Medical Gaslighting in the Age of Covid

It has been ages since I've contributed a new story to this PMDD Life Support blog, but I see something playing out on the big stage that is so relevant, and so critical, that I felt the need to return and share it.

I've written befo re about medical gaslighting and how many women with PMDD are either misdiagnosed or ignored completely when expressing their symptoms and challenges to doctors. I believe it stems from a deeply rooted and ancient misogyny: woman complain too much and have no basis but their irrational minds to do so. This is sometimes even perpetrated by women who should know better against other women.

What is it about a woman's cycle, that eternal mystery of endocrine glands, hormones, and perfect chemistry, that continues to cause so much fear in our male-dominated world of science and medicine? Why does the world of medicine continue to ignore the obvious differences between men and women in determining needs, dosages, and manifestations of illness or reactions to treatments? Perhaps because that's the way it has always been done. It certaintly isn't because the sexes make no difference in these regards.

In the article that spurred my need to write this piece, which was recently published by the Grayzone, the author decries the failure of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to warn women who get Covid shots that they may experience a disrupted menstrual cycle.

She goes on to explain that a growing record of anecdotal evidence exists that the vaccines might indeed cause problems, and in fact, that the fast-tracked trials included zero studies to identify possible adverse reactions by sex in advance of approval. This despite the fact that in former studies, women have been shown to have a higher number of them. Symptoms including month-long hemorrhagic bleeding, heavy intermittent bleeding, large clots of blood and unusually painful cramping are being reported following vaccination and even after contact with the vaccinated. Can you guess how that anecdotal evidence is being treated?

Not with an, "Okay, obviously something is going on. Let's figure it out."

In true historical fashion, the women to whom such disruptions have occured are being ignored by the industry and instead, pathologized and invalidated. Why is this information being discounted? Because it is irrational, politically driven, or can be "filled in by any antivaxxer"? Is that the value of not just one woman's experience in today's world, but of the 140,000+ who have completed the survey so far?

They argue there is no data to support the claims of these women while at the same time refusing to do any adequate studies that might confirm them. In the meantime, it's full speed ahead to inject pregnant women, teenagers and even young girls with complete legal immunity in case of damages. See how that works?

I don't want to be pulled into debates about whether or not this virus exists, nor do I want to argue around points irrelevant to this particular point...so I won't: the fact remains, these are still experimental shots and we still don't know what the long-term affects will be...not only for anyone, but specifically for women, who alone will determine the continuation of the human race as we have known it. And the fact that nothing is being done to find out is nothing short of a very curious negligence.

In closing, I urge anyone who is experiencing an adverse reaction to a shot or who knows someone who is to share it with other women and report it wherever you can. Remember such reactions are not necessarily immediate, so trust your intuition. If you feel a problem could be related to the injections, report it! Let independent science determine the results.

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