Especially if you're a woman, or better yet a woman of color. The pain probably isn't that bad. What does your husband think? Anyway, here's a bill of $3000 for the aspirin and consult. Don't die until you're off the property.

Yeah, they tried to do that to me when I first presented. I insisted on having an ultrasound done. After taking many hours, and a lot of hemming and hawing. It was finally done. "So what's the verdict?" Um, I better let the doctor talk to you about that. Within 30 seconds six nurses were..

in there. Don't move, we're going to lift you over to the gurney. And it was emergency mode from that point forward. Turned out I have not just one, but two blood clotting disorders making me acutely thrombophilic. Basically the opposite of hemophilia. I still laugh about that day.

Yeah on that last one mean while they take everything that you f****** have ever worked hard for or own. You know CEOs might not be the only ones that need a little bit of Luigi in their life

Holy shit! How has it taken me so long to find this page!!! I have found another home away from home!!! My chronic pain people!!! Hellloooooooooooooo💙 I see you and your awesomeness💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼

This is all too often our reality...

Sorry but doctors never recommend losing weight nor improving your diet. Somehow everyone is always told they are fine. The meme doesn’t work

No wonder why you guys have so many medic tv-shows over there. Dreaming of a better health care system. Everything is better on tv. And here. I’m so sorry for you guys.

McDreamy 😍

show just wasnt the same after him leaving. did not care about any of the new characters, it felt like a totally different show

Very true. Seeing him in Bridget Jones's Baby was a treat though 🤩

You’ve got a point there. Police shows are propaganda that supports law enforcement. Medical shows are propaganda to reinforce our belief in our healthcare system. It works on tv.

Any issue can be diagnosed and successfully treated on TV in less than 40 mins. In reality? Still waiting......

It took 15 years to be diagnosed with MS.

I don't know how they diagnose MS now but around 40 years ago a Dr. friend of mine told me they decided it was MS when every other test came back negative and and they had run out of ideas. Said they had no test for it back then. 😳🤔🥴

You need a neurologist, an MRI and a spinal tap for diagnosis. I had left sided pain which a number of doctors my GP referred me to could not diagnose. I asked to be referred to a neurologist and was told I didn’t need one and that I had to learn to live with the pain. 1/2

I was also offered psychiatric care because it was in my head. I was “lucky” to have internal bleeding and was admitted to hospital. The gastroenterologist who treated me in hospital referred me to a neurologist. Her referral was against protocol. 2/2

You'd be surprised how many docs don't really have a clue what's going on with folks, and yet we call them experts

And the classic women special one… (Not slapping the doctor in this case make you a Saint)

Have you thought about starting a family? /s

Cant figure out you have leukemia. You're faking your pain.

You forgot that exercise will cure what you believe to be wrong.

And it's your menses. Take some ibuprofen. You'll feel better.

No? 17 years and 1 MRI later: I am so sorry to tell you; you have Multiple Sclerosis.

Doctor: Hmm, the mass on your brain is a little larger than last time (after MRI for sudden migraines) Me: Last time? Doctor: Yes, the mass identified on your last MRI, 2 years ago? Me: Was I there? No one ever told me about a "mass" on my brain! Doctor: ...Huh. [[shruggs]]

Time to sue for medical malpractice..?

You forgot to add [[shrugs]]

Or as Duke Infectious disease told my daughter, maybe it’s because of hamster shit smh

what? I hope she's ok 🤞🏻

Systemic mastocytosis and MCAS. Took going to a different research hospital in a different city and nearly four years for a diagnosis. Can’t just listen to doctors if your gut knows something isn’t right.

indeed. I hope she's managing her disease well now - auto immune diseases (we have a few in our family) are awful. 🧡

Story of my life 😔

Oh my god! Sad but true. I spent 15 years with a barely working liver while “they figured things out”. Lost weight to “fix it”, tried to “learn” my way through it, finally, at death’s door grasping for my ferryman coins…I got a liver…no thanks to BCBS or TGH.

And eventually, you just diagnose yourself. 😞

I’ve just given up. I have a DNR advanced directive - I’m fucking DONE

I did that with my CRPS. 🤬

youtu.be/UI5bnoGH7K8?...

If you are a woman then it’s something to do with your period or ovulation and it will go away.

