Dear fuckwit doctors who said I had "situational depression" a year and a half ago...

[lightningandsnow]

Thanks a fuckin' lot for not screening for hypomania at all, and misdiagnosing my cyclothymia. Which led to two anti-depressant induced agitated manic/hypomanic episodes.

No love,
lightningandsnow

[Deja Q]

1. A shrink claimed my involuntary spasming was due to anxiety. Gave me a pill...

Pill didn't help, so he decided the pill was the cause.

:wtf:

The root cause was a disc that was slipped thanks to an accident on the part of a chiropractor.

Maybe the insurance companies should look at the doctors they cover a little more closely, rather than raking in profits by fleecing their customers.

[Tobin S.]

2. I lost 7 years because of a misdiagnosis and had suffered for 3 years before that

As you can imagine, that's a hard pill to swallow. I wish I could say something to comfort you, but due to either extreme difficulty or incompetence misdiagnoses happen a lot. I wish there was a way to better diagnose mental illnesses. There is a mental health hospital near me that is working on that. They are going to start using advanced brain imaging techniques to help diagnose and treat mental illnesses. I would think it would be far more accurate once they get the technology down than just simple interviews with a doctor. Here's their site if you'd like to read more about them.

http://www.lindnercenterofhope.org/default.aspx

[lightningandsnow]

9. Oh my, that place sounds amazing!

Their residential assesment/treatment program sounds really amazing....I really wouldn't have the money for it, though, or a month to set aside. Sigh.

I'm glad you're doing better now. :hug:

[Brickbat]

3. I saw a doctor who figured my racing heart and anxious feeling was a precursor to a heart attack.

I was 31 at the time, in good shape, with no stress. But no, it had to be a heart problem. When I finally saw my regular doctor, she properly diagnosed it as a panic attack.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. When one of my brothers was about 10, our local doctor

diagnosed his frequent stomach cramps as a form of epilepsy and put him on Dilantin.

Now I've heard that Dilantin is good for epilepsy, but guess what it does if you don't have epilepsy: It gives you hallucinations.

So here he was, still getting stomach cramps and hallucinations on top of that.

Finally, my parents took him to the University of Minnesota hospital, where they quickly figured out that

1) The Dilantin was causing the hallucinations

2) He had spastic colitis

No, we didn't sue the doctor for malpractice. The place we were living in is now a suburb, but it was a real small town forty years ago, and such things just weren't done.

[Deep13]

7. Honestly, that would not have been a good case. EDIT

DISCLAIMER: I'm just shooting the shit here. This is NOT legal advice you should be relying on.

First, it costs tens of 1000s of $$ to bring a malpractice suit because of depositions and the need to hire experts. Remember, even a successful verdict does not get you off the hook for the expenses of the case or atty. fees. In fact, neither does losing the case except for actual atty. fees which are typically contingent. So unless there was a reasonable prospect at a six-figure settlement or verdict, it would not have been worth it. And there wouldn't have been for two reasons. A doc. has to do more than make a mistake. He has to make a mistake no reasonable doctor would have made. And the damage really has to be catastrophic. Loss of an arm or something along those lines.

We really need to make medical injury claims no-fault like worker's comp, except not as stingy. Standard awards for specific injuries, no guessing over pain and suffering awards or loss of enjoyment, loss of companionship or other vague things. And no need to prove malpractice.

[elehhhhna]

8. my hubs had viral menegitis as a teen ager --

the ER doc told the inlaws to take him home, probably a "bad trip"

Family doc saved his life by having him admitted anyway.

[old mark]

5. L&S: I was told by a doc I had severe carpal tunnel syndrome, turned out

I was having pain from insufficient blood supply - the best coronary artery I had was 85% blocked. I had 2 heart attacks, required a quintuple bypass, and I'm just lucky to be alive at all.

You know the difference between a doctor and god....
god doesn't think he's a doctor.

mark

let it out.

[Odin2005]

6. Cyclothymia and Bipolar II are often misgaignosed as Depression.

:hug: