Have You Been Misdiagnosed? With MS or Another Disease?

By now, you have probably seen the story about how Christina Applegate was misdiagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis). 

Did you know that 1 in 5 patients can be misdiagnosed with MS? 

There's an old saying from doctors:

"When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras"  

Which means doctors usually look for the most common illnesses or diseases first before looking for a rare disease. 

MS could explain neurological problems for someone - but could there be another diagnosis instead?

Can you be misdiagnosed with asthma?  

That made me wonder how many people can be misdiagnosed with asthma. 

There are two things that can happen:

• Someone can be diagnosed with asthma when it's actually a disease that "mimics" asthma 

•  Someone can have asthma, but NOT be diagnosed with it  

My son was only 5 years old when he ended up in the hospital for breathing problems - and THEN we found out he had asthma. 

Surprise, surprise! 

My doctor had assumed it was "a virus". And honestly, it can be hard to tell the difference. 

A child can be sneezing, coughing, have a runny nose, etc. and the doctor may think it's a cold virus, and should go away with time. 

But what if it's asthma? And then that simple cold morphs into pneumonia or bronchitis? This happened repeatedly with my kids. 

We knew that a simple cold could spell big trouble for them. 

Once my son was diagnosed with asthma, we learned about daily, controller (anti-inflammatory inhalers) that could treat his asthma. 

Having the right diagnosis, and being on the right medicine can make a big difference.  

Have you been misdiagnosed? Or diagnosed with a disease later on? 

I scrolled through the comments on the posts about Christina Applegate's misdiagnosis. 

She was sad and frustrated and said she was back at square one. Her doctor was starting over to find a diagnosis that looked like MS, but wasn't MS.  

Were you misdiagnosed? 

Did your doctor think you or your child's cold was just a virus? Or was it a cold made worse by an asthma diagnosis?

Our bodies can be hard to figure out - even by the best specialists. I know doctors are doing the best they can! 

Just remember that the hoof beats may be the sound of a zebra instead of a horse. 

Don't give up if you are misdiagnosed. Your doctor may just need more time to figure it out. 

Good luck to everyone out there struggling with a diagnosis 

Hugs, 

Andrea