I have always tired easily and had unexplained pains. For a while I thought I might have fibromyalgia. Until one month ago the scariest period of my life started. I woke up with numb feet, shooting electric pains over most of my body and my right eye was cloudy. I was already seeing my doctor about fibromyalgia so I just got through the symptoms. I have MS sufferers in the family so I made the connection. I told my GP of my concern and I fully understand that it may not be MS but my doctor is saying my symptoms are all ‘disassociative’ because I have mental health problems. He’s pretty much refusing to even attempt to look into MS or Fibromyalgia. My mental health has never been better why on earth would I so suddenly create these symptoms in my head when I’m mentally healthy? Im posting this to ask what to do. Even if it isn’t MS surely these symptoms should be looked into before dismissing them as mental health related. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do about this? I don’t want to just be forgotten about because I just happen to suffer mental illness.
I think what I would try in these circumstances is to evaluate how much of a fuss I could make to get another medical professional to listen to your concerns. A tough call, because if you irritate the wrong person it might hinder your attempts to get support. Sorry this is not a black and white answer, only you can know the impact of how hard you can push.
All the best
Mick
Similar problem my dr thinks all women suffer from hysterics or mental drama. And dismissed me from my first visit I will go to him to get my test results. And have already made an appt. with a female neuro.I could care less if it makes him mad its my life we are talking about he will go on and see another patient I have to deal with my issues day to day.I want a dr who will listen and really consider my concerns.May sound a little bitchy sorry its been a yr ive been through this and im tired.
destino…sounds like your neuro belongs in 1800s…women suffering from hysterics…my arxxx!
Boudsx
It is a very difficult position to be in. Have the symptoms resolved or are they persisting? Is there another gp in the practice you could see instead? If you acknowledge your mental health issues (which you clearly do here) but say that the new things that are bothering you are different, and you think something else may be going on. As there is MS in the family you are concerned that they might be signs of MS, and for peace of mind would like them checked out. .
I read a while back that if someone has a mental health diagnosis, and then develops a physical illness, or had a physical illness that was incorrectly diagnosed as a mental health issue it can take 12 times as long to get to the correct diagnosis than for a patient without a mental health diagnosis in their medical history. That shows how prejudiced doctors (as a group) are against people who have any mental illness history.
It’s a catch 22 position. They tell you it is a mental health issue. Your symptoms continue. You go back, you get palmed off again. Each visit reinforces the ‘hypochondriac’ or ‘somatoform’ label, and gets even more difficult to move beyond.
If this has got entrenched, then sometimes the only way of breaking the block is to agree to being evaluated by a neuropsychologist. They may be better at separating what is psychological from what is physical.
Thanks for the replies guys. Turns out my current GP is retiring soon. So hopefully I will be getting a new GP who takes my concerns seriously. I do feel like most of the time if I go to the doctor with a health concern their first response is “Well it could be mental health”. My body is not working properly. Instead of referring me to mental health services shouldn’t the worse case scenario be ruled out first. If all the tests come back negative and its conclusive its mental health then yes I will happily talk to a psychologist. If it MS all that time has been spent doing next to nothing when it could have been helping me figure out my limits and getting whatever treatment I can.
To have all these symptoms and then just be told its all in my head without any investigation is infuriating. My GP says theres nothing of concern because my EEG came back normal but as far as I am aware MS cannot be detected on an EEG. That test was done because a neurologist wanted to rule out epilepsy. I am sorry, I feel like im just ranting now but I am in disbelief because my problems were so quickly shrugged off as mental health. I am hoping my new GP will attempt to rule out MS.
Yes I agree hes partner is just as bad I put in to see the only other one we have in my area but appt.are 6 months out.
Hello Matthew
I’ve just read through your post and the replies and I can’t help but think maybe there is another angle to this.
You are talking about ‘ruling out’ for example MS or fibromyalgia before considering mental health to be the cause. Doctors generally don’t (shouldn’t) look at a patient and seek to rule out diagnoses. Instead they should look at their patient, consider physical symptoms as are detectable from an examination, think about the patients history and reports as to what symptoms are bothering them and consider for themselves what might be the cause of the symptoms.
