When you are inflicted with a painful illness, you want answers. Of course you want your doctor to give you the right medication and a diagnosis that will help you to get better. But everyone makes mistakes, and you may end up with a misdiagnosis that could lead you in the wrong direction. One of the most common illnesses that is misdiagnosed is lupus. This chronic inflammatory disease usually comes with fatigue, kidney and heart problems, lung damage, and joint pain.
Carriers may also develop a rash. Unfortunately, lupus mimics chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia. That means that doctors may hear your symptoms and assume you have a different illness. In order to make sure that they have given you the right analysis, you will want your medical team to do a complete blood count and a chest X-ray. They can also do an anti-double-stranded DNA test to help check for lupus.
Another commonly misdiagnoses sickness is Parkinson's disease. This disease brings on tremors in the hands, legs, and arms. Also, a victim will have stiff muscles and issues with balance or mobility. Yet the symptoms can imitate Alzheimer's disease, a traumatic head injury, essential tremors, the after effects or a stroke, or the results of a stressful lifestyle. There are no lab tests that can determine whether or not you have Parkinson's, but a clinical examination may be able to detect it. If you think that you might have this disease, you will want to make sure that you get the proper conclusion so that you can be put on preventative medication.
Fibromyalgia is also misdiagnosed often. Along with lupus, fibromyalgia can be confused for rheumatoid arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome. The illness comes with anxiety or depression and an increased sensitivity to pain. Also, the victim will have incapacitating fatigue. There are no diagnostic lab tests widely available, but it can still be detected by doctors. If the patient has more than 11 sensitive points which cause extreme pain when touched, then that person probably has this sickness. Lyme disease is also commonly misdiagnosed because it is a lot like mononucleosis, the flu, fibromyalgia, depression, meningitis, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Normally people with Lyme disease will have shortness of breath, chest or rib soreness, cramping, nausea, vomiting, neck stiffness, or twitching eyelids. The biggest difference between similar diseases and Lyme disease is the fact that Lyme is caused when the carrier is infected by a deer tick. If you have a rash in addition to other Lyme disease symptoms than you are easy to diagnose. You may also want to take some blood tests to get the results checked out, especially if you didn't develop a rash or bite mark.
Multiple sclerosis is a lot like Alzheimer's, bipolar disorder, a viral infection, or lupus, so it also is undetectable sometimes. People with this autoimmune disease will have muscle spasms, balance problems, blurred vision, and cognitive impairment. Your doctor may want to give you an MRI, a lumbar puncture, and blood tests to figure out if you have this sickness.
Also, people with Celiac disease might be falsely diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, cystic fibrosis or Crone's disease. This is an autoimmune disorder that comes with an inability to digest gluten. Normally this sickness can be remedied by a gluten-free diet. If you think you have Celiac, then you should take blood tests and you may want a small-intestine sample biopsy. Lastly, if you have chronic fatigue syndrome, you doctor may fail to take note of it. People who have this syndrome normally have a loss of memory of concentration.
They also may catch a tore throat, painful lymph nodes, unexplained muscle or joint pain, and extreme exhaustion. A doctor may look at all of these symptoms and assume that you have lupus, hepatitis, sinus problems, stress, or something else. Make sure to choose a doctor who will take the time to probe your illness and determine how to best help you. This will allow you the ability to know what is going on in your body and take the proper medications to get better.