The doctor said that in some cases, you may have been misdiagnosed
If you are constantly feeling tired, one doctor recommends checking three key areas before making any diagnosis – and says your GP should do the same. When discussing fibromyalgia and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), he explained that there are a few specific tests he prefers to run before confirming either of these common health conditions.
The GP frequently sees patients with these conditions, though he notes you may have been misdiagnosed as some of these conditions can be complex. Speaking on TikTok, Doctor Ahmed said: “When I see patients who have got fibromyalgia or ME, one of the first things they want to know is, has everything been ruled out.”
1. You may not know you have this
Under the username @dra_says, he warned: “This is one thing that if we don’t diagnose and treat, nothing else we do will work until we treat it – and this is obstructive sleep apnea.
“I think this is chronically under-diagnosed because to get a diagnosis, often someone else is needed” such as a “partner who is in the same bed as you.”
He said that the reason for this is that if you sleep alone, you may not realise that you’re having “these weird apnoeic episodes when you sleep.”
The doctor goes onto say that people may actually have this, and not ME. He notes: “If you are someone who sleeps alone, you may never pick up on this and amount of people I’ve seen have been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome or ME when, in fact, they have undiagnosed sleep apnea is actually been very high.”
2. You could have chronic Lyme disease
The doctor admits: “This is a very tricky one because you can’t really diagnose on a blood test. And there’s no actual medication for it that we can give you that will make it better.”
He adds that GPs often need to know details about your medical history, including things like rashes or tick bites. So, if you’ve spent a lot of time outdoors, lived in rural or wooded areas, or worked with animals, it’s important to mention this to your GP.
He notes that some of his patients “recall having a very significant rash or a time when they were very unwell with the symptoms that was associated with a rash.”
3. You may actually have this
Speaking about Mast cell activation syndrome aka he explains with this you get an “inappropriate amount of histamine release due to a trigger that should not normally release histamine.” With this, you get “widespread symptoms” and of course, the main one is “extreme fatigue.”
Doctor Ahmed explains that the most effective way to diagnose this is through a trial of treatment – and while it might sound intimidating, he assures it’s nothing to worry about, reassuring people: “It is relatively safe and if it does work, it can give great results.”
Concluding his informative video, he warns those suffering: “This list is not exhaustive. Chronic fatigue or feeling tired all the time is one of the most common things we see every single day and it can be done so many things. These are just three that I’ve come across recently that have been missed.”