Medical Gaslighting: "I KNEW Something was WRONG" but I was DISMISSED! | The Patient Story

Have you ever felt like a doctor dismissed or downplayed your symptoms? That's called medical gaslighting, and unfortunately it happens far too often, especially to women and people of color.
In this video, hear stories from real patients like Chelsey, Nadia, Amy, Kelly, and Nick about the medical gaslighting they experienced while seeking diagnoses and treatment for serious illnesses like cancer, autoimmune diseases, and more. They share how doctors didn't take their symptoms seriously, made them feel anxious or crazy, and often delayed urgent care.
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[@TD_427]

I’m an elderly woman and I can tell you, I’ve been dismissed and left to feel invisible and beaten down.

[@user-gm7hx7ng4p]

Yep

[@amypetra5021]

I’m so sorry this has happened to you 😢 God bless and keep you healthy 🙏🏼

[@Teenywing]

Im so sad people have made you feel like that. I see your comment and I wish I could give you a big hug. So many people are just assholes. 🤓I’m sorry :( xoxo

[@I-serve-you-tea]

I have as well. I am seeing a general practitioner right now who criticizes me every time I see her. I am leaving her now. But god only knows who I will find next.

[@emmanuelking9988]

You are valuable...may God bless you 🙏🌹

[@melaniesmith1313]

I told my doctor I wanted to be tested for diabetes. I had a truckload of symptoms. She argued with me. Literally argued. I insisted. Had the test. She calls me two days later:" well it's a good thing I had you tested! You have diabetes!" like it was her idea all along. Yeah. Sure lady. Got myself a new doctor.

[@nonyabidness5708]

I would have said "YOU didn't have me tested. You finally gave in to my demands to be tested."

[@myday2704]

I hate Drs like her!

[@retroreceptionist7571]

That’s how I found out I had type 1 I went DKA and was falling into a coma and they thought it was probably a heroin overdose (I’ve never taken anything of the sort) but then someone decided to test my blood

[@triciac1019]

Good for you!

[@cdnqgramma3373]

exact same as me. been asking for the test to be done, and asking for a tester, for over 3 years now. finally, just found out I am diabetic, and still dont have a tester. wtf is gonna take?

[@mtcheung2637]

I had cancer and I knew it. My docter sent me to see someone who didn't think anything was wrong. I finally yelled at my PCP, told him I was going to find my own specialist and he was going to approve it. Found a doctor, he approved the referral and within 4 days the diagnosis was made. When I spoke to my primary he informed me I had cancer. "Yes I know," I told him. Had surgery almost immediately and the surgeon said it was very early stage. You know your body better than anyone. Don't let them gaslight you.

[@lynnroney1234]

Good for you for yelling at them and doing what you knew you had to do. I’m glad it was in the early stages.

[@DiandraStarShine]

why did you keep him as your doctor?? he can't be trusted, clearly..and glad you were ok, in the end.

[@bridgetsieger2261]

The same thing is happening to me right now. Female here. Nice to learn about why I lost 50 pounds in a few months on Valentine’s Day, from a new dr who I thought was just an HRT dr. She ran every possible test on me not just hormones… My fatigue and weight loss , she was alarmed and listened to me. More blood tests… now they call and sound sad with an emergency appt. I’m not happy about this.. but I’m grateful to have found a dr that listens to a woman with a past of anxiety etc. I’m glad I found a dr who listened to me. She is a female. My male GP yelled at me for getting a correct answer “without his permission”. He literally said “don’t listen to anyone but me”! So I can be dead of cancer?? I think he thinks people like me are garbage. I don’t agree but I understand. His wardrobe is in appropriately fancy and brand name. Perhaps he saw those blood results first and why he’s said nothing is hurtful to me as he acts like he cares. We need to remember that doctor love ended in the 90s. Lawyers and insurance ruined it. They don’t care if we live or die… They just don’t wanna be sued, so, yeah don’t die but they know in the end of a malpractice suit they win and at most the hospital has to pay the family while Dr keeps their position. I’ve seen this with my own two peepers.

[@bridgetsieger2261]

@@DiandraStarShinein my case I’m keeping my man dr who is a jerk as he prescribed meds that most don’t. After today that might change.

[@lynnroney1234]

@@bridgetsieger2261 Yelled at you? He thinks you need HIS permission? I hope he’s not your doctor anymore. My family ran into a neurologist who I knew was incompetent. I had worked in the neuro ICU he practiced at. He did jack shit for my dad after a stroke he should have died from. It was our amazing family doctor that took care of everything and got my dad into a super rehab program that had a year long waiting list. He got my dad in 1 week after he was discharged. He came back further than the rehab facility thought he would. At my dad’s last appointment with the stupid neurologist, he walked in so proud of himself. @$$h0!€ said “ He would have done the same if he’d just gone and sat in a corner.” They got up and my mom told him to “feck” off. That’s what that doctor deserves. Tell him to “feck” off you pathetic excuse for a doctor. There are doctors out there who deserve that. I know. I was a nurse for 38 years. There have been times I have had to bite my tongue so hard. O wish you all the best in this journey and hope you encounter nothing but wonderful caring people who listen to you. Hugs. I have bipolar2 disorder. Sometimes doctors won’t listen to me because of that. I’m lucky I’ve worked in the medical community all the years I did. I know how to put them in their place about that. Now all my specialists are at the hospital I used to work at. I know them, and who’s good, and they know me. Very fortunate.

[@samuel010898]

Our medical system is more broken than anyone understands. Even if you’re nominally healthy, a hospital is a dangerous place to be.

[@thehawk5141]

Yes it is.

[@johngrimkowski598]

sam you are scaring me because you are correct

[@jjk2one]

poeple can't imagine how bad all the food is the air, soil and water it's just not possible that man could do this to man

[@ggeorge4144]

I got a very dangerous staph infection in outpatient for a relatively simple operation. I will never willingly go to a hospital again. I am 82 and in good health, doctors and hospitals are very dangerous places to be. My wife is in perfect health and hasn't been to a doctor in 20 years.

[@jenniferk8710]

Why are doctor's not held responsible for not diagnosing and/or misdiagnosing patients as malpractice?

[@marymccluer1630]

You can sue, if you like.

[@ljeans531]

It's not Malpractice to misdiagnosis. You need to prove it was malicious/ extreme negligence. Otherwise doctors won't practice at all.

[@IvySnowFillyVideos]

Its called practicing medicine.

[@23Petios]

If you sue in my case took over 3 years to pay me 5k for sleep and fall with injury.

[@dannymeyer3256]

@@ljeans531 When it’s clearly negligent death they do offer to settle out of court.

[@CKLee-rs4kl]

my brother's significant other was gaslighted to death; she had colon cancer and because she was under 40, they just kept telling her to restrict her diet; she was dead in 3 years. Thanks to all you ignorant "doctors" out there.

[@Hatbox948]

I think it's more than ignorance. It's also lack of empathy. Some just don't care.

[@i_love_rescue_animals]

I'm so sorry. That's SO horrendous!! 💔

[@ljo0605]

That's awful 😔

[@carolinematusevich889]

Based on the stories I'm reading here, I was lucky that my precancerous polyp was removed when I was 37. It's the only medical issue I experienced where I received prompt and proper treatment, but likely because I was working and had a great PPO plan. Because of this, I walked into a GI surgeons office to schedule an appointment, and he arranged an upper and lower GI procedure within 3 weeks, based on my symptoms. Three polyps were removed, one which was classified by pathology to be the most aggressive and deadly type of colon cancer, likely passed down on my mother's side. For the last 15 years, I have to have a colonoscopy every 3 years. If I had a HMO or worse, I know I'd be dead or have a colostomy due to part of my colon removed, as it probably would have taken at least 6 months to get my upper and lower GI procedures approved. That would have been too long to wait on removing such an aggressive form of colon cancer.

[@carolinematusevich889]

I'm sorry for your loved one dying. If they had children, I hope they grow up to help fix this dystopian nightmare we have going on in our medical community today. Medical schools need to stop automatic approval of students based on Legacy and keep it 100% merit based. Most of these entitled, spoiled pricks going through medical school squeak by with barely a C average. I honestly believe that doctor and nurses college transcripts should be available for view by the public.

[@amandamccallum6796]

It took 10 YEARS of fighting to finally figure out I have a genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. At one point a doctor sent me for a mental health assessment and the note she wrote back to the doctor was this patient is suffering from physical pain and symptoms and is reasonably frustrated because her medical team is not listening to her. 😂 I could have kissed that woman!

[@ronaldmoonsun5374]

My partner had to fight to get tested and the doctor said that they were the easiest case to diagnose. Congrats on your diagnosis.

[@michellehoman5351]

Took 7 years being passed between multiple specialists to get diagnosed with chiari malformation. Another 3 to get diagnosed with EDS. I fired them all after 7 year and hired a brand new doctor who diagnosed me based on the first MRI I had 5 years prior. An er doctor told me there was nothing wrong with my brain and perhaps I should seek psychiatric treatment. I now flat out refuse to have her as a doctor. She works in all three hospitals in my city. What makes me the most angry is I a paid them money to treat me like crap! I had neck surgery to stabilize my neck before I had brain surgery. Isn’t it amazing how someone with nothing wrong with their brain had brain surgery!

[@nekokikogaming3530]

Took me about that same length of time to get genetic testing and finding I have vascular type of eds... 3 geneticists flat out refused to even see me. One finally did and ordered a full eds panel eventhough he said I most likely just have heds... Now I know I have an auto immune condition and again no one is listening to me... Fun times.

[@Yinyara]

It also took me 22 years to be finally diagnosed with h-eds. It took a physiotherapist to finally see it and connect the dots. Later it got diagnosed by specialists who knew more about it.

[@amandamccallum6796]

@@nekokikogaming3530 which autoimmune condition do you think you have?

[@DMAC1301]

Also if you have a mental illness you are disregarded until you’re almost dead. It’s so sad.

[@helenhighwater5313]

Never under any circumstances admit to having been depressed ever. And beware of the Medicare questions they are required to ask if Medicare if paying. Some are OK, for the purpose of statistics, others intrusive.

[@Vixinaful]

Yes. My friend was a transgender who had borderline. He told of constant back pain and they didnt listen. He was then committed and lost his sensation in his legs and became paralyzed. Turned out a vertebrae was not only destoyed but crumbled in his back (common with transgenders) and they refused him surgery. He committed suicide 2019, 31 years old.

[@consciousobserver629]

@@Vixinaful To clarify, was your friend on hormones? Which caused the vertebrae to crumble?? If so, omg. For the medical field to create that issue and then refuse to treat it is beyond disgusting. Are these people just unbelievably lazy?? I'm trying to understand why they frequently refuse to do their jobs. I'm sorry to hear about your friend. :(

[@tammyrobinson1613]

Yes, ive experienced this. Never mention fibromyalgia either. ​@helenhighwater5313

[@beataannanowak659]

You are right. I am in a lot of pain and I am being 100 percent ignored. Horrible breast and rib cage pain - ultrasound did show a lot of cysts - things do come out on their tests they just don't do anything about it and I can't get out of bed

[@indigobleu]

I had a spontaneous spinal leak at age 74. I self diagnosed with the use of KZbin!! Over 20 “health professionals” would not LISTEN to me and my detailed explanations. Thirteen months later (when I felt like death approaching) I made it to Mayo Clinic and was immediately diagnosed with with a spinal leak (venous fistula). Thank you Dr. Brinjikji for giving me a few more years to live!!! Deplorable situation.

[@wendyoneill948]

Amazing! I had to read your comment through twice-I’m 55 and have also found the solution to my problem on KZbin. My problem is the opposite of yours: too much CSF (intracranial hypertension) that can’t get out of my brain due to stenosis in some vessels. Coincidentally, Dr. Waleed Brinjikji helped me as well! Through intracranial stenting, he helped save my vision and to rid me of the majority of symptoms too much CSF causes. In the process of researching CSF topics, I’ve read some articles/watched videos on CSF leaks. Miserable! I’m sorry you had to experience that. I can relate to how debilitating it is to not have the just-right level of CS fluid. After being diagnosed by two awesome docs at Mayo, they got me in with Dr. Brinjikji. My issue with intracranial hypertension goes back 30 years. I had a shunt placed in my lower spine back then, but two years ago a burst appendicitis necessitated the externalization (redirected to drain outside the body). After nearly a month in a nightmare of being in ICU, the neurosurgeon said I didn’t need the shunt anymore. He was wrong. The only good thing he did for me after that mistaken diagnosis was to tell my neurologist (who was entirely useless and ignorant) to do as I had strongly requested and refer me to Mayo Clinic, as I needed care at a “tertiary” facility. I’m glad for myself and for you, that our research and advocating for ourselves resulted in answers and appropriate treatment. It was very hard to navigate through the last two years even with help from my husband and family. I truly feel for anyone who doesn’t have someone to advocate for them when they’re seeking medical care or when they’re hospitalized.

