#medical mistreatment

[zylahbee]

it hurts hearing other disabled people talk about medical mistreatment.

like i am partly grateful to not be alone of course, but i really wish it wasnt a common or even standard occurrence.

breaks my heart.

[tobeabatman]

medical professionals listen to fat people!

It’s f*cked up how it’s the norm for medical workers to tell us fat people that we need to modify our bodies, to the point of coercion. 

This is my body. This isn’t a wrong type of body that you should try to convince me to change. This is the flesh I’ve been throughout my whole life; this fat is me:

I’m not a thin person in a fat suit. All medical workers need to get out of their asses and realize that fat people own fat bodies, not bodies that are ”thin-to-be”. I deserve the same care without mentions of how it would be the correct thing to modify my body, because this body has always been with me and always will. I grew in a fat body and this fat body is mine. 

Where I live, it’s recommended for doctors to gently try to talk to fat patients about weight loss. And as a fat person I don’t give a sh*t how gently you try to convince me, your main goal is still to change the way I am. You’re biased and your care reflects that. 

So stop f*cking trying to coerce us by fear-mongering. Read the many research papers that contradict current ideas of fatness in relation to health, and most importantly: listen to us fat people. 

I’m fat, and you have been convinced to throw away your work ethics as a medical professional just because our world says it’s okay to coerce fat people into weight loss, and that as a medical professional you should encourage people to drastically change their bodies but ONLY if they’re fat. Listen to yourselves. 

Toodles. 

[potstism]

❤️‍🩹 my take on a PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) flag 🧠

clipart .png credit

i had been waiting from months to a year to see someone design a flag for PMDD since i'm not very confident in my own ability, so i decided to go ahead and bite the bullet with an attempt. this is currently planned to just be a draft and may be subject to change with new updated versions in the future.

TW FOR MEDICAL TRAUMA/ABUSE: although this topic is not very widely discussed, or at least doesn't seem to be commonly present, online among the disabled community, my personal experiences with PMDD have made acknowledging its existence as well as its consequences quite necessary to me. as of the time of writing this, i am 19 years old, and when i was 15 exactly this time of year (as well as the first similar incident a couple months prior), i had an intense hyper-emotional episode the week before my period that was so bad i ended up getting institutionalized at a psych ward against my will and have never been the same since. for years now, i've been on a birth control pill that suppresses my cyclical hormones and prevents my period from occurring most of the time.

before getting into the stripes' meanings, there are two factors to explain behind my thought process:

dark teal is considered to be the awareness color for this disorder, although i went with a light aqua color because i think it looks better with the pink, and it's in the same family so i believe it still works.

pink is meant not to represent femininity necessarily since uterus-owners can come in many different gender expressions, but rather fit with the vibe of internal organs, especially since pink is closely related to red which is how warm blood appears (and is a key element of uterine cycles).

as for the stripe meanings, here is my proposal for each single word:

awareness ─ suffering from premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a very real thing that happens to müllerian individuals everywhere. according to the cleaveland clinic, which i am an active visiting patient of, about 10% of people with our reproductive body types who are at least of minimum pubescent age may be affected by it. although it does not tend to be a risk toward physical health, it is often a deadly threat to our mental state and well-being, which can lead to suicidal ideation.

strength ─ i consider this to be an invisible disability, with most of the symptoms taking place within our internal worlds and fighting a constant battle with negative thoughts + emotions. in addition to this, physical symptoms also arise and can cause severe discomfort before menstruation even begins. all of this happens within the confines of our own homes, and we tend to suffer through it alone. people who do not have PMDD probably fail to realize how strong we have to be in order to get through this difficult time repeatedly & endlessly, despite their well-intended efforts.

diversity ─ this is intended to have multiple meanings, and to include anything i may not have come up with so far. for one thing, there are plenty of different experiences to be had with this disorder, such as varying levels of cramping + sickness or depression + anxiety. on another note, not only do our bodies each work differently (some may also have endometriosis and/or PCOS, which are also intersex conditions, as a double-whammy), but many of us do not conform to societal ideas of gender despite all having these parts in common. there are infinite possibilities to mix & match with presentation & identity, which is not limited by biology.

flesh ─ although many factors are involved in this process, including hormones, PMDD centers around the uterus, which is an internal organ. the flesh represents the physical aspects of this experience, and how we must take great care of our bodies in order to ease how we feel.

