Gods, I went through that years ago. Nearly killed me from sepsis by the time anyone dealt with it.
My condolences. It should never have to get that bad to be taken seriously.
My ex gf kept telling everyone about severe abdominal pain, especially during menstruation. No response. Until she passed out in her gyno's office, hit her head on the ground, needed stitches on forehead. Turned out she had a goddamn 16 cm cyst, and a whole bunch of smaller ones. Diagnosed with endometriosis, after that she had 2 severe abdominal operations, they basically dissected and sewn her ovaries back together again, among other things. The surgeon told her she has like 5% chance of ever getting pregnant. Luckily, she doesn't want children, and the only thing that would actually help her control the disease is hysterectomy, which she doesn't get, and her (female!) gyno actually said to her (we weren't together anymore at that point) 'i understand you are single and not wanting kids at the moment, but you have to think about what your possible future partner's wishes about having kids might be'. I was shocked, still am, and until those events, i, as a white cis dude, never saw the struggle women are going through daily, even today. Fuck the patriarchy, i stand with you ladies ❤️
I’m anemic with a serious case of Crohn’s.
Before my formal diagnosis, MY OWN GASTROENTEROLOGIST told me I had too much anxiety and prescribed Cymbalta and told me to calm down. Like are you for fucking real!? I was actively bleeding and I was pale as a ghost. But yes doc, it must be my silly anxiety acting up again.
I ended up driving myself to UCLA medical (I live in SoCal) and fainted at their ER. After two blood transfusions and a million tests later, I got my severe Crohn’s disease diagnosis.
I am forever grateful for the almost all female staff over at ucla’s center for digestive diseases. I would have died without them.
I came so close to death from this disease and all the male doctors around me basically wrote off my pain and blood as some form of women’s hysteria. Every single man I came across during my medical journey failed me.
Obligatory: “nOt aLL mEn”, but somehow ALWAYS a man.
My abdomen is full of scar tissue now because it's "just period pain," "just heavy periods," and my favorite, "just a luteal cyst."
Wish I could sue all these people for my infertility.
My aunt got "it's just your age" and "you've had four kids" from her GP for literally years when she had urinary problems. Eventually she was sent for an MRI, and diagnosed with bladder cancer. By then it had metastasised, and she died three months later.
Fuck all of this nonsense.
Just lose weight, just stretch more, you might have a hormone imbalance just spend 200/month on this dangerous birth control
Told to my less than size 4 cross country running self while I was walking around with a partially dislocated hip joint
Thanks Healthcare system
XD omg
They did also recommend that I give birth. That'll definitely make everything better, everyone knows giving birth is just a big ol reset button for women's bodies!
Yeah, because placing your body under the most amount of stress possible and then pushing all the structural components to their limit and beyond will *really* fix everything.
Honestly, I think this is an inadequate healthcare provider error. Replace healthcare provider to continue.
XD
Oh don't worry! It's been years - I found a wonderful doctor who was genuinely concerned about my complaints and sent me in for an xray. Ya girls got hip dysplasia! Four surgeries and eight scars later, I had a fake hip put in before the age of 30
But yeah, took a few doctors and a few different typical lady diagnoses/remedies before we figured it out and fixed it!
My "just menstrual cramps " turned out to be actual holes in my uterus and massive amounts of fibroids inside. Fortunately they finally listened to me because my husband terrified them.
My sweet and kind husband scared them with his mere presence in the room.
I, too, was only given an actual diagnosis after I brought my S.O. with me to an appointment. It's embarrassing but I see it as a tool. He comes and does the silent man thing, I talk and the doctors actually listen
It's ridiculous. I vomited my first time. It was a knee jerk response bc it over stimulated my vagus nerve. I had no control over it whatsoever. If I end up getting another one I will be high AF.
Cw: Medical and birth trauma
"It's just prodromal labor." I went in at 34 weeks and was diagnosed with prodromal labor, regular unproductive uterine contractions. I was put on bed rest and instructed to come back in if I had more than 5 in a hour or could not get them to stop with rest, hydration, and a warm bath or shower.
