So listen to this bullshit for the past year I have been passing out around and during the time of my period. Mind you, I stopped having periods for three years because I have PCOS and my hormones are all out of whack. I lost A LOT of weight and they came back but not every month. Only every 3-4 months. I couldn't understand why I was passing out or why my periods are so painful. But this time, my period was even more incredibly painful, and I not only passed out.. I started having seizures. I was rushed to the ER through an ambulance. I was only a little conscious upon arrival enough to mumble what medication I was on, but felt myself losing consciousness again. I don't remember, but apparently the doctor didn't believe that I was unconscious and my friend told me that he even smacked me in the face before realizing that I was really unconscious. I then started to have another seizure. They had to put ammonia on my nose to get me out of it. After I was awake enough to communicate, I told my nurses and the doctor that I'm on my period. That I think it might have something to do with all of this. They took blood, urine, and did a CT scan. I had to tell him that I have Social Anxiety Disorder and have been in recovery for a year and have been hospitalized for my mental health four times, but my anxiety had nothing to do with this. Anyone that has anxiety would know if they were just having a panic attack or if something else was seriously wrong. My tests came back normal. The doctor came back in and told me that I had to get on a computer and talk to a psychiatrist at another hospital to be evaluated. I was so confused. I started crying. Here I am HAVING SEIZURES and they are trying to evaluate me to be sent into a psychiatric facility at another hospital. I let them evaluate me even though I was outraged. I told the psychiatrist that I'm fine, I just want to know what's causing my seizures that I didn't come to the hospital to be treated like this. She then asked me "It's my understanding that you would like to be admitted at our facility here?" I said "I have no interest in your facility because I'm fine mentally besides the fact that you guys are treating me like I've done something wrong trying to convince me to tell you I'm suicidal when I'm not. I'm physically sick and I just want to get better and figure out why I'm having seizures." After finally convincing them that I don't need to be put in psych the doctor that made me go through all of this bullshit and tried to have me sent off came back in my room and said "Wait, are you on your period?" I was infuriated. I just looked at him and said "Yes." He just walked away. The nurse came back and discharged me to go home. I was terrified that I was going to go home and have another seizure. They didn't do anything. My diagnoses was "Syncope" (passing out) and "Anxiety"- Panic Attack. I NEVER HAD A PANIC ATTACK. Once I get home, knowing something is terribly wrong, and it's too late at night to schedule an appointment with my doctor, plus she just so happens to be on vacation I started messaging her on Facebook telling her how scared I am and what all that happened. The next day my mom drove me to my aunts house two hours away so I could be around more people to watch me and to be closer to a better hospital. I had another seizure that same night. My doctor saw the message shortly afterwards. SHE WAS OUTRAGED. I told her about my period, about the passing out, and about my first seizures. She told me THROUGH FACEBOOK that it sounds like I have a condition called Catamenial Epilepsy which is basically seizures that are triggered by hormones and a woman's menstrual cycle and that she needed to see me in her office first thing Monday morning. The point of me telling this story is: I went into a hospital passing out and having seizures and was treated like a psych patient just because I have a mental illness. I was treated like shit and was sent home instead of being further examined to find out what's causing my seizures. AND THE DOCTOR REALIZED what happened and DISCHARGED me knowing there was another chance of me seizing again. And that is reality for people going through a mental illness. We are treated as if we are crazy, that other illnesses are irrelevant because you have a mental illness. I was treated like an infection, like I wasn't even worth their time.
