I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in 2014 via blood test and upper endoscopy. Before I was diagnosed I went to at least 5 doctors (that I can remember) complaining of symptoms.
When I said that I felt fatigued, I was told to sleep more. When I complained of joint pain, I was told that I was just typing too much. When I complained of mood swings, I was told it was just being a teenager.
Doctor after doctor told me that that I was a hypochondriac.
Celiac disease is not rare--it affects ~1% of the population--so statistically speaking, all the doctors who told me to stop faking it regularly see Celiac patients.
My story is incredibly common; every person with chronic illness I know has a version of the same story: being called a hypochondriac by many doctors before finally getting a diagnosis. (Diagnoses which, like my own Celiac disease diagnosis, are not wonky or controversial; they meet standard diagnostic criteria.)
I don't know think the entirety of that "5%-10%" of the population are actually hypochondriacs.
That 5%-10% number is a little close to number of people with rare diseases, per wikipedia:
> European Union has suggested that between 6 and 8% of the European population could be affected by a rare disease sometime in their lives.
Obviously some of rare diseases are quite visible and obvious, but I wonder how many aren't.
What there your symptoms?