Female Patients Gaslight By Doctors

[Sparklingsunshine]

Interesting article in the Guardian today, not directly a thyroid issue but one many of us can recognise and empathise with.

theguardian.com/society/202....

[SlowDragon Administrator]

and many with endometriosis also have autoimmune issues, frequently Hashimoto’s

[Alanna012 in reply to SlowDragon]

I did not know that. Interesting.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Alanna012]

palomahealth.com/learn/endo....

Finally, endometriosis patients are also at a higher risk of autoimmune thyroid diseases – including both Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Graves’ disease. In one study, researchers found that, compared to women from the general U.S. population, women with endometriosis were at least six times more likely to have autoimmune hypothyroidism. Rates of Graves’ disease are also higher in women with endometriosis. Researchers have theorized that endometriosis should be characterized as an autoimmune disease, pointing to genetic markers in endometriosis that correlate to other autoimmune conditions, including autoimmune thyroid disease.

healthline.com/health/thyro...

If you have endometriosis, it’s important to monitor your thyroid function

[Alanna012 in reply to SlowDragon]

Wow! Really interesting.

[arTistapple]

I wonder if people are just getting fed up hearing this stuff. To a great degree I am. I don’t mean this disrespectfully to anyone in this situation - there are plenty of us on this Forum alone, fed up to the back teeth of being treated as if we are of no importance. Not once but multiple times! Again this article highlights doctors being accused of not knowing enough. What are they being taught? I have found that even although (in the past) they were considered Gatekeepers to more specialist services, they can’t even manage that now either. They have no knowledge of even local specialists, never mind further afield. It seems they have the wit only to consider departments, not specifics. So you are not seeing who you need to see unless you do the research yourself. Where has all this previously held knowledge gone? Again what are they doing?

Accountability has been missing in so many workplaces for so loooong.

We are doing our own research into our conditions (forced to) and doctors love to pooh pooh that - whilst at the same time witnessing them being distracted by their own computer screens. They seem to have the opinion that people only with degrees in medicine have working brain cells. AND we are subjected to their, often dire, communication skills, arrogance and gaslighting.

[Sparklingsunshine in reply to arTistapple]

Bearing in mind Endometriosis is actually common why is it so many women are waiting so long to get diagnosed, I think I read an average of at least 8 years. Women are losing their livelihoods, quality of life and fertility because of this awful condition.

I'm no medic but if a woman came to me and mentioned crippling pain, heavy bleeding, bleeding in between periods, problems with bladder, bowels and exhaustion my mind would immediately go to Endometriosis.

So what on earth justifies a doctor into thinking its " all in her head". It boggles the mind. Any woman presenting with those issues should get an immediate Gynae referral and further testing.

[humanbean in reply to Sparklingsunshine]

I waited 19 years before getting a diagnosis. But that diagnosis came from a private IVF Clinic. They refused to write to my NHS doctor to tell them about my gynae problems saying that, being private they weren't allowed to. I think that was a lie. I'm sure if I had given them permission they could have written but they didn't want the responsibility or the work.

So, the NHS found out that I had endometriosis because I told them. And they thought I was a drug-seeking hypochondriac, so although it was recorded nobody took any notice.

Then I had a hysterectomy, also done privately, but the surgeon did actually write to my GP, and they stated (amongst other things) that I had "very severe endometriosis". This happened before the law had changed to allow me to have a copy of my records. So I asked my GP to read the letters to me (there were two of them). A couple of years later I mentioned to that same doctor that read the letters to me that I had "very severe endometriosis", and she just rolled her eyes at me.

When I did eventually buy a copy of my records I found out that the "highlights" (or should that be "lowlights"?) of my medical history were summarised, and my problems were just reduced to the single word "endometriosis", and it was assumed I was exaggerating whenever I said it was very severe.

So this is why I treat as many things as I can myself - because doctors appear to think that every word out of my mouth is a lie or an exaggeration and they constantly fob me off if they possibly can. I might choose to see them if the problem I had was visible, but I would be reluctant in any other situation.

[Sparklingsunshine in reply to humanbean]

I'm lost for words, I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

[Alanna012]

Despite experiencing medical dismissal - which I personally regard as functional negligence - that is nonetheless a shocking read. Thanks for sharing, although it's depressing.

[humanbean]

Articles like this are trotted out by news sources once or twice a year, every year. And nothing ever changes.

[Star13]

Some years ago I read an article about a research Doctor (female) in Oxford who was looking into the many autoimmune associations with endometriosis, which I had. I wrote to her and told her of my autoimmune journey as it was the first of my many conditions to raise themselves. She kindly replied (in lock down) and said that it was a fascinating field and she was looking into all the connections and wasn’t at all surprised about my connections.

Unfortunately once again it was down to funding and covid had taken its toll on a lot of research. I don’t doubt though that the connections between many autoimmune conditions, including endometriosis, will eventually become known.

Unfortunately a lot of the bad attitudes and the lack of knowledge we now face is coming from the way Dr’s are being trained. Until that is addressed I doubt anything is going to change much.

[Sherlock11 in reply to Star13]

I also had severe menstrual problems which I believe started in my teens. I visited Gp's over the years, one of them said "oh its just period pains, my wife has those. Needless to say I never went to him again. Eventually after visiting a different Gp, I was referred to Gynae and after meds and several laporoscopys I had a total hysterectomy + tubes and ovaries and I have never looked back. Some years later I developed hypothyroidism.