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Post by librarylady on Oct 18, 2019 2:14:22 GMT
...........After a while, the true-life horror stories women tell about their struggles to get reproductive health care start to bleed together. They almost always feature some variation on the same character: the doctor who waves a hand and says, “You’ll be fine,” or “That’s just in your head,” or “Take a Tylenol.” They follow an ominous three-act structure, in which a woman expresses concern about a sexual or reproductive issue to a doctor; the doctor demurs; later, after either an obstacle course of doctor visits or a nightmare scenario coming to life, a physician at last acknowledges her pain was real and present the whole time................
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Post by hennybutton on Oct 18, 2019 2:59:15 GMT
I have lived with those kind of dismissals most of my life.
As a young teen suffering from debilitating cramps, I was told I had a low pain threshold. I was diagnosed with endometriosis at 32.
At 46, I experienced sudden, extreme groin pain. Urgent care doctor told it was a groin pull and to rest two weeks. Every time I tried to resume physical activity, I ended up in pain again. I went to physical therapy, which made it worse. It took 10 months before I got a referral to an orthopedist, who did an x-ray and didn't see anything. I had asked my internist and my gynecologist if I needed an MRI. Nope. Then, I got sent to a physiartrist. She said I didn't need an MRI either. That's 5 doctors and 15 months of pain. Finally my husband went with me to the physiartrist and told her I had to have an MRI. She ordered it, but said she wouldn't show anything. Turned out I had a fractured pubic bone.
I have been so conditioned to minimize my pain, that I had to tell myself 5 hours into my 3rd attack of severe abdominal pain that I wasn't a baby and that the pain was emergency room worthy. They took out my gallbladder the next morning.
So yeah, women's health has a long way to go.
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Post by tracyarts on Oct 18, 2019 4:28:03 GMT
Not women's health as in reproductive organ related, but still...
I started feeling really bad. All of the sudden everything was way more difficult than before. Balancing and walking, concentrating, speaking, holding things, and maintaining focus. I had no energy and no stamina. I felt slow, clumsy, exhausted, distracted, confused, and just not like myself any longer. Everything was jarring. I was hypersensitive to lights, sounds, and smells. I got overwhelmed very easily and couldn't go into crowded places any longer.
I went to my primary care provider and told her that something was very wrong. I didn't know how to explain it better than that. But I had a very strong feeling in my gut that something was very seriously wrong with me and listed all the symptoms.
She blew it off as medication side effects. Said it would go away in time. It didn't. I went back twice and told her no really, something is very, very wrong. She still said it was medication side effects and that I was just having a hard time adjusting to the drug but I was getting good results from it, so I needed to just hang in there.
I ended up having an allergic reaction to the medication at a dose increase and had to stop taking it abruptly, without properly tapering off. This led to serious withdrawal symptoms. One night I had what appeared to be some kind of seizure and my husband took me to the ER. It wasn't a seizure, it was myoclonic jerks, a known withdrawal symptom that can look kind of like a seizure. But the ER doctor noticed some red flag symptoms that pointed towards a neurologic issue while he was examining and evaluating me.
He ordered a catscan, saw something abnormal in my brain and had me transported to a large central hospital for further evaluation.
The "something is very wrong" I had been feeling for months? It was a stroke. Not a mini stroke or a TIA, A full blown ischemic stroke. The MRI showed a significant area of "dead" space in my brain. I am extremely lucky that it didn't land me in a nursing home. Strokes that size are usually debilitating.
Because the primary care provider blew off my symptoms for so long, I did not receive any post stroke therapy in the window of time where it gives the most benefits. I lost my chance to make the best possible recovery.
The only explanation the primary care provider gave for not noticing any red flags? Since I had no risk factors, was only in my mid 40s, and was in reasonably good health, there was no reason to think stroke was even a possibility.
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charliesangel
Shy Member
Pea since October 2003.