[@lvlv1225]

What were your symptoms? Glad you are better

[@blairbaumbach7127]

I feel like death. It's the only way to describe it. No not just the pain. The overwhelmingly powerful, large amount of symptoms. It feels like death. It's the only word that comes into my mind now. Dreamt I died before symptoms hit. Now that the symptoms are severe. I dreamt of death twice in a row back to back. First dream fast. Going deeper underwater. Drowning. Suffocating. Second dream going down a long high elevator. Danger. Fell and he the ground from high up. Breathing rapidly and died. I have not been diagnosed yet. But it is hesrt failure. I'm 27 years old Male. Started with the left side of heart. Had a heart attack. Doc suspect pericarditis but symptoms not consistent. He wants to be a contrarian to the patient. Back pain overpowering now. Massive complete health nosedive since Feb 10th. Over 3 weeks now. I'm dying and I can feel it. Right ankle and foot became severely swollen. Could not flex up and down. Both feet deep dark red. Color change back to normal within 3 minutes upon standing. 5 minutes later I noticed my holter monitor auto detect system was activated. I saw the v tach strip. Likely v tach. But could have been a run of v fib. Waiting for cardiologist to review. I'm sure he will say its benign like a quack. Now I feel the right side and centre of my heart. Never felt that before. I read that it's because heart failure starts in th left ventricle and then progresses to the right. Once the right ventricle is compromised that's when feet and ankle swelling starts. It started and is starting more. My heart is failing and I know it. Im not scared of death and lack of treatment anymore because I know I am too far gone. Im too far gone. The heart is failing but they want to consider other possibilities first But there isnt enough time. It's all consistent. Csnt breathe . Palpitations. Violent srymythias. Contractions posterior towards spine lower heart. Whire blurriness and vision loss and auras sequential to the violent palpitations arymyrgias. It shoots into my eyes. Not pain. But sensations and blurriness. The back of my eyes. My body isnt getting enough blood. Therefore not enough oxygen. The pulse ox is fine and that's expected yet the doctors are using the pulse ox to argue against my shortness of breath. That's quackery. Its contrary to foundations of pulse ox. I'm dying and I'm already dead. 27. Unless they listen to me and get me under a surgeon asap. I will die.

[@diannetupper8320]

@@blairbaumbach7127, 😢. Cardiac MRI??? Could you have sarcoidosis. It is a body wide inflammatory disease that can damage lungs and heart as well as many other things. Many doctors have never dealt with it so it wouldn’t be their go to disease. Praying for you.

[@gtgodbear6320]

Doctors take offense to you knowing your diagnosis. They think they know your body better than you do. Even though you're a professional at knowing your own symptoms.

[@brown_eyed_girl]

I took my two year old to his pediatrician asking for a Lyme test. I told her my son’s pain in his legs are not growing pains, I suspect Lyme. She laughed at me and told me I was just being a new mom. I insisted on the test and if she still refused I was going to call my insurance company on the way to the ER. She smirked as she handed me the lab slip. The very next day she called me, when I answered she greeted me with “I owe you a big apology”…My son had advanced Lyme’s disease. From that day forward, she took every inquiry of mine very seriously.

[@duncelleperucho6682]

How is he doing now? What is his treatment? 🙏🏼

[@GabrielleTollerson]

she should be SUED into the depths of hell!

[@junedolson1642]

Gaslighting in the medical field is absolutely 💯 percent disgusting.

[@everydaytherapist7315]

It's the lowest of lows.

[@junedolson1642]

@everydaytherapist7315 It sure is, and it seems to happen a lot .

[@styphlynne8253]

@@junedolson1642 This is happening more in USA illegals making it even more overwhelming!

[@leannshort2211]

Yes it is!!! Been dealing with this for 3 years now. I don’t trust Dr’s anymore. When I go to the Dr I tell them what I want. I have done a lot of research and so I tell them what I want tested. If not, they wouldn’t even know where to begin. Just write another prescription and send me on my way…. 🙄🤬

[@leannshort2211]

@@styphlynne8253 Absolutely!! 💯

[@hemacdonald400]

I went to a specialist with concerning symptoms. I sat opposite him as the asked me in a patronizing way, “why are you here today?”, my first thought was did you of read the referral? I took a deep breath and before I could say a word he said, “I feel a long story coming on”. My retort was, “not one I will be telling you” and walked out of his office. From that day on I became a self advocate and have never let a doctor override what I know about my body, never.

[@Irishrose777]

Good for you!! My wise philosophy teacher from college was a cancer survivor and she taught me invaluable lessons. She told me you will always be your number one advocate in the medical world. No one else is going to look after you like you can. Ask for tests! Tell doctors what you need from them and ignore any push back. She sadly passed away but she was a real gem.

[@AC-gp7kf]

Asking “why are you here today” is the text book preferred opening sentence to gather a health history when we interview a patient. It doesnt mean the provider didn’t read the referral. It is so the patient can state their concern in their own words and naturally starts with most important point first.

[@psychedelichippie9759]

How horrible to be treated like that by a Doctor! I’m sorry this happened to you. 🙁

[@allysonhomayounkhah2432]

And no. He didn’t read it. Might have skimmed it.

[@ATebbs1]

Yes! You have to push and advocate for yourself! I have a cyst (inoperable because of its location) inside of my spinal cord that often causes pain. After I had the spinal MRI I made sure to get the images and notes from the diagnostic clinic. I looked them over and it clearly showed the cyst inside my spinal cord. When I got the the neurologist I tested him by not speaking up at first and then when he got through I said “so what about the cyst inside my spinal cord that is on the MRI images”? And he got very disturbed and hurried to look at them and found it and he was angry at ME for showing him that he hadn’t even read the images or notes from the diagnostic clinic!! I quickly found a new neurologist and had all my records moved over there. I believe they didn’t read the MRI because of the age I was at the time (I was 31).

[@darlenefalast9419]

We get medically gaslit when they don’t have a clue how to proceed.

[@ladeek35]

Your statement is far more true than most people realize. Cognitive dissonance is a powerful blinder. “I know everything, I can’t be wrong!”.

[@Faesharlyn]

Or when they're preoccupied with their golf game

[@gabeangel8104]

Absolutely. The one phrase most doctors seem completely incapable of saying is 'I don't know, but I believe that there is something wrong so let's try to work out where else you could go to find the answers you need'. There is no shame in admitting that not every doctor can know everything about every possible thing that can happen with the human body and mind, but so many are too proud or afraid to admit it anyway. And, honestly, in the 30 years it took me to find someone who could finally diagnose me and put an end to the medical gaslighting, if even just a handful of the many people I had seen had had been willing to say 'I might not have the answers to what's wrong but I believe you', even that would have changed my life, because it's the experience of every person (doctors, and then other professionals and family etc based on the doctors advice) treating me as a faker and attention seeker that has left me with trauma, more than just the lack of correct diagnosis. Of course, in conditions where treatment is needed quickly then finding the right person to diagnose is as important as being belived that something is wrong too, but being belive is still such an important start and a relief for anyone who has been medically gaslit I think

[@coolbreeze5683]

That's true. There are several reasons why they don't know how to proceed. Some of it is politics. They know what they need to do to help you but they are prevented by their medical association, the law or a pharmaceutical company. Sometimes because if they acknowledge it then it's an admission to something. Also, let's keep it real...some doctors become doctors just for money and/or prestige. It's not their calling in life. They treat it as a 9-5 job. They don't have the passion for it that requires believing patients and researching their symptoms if they are unable to get a solid diagnosis. I was very lucky to have had a good doctor before who would call me during evenings and on weekends after doing research and recommending testing which eventually lead to me getting a diagnosis to a rare autoimmune condition. All of the other doctors I've seen are schlubs compared to him.

[@johnnydjiurkopff]

Yup. My grandmother just got diagnosed with a brain abscess at UC Davis. The hospital before that pronounced around 6 different diagnoses ranging from gallbladder infection to THC induced emesis until we finally personally transported her somewhere staffed by actual competents because they flatly refused to, claiming UCSF and UC davis had no free room. Then they put in her notes that we moved her against doctor's orders and the hospital they said had no room magically had room when we got there.

[@JaneDoe-ve5lr]

My daughter went undiagnosed for 9 years with a genetic autoimmune disease condition that she knew she had. Doctor after doctor dismissed her, refused to look at bloodtests that that were abnormal but not at the highest levels, refused to take her symptoms seriously, refused her requests for genetic testing, etc. my daughter is a doctor of chemistry and they still dismissed her as having anxiety and the stress was causing her issues. In those years she had 8 surgeries, abnormal blood work heart issues, etc. With her variety of doctors treating each symptom but failing to look at the entire picture. She became more depressed, increased pain, withdrawn and became physically ill when doctor after doctor blew her off as having woman problems. They all said she was too young and the tests were not too bad. THEN SHE CRASHED AND ALMOST DIED. Even then another blood specialist dismissed her when her iron level was down to 4. She finally yelled and became aggressive demanding genetic testing and she finally was diagnosed with the genetic disease she knew she had but the doctors wouldn't believe her. 😢 Not one of her many doctors apologized and she became so disillusioned she moved out of the United States to seek medical treatment. My heart breaks for all of you that you had to suffer like my daughter has. DOCTORS NEED TO LISTEN TO PATIENTS AND TO STOP RELYING 100% ON JUST TEST RESULTS. My daughter almost lost her life because of egotistic inept doctors. Good luck Tom all of you and never fail to stand up. For yourselves.

[@marymccluer1630]

Years ago, I worked with a gal who had something very similar. Her iron levels were close to zero. Fortunately, she had a diagnosis and was managing it.

[@spookshow6999]

It's malpractice.

[@bcase5328]

Women don't dare say any thing about anxiety or emotion, because then doctors will stop listening and write off anything else.

[@jjk2one]

@@marymccluer1630 bacteria eat iron so does cancer

[@duncelleperucho6682]

What did she have?

[@paganpines]

My father had severe stomach pain for two years. Violent, vomiting, unbearable pain that had my mom calling the ambulance in the middle of the night. Over and over, the doctors told him it was in his head. He collapsed in the hallway one night and they opened him up and discovered he'd had gallstones the whole time, and one of them got trapped in the bile duct and he developed a painful pancreatic cyst. After removing a ton of necrotic tissue, his digestive system never worked quite right again, and he was prone to painful bouts of pancreatitis for the rest of his life. As he was dying of sepsis, the ER doctor (a whole different hospital in a different state) insisted on sending him home and that "all he needs to do is take his meds" which he couldn't hold down. I wish I had argued harder with that doctor, because he was dead 24 hours later. I am not a believer in alternative medicine but I understand why people turn away from traditional medicine, when sh*t like that happens.

[@sansserif2559]

It's why I went to acupuncture college where I nearly got nerve damage at the school clinic and they falsified my medical chart. I had to drop out after a year. There are just as many dangerous alternative doctors as regular ones. The husband of a friend died of pulmonary embolism because the licensed homeopathic doctor thought it was just a cold.

[@dweebicusmaximus]

Yeah it's like, alternative medicine grifters wouldn't make so much money off of their lies and the people they hurt if more real doctors bothered to do their jobs.

[@browniewin4121]

So sorry for your loss. This makes me so angry on your behalf and that of your father.

[@luigiprovencher]

You should be a believer in alternative medicine because it's the only thing that works and has been around longer. I don't even know why it's called alternative. It should be called Original Medicine.

[@Heavnsangel79]

😢

[@toniclarke118]

The worst thing for me is that they (Dr, consultant, specialist, surgeon) NEVER apologise.

[@marymccluer1630]

It's called "Fear of Law suits." Number one fear of healthcare providers--law suits.

[@marymccluer1630]

@@Ashlyn-qg5tt There are plenty of negative biases in medicine, and they can result in missing the correct diagnosis because the providers have tuned out important medical clues as they rely on stereotypes. There is an effort now to train staff to be aware of biases/ treat patients w concern and respect.

[@sleekitwan]

Yes. I asked for a second opinion after a relative suggested my debilitating months-long illness was likely Glandular Fever/Mononucleosis/Mono/Epstein Barr Virus. I went to the 2nd doctor a GP 1/2 mile down the road, and he said he could do a test, but it couldn’t be on the NHS because he wasn’t the doctor I was registered with. Anyway, got it done, and a week later, added to my pretty awful fatigue and symptoms, he stated his belief was it was indeed Glandular Fever. I went back to the original GP and pointed this out. He didn’t even shrug. Not one iota of response. I find that very interesting. FYI, the thing that gave me the confidence it was mono/GF is that there is an incubation period of 6 to 8 weeks after the ‘event’ where you got this so-called ‘kisser’s disease’. I checked back on a date I knew of a definite liaison with a particular person, and it was bang-on 7 weeks prior to my first day of mammoth fatigue. Later, it emerged I wasn’t in fact God’s gift - she’d had another liaison with another guy at the same workplace only 2 days earlier. I wouldn’t even have been interested in her had I known this was what she was doing, but there you go. I have never been the same since, because the slow ramp up back to good health is not something employers love to help you with. I wasn’t careless and I am not profligate. I thought I knew the situation and didn’t. The consequences for this person and the other liaison are nothing but a mild flu like illness, and I have other health issues and that’s that. Take care all.

[@marymccluer1630]

@@sleekitwan There have been a number of podcasts on chronic fatigue. It affects a number of people in debilitating ways. Best wishes for recovery.

[@Pearliemaie]

Most almost all never do but my doctor apologized to me recently he felt so bad he almost cost me my life I'm actually shocked and still can't believe it that he would apologize

[@calvinsmyth]

This also happens to the elderly regardless of sex or race. My great grandmother complained of severe pain along her entire side. The doctor said that she probably turned in bed and broke a rib and directed her to go home and let it mend on its own. She said to him that she thought it was shingles. She was right. Later he asked her how she knew and she said, "Because I am smart." She said it to him in front of a medical student. Another time the doctor told her that nothing could be done for her badly arthritic knees. She asked about what was then a new procedure, knee joint replacement. He wouldn't entertain the thought. She found the info. for an out-of-state surgeon who was doing them, contacted him, and made all of the arrangements to travel and get the surgery done for both knees, at different times. Her doctor back home never wanted to talk about her knees after that. She lived almost 20 years after the last surgery and would have been bedridden for most of them and died much sooner. She lived to be 92.

[@DDDD-pv7fw]

God Bless your Great Grandmother !!

[@charlotteargabright409]

Smart lady

[@calvinsmyth]

@@charlotteargabright409 Indeed ❤ She was a very dynamic woman.

[@calvinsmyth]

@@DDDD-pv7fw Totally!

[@user-jw6vb6rs8c]

So true.happened to me at my last appt. My concerns were just dismissed. I’m 73. It was the first time I felt invisable.

