Doctors just talk shit about women’s health don’t they

[Lampenme]

95% of diagnosis’s = stress/hormones.

I’ve had 28 day cycles since I was 14 years old. This month I’ve started a new period 13 days after the last one. Heavy, painful, dizzy, nauseous. The best the doctor can do is a head tilt and “are you stressed?” WE’RE ALL FUCKING STRESSED.

Amazing how 20 years of ups and downs have never affected my cycle. What scientific basis do they have to base stress as a cause of your whole hormonal cycle turning upside down? It’s just bullshit isn’t it

One of my best friends got told that constant heavy bleeding and pain was 'just part of being a woman sometimes' and there was no way it was anything serious - diagnosed with uterine cancer at 28, fuck ton of chemo and still died at 29

Yes I agree. Both my teenage dds had period problems. Dd1 was throwing up on the first day of her period and dd2 had acne and periods every 2 weeks. The doctor was just saying it was normal. I remember getting bad period pains as a teenager and the Gp assuming it was a ruse to get on the pill. It was not. I was still a virgin for 2 more years afterwards.
I've had more success with female GPs so I aim for them. (NAMALT of course)

That's awful 14:12EvilHerbivore

@EvilHerbivore

One of my best friends got told that constant heavy bleeding and pain was 'just part of being a woman sometimes' and there was no way it was anything serious - diagnosed with uterine cancer at 28, fuck ton of chemo and still died at 29

This is absolutely heartbreaking and I'm so sorry for your loss.

I get so angry about stuff like this you hear it all the time this is exactly what I mean about not keeping knowledge up to date and treating every case as textbook.

Covid has amplified it too with the inability to now get face to face appointments for anything and fobbed off on calls.

Medicine is such a massive area though. I am a scientist, and have a general knowledge of the different parts of my particular area, but there's no way I could hope to keep up with the latest trends/scientific evidence for all of them. Comparing HR and medicine is comparing apples and pears. Do you expect software developers for example to be fully conversant in all languages? Of course not.

I absolutely agree that menopause knowledge among GPs is shockingly bad, and that needs to change.

I do fear if my daughter develops any difficult-to-diagnose health problems because it does seem that every young woman coming to a medic with something that isn't obvious is written off as anxiety/eating disorder.

I spent 10 years going back and forth to the GP about fertility problems, heavy periods and pain - always requested a female Dr. They brushed me off with stuff about stress and lifestyle and pelvic floor exercises until eventually one referred me to a consultant who diagnosed Edometriosis and recommended total hysterectomy (was in my mid-forties by then and had given up trying for second child).

After the op one of the team came to see me and said it wasn't Edometriosis but issues caused by scarring from C section. She said, and it's seared in my memory, 'If only you'd come sooner'.

@dubyalass

Medicine is such a massive area though. I am a scientist, and have a general knowledge of the different parts of my particular area, but there's no way I could hope to keep up with the latest trends/scientific evidence for all of them. Comparing HR and medicine is comparing apples and pears. Do you expect software developers for example to be fully conversant in all languages? Of course not.

I absolutely agree that menopause knowledge among GPs is shockingly bad, and that needs to change.

Absolutely not of course they are vastly different however you could obviously say this about any job. If you read a pp who has worked in nhs stating consultants throw their research mag subscriptions in the bin then I rest my case. Of course all will not be the same but I'm pretty sure a lot of old school gps think they know best and don't bother to think outside the box in terms of what really could be happening with their patient

@RosesAndHellebores

I was told by a female gp I I saw for a bp check and hrt prescription renewal (hrt was brilliant for me) that if and when I gave up work I would probably cope better with the menopause. I was about 54 and have a professional job. When I responded that as a woman I was entitled to optimal medical care and an excellent quality of life whether I worked or not she was agog but did apologise. Unbelievable.

To be fair, however, op I probably wouldn't have gone to the Dr after one short cycle with yucky symptoms. I'd have kept an eye and followed up if it happened again.

This is horrific. From a female professional too!!

I'm fortunate to have never suffered with any serious illnesses, but I remember as a young woman whenever I went to the GP for anything abdominal related I was always accused of being pregnant.

