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Don't let your doctors intimidate you!

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Fibromyalgia
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Posted 9/13/2011 2:02 AM (GMT 0)
I always take the position that I know my body better than anyone else, so it is my responsibility to make sure to relay all my symptoms and ask plenty of questions. Make sure you get the time to do so. Write things down.

There are times I have an opinion of what I think is going on with me and I want my doctor to hear me out. My docs are pretty good about letting me bombard them with questions and making them explain why they think this or that.

Sometimes maybe I expect too much and get dissapointed when my specialists don't have all the answers for me. When I was younger I thought docs were like super beings....I know now that they are only human. I feel better when I read up on my conditions because it gives me the knowledge to ask questions...when they know that I've got info they treat me more like a partner.

Be persistent....sometimes your intuitions are right about things. Over the years I have found that out big time...like I said we know our bodies better than anyone else.

In the long run, I feel my present specialists to be good docs, but I feel it is my job to keep them on their toes when it comes to my well being.

Hope you are lucky to have great docs too!

Hugs, Robin :-)

Posted 9/13/2011 2:43 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, they are only human. I learned at my last appointment that it's not good to be the last patient right before lunch. I could tell my doctor was tired and hungry and just wanted me to get the heck out of there. So my next appointment will be in the morning lol
Posted 9/13/2011 4:12 PM (GMT 0)
Robin is correct.  I'm going through that right now.  Actually I diagnosed my problem and it's not the first time, either.  I do a lot of checking things out.  I do the same with the medication that's been prescribed and in a couple of cases I refused to take it and found alternative methods that are working just fine.

 

You know your body best.  You know how it reacts to things.  Doctors are not gods.  They are doing their best and also many are very overworked, too.  As I've said many times, and Robin just said, you do need to be your own advocate.  Ask questions.  Do research on line.  This way you will have a peace about your diagnosis and your treatment and will be able to move on and enjoy life. 

 

Sherrine

Posted 9/14/2011 12:03 PM (GMT 0)
This is so true. Last year I started having this strange stomach pain in the middle of the night. It was really bad but I just chopped it up to indigestion. But then I'd get it more often and the pain was worse. I was convinced I had gallstones. I brought it up at a check-up and my doctor did not think I had gallstones at all. I pretty much insisted I get an ultrasound because my symptoms were identical to my mother's when she had gallstones. And it turned out I did in fact have gallstones. Well, actually I just had one stone, but it was huge.

Internet is a good and a bad thing for doctors. I think we definitely try and self diagnose ourselves, which probably can be a good thing or a bad thing. But it is good to know your symptoms and the possibilities and to bring them to your doctor and discuss them.
Posted 9/14/2011 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
One more thing to add, if you aren't happy with your doctor, then definitely shop around. If you weren't happy with your car mechanic, you wouldn't think twice about going somewhere else. Our bodies are much more important. I think sometimes we are intimidated by the white coat, but in reality, we are hiring doctors to provide a service. If is isn't working, there are usually other options.

Hugs - Austen
Posted 9/14/2011 3:18 PM (GMT 0)
Great topic Robin! Like you I grew up thinking Drs. were the smartest people and always had the answer. I grew up in a family of Drs. My grandfather was the best pediatrician and many of my aunts and uncles are neurologists or pediatricians. Any time anyone had a problem within minutes there was an answer and a cure...

Until my father was diagnosed with RSD, a few years after that my brother became a medical mystery later to have a rare genetic disease and I got Fibro about 10 years after that. I quickly learned that not only are Drs. human but medicine is FAR from an exact science. My eyes were opened to how much Drs. and the medical field do not know.

I agree 100% that we need to be our own advocates. I strongly urge all my family and friends of the same thing. People who do not have chronic illnesses and do not have the same exposure to Drs. and specialists as we do think that the Drs. will be able to find what is wrong all the time and they just sit and wait. I also have had the same experience as you, the more knowledgeable and hands on I am with my own conditions the Drs. have a different level of respect for me and it is more of a partnership. It becomes an open dialogue and we work as a team. Any Dr. I stumble upon that is not interested in me taking an active role in my own health is not the Dr. for me. Many Drs. have expressed how impressed they are with my knowledge of all the different conditions I have going on, they comment how so many people remain unaware of the implications of things. I know that this makes my relationship with them enjoyable as well. They are not put off by my ideas or requests for various tests. My Dr. was not upset when I took it upon myself to go from specialist to specialist for medical clearance to get pregnant. In fact she was impressed. As an internist she just knew something wasn't right and until we figured it out it wasn't safe to get pregnant. I wasn't going to sit around and wait. I got clearance from each and every specialist I could think of that would be involved in the decision. My internist went back, spoke with a few of them re: tests, implications of pregnancy and then called me back and said you are good to go! I do not know how long I would have waited otherwise. At the end of the day, I may have a lot of different things going on, but I'm healthy.
Posted 9/14/2011 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
Frankey,

That's just what my doctor says....I'm healthy, just have a bunch of stuff that makes me miserable ;)

Debbie
Posted 9/15/2011 1:36 AM (GMT 0)
I had an appointment with my neurologist today. He is quite the quirky guy, he is also a psychiatrist so I always feel like I'm getting a 2 for 1 deal. He is pretty much a straight shooter, tell it like it is kind of guy... he more or less puts it all out there like he is discussing the weather. I like that about him.
He always comes off cool calm and collected even when he doesn't have all the answers.

He told me my right leg is getting weaker due to nerve problems stemming from my back problems. I'm not really up for more back surgery, so I guess I will have a wait and see attitude...that seems to be his, oh well, next week it is off to my rheumy...we'll see what is happening with the rest of this bod. It is funny....I do think of myself as relatively healthy :)

Hugs, Robin
Posted 9/15/2011 2:25 AM (GMT 0)
My Dr. doesnt intimidate me in the slightest. He is a wonderful Dr. from what I can tell. I have only been seeing him for a couple weeks. His nurses, on the other hand, seem to give off a vibe that they always have somewhere better to be and that I am a bother, with each and every phone call. I also feel like they screen his calls. I have to make an appointment to talk to him. With my old Dr., I was able to get in touch with her each and every day if I needed and it was always friendly nurses or the Dr. herself that I spoke with. With my new Dr., I have to make an appointment to have him give me his opinion on the major fluid retention I was having last week. The appointment was for four days later, which his nurses canceled because the swelling had majorly diminished by the morning of the appointment. I wander if he was even aware.
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