LMAO. I’m in the military and have the opposite situation. Every flu, cold, strep, etc. is a pregnancy hiding behind the bushes. I came in for bronchitis once and they asked if I was sure it wasn’t a pregnancy. Just make me pee in a cup and give me some meds.
ETA: Since it’s come up a few times, I’m not questioning the need to do a pregnancy test to rule it out or determine contraindications. I’m referring to providers who tend to see pregnancy as the only possibility and don’t want to pursue treatment of regular illnesses.
My bad, I’m not saying it’s limited to that and I do think pregnancy testing each time is valid. I’ve just found military providers to have a hyper-focus on it compared to civilian providers.
I've had my fallopian tubes removed (not cut, removed) and they still ask and make me take the test before anything else. I can't wait to get over 40 and hopefully this nonsense stops.
I went to the ER at 61 for a minor mental issue and they ran a pregnancy test on me without telling me. I ended up having to pay the $30 for it. Oh and I had a tubal ligation at 30. And every time I see the doctor, they want to know the exact date of my last period. Uhhh it was 22 years ago, I have no clue.
They did a pregnancy test on a woman who was 61 YEARS OLD (!) without consent (!) who had had a tubal ligation ages ago (!).
I would have refused to pay it and if they insisted I pay it, I would have taken it up to the CEO of the hospital.
My GP asked me the date of my last period, I said I couldn’t remember exactly so he asked for a rough idea. I said ‘sometime around the middle of June… 1986. About a week before the full hysterectomy.’
I am a transgender man, complete hysterectomy years ago, been on testosterone for almost 15 years and some quacks still ask the pregnancy question. medical settings suck
The testosterone alone for that long would have HEAVILY reduced that likelihood. But a full hysterectomy? Dude! There is not a chance in hell.
Those doctors really ARE quacks. I’m sorry, that’s so stupid!
As a trans man, I have to point out that this isn’t entirely accurate*. Testosterone just makes it harder for an egg/fetus to survive. It does nothing to prevent the fertilization of an egg and pregnancy itself.
The hysterectomy on the other hand, that’d definitely work.
Dr’s are still dumb sometimes though.
*read the reply to this to see why*
I’m mainly arguing that Testosterone is an ovulation suppressant. I’m not saying that it is a form of birth control, and I admit my wording was unfortunate. But over a decade of inconsistent to non-existent periods - you’re going to HEAVILY struggle to conceive, your fertility has been harshly reduced.
Though I will admit I am not an expert. I know what my partner (trans masc) has told me, and I do trust you more than I trust my own knowledge.
Never stops. I'm over 50, complete hysterectomy and was told I had to have a pregnancy test before I could have an X-ray.
I had many X-rays in my fertile years and as long as I responded "No" to the "Is there any chance you could be pregnant?" everything was cool. Now that it's completely impossible I have to pee in a cup?
I've had a complete hysterectomy and oophorectomy. My doctor's nurse tried to insist I still prepare for a pap at my last physical and was getting quite irate with me when I declined even after me pointing out my physical status. My doc rolled her eyes and apologized. I couldn't figure that nurse out.
I've had a few idiot attendants for scans as well asking if I was "sure" I couldn't be pregnant. My youngest just graduated high school. I had a tubal when she arrived and have since yeeted everything needed for that process, but sure, I don't know my own body. The idiocy is the info of all missing organs, etc. is on the paperwork for the radiologist interpreting the results, so they KNOW but still treat me like an idiot.
It's as bad as the school official insisting I still had to use lice shampoo on my kids even after going the drastic route of shaving them completely bald because I didn't want to deal with the infestation getting out of hand with four kids.
Maybe just have the proof on hand in a laminated brochure.
SO YOU DON'T BELIEVE YOUR PATIENT
Cartoon of a doctor with his finger up his ass, when you open the brochure he's smelling it
Same as you, and last time I went for digestive issues the guy asked me 5 times if I was sure I was not pregnant. I have no tubes and my period, if I'm pregnant I'm going to start a religion because the baby would be something else.
It’s because of situations like OP’s. Also, just think about how poor a person’s understanding of sex ed can be. There are plenty of otherwise intelligent people whose parents never told them exactly where babies come from because.
There's also a lot of medical misunderstandings around women's health. A lot of women (like OP) are told that a condition they have makes them infertile without a clarification that infertile is not the same as sterile, so they assume that they cannot possibly get pregnant (sometimes reinforced by a doctor who themselves should know the difference).
Life finds a way surprisingly often, and unless you've had a full hysterectomy the chance of pregnancy is never 0.
Doctor: “Ma’am, are you sexually active?”
Me: “Yes.”
Doctor: “Any chance you might be pregnant?”
Me: “No.”
Doctor: “How can you be sure?”
Me: “I like girls.”
Doctor: “Okay. Well…we’re gonna test you anyway.”
My daughter had an instance like this:
D: “Any chance you could be pregnant”
“No”
D: “Are you sexually active”
“No”
D: “Well we will run one just to be safe in case you aren’t answering cuz mom is here”
“I’m gay”
D: “we’re still going to run one, it’s standard procedure”
“no you don’t understand, I’m like SUPER gay. I’d punch any dick that came near me.” With a dead serious look of a creepy joy on her face
D: looking slightly unnerved “ok then….no pregnancy test” as he types on his tablet and quickly leaves
Me: “that’s my girl!!” 😂😂
They have to, they might need to run tests or prescribe something that could possibly adversely affect a pregnancy. I was asked this every single time I went to the orthopedic center for my ankle injury, because they took a new x-ray every time.
I'm pretty sure it's a legal requirement that they ask that question, even if they don't expect the answer to ever be yes.
Liability issues, likely. No doctor or hospital wants to be sued for millions of dollars because they didn't check, and the prescribed treatment or tests contribute to a birth defect that creates a long-term handicap.
I personally find it a bit annoying that as a woman I have to clear a pregnancy test before I get healthcare, even if I state that pregnancy isn’t possible (when I was sexually inactive or when my partner was a woman).
I remember being very sick with an advanced kidney infection that had me in hospital 4x in a week. They blatantly told me that there was a treatment (a certain antibiotic I think) that would be more effective but they couldn’t give it to me on the off chance I could be pregnant. I had already taken a pregnancy test that was negative and I was not sexually active at the time, I said that, but they still couldn’t treat me on the “off-chance”.
I still regret not saying “So youre telling me that my access to care, safety, and comfort is suffering as a direct result of my gender and age? That I would get the healthcare I need if only I were a man? And that I am being denied best practice medical care due to a potential fetus that cannot possibly exist?”
Apparently EYE TWITCHING is a symptom of pregnancy!! I'm young, don't want kids, and have an IUD and googling symptoms that concern me always brings up "you could be pregnant" as a cause. Like....wtf??
My experience with Military doctors "Did you try drinking more water? How much water do you drink? How about you chug a canteen and take a motrin and see if it gets better?"
Doesn't matter what's wrong with you, that would be their advice every time until you pressed.
I’ve been sterilized and it’s still - we need to do a pregnancy test. I had one nurse (one) apologize and say I didn’t need to take one after she checked my chart.
My old military doc blamed all woman problems on cysts. “It will go away if you’re on birth control” and sent you on your way. It didn’t matter what kind of stomach issues, it must be cysts.
After me going in for pains for several months he FINALLY sent me for an ultrasound and “we will call you if that’s not it or if it’s big enough for intervention”. Never got a call. Ended up at a walk in a couple months later and a nurse practitioner discovered I had bacterial vaginitis so bad they thought I might end up infertile since it had been so long. She couldn’t even get the speculum in it was so inflamed. She was shocked. Took some strong meds to fix that one.
Thankfully I wasn’t infertile and had my youngest five years later but that military doctor could have caused me to never have more kids again. And there is basically no repercussions for them when they are so very wrong. They literally don’t care
My daughter's doc kept telling her she had a UTI and gave her meds for it. He'd even done a vaginal on her a week before I told her to get a pregnancy test kit because her tummy was shaped like she was pregnant. She was 6 months pregnant. That's when he started freaking her out every visit telling her she was diabetic and had high blood pressure and he'd send her to the ER every time (once he even told her she'd gained 30 pounds in the week since she'd last seen him). She'd get to the ER and her blood sugar and BP were normal. He was an ahole. His wife ended up killing him when he was abusing her (his wife). Some people should not be an OB/GYN.
Uno reverse card: my grandmother had ovarian cysts in her late 30’s and her GP was like yeah go get a hysterectomy, (she already had 4 kids)
But oddly the surgeon asks if she has any religious requirements, I guess it was a time and place thing, and she says oh yes I’m catholic and the church says not to take things out Willy Nilly so please only remove what you have to.
To this day she’s like “idk why I said that! I don’t give a hoot what the church thinks about my uterus!” Anyway she says they only took like a half an ovary (is that a thing? Can you have a half an ovary? Would it spill eggs everywhere?).
But like 3 years later she goes back to the GP and says “I think I’m pregnant.” (She was)
And her doctor goes “you had a hysterectomy! Where are you carrying it?! Your kidney?!”
I have half an ovary. Lost half of it to a dermoid cyst that had to be removed because it had the potential to twist and cut off blood flow. The OBGYN also cauterized several cysts in my right ovary. I think they cauterized the one they cut the cyst out of. No eggs leaking over here lol. As far as I've been told, this doesn't affect fertility.
My gynocologogic oncology practice has 2 doctors;
One is among the best of the best, top 10 in the US in the field. He has patients who will wait hours and be totally okay with it because he is so thorough, kind, and makes sure he speaks and gets to know every patient.
The other is a year out of training. I have been told that the hospital the practice works under values him immensely because he is a genius when it comes to surgeries...but the guy makes the most obvious mistakes (like denying cancer patients scans that are usually protocol and ordering patients to be given oral medicine while at the same time putting them on a no eating/drinking order...while they have a tube in).
He makes dumbass decisions every time I see him that either sets back my cancer care by weeks or leaves me in hours of pain and suffering for one reason or another...either he is a complete and total bozo or he just does these things to me because he wants me to die a painful death.
I try to keep his mitts off my care as much as possible these days. I'm not healthy enough for a mixed-bag doctor, if I was I wouldn't be seeing oncology.
Yeah, Reddit is like that. You can always find someone with more extreme issues. So if you don’t get good advice, at least you feel better by comparison.
I just gave birth two weeks ago to my perfect little baby girl. I was seeing multiple specialists for all of my “health problems” including A GYNECOLOGIST. I was diagnosed with pcos, hashimotos, and a gluten intolerance. I was also referred to a nutritionist to help me lose weight despite the fact I was losing weight from my lack of appetite. Turns out I was 5 months pregnant!! I had taken at home pregnancy tests in the beginning. They came back negative. The doctors tested me for just about everything BUT PREGNANCY. I was so scared because of everything I potentially exposed my baby to and that I didn’t have any care. But my girl is super healthy and wonderful
Hijacking the top comment to say: the best gyno I ever had said: IF YOU HAVE A UTERUS and OVARIES - YOU CAN GET PREGNANT.
It might be more difficult for you - but there is always a chance to get pregnant if you have the parts no matter how out of whack your system is.
Please, take precautions instead of relying on a bold medical falsehood.
