FarmerAmy Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 I have read so many posts on this discussion group as well as in many other forums about people having frustrating experiences with their doctors. If this is you, I would like to encourage you to dump that doctor! What you are experiencing is real and if your doctor doesn’t understand and can’t help you and tells you things you know are wrong, it will only make you crazy to keep going to this doctor.My own experience has been about 50/50. Half the doctors I have been to are extremely caring and even if they can’t cure my health problems, they at least understand that I am suffering and do their best to help.The other half have been extremely damaging to me. Two in particular were flat out terrible. They both told me that I would not find a reason for my fatigue and that I should stop looking. (I was so scared after they told me this that I fell into a major depression and couldn’t bear to go to any doctors for months. It took me over a year after this experience to figure out that I have POTS.) They obviously could not relate to what it is like to have a chronic illness and had no idea how desperate you can feel when you are trying to find something—anything!—that will help.Having a chronic illness is a very difficult and scary experience and I believe that it is critical to have a doctor who can express empathy and caring. You will do yourself no good if you continue to go to a doctor who makes you doubt yourself and feel frustrated. You deserve a doctor who cares and understands what you are going through! Keep looking for a doctor who will work with you—not make you feel worse. There are good doctors out there and you will be so much happier if you find one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBlonde Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 That is excellent advice. Don't waste your time, precious energy or money on these clowns. You are better off saving and going to a doctor who is experienced. The emotional and physical toll it takes on your health is not worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybits Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 AMEN! i have gone thru 10 different docs and my primary and neuro i have now are actually conserned about my well being. my primary even told me that its not in my head there is def something going very wrong in my body. soooo refreshing to hear that after years of hearing that i needed to stop stressing... and needed to meditate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopeSprings Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Couldn't agree more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clairefmartin Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Thanks for summing it up so nicely! TOTALLY AGREE! And I'm for reporting the ones that are extra nasty, they have no right and I don;t want to see others go through what I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elegiamore Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 That is excellent advice. Don't waste your time, precious energy or money on these clowns. You are better off saving and going to a doctor who is experienced. The emotional and physical toll it takes on your health is not worth it.I respectfully DISAGREE. Never dump a present doctor until you have tried and tested out a new doctor. THEN ditch him/her.It's extremely difficult to teach and train a physician about POTS. You have to give your crappy doctor plenty of opportunity.Also...once you create a trail of doctors, the NEW doctor will see that paper trail and comment that you are a doctor shopper. So therefore you must be a hypochondriac (especially if you are a woman). This has happened twice to me.My present concierge PCP has been terrible. I've been looking for a new one for six months with no luck as they do NOT want to treat person with a "rare" (meaning weird) illness. One prospective doctor even told me that if she has to learn "something new" she has no interest in treating me and showed me the door. I refused to pay for the appointment.Yes, the emotional toll is horrendous. But being left holding the bag when a relatively new doctor doesn't work out or fires you ("I am not qualified to treat as complex as a condition as you have, Ms. More") you better hope the old sorry physician is available.Good luck - keep trying and it will come together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jangle Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Can doctors see your list of old doctors? I've been to many doctors in the process of getting this diagnosed and I don't want them thinking im a hypochondriac. Also I don't want them seeing my current doctors medical records because im sure he wrote I was a hypochondriac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopeSprings Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 How's a new Doctor going to know about your other Doctors if you don't tell them or show them records? I'm usually very upfront - "I've seen many Doctors, they can't figure it out, can you?" NO? next.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trach Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Your doctor should not have access to your prior medical records unless you sign a HIPPA release. However, if you sign a HIPPA release for one of your prior doctors and he/she already has all of your old medical records from previous doctors, then by default your new doctor will have your entire file.The only way I believe a doctor would have access to your medical file is if you see a doctor affiliated with the same medical institution. You may be able to limit what is transferred under HIPPA to just the test results. I have signed a few HIPPA transfers that have been very specific as to what to transfer, but not all. My daughter's doctor set up a service where every time we have an office visit or hospital visit, copies of the notes are sent to me. This was started after I had a run in with a different doctor one time over my daughter's care and was shocked to see how my personality (which had never been a problem in the 12 hospitalizations before) was written about into her hospital file. This doctor thought my daughter was making up the pain in her back (CT showed a disc protrusion). But because my daughter was saying pain was 9-10 but wasn't screaming bloody murder - the doc didn't believe her and believed I was being "manipulated" and recommended counseling. To add to insult, my husband had to cancel two days of work because the doctor (a woman) kept threatening to release our daughter even though she could barely walk. The doc only gave in after talking to my husband. Eventually the head of physical therapy said she would be in excruciating pain with the injury. The PT ordered a TENS unit and everything was fine. The doctor never apologized even when she was clearly wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Dump them and then send a letter requesting a refund like you would if they were a mechanic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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