Hey Pandas, What Was The Worst Misdiagnosis Of Your Life?

Started having rashes on my face, like small around the mouth and such. Got diagnosed by a newly immigrated nurse who googled everything - on paper and in the journals I was diagnosed with herpes. Immediately got to another hospital and got a professional opinion by someone who could actually understand things - I was allergic to shellfish!

I hab a SLAP lesion and rockwood III.

it was misdiagnosed as psychosomatic pain and not tested for over a year. the pain was so horrible I considered suicide.
After all that time it cannot properly be treated and my life is now completely ruined.

I was once misdiagnosed by some rude coworkers (and most everyone else in society) to be a "Dumb blonde"... turned out to be ADHD and a box of platinum blonde hair dye. Some meds, college, and a few shades darker, seems they're still working customer service and I've been a med-surg RN for five years... that just so happened to graduate summa cum laude.

I was working as a civilian in the army (I was in my twenties). I had some persistent pain in my knees and I went to see the military doctor of my unit. She examined me and said I had "tonsilitis localized in the knees". She then looked in some book and prescribed a treatment that included homeopathic remedies. I remember laughing my head off for several days.

Then I went to an orthopedic clinic where I was correctly diagnosed with meniscus lesions due to excessive martial arts training and hikings.

When I was in my 20's I got very sick. My doctor said " it's just the flu. Get into bed and take some painkillers. " A week later I went back to his office. I could barely walk. Eventually he send me to a hospital, where I was rushed into intensive care. It turned out ,I had meningitis. If I had waited any longer I would have died.
Now when I feel like I need a hospital, I don't take no for an answer anymore.

Not me but my mom. She was told that her back pain, numb arm, and other intense pains would be cured with exercise, so she took up running. Turns out the intense exercise only exasperated the slipped disc in her neck, as well as worsen her then undiagnosed Degenerative Disc Disease. Yeah, kind of caused some real permanent damage there that she’s been forced to live with for decades at this point.

I have had strange weakness on one side of my body, confusion, and dizzy spells most of my life. These always flare up and go away, at random and often with no warning. I was always told it's my meds' side effects (psych meds are harsh stuff sometimes). In 2016, I collapsed in a doctor's office during an unrelated visit and was rushed to the ER. There, they discovered that I actually have a rare kind of migraine called Complex Hemiplegic Migraines (different from "classic migraines") that have been gradualy damaging my brain. Now I'm dealing with worsening life-long consequences from the damage. Moral of the story: don't dismiss "side effects" that bother you.

I wasn't just a dramatic 6 year old. I had acute appendicitis.

Not me but very recently we had an extended family member pass away of COVID complications in another country. He had been hospitalized on and off and had had a heart attack but was still alive, and the physicians attending to him asked the residents to get a hold of his family and tell them things didn't look good and he would most likely not make it. Something got lost in translation and whoever ended up calling the family told them he passed away. The family were obviously heartbroken and had a friend who lived nearby go to the hospital to help them start the paperwork to get his body released, and the friend was told that he was still alive! He sadly then did pass away the next day of another heart attack. It was such an emotional rollercoaster.

Thirty-five years after being diagnosed with Psoriasis (no tests ever, no matter how many times I asked various Drs) and telling many Drs that the "conveyor belt" of medicines not only failed to help but were making it worse, only to be belittled, blown off & given a new med. Every. Dam. Time. Finally got a Physician Who Listened 🙉🤯😻 Diagnosed Steven Johnson Syndrome and Acute Generalized Exanthemetous Pustulosis... over 40% of my body by the time I got to her (basically I'm allergic to western medicine) and saved my life, literally. If the meds didn't end up killing me, the inability to sleep due to pain was driving me insane & wanting to die...it was a close call, I was considering it.