Following you from @rmc-vu.bsky.social‬'s Resistance list. Check out my daily 🧵of editorial cartoons, pinned to my profile, to see if you want to follow me back. 🎊🍾🎉🥂HAPPY NEW YEAR ⁉️🎉🥂🍾

AHIP (formerly America's Health Insurance Plans), lobbyists and health insurer conspirators, are the ones who bring us the real life failures.

This is so fucking spot on that I almost levitated when I read it! Welcome to American healthcare! Where the goddamn insurance companies have ALL of us by the balls, and nobody in power wants to do anything about it! We’re a 1st world country with 10th world healthcare. And we’re DYING to prove it!

My wife recently did a rewatch of the House M.D. series, and in 8 seasons the issue of medical insurance was only rarely raised. In each case they're running dozens of diagnostic tests and experimental procedures. It left me wondering just how much debt their average patient was left in once cured.

Or PT? I got prescribed PT for my knee for 5 years until someone said decided to xray my back (just because). Low and behold, they found a blown out disc that was pushing on the Sciatic nerve tht runs through my knee….

I've seen a bit of both but the top example is more rare.

Sadly... 🎯

TV: Doctor's boss; "I don't care what it costs, find out what's wrong with him and cure him!" Real Life: bsky.app/profile/shar...

😂😂

i like it

I want that on a t shirt

Most often heard by women.

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever heard a man talked to that way. Doctors are much more dismissive towards women and it’s always an issue of mental health and weight. Sad how they practice medicine.

I notice that more women are becoming physicians. Perhaps there is some hope that women doctors will take patients' complaints, especially women's, more seriously.

I’ve seen some that are much better and some that are actually worse. I find I do a lot better with women physicians because most aren’t as dismissive as men.

I live in a normal country so I get something more akin to the top one, not to the same level but way better than you Americans

I am guessing Dr. Dreamy never had to deal with a (un)Health Plan

Yet, that's spot on with our experience.

Don’t forget that on TV the MDs can spend days on one patient but in real life they can only spend a few minutes as determined by the hospital and insurance company that pay them. Otherwise it hurts their profit margins.

It took me 9 years and the right doctor to send me to a specialist who knew what to poke at and ask the right questions. Degenerative Osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia that had advanced to polimyalgea. He predicted I would be in a wheelchair in 10 years. On the 10 year I found CBD oil. I still walk.

I had a doc bark at me & ask why I took so long to come in. I was very confused. She said “you told the nurse you’ve been in pain for over a year!!” So I calmly told her to check my chart she was holding. Maybe check the results from the tests I had done the week before. That she ordered.

Lord forbid you are morbidly obese with a severe medical problem. A close friend could not get any doctor to believe her symptoms. She had a 20 pound tumor, but the dr kept saying to lose weight.

That is just horrible. How could they not figure that out? Never mind, rhetorical question. There are lots of us Luigis out here. So frustrating.

It was horrible! She went to 3 doctors with horrible stomach cramps and bleeding and they kept saying that her morbid obesity was causing this. It is going to be even worse now that doctors are saying obesity is a primary medical condition. You can be fat and have a non-related disease.

So sad. 😢🙏🏼

this! I always thought House was absurd; no way they would run all those tests IRL

yeah, until it is found. After a hellish year of searching, of ins co denials for tests, etc., finally, a diagnosis that cannot be denied. I have a rare disease that only ONE surgeon in my state knows about! So now, am FUKKED since I have to travel over 100 miles one way to see him 3x's year!

I like it when a doc says, “you won’t die from it and there’s nothing anyone can do to make it better…”

I get that one too, then they send me a bill.

You are a hyperchondriac, which coincidentally means I don't have to continue helping you. Also women just complain that's part of lacking a Y chromosome, so yeah. Good Day, Go Away.

😞😞😞😞

Or, have you tried contacting our excellent euthanasia department?

Years ago they did one of those needle nerve tests on my ankle because I didn't have any feeling in my leg. They turned on the electricity and there was no movement from my nerves. They suggested I lose weight. 4 years later I went to a chiro. Now I have feeling back. It's always lose weight.

The second panel would be more effective if it pictured an insurance executive rather than a health care worker.

Oh I've been told things like that by many doctors.

Hits home with all that medical gaslighting. As it turns out, I’m not crazy; it IS MS.

My experience: “Have you tried saying the Serenity Prayer? Also, here’s a referral to a psychiatrist.”

When they finally agreed to give me meds for chronic pain ranging from 7-8 on a daily scale, part of the conditions for getting the prescription included mandatory visits to a psychiatrist -- and they don't do therapy. They just prescribe drugs.

