I was told was told my stomach ulcer was psychological, how about you?

[Kay00]

In response to this article in the guardian, what conditions have you been told by a doctor or medical professional with psychosomatic or psychological?

For fun-ish 🙃

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/13/women-autoimmune-conditions-psychological-misdiagnosis-cambridge-study

Missed the basic anatomy class at Med School obviously!😫
I hope you are ok

Back rib pain was nerve pain went back 6 weeks later gp.baffled sent for x-ray and bloods all normal ! Pain was so bad I was waking up at 3 am every night and it went in the day
Ask for advise if it continues so mentioned it again on hrt review she told.me.off because appointment was for hrt and told me.to take ibuprofen.
Mentioned it and another few pains to my rhumatologist and had MRI scan it was my axial spondyarthris flaring and GPS had not looked at my health history fucking idiots !!

I developed interstitial cystitis, urethral syndrome and pudendal neuralgia when I was 20. I was told my symptoms were caused by repressed memories of sexual abuse. I had never mentioned or indicated any sexual abuse, there was no evidence it had happened. Many years later I’ve had several different therapists and done years of therapy - still no memories or evidence of sexual abuse. But I’ve worked through lots of instances of being dismissed as a child and young adult, and the lasting anxiety caused by an under-treated bladder problem

I had a breakdown and was suicidal 20 years ago and at one point became non verbal. Referred to a psychiatrist who was actually okay but all appointments had to be booked through an OT. I’ll call him Bill. He used to sit in on all sessions and I was scared of him.
My dad used to take me to my appointments. At one point he realised I was as scared of Bill and asked the doctor if he could come into my appointment with me, and I agreed.
Bill took notes and said I wasn’t non verbal I was refusing to speak and it was just likely due to my father, possible abuse.
You only had to read my notes to know why I’d had a breakdown there was an obvious cause.
The next time my mum went with me and my dad stayed in the car. Of course at this point Bill had never met her she was just sitting next to me in a packed waiting room.
And Bill walked to me and said…
I don’t know why you bother to come here you are wasting everybody’s time, oh and where’s daddy is he busy today? I was 36.
I did speak that day and my mum came in with me. Neither of us told the doctor about Bill but my mum spoke to our GP about it. They had known each other for decades as it was a family practice.
Next week I had a letter saying that the treatment clearly wasn’t helping.
And I started to improve.
Last I heard Bill was running a mental health facility for vulnerable teenagers.

I went to the doctor with extremem fatigue. I coukd barely climb the stairs. I had some barely legal female doctor tell me in a condescending tone its hard being a working mum and blamed everything on depression I had in my notes from years earlier. I paid for a private blood test and came back with some deficiencies which I now supplement for. So many friends have symptoms fobbed off on anxiety or depression. Its a real problem in healthcare

I’ve had hip/pelvic joint pain ever since my first pregnancy (eldest child is 15!) when I had PGP that never quite went away.
Have repeatedly been told there’s nothing they can do about it/ what do I expect/it’s normal to have aches and pains by the time you’re in your 40s.
About a year ago my DH had hip pain for a couple of weeks, did an e consult with the GP and sent for an X ray within a few days (which was fine), also offered an NHS physio appointment. His pain went away on it’s own…..

My friend in university had such bad period pain she was doubled up on the floor in pain for a day every month, missing lectures etc.
The GP told her to have a baby which would “sort her out”.
She was a 19 year old university student who didn’t even have a boyfriend!

I totally agree with this. I had fatigue that completely wiped me out and my hair was falling out. I went to the gp and because I had “anxiety” in my file from one period back in my twenties, it was totally dismissed. It turned out I had a B12 deficiency fhs but I only got a blood test on my fourth visit!

Late DM's doctor clearly thought she was a complete hypochondriac with constipation. He missed her bowel cancer symptoms entirely, the incompetent bastard.

Top tip to everyone here - you can do your own bloods. Don't suffer for years with completely simple resolvable health conditions like iron or B12. A B12 deficiency test is about thirty pounds and sublingual supplements are about ten pounds.

You can commission these tests yourself and they come with a report which is easy to understand. Don't start there, of course, but if you've been struggling to get medical assistance, rethink the strategy. I know it feels wrong because we're all trained to think the NHS is in charge of health, but it's your health. It's your body and it's your life up the shitter because someone has refused to spend £2.68 on a B12 test and called you a liar.

GPs aren't wizards. They just run tests and look things up in the BNF. There's a lot of things you can just treat yourself if you can get the right diagnosis.

Similar story for my poor MIL, her bowel issues were dismissed as constipation and IBS for a full year by the GP. Eventually she pleaded for a scan which found a neuro-endocrine small bowel tumour, it was advanced by the time she saw the gastro team and had spread to her liver, she died a bloody awful death and I will never forgive that GP, I am at the same surgery and refuse to see her.

A GP told my mum her salt levels were low that’s why she felt so poorly. The solution? Eat some crisps. She had stage 4 lung cancer.

A male GP once told me, 'I realise it's very fashionable to have a chronic illness, but just because you've read about something in a magazine, that doesn't mean you have it'. I actually had very severe ulcerative colitis, which very nearly killed me before it was eventually diagnosed. An ENT consultant also told me that my peripheral vestibular dysfunction and chronic vestibular migraine were both 'anxiety'. I have a fabulous gastroenterologist now, and a fabulous neurologist, but I also do now have a severe anxiety disorder, because when you are cripplingly ill, constantly dizzy and quietly bleeding to death internally and they tell you it's anxiety and to go and get on with it, you end up having some pretty horrific experiences and blaming yourself for them.