One time I'd been having sharp pains in my side for a few weeks, I took a pregnancy test before speaking to the GP as I knew this would be the first thing they'd ask. It was obviously negative. Still ended up having this conversation with the GP:

GP: It could be an ectopic pregnancy.
Me: No, I took a precautionary test yesterday and it was negative.
GP: Well, it could still be an ectopic pregnancy. Take another test in a few days.

That was the end of the conversation. It's like they just see a young woman and assume she's reckless and getting accidentally pregnant. Then when you hit 30 it's "well you're getting older now, this is to be expected." And if you have the audacity to be overweight, clearly any medical problems are weight related. No matter your age or stage of life, there's always an excuse for fobbing you off.

Years ago when I had terrible problems with my monthly periods, the worst doctor was a woman who was dismissive, saying "we all go through it, we're women, you aren't any different from the rest". I was shocked.
Fortunately I did some research and found a book that described my condition exactly. I went back, saw a male doctor, explained what I thought the problem was and why. They did some tests and I ended up with a hysterectomy, I'm pleased that doctor listened to me....

@dubyalass

What I find most shocking is a lot will admit they are not trained in xyz surely as a bloody general practitioner they should be on constant cpd and personally keeping up to date with health trends etc! I'm astonished at some old school doctors that get things so so wrong!

Except they are general practitioners, not consultants with a specialism. The GPs at my practice all have a particular area of interest, but it's not fair to expect them to keep up with everything in medicine, it's simply not possible.

Surely they should bloody well be trained in something possessed by 50% of their patients - ie the female reproductive system - and at least be able to properly treat things like period pain and menopause symptoms. They aren't exactly uncommon issues, are they?

I have been to the doctor about those things far more often than I ever have about anything else.

@BuggerBognor that's horrific. I am so sorry that happened.

The only time I experienced reticence was when I severely broke a vertebrae. After 9 days went back for a sick note and asked to be referred to a neurologist to make sure the damage was limited to the bone. I was told that would only be done if pain didn't resolve after 10 weeks. So I asked what the waiting list was and it was 10 weeks. When I remained seated and said in which case that would mean me likely being off work for more than 26 weeks if the pain didn't resolved and did she want to be part of a false economy whereby if I couldn't work I couldn't pay tax and therefore fund the NHS.

She rather sullenly pulled the referral form and said "done" it's not personal.

In fact the apt came through in about 10 days and I saw a wonderful neurologist and had a scan. Neurologists view was due to severity of the wedge kyphoplasty would be a good route to keep the spine stable in coming years due to my age and osteoporosis. This needed to be done for an optimal result in 4 to 5 weeks.

In the event when my scan results cam through they indicated the tip of the vertebrae had shifted to rest on the spinal canal and rods would have been required to get things in shape for the kyphoplasty. The pain in fact did resolve and I didn't proceed but the neurologist recommended I was referred to the best osteoporosis unit in the region and gave excellent advice. I actually only had 9 days off work but I am a tough old bird.

I do think there is a real issue within the NHS about speedy optimal treatment to keep people working and contributing.

When I was 21, I went to the GP to discuss a gynae issue. I rarely visited the GP and felt really nervous to start by discussing something so personal.

Went to the appointment which unluckily ended up being with the head GP. He had 2 junior GPs sitting in the appointment and had a bit of bravado going on. Completely disregarded what I was saying and put his own spin on things.

Ie, I had a physical problem but he kept insisting it was mental (vaginismus). I had to keep explaining that I wanted to have sex but physically couldn’t, and then he replied “yes but subconsciously young women are afraid of getting pregnant and that’s your issue” I insisted on a referral and he insisted on an exam in front of all 3 of them as a “teaching opportunity”....then lectured me for feeling uncomfortable.

Nurse confirmed my issue was physical and he put the referral through. The appointment was long as they were taking notes and discussing me amongst themselves, so essentially he misdiagnosed me for a solid hour!

