You bet I've had trouble! I've been ill since 1997, but my first diagnosis, fibroyalgia, wasn't until 2000. And then even after being diagnosed with sero-negative Sjogren's in 2003, I am to this day encountering doctors who don't believe it exists and play the somatization disorder card!

I moved to South Dakota from Colorado in November and can't get a rheumatologist here to take me seriously. It appears the only way I'm going to get a specialist to treat me is to go to the Mayo Clinic and do all my testing over again. Not cool.

It's not our fault that our ailments don't always fit the description in the textbook. We shouldn't be accused of being mentally unstable every time a doc doesn't immediately figure out what's wrong with our immune system. Sure wish there were enough good docs to go around.

fanfaire