Very sorry to hear that. I know this is about women but a similar thing happened to my dad over 40 years ago but it was bowel cancer (he was young). His diagnosis was delayed for a stupidly long time. I was a teenager but I HATED that GP so much, saw him around where we lived for many years after.

Whenever I get fobbed off by a GP these days, I tell them that my mum died of cancer because her doctor fobbed her off. There's usually a momentary pause when they are taken aback by this news, and then they make a conscious decision to take me seriously. You can literally see it happening on their face.

What frustrates me the most is that in recent years it has been acknowledged by the medical profession that when a mother's gut instinct tells her there's something amiss with her child, she is usually right.

So why can they not acknowledge that same human instinct when dealing with adult patients who keep telling their doctor they know there's something wrong? The only time they seem to leap into action is when a patient tells them they have a sense of impending doom. What about before it gets to that stage?

Large anterior herniated disc. I was in agony. Foot fall, numbness the whole nine yards. The neurologist I saw fobbed me off - anxiety makes pain feel worse.

Four days later I saw a different consultant who quickly spotted the problem. I was in theatre within 12 hours.

When I was four I had osteomylitis in my sternum, as a result of a fight with my brother. The only reason I didn't die is because my dad, then a young GP, was so insistent that my condition was taken seriously. I spent three weeks in hospital and still have the scar.

In my 40s I fell over at work and landed hard on one knee on large flint chippings. I had bags in both hands and didn't break my fall. My knee swelled massively, was very painful and I found it hard to walk. I also had a bruise from my knee to my ankle. At the community hospital I was told it would be better in six weeks and sent home with no painkillers. I'd told them I was self-employed in a very physical job but was offered no other advice than to take paracetamol. Meanwhile, a few weeks later, a male friend went to the same hospital with a hurty knee. He was signed off work and given major painkillers and he recovered in about a week. I asked my dad to examine my knee and explained that I had on and off clunking in the joint and that it hurt more after a big clunk. He said the damage was likely a torn meniscus and the pain was caused by a fragment of cartilage moving around in the joint and that it would eventually get worn down and be reabsorbed. This is what happened in the end, but it took about ten years. I could have had surgery but couldn't afford the time off for recovery so used a knee support and did my best to get on with life. I've wondered what would have happened if I'd been a man.

They don't seem to realise one simple fact. In many (if not most) cases, it isn't the anxiety or the depression causing the long-term pain or illness symptoms, it is the other way round.

If you've been suffering for a long time and your doctor does sod all to help you, then of course you are going to be worried and miserable. Doh.

I had chronic thrush that eventually was treated by a really intensive course of weekly treatment over a few months. Went to the STI hospital at London Bridge in the end, when I was peeing blood.

i was told by several GPs it was my imagination, as a single treatment wasn’t shifting it.

Exactly this!

Awful isn't it?

I feel the same about this GP. Until last year she was also my own mother's GP. Mum has Alzheimer's and this GP told me to put mum in a care home then I won't have to give her too much thought, no joke they were her exact words.

I moved mum and myself over to a much more understanding surgery and GP.

I was told that all my migraine pain is in my head. No shit. I'm aware that abdominal migraine is a thing but where else would it be? I was offered talking therapy because none of the medication worked. I can't have most because I have asthma

There's a family history of migraine and at least one of the brain conditions I have a lot of people report migraine as a symptom

That was 2014. I'm now on completely different medication and it's controlled for the most part. I actually spoke to a brilliant GP at the start of the year who was really trying to help me instead of just dismissing my pain

My asthma was dismissed as anxiety. I was told it was "normal" to be out of breath walking up stairs

I wasn't told it was psychological but I was told by ENT it's not possible to be hearing impaired because I'm sight impaired. Bizarre. The cause of both of mine are unrelated

A few weeks ago my heart started thumping out of my chest and I was having extreme panic attacks. Fair enough I have suffered from anxiety since I was a child but my trigger has always been the feeling of cortisol shooting through my belly. I never have problems with my heart or breathing anxiety wise and explained this to my GP. He insisted it was all in my head. Luckily I had a blood test due and was diagnosed with a severe vitamin D deficency and an overactive thyroid. The symptoms I was having were classic symptoms and should have been checked as I've had a subclinical overactive thyroid for years. I am now on beta blockers until the thyroid medication kicks in.

Hi everyone,

We're really sorry to hear that so many of you on this thread have had such terrible experiences when seeking healthcare. Thank you for taking the time to share them.

Sadly, we've heard accounts like these all too often on Mumsnet over the years. That's why, earlier this year, we launched our End Medical Misogyny campaign. We'd be very grateful if you could sign our petition, which calls for better training in women's health and sex-specific medicine, both at medical school and through continuing professional development. And, as always, if you have any suggestions for how we could continue to raise the profile of this issue, we'd love to hear from you at [email protected].

Thanks,
MNHQ

I went to the GP because for months I had had a snotty nose just on one side. I was reassured it was just a post nasal drip. A few months later, I was having an MRI scan to see if my MS had progressed. Said scan showed a tumour up my nose causing the snotty nose. It turned out to be olfactory neuroblastoma.