The hysterical female in the doctor's office

[Sassy]

I have a female friend who has an unusual physical condition. Unfortunately, because the doctors are having problems finding the cause (even though her symptoms are definitely showing up on some tests and not on others), they're trying to fob her off to a psychiatrist to test her for a hysterical physical manifestation of "deep-seated psychological issues". She's a high-achiever, great family, spiritual and work life, laid-back and highly intelligent. The psychiatrist didn't note anything but frustration for her situation.

We have a mutual friend who struggled with multiple sclerosis (MS) for THREE years before she was diagnosed, and the doctors were trying to convince her also to see a psychiatrist for her "condition" for two of those years, until one doctor realized what she had. Three years! Apparently, her symptoms didn't fully mesh with what the current medical list of symptoms for MS were.

I'm convinced that the hysterical diagnosis is because these women are WOMEN, and they would not have been pushed to go to a psychiatrist if they had been of the male gender.

I've read of studies that researchers have done most studies using the average man as test subjects for both diseases and treatments, and so women often may not exhibit the anticipated symptoms or respond as a man would.

Has anyone else encountered this issue with their doctors? I've had to argue with one male doctor about an allergy (my reaction was different than the doctor's experience of the allergy), and he didn't listen until my husband backed me up. Then, of course, it must be so. And on, and on...

It reminds me of what many women go through when taking a car to a mechanic or buying a car without a man present... Remember that story line in the Golden Girls TV show?

Seriously, though, some doctors need to really listen to their patients, regardless of the patient's gender. It IS possible for women to have unusual symptoms that are truly physiological and not psychological in origin. It IS possible that doctors may encounter something that they haven't seen or studied before. It IS possible!

Thanks for letting me vent -

Sassy

 

[AlteredEgo]

My old medical records are gone because my pediatrician's office burned down, and the next doctor I had practiced from a clinic that became involved in some kind of scandal and my records got lost after everyone's records were taken as evidence and the clinic never reopened. I was diagnosed with PCOS as a teen, via blood testing and sonograms. There is no record of this because of the above.

A few years ago, doctors found that I have a goiter. Last year I found it had begun growing. It's pretty big. You can see it if you know what you're looking for and I lift my chin. I was worried about thyroid cancer. No one has tested the cells of my thyroid, though I've asked to have it aspirated. All symptoms of my illness are gone. No cysts, normalized hormones. The doctors see this as a miracle. Really? I thought doctors were scientists. There are no fucking miracles. What is happening to me? My blood sugar is sky high. What could mask one disease, elevate another and exponentially grow a goiter that had remained the same size for several years? Answer that question and save my life. But these doctors don't want to know.

 

[918177]

I ditch any doctor who has a condescending manner and who won't listen.

Luckily both my doctor and my surgeon are both hugely talented gems.
I give verbal recommendations to my friends because they're awesome to deal with.

 

[Tight_N_Juicy]

Doctors in my town can be rude as fuck and very dismissive of their patients... but it doesn't exactly help that there are plenty of people (male and female) who abuse their services in attempts to get drugs or simply to get attention or avoid a few days of work. It's a serious problem here on both sides of the medical fence.

That's why I don't go to the docs office here. I'll take an hour and a half trip out of town to get checked out rather than putting up with the circus here where I live.

 

[AlteredEgo]

I've lived all over the east coast. I love the weather here in the south, but I'm going to die if I don't hook up with doctors from up north who will cooperate more. How do people live down here and get old? Granted, my insurance is forcing me to see military doctors because I live too close to too many naval bases so I'm not allowed coverage with a civilian doctor. But I was seeing civilians before I moved here, and they were not much better. I can honestly say I haven't received good care since I left Boston nearly seven years ago.

 

[Scarletbegonia]

Old people relocate to the south, usually.
Or, as one friend once quipped, some people are too lazy to die.

 

[EllieP]

I have a good friend who broke down in her orthopedic surgeon's office because he told her there was nothing medically wrong with her. She was losing feeling in her left hand and the pain was shooting up her arm. She complained for weeks until it just got too intense.

On her third visit she had a breakdown and a blow up when he made that final diagnosis. Thank heavens for the blow up because he finally sent her to a neurologist since she refused a psychiatrist. Neuro found a pinched nerve in her neck! The ortho was so sure that nothing was wrong, but he was only looking at what he knew.

She's had two injections and finally surgery to relieve the nerve. Sometimes I wonder if physicians are too busy playing god in their field that they become too arrogant to recognize they don't know everything?

 

[AlteredEgo]

Recently, my blood sugar went out of my control. My grandmother has been really sick, and I have spent all of my time and energy advocating for her. I have been neglecting myself. My skin got scaly and itchy, and my sugar went up over 300. I asked the doctor assigned to me to help me without giving me any form of Metformin. I get ALL the negative side effects. I would literally rather die than take it. Life on that pill is not a life I can do. I tell her I had it under control without medicine for a long time, and I'm struggling to form a strategy and get back on track considering my new obligations. She told me it would be impossible. So I asked Google what to do instead. I was just about to give up on the strategy I adopted, when, voilà! My glucose has been in the 160's for about a week, and had one random day at 131. Goal is 110, and I think I can get back down there and stay down there without Metformin. This bitch told me the only alternative would be insulin. No, you fucking dick, I'm INSULIN RESISTANT! Or didn't they tell you what diabetes melitus is in med school? These people get on my nerves.

The main way I manage my sugar is to stay in ketosis, though I didn't know that's what I was doing when I first started. I recently learned that drinking alcohol heavily also produces ketones. Suddenly makes sense why this one doctor refused to work with me because I wouldn't cop to my alcohol abuse problem she invented. She should have asked me what I was eating. Moron.

