View Full Version : Misdiagnosis stories sending me into panic!
Hi all, lately I keep stumbling a across articles about doctors misdiagnosimg diseases when patients really had serious illnesses. Some of these are related to google searches yes, but other have just popped up on my facebook newsfeed etc. I'm a 20 year old female with suspected ibs and I keep seeing articles about young women who were misdiagnosed with this and actually had the big C...,,today I practically had a panic attack over one of these. I keep feeling that if it could happen to other young people then what about me? I hate my health anxiety and what it does to me :(
ElectricAlice
17-03-17, 20:51
I have this problem too it's so difficult - I wish I could forget the stuff I've read! All of it! A good thing to bear in mind is that a story about how a person suspected an illness and it turned out to be... nothing - won't make the news or headlines. Because it happens so often and it just wouldn't be "worthy" scaremongering news. But the story of misdiagnosed patients will because it draws people in and is fairly rare.
Take a deep breath and you'll be okay [hugs]
I'm the exact same as you. HA full blowname the now and can't shake the feeling the doctors missed something. It's so hard to rationalise when you get to that point.
Catherine S
17-03-17, 21:01
Hi Libra, like everything there has to be some perspective. Yes it does happen, has done in the past and will happen in the future but statistically it doesn't happen very often. I'm 63 now and health anxiety started for me in my 20s. I've had lots of health fears over the years but have never been misdiagnosed, and out of all the members on this forum..and there are many, I can't recall anybody else being misdiagnosed either. Fearful of it like yourself yes, but I don't recall anybody being told they had nothing to worry about by a doctor or had something minor when it was actually life threatening.
Yes it does happen but thankfully very rarely, and it's certainly nothing to base a lifetime of worry on.
IBS x
I have this problem too it's so difficult - I wish I could forget the stuff I've read! All of it! A good thing to bear in mind is that a story about how a person suspected an illness and it turned out to be... nothing - won't make the news or headlines. Because it happens so often and it just wouldn't be "worthy" scaremongering news. But the story of misdiagnosed patients will because it draws people in and is fairly rare.
Take a deep breath and you'll be okay [hugs]
Thank you so much for your reply Alice!
I wish I could forget stuff too.. I wish I wouldn't even click on articles like that but as much as I tell myself not to, I do anyway! You make an excellent point though - there must be thousands of us health anxiety sufferers thinking the worst and being diagnosed with something much simpler or nothing at all! Another thing I also need to bare in mind is that these people's symptoms worsen over time, until they are a terrible condition so in comparison to me it is different, and yes these articles make the news because they are rare. I just need to calm down and not read this stuff in the first place! x
I was just telling a friend that actually, Internet will give you cancer faster than cigarettes will !
Unfortunately, telling someone with anxiety to stop checking is useless. I know, I'm in that boat. I see it as some forms of self harm.
Try and not get to worked up over it. There's note chances we are part of the of the rule than the exception :)
I'm the exact same as you. HA full blowname the now and can't shake the feeling the doctors missed something. It's so hard to rationalise when you get to that point.
Thank you for your reply Gaby! nice to know someone understands this. It is hard but I hope to overcome this and all the best to you x
---------- Post added at 21:11 ---------- Previous post was at 21:07 ----------
I was just telling a friend that actually, Internet will give you cancer faster than cigarettes will !
Unfortunately, telling someone with anxiety to stop checking is useless. I know, I'm in that boat. I see it as some forms of self harm.
Try and not get to worked up over it. There's note chances we are part of the of the rule than the exception :)
You're so right! you type anything in and it is a symptoms of cancer! My friend said something similar actually she said that you google anything that it will either come up as pregnancy or cancer or both! Which is so true! its pointless telling myself to stop reading this stuff, but I'm working on it :)
---------- Post added at 21:16 ---------- Previous post was at 21:11 ----------
Hi Libra, like everything there has to be some perspective. Yes it does happen, has done in the past and will happen in the future but statistically it doesn't happen very often. I'm 63 now and health anxiety started for me in my 20s. I've had lots of health fears over the years but have never been misdiagnosed, and out of all the members on this forum..and there are many, I can't recall anybody else being misdiagnosed either. Fearful of it like yourself yes, but I don't recall anybody being told they had nothing to worry about by a doctor or had something minor when it was actually life threatening.