[@SuperAngelic5]

Last Summer, I had pain in the area right near my appendix. It was not severe, but it definitely was enough pain for me to be worried. After about a week it did not go away, so I went to urgent care. The doctor said that it was not my appendix or hernia or other organs. She told me to follow up with my primary care doctor. Later that week, I went to see my primary care doctor who admitted that she could not figure it out. I asked her if I should see a gastro specialist, and she encouraged me to do so. It took me 6 weeks to get an appointment with the gastroenterologist. Three weeks after the pain started, it suddenly stopped. I almost cancelled my appointment with the gastro, but decided to go to the appointment. When he examined me, he could not tell that anything was wrong, but he ordered a CT scan. He called me later that day. The scan showed a tumor growing just outside my colon. The tumor was malignant and growing. The surgeon removed the tumor, nearby lymph nodes, and part of my colon. I am so glad that none of these doctors ignored my symptoms, and I am really glad that the gastroenterologist ordered that CT.

[@nonyabidness5708]

Are you male? Asking because many women would have been told it's "normal" or in their head... if you're female you got super lucky!!!

[@marybusch6182]

I love CTs. You really get good picture from those. If only they were as inexpensive here as they are in japan.

[@SuperAngelic5]

@marybusch6182 yes, CTs show so much. Other issues were spotted that can eventually be addressed.

[@marybusch6182]

@@SuperAngelic5 yup mine showed gall stones and a stone inmy urinary track. So now i have pre existing conditions...

[@kasiasobczyk6939]

​@@marybusch6182They should be free, you paying Medicare. If its not enough we should pay set percentage from our wages. And health cover should be free.

[@ITSONLYMEWATCHING]

ALWAYS record your doctors appointments. I don't give a shit about wire tapping laws, or whatever laws. This is your life.

[@rebelheart7836]

This happens all the time to overweight people. I almost died from sepsis because the doctor thought my swollen leg was because of 'weight'. It was an infection from a cut, and because he didn't treat me in time and left me to find a doctor that would (That took me almost a month) - I ended up with a blood infection. Another time - I ended up with severe pneumonia because I was told 'just lose weight and you'll breathe better'. My lungs are now scarred. A third - I had pain in my back near my kidneys. ER Doctor suggested bariatric surgery - I had a kidney infection. The THIRD ER Doctor I saw finally did tests, and then said I could have died. Currently - I'm less than a year away from having cancer, I have pre-cancerous cells in my uterus - no doctor will help me, or do a hysterectomy. The last gynecologist I saw called me 'gross'. I have fibromyalgia and nerve pain in my whole body. I'm told to lose weight, to get a surgery to literally rearrange my stomach and intestines. I was told I have IBS - but that doesn't coincide with the bleeding I get or the other symptoms I have - I was told to have bariatric surgery again. This is my normal. I haven't been treated like a human being in my entire life. I'm 45. I'm in constant pain, I'm alone, I'm scared, and I'll probably die far sooner than I would if the medical system had people who CARE about their patients. The system broke a long time ago - and people have died, and will continue to die, because of it.

[@dianaskarbek2664]

I am so sorry.

[@dianaskarbek2664]

Do you need a friend?

[@phoebeintheforest]

You might have lipedema which is almost exclusively a woman's disease. It typically occurs when a woman is going through a hormonal shift...puberty, child birthing years or menopause. Lipedema fat is hard and fibrous and just about impossible to lose. Please do yourself a favor and do some online research on the disorder. Most doctors and I would say NO PAs have any experience with this disease. You are going to have to educate and advocate for yourself.

[@susanparker4550]

My heart goes out to you, I feel so sorry for how you've been treated, you need an advocate, someone to be in your corner, I hope things improve & you get the treatment you need & deserve, God Bless & love you & bring you Peace

[@bettyvillegas8785]

Finding a doctor a good doctor can be like a needle in a hay stack

[@theharshtruthoutthere]

Deuteronomy 11:16 KJV Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 2 Timothy 3:13 KJV But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. lets analyse the lies through which are we daily deceived: lie: schools are of use (fact. schools keep slavery alive and stands for dumbing down the population of mankind) lie: moon and mars landings, (fact: even masons know they cannot leave - earth is closed system, unless you want to drown, there is no other place created for us to live in.) lie: news channels share truth (fact: these are for politic propaganda) lie: voting matters (fact: politic propaganda) lie: money has a value of its own (fact: it is just a tool of this world, which value has been agreed upon world wide, it should be not loved, only used as needed.) lie: NASA lies (globe and all....) (fact: NASA stands for TO DECEIVE and 2 members expose their own lies, one is still alive, the other (Wernher Von Braun) place a clear clue on his own gravestone) - you havn´t searched - have you? lie: the lgbtq++++ propaganda (fact: it is a part of masonry depopulation agenda, 500 000 000 souls, thats their goal - Georgia Guidestones! - who said it be worthy to forget?) lie: Evolution and the dinosaurs. (fact: mankind is not hybrid kind) to keep stating that there was an evolution, then we ain´t humans, we aint then mankind, we are then hybrids. Are you a hybrid? Lie: holidays (xmas, Halloween, new year eve and so on) (fact: PAGAN HOLIDAYS, to praise BAAL, the god of this world) lie: U.F.Os (fact: they are demons/evil spirits in high places, against whom we fight daily = spiritual warfare) lie: rules and laws rule the world (fact: signs and symbols of masonry do) lie: believe in being educated (fact: found daily living with the lack of knowledge) lie: religions are ways to heaven (fact: JESUS CHRIST is only way to heaven. Religions, no matter its name = masonic garbage) lie: our dead loved ones stay around to “ghost” (fact: hunting and ghosting is job of demons, not of humans. We, humans, come from GOD and return back to HIM and all the stories of having been seen a ghost - terrifying, scary, dark, cold - again no job of analysing been done here by you- right?) Lie: Humans have no immune system and we need vaccines as these save lives (fact: humans HAVE IMMUNE SYSTEM and vaccines are created for one or two purpose: to kill or to cripple. If you took all their poison shots then later in life comes all kinds of medical diagnoses = vaccines crippled you - remember that) lie: there is no GOD (fact: There is GOD, who redeems sinners and created us directly from the dust of the earth: Psalms 139:14 (KJV) I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.) to keep claiming that there is no GOD and we aint created directly from the dust of the earth, we soon run out logic, regardless to we place “evolution” in our claims or not and our dead, whats happening to them as they sleep in their graves? - they decay away, becoming the dust form which they were taken, if it ain`t so then we are simply reality deniers. lie: 911 was terror attack (fact: 911 was an inside job, meaning the work of your loved government) lie: TV watching is of use (fact: television (TV) = tell a lie vision, a weapon for our minds, keeping it under MK ULTRA) half lie/half truth: earth is a stage where everyone plays rolls (fact: earth is stage, a freemasonry checkerboard, where both side, black and white are masons and humans both in politics and regular souls = the naive public gets daily played) lie: children are government to raise (fact: children are parents to raise, it takes 2 to make them, it takes 2 to raise them). Lie: we live already in the matrix (fact: we live since birth in BABYLON which is to become “matrix” as Man - us, must merge with machine aka take the mark of the beast and then matrix aka false reality becomes to be 100%) lie: humans are not intelligent enough (fact: it is forgotten fact, we all are intelligent, many have suffered the illness from this world, being indoctrinated by masons, cause who give us the school system which we have? masons did, because they need slaves). Lie: love is low standard and = lust (fact love is high standard as love means> John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Lie> do what thy wilt there is no body who has the right to judge you (fact> GOD SHALL JUDGE YOU AFTER YOU HAVE DEPARTED ON EARTH and Christians are also called to give out righteous judgment, therefore repent * born again * go and sin no more) lie: slavery is over (fact: slavery was never over, it just changes a little as we are no longer buy`d or sold, still prepared through school systems for our future slavery, succumb to our slave lives based on our free will) lie: BIBLE is man written and a fairytale (fact: BIBLE is written by GOD, through man, bible is not fairytale. BIBLE IS: BASIC INFORMATION/instruction BEFORE LEAVING EARTH = BIBLE. A book - yes, book which we all need as it is only one filled with information and instructions we all need for life on earth. Lie: Miss beauty contests around the world is about beauty of FEMALES (fact: these contests are about beauty of MALES IN DRAG) lie: Medical “virus” known as COVID 19 (facts: real VIRUSES are in Hollywood and kept secret: - THE TTM virus = being tare, trans, mason. Lie: There is no truth, no right nor wrong and all is allowed as long as you are happy. (fact: truth is easy to find, search: BIBLE + FREEMASONRY and expose masons in masonry). 28 lies, should i go on?

[@marybusch6182]

Keep them as long as you can.

[@AZHITW]

I'm 74, I found two good doctors in 74 years, the gynecologist who diagnosed my cancer and the oncologist who operated on me. All the others were quacks.

[@_Satorius_]

More like a hay in a needle stack because hay doesn't hurt you.

[@bettyvillegas8785]

@@_Satorius_ exactly

[@carolynnmathisen8754]

This is more common than we know. My lymphoma was blown off for three years. I was so tired of “ let’s watch and wait “. By the time I was diagnosed it was everywhere. Finally I went to a major cancer center and received treatment. Now I’m in remission. Always listen to yourself

[@marybusch6182]

​@SaltyShamannope that doctor was not reported. The deal is that the other docors think that there but for the grace of God go I.

[@devpzextra]

Im going through something right now I have been to so many Ers and doctors in the last few years. Whatever is wrong with me just got worse and within two weeks ive been to 3 hospitals. Idk if its because im young or what but i need help. I cant get any of these doctors to listen.

[@marybusch6182]

@@devpzextra that is exactly why we need more doctors. So you can have continuity of care instead of getting shuffled around endlessly.

[@hezebelbeing]

@@devpzextra I'm so sorry to hear this, as I am going through a similar thing...Last spring '23 I put weird symptoms off and lumps at my chest and neck until finally in August that summer I went to urgent care, I couldn't stand it any more...that was 6 months ago and they're still gaslighting me and now I am swollen and have pain all over my body. I am not stopping though...MY mom had the same thing happen, she was young...and one day finally went quite a distance, just on a whim to a new hosptial's ER after her Drs weren't listening to her, just giving her pain and anxiety meds...a young keen Dr at that ER, found a tumour on her spine AND stage 4 bone cancer. 4 yrs they gaslit her...THIS IS SERIOUS stuff...You are young. Do not stop. good luck and I'll take some too. We KNOW our bodies.

[@jodiscola1806]

I’m so sorry this happened to u

[@rebeccawright5987]

I was told by a highly respected dermatologist in my area that I didn’t have the type of skin that can develop melanoma. I didn’t listen to that doctor, thankfully. I went to the University of Michigan hospital for my full body skin check and told the doctor that I didn’t have the type of skin that can get melanoma. The doctor looked at me and said “you have skin, right? And mucosa? Then you can get melanoma.” She biopsied my mole, and a week later I was told it was a melanoma.

[@TraceyMariexx]

Are you doing OK now? Hopefully so

[@rebeccawright5987]

@@TraceyMariexx yes, they caught it early

[@davinawonderling9361]

​@@rebeccawright5987I am happy you found somebody who would listen to you and that the melanoma was caught early! ❤❤❤❤

[@robinmccubbins8139]

My daughter had a spot she was worried about. The doctor patted her arm and told her she was too young for skin cancer. She was late 30’s. The spot grew and she went to another doctor who did a biopsy. It was pre cancerous. He removed it.

[@davinawonderling9361]

@@robinmccubbins8139 Thank GOD your daughter went to a different doctor and had the spot removed BEFORE it turned cancerous!! It would most likely have turned that way!!

[@juliebarks3195]

It took me 20 years and nearly dying to get my diagnosis. All my symptoms were put down to anxiety. And when I started fainting it was put at the hospital as hysteria. I had third-degree heart block and had a pacemaker put in and no one apologized, I don't know how I hung on to life for so long without dying in my sleep because my heart was going so slow. I must have a guardian angel because I found no angels among the medics I saw.

[@MysteryGrey]

❤❤❤

[@Denise-yj3se]

I’m a nurse and I have witnessed this gaslighting to patients. I always tell my patients that they know their body best and to keep searching for a doctor that will listen to you

[@jjbinderr]

I almost lost my 21-year-old daughter to a stroke because I was dismissed and her symptoms, while she was vomiting in the office… were dismissed. Now, if something serious happens, and they dismiss it… I will ask them if they’re willing to bet their license on it.

[@fifthavenuegirl]

never go back to them i live in a horrendous community had stroke was abused in hospital and care place

[@ladeek35]

I’m so sorry for your loss.❤️ Edit: I misread your post. Thank goodness your daughter survived. What a miracle.

[@consciousobserver629]

Stroke at 21? This an alarming new trend in the wake of the mass injections the past few years. How fortunate she survived (no thanks to the doctors!!). Did she receive the vaxx? I hope all the best for her.

[@jjbinderr]

@@consciousobserver629 she did not get the VAX. This was back in 2017.. the bottom line is, she was just too young. What is going on with medicine? what is going on with food?… it’s like there is a slow kill on the populace

[@consciousobserver629]

@jjbinderr I absolutely agree!! It seems they are killing us and making a killing in the process. Time to start growing our own food and procuring our own drinking water. It's a start. Back to basics. This system is a wash. :( Again, sorry to hear about your daughter! A lot has happened in my short lifetime (33 years). We have to be quick to adapt or risk becoming a statistic.

[@LydiannaBella]

I once call an ambulance for myself because I was getting unable to breathe. The 911 agent told me if you can talk, you can breathe. I had to beg and threaten them to get an ambulance. I ended up staying 2 weeks at the ICU, I almost died.

[@i_love_rescue_animals]

Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. Good for you to have the STRENGTH to stand up for yourself, while you were almost dying. That's insane. I hope you are doing well now. ❤

[@debra1363]

I hope you sue the hell out of them!

[@mE-zx7pt]

This happens a lot with emergency services.