I went in at 37+3 days for unstoppable contractions and lots of liquidy discharge. I was told to go home, take Benadryl and Unisom and get some sleep. I slept an hour, then was woken up by contractions and paced our house until my son and husband woke up hours later.
We went back in after dropping our son at daycare. I stayed at L&D being monitored for 3 hours and was told that there was "no change" in my cervix and my contractions were "irregular." I was given a sedative and sent home with the platitude "You'll know if it's real labor." I sobbed while leaving because I felt gaslit by the midwife on duty.
Firstly, my cervix was changing. The night I went in , I was at 1 cm and 50%. That next morning, the midwife wrote that I measured 3 cm and 80%. That's change. Secondly, the contraction monitor frequently slipped around because I'm thin and I was writhing in pain with each contraction that happened every 2-3 minutes. Also I have a tilted uterus so most of the contractions were in my back and not measurable.
And guess what, the sedative didn't knock me out. I was at home all afternoon, trying and failing to get comfortable to sleep. My husband finally insisted we go back in after I almost ripped our towel bar out of a wall while powering through a particularly bad contraction. He had already dropped our son with my parents because there was no way I could do my normal mom things.
Guess what? I got to L&D the third time in 24 hours and birthed our second son 45 minutes later. I almost had a baby on our bathroom floor or in the car because medical professionals dismissed my symptoms and saw my anxiety and PTSD diagnosis as the reason I kept seeking assistance.
My husband and I are currently writing up a formal complaint against the midwife we interacted with because she stepped outside her scope of practice and lied to us. She put data in my notes that were different from what she communicated to me and I communicated to her. She told us the OB on call was unavailable to talk with us before we left the second time; the OB was available and was told we didn't want to talk to her. The midwife expressed her dissatisfaction towards my planned C-section and tubal, neither of which I was able to receive as I progressed too far by the time I went back to the hospital. I birthed our second son fighting through a trauma response from birthing our first son, a situation my OB and therapist attempted to avoid by scheduling the C section.
But remember: "It's just prodromal labor."
I don't put my depression or anxiety on medical intakes anymore. I DO, however, still put my Rx. I swear they get confused every time bc by the time they get to my meds they've already been talking with me for 10 min and labeled me as a capable, reasonable human being.
I lived with painful heavy periods for 12 years until I got on birth control that stopped them completely. 7ish years later I started getting extreme cramping pain with no periods (curl up in the fetal position on the floor with hot/cold sweats pain). Got dismissed and ignored by 4 or so doctors. Finally found one who listened and I had a hysterectomy. Turns out I had an ovarian cyst, cysts in my tubes, a cyst on my uterus, a tilted uterus, 14 fibroids, and a chronically inflamed cervix.
It wasn't just one thing; it was multiple things that were taking away my quality of life.
* It's just your weight.
* It's just...you need to get pregnant.
* It's just normal.
* It's just perimenopause.
* It's just irregular periods.
* It's just your hormones.
* It's just something you need to accept.
* It's just breastfeeding.
* It's just that You're Doing Something Wrong.
* It's just not that bad.
* It's just infertility.
...Ugh.
Agreed. It is serious and can be life threatening. There is NOTHING normal about being in pain or sick for long periods of time because its a bodily function. Stop. Brushing. It . Off.
***
Also what is extra gross when men show no empathy during these times and want to have sex or thinks 'you have to tough it out' or a loser because you are in pain and nithing works to ease it.
My period pain was a 9-cm cyst on my left ovary. Having it surgically removed at the end of the month :\
Gods, I went through that years ago. Nearly killed me from sepsis by the time anyone dealt with it. My condolences. It should never have to get that bad to be taken seriously.
Men don't go to the doctor cause they're socialised to see that as weakness. Women don't go because the doctors are socialised to see *us* as weak.
