Okay so women’s health and wellness is something that honestly gets ignored way too damn much and I’m sitting here in my apartment at like 1:37am with the fan rattling because the landlord still hasn’t fixed it, typing this while my lower back is screaming from who-knows-what and wondering why I even bother sometimes.
Like last Tuesday – or was it Wednesday? – I dragged myself to this clinic because I’ve been having this weird combo of exhaustion + random sharp pains under my ribs for like six weeks straight. Waited 50 minutes past my appointment time, finally get called in, explain everything, even brought a little symptom log on my phone like a responsible adult. The PA looks at me for maybe 12 seconds, says “sounds like stress, try yoga,” and hands me a printout about mindfulness apps. I literally laughed out loud in the room because what the actual hell. I paid $140 for that.
Why Does Women’s Health and Wellness Get Ignored So Often? My Annoyed Observations
I think part of it is straight-up bias. Not like evil mustache-twirling bias, but the quiet kind where doctors (not all, but enough) hear “woman complaining about vague symptoms” and their brain just auto-files it under “hysterical / anxious / wants attention.” There’s actual studies on this – I read one from somewhere that said women are way more likely to be prescribed sedatives instead of pain meds for the same complaints men get taken seriously for. I’ll link it if I can find the tab again, hold on… yeah here: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a19913782/gender-bias-in-healthcare/ (okay maybe not the most academic but it cites real papers).
And don’t even get me started on reproductive stuff. I had insane cramps once so bad I threw up in a Target bathroom and when I finally got to urgent care they did an ultrasound, saw a decent-sized ovarian cyst, and the doctor goes “eh it’ll probably resolve on its own, take Aleve.” Like… cool, so I’m just supposed to live like this every month? Cool cool cool.
My Embarrassing Track Record of Also Ignoring My Own Women’s Health and Wellness
Here’s the hypocritical part: I’ve ignored it too. Big time.
- Ignored breakthrough bleeding for four months because “it’s probably nothing”
- Kept saying the fatigue was just “adulting” until I almost fell asleep at a stoplight
- Once canceled a gyno appointment because I was scared they’d find something scary and I’d have to deal with it
So yeah I’m part of the problem sometimes. Humans are messy like that. We know better and still do dumb shit.
Some Half-Assed Things That Actually Kinda Helped Me (Sometimes)
Not gonna pretend I have it all figured out because I very much do not.
- I started recording voice memos on my phone right after appointments summarizing what was said because my memory gets fuzzy when I’m upset. Turns out doctors say way less concrete stuff than I remember.
- I switched to a female primary care doc. Not because men are bad doctors, but statistically women tend to take women’s health and wellness complaints more seriously according to… uh… several articles I rage-read at 2am.
- Pelvic floor PT. Sounds weird, feels weird at first, but holy crap it helped the random pains I thought were “normal.”
- Telling people “no I don’t think it’s just stress, can we please run some labs” and refusing to leave the room until they agree. Awkward as hell but it works sometimes.
Look, I don’t have a neat bow to tie on this. Women’s health and wellness is still ignored a ridiculous amount in 2026 and I’m still pissed about it. But I’m also trying harder not to ignore myself anymore, even when it’s inconvenient and expensive and exhausting.
If any of this sounds familiar, maybe try one tiny thing this week. Book the appointment you’ve been avoiding. Bring the list. Be annoying if you have to. You deserve better than “it’s probably stress.”
And yeah… sorry for any typos. It’s late, my cat is walking on the keyboard, and I think I spilled tea on my trackpad earlier. Classic me.
What about you? Ever been dismissed by a doctor? Feel free to vent in the comments – misery loves company lol.
