Day 3
How did you get a diagnosis?
Weeeell.
I went to the doctors for the first time in 2008 when the physical pain symptoms really started (which was on my birthday in Brighton as I said in my last blog.) My doc at the time immediately thought I had Sarcoidosis due to the symptoms I presented with at that time. I latched onto the diagnosis like it was a life raft and went with it, but multitudes of tests at the hospital could not confirm it. My blood tests showed there was inflammation in my blood, but they couldn't find any evidence of it in my body. As the treatment for Sarcoidosis is steroids, which can be more dangerous than the condition itself, they couldn't start treatment on a whim. Eventually the tests all fizzled out and the doctor lost interest once he couldn't be the hero and fix me. Back to the unknown.
When I got pregnant in late 2010 I had a temporary abatement of symptoms. After I lost the baby in 2011, everything came rushing back at once which made me realise how much shit I'd been putting up with. I went to see a different doctor, and by now I'd taken the advice of lots of people on various illness forums I was on to start listing my symptoms as they occurred. Only at this point did I start to see results.
I was sent back to several specialists at the local hospital, and eventually saw a kindly fella with more half a brain in his head who suspected I had Fibromyalgia and CFS. Early in 2012 I was sent to see a rheumatologist to confirm this, and although he was a total prick who got off on hurting me over and over again and asked how many burgers I eat a week (O RLY? Yes he did!) he confirmed the diagnosis.
So from start to finish it took 4 years of seeing doctors on and off and 5 years of symptoms before I had confirmations of the names to call these beasts.
Thanks for reading.
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