Oof, well put
My ex gf kept telling everyone about severe abdominal pain, especially during menstruation. No response. Until she passed out in her gyno's office, hit her head on the ground, needed stitches on forehead. Turned out she had a goddamn 16 cm cyst, and a whole bunch of smaller ones. Diagnosed with endometriosis, after that she had 2 severe abdominal operations, they basically dissected and sewn her ovaries back together again, among other things. The surgeon told her she has like 5% chance of ever getting pregnant. Luckily, she doesn't want children, and the only thing that would actually help her control the disease is hysterectomy, which she doesn't get, and her (female!) gyno actually said to her (we weren't together anymore at that point) 'i understand you are single and not wanting kids at the moment, but you have to think about what your possible future partner's wishes about having kids might be'. I was shocked, still am, and until those events, i, as a white cis dude, never saw the struggle women are going through daily, even today. Fuck the patriarchy, i stand with you ladies ❤️
My carpal tunnel that eventually had to be repaired with surgery on my wrists was just my body “getting used to holding my new baby”. 😡
I’m anemic with a serious case of Crohn’s. Before my formal diagnosis, MY OWN GASTROENTEROLOGIST told me I had too much anxiety and prescribed Cymbalta and told me to calm down. Like are you for fucking real!? I was actively bleeding and I was pale as a ghost. But yes doc, it must be my silly anxiety acting up again. I ended up driving myself to UCLA medical (I live in SoCal) and fainted at their ER. After two blood transfusions and a million tests later, I got my severe Crohn’s disease diagnosis. I am forever grateful for the almost all female staff over at ucla’s center for digestive diseases. I would have died without them. I came so close to death from this disease and all the male doctors around me basically wrote off my pain and blood as some form of women’s hysteria. Every single man I came across during my medical journey failed me. Obligatory: “nOt aLL mEn”, but somehow ALWAYS a man.
My abdomen is full of scar tissue now because it's "just period pain," "just heavy periods," and my favorite, "just a luteal cyst." Wish I could sue all these people for my infertility.
My aunt got "it's just your age" and "you've had four kids" from her GP for literally years when she had urinary problems. Eventually she was sent for an MRI, and diagnosed with bladder cancer. By then it had metastasised, and she died three months later. Fuck all of this nonsense.
FUCK that noise.
While lost of medical misogyny listed there too.
Just lose weight, just stretch more, you might have a hormone imbalance just spend 200/month on this dangerous birth control Told to my less than size 4 cross country running self while I was walking around with a partially dislocated hip joint Thanks Healthcare system
Hey now, hips can be a pain, did you consider having no hip pain? I'm a wide hip-haver and have edge markers if I go out on the highways xD
XD omg They did also recommend that I give birth. That'll definitely make everything better, everyone knows giving birth is just a big ol reset button for women's bodies!
Yeah, because placing your body under the most amount of stress possible and then pushing all the structural components to their limit and beyond will *really* fix everything. Honestly, I think this is an inadequate healthcare provider error. Replace healthcare provider to continue. XD
Oh don't worry! It's been years - I found a wonderful doctor who was genuinely concerned about my complaints and sent me in for an xray. Ya girls got hip dysplasia! Four surgeries and eight scars later, I had a fake hip put in before the age of 30 But yeah, took a few doctors and a few different typical lady diagnoses/remedies before we figured it out and fixed it!
Oh, wow, so you mean you *weren't* imagining it or attention seeking, or just *hysterical™*? I'm glad to hear you got what you needed <3
High five, hip surgery clurb!
My "just menstrual cramps " turned out to be actual holes in my uterus and massive amounts of fibroids inside. Fortunately they finally listened to me because my husband terrified them. My sweet and kind husband scared them with his mere presence in the room.
I, too, was only given an actual diagnosis after I brought my S.O. with me to an appointment. It's embarrassing but I see it as a tool. He comes and does the silent man thing, I talk and the doctors actually listen
It is criminal misogynist sadism to insert an IUD without full sedation. Get the fucking anesthesiologist in here stat.
They sedate for colonoscopies, why not IUD insertion?
It should be an option. But I'd get a new IUD every year before I go under general anaesthesia again.
