Good Doc, Bad Doc: Mystery Illness Solved

This is an update for a pervious blog entry: http://anomadinheels.blogspot.com/2013/03/and-swedish-doctor-says.html

**UPDATE**-After returning stateside, my mysterious itching escalated from "annoying" to "hell-on-Earth". I found myself waking up at all hours of the night and scratching my skin raw. By now, I was pretty damn sure that I had been misdiagnosed in Stockholm so I scheduled  an appointment with a general practitioner who then referred me to a dermatologist. I finally had an answer when the dermatologist CORRECTLY diagnosed me with a case of scabies. After religiously covering my entire body with the prescribed Permethrin treatment and quarantining my clothes for a week, I was cured!! Hallelujah!!@!

Now for those inquisitive souls who are wondering how I contracted this disease/infestation...I must admit I don't know. Not to be confused with crabs(which are an STD), scabies are actually microscopic mites that are transmitted via bedding, clothes, and any physical contact- even babies can get scabies. So due to the highly contagious nature of scabies and my constant traveling while in Scandinavia, how and when I actually acquired this infestation remains a mystery to me. 

Nevertheless, I would like to point out that previous to my initial doctor visit in Stockholm, I, being from a science background, had researched online articles and suspected I harbored scabies. But when I informed my Swedish doctor that I thought I had scabies, he nonchalantly wrote it off as just a stress rash. The doctor's explanation was that he could not "see" anything on my body. Come again?! Scabies are MICROSCOPIC!! so of course he wasn't able see those bad boys with his naked eye. The ineptitude of the Swedish Urologist(why was I sent to a Urologist anyways??) caused me an additional 2 months of unnecessary worry and agony-filled scratching.

Now, with doctor parents and the majority of my friends in medical school, trusting the counsel of health care professionals has been deeply ingrained in me. So when I was so thoroughly let down, the irony of the situation was not lost on me. Lesson learned: this scabies fiasco combined with my recent HIV misdiagnosis has taught me that no matter where you are in the world do your RESEARCH! Doctors are human too, and all humans can make mistakes. So if your gut tells you something is not right with the diagnosis, then trust your instinct and get a SECOND(or third) OPINION!!

Lovely Scabies-The Gift that keeps on Giving!

-Ran-A nomad on the mend..

**Disclaimer: All views and opinions expressed in this post are my own and I do not take responsibility with how you chose to understand the information provided.**

I am listening to:

AlunaGeorge - Analyser