The Biggest Medical Threat To Women

July 02, 2020

The Biggest Medical Threat To Women

A quick google search on "women misdiagnosis" will give you more than your fair share of articles that talk about how common it is for women to be misdiagnosed when it comes to literally anything in the medical field. You can find hundreds of stories about women being told they are experiencing "period cramps" when in reality, they have a burst appendix or cervical cancer. Or they're advised to see a therapist, instead of actually being medically tested for whatever is causing their pain. Women experience misdiagnosis about 20-30% more often than men, and are usually told they are overreacting and have a

low pain tolerance, yes this is despite the dozens of scientific studies proving women on average have a higher tolerance for pain than men (can you say childbirth?). It seems that in areas of mental health, this has been a reoccurring theme for...well, forever. Early "lunatic asylums" had a vast majority of female wards, and they were there for any number of reasons, ranging from physical handicaps to having views deemed to liberal/radical. In the 19th century, a woman couldn't even find pleasure in sexual acts without fear of being locked away. God forbid she consume birth control pills or drink or even read a book.

I've been well aware of this whole reality for a long time, and I've watch multiple of my female friends go through these problems, and have to fight to be seen by specialists and get necessary tests, and just be taken seriously. I've gone through some of that myself.

For example:

when I requested to be put on birth control, my doctor didn't want to prescribe it because I was 19, and single. In reality, I was have 3 week long periods after having a child, and only wanted to regulate my periods to something closer than normal, but my doctor saw no problem with bleeding for 3 weeks EVERY month.
when I saw a doctor for debilitating migraines that cause complete and rapid vision loss, I was given a seizure medication that would negatively react with the birth control I was taking at the time, and put me at such a high risk of having a stroke, that the pharmacist almost refused to fill the prescription.
when I saw a for weight loss issues, thinking that perhaps I should have my thyroid tested, I was simply told "stop drinking pop." I was drinking 1 can of pop a day, or less. My thyroid was never tested.
when I saw a doctor for what I thought was a hernia, with swelling in my stomach and pain so bad I couldn't lift my arm, I was told that it was irritable bowel syndrome. No cause was ever found for the swelling.
when I saw a doctor for an allergic reaction - to what, I do not know - that caused a rash so big it covered my lower back, ass, back of my thighs, and stomach, and lasted for 14+ days, I was told by ER doctors to "come back" if I had a fever. I ended up seeing a different doctor and it took a round of steroids to clear up.
when a doctor found a softball sized tumor on my liver, I was told there was nothing to do for it unless it grew in size. The tumor is still there. No doctor has ever followed up on its size.

I can tell you it's frustrating. It's why I hate going to the doctor. I'm less likely to go for anything that I might be able to manage on my own. I know there are times I have no choice but to see a doctor, like for infections that can only be cleared up by antibiotics. So at least once a year, for the past 12 years, I find myself in some little minute-clinic type place, getting tested for strep throat.

Yes. I get strep throat at least once a year, if not more often. Doesn't matter what time of year, doesn't matter if I don't know a single other person who has it. You even say the words "strep throat" and I've caught it. Because of this, I've gotten pretty damn good at catching onto the symptoms super early. In fact, there have been times that I've recognized the symptoms so early that standard tests can't trace it, and it has to be sent to the lab for further testing (culture). My local drug store just started prescribing antibiotics before they would even get results. It was to that point.

Well, here I am, with my annual strep throat symptoms. But this one has been a rollercoaster! I'm to the point where I'm in complete shock of how I'm treated, that I've decided to use this to document the craziness that is our medical field, a craziness that is only amplified by the fact that we are still in our Covid-19 pandemic.

Sunday June 28th -

I woke up with a sore throat. It was the kind of sore throat that you wake up with when you've slept with your mouth open and the bedroom window was open all night. Its that dry scratchy pain that's soothed ever so slightly by warm coffee. I didn't think much of it, as I otherwise felt fine. Around noon, I took 2 ibuprofen, which seemed to do the trick. So I chalked it up to allergies.

