Women are overmedicated, misdiagnosed and left untreated

[poppyzbrite4]

Interesting article about the marginalisation and dismissal of women in medicine.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women-diagnosis-treatment-heart-disease-b2619289.html#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20a%20US%20study,on%20studies%20done%20on%20males.

I was routinely dismissed by my Dr for two years and sent away with antidepressants. My hair was falling out and she told me that that's what happens in your 40s. I eventually insisted on more investigation and was almost immediately diagnosed.

I'm sure many women have similar experiences.

I have no words left to describe how traumatised I am by the medical profession. I have multiple very significant conditions and have spent significant periods in hospital having developed sepsis which was difficult to treat.
I then and still now am dismissed continuously, gaslit and accused of over worry,stress etc. I had to go private to get the conditions diagnosed.
I realise that many doctors really don't know alot and that is scary.

I realise that many doctors really don't know alot and that is scary.

In the article it goes into detail about how medicine and research into illnesses were only carried out on men, even though they were for women or included women. That women are over medicated because dose is based on men. That for thousands of years, women were seen as small men.

Yanbu although now im in a position where I have been almost killed so many times by drs I can throw that in their face then they tend to listen. I also find it helpful to say things like so your refusing this so can you write in my medical records that you've refused this (they hate that and usually change their mind very quickly) I know this makes me sound like a bitch but it's the only way.

💯 women get over looked and mistreated.

Also - We have to know that doctors only know so much. They can be amazing or wrong. I think we have an nhs mentality in this country where we expect to get fixed/someone else will look after us. Really we need to be as informed as possible about our own health.

100% - ask any women with endometriosis who long it took to be diagnosed. Over 10 years in most cases and fairly certain most were told to stop being dramatic and that everyone has period pain at some stage alone that way.

I'm sure it's the same with many other conditions.

2012 - diagnosed with PCOS after a year of no periods, several trips to the GP and a reluctant referral for an Ultrasound. Official advice from the Dr, 'you're fat, lose weight, no we won't offer any help or medication'.

2014 - finally got pregnant after 3 years of TTC and no help other than 'you're fat, lose weight.....'

At 28 weeks pregnant, was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and put on insulin.

Went to 6 week postnatal and asked about diabetes, was told it was pregnancy specific, no further testing or treatment needed.

2015 - 2024 - multiple trips to the GP, infrequent periods, painful when they happen, can't lose weight, tired.... 'you're fat, lose weight, till you do that we can't investigate further'.

August 2024 - buy myself a freestyle Libre Glucose monitor and within a few hours my phone is sending me 'seek medical advice' messages because my blood sugar levels were very very high. Call 111 to see if they can get me somewhere for a diabetes test, they send me straight to A&E. 5 hours in A&E and I have a big bag of insulin, metformin, testing kit and other assorted paraphernalia and an ongoing referral to the Diabetes clinic. The blood tests show I've had Diabetes for a while. I'm guessing probably since 2014.

So yeah, dismissed and ignored is an accurate description.