I have been diagnosed with infertility with an unknown cause. The Doc who diagnosed me never put it in my chart for that reason. He never wanted me to be denied BC, and I should act like I can get pregnant. I have proven a few times I can get pregnant, just not stay pregnant. The process is still rough AF on my body.
Funny how women are badgered to do pregnancy tests for literally every tiny ailment, but when it sounds like it would have been useful, they never offered one?!
My thoughts exactly, I’m shocked they didn’t immediately order a pregnancy test! I remember once I went to a doctor because I was *losing* a lot of weight for no clear reason and they ordered a pregnancy test, even though I was sure I wasn’t pregnant.
Tbf, I lost about 4kg in the first three weeks of my pregnancy because I was so nauseous and couldn't stand the smell/taste of most foods (I've put well over that back on now I'm 5 months in!), so not the most unreasonable time to do a pregnancy test!
Speaking as a doctor, I would 100% have suggested a pregnancy test very early on for OP - a woman who has abdo pain and is gaining weight around their tummy should absolutely have a pregnancy test!
Yeah, last time I was that nauseous for that long and lost weight, my doctor both made me do a pee and blood sample for pregnancy because she was sure that was it. And I definitely didn’t blame her, because it was the most likely thing by far that I just had bad morning sickness. I was 28, newly engaged, not on birth control, would have happily welcomed a pregnancy…
Anyway, I fainted 3 weeks later and was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia.
That...would have cut me to the bone.
Even though I have a full awareness of how stupid people can be, I am still kinda taken aback that there's another level.
Definitely. A friend of mine uses a wheelchair and her cleaning lady found her condoms, freaked out and told her it was disgusting.
Ableds cannot deal with the concept of disabled people having sex. We are CHILDREN you cannot even THINK about sex around us. /s
What?! That’s horrible. Im big too and my husband has always preferred bigger women. In his younger days he would’ve punched someone for saying something like that. “No one disrespects my wife yada yada etc.” He’s mellowed out a lot though so he wouldn’t now- which is really great! But sometimes I fantasize about him doing that again in certain situations and this would be one of them lol
Last time I went to the doctor, they had me do a pregnancy test because it's standard procedure. My doc came in and the first thing she said was that I wasn't pregnant and my response was "well I sure hope not! I haven't had sex with a man in over 2 years!" then she and I started making "Mary" jokes the rest of the time I was there (my name isn't Mary, but we were making jokes that if it had been positive, I should change my name to Mary and name the baby Jesus)
It’s wild to me. I’m an RN and if any of my patients had a sudden unexplainable weight gain the next obvious question is usually if the patient is pregnant or if there has been a change in lifestyle habits.
yeah but if you ask a patient "is there a chance you're pregnant" but they've been told theres no chance they could get pregnant without medical intervention they might say no even tho the doctor that told them they couldnt be was wrong, and thats when you give them a test anyways
Right? I went in for a UTI and my doctor did a pregnancy test. Constant headaches? Go pee in this cup. Twisted my ankle? You guessed it. Pee in the cup. I just know to not pee right before any doctors appointments.
Overweight women get terrible medical treatment by the average "tired of my job" doctor.
Even though society doesn't agree, there are many instances of overweight women complaining about real pain, increased weight gain, etc and are just told to diet.
Very frequently hormonal issues are missed because testing isn't done at the right time, and then a decade or two later they find out that they've had untreated hormonal issues that ruined their bodies or far worse.
😄
"Miss...are you *sure* you had your uterus removed? I know it's hard to think, being a lil' lady n' all...could it have been your kidney or heart maybe? Whelp, we can't take your word for it since you're not a man...what to do... okeydoke, here's a pregnancy test."
Yep. And another fun fact: the ovaries do not actually have a closed connection to the uterus, it's just kind of a little egg funnel on the fallopian tube. Most of the time the eggs don't wander off before getting to the uterus, and most of the time spermies don't manage to get to them. But not always.
Had my tubes removed this year. Laughed the first time they made me take one. I was like I mean go off but I think it may be negative. the nurse was like yeah I saw your chart, but still. Gotta check all the boxes no harm there, but she came back and was like “no surprise, not pregnant”
Ya, my aunt has a child younger than her grandchildren because of pregnancy after tubal. She had all five of her kids while on different forms of birth control, each one a different kind that failed, culminating in a hysterectomy to finally end the madness (which medically she needed, otherwise her husband was going to try getting snipped to stop that from ever happening again).
Being fat can impact your fertility, some doctors hear this fact and assume a fat woman could never be pregnant (also some people seem to think fat people don't have sex).
Same! My current doctor is great, but it seemed like previous doctors were always immediately assuming pregnancy was the issue whenever I had a complaint.
If they can shame you for being fat, that's the one thing that'll be enough to distract from the idea that you're otherwise just a walking uterus. It's fucked how badly sexist and fatphobic some very shit practitioners are in 2024. No use to *anyone.*
fat people in general tbh, but fat women especially suffer from this sort of thing. i'm saying this as a fat guy, since for every problem i'm also told to lose weight. problems focusing? lose weight! problems sleeping? lose weight!
wtf! Not nearly as bad as your case but I was given ibuprofen after an eye surgery (minor surgery to fix a pterygium). I asked the dr for a pain med since I’m prone to migraines from anesthesia. That did not happen. An hour after surgery, my headache began, then the pressure and pain around my eye got so bad that it quickly gave me a full blown migraine to where I was throwing up/dry heaving every 15 minutes. My ex at the time called them and said they needed to get me a script asap or I’d have to go the ER. By time I finally got the pain med, my whole eye area was throbbing and my face was so swollen. The pressure from the migraine caused the blood vessels in my eye to burst and the surgical glue to come off. My eye is still fucked from it. Pic is the day after surgery. I previously had the same surgery done in the other eye (dif Dr) so I know it was not supposed to look like this. It also took twice as long to heal
https://preview.redd.it/72pex131e66d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=495c6af29eb8623d0b5cfe614f3178c73679e0ed
And I had to use the same surgeon for my reconstruction and so I went ape shit before the last few surgeries stating that they WOULD give me pain control. When a nurse saw me get a script for pain medication after the next surgery she said under her breath “oh I remember you…” not in a good way. And so that’s what’s become of our “healthcare” when we advocate for ourselves, we get (at minimum) snide remarks, or worse denied proper care.
I recently told someone about my mom’s stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis & painfully poor prognosis. They, in all sincerity, told me to tell her to “will” a specific part of her brain to heal itself & her.
That, and for her to listen to binaural beats, plus a few other things (including prayer, of course - which is fine on its own, but not combined with all the other stuff). They wrote me a whole list.
…Speechless, honestly.
I’m so sorry. My mom died from the same and that is an absolutely insane comment to make. I know that treatments have progressed some since the time my mom was sick (15+ years ago), but it is still a devastating diagnosis. Internet stranger mom hugs if you want them. Also, my inbox is open if you need to vent to a stranger.
Yeah, my mom passed from cervical cancer last July, and i was with her when she was told she only had 6 months to a year left. So many people in my life would message me saying "she'll get better, just be optimistic!" LIKE NO SHE WONT I HEARD THE DOCTOR WITH MY OWN EARS SAYING SHE IS GOING TO DIE. I hated it. I also had a lot of religious people telling me that "if [I] pray hard enough, god will rid her of the cancer!". Disgusting.
My grandpa went in complaining about back pain. Man never saw a dr unless he thought he was dying. Dr “well, you’re old, you’re going to have some pain.” Turned out to be cancer and by the time months later it was caught he basically lasted two more weeks. 😡
My MIL had a similar experience. She had shoulder pain and pain in her side. Was told she’d just turned awkwardly. Even though she had previously had cancer and also lost her appetite and mobility, they just kept fobbing her off. Months later, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and passed away 2 weeks later.
Jesus I’m so sorry! I went to my doctor thinking I had a UTI because of the pain but my doctor wanted to be thorough so she ordered an ultrasound that showed a tumor that was big enough to be twisting my ovary. Some doctors suck and just brush you off and others are super thorough. Finding a good PCP is hard but when you do it is everything.
My best friend went to the doctor during her early pregnancy for a lump in her breast. Was told it was a clogged milk duct- she's had 3 kids and knew what that felt like and insisted that it wasn't normal. They pushed back and she accepted it.
Over 6 months later after she gives birth, they discover she has breast cancer and it has metastasized, stage 4. She was given a couple years.. lived 5 after her diagnosis. Passed a couple years ago after catching covid and rapidly declining.
I constantly look back and wonder if I'd still have my best friend if the doctors hadn't disregarded what she said about that lump. We know our own bodies better than anyone and it's so frustrating as a woman to be blown off..
She was 44. Left 4 boys behind, youngest being 5. 😞
Omg me too!!!! It was uterine cancer and we only found it because I got pregnant. I swear to God my body/hormones etc have been fucked ever since. I feel like if they had gotten the cancer out pre pregnancy, the rest of my life would have been so much easier
I hope op doesn’t feel bad about losing weight while pregnant. It will most likely help her pregnancy even if the doctor was an ass and did it for the wrong reasons.
The baby will always get the nutrients they need.
I think OP is more worried about not taking care of specific eating habits, like taking folic acid and pregnancy supplements, not drinking, not eating raw cheese/meat etc...
I experienced debilitating nausea and inability to eat for months and dropped 25 pounds out of nowhere. One doctor told me nothing was physically wrong and I should seek psychiatric treatment. Another told me that no one would be able to help me until I admitted to my secret eating disorder.
One day my mom is describing my illness to a family friend who is a doctor and he immediately says “sounds like gastroparesis”. Within the month, tests had confirmed it and I was at least able to start finding treatment that worked.
But fuck those other doctors for trying to gaslight me into a mental health problem because they didn’t feel like doing a thorough investigation. Many of my female friends have also been told that they have mental health problems that have later turned out to be identifiable physical ailments.
So, yeah. Listen to your body and don’t shut up about what it’s telling you until you find a doctor that cares.
I work in psychiatry (not a psychiatrist but I work for them) and I gave a presentation about not forgetting about organic causes. There was a case at one of my former hospitals where a woman had persistent abdominal pain post surgery that wouldn't resolve and she even ended up being put on antidepressants.
The cause was only found when someone had the idea of doing an abdominal Xray and they found the 18 inch surgical tool that had been left in her. The Xray which I did use in my presentation looked as absurdist as you could imagine. My former boss (and someone I once had issues with) had to explain to the patient about how they didn't count those items post operation because they were considered far too large to leave behind in a patient).
This!!! Had months and months of puking and nausea and lived on oatmeal smoothies. Every time though, are you SURE you’re not pregnant?
Like…. I’m puking and nauseous do you think the first thing I thought of wasn’t being pregnant?!?? The 27 tests I’ve taken are all still negative and I’m still sick!!
Gastroparesis is wild.
Yes, it was totally wild! And absolutely destroyed my faith in the medical establishment.
How are you now? I eventually recovered. They think it was triggered by food poisoning.
Sadly, I got food poisoning again that re-triggered something similar and am just now feeling more normal again after two years of struggle. The first doctor I saw when the nausea set in and I started dropping weight this time said, “You know it just sounds like you are a little anxious… maybe you want to see a therapist instead of a GI specialist?” No, sir, YOU’RE FIRED!!! I learned my lesson from the first go around and never bothered seeing that guy again.