Starting with a diagnosis and looking to rule that in or out before deciding that it’s a mental health issue is a very odd perspective for a GP. I note what Ziola has said and I’m certain that is correct, people with acknowledged mental health issues find it much more difficult to have a physical problem diagnosed. This makes it difficult to be the patient in such circumstances.
If this is what the GP is doing, you really need to see another GP. There must be more than one in the practice, isn’t there? Have you been insisting that the GP concentrate on MS? Have you seen a different doctor within the practice? Is there any mileage by writing to the GP and asking for help in getting a diagnosis?
If you were to write down all the physical symptoms you’ve experienced, include the rough dates when they began, together with how long the symptoms have lasted (minutes, hours, days, weeks). Make it clear if symptoms are constant, whether they have ever improved, even if they then got worse again. Concentrate on your physical symptoms. Ask for an opinion as to what might be causing these physical symptoms and for a referral to the most appropriate specialist. Sometimes it’s easier to clarify what problems exactly you’ve been living with if you write them down rather than in person. Apart from anything else, you can proof read your written words when it’s not possible to second guess spoken words! You are clearly an intelligent person, with the skills needed to write your problems down. If you get nowhere with this sort of approach, try asking who is the senior partner in the practice and resend your report of your physical condition to them.
Keep in your mind that if you were referred to a neurologist, that neuro wouldn’t be looking to rule in or out a specific diagnosis, even given the other family members with MS. Instead, they’d be looking initially to ascertain whether there is a neurological issue, then they’d consider what that neurological problem might be. Then they would refer you for tests according to what they think is wrong. Their first option would probably be MRI because so many different problems can be isolated by the results 9f MRI.
Try to put a specific diagnosis out of your head. Remember that all of us experience MS differently. So there is no such thing as a ‘classic presentation’ of MS. There are very many symptoms experienced by people with MS. My disease is very different from Mick (Mogace)'s and different again from Bouds (Boudica). Yet we are all covered by the umbrella term multiple sclerosis. (I know for a fact that my disease pattern is completely different from those two people, simply through having been on this forum for a long time.)
I hope looking at this from a different perspective is useful to you. If not, then feel free to ignore it. Best of luck.
Sue
Hi Matthew. I’m still undiagnosed but dealing with similar symptoms and waiting on on MRI of brain & spine. I spoke to 2 GP’s at my previous surgery who each palmed me off after my bloods came back normal, both asking if I was stressed or anxious and pointing out my historic issues with anxiety. One went so far as to impart the wisdom that not breathing deeply enough could cause pins and needles and numbness in the joints… and ended the consultation by saying ‘well I don’t think it’s anything sinister’. Fast forward to Jan & I’ve re-registered with a different surgery. Partly because I’d moved but also because I desperately needed a more engaged doctor. During my first consultation I relayed exactly the same information and in the same manner… and the GP asks me to come straight in for a physical examination. The first thing he did was check my reflexes and told me there and then they weren’t right, and made a referral. Between moving surgeries I also saw an osteopath re joint tightness and she joined the dots too - she said openly she couldn’t understand why i hadn’t been examined up to that point and she offered to refer if GP didn’t. So I guess what I’m getting at is … for me, changing GP and persevering made all the difference. I believed it wasn’t all in my head and I was right. It’s too easy to send a patient away assuming it’s worry or mental health, especially if a GP is living in the dark ages! Good luck and I hope you get to speak to someone more empathetic soon. Let us know how you go.
So I replied to you earlier and was having the same issue and more from the nuero dr I was seeing.Well I told them I wanted to see his patner and not him. Was seen on Monday with my lumbar in hand the new dr told me of course I have ms and my lumbar just confirmed it. He was really informative and very upset to know his partner had written me off. So keep pushing it might have taken me so much longer if I would not of insisted on seeing someone else and trusting my gut.Hope everything works out for you