Posts: 42
Jul 1, 2014 1:24:57 GMT
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Post by charliesangel on Oct 18, 2019 4:39:48 GMT
I have PCOS, and it took me 8 years to conceive my son. During those early years, I was referred to my first RE after super heavy bleeding/clotting. Like, I couldn’t bend/get in my car/sit down/stand up without literally exploding. Blasting through a super plus tampon AND an overnight pad in about an hour. It got to the point where I was wearing Depends at age 30 because I was constantly bleeding through my clothes. This lasted for over a year! I also complained about being constantly tired, like fall asleep standing up tired. I was continually told I was “too fat” and needed to lose weight (I’m 5’10” and was 190 pounds at the time - overweight, yes, but carried it pretty well on my frame). I finally got a second opinion and found out I had cysts and uterine polyps. A simple D&C and the non-stop bleeding was over. Also, the medication the first doc put me on was depleting my B vitamin levels, causing my tiredness. But I couldn’t believe the first doctor could just continually brush me off.
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Post by tryingtobewise on Oct 18, 2019 5:09:44 GMT
I am overweight so most things are blamed on that.
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Post by Basket1lady on Oct 18, 2019 8:27:20 GMT
We lost Compwalla because of this.
Seven years ago, I went to the ER with severe vertigo and a rapid heartbeat. Was told I was dehydrated and sent home. Went again the next day feeling even worse. Again, you’re dehydrated. Drink more. I insisted something wasn’t right and got a CT scan. I was told the scan was negative and that “women of my age get nervous”, and to follow up with my PCM. He gave me Valium and I slept 23 of the next 24 hours.
The next 2 months were a nightmare as I lost my ability to walk without assistance, developed severe nystagmus, and couldn’t even read anymore. I was finally sent to a neurologist and he did a full review of my chart. It turns out that the initial CT showed a 95% blockage of my sphenoid sinuses, rather than 95% clear as that ER read. The infection had eaten into my right inner ear and caused a mass of scar tissue to form. By then, my immune system was non existent because my body had been fighting the infection for months. It took 8 rounds of antibiotics and 18 months of OT and PT to get me back to 90% normal.
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Post by malibou on Oct 18, 2019 9:33:36 GMT
I lost my best friend to ovarian cancer when we were 24 because she was waved off. She had had a baby and they told her that was why her back hurt. Wrong answer.
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Post by pierkiss on Oct 18, 2019 11:05:10 GMT
Not women's health as in reproductive organ related, but still... I started feeling really bad. All of the sudden everything was way more difficult than before. Balancing and walking, concentrating, speaking, holding things, and maintaining focus. I had no energy and no stamina. I felt slow, clumsy, exhausted, distracted, confused, and just not like myself any longer. Everything was jarring. I was hypersensitive to lights, sounds, and smells. I got overwhelmed very easily and couldn't go into crowded places any longer. I went to my primary care provider and told her that something was very wrong. I didn't know how to explain it better than that. But I had a very strong feeling in my gut that something was very seriously wrong with me and listed all the symptoms. She blew it off as medication side effects. Said it would go away in time. It didn't. I went back twice and told her no really, something is very, very wrong. She still said it was medication side effects and that I was just having a hard time adjusting to the drug but I was getting good results from it, so I needed to just hang in there. I ended up having an allergic reaction to the medication at a dose increase and had to stop taking it abruptly, without properly tapering off. This led to serious withdrawal symptoms. One night I had what appeared to be some kind of seizure and my husband took me to the ER. It wasn't a seizure, it was myoclonic jerks, a known withdrawal symptom that can look kind of like a seizure. But the ER doctor noticed some red flag symptoms that pointed towards a neurologic issue while he was examining and evaluating me. He ordered a catscan, saw something abnormal in my brain and had me transported to a large central hospital for further evaluation. The "something is very wrong" I had been feeling for months? It was a stroke. Not a mini stroke or a TIA, A full blown ischemic stroke. The MRI showed a significant area of "dead" space in my brain. I am extremely lucky that it didn't land me in a nursing home. Strokes that size are usually debilitating. Because the primary care provider blew off my symptoms for so long, I did not receive any post stroke therapy in the window of time where it gives the most benefits. I lost my chance to make the best possible recovery. The only explanation the primary care provider gave for not noticing any red flags? Since I had no risk factors, was only in my mid 40s, and was in reasonably good health, there was no reason to think stroke was even a possibility. I’m so sorry this happened to you. Is this something that is malpractice lawsuit worthy?
