I can handle my doctor being an egotistical dickwad if he or she listens to me and gets shit done. I’m over dismissive doctors whose disdain for patients renders them unable to listen to and examine a patient in order to diagnose them.

Our entire medical system in the US is predicated on the notion of being male - drugs are tested on women far less frequently than on men

Yep. A friend of mine nearly died two years ago because the doctor’s didn’t believe that her abdominal pain was real. Never mind that she was also running a fever and couldn’t stand up straight. The male doctor told her it was a bladder infection, gave her antibiotics and sent her home. The next day the fever had…

We’re definitely lab rats for their faith. The last time some nutjob said I’d be healed if only I “gave (myself) to Christ, I replied, “Who the hell do you think made me this way in the first place?!” Seriously, I have a genetic condition, so by that reasoning, God hated me in the womb.

My friend with MS wants a fancy one like Selma’s so she can use it with her tiara.

Or they only research men, so if women tend to present symptoms differently they don’t get diagnosed. I spent most of my teen years being treated by a psychiatrist who categorically refused to consider my mother’s belief that I might be autistic, because I was too social. Turns out that autistic girls are often more…

I’m also in a wheelchair. I thought it was just me that had religious freaks approaching in public to “heal” me. What is with that?! It took me fifteen years to get diagnosed with five different issues that are all classified as “rare” diseases by the NIH. I’m the zebra that comes when doctors are expecting the hoof…

These “reforms” to how doctors are allowed to prescribe medications for chronic pain are shitty. They are making it harder and much more expensive for people who really need meds to obtain them, and I don’t see any reduction in criminal usage of opioids.

I had a friend recently get dismissed by a doctor because her 2-day long fever wasn’t long enough or high enough for him to care about. My response was that men die because they won’t see doctors - women die because doctors ignore or trivialize pain. And I cited sources!

Yeah, when I started using a cane, I went for a beautiful one with a silver handle. It made me feel rakish and like someone with a story to tell.

I still remember when some tabloid caught her crying on a park bench a few years ago and made fun of her. Gah. 

Oh my god, the stress of getting my Oxycodone and Oxycontin...I totally get it. I was dealing with burn trauma and I was constantly in a state of panic about having enough medication. All that worry, and having to push myself to be vocal and advocate for my health when I was at my lowest and didn’t have the emotional…

Also I now have to have an appt every month to pick up scripts, which means I have to pay for 12 office visits a year, when it used to be quarterly, just picking up slips at desk on the others months. Really hit my budget hard, am on disabilty...:(

Some med schools are trying to switch to more integrated systems of educating doctors. I’m so excited for future patients! It’s absurd how silo’d the specialties are.

I 100% agree with seeking out better informed doctors in larger cities or specialists- that’s how I’ve received some of my diagnoses. But I disagree that a doctor can be trusted simply because they’re a woman (or more likely to listen than a man). I had an absolutely hellish experience with a female doctor that my…

I can say this is really common for those of us with MS. It’s extremely weird experience and comes at you from a lot of directions that people can write off as something unimportant. I was fortunate enough when i was diagnosed that my symptoms were more physical and obvious, so my doctors got me into an MRI right away.

I get it. Dealing with chronic pain, especially as a woman, is the worst. Mine began after a hysterectomy from presumed nerve damage but eventually morphed into pain in abdomen, back and legs, for the past twenty years. Mostly I was told it was psychological, etc...took many years to even get as far as a diagnosis of…

I’ve been following her announcements with interest. Was diagnosed with MS almost 10 years ago. And, like her, it took a while for doctors to take me seriously. Optic neuritis was a sprain from snowboarding. Numbness was back issues. Fatigue was laziness. It’s shocking how uneducated doctors are about the symptoms of…

I have so much respect for Selma Blair right now. Canes are a very fraught topic for people who need them because they’re so othering. Having a famous person unapologetically rock her (gorgeous) cane really matters for disability representation.

I can understand this. Close members of my family have been dealing with chronic health issues for years now, and remain (despite test after test after test) undiagnosed. A diagnosis gives you a direction, reassurance that you’re not just going bonkers or are somehow weak or lazy. I’m glad she’s found strength in…