Misdiagnosed 25+ years
So, I was just diagnosed with POTS, chronic illness, in a nutshell, your heart goes crazy when you stand up...plus anything else that could go wrong from the autonomic nervous system does...after going through my medical history, seems like I developed POTS since the age of 17. I'm 43 now. That's 25 years of medical gaslighting that I was dealing with panic attacks and anxiety. And, you hear something often enough you start to believe it, so I've been panicking over pretty benign but scary body symptoms for two decades.
Kinda devastated I've lost out on that much life over something that wasn't true. And can't even count how many times I've been told I have treatment resistant panic disorder. Or how I'm just not trying enough. Or I just don't really want to get better.
Super overwhelmed with all of it today.
@TheUnraveledSweater
You are not alone many of us have had misdiagnosis although yours may be one of the longest examples i have seen.
It is a sad state in medical care...... that some are guessing towards what an item is.... then some professionals down the road assume it is correct.... i encourage anyone to do research on any diagnosis and ask many questions even if they need to look it up and come back because the further research MAY encourage them to question the first guess.... second or third opinions .....
i only lost about a year with a misdiagnosis and i went 6 different dr and specialties to find the truth....
it was a awful time that even one doctor told me it was in my head ... was not but he did not like to admit he did not know.