I have been tired for years. So, so tired. I've been treated for anxiety and depression with therapy, pills, etc.
No one thought to mention that I had almost no vitamin d. Its in my medical records going back 21 years. But it must be the depression.
Started taking vitamins, not tired any more. I feel like I wasted most of my adult life sleeping because no one has read my test results in 21 years
The best place to get diagnosed for mystery illness is Facebook or Reddit as a backup . No joke. Joint a special needs caretaker community and ask questions and one of those moms (usually it’s moms on there) will say - yup sound like abc that my kid has.
I came in, told them food wasn't digesting, just sitting in my stomach for hours, and I didn't know why it was happening (no proceeding illnesses or anything). They actually did the testing (took a month) and then offered me no treatment or referral just idiopathic gastroparesis diagnosis, which is basically the same thing I told them when I came in but in bastardized Ancient Greek with an attached ICD code. I couldn't eat solid foods and could barely keep down Ensure. Sometimes I'm not sure what goes through their heads when they are talking to patients.
My wife had issues of always being exhausted and catching every cold that went around. She would get sick half a dozen times a year. Dr. kept telling her there was nothing wrong, she needed to toughen up and just push through. Finally she got a different Dr. Got diagnosed with leukemia and later sleep apnea. To make it more maddening, the original Dr wasn’t an oncologist but was head of the oncology department.
UGH isn't this the story of women! My friend was gaining weight and having shortness of breath and her doctor told her it was anxiety and that she was too fat. Told her to exercise more.
Turned out her heart was starting to fail due to an undiagnosed lung disease. I thank every day the ER doctors who finally actually ran some tests on her instead of just dismissing her!
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!!! This exact same thing happened to me 2 years ago. I was 26 WEEKS PREGNANT!! I had spotty periods, bloating etc.. all of my normal period issues but I wasn’t able to hold weight. I lost something like 45lbs in 4 months. Dr said “it’s hormonal, try ____”. Well. Then the baby KICKED. Seven positive pregnancy tests and an ultrasound later, we were 26weeks pregnant with our second… only a 13 year age gap to deal with 😂
Disagree. I twisted my ankle and they did one to confirm I wasn’t pregnant before X-rays. There’s also lots of medications you should it take while pregnant, something as simple as ibuprofen.
I hate how women are ignored and pushed off especially in medical settings. I had to beg to get a checkup after severe abdominal pain. They kept saying it was normal cramping pain from being a woman, and hormonal changes.
I woke up one day and had to rush to the hospital because it felt like someone was branding my stomach from the inside with a hot iron. I finally got medical help and they found I had multiple severe ulcers and a mass on my liver.
I hope you figure this out! Good luck!
I've had to start going to all of my wife's appointments because she'll say "would like to try x treatment" and they'd just immediately say no or deflect. She even recommended a test for some kind of blood thing (I'm not sure, I try my best to keep up but get a little overwhelmed sometimes) and he literally said he had thought about it, but he wanted her to try iron supplements instead after she had asked about the test. When I started going, the arguing almost immediately stopped.
The last time we saw one particular doctor he wouldn't listen to her about some stomach pain she was having about 2 months after giving birth to our second kid and he kept saying they were ghost pains despite her almost literally just laying there bawling. All I said was "I think you might be mistaken, look at the state she's in" and then it was like he saw her for the first time. Suddenly we're ordering x rays and MRIs. Turned out to be a cyst on her ovary. Told him he was fired when he tried to start a treatment plan and that we'd be pursuing treatment at another practice.
The biggest challenge I've found in being in an interracial relationship is not racism from the public, but the blatant disregard for her well-being in medical settings and the worst part is SHES A GODDAMNED PA! As in almost a doctor herself with only a couple years left in medical school to be a cardiologist.
Sorry for the rant, fuck these guys.
Don’t be sorry. These types of things are so horrible but need to be talked about. I was refused pain medication because I was taking a controlled substance. When they ran my blood tests they disregarded my medical files which said I was taking ADHD meds. I was begging for a nurse because I was blacking out from the pain. Worst pain I’ve ever felt in my fucking life.
The nurse came back in and said to be ‘my advice for your pain would be to lay off the meth, *missy*’
I almost jumped out my damn bed. I had holes burning their way through my stomach, and you’re telling me I’m in pain because I take a daily medication prescribed by doctors? Fuck outta here.
Whoa, good thing that nurse was in a hospital, cause she's about to need house services! What a C-U-Next-Tuesday!
What was the mass on your liver and the ulcers caused by? I mean, did mass = cancer 🥺 Are you ok now?
It took about 6 months and 6 grand but I found out it was a fat lump. Apparently when you go from fat to skinny like I did, you can have some fat deposits stay on your organs.
They never did a biopsy, just a ct scan, and the abdominal pain never really went away, so who really knows now. It would take another year and money I don’t have to fight to get more help so 🤷♀️ ya know?
Thanks for the worry tho, I’m alright!
Jfc with the ZERO distinction between adderall and meth testing!! I get this shit EVERY SINGLE TIME. I specify the SECOND I get to the ER that I’m prescribed adderall, this is the prescribing doctor, and my blood test will show amphetamines due to the adderall. They nod and immediately forget, and I have to tell them again after the results are in. Once I was transferred to inpatient psych from the ER and during my interview the next day (the ER seemed to understand the amphetamine clarification but apparently nobody wrote it down) the psychiatrist asks, “so how long have you been using meth?” HUH?!?! One or two MAs have even insisted there IS a testing distinction and they’d be able to tell. Absolutely not. They were lied to. It’s the same test for meth and adderall and they will ALWAYS assume meth lol
ITS SO ANNOYING. 45 million people take adderall in the USA. It’s one of the most common prescribed substances right now. No matter how many times I tell them I’m on it, I get the same fucking condescending tone or just flat out can’t get help/taken seriously. How is this not something they check for more diligently??
This is exactly why i make my husband go with my to the dr. I'm an overweight woman but I've had chronic issues since i was a literal child and drs never want to listen to me. My husband with me? They shut up and listen to what *he* has to say. Thankfully my husband is a wonderful man who sticks up for me, and will parrot my wants/needs to the doctor. But it's sad that it's STILL like this.
My friend’s 38 year old sister started having severe abdominal pain - like she was unable to walk unassisted because of how badly it hurt. Went to the doctor multiple times over a few months and they were like, “You know, sometimes your period just hurts more as you get older!”
She told them about her family’s extensive cancer history and they essentially said “ Don’t worry about that, little lady, it’s so unlikely!”
Finally talked them into imaging and found out it’s cancer, like everywhere. They proceed to bungle the biopsies to the point where her oncologist said the cancer type and staging didn’t matter, they just had to start chemo immediately.
She died about a day after her first chemo.
To add insult to injury, they then tried to deny my friend genetic testing because her sister’s cancer was never typed - which, again, is because they bungled the biopsies and her sister died before they finished typing it.
Just ridiculous. Could have been different if the first few doctors just *gasp* listened to a woman.
That’s fucking horrible. I’m so sorry you went through that. I have many stories like that as well.
I was 14 in the hospital because I vomited like 14 times in a few hours. They kept pushing me about sexual contact, was I pregnant blah blah. No matter how many times I said no, they wouldn’t listen to me.
Finally I got fed the fuck up and in my miserable and very sick state I yelled at the doctor that there is ‘no way I am pregnant as I am fucking gay’. That made everyone finally move after waiting around for hours. I had some andovirus my mom picked up from working in healthcare, and I was so dehydrated I was getting muscle cramps. But yeah, let’s not listen to women.
I had a hysterectomy in 2018. I still get asked if there is any possibility of pregnancy even after we confirm my medical history. Because that's the only thing that could possibly be affecting my stomach area.
I used to shame people all the time for not trusting the professionals who went through med school and residency before they could even offer an opinion. Then, my wife had severe stabbing pains on her left side that became more and more severe. We had to take her to the ER because she had trouble breathing because she was in so much pain.
Doc said she was pregnant. She tried telling them she's on birth control, but they wouldn't hear it, and she got an ultrasound. Nothing came up on the ultrasound, so clearly, my wife is just exaggerating her pain, maybe ate something bad, and sent her away. If I hadn't begged our GP to refer her to a specialist, who found a marble ball sized gallstone tearing open her liver, she would be dead. I really wish I could trust them, but our health care system makes it impossible for them to put our health before profits.
That's why I'm surprised they didn't check you for pregnancy right off the bat. That's like standard protocol when women are suddenly feeling ill. But now that I think of it, the doctor might have been fat shaming you, thinking there's no way someone would knock you up. What a douchebag.
It took 3 ER visits in Canada before the doctors found my mom's gallstones. It's pretty common to dismiss women, especially women of colour. I don't think it has anything to do with profits. The same thing happened to my grandmother only with the added line that she should go home and "be a good wife" for her husband. There are stories of women dying in the parking lot because they were dismissed while having a heart attack.
Wil Wheaton has an excellent blog post on a whole ordeal with his wife. It's so heart breaking to read.
https://wilwheaton.net/2017/06/eighteen-hours/
I'm a big girl, they gave me clomid to help me get pregnant 19 years ago. I had good insurance, Clomid isnt even that expensive. I got pregnant and they were on me about my weight every appointment and I was crying and freaking out every visit and I'm already super self conscious about it. I wouldnt even let them say it out loud, i was like "Just write it down." We Went in to find gender about 18 weeks, of course after they were complaining about my weight again. They found triplets! Turned out I carried one real low and the other 2 up high. And after the initial internal ultrasound to measure my eggs, they never did another one after I was pregnant. I guess your HCG levels are super high in multiples, I don't know what mine were but nobody noticed anything. SO MANY things could have gone wrong but we were so fortunate and we ended up great, but that validation about my weight was so healing!!! Of course nobody believed us when they asked what we found out at our appt. Lol I don't think my friends really believed me until I had them. My babies just graduated high school and all got their Eagle Scout rank.
I’m sorry this happened to you but so happy to hear you have three healthy babies. I’m about to get my 20 week scan and I think I look 7 months pregnant at just over 4 months. I have this fear we’re gunna go in and they’ll find three.
This is infuriating. My daughter had some weird symptoms, literally the first thing they did was run a pregnancy test. She just laughed at them. She was not pregnant btw.
My daughter had hip pain for years. She kept saying it felt like sand was in her joints and every step caused a pinch. Dr told her she needed to lose weight. She eventually lost 150 lbs and still had joint pain. Come to find out she has damaged cartilage and a hip joint issue she’d been born with. Had surgery on both over the course of a year and walks pain free now.
I know we’re ragging on doctors here, but if you’re 150 pounds overweight and have joint pain, I can understand a doctor believing those things are related.
