It’s just stress guys

Have been having severe back pain for a year. At first it came in "attacks", and I called 911 during the first attack because I thought it was my heart and I was dying. They didn't think it was anything serious but they sent me to the ER just in case. They checked my heart but everything was fine. So off I went.

Attacks became more frequent so I went to my GP, and she said it was my muscles and stress and that I should talk to my PT. My PT affirmed it was just stress. Just stress, guys! Nothing to see here. Massages and exercises from my GP did nothing to improve the pain.

After maybe two months, the pain became chronic. First only from 4PM until bed. Then from around lunchtime to bed. Then I started waking up with it. I saw my GP a few more times but she insisted it was just stress, bad posture etc. I tried more things in the mean time, like getting new orthotics and also getting expensive house slippers so I could wear them inside as well. I tried to improve my posture. I used IR daily. I took baths with magnesium salts. In the end I was doing yoga for my back twice a day to keep the pain manageable.

Recently, a year after this all started, I went to my GP again because something needed to be done about the crushing pain. She finally sent me to a back specialist and guess what? I have scoliosis. They let me walk around with that for a YEAR and no one even thought to check or refer me to a manual therapist who could've noticed this. I'm told scoliosis is quite treatable but I don't know how long I'll have to wait for treatment.

I'm so pissed off. A whole year wasted. This isn't the first time either. Before this, i had such severe pain in my lower arms it would make me cry every other day or so. They also told me it was just the fibromyalgia and just stress. Until I read about cubital tunnel syndrome. I went to my GP to ask for a referral to a hand specialist. They diagnosed the CBT, gave a few tips and after a month most of my pain was gone. They let me walk around with this for at least a year before I figured it out and asked for the referral. Why do they do this?? Shouldn't they at least check it isn't something else before saying it's just stress?

I'm just so done with not being believed. Both of these conditions are extremely painful and my life has seriously sucked for years because of the pain and it's been completely unnecessary. They could've just listened to me so I could've been treated right away. I'm so fucking angry.

I know this is quite a universal experience and I'm also angry on behalf of all of you who experienced this too. This is why people with fibromyalgia have shorter life spans. Everything is "just the fibro/stress" without checking.