Why are females not believed in the medical field

[Onionbhajisandwich]

I’ve honestly lost count of the times that I’ve been told I have anxiety in place of a diagnosis at one point I was referred to a psychologist for stage 4 endometriosis and ulcerative colitis (which I turned down).

So now, I have a range an odd symptoms, pins and needles, numbness, pain, absent reflexes in my legs and various other things. My mum has MS. My GP referred me and the neurologist told me that he would do an MRI scan of if I wanted one but he’s sure it’s anxiety due to my family history. Turns out it’s not anxiety, I’ve got bulging discs in my lower neck, excess fluid, some kind of issue with the bone marrow and a lesion which needs a CT to look at in more detail.

I don’t have anxiety - I’m actually quite relaxed about it - I just want to know what I’m dealing with and what I can do to help myself!!

Why can’t they just believe what we are telling them???!!!

I mean the answer likely spans back centuries to when women were considered hysterical due to their wombs wandering around their bodies and their periods being the expulsion of excess humours.

A mixture of lack of understanding and study of female bodies (only just really taking off in the last half century), not having treatment options for many issues that we do know of, some hormonal issues actually presenting as anxiety, women being more likely to actually have anxiety and of course the idea that women make a hullabaloo about nothing (misogyny).

I practically had to beg my gp for a blood test, once I finally got past the receptionist triage system, which don’t even get me started on.

when I finally got my blood taken, I received a phone call 1.5 hours later to say I needed to go into hospital as an emergency and if I didn’t have someone else to drive me they would send a blue light ambulance.

Maybe some things are hard to diagnose, but I had menstrual bleeding for three months, was short of breath, dizzy and exhausted constantly and my pulse was over 110. I’d had a transfusion started less than 4 hours after the blood test I’d been asking for for three weeks.

it was hardly rocket science!

They even get at the scarce stocks of HRT required by biological women faster, too.

It was fine until the ‘adjective as noun’ became so intricately woven identified with manosphere language.
But long before the internet, there was always a type of man who would think in terms of ‘men’ and ‘females’.
It's a very tainted term now, and when we as women use it ourselves we legitimise that vast misogyny.
Bottom line now is that it’s a very useful shibboleth, revealing in one word about nine or ten big red flags concerning the bloke who utters it.

It is awful OP. I developed a number of sudden health issues and was told it was anxiety. When I said that my life was in a good place, apart from wanting to address why I’d gone from fit and healthy to falling apart, I was told I may not realise it was anxiety. It’s long covid. When I had to give up work, I was told that lots of people felt anxious about working after covid! I got long covid in 2022 - I’d already been bloody working, was fully aware that covid was around and that lockdown had finished a year earlier. I was at an appointment with a specialist looking at a scan result being told this, after I’d said how symptoms were affecting me. Although I’ve since been diagnosed with POTS amongst other things, there’s no correction on anxiety. I went for a scan and was asked several times if I have periods (I was on a period in my scan ffs). I was then asked if they were regular as though in disbelief. Despite me saying yes (ridiculous flooding since covid infection), the letter back to GP says I don’t have regular periods. Having not really used healthcare outside of pregnancies before, it’s shocking how minimising healthcare professionals can be, even when looking at clear results.

I'm sorry you had to deal with that. 💐 I think I may have Long Covid as well as I have weird symptoms that started when I had Covid at the beginning of the year, but have been dismissed by my GP. If you don't mind me asking how were you able to get diagnosed in the end and were you able to get any help?

That is awful. I would be tempted to get a formal complaint in and even a lawyer? X

I‘m so interested in why this is. It’s also female doctors and nurses that don’t take women seriously either. Is there reasoning behind it do you think? Is there a culture of ‘women are just hysterical’ that you see?

It's so awful. You can go years trying to get a diagnosis. Nobody bothers to tell you things. You get sicker and sicker unless you can go private. They'd save so much money if they just helped you the first time of asking.

What I’ve found frustrating from the nhs is being patronised so bloody often. Everything from the maternity unit and getting woken up with the mantra ‘you’re pregnant not ill!’ to nurses asking if I was enjoying putting my feet up after having cancer. Worst of all it’s mainly been women. I don’t understand it at all.

I dont disagree wirh this but unfortunately, the word woman has been co-opted by people with male physiology. Therefore in a medical context, where physiology is crucial to diagnosis and treatment, I would use the words female and male instead of man and woman.. With the latter terms there is otherwise room for a lot of confusion nowadays

My long-term issues with chronic thrush were diagnosed as "it's all in your head" (yes, even when the thrush grew in culture... amazing, the power of my head) and I was sent to a sex therapist... which angrily sent me back to the GP and explained to him that I had no mental issues with sex, I simply got a thrush infection which was painful and hard to treat every time I had sex, so of course I did not want to have sex until the primary issue was solved.

I'm a health professional myself with a PhD. I've never suffered from anxiety or depression. I still had to battle the "it's all in your head" shit.

(screwed up courage) saw male GP and told him sex was painful. He looked embarrassed and sent me away.
A few years later saw female GP and told her sex was painful. (And had been for three years) Referred straight away to a male gyno. Told nothing was physically wrong with me and to go away.
A few years later read about my problem in a daily Mail article. Was physical. Cleared up in under six weeks. FFS

I have a collection of similar stories of ignored pain. I now have a pain scale on my phone to try to communicate with healthcare professionals and always get second opinions. I do not trust doctors private or NHS and advocate for myself more strongly.