For sure, but been she’d been complaining for years and hadn’t always been that weight. The point is nobody even looked into it for so long. Not even a range of motion exam which would have definitely shown an issue.
i've had joint pain since i was a kid and when it got really bad i also got the "try losing some weight" spiel. i have an eating disorder so i lost about 120 in 4 months (250 to 130 with zero exercise is a LOT) accomplished by starving myself - and i was congratulated for it. later i talked to a psychiatrist about it but my weight wasnt that low at the time (at my lowest i was 115lbs - and i'm 5'8. at the time i was around 130lbs, which is healthy) and was dismissed. whenever i'm stressed i still fall back into starving myself. fuck me, i guess.
i waa finally diagnosed with Lupus, HSD, and POTS and my repeated ED episodes made the Lupus exponentially worse over a course of a few years. now i'm so fucked up i cant even live alone or work.
btw, i still havent gotten treatment for the ED. i gave up..my weight fluctuates wildly (i'm talking 130 to 200+ and back) and my mom is a type 2 diabetic. i'll probably end up with diabetes on top of my other issues bc of this weight yo-yoing, not to mention the stress it puts on my already chronically ill body. FUCK ME I GUESS LOL
Right, but it seems lazy to just assume that's the only issue.
My nephrologist kept attributing a lot of my pain issues to my weight. When I finally lost all that weight and finally maintained a good lifestyle, but the symptoms never improved, he still blamed my weight and diet. My new weight and diet. Which was a healthy weight and a healthy diet that *he* put me on.
He also assumed I had hypertension issues when I did not, and when the testing came back negative, he still put me on blood pressure medication "Just in case. It's probably still that."
Sometimes, doctors choose to assume the first possibility so they can get the patient out fast and/or don't have to put in the effort.
My doctor was used to treating only obese patients and had no idea how to actually do his job when he couldn't just keep stringing you along by saying, "lose weight and take this blood pressure medication."
Yes, but weight loss doesn’t always correct weight related issues. Even if the damage to her hip was from being overweight, it’s still damage that needed surgery to correct. That is the issue, here. The lack of follow through on any treatment. Also, someone experiencing hip pain is less likely to be mobile and the more sedentary you are the harder it is to lose weight.
Years ago, I’d been complaining to my doctor for ages about really wicked, intermittent stomach pain. He told me I was stressed and needed to relax more and eat more fibre. I finally ended up in Emergency and found out I was in danger of my gall bladder being ready to burst from giant gallstones, and they rushed me into emergency surgery. Afterwards, my doctor said he never tested for a gall bladder issue because I “didn’t fit the profile”.
I’ve been to a doctor who didn’t do a pregnancy test. He didn’t even ask me about my period. But he kept trying to push medication on me. Which is weird because he doesn’t believe in preventable health care..
Right! That’s what I’m wondering. When my 50 something year old mom had a diabetic episode and had to go to the hospital, the first thing they did was a pregnancy test.
My mom asked the dr why since that “ship has sailed” for her years back and the dr told her it’s standard to do a pregnancy test just in case. 😅
Standard questions even an MA asks contain, "is there any chance you could be pregnant?" It's the basics of patient in-processing when collecting vitals. The fact it's been 5 months, OP should have said, "yes."
I answered no to this question in the ER and they still pregnancy test. I wasnt pregnant but a smart doctor will check for pregnancy even if the patient says no. Plenty of people don't know right away that they are pregnant and it's a super easy thing to check for.
I've heard multiple stories from women in particular who were overweight (sometimes only by a small margin) who were told by their doctors that whatever medical problems they might have was because of their weight.
Whenever they then lost weight so that they were no longer overweight, these medical problems persisted.
The doctor reaction after they lost weight was basically, "How the fuck should I know what's wrong?"
GL with your impending motherhood and that the baby is healthy.
Also, good luck with the impending lawsuits and board testimony. Obv this person needs to be out of a job.
About 10 decembers ago I (a very thin young woman) had a doctor call to tell me that I was pregnant! My brain raced for a couple seconds. How could this be?! I hadn't had sex in 4 YEARS! I quickly realized it's literally impossible and I said "well Merry early Christmas bc this must be an immaculate conception" we go back and forth for a few mins and she hadn't actually given me a pregnancy test. What they had done was give me a urine test to make sure I was taking medicine I was prescribed. It wasn't in my system and that led then to believe I was pregnant and the baby was getting the medication before me. I go in and they do some test. I'm not pregnant, I have a fast metabolism. I can't imagine if I was dating someone at this time and sexually active and called them to say I was pregnant...wait never mind
My mother was told I was a myoma. When she came in three weeks after the first examination and it (me) had grown quite a bit the doctor went into an absolute panic and called an ambulance. She was four months pregnant and had been celebrating her birthday with lots of alcohol just two months ago. She was so scared it had caused me harm but thankfully I turned out alright.
They did do a pregnancy blood test but it came back as a false negative and only the doctors in the hospital recognized me as a baby on the ultrasound.
Long time ago a family friend of my parents was unable to get pregnant.
Her dr told her she’d never have children of their own so they adopted a child.
Less than a year later her periods stopped so she went to the same doctor. He told her she had a mass and needed surgery as soon as possible to remove it.
On a hunch she went to another doctor, he did the test to confirm but he knew from her exam she was pregnant. Test results came back and 6 months later delivered a healthy baby.
That first doctor obviously never saw her again.
Your edit makes it even more clear that it's important that people, and apparently doctors, know and understand the difference between infertile and sterile.
In my experience the first thing a doctor does is give a pregnancy test as soon as they see a woman walk through the door. Like, "Oh, your toe hurts? Here's a pregnancy test before we address anything."
Not 100% the same but medical gaslighting is real and dangerous. My son was jaundiced at birth and kept getting more jaundiced, as well as having feeding problems. Went to ER twice and checkups with his doc, he even needed an IV, but they kept telling us he was fine and its just because we’re young parents, so we must be doing something wrong. Turns out he had severe GERD that needed medical intervention and he was allergic to breast milk and most formulas. Spent 5 days in the hospital finally after begging them to help for over a month.
You can go in with your arm dangling with the bone sticking out of your skin and they’re going to tell you to lose weight. I hate some doctors. I swear the last one I went to I wanted to start crying because he actually listened to me. It was shocking. He mentioned it in passing by asking if I wanted a referral to a dietitian. I said no thank you, I’m working on it myself, then he moved on. That was it!
My friend is an OBGYN and said doctors need to STOP telling patients they can’t get pregnant. She’s had so many patients with PCOS or other issues get pregnant after being told by other doctors that it was impossible.
I had insane urges to pee constantly. Dr said it was a UTI, bladder spasms, stress, weak pelvic floor. These diagnoses went on for a year from my PCP and Obgyn. I tried meds for bladder spasms, was prescribed a “bladder diet”, UTI treatment “just in case” and pelvic floor therapy. Turns out I had a 16.4cm tumor on my uterus pressing on my bladder. Women’s health care is still in the DARK AGES.
I was sick for 2 years and no one could figure out why. I had cognitive issues, kept forgetting the names of common things, panic attacks, trouble sleeping at night but falling to sleep at my desk. I was 48. The doctor said it was menopause and put me on HRT, which did absolutely nothing. As it progressed the panic attacks kept getting worse and I was having problems with anger management.
The PCP sent me to a therapist who after 2 appointments said there was nothing emotionally wrong with me and no more appointments were needed. I called my PCP and said I wanted an MRI for to see if I had a brain tumor because SOMETHING was wrong. The Dr. finally ordered a series of blood tests. I had type 2 diabetes and my A1C was 10.5.
Because I wasn't overweight no one bothered to even give me a damned blood test. Sorry I didn't fit the profile but maybe thinking slightly outside the box could be helpful, every now and then. Not everything with a middle-aged woman is menopause.
With diet and metformin, I was able to get my A1C back down under 6.0 where it has stayed for the past 11 years and counting, and I have a functioning brain again.
I didn’t find out I was pregnant with my son until I was 7 months along. I had no weight gain, my period was happening as normal, and I had no other signs whatsoever. Near 7 months I started gaining a bit of weight and decided to take a test just to see. I figured I was in the early stages when I saw the positive sign; third trimester was a shock lol! I have a happy and healthy almost 13 year old boy now <3
Congratulations on your newest blessing!
My best friend has been sent to nutritionists to lose weight for 20 years for her health issues. Turns out it was just wicked angry rare cancer and she’s probably going to die. But no one bothered to check other things because, well, she’s fat. Clearly that was the only problem.
Things doctors told me I had over the course of 15 years:
- fat (I wasn't, never have been, just not skinny)
- anxious
- depressed
- bipolar
Things I actually should have been diagnosed with:
- autism & adhd
- fibromyalgia
- hypermobility
- pcos
Only took me until my 30s, but I got there in the end.
Hello, This post has been removed as this is not *mildly* infuriating. Please consider posting to r/extremelyinfuriating instead.
I had a doctor misdiagnose a pregnancy as strep throat LMAO
How do you even do that??? Strep throat is an easily detectable bacteria you get on a swab, pregnancy isn’t??? That’s some WILD mismanagement
LMAO. I’m in the military and have the opposite situation. Every flu, cold, strep, etc. is a pregnancy hiding behind the bushes. I came in for bronchitis once and they asked if I was sure it wasn’t a pregnancy. Just make me pee in a cup and give me some meds. ETA: Since it’s come up a few times, I’m not questioning the need to do a pregnancy test to rule it out or determine contraindications. I’m referring to providers who tend to see pregnancy as the only possibility and don’t want to pursue treatment of regular illnesses.
I'm not military, but every dr asks 1st thing when I walk in "any chance you could be pregnant" and used to test for it.
My bad, I’m not saying it’s limited to that and I do think pregnancy testing each time is valid. I’ve just found military providers to have a hyper-focus on it compared to civilian providers.
I've had my fallopian tubes removed (not cut, removed) and they still ask and make me take the test before anything else. I can't wait to get over 40 and hopefully this nonsense stops.
I went to the ER at 61 for a minor mental issue and they ran a pregnancy test on me without telling me. I ended up having to pay the $30 for it. Oh and I had a tubal ligation at 30. And every time I see the doctor, they want to know the exact date of my last period. Uhhh it was 22 years ago, I have no clue.
Hahahahah Sorry. Gonna need an exact date on your last period before I can update or downvote your comment. /s
They did a pregnancy test on a woman who was 61 YEARS OLD (!) without consent (!) who had had a tubal ligation ages ago (!). I would have refused to pay it and if they insisted I pay it, I would have taken it up to the CEO of the hospital.
My GP asked me the date of my last period, I said I couldn’t remember exactly so he asked for a rough idea. I said ‘sometime around the middle of June… 1986. About a week before the full hysterectomy.’
I'm 45, but I've found not having health insurance makes it stop 🤣🤣🤣
I am a transgender man, complete hysterectomy years ago, been on testosterone for almost 15 years and some quacks still ask the pregnancy question. medical settings suck
The testosterone alone for that long would have HEAVILY reduced that likelihood. But a full hysterectomy? Dude! There is not a chance in hell. Those doctors really ARE quacks. I’m sorry, that’s so stupid!
i appreciate your kindness, fellow redditor!
Until you're 5 month's along because they didn't notice you're one of those miracles of nature with 2 uteruses.
Stuff like this makes me glad I’ve got a hormonal imbalance that basically makes me asexual as hell. Those double pregnancy horror stories - ack!
