Every woman is reading this right now going “sounds about right.”

[dnkboston@apobangpo.space]

@Ashedryden My doctor told me my inexplicable aches and pains were most likely depression. Nope, cancer.

[ashedryden@xoxo.zone]

@dnkboston yikesssss

[dnkboston@apobangpo.space]

@Ashedryden I'm so not unique.

[deepmud@mas.to]

@Ashedryden yup. I had a ruptured appendix for almost a year.

[karma_j@mastodon.social]

@Ashedryden

[ruthsachter@wandering.shop]

@Ashedryden And how nothing has changed (enough) since the early '50s when my mother got the same nonsense with acute rheumatic fever/CHF.

[catnip@mastodon.online]

@Ashedryden @skinnylatte Yep, my endometriosis was dismissed as stress for 20 years.

[snowyca@social.vivaldi.net]

@catnip
Mine too. Then cancer for several years.
@Ashedryden @skinnylatte

[14hoursproductions@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@Ashedryden Heck that sometimes even happens to men. (not as often, though.)

[3tomatoesshort@disabled.social]

@Ashedryden
I feel like we should start a hashtag for it, like:
#ItWasntAnxiety and then you add what it ended up being for you.
For me, #ItWasntAnxiety it was POTS and May-Thurner Syndrome.

[kristinhenry@vis.social]

@Ashedryden yep

[cousinsd@mastodon.nz]

@Ashedryden @dnkboston

My doctor told me my persistent chest pain was most likely heartburn. Nope, pulmonary embolism.

[dnkboston@apobangpo.space]

@cousinsd Oh my god. That's more immediately life threatening. That doctor should have apologized. @Ashedryden

[irene@discuss.systems]

@Ashedryden @skinnylatte lmao, I broke both bones in my lower leg and required a rod and 12 screws in my ankle and they kept telling me that I probably just sprained my ankle.

[femme_mal@mstdn.social]

@irene Ugh. I hope someone checked your bone mineral density and vitamin D levels.

[quaap@toot.io]

@Ashedryden I've witnessed this several times firsthand with my ex-wife. At one point during her university years she called to say she had passed out at school and I needed to come get her. Brought her to the ER. She's the talkative type and mentioned to the doctor that she has anxiety issues. And that's all it took: woman + anxiety. He blamed it on the anxiety disorder, and he was outta there. The amazing (woman) nurse then told us (in a plausibly-deniable offhand way) that, based on my ex-wife's description of abdominal pain immediately preceding it, it could also be a vasovagal nerve reaction due to intestinal problems which would have nothing to do with anxiety.

[irene@discuss.systems]

@femme_mal lol I live in Seattle so my vitamin D is bad. My bone density is quite good due to the skating

[davidtheeviloverlord@mastodon.social]

@gwcoffey @Ashedryden

My Mum had a cousin who was constantly told the pain in her stomach was just nerves, just take another valium.

When a doctor finally ran some tests, oh, it's stomach cancer, we'll have to remove most of your stomach, what a pity we didn't find this earlier, we might have been able to save most of your stomach.

[dejahentendu@dice.camp]

@Ashedryden
So... I was having chest pains that probably were anxiety. BUT the anxiety was related to low vitamin D. As soon a my vitamin D levels went up, my anxiety and chest pains went away. My regular doc said "just anxiety." The cardiologist included a vitamin D screen with the other tests. I plan to have words with my PCP.

[sarae@ecoevo.social]

@Ashedryden OMG I literally got giardia and it took my doctor months -- three lifecycles for the lil wigglers and associated horrible pain for me -- before he stopped telling me I was imagining it and asked if I did any hiking or anything

at the time I had a full-time job working outdoors

which was in my records but the doctor apparently couldn't get his head around the idea of a woman going outside

much easier to believe I'm crazy!

antibiotics cleared it up in LESS THAN 12 HOURS