Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
TeaToo often, young people with serious illnesses are dismissed or told they are sick “Too young” to be sick. – And Independent Readers are sharing their experiences of being ignored NHS,
Our community shared experiences of being dismissed by health care professionals, and speculated whether this was due to age, gender or assumptions about their symptoms.
One reader’s story illustrates the challenges faced by patients like 19-year-old Millie Tanner, who 13 GP appointments and A&E visits in two years Before being diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer. She was initially told her symptoms were due to hemorrhoids, IBS or her age, and she faced a long wait for urgent testing before finally receiving a diagnosis.
Readers highlighted the emotional and physical impact of such dismissal, with one sharing she was misdiagnosed for three years despite a private MRI showing multiple active MS lesions.
Another described how a family’s history of Lynch syndrome was ignored, leading to preventable deaths from intussusception and in utero. cancer,
Overall, our community emphasized that listening, taking symptoms seriously, and empowering patients are important to prevent youth from being failed by the system.
Here’s what you had to say:
Early MS Diagnosis Struggle
In 2013, I began having simple partial seizures during sleep. They’ll wake me up with déjà vu and nausea, so I’ll go to my GP After that in the morning. I remember asking for a referral to a neurologist, but all I got from him was, “You’re entering your second year of A-levels, so you must be having panic attacks. Here’s a prescription for citalopram.”
It was a bad day for me, I had a seizure when I woke up at my usual time and the seizure happened while a triage nurse was testing pupil response. The neurologist gave me an evoked potential test (which revealed slowing of signals from my left eye to my occipital lobe), an MRI, and a hospital admission, where I had a lumbar puncture and blood taken to rule out any differences.
In September 2014, I was told I had clinically isolated symptoms of MS. In 2015, I suffered from dizziness, which my university GP told me was a blockage of the Eustachian tube, but when I lost sensation on the left side of my face I thought of contacting the MS team. I got another MRI and then I had a medically confirmed diagnosis. I was trying to get my nursing degree at that time, but I dropped out due to stress and mental fog.
Thank God I met my current husband a few months before that diagnosis. He was there when I was unable to walk properly and was there for me when I started having simple seizures, even when I had status epilepticus that left me hospitalized for 27 days! The only good thing I got from it was going off Copaxone (my first MS drug) and onto Ocrevus (stronger MS drug) because the neurologist deemed my MS aggressive. I am now able to walk again sometimes. I was able to walk down the aisle at our wedding, and now I’m pregnant with my first child.
charlotte
Young women ignored by GP
Thirty years ago, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 60s. She was in a ward with a group of other women, and they remained in touch throughout their lives.
One of those women was 27 years old. Her own mother and her aunt died of breast cancer. When she felt the lump, she went straight to her GP, who said it was very small.
She went to surgery and A&E several times after surgery. Same message – you’re too young. He also referred her for therapy, which made her write 100 times, “I don’t have cancer.”
When she asked the doctor at the family planning clinic, he insisted that she be seen immediately and diagnosed with breast cancer.
He was to spend another ten years with his family until he returned, and this time he could not be defeated. But why did he have to go through such a bad time before being taken seriously?
no one listens
Will I still be here?
i was diagnosed bowel cancer At the age of 39. My GP admitted that she thought I was too young and that she only referred me to the consultant because she wanted to put my mind at ease (I’d spent the last year caring for my mother through terminal cancer) and because I was covered by private health insurance through my husband’s work!
I have to ask – if I didn’t have private health insurance, would I still be here 27 years later?
jottiie6
lynch syndrome tragedy
This makes me angry. My nephew was finally diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 25. She was diagnosed with Lynch syndrome, a cancer gene mutation. He died at the age of 31. His mother, my sister, also died not because of genes but because of uterine cancer. If someone had taken their health problems seriously and identified our family as carriers earlier, they both would likely be alive.
heliday
Rejected due to age and gender
Story of my life. I am disabled, 28 years old and the biggest reason apart from being young is that I am a woman. Everything is either anxiety or your period, and it’s disgusting. This is just another story I’ve read – more than I can count on my fingers – this year in women who were diagnosed late due to medical negligence. This has got to stop.
Polly
Persistent distrust of health care
I had a disease I was “too young” for. This experience made me hate the NHS permanently. I felt like it was built to support the boomers, and everyone else could hang out. I now live in a country with private health care (not the US), and I love it.
Soon
Gaslighting despite MRI evidence
MS patient here – “Oh, it’s just stress, you’re a hypochondriac.” When I went in to get a private MRI my doctor still gassed me, my brain was glowing like a Christmas tree with all the active lesions. After that it took three years to be referred to a neurologist.
to endure
Similar mistakes repeated
The same thing happened to me about 25 years ago. So no lesson was learned in all that time. Treating bowel cancer with pessaries now seems like a bad joke.
Connected
IBS as a first-line diagnosis
I spoke to a retired senior GP years ago. IBS was the final diagnosis after everything else was checked. Nowadays, it is the first thing many gastroenterologists diagnose (in my experience). A gastroenterologist told me, “You have IBS that won’t be causing your symptoms. If I can help further, don’t hesitate to call.”
DAFB
Some comments in this article have been edited for brevity and clarity.
want to share your thoughtsSimply enter your details below. Once registered, you can comment on the day’s top stories for a chance to be featured. Alternatively, click ‘Log in’ or ‘Register’ in the top right corner to sign in or sign up.
Make sure you follow us Community Guidelinesthat can be found HereFor a complete guide on how to comment Click here.