Unfortunately, "It's all in your head." is an all too common occurance. I feel for your friend and am sorry she had to suffer for so many years. We, as women, do not know how to advocate for ourselves. When we are ill we are even less effective. I went three years with a pain in my abdomen that was all in my head. Once labelled that way it is hard to overcome and the docs seem to pass that impression along to one another. I almost died because they delayed surgery for over 48 hours. I had an ovarian cyst that had twisted causing each pain episode. It had gotten so big because of the delayed diagnosis that the last time it torqued it stayed that way. Blood was going into the cyst, but not coming out. I lay in the hospital without pain meds, food or water for over 2 days until my abdomen rebounded. They finally decided something was about to rupture and took me for surgery. Because of the delay in surgery blood clots formed in my abdomen - the symptoms I was experiencing in the hospital from the clots were also "in my head". Six days after going home I was readmitted with my abdomen, leg and left foot filled with blood clots. To this day, 28 years later, I have a major blockage and wear a heavy duty compression stocking. At least I'm alive.
I think docs see us as vulnerable and weakened and when they can't find an immediate diagnosis they experience a wide variety of emotions and put the "blame" on us, so to speak. KEY: Take someone who knows you and can help speak "with" you and "for" you to your appointments. Having another person validate your symptoms and experiences MAY break this syndrome. The other person may also think to provide information, you may not think to give.
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Unfortunately, "It's all in your head." is an all too common occurance. I feel for your friend and am sorry she had to suffer for so many years. We, as women, do not know how to advocate for ourselves. When we are ill we are even less effective. I went three years with a pain in my abdomen that was all in my head. Once labelled that way it is hard to overcome and the docs seem to pass that impression along to one another. I almost died because they delayed surgery for over 48 hours. I had an ovarian cyst that had twisted causing each pain episode. It had gotten so big because of the delayed diagnosis that the last time it torqued it stayed that way. Blood was going into the cyst, but not coming out. I lay in the hospital without pain meds, food or water for over 2 days until my abdomen rebounded. They finally decided something was about to rupture and took me for surgery. Because of the delay in surgery blood clots formed in my abdomen - the symptoms I was experiencing in the hospital from the clots were also "in my head". Six days after going home I was readmitted with my abdomen, leg and left foot filled with blood clots. To this day, 28 years later, I have a major blockage and wear a heavy duty compression stocking. At least I'm alive.
March 28, 2012 - 6:08pmI think docs see us as vulnerable and weakened and when they can't find an immediate diagnosis they experience a wide variety of emotions and put the "blame" on us, so to speak. KEY: Take someone who knows you and can help speak "with" you and "for" you to your appointments. Having another person validate your symptoms and experiences MAY break this syndrome. The other person may also think to provide information, you may not think to give.
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