Oh yes. I got congratulated on losing weight by the woman who took my vitals at the psychiatrist’s office, but I was underweight because I was nauseated all the time. Losing weight was NOT to be congratulated right then.

What gets me is when they say, "You know, you might feel better if you lost some weight." Like NO SHIT. I never would have realized that if you didn't mention it at every fucking appointment. Of course, if it didn't hurt to stand upright with my eyes open, losing weight might be easier....

Ugh! :(

I've fired more doctors than many people have seen in their lifetimes. I don't play games with them any longer. I'm not required to put up with their shit.

I can't tell you the number of times I've been tempted to reply, "Oh, is that all it takes to eliminate the chronic pain I've been dealing with for 19 goddamn years? Thank you SO MUCH for educating me!"

I wish I had a nickel for every time I needed to explain no, I did not get sick because I'm overweight. I gained weight because I got sick.

I lost 140 lb before I got sick. The pain medicine they put me on because nothing else would work caused me to regain 120 lb. After 18 years, I've finally been able to start losing it again.

I’ve heard people say “oh irl House would never get away with it.” But if I found a doctor who was willing to spend days and weeks pondering me, to BREAK INTO MY HOUSE to figure out what’s wrong with me, I don’t give a shit about whatever else he’s up to. Insult me. Reveal my secrets. Whatever!

if dr house is willing to find what's wrong with me and help treat it then he can read my damn diary truly idc

That one kid with the autistic kid who just screams and vomits, and he manages to find out the kid has pica and ate something containing worms. If my autistic kid just screamed and a doctor managed to find out worms where gonna kill him, id pay that doctor more than the medical bill

And he only solved that cuz of an arbitrary thing he knew- the kid ate sand and racoon poop was in the same and apparently humans don't digest racoon poop so the worms managed to get in the kids eyes and shit- doctor house a mother fucking magician 😭

We’re watching it again now. Still a great show.

Good reality check. Every time I'm either a patient or a PHI of one, I learn more about doing a better job in health care.

And, oh by the way, your insurance won't cover test costs or you staying here for diagnosis and treatment.

True. Except one is TV one is real life, and 99.9% of those mystery chronic conditions can be treated if you weren’t depressed and lost weight 🤷‍♂️

Are you a woman? Look it’s probably just your period lol

People deserve that kind of care. The only way we'll ever get something like that is if we smash the system and rebuild it from the ground up, starting with insurers.

That’s not only an US issue. In Austria, you will have an amazing free healthcare if you have a good diagnosis, but it’s super hard to get it because most doctors are just lazy

Which is a genuine shame. Nobody should have to go through that.

Have you been spying on me at the doctors office?

Haha, accurate😂

I had an orthopedist tell me that my hips weren't working and I was in extreme pain because I was depressed. Turns out I needed them replaced... From another orthopedist, of course.

It should not be necessary to point out to a doctor - ESPECIALLY an orthopedist - that just maybe you're depressed because your hips don't work and you're in extreme pain...

Your back is causing debilitating pain? Here are drugs that are addictive because we can’t be bothered to find out why your back is hurting and we won’t try to solve it.

To be fair the top is still how men are treated…the bottom is what most women get

"You're just getting old. Take some ibuprofen." "I know people twenty years older than me than aren't in chronic pain, Doc. And ibuprofen doesn't work."

Painfully close to the truth.

Dr McDreamy!

You know what's great is when it's all absolutely related, but the nuerologist, rhumologist, sports medicine doctor, neurosurgeon, cardiologist, psychiatrist, etc. won't work together or dare look at each other's areas of practice so you're bounced around with no real answers.

Dang. This entire thread makes me cry. That soooo many of us have been through this. Horrible. Unacceptable. Hugs to all.

So accurate.

I avoid cookers altogether.. But its easy, they are rare in Australia

Not an unknown phenomenon in universal healthcare countries, but certainly not because of the same financial pressures American doctors face. More likely due to a flummoxed and/or overworked doctor who isn't certain what they can or have time to do. At least it's a flaw not a feature of the system.

