Does anyone feel that doctors don't have a clue?

Does anyone feel that doctors don't have a clue about anything except popping you full of meds that the drug companies push them to sell. I was diagnosed with pan colitis in 2004, but have had symptoms since I was a child ( I am 45). I have seen many doctors, I have taken just about every drug for colitis, I have tried numerous diets and I am still not in remission after all these years. If you ask them about taking something other than the " Synthetic Drugs of the United States," they give you some sob story to try to discourage you from taking it, whether it is vitamins, herbs, food or some other thing besides their "so called FDA Approved Drugs." Does anyone know of any "FDA approved drug" that actually cures anything? I don't. Drugs don't cure anything, our bodies cure themselves. Sometimes certain drugs can help you get over symptoms of a virus, a cold, pulled or sore muscles or something else minor, but I watched the Jerry Lewis Telethon ever since I can remember, they have raised millions upon millions of dollars ( maybe billions now, not sure ) and there is still not a cure. You see money being raised for cancer, aids and many other life threatening diseases, but there is still no cure. I know that I am going to have so many people going against me on this post, but it is the truth. I know that there might be some drugs that some of you have taken and you think that it put you in remission, but it wasn't the drug that put you in remission, it was your body that healed itself that put you in remission. The drugs may have lessened some of your symptoms, but it was your body that actually healed itself. I know that when I took Remicaid for three years, I saw so many people taking cancer treatments. Almost every time that I went to the cancer center, I would see a nurse crying. At first, I asked them what was wrong and they would tell me that they had lost another patient. After awhile, I just stopped asking, I knew what was going on when they were crying. I know that there is probably some drug, vitamin, herb, food or something that might help us with this darn disease, but I haven't found it yet and by the looks of the post of the people in remission and the people not in remission, I think that most of the people here haven't found it either. I think that if doctors would think outside of the " FDA Approved Synthetic Drug Box, " maybe they might find something that might just help ( vitamins, herbs, foods, etc.). I guess that will never happen, because that would mean that the doctors could not get money from the pharmaceutical companies for the drugs that they shove down our throats. That would also mean less visits to the gastroenterologist and other doctors who make their money off us less educated people who think that doctors have a cure for everything. I think that this is a great website, because without it, none of us could collaborate to try and find something that actually helps, because I don't think that doctors would approve of us discussing different ways to try and help each other beside the " FDA approved Ways." I think that it is great that some of you are in remission, whether you think that it was some new fangled drug or diet that has cured you, but to the rest of us, I guess that we will just have to keep on trying till we find our " Miracle Drug " or maybe we just need to go see Benny Hinn or some other T.V. evangelist and let them beat us in the head till we are healed, what can it hurt? We have tried crazier things, haven't we? If I do ever find a cure for this darn, piece of crap ( literally crap ) disease, I will make sure I tell everyone that I can, because guess what," doctors are Full of Crap"!

Maybe you need to find a better doctor; I found a great GI who specialized in IBDs and he always explained everything to me and took very good care of me. He actually recommended surgery to me 5 years ago and sent a surgeon into my hospital room to explain j-pouch surgery to me if I actually wanted to opt for surgery at the time... Cyclosporine actually worked for me at the time and I was good for almost 5 more years.

I started flaring again about 12 months ago and tried a few more drugs that he explained to me; after about 6 months and starting to get worse he really started pushing me more and more towards surgery. He recommended a great surgeon and I finally had surgery 2 weeks ago... I feel so much better now after surgery than I have in years.

searchin4Acure:

You are obviously bitter about this disease and it is clouding your judgment. I am not a pro-doctor or pro-med person but you are not being fair with your evaluation. You yourself have tried diets, vitamins, supplements, etc. and have come up empty and then you complain about doctors who only think of meds, and being in bed with big Pharma and that these doctors should recommend the very same diets, vitamins, supplements, etc. that have already failed you. Does that really make sense? Pluot already addressed the fact that cancer is not always a death sentence anymore when it used to be. HIV is the same way. It was pretty much a death sentence in the past but now most everyone lives many, many years due to medical and drug advances. You need to put your bitterness aside and accept the reality that there are very few answers to this thing whether they be medical or alternative related. It's not really anyone's fault. Everyone, including the doctors and big pharma are just doing the best they can do with the knowledge we currently have.

