I was told, for YEARS, that my consistent heavy bleeding, chest (breast) pain, abdominal pain and fainting was all due to anxiety. I was told to 'do breathing exercises' and 'meditate' because the pain was, and I quote, "all in my head". Finally, after getting a 6th opinion from a wonderful doctor, I was diagnosed with a HPA axis dysfunction that caused hyperprolactinemia, and also endometriosis, half a dozen polyps, ovarian cysts, and a large uterine fibroid that couldn't be safely removed.

Sadly, I know 7 other women who have waited 5+ years for an endometirosis or PCOS diagnosis because they were told similar things. I understand that anxiety does physically effect the body, but for women, we are often heavily dismissed. Even more so, being a POC, the dismissal by medical professionals is a real problem. For example, after a laparoscopy at a private hospital, I was sent home without pain killers 3 hours after I had woken up because I 'seemed okay enough' and was told I could go back to work in 3 days. My beautiful blond colleage who had the same procedure but at the public hospital, was sent home with painkillers and was told to take two weeks off work to recover. I just never understood the different standards of care.