I have so many stupid doc stories, arrogant replies that would make you wince and say "what a jerk!" but the worst ones happened before my DX. I was desperate to have some relief from the nerve/joint/bone pain-- so I saw several rheumies and neuros and a pain management doctor with the empathy of a rock. "First do no harm"? Yeah, right! A few from my collection:
(1) March 2008 The rheumy examines me, cannot explain the burning pain, stiffness or tight, weakened muscles at all and when I ask him, "Since there are no medications that are helping, only causing horrible side effects, do you think if I were to use any supplements that reduce inflammation that it would help in any way?"
He replied with a mocking laugh: "Well, sweetheart, if you throw enough sh-t against the wall, eventually something might stick."
Hubs wanted to punch his lights out.
(2) June 2008 The PM doctor looks at my spine films, barks "You have the spine of a 22 year old. It's not your spine." (I actually have osteopenia and several degenerating discs--but apparently, he cannot see them? The spine/ortho guys saw them plain as day)
I ask tearfully: "Then why am I unable to