My question involves malpractice in the state of: Illinois
Hello-
I will try to be brief. In the past year I was diagnosed with MS (after four years of hoping it was just transverse myelitis) and conditions related to MS including migraines and Trigeminal Neuralgia. The diagnosis of MS came from MRI results (lesions on cervical spine and brain), spinal tap (showed 8 bands) and three separate MS flares all managed well with three days of IV steroids. I also had a 35 day migraine in October and was hospitalized for 6 days. In addition was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia in Dec ‘17 and hospitalized for 8 days for pain control and then because the tegretol given (which was helping) was lowering my sodium. A f/u blood test a week later showed my sodium had dropped to 120 and I was told (convinced) I needed to return to the hospital and was there for three days.
I also have bipolar, anxiety and PTSD. These diagnoses were made when I was 24 in 1998. I am on Social Security disability for bipolar and PTSD. The bipolar manias have been well contained by medication but I continued to have a degree of anxiety, depression, insomnia and nightmares. However the IV steroids given for the MS flares have caused brief manias which I recognized and contacted my psychiatrist and managed by a short term alteration of medication. I have had the same psychiatrist for 8 years a woman who specializes in bipolar mothers who I sought out when wanting to get pregnant with my daughter who just turned 7.
In November, my psychiatrist was out of the country when I had a mania from the IV steroids so I had to work with her physician on call. This was the first time this happened. Since then she has been very different toward me. Before this our sessions would be about an hour because she would want to know what was going on in my life before discussing the medications. After she become very curt and then told me she would have to be out of the country often and I would need to find a new psychiatrist who could be available for emergencies. I said I understood but was sad because we had worked together for so long. She was indifferent and it was odd. After I was put on new medications for the Trigeminal Neuralgia she said I needed to find someone very fast because she couldn’t handle the amount of medications I was on. I take around 14 different medications regularly to treat bipolar, MS, Trigeminal Neuralgia and bladder/bowel issues from MS. I found someone and she said our last appt would be Jan 24th.
At that appointment, she spent a lot of time explaining to me why the medications were difficult to manage. At the very end of the session I thanked her for the past eight years and told her how much I appreciated it. She told me she would write a brief note to the next psychiatrist (she said she wouldn’t include her psychiatric notes.) She said brief more than once which was strange after 8 years and the fact that she handled communications about my disability to the Social Security Office. I would think there would be more.
Then she said, I’m also going to say that you have somatization disorder. She had never mentioned this before and I wasn’t sure what it meant so I asked her isn’t that like being a hypochondriac? She said something like that. She then told me I could decide whether to show it to the new psychiatrist or not. Then we were basically done.
So when I was home I looked it up and I started to get very upset that this was going to be included in a letter to my new psychiatrist, something she had never mentioned and she had never discussed it with any of my doctors or therapist. I asked my therapist her thoughts at our next appointment. This therapist was referered to me by the same psychiatrist. She was also really troubled, said it made her sick and worried how it would effect my medical treatment. Now I am also very concerned as I also have bipolar (which is still stigmatized) that I will be labeled basically a hypochondriac and my medical issues not taken seriously.
What is funny about this is I hate to go the hospital and really have to be convinced it’s necessary. I also respond well to a lot of treatments and drugs unlike people with this disorder. I am never looking for anything new (I have more than enough thank you) and besides the year prior to the MS diagnosis when I knew something was wrong have never felt that my health issues weren’t validated by tests or felt the need to have additional tests. It even says in the literature around this disorder that MS patients shouldn’t be diagnosed with this unless it is extreme as MS (and some other disorders) fit into this diagnosis but they aren’t psychiatric. This is why there is uproar over the new DSM V classification and they are hoping to make changes in the next succession.
I’m writing this because I’m wondering if I have any legal cause towards her for a misdiagnosis and how she handled telling me about the new diagnosis. I’m extremely worried because I need both sides covered: medical and psychiatric and her new diagnosis could cause doctors to consider any symptoms to be psychological rather than medical and at the least disrupt my care at the worst do me irrevocable harm.
Thank you for your consideration.