pain ─ there is so much physical + mental pain that builds around this disorder, which deserves to be recognized, sympathized with, and treated. the deep pink (to me) somewhat resembles what ibuprofen & benadryl pills look like; painkillers & antihistamines respectively (i'm not sure if anyone else needs the latter, but my skin's condition gets really reactive when i go through my cycle).

anyone is free to reblog/use accordingly, although you may have to be mindful of permission/credit with the uterus imagery from the source!

tagging for reach (it may not fit your gimmick exactly, so feel free to ignore if you're uninterested, or reblog somewhere else!): @idwl @satyrradio @spaghettimakesflags @obnebulant-mogai @caeliangel @intervex @arco-pluris @beyond-mogai-pride-flags @radiomogai @themogaidragon @neopronouns @mad-pride @disabilitypride

[textk4kira]

pcos as an intersex condition

I believe the reason why many people are resistant to the idea of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) as an intersex condition is because they would have to accept that many people who are AFAB (especially cis women) are in fact, intersex.

I was assigned female at birth and diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 19. It took me some time to come to understand my intersex condition, which includes elevated testosterone levels and irregular periods. I was prescribed birth control to manage my symptoms and received an ultrasound to check for cysts on my ovaries (it was during this ultrasound appointment that I first experienced an instance of medical malpractice.)

I'm also a nonbinary person who struggles with mental health issues.

Overall, I'm proud of being intersex And trans. I stand in solidarity with my trans and intersex friends and family 💗

[wither-is-suffering]

If one more fucking doctor looks at me and says starving is fine because I'm fat I'm going to kill someone

[lifewithchronicpain]

Apparently rest is actively harmful for healing from a concussion. You actually heal better with targeted therapy. But many doctors have not updated the advice they give and continue to just recommend rest.

[tropicalcontinental]

I got curious about what Chris was exactly prescribed at Desiderium Asylum and how like, bad the place was at doing its job. Legit take everything I typed with a pinch of salt, I am in no way a professional or even remotely knowledgeable enough when it comes to things like this.

So like it's clear that the "medical" treatment that Chris went through in Desiderium Asylum was extremely abusive. But I was curious as to what the medicine Chris was prescribed actually does. And like, the main two are Benzodiazepines and Aripiprazole Capsules. Hell, he got a stronger dose of Benzodiazepines before being prescribed Aripiprazole Capsules.

(These are his patient files by Dr. Rue in order)

And it's unknown if Chris had any counseling at the ward alongside prescription drugs, but it seems like Dr. Rue is knowledgeable enough of Chris (knowing he had "hallucinations", knowing his claims of not being alone at night, and straight up diagnosing him with Bipolar Disorder + PTSD) that I'm assuming Dr. Rue (whose full name is Dr. Runesworth, ain't that neat) was his psychiatrist.

So like, from what I gathered from a few quick searches, Benzodiazepines can be used to treat insomnia and anxiety on the long-term, and are used short-term for sedation. Aripiprazole Capsules are used to treat mania episodes in Bipolar Disorder (Type I) (It's kinda odd that the patient file didn't specify which type of BD Chris had, but also it fits for the sake of story, and also the asylum is like, already below the bar for standards.)

Considering Chris was feeling watched (or in this case smiled) at night, and was found wandering the halls before being put on Aripiprazole, the Benzodiazepines prescription seems to make sense (treating his restlessness and overall anxiety considering everything.) And the Aripiprazole seems to make sense too, or at least I think so? They're an anti-psychotic, but that seems to be mainly for some symptoms of schizophrenia, while it's prescribed to treat the manic episodes of BD (though manic episodes can include psychosis, which can include hallucinations, so maybe that's what they're trying to treat? Idk man. The emphasis on auditory hallucinations instead of like, idk, Chris being in a manic episode is weird. But also, it's Desiderium. Two other people appear to have killed themselves in this place.)

But then it's like, bro, the side-effects. Like, the time frame as to how long Chris was at this asylum is unknown, but it seems like being on Benzodiazepines will lead to a tolerance and major side effects, especially if it's long term. And well, on the patient files, Chris has been prescribed an even larger dose of Benzodiazepines after already have taken them.

And being the mild sedations that they are, the side-effects include fatigue and drowsiness. And then the other side effects include trouble coordinating, confusion, and impaired thinking and memory loss. And this is off the basis that Desiderium isn't a good place to be if actual care is wanted. So like, it's already bad. And then the dosage gets increased. So I imagine these symptoms get worse.

Then there's the fact that the side-effects can also cause the opposite problem of what the prescription is trying to treat (I think they call these paradoxical symptoms.) This includes restlessness and being unable to sleep. Then there's the Aripiprazole Capsules. Like, in conjunction with Benzodiazepines, the side-effects caused by Benzodiazepines can worsen.

