Venting I am physically ill and nobody takes me seriously.

[Eren]

I have mentioned it sometime, but for years I have serious mobility problems in my hands. Especially on the right, I have certain deformations in the joints of my hands, this makes it difficult for me to use them normally, for basic things like using a fork or typing well for example.

I am convinced that it is due to crunching my fingers many years ago. The worst thing is that absolutely no one believes me, not the doctors or my family. I have had many tests, X-rays, MRIs and they do not find anything, it is also a problem that is not so visible to the naked eye, so they have not diagnosed me at all. Also, since I was admitted for a suicide attempt a long time ago, everyone thinks that I am making it up, that they are simple "manias" or "obsessions", that everything is in my mind.

It is very hard to have a problem as serious as this that absolutely everyone believes that I am making it up.

 

[Doormat]

I'm sorry you're struggling but 2 things immediately sprang to mind. 1) the literature suggests that cracking knuckles would not cause the deformity you are describing and 2) have you been tested for an auto-immune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis? Also, don't underestimate the effect that mental illness, stress etc can have on the body. I am often surprised by how many physical ailments turn out to be symptoms of mental issues. I really hope you find a solution - this sounds horribly debilitating

 

[Aap]

Not much to add to the above post. The only thing I might further emphasize is to possibly refrain from mentioning anything about cracking your knuckles as the cause of your condition. Mentioning this as the cause will immediately result in the possibility the physician discounts your story. There are a host of autoimmune, neuropathic, or respective stress diseases that could account for your symptoms.

 

[whywere]

It hurts to know that you are in pain. I 100% know where you are coming from in regards to I was in a car crash and have pain in various parts of my body. Now the doctors that I have gone to since the crash have belived that SOME of my pain is real, BUTsome of it is not. I have had MRIs, x-rays the whole ball of wax that they can throw at it to try and see where the pain is being generated from and the tests have been worthless. So after the tests not showing anything then some of the medical people have not believed me at all and it is just in my head. I have 2 suicide attempts and same as you, they say it is "made up" in my mind. WRONG! The pain is real and it also hurts so much not having medical people help and in fact just judge me. You are part of a great family here and I wish you happiness and keep me informed as far as if they start believeing and helping you.

 

[Zorya]

I am perfectly fine physically but no-ome treats me seriously either.

 

[Aap]

How so?

 

[Meditation guide]

It is very hard to have a problem as serious as this that absolutely everyone believes that I am making it up.

I'm so sorry you have this problem. I have the same thing only I cannot breath or move hardly at all. My doctor did give me a handicapped parking tag but I've had cops and people in the parking lot say to me "you don't look handicapped to me" and get mad thinking I'm faking. Now I'm at the point I can't walk more than a few steps and still was told by the ambulance driver that he didn't think I was really handicapped and was faking as he was taking me to the hospital.

My doctor told me to exercise more and I said I can't and he looked at me like I was lying. My tests have been negative. Meanwhile I'm terribly ill and struggle to move. One brain MRI a long time ago said I have MS. One of my doctors refused to believe me when I told him that and would not order another one.

 

[Eren]

I'm sorry you're struggling but 2 things immediately sprang to mind. 1) the literature suggests that cracking knuckles would not cause the deformity you are describing and 2) have you been tested for an auto-immune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis? Also, don't underestimate the effect that mental illness, stress etc can have on the body. I am often surprised by how many physical ailments turn out to be symptoms of mental issues. I really hope you find a solution - this sounds horribly debilitating

That may not be the cause, but then I don't understand what it could be.

It is something physical, I can see that some fingers are not straight, and when closing the hand some even mount with each other subtly, and it is not something "aesthetic" it really hinders a normal use of the hands.

And yes, they have also done auto-immune tests, they have not found anything, the rheumatologist after doing all the tests told me that I had nothing, he saw in my history that I was in mental health, that I have OCD and he told me "no you get obsessed with it "

 

[Ghost2211]

Have you gotten a second opinion from doctors? Doctors can be wrong too. Also, it's heartless those around you don't take you seriously and help you. Even if illness stems from mental and not physical (not saying it is) that is still a medical issue that requires treatment. People with situations like conversation disorder are not making it up or craving attention, and they are legitimately suffering.

Do more research into your symptoms and find a doctor that will show you respect.

 

[Aap]

OP said she had xrays and mri's. There are a variety of tendon issues that can cause deformation, but these would be plainly visible on imaging or exam, which apparently is not the case.

 

[Eren]

Have you gotten a second opinion from doctors? Doctors can be wrong too. Also, it's heartless those around you don't take you seriously and help you. Even if illness stems from mental and not physical (not saying it is) that is still a medical issue that requires treatment. People with situations like conversation disorder are not making it up or craving attention, and they are legitimately suffering.

Do more research into your symptoms and find a doctor that will show you respect.

Yes, it was the opinion of two different doctors (although from the same hospital)

The worst thing is that they do not take me seriously, surely my problem is chronic, but even so the worst thing is not being able to name my problem, it is like being sick with a disease that only I can see.

I'm so sorry you have this problem. I have the same thing only I cannot breath or move hardly at all. My doctor did give me a handicapped parking tag but I've had cops and people in the parking lot say to me "you don't look handicapped to me" and get mad thinking I'm faking. Now I'm at the point I can't walk more than a few steps and still was told by the ambulance driver that he didn't think I was really handicapped and was faking as he was taking me to the hospital.