Hello-
I will try to be brief. In the past year I was diagnosed with MS (after four years of hoping it was just transverse myelitis) and conditions related to MS including migraines and Trigeminal Neuralgia. The diagnosis of MS came from MRI results (lesions on cervical spine and brain), spinal tap (showed 8 bands) and three separate MS flares all managed well with three days of IV steroids. I also had a 35 day migraine in October and was hospitalized for 6 days. In addition was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia in Dec ‘17 and hospitalized for 8 days for pain control and then because the tegretol given (which was helping) was lowering my sodium. A f/u blood test a week later showed my sodium had dropped to 120 and I was told (convinced) I needed to return to the hospital and was there for three days.
I also have bipolar, anxiety and PTSD. These diagnoses were made when I was 24 in 1998. I am on Social Security disability for bipolar and PTSD. The bipolar manias have been well contained by medication but I continued to have a degree of anxiety, depression, insomnia and nightmares. However the IV steroids given for the MS flares have caused brief manias which I recognized and contacted my psychiatrist and managed by a short term alteration of medication. I have had the same psychiatrist for 8 years a woman who specializes in bipolar mothers who I sought out when wanting to get pregnant with my daughter who just turned 7.
In November, my psychiatrist was out of the country when I had a mania from the IV steroids so I had to work with her physician on call. This was the first time this happened. Since then she has been very different toward me. Before this our sessions would be about an hour because she would want to know what was going on in my life before discussing the medications. After she become very curt and then told me she would have to be out of the country often and I would need to find a new psychiatrist who could be available for emergencies. I said I understood but was sad because we had worked together for so long. She was indifferent and it was odd. After I was put on new medications for the Trigeminal Neuralgia she said I needed to find someone very fast because she couldn’t handle the amount of medications I was on. I take around 14 different medications regularly to treat bipolar, MS, Trigeminal Neuralgia and bladder/bowel issues from MS. I found someone and she said our last appt would be Jan 24th.
At that appointment, she spent a lot of time explaining to me why the medications were difficult to manage. At the very end of the session I thanked her for the past eight years and told her how much I appreciated it. She told me she would write a brief note to the next psychiatrist (she said she wouldn’t include her psychiatric notes.) She said brief more than once which was strange after 8 years and the fact that she handled communications about my disability to the Social Security Office. I would think there would be more.
Then she said, I’m also going to say that you have somatization disorder. She had never mentioned this before and I wasn’t sure what it meant so I asked her isn’t that like being a hypochondriac? She said something like that. She then told me I could decide whether to show it to the new psychiatrist or not. Then we were basically done.
So when I was home I looked it up and I started to get very upset that this was going to be included in a letter to my new psychiatrist, something she had never mentioned and she had never discussed it with any of my doctors or therapist. I asked my therapist her thoughts at our next appointment. This therapist was referered to me by the same psychiatrist. She was also really troubled, said it made her sick and worried how it would effect my medical treatment. Now I am also very concerned as I also have bipolar (which is still stigmatized) that I will be labeled basically a hypochondriac and my medical issues not taken seriously.
What is funny about this is I hate to go the hospital and really have to be convinced it’s necessary. I also respond well to a lot of treatments and drugs unlike people with this disorder. I am never looking for anything new (I have more than enough thank you) and besides the year prior to the MS diagnosis when I knew something was wrong have never felt that my health issues weren’t validated by tests or felt the need to have additional tests. It even says in the literature around this disorder that MS patients shouldn’t be diagnosed with this unless it is extreme as MS (and some other disorders) fit into this diagnosis but they aren’t psychiatric. This is why there is uproar over the new DSM V classification and they are hoping to make changes in the next succession.
I’m writing this because I’m wondering if I have any legal cause towards her for a misdiagnosis and how she handled telling me about the new diagnosis. I’m extremely worried because I need both sides covered: medical and psychiatric and her new diagnosis could cause doctors to consider any symptoms to be psychological rather than medical and at the least disrupt my care at the worst do me irrevocable harm.
Thank you for your consideration.
Medical Malpractice: Psychiatric Misdiagnosis and Irresponsible Practice
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