[@t.h.8475]

That is what is said when you are trained in first aid and cpr. If they can talk they can breath. Then I watched George Floyd be murdered on TV. My family kept screaming why they weren't helping George as he was begging for help. I told them all first responders are trained that if someone can talk they can breath. The problem is they are using their last breath to call for help and no one believes them.

[@LydiannaBella]

@@t.h.8475 yes exactly! It’s scary for sure

[@lorenzodossantos1111]

"Please add to my file that you have disregarded my concerns and offered no treatment options" that's the sentence you insist they add.

[@marydotjpeg]

I should of said that when my first Neurologist blew me off 😔

[@MonaLisaFaceMusic]

I really wish I said that to my pcp

[@myobmyob2215]

Am going to use that thank you

[@TOC.4u]

I had the first 2 symptoms of brain cancer, it took 2 years before it was caught “incidental”. I went to the doctor and hospital for 2 years. They were medicating my symptoms. Had it had not been found, I would probably be on my deathbed if not worse. Then the doctor said they couldn’t do anything because of the location. I went looking for a second opinion. I found an amazing doctor that did an awake surgery. Now I’m here, and have the most amazing doctors. Fight for yourself. Get another opinion if you need today.

[@duncelleperucho6682]

What were your symptoms?

[@acardinalconsideration824]

^This, what were your symptoms?

[@TOC.4u]

I had a headache every day. I was also nauseous every day. They gave me something for nausea. Time after time.

[@linda6987]

I went to the emergency room at 35. Jaw pain, weak left arm (non functioning), sweating, pain between my shoulder pain. The registration person said I had indigestion and to go home and rest! My younger brother asked if it was possible for me to sit down. I told them I’m not leaving until. They did an EKG, nothing. I told them I KNEW something was wrong-,not leaving. FINALLY a cardiologist came in and said he was running more tests. I was in surgery in less than 6 hours, stent implant. It was in the left anterior descender - the widow maker. ICU for over 7 days. I diagnosed myself. Also ladies, our symptoms are different than men when it comes to heart attack. ♥️

[@nichellehowell]

This happened to my dad. He had neck pain and knew something was wrong. ER sent him home with muscle relaxers. Turns out he had a heart attack.

[@linda6987]

Many (especially elderly (over 55) should always have a family member advocate for them. Have we learned nothing from Covid?

[@nancycosta2448]

A lot of people have lost their empathy for others.

[@ladeek35]

A good many of doctors never started out with empathy to begin with. It’s about money, ego, power, and the alphabet soup of letters after their name.

[@jenniferlloyd9574]

​@@ladeek35 Exactly. My relative became an anesthesiologist (MD) because all his patients would "be asleep" and he'd be "out on the golf course by 3:00". He was right. He loves money, too. He and his corporate attorney wife make $35,000 a month in the southern US.

[@jackiemack8653]

​@@ladeek35yes yes yes they truly DONT care!

[@Juke582]

Just narcissists their whole life! That doesn’t just start in adulthood!

[@5p0tth0ff]

I read a poster in a pediatrician's office many years ago. It said, "22 doctors couldn't help me. The 23rd did."

[@nathanblue]

Lucky that person to have all the money in this world to look for that 23rd doctor. A lot of us don’t have that same luxury and will end up dead not finding the right doctor that can treat us.

[@jjbinderr]

What that’s telling you is chances are you’re not going to get help.

[@BillySBC]

Ever get the feeling a lot of these medical students from rich families get pushed through medical school based on associations and "contributions"?

[@jjbinderr]

@@BillySBC agreed. They don’t want to do anything to help anybody or because they’re afraid to hurt somebody…. And by the act of not doing anything they are causing more harm.

[@sibbydems]

@@nathanblue also lucky they made it to the 23rd doctor how much time was lost after all the appointments and check ups ect some don’t have that time….

[@toewsmar]

It’s so incredibly sad when a cancer diagnosis becomes a relief because people finally realize their is something wrong.

[@AccidentallyOnPurpose]

but it's sad that a lot of these diagnoses come too late to save the person because the window for early detection has passed

[@davidthedeaf]

I wound up diagnosing my late gramma with cancer by a Google search of hard distended stomach. 😢 ER did not believe me, had already sent her home twice, once as pneumonia and once as being just fat. Her tummy was hard as a rock and growing fast. 3rd and last time she went in, I demanded they test for cancer. Doctor said it is hard on old folks to have that test, and I said dying of cancer is more deadly. He bargained with me to do a battery of other tests first then if finding nothing would do the test I asked for. Guess what? I was at work when mom and gramma were told by the nurse the results, mom said she blurted “you got cancer just all inside your entire intestine!” And that sent my gramma into shock. Gramma died the next day.

[@toewsmar]

That’s so incredibly sad. A grandparent relationship is so special and they took that from you.

[@Thewhiteandorange]

american healthcare system.

[@dragonryderslair]

As a retired ICU RN i have seen physicians, nurse practitioners Physicians assistants gaslight. They have tried it with me and I set it straight immediatetly. Had a nurse practitioner dismiss my adult daughters IBS as constipation. I went in with my daughter appointment to a specialist. He NEVER looked at her face, never assess her and spent the 30 min never looking up from his social media scrolling and asking her questions. I said to him.What made you become a physician? He stoped and looked up for the first time and said what? I repeated the question He exasperatedly answered " to help people" I told him he was was not doing it. He sat there with his mouth open. I looked at my daughter and told her were leaving. Cashier came running out wanting us to pay a bill. I told her there was no care so no payment Contacted the medical board with a complaint who then visited the ? Doctor. Didn't end well

[@marymccluer1630]

I'm glad you asked him that. He was sleepwalking through his job, ignoring patients. How many providers do that? Too many.

[@kitty2ism633]

Same here i was told for years i just had ibs or some weird for of inflammatory bowel disease (with no inflamation on colonoscopies except 1 which turned out to be an infection) well turns out i have endometriosis which was growing on my bowel and bladder causing all the ibs like symptoms plus my uterus was enlarged and pushing on my bowels. Since my hysterectomy (had other stuff besides the endometriosis going on that required it) i haven’t had any issues (minus one bout of eating too much cheese and was constipated for like a day but that quickly resolved 🥰 )

[@jon9103]

​@@marymccluer1630 I think some of the blame lies on the business side of medicine (private equity buying up medical practices, insurance companies, etc) that turn medicine into a profit center over what's best for the patient. Physicians must maintain a high patient load which limits the time they can spend with each patient and leads to burn out. They have to fight a lot of bureaucracy to get treatments approved which discourages doctors from recommending care to their patients. Of course this is not to excuse the doctors, but I think it's important to see how systemic the problem is.

[@potpourrioflife]

We all need to simply not pay for no service. I have fired so many doctors. Nice at first, then crappy.

[@rosariojailene]

It's wild to get them to listenr to you for gastro issues. I've been unable to hold down food and rapidly losing weight for months but with my bipolar disorder I felt like the doctors just thought it was mental and kept trying to diagnose me with an eating disorder even though my mental state had nothing to do with it. Wasn't until I was unable to walk much and had to get IV'd water that they took it serious. After months of testing they found out I have gastroparesis (stomach paralysis). It was such a frustrating thing to deal with that I was starving with no answers

[@roseannkai-nielsen1201]

I had severe back pain. I went to the doctor, and they kept saying, "Your lower back has the pain? I kept saying no that it was between my shoulder blades. They acted like I was drug seeking. They also put off doing an mri. Finally after several months of this stink eye look, and them wanting to give me injections for my lower back, I convinced them that I needed an mri and it was so painful I couldn't get off the machine. I was then told to immediately go to the er asap! I had osteomyelitis in my spine which was not addressed till I ended up with a fractured spine. I now have a rod in my spine. The doctor never came to see me he had his assistant check on me. Thank God I can walk or am even alive!

[@mikaelastefkova]

I'm so sorry this ha happened to you, the doctor should have at least apologised 🫂💗 Sending love

[@erismd]

I got diagnosed with lymphoma last week after 8 months trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I had all the classic symptoms, swollen lymph nodes, extreme fatigue, weight loss and feeling a lot of pain in my body... When I went to a hematologist, he treated me very badly. I came into his office feeling short of breath and he told me I was having a panic attack. He refused to listen to my symptoms, questioned why I had so many tests and referred me to a psychiatrist. He clearly said: You are sick in your mind and you have nothing.

[@KiKi-tf8rv]

I’m so sorry!😢🙏 A doctor once told me that if a doctor ever tells me “it’s all in your head” what they’re really saying is “I’m too stupid to figure out what’s wrong with you.”

[@thirstonhowellthebird]

I hope you get a good lawyer and sue.

[@nonyabidness5708]

Mail him a page with your diagnosis and his quote.

[@oscarcat1231]

That’s beyond a disgrace. You should complain.

[@texasgma3578]

I’m so sorry you experienced that. I had severe groin pain following a minor motorcycle mishap where we drove into a large pothole at night. I was told I “probably have cancer”, I need to see a psychiatrist, and it was implied that I was a pervert who just sought out pelvic exams for a thrill (only a man would come up with that one 🙄). Found out I had a torn groin muscle with nerve damage.

[@tinabouman5835]

Thirty years ago, I read an article about Fibromyalgia and I took it to my doctor and said that it sounded like me. First my doctor told me "he didn't believe in that", then he told me it was a psychological illness. After decades of suffering, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I went to a specialist who made a point to take patients with Fibromyalgia. I told him how I had been dismissed and ignored for more than thirty years and I wanted to know why. This is what he told me, he said he didn't believe it was real until a family member had it and he saw their suffering. He then went on to say that, "doctors don't like patients they can't fix. So they throw antidepressants at them and ignore them in the hope that they'll get frustrated and go to someone else." This was my life they were playing with! I lost family and friends because "if there was something really wrong with me the doctors would have found something". Damn them all!

[@karenneill9109]

I have MCAS/EDS/POTS, and a LOT of us have fibro. It’s just so frustrating to be told that what you have ‘isn’t real’ or ‘is all in your head’. Doctors loathe saying “I don’t know”, so they’d rather blame it on the patient.

[@mollytremblay1396]

I'm a retired physical therapist who spent the last ten years of my career working with chronic pain patients, many of whom had fibromyalgia and RSD. So many of my patients were dismissed by their doctors. Absolutely heart breaking.

[@jackiemack8653]

Yes! I have autoimmune disease and osteoporosis. I am bedridden and it's suspected the antibiotic Cipro poisoned me. The doggie version killed my dog. I have a physicians assistant come to my house. He said he's pissed off that someone dropped the ball with me. I'm 67 and will never garden again or even go for a car ride. Just waiting to die.

[@ianstuart5660]

​@@jackiemack8653 OMG, try the keto or carnivore diet. Some folks have had miraculous recoveries. You've nothing to lose!

[@jackiemack8653]

@@ianstuart5660 Yes thx. I've started carnivore diet starting today but I'm pretty far gone. 5 years ago I was fine. Go figure! Appreciate your input and glad you're ok!

[@A---ti3zz]

I had diverticulitis and got admitted for antibiotics. My bowel perfed. It felt like my guts were exploding and I kept begging for help. I was dying and knew it and they told me that I was just anxious or that it was probably a gynecological issue. It was a day and a half of me begging for help and them telling me I was just anxious. It breaks a person to not only have to beg for your life but to beg a doctor and get told that it is anxiety

[@commonsense6967]

OMG! Did they finally do something for you?!

[@A---ti3zz]

@@commonsense6967 After a day and a half they finally did a CT. They told me that I didn't have a GI problem and then minutes later they had to come back in and tell me my bowel perfed. I had to have emergency surgery. Lost part of my colon and ended up with a colostomy. I got to see my own intestine as a reminder of the worst two days of my life. Now I am terrified of doctors and nurses

[@Hatbox948]

​@@A---ti3zzOmg!

[@31michelle64]

Did you sue? I hope you did... only way to hold these jerks accountable. In the very least report to medical board

[@A---ti3zz]

@@31michelle64I wish I could

[@virtualwhispers]

I had a doctor treat me this way some years ago. I got up in the middle of our talk and said - I PAY YOU - NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND - I got up and left to find another doctor. I am VERY particular about doctors - they are one of the most important people in your life. If I feel uncomfortable, I won't let them treat me. I was fortunate to find 2 doctors that I absolutely loved. As long as I had something to say - they had time to listen, and you could feel that they cared and wanted to get you better.

[@cbpostservice]

If medical school standards weren't so ridiculous, then we'd have more good doctors and less of these gaslighters.

[@nateo200]

Literally this. It attracts a bunch of broken people who are willing to slave over insane work standards to achieve status. Hence the high volume of narcissists and sociopaths. I once said this to a psychiatrist I knew had NPD and he yelled at me and then glared at me for the rest of the session LOL. There are some seriously sick people in medicine like emotionally dysregulated and straight up evil. Of course sometimes sociopaths can do good like surgeons who dont have empathy can treat the body like a machine when fixing it under high stress thus being superior to people who might have too much empathy...however I really think this is becoming less common.

[@jmo2104]

A surgeon damaged my thyroid during another Surgery to the point that it "died". For 3 months after the surgery I kept telling him something was wrong. He finally said there was nothing wrong with me and that he would give me a prescription to a psychiatrist. I left there and Continued to decline. Began to lose my eyesight, Muscles in legs and back atrophy, And more and more and more. Finally, 5 months post surgery wound up in the emergency room From a full body muscle seizure. Extreme lack of calcium what's beginning to wear out my bones. A friend of the family who was a doctor saw me at ER. Six months before I had been a runner, My job was totally physical, And I had so deteriorated I didn't even look like myself. Within twenty four hours he had figured out what had happened. It took me 2 years to recover even partially from all of that Because of so much damage of not having a working thyroid for 6 months. Ten years later and I am still not myself and probably never will be. It affected me more than just physically, I never trust doctors now. I didn't sue him because I was so sick I couldn't handle it. I'm just glad I can walk again.

