Canadian TikTok star Spencer Barbosa opens up about chronic illness: 'I feel sick every single day'

When Canadian TikTok star and influencer Spencer Barbosa started posting on social media as a teenager, she promised herself she would be as real and vulnerable as possible with her followers — no filters, no perfect angles.

She started sharing content on YouTube when she was in grade seven, before expanding to Instagram and TikTok. Now, as a 20-year-old woman, she continues to champion for self-love, showing her stomach rolls, body hair and blemishes on her face with confidence.

"I wanted to be an account that people could go to… and see me as almost like an older sister, or a best friend," Barbosa told Yahoo Canada.

Barbosa explained anyone who goes through her social media account would see she travels a lot, that she looks happy and healthy — but that's not the whole truth.

For the first time, in early October, Barbosa shared she had been suffering from chronic illness for months.

In her candid post, she admitted she "felt defeated" after countless drugs and tests left her "with zero answers" on why she's sick. Then, she introduced her followers to her wellness journey.

Barbosa told Yahoo she had be struggling by herself, which became "exhausting."

"I decided that I was just going to be really vulnerable and talk to my followers about it, and see if I was the only person struggling like this," she explained.

Soon, she found she wasn't the only one going through this.

"There were a lot of girls who felt the same way as me and I felt less alone. I posted not only to spread awareness, but to be vulnerable, so that somebody who has it can look at my posts and feel motivated."

One of her followers said in the comments of Barbosa's Oct. 7 post that her chronic illness doesn't get taken seriously because of her weight and she's been told she'll be fine if she becomes "skinner."

Another said she's going through a similar situation, but has already been diagnosed. "Taking chemical pills every day is draining me. Having a chronic condition will never be easy. No one will ever understand your mental and physical pain unless they are in your shoes," the follower added.

Gender bias in diagnosing women

According to WebMD, there is a gender bias when it comes to diagnosing and treating women. A 2008 research study involving emergency room patients experiencing acute abdominal pain discovered women had to wait 65 minutes on average to receive pain medication, which was longer than the 49-minute wait time for men, the article notes.

Another study revealed women suffering from knee pain were 22 times less likely to be recommended for knee replacement surgery when compared to men.

Moreover, women are at a higher risk of being misdiagnosed and sent home from the emergency room during heart attacks or strokes, the article stated. It added this gender-based disparity extends to many other medical conditions, like autoimmune diseases and cancers, where women tend to experience longer delays in getting accurate diagnoses compared to men.

"The problem is rooted in long-standing gender stereotypes. Viewed as especially prone to "hysterical" symptoms, women are more likely to have their complaints misattributed to psychological disorders or…'stress'," the article claimed.

"Making matters worse, there's also a knowledge gap: Until the early 1990s, women were left out of much clinical research, and even today doctors know comparatively less about women's bodies, symptoms, and common conditions."

Influencer Barbosa said it's frustrating she doesn't know what it is that's making her sick, fatigued and unable to function properly.

"I feel sick every single day and it's been holding me back from living my life. I honestly just want to know what's wrong with me," she pleaded.

Struggling to find a family doctor

Barbosa claimed a part of her problem is not having consistent health care. Without being able to get a family doctor in three years, Barbosa said she's only been able to go to walk-ins or ERs, seeing different doctors each time.

"It's not like I'm building a relationship with a doctor who can know everything that's going on with me," she said.

According to a national survey released by OurCare.ca in April 2023, it was found that "more than one in five Canadians — an estimated 6.5 million people — do not have a family physician or nurse practitioner they see regularly. That's a dramatic increase since 2019 when Statistics Canada estimated only 4.5 million people did not have a regular health care provider."

Canadians without a regular primary care provider told OurCare they sought treatment for non-urgent health issues at in-person (50 per cent), virtual walk-in clinics (27 per cent) or emergency departments (24 per cent) instead.

Barbosa has recently turned to a naturopath, searching for answers as none of the prescriptions she has been given worked so far.

Seeking mental health support

Despite "feeling defeated," Barbosa said it has been uplifting to read the messages she's getting from her followers, reminding her she's loved and being heard by them.

"They say… it's going to get better… or even people who were in the same place as me saying that they finally know what's wrong with them, they feel healthy again and that really helped my mental health," said Babosa.

"This sucks right now, but it doesn't mean it's going to suck forever and it will get better. I will get better," she added.

Barbosa hopes whoever is going through a similar experience will feel comfortable enough to talk to friends and family about it, and not to be too hard on themselves.

"You're allowed to take a break. You're not lazy, you just have to let yourself rest and this is what you need before you get better, before your life can be the way it used to be."

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