you are treated with very little respect or caring. I went to the emergency room with severe pain in my lower leg, it had been going on for some time. When the doctor saw that I was on psychiatric drugs for Borderline personality disorder, he refused to x-ray my leg and sent me home. Later my GP sent me to an ortho doc who told me he thought I had a tumor, so here I am thinking about how I am going to deal with all this, when tests come back and it turns out that when I went to the emergency room I had a broken leg! The lump was calcification from the healing of that break.

I also stumbled in 2002, and hurt my hip, I said broke because I heard it break. When I got to the same emergency room, different doc, they refused to give me pain medication for two hours. Luckily my sister was there and I finally got some, but not before being wheeled into the x-ray department, told to move myself over to the x-ray table, now I am a big woman, and with the pain it made me cry. The technician told me I would have to stop crying so they could get good pictures, I was placed in all sorts of weird positions, sometimes forced into them. Finally when they brought the pictures to my room they were really nice to me and I wondered why, well it turns out that I had a broken hip, and my femur was split right down the middle. It took one surgery 5 1/2 hours, a blood transfusion, 3 screws in my hip and five in the bar that has fixated my femur, 4 weeks in hospital, one year in wheel chair, another surgery, more time on a walker, and finally after 2 1/2 years my hip finally healed! With the help of a bone growth stimulater and a brilliant ortho man.

Sometimes, a lot of times docs, and underlings have no idea how serious things are maybe because they see all these non serious cases, no excuse of course. My sister works in the emergency room and quit her job and gave up her senority because of the negative way, dangerous way doctors treated certain patients. She now is a supervisor with more power once the hospital decided she was right.

I'm sorry for all of you who were treated in such a poor manner, I hate all this it's the flu, it's in your head, etc. that doctors use to get through their day. They are there for us, to take care of us. Hope you get to feeling better soon, or get some treatment to help you out. Karly:there: :grhug:

 

[Tanny]

Hi Adada

I will join you.
I am so frustrated with the medical system. I finally got to see the Rheumatologist after about five years of back and forth seeing the GP and being told to take painkillers. When I look back the last 30 odd years I have been having some strange symptoms which only get looked at on their own and never really diagnosed. I think my GP thinks me a hyperchondriac.
At my Rheumy appointment in January, had x rays and blood tests done but won't get any results until next week, which I think is very bad. Meanwhile I am just left waiting and no one seems to care particularly.