My doctor told me to exercise more and I said I can't and he looked at me like I was lying. My tests have been negative. Meanwhile I'm terribly ill and struggle to move. One brain MRI a long time ago said I have MS. One of my doctors refused to believe me when I told him that and would not order another one.

Im so sorry

Did your doctor tell you that nothing was wrong when the MRI indicated that you have MS? Change your doctor, it's a pretty serious illness. I don't understand how your doctor can deny your disease when the MRI says otherwise. It's really hard to be sick and have everyone think that you are simply crazy or pretending.

 

[Meditation guide]

Did your doctor tell you that nothing was wrong when the MRI indicated that you have MS? Change your doctor, it's a pretty serious illness.

I'm almost totally paralyzed now and still haven't had any doctors do anything or care or even believe me except one a long time ago who saw the MRI. That was lost, the place that did it went out of business and now I can't even find any doctors who will order a new one. I manage to walk from my car into their office so based on that, they think I'm healthy. It almost kills me and right now I don't think I could even make it into any more doctor's offices.

 

[Eren]

I'm almost totally paralyzed now and still haven't had any doctors do anything or care or even believe me except one a long time ago who saw the MRI. That was lost, the place that did it went out of business and now I can't even find any doctors who will order a new one. I manage to walk from my car into their office so based on that, they think I'm healthy. It almost kills me and right now I don't think I could even make it into any more doctor's offices.

I'm really sorry, it must be horrible, I hope some doctor takes her seriously and can treat her illness.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

I don't know if this will help, but I went to a physical therapist without a referral, and many of the things doctors told me were wrong, such as one condition being untreatable, another that was structural and could be corrected with exercises, and that I had one leg longer than the other when in fact I had hip alignment issues that were corrected with exercises. I like PTs because they don't just have one specialty, doctors from a a variety of specialties send patients to them, so they have seen more conditions than a doctor who practices one specialty and can often treat and even diagnose things that doctors cannot. Personally, if I were in your position I would try visiting various PTs and occupational therapists until I (hopefully) found someone who could help me.

 

[epic]

My story is similar to yours and other posters here . I went from doctor to doctor and either they misdiagnosed or they thought nothing was seriously wrong . I never gave up and kept testing. Finally I got a diagnosis . It's pretty grim because the symptoms are increasing exponentially(especially difficulty breathing) and their medicines are absolutely not working . I still think they have got the diagnosis wrong but now I have resigned to my fate. My heart used to palpitate whenever I went to a new doctor and I used to go cold with worry .Worse part is, I am very young and I kinda feel ashamed that I am not normal like other people of my age.
I say keep up the testing and going after the doctors to find out what's wrong . It might very well make you less suicidal or change your mind completely, once you find the cause.
@Meditation guide That's just unacceptable. Get yourself a doctor which will get you to do an MRI and don't give up on testing.
Good luck to all of you !

 

[Eren]

I don't know if this will help, but I went to a physical therapist without a referral, and many of the things doctors told me were wrong, such as one condition being untreatable, another that was structural and could be corrected with exercises, and that I had one leg longer than the other when in fact I had hip alignment issues that were corrected with exercises. I like PTs because they don't just have one specialty, doctors from a a variety of specialties send patients to them, so they have seen more conditions than a doctor who practices one specialty and can often treat and even diagnose things that doctors cannot. Personally, if I were in your position I would try visiting various PTs and occupational therapists until I (hopefully) found someone who could help me.

I also went to a physical therapist, he told me I had contractures in my arms and he treated me, but it did not solve my problem.

 

[Eren]

Recently, a family member told me "if nothing appears in any test, could it be that nothing happens to you?"

It makes me feel worse even than the illness itself.

 

[Dreamless Sleep]

I'm so sorry you have this problem. I have the same thing only I cannot breath or move hardly at all. My doctor did give me a handicapped parking tag but I've had cops and people in the parking lot say to me "you don't look handicapped to me" and get mad thinking I'm faking. Now I'm at the point I can't walk more than a few steps and still was told by the ambulance driver that he didn't think I was really handicapped and was faking as he was taking me to the hospital.

My doctor told me to exercise more and I said I can't and he looked at me like I was lying. My tests have been negative. Meanwhile I'm terribly ill and struggle to move. One brain MRI a long time ago said I have MS. One of my doctors refused to believe me when I told him that and would not order another one.

Have you ever been tested for lyme disease? Fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome?

 

[airboy_a380]

Same here. My own family thinks I'm hiding myself by pretending to be depressed. I don't care what they think anymore now that I found all of you people like me.

 

[Bauhaus]

Recently, a family member told me "if nothing appears in any test, could it be that nothing happens to you?"

It makes me feel worse even than the illness itself.

Yeah, family is typical like that. When nothing shows up on tests they even get angry like you lied to them !!!
And always the same tiresome tirade:
Dad: I NEVER heard of any disease like you have !
Mum: You never listen to our "good advice", you need sunlight and eat more veggies to get your vitamins and blah blah blah.
It's like they think they are doctors !
Drives me nuts.