Diagnosis ignored for 2.5 years because my male doctor said "it was all in my head" - x-post from r/TwoXChromosomes

I just want to throw this out there, and I mean this totally respectfully.

I'm a male who's played the autoimmune game with doctors. I was completely belittled by well over 15 doctors. I was told the exact same thing and that the pain was completely in my head.

The people who mistreated me were a mix of males and females. The worst person I dealt with -- who in my opinion, psychologically abused me -- was a female. However, the best person that ended up fully believing me was a female.

I'm not a fan of making this about gender. Men walk around with struggles and diseases too. I'm 100% sure that most people who interact with me assume that I don't have a disease just because being a male with autoimmune diseases is more uncommon.

Without question, men and women get discriminated against in different ways. For example, since women are often more expressive (not an insult), they get told that they are "hysterical" which is bullshit. I faced pretty much the total opposite problem. I was in excruciating pain and was really, really depressed about it. However, I have a naturally stoic demeanor. It absolutely played a role in the doctors not taking me seriously. The pain, which was so severe that I wanted to end my life, was treated as a "minor aches and pains."

I wish the OP the best; I am sorry you faced such horrific bullshit. Please don't reject support from others who may understand more than you would think.

/r/ChronicIllness Thread Link - np.reddit.com