Fair enough, but Im not conceding ‘woman’ to any sub-section of the patriarchy just because they want it too.
I think it’s worth holding out on that major issue, and more defiantly, too! ✊🏻

I know in uk medics are to be bowed down to. That we have to do the continual thank you routine to curry medical favour and care. If the condition doesn’t rigidly meet a list of criteria they have nothing for you. They don’t really like when you question them. Maybe women do that more too. Endometriosis is also very poorly understood.

Happens to men, I've been in with DH when Consultant was telling him he didn't feel what he was feeling. If they had diagnosed his "slipped disc" correctly when he was previously in pain he probably wouldn't have had the accident that left him in excruciating pain for the next 35 years, meant the end of his career and left him unable to lift the baby we were expecting at the time. Oh and then there was the humiliating moment of a midwife shouting at him as I was carrying my own bag in when jn labour. He was struggling to walk and was shouted at in a corridor.

You should be listened to as should everyone regardless of sex race or anything else.

It’s terrible. I had a consultant appointment last week. He rushed me out of the room, I had a whole list of questions to ask and I managed to ask one. Conversely I have another health issue and the consultant for that couldn’t be more different, both NHS.

That is bad but my experience was very different. Filled an online form to GP to say I'd had some chest pains overnight and could I see someone. Few minutes later I got a phone call, GP asked a few questions and asked if I had anyone with me who could drive me to hospital otherwise an ambulance would be called.

Made our way to hospital, they were expecting me and young woman, not sure if her title , was setting up ECG for me. Taken straight to cubicles where a cardiac nurse quickly arrived to say doctor would soon be with me and I would almost certainly be admitted to cardiac ward and she'd see me up there. I laughed and said felt fine now. She said we'd see.

Doctor arrived and yes I was to go to cardiac ward but first I was connected up to a mobile defibrillator in case "something" happened while I was on my way to the ward. Excellent few days care, trip to cath lab and safely home the following week. Don't think they could have done anymore for a man.

Sometimes we have good experiences on a random basis not always due to sex.

A friend of my husband's has died of cancer, prostate cancer but by the time he had symptoms it was too late. If only men had the prostate equivalent of cervical smears or mammograms.

DH is prone to unexpected fainting. This is about 2-3 times per year at most, usually he's a bit dehydrated at the time. He is otherwise super fit, active and healthy.
He finally went to GP (after decades of this, so no emergency) and was referred for so many scans and tests, all of which happened within a couple of weeks; MRIs etc. It was astounding. But then he's a well spoken, self-assured, intelligent man, so is believed and waved through with a smile. No one accuses him of anxiety. Do men ever get dismissed as "anxious"?

He was also seen same day by our dentist when he had a toothache... the week before I'd phoned in agony and was given an appointment two weeks later 🙄

It's institutionalised sexism.

Go and sit in your local outpatient department. Listen to the patients being called to their apppintments. It is usually:
Mr John Smith
Mr Glenn Brown
Tracey Jones
Brenda White

It's subtle yet the fact that men are afforded the courtesy of their titles and women aren't speaks volumes. The excuse is that women use different titles: Miss, Mrs, Ms. That's a nonsense because so do men (and women) Dr, Professor, Reverend, Captain, Colonel, etc).

The simple thing to do would be for NHS staff to drop titles for men. But no.

If it's challenged the staff perform the carefully curated NHS eyeroll. I think they do a module on it.

Sexism and misogyny is why women aren’t believed.

Absolutely. It happened to me too a few times. Before was diagnosed with a decent autoimmune disease, I went to the doctor a good few times. They didn't know the answer so they started blaming me basically and said it was anxiety. It came to the stage that I thought I was going mad (my mum said I seemed anxious too) and kept thinking about what could I be anxious about deep down. Turned out it was nothing to do with anxiety and I was on antidepressants for no reason. Or just to stop me coming back about it basically or to make me happier or something. I wonder is it only women this happens to

"A friend of my husband's has died of cancer, prostate cancer but by the time he had symptoms it was too late. If only men had the prostate equivalent of cervical smears or mammograms".

That is very sad, but prostate screening is widely advertised everywhere and has been freely available for decades. The challenge is getting men to take it up.

I’m sorry to hear that. I was referred to a long covid clinic. There have been a lot of referrals from it, but not much actual help. Appointments are once to twice a year and mostly following up what results have/haven’t been sent back to them. They did some tests and diagnosed POTS for example, spoke about pacing, gave some breathing exercises. There are long waits though. Some things e.g. body can no longer process vitamins and minerals properly but because I’m not fainting regularly, I can’t get an iron infusion. I had a fair amount of money saved, so quicker access to know what was wrong may have meant I could have afforded some treatments to take the edge off. Now I am skint. Some clinics will be more adventurous in trying different drugs that may help. Mine told me to up my water and salt intake! What are your symptoms?

There is no nationwide scheme for prostate testing like cervical smears or mammograms. I believe some authorities offer it, mine definitely doesn't and locally there is a campaign about it. You can ask your GP for it after 50 but it is up to the GP if you get it and if you have no symptoms the answer is likely to be no again where I live, unlike many on here I can't speak for every health authority in the country.. If you can't see the difference we'll you can't see the difference.