Poor little 6 and 7 figure salaried doctors who can't find a trace of an ethic as long as they get paid. 🥱

Algorithm is working! 😂 I posted 2x about Grey's Anatomy and now I'm seeing these memes. 😂

This, exactly! #UniversalHealthcareNow

Why is that always the response? Loosing weight doesn’t fix everything

my personal favorite is when they tell you "you dont look ljke youre ill" and then just chuck you out of the er room with a refill prescription of anxiety meds (bc for some reason if you have anxiety, EVERYTHING wrong with you ever is anxiety)

Spot on!

😱😀😆🤣💯👍

Pretty much

Oh, and here’s your bill for $200,000.00. Your insurance company rejected your claim.

Tens of millions of prescriptions for SSRI antidepressants in America each year with not a single double blind study that shows they work better than a placebo. We are medicating our country to death. New studies, the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., pharmaceuticals.

This sums up my experience.

That sounds about right, experience of my last few years. Just stronger painkillers

True

Unless it’s House MD, then it’s always lupus

My wife recently did a rewatch of House, and in 8 seasons the issue of medical insurance was only rarely raised. In each case they're running dozens of diagnostic tests and experimental procedures. It left me wondering just how much debt their average patient was left in once cured.

I thought the hospital absorbed all the extra costs. Because they should.

Or sarcoidosis 😅

Back pain. Way too many doctors will immediately assume you're a drug seeking malingering fraud. Got hit by a car on the way to work. Set my back off. Could barely walk. ED Dr hm "bike, back pain➡️fraud". Refused to give me a med cert, said I was ok for "light duties". Boss sent me home instead.

Take this pill for the symptoms. Who cares what's really causing them. 😒

You forgot the "here is a 600 dollar bill for diagnostics"

If only I could get Dr.House to break multiple laws to figure out what the fuck is wrong with me

As a person who's had to deal with this Exact Attitude from so called specialists for 40 years this meme is absolutely correct! 💯💯🥴

That is what happened to me. I tell my story on youtube but I had to have major surgery, found out I was born with a disability, now I have to go through physical therapy and treatments for the rest of my life after years of being called a liar and wanting attention.

Yes attention seeking and or you're just looking for DRUGS!

Most of this was since I was born but yes once I was in my 20's I did get some of that as well. I plan on showing the faces of those awful doctors and spilling all of the tea. It is awful how I am the one punished for their ignorance. I was called a liar and punished at home and friends left me...

Ouch. But so true.

That run multiple expensive tests part is still true though.

If they don't know, then prednisone.

💞☺️😺🌺🌳 So true!

We're bringing Patient Empowerment to for once, provide the full health picture and help The Doctors make better decisions with better knowledge! Follow me ⚕️

I spent a lot of time and effort getting an appointment to see a rheumatologist at UCSD only to have her insult and ridicule me for presuming a high AMA might mean I have an auto immune disorder. I hate doctors and our shitty health care system.

Yep. This was me. Came in with a migraine and doctor was lose weight that's why. Turns out I had a strand of hair that got into my eye and causing headaches. I also had sleep apnea and needed a cpap machine.

My health care is through Kaiser. They called to schedule an appointment with me. I immediately began restricting my food intake because I know they're going to weigh me first then tell me I need to lose weight. This is the routine. I've heard it every time. & I already watch my weight & exercise🤷‍♀️

I don’t think all doctors are like that. My Oncologist is kind, considerate and brilliant. Wish all cancer sufferers had him. That being said, most are trapped by a rigged system based on insurance and legal handcuffs. Until healthcare is free, we will not be free.

"There's a 70% chance it's something that'll clear up in a few weeks, and 30% chance you'll be crippled for life. "The only way to know for sure is to do an expensive test that your insurance company might not pay us for, so in your best interests let's just wait a while and see what happens."

Medical and cop shows are total propaganda meant to Create a false narrative that these systems care about you.

"Comes with age" "Nah if the blood continues to show then maybe worry about it" "Nope its nothing"

That is sooo true!

Sadly, this is very much a lot of cases! Mine included...

📌

I got kinda lucky in this respect. My condition is genetic and my doctor was my father's doctor. So one ultrasound later and poof. Cyst riddled kidneys. One function test later and now I'm on dialysis. For how much longer remains to be seen.

And my personal favorite: The Stop Doing That. “Doctor, it hurts when I jump.” “So stop jumping?” -$250.00

oh you don't smoke, vape, drink alcohol? then unfortunately it's your genetic problem🤷

*without universal healthcare.

Antidepressants are not wise.

Chronic illness/chronic fatigue/chronic pain must be addressed by the medical profession. It’s an invisible condition or set of symptoms that causes stress, anxiety, hopelessness and even crime or suicide. It’s time we demand attention and action.

