Why didn't you say so?

[u/TheNectarineDiaries]

Best medical advice I ever got was to bring a man to your appointments

[u/CocoCookieDraws]

even when I bring my sister they say more than when I'm alone. for some reason doctors are scared when you're not by yourself. I wish doctors were more proactive instead of the patient having to fight to get tested. I wouldn't have confirmed POTS with a tilt table test if I didn't push my doctor for tests

edit: woah I didn’t expect to get so many comments. thank you for them, it’s nice to know I’m not alone in this (and thank you, comic artist). 

My diagnosis: For those curious about my POTS diagnosis, since January I’ve had a test with about every specialist you can think of. I got sick in November with a really bad flu, I don’t know if it was Covid or something else, but I definitely got  screwed over. I had my tilt table last week, and the common misconception among doctors is that they can just test you in their office. my doctor and two cardiologist said they didn’t think I had POTS (no it's not anxiety SHUT UP I KNOW WHAT MY ANXIETY FEELS LIKE. stop telling me that because I'm a 22 year old woman. I swear, telling women they have anxiety when they have a medical problem is exactly the same as telling them they have hysteria). but at the time they tested me, I was hydrated and taking salt. before my TTT I fasted, no food, no water, and stopped taking my vitassium (salt pills) the day before. the nurse literally told me that they wanted to see my baseline, how my body functioned without hydration holding me up. If you think you have POTS or anything else, please advocate for yourself. You’re worth it.

edit 2: diagnostic criteria for pots is a rise of 30 bpm within 10 min of standing, and it has to be sustained for a certain amount of time (not sure the exact amount of time) and the absence of a ≥ 20 mmHg systolic or ≥ 10 mmHg diastolic bp within the first 3 minutes. and no, you do not need to faint to have POTS

for me, I had a 40 bpm increase and my bp increased by 20 systolic I think?, so I have hyperadrenergic POTS, or hyper pots. there are different types of POTS, and treatment varies between them.

adding bolding to make it easier to see the sections you wanted to read

[u/AdCurrent7674 → u/CocoCookieDraws]

The one time I went to urgent care for a chronic UTI without my husband that had the chart projected on the screen. I was describing the symptoms I was having. The nurse froze at “foul smelling urine”. I repeated foul smelling urine. The nurse looks at me and says “I don’t want to put that because it sounds bad” and made a gesture like I should be embarrassed.

I said “Sir I work in healthcare that’s is the proper term put it in the chart.” (I am a microbiologist)

This was then followed by my urine test coming back negative. I fought the doctor hard. I told them to send it for culture. We went back and forth. I told them I knew what a UTI smelled like and I could even tell them what bacteria was growing.

I finally convinced them when I forced the doctor to look in my chart and she that I had a history of UTIs that would grow in culture but not flag on the over the counter test.

I honestly don’t get why I had to fight so hard, I am the one paying to have it sent for culture anyways. It came back with E coil just like I told them it would

[u/Exciting-Mountain396 → u/AdCurrent7674]

Being told your symptoms are too unladylike for your chart, good grief.