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Post by pierkiss on Oct 18, 2019 11:12:11 GMT
I have PCOS, and it took me 8 years to conceive my son. During those early years, I was referred to my first RE after super heavy bleeding/clotting. Like, I couldn’t bend/get in my car/sit down/stand up without literally exploding. Blasting through a super plus tampon AND an overnight pad in about an hour. It got to the point where I was wearing Depends at age 30 because I was constantly bleeding through my clothes. This lasted for over a year! I also complained about being constantly tired, like fall asleep standing up tired. I was continually told I was “too fat” and needed to lose weight (I’m 5’10” and was 190 pounds at the time - overweight, yes, but carried it pretty well on my frame). I finally got a second opinion and found out I had cysts and uterine polyps. A simple D&C and the non-stop bleeding was over. Also, the medication the first doc put me on was depleting my B vitamin levels, causing my tiredness. But I couldn’t believe the first doctor could just continually brush me off. This is me. One year while we were living in FL I just started bleeding. And it never stopped. Some days would be lighter than others, but if I would sleep with my husband it would get heavier. I panicked and went to the dr, expecting tests to be run and eventually expecting to hear that I had fibroids, PCOS, or some form of cancer. Also, my husband and I wanted to have a baby, so I had concerns about that as we had been trying for about a year with nothing happening. The doctor looked at my chart, looked at me, and declared “you are too fat. Lose the weight, and you will stop bleeding”. I thought that is some bullshit right there. Waited a month and then found a different doctor. Who also proceeded to do nothing. Fortunately we moved to the DC area another month later. I found a doctor who specializes in PCOS, and got on her 3 month wait list to see her. And she was worth it. Full work up, diagnoseD with PCOS, and was put on medication that immediately stopped the bleeding. Once that was under control, she gave the green light for fertility meds and we had our first kid. I will forever love that doctor. I cried when we moved away and I couldn’t see her anymore.
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Post by tracyarts on Oct 18, 2019 11:44:29 GMT
No, most of the symptoms I had really were known known side effects of the medication. It was the most obvious explanation. The ER doctor noticed something slightly off with my movement on my left left side when I walked back to the exam room and got settled on the exam chair and that triggered the possibility of a neurologic issue. The catscan machine was right there in the next room and ready to go, so why not pop me in it, it's a very fast, simple, and noninvasive test. The primary care clinic is so busy that nobody really saw me move. They call back patients in groups of 4-6 and tell you which room to go into. It was the gut feeling being blown off that was the biggest problem. But you can't clinically quantify or verify a gut feeling. Not women's health as in reproductive organ related, but still... I started feeling really bad. All of the sudden everything was way more difficult than before. Balancing and walking, concentrating, speaking, holding things, and maintaining focus. I had no energy and no stamina. I felt slow, clumsy, exhausted, distracted, confused, and just not like myself any longer. Everything was jarring. I was hypersensitive to lights, sounds, and smells. I got overwhelmed very easily and couldn't go into crowded places any longer. I went to my primary care provider and told her that something was very wrong. I didn't know how to explain it better than that. But I had a very strong feeling in my gut that something was very seriously wrong with me and listed all the symptoms. She blew it off as medication side effects. Said it would go away in time. It didn't. I went back twice and told her no really, something is very, very wrong. She still said it was medication side effects and that I was just having a hard time adjusting to the drug but I was getting good results from it, so I needed to just hang in there. I ended up having an allergic reaction to the medication at a dose increase and had to stop taking it abruptly, without properly tapering off. This led to serious withdrawal symptoms. One night I had what appeared to be some kind of seizure and my husband took me to the ER. It wasn't a seizure, it was myoclonic jerks, a known withdrawal symptom that can look kind of like a seizure. But the ER doctor noticed some red flag symptoms that pointed towards a neurologic issue while he was examining and evaluating me. He ordered a catscan, saw something abnormal in my brain and had me transported to a large central hospital for further evaluation. The "something is very wrong" I had been feeling for months? It was a stroke. Not a mini stroke or a TIA, A full blown ischemic stroke. The MRI showed a significant area of "dead" space in my brain. I am extremely lucky that it didn't land me in a nursing home. Strokes that size are usually debilitating. Because the primary care provider blew off my symptoms for so long, I did not receive any post stroke therapy in the window of time where it gives the most benefits. I lost my chance to make the best possible recovery. The only explanation the primary care provider gave for not noticing any red flags? Since I had no risk factors, was only in my mid 40s, and was in reasonably good health, there was no reason to think stroke was even a possibility. I’m so sorry this happened to you. Is this something that is malpractice lawsuit worthy?
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charliesangel
Shy Member
Pea since October 2003.
Posts: 42
Jul 1, 2014 1:24:57 GMT
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Post by charliesangel on Oct 18, 2019 13:09:33 GMT
I have PCOS, and it took me 8 years to conceive my son. During those early years, I was referred to my first RE after super heavy bleeding/clotting. Like, I couldn’t bend/get in my car/sit down/stand up without literally exploding. Blasting through a super plus tampon AND an overnight pad in about an hour. It got to the point where I was wearing Depends at age 30 because I was constantly bleeding through my clothes. This lasted for over a year! I also complained about being constantly tired, like fall asleep standing up tired. I was continually told I was “too fat” and needed to lose weight (I’m 5’10” and was 190 pounds at the time - overweight, yes, but carried it pretty well on my frame). I finally got a second opinion and found out I had cysts and uterine polyps. A simple D&C and the non-stop bleeding was over. Also, the medication the first doc put me on was depleting my B vitamin levels, causing my tiredness. But I couldn’t believe the first doctor could just continually brush me off. This is me. One year while we were living in FL I just started bleeding. And it never stopped. Some days would be lighter than others, but if I would sleep with my husband it would get heavier. I panicked and went to the dr, expecting tests to be run and eventually expecting to hear that I had fibroids, PCOS, or some form of cancer. Also, my husband and I wanted to have a baby, so I had concerns about that as we had been trying for about a year with nothing happening. The doctor looked at my chart, looked at me, and declared “you are too fat. Lose the weight, and you will stop bleeding”. I thought that is some bullshit right there. Waited a month and then found a different doctor. Who also proceeded to do nothing. Fortunately we moved to the DC area another month later. I found a doctor who specializes in PCOS, and got on her 3 month wait list to see her. And she was worth it. Full work up, diagnoseD with PCOS, and was put on medication that immediately stopped the bleeding. Once that was under control, she gave the green light for fertility meds and we had our first kid. I will forever love that doctor. I cried when we moved away and I couldn’t see her anymore. [ It’s hard to leave a doc you love. I had to switch because my husband had switched jobs and fertility was covered on his new insurance but only if you used their docs (university job). My second RE had told me he was appalled the first told me that. He said, “you have PCOS. You have to work three times as hard as a normal person to lose the weight,” and commended me for maintaining the same weight without gaining. I cried tears of relief in his office.
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Post by emelle64 on Oct 18, 2019 13:29:50 GMT
As an ovarian cancer survivor I have heard this story over and over and over again. I've met women that went to 10 different doctors before receiving the diagnosis of late stage ovarian cancer. So many women are not taken seriously by their healthcare professionals and yet as women we know our bodies best. I knew something was wrong in my abdomen and although I feel like the first doctor I saw dropped the ball ( she said I probably needed a pelvic ultrasound but didn't order it and instead left it to the gynaecologist who she was referring me to.) I was so lucky that the second one immediately knew something was wrong. Even a couple more months could have made the difference between early stage ovarian cancer and late stage. It is frightening.
