It’s no secret that the world of healthcare (especially in the US) has taken a nosedive off a cliff in the past decade or so. While I’m grateful for modern medicine and things like vaccines, dealing with doctors these days is often as frustrating, if not more than, dealing with the condition you’re trying to get treated. This is especially true if you’re a woman.Recently, Redditor swissguy1989 asked, “What’s the most unhinged thing a doctor has said to you with a straight face?” While the post didn’t specifically ask women to answer, they were the overwhelming majority in the comments. I’d say it’s shocking, but considering women often aren’t even considered in major medical studies, it’s not surprising that doctors feel comfortable saying some truly DERRANGED things behind closed doors (though, thankfully, a few of them are pretty funny). Here’s what people had to share:1. “A doctor told me my stomach pain was just period cramps when, in fact, my appendix had burst.”—u/camusthenarwhal”I feel ya there. I was told I was having a tubal pregnancy when, in fact, my appendix had burst. (I was 14 years old and had never been sexually active.)”—u/Low-Clerk96662. “A doctor once told me that I’d somehow caused the scarring on my kidneys by worrying too much about it.”—u/_cosmicomics_3. “A GI doctor literally told me, ‘Don’t ask doctors for tests; it just results in more diagnoses.’ Umm, sir, I know I’m not a doctor, but I wasn’t aware that the tests cause medical issues. I thought they found them, especially when one has unexplained symptoms. My GP wouldn’t have sent me there if she hadn’t already found concerning results, but he wanted to hand-wave them away. The way he said it made it clear he thought I was either just anxious and it was in my head, or that I was looking for drugs. When the liver biopsy results came in, it was positive for multiple abnormalities. I now have a different doctor, and about two years later, I have Stage II liver fibrosis from MASH and MASLD, among other things. Don’t try to tell me I don’t know my body.”—u/Visible_Listen6422Related: “18 People Shared Their Health And Lifestyle “Hacks,” And They’re Downright Real”4. “‘You really should get used to getting your blood drawn; you’ll need to do that a lot when you’re pregnant.’ I was 11 and had fainted involuntarily during a blood draw.”—u/Organic-Roof-83115. “‘If you pray to Jesus and let him into your life, he will help you with your diabetes.’ I reported them to my local health authority, and two months later they were forcibly retired by the medical clinic where they practiced.”—u/boredwithennuiJose Luis Pelaez / Getty Images6. “During my first Pap smear, the practitioner was stooped down between my legs to get a good view around the speculum. She readjusted the overhead lamp and absentmindedly said, ‘It’s dark in there.’ God, I was nearly crying laughing at how seriously she said it.”—u/SnapDragonZeta7. “When I had a cervical biopsy, my doctor told me that there are no nerve endings in the cervix, so I would not feel any pain.”—u/Sashi84″Oh, dear god. Reminds me of the time my doc said, ‘You have a little tag here on your cervix; let me just get that off for you.’ The next thing I remember is waking up to a room full of panicked-looking people and them telling me they called my husband. Turns out if you randomly yank something off my cervix, I scream, pass out, and puke all over myself. But yeah, there’s probably no nerve endings there.”—u/mintjulip8. “I told my therapist I had been having a recurring nightmare for six months about an event that happened in my life. She said, ‘Just stop fucking caring; it’s actually that easy,’ went on a long rant about how she hates Midwesterners, and then fired me as a patient.”—u/Square-Turnip-6558Tatsiana Volkava / Getty Images9. “I used to bleed between periods for years (I’d only have one week of no blood a month). So many docs couldn’t figure out why, so my then-GP, who was an old man, said, ‘Can’t you just live with it?’ I found a great new doctor who tried various things until she figured out how to fix my problem.”—u/ellewoods_8910. “I told my doctor I was getting frequent high heart rate notifications while I was flying. He told me maybe I’m just a nervous flyer. I’m a pilot. I cut out caffeine and started exercising more, which solved all my problems. Turns out that sitting down for 12 hours a day while drinking black coffee isn’t good for you.”—u/myseptemberchildRelated: “17 People Are JUDGING The “Hygiene Habits” That Are Truly Revolting”ajr_images / Getty Images11. “I told him I was struggling to run because of hay fever, in the hopes he’d test me for allergy-induced asthma or give me stronger meds. He told me I should just stop running.”—u/camusthenarwhal12. “At 25, I tried to get my tubes tied AFTER already having three children. This male doctor really looked me in the eyes and told me no because, ‘I know you’ve managed to convince yourself, but you haven’t convinced me.'”—u/th3r3alslim”I had endometriosis and was denied a hysterectomy because ‘What if your future husband wants kids?’ I’m a grown adult and can communicate my wishes in life, you moldy piece of lettuce.”—u/andgonow13. “I once had a female doctor offhandedly ask when I had my breast augmentation because it wasn’t listed in my medical history. I told her I’d never had one, and she did a double take and said, ‘Those are natural?!’ She immediately apologized for being unprofessional, but honestly, it made me laugh, and I didn’t mind. My shirt was off because she was going to palpate for a lump in my breast tissue, and when she finally did, I heard her mutter, ‘They really are!’ to herself. 