(It can also be extrapolated that his later prescription of Aripiprazole Capsules was around the time he was diagnosed with BD. Or maybe they just waited to prescribe it to him, idk man.)

And it's like, they give him more drugs?? Like in the patient file before the Fixing Room, it's stated that no medicine is having any effect on him. There's a gap there that we don't get to see.

So like, hey man! I think we know why he got worse! It's not only Smiler's fault! Bruh.

(Also sources:)

[phleb0tomist]

yep, i’m still ME-posting!

so another young woman with severe ME is being denied basic sensory accommodations in an NHS hospital. carla’s parents have been advocating tirelessly for her and even taking turns physically shielding her from the unnecessary light that is causing seizures, pain, and loss of consciousness. if carla’s symptoms were unexplained then maybe i would understand why the hospital keeps trying to expose her to lights, but she’s literally diagnosed with very severe ME, where the body cannot adjust to sensory input, so forgive me for finding it evil and pointless to do the thing that makes her illness worse. this is the norm for how hospitals treat people with ME and it’s inescapable if you want to receive any medical care at all like the feeding tube that carla needs

link to article and news video

[darkmasterofdragons]

For 5 months my fiancé endured a rapidly progressing case of gastroparesis with a seemingly unknown cause, 7 different doctors, including 2 specialists hardly did anything to help him, both specialists and all but 1 of the general practitioners were fully convinced after he mentioned he consumed cannabis that he had cannibanoid hyperemesis syndrome, despite none of his symptoms lining up with the disorder and despite them not investigating ANY other possibilities including investigating the medications he was taking. (Additionally for him to develop CHS with the concentration and amount of weed he consumed would have been extraordinarily odd because he only smokes low THC plain flower and in very small amounts, he doesn't ever consume concentrates). Visit after visit he became worse and worse quickly losing his ability to consume any food or liquids, he became severely malnourished and dehydrated, threw up every single time he would eat or drink, experienced severe abdominal pain and bloating, rapid weight loss without trying among many other obvious signs of gastroparesis.

On his final trip to the ER after going several times for his worsening symptoms he encountered one of the worst doctors in our local hospital who is well known for blatantly mistreating and hating queer, disabled and mentally ill folks. My fiancé went in, desperate for help, after he reached the point of not being able to consume a single bite of food without it coming right back up. When explaining his symptoms to the doctor he made the mistake of mentioning that his deteriorating physical health was causing him to experience passing suicidal ideation. This is NOT cause for involuntary admission to the psych ward in any scenario. The doctor turned to him, his face contorted and red with rage and said, and I quote,"Oh so you want to pull the suicide card with me huh? Well I'll just have to lock you up in psych for that." Despite my fiancé explaining that he had no active plans or intentions and was simply experiencing extreme levels of distress and hopelessness due to his inability to eat or drink. When my fiancé inquired about whether or not his stomach issues would be investigated while he was locked up against his will, the doctor expressly said NO, we will not. The doctor left the room briefly and when he returned my fiancé bravely asked if he would follow through with what was an obvious threat and abuse of power (not how he worded it in the moment). The doctor would go on to say,"No, not this time (because legally he had no right to admit him against his will according to Canadian law) but don't you EVER pull the suicide card with me EVER again". This is coming from a medical professional working in an emergency room.

My partner has endured severe mistreatment due to his mental illnesses in our local psych ward and being threatened this way was extremely distressing and left him feeling even more hopeless than he ever did before. The doctor let him go home but did 0 investigation into his issue and all he could do was go home and have a complete mental breakdown. Every single doctor acted like he couldn't possibly have anything but cannibanoid hyperemesis syndrome and forced him to take matters into his own hands.

After barely a week of research my fiancé discovered that 2 of the medications he was taking were WELL DOCUMENTED to cause gastroparesis and not a single doctor looked at his medications or considered that they might be the cause. One of the medications he had been on for over a year and had had no issues with it before this, and additionally he could not come off of it without monitoring from his psychiatrist. However, the second medication he realized he had started taking very close to the time that his symptoms began, it was a tricyclic antidepressant that was prescribed off-label (by a specialist) for migraine prevention and it hadn't been working to stop his migraines for a while, and so out of desperation he consulted with his pharmacist and got the go-ahead to stop taking it to see if it would relieve any of his symptoms.

