Have doctors ever written your concerns off?

Anytime a doctor refuses something that you address as a concern make sure to tell them to document then declining diagnostics or treatment in your chart.

I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of that. Yes, I've had medical symptoms of serious illnesses ignored by medical professionals and refusals to treat known medical conditions. Being black and female ought to be a medical condition in and of itself.

Had a rash on my hand. The doctor spent 30 minutes lecturing me on my weight and when I reminded her about my hand, ya know the whole reason I was there, she said "we're out of time, schedule another appointment." Lmao I had ringworm from the cows I was working with.

Oh, most certainly. I suffered very debilitating abdominal pain for so long due to people’s prejudice and incompetence. I was dismissed as having muscle strains, gas, and anything else relating to everything but what was actually going on with me.  

 They finally did an MRI (which they refused at first) found out that I have several large myomas. They referred me to a gynecologist where they did surgery to remove.  When they went in to remove them they discovered I had stage 4 (what they called it at the time) Endometriosis. It was so bad it spread out of my endometrium into my abdominal cavities and damaged my appendix pretty bad.  

 So they removed that as well. The damage was pretty extensive. They suggested to my husband that I should have a hysterectomy but because I wasn’t conscious and he didn’t know what I would have wanted he declined.  So yeah due to other people’s screw up I can’t have kids now because it spread all throughout and damaged both of my fallopian tubes quite extensively.

  Y’all please advocate for your selves and never go any where alone. Always have a family member or a friend with you to help back you up.  It’s important you have someone there with you so that they don’t ware you down mentally and make you feel as if you’re the problem. Having someone there with you reassures you and gives you more confidence to remain firm on your stance. 

I had a fractured ankle and couldn't get anyone to x-ray it. Unsurprisingly, it healed wrong.

I had a movement disorder and went to the emergency room at my mother's urging. They attempted to put me in a psych hold.

That last one has also led to, I shit you not, a hysteria diagnosis.

I had 21-day painful periods, where my legs literally would give out and I almost bled to death twice. I couldn't get anyone to care about my pain, with A pain specialist telling me he didn't "treat that kind of pain."

I’ve learned that if I lead with I have type 2 diabetes (not good, I know, I work hard to keep it under control) they take me very seriously. It has made a big difference in my medical care, unfortunately

I had a nasty cyst on my backside. I had a fever, could not sit down and felt like I wanted to pass out. I went to the hospital where they dismissed it and was about to send me home with antibiotics saying it wasn’t that serious. The nurse (bless her because she knew something wasn’t right) decided to check my vitals again because she noticed no one had. If she hadn’t, I would have probably been dead. Turns out I had sepsis with a fever of 105. I had a pick-line in my arm for a month to get rid of the infection in my blood.

The second time I went to the hospital because a nurse that worked at an express care was concerned that I may have a blood clot. When I got there, the doctor looks at me and goes “it’s probably just a cold! Are you sure you wanna go through all of this?” I tell him yes because I’ve been sick for two weeks now with no sign of getting better. They did an MRI on my chest and turns out I had a nasty pneumonia! Thankfully no blood clot.

Yes! I’m dealing with this now. GI issues - for a year I was treated for acid reflux. After losing 10lbs my NP finally sent me for testing. They were only going to do an Endoscopy…. Which of course came back normal. An RN not my doctor told me “it looks like acid reflux.” I told her…, thanks I’ll wait for the doctor. Because I advocated for myself the DR decided to do a stomach emptying test. I was diagnosed with Gastroparesis. Finally after years of “IBS and acid reflux”, I finally have an answer.

Not me personally, but my Dad has been experiencing symptoms of dementia all year, and we can't seem to get his primary care physician to do anything beyond testing his blood and urine and using CAT to rule out a stroke. Alzheimer's is rampant on his side of our family, but his PCP just takes his word for it when he says he's not experiencing the symptoms that we describe to her. Then he comes home and stops masking the symptoms, which means spending literal hours arguing with people only he can see. It's upsetting and infuriating TBH.

One of the worst days of my life was when an ER doctor dismissed my symptoms as an anxiety. Never went back there again . After about two months, I was finally able to get a referral to a neurologist and it turns out I have multiple sclerosis.

Last spring and summer I was very sick. Urinating blood, kept being told I had UTIs. I knew that couldn't be true-I'm old enough to know to wipe front to back, empty bladder before and after sex, blah blah. I literally had to urinate every 15 minutes every day and night for 2-3 months and started getting severe kidney infections. I was exhausted. Went to a urologist who kept telling me I wasn't wiping front to back because I'd be given antibiotics, infection would clear and return within Days. Then it was that I had incontinence from childbirth (last one was 20 yrs ago!), then it was all in my head. I was going crazy. Thankfully my best friend is an ER doc so she called around and found me another urologist. I was given several tests within 2 weeks. I had multiple kidney stones in both kidneys. Clear after 2 surgeries.