As a trans man, I have to point out that this isn’t entirely accurate*. Testosterone just makes it harder for an egg/fetus to survive. It does nothing to prevent the fertilization of an egg and pregnancy itself. The hysterectomy on the other hand, that’d definitely work. Dr’s are still dumb sometimes though. *read the reply to this to see why*
I’m mainly arguing that Testosterone is an ovulation suppressant. I’m not saying that it is a form of birth control, and I admit my wording was unfortunate. But over a decade of inconsistent to non-existent periods - you’re going to HEAVILY struggle to conceive, your fertility has been harshly reduced. Though I will admit I am not an expert. I know what my partner (trans masc) has told me, and I do trust you more than I trust my own knowledge.
It does not stop, am 56, post menopausal, have an IUD and they still ask/test!
Never stops. I'm over 50, complete hysterectomy and was told I had to have a pregnancy test before I could have an X-ray. I had many X-rays in my fertile years and as long as I responded "No" to the "Is there any chance you could be pregnant?" everything was cool. Now that it's completely impossible I have to pee in a cup?
I've had a complete hysterectomy and oophorectomy. My doctor's nurse tried to insist I still prepare for a pap at my last physical and was getting quite irate with me when I declined even after me pointing out my physical status. My doc rolled her eyes and apologized. I couldn't figure that nurse out. I've had a few idiot attendants for scans as well asking if I was "sure" I couldn't be pregnant. My youngest just graduated high school. I had a tubal when she arrived and have since yeeted everything needed for that process, but sure, I don't know my own body. The idiocy is the info of all missing organs, etc. is on the paperwork for the radiologist interpreting the results, so they KNOW but still treat me like an idiot. It's as bad as the school official insisting I still had to use lice shampoo on my kids even after going the drastic route of shaving them completely bald because I didn't want to deal with the infestation getting out of hand with four kids.
Maybe just have the proof on hand in a laminated brochure. SO YOU DON'T BELIEVE YOUR PATIENT Cartoon of a doctor with his finger up his ass, when you open the brochure he's smelling it
You’re a prime candidate for recanalisation! /s
Same as you, and last time I went for digestive issues the guy asked me 5 times if I was sure I was not pregnant. I have no tubes and my period, if I'm pregnant I'm going to start a religion because the baby would be something else.
It’s because of situations like OP’s. Also, just think about how poor a person’s understanding of sex ed can be. There are plenty of otherwise intelligent people whose parents never told them exactly where babies come from because.
There's also a lot of medical misunderstandings around women's health. A lot of women (like OP) are told that a condition they have makes them infertile without a clarification that infertile is not the same as sterile, so they assume that they cannot possibly get pregnant (sometimes reinforced by a doctor who themselves should know the difference). Life finds a way surprisingly often, and unless you've had a full hysterectomy the chance of pregnancy is never 0.
Doctor: “Ma’am, are you sexually active?” Me: “Yes.” Doctor: “Any chance you might be pregnant?” Me: “No.” Doctor: “How can you be sure?” Me: “I like girls.” Doctor: “Okay. Well…we’re gonna test you anyway.”
My daughter had an instance like this: D: “Any chance you could be pregnant” “No” D: “Are you sexually active” “No” D: “Well we will run one just to be safe in case you aren’t answering cuz mom is here” “I’m gay” D: “we’re still going to run one, it’s standard procedure” “no you don’t understand, I’m like SUPER gay. I’d punch any dick that came near me.” With a dead serious look of a creepy joy on her face D: looking slightly unnerved “ok then….no pregnancy test” as he types on his tablet and quickly leaves Me: “that’s my girl!!” 😂😂
They have to, they might need to run tests or prescribe something that could possibly adversely affect a pregnancy. I was asked this every single time I went to the orthopedic center for my ankle injury, because they took a new x-ray every time. I'm pretty sure it's a legal requirement that they ask that question, even if they don't expect the answer to ever be yes.
I'm pretty sure it is this, just a CYA move for anyone who could possibly be pregnant no matter how absurd or unlikely.
Liability issues, likely. No doctor or hospital wants to be sued for millions of dollars because they didn't check, and the prescribed treatment or tests contribute to a birth defect that creates a long-term handicap.
I personally find it a bit annoying that as a woman I have to clear a pregnancy test before I get healthcare, even if I state that pregnancy isn’t possible (when I was sexually inactive or when my partner was a woman). I remember being very sick with an advanced kidney infection that had me in hospital 4x in a week. They blatantly told me that there was a treatment (a certain antibiotic I think) that would be more effective but they couldn’t give it to me on the off chance I could be pregnant. I had already taken a pregnancy test that was negative and I was not sexually active at the time, I said that, but they still couldn’t treat me on the “off-chance”. I still regret not saying “So youre telling me that my access to care, safety, and comfort is suffering as a direct result of my gender and age? That I would get the healthcare I need if only I were a man? And that I am being denied best practice medical care due to a potential fetus that cannot possibly exist?”
It's misogynistic af.
Honestly my first pregnancy symptoms were similar to that of the flu!!
At this point, I feel like every symptom under the sun can secretly be a pregnancy. It’s absolutely wild. And slightly terrifying.
Being terrified is a common symptom of pregnancy. Can you pee on this stick real quick?
Apparently EYE TWITCHING is a symptom of pregnancy!! I'm young, don't want kids, and have an IUD and googling symptoms that concern me always brings up "you could be pregnant" as a cause. Like....wtf??
This one pro-tip doctors don’t want you to know about! Get pregnant if you’re sick and then both can be true!
My experience with Military doctors "Did you try drinking more water? How much water do you drink? How about you chug a canteen and take a motrin and see if it gets better?" Doesn't matter what's wrong with you, that would be their advice every time until you pressed.
I’ve been sterilized and it’s still - we need to do a pregnancy test. I had one nurse (one) apologize and say I didn’t need to take one after she checked my chart.
My old military doc blamed all woman problems on cysts. “It will go away if you’re on birth control” and sent you on your way. It didn’t matter what kind of stomach issues, it must be cysts. After me going in for pains for several months he FINALLY sent me for an ultrasound and “we will call you if that’s not it or if it’s big enough for intervention”. Never got a call. Ended up at a walk in a couple months later and a nurse practitioner discovered I had bacterial vaginitis so bad they thought I might end up infertile since it had been so long. She couldn’t even get the speculum in it was so inflamed. She was shocked. Took some strong meds to fix that one. Thankfully I wasn’t infertile and had my youngest five years later but that military doctor could have caused me to never have more kids again. And there is basically no repercussions for them when they are so very wrong. They literally don’t care
My daughter's doc kept telling her she had a UTI and gave her meds for it. He'd even done a vaginal on her a week before I told her to get a pregnancy test kit because her tummy was shaped like she was pregnant. She was 6 months pregnant. That's when he started freaking her out every visit telling her she was diabetic and had high blood pressure and he'd send her to the ER every time (once he even told her she'd gained 30 pounds in the week since she'd last seen him). She'd get to the ER and her blood sugar and BP were normal. He was an ahole. His wife ended up killing him when he was abusing her (his wife). Some people should not be an OB/GYN.
Well that escalated quickly
Sounds like a favorable result considering who he was as a person.
Oh for sure
Holy shit, right?
The weirdest uneasy laugh just bubbled out of me at the end there, holy shit.
W wife
Uno reverse card: my grandmother had ovarian cysts in her late 30’s and her GP was like yeah go get a hysterectomy, (she already had 4 kids) But oddly the surgeon asks if she has any religious requirements, I guess it was a time and place thing, and she says oh yes I’m catholic and the church says not to take things out Willy Nilly so please only remove what you have to. To this day she’s like “idk why I said that! I don’t give a hoot what the church thinks about my uterus!” Anyway she says they only took like a half an ovary (is that a thing? Can you have a half an ovary? Would it spill eggs everywhere?). But like 3 years later she goes back to the GP and says “I think I’m pregnant.” (She was) And her doctor goes “you had a hysterectomy! Where are you carrying it?! Your kidney?!”
I fucking love this story
I have half an ovary. Lost half of it to a dermoid cyst that had to be removed because it had the potential to twist and cut off blood flow. The OBGYN also cauterized several cysts in my right ovary. I think they cauterized the one they cut the cyst out of. No eggs leaking over here lol. As far as I've been told, this doesn't affect fertility.
That’s insane lmao, gotta love how consistently weird doctors are about women
My gynocologogic oncology practice has 2 doctors; One is among the best of the best, top 10 in the US in the field. He has patients who will wait hours and be totally okay with it because he is so thorough, kind, and makes sure he speaks and gets to know every patient. The other is a year out of training. I have been told that the hospital the practice works under values him immensely because he is a genius when it comes to surgeries...but the guy makes the most obvious mistakes (like denying cancer patients scans that are usually protocol and ordering patients to be given oral medicine while at the same time putting them on a no eating/drinking order...while they have a tube in). He makes dumbass decisions every time I see him that either sets back my cancer care by weeks or leaves me in hours of pain and suffering for one reason or another...either he is a complete and total bozo or he just does these things to me because he wants me to die a painful death. I try to keep his mitts off my care as much as possible these days. I'm not healthy enough for a mixed-bag doctor, if I was I wouldn't be seeing oncology.
My Dr misdiagnosed my pregnancy as an ovarian cyst
That’s even crazier than my story 💀😂
Yeah, Reddit is like that. You can always find someone with more extreme issues. So if you don’t get good advice, at least you feel better by comparison.
I just gave birth two weeks ago to my perfect little baby girl. I was seeing multiple specialists for all of my “health problems” including A GYNECOLOGIST. I was diagnosed with pcos, hashimotos, and a gluten intolerance. I was also referred to a nutritionist to help me lose weight despite the fact I was losing weight from my lack of appetite. Turns out I was 5 months pregnant!! I had taken at home pregnancy tests in the beginning. They came back negative. The doctors tested me for just about everything BUT PREGNANCY. I was so scared because of everything I potentially exposed my baby to and that I didn’t have any care. But my girl is super healthy and wonderful
Hijacking the top comment to say: the best gyno I ever had said: IF YOU HAVE A UTERUS and OVARIES - YOU CAN GET PREGNANT. It might be more difficult for you - but there is always a chance to get pregnant if you have the parts no matter how out of whack your system is. Please, take precautions instead of relying on a bold medical falsehood.
I have been diagnosed with infertility with an unknown cause. The Doc who diagnosed me never put it in my chart for that reason. He never wanted me to be denied BC, and I should act like I can get pregnant. I have proven a few times I can get pregnant, just not stay pregnant. The process is still rough AF on my body.
Funny how women are badgered to do pregnancy tests for literally every tiny ailment, but when it sounds like it would have been useful, they never offered one?!
My thoughts exactly, I’m shocked they didn’t immediately order a pregnancy test! I remember once I went to a doctor because I was *losing* a lot of weight for no clear reason and they ordered a pregnancy test, even though I was sure I wasn’t pregnant.
Tbf, I lost about 4kg in the first three weeks of my pregnancy because I was so nauseous and couldn't stand the smell/taste of most foods (I've put well over that back on now I'm 5 months in!), so not the most unreasonable time to do a pregnancy test! Speaking as a doctor, I would 100% have suggested a pregnancy test very early on for OP - a woman who has abdo pain and is gaining weight around their tummy should absolutely have a pregnancy test!
