Chapter 21: The Vagina Bible

My biggest takeaway so far during my endometriosis journey is that you have to be your biggest advocate when it comes to medical issues (and many other aspects of life, but right now, let's just focus on the medical stuff). I diagnosed myself with endometriosis 4 years before any doctor or PA would even consider it. I was dismissed. I was told to stop referring to Dr. Google. But what was I supposed to do when more doctors than I can count told me my symptoms were normal?

I am determined to not let that happen again. That's why I've started reading more books about women's health. I want to share the especially useful ones here in hopes that they can help out other members of the endo community. Today we'll be focusing on The Vagina Bible by Jen Gunter, MD.

Dr. Gunter is an OB/GYN and famous twitter doctor. Her tweets (and the book for that matter) have a decidedly feminist tilt to them, which I love. She is clearly very knowledgable about the subject matter and listens to her patients. The book has very detailed chapters about everything from UTIs, hygiene, STDs, birth control, pain with sex, menopause, periods, basic vaginal anatomy and much more. The chapters are short and easy to understand without a medical background. Each chapter has a wrap up box at the end with essential takeaways. I loved that! It made me feel like I was back in school and I love learning so it was great and very helpful.

Dr. Gunter mostly focuses on the vagina, and endometriosis often occurs on internal organs such as the ovaries, bladder, bowels, fallopian tubes and the outside of the uterus. Endo is only mentioned a few times in passing, but I appreciate that it is always with a note about what is not normal and when you should go see a doctor. She is also a big advocate of leaving doctors that don't take your concerns seriously. The that fact that this seems so revolutionary in women's health is sad, but here we are.

My only criticism of this book is that she does seem to have a little bit of the "doctors are infallible gods" complex going on. She loves attacking things like Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop as pseudo science bullshit (and rightfully so, because it is), but she seems to lump all alternative non-western medicine stuff together as nonsense. Acupuncture has helped my endo symptoms (and my anxiety and depression) tremendously. Does that mean I'm stupid enough to jam a garlic clove up my vagina to cure a yeast infection? No. My acupuncturist helped me symptoms when my regular OB/GYNs didn't even consider what I was dealing with to be symptomatic of anything being wrong. It takes a lot of privilege that chronically ill women don't often have to dismiss entire fields of healing. As long as something isn't dangerous, what's the harm in doing it if it helps relieve symptoms?

After years of pain, with no western MD taking me seriously, I probably would have done anything to make the pain stop... and that includes letting someone stick several needles closer to my vagina that I'd like. I get that some eastern medicine specialists are quacks that are expensive (not covered by insurance) and can take advantage of desperate people. However, Dr. Gunter painted them all with a frustratingly broad brush.

Despite this, I would highly recommend this book to anyone. I learned so much and think everyone (even those without vaginas) should read this. It dispels a lot of common myths and it's useful knowledge to have. Health is important and knowledge is power!