8 Conditions That Are Hard to Diagnose

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When you have strange pains, unexplained digestive issues, or other unexplained symptoms, you'd think a trip to the doctor would solve your problems. However, doctors can have just as much difficulty identifying certain disorders and conditions as their patients.

Many symptoms are nonspecific and vary from person to person. Furthermore, many diagnostic tests are costly and are not performed regularly, and even when they are, they do not always provide a black-and-white answer.

1. Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Some conditions are difficult to diagnose because there is no real test to prove their existence; instead, doctors must rule out all other possibilities.

One of these is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a chronic condition that affects the large intestine and causes abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, diarrhea, and/or constipation.

According to diagnostic criteria, a patient must have symptoms for at least six months before being seen for a formal evaluation, and discomfort must be present at least three days per month in the three months preceding the IBS diagnosis and treatment.

2. Celiac Disease

Celiac disease, an immune reaction to gluten that causes inflammation in the small intestine, is so misunderstood that it takes the average patient six to ten years to be properly diagnosed.

Celiac disease patients should have digestive issues when eating gluten-containing foods like wheat, barley, and rye, but only about half of those diagnosed with the disease have diarrhea and weight loss.

Celiac disease can also cause itchy skin, headaches, joint pain, and acid reflux or heartburn, and these symptoms are all too easily misdiagnosed.

3. Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia, which is characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, involves medically unexplained symptoms—that is, persistent complaints that do not appear to have an obvious physical cause. When doctors are unable to identify the underlying cause of a patient's chronic pain and fatigue, they frequently settle on this diagnosis.

This may entail consulting with specialists and ruling out other diseases, some of which are equally difficult to diagnose.

According to studies, people with certain symptoms who visit a rheumatologist are diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but when the same patients visit a gastroenterologist, they are diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome.

4. Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disorder, can also cause unexplained aches and pains.

Unlike osteoarthritis (the "wear and tear" type that appears as people age), RA causes inflammation and painful swelling of joints at any age.

Early stages of RA can mimic many other conditions—sometimes, it's just aches and stiffness in the joints that a variety of factors could causecould cause a variety of factors.

Blood tests can help detect the presence of inflammation in the body, but an accurate diagnosis of RA must also take into account a patient's medical history and a thorough physical exam performed by a doctor.

5. Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS), another autoimmune disease, occurs when the immune system attacks the body's own nerve cells, disrupting communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Numbness, weakness, or tingling in one or more limbs are common early symptoms of MS, but this is not always the case.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease that comes and goes. Signs and symptoms may be more or less severe in different people depending on the number and location of lesions in the brain.

6. Lyme Disease

Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness that causes flu-like symptoms and a distinct bulls-eye rash, is notoriously difficult to diagnose.

7. Lupus

A butterfly-shaped rash across a patient's cheeks is the most distinguishing feature of lupus, another chronic inflammatory disease, but it is not always present.

Diagnosis can be a lengthy and difficult process for those who do not develop the rash. Lupus can manifest itself in a variety of ways; it can affect the joints, kidneys, brain, skin, and lungs, as well as mimic a variety of other conditions.

There is no single method for diagnosing lupus, but blood and urine tests, as well as a thorough physical examination, are commonly used.

Treatment is also determined by the individual signs and symptoms of the patient, and medications and dosages may need to be adjusted as the disease flares and subsides.

8. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder affecting women of reproductive age, can cause irregular periods, unexplained weight gain, and difficulty getting pregnant.

Many women with this condition also have enlarged ovaries with numerous small cysts; however, not all women with PCOS have these enlarged ovaries, and not all women with enlarged ovaries have PCOS.