[@marymccluer1630]

That's a really awful thing to go through, especially when the surgeon just denies that there is even a problem. He should have realized that he had damaged your thyroid during surgery and come clean about it, saying that a mistake was made and they will need to monitor/ treat you to make sure there aren't long-term problems. If he had just been honest, he could have saved you from the trauma of what you went through.

[@francikeen]

@jmo2104 I am so sorry the first surgeon treated you so badly. I take 60 mg of Armour Thyroid, which has both T4 and T3. For optimal health, your T3 should be in the top 25% of the lab range. Our bodies use T3, not T4, for energy. The liver transforms T4 into T3. Also see Dr. Westin Childs' website about T2, which scientists have recently learned effects our resting metabolism. Also please get your blood level, of DHEA, tested... for adrenal energy. I have a good anti-aging doctor, but I also do a lot of my own research.

[@SadisticSenpai61]

And that's how they get away with medical malpractice.

[@ceebee8255]

You need to sue

[@LGrian]

@Anibanani16most states there’s a statute of limitations of 3-4 years from injury. If they can find other patients who were harmed more recently they may be able to file a class action suit

[@jennyrose2200]

I was marked a pain medicine seeker. I have social anxiety and don't communicate well with people. I didn't want pain meds, I wanted them to listen to me about the pain I was experiencing. So now as you know, our records are forever blemished.

[@LittleKitty22]

That's true. I was marked as "violent and dangerous" because I asked why they wanted to do a blood test when I went to the ER for having become paralyzed overnight. Got screamed at and the nurses wrote in my records "patient ran around violently attacking staff - highly dangerous, very violent". I was on a stretcher, paralyzed from the neck down... they sent me home by the way, I'm now severely disabled, have lost everything. No doctor takes me serious because of what's in my records.

[@isveryrill1234567]

You need medical malpractice. They made you worse by falsely accusing you, and tarnishing your name.@@LittleKitty22

[@Cherrybee61]

Same Here. I was Blacklisted. I'm sure at the top of my records, a note reading " P.I.T.A". ( Pain in the Ass ).😮

[@marymccluer1630]

I think the failure has to be on the healthcare providers who don't hear what you are saying. Yes, I have chronic pain. I want to diminish/manage the pain. I'm not seeking pain pills to mask the pain. They should be asking you questions, like, "if I understand you, you are saying..." to make sure they are getting your message correctly.

[@LittleKitty22]

@@marymccluer1630 I get screamed at when I REFUSE painkillers! Doctors are PUSHING painkillers at me - here in the UK it's the other way round from the US - over there they refuse to prescribe painkillers, here they push them at patients! Painkillers and antidepressants - big business over here!

[@sherisse10]

I went to an orthopedic doctor via workers comp. I had injured my back, pain so intense I literally couldn’t walk without peeing myself. First Dr. only xrayed my knee (because I was bent over and limping) i said there’s nothing wrong with my knees.. I’m knock kneed.. he said “oh no no no I’m a dr and can see swelling 🙄🤦🏼‍♀️ I of course knew something was very verrrry wrong & wouldn’t be getting proper care from him… went to next dr they sent me to.. he walked in asked with an eye roll.. “why are you crying?” I said because I’m in so much pain I can barely sit here, I can’t walk, I can’t sleep, I know there’s something wrong , the pain is from my back through the front of my gut, down my legs & no one is listening..” He responded with “well have you seen your gynecologist?” I was shocked! I said why would I need to see a gyno? I’ve had a hysterectomy..” (He obviously was being a complete psychopath narcissist & implying that my tears were hormonal ) 3rd dr I went to was at the ER.. he came running in said “my God you look like you are in a tremendous amount of pain! I have some great narcotics for you!” I said through tears “I don’t want your freaking narcotics! I want you to figure out what is wrong with me?!” He shrugged his shoulders & said “well I can’t help you then.. not like they’re gonna open the MRI unit tonight, you weren’t in a car accident brought in by an ambulance..” I shuffled out bent over and all the drs & nurses just watched.. not a single one even offered me a wheelchair.. this all happened just before lockdowns last week of October 2019- beginning of January 2020 I was 45, thank God every day I didn’t ever accept any drugs offered as I can’t imagine being in lockdown, strung out, becoming addicted to those meds and still no help 😠 I finally just walked into urgent care, didn’t even mention a workers comp injury.. and they immediately did an X-ray of my back.. immediately saw the break in my vertebrae and sent me for an mri.

[@Hatbox948]

Wow. These stories are horrific.

[@helenhighwater5313]

I've known a few people who were workman's comp cases. You have to go to their designated docs and they have to document in exhaustive detail for WC to pay. These docs are notorious for dragging it out, are often hours away from where you live, and they habitually document poorly and even incorrectly. It's unethical, even criminal.

[@sharonrinkiewicz3940]

Good God, I can only imagine. Orthopedics are the biggest assholes.

[@marybusch6182]

Urgent care has worked for me except when they glued instead of stitched my cut. It inflamed, allergy or infection so it was a pain.

[@helgardhossain9038]

Incredible ... Just incredible.😢

[@bekind5738]

Colon Cancer is on the rise in young people. Please advocate for yourself. Do not let any MD intimidate you. You are and Expert in your body.

[@xxluaxx6]

I had a precancerous polyp at 24, 12 years ago. I feel so lucky my doctor listened to me. Because of him, I am here today.

[@ItsJennNotJenny]

Diagnosis is on the rise because more doctors are screening and listening to patients more vs before. We unfortunately still have so many cases being missed

[@dannymeyer3256]

Doesn’t this really make you wonder what type of people are working in healthcare? Shouldn’t we have better people in this life and death field?

[@marymccluer1630]

Sometimes it seems they screen med school applicants more for test scores and not for emotional intelligence. Doctors really have to listen to patients. Sometimes the slightest detail might be key. A parasitology professor taught an aspiring medical school student, and covered Naegleria fowleri. Years later, the doctor saw a patient who came in with a splitting headache and fever that came on suddenly. He asked what she had done that day, and she said she went swimming. Bingo! He had the lab check her spinal fluid for the protozoa, which they found, and he gave her a special treatment that saved her life.

[@doshadial]

Many are there because they like $$$$, not people.

[@Icewing10]

Narcissists and the medical field and education has declined. I also think it is big Pharma getting in the way. Doctor's are now called providers, which is degrading. A hundred years ago doctors were detectives and scientists to get to the cause of the problem. now they are paper and pill pushers for big P, imo of course.

[@alfasiger4178]

I blame the education and training. My phsycial therapist once said "they are just technicians." Doctors and surgeons are not smart.

[@luigiprovencher]

They should all be tested for personality disorders amongst other things.

[@diannawalker758]

I told several doctors my symptoms. I was sleepy and weak, all the time, I could barely get out of bed. I was dizzy, nauseous. I was pale like a ghost. He ordered some imaging to look for internal bleeding...none found. He p prescribed an anti-depressant. I collapsed a week later, and went back to the doctors office. My regular doctor was off that day and I saw a new doctor. She ordered one blood test, and sent me home. I wasn't even home yet, and the doctor herself called me and told me to turn around and come back immediately. I had severe anemia. It took 2 blood transfusions to save me. The doctor said she had never seen anyone with anemia that bad who was still walking, talking and breathing. My regular doctor nearly killed me.

[@LittleKitty22]

When I had such bad anemia, and suffered anemic heart failure, I was denied blood transfusions. I was semi conscious by then. Got told "it's all just in your head". The "doctor" who said that, said "animal experiments have found that blood transfusions don't work" and "you are just imagining everything"... He's still practising, he's in his 90's but loves abusing patients so much that he just can't retire.

[@Cheekyconnermonkey]

You should sue that doctor for nearly killing you as that is manslaughter

[@tropicaoptica]

May I ask, did you eat meat when you were diagnosed with anemia?

[@emms443]

I guessed anemia when I started reading your post but dismissed it as "too easy." I can't believe your doctor didn't make the connection.

[@njrom2975]

What caused your anemia?

[@justiceforall007]

As an older woman who has experienced this, it really pains me to see this done to young people who have their whole lives ahead of them. 😢 It's sad also that people with anxiety are dismissed as being hypochondriacs, instead of having their symptoms investigated and treated.

[@YochevedDesigns]

Oh, the joys of being a woman in her mid 50's. You hear either "You're too young for that" or "It's just the aging process."

[@rudfil]

@@YochevedDesigns … or it’s “just menopause “

[@lynnroney1234]

@@rudfilJust wait until you ladies are in your late 60’s. It gets worse.

[@lynnroney1234]

I hate that. People with mental health issues get sick too! I had symptoms of a stroke. Huge history in my dad’s family. Yes, it’s on my chart that I have bipolar 2 disorder. One of the first questions this stupid resident asks me was if I had ever been diagnosed with schizophrenia. I’m also a nurse. I tore a strip off of her and gave her a good education about evaluating people with psyche issues. It isNOT your first thought. It’s your last. And ended with telling her that we get sick to and if that’s your first consideration, you might end up killing someone because you assumed. And I do mean asssssumed.

[@DragonQueen78]

​@@YochevedDesignsI got told in my late 30s that I was too young for menopause. I kept telling the doctor. Perimenopause. He was like. Yeah you're too young for that. Well, some years later now at 45 I am fully menopausal. Doctors do not know what they are talking about and they never listened to you especially when you're a woman. Then they wonder why people want to avoid doctors and hospitals all together.

[@Blackcat1111..]

This happened to my daughter yesterday! The doctor wouldn’t believe that she has a UTI and wouldn’t give her antibiotics. She started vomiting and I knew it was bad. I followed my mother instinct and took her to the hospital. She was tested and does indeed have a bad UTI. It could have turned to sepsis if we had listened to the other doctor. Never give up if you feel something isn’t right!

[@LittleKitty22]

When I had a kidney infection and was p!$$ing pure blood, I got told I was "just on my period". I have never had periods due to non-functioning ovaries PLUS I had a hysterectomy...

[@marymccluer1630]

Kudos to you for not giving up!

[@l.5832]

@@LittleKitty22 My friend had blood in her urine and she told me that the doctor told her it was 'stress'. I'm sure if she were male she wouldn't to have been told that. Shortly after, she was rushed to emergency with breathing difficulty. She had cancer that had metastasized to 4 organs. She died 8 months later.

[@SadisticSenpai61]

UTIs are really common and easy to test for. WTF?! Then again, it took until I was 30 to find a doctor that actually listened to me. So I do understand the struggle. Still don't know what causes my migraines, but at least my doc isn't questioning if I'm just making them up for attention (unlike most of the other docs I've had).

[@K.Kelly87]

Over the course of 6 weeks, I went to FOUR doctors complaining of a UTI. The first 3 told me to my face that I didn't have a UTI, I was just fat and needed a gastric bypass. The 4th was in an urgent care. I came in with a fever and extreme pain in my bladder and mid back. The urgent care Dr called an ambulance, and sent me to the ER. I was in the ER for SEVEN HOURS before I was seen. By that time I was passing out every few minutes. My temp was 103.4F. They did a CAT scan and discovered what had started out as a UTI, was now a kidney infection so bad that I has ABSCESSES on BOTH of my kidneys. I was admitted to the hospital, and given IV antibiotics and MORPHINE for the pain. The A$$hole doctors that dismissed me for being overweight almost killed me. I now have stage 3 kidney disease.

[@Paloma1977]

The sad part is I have no control what these type of drs write on your file then their notes spread across every other next dr reads of you being a problem

[@myobmyob2215]

Noted that they all want to know what the last doc said No, not sharing records anymore. I'm paying the new one to think for himself. Not get on a bandwagon

[@BL-sd2qw]

I have been so gaslighted over the course of YEARS by my family and doctors, that I could write a book. It was insane

[@peterbland7227]

My niece recently was gaslight by a doctor in a rural clinic. When she got back to the city and her symptoms persisted, she went into the local Emergency room, she was rushed into surgery. She was having a heart attack. She was minutes away from very serious consequences.

[@ktsi8574]

😮

[@illiniwood]

My wife's 22 year old co worker was having chest pain after work one day. He went to his physician (rural doctor) and the doctor told the coworker that he was too young to have a heart attack and that it was just anxiety. The coworker then drove home, and walking from his car to his home he fell dead. Turned out he was having an active heart attack. A fully preventable heart attack. Had he gone to the ER he would have survived.

[@poempadgett4664]

@@illiniwood Jab⚫️

[@illiniwood]

@@poempadgett4664 No. This happened back around 2008.

[@jenniferlloyd9574]

​@@poempadgett4664 I was personally thinking the same thing.💉

[@verityhunt2913]

Sadly, it seems many doctors nowadays just want to hear a symptom or two that they can prescribe medication for and shoo you out of the office as quickly as possible. Their prime motivation is no longer to help people but to make money. And then when you go home and use the internet to diagnose yourself, they get annoyed and insulted that you dare to question them. The last few health issues I have had, I knew what was wrong before the doctor did, and was able to ask for the correct tests to be done, which proved me right. I would urge people to research their own symptoms on reputable websites, before going to a doctor. Also, look into side effects of all medications before taking them, because they don't always warn you.

[@verityhunt2913]

@@lalique2817 Exactly. How can he possibly diagnose the problem accurately?

[@rebeccadavidson4435]

I have not really met a Dr that will have a calm adult conversation (you know back and forth) without getting defensive or dismissive. I have had two Drs tell me to do whatever I want when I try to tell them what is wrong and why I can't/won't do what they are suggesting.

[@verityhunt2913]

@@rebeccadavidson4435 Yes, many are arrogant and have a god complex. In centuries past, people had no choice but to accept whatever a doctor told them, but today, with so much medical info available on the internet, it is indefensible to expect patients to trust doctors blindly, especially when there are so many cases of them getting it wrong, with tragic outcomes.

[@julias.4980]

If you want to know about a Medication, talk to a PHARMACIST. They understand the Chemistry behind each drug. Doctors are educated by good-looking Pharmaceutical Sales Reps in expensive clothes and cars from the Drug Companies that wine and dine them.

[@rebeccadavidson4435]

My Dad was a pharmaceutical rep - starting in the 1960's. He was old school, did education, had a microbiology degree and formed LT relationships with his Drs. In the end, even though he was one of their top reps for many years, by the time he was in this 60's, they forced him to retire. (Retire with his package or we will fire you.) He told me that they hired two newbies to cover his territory for < what he was making. That's business now-a days: short term cost cutting that harms the business LT). Yes - you are right the companies now hire cut throat sales people that are young, good looking and can get their foot in the door. Whatever it takes to reel the Dr in to start writing scripts for their company's meds.

[@michelleblackwell5122]

I am a nurse in a SNF, I have a lot of long term residents (nursing home). I have a few stories that I could tell you, but I will only tell one of them here. I only worked weekends, but we had a long term resident that had anxiety and would always say "I can't breathe". When I started there, I was told that he always does this. When he did it with me, which was usually every day and multiple times a day, I would assess him. People said that I didn't need to, that he was a hypochondriac. I still always assessed him. One day, he was in bed and I was working with his roommate. He said he couldn't breathe, and then he said he felt weak and then said he felt like he was going to pass out. I did vitals, and they were ok...but I still called the doctor and told them that I was concerned, because he had a pattern of complaints, and these were new. Got the order to send him out, and he had a PE (pulmonary embolism).

[@nohandle62]

I had several symptoms of cancer and was blown off, laughed at, and told it was in my head FOR TWO YEARS. I'm a month post-surgery now. My cancer was caught, by accident, on an ultrasound. I GOT LUCKY. Also, called 911 for an ambulance because I was in danger of bleeding out. Because I had no obvious symptoms they treated me like a faker. 👎🏻

[@msaunsha]

I recently just changed my Oncologist because of this. 😢 Dealing with a recurrence of breast cancer and started this second journey with the same Oncologist from the diagnosis 14 years ago. I knew after a while that his personality, dismissiveness, and the rushed visits would not work for me this time around, so did what I had to do for my sanity and my peace. Met with my new one this past Monday and I can say that he is indeed God sent. I pray that we all get through this with strength and power! 🙏🏽🙏🏽❤️❤️

[@sbee985]

Amen! Saying a prayer for you! Holy Father, please bring complete healing and wholeness to Your beloved child. Strengthen her. Continue to guide her in all decisions in her healing process and bless her and family with love, joy and happiness! In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen. 🙏🏼💕

[@HL-qv3yd]

❤❤❤❤

[@camillesolange182]

Good recovery. I wish you the best!

[@elizabethmcleod246]

Good luck

[@purpleviolet2058]

💜💜💜💜

[@Bella-gj6wc]

I was having bloating and pain for probably a year or more. I mean bloating to the point where I’d instantly look pregnant, and pain like during childbirth. Went to my doctor, and after months, he finally gave me a referral to an OBGYN. Without even doing an internal or anything on my first meeting, with the OBGYN, she said “we’ll just do a hysterectomy”. I said “wow could we try something less invasive? Like what is the problem?” She had to leave the room, and left my file there. While she was gone I read the letter my referring doc sent to her, basically stating he’d “investigated,” “found nothing wrong”, and that what it boiled down to was it was “all in my head”. She came back in, I said “I’m not having a total hysterectomy at 31 years of age, and good bye”. I went back to the referring doc, and we had words. Well I had a bunch of words. At one point he got up to leave, and I said “sit down! I’m not finished yet! I said (pointing at his degrees), these indicate YOU are smarter than me in one area of life. They don’t make you an authority on ME, and just because YOU can’t figure out what is wrong with me doesn’t mean I’m crazy, or that it’s all in my head! I read the referral letter you sent. Let’s suffice to end this with you will NEVER send another letter about me from this office, that I have not signed off on. Are we clear??” I changed doctors, went to a new one, we discussed the issues I was having, and he said “was the threat of a hysterectomy supposed to scare you better?” He sent me to another OBGYN, who was amazed that I’d had kids, that I had the worst fibroid tumours “he’d ever seen”, and did recommend a partial hysterectomy. IF you don’t advocate for yourself, you’re sunk, in a world of people who will use/abuse you. I had my surgery and never had another problem, but Lord the getting there about killed me.

[@dia9491]

My mom who had been going through menopause for years by this point started having insane pain in her lower abdomen, she said it was like having a baby. Then having horrible periods where she couldn’t work for ten days at a time. She asked for a hysterectomy because female cancers run in the family and she was just done having ovaries and a uterus. The doctor refused and gave her hormones. Then she decided to see her old OBGYN in another state because it was getting worse and worse. He only did pre-op tests but he did the surgery. Turned out she had a 9lb fibroid tumor that was pre cancer. He saved her life and her reasoning for hysterectomy was enough for him. He said, you know your body better than I do. He’s retired now but he was such a kind man. I’m so glad he listened to her.

[@Dancing_With_Myself86]

Wow, You're my hero! Can you come with me to the doctor? 😅

[@HerMajesty1]

My 38 year old daughter has started having seizures. After 2 months she finally got into a neurologist. 10 years ago she witnessed her brother and 3 of his kids die in a car accident. They were all thrown from the car or literally cut in half from the seatbelts. She is on anti anxiety meds because of the obvious trauma. After looking at her chart and seeing she was on anxiety meds, He told her to go to a therapist before even doing any diagnostic testing, completely disregarding her obvious medical issues. I hate doctors.

[@tashapatton4699]

Some meds can actually cause seizures. She may want to Google the side effects of her medicine. I used to be on wellibutrin. The pharmacy I got it from had a pamphlet that came with it and it said if you drink too much caffeine while on wellibutrin it can cause seizures. I'm so sorry she went through that and my condolences on your loss.

[@HerMajesty1]

@@tashapatton4699 She talked to her family doctor and one of her meds actually prevents seizures. She had weaned herself off of all meds for about 6 months prior. So now she's back in them. Thank you for you kind words

[@Hbk-gc7st]

Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry for your loss!🙏🏽🕯🤍🕯🤍🕯🤍🕯🤍💝 And I'm so sorry that your daughter has witnessed that horrible accident. I pray that a good doctor will find out what's wrong with her and that you'll have the strength to keep advocating for her. Please don't give up.🙏🏽💝

[@HerMajesty1]

@@Hbk-gc7st How sweet. Thank you for your kind words.

[@snowbird6855]

If possible, seek a highly recommended trauma specialist for much needed therapy. Healing won't come from a prescription.

[@arichu2514]

This happened to me as well, here in Spain, specifically when you’re young, doctors have 3 default reactions to any kind of complaints: 1) You’re too young to have any serious condition that needs treatment, it will all pass on its own! 2) This is all anxiety! Take some vitamins 3) Prescribe antibiotics and/or pain medication without running any tests The medical system all over the world is rotting, I find it ridiculous that we came to a point where “Functional medicine” became a thing. ALL medicine should be functional, with doctors who stay true to what they pledge!

[@Whoever68]

Isn’t it so disappointing that we’re constantly told to talk to our doctor about our concerns. So we go along and we talk with our GP’s and we proceed to tell them the things we’re feeling and our concerns only to be brushed off as anxious or that “it’s in our heads”. Last time I went to the doctor about my concerns, I was brushed off. I haven’t been to a doctor in almost ten years. I keep putting it off because I don’t want to walk out of a doctor’s office feeling like I did something wrong or that I’m delusional and stupid. If I’m clearly sick with a physical issue that they can see, that’s when doctors will treat you. If it’s something they can’t actually see they brush you off as an anxious patient.

[@RaisingMyWildflowers]

Knew a young woman who died at 31 due to doctors not listening. She was using a sleep apnea machine that was poorly designed and she was breathing in Styrofoam vapors in her sleep. She developed lung nodules that became infected and caused sepsis.

[@lorraineophoff4984]

Horrible!!!

[@rebeccacampbell8020]

I heard about that machine on the news the other day. It was recalled and has killed several people.

[@marymccluer1630]

Wow. My dentist's receptionist met a similar fate. She was a young mother, beautiful, friendly, kind to everyone. After sinus surgery, she became septic and died. The dentist and his staff were devasted, and I can imagine her husband and kids were even more traumatized. Healthcare mishaps hurt many people, not just patients.

[@Jacqueline_Thijsen]

The machine was from Philips, a Dutch company. They used to be the top in all sorts of consumer electronics. In my lifetime they went from being our national pride to being our national embarrassment. As a Dutch person, I deeply apologize.

[@CourageUnderFire87]

I think this is a huge issue that needs to be addressed about doctors. Doctors who do this to patients should have their license revoked. It’s contributes to more cost for patients and the insurance! It’s also can be complete devastating patients .

[@Juke582]

We would not have any medical field then as it’s every one of them mean narcissists!

[@laurelharris7244]

At 54 I was diagnosed with the third iteration of a rare cancer I could first describe symptoms of at age 3. A lot of doctors and gaslighting over the years. I learned two things in five decades: (1) 50% of doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class so keep looking; (2) you may not be a doctor but you know the facts and they need to be addressed and not written off as impossible. You are not insane. They are incompetent. Keep looking.

[@The_other_jenny]

What do you even mean "graduate in the bottom 50% of their class?" Passing scores are very high in medical school, so saying the bottom 50% graduate is still them meeting a very high threshold. 😅

[@ssansu]

​@@The_other_jennyAnd yet, so many are demonstrably incompetent, and have toxic attitudes.

[@imlistening1137]

You never know if your doctor was at the top or bottom of their class. It’s been my experience as a patient and a nurse the smartest doctors are the most compassionate and careful. Always speak up. They are just human like you.

[@MM-pl6zi]

In my EMT, Cardiology Tech and Surgical Tech training, the running joke was, "What do you call a medical student who graduates with a "C" average?......A DOCTOR!"

[@steveneardley7541]

I came down with late onset celiac disease about 35 years ago. I went to a number of doctors, and they did lots of tests but gave me no diagnosis. Finally, one said "There's nothing wrong with you." I practically yelled, "Then why have I lost 35 pounds in three months?" I was beginning graduate school, though I felt totally sick. One day another student came up to me and said "Steve, you look terrible. What's wrong?" I told her my symptoms, and she said, "Oh, this sounds like celiac disease. You need to get a biopsy. I will bring you a printout tomorrow." I didn't take her all that seriously, because she wasn't a doctor and I had seen three different doctors. When I read the printout, however, I immediately realized that she was right. I went gluten free, and gained back most of my weight in the next six months. I have since learned that a number of relatives on my mother's side of the family also have celiac disease.

[@user-ds8fq8cp2f]

I almost lost a kidney,when I had a surgery. Surgeon brushed me off for a month b4 she finally sent me for testing. She had sewn up one of my ureters

[@julial3325]

Sounds like a possible lawsuit

[@31michelle64]

😮😮😮

[@lorraineophoff4984]

Yikes! My elderly mother had an X-ray, and they found a needle in her abdominal area, left from a previous surgery.

[@MDNQ-ud1ty]

Look, you do realize taking a kidney out is a lot of work. How the hell can one schedule time between golfing and perusing the mall to do surgery? Come on, do you really think your time is more valuable than Gucci? Who do you think you are?

[@marybreiner5]

I kept telling my Primary that something was wrong with my heart. He did a couple of EKGs in the office, but let his nurse read it. She made me feel stupid. Said there is absolutely nothing wrong with me. It's just anxiety. After a year of feeling terrible, this past New Year's Eve, I had a major heart attack. I sat in the emergency room for 12 hours before I finally was seen by a doctor. The next morning I had quadruple bypass surgery. I'm still healing. I went for my post op visit with my surgeon. He never even looked at my wounds. Said I was fixed and then walked out. I feel so hopeless.

[@Hatbox948]

My guess is many of us have experienced this treatment from doctors.

[@katierice9247]

I started to have mild back pain when I was 23. It was new. I had started having back pain around 16 year old, but it started changing? I told my doctor that it was hurting. He told me to take Tylenol for it. About 4 months later it had intensified significantly. Again, I told my doctor it was getting worse. Now my hip and leg were starting to hurt? He’d only been my PCP for 5 years at this point. He said I had “weak core muscles” and I should do sit ups to strengthen them. Another 4-ish months goes by. By now, I’m in incredibly incapacitating pain. It’s hard to walk the pain and numbness in my leg. I can hardly sleep because it hurts so much? Another doctor I see, a rheumatologist, saw me and said he was worried my arthritis had moved into my hip, so he decided to get x-rays of my hip and an MRI of my lower back. About a week later my PCP called me and asked me to come in immediately. I was confused by his urgent tone. When he came in the room all he would say at first was, “I’m really sorry. Really, I’m so sorry?” He sat down and wrote a prescription and handed it to me while still apologizing. It was for heavy pain killers. Then he said, “You need to have surgery soon.” Again, I was confused. That’s when he told me that, I had 2 discs in my back that were so badly herniated that they were crushing my sciatic nerve. I needed to elect to have surgery to remove the parts of the discs that were doing the crushing. I was floored! 😮 I asked him why he didn’t listen to me? I kept telling him the pain was getting worse? He felt so bad. He’s still my doctor to this day. It’s been 16 years. He always listens to me now! He’s my biggest proponent about my health now! He’s a wonderful doctor. He says he learned his lesson about not listening to his patients.

[@seesthru]

Took 3 months to get a staph infection in my spine doagnosed, because the doctors said I was old, or drug seeking, or just needed to deal with it.... and finally my primary ordered an MRI out of disgust and said I'd be laughed out of the place when they didn't find anything..... They weren't laughting. And I was literally DYING by the time they found the infection.

[@TheArnebaby]

Wow. Did the MRI show the infection?

