Advice For Trying To Get A Diagnosis #65
This post will cover some advice on what to do when trying to help your doctor figure out your diagnosis, and for when you want to bring up a specific condition to your doctor. This is long but Iāve separated the subjects so that you can read what you want with ease and skip what doesnāt apply. Bare in mind that there are many brilliant doctors but there are unfortunately some unfair ones too. This will include ways to deal with the less fair ones.
List all symptoms = More time, more understanding, more accurate diagnosis.
The best thing to do for either situation is to write a list of ALL symptoms. That means that if you think you have a complex condition, write every minor symptom. Having the āless importantā symptoms may actually help you get an accurate diagnosis. It also gives your doctor a much better understanding of your health while also saving time to get more done in your appointment. It can prevent miscommunication or misunderstanding and it prevents you forgetting any symptoms. Iām not kidding, multiple doctors Iāve had said that they really appreciate it because it makes their job easier.
For example, if a person believes they have Aspergers syndrome, there is a lot to write down. They could write or remember a short list of the basics i.e. āsocial anxiety and confusion, bowel issues, etcā OR they could write a longer list of the small and weird things like ācertain fabrics are unbearable, I accidentally offend people, etcā. All those little details support an argument for one condition while cancelling out others.
Itās very important though that you highlight the most troubling symptoms for you (or highlight what ever symptoms you want your doctor to pay more attention to). You also need to make the list easy to quickly skim read. So try to just use simple words on the list and save any explaining for you to do yourself. This makes sure that your doctor wonāt miss the important parts. Itās also great for impatient doctors as they may choose to just read the highlighted parts.
Info other than symptoms?
Have you always had some symptoms? Did the symptoms suddenly or gradually appear or worsen? Do symptoms fluctuate and vary? Does anything make you feel better or worse? Do your symptoms affect any major parts of your life? Is there anything else that may be important?
A symptom log will help your doctor see your daily health.
Symptom logs are a brilliant way to get your doctor to understand your day to day symptoms and how they affect you. If your doctor doesnāt take you too seriously for whatever reason, a symptoms log helps here too.
Click here to see how symptom logs can help you as well as how quick and easy they can be.
Cue cards to keep you on track in your appointment.
If you get anxiety or forgetful, it can help to make yourself cue cards for your appointment. Just a piece of paper that can remind you what you wanted to get done in this appointment. I sometimes do this with some basic bullet points and it really has helped.
Medical history.
Do you have anything in your medical history that could be referenced? Any blood test results? Any A&E/ER trips that are worth mentioning? Anything like that?
Do you find you are not taken seriously?
It might sound odd but if you feel you arenāt taken seriously by your doctor, it can help to bring another person. If you are young, it can help to bring someone older and if you are female, it could help to bring a male with you if possible. Many people that are stereotyped by some doctors have been ignored up until they bring a person along who is more respected/taken seriously. Some doctors look at certain people and assume that they exaggerate or want attention. Itās wrong but unfortunately a real problem.
Invisible illness issues?
If you have an invisible illness, it can help to have a witness. Many doctors have scoffed when I tell them how I dislocated something or when I just try to tell them information about my condition they arenāt aware of. Multiple times though they instantly believe it all if a person with me just says āsheās telling the truthā.
If you have an invisible illness, you can try to carry a form of proof. I have a letter from another doctor that explains whatās wrong with me. I had some minor proof before but asked this doctor is she could do it and she completely understood why. You could also ask for a copy of your medical record and use something from that. You could take a picture or video if a symptom is only sometimes visible (like a dislocation, a heart beating in some wrong way). It may help to invest in something simple like a blood pressure cuff that you can photograph.
Donāt act smarter than your doctor or upset their ego.
If you have a condition in mind, itās wise to not insist that you are definitely right. There is always a chance that you could be wrong no matter how confident you are. If you donāt think that is possible or your doctor mistakenly thinks this about you, they are likely to take your judgement less seriously. Say āI thinkā or āI believeā rather than āI knowā.
There are also doctors that get irritated or even offended when you act like you know better. Sometimes a patient will know better. Example: A general doctor likely wonāt know as much about an uncommon condition as the person suffering from it (as we often want to learn more ourselves or learn from specialists). Try to make sure you ask your doctor āwhat do you think about this?ā when making suggestions.
I usually tell my doctor that I have a condition in mind. I then explain that itās a common result of another condition that I have (always is the case). I then explain the symptoms. And I present this as a question, not a statement or demand. Like āI think this could be the answer but what do you think of this?
Do you think you have a certain condition?
If you have a condition in mind, explain why this is. Is it some specific symptoms that make you especially confident? Have you spoken with another professional or a diagnosed person? Is there a connection to an already diagnosed condition? It could help if your doctor understands.
Thatās what I have for now. I will tidy this up at some point. Do you think Iāve missed anything? Let me know! And if thereās anything you donāt understand, let me know so I can fix it (my brain is fizzled as always).
