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    Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the SnarkErin Gloria Ryan
    4/28/14 7:10pm

    Not to defend Pinsky too much here, but... lots of diseases get called "garbage can" diagnoses by doctors. My wife has said that internists will regularly include fibromyalgia in this category as well. That isn't to say that they aren't "real," but they are often diagnosed when there is no specific pathology present for anything else.

    Endo sucks. IC sucks. Fibromyalgia sucks. They all suck. But they're poorly understood and often misdiagnosed, which leads to the term "garbage can" disorder. It's not a great term, but it's not because they're not real disorders. They're just often used when nothing else can be diagnosed.

    Welcome to the wild world of internal medicine.

    That said, my wife and I listened to last night's call, and she said, very clearly, that Pinsky did a shitty job of explaining himself. And she's usually pretty quick to side with fellow physicians.

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      Tastycakes2Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the Snark
      4/28/14 7:15pm

      Yeah, but he's not a doctor talking to other doctors who will know what he means. It doesn't take wild flights of imagination to guess that calling a disorder "garbage" to a typical layperson is going to sound dismissive.

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      KindaHouseAri Schwartz: Dark Lord of the Snark
      4/28/14 7:20pm

      If you're in a position to discourage that sort of language, which you make it sound like you are, do so. "It's not a great term"- then don't use it and don't let people around you use it. Language in the medical world is constantly changing and evolving, it's not asking a lot. Words are powerful and I see too many medical professionals speaking carelessly in front of patients.

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    MistyGishErin Gloria Ryan
    4/28/14 7:24pm

    Oh for fucks sake! I used to listen to Loveline years back when I was in high school, and even then before I had any kind of sexual experience I could tell Dr. Drew was absolutely full of shit. This was his answer to everything. Every single time a woman would call in and mention a kink or a hang-up or a preference Dr. Drew would give his only diagnosis, "well, obviously you were sexually abused". When women say they weren't he would just claim that they must have been, but don't quite remember it. You know what, I think I have it figured out, maybe Dr. Drew was abused sexually and that's the reason why he's obsessed with claiming everything has to do with sexual abuse. Oh wait, I would never assume that happened to anyone because I'm not a gaping obtuse butthole like Dr. Drew.

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      endosuffererMistyGish
      4/28/14 7:47pm

      You are amazing. Thank you so much

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      adjectivebearMistyGish
      4/28/14 7:55pm

      Every single time a woman would call in and mention a kink or a hang-up or a preference Dr. Drew would give his only diagnosis, "well, obviously you were sexually abused".

      Methinks Dr. Drew has an "abused women" kink.

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    AikageErin Gloria Ryan
    4/28/14 7:15pm

    Dr. Drew.

    Your source for all reliable medical diagnoses. It's true because Dr. Phil told me so.

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      The Artist Formerly Known As...Dr Furby MD
      4/28/14 7:38pm

      Dr Oz has a shake or a seed you can take to fix that shit.

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      ZeetalDr Furby MD
      4/28/14 7:46pm

      There's also a group of Drs who will talk about all kinds of random subjects for no reason, too. With things you should try. Because they are The Doctors.

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    nullErin Gloria Ryan
    4/28/14 7:07pm

    I'm starting to get to the point where I feel as though if you do not own a uterus or ovaries you should not even be talking about them, let alone making any kind of judgments or decisions about them. This shit is so freaking tired.

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      manybellsdownsipsPiglioGriglionull
      4/28/14 8:12pm

      Yes I have begun feeling the same way after a dude insisted to me that women do not actually "ejaculate", we're just incontinent on orgasm and it's pee. I take solace in the fact that he's clearly never brought a woman to a squirting orgasm.

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      sharpteeth: local gqnull
      4/28/14 8:17pm

      Seriously dudes who have an opinion about my uterus, unless you are my gyno I am not interested.

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    soulfeggioErin Gloria Ryan
    4/28/14 7:10pm

    Twats? Really?

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      contrarianistsoulfeggio
      4/28/14 7:14pm

      That'll calm the stupid bitches down.

      Lord.

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      soulfeggiocontrarianist
      4/28/14 7:27pm

      Yeah I just... wow. I guess it's good I can still be shocked?

