I Was 34 And Losing My Memory, But My GP Insisted It Was Just 'The Change' |
I Was 34 And Losing My Memory, But My GP Insisted It Was Just 'The Change'
We know, intrinsically, if there’s something wrong in our bodies. We need that tenacity to say, if needed, ‘I need an MRI’, or ‘I need a second opinion’.
You know your body better than anyone – but what happens when no one listens? Welcome to Ms Diagnosed: a HuffPost UK series uncovering the reality of medical gaslighting. With new stats showing that 8 in 10 of women have felt unheard by medical professionals, we’re sharing the stories of seven whose lives were nearly lost to the gap between their symptoms and a system that refused to listen. As the UK introduces Jess’s Rule – a new mandate for GPs to ‘rethink’ after a third visit – we’re exploring why the medical system is still failing women and how we can start to fix it.
The GP folded her hands between her thighs, spun round in her chair and gave me a deeply patronising look.
“I think you’re a bit stressed, love,” she said.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; I knew my symptoms were down to far more than stress.
As it turned out, I was right. I wasn’t stressed; I had a brain tumour on my pituitary gland, known as a macroprolactinoma. But despite going to my GP repeatedly with increasingly unnerving symptoms, I had been told – again and again – that I was just going through the menopause.
My symptoms started in March 2011, when I was around 34. I started getting really heavy periods that were soaking through pads, tampons and even my jeans; but then, all of a sudden, my periods completely stopped.
After around four months with no period, I went to my local GP surgery where I saw a nurse who told me to give it until six months before taking further action.
So I did; but in those next two months, my hair started falling out. Whenever I’d brush it, my hair would completely fill the hairbrush.
Then, things started........