Why chronic UTI patients aren't believed & the cost of medical misogyny | How We Really Feel Podcast

Have you ever been told your test is clear - and felt worse, not better, hearing it? This episode is a long-overdue conversation about chronic urinary tract infections: why the condition still has no formal medical definition, why that leaves patients stuck between "acute" and "nothing's wrong," and what it actually takes to be believed. Dr Sula is joined by Dr Catriona Anderson, a GP with a special interest in recurrent and chronic UTI and founder of the Focus Medical Clinic, and Neha Visavadia, a women’s health coach and product consultant in health tech with an MSc in Health Psychology who lives with both a rare respiratory condition and chronic UTI. In this episode: ✅ Why dipstick tests miss so much, and why that gap matters more in recurrent and chronic UTI than people realise ✅ The psychological cost of not being believed, and how dismissal can quietly fuel the avoidance that makes symptoms worse ✅ Medical misogyny in healthcare, named directly — and why women's symptoms are so often expected to be endured ✅ Why chronic UTI still has no agreed medical definition, and what's being done to change that ✅ Practical ways to prepare for an appointment so you walk in ready to advocate for yourself This episode is made in partnership with Convatec Continence Care and their Me+ programme — a holistic emotional wellbeing programme for people using intermittent catheters using health psychology research. Find out more at www.howwereallyfeel.com/in-partnership-with-convatec. 🔗 Find our guests: Dr Catriona Anderson Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the_uti_doc... https://www.chronicutiinfo.com/treatm... Neha Visavadia   / neha-v-   📩 WANT MORE? Subscribe to Dr Sula's Mind body science mail for episode insights, research and practical tools for navigating chronic illness, burnout and the mind body connection: www.healthpsychologist.co.uk/subscribe Follow Dr Sula on Instagram: @the_health_psychologist_ 🎧 LISTEN EVERYWHERE: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | All major podcast platforms How We Really Feel is hosted by Dr Sula Windgassen, health psychologist and specialist psychotherapist supporting those with chronic illness, burnout and trauma. Each episode explores the biology and humanity behind the mind body connection for people navigating health challenges and the clinicians who support them. Dr Sula Windgassen is author of It's All In Your Body. ----------------------------- ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS: 00:34 — Meet the guests: Neha and Dr Catriona Anderson 01:08 — What makes a GP "weird" enough to specialise in chronic UTI 03:18 — Being seen as a tick-box, not a whole person 06:18 — Neha's diagnosis journey and why she avoided going back to her GP 09:45 — The trap of disincentivised help-seeking 12:55 — When to ask for a second opinion 14:39 — Going private: what changes when you're taken seriously 21:00 — Why GPs need to recognise the psychological load patients carry 22:43 — The patient who said "I wish it was cancer" 24:32 — The story behind why a diagnosis can feel like relief 28:40 — Preparing for appointments: lists, rehearsal and self-advocacy 31:28 — Why staying calm and regulated changes the interaction 37:52 — Why UTIs are "embarrassing medicine" and get sidelined 41:42 — Medical misogyny, named directly 42:51 — The campaign to get chronic UTI a proper medical definition 48:40 — Closing reflections: what to hold onto if you feel uncertain