Monday June 29th -

Again, I woke with a sore throat. At this point I'm a little more cautious. My throat looks red, but that's it, and I otherwise feel fine. So I go to work. Due to the pandemic, work takes temperatures before you can enter the building. My temperature is 98.1, which to any normal person would seem fine, but as I've been averaging a 94 reading since the mandatory temp check started, this is a little weird, but still not concerning. As the day goes on however, I'm feeling worse and worse. I'm losing energy quickly, my shoulders and neck are stiff and sore. It hurts to swallow. I check my throat in the restroom mirror, and hey look! One little white spot on my right tonsil. I know what that is, this ain't my first rodeo. I schedule an appointment at my local little clinic after work, since I know by that time, my regular doctor's office will be closed. A while later, they call and ask me the newly typical "have you been around anyone with Covid" questions. To my knowledge, no, I haven't. But I know fatigue and achiness are both symptoms of

Covid, but they are also symptoms of strep. I finish out my work day barely hanging on. I don't feel good, but I know soon I will get antibiotics, and I will feel worlds better by the next day. Fast forward, I get off work and go straight to the clinic. They typical check in happens, they take blood pressure, temperature, etc. My temperature is 98.3, again not concerning, just unusual for me. Doctor (I don't think it's an actual doctor at these clinics, but rather a nurse practitioner or someone similar) comes in, suited up as far as he can. I'm a little taken back, but I know this is pandemic time, and things are different now. He does his usual stuff, asks me when things started, what are my symptoms, blah blah blah. He lays me back to do the throat swab, which I've never had someone do, but to each their own. He is surprised I don't gag or cough in his face. My dude, I am a professional at throat swabs - the veteran of tonsil tickles - this is not my first rodeo. While we are waiting for the swab to process, he asks other questions. They're the typical ones: what meds do you take, allergic to any, and so on. When he asks me what meds I'm on, I give him the rundown, but I also tell him that I need to take a Plan B pill that day. Normally I wouldn't say anything, but I want to make sure anything he prescribes isn't going to affect the pill. The following conversation then ensues:

Me: I also need to take a Plan B pill today.

Doc types it into the computer: Any chance of pregnancy or breastfeeding?

Me, slightly confused: Um, hopefully not after that pill...

Doc, nodding like he forgot: Right, gotcha. So I take it you had unprotected sex and you're not on birth control?

Me, more concerned than confused at this point: I think that's how it works, yeah.

Like, this is the guy I'm trusting with my body? I'm concerned. What training has this guy had? No woman takes Plan B for funzies. I promise you won't go to pampered chef parties and see us all kicking back with mimosas and popping levonorgestrel pills like they're tic-tacs. In fact, my last experience with levonorgestrel ended with a severe allergic reaction that landed me in the ER (that rash I talked about above). So no. No woman just takes Plan B like it's nothing. If she's taking the pill, I promise you that her stress is at an all time high, she is freaking out, feels stuck, and is an emotional train wreck.

Doc checks the test. Surprise! The rapid result test is negative. No biggie, it happens. He swabs me again so he can send it for a culture test. He says he is surprised the test was negative, because I have classic strep throat symptoms. Also, legally he cannot prescribe me anything without a positive test result. He recommends I take 3 ibuprofen 4x a day - so we are just going to completely kill my liver, cool - and gargle with salt water or Listerine. I hadn't heard the Listerine trick before, so that was new. He sends me on my way. Before leaving, I go to buy my Plan B, and of course they don't have any, so I stop at another location on the way home, paying cash so it doesn't show up on my credit card bill. By the way, Plan B is not cheap. I paid $50+ for it, so if a woman is taking it, I promise it's not something she WANTS to do, but rather something she feels she NEEDS to do, as it is also a financial strain to take it. Once home, I take my pill and shut myself in my room. Strep is contagious, and I'd hate to pass it to anyone while I'm waiting for antibiotics.