My mom has EDS and the "it's all in your head" was the common chorus before she actually received a diagnosis

I don't have EDS but I had the atlas in my neck compressing the vagus nerve untreated for 2 years. "Your blood oxygen is normal, you can't be having breathing problems." Me with constant shortness of breath: ...Well i guess I must be having anxiety since that is what you say.

They gaslight us.

The Lose the weight part ios correct and Drs don't actually know shit.

Right, just overworked humans too tired to deal with details. I would compare it to customer service that opens a ticket, wants to be off the phone within 5 minutes and never calls you back. Then they get annoyed if you continue to call them. They dread issues that are difficult to solve.

You forgot "here's your bill".

Also good insurance vs crap insurance

Sad but true.

It's just a lipoma, Don't worry about it. That's not why you hurt. Well doc, you needed a bit more education. Read about Dercum's disease. Now 1 lipoma is 1000's, and YES THEY DO HURT!! IMAGINE if you only looked into it 10 years ago instead of looking at me like I was a liar!

my older brother is currently dealing with Decrums. I'm roughly 12 years younger and have about 2 dozen of the lumps that I know of. Not painful, uh, yet. sigh.

I'm sorry.

THEN, you're diagnosed with Dercum's disease. Debilitating, there is no cure or treatment. No remission. Take drugs and suffer. Get all cut up, and then watch it multiply into 10 more. Fun stuff! #painforlife

“Stop being hysterical! Your hair is falling out, you’ve gained weight and your heart rate is 50. Go on a diet!”

When I can't even order what are considered "reasonably priced" procedures and tests for my patients, without being told by their insurance companies, that the tests and procedures aren't medically necessary, what makes anyone think ordering seemingly superfluous tests would be acceptable?

Please elaborate on the tests. Be specific. I once had an insurance company tell my provider to have an ESR blood test. We both laughed hysterically. Uuuuuuhhhhhhmmmmm why though? The patient has a confirmed diagnosis of fibromyalgia psoriatic arthritis ankylosing spondylitis osteoarthritis. WTH?

I ordered MRI for a patient who'd had an ischemic stroke. Her insurance denied it was necessary. I was livid. I've faced this and similar situations on a regular basis. Insurance companies are a modern day equivalent to robber barons.

I hate hearing this, but knowing that they will NOT approve the basic tests needed to confirm types of damage from a stroke.... that's really the kind of thing y'all need to go public on. Set up a GoFundMe, I think PATIENTS would support you. ANd please keep telling these true stories!

CRP and ESR show how things are going. CRP is more sensitive and better for my case.

When you already know that a person has a diagnosis of fibromyalgia psoriatic arthritis ankylosing spondylitis osteoarthritis, an ESR, is a huge waste of time and money. Since I don't have any type of Rheumatoid arthritis a CRP, is also a waste.

You don’t need to have Rheumatoid. When my PA flares my CRP skyrockets. I have had it for 45 years!

A rheumatoid factor test is used as a diagnostic tool. It's more accurate. Symptoms tell you and your provider when you're in a flare up. No need for a blood test.

If you are treated by a good rheumy at a major med school affiliated hospital you will find that if you have a high rheumatoid arthritis. CRP is a sensitive

After factor it means you have rheumatoid arthritis I bet.

Who told you that you can only have a CRP with RA- wrong. Also, with me, in the early years, these inflammatory markers were not reflective at all. I call this my“fibromyalgia phase”. When I finally wised up I made a 60 minute trip once a month to see a great Rheumy, I got the proper diagnosis.

Nobody had to tell me. I did the research for myself.

medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/rh...

The Rheumatoid Factor blood test is more accurate than a CRP. www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

Have you read the Mayo info? It is very clear about blood tests.

My rheumatoid factor has never been positive. For me ESR and CRP are extremely accurate in tracking the #psoriatic arthritis.

Ps for me anyway, the fibromyalgia I was told I had by local docs turned out to be part of the psoriatic arthritis.

I have Psoriatis too and my Columbia Pres Rheumy does use ESR and CRP every month. It has been a great gauge of disease activity which in combination with my pain level told us which DMARD is working.

But Jenna, it is DOCS who must fight this system on the rational basis that *doctors* know it gives crap care

I fully agree. We need to continue to raise awareness and advocate for our patients. They need to know, nurses aren't their only advocates.

