" I ’m dreaming again . "
It’s unfortunately quite common to hear stories about doctors not taking women’s pain seriously, but this particular story iswild. Recently, avideofrom TikTok creatorSam Hartwent viral with over 5 million views, and it’s sparked a conversation about doctors and women’s pain. I, for one, am furious for her!
ONE DAY I WILL LET THIS GO ! !
In the video, Sam talks about a visit to her primary care doctor over two years ago where she first brought up concerns over excessive sleepiness.
“You know what makes me feel incredible and not super angry at all?” she begins. “The way that over two years ago, I went to a doctor, and I said, ‘I am tired all the time, and something is wrong.’ And he said, ‘Mmm, you just need to lose some weight.'”
Sam goes on to describe the over two years of doctors’ visits where she tried to find the cause of her debilitating tiredness. “I tried to tell [my doctor] about how it wasn’t just regular sleepiness, it was, like, excessive sleepiness, to the point where when it happened, I needed to lay down immediately,” she says. “And he once again was like, ‘Yep, it’s just ‘cause you’re overweight.'”
“So I left that appointment feeling like shit about myself,” she says. “I had to go sit in my car and cry for a while.” But she didn’t give up; later that winter, she went to the doctor again, insisting they test her for mono. They told her it was just the seasonal change of winter, and that she’d adapt.
A few months later, at an appointment in the summer of 2021, she told her OBGYN that she was “really tired all the time, to the point where it feels like something is wrong.” The OBGYN’s response? “Oh, honey, you’re just getting older. Welcome to the club.”
“This all happened two years ago,” says Sam, “and since then, none of the sleepiness and exhaustion has gone away.” Last winter, in 2022, she went to see that primary care physician again for a checkup.
Describing the visit, she says, “I try to talk to him about my migraines, tell him I’m training for a half marathon… He’s like, ‘None of that matters. You need to lose weight.’ Okay, thank you.”
In the spring, she scheduled an appointment with a new primary care doctor — and this time, she went in tolerating no bullshit. “I walked into that appointment, and I said, ‘I don’t wanna talk about my weight. I am so tired, there is something wrong, and I need you to trust me.’ And he goes, ‘Great, I’ll send you for a sleep study.'” Just like that!
It turns out that she hassleep apnea, a “sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts,” according to the Mayo Clinic. “My body physically was not sleeping at night,” she says. Now, she’s been treating her sleep apnea for almost four months. Her migraines — “debilitating migraines that dominated my life for years” — are gone. “I don’t need to nap anymore,” she says. “I’m dreaming again. Shoutout to the doctor who finally took me seriously.”
Sam’s comment section was FULL of people sharing their own stories. Moral of the story: Don’t trust that doctors will always take your symptoms at face value.
The silver lining seems to be that over 5 million people have watched Sam’s video, and have hopefully learned something: to always,alwaysadvocate for yourself at the doctor’s office. Don’t be afraid to press an issue or stand up for yourself — or, for that matter, to switch doctors altogether.
If you’d like to keep up with Sam, you can follow her on herTikTokorInstagram. Feel free to share your own stories down below! This is definitely something that needs to be talked about more.
