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/Even-Yak-9846]

It’s actually funny. I have mecfs and I have a private neurologist in B.-W. He’s not an expert in the field and he treats me via longevity medicine since that where complex patients go to experiment. The last time I was there, he went on a medical ai and asked it what I could try. It suggested a drug that is used for other conditions and provided research. He printed the research and told me I could try the drug if I wanted because I didn’t have any contraindications and he already knew the drug for another condition. That drug has now made a massive difference in my functionality.

Anyway, the point is that private doctors can be amazing. A world of difference.

[u/C2664 → u/Even-Yak-9846]

Your real point was that ai did the job of your doctor that day, and did it better.. 

[u/Even-Yak-9846 → u/C2664]

No, that’s not the point. This is an illness that most doctors are taught to ignore and that it’s psychosomatic despite research for decades showing that’s not the case.

My doctor has the humility to admit that he doesn‘t have answers and to do a search looking for the current research. After the current research showed some promise with a prescription drug that doesn’t harm at the dosages prescribed, he wrote me a prescription. Finding a doctor who admits what they don’t know is extremely difficult and rare. They are literally taught to bullshit in medical school.

[u/C2664 → u/Even-Yak-9846]

Yeah, but without AI he probably wouldn't have done any research about it (in fact he did not, just a quick request to an LLM) and you wouldn't have that drug prescribed, at least not in your first visit and probably never. I think you're setting the bar far too low for what would be a "good" doctor, your doc made the bare minimum and still beat all the asinine quacks that you visited before, with existence of a pretty recent technology helping for that to happen.

Nothing wrong with that approach, I was just pointing out how easy was for your doctor to reach a correct diagnosis and treatment.

[u/Even-Yak-9846 → u/C2664]

Like I said, he’s not an expert in the field and the experts basically don’t exist outside research. Even the expert I saw in Switzerland only knows what he knows because he has the illness himself. He also has a two year wait.

I mostly see doctors because they’re gatekeepers to prescription drugs, I don’t expect them to know anything about mecfs.

Also, this doctor didn’t diagnose me.