Tuesday June 30th -

I. Feel. Like. Shit. And that is an understatement. I have more white spots on my swollen tonsils. The back of my throat is maroon red. Every time I swallow, I have that scratchy pain, and it feels like I'm swallowing my tonsils. I'm cold, but I'm sweaty. I burry myself under a blanket all day as I struggle through work (from home). Warm coffee feels good on my throat, and I want nothing more than to put a heating pad on my shoulders and neck. My lymph nodes on my neck are swollen. Around noon, my fever hits 100.3. I am dizzy and so fatigued that I am falling asleep sitting up. Is this from the Plan B pill? Some of it might be. Is it from strep? Probably. Lack of eating? Also probable. I'm advised to call my regular doctor and ask about Covid. I call, and after talking to the nurse, who then talks to the doctor and calls me back later, a request for a Covid test is put in. Around 5:30pm, the testing place calls and schedules me for 1:00pm the next day.

Wednesday July 1st -

I have more energy, but it doesn't really matter. I'm getting use to that scratchy pain when I swallow. There are more white spots. I'm pushing through it all to get work done (from home), and around midday I muster up the energy to drive myself across town for this Covid test.

When you get there, you drive up into the queue of cars. You leave your mask on and your windows up. When it's your turn, the woman, who is wearing scrubs, gloves, a mask as well as face shield, has you show your ID through the window, and she writes your info on your swab. She has you roll down the window, and has you lower your mask to expose your nose but not your mouth, and she inserts 4-6 inches of the swab into each nostril and swirls it around. She described it as that burn of chlorine when you swim in a pool. It's an accurate description. You can't keep your eyes open, and you can't avoid your eyes welling up with tears, but about the time you've had enough, she pulls the swab out. She has you roll up your window, and drive off. Results usually take 24 hours or so, but vastly depends on where you're located.

I call the clinic to check on my culture test. Results should be available. I'm told they haven't come back yet. Around 6:30pm I call again. I know the clinic closes at 7pm, and I'd like my prescription prior to that. The nurse says my culture test is negative. What!? How could it be negative? I have classic strep throat symptoms, like right out of the text book. She says she's going to have the nurse on duty call me, who does only minutes after I get off the phone. The nurse basically tells me that since she isn't the one who saw me on Monday, she doesn't really know what to tell me. She says I'm welcome to get retested (thought I doubt insurance would cover another test so soon), but that the culture test is usually pretty accurate. At this point, I'm not going to get over there before they close, so I decline the offer. I am hot and cold all night long.

Thursday July 2nd -

I wake up around 7am, and find out my kid has been up for two hours with vomiting and diarrhea. He is struggling to make it to the bathroom on time for either issue, so it's a constant clean the floor and change clothes thing. He falls asleep on the couch without a fever. Let me tell you, trying to explain to an eight year old that when you're sick, you can't trust your farts, is no easy feat. This was not in the parenting handbook.

I call my regular doctor again. I tell them the culture came back negative, but my symptoms are only getting worse, not better. I ask about my Covid test. I'm told my results would usually come back in another day, but since they are closed in observance of the coming holiday (Independence Day), I'll have results on Monday. Excuse me? Monday?! They proceed to tell me that I am not welcome in their office to retest for strep, because I have Covid symptoms. Now, the Covid symptoms I have are the exact same symptoms that one would have with literally ANY virus or infection. Fever and aches are typical with almost every illness, and a sore throat is typical of any throat related illness. DUH.

In a Covid era, you can't go to the doctor if you're sick. Doctors only want to treat healthy patients.

As for my son, I can't take him to the doctor myself, because I'm sick. They won't see him anyways, because he might have been exposed to Covid (through me, if I have it). I can't have someone else take him to be treated, because they won't treat him without my consent, but I can't even go into the office and sign the consent form because I'm sick. See the vicious cycle? Covid has really secluded single parents.

My work HR calls, and goes over a game plan that I'll work from home until my results come back. I've been a good employee and kept them in the loop thus far.

But should I be quarantined? Both strep and Covid are contagious. My son and I have very different symptoms. What if one of us has Covid and the other doesn't? We would have to both quarantine, but separate from each other. If we both have Covid, we could quarantine together. I'm fortunate that I live with my parents (don't tell them I said that), and they have been supportive, watching him while I hide out in my bedroom to not get anyone else sick.

Another symptom of Covid is difficulty breathing. And through all this, when I start to panic, I get chest tightness. I know it's from panic, but feeling that tightness makes me worry more, which only makes the tightness worsen, which makes me worry, which.....

Vicious cycle.