Emelle
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,701
Location: Houston, TX
Jun 25, 2014 22:47:49 GMT
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Post by smartypants71 on Oct 18, 2019 13:40:11 GMT
My GYN used to be some kind of PhD food scientist. His wife had IIRC recurrent/chronic UTIs. Her many doctors basically ignored her complaints and just treated her infections as they occurred vs trying to figure out the underlying cause. She was just miserable. So my doctor/her husband went back to school to study medicine to come up with a cure for her and HE DID!!! Isnt that just the most romantic thing? But seriously, there's a real problem when your own medical team won't help you so you are forced to learn medicine for yourself!
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Post by FrozenPea on Oct 18, 2019 15:08:49 GMT
I will never forget that when I was spotting early in my second pregnancy and went to the doctor (male), he told me everything was fine after listening to the heartbeat. As he was leaving and closing the door he stuck his head back in and said, "Oh if you miscarry don't worry it's not your fault," and with that he disappeared! Needless to say I never saw him again.
BTW that baby is now 28 and married 3 years this week.
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Post by jubejubes on Oct 18, 2019 18:51:25 GMT
My story is that I went in for one thing and they found a BIGGER hidden issue. I have been having a nagging kind of pain - intermittent, on my lower left quadrant. This has been going on for at least 15 years. Not enough pain to warrant pain meds and since I've had a full hysterectomy (1993) and a bladder/ureter surgery (1974) and a two c-sections, the doctor has been telling me that it is probably scar tissue, as I do have a lot of scar tissue. I have also been having a lot of issues with bladder infections and also infections on the lining of my bladder over the past decade or so, with no apparent reason for the infections. Doing the cranberry and all other things to reduce infections. I have had testing to see if I have bladder cancer and I do not have this. In 1997, I was supposed to get a bladder lift and that was to be an open incision. That doctor opened me, tried to laser away some scar tissue and then closed the incision. He told me that there was simply too much scar tissue to do the surgery. About 4 weeks ago, I fell off of the kitchen step ladder and my left ribs crashed into the island (small space between cupboards & island placement. Lots of bruising and really hurt. I did go to the ER after a couple of days because the pain was simply too much. Then had an x-ray and a CT-scan. My ribs were not broken & my lungs were fine, HOWEVER, on the CT-scan it showed a problem in my bladder/ureter area. Apparently whatever was done in 1974, isn't working well anymore. The ureter is damaged (?) and requires a repair or a replacement ureter. Now everything is being ramped up, so very quickly. (I live in Ontario -- this is moving far too quickly as usually there are long wait lists to see specialists.) I have been referred to a urology specialist, have had bloodwork, had special urine collection tests & have an appointment with the specialist. I have an appointment for a more defined CT-scan booked and other tests. These tests can be a bit embarrassing, as I do remember a few of them from '74. I am a bit scared as with all of the scar tissue that I have, it will be difficult to get at the site that requires repair. I am also older and live alone.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 2, 2024 22:26:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2019 19:32:15 GMT
I will never forget that when I was spotting early in my second pregnancy and went to the doctor (male), he told me everything was fine after listening to the heartbeat. As he was leaving and closing the door he stuck his head back in and said, "Oh if you miscarry don't worry it's not your fault," and with that he disappeared! Needless to say I never saw him again. BTW that baby is now 28 and married 3 years this week. Oh the guck NO! I would have been reporting him to everybody including the spca, because he wasn’t qualified to treat a slug worm. I am so sorry that happened to you.
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Post by Sanibel on Oct 18, 2019 19:53:02 GMT
I recently had to provide my quarterly urine sample to receive my 3 months of sleep medication. It came back positive for something I had never heard of. They refused to take another sample, despite my drug tests being negative 4 times per year for almost 4 years! They just instantly cut me off. No replacement, nothing.