Low and behold, only 2 DAYS LATER, his symptoms were COMPLETELY resolved. He was able to eat and drink again as if nothing happened. It was no coincidence and it was deadly clear that this medication was the direct cause of his symptoms.

While we felt relief that the fix was so simple in the end, we also found ourselves consumed with anger and grief at the fact that no doctor even suggested that this medication could be the cause, despite it coming up on every list on every website he visited regarding gastroparesis and what can cause it. The ER doctors especially treated him with no dignity or humanity and acted like he was just some insane mentally ill person who was trying to abuse the system.

This piece is obviously a vent regarding this situation and how it felt like we had to literally fight off doctors who saw a mentally ill, disabled and visibly queer addict and decided that he was not worth their time or effort when he came to them with a physical health issue that was slowly killing him.

The Canadian healthcare system is a joke especially for those with mental illnesses and disabilities and if anyone tries to say otherwise they're dead fucking wrong.

[wakandama2]

JUST BECAUSE OZEMPIC CAN CAUSE WEIGHT LOSS DOES NOT MEAN IT IS A WEIGHT LOSS MEDICATION. PLS STOP USING IT IF YOU ARE NOT DIAGNOSED TYPE 2 DIABETIC 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

[tobeabatman]

Fat people, especially us fat women, can’t trust healthcare professionals. They always find a way to relate everything to our weight. So we learn early how to advocate for us in healthcare.

No matter whether it’s a dermatologist, a psychologist, an OB-GYN, a cardiologist: your diagnosis is fat. They won’t believe us on a regular doctor’s visit, nor do they believe us in the ER. I know of too many cases where patients died, not because of their disease, but because healthcare professionals wouldn’t treat their underlying condition before they lost weight.

This is present in shows like My 600-lb Life as well, where many participants die due to them not getting help (for their possible binge-eating disorders, mental health, or any actual medical help besides the promise of a surgery).

If some operating tables, machines, and tools aren’t suitable for very fat people, then that is a problem for the healthcare system to solve!!

There’s so much research on fat people, but none of them actually search for ways to help us: they’re focused on proving their biases true, so that they can possibly deny us healthcare in the future too.

[medusa-fem]

Any rad fems have the magick secret for getting doctors to listen to you as a "mentally ill" young female? I have every symptom of a posterior tongue tie, I have chronic neck pain and multiple small lumps in my neck, and extreme constant fatigue. I just feel like this doctors appointment coming up will be like all the others. I feel shoved out the door when I want help. 3 doctors appointments with my old doctor and she wouldn't even do anything but theorize the bumps are a cyst or a muscle knot, and send me physical therapy videos. The tongue tie hasn't even been caught yet despite it potentially being the cause of constant jaw pain and some trouble speaking for long spells.

[fauvny]

Shoutout to the chronically ill!

You will find your way. Take the tube of your IVs and use them as a weapon against the very people who hurt you.

I’ve been sick since I was 14-15. Ignored by doctors and ultimately have gone through enough major surgeries, it’s affected my heart. But I keep going. I keep going not because I have to but because I choose to. I push back against the very people who have neglected and cursed me into this life just to show that no matter how much abuse I take from those with licenses to experiment on people, I stand strong. Punctured, stitched, poked, prodded.

[andiebomb]

Totally different than my regular posts but fuck u

(TW/ suicidal tendencies, chronic illness, vent)

No one understands type1 diabetes unless you actually have it, I was in the hospital (one time of many) for intentionally putting myself into DKA so that I could lose weight and then die (I’d look so hot in my casket) so the hospital called the crisis guy like how they normally would for an attempt,

but because it was a matter of me just giving up on having to CONSTANTLY monitor and be hyper vigilant of my body (WHICH REGULAR PEOPLE DONT HAVE TO DO) they were kinda clueless on how to effectively help me.

Normally when someone “gives up” it’s on their basic needs like eating, self care and shit like that but for me it was just stopping putting needles in myself, doing math to be able to eat and stabbing the tips of my fingers 20 times a day

I was exhausted, my life is basically being a 24 hour nurse for myself.

Plus I’m fat so having diabetes just means everyone blames my illness on myself, which isn’t how type 1 diabetes works! I didn’t do anything, I never drank soda, I rarely ate sugar but that’s how the general public thinks how people get diabetes! When actually my pancreas is just a little BITCH WHO CANT FIGHT BACK AT MY AMMUNE SYSTEM!

This crisis guy came into my hospital room and started giving a lecture on TYPE 2 DIABETES! I AM TYPE 1 THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT! And even his lecture on type 2 was bullshit!

