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'm sorry they weren't much help for you. 💐 Since I got Covid I get migraine type headaches very frequently, feel exhausted and sort of fluey all the time, and my memory is terrible. I only feel okish when I'm lying down, which isn't much use!

I hate walking in to my appointment and seeing the doctors face light up "oooooh fat and a woman" chance to make up some time just tell her slimming world exists and she should fight through the pain and walk more - that and the counselling really didn't help the cancer to be honest.

Those suggesting that private care is better for women, my friend was at a crossroads of a lumpectomy or mastectomy. Her private consultant was pushing for lumpectomy but she favoured mastectomy, having had issues before. She also wanted to decline reconstructive surgery. The consultant sent her away to think about it more. She went back with the same decision. Again, the consultant wouldn't sign it off.

When pressed on the consultant's reasoning, assuming it might be comparable statistical outcomes, it seemed to be about what her husband might think. She was very clear that it was her body and her decision and her husband would support that (and if he didn't, he could take a hike). Nonetheless, she was hitting a brick wall until she brought her husband in so he could say "it's my wife's decision". In the end she went to a female consultant for a 2nd opinion and then it went ahead as she'd originally requested.

Being Asian and a woman seems to have been behind it, not any actual medical reasons.

I get this too. It’s normally when I’ve done too much. Initially, this was exercising or trying to catch up with life on a good day. Over time, overdoing it can now mean a shower and a school run. Read up about PEM and PENE. What do doctors say?

Yup. My gallstones were diagnosed by a non medic as the GP said I was having a panic attack

Completely agree.

I'm another "anxiety" sufferer that was eventually diagnosed with MS after 20 years of suffering.

Thanks I'll have a look into that. I feel worse the more I do too. The GP just said said drink lots of water and get enough sleep (which I was already doing!).

I am sorry I didn't know that. The only place I would know about, of course, would be my local area. My GP surgery and the hospitals I attend have posters and leaflets everywhere and I have heard public announcements on radio. My husband has regular PSA testing - offered by his GP, so I wasn't aware this wasn't available elsewhere.

@Meadowfinch

It's not just men. I had breast cancer and my female surgeon wouldn't agree to a mastectomy in case I met a men and he didn't like that I had no boobs. I've been single for 30 years.

I heard the stats recently, I think it was that 1500 men die of prostate cancer every year that would be avoided if there was a nationwide screening scheme. Thats more than four every day of the year. Men have disadvantages as well, I think generally we just don't notice unless it's a man we know.

I kept getting told I was depressed when I had an underactive thyroid but I think that's because he was a terrible doctor not because I'm a woman.

Obviously worth getting bloods done too. Good luck and I’m sorry.

Saying 'a female' is just plain wrong. It's like saying 'a blue.' 'Female' is an adjective, it describes a noun. You can say 'female patient' or 'female cat' but you can't say 'a female.' It interests me how 'female' has taken hold as a noun given how bizarre it is to use it that way. It's almost like 'women' is a dirty word or maybe it confers too much respect? It's used most often by incels which should say enough about it to make women avoid it.

Back on the actual topic, my husband had abdominal pain late one night and he asked me to bring him to A and E. I was very reluctant - I knew if I went to A and E with pain I'd be fobbed off and left to wait for hours. He insisted so off we went. Lo and behold, he was brought in to be seen straight away, treated seriously, given loads of tests and eventually gallstones were found and eventually treated. Weirdly about a year later I had similar pain. You guessed it - ignored, left waiting, told it was nothing, no tests. I'm still having issues and nothing has ever been done, over seven years later.

I realised recently that I have an actual fear of seeing doctors. I'm rarely ill but in the relatively few times I've been to the doctor/hospital I've encountered so many dismissive idiots that I just avoid going now. What infuriates me is that if you end up properly ill they tell you off for not going sooner - that is fucking ridiculous given that I'm fobbed off every time I go and I'm not on death's door. Doctors need some serious training about how to deal with women and stop being such dickheads.

I had this several times, but over the phone. They wouldn’t even see me, just kept referring to my last recorded weight, and saying I should try weight loss drugs and anti depressants. Neither helped my cancer either

Yes, it seems to be very common with women and autoimmune disease. 20 years is a long time to get diagnosed. I hope you're doing well these days. 💖I have Crohn's disease myself. Any time I go to the doctor with Crohn's symptoms they end up telling me it's anxiety. Now I tend to manage it myself and only go to the doctor twice a year to get my bloods checked, unless theres an obvious need!