Charlane Lambert/patient - "You feel like sometimes you're going to pass out."

Roseanne O'Connell/patient - "I would say I can't do another thing. I am just worn out and exhausted."

These women are all struggling with different symptoms, but they share one thing. The illnesses they've learned to live with are amoung the 5 diseases doctors miss most in women."

Karen Weber Mullican/patient - "Of course the doctors couldn't find anything so they didn't believe me and my husband didn't believe me because the doctors didn't believe me!"

It took Karen Weber-Mullican 6 years and visits to 14 different specialists to find out what was causing her upper back and shoulder pain.

"Anything except some trouble walking? Yeah, When I run into things."

An MRI scan of her brain finally revealed the tell-tale sign of Multiple Sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system.

Dr. Matthews Gwynn/Neurologist - "Multiple Sclerosis has been known as one of the great imitators. The internist may not necessarily think of MS as the first thing or maybe not even as the 3rd or 4th thing because it's so non-specific."

Five hundred thousand women have what Charlene Lambery has, but getting correctly diagnosed still takes an average of 2 to 4 years. Charlanes's symptoms, extreme pain and frequent urination.

Charlane Lambert/patient - "I learned to cope with it, but when you spend a lot of time in meetings, which I do, it's hard to sit through a meeting for 2 hours,"

Sounds like a common urinary tract infection, but its not. The correct diagnosis: Interstitial Cystitis, which affects the lining of the bladder and can not be detected by routine analysis.

Dr. Jeanelle Foote/urologist - "A cystoscopy is done.What cystoscopy is,   looking into the bladder with a telescope."

Something was going wrong inside Roseanne O'Connell.

Roseanne O'Connell/Lupus patient - "I was having a lot of fluid retention and I had gone through two biopsies."

It took her many years and numerous treatments by various specialists to find out she has Lupus.

Roseanne O'Connell/Lupus patient - "I was clinically diagnosed with Lupus in 1986, but I think I had is since 1972, or before."

Symptoms can come and go and vary widely. The corberstone of a correct diagnosis is the ANA or Anti-Nuclear Anti-Body Test, but it isn't perfect. A positive result doesn't always mean you have Lupus.

Dr. Peter Schur/Harvard Univ. Medical School - "For a lot of patients you can really pinpoint it. On the other hand, for some patients you're just not sure. Treat the symptoms in the meantime to make you feel better."

How do you feel better when your heart races, your adrenaline is pumped up and you're panicking? By finding out you have Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome. It is hard for doctors to diagnose because the definition varies from textbook to textbook.

Dr. Jerre Lutz/Emory University Medical School - "You have to put the entire picture together whether or not that there is truly an abnormality of the valve. It is not like a lie detector. You can not go in and say, ask the mitral valve, "Are you the one that is causing the problem?"

And finally, nearly 10-million women have Thyroid disease. So, how can something so common be so commonly overlooked? The symptoms:

Dr. David Robertson/Endocrinologist - "Being worn out and tired, mildly depresses or gaining weight. All of those are very common so thyroid might not be the first diagnosis considered."

So what can you do to avoid a missed diagnosis?
Get a second opinion.
Partnering with a physician is really, really important.

Some other advice from the experts:
Be as specific as possible when explaining your symptoms to your doctor. Try not to sound too emotional. A study out of the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center found that doctors are less likely to take female complaints seriously or to pursue their symptoms. And, don't diagnose yourself. You could end up being treated for something you don't have.

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