A look at discrimination towards women from doctors

You may already be wondering from the title of this article: which organ is she talking about?

The truth is, many of the ladies reading this may already know. I’ll preface my answer to this question with a personal anecdote: not long ago, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. This is a disorder that causes the thyroid to not produce enough of a hormone, and one in eight women in America have it or another similar thyroid disorder, according to the American Thyroid Association. However, 60% of those who have it are unaware. The symptoms are heavily divided between the nervous and digestive systems, though the disorder itself is an autoimmune disorder.

Beginning at age 16, I complained to my doctor about everything from abdominal pain to anxiety to insomnia, among other ailments. For three years I was repeatedly asked one question: does this get worse on your period? At first, I felt like I had to say yes, because I worried that I was being overdramatic by claiming it could be anything else.

Nevertheless, I found myself going back to the doctor again and again to make sure. I told my doctor that my family had a history of under-active thyroids; my grandma, my great grandma, my aunt, and a few of my cousins had the disorder. Eventually, they performed a couple blood tests, about three weeks apart. In the first, my thyroid hormone came back too low, but in the second it came up barely normal.

I asked my doctor if she could refer me to an endocrinologist to check my immune system more in-depth, and she refused. Finally, I met with another doctor who specializes in women’s health, and in the first meeting he checked my blood tests and commented “Yeah, these are definitely too low,” followed by “I’m sure you’ve been told that this is just bad PMS, huh?”

After becoming a teenager, I was often treated by doctors as though the only organ in my body was the uterus, and I’ve heard many stories in the past of other women getting treated similarly.

To women: don’t let your doctor minimize your problems and excuse them as PMS. Everything else aside, severe PMS is a problem itself that needs to be taken seriously; no woman de- serves to feel like she’s dying, even if just for a few days a month.

If something feels off, even as small as pain being in a slightly different place than normal, mood swings being more intense, or sudden weight gain/loss, that matters. Be especially wary if, when you complain about symptoms, the response is along the lines of “Well…it could be your period.” If it sounds like a stretch, it’s worth checking out to make sure.

Be determined to get to the source of the problem if you can. Throughout my journey, I was handed surface-level medications (things that fix only symptoms) for some problems and nothing for others (I do wonder what happened to all the mental health evaluations I handed in saying that I was excessively anxious), only to realize everything could be helped by addressing the source of the problem.

In addition, don’t let any causes for concern slip under the rug. The very first time I ever asked for help was in middle school, when I told my mom that I couldn’t focus on anything and I was too distracted to do my home- work, and my grades were starting to suffer. She called up my doctor, and the conversation lasted long enough for her to tell them my symptoms and for them to reply “Sounds like she’s just lazy” and hang up.

I look back now and see that part of the cocktail of mental symptoms of hypothyroidism is ADD-like distraction. It’s very easy for a doctor to blow off a symptom or two, and even easier for you to become discouraged from talking about it. Stand up for yourself, and don’t let anything be forgotten.

Make a diary of your symptoms, if it helps. Write down everything that seems abnormal, even if it seems relatively insignificant. That includes things related to your menstrual cycle, because it can be affected by outside causes as well. Include times, espe- cially relative to your cycle (begin- ning, a week out, in the middle, etc.)

Finally, if you need to, see multi- ple doctors, especially an OB-GYN: someone who can really analyze what is actually just a “feminine issue” and deem what deserves more attention. It’s understandable to be shy or embarrassed to tall about things like that originally, but it’s a very reward- ing experience to talk to someone who understands, especially with the knowledge that they won’t judge you for your sexual history, birth control method, or anything of the like. Their priority is that you are safe and healthy regardless of the choices you make concerning sex.

I’d like to wish good luck to all the women reading this. Remember to be persistent and don’t let yourself be convinced that the uterus is the sole center of your health. After all, how would a woman live with only one organ?