My doctor is amazing. She is my third GI. She is an IBD Specialist, and I really, really like her.

doctors, janitors, bartenders, k-mart greeters, peoples, fishes, ................................................. some don't have a clue, most do -

Garylouisville,
I guess you can say that I am bitter about this disease, but who wouldn't be if it is controlling your life. The vitamins,herbs,foods,etc. that I tried did not help me, but I have not tried them all, so there might just be hope out there after all. Also about the cancer patients, have you actually seen what they go through? People with cancer that I have talked to, and I have talked to a lot of them, say that the treatment is worse than the cancer. I knew a cancer patient that had a port in his chest that they would put radioactive meds in and they would tell him not to touch any metal objects and if he had to, he would have to wear thick rubber gloves or he might get shocked very badly. I have seen so many people that would be there regularly when I would get a treatment and the next time, they would not be there because they died, mainly from the cancer treatment itself. I have seen people that had cancer that were healthy looking, but when they took the cancer treatments, they would lose their hair and they would look as if they had aged 10 to 20 years. Yes, some people have fought cancer with cancer treatments and are doing fine now, but if you have seen what I have, you would think differently. My cousin is about 35 years old. She had cancer and she took cancer treatments. She is in remission now but she went through hell with the chemo and it aged her about 20 years. If she had to take the chemo again, I just don't know if she would make it.
As far as it being anyone's fault, I did not say that it was anyone's fault. The common cold is not anyone's fault, but you get bitter as hell sometimes until you get over it. Also, if you ever look into the FDA, pharmaceutical companies and doctors, you might just find that it is a huge money making empire. I am sure that there are some doctors out there that are trying to make a difference, but the majority of doctors are in it for the money. You go in for an appointment, they talk to you for about five minutes, they give you a prescription and then they send you on your way. That five minutes just cost you and your insurance company several hundreds of dollars and if your doctor gave you one of the drugs that the pharmaceutical reps gave your doctor, then your doctor just got some more money from the pharmaceutical companies. Believe it or not, the government, big business, doctors, lawyers and many other people in this world do not care about anything besides the money that they make off of us. Did you know that the pharmaceutical companies are going to stop making new antibiotics, not because that there are enough antibiotics on the market already, but because it cost too much money for them to do studies and trials and they don't make enough money to cover the cost of an antibiotic that someone might just use for a short time. Bacteria and viruses get immune to antibiotics over time and there have to be new ones made to stop the viruses or there can be a pandemic. But the pharmaceutical companies and also the government don't want to pursue making new antibiotics, unless there is a pandemic, but by then, many people will die from the virus until they decide to spend a little paper money on an antibiotic to stop all the chaos.
Yes I know that there is not much information on what can help people with UC, but I know there has got to be something better than drugs that have 20 or more side effects. Go to any of these websites for these new drugs; Humira for example. These are some of the side effects: Serious infections have happened in people taking HUMIRA. These serious infections include tuberculosis (TB) and infections caused by viruses, fungi, or bacteria that have spread throughout the body. Some people have died from these infections. HUMIRA may increase the chance of getting lymphoma, including a rare kind, or other cancers. HUMIRA can cause serious side effects including hepatitis B infection in carriers of the virus, allergic reactions, nervous system problems, blood problems, heart failure, certain immune reactions including a lupus-like syndrome, liver problems, and new or worsening psoriasis. And where do you think that they find out about all these side effects : from people who are guinea pigs that agree to be in drug trials. Yes, believe it or not, many people die from drug trials or get very serious illnesses and diseases from drug trials and who are in charge of the drug trials: pharmaceutical companies!
I am not trying to be an ass, but I woke up from this crazy fairy tale that a lot of people live in a long time ago. The only person that really cares for you in this world is "YOU." When it really gets down to it, if you think that your so called best friend is gonna save you from being thrown under the bus by throwing himself under the bus, you must have watched too many tear jerking chic flicks. The only real person who cares for you is not your mother,father,sister,brother,spouse or best friend; it is you! So if you think that everybody in this world are like the cast of "Father Knows Best" or "Leave it to beaver," and that everybody loves everybody and we all sit around, hold hands and sing kumbaya, well maybe it is you that needs to wake up from fairy tale land.
I am sure that there is something out there that will help us, but until then, don't hold your breath, wake up from fairy tale land, keep searching and maybe we just might find something.

