Feeling Dismissed?
Photo by Hush Naidoo on Unsplash
Trust yourself.
I read an article last weekend in The Atlantic about people with long Covid. These are people who have had moderate or mild Covid cases, and are struggling for months afterward with severe fatigue, brain fog, bone pain, heart palpitations and breathing troubles, many of them unable to work and barely functioning at home. The article profiled a few patients, along with doctors and researchers who are working to help understand the problem, and to help those struggling with these symptoms.
A majority of the patients are women, and because the symptoms are different from one person to the next, are often somewhat vague, and nearly impossible to identify through testing, these patients were, at first, labeled as “fine" when clearly they were not. The article points out that traditional western medicine has historically discounted symptoms of female patients when those symptoms cannot be confirmed with a test, or treated with medication. Women have been told that it is all in their head, that it is anxiety or depression or an overreaction.
These cases are complex but progress is being made because a small group of professionals understands that each patient presents slightly differently, and that what works for one may not work for another. And, perhaps most importantly in the big picture of medical treatment, they are finding that non traditional treatments, like breathing techniques and stress management, are proving to be particularly helpful in these cases.
My point? I don’t know about you, but I have had the experience of going from one doctor to the next, trying one medication or treatment after another and finding no solutions. I have felt dismissed for complaining about pain that could not be explained through imaging. I told myself that I had to keep looking - that there had to be someone who could help me because I knew the pain was real. I researched and dug for information to help myself and finally after three years I did find a chiropractor (the 2nd I tried - the first was no help at all) who helped me.
Trust yourself. If something feels off, or if you feel dismissed in any way, pay attention. Keep your faith that you can find someone who will help you. Be persistent. Use the resources on the internet to dig deeply (go past the first few pages of results) for ideas or insights that are different.
Our bodies are wondrous and extremely complex. We need to trust the information they are giving us.
