#1
I had sudden and severe "stomach" pains on a Tuesday morning that got progressively worse. Used the old school res phone to call someone to call for medical help. Firefighters showed up first, I could barely walk. I had to walk down 6 flights of stairs and threw up from the pain.
Paramedics didn't take me seriously. They kept asking if I had been drinking. I got to the hospital and they just left me there (in the waiting room, alone, as a minor). I passed out from the pain and woke up to my mom raising hell (hour drive to get to me). Doctors said it was "just gas".
Turns out I had an ovarian cyst that burst. It was the worst pain I've felt in my life and I've gone through childbirth.
"Lose weight," they said, when in fact it was a massive tumor growing inside her. It's stories like these that reveal the horror of being dismissed by your doctor, the very person you are meant to trust with your life - quite literally.
“Medical gaslighting” is a term used to describe instances where healthcare providers ignore, dismiss or downplay the symptoms of their patients. It isn't necessarily intentional or nefarious, notes Self.com. But it can still lead to harm, or even death.
Do you suspect your doctor is gaslighting you? You might be right. Keep scrolling to find out the signs, and learn what you can do about it.
#2
When I am asked how I cope with daily partial joint dislocation without narcotic pain relief I say I had access to the best medical gaslighting the first world has to offer women.
#3
When I had my baby via c section, two days after surgery- a nurse convinced me the pain I felt was normal even though I was screaming and crying in pain, she told me I was being dramatic and told me to “stop crying”- turns out I was haemorrhaging inside and the pain was very real.
Certain people are more at risk of experiencing medical gaslighting than others. “Those that experience the most medical harms are always going to be the people who are sitting at the margins,” says Chelsey R. Carter, an assistant professor of public health at Yale School of Public Health.
Carter says you're at risk of becoming a victim of medical gaslighting if you don’t fit the stereotype of what a doctor thinks a person with a certain disease or symptoms “should” look like.
For example, a survey of Black people with ALS found that they often struggled to convince their healthcare providers that something was seriously wrong. “People think of ALS as a ‘white man’s disease,’” Carter revealed. And when experts allow these stereotypes to take over, ordinary people can suffer.
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So how do you know you're being medically gaslit? According to self.com, there are certain "red flags" to take note of when seeking attention for your symptoms. These include your doctor frequently interrupting you or seeming to come to a conclusion before you’ve even finished sharing your symptoms.
They might also ignore any other possible causes, even when treatments don’t help. An obvious one is when a professional minimizes or downplays your symptoms. Maybe they seem skeptical or question whether you’re telling the truth. And of course, some might "attribute your symptoms to generic things, like mental health or weight, or say they are a 'natural part of aging,'" reads the site.
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Reports show the first pregnancy ultrasound findings were NOT normal. They gave me Tylenol which I told them I took before coming. I told them it's not touching the pain. I was moaning in pain. I said id go through labor pain again and i meant it. A nurse who wasn't mine came in saying THREE TIMES "you've already been medicated" and when I said at the end of my first visit "I feel bloated is there something I can have for that" they said "we wouldn't know what to give you bc you're pregnant."
To protect yourself from falling victim to medical gaslighting, the experts advise that you prepare well before your healthcare appointment. "It’s good to know exactly which points you want to hit with your doctor before you see them," associate professor in medicine at Duke University School of Medicine Keisha Bentley-Edwards told SELF.
Keep your symptoms concise, adds oncologist Dr. Neil Iyengar. He recommends sticking to the top three concerning points that you’d like to address and not reciting a whole bunch of things. Having a timeline of when your problems started and when your symptoms occur can also help.
#10
From February 2018 until October 14, 2018. That’s when the doctor confirmed I had the specific cancer I suspected based on my research.
When he approved the final test he said, “I know this is going to come back negative, but I see you aren’t going to let this go.”
Always trust and advocate for yourself.
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If you suspect you're being gaslit, or you have a nagging feeling you've been misdiagnosed, do not be afraid to seek a second opinion. Most importantly, trust your intuition.
“If you feel like you're not being heard and things are not being taken seriously, you’re probably right,” Iyengar warns, adding that “what's really important is that you trust your physician, and that you trust that you’re being heard.”
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Everytime I brought anything abnormal to him he said it was normal and dismissed me.
Went to another doctor who referred me for imaging and turns out it was gallstones.
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They refused to help me, telling me that they couldn't get me up the stairs, so I had to get up and do it myself. I screamed the entire way. The pain was excruciating. I made it to the stretcher and got to the er, where they left me in the hallway for another 12 hours without any pain relief. Many hours later, I get sent for exrays, etc, and then a few more hours after, a doctor shows up and says there were no broken bones, and then she made me stand and show her one step. So I did...at this point, I just wanted to go home. Again, I screamed when doing that. She sent me home telling me it wasn't that bad... I went to my np the next day. I had to use my 85-year-old father's walker. So she sent me for more x-rays. About a week later, she called me back in. I fractured my spine in 3 places. You could see them clearly on the exrays. This was at Met hospital for any1 concerned. Horrible experience, and def not the 1st time that I have been medically gaslit. It's runs rampant in this city!
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