I appreciate your response :). As you know, nurses are disparaged in the medical world, patients are assumed to be complaining druggies (or just hysterical women STILL) - only doctors are in a position to say what is true: Americans get crap care from our medical system. Can't docs all withdraw?

My mom was a nurse (retired now). She told me there were very few doctors that treated the nurses with respect. It doesn't cost us anything to treat coworkers and patients with respect. More of us need to work to change the system. We just have to keep at it.

Tests may mean finding things they don't want to pay for.

Absolutely!

So true…

If only life imitated art

STOPPPP it's so true it HURTS

Unless you’re a guy, then we’ll search for something to help you because we know women can’t handle pain. There, fixed it for you.

Too real

Unless you don’t have insurance then just fuck off and die.

*screams in 12 chronic illnesses*

Here's a pill for the pill you're taking for the side effects from taking that pill! 🙄

Ye ol' psychosomatic switcharoo. You're not having mental stress because of your symptoms, your mental stress is causing your symptoms. I'm an omniscient Dr, I can't figure out whats wrong with you therefore its a you problem not a medical problem. Classic

Sad but true… and if you are a woman, “it’s all in your head.”

It's all in your head regardless. I've stopped going to the hospital for anything because they don't want to test but will still bill you as if they had. I've been told "it's just stress" for multiple things at this point. /r Do you have any idea what stress does to a horse? The doc does. /s

Unless it’s a chronic disease we have an expensive maintenance medicine for, even though we could cure it. Profit Math doesn’t work on cures, sorry.

Bruh, I remember when I went to a GP like 5 years ago, saying that I have had breathing problems than can only be solved with an inhaler, and I asked if I could get a referral to some specjalist, or at least get my prescription refilled. The GP told me to just lose weight.

A few years later, I have an Asthma diagnosis, the Allergologist who gave it to me asked why I hadn't tried to get one sooner.

I can relate to this A LOT. I got sick with mono last year and haven’t felt 100% since then. I went to a rheumatologist, got some bloodwork done. I had a positive ANA, but the lupus markers were negative. So they told me to take some vitamin D and iron and sent me on my way.

I've been going through this for over 2 yrs. I still don't have a diagnosis, am thousands of dollars in debt, and am looking at even more tests because they just can't figure it out. All I got for a response was, "Medicine isn't perfect, and we don't know everything yet. Let's run more tests. 🙄

I've been dealing with it for 20+ years. Still no diagnosis, even if I've got a pretty good educated guess from all the medical research I've read over all these years. Doctors might reach the same conclusion, but refuse to go over my entire history. And they wonder why patients are so skeptical. 🙄

I keep screaming at them. "IT'S MY LIVER!". But us peons can't research and know our own symptoms. A$$es 🤨. They're just now, after this long, seeing the red flags in blood tests that say, gee, maybe she's right 🤔. Thousands of $$ later, and they are finally, FINALLY, going where they should have.

I'm a researcher by trade, although not in the medical field. I've presented piles of medical research to support my case, which has all been ignored. Doctors aren't any better at their jobs than anyone else is at theirs. Sometimes they can be great, but most are just trying to get through the day.

I worked with doctors in an urgent care setting. I watched them more than once come out of a patients and have to research before going back in. My pcp would leave me in the room while he looked something up. Not saying they're gods. Just saying *listen* to the patient. Don't cost me tons of $$.

Had a good friend whose mom had died from a heart attack. She’d been complaining to her doctors for YEARS. After she died, they discovered she’d had a heart condition they could have treated, perhaps with surgery, and then she might not have died when she did because of the it. 😠😡🤯😩🤬

The last time a provider recommended my antidepressant dosage be increased.

Only after going to eight doctors will you even get this advice.

You're in constant pain? Well we couldn't find anything wrong with your blood work, so just take some Tylenol

This is insanely accurate

Word

You left out out “when women have”

Too real

👍

I got lucky, sorta. Went to Stanford Trauma Center for a broken back due to DV incident, and they saw lesions on my spine from Myeloma. I mean I would never have found out otherwise. Every time I went to the dr. for sore ribs, they just gave me PT exercises.

Kaiser, every time.

This is so true!

After 2 years of an unexplained illness and no answers, I told my doc that I was just gonna give up. She said: I don’t think you should give up. Then she left the room. 😏

What was the answer?

Sounds like a ‘you don’t give up but I am’ situation

Exactly.