Yes it does happen but thankfully very rarely, and it's certainly nothing to base a lifetime of worry on.
IBS x
Thank you so much ISB! That's a good point, when I talk to others on this site, I never doubt they've been misdiagnosed or have anything serious and although I feel the same way as they do, when it's me I always fear the worst. I think I need to try even harder to avoid these articles! Thank you! That's a long time to cope with health anxiety, do you suffer from it most of the time or do you have any sort of help? I'm thinking of getting some sort of therapy or something because its taking over my life x
Libra, as I said, I'm in the exact same boat right now and worrying myself sick but still can't help looking. I've convinced myself I have a terminal illness despite having seen 3 doctors who aren't worried whatsoever. Sometimes it's just hard to reason yourself.
Ignorance is bliss if you ask me !
All the best to you x
Libra, as I said, I'm in the exact same boat right now and worrying myself sick but still can't help looking. I've convinced myself I have a terminal illness despite having seen 3 doctors who aren't worried whatsoever. Sometimes it's just hard to reason yourself.
Ignorance is bliss if you ask me !
All the best to you x
Yes I understand I know when I google its not going to be good and I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for as even when I find something positive, I keep looking anyway and I find something worse. I just can't stop and its terrible and never ending! x
Catherine S
17-03-17, 21:42
No I don't suffer from HA these days thankfully. Perhaps wisdom does come with age! I've never had therapy but do take beta blockers, because these help to calm down my heart from the pvcs that I've had most of my life. My health fear was always connected to my heart because of this, and although I still do get the 'missed' beats and flutters I no longer fear them as I once did. I wouldn't have survived this long if my heart was diseased in any way.
I always believed the cardiologists though, always trusted them to tell me the truth, because these are the people who perform open heart surgery and transplants and actually hold hearts in their hands during those operations, so why wouldn't I trust them to tell me the truth about my heart too.
ISB ☺ x
paranoid-viking
17-03-17, 22:52
I dont know what else to say than dont read that stuff!
But remember that the media, especially the disgusting tabloid media will write more about wrong diagnosis than right diagnosis, althoug the latter represent the overwhelming majority simply because it sells and gets clickbait=$$$$
How often do you read in the media: "the doctor gave the right diagnosis and it was a terminal disease"? NEVER! Althugh this is the reality for the majority of cases.
I adress this critic not only to the tabloid media, but also to some cancer awareness campaigns which purposely chose the most dreeadful nightmare stories to represent their cause for the purpose of raise most atention to their cause.
---------- Post added at 23:47 ---------- Previous post was at 23:44 ----------
I was just telling a friend that actually, Internet will give you cancer faster than cigarettes will !
Unfortunately, telling someone with anxiety to stop checking is useless. I know, I'm in that boat. I see it as some forms of self harm.
Try and not get to worked up over it. There's note chances we are part of the of the rule than the exception :)
Although the Internet age is a blessing it is also a curse. Back in the days where most had no Internet acess the only source to trigger hypocondria was medical encyclopedias found in the libraries, but those were reliable information, which is not always the truth for the health information spread on the Internet. There is a lot info on various diseases which belong under the now popular label "fake news". This also includes "patient stories" in some of the cancer awarenss campaigns.
---------- Post added at 23:52 ---------- Previous post was at 23:47 ----------
No I don't suffer from HA these days thankfully. Perhaps wisdom does come with age! I've never had therapy but do take beta blockers, because these help to calm down my heart from the pvcs that I've had most of my life. My health fear was always connected to my heart because of this, and although I still do get the 'missed' beats and flutters I no longer fear them as I once did. I wouldn't have survived this long if my heart was diseased in any way.
