Its all in your head !!!

I had planned to write structurally, starting off with what MG is, moving on to the causes and treatment, and then to my story and social issues that I have to face, and so on. But i ended up going randomly because this issue has been intriguing me for so long.

I have been very lucky as my condition was quickly diagnosed by my physicians and I did not have to go from one doctor to another, and hearing the statements that 'its psychological', 'its due to stress and tension', 'or its all in your head'. But fluctuating and vague nature of the symptoms, ignorance on the part of doctors and prevalence rate being very low all contribute to the misdiagnosis of MG with psychiatric illnesses.

I can recall my talk with Dr. Zohair Ali Nanjiani (an esteemed neurologist in Pakistan) who told me of a case of his MG patient who was diagnosed earlier by a reputable psychiatrist at an esteemed hospital of suffering from Major Depressive Disorder and put her on anti-depressants and other psychoactive drugs for so long, but no cure. Finally, the patient was taken to Dr. Nanjiani who ran some tests and diagnosed her MG. But this misdiagnosis took a toll on patient and by the time she was taken to Dr. Nanjiani, her condition was so worsened.

Its not only in Pakistan, even in countries which are considered to be much more developed with medical facilities, patients are often misdiagnosed. It's so easy for the doctors to attribute symptoms (they are unable to answer) to psychological factors. Its too common for misdiagnosing MG with psychiatric illnesses and this leads to considerable delay in accurate diagnosis and administrating relevant treatment.

Neurologists are capable of understanding and diagnosing MG, but by the time patient goes to neurologist, he has been to several other inaccurate diagnosis and medicines. Often, the first symptoms to be noticed by patients are eye-related (drooping eye lids or double vision), chewing and swallowing problems, and change of voice or slurred speech, or shortness or breath. And thus, patient goes to general practitioner or eye specialist or chest specialist for the presenting complaints. It is highly necessary that such doctors should have enough information about MG and send the patient to neurophysician immediately for the check-up, instead of saying 'its all in your head' and suggesting to see psychiatrist.

It is highly necessary that awareness campaigns and programs should not only be held among general population, but among at medical schools, and hospitals. This is so necessary to save patients from misdiagnosis and wrong treatment and psychological and financial burden.