His man looks me in my eyes and says “if you wanna be happy lose weight by eating healthy and exercising. Your never going to be normal so stop acting like you are.”

…I am also autistic so I’ve struggled with feeling like a foreign creature, unhuman my whole life.

This man just reinforced every. Single. Reason. Why I wanted to kill myself.

And honestly after he said that I started sobbing. He left the room without guilt and said I was free to discharge.

Hearing that I fully started to laugh my ass off at the absurdity of the situation, this man WHOS JOB IS TO STOP ME FROM KILLING MYSELF just signed my death certificate.

I didn’t end up killing myself purely because… FUCK THAT GUY IM GONNA BE FAT AND HATE MYSELF AND BE THE MOST NORMAL PERSON EVER! HE CAN GO EAT A DICK!

Anywayyyyy hideduo is so cute!

[healingjusticedigitalblogem]

Roots of Medical Industrial Complex

The concept of the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC), as discussed in Roots of the Medical Industrial Complex by Cara Page, reflects the interwoven systems of profit, colonization, and control in healthcare. This corporate-driven model places profit over care, perpetuating historical ideologies that dehumanize marginalized communities. As outlined by Patty Berne, the MIC's foundation lies in racist, ableist science, emphasizing control through bodies seen as expendable for the benefit of the wealthy elite.

One disturbing example is Dr. J. Marion Sims, considered the father of modern gynecology, who performed brutal experiments on enslaved Black women without anesthesia, believing they could endure more pain than white women. This horrific mistreatment laid the foundation for gynecology, embedding racial bias into the medical field from its very inception.

What I found particularly interesting was the historical connection between the MIC and population control, a concept that began with Thomas Malthus's theory of overpopulation. Malthus blamed the fertility of Indigenous and women of color for environmental degradation, which led to policies aimed at controlling the birth rates of these communities. The continued intersection of eugenics, as highlighted in the forced sterilization of people deemed "unfit," reflects a disturbing legacy that persists today.

This text reminded me of the ongoing fight for healthcare justice, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlighted the disparities in who had access to life-saving care, reinforcing how deeply rooted these systems of control still are.

For further reading on how eugenics shapes modern medicine, you can check out Harriet Washington's Medical Apartheid, a profound book on medical experimentation on Black Americans.

[chestersbraincell]

So. I may have just realised that my funny haha childhood dentist story is actually a reason for why i get full blown panic attacks(i experience a good range of them, from air feeling heavy+generally freezing up all the way to shaky heavy breathing+shaking+dizziness, and the ones I get at the dentist are some of the most extreme) every time i have dental work done and that I might actually by traumatised

Until literally today, I thought it was just an unfortunate truth that they had to cut into my inner cheek to drain an abscess while I felt every bit of it. I was told, and my parents were told, that this was just inevitable with the way the puss would’ve made the local anaesthesia not work. Turns out, if the local anaesthetic is too neutralised by the puss, they’re supposed to put you under 😶

Dawg no wonder I was apparently screaming so loud, 8 yo me felt every bit of that cut. If you’re wondering, no, I don’t remember it. But subconsciously I think I do and that would explain the visceral reaction I get to having dental work done. In the end, I think it was medical negligence caused by the fact that it was an emergency procedure done away from home (the random inflammation and puss happened out of the blue while out on a trip to the seaside so I dont even think we were registered at the practice).

Now what they don’t tell you about medical gaslighting is that in the case of children, it often then extends to their parents, because the parents trust the doctors. All of a sudden, the old childhood wound of me crying in the car holding a cold can of pop to the side of my face while my parents tell me that it “doesnt hurt that bad” and to essentially stfu because they couldnt focus on driving, feels a whole lot more validated.

Ofc, I still hold my parents accountable to one part of it, that being their smart idea to keep telling me “if you cry it will hurt more”(tauntingly as it went on, btw) in hopes of getting me to shut up, whereas it actually sent me into a spiral of being scared that it will hurt more and therefore crying more out of fear and being scared that the crying would make it hurt more and so on and so on. All to the oh so disappointed tired sighs of my parents, completely unempathetic in my 8 year old eyes.

Update: I was just telling my mom about this randomly and guess fucking what. Started to gaslight me with her usual “oh silly you you’re rambling nonsense go to sleep already”. Hasn’t changed one bit, ironically enough. Like, genuinely, you’d think she has atleast enough self-awareness to realise how ridiculously ironic she’s being saying that sort of stuff after telling her about literally being medically gaslighted. Shits mad