Those of you who have a history of depression: were other physical ailments ruled out before you were diagnosed?

After years of struggling with depression I have realized that a lot of my symptoms should have been attributed to fatigue. For example, I am not currently depressed, but I still struggle with getting out of bed or being motivated to be physically active, even when I’m in a good mood or mentally amped up to do things. This is something that my doctors and I missed for many years.

It makes me wonder if that is something that happens often, because it seems to me like it would be very easy to miss. For me, it became a vicious cycle, depression treatments were not helpful and so I felt helpless and then I would sink down into depression again. So, I am particularly curious to hear from those of you who have struggled with long term depression.

If you have been diagnosed with depression did your doctor/s rule out physical illnesses other than depression before settling on depression? Is that the norm? Should it be?