(Picture; Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Furious at how they are being treated by doctors, women are taking to Twitter to vent their thoughts under a new thread: #MyDoctorSaid.

So, what’s it all about?

It all started as user Suzannah Weiss posed a question in a tweet directed at women with chronic illnesses.

She said: ‘Women with chronic illnesses: how long and how many doctors did it take you to get diagnosed? I counted 11 months & 17 doctors and wrote down what each did to show what we go through just to begin to heal.’

The tweet also included a picture where Weiss outlined what each of her physicians had told her.

One example is doctor number three, who gave her antibiotics before the test results came back, doctor 10 – who ‘prescribed a low carb diet and foot massages’ – and doctor 12, who told her ‘it really should have gone away by now’.

Women are sympathetic and many are now sharing their own stories of being dismissed or misdiagnosed by their doctors.


‘After years of depression and two suicide attempts, I finally plucked up the courage to seek help from my doctor, only to be told “I think you’re overreacting don’t you?!”,’ said one user.

Another, who had approached her doctor after becoming worried that she might have cancer, tweeted: ‘I’m worried I have ovarian cancer, I always have pain near my ovary.

‘Doc: How long has this been going on? Me: On and off for seven years. Doc: (laughing) If it was cancer, you’d be dead by now. It took five more years to be diagnosed with stage IV endometriosis.’

The stories are still pouring in.

One woman told the tale of how for a decade, male doctors kept telling her she had allergies or a cold.

Finally, a female dentist told her she had cancer – and turned out to be right.

Further down the thread, Weiss extended the question to people in LGBTQ and minority communities too.

She claimed that they (along with women) are ‘criticised for self-diagnosing’ because doctors are biased against them.

A doctor has now also joined the conversation.

Dr Alyssa Burns-Hill, who according to her bio is a hormone and holistic health specialist and health educator, said: ‘I believe the illusion of what medicine has to offer is becoming more and more transparent.’

If you want to read the full thread by Weiss, you can see it here or search #MyDoctorSaid on Twitter.

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