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used2scrap
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,034
Jan 29, 2016 3:02:55 GMT
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Post by used2scrap on Oct 18, 2019 19:54:13 GMT
Midway through my first pregnancy my ob left, and I got assigned a brand new dr. (Military). When I started leaking fluid she giggled and said I was peeing myself. The last month I kept insisting that the baby was breech. She’d roll her eyes, feel my stomach and say no, there’s the head. At my 40 week apt she was still insisting baby was head down, but finally relented to do an ultrasound. She was literally telling me it was a waste of time and “see there’s the head” as she was scanning baby’s butt, who was spread eagled with a foot on either side of my cervix, and not going to budge with his hip dysplasia. Oh and there was barely any amniotic fluid, because I was in fact NOT peeing myself. Baby was delivered via c section with in the hour, but she was NOT the dr I let anywhere near me.
Dd just went through this recently, with a dr dismissing her as being ”anxious” when in fact she had a recurring bout of mono and totally non functional gallbladder giving her terrible pain and sickness. Thankfully her primary care dr kept listening and doing tests to get to figure it out. Sad she had to fight so much to advocate for herself.
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Post by hop2 on Oct 18, 2019 20:20:37 GMT
Yeah I had that line told to me. I had to switch doctors. And then because the new doctor actually diagnosed me properly they seemed to purposely send the WRONG code in billing the insurance company ( who refused to pay because it was obviously wrong, you can’t have a miscarriage in December with a D&C & a live birth first week of January ) and tried to bill me thousands of dollars for their mistake. Talk about stabbing me in the heart, I’ve lost a baby & your billing me for a live birth rather than an office visit? Of course the bill came right around the original due date. Fuckers. I tried calling to have them fix it but they didn’t they were astoundingly rude, yelled at me about sending me to collections and then billed me again. I had to have a lawyer send them a letter to fix it Immediately and send proof it was fixed so it did not get sent to collections. Which they did since there was plenty of evidence they were wrong and they would have lost. But I shouldn’t have had to do that.
And they expected people to let them deliver babies? Yeah right. No thanks.
Thats only the worst incident that happened to me, Women get brushed aside all the time, it’s like they teach dismissing women in medical school or something because some female doctors do it too. Which actually pusses me off more. I just move on & find another Doctor thankfully I don’t live where doctors are a shortage.
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Post by tryingtobewise on Oct 18, 2019 21:56:48 GMT
Damn these stories make me mad. I'm so sorry for everyone who has had to deal with medical indifference, neglect, stupidity, whatever!
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Post by birukitty on Oct 18, 2019 23:50:53 GMT
First of all I too am so sorry for all of you Peas who have have experienced medical neglect, a doctor (s) who hasn't listened to your concerns, and as a result serious medical complications. I am incensed that in this day and age this continues to happen to we women. Recently I was watching a series on Netflix called "Charite" which is a Geman series about a hospital in Berlin starting in 1888. A part of one line that really stood out to me is when a male doctor says to his friend another male doctor "women are more like children than we men". Seems like in this case we haven't really come that far from 1888, have we?
I don't have any horror stories of doctors ignoring me and a resulting horrible problem. I do remember seeing a multitude of endocrinlogists to try to better my hypothyroid problems in the past. I've learned over the years that if I have a problem with a doctor not listening to me I don't go back and find a new one. This particular one was a female and when I complained how cold I constantly am and how cold my hands are she asked me, "Are they blue? Well, if they aren't blue then you don't really have a problem, do you?" Needless to say, I didn't go back to her!
My saving grace was finding my Integrative Medicine doctor, Doctor W. He's a board certified Internist and also follows alternative strategies. What that means is that he looks at the body as a whole instead of just treating whatver sympton is bothering you when you come in by throwing a perscription at it. He's very kind and understanding and believes treating patients is a two way street. He values his patients intake and will listen to my suggestions too as we both decide how my treatment plan will proceed. With his care my thyroid problems are better not to mention he diagnosed my treatment resistant depression that I'd been suffereing with for 10 years (including 20 shock therapy treatments) none of which helped by giving me a blood test that proved positive for two markers of MTHFR. Once he treated this that depression vanished and has never reoccured.
My advice is going forward to never forget that doctors work for us. We pay the cost to see them-we hire them. If any doctor ever makes you feel unheard, disrespected, etc. walk out or after the appointment remember-you have a choice! Find another doctor as soon as you can if you are able to with your insurance. It is so worth it and it might save your life.
