2 Nov 2026
When Doctors Don’t Listen: MS, Women’s Pain and Becoming the Expert in You | Angharad Candlin
What happens when you know something is wrong with your body, but the medical system keeps telling you otherwise?
For Angharad Candlin, that question became a 30-year journey.
In 1987, she experienced a major neurological episode that left her arm numb, cold and unusable. Despite a family history of MS and extensive investigation, she was told it was not multiple sclerosis.
She was told it was “boyfriend trouble.”
Thirty years later, Angharad was formally diagnosed with MS.
But this conversation is about much more than one delayed diagnosis.
Angharad also lived with psoriatic arthritis, endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain and later discovered pelvic congestion syndrome after years of being told to simply live with the pain. One of her specialists became so determined that other women should not experience the same dismissal that he and a colleague created educational materials for GPs, nurses, sonographers and hospitals.
In this episode, we explore what happens when symptoms do not fit the expected diagnosis tree, how medical dismissal can erode trust in your own body, and why curiosity and humility matter so much in healthcare.
But Angharad’s story is not defined by illness.
She is funny, creative, deeply optimistic and fiercely committed to living fully.
She shares how singing, writing, friendship, sailing and even her self-balancing wheelchair, Ruby, have helped her continue engaging with life. Her approach is not about pretending things are easy. It is about asking:
What can I do now?
Angharad also shares one of the most powerful messages in the episode:
You are the expert in you.
Doctors may be experts in disease, but you are the expert in your body, your experience and how illness affects your life.
This is a conversation about medical dismissal, women’s pain, resilience, identity, humour, self-trust and advocacy.
And above all, it is about choosing life, even when life looks very different from the one you originally planned.
Show Notes
In this episode of Suddenly Different, Leigh-Anne speaks with psychologist, educator, author and advocate Angharad Candlin.
Together they explore:
Angharad’s first major neurological episode in 1987 and the 30-year path to her MS diagnosis
Being told her symptoms were “boyfriend trouble”
The psychological impact of being dismissed by medical professionals
Living with overlapping conditions including MS, psoriatic arthritis, endometriosis and pelvic congestion syndrome
Why symptoms do not always fit neatly into a diagnosis tree
The importance of doctors who remain curious and keep investigating
How Angharad’s pelvic congestion syndrome diagnosis became a teaching case for other medical professionals
Why women’s pain is still too often minimised
The difference between being an expert in a disease and being the expert in your own body
Why Angharad refuses to see doctors as automatically superior to patients
The role of humour, optimism and friendship in resilience
How singing, sailing and writing have supported Angharad’s brain health and wellbeing
Angharad’s decision to medically retire and “choose life”
How disability opened new possibilities for travel, writing, advocacy and speaking
Why Angharad sees advocacy as a way to help the next person be heard sooner
Her philosophy of asking “why not me?” rather than “why me?”
What it means to “grab life by the wheels”
One of Angharad’s clearest messages is that resilience is not about pretending everything is fine.
It is about recognising what is real, listening to your body, finding the right support and continuing to ask what is still possible.
If you have ever felt dismissed, doubted your own symptoms or struggled to be heard inside a medical system, this conversation may help you feel less alone and more empowered to trust your own experience.
