HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Ignorant Doctor (beware rant)

Support Forums
>
Lyme Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 5/6/2014 11:21 PM (GMT 0)
Had an appointment with my Rheumy today. What a horrible visit! He saw my Igenex test results and said Igenex was a joke. He stated that all Igenex tests are positive. That it wasn't worth the paper it was print on. He felt that I didn't have Lyme. So I asked him, in your medical opinion what do I have. His reply, "I don't know". I wasn't confrontational with him and the appointment did get slightly better. I try my best to see both sides.

He made his viewpoint crystal clear. Everything he does is CDC compliant, to-the-letter!

He also explained the politics surrounding Lyme and felt no one should question the CDC. I did point out that the CDC is an arm of the Government so there will also be politics.

With so much research and exploration involved in medicine how does one have a thriving practice with tunnel vision??

I explained that I'm an organ donor and it's listed on my driver's license and I also donate blood. I asked if I can continue to donate. His reply "No, you can't donate" I didn't ask why, he got my point.

By the end of the appointment he was referring me to Infectious Disease Doctor and giving me a prescription of Doxy. I declined the Doxy and the referral. I was afraid that if I had an issue with the Doxy, I didn't want to go back to him.

Funny how he started out defensive and stating I didn't have Lyme to referrals and prescriptions.

I think he's been beat up over this subject in the past. He actually complemented me as I was walking out on the way I think. Little did he know I was madder than a wet hornet. LOL

Igenex results

IgM

**23-35 +
**31 ++
**34 IND
**39 IND
**41 ++
**83-93 IND

IgG

**41 IND
Posted 5/6/2014 11:28 PM (GMT 0)
No, they aren't all positive. Just don't go back to him.

Margaret
Posted 5/6/2014 11:43 PM (GMT 0)
I know the tests are not always positive, but the tone he was using, I knew I would be wasting my breath. I think he feels that way (I'm guessing) is because Igenex catches all the people that tested negative on the CDC tests.

He's a turd!!
Posted 5/6/2014 11:49 PM (GMT 0)
Another mind numbed robot. For a moment he should open up his mind beyond a text book definition and try to empathize with his patients. And btw if it is not Lyme then maybe he should try to CONSIDER "what" it is because it is spreading around in epidemic proportions.
Posted 5/6/2014 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
I've had that with 4 different NHS doctors over here in England, they refuse to veiw Igenex as a credible lab with my results being way high. Had to bite the bullet and pay full whack in the end. It's all backwards really
Posted 5/7/2014 12:46 AM (GMT 0)
They can deny it. Funny the disease goes into clinical remission or responds every time to antibiotics. JUST A COINCIDENCE.
Posted 5/7/2014 1:34 AM (GMT 0)
These Doctors are forced to have 'blinders' on (the kind they put on horses to make them pay attention only to one direction) unfortunately because of the direction of the CDC. Lots of them know the situation but they also know the political situation and would rather not get themselves into trouble .

Then there are Doctors that are so caught up in making sure a test is done before they write any prescriptions. Problem with the lyme test is it's got so many false negatives that it's practically impossible to test positive.

I think he basically agreed with you but really the only thing he could do is prescribe you doxy and refer you to an infectious disease specialist. Doctors are a lot like restaurants, some are franchise like McDonalds, others are all you can eat buffets, some are like gourmet restaurants, but they all offer some kind of menu. These days if you want to get better you have to goto the Doctor that offers the best menu with items that will work! Sometimes it could be multiple Doctors.

Infectious disease specialist may help you, but still goes by IDSA guidelines and NOT ILADS. You need to see an ILADS Doctor who is Lyme Literate for this illness. They will offer the best menu.
Posted 5/7/2014 7:35 AM (GMT 0)
Barngurl, that is what I answered to my dermatologist, well her assistant, cause she refused to listen to me: can you explain me then why I get a herxheimer reaction (only possible with spirochete die-off) every time I'm on abx? And it is not in my head, look at my blood results (it was perfectly showing all the lows and highs that are typical for a herx, no exception).

I think that if a dr is a dr in his/her heart, he/she will always try to cure the patient. Medicine is about research, curing the patient, not about cooking blindly following the recipe in a (dated) cooking book (thinking about he easy $$$$)!

It's like they are all stuck somewhere decades ago and are convinced that western medicine is 100% complete and the only solution.