[@graveart1105]

I used to have a doctor who, when I presented with obvious symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, told me to get a massage. I dropped him immediately.

[@now591]

Shouldn't get paid for the appointment either.

[@TheBlissCatalyst]

Sounds like my rheumatologist!

[@LaurieH57]

My niece was told that she just suffered from stress (extreme headache while in Norway) and told to just go running. She got back to the states and her optometrist told her she had a brain tumor, go to the ER immediately. A friend started gaining weight and her doctor told her to cut down on the chocolate. After five years of gaslighting, she changed doctors and found out her thyroid died.

[@sylviefrancis331]

I've been trying to convince my GP that I have the onset of MS. " No. Not possible. It's too rare." and my favorite "You seem anxious. You just have to reduce your stress. Let's look at menopause" I almost gave up. After 3 years, I found a neurologist who took me seriously. I thought I was the only one. I'm so sad that so many of you experience(d) this cruelty. Keep staying strong, all you beautifuls!

[@LittleKitty22]

MS isn't that rare, but they don't like anything that's not run of the mill and that they can't just throw antidepressants at you for.

[@66jaws]

Look into low dose naltrexone

[@diannetupper8320]

Please look into the Whals protocol.

[@pascaleweber7206]

Hello, the last weeks I'm not able to walk. Now, a new doctor (at the same practice I went for 7 years) took it seriously, besides a dozen other MS symptoms. Yes, I can tested etc. from now on. I have been having symptoms, some coming and going, for 7 years. The onset was while I had MNS (maligne neuroleptical syndrom), then Covid-19 did sth, and then 2 of the 5 covid-vaccines ...I just had a sleep examination (at a good hospital) and both (good and friendely) psychiatrists took everythong seriously and also thought looking into the neurological./ few years ago my GP didnt want to send mo to specialists, but she did call, in front of me, for euthanasia (I live in Belgium) for mental suffering. But, I wrote in my euthanasia request, that I wanted to die because of physical symptoms. Ended up doing a suïcide attempt, got some meds, after that I started to have other neurological symptoms./Since octobre '23 I received Pfizer Covid Vaccine, had a bloody nose while sleeping, a month off headaches, and started to see permanently in DOUBLE Vision, tics and convulsions increased. since january got tested for high igE for wheat allergy, at the same time it was getting dangerous to walk outside, eyes close, head falls. And now I dont have balance anymore, and my knees refuse to keep me up.// my GP is married to a famous virologist ... At least I can be assured other specialists from the hospital will just look at the facts. but still, I still am afraid of medical gaslighting. .. But less so than maltreatment due to my autism. With the MS I have more trouble talking .. light dysartria and logoclonia/palilalie.

[@SongMom8]

I’ve been dealing with chronic fatigue for twenty years. I can’t tell you how many doctors and specialists I’ve been to. I have been dismissed, literally laughed at, bullied… just yesterday I went into the clinic and she blatantly refused to give me what I knew I needed. This has been happening to me more and more. I have been angry and in tears but still they won’t listen to me. Yesterday I told her I was done, and walked out while saying, “Thanks for nothing.” I have totally lost all patience and I am quickly losing hope. Thankfully I have finally found a doctor who is willing to listen to me… but it can take a week to get in to see him. What do I do in the meantime? I have no faith in the medical community any more.

[@dmo8343]

What is that thing that you mentioned you know will help if I may ask? Just wondering as I also had a period with extreme tiredness

[@oregondrivingadventures7506]

I have CRPS. It took me 7 agonizing years to get diagnosed. My life was saved by as middle eastern doctor from Hermiston Oregon.

[@dont_harsh_my_mellow]

Doctors in the Middle East are trained better and put through more rigorous programs for med school. I’m so glad you were capable of getting this help! Hopefully we got to have a better future for health care! Wow!

[@Jill-the-Meatlover]

My friend is on hospice with days to live. They told him they didn’t know what was wrong. He has pancreatic cancer with Mets. I am very saddened to loose him as a friend. He was a bright light in all our lives.

[@marymccluer1630]

I'm sorry that you are losing a dear friend. Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis. Hospice is sometimes the most humane thing so at least they are not in pain.

[@Hbk-gc7st]

Oh wow! I'm so sorry!🙏🏽💝

[@maryteodorczuk4282]

Pancreatic cancer is very aggressive. I'm so sorry that you are losing your friend.

[@everydaytherapist7315]

As a therapist and as a patient, I can attest to the words, "I believe you." If you are telling someone your symptoms or pain and they dismiss you or tell you that they don't know, seek another practitioner. You do not have to stay with this form of care. It's also perfectly ok and healthy to let that practitioner know exactly WHY you wish for someone else.

[@valerieodonnell6764]

When I was pregnant with my first child my obgyn was patronizing from the very first visit, I think because I was overweight (180 lbs which is fat but not crazy fat). Towards the end of the pregnancy I developed high blood pressure and the only reason I knew is because I would check it at the grocery store kiosk thing where I worked. I asked her about it and she said “just stop checking it.” What?! A week later I was seen by a different doctor in the practice and she said you have preeclampsia and we need to induce you today, go to the hospital across the street right now.

[@trishthedishluna]

I went to doctors my entire childhood for headaches. They kept sending me to therapists. When I was 18 I had a brain hemorrhage from a malformation of veins covering my brain. After that I was committed to advocating for my own health. Even after having multiple brain surgeries following the hemorrhage, my doctors still treat me like I'm imagining the brain damage that's occurred during those surgeries.

[@annewelch-uk1of]

My late husband was born with Sickle Cell Anemia and a heart murmur. He was in pain every second of his life. He had to take Oxycontin, Percoset or other pain meds. None of his doctors ever said "its all in your head!" Please continue to fight for yourselves and your families as well. I was adopted at four years old and no idea of any health problems in my family.

[@Ceerads]

I appreciate especially what Nick M. said about people without medical insurance. So many in this country (the States) have no insurance. One’s ability to have medical treatments should not depend on one’s financial health.

[@suzee_bee]

I agree! It’s the same in the UK. People think because we have the NHS that we do not face these struggles but the NHS is really for people without private health insurance because anyone with money won’t hang about waiting on the NHS, they just pay private & get sorted out asap. People who are less financially fortunate have no choice but to wait on the NHS & medical gaslighting is a HUGE problem on the NHS. It’s so sad that we live in a world where even your access to healthcare depends on the size of your bank account. Much love & prayers to anyone dealing with this very prevalent problem ❤️

[@Ceerads]

@@suzee_bee Thank you! Yes, similar where you are, and in Canada, too. And I so agree with you. I guess it’s slightly better in the U.K. and Canada, because at least there’s some possibility of eventually getting healthcare, if one lives long enough to get it. Much love back to you.

[@Ceerads]

@AnnaSusannaFinkelstein-bd7ul I don’t blame undocumented immigrants for our deplorable healthcare system. We’re a hugely rich country still, and far less rich countries in Europe - far fewer people, too, of course, which simplifies things a bit - have excellent government-paid healthcare than we do. This country could direct a larger portion of our tax revenue towards healthcare for all. One political party is against this and is even trying to reduce greatly the S.S. and Medicare and Medicaid that the other political party - Democratic - created and employees paid into during working years. There are problems caused by undocumented immigrants coming in, but our healthcare situation isn’t one of them. Btw, illegal immigrants also fill the jobs that would remain unfilled by citizens. Ever eat in a restaurant or hire a housekeeper? Ever hope that unions evaporate and bosses no longer have to pay even half-decent wages? If that ever happens, we’d better HOPE for more undocumented immigrants. Not that I’m happy that they’re exploited here, either.

[@Ceerads]

@AnnaSusannaFinkelstein-bd7ul Please don’t blame undocumented immigrants for our abysmal healthcare system. Do you know that most countries in Europe, far less rich than our country, use their taxes to pay for government healthcare for all? This still-rich country could use its taxes for “universal” healthcare for us. Yes, some countries in Europe do have higher taxes, but those taxes are used to help its people. And if the extremely rich people here were taxed fairly, well, you do the math. And the Republicans in office are trying to do away with Medicare and Medicaid (and S.S.), programs that we workers paid into and that the Democrats created. As for illegal immigrants, without them, many jobs would go unfilled (not that I’m for exploiting immigrants). Ever eat in a restaurant or go to a friend’s house when the housekeeper is there? Many restaurant workers and housekeepers are “illegals.” Ever eat fruit or vegetables? Much of the workers who harvest those foods are “illegals.” Ever say something negative about unions? The paucity of unions enables bosses to hire “illegals,” despite people such as Cesar Chávez (RIP). Even the most anti-illegal people here have benefited by these immigrants being here. And, again, THEY don’t cause our deplorable - great word, btw - healthcare system.

[@VvpandoravV]

@AnnaSusannaFinkelstein-bd7ul I WISH it worded that way! I

[@belleboutiquebylynbella]

I’ve been getting gaslighted for 30 years. I still do not have all my diagnoses, I’m still presenting with symptoms and acquire new symptoms all the time. I’m going to Mayo and some of the drs think they know everything and won’t listen. One even lied to me. I’m worried I’m just going to die one night because they refuse to help me and a lot of illnesses, if not treated, can be fatal. I feel like I’m deteriorating and no one cares.

[@janelleabbott2227]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. The medical system is broken😅

[@artandrea5348]

I'm so sorry to hear this. But I'm right there with you. For the last 2 years or more I've been going downhill fast. I've seen various drs and had various tests done with certain results coming back flagged. But no one ever follows up about any of them or tells me whats next or acts like any of it is important. I guess cause I'm not currently dying or in the middle of an emergency. But I'm a miserable lady. I have 3 kids and do everything I can to just get by everyday. I pretty much gave up on tests cause it got me nowhere. If you only knew my symptoms, its definitely concerning but all I can do is rely on the Lord every min of everyday. He has gotten me through! I pray you get answers!

[@victoriamyatt1709]

Im sorry that this happened to you, i know how it feels to be brushed aside and not listened too. I started documentation of symptoms and my food i was consuming plus sleep patterns. Researched on medical sights, not just google. Made comprehensive notes and went back time after time to tackel each diagnosis separately and asked for specific tests to rule out things and highlight things. In the uk we only have 10 mins per appointment and the gp (dr) has to ask certain questions according to the diagnostic criteria on screen. This can lead them down the wrong path if certain symptoms are highlighted or missed. The doctors need to be up to date on new information and discoveries about complex medical conditions as new discoveries are being made constantly. I was finally diagnosed with endometriosis after years of pain and the more recently hypermobile ehlers Danlos syndrome. I have other issues with hormones (due to the gynie diagnosis) and migraine since childhood so all of the issues overlapped and was very hard to tell where one starts and another finished. I also have Aspergers so anything to do with the stomach area was often blamed on Autism or gynie stuff. Turns out that heds also effects the stomach... Although none of the conditions were life threatening like cancer they do seriously impede the quality of life and make things very difficult as they have no cure, only pain management. It also means that the arthritis isn't really addressed as im always being treated for the other conditions first as they are usually the ones that cause the most sickness or hospitalisation. All this to say don't give up, always make notes, try and take support person with you and research. Practice what you're going to say if they brush you off and advocate for yourself. If you have the money then pay to see someone privately (or save up for it ) as they will spend longer with you and do more comprehensive testing.

[@GrandmaEllen]

Maybe check in with a Lyme-literate doctor.

[@Absaalookemensch]

I'm a retired RN, and was in healthcare for 40 years. I will say that in general, nurses and Nurse Practitioners listen more to patients. Become the expert of you and your own advocacy. If your provider continues to gaslight you, switch to another one. For rare, complex, stubborn to diagnose/treat issues, make a list of all the possibilities, treatments and journal, documenting. Intensity, frequency, duration and changes. Healthcare professionals look for the most probable cause and are forced to run patients through like a assembly like.

[@karenneill9109]

I have MCAS/POTS/EDS, and I can concur that nurses seem to be better at a ‘growth mindset’ than physicians. When I show up in the ER, I see nurses looking up what I have if they have time. The doctors rarely do.

[@LittleKitty22]

Not here in the UK. Here, we cannot switch doctors. And most nurses are as abusive as the doctors. They are bitter that they didn't make it to becoming doctors.

[@karenneill9109]

@@LittleKitty22 Why can’t you switch doctors? I’m in Canada, and we can switch if we like.

[@LittleKitty22]

@@karenneill9109 We have to sign up with a primary care physician, called "GP". Even if we never use them, we have to sign up with them. Then, if we get referred to consultants, we only get referred to one consultant and that's it. We have no choice in who we see, at which hospital we see them and we cannot switch. If that consultant happens to be an abusive gaslighter then tough, then we get no medical care. Most of them are abusive and just dismiss patients with antidepressants. Tens of thousands of people die each year from conditions that could easily have been treated. I've been left severely disabled because a primary care physician decided that there is "nothing wrong with me". I was fit and healthy until five years ago. By the time I managed to get a physiotherapist to refer me - the primary care physician totally refused to even refer me - it was too late. I now would need major surgery but so far have only been screamed at to "take tranquilizers".

[@l.5832]

Here in Canada we are lucky to even HAVE a doctor. Millions don't. We don't dare rock the boat or we can be dumped by our doctor and never have a chance at having another.

[@kewpified]

This happened to me for many years & it was when I realized most doctors do NOT care about their patients. They want easy answers and as many warm bodies through their office for maximum profit. I was treated most horribly and made to feel like I was just depressed. After my condition deteriorated greatly to the point I was confined to my couch unable to care for myself...I finally got diagnosed. With proper treatment I was able to reabilitate and start living a life again. Although my condition is chronic, my life has improved greatly. It took several years to get diagnosed. I basically had to keep switching doctors until I found one that cared.

