My Rant = Doctors who don't respect their patients life choices

Seriously .... doctors ... UGH!
(the stories I could tell!!)

Background - I have a lot of health issues. I educate myself on the issues and make my own decisions for my own body. I listen to the doctor and expect the doctor to listen to me and I expect the doctor to respect the fact that I live in my own body and I'll make my own decisions.

The meds I take for Sjogrens are hard on my liver. I have polyneuropathy and neuropathy symptoms that include difficulty breathing and irregular heartbeats. I have eye pressure issues and can't take the meds for the eye pressure because it sets off cardiac problems that put me in the hospital. There are other issues related to Sjogrens, but you get the idea. Lots of health issues ...

My cholesterol is at 250. It's been there for a years. And I mean like 25 years. The doctor was trying to push cholesterol crap on me. Keeping my liver in mind that is already stressed from the Sjogrens meds, I said 'NO' to the cholesterol meds. When I said 'no' to the meds she looked horrified/shocked and rather curtly said 'so you are REFUSING medication?' And I said .. 'you betchya'. She was so stuck on 'we HAVE to do something about your cholesterol" that she totally didn't get into the REAL issues I have from autoimmune and neuropathy.

And then I find out that Red Yeast Rice can cause neuropathy. I already have it. So taking it could make it worse. :shk:

What the heck is wrong with these arrogant cholesterol drug pushing doctors?
Why do they not respect that this is MY BODY and not theirs to play with?
Why are they so stuck on the cholesterol drugs?
Is that doctor an airhead or what .... trying to push something on me that would easily make my neuropathies worse .... I mean ... DUH! UGH

So I'm going to go look for a new doctor who will respect my life choices.
One who will understand that I have to live in my own body and that it's MY body, not theirs.
Wish me luck.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Jes you poor thing and i thought i was bad i wish you lots and lots of luck finding a nice new doc who will listen to you.

I always tell my doc to send me to the vets so i can get put down lol if one didn't laugh they'd cry, i rattle when i first wake up in the mornings i take that many pills its like a smarties party for adults tut!!

Good luck and God bless

reply to post by FlyersFan


They have to be sales people with many of their medicines. This is an American phenomenon and keeps yours and the doctor's best interests far away from one another.

It is not in the medical profession's best interest to make you healthy. Love it or hate it, Obamacare will change that outlook a bit as insurers begin to pressure doctors to actually heal people instead of simply treating them. There is already tension between pharmaceutical companies and insurers so you can imagine what will happen by 2014.

I wish you the best. Remember that you know your body best. Good doctors will tell you that.


ps edit - I wanted to clarify that I'm not a supporter of Obamacare in its current form. I was only pointing out a potentially positive side-effect. Huh huh... "side effect".

reply to post by FlyersFan


in my opinion there are only a few medicines that can truly help the sick, and they r either illegal or extremely hard to come by, good luck with your journey, i would look into spagyrics, and the power of chi, if taken seriously you may find the comfort your looking for

reply to post by FlyersFan


Regarding your cholesterol...please read this thread created fairly recently here on ATS...it is very informative...www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by FlyersFan


Some doctors are becoming pill pushers. They get kickbacks from prescribing certain medications. I used to go to a family doctor that would always send me for testing whether I needed it or not. I eventually found out, that the testing facility would give the doctor incentives every time he referred a patient to them. I changed doctors.

There's that old saying "consumers beware" which should also be accompanied by "patients beware." You can no longer trust that doctors have your best interest at heart. Patients have to be more aware of the risks involved in taking certain medications, instead of accepting the old saying "doctor's know best."

reply to post by FlyersFan


I find that problem with most Doctors. I call it the "Book Smart approach".

They'll tell you that you need to be more pro-active in your own care, and when you are...they get offended.

I see Doctors treating other Doctors the same way.

That is why I rarely see the Doc, only if need be, and then I will still research what he wants to take or do before I actually do it.

reply to post by TDawgRex

I have 'offended' a number of doctors over the past three years.
They'd be MIS diagnosing me and giving me horrid drugs ...
and when I said I thought that their diagnosis was wrong, they'd
get all huffy and pull out their resumes ... "ive been doing this
for ____ years and my degree is from _____ so I know what I'm
talking about' they'd say in snotty tones. And in the end,
each one that I had said that I thought was wrong .. ended up
being wrong.