I really am going to die young if I can't get a good doctor though. I fixed the sugar issue, I think, but my other hormonal problems seem serious, even if none of these stupid southern doctors think so.

 

[lapdog2001]

I really am going to die young if I can't get a good doctor though. I fixed the sugar issue, I think, but my other hormonal problems seem serious, even if none of these stupid southern doctors think so.

I read your earlier post about living in the Boston area in the past. We are very spoiled in this area. Some of the best hospitals in the entire world. Almost 20 major, well-regarded hospitals within the city limits, and a hundred more in surrounding areas.
Don't give up. There are good doctors all over the US, even in the south! (but no good Chinese or pizza!)

 

[693987]

I get hemiplegic migraines from time to time. They mimic a lot of stroke symptoms and rank similarly high on my list of most painful things I've ever experienced like labor/contractions and having idiot doctors yank on an IUD trying to remove it when it was eventually discovered that it had migrated OUTSIDE of my uterus (those doctors didn't believe me when I said I felt like it had migrated, either). Other than doing an MRI and CT to make sure it wasn't a tumor, an actual stroke, or aneurysm of some sort I've been told there's nothing that I can really do. I just have to deal with getting them sometimes. Even though if I miss even half a day at work, I'll be at risk of being fired, because of missing days thanks to the various migraines I get. And this is even when I showed them documentation that I had been in the ER and stayed at the hospital for a while.

 

[TurkeyWithaSunburn]

If any doctor doesn't believe you or isn't sincere in wanting to help you or is a dismissive ignoramous.
FIRE THEM!
You are employing them and if they are a horrible employee, time to say see ya! Second and even third opinions are a necessary evil when it comes to health care. People get set in their ways and don't look at something from an original perspective.

I had a neighbor who was eventually diagnosed with lupus after about 6 years of chronic medical problems and going through bunches of doctors. A friend's stepmother had health problems for about 5 years going to different doctors and all saying nothing is wrong. Then come to find out she had PolyCysticOvarianSyndrome. She had a 2 pound (or was it 5 pound) tumor and was causing all kinds of things to go wrong with her. She became a whole new person once it was removed.

(I've seen way too many Mystery Diagnosis episodes on the old DiscoveryHealth Channel)

 

[AlteredEgo]

PCOS is super easy to diagnose. How the hell did they miss it?

 

[TurkeyWithaSunburn]

PCOS is super easy to diagnose. How the hell did they miss it?

I have no idea. If I recall correctly they put her on antidepressants and said things were all in her head but didn't do actual bloodwork until near the discovery of the tumor. This is 20 years ago or so. I'm just glad it was eventually discovered and taken care of. She became a whole new happy person once it was taken care of.

 

[AlteredEgo]

I have no idea. If I recall correctly they put her on antidepressants and said things were all in her head but didn't do actual bloodwork until near the discovery of the tumor. This is 20 years ago or so. I'm just glad it was eventually discovered and taken care of. She became a whole new happy person once it was taken care of.

I was diagnosed 20 years ago. I missed my period, and went to the doctor. They took urine to rule out pregnancy, and then drew blood. They did the ultrasound to confirm what my hormones suggested. Done deal. What part of the country was she in?

 

[Guy-jin]

I was diagnosed 20 years ago. I missed my period, and went to the doctor. They took urine to rule out pregnancy, and then drew blood. They did the ultrasound to confirm what my hormones suggested. Done deal. What part of the country was she in?

Not all women who have PCOS will have it show up obviously on an ultrasound. It has a high diagnostic yield as a test, but it's not 100%.

 

[AlteredEgo]

Not all women who have PCOS will have it show up obviously on an ultrasound. It has a high diagnostic yield as a test, but it's not 100%.

That's why they are supposed to draw blood as well. Elevated androgens suggest further investigation.

 

[Guy-jin]

That's why they are supposed to draw blood as well. Elevated androgens suggest further investigation.

And if you have elevated androgens and a negative ultrasound, get ready for a diagnostic odyssey that involves thinking you have some kind of cancer, thinking you have Hashimoto's, thinking you're going through early menopause, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

PCOS is easy to diagnose for the vast majority of people--for the few who it isn't, it can be a big deal.

 

[AlteredEgo]

And if you have elevated androgens and a negative ultrasound, get ready for a diagnostic odyssey that involves thinking you have some kind of cancer, thinking you have Hashimoto's, thinking you're going through early menopause, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

PCOS is easy to diagnose for the vast majority of people--for the few who it isn't, it can be a big deal.

Granted. But the point here is that they apparently didn't draw blood. That's pretty messed up.

 

[Guy-jin]

Granted. But the point here is that they apparently didn't draw blood. That's pretty messed up.

Understood.

I went through a hormone related diagnostic odyssey last year and sufficed to say, that shit sucks.

 

[950483]

Years ago I had a friend who was diagnosed with MS. It caused changes in her brain and actually caused some serious mental illness. Luckily she was diagnosed fairly quickly on the strength that her sister had already been diagnosed with the same condition.

I see what you mean though, and women are much more likely to be prescribed anti-depressants than men are. Maybe when women are explaining their symptoms they could be more likely to also say how they feel about things rather than just presenting facts? Just a thought. From my own experiences I am certain that discrimination exists often in this situation.

Actually, the friend who was diagnosed with MS had the same doctor as me, he had asked us both what our sexual fantasies were when we had gone to him about completely unrelated matters. We were best friends and used to talk about just everything. I dread to think how many other young women he did that to; that is real misogyny!