Thread by @stimmyskye

self diagnosis was the only way I knew to ask for specific meds, and to self medicate with OTC and supplements, and THAT was how I went from needing a wheelchair to get from bed to toilet to... well I haven't used my wheelchair in almost 2 years.

clearly, I've harmed myself.

https://twitter.com/Hotsun___/status/1439605952026607623

I'm tired.

I have never met a single doctor who actually knew *anything* about my underlying condition (MCAS).

I have met plenty of doctors who didn't believe me that it even exists.

There is precisely 1 place in germany that offers MCAS diagnosis and I can't get there.

without self dx and self medicating, both for mental health as well as physical health, I would be dead.

long, long dead.

what harms is gatekeeping of information. doctors *shouldn't* be the only ones with the power of diagnosis and treatment.

they fuck up too often.

doctors have never diagnosed me with anything that i didn't know I had before i even made an appointment. no, not even the hypothyroidism. I knew that months before it showed up on the bloodworks.

doctors are bullshit. they haven't eaten from a magical cake of knowledge. they are just as competent and incompetent as everyone else who has gone to university, remembers a few things, then did some work, forgot some things and learned others

putting them on a pedestal as the only ones with the power to diagnose and treat patients, without any recourse for patients who are not getting help, is what kills so many of us. quietly. you won't hear of 99.9% of those of us who die like this. neglected and dismissed

self diagnose yourself with everything you fucking want. break the rules to help yourself. nobody else is going to do it. until that changes, radical self-determination may well be the only way to stay alive.

personally, I've got better things to do than chasing a diagnosis for something I've been managing and medicating on my own for 5 years.

with incredible fucking success.

I'm not wasting several years of my life on that. I'm doing a lot better than I ever hoped I would.

so yeah, I've diagnosed myself, I've worked out a successful medication plan for myself, and now I'm going to go practice the fiddle that I wouldn't even be able to *hold* if I hadn't diagnosed and medicated myself.

shit, I wouldn't be able to sit upright. lol. have a good day