I am really not impressed with doctors.

Well ... I'm impressed ... but not in a good way.

reply to post by FlyersFan

FlyersFan, Boy oh boy, do I ever know what you mean. I just had a doctors appointment this week and I sit here tonite feeling sicker than when I went! Mostly, from agravation and stress from seeing this dummie. My life circumstances have caused me to have to move a lot and I have yet to find a "good" doctor....one who really listens and understands things!

I'm going to look around again but don't hold out much hope. They all do the same things and have the same spiel. Every visit has to involve the same blood tests...even if you were only there the week before. Then, the usual phone call...your cholesteral is up, your liver function is off, your Vit. D is low...blah, blah, blah. They all have a standard script, I think. They all assume we sit on our fat arses watching the boob tube and eat buckets of fried chicken every day. They assume we drink like fish, (alcohol). They think we never go outside. They notice nothing and hear nothing of what we tell them. They tell 80 yr. olds to excercise 30 min. at day for 5 days a week. They say eat more fiber.

Here's the kicker, a good portion of the meds they put us on, if you look them up, cause weight gain, cholestral (sp)increase, liver problems, tiredness and more. They don't listen. Me, I get fiber...am a vegetarian, sun bath daily and am tan as heck when the doc sees me, hubby is very sick so I do all heavy indoor/outdoor chores/yard work...plenty of excercise. I looked up all my high BP pills and every one has warnings about liver problems, weight gain as side effects, and such. Tiredness, swelling and more. Every quack does the same tests, has the same, "blame the patient" mentality and they don't really look or listen to the patient. I have liver damage from DU and chemical exposure..I .tell them all yet the same ole crap speech comes forth on the phone after tests. Don't they ever read the patients chart?. I'm gonna try and go only once a year for BP meds if I can get them written up that way for a year cause I'm sick and tired of the tests and stupidity. Sorry for MY rant. Blessings and best of luck to you.

reply to post by shrevegal


PS...Absolutely, be very careful relevant to the Cholesteral lowering drugs...avoid them like the plague...especially if you have liver problems or concerns. My quacks all try to shove those at me and get really pissy when I refuse. Too bad. Those types of meds are even dangerous for folks with healthy livers. My Chol. level has been high since I was 25 and I'm still here...nearing 80. My High BP gives me the most trouble during a doctor visit..at home, I take it and it is normal anymore. I have the right BP med amount now, I think, but because it is up at the office visit, they always wanna increase my BP meds too...you really gotta watch out with those quacks some times. The only good doc I ever met was a Military doc who saved my life and he was a flight surgeon on ER duty that nite and it was relevant to an asthma related problem with meds that were toxic and messing up my heart...go figure. Haven't met a good doc since.

I'm sorry to hear about your condition and sorry to hear your not getting the right treatments. In my experience you get to a point where the doctors can only do so much.

They don't take a holistic approach to the body. They specialise on certain areas of the body or certain diseases of the body, not taking into account the effects on the rest of the body. I would say this is a problem with the way western medicine is practiced. You only need visit a hospital to see the way its divided into certain sections for different areas of the body. Maybe look into some eastern practices that have a more holistic approach to illness.

In the meantime best of luck

reply to post by shrevegal


totally hear ya'

I told the primary care doctor that my liver is under stress from the Sjogrens meds and that my liver numbers come back stressed from time to time (the Rheumy does blood work every six months) ... and I said I didnt want to stress my liver taking unnecessary chol. meds because the sjogrens meds were vital .... but she just gave me a horrified look like I was carrying the plaque or something.

It was rather comical. (in a sad way)

I don't know what their fixation on Chol. is .... its all they can talk about.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


I have given up on primary care doctors. I have to have one because the insurance requires it. But other than that .... I avoid it. Now this one is telling me that I have to get my adult vaccinations. These have a side effect of possibly causing Gillian Burre .. which is neurological. I already have big neurological problems. So I'm going to check with both the rheumy and the neurologist before I take any adult whooping cough/diptheria/tetnis shot. Having autoimmune, anything like that could set things off I'd think ....

