"You don't look sick."
"You're too young to be having these problems."
"It's just anxiety"
"Don't be melodramatic."
"You're so young though!"
If you're a young person and sick, chances are that you've heard at least one of these at some point in your lifetime. For some reason, the ability to be sick seems to belong to those who have reached a certain age point in the minds of society. Being a sick younger person leads to expressions of shock, disbelief and outright dismissal.
Parents, doctors, teachers, the people you trust to take care of you in general, all shrug you off. It's like they can't wrap their mind around the fact that someone younger than them could have a debilitating disease. There's just this overall disbelief that follows you everywhere you go.
For years, this has been the case with my own doctors. They've shrugged me off. They've told me it was anxiety or that it was all in my head. They refused to do testing that could have caught the issues sooner.
It took years of transferring through doctors and pushing until I finally found a doctor willing to listen to me. Finding that doctor helped to finally diagnose and understand the issues that I'd been having all along. Before that, every appointment was the same and led me nowhere.
I currently have an excellent team in place and have a care team that I've grown to rely on. This team makes sure that all of my needs are met and that I'm as healthy as I possibly can be. While there is still a bit of pushing to be done, most of this is in regards to which treatment options i'm the most willing to explore. It took years when in reality it should have only taken a couple of months at most.
For those of you going through something similar, keep pushing. If it's possible, switch doctors. Chances are that if the doctor you're seeing keeps dismissing you, it's going to have to take something extremely traumatic to change their minds.
If you're part of a practice, you maybe able to switch to a different doctor within that practice who will be more willing to listen. The only downside to switching to a new doctor in a practice is that coworkers talk which may diminish the progress that you make.Now, I know insurance is a tricky thing and sometimes it can be inconvenient to go through all of the loops.
However, your health will only continue to get worse if you keep going without treatment or even acknowledgment of the problem. Make the time and jump through the hoops, your body will likely thank you for it later. Most insurance companies have lists of providers that accept their insurance.
Another useful tip is to look up reviews on your doctors. Seriously, do it. Most doctors with bad reps or that refuse to listen will be noted. In looking them up, you'll better be able to avoid those people in the future.
Vitals.com is one place that I've personally found that gives you reviews on the doctors in question while also listing their qualifications. Utilize what you can in order to find the best fit for you and don't take NO for an answer. Your health is too important.
