Gail Whiteford was experiencing various cancer symptoms, but was prescribed antidepressants
A woman has spoken out about her ordeal, claiming she felt as though she was “going insane” after doctors misdiagnosed her cancer symptoms as anxiety and prescribed her antidepressants. Gail Whiteford, 39, battled for four years to get her GP to take her numerous health symptoms seriously.
She experienced back pain, jaw pain, earaches, skin rashes, and blood in her urine, but was given antidepressants. After initially seeking help for a persistent backache via her GP’s appointment app in August 2019, she was reassured there was nothing to worry about.
In November, the Scottish mum reported an ear infection and jaw pain that lasted two weeks, only to be dismissed once again. In 2020, following a chest infection and a period of personal stress, Gail was prescribed antidepressants and signed off work, reports Glasgow Live.
It wasn’t until 2023, when she was urgently hospitalised after losing function in her kidney, that doctors diagnosed multiple myeloma, a serious form of blood cancer. “The test results in 2019 said there was nothing of concern – so I thought, okay, fine,” Gail recalled.
“My next contact with them was 12 November, and it was for a sore ear, aches and pains. I had a sore ear for about two weeks and the pain was getting worse and going down into my jaw. It sounds like nothing, but these are all recurring infections, which is a sign of myeloma.”
Gail, an insurance broker, was told that her symptoms were likely due to anxiety from her high-pressure job and the sudden loss of her father. She trusted her GP’s advice and accepted a prescription for a low dose of antidepressants.
However, her physical discomfort persisted, now exacerbated by the side effects of starting SSRI medications. “I remember being really busy at work, and they put all of my symptoms down to stress,” Gail recalled.
“My dad passed away in December 2020, and it was sudden – he was diagnosed with cancer and was gone within three weeks. I felt like they jumped on that, and it automatically became related to mental health. In all my years of being a broker, I’d never gotten to the point where I had to go off work.
“I think they signed me off for two or three weeks and started me on antidepressants. You take the advice that’s given, and I put my trust in these people. I was going backwards and forwards to the doctors for pains and aches, and being signed off. Nobody could give me any straight answers – sometimes I couldn’t even get to see the doctor.”
Her condition deteriorated further that summer, as Gail began to experience severe skin itching and burning. Doctors at her local GP practice assumed her childhood eczema had returned, prescribing her creams to treat the rashes, while her aches and pains continued unabated.
Gail started working from home as her skin symptoms persisted and her exhaustion grew worse. “When I was a child, I suffered badly with eczema, but this was different,” she said. “This wasn’t eczema. The only way I can describe it, that my skin was raw, and it was possibly an indication that my kidneys were struggling, because itchy skin is a byproduct of kidney issues. None of that was ever considered – it was just put down to potentially eczema.
“I spoke to doctors in July, August, November, December – I was literally begging for them to help me. In March 2022, it was pain in my neck, shoulder, head and jaw – that was one of the first things I ever said to them back in 2019. Three years later, I was still suffering. September 2022 was when it was getting bad – probably a year before I was admitted into hospital.
“I was still working, but I really struggled. I was working a lot from home because I couldn’t get up in the morning.” In July 2023, Gail found herself unable to keep food down whilst her heart raced uncontrollably.
Alarmed, she rang her GP, who arranged blood tests – but her nurse suggested her symptoms stemmed from anxiety, and recommended she boost the dose of her antidepressant. “I contacted them and said I was continuously vomiting and my anxiety – because I’d been led to believe my heart racing was to do with anxiety – was out of control,” Gail said.
“I’ll never forget a conversation I had with the nurse, where she took my blood and said she could see I was on 50mg of antidepressants. She said, ‘do you know that’s not a lot? I recommend you up it to 100mg’. At that point, I thought, maybe she’s right – maybe this is all in my head. I genuinely thought I was going insane. Maybe I don’t have these pains in my back and my shoulder and my ribs. It sounds ridiculous, but at the time, I was so desperate. I took her advice.
“I remember coming home, and I was constantly being sick. I couldn’t keep any food down, couldn’t get out of bed, had no energy, and my body was screaming in pain.” Eventually, after returning home from having her blood test on August 1, 2023, Gail received a call from her doctor, telling her to get to hospital immediately.
She rushed to the hospital, where medics revealed her kidneys were functioning at just 12%. Days afterwards, she received her devastating diagnosis of multiple myeloma – and was informed she needed to be put on kidney dialysis and undergo six months of chemotherapy.
“At 3pm that day, the doctor called and told me to get myself straight to hospital, because my kidneys weren’t doing what they needed to,” she said. “After I’d been in hospital for a week, I’d had a kidney biopsy and CT scans, spoken to pharmacists and senior consultants.
“I’ll never forget when the consultant came to me and said to prepare myself – and used the words multiple myeloma. The doctors were telling me it was treatable and they would help, but it takes time to accept it and understand it. In some weird way, I felt absolutely relieved – I was being validated.
“A nurse looked at my blood and asked me when the last time I felt well? It hit me like a ton of bricks – because I couldn’t answer that, I didn’t know. I started getting dialysis three times a week, then going upstairs to the cancer unit and getting my chemo. The consultants and the nurses were just so compassionate, so helpful, and they got me through it.”
Following her initial round of chemotherapy, Gail has received stem cell treatments, and is now free from dialysis whilst preparing for a kidney transplant. “I got my stem cell treatment in March last year,” Gail said. “My kidneys are just now sitting about 22% which sounds ridiculous, but for somebody who has kidney failure, it’s amazing to be at the point where you don’t need to be on dialysis.”
Throughout her treatment, Gail started attending the Ayrshire Myeloma Support Group – and discovered that her battle to be taken seriously was anything but unusual. She is now campaigning to raise awareness of myeloma symptoms and the vital importance of standing up for your own health.
On Sunday, July 27, Gail and her support group organised a charity walk around Dean Park in Kilmarnock to raise funds for Myeloma UK, with the aim of funding research into a cure. “It’s difficult to look back at previous online GP requests, because I can hear the way I’m begging the doctor for help,” she expressed.
“The saddest part of all is when I speak to so many different people, it’s exactly the same thing. They’re told doctors can only look at one thing or speak about one thing in the appointment. I’m angry, I’m frustrated, and I just feel there’s got to be a better way.” A link to the fundraiser can be found here.