Originally posted by FlyersFan
reply to post by woodwardjnr

 

I have given up on primary care doctors. I have to have one because the insurance requires it. But other than that .... I avoid it. Now this one is telling me that I have to get my adult vaccinations. These have a side effect of possibly causing Gillian Burre .. which is neurological. I already have big neurological problems. So I'm going to check with both the rheumy and the neurologist before I take any adult whooping cough/diptheria/tetnis shot. Having autoimmune, anything like that could set things off I'd think ....

I can understand your concerns. So you have to take the shots for insurance purposes?

So I just looked up the two things the primary care doctor wants me to do.
And, once again, I'm correct and the PCP is wrong.

Cholesterol ... According to WebMD ... those who should not take statins or red yeast rice are those who are on meds to suppress the immune system (that's me) or those who have liver problems (thats me ... the drugs i'm on cause liver stress). Also, with Sjogrens we can easily get thrush and the red yeast rice can cause that ... and I have severe reactions to antifungals so my biggest fear in life is thrush.

I cant believe that a primary care physician would be trying to push Cholesterol drugs and/or red yeast rice on me. Look at the damage it could have done!

Tdap - The PCP is also telling me I'm overdue for the Tdap (Tetanus/whooping cough shot). She wants me to take it as soon as possible. So I went to the CDC site and it very clearly stated that people with nervous system problems or epilepsy shouldn't get the shot.

HELLO? I have neuropathy everywhere including autonomic symptoms (irregular heartbeat and lungs not expanding). .... what the heck is this PCP thinking? Is she thinking? It's insane!

- So ... good lesson on not just accepting what the doctor tries to push ...
- Take care of yourself and educate yourself ...

I hope I can find a doctor that has a brain and common sense ....

That is Why I DO NOT TRUST Doctors Or Hospitals I gotta get a Blood test (Yay)

They expect I have Coeliacs Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Yay for me Excitement #ing plus the doctor was like "Geez.. there is not much movement inside your abdomen" While my Right side Burns away like searing hot coals I gotta go next fornight AFTER the blood test to get an Ultra-Sound done and if it find that my appendix / Small Intestines has exploded and is leaking out toxins and / or foodstuff as I type this I'll be Like A raging psycho at the doctors who said "Oh it's only Constipation" constipation does NOT feel like an Icy searing hot coal Sitting in the right side of your lower abdomen.

That and I pass out a LOT my eyes roll up and I lose consciousness from the pain.

I feel really bad for all that have posted that are having a bad time of it healthwise and doctor-wise. Did I just say doctor-wise? Not many of those...wise, I mean. (Important), please read the rest).

Something that really gets to me....when these quacks tell us all to eat healthy and proper foods!!!!!! OMG, if any of you have ever had to be hospitalized, one look at the food tray is enough to make you puke, sick or not! Healthy foods? Then why don't hospitals serve patients healthy foods?????

They serve all kinds of jello with all kinds of weird colors, flavors, additives, aspartame and whoknowswhatallelse. Any meat product served is most definitely "mystery meat"....unidentifiable. Any veggie product is usually so faded in color and dried up or slimy...yuck. The mashed potatoes are usually gray in color.

Are those quacks for real? Healthy food? Hospital food may kill ya quicker than the reason you went in for. What's up with that? What a crock. They are all full of it....and I don't mean the food.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Exercising is very good for the body health. So is a beer, however without exercise it just makes more fat in body.

I can remember reading some materials about the cholesterol-lowering drug phenomenon and how other maladies rose as these drugs were being prescribed. In what I can recall, the cholesterol-lowering drugs also lowered good cholesterol (LDL's) which the body needed. One effect is memory loss, but there was a whole host of other neurological effects.

You know it's an industry FF. It isn't important that they sell you on a true effect. They only have to sell you on an idea. Luckily, you know a doctor who can be sold on an idea when you meet one.

Listen to yourself.

So I'm going to go look for a new doctor who will respect my life choices. One who will understand that I have to live in my own body and that it's MY body, not theirs. Wish me luck.

reply to post by FlyersFan

Good for you. My wife and I have fired several doctors, but finally found one that does listen to us, and is willing to work with our wishes. If more people did that, maybe those doctors that aren't worth a dime, will find another field, like used car sales marketeer( with apologies to any honest sales car people that may be out there.)
I agree that many of them merely push medications, because some good looking rep comes into their office, and who knows what.........
In addition, pushing meds is easier than a thorough investigation of the problems, causes, and ways to alleviate those problems. In plain English, many of them are lazy.