I get this. The number of times I've been fobbed off. My faith in GPs is very low. If you get a good one, wonderful but there seems to be a lot of poor ones out there. My DH has no issues, funny that. I have difficult written on my notes.

Excema - 'put some vaseline on it', 'are you moisturising?' 🤨 'stress' - OK so I've been stressed for the last 30 years?

Dysmenorrhoea - 'some women just have painful periods' (lying on the floor, being sick, unable to leave the bathroom, in agony is totally normal! 🤨

Spotting mid period - 'hormonal'(I had abnormal cells on cerix).

Headaches - told it was stress to take paracetamol then prescribed some horrible other drug...turns out I had problems with my eye alignment.

How I agree
I knew a young lady who had a breast lump
Went to gp who said it’s a cyst don’t worry about it -
Back and forth she went to the gp prescribed antibiotics and after numerous visits because it was getting bigger the gp told her that it ‘was nothing’ ‘certainly not cancer’ as she was ‘too young’
Months go by the lump was still there so the mother goes with her to the gp to insist on a referral - gp refused, mother refused to leave the surgery practice threatened them with security/ police action
Eventually a referral was made to the hospital

My friend had stage 4 breast cancer which killed her

She was 17

For many years, everything I went to see the GP about, ended up with the fact that I had 3 cycles of IVF being blamed for any illness. Colds, chest infections, neck problems, back problems... well, it’s got to be the fact that you had fertility treatment years ago.

Then I didn’t have a period for months, had a huge one that went on for 3 weeks and felt a bit of a sham going to the female GP, as I thought it was just the menopause. She was excellent, told me I’d done the right thing, as the guidance had changed and you were supposed to see your GP if a bleed occurred after no period for more than 6 months. She organised scans, gynaecologist, and I had a hysteroscopy and.biopsies. Fortunately for me, after 7 weeks of tests, I got the all clear.

I've found they are frequently bad with issues that only affect women. I remember a GP arguing with me because I told him I'd started feeling nauseous a few days after I started taking a particular contraceptive pill. Apparently there was absolutely no way it was the pill causing the nausea, and I needed to keep taking it. After a few weeks of just pushing through I gave up and stopped taking it, the nausea soon stopped. I then got taking to workmates, and the majority of them said they'd had exactly the same reaction to that pill.

34 wks pregnant, went to the GP as it was now too agonising to do arduous physical activity such as walking around the supermarket... I hadn't heard of SPD, and he probably hadn't either. "Pregnancy aches and pains"

Two weeks later it reached the point where I could no longer leave the house independently for the final 3 weeks of pregnancy.

I also had several trips to the GP about painful periods. I was finally put on the pill at 18 the day I collapsed on to the filthy stockroom floor at work and laid there, curled in a sobbing ball until my manager came to look for me half an hour later..

Being female is not an obscure medical condition that is easily mistaken for something more common.

I do think it depends on the Dr's quite a lot, my family doctor where I used to live did seem competent, took you seriously, sometimes over cautious (had to take baby ds to the surgery 4 days in a row before antibiotics were prescribed for a chest infection).

The doctors here seem absolutely awful, I remember going for a mental health related thing and being quizzed about my job prospects erm ok twat.

I had a stroke, phoned 999 within 5 minutes of it happening, dismissed by ambulance people, then A&E people, left to sit in the waiting room brain cells dying. By the time I was actually taken seriously it was too late to give medication.

I have no confidence I will ever be given good treatment by the NHS. None at all.

Yes, I got dismissed about what actually turned out to be a rare skin condition. I was going through a lot of miscarriages around the time and he insisted it was all in my head and I was subconsciously causing it due to stress. Funnily enough it’s a real condition and now I’m finally on medication for it it’s clearing up.

I'll be honest - my GPs & consultant were all brilliant. All NHS. I appreciate how really lucky I am.

"on the GP register, women outnumber men with almost 34 thousand compared to 27 thousand on the same register."

I haven’t had a problem with a GP (touch wood) but had a male paramedic ask me with a sly grin if I could be pregnant, even though I had already told him a man had not been near me for four years. I think I would be certain about a lack of sexual contact for that long!