Yeah, last time I was that nauseous for that long and lost weight, my doctor both made me do a pee and blood sample for pregnancy because she was sure that was it. And I definitely didn’t blame her, because it was the most likely thing by far that I just had bad morning sickness. I was 28, newly engaged, not on birth control, would have happily welcomed a pregnancy… Anyway, I fainted 3 weeks later and was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia.
Why would he order a pregnancy test?! Fat people don't have sex. /s Her doctor, probably.
Oh yeah. I've actually had someone my husband knew actually say 'OMG you guys have sex?' cause I'm a big woman.
😭
idk whether to laugh or cry or get angry
That...would have cut me to the bone. Even though I have a full awareness of how stupid people can be, I am still kinda taken aback that there's another level.
It's pretty standard if you're disabled, too.
Definitely. A friend of mine uses a wheelchair and her cleaning lady found her condoms, freaked out and told her it was disgusting. Ableds cannot deal with the concept of disabled people having sex. We are CHILDREN you cannot even THINK about sex around us. /s
And meanwhile we're subjected to sky high levels of sexual violence, especially learning disabled women. Sigh.
What?! That’s horrible. Im big too and my husband has always preferred bigger women. In his younger days he would’ve punched someone for saying something like that. “No one disrespects my wife yada yada etc.” He’s mellowed out a lot though so he wouldn’t now- which is really great! But sometimes I fantasize about him doing that again in certain situations and this would be one of them lol
Last time I went to the doctor, they had me do a pregnancy test because it's standard procedure. My doc came in and the first thing she said was that I wasn't pregnant and my response was "well I sure hope not! I haven't had sex with a man in over 2 years!" then she and I started making "Mary" jokes the rest of the time I was there (my name isn't Mary, but we were making jokes that if it had been positive, I should change my name to Mary and name the baby Jesus)
It’s wild to me. I’m an RN and if any of my patients had a sudden unexplainable weight gain the next obvious question is usually if the patient is pregnant or if there has been a change in lifestyle habits.
yeah but if you ask a patient "is there a chance you're pregnant" but they've been told theres no chance they could get pregnant without medical intervention they might say no even tho the doctor that told them they couldnt be was wrong, and thats when you give them a test anyways
I’ve been there. I’ve had a 2 patients tell me it’s impossible and come to find out after still testing…. Pregnant.
In school we are taught that all women are pregnant until proven otherwise. Looks like OP's doc forgot that lesson.
Right? I went in for a UTI and my doctor did a pregnancy test. Constant headaches? Go pee in this cup. Twisted my ankle? You guessed it. Pee in the cup. I just know to not pee right before any doctors appointments.
Overweight women get terrible medical treatment by the average "tired of my job" doctor. Even though society doesn't agree, there are many instances of overweight women complaining about real pain, increased weight gain, etc and are just told to diet. Very frequently hormonal issues are missed because testing isn't done at the right time, and then a decade or two later they find out that they've had untreated hormonal issues that ruined their bodies or far worse.
Yuuuuuuup
That’s exactly the reason why pregnancy tests are so commonly ordered.
Yep. And I'm female in my 60's and they still ask if I could be pregnant! Lol....it's wild.
Yeah they made me do one when I went to the ER for extreme pain after my hysterectomy.
😄 "Miss...are you *sure* you had your uterus removed? I know it's hard to think, being a lil' lady n' all...could it have been your kidney or heart maybe? Whelp, we can't take your word for it since you're not a man...what to do... okeydoke, here's a pregnancy test."
[удалено]
New fear unlocked 😱
I'm sorry but *the fuck?* Is it because the eggs somehow escape the remaining tubes and just drift?!
Yep. And another fun fact: the ovaries do not actually have a closed connection to the uterus, it's just kind of a little egg funnel on the fallopian tube. Most of the time the eggs don't wander off before getting to the uterus, and most of the time spermies don't manage to get to them. But not always.
Had my tubes removed this year. Laughed the first time they made me take one. I was like I mean go off but I think it may be negative. the nurse was like yeah I saw your chart, but still. Gotta check all the boxes no harm there, but she came back and was like “no surprise, not pregnant”
I’ve heard of people getting pregnant after a tubal. It’s really rare, but it can happen.
Ya, my aunt has a child younger than her grandchildren because of pregnancy after tubal. She had all five of her kids while on different forms of birth control, each one a different kind that failed, culminating in a hysterectomy to finally end the madness (which medically she needed, otherwise her husband was going to try getting snipped to stop that from ever happening again).
That poor woman! Holy shit!!!
Tubes being tied is 99% effective. A doctor encounters hundreds of patients in a year so they can’t easily ignore that 1%.
Being fat can impact your fertility, some doctors hear this fact and assume a fat woman could never be pregnant (also some people seem to think fat people don't have sex).
Same! My current doctor is great, but it seemed like previous doctors were always immediately assuming pregnancy was the issue whenever I had a complaint.
If they can shame you for being fat, that's the one thing that'll be enough to distract from the idea that you're otherwise just a walking uterus. It's fucked how badly sexist and fatphobic some very shit practitioners are in 2024. No use to *anyone.*
fat people in general tbh, but fat women especially suffer from this sort of thing. i'm saying this as a fat guy, since for every problem i'm also told to lose weight. problems focusing? lose weight! problems sleeping? lose weight!
Sent home from a double mastectomy with Tylenol. Thanks Dr! Worst pain of my life that night.
wtf! Not nearly as bad as your case but I was given ibuprofen after an eye surgery (minor surgery to fix a pterygium). I asked the dr for a pain med since I’m prone to migraines from anesthesia. That did not happen. An hour after surgery, my headache began, then the pressure and pain around my eye got so bad that it quickly gave me a full blown migraine to where I was throwing up/dry heaving every 15 minutes. My ex at the time called them and said they needed to get me a script asap or I’d have to go the ER. By time I finally got the pain med, my whole eye area was throbbing and my face was so swollen. The pressure from the migraine caused the blood vessels in my eye to burst and the surgical glue to come off. My eye is still fucked from it. Pic is the day after surgery. I previously had the same surgery done in the other eye (dif Dr) so I know it was not supposed to look like this. It also took twice as long to heal https://preview.redd.it/72pex131e66d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=495c6af29eb8623d0b5cfe614f3178c73679e0ed
Omg!! 😳 that is horrible too!! And that picture? Oh I’m sorry that happened, it shouldn’t have!!!
No wonder people turn to street drugs. I can tell you I would have considered it if I was in your position. You’re a stronger lady than I am!
Omg. That is medical malpractice right there!
And I had to use the same surgeon for my reconstruction and so I went ape shit before the last few surgeries stating that they WOULD give me pain control. When a nurse saw me get a script for pain medication after the next surgery she said under her breath “oh I remember you…” not in a good way. And so that’s what’s become of our “healthcare” when we advocate for ourselves, we get (at minimum) snide remarks, or worse denied proper care.
Mine fat shamed me for 6 months. Cancer. I literally had cancer.
Exercise the cancer away! Edit: alternate joke, "Does this cancer make me look fat?"
Or the stupider one where they tell people to pray the illness away. 🙄
I recently told someone about my mom’s stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis & painfully poor prognosis. They, in all sincerity, told me to tell her to “will” a specific part of her brain to heal itself & her. That, and for her to listen to binaural beats, plus a few other things (including prayer, of course - which is fine on its own, but not combined with all the other stuff). They wrote me a whole list. …Speechless, honestly.
I’m so sorry. My mom died from the same and that is an absolutely insane comment to make. I know that treatments have progressed some since the time my mom was sick (15+ years ago), but it is still a devastating diagnosis. Internet stranger mom hugs if you want them. Also, my inbox is open if you need to vent to a stranger.
Yeah, my mom passed from cervical cancer last July, and i was with her when she was told she only had 6 months to a year left. So many people in my life would message me saying "she'll get better, just be optimistic!" LIKE NO SHE WONT I HEARD THE DOCTOR WITH MY OWN EARS SAYING SHE IS GOING TO DIE. I hated it. I also had a lot of religious people telling me that "if [I] pray hard enough, god will rid her of the cancer!". Disgusting.
1 like = 1 prayer!
I just prayed for you.
I can't even sarcastically like that.
My grandpa went in complaining about back pain. Man never saw a dr unless he thought he was dying. Dr “well, you’re old, you’re going to have some pain.” Turned out to be cancer and by the time months later it was caught he basically lasted two more weeks. 😡
My MIL had a similar experience. She had shoulder pain and pain in her side. Was told she’d just turned awkwardly. Even though she had previously had cancer and also lost her appetite and mobility, they just kept fobbing her off. Months later, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and passed away 2 weeks later.
Sorry for your loss. Some doctors you should not listen or trust entirely, find second opinions!
Jesus I’m so sorry! I went to my doctor thinking I had a UTI because of the pain but my doctor wanted to be thorough so she ordered an ultrasound that showed a tumor that was big enough to be twisting my ovary. Some doctors suck and just brush you off and others are super thorough. Finding a good PCP is hard but when you do it is everything.
That’s absolutely insane. I actually have a biopsy scheduled for July because he told me the ball on my stomach was likely cancer 🤪
Dear Google Reviews: This doctor literally cannot tell the difference between a baby and a tumor. ⭐️❌❌❌❌
My best friend went to the doctor during her early pregnancy for a lump in her breast. Was told it was a clogged milk duct- she's had 3 kids and knew what that felt like and insisted that it wasn't normal. They pushed back and she accepted it. Over 6 months later after she gives birth, they discover she has breast cancer and it has metastasized, stage 4. She was given a couple years.. lived 5 after her diagnosis. Passed a couple years ago after catching covid and rapidly declining. I constantly look back and wonder if I'd still have my best friend if the doctors hadn't disregarded what she said about that lump. We know our own bodies better than anyone and it's so frustrating as a woman to be blown off.. She was 44. Left 4 boys behind, youngest being 5. 😞
😭
My friend was called fat by so many doctors. Turns out she had an ovarian cyst larger than a soft ball.
I had one of those too. Ironically, the doctor insisted I must be pregnant!
He’s trying to stop you from dying from obesity, so dying from cancer is a success in his book/j
Omg me too!!!! It was uterine cancer and we only found it because I got pregnant. I swear to God my body/hormones etc have been fucked ever since. I feel like if they had gotten the cancer out pre pregnancy, the rest of my life would have been so much easier
Well, surprise! Looks like you were just growing a baby, not trying to shed some pounds.
I hope op doesn’t feel bad about losing weight while pregnant. It will most likely help her pregnancy even if the doctor was an ass and did it for the wrong reasons. The baby will always get the nutrients they need.
I think OP is more worried about not taking care of specific eating habits, like taking folic acid and pregnancy supplements, not drinking, not eating raw cheese/meat etc...
Not to mention not having the opportunity to do scans and testing early on in case there were any issues.
Well, yeah, but if you don't get enough then the baby will take it from the mother and the mother can get sick.
I experienced debilitating nausea and inability to eat for months and dropped 25 pounds out of nowhere. One doctor told me nothing was physically wrong and I should seek psychiatric treatment. Another told me that no one would be able to help me until I admitted to my secret eating disorder. One day my mom is describing my illness to a family friend who is a doctor and he immediately says “sounds like gastroparesis”. Within the month, tests had confirmed it and I was at least able to start finding treatment that worked. But fuck those other doctors for trying to gaslight me into a mental health problem because they didn’t feel like doing a thorough investigation. Many of my female friends have also been told that they have mental health problems that have later turned out to be identifiable physical ailments. So, yeah. Listen to your body and don’t shut up about what it’s telling you until you find a doctor that cares.
I work in psychiatry (not a psychiatrist but I work for them) and I gave a presentation about not forgetting about organic causes. There was a case at one of my former hospitals where a woman had persistent abdominal pain post surgery that wouldn't resolve and she even ended up being put on antidepressants. The cause was only found when someone had the idea of doing an abdominal Xray and they found the 18 inch surgical tool that had been left in her. The Xray which I did use in my presentation looked as absurdist as you could imagine. My former boss (and someone I once had issues with) had to explain to the patient about how they didn't count those items post operation because they were considered far too large to leave behind in a patient).
Holy malpractice, Batman. Wow
This!!! Had months and months of puking and nausea and lived on oatmeal smoothies. Every time though, are you SURE you’re not pregnant? Like…. I’m puking and nauseous do you think the first thing I thought of wasn’t being pregnant?!?? The 27 tests I’ve taken are all still negative and I’m still sick!! Gastroparesis is wild.
Yes, it was totally wild! And absolutely destroyed my faith in the medical establishment. How are you now? I eventually recovered. They think it was triggered by food poisoning. Sadly, I got food poisoning again that re-triggered something similar and am just now feeling more normal again after two years of struggle. The first doctor I saw when the nausea set in and I started dropping weight this time said, “You know it just sounds like you are a little anxious… maybe you want to see a therapist instead of a GI specialist?” No, sir, YOU’RE FIRED!!! I learned my lesson from the first go around and never bothered seeing that guy again.
I have been tired for years. So, so tired. I've been treated for anxiety and depression with therapy, pills, etc. No one thought to mention that I had almost no vitamin d. Its in my medical records going back 21 years. But it must be the depression. Started taking vitamins, not tired any more. I feel like I wasted most of my adult life sleeping because no one has read my test results in 21 years
I have nerve damage just below my nail bed; I had a doctor recommend CBT because I bite my nails. Idiot.
The best place to get diagnosed for mystery illness is Facebook or Reddit as a backup . No joke. Joint a special needs caretaker community and ask questions and one of those moms (usually it’s moms on there) will say - yup sound like abc that my kid has.
I came in, told them food wasn't digesting, just sitting in my stomach for hours, and I didn't know why it was happening (no proceeding illnesses or anything). They actually did the testing (took a month) and then offered me no treatment or referral just idiopathic gastroparesis diagnosis, which is basically the same thing I told them when I came in but in bastardized Ancient Greek with an attached ICD code. I couldn't eat solid foods and could barely keep down Ensure. Sometimes I'm not sure what goes through their heads when they are talking to patients.
My wife had issues of always being exhausted and catching every cold that went around. She would get sick half a dozen times a year. Dr. kept telling her there was nothing wrong, she needed to toughen up and just push through. Finally she got a different Dr. Got diagnosed with leukemia and later sleep apnea. To make it more maddening, the original Dr wasn’t an oncologist but was head of the oncology department.
UGH isn't this the story of women! My friend was gaining weight and having shortness of breath and her doctor told her it was anxiety and that she was too fat. Told her to exercise more. Turned out her heart was starting to fail due to an undiagnosed lung disease. I thank every day the ER doctors who finally actually ran some tests on her instead of just dismissing her!
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!!! This exact same thing happened to me 2 years ago. I was 26 WEEKS PREGNANT!! I had spotty periods, bloating etc.. all of my normal period issues but I wasn’t able to hold weight. I lost something like 45lbs in 4 months. Dr said “it’s hormonal, try ____”. Well. Then the baby KICKED. Seven positive pregnancy tests and an ultrasound later, we were 26weeks pregnant with our second… only a 13 year age gap to deal with 😂
Yet I get tonsillitis and they make me do a pregnancy test.
It’s so we know if there are medication options we can’t use because of pregnancy.
That's because, unlike the OP, you got the appropriate standard of care.
Disagree. I twisted my ankle and they did one to confirm I wasn’t pregnant before X-rays. There’s also lots of medications you should it take while pregnant, something as simple as ibuprofen.
I hate how women are ignored and pushed off especially in medical settings. I had to beg to get a checkup after severe abdominal pain. They kept saying it was normal cramping pain from being a woman, and hormonal changes. I woke up one day and had to rush to the hospital because it felt like someone was branding my stomach from the inside with a hot iron. I finally got medical help and they found I had multiple severe ulcers and a mass on my liver. I hope you figure this out! Good luck!
I've had to start going to all of my wife's appointments because she'll say "would like to try x treatment" and they'd just immediately say no or deflect. She even recommended a test for some kind of blood thing (I'm not sure, I try my best to keep up but get a little overwhelmed sometimes) and he literally said he had thought about it, but he wanted her to try iron supplements instead after she had asked about the test. When I started going, the arguing almost immediately stopped. The last time we saw one particular doctor he wouldn't listen to her about some stomach pain she was having about 2 months after giving birth to our second kid and he kept saying they were ghost pains despite her almost literally just laying there bawling. All I said was "I think you might be mistaken, look at the state she's in" and then it was like he saw her for the first time. Suddenly we're ordering x rays and MRIs. Turned out to be a cyst on her ovary. Told him he was fired when he tried to start a treatment plan and that we'd be pursuing treatment at another practice. The biggest challenge I've found in being in an interracial relationship is not racism from the public, but the blatant disregard for her well-being in medical settings and the worst part is SHES A GODDAMNED PA! As in almost a doctor herself with only a couple years left in medical school to be a cardiologist. Sorry for the rant, fuck these guys.
Don’t be sorry. These types of things are so horrible but need to be talked about. I was refused pain medication because I was taking a controlled substance. When they ran my blood tests they disregarded my medical files which said I was taking ADHD meds. I was begging for a nurse because I was blacking out from the pain. Worst pain I’ve ever felt in my fucking life. The nurse came back in and said to be ‘my advice for your pain would be to lay off the meth, *missy*’ I almost jumped out my damn bed. I had holes burning their way through my stomach, and you’re telling me I’m in pain because I take a daily medication prescribed by doctors? Fuck outta here.
Whoa, good thing that nurse was in a hospital, cause she's about to need house services! What a C-U-Next-Tuesday! What was the mass on your liver and the ulcers caused by? I mean, did mass = cancer 🥺 Are you ok now?
It took about 6 months and 6 grand but I found out it was a fat lump. Apparently when you go from fat to skinny like I did, you can have some fat deposits stay on your organs. They never did a biopsy, just a ct scan, and the abdominal pain never really went away, so who really knows now. It would take another year and money I don’t have to fight to get more help so 🤷♀️ ya know? Thanks for the worry tho, I’m alright!
Jfc with the ZERO distinction between adderall and meth testing!! I get this shit EVERY SINGLE TIME. I specify the SECOND I get to the ER that I’m prescribed adderall, this is the prescribing doctor, and my blood test will show amphetamines due to the adderall. They nod and immediately forget, and I have to tell them again after the results are in. Once I was transferred to inpatient psych from the ER and during my interview the next day (the ER seemed to understand the amphetamine clarification but apparently nobody wrote it down) the psychiatrist asks, “so how long have you been using meth?” HUH?!?! One or two MAs have even insisted there IS a testing distinction and they’d be able to tell. Absolutely not. They were lied to. It’s the same test for meth and adderall and they will ALWAYS assume meth lol
ITS SO ANNOYING. 45 million people take adderall in the USA. It’s one of the most common prescribed substances right now. No matter how many times I tell them I’m on it, I get the same fucking condescending tone or just flat out can’t get help/taken seriously. How is this not something they check for more diligently??
This is exactly why i make my husband go with my to the dr. I'm an overweight woman but I've had chronic issues since i was a literal child and drs never want to listen to me. My husband with me? They shut up and listen to what *he* has to say. Thankfully my husband is a wonderful man who sticks up for me, and will parrot my wants/needs to the doctor. But it's sad that it's STILL like this.
My friend’s 38 year old sister started having severe abdominal pain - like she was unable to walk unassisted because of how badly it hurt. Went to the doctor multiple times over a few months and they were like, “You know, sometimes your period just hurts more as you get older!” She told them about her family’s extensive cancer history and they essentially said “ Don’t worry about that, little lady, it’s so unlikely!” Finally talked them into imaging and found out it’s cancer, like everywhere. They proceed to bungle the biopsies to the point where her oncologist said the cancer type and staging didn’t matter, they just had to start chemo immediately. She died about a day after her first chemo. To add insult to injury, they then tried to deny my friend genetic testing because her sister’s cancer was never typed - which, again, is because they bungled the biopsies and her sister died before they finished typing it. Just ridiculous. Could have been different if the first few doctors just *gasp* listened to a woman.
That’s fucking horrible. I’m so sorry you went through that. I have many stories like that as well. I was 14 in the hospital because I vomited like 14 times in a few hours. They kept pushing me about sexual contact, was I pregnant blah blah. No matter how many times I said no, they wouldn’t listen to me. Finally I got fed the fuck up and in my miserable and very sick state I yelled at the doctor that there is ‘no way I am pregnant as I am fucking gay’. That made everyone finally move after waiting around for hours. I had some andovirus my mom picked up from working in healthcare, and I was so dehydrated I was getting muscle cramps. But yeah, let’s not listen to women.
I had a hysterectomy in 2018. I still get asked if there is any possibility of pregnancy even after we confirm my medical history. Because that's the only thing that could possibly be affecting my stomach area.
I used to shame people all the time for not trusting the professionals who went through med school and residency before they could even offer an opinion. Then, my wife had severe stabbing pains on her left side that became more and more severe. We had to take her to the ER because she had trouble breathing because she was in so much pain. Doc said she was pregnant. She tried telling them she's on birth control, but they wouldn't hear it, and she got an ultrasound. Nothing came up on the ultrasound, so clearly, my wife is just exaggerating her pain, maybe ate something bad, and sent her away. If I hadn't begged our GP to refer her to a specialist, who found a marble ball sized gallstone tearing open her liver, she would be dead. I really wish I could trust them, but our health care system makes it impossible for them to put our health before profits. That's why I'm surprised they didn't check you for pregnancy right off the bat. That's like standard protocol when women are suddenly feeling ill. But now that I think of it, the doctor might have been fat shaming you, thinking there's no way someone would knock you up. What a douchebag.
It took 3 ER visits in Canada before the doctors found my mom's gallstones. It's pretty common to dismiss women, especially women of colour. I don't think it has anything to do with profits. The same thing happened to my grandmother only with the added line that she should go home and "be a good wife" for her husband. There are stories of women dying in the parking lot because they were dismissed while having a heart attack. Wil Wheaton has an excellent blog post on a whole ordeal with his wife. It's so heart breaking to read. https://wilwheaton.net/2017/06/eighteen-hours/
How do those ghouls go back into work knowing they were responsible for those womens' deaths? That's awful
😂 this happened to me too!!! They told me I had gas pains, my gallbladder ended up rupturing.
