Did anyone read the Metro article (Trends section, p37 :Thursday, Nov 21st) : "The Gender Health Gap Nearly Killed Me" by Nicole Mowbray ?
One line particularly struck me:
"Almost half the women eventually diagnosed with an auto-immune disease will have been told they are a hypochondriac or have a mental illness, according to Virginia Ladd, president of the American Auto-Immune Diseases Association. "
.....my first thought was "Really ? That low ?" - then secondly " Is anyone monitoring UK figures on this ? Or taking any notice of this American research ? "
What did you think ?
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Cherylclaire
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Thinking about it, I wonder if there are ANY females of a reasonable age who haven't at least had it insinuated that their physical complaint is more of a mental one?
It is particularly poignant to me as my poor mother has always suffered from mental health issues, including clinical hypochondria, and although, thankfully, I don't think she has been treated badly as a result of this, she hasn't had any help or care that maybe could have alleviated some of her suffering which has often been as debilitating as a physical complaint.
Following a couple of heart ops a cardiologist dismissed my reported symptoms as "all in your head" (his exact words)! With my background, he was a bit taken aback when I was able to cooly respond that if he didn't believe me then obviously I had a mental health problem that needed to be taken equally seriously and what was he going to do about it?
Either I had a further heart problem or I had a mental health problem which needed treatment so which department was he going to refer me to?
Guess what? I was found to have an intermittent heart arrhythmia (which I have since lived with for the last 20 years until I got enough B12)!
Medical science / witchcraft will have arrived when it is possible to do a "symptoms transfer" from patient to physician!! Even a short dose of B12d would be punishment enough for dishing out such insults!
I particularly like this page from the NHS, especially the symptoms and stats:
That’s scary, almost every symptom mentioned are PA/B12 symptoms...it’s no wonder doctors doctors won’t treat us properly if they’ve read that rubbish 😳
Oh yes, had that diagnosis as well, MUPS is another term for psychosomatic symptoms.
Also ‘functional neurological disorder’ FND. Was forced to see a specialist whose interest was FND.
I said to most specialists I saw that I thought it was B12 deficiency and tried to give them information but the label of FND, MUPS etc meant most did not take me seriously and no-one was able to come with me and speak up on my behalf.
To be fair , I suspect it's possible that I may have one or two symptoms that are possibly FND due to the incredible stress I went through trying to get someone to listen to me.
On the other hand being untreated for so many years has almost certainly left me with some permanent damage.
One of the reasons that I take photos of my more visible symptoms (although that in itself might sound a bit obsessive) is because I'm never entirely sure that they believe me about the non-visible others; dizziness, thumping heart, memory and cognitive problems. Or even the visible ones, if I happen to be having a good day when consultant's appointments come up.
It really comes to something that you would wish on that particular day to be bald, with a massive grey tongue with red pie-crust edges, sore bleeding cracks around your mouth -plus hopefully unable to remember why you are there /what they are saying to you !
I have had to turn down anti-depressants so many times that it's starting to get depressing . I also feel quite certain that IBS is not a fitting answer to give anyone for whom daily diarrhoea is just one of the symptoms presenting itself for the past 4 years.
who told me that I had made a very convincing case for more injections but that he didn't know much about B12, so why not say the same thing to my haematologist (who had sent me to him in the first place) ?
Well, you know I probably would have, but she'd already signed me off ! Since she'd previously warned me how "highly addictive" B12 is, I'm not sure she would've listened anyway.
>sigh<
The good ones are interested in your photos or records, as long as you don't overwhelm them with reams of paperwork, and can quote from your GP's report.
The mediocre ones at least feign interest in your photos out of common courtesy.
The bad ones have made up their minds before they have even met you and could not be less interested.
PS : I would be interested in your film, partly just because I'm nosey, partly because I did't ever get that symptom myself. Must make everyday life very challenging.
Thankfully the limb jerks disappear if I get enough B12;however they come back very quickly after a jab..it's one of the signs I need more B12 . My understanding is that limb jerks are related to Restless Legs Syndrome RLS.
"The bad ones have made up their minds before they have even met you and could not be less interested."
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1966 article 
Having Other Autoimmune Diseases. 
B12 deficiency - struggling and confused
B-12 Deficiency Article