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Post by Horse scrap on Oct 19, 2019 0:22:34 GMT
When I had my first pregnancy, about 8 wks along, I started bleeding. Went to my primary dr (1989), who told me to go home and if I was still bleeding on Monday, come back and he’d “clean me out”......... THAT got me into the OB the next day and I went on to carry for 3 more weeks before I miscarried. I never went back to him for so much as a sore throat. This summer I started having issues w/being peri- menopausal........ she immediately started ordering tests. A short time later, I was having a hysterectomy. It makes me so sad/mad that women’s healthcare is still not taken seriously by some doctors.
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Post by quietlycrafted on Oct 19, 2019 0:24:10 GMT
These stories are all heartbreaking, and I feel for every one of you who has dealt with being ignored and dismissed. I dealt with horrible periods my whole life, and it wasn’t until I had been trying to conceive for a year with no luck at the age of 34, that a doctor was willing to see what was going on and do laparoscopic surgery. Stage 4 endometriosis. Luckily I was able to get it removed (temporarily at least, because it all grew back after having DD).
John Oliver has a great segment on Bias in Medicine. You can search on YouTube and it will come right up. Very eye opening, and a little rage inducing! Women, and especially women of color, have been ignored by doctors for so long, and continue to be ignored. I’m dealing with some other medical issues now, and am running into the same problem. I took DH along with me the last 2 appointments, and am starting to maybe get some help, but why should any woman have to bring a man with them???
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 2, 2024 22:26:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2019 1:50:15 GMT
Let’s talk about medications that really aren’t right for woman. I know a woman who won’t take heart meds because research really isn’t that great on how they work for women, and almost every woman we know who is on these particular meds is nearly bald and still has heart problems.
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weedeepea
Junior Member
Posts: 62
Mar 22, 2018 23:42:06 GMT
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Post by weedeepea on Oct 19, 2019 11:06:31 GMT
I always bad cramps as a teen. Bad like, immobilizing. Fall asleep on the toilet-in retrospect I thin I was passing out from the pain. I consulted with my family doctor. He gave me Anaprox. That did NOTHING. I told him and he sent me to a gyno who said to use a heating pad. At this point, when it happened, I would often be on the bathroom floor, unable to get up.
One day, I was watching a local morning talk show and there was a female ob/gyn on. She was talking about what's normal pain for women to feel during their period. She said cramps. Twinges, aches. If it was so bad you can't stand up straight, something isn't right. She said you should be extremely descriptive about your pain, especially with male doctors. That women tend to play it down because they don't to complain or cause trouble. She said to INSIST they hear you.
It turned out she worked part time at the university health clinic where I was a student. I remember I was shaking when I made the appointment to see her, because I thought someone might actually listen.
She did. She transferred me to her regular practice, and said an ultrasound would be pointless (she thought I had endometriosis), as ultrasounds don't show scar tissue. I don't know, maybe that's not what she said exactly, but she said I needed a laporoscopy. So I went in and she did it. And lo and behold, there was a big tumor on my ovary (which I guess would have shown on the ultrasound, but anyway she found it). They took it out and I waited for results.
Early stage ovarian cancer.
She said I needed to have my ovary and fallopian tube removed on that side, but reassured me I could still have kids. I was 21. She said if I hadn't been diagnosed (which it wasn't looking like was ever going to happen), I probably wouldn't live to see 30.
Two more surgeries, and no spread of cancer, I was ok. No more cramps. Just sort of a hot ache sometimes. Turns out THAT'S what cramps feel like. What I was feeling was exploding cysts that eventually morphed into a raspberry like cluster of tumors.
So you know, thanks family doctor who said here's some anaprox and kind of rolled his eyes when I said it didn't work. That same guy also misdiagnosed me as anorexic when I was 14, and was actually experiencing Diabetic Ketoacidosis because I was developing type 1 diabetes. Which also nearly killed me.