Posted 5/7/2014 9:47 AM (GMT 0)
mom girl it looks like by your lab you do have lyme disease. I had the same thing happen to me. the first md saw said all his patients he tested were positive on the igenex test when he used them, and I thought well that is because they all had lyme or you did not have the education to know what he was doing. he was not a lyme specialist. he said I was cdc negative 2 other md said I was too, one an infectious disease doctor.

I have seen 3 llmd and they all say I have lyme according to my labs. I do have lyme. it is so sad that we all have to go thru this.
Posted 5/7/2014 10:51 AM (GMT 0)
I think that if a dr is a dr in his/her heart, he/she will always try to cure the patient. Medicine is about research, curing the patient, not about cooking blindly following the recipe in a (dated) cooking book (thinking about he easy $$$$)!

Marie very well said. I have always felt the same way. I think if I can remain on antibiotics for a while then the disease will be hopefully in remission or at least in a state where you can tolerate and work around the daily symptoms. My friends husband was on them for 2.5 years and hasnt had an issue since.
Posted 5/7/2014 2:37 PM (GMT 0)
Mom of2,
You definitely have a positive Lyme test. I hope that you have a good LLMD/LLND or herbalist that you can go to for treatment of Lyme and evaluation for other infections/conditions.


"no one should question the CDC" giggle!!

The politics of this are actually quite disgusting. The IDSA set the treatment guidelines based on 'expert opinion' mainly - forget the science! You know that doesn't matter! Then the CDC refuses to have the treatment recommendations reviewed by a non-biased panel for much longer than even they recommend.

Yep, we shouldn't question questionable actions.....
Posted 5/7/2014 3:55 PM (GMT 0)
This topic is unbelievably maddening to me...and so true. I had the same experience with my Rheumy (who had successfully NOT diagnosed me for about 7 years before I finally found an ND who made a clinical diagnosis followed by an overwhelmingly positive IgeneX test). And...he denies its validity. So...I seek his help when my knees swell up so much they need to be drained...because he drains a lot of knees and is good at it, and it's cheaper than the ER. But other than that... :p

Find yourself (as already mentioned) a good LLMD or LLND who practices by ILADS principles. And, I guess, for all of us...encourage folks to ask questions and take the management of their health into their own hands. It scares and saddens me to think of all the people who continue on un-diagnosed and suffering due to this odd, politically-driven bias.

Check out the movie Under Our Skin. It's free on Hulu Plus right now... I (and so many others) can't wait until the politics and blinders are removed from this topic. (My boyfriend's ex and mother of his child is a doctor, and when she found out I 'had Lyme' the first thing she said to him, without knowing ANYthing about me, was, "Well, a lot of times that's a bucket diagnosis for people who have undiagnoses maladies. It's rarely actually Lyme." So boringly typical, it seems. When he told me this, with his charming ignorance and naive belief that doctors always know best, I calmly and firmly informed him that she did not get to comment upon or even be involved in conversations related to my health, and that not all doctors were right about everything, or qualified to back-seat diagnose outside of their specialty...or at all, really. He got the message. ;))

Best of luck!
Posted 5/7/2014 5:22 PM (GMT 0)
No matter how you look at it, the CDC controls what the insurance companies pay, and that is never a good thing.

Your test results are definitely significant for lyme. Finding a doctor who will correct treat lyme is sometimes trickier than treating the disease. Keep searching until you do. They are out there as are tons of us people who have been told likewise that we don't have lyme.
Posted 5/7/2014 6:27 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor refused an IGENEX test, felt CDC was the gold standard. Also refused to believe that my Neuro any GI symptoms weren't connected even though they both started at the same time out of nowhere. They are trained to look at everything separately, that's the problem, with something like lyme. You can't.

The truth is doctors make way too much money to risk getting their license pulled and no one wants a patient that is going to be on abx forever. It's just sad that a bad test is really causing so many problems. They need a reliable test so people can also get screened for lyme on a regular basis.
Posted 5/7/2014 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
I think the Lyme issue is still evolving. In time it will be widely accepted in the medical community. I look back at doctor's opinions about Fibro. Years ago they thought it was only in the person's head, now it's a medically excepted accredited syndrome. I also hope the treatment for Lyme will evolve too.

I will do my best to make sure it happens in my life time. To pave the path for my children, so they will never have to experience what I, and so many of you have experienced.

To open the minds will open the possibilities.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply