My GP called me 'hysterical' over this

[youcanonlydraftthefuture]

I've been to my GP three times over the course of about 6 weeks.

What's happening is I'm getting these sores in my head (I stumble upon them when I'm doing my hair etc), but they're making me lose my hair.

It started off as a few small patches and now I have loads all over my head. The biggest area of baldness is about the size of a £2 coin.

The first time GP said eczema (I've never had that in my life, always had very soft skin etc). He gave me a cream. I returned two weeks later as I was losing more and more hair. He tried another cream in a huff and said I need to wait 6/8 weeks for it to work.

I went back today quite upset as I'm losing more and more patches and he told me "You are being hysterical. It's just eczema. And there's nothing you can do to treat hair loss anyway so it is what it is".

I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing. This is a GP who was brilliant at getting my DH sorted for an emergency hospital appointment that he needed.

I was not 'hysterical', just feeling upset and explained as much.

I'm really started to feel a bit depressed about it. I'm losing hair and if feels like it isn't being taken seriously

AIBU to say I'm not hysterical?

Wow. I cannot believe you were spoken to like that.

Looks like eczema to me we all have it in our house we all just use baby shampoo now and only wash hair twice a week

Try Polytar shampoo. It stinks but helped me before now.

Complain. What an arse.

OP, do you dye your hair? I had a friend who used black hair dye for years & then developed an allergic reaction that looked very similar to yours. It took a while to be diagnosed.

Do you use dry shampoo? That's been known to cause sores and hair loss

mousemousse - you have just reminded me of when I used too much cheap argan oil and it wouldn't wash out. I used a lot of dry shampoo then shampooed it a few times. I had the itchiest scalp afterwards.

Use a shampoo that contains selenium, it kills fungus.

Its not acceptable for a GP to even use that word. Its a hideously misogynistic term. Equating madness with femaleness. Vomit! Sounds like you ve come across a misogynistic doc. Plenty of them out there unfortunately and the reason for fenale physical pain often being musdiagnosed as stress and/or depression. Complain!
As to the head sores. I cant comment. Im sorry. You need to see a (different) doc

misogynistic GP. Your DH deserved attention. You don't. That's genuinely what the GP thinks. Can you find another?

Interesting that many people mentioned lupus! I had something extremely similar and thought it was quite rare. I was diagnosed after 7 years as a result of scalp symptoms because it was causing too much hair loss. I started anti-malarial medication and the sore patches cleared up and never came back. If it is an autoimmune issue then topical creams do not help much...there are antibodies in the blood causing the symptoms and those need to be treated systemically.

I actually had lots of other symptoms that I never knew were connected, and only realised they were part of lupus when they disappeared with medication as well. These were chilblains on my fingers, aching knees and legs, mouth corner ulcers (angular cheilitis), fatigue, frequent headaches and IBS type symptoms. Might be worth looking into if you have other health issues as well! Those crept up so slowly over the years that I put them down to stress or hormones but turns out they were all related.

I will see another GP. I was just worried I'd look 'rude' visiting someone else and he might find out

Ruder than a misogynist telling you are hysterical?

Is he actually a qualifed dermatology consultant? Even if so - you obviously need a second opinion, prefereably from someone who can assess you without assuming you are a hysterical female.

See another GP and ask if they can refer you to an actual dermatologist somewhere else? Dermatology is one of this things which is not taken seriously in the UK until your skin falls off.

You're not hysterical. Your doctor is crap at their job.

Agree with previous poster looks like psoriasis.

I don’t know what it is OP but it looks so sore. YANBU and no good doctor would call a patient hysterical. He sounds awful. I’ve had hair loss (no sores though) and I was so depressed and lost any confidence. My Gp took bloods and referred me to a dermatologist who put me on ferrous fumerate and vit D. It gradually got much better. You deserve to be taken seriously and treated properly and respectfully.

I’d see another GP, ask for a referral and make a complaint to the practice manager about that very inappropriate, patronising and highly unpleasant comment.

Shocking to call you hysterical. Bet he wouldn't call a distressed man hysterical. Get a second opinion - this smacks of misogyny. Your complaint is serious and distressing - is there a female doctor in the practice you can see?.

See another gp

See a female GP or attend the walk in minor injuries unit.

Complain about the GP to PALS or the Practice Manager. Doctors get diagnosis wrong all the time, they killed my Dad by missing his cancer for 2 years with the wrong diagnosis and telling him he could expect water works troubles at his age!!! Then they lost his records and failed to tell him he had stage 4 cancer for 4 months after the consultant had written to the GP asking him to break bad news.

Your scalp looks like my psoriasis, but no one can diagnose anything remotely. You could send photographs of your condition to an online doctor (I did that when I had a tumour removed from my hand that the GP flatly refused to refer me to a surgeon for...I used the online opinion to get the referral but it took 4 GP appointments with 4 different doctors to open the consultant door and get it removed).

See a private dermatologist or ask for a hospital referral to the NHS. In most regions, the wait list for non-malignant skin conditions is not good and the GP is duty bound to try various treatments before a referral will be accepted. So, find a GP with an interest in skin, and ask for some blood tests to rule out hormone or metabolic reasons.
Good luck!

Pay for a one off private consultation with a dermo OP and get your mind put at rest.

I had the sister to your GPs 'hysterical' response. Instead of hysterical when I complained about persistently painful, gritty and light averse eyes and a facial rash, I got told 'you're stressed'. Stressed is the new code name for hysterical or over-wrought and I find it is used a hell of a lot by consultants and GPs to female patients.

Anyway I bit the bullet and went to a dermatologist. Was worth every penny. Diagnosed with occular rosacea. Confirmed by ophthalmologist.

I'm black, so if I depended solely on the GP it's likely the only thing I would have been diagnosed with is hysteria (stress) as it's rare in people of colour.

I can understand why you found this hurtful OP. I suppose from the GP's perspective they're dealing with such harrowing situations - people losing limbs because of flesh eating diseases for example. That's not to say he should be minimising your distress! It's probably worth you seeking out a private dermatologist. They'll be very thorough and you'll be seen almost immediately

Did you wait the 6-8 weeks as advised for the treatment to work? I would follow his instructions, if a medication takes a specific amount of time to work then theres no point going back after a couple of weeks when it hasn't yet worked. I do however understand that its distressing. I hope you get some answers.

Omg my son used to get that years ago when he was small they eventually stopped and hair grew back someone said they were ringworm ?! It was years ago so can't recall details but that photo looks like them

Like this ringworm

"hysteria" relates to the womb - therefore a) he was being sexist - a reason to complain and b) it has nothing to do with your hair so he was being incompetent - another reason to complain. I'd ask for a second opinion and not leave until I had a referral to a dermatologist at a different hospital to the one he works at....

Can't believe PP suggestion OP might have been 'hysterical'. That's not a word any health professional should use! "I can see you're upset," is one thing. 'Hysterical' is both misogynist and disparaging as well as meaningless, deriving from the ancient belief that the uterus wandered about inside women's bodies, making them mentally unstable.

GP might as well have said OP is a witch, really. OP is owed an apology.