Need some help dealing with doctor

[Shoo]

Sadly, the process has tainted me and I will say that I respect a lot of doctors less than I used to. I have had several do what yours did which is the attitude of "I have no clue what you have. But since you're here and I want to bill your insurance and make money, let's see if I can find something else to treat you for." I drop those doctors like hot potatoes. I find it insulting to my intelligence and to me as a person to be treated like that. I'm here for a specific problem and that's the one I want help with. Yes, I do have other ailments, but my neuropathy runs my life and makes me miserable, a pimple, for example, is so low on the priority list that I'm actually happy to have it just to take my mind off of the main pain.

My doctor explained to me that if I go in for what appears to be no apparent reason, he has to charge me for the office visit ($250) and it won't be covered by my insurance.  But if I go in with a specific problem, he can bill my insurance.  You should talk to your doctor and ask him if that's what he's doing.  He may actually be trying to do you a favor.

[bansidhe]

May I suggest a book for you?  It's "How Doctors Think", by Jerome Groopman -- one of the most humane and useful books I've ever found, written by a distinguished doctor.

Heh...I've got it on Kindle and read the entire book while in waiting rooms at various doctor's offices throughout this whole ordeal.    Yep - it's a good one and I've recommended it to several friends. I don't have Your Medical Mind, though, so will have to search that one out - thanks!

[Danika]

Sadly, the process has tainted me and I will say that I respect a lot of doctors less than I used to. I have had several do what yours did which is the attitude of "I have no clue what you have. But since you're here and I want to bill your insurance and make money, let's see if I can find something else to treat you for." I drop those doctors like hot potatoes. I find it insulting to my intelligence and to me as a person to be treated like that. I'm here for a specific problem and that's the one I want help with. Yes, I do have other ailments, but my neuropathy runs my life and makes me miserable, a pimple, for example, is so low on the priority list that I'm actually happy to have it just to take my mind off of the main pain.

My doctor explained to me that if I go in for what appears to be no apparent reason, he has to charge me for the office visit ($250) and it won't be covered by my insurance.  But if I go in with a specific problem, he can bill my insurance.  You should talk to your doctor and ask him if that's what he's doing.  He may actually be trying to do you a favor.

Not in my case. One of the doctors prescribed an MRI for me. I assumed it was to diagnose my problem. I had a conflict with the date so I called the MRI place to reschedule and I called and said "I have an MRI scheduled for region A on my body and I need to reschedule." They said "We don't do MRIs on that region of the body. We have an MRI scheduled for body party B." The jerk doctor couldn't figure out my pain in region A, but had asked me if I had ever had problems in any other parts of my body. I mentioned that once, 7 years prior, I had had minor issues with body part B. So I think he was just trying to keep a patient. But he was dishonest by not telling me what the MRI was for. I cancelled that MRI and didn't go back to see him. When I asked him to give me my medical records, which he is required to do by law, I had a lot of hassle with that too.

Then, another doctor I saw a few weeks ago is an allergist. He was honest and told me that he has absolutely no idea what is causing my pain in region A but he's sure it's not allergies. With my list of papers that I gave him about my pain was a two page list of things and medications I've tried to see if they would lessen my pain that instead caused greater pain. Allergy medications were on that list. So he listened to the fact that one allergy medication caused me more pain (but did reduce my allergies). And then he prescribed a different allergy medication. I told him that one had never reduced my allergic reactions in the past, but he wanted to try it anyway. However, after having tried hundreds of things and every single tablet causing me more pain (probably something in the resin/filler of the tablets that my body can't process), I decided not to fill that prescription. I can either sneeze a ton or be in extreme pain because of a pill that keeps me from sneezing. I'll take the sneezing.

[bansidhe]

I'm resurrecting this old thread by way of follow-up, in case it might help someone else. To summarize briefly, I've been dealing with a chronic condition that, for the first 10 months, did not exhibit any visible symptoms. I'd fired one doctor and my new primary care doctor ("New Doctor" in the OP) did not appear to believe anything was really wrong, so I was asking for strategies for dealing with him.

