To think women’s health doesn’t matter?

[NellyandKelly]

I’m in an ongoing battle with my doctors at the moment and I’m exasperated with how little they seem to care about women’s health - not just for me, but for several other women I know.

Basically, I had an ectopic last year that required emergency surgery to remove a tube. Since then I’ve been in agony almost constantly, going on 11 months now. It’s been so bad that I’ve had to take time off work, sometimes I can’t even move. After about 8 visits to the doctors about it, they agreed I needed to see a consultant. I got an appointment around 6 months after being referred and the consultant refused to listen to me - instead she thought it was “probably period pain” and has prescribed me with a pill to “put my ovaries to sleep” for 3 months, to see if that helps. Despite me explaining that it’s not just once a month, it’s constant and worse every two weeks of my cycle.

So I started the tablets at the weekend and all of a sudden it’s so much worse. The pain is worse, I’ve been dizzy and feverish, have awful headaches, and just want to cry every 6 minutes. On Monday I had to leave work early because I’d gone white as a ghost and was covered in a cold sweat.

I spoke to an on-duty doctor yesterday and was basically laughed at for even bothering to call. I was told to either follow what the consultant had said or not bother with that tablets at all... my choice!

I’ve now had to leave work early again as the same thing happened; I felt like I was going to pass out and the pain was making it almost impossible to sit at my desk.

I also know three women who have had over year long battles to be diagnosed with issues to do with their reproductive health, including one who spent two years telling her doctor she was adamant she had endometriosis before they finally realised she had. She lost both her husband and her job in this time, as she was in such a bad way.

Why aren’t these things taken seriously? I’ve had some really shitty comments from doctors and receptionists who seem to think that it’s really not that important that I’m in so much pain I can’t move, that I’m missing countless days of work, and I feel so depressed about it all. AIBU to think they just don’t care about this kind of thing?

Complain to PALS. Insist on a second opinion. YANBU.

I dont have any experience of this but i do agree that female reproductive health is not taken seriously. Even the issue of pain relief in labour and a woman's right to make her own choices about giving birth are often ignored by "experts" who don't believe the pain can be that bad or listen to the woman when she says she thinks something is wring/wants a homebirth etc.

Of course there are plenty of wonderful practitioners but plenty of people (quite often male) who won't take you seriously if your concern is relating to reproductive health.

OP I honestly think they just don't know what to do. I used to have a young female doctor who basically prescribed Canestan any time anyone mentioned female issues. When I had a miscarriage and started crying she basically just stood back looking embarrassed. I was speaking to my friends and they said they were referred to consultants if anything more in-depth than the basics. She was a godsend with everything else though. I'm sorry you're going through all of that

YANBU. It’s very upsetting.

for you. I have had bad ovulation pain to the point where I had to leave work to cry in bed, doctor just said it’s ‘one of those things’ didn’t even offer any stronger painkillers despite me saying I was losing a day at work because of it as I couldn’t stand couldn’t sit even lying down curled in a ball it was still awful.

Could you arrange to have a pelvic MRI scan done privately? You can self-refer to various MRI clinics. I arranged a private MRI through my osteopath as I had an ongoing ache in my throat and I noticed slight swelling on one side externally (that no-one else seemed able to see). My GP was useless, actually sighed and asked "What were you hoping for today?" after I explained my symptoms. I said maybe a blood test would be useful. I was sent away with a leaflet on neck exercises. Anyway the MRI showed swelling of my thyroid on one side. I have so many examples of incompetent GP's from friends and family, it's very depressing.

Can I ask what the medication is that they've given you? Have you spoken to a pharmacist to see if the reaction requires immediate medical attention, or if you're safe to continue with it. Some meds can have bad side effects but settle down quickly, but what you're experiencing is concerning.

For the pain, has anyone suggested adhesions?

When I was about 22 I was diagnosed with PCOS after I had gone to (female) GP about very irregular periods and bleeding between. Based on a blood test she diagnosed me with PCOS, printed some basic info from the Internet, didn't really say a lot, and sent me on my way. I remember going to uni after and sitting there a little stunned at the flippant manner in which she diagnosed me with a lifelong condition that can massively affect fertility amongst other things. I was pretty devastated, it was such a shock as I didn't have any other symptoms except cysts on my ovaries (which do not necessarily mean it's PCOS).