[@cliffordtickell4023]

I am sitting here watching this just crying! My wife was seen by multiple doctors from fall of 2019 until winter of 2023. Diagnosed for pulled muscle, allergies, psychological issues. One Dr. even told her well, " you know you are no longer a 20 year old" and another on her second visit exclaimed " oh, it"s you again. In December of 2023 my son took her to the ER where they preformed a CT scan which revealed a mass in her upper left lung along with several blood clots. After more testing and more scans it was determined that she has stage 4 lung cancer. Because of the delayed diagnosis the cancer has spread to her other lung, bone, brain, lymph nodes and abdomen. She had two weeks of whole brain radiation, and is now taking an oral cancer med. She has been on the cancer meds for nearly two weeks, and is continuing to deteriorate.

[@carolyearsley]

I am So Sorry for the all that you and she have gone through. Life on this earth is Hell.

[@elizabethmcleod246]

This is utter negligence and incompetence.

[@marymccluer1630]

I keep seeing stories like yours among these postings. Radiology exams are pretty good at screening for tumors. Why don't more doctors use them? I've read that in Japan, getting CAT scans is just a thing everyone does, like dental x-rays here.

[@chocolate82467]

I’ve been dealing with being gaslit by doctors for my various medical conditions for so long. I’ve actually lost all hope in the medical community. The latest incident was after I had a hysterectomy, several weeks later, I started having sharp, pulling pain in my lower abdomen. I told my doctor who turned around and told me I had food poisoning. When I tried to explain my symptoms, she continued on saying it was food poisoning. I finally showed her the area where the pain was, she said “oh, that’s lower than I expected” then she literally walked out of the exam room and never came back. A year later, I’m still dealing with the pain. I’ve just lost all hope and faith.

[@LittleKitty22]

That sounds like organ tissue having become stuck together. This often happens after a hysterectomy. It's very painful and you will need surgery to fix this. You need to fight to find a doctor that takes you serious and refers you to a specialist that can properly examine you.

[@lindseyslifeNstyle]

My primary care just said I’m her anxious patient. She’s been helpful but not without saying things like this. I’m not being anxious I’m taking care of myself when there’s something clearly wrong.

[@bettyvillegas8785]

Even if you were anxious it is a medical condition and be treated for that and you should be treated with respect. Sorry you went through that.

[@31michelle64]

Time to find a new Dr

[@rebeccadavidson4435]

I had a PCP that I was paying out-of-pocket for several years b/o of not having insurance. When I got really sick and had intense itching, I finally broke down and made an appointment (because I was certain I would be dismissed and COVID was raging). In the week it took me to get in, I turned yellow. Thank God - you can't ignore that. She sent me to the ER. I called her and left a message that I had been admitted. because they found a mass. She called back and told me to let her know what happened. I had my records sent to her. After 11 days in the hospital, with a mass, whacked out labs, two biopsy attempts and an ERCP where the Dr was unable to get thru the mass (can you say 100% obstructed?), they installed an external bile drain. I went home with no confirmed dx or tx plan. but a highly probable DX of Bile Duct CA. I could not see staying in the hospital over the weekend while I waited for my 2nd biopsy results. I was freaking out over the medical bill I was racking up. Had to make an appt with the oncologist for the next Wednesday to get my results (inconclusive, he suggested a 3rd biopsy attempt). The same hospital oncologist who would not talk to me about CA while I was an inpatient or in his office because I did not have a confirmed DX. He told me not to research it. He actually patted my hand and told me I would just upset myself. I am a nurse for God Sakes - not a hysterical type and not a child. I can't tell you how many things that made me feel, once I got past the initial shock of that statement and stopped seeing red (putting my anger aside). I had already researched it. It is a very aggressive CA with life expectancy of < 2 years. I followed up with my PCP as you are told to do; to bring her up-to-date and get some support/help in my next steps. I still had an external bile drain and only a mild case of jaundice by then but was miserable - not able to really eat/drink. She told me that I looked much better. Then she stated that as a Dr she was so sorry that she could not help me, I was speechless for a few moments. I asked for referrals/suggestions, she had none. I told her I already called a big cancer center and had started the process to be seen there. It looked like it would take several months. She told me that the highly probably CA was very serious and rare, so she had looked at my records. She said it was good to see that I was advocating for myself but she had no suggestions for referrals or next steps. I still had major GI problems but got nowhere when I asked for a referral (The hospital GI was WAY out of his league, refused to see him again). She had me sign more papers so that she could get more records... but really, why? I had liked her a lot but felt like I had been punched in the gut and was 100% on my own. I cried while driving home out of despair and shock. I never bothered to return. I felt that she had already written me off with this likely fatal CA. I did not have another PCP until about 2 months later when I got insurance. I could have selected her my old PCP under that policy, but why? The PCP that the insurance assigned me to, was not interested in managing my care - just following the insurance check list. I had MAJOR surgery with all sorts of pressing issues and her focus was that I was overdue for a mammogram and had never had a colonoscopy. Her words to me after our 1st appt (a televisit because she had been exposed to COVID), was to see all my specialists and to get back to her when things settled down. I am not making this up. About a year later, she fired me by letter. She had ordered a medication based on a test result, her office told me I had to schedule an appt if I wanted to talk to her about it. I did not get the medication because the pharmacy could not fill the order - as it was not a dosage that drug had. She accused me of changing the order in her computer system. Really? I guess dealing with someone that was really sick and had a brain was too much for her. Sorry if my anger and negativity is showing, it was and still is a rough path to find Drs that care and/or will listen and actually are interested in helping you figure out what is wrong. When I started with her, I had a confirmed CA dx but not the one that the Drs had thought was highly probable. I am still here because I did not give up and am very tenacious. To all you lovely people out that in a similar instance. don't give up. I get angry and use that anger to persevere. I BELIEVE you and believe that you are worthy of competent care. Hugs!

[@ladeek35]

@@rebeccadavidson4435 I am so sorry you’ve had to go through this. I understand. I will never be normal functioning again because of the same kind of BS. And yeah, I’m so angry. I understand.

[@marymccluer1630]

It's almost tempting to ask if she prefers patients who don't care about their health, after all, they won't bother to see her. (Like so many men!)

[@goldibee]

This makes me so angry. I’ve been gaslit by multiple doctors and this shouldn’t go on. My heart goes out to every single person in this video. Thank you for sharing your stories and bringing light to this. I truly think we need a complete overhaul on the way medicine in the west is practiced.

[@JohnOLooney]

Sadly I have lost all faith in the medical establishment because as a funeral director I saw many young people coming in, people who had been given the “protection” They openly admit the truth to me about it, they all know the truth, they disgust me and I’ll never visit my doctor again

[@MysteryGrey]

Hi John 👋 thank you for speaking out!❤

[@JohnOLooney]

@@MysteryGrey your welcome, i care about your family as well buddy

[@little_miss_vintage]

I’m in tears watching this because this has happened to me so many times too. I was told I was just depressed and anxious too many times to count. I was told numerous times that I couldn’t be helped or drs would shrug their shoulders and not know what to do. It took 15 years to be diagnosed with pernicious anemia and I was literally on deaths door (pernicious means deadly). Low levels of b12 can cause psychiatric and neurological issues. In addition to this I have autoimmune atrophic gastritis that has caused neuroendocrine cancer that is now stage 4. They are rare conditions and was always told years ago “don’t worry those conditions are so rare, you likely don’t have those” and it went ignored for YEARS. If I didn’t advocate for myself and ask for specific tests I’m certain I’d be dead now

[@marymccluer1630]

Just looked up pernicious anemia...200,000 cases in the U.S., and it is considered "common." I get why a PCP might not be able to make a diagnosis, but certainly a hematologist could. It seems PCP's are sometimes too hesitant to make referrals to specialists.

[@little_miss_vintage]

@@marymccluer1630 idk why google says it’s common but it’s considered a relatively rare disease if you ask the search how common it is or type is pernicious anemia rare. More common is the UK. I presented with extremely low ferritin levels initially so pernicious anemia was not considered for a very long time. My low iron got blamed on other things like periods or my plant based diet at the time and I was referred to hematology for it. After iron supplements didn’t work they offered infusions but were not really interested in WHY it was happening. To make diagnosis more difficult b12 levels can show “normal” levels in blood work because of the huge reference range and it takes about a 3-5 years to use up b12 stores.

[@browniewin4121]

So sorry this happened to you.

[@bigred4379]

I had a Stanford wrist surgeon ask me whether I “ needed my thumb to do my job”. Seriously.

[@LordMondegrene]

Same thing happened to a sister's bf. "Do you need those two fingers to be a graphic artist?"

[@bigred4379]

@@LordMondegrene unbelievable .

[@marymccluer1630]

Like, if I botch this, will it be okay? My brother's dog was hit by a car. He took it to a vet who said "I can fix it, but she'll limp and she'll be in pain." He took the dog to a second vet who charged 10x what the first vet was asking for, but she came out the same as before the accident. He had no regrets with going with the second vet.

[@spacecadet4876]

Why yes I do, and the middle one too, see?

[@bigred4379]

@@spacecadet4876 😂😂usually, that’s exactly my personality! Except …this was the THIRD hand specialist I’d been to, and I was just so STUNNED! The entire wrist breaking episode was like a weird dream. I kept thinking “ is it ME? ! Or are these people nuts?” I should mention- I live in Silicon Valley, not a rural area devoid of specialists by any means. SMH.

[@jeffszmiett2600]

Wow this was one of your best videos. Being misdiagnosed and ignored is absolutely the worst things in the world. Dying from this is my wife's reality. Fight for adequate medical care everyone!!!

[@funwithFred]

It happens a LOT more than you think.......please look up everything, yourself......know your body as much as possible!!!!!

[@rawrjessirawr1991]

As a female patient who had a guy as my first doctor, my first one at 18 was so so mean to me. Would laugh behind doors about my sickness and how my ex poisoned me and almost made me pass away. Said to other nurses I deserved it... I will always suffer from that accident my ex did to me... my new doctors were here for me and now will check my levels and say its so important. I had to change hospitals, I finally got a good doctor who was here for me. I was so surprised about how much my new doctor cared, I never had one like that before. It meant so much to me.

[@kellyluvskolors2083]

Bone marrow biopsies for anyone with fibromyalgia and or allodynia is extremely excruciating because local anesthetic are NOT effective.

[@alexandragrace8164]

Thank you for the heads up!

[@sammychicken4290]

As an RN, I have both witnessed & advocated for the patients I'm caring for. Sadly, it is after a Dr &/ other health care "professionals" victim blame the patient who has sought a Dr for professional advice re: their health. I have taken Drs & other allied health care workers to task after witnessing abhorrent behaviour.

[@YochevedDesigns]

Patient: Doctor, my arms and legs fell off! Doctor: You're just stressed. Take this antidepressant and follow up with your GP.

[@terriwardle591]

Perfectly said

[@jacki6301]

My favorite one is drink more water.

[@texasgma3578]

Take Tylenol and you’ll be fine. Before my mastectomy I made my doctor approve pain meds in my online chart. I had a lung biopsy and was told to go home and take Tylenol. Felt like a horse kicked me!

[@queenofhearts7726]

I’m so grateful for one doctor telling me “if you (doctor) listen to a patient long enough, they will tell you what is wrong with them”. Why? Because we live with ourselves every day. The doctor only sees us for a few minutes at a time.

[@morsecode4036]

They also google everything😅

[@oncebrokn3]

A physician gaslighted me 10 yrs ago. So, I just dealt with the symptoms. In 2 days, I'm finally getting the surgery I needed back then.

[@anrII2358]

I had to call an ambulance once and they told me that my symptoms are because of my mindset. I should get married and stop worrying about myself, but about future husband and kids. Crazy. Those things were called doctors. Long story short. I found out that have a genetical disorder that causes me inflamation and pain all over my body + 2 ulcers in stomach and 12inch gut. Because I was gaslighted by many doctor for 8 years, now I need surgery to cut the scared tissue in 12inch gut, so the food can pass through.

[@LittleKitty22]

I got that too. I was collapsing daily in severe pain and hemorrhaging to the extent that I stood in a pool of blood within seconds despite wearing huge maternity pads. Every single day. Doctors just shouted at me "get pregnant three times and you'll be fine". I had non-functioning ovaries and have always been single... Took me four years to get the hysterectomy I needed and I got it only because I came across a foreign gynecologist. The British ones (I'm in the UK) were just keen on getting me pregnant.

[@evaboldt653]

A tip...if your condition is complex, or you have several issues when seeing a doctor, type or neatly write in brief point form your symptoms and the date you experienced them. Make it like a memo e.g. To: Dr. J. Adams. From: Lucy Skye Date: April 7, 2023 Concerns: 1. Pain in lower back started May, 2, 2023 2. Nausea started Aug. 10, 2023. Etc. Let them read it quickly. It will help to speed things up during your appointment and will leave a documented history of your condition in your file. One doctor refused to read one of these summaries, but most find it helpful.

[@karenashton5053]

Such a great idea!!!

[@professoraviva4628]

Yes. This is a terrific suggestion. I've done this in another context: looking for care for my mother-in-law with fronto-temporal lobe dementia. Having a written one-sheet helps with communication; it can also help remind the patient of all the different topics to address (which can easily be overlooked during an appointment).

[@dawnbrooks2936]

I did this and the Dr barely glanced at it so I told her I needed a brain MRI as I was worried about MS. She literally laughed. I told her either she could order it or I would go to a neurologist who would order it. I went to a neurologist I have MS. Never went back to that

[@evaboldt653]

@dawnbrooks2936 Yes, it's simply a way to stay focused on the key points during your time with the doctor. If they won't review it, I review it for them. My general practitioner actually exclaimed: "I'm a doctor! I don't read!" So I summarized it for her. Good thing you went to see someone else and got a diagnosis!

[@TheStigmawarriors]

This is how I got my diagnosis of mitochondrial disease. I made a list of my symptoms in the years when they occurred. I also brought 10 years worth of my medical history. I put all the pieces together. So thankful I found that Dr. is so thankful I did all that legwork and got my diagnosis.