I always believed the cardiologists though, always trusted them to tell me the truth, because these are the people who perform open heart surgery and transplants and actually hold hearts in their hands during those operations, so why wouldn't I trust them to tell me the truth about my heart too.
ISB ☺ x
Hopefully there comes a day when we stop worrying about getting deadly diseases. My grandama had health anxiety and convinced herself she had every cancer in existence which she did not. But I think she stoped worrying about ilnesses after turning 80. The last ilness she ever had(the very last if you get my point)was old age pneumonia and she never feared or considered that one.
I hope to be as old as my grandma; actually some years older than that but if it is the same age I will still have had a long life.
I dont know what else to say than dont read that stuff!
But remember that the media, especially the disgusting tabloid media will write more about wrong diagnosis than right diagnosis, althoug the latter represent the overwhelming majority simply because it sells and gets clickbait=$$$$
How often do you read in the media: "the doctor gave the right diagnosis and it was a terminal disease"? NEVER! Althugh this is the reality for the majority of cases.
I adress this critic not only to the tabloid media, but also to some cancer awareness campaigns which purposely chose the most dreeadful nightmare stories to represent their cause for the purpose of raise most atention to their cause.
---------- Post added at 23:47 ---------- Previous post was at 23:44 ----------
Although the Internet age is a blessing it is also a curse. Back in the days where most had no Internet acess the only source to trigger hypocondria was medical encyclopedias found in the libraries, but those were reliable information, which is not always the truth for the health information spread on the Internet. There is a lot info on various diseases which belong under the now popular label "fake news". This also includes "patient stories" in some of the cancer awarenss campaigns.
---------- Post added at 23:52 ---------- Previous post was at 23:47 ----------
Hopefully there comes a day when we stop worrying about getting deadly diseases. My grandama had health anxiety and convinced herself she had every cancer in existence which she did not. But I think she stoped worrying about ilnesses after turning 80. The last ilness she ever had(the very last if you get my point)was old age pneumonia and she never feared that one.
I hope to be as old as my grandma; actually some years older than that but if it is the same age I will still have had a long life.
Thank you so much for your reply! It's true what you say the internet can be my worst enemy!
Ok... you want truth? Yes, it can happen. It's extremely rare but it can happen.
It happened to my wife. She was correctly diagnosed with encephalitis but the wrong type and treated for the wrong type and she nearly died. It was like being diagnosed with cancer and being treated for bowel cancer when it was actually brain cancer.
I transferred her to another hospital where they correctly diagnosed it properly and saved her life.
Here's the point. My wife's illness (NMDA Receptor Autoimmune Encephalitis) was a "one in a million" illness. It's often mis-diagnosed (Read 'Brain on Fire'). That doesn't excuse it and I'm pursuing legal action BUT.... 99.99% of the time, serious illnesses, like most feared here are just not missed.
Positive thoughts
I've suffered with HA for years aftet a pain in my abdomen...it's been over 10 years and no explanation. I like you all can't help but go to Dr Google! I can worry my self sick ...it's like I need to see the worst case scenario. Perhaps we do it to mentally prepare ourselves....silly I know! I definitely think there is too much focus on misdiagnosis. ..it makes the headlines after all. It also doesn't help that everywhere you go there's a reminder on TV ads, newspapers, posters...it's like you can't switch off...your forced to think. I wish I was back in 1920 or something where people just lived the life that they had.
---------- Post added at 10:55 ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 ----------
Oh BTW. ..does anyone else feel like they just can't stop seeing images of their worst fear? I'm trying to watch TV. ..oh there's an ad on about it, I get away to the bust stop Nd it's there again. Open my twitter ....someone had it...Maybe the unconcious brain just zooms in to these. Ps....thankyou to everyone on here for such fantastic advice ��
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