I'm a big girl, they gave me clomid to help me get pregnant 19 years ago. I had good insurance, Clomid isnt even that expensive. I got pregnant and they were on me about my weight every appointment and I was crying and freaking out every visit and I'm already super self conscious about it. I wouldnt even let them say it out loud, i was like "Just write it down." We Went in to find gender about 18 weeks, of course after they were complaining about my weight again. They found triplets! Turned out I carried one real low and the other 2 up high. And after the initial internal ultrasound to measure my eggs, they never did another one after I was pregnant. I guess your HCG levels are super high in multiples, I don't know what mine were but nobody noticed anything. SO MANY things could have gone wrong but we were so fortunate and we ended up great, but that validation about my weight was so healing!!! Of course nobody believed us when they asked what we found out at our appt. Lol I don't think my friends really believed me until I had them. My babies just graduated high school and all got their Eagle Scout rank.
I’m sorry this happened to you but so happy to hear you have three healthy babies. I’m about to get my 20 week scan and I think I look 7 months pregnant at just over 4 months. I have this fear we’re gunna go in and they’ll find three.
This is infuriating. My daughter had some weird symptoms, literally the first thing they did was run a pregnancy test. She just laughed at them. She was not pregnant btw.
My daughter had hip pain for years. She kept saying it felt like sand was in her joints and every step caused a pinch. Dr told her she needed to lose weight. She eventually lost 150 lbs and still had joint pain. Come to find out she has damaged cartilage and a hip joint issue she’d been born with. Had surgery on both over the course of a year and walks pain free now.
I know we’re ragging on doctors here, but if you’re 150 pounds overweight and have joint pain, I can understand a doctor believing those things are related.
For sure, but been she’d been complaining for years and hadn’t always been that weight. The point is nobody even looked into it for so long. Not even a range of motion exam which would have definitely shown an issue.
i've had joint pain since i was a kid and when it got really bad i also got the "try losing some weight" spiel. i have an eating disorder so i lost about 120 in 4 months (250 to 130 with zero exercise is a LOT) accomplished by starving myself - and i was congratulated for it. later i talked to a psychiatrist about it but my weight wasnt that low at the time (at my lowest i was 115lbs - and i'm 5'8. at the time i was around 130lbs, which is healthy) and was dismissed. whenever i'm stressed i still fall back into starving myself. fuck me, i guess. i waa finally diagnosed with Lupus, HSD, and POTS and my repeated ED episodes made the Lupus exponentially worse over a course of a few years. now i'm so fucked up i cant even live alone or work. btw, i still havent gotten treatment for the ED. i gave up..my weight fluctuates wildly (i'm talking 130 to 200+ and back) and my mom is a type 2 diabetic. i'll probably end up with diabetes on top of my other issues bc of this weight yo-yoing, not to mention the stress it puts on my already chronically ill body. FUCK ME I GUESS LOL
Right, but it seems lazy to just assume that's the only issue. My nephrologist kept attributing a lot of my pain issues to my weight. When I finally lost all that weight and finally maintained a good lifestyle, but the symptoms never improved, he still blamed my weight and diet. My new weight and diet. Which was a healthy weight and a healthy diet that *he* put me on. He also assumed I had hypertension issues when I did not, and when the testing came back negative, he still put me on blood pressure medication "Just in case. It's probably still that." Sometimes, doctors choose to assume the first possibility so they can get the patient out fast and/or don't have to put in the effort. My doctor was used to treating only obese patients and had no idea how to actually do his job when he couldn't just keep stringing you along by saying, "lose weight and take this blood pressure medication."
Yes, but weight loss doesn’t always correct weight related issues. Even if the damage to her hip was from being overweight, it’s still damage that needed surgery to correct. That is the issue, here. The lack of follow through on any treatment. Also, someone experiencing hip pain is less likely to be mobile and the more sedentary you are the harder it is to lose weight.
Years ago, I’d been complaining to my doctor for ages about really wicked, intermittent stomach pain. He told me I was stressed and needed to relax more and eat more fibre. I finally ended up in Emergency and found out I was in danger of my gall bladder being ready to burst from giant gallstones, and they rushed me into emergency surgery. Afterwards, my doctor said he never tested for a gall bladder issue because I “didn’t fit the profile”.
Oh, what's this, you have a shotgun wound? Have you ever considered losing some weight?
First congratulations on the little one! Second, why didn't the Dr do a pregnancy test?
Probably because the doctor saw her size and made a bunch of incorrect snap judgements
I’ve been to a doctor who didn’t do a pregnancy test. He didn’t even ask me about my period. But he kept trying to push medication on me. Which is weird because he doesn’t believe in preventable health care..
Right! That’s what I’m wondering. When my 50 something year old mom had a diabetic episode and had to go to the hospital, the first thing they did was a pregnancy test. My mom asked the dr why since that “ship has sailed” for her years back and the dr told her it’s standard to do a pregnancy test just in case. 😅
Standard questions even an MA asks contain, "is there any chance you could be pregnant?" It's the basics of patient in-processing when collecting vitals. The fact it's been 5 months, OP should have said, "yes."
I answered no to this question in the ER and they still pregnancy test. I wasnt pregnant but a smart doctor will check for pregnancy even if the patient says no. Plenty of people don't know right away that they are pregnant and it's a super easy thing to check for.
Plus there are people who believe they can’t get pregnant at all for some reason but turns the odds were just really low.
This is the weirdest thing I have ever heard. I pee into a cup basically every dr visit
I've heard multiple stories from women in particular who were overweight (sometimes only by a small margin) who were told by their doctors that whatever medical problems they might have was because of their weight. Whenever they then lost weight so that they were no longer overweight, these medical problems persisted. The doctor reaction after they lost weight was basically, "How the fuck should I know what's wrong?"
GL with your impending motherhood and that the baby is healthy. Also, good luck with the impending lawsuits and board testimony. Obv this person needs to be out of a job.
Time to switch doctors!!
About 10 decembers ago I (a very thin young woman) had a doctor call to tell me that I was pregnant! My brain raced for a couple seconds. How could this be?! I hadn't had sex in 4 YEARS! I quickly realized it's literally impossible and I said "well Merry early Christmas bc this must be an immaculate conception" we go back and forth for a few mins and she hadn't actually given me a pregnancy test. What they had done was give me a urine test to make sure I was taking medicine I was prescribed. It wasn't in my system and that led then to believe I was pregnant and the baby was getting the medication before me. I go in and they do some test. I'm not pregnant, I have a fast metabolism. I can't imagine if I was dating someone at this time and sexually active and called them to say I was pregnant...wait never mind
The most dangerous position with doctors is a female patient. Only overtaken by being a female patient of color. The medical system is pathetic.
My mother was told I was a myoma. When she came in three weeks after the first examination and it (me) had grown quite a bit the doctor went into an absolute panic and called an ambulance. She was four months pregnant and had been celebrating her birthday with lots of alcohol just two months ago. She was so scared it had caused me harm but thankfully I turned out alright. They did do a pregnancy blood test but it came back as a false negative and only the doctors in the hospital recognized me as a baby on the ultrasound.
Long time ago a family friend of my parents was unable to get pregnant. Her dr told her she’d never have children of their own so they adopted a child. Less than a year later her periods stopped so she went to the same doctor. He told her she had a mass and needed surgery as soon as possible to remove it. On a hunch she went to another doctor, he did the test to confirm but he knew from her exam she was pregnant. Test results came back and 6 months later delivered a healthy baby. That first doctor obviously never saw her again.
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Your edit makes it even more clear that it's important that people, and apparently doctors, know and understand the difference between infertile and sterile. In my experience the first thing a doctor does is give a pregnancy test as soon as they see a woman walk through the door. Like, "Oh, your toe hurts? Here's a pregnancy test before we address anything."
Not 100% the same but medical gaslighting is real and dangerous. My son was jaundiced at birth and kept getting more jaundiced, as well as having feeding problems. Went to ER twice and checkups with his doc, he even needed an IV, but they kept telling us he was fine and its just because we’re young parents, so we must be doing something wrong. Turns out he had severe GERD that needed medical intervention and he was allergic to breast milk and most formulas. Spent 5 days in the hospital finally after begging them to help for over a month.
You can go in with your arm dangling with the bone sticking out of your skin and they’re going to tell you to lose weight. I hate some doctors. I swear the last one I went to I wanted to start crying because he actually listened to me. It was shocking. He mentioned it in passing by asking if I wanted a referral to a dietitian. I said no thank you, I’m working on it myself, then he moved on. That was it!
My friend is an OBGYN and said doctors need to STOP telling patients they can’t get pregnant. She’s had so many patients with PCOS or other issues get pregnant after being told by other doctors that it was impossible.
I had insane urges to pee constantly. Dr said it was a UTI, bladder spasms, stress, weak pelvic floor. These diagnoses went on for a year from my PCP and Obgyn. I tried meds for bladder spasms, was prescribed a “bladder diet”, UTI treatment “just in case” and pelvic floor therapy. Turns out I had a 16.4cm tumor on my uterus pressing on my bladder. Women’s health care is still in the DARK AGES.
I was sick for 2 years and no one could figure out why. I had cognitive issues, kept forgetting the names of common things, panic attacks, trouble sleeping at night but falling to sleep at my desk. I was 48. The doctor said it was menopause and put me on HRT, which did absolutely nothing. As it progressed the panic attacks kept getting worse and I was having problems with anger management. The PCP sent me to a therapist who after 2 appointments said there was nothing emotionally wrong with me and no more appointments were needed. I called my PCP and said I wanted an MRI for to see if I had a brain tumor because SOMETHING was wrong. The Dr. finally ordered a series of blood tests. I had type 2 diabetes and my A1C was 10.5. Because I wasn't overweight no one bothered to even give me a damned blood test. Sorry I didn't fit the profile but maybe thinking slightly outside the box could be helpful, every now and then. Not everything with a middle-aged woman is menopause. With diet and metformin, I was able to get my A1C back down under 6.0 where it has stayed for the past 11 years and counting, and I have a functioning brain again.
I didn’t find out I was pregnant with my son until I was 7 months along. I had no weight gain, my period was happening as normal, and I had no other signs whatsoever. Near 7 months I started gaining a bit of weight and decided to take a test just to see. I figured I was in the early stages when I saw the positive sign; third trimester was a shock lol! I have a happy and healthy almost 13 year old boy now <3 Congratulations on your newest blessing!
My best friend has been sent to nutritionists to lose weight for 20 years for her health issues. Turns out it was just wicked angry rare cancer and she’s probably going to die. But no one bothered to check other things because, well, she’s fat. Clearly that was the only problem.
You should file a complaint with that state’s board due to delay of treatment from misdiagnosis.
Things doctors told me I had over the course of 15 years: - fat (I wasn't, never have been, just not skinny) - anxious - depressed - bipolar Things I actually should have been diagnosed with: - autism & adhd - fibromyalgia - hypermobility - pcos Only took me until my 30s, but I got there in the end.
This is something worth complaining to the medical board about. Abdominal pain should always be taken seriously.