He isn't my doctor anymore.
To be fair, after I had my daughter I went in to the woman who had saved life by listening to me and said I was feeling pretty depressed and even having thoughts of letting myself fall down the stairs because then I would be hospitalized and not have to deal with it. She told me to go on a date with my husband.
I felt utterly betrayed. I had opened up about feelings that were absolutely horrific to me, and she told me to go on a date-night. Didn't ask follow-up questions to see if I was thinking of hurting the baby (never) or myself (which I had just said)....anyway. I guess there are no perfect doctors.
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weedeepea
Junior Member
Posts: 62
Mar 22, 2018 23:42:06 GMT
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Post by weedeepea on Oct 19, 2019 11:15:02 GMT
My advice is going forward to never forget that doctors work for us. We pay the cost to see them-we hire them. If any doctor ever makes you feel unheard, disrespected, etc. walk out or after the appointment remember-you have a choice! Find another doctor as soon as you can if you are able to with your insurance. It is so worth it and it might save your life. Where I live, we don't have a choice about doctors. You are asked to sign a form accepting the person you are seeing as your family doctor and that you cannot "doctor shop", we have a shortage. So you get who you get and they don't want you to change. It would be nearly impossible anyway, because you can't get in to see any family doctors as they are all fully loaded with patients and not taking new ones. Getting a second opinion is nearly impossible. If you have no family doctor and can't find one by calling around (because they're full), you have to put yourself on a government waiting list and they tell you when they find you someone. You don't like them? Too bad.
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Post by fredfreddy44 on Oct 19, 2019 15:58:20 GMT
These stories are all heartbreaking, and I feel for every one of you who has dealt with being ignored and dismissed. I dealt with horrible periods my whole life, and it wasn’t until I had been trying to conceive for a year with no luck at the age of 34, that a doctor was willing to see what was going on and do laparoscopic surgery. Stage 4 endometriosis. Luckily I was able to get it removed (temporarily at least, because it all grew back after having DD). John Oliver has a great segment on Bias in Medicine. You can search on YouTube and it will come right up. Very eye opening, and a little rage inducing! Women, and especially women of color, have been ignored by doctors for so long, and continue to be ignored. I’m dealing with some other medical issues now, and am running into the same problem. I took DH along with me the last 2 appointments, and am starting to maybe get some help, but why should any woman have to bring a man with them??? Ibu-f*ckin-profen!
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ashley
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,400
Jun 17, 2016 12:36:53 GMT
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Post by ashley on Oct 19, 2019 16:07:19 GMT
I’m tired of doctors telling me I’m stressed! NO FUCKING SHIT, genious. But please still help me with my horrible migraines, and awful periods — not as bad as some of yours but losing 1-2 days of plans out of every 24 is not ok. And when I finally asked for additional help for my 1-2 days of insane, suicidal sadness because of hormones (when I was already taking medication and doing the best mental health things I could) she told me to download a meditation app!!! I ruined a relationship because of the 2 crazy days every 3.5 weeks and was in tears and she told me to download an app!!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 2, 2024 22:26:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2019 18:47:30 GMT
The only thing worse than reproductive health concerns are treated is how female diabetics are treated, especially overweight ones.
I take two medications for diabetes. I’m not overweight but I gained 30 pounds in 3 months when I started taking these meds. I did more research only to learn that the KEY side effect of both medications is weight gain. For a diabetic, one of the most devastating things is weight gain! Insane!!
I had one doctor who saw that I was diabetic and said “you know this would all go away if you would just not eat sugar”. He was not only stupidly wrong but also an ass and I walked out.
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zookeeper
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,909
Aug 28, 2014 2:37:56 GMT
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Post by zookeeper on Oct 19, 2019 21:33:31 GMT
My dear SIL had been diagnosed with PCOS and had also been to the doctor for weird skin rashes and calf pain. She was told that none of this was related. She died suddenly in 2010 at the age of 37. She had an undiagnosed blood disorder called lupus anti coagulation disorder. I still get pissed thinking about it. Fucking doctors.
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