"Yes, some people have fought cancer with cancer treatments and are doing fine now, but if you have seen what I have, you would think differently."

I would think differently how...? I don't think that knowing that some people suffer invalidates the fact that some people have successful treatments and are glad to be alive. You seem more upset that cancer and disease EXIST than anything else.

I'm sorry that you feel so alone in this world. You are probably not going to find a solution to this problem on an internet message board. You might want to speak with a therapist or clergyperson. I don't think UC is your main problem.

searching....will you PLEASE create paragraphs! it's very difficult to read otherwise.

welcome to the forum.

Regarding doctors...it certainly depends on the doctor. A whole slough of medical professionals let my MIL systematically and progressively die in the hospital, but we've certainly learned a lot from that experience.

I have an awesome doctor. I believe I know about the diseases I have and deal with...I don't believe everything I read or hear...and it helps to have a discussion.

I'd be dead without my meds, but I won't take all meds.

You do need to ask more questions and do research so that you have a better idea about what's going on with you, about UC, meds, etc.

q

I'm with the others on here that you have severely misguided anger. The doctors and pharmas did not give you the disease. They are the ones trying to TREAT it. There are new medications that continue to come out to help people and some of which have a lot less side effects.

A cure would be great, aside from surgery, but I'm not mad at my doctor for that. I'm also not mad at him for not being a dietician. This disease has no 100% answer: meds, diets, yoga, praying, etc, some things work for some and not others. Everything about it is trial and error. If you don't want meds/surgery then you shouldn't be going to place where that is what they do. I'm not going to go to an auto shop for a quote to repair my plumbing...(see what I did there? hahahaha)

Again, not your doctors fault and not pharmas fault.

Searchin4acure, so what do we do in the mean time? If we are having a tough time right now with UC, who do we go to for help. I hate to use those drugs with side effects that can be worse than the UC itself. I am in that position right now. I have tried most things that are recommended on this site, but have had no luck. What do I do? I have to rely on what my doctor is telling me. I hate to be in that position, but what else is there? I am with you about the meds, but there aren't many other options for us.

That's a good point. Most of us have no idea what's going through the minds of our doctors. I'm sure they are just as frustrated with this as we are. There are many autoimmune diseases. UC is not the only one. Every autoimmune disease has three things in common - they don't know what causes them, they don't know how to cure them, and the only way to treat them is either by treating the symptoms only or by weakening our immune systems. The doctors have these patients coming in (us) who are scared, confused, and are looking up to the doctors to cure us of these dreaded diseases and the doctors know that they can't. They have to put on these brave faces to make their patients feel better and to offer them some hope - if only to alleviate the symptoms. Unfortunately, that's the best they can do right now.

Can't imagine a much easier job than a GI's, to be honest. All they do is dispense drugs. I could do that for myself already with IBD. 'Having 25x BMs a day? Here, take 40mg Prednisolone, 4g Pentasa, and 50mg azathioprine. See you in 6 months' time!'.

Surgeons I do have respect for, because if I took a knife to somebody I know I'd kill them (accidentally of course, not on purpose). They've got skills at least.

But every other type of doctor... nah, forget about it. Lost all trust and respect a long time ago.

Post Edited (NiceCupOfTea) : 11/12/2013 3:23:55 PM (GMT-7)

NiceCupOfTea - I hope that is sarcasm, otherwise you must have one of the bad GIs. GIs don't only deal with UC and Chron's and dispense medicine. There are numerous diseases that they deal with. Ever have a scope, because that doesn't sound easy either.

Common conditions treated include difficulty swallowing, heartburn, constipation, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and gaseousness/bloating. More serious conditions may include ulcers, pancreatitis, gallbladder problems, liver diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, polyps, and cancer.

That just lists some of what they do, so I beg to differ about how easy their job is.