A couple weeks after giving birth to my 7 year old I felt like crap and made an appointment. When they checked my vitals I had a slight fever and my blood pressure was 170 over something, I'm normaly in the 120's. I told the doctor I'm not sure what's wrong I think I have an infection I feel like crap and something is wrong. I still hurt internally and maybe my stitches are infected there's a slight smell? Idk but I need help.

He laughed at me and sent me home with a coupon for something that helps with odor down there.

I was crying so hard because of how bad I felt my husband took me to the ER. Turns out I had a blood clot that lodged in my lungs and my lungs were filling up with fluid. My heart was under so much strain there was a little backflow going on. If I hadn't gone in when I did I probably would've died within the next day or so.

I feel like I’m low key going through that right now. Had a BR/BL May 8 and I was healing fine, except I had a small concern and now my breasts look gnarly as hell. Infected almost. Necrosis / dead tissue and I went to ER and they sort of made me feel weird for going to them as well.

My surgeon scheduled a second post op with me tomorrow but continued to assure me that everything is healing well. I just wish people took us seriously , especially for procedures that cost US so much money. Ugh 😭

I’ve had an ED since I was young, going from under eating and being super skinny. To now where for the past 3-4 years I’ve been talking and telling my doctor about my weight gain. But it gets brushed off as a normal weight. I gave up dealing with my doctor about my weight concerns and took it into my own hands. Oh and my mental health diagnosis, when I bring up the possibility that I might have Autism ( I have siblings that are on the spectrum) that also gets brushed off.

Yes! Before I realized I had fibroid cysts, I got written off a bunch of times.

Wow so many heartbreaking stories in this thread 😞

Same happened to me with my gallbladder. Was told I was a hypochondriac and it was lactose intolerance. Finally found a doctor that would do a ultrasound after 6 months of repeated visits. Lo and behold, my gallbladder was full of stones. Had it out a couple of weeks later

what i was told was tendinitis is actually a connective tissue disorder (and a host of other issues) that have permanently altered the shape of my life and will leave me crippled and feeling the effects until the day i die. for any women reading this with even an inkling that something might be up, GET THE SECOND OPINION. if a doctor had listened to me at 16, i wouldn’t be heavily disabled at 20.

Yep, medical gaslighting

I was in labor and it wasn’t progressing. They kept sending me home but I had non stop regular contractions for 72 hours before my ex decided to say fuck it and took me to a different hospital and they gave me more time but my baby just wasn’t dropping down and my cervix stopped opening. They ultimately decided it was “failure to progress” and delivered baby via cesarean. I’d lost my mucus plug and everything and it just wasn’t happening.

Yes. When I was 15, my periods became irregular and heavy. One day I got my period and had to miss school because I was in a lot of pain. Went to the bathroom and had huge blood clots. Hours later still the same. I got so bad a clot fell on the bathroom floor and I immediately screamed for my mom. She came in and took me to the hospital. I had multiple cysts in my ovaries and the doctor referred me to a Gyn. First one said I’m young my symptoms will subside. Got a second opinion and turns out I had really bad Polycistic Ovarian Syndrome. Imagine if I listened to that first gyn and never got a proper diagnosis and I wanted to have a baby years later. Started eating really healthy and started taking the pill. My symptoms are managed now

Many times. This is what I've learned from people healthcare providers:

1- If they don't listen, find someone else. Don't hesitate to leave a review about them so others will be warned.

Complaining to the practice or system is a waste of time, but they monitor rating sites closely. Don't respond to their requests to discuss the matter if you use a name other than what they have for you. They just want to know who you are.

2- If there are multiple health systems in your area, establish yourself as a patient with each of them. Some of your doctors won't like it, but the ones who care will usually know why you did it, and some will even tell you it's a good move.

Get a primary care doctor in each system. Then you can get referrals and see specialists as needed.

You can figure out which system's have the best doctors in each field.

3- Never be afraid to demand answers. Make them support everything from testing to treatment plans. If they refuse to explain, that's a huge red flag.

4- If you don't agree with then, get multiple opinions.

Bloody hell, this is a lot and sorry you had to through all this. I had a doctor laugh in my face and instantly dismissing me when I told him I suspected I had ADHD. Ten years and a load of trauma later and finally have my diagnosis.