This is unfortunate, troubling and infuriating at times. My youngest child has fibromyalgia like I do. They have had hormonal problems since puberty and doctors just tell them to change sexual positions or to eat less and exercise more. That is ridiculous. I believe they have endometriosis and perhaps polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
When we went to the doctor on Friday, I was shocked and appalled at how dismissive this female gynecologist was of my child. When we got home, my child looked me in the eye and said, “Mom, they think I’m crazy, but I’m not. I’m in pain and I’m concerned.
So am I, my child, so am I.
As a result, I am taking it upon myself to learn all I can about fibromyalgia, hormones and ‘women’s health issues’. It is now my mission to empower women, including myself and my child, to speak up for themselves, to understand their hormones and be willing to fire unhelpful doctors.
When I got my fibromyalgia diagnosis in 2004, it had taken me about four years to get to that point and a lot of missteps by the medical community. Nearly 20 years later, I have been struggling with some doctor mismanagement (prescribing a toxic medication without checking out all my conditions and drug interactions) and am dealing with lipidemia and lymphedema on top of my Fibromyalgia and menopause symptoms.
Something is wrong and I’ve gone back and forth to my primary care doctor with very little satisfaction. He’s great but he admittedly doesn’t understand what’s going on. He led me to a wonderful lymphedema therapist who is doing manual lymphatic drainage massage but it seems the lymphatic system is as poorly understood as fibromyalgia and women’s hormones.
Ugh!
So for all of you out there who are struggling to feel heard and seen by the medical profession, I see you and I am here for you. I would love it if you’d email your stories at dcgoodson@gmail.com. I am going to use them as a launching pad for my research. I will keep posting here and appreciate your readership.
In good health (I hope!) or better yet – better health for all of us. We matter and it’s not all in our heads. It’s time our pain is acknowledged.
Deanna Goodson 