My husband was told by his Dr "have you tried praying?"

Run from this doc!

We did!!!

I’m religious, and even I know that’s a bad response.

Yep. Patriarchy loves using fatphobia: the distraction from their failure to diagnose or listen.

💯. I've been told by the NP I see (they have never let me see an MD) that I need to lose weight, as her first line for everything. She even referred me to a weight loss clinic without my knowledge or consent.

true story 😥

“Insurance will never cover the diagnostic testing needed to figure out what’s wrong with you.”

A lifetime of the last one…a lifetime of struggles because Drs didn’t bother.

3 trips to the emergency room for heart palpitations & nothing done. I go for a 4th time in 18 months, a doc took it seriously & referred me to a cardiologist, a few tests later & they found the simple root cause. Same issue my former family doc looked right at in tests and said meh, who cares.

Then there was the time my old family doc missed a 5 lb tumor for 2 years, I had to get pushy & complain to get a damn test of any kind. She'd push RIGHT on it every appt, make a face & say huh, then do nothing. I am grateful for the docs that give a shit but I wish they could slap the others.

Many. Too many of us feel that way. Medicine changed in the 80's. I felt like I got good care, was listened to by my Drs before that. What happened? I'll tell you what happened. HMO's Happened!

This holds for all medical issues in the US that are at all mysterious. US doctors are not problem solvers they are symptom treaters.

But only after they check with their attorney and the local cops.

same in the UK

Been living with *constant* pain 24/7 from small fiber neuropathy in my legs for over 5 years. I am certain my beta-blockers caused it from complications with swelling in my legs. No doctor cares. My health insurance (what a joke) won't cover any tests. I gave up trying 3 years ago.

I first saw this on early clinical rotations. Patients with illnesses the team couldn’t figure out gradually became viewed with irritation.

Yes, the medical "pushback". I've heard it myself, as most women have, (I can't speak for men), but it's usually hormonal or all in your head. Most women are so aware of body functions and changes that we know when something's not right.

I'm masc presenting and it happens but it's not nearly as pronounced. My plan is to start telling doctors that my weight is a symptom.

The old "you have to live with it because we spend no money on womens health research " excuse

My only way of "living with it" has been to quit going to doctors - which is clearly what they've wanted all along.

Yes, many doctors are shits. "Five Defendants, Including Two Doctors, Charged in Connection with Actor Matthew Perry’s Fatal Drug Overdose Last Year" The AMC isn't making America healthier.

We've substituted "where there is insurance, there is hope" for "where there is life, there is hope."

My daughter went to an urgent care and they said “no flu/no COVID - what do YOU think is wrong with you and we’ll give you an Rx to treat you for that.” 2 days later she was in the ER with an abscess in her lungs. Our health care system is a joke.

This happened to me. Had terrible wrist pain. Doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong so he just told me to lose some weight. Turned out the nerve was getting pinched in my shoulder but I was feeling it in my wrist. I needed to work on my posture and stop lugging around a heavy backpack.

Story of my life.

True

You forgot the US “That’ll be 17 grand please!”

Chronic leg pain, doctor couldn't figure out why so I must have been faking it to get drugs. Cardiologist said it was artery blockage. Also had it in my heart, leading to a double bypass. Report went to the original doctor, refused to discuss it with me.

The second one is my experience.

True. I went to a doctor at a care unit. I was coughing, had laryngitis, and felt awful. He wanted to test me for Alzheimer's and lung cancer. Went home, took Benadryl and robitussin. Felt better in a few days. Just had a cold. Terrifying.

House MD is the most unrealistic medical drama ever made, due to the fact he should’ve been fired repeatedly, the tests they run arnt realistic in an American healthcare system and he almost never winds up in court

So incredibly sad but remarkably true.

True story.

"Maybe that just how your periods are now" You mean the debilitating pain no where near my RePro system that is CONSTANT but increases on my cycle to the point I can't laugh, cough, or inhale deeply let alone stand up straight is "just my period" Gee thanks I wanna die.

Find a woman doctor, I'm sad to say. Otherwise, your answer is :"except they have never been this way, so your idea of this is very flawed"

I've had 3 fem drs basically shrug at me. East Indian, Asian, and Black. Unfortunately my experience with the BW was the longest and the worst. Rx of Naproxen that helped immensely HOWEVER i didn't know it was just gen Aleve at the time AND naproxen affects your fertility. I was TTC. She knew that.