The advice below offered by cicero and several others proved to be quite effective:

first - write everything down on index cards. your whole history in bullet points.

I made a Word document that contained a list of my symptoms from month to month, including anything I found that made them better or worse. New Doctor didn't care that much about it, actually, but discussing it helped to get me referred to first a neurologist, then a rheumatologist, then a hand specialist. The specialists thought it was the best thing ever, since it showed the big picture (I have symptoms that at first glance appear to be unrelated) and I didn't have to rely on my memory to tell them which symptoms showed up when. The rheumatologist was so excited about it I thought he was going to frame the darn thing.    Apparently patients who don't remember when symptoms started are a big problem.

The document, a calm, logical approach*, and persistence resulted in a diagnosis just over a year after the first symptom showed up.

* This approach worked for me. I can totally see, however, where crying or otherwise expressing frustration could be the key in other situations.

So I started out thinking I had a urinary tract infection and wound up with a diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis (probably psoriatic arthritis minus the psoriasis). I fall into a small percentage of people in whom the condition is not reflected in lab results.

[Danika]

Thanks for the update! I'm glad that you got a diagnosis!!! I'm sorry that it wasn't something that sounds like you can take a pill and make it go away forever though.

I just stopped seeing yet another Doc and have found Doc# 22. I FedExed some lab tests just today. Hopefully, I can get a diagnosis too.

[JenJay]

I'm so glad you finally found your way to a good doctor!!

And the notes really help, not only with diagnosing what's going on, but sometimes even to weed out doctors. 

I recently went through a few rounds of vertigo with some other odd symptoms. I did the same as you and documented my symptoms, whether they seemed related or not. I ended up with about 2 months worth. The ENT I saw had my notes in his hand and never glanced at them. He spent about 2 minutes making vague suggestions while looking in my ears and nose, told me to start using a neti pot, handed my notes back to me and sent me on my way.

My GP spent several minutes reading my notes, thanked me profusely for making them, asked if she could make a copy for my file, thanked me again when I told her it was just a printout and she could keep it, spoke to me for about 10 minutes, then gave me advice on a few OTC things that might help and an Rx for something that definitely helped. I'm all better now but guess who I *won't* be wasting money to see again if I have a flare-up? 

[bansidhe]

I just stopped seeing yet another Doc and have found Doc# 22. I FedExed some lab tests just today. Hopefully, I can get a diagnosis too.

I will keep my fingers crossed that #22 is the charm. How frustrating! 

[cicero]

I'm resurrecting this old thread by way of follow-up, in case it might help someone else. To summarize briefly, I've been dealing with a chronic condition that, for the first 10 months, did not exhibit any visible symptoms. I'd fired one doctor and my new primary care doctor ("New Doctor" in the OP) did not appear to believe anything was really wrong, so I was asking for strategies for dealing with him.

The advice below offered by cicero and several others proved to be quite effective:

first - write everything down on index cards. your whole history in bullet points.

I made a Word document that contained a list of my symptoms from month to month, including anything I found that made them better or worse. New Doctor didn't care that much about it, actually, but discussing it helped to get me referred to first a neurologist, then a rheumatologist, then a hand specialist. The specialists thought it was the best thing ever, since it showed the big picture (I have symptoms that at first glance appear to be unrelated) and I didn't have to rely on my memory to tell them which symptoms showed up when. The rheumatologist was so excited about it I thought he was going to frame the darn thing.    Apparently patients who don't remember when symptoms started are a big problem.

The document, a calm, logical approach*, and persistence resulted in a diagnosis just over a year after the first symptom showed up.

* This approach worked for me. I can totally see, however, where crying or otherwise expressing frustration could be the key in other situations.

So I started out thinking I had a urinary tract infection and wound up with a diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis (probably psoriatic arthritis minus the psoriasis). I fall into a small percentage of people in whom the condition is not reflected in lab results.

wow
i'm glad my advice worked - i always advice people to do this.