A while later another doctor looked at the same blood test results and said she didn't know why the other GP had got PCOS from them - she couldn't see anything that indicates it! But because I had been 'diagnosed' and I still had the bleeding I just believed I did have PCOS and spent a lot of years thinking I will never have children and I will probably develop some of the other symptoms too.

Long post sorry but after that false diagnosis I agree women's health doesn't seem to be taken seriously enough.

YANBU

It's absolutely disgusting how women are treated - or not treated! - in this country.

Unless you have enough cash to fund private and alternative medicine, you have to make a nuisance about yourself until someone listens.

Be less stoical. Make a huge fuss. You shouldn't be in this state and unfortunately the pressure on the NHS means that they often have to try everything that doesn't cost money first and hope it goes away. They will not take you seriously unless you are literally on the floor crying. And even then you'll probably have to be in A & E.

Tell them you have been passing out. Make them believe your symptoms are even worse than they are. Make up stuff that only a negligent Dr would ignore and hopefully you will be taken seriously. Unfortunately as you say, they often ignore women's issues. If a man was in your level of pain, they wouldn't be fobbed off. You need to play their game. They seem to think women should accept a higher level of pain before being taken seriously so make them believe you are at risk of knocking your self out from passing out.

It's not just how women are treated by doctors, its endemic in the whole system. Viagra, apparently, is brilliant at relieving period pain, but the drug companies didn't bother to get it properly trialled and approved, once they realised they could market it at men. Because women's pain doesn't matter.

That is so shitty OP, I am so sorry.

I would keep demanding investigations from them - make yourself an absolute nuisance.

a woman I know had her gynaecological symptoms dismissed for years by doctors who thought it was just ‘woman’s problems’ until eventually she was given an x-Ray and it was discovered that 6 years previously when she had had fibroids removed, they had left a 20cm long plastic tube sewn up inside her. Just goes to bloody show.

Keep being persistent, complain if necessary, be enough of a pain that they are forced to take you seriously.

Thank you everyone!

Just to add I HAVE been a pain as much as I possibly can. I’ve either been to the GP or spoken to them on the phone once every couple of weeks. I’ve been to A&E in agony too and was sent home without so much as a painkiller.

I just don’t know how much more nuisance I can cause, I’m exhausted from it all.

The tablets are desogestrel for whoever asked! I’ve been told nothing about the reasoning behind it other than it’ll “put my ovaries to sleep” but then surely that’s not a long term solution? My DH and I do want kids one day.

I’ve had one doctor say it’s probably adhesions (she was amazing to be fair) but the consultant said it was unlikely to be after a laparoscopic tube removal so they’re not bothering with that avenue anymore.

As an update and a question for anyone that’s ever taken desogestrel, I’ve just started really really heavily bleeding to the point it’s soaked through my clothes in the space of about 20 minutes - I know because I’d only just been to the toilet and there was no blood, then I felt a kind of gushing. There are lots of clots, too. Sorry, maybe TMI.

I started the tablets at the weekend. Is it normal with them for this to happen? I stupidly threw away the leaflet as I don’t like reading about side effects.

I've read the desogestrel leaflet online. It says you sound contact your doctor if you have unusual heavy vaginal bleeding. So contact your GP or phone NHS 24 and absolutely tell them how shit it is. Passing out and serious pain and now this doesn't sound right at all. Just do it. Don't worry about wasting their time. You aren't.

That's a worrying amount of bleeding in any circumstance.
Phone 111.

Hope you're ok today OP.

I have adhesions. For some reason, some consultants can be funny about them. Deny they exist. Not sure why. Or they don't cause pain.

I had a pelvic access after surgery which ruptured and I was quite ill. they ignored that for ages too. Think they feel women are over dramatic or something. It makes me angry.

So, I have adhesions from surgery and any surgery causes adhesions so you would have them too. They stick organs together and can cause problems with infertility if they are in tubes etc.

Not sure about the bleeding though- I guess irregular periods could be an issue as well. Maybe go back see the good doctor? I am in a group for people (mainly women) with adhesions and nearly all talk about not having it taken seriously. Mine only are because they caused me such severe problems I needed bowel surgery on them.