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    BlondeGoddessErin Gloria Ryan
    4/29/14 6:53am

    I was misdiagnosed for 15 years because of a gyno who didn't 'believe' in endometriosis. After I ended up in the ER 8 times due to non-functioning intestines, which is a life-threatening situation, someone finally took me seriously. Turned out I had lesions all over my intestines, parts were glued to my abdominal wall, my ovaries were glued to my uterus, and I had a huge cyst between my vagina and rectum (which explained all the painful sex). Thanks doc, for letting me have this condition and the excruciating pain that comes with it for another 15 years, which made the lesions and cysts etc SO MUCH worse. It cost me my relationship and ability to have children in a 'normal' way.

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      LVP @LizaVPBlondeGoddess
      4/29/14 10:00am

      Horrible. Medicine seems to be a guessing game sometimes.

      Second and even third opinions, more people should seek them.

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      BecauseCallasBlondeGoddess
      4/29/14 10:43am

      I'm sorry you had to go through all this...I have a chronic illness that is not always visible due to varying symptoms, and I know how awful/painful it can be not to be taken seriously by people who are supposed to be helping you. To be fair, I've had some wonderful experiences, too, but the bad ones nearly cost me my life.

      I hope you are doing ok now...best wishes to you!

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    KarenDelaneyWalkerErin Gloria Ryan
    4/28/14 7:19pm

    Tamer Seckin is my new hero!

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      Avada Yo MamaErin Gloria Ryan
      4/28/14 7:18pm

      "You were molested" is Dr. Drew's go-to "diagnosis." It's basically his doctoral "advice" cold reading technique - he gets enough "yes"s that it seems like he really can tell which callers are victims of abuse, which lends him credibility. And he is never "wrong" - I've heard, on multiple occasions, him refuse to believe people when they tell him they were not molested, eventually hanging up on them dismissively ("Well, clearly you're not dealing with the fact that you were molested. I can't help you. Go to a therapist.").

      Basically, he is the worst.

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        adjectivebearAvada Yo Mama
        4/28/14 7:59pm

        I seem to recall reading that something absurd like 1 in 3 women have been sexually abused/assaulted, so as far as an "OMG, look at me, I'm sooooo credible" farce goes, it's a pretty easy one to latch onto. Which actually just kind of makes him more of a douchenozzle...

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      Chanel of Endo Sucks!Erin Gloria Ryan
      4/28/14 8:02pm
      Hi Jezebel! My name is Chanel Martin and I run the support network Endo Sucks! My blog is quoted in and linked to in this article. We are so happy that media is finally picking up on the horrible misinformation (at best) spread by Dr. Drew. Can you please cite my name and organization in this article? I would really appreciate it!

      You should also know that endo professionals and sufferers are not only displeased with his handling of this particular caller, but also his lackluster "apology" complete with his cohost calling people who complained about this situation twats who ought to put his balls in our mouths. NICE. That would be an interesting update to your story.

      Thank you again,

      Chanel Martin, founder, Endo Sucks!
      on.fb.me/endosucks
      twitter.com/endosucks

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        thescientistfeministErin Gloria Ryan
        4/28/14 9:15pm

        There actually are links between childhood abuse and inflammatory disorders like those described. It's probably a chronic stress related response, and probably has ties to developmental biological factors, but it's a link and not always the cause. And even if it is the cause, this does not affect the fact that symptoms are still very real; severe stress, especially in development, can cause hormonal and immune system changes that have very real physical consequences. And whether her body has this problem because she's been abused, because of a genetic problem, environmental exposure, or whatever, it doesn't change a thing and therapy isn't going to help all of her physical symptoms. It's a biological phenomenon regardless of whether stress from abuse gave her a higher risk for it. He really should have explained it far better and not assumed he knew the cause just because there is some correlation. I know what he's saying to some extent, but it was worded about as shitty as it could get and there were way too many assumptions.

        I really have mixed feelings about Dr Drew. On one hand, love line allowed me to learn a lot about sex that I couldn't have learned otherwise as an older teen from a strict religious background. But on the other hand, he says so many misleading and offensive things like this to stay "controversial" that I have a hard time liking him anymore. It's not that hard to explain medical links like this in a non-offensive/non-invalidating way to his lay audience and to realize a one size fits all approach will not work, even if it does make for better ratings.

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          ZhiBaChu: Awkward Detectivethescientistfeminist
          4/29/14 10:38am

          Except endo is NOT an inflammatory disorder - it's uterine cells run amok and growing and adhering in places it shouldn't.

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          thescientistfeministZhiBaChu: Awkward Detective
          4/29/14 7:23pm

          I meant inflammatory in the biological marker sense.

          http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17611...

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