has anyone experienced lack of interest in health problems because of existing MH issues?

[BoysAreLikeDogs]

A friend of mine has died of a brain tumour

3 young children

MH issues all her life

She went to GP in October last year complaining of feeling dizzy, she was patted on the head and sent away; she collapsed at home and the hospital didn't investigate much, they said possibly migraine or ear infection

Further collapse, loss of speech and balance, taken to a different hospital, MRI scan revealed v aggressive tumour; surgery removed it partially but unable to take it all out

She died last night

The family feel that her concerns were ignored by HCPs because of her MH history; I feel that the aggressive tumour would have killed her anyway

I want to know if anyone else has experienced not being taken seriously because they have had MH issues

I'm not sure exactly what happened obviously but are you suggesting the fact that they dismissed her fears because of her MH issues was not important because she would have died anyway?

aye. there is a tendency among some hcps to write off all ailments as mh related if you have a mh prob, though thankfully in my case not to such a dreadful level of negligence aas your poor pal.

even basic stuff like checking thyroid/hb levels is ignored and these can mimic depression

Sorry about your friend btw. I just wanted to be clear what it was you were saying, because it wasn't very clear.

no no, I am saying that earlier intervention would have not affected the outcome but the MH issues may have meant that she wasn't taken as seriously as a patient who came to the GP without a MH history

also sorry, she died this morning and I am in a bit of a state and not sure I am saying what I mean

Bald, I'm sorry you are feeling so bad, I understand.

What I mean is, no matter what the outcome, which may well not have been any different, her treatment while she was alive could have been better had they taken her seriously.

that's quite important isn't it...having time to prepare, having a diagnosis, having the espect of the HCPs involved instead of their dismissal.

I would go at it from that angle wrt her family, iyswim x

respect

sorry for your loss, bald.
it is impossible to make sense of these situations.

thank you all x x x

Hello Boys are like dogs. I'm so sorry that you've lost your friend. I can understand totally what you are saying as I have had a similar experience. My lovely friend started having awful headaches at Christmas 2009. She saw 3 different GPs at her local surgery (2 locums, one her own GP) who all said the headaches were stress related. Her own GP was aware that she had had issues with stress and anxiety and that the youngest of her three children (who was then 4)had been referred to see the paediatrician because of behaviour issues. Her GP said that they were stress related tension headaches and that she should try aromatherapy. After another visit in May, she persuaded GP to refer her to hospital but before the appointment came round she collapsed at home. Her husband took her to A&E where they did a scan and found a massive brain tumour. She lived another 14 months and died in July last year.

I have been furious that she was fobbed off for 5 months but now can think about it a bit more calmly and realise that it is extremely difficult to diagnose. As a percentage of the total number of people going to see the GP with headaches the number with brain tumours must be tiny.

An after effect for me though is that I feel anxious that any serious illness I may have would go unnoticed because I am taking medication for anxiety (which in turn fuels my anxiety).

Sorry this is such a long post; reading about your situation has triggered something for me BALD. I hope that you are getting through the days.

BALD, so sorry to hear about your friend.

I suffer recurrent severe depression but also have a problem with recurrent kidney stones (vv painful). I have been refused pain releif before now in case I was just trying it on to get strong analgesia (morphine). I (and my dh who is a doc) are both sure this woudl never have happened without the fact that I have a mh history. I sneaked a look in my notes left at the end of my bed once and discovered that the consultant had written I had "mixed motives" in requesting analgesia. Sorry, but who made him a psychiatrist?

Interestingly my GP and psychiatrist always beleived me about the pain - it was the consultant who was supposed to be treating it that didn't!

If I pass an occasional kidney stone now I very rarely woud go to hospital (even though I have moved). I couldn't bear to be judged like that again, I'd rather face the pain.