My regular doctor's office calls again. They advise me to wait for my Covid results before retesting for strep or anything else. Then the woman - I believe was either a nurse or receptionist, and definitely not a doctor - asks if it could be tonsil stones. Well, I don't know "Linda" I'm not a doctor! You're literally in a building with at least 5 of them, maybe they would know?! Then she suggests that it's just food particles that are stuck on my tonsils.

Now, I know I didn't go to med school, but how the hell could it be food particles if I'm not eating? I struggle to swallow my coffee or water, I'm not trying food. So where are these mysterious food particles coming from? Further, I'm pretty sure food particles don't cause 100.3 fevers and body aches.

I insist it's not "lodged food."

Three and a half hours later, the doctor's office calls back. It's my actual doctor. This is the first time I've talked to an actual doctor. The conversation goes like this:

Doc: Hi, it's (name redacted) from (name redacted)

Me: Hello.

Doc: Is this (name redacted)?

Me: This is she.

Doc: So your Covid test came back negative.

Me: Oh, good.

Doc: And you said your strep test also came back negative?

Me: Yes, the rapid test and the culture both came back negative.

Doc: But you're still having symptoms?

Me: Yes, I have white spots on my tonsils, they are swollen, my throat is red, I am achy, and it hurts to swallow.

Doc: Are you still running a fever?

Me: I have not ran a fever since Tuesday, but I'm still having hot and cold sweats.

Doc: Ok, that's good there is no fever. Are you having trouble breathing?

Me: No, I have no difficulty breathing.

Doc: Cough?

Me: No. I just have the classic strep throat symptoms.

Doc: I see you get strep throat a lot, and you're very familiar with it, so I'm going to go ahead and prescribe you an antibiotic.

Me: Thank you!

Doc: You're allergic to penicillin, correct?

Me: Yes.

Doc: Hmm. Let's see...

Me: The Z Pack usually works the best for me.

Doc: Ok, let's do that.

She asks about where I want to pick up my prescription, and I thank her again, agreeing to call back next week if I'm not any better.

At this point in the day, my son is acting much better and more himself, so I opt to just watch him closely and take him in if he gets worse. He's eating and food is staying down. He's not running to the bathroom as much.

The infection in my throat has been running rampant for 5 days since I first starting having symptoms. Untreated for 5 days. I already have a compromised immune system, so it's going to be even harder to bounce back. I am lucky I've only had to fight for antibiotics for 5 days. I know women who have fought much longer. There is a huge gap between doctors and patients - specifically women. Every year 40-80 thousand people in the United States die from misdiagnosis, most of which could have been avoided if doctors listened to their patients and didn't chalk it up to PMS problems. Author and misdiagnosis victim Maya Dusenbery states "there's a general lack of knowledge about women's symptoms, bodies and conditions that disproportionately affects them. [...] That's the legacy of decades of women being underrepresented or excluded from the research." Not only that, but there seems to be a lack of trust in what women say they are experiencing. Why is it when a woman is in physical pain, she is told to see a therapist? Why is a woman more often than not, treated for hysteria rather than tested for any of the numerous reasons that could be causing the pain? We are not far from the era that explained a woman's pain as the consequences of "wandering womb" or "demonic possession." Are modern doctors purposefully downplaying female pain to the generic "hysteria" diagnosis? It's probably more of an unconscious and implicit bias. But it's a bias that is literally killing women. Women are being stereotyped

as more emotional and hypochondriacal, and the idea that women are more prone to psychological symptoms is still a factor that is taught in the medical field. That's only fueling the 19th century thinking, and thus misdiagnosis.

So when people want to talk about how advanced our medical technology is, I say that technology can only advance so far. At some point you have to realize that despite technological advancement, women are still dying of misdiagnosis. At some point you have to realize, it's not the technology. It's the mindset of medical practitioners. And before you try to say I'm just a "man hater," let me remind you that out of all the medical practitioners I've talked to in the 5 days I've fought to get antibiotics for the infection in my throat, only ONE was a male.

If the mindset of our medical practitioners does not change, medical knowledge and practices will only continue to be bias towards women.

How many more women must die of "medically unexplained symptoms?" How many more must die from misdiagnosis?