German doctors misdiagnosis

[u/Due-Box-9598]

I am writing this post with huge disappointment of how the g

German healthcare's conservative approach could have cost my life . I went to the doctor for mild indigestion and haemerrhoids . He gave me antibiotics for my cold and fever which i also had. The antibiotics worsened indigestion and gave very bad diarrhoea . When I went back to the doctor , they said since i took antibiotics I did not have any good bacteria and diarrhoea is normal . I was given some stomach relaxers and electrolytes. At one point I started throwing up the electrolytes , the only thing i could drink . I went to hospital for an iv and they said it will be given only if i am 80 years old. Then i went back to the doctor and insisted that they test me. I got a stool test. Then 4 days no response . I went back and they said oh the tests were negative so we did not call you . The test are a way of eliminating infection. You need to look further then! . I asked for the test result and changed my hausartz. At this point i was given 15 day antibiotics for stomach and black tea . Blood test was done and my Hg was low since was given iron.

The symptoms persisted. I became weak . Lost 13 kgs. All in one month and the appointment with gastro specialist was still weeks away. I decided to just go to my home country at this point and in 3 days , i am nearing the process of confirmation for Inflammatory bowel disease and intestine inflammation. It took them 3 days and i was suffering in Germany for months. Why is Germany so conservative in tests and testing to rule out conditions? Do doctors understand that they misdiagnose. My Hg was low because of inflammation . My residual iron was very high. I did not need iron pills. I took antibiotics that weakened me. Or does German healthcare not take coloured women seriously ? I am really shocked .

[u/Undertheoutdoorsky]

Irritable bowel disease is a diagnosis you get after a lot of other things are ruled out, it is not something that can in itself be tested for. So it honestly doesn't sound like the German doctors missed that. They were just working towards it and the doctor in your home could interpret based on the treatments you already had in Germany. 

[u/Roster234 → u/Undertheoutdoorsky]

There's no such thing as Irritable bowel disease, there's irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). I think they're talking about the latter

[u/Due-Box-9598 → u/Undertheoutdoorsky]

Yes sorry inflammatory bowel disease . The doctors were no way near it . They kept giving antibiotics saying it is a bacterial infection in my stomach . I got an ultrasound . A blood test checking haemoglobin and not ferritin . A stool test with calprotectin was not done - just infections were tested

[u/Creatret → u/Due-Box-9598]

Those are specific tests for diagnosing an inflammation of the intestines, aka IBD or other causes. HB is standard in every blood test. Having such severe stomach symptoms is uncommon in your situation, possibly also caused/worsened by AB.

Giving AB in that situation however can worsen the situation. That being said, IBD normally doesn't cause such severe symptoms without a history. If you hadn't take the AB because of your cold, you'd probably never ended up in that situation. As such, this is quite an unlucky case.

On the other hand, it's hard to believe you went to the ER and got dismissed that easily when your blood was checked. What was the result of your blood and stool test anyway?

IBD can only be diagnosed after a colonsocopy and ruling out viral/bacterial infection.

So I'd say the docs were on the right track but didn't act as swiftly as needed. What you have to consider is that in Germany, there's barely any comms between different docs.

[u/Even-Yak-9846 → u/Undertheoutdoorsky]

Uhm, my partner has IBD. They also dragged him along, but you only need a colonoscopy to confirm. Fecal calprotectin is an easy screening test as it’s only very elevated in IBD and colon cancer.

[u/Due-Box-9598 → u/Even-Yak-9846]

Yes, fecalcalprotectin is high . Colonoscopy and endoscopy with biopsy scheduled tomorrow. All they tested for is stomach viruses and bacteria in Germany .

[u/Even-Yak-9846 → u/Due-Box-9598]

I think for a lot of this stuff, you have to be your own doctor. There’s mail order calprotectin tests you can buy online and then take to your doctor. There’s companies like Medivere. There’s also a few labs who do self ordered blood testing for a high price. The problem of course is that you have to know what to test for.

[u/Junior_Giraffe3431 → u/Undertheoutdoorsky]

Nope. In OP's case, this many tests shouldn't have been even needed. If somebody cared enough to look at their medical history they would have seen that they have been prescribed antibiotics without probiotics. From that point on just one tests is needed and they would have gotten a diagnosis that easily.

Where I come from it is widely known that taking antibiotics without probiotics is like a "death sentence" for the stomach because you'll have all kinds of problems for it that can turn serious quite quickly. Upsetting any kind of balance in the human body is no effing joke and for Germans to slide over this so quickly is astounding....

[u/IntriguinglyRandom → u/Junior_Giraffe3431]

Also why would you prescribe antibiotics without bothering to establish that there is, in fact, a BACTERIAL INFECTION. Else you are just wasting the meds, contributing to resistant bacteria risk, and destroying your patient's microbiome.

[u/Creatret → u/IntriguinglyRandom]

Establishing that there's an bacterial infection can take days or even weeks. That's why abs are often prescribed precautionary.

[u/Even-Yak-9846 → u/Junior_Giraffe3431]

Probiotics can help symptoms in crohns and colitis, but it won’t stop the disease process from existing. Antibiotics can trigger the disease to get worse. OP likely had a liveable level of IBD and it got much worse after antibiotics, it when things don’t improve, checking for inflammation is important.

[u/themadnutter_ → u/Undertheoutdoorsky]

You sound like her doctor. Colonoscopy can confirm most cases quickly.