ME and Dr Raj

I first met Dr Raj when I went for a rheumatology appointment back at the beginning of the year. Dr Raj was brilliant, he referred me for a bone scan, I had yet more blood tests (basically everything he could think of he wanted testing), he examined me, he referred me to a Fibromyalgia course that is run by professionals. My Mum and I thought he was great. He was so thorough and kind.

My next experience with him was very different. Dr Raj went through my bone scan results and told me everything was fine and there was no inflammation in the joints, which was good news. He then went through my blood test results and again everything was pretty much normal, as expected. Dr Raj then went on to tell me that there was nothing serious that was underlying, which I’d known all along. He told me that I should wean myself off of all my medications and if I were to get a job and keep my mind active then all my symptoms should disappear. As you can imagine I was very anger at this comment. I was actually speechless. I couldn’t believe that this guy was totally dismissing the fact that I can’t get out of bed in the morning/ afternoon/ all day sometimes. He was dismissing the fact that I am exhausted all the time and need about 11/12 hours of sleep and all of my sleep is un-refreshing. He was ignoring the fact that I have M.E.

If I was a younger person, with a parent that believed every word a Doctor said I could have been in trouble. Giving this kind of advice to a person with M.E is dangerous. This could make a person much much worse if they were to follow this advice. Luckily, I have parents that believe me and believe that I am poorly and that keeping my mind active isn’t going to make me recover miraculously. Does this silly doctor not think that if it was that easy I wouldn’t be in bed, I would be back working, doing what I love and earning a decent wage? Funny enough, at the age of 23 I would rather be out and about enjoying my life, than in bed most of the time!

M.E and Fibromlyalgia are NOT made up. They are real conditions that are serious. People can die from these illnesses and this silly man is dishing out advice that is totally wrong. How can this man be practicing if he knows nothing about conditions he is supposed to know about? How is he allowed to give people advice that is dangerous?

My god do I wish Dr Raj was right and that my symptoms would disappear when I got a job, I would be back in my gymnastics club quicker than you could say gymnastics, but sadly this man has got it very very wrong. He does not know anything about either of my conditions and is therefore totally unqualified to tell me what to do in regards to my health.

I know my body and I know what I need. And I certainly don’t need some silly doctor telling me what to do!

Take Care my friends and don’t believe everything you are told,

Rachel xxx