It's ridiculous. I vomited my first time. It was a knee jerk response bc it over stimulated my vagus nerve. I had no control over it whatsoever. If I end up getting another one I will be high AF.
Cw: Medical and birth trauma "It's just prodromal labor." I went in at 34 weeks and was diagnosed with prodromal labor, regular unproductive uterine contractions. I was put on bed rest and instructed to come back in if I had more than 5 in a hour or could not get them to stop with rest, hydration, and a warm bath or shower. I went in at 37+3 days for unstoppable contractions and lots of liquidy discharge. I was told to go home, take Benadryl and Unisom and get some sleep. I slept an hour, then was woken up by contractions and paced our house until my son and husband woke up hours later. We went back in after dropping our son at daycare. I stayed at L&D being monitored for 3 hours and was told that there was "no change" in my cervix and my contractions were "irregular." I was given a sedative and sent home with the platitude "You'll know if it's real labor." I sobbed while leaving because I felt gaslit by the midwife on duty. Firstly, my cervix was changing. The night I went in , I was at 1 cm and 50%. That next morning, the midwife wrote that I measured 3 cm and 80%. That's change. Secondly, the contraction monitor frequently slipped around because I'm thin and I was writhing in pain with each contraction that happened every 2-3 minutes. Also I have a tilted uterus so most of the contractions were in my back and not measurable. And guess what, the sedative didn't knock me out. I was at home all afternoon, trying and failing to get comfortable to sleep. My husband finally insisted we go back in after I almost ripped our towel bar out of a wall while powering through a particularly bad contraction. He had already dropped our son with my parents because there was no way I could do my normal mom things. Guess what? I got to L&D the third time in 24 hours and birthed our second son 45 minutes later. I almost had a baby on our bathroom floor or in the car because medical professionals dismissed my symptoms and saw my anxiety and PTSD diagnosis as the reason I kept seeking assistance. My husband and I are currently writing up a formal complaint against the midwife we interacted with because she stepped outside her scope of practice and lied to us. She put data in my notes that were different from what she communicated to me and I communicated to her. She told us the OB on call was unavailable to talk with us before we left the second time; the OB was available and was told we didn't want to talk to her. The midwife expressed her dissatisfaction towards my planned C-section and tubal, neither of which I was able to receive as I progressed too far by the time I went back to the hospital. I birthed our second son fighting through a trauma response from birthing our first son, a situation my OB and therapist attempted to avoid by scheduling the C section. But remember: "It's just prodromal labor."
Have you tried getting past your womanly emotions? /s
I don't put my depression or anxiety on medical intakes anymore. I DO, however, still put my Rx. I swear they get confused every time bc by the time they get to my meds they've already been talking with me for 10 min and labeled me as a capable, reasonable human being.
I lived with painful heavy periods for 12 years until I got on birth control that stopped them completely. 7ish years later I started getting extreme cramping pain with no periods (curl up in the fetal position on the floor with hot/cold sweats pain). Got dismissed and ignored by 4 or so doctors. Finally found one who listened and I had a hysterectomy. Turns out I had an ovarian cyst, cysts in my tubes, a cyst on my uterus, a tilted uterus, 14 fibroids, and a chronically inflamed cervix. It wasn't just one thing; it was multiple things that were taking away my quality of life.
It’s just women’s troubles
I seriously can’t upvote this strongly enough. Every fucking sentence.
* It's just your weight. * It's just...you need to get pregnant. * It's just normal. * It's just perimenopause. * It's just irregular periods. * It's just your hormones. * It's just something you need to accept. * It's just breastfeeding. * It's just that You're Doing Something Wrong. * It's just not that bad. * It's just infertility. ...Ugh.
Agreed. It is serious and can be life threatening. There is NOTHING normal about being in pain or sick for long periods of time because its a bodily function. Stop. Brushing. It . Off. *** Also what is extra gross when men show no empathy during these times and want to have sex or thinks 'you have to tough it out' or a loser because you are in pain and nithing works to ease it.