CFS / fibromyalgia question

[80schild]

I have been reading a lot about CFS /fm in recent days and it occurs to me that GPS make this diagnosis far too easily. There are people on this page and who i know in RL who clearly are properly ill and have been given these kinds of spurious diagnosis. Eg, CFS - turned out guy had Lyme disease; CFS again- pituitary gland deficiency; fibromyalgia - ehlers danlos; the worst I know was a friend who was told she was making 'too much of symptoms' by GP. She collapsed and ended up needing 9 hour operation from a massive internal bleed. Sorry for small rant - I just needed to get it out there.

I would be very reluctant to accept any diagnoses by a GP. We are responsible for our own health and should be insisting on a referral to a specialist to make sure everything is looked at and the correct diagnoses given.

And then you get a specialist (an endocrinologist in my case) who does exactly the same thing. I was diagnosed with CFS and discharged from the hospital by a consultant who chose to ignore the fact that I was very unwell with hypothyroidism and associated vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

I have friends who obviously have thyroid, adrenal or other issues, but are diagnosed with CFS, ME or fibromyalgia and just left to rot. It's another health-related scandal. Some of them are in their forties and basically bed bound. Their lives are over.

I accept your point that we are responsible for our own health, however doctors train for a long time for a reason - they are meant to be experts in health. They should not just be concerned with quantity of life but also with quality. It has started to upset me more recently as I have witnessed friends going through it.

I have EDS and fibromyalgia and a whole host of other conditions that require other things ruling out prior to diagnosis. I was under 18 when I recieved each label after years of tests and referrals and assessments and support. Nothing was diagnosed lightly as each one carries life long implications

Thyroid, adrenal - doctors who treat these issues in CFS seem to be not approved of by other doctors.