Getting diagnosed and treated for the wrong disease may be detrimental when you’re a California resident as you won’t be receiving the proper plan of care. Recognizing the symptoms of the five following diseases may help arm you against this unwanted predicament.
Fibromyalgia
Have you been in pain for an extended period? Are specific areas of your body painful when you touch them? Diagnosing these symptoms related to fibromyalgia is essential to ensure you are being treated correctly. Having this chronic arthritis-like disorder can be painful and cause anxiety or depression.
Lupus
Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can mimic fibromyalgia symptoms due to the joint pain it can cause. Completing blood count tests to rule out anemia and a decrease in your white blood cell count is essential. Having a specific anti-dsDNA test is one of the best ways to rule out this problem.
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Feeling pain in your lymph nodes, neck or armpits may indicate chronic fatigue syndrome. Diagnosing this disorder can be challenging due to its similarities to Lupus and fibromyalgia. Unfortunately, there are no specific tests that can confirm chronic fatigue syndrome.
Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease is another disorder that can’t be diagnosed by a lab test. Its symptoms include having stiff muscles, balance or walking problems and tremors in your extremities. Mimicking symptoms related to stress, strokes and Alzheimer’s place it in a category of diseases that can be challenging to diagnose.
Multiple sclerosis
Like Parkinson’s disease, you can have balance problems, a lack of coordination and muscle spasms when you have multiple sclerosis. This autoimmune disease attacks your central nervous system. Having specific blood tests can help rule out other disorders and identify MS. Also, having an MRI may show damage occurring in your spine and brain.
While some of these five diseases have similar symptoms, it’s usually best to run specific tests. Doing so rules out one or more conditions and may identify a particular disorder.