So sorry to hear it. (Side note: my dream is everyone gets trained in neurochemistry) But you're right, two of my worst docs have been women who dismissed clear symptoms, refused lab work for no reason. The research shows that women doctors are also sexist: the teaching of medicine does it. Crap!

Thank you for the ready made response bc i never know how to respond to "Well I'm not seeing anything that could cause your pain" Now I do.

Sure thing! also make sure to check pubmed before you go to an appointment, so you can say "well there are many findings in the literature, please get current on them" Although i usually refrain from that, and go after them from more specific angles.

Don't forget the lines, "you're hysterical and imagining things", or "it's only in your head" and sounding so convincing that even your own family thinks you're a nutcase...

I do live with it because no one has answers. I live in pain so I am an mmj patient. This really helps and no yucky side effects

Boom, that's it in a nutshell. Especially if you're a woman, it's always hormonal dear pre menopause dear that time of the month dear.... no, it wasn't arsehole it was endometriosis it is hashimotos it is auto immune disease... it was years of pain discomfort being ignored.

This is 100% spot on.

My asthma was uncontrolled for three years. I was gaining weight, I couldn't exercise, it was impacting my work. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes that someone looked at me and said, we should get your asthma under control, it'd be easier for you to exercise. You don't say. 🤬

So basically I had what is not normally a chronic condition turn into a chronic condition as I was ignored for 3 years. In the meantime I developed an actual disease that could have been avoided if someone had paid attention and treated my stupid asthma.

100% true!!! ALL ailments are boiled down to “lose weight” by most doctors that diagnose on sight.

I was told to do my best to stay away from triggers. Exercise and strong scents are my triggers. I stopped going to social functions, don't even get me started on working in Middle School, boys and Axe body spray. Totally couldn't hike outside. The mental toll was huge. It was isolating.

I mean, would you say to someone that was hungry, don’t think about it. You’re fine. 🙄 My body was telling me I was hungry most of the time. You can’t shut that sensation off, nor can you ignore it. It becomes all consuming. You spend most of your day resisting what your body is screaming.

Sounds pretty similar to you me being told to stay away from asthma triggers, as I literally had three to seven asthma attacks a week.

I hope you’ve found good treatment! 🙏

I'm on a maintenance inhaler now that's been a game changer. I haven't had a serious asthma attack at school since I started this new inhaler. Which is huge! Seriously, one small prescription changed my whole life.

🙏🏼 Glad you found the solution!

It’s just really BAD medicine. Doctors that treat like that aren’t practicing medicine.

It took me until I was 50 to find a doctor that treated me like a human being and cared to TREAT me. I’m now down 150 pounds because she cared to help and not lecture. Hugs to you. Believe me. I get it!

It's so frustrating. Glad you finally got the help you needed.

Nobody said, "Hey, let's effectively control your asthma," in 3 YEARS?!?! Asthma is a progressive disease, meaning lack of treatment causes "airway remodeling." That's scar tissue effectively building up and narrowing airways. 🤬

Not until I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. It was maddening.

"I can tell from looking at you that you're fine." My previous Norwegian doctor. Actual state of affairs: Vagus nerve compression by the atlas.

Obviously the TV shows are based on european healthcare.

No, in Europe it’s the same sadly

No, it really ain't. source : I live here and had few quite expensive procedures that I never had to pay for

Europe is undoubtedly better than many other places (especially the USA), but we do unfortunately have some of these behaviours as well.

In my lifetime I have been diagnosed with -depression, which turned out to be Morbus Meniere -an anxiety attack, which was actually a lung embolism (these two happened in Germany)

Your experience sounds more like misdiagnosis than malpractice based on weird insurance rules, as the meme suggests

I'm not talking about insurance which is definitely the root cause in the US I'm talking about laziness. We too have a tendency here to blame illnesses we can't easily explain on imaginary mental health conditions rather than attempting to find the real cause

And the "we will run expensive tests" definitely applies to us! When I first had Meniere, I fell into the hands of cardiologists who ran every cardio test under the sun to correctly exclude a hard condition , but lost all interest as soon as the issue was not in their specialty area

Yes it really is! Source: I’ve lived in America for 30 years and in Sweden for 18 years. The cost is different but the treatment is the same.

An unpopular truth - we don’t have the best healthcare anymore. The sooner we admit that, and the sooner we shift to prevention, the sooner it will improve.