😂”—u/mr_trickMoMo Productions / Getty Images14. “Six weeks after back surgery, the pain in my head was unbearable. I was told, ‘You have no pain; you are drug-seeking. You want to pay for my kids’ college education? Sure, I’ll do exploratory surgery.’ Two days later, he did exploratory surgery and had to repair a tear in my spinal cord caused by a cerebrospinal fluid leak! Doctors should never be allowed to tell someone they are not in pain.”—u/StatisticianTop482915. “‘It’s 100% not cancer.’ Two weeks later, I was diagnosed with STAGE FOUR colon cancer.”—u/ashy_daddyRelated: “People Are Sharing Hygiene Rules They Learned Way Too Late In Life”16. “A doctor told me I was saying ‘like’ too much and that I should read more. I replied by throwing up on his floor.”—u/PhilosoFishy2477″Stories like this make me wish women could projectile vomit at will, like buzzards.”—u/mister_sleepy17. “Had a doctor tell me I may have contracted HIV because I had inguinal lymph node swelling and was falling asleep outside of my control. I had mono…”—u/fraupanda18. “At 12 weeks pregnant, the doctor told me my baby had a 90% chance of having a severe disability, that I shouldn’t bother scheduling my 20-week anatomy scan, and that I could terminate before 24 weeks. The genetic counselor called me the next day to say the test in question has a 75% false-positive rate. We asked the doctor where his ‘90% chance’ stat came from, and whether he had a study or paper to reference. He said no; he was just conveying a feeling based on his experience. Our baby was born perfectly healthy.”—u/hg1319. “I went to a GP in Wales for extreme anxiety and panic attacks (which I get from time to time), and asked for a prescription for benzodiazepine, which is the only thing that helps in that situation, and I take extremely rarely. She asked why I was anxious. I told her that I have generalized anxiety disorder. She asked what that was… After I explained a medical condition to a doctor, she looked me straight in the face and asked me, ‘Have you tried tea?’ TEA!”—u/MeldoRoxl20. “My gynecologist: ‘Older women like you tend to have this problem.’ I was 21. Honestly, I walked home laughing because I found this situation so absurd.”—u/Velvety_BumblebeeCarol Yepes / Getty Images21. “At 12, I had gained some weight, and my mom took me to the doctor to be checked. He looked at me, a 12-year-old girl, and said, ‘I bet your family came from Germany. You’re built for starvation conditions. You just need to go with that.’ Cue a lifetime of disordered eating. Bonus points when I found out his own daughter was hospitalized with anorexia at 11.”—u/MotherAgenda22. “A doctor told me I was ‘full of shit.’ He’d been waiting for years for a constipated patient who he knew wouldn’t get offended by him saying it.”—u/JenIsSalty23. “My spouse is hemiplegic/uses a wheelchair 99% of the time. An ER doc told my spouse to ‘get more exercise, like jogging.'”—u/credditthredditRelated: “23 Human Body “Cheat Codes” You’ll Wish You Knew Sooner”24. “My periods were so intense that I was missing work, using heat packs year-round, taking ibuprofen CONSTANTLY, and experiencing classic symptoms even on birth control. Five different doctors asked, ‘Have you considered that you might just be overweight/anxious?’ Yeeaaahhh. Years later, my robotically-assisted hysterectomy (which should’ve been a quick 90-minute adventure) took SIX HOURS because my innards were glued together by endometriosis tissue that had punched clean through the uterus. But go off about how I’m just a silly little lady with a pudgy belly and mental troubles.”—u/verdantthornHispanolistic / Getty Images25. “My (female) doctor, who was doing a Pap smear, told me I was tight and that my boyfriend must really like that.”—u/TheTardisBaroness”Ewwwwwwww, this makes my skin crawl. In what world is this ever okay for a medical professional to say?”—u/Substantial-Mud-857226. “‘It’s a shame you’re overweight, because you have such a lovely face otherwise.’ That was from a female nurse at an asthma checkup.”—u/Iremo_raptor27. “When I was a teenager and had my first women’s appointment to get on birth control. My doctor told me that penises are like fruit, and I need to inspect them before I buy them, and men who want to have anal sex aren’t all the way straight. Those were her exact words.”—u/Mariao516SDI Productions / Getty Images28. And finally, “One doctor asked me if I would be interested in an arranged marriage with his nephew, just long enough for him to move to the US and gain citizenship. I was 18 and being seen for a minor illness. He showed me a picture of his nephew and gave me what seemed like a well-rehearsed pitch for what would be expected of me, how it would go, and what was in it for me. I politely declined the arranged marriage proposal. That is by far the most unhinged thing a doctor ever said to me, even though I’ve since had some doozies because women’s healthcare is often a joke, anyway.”—u/spoonface_gorillaWhat’s the wildest thing a doctor has ever said to you? Tell me in the comments or use the anonymous form below. Your response may be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed article!Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.Your daily brain workout: If You Can Solve This 25-Word Chain, Then You’re An Elite Level Of SmartAlso in Health: “People Are Confessing Their Most Embarrassing Hygiene Mistakes”Also in Health: “How Many Of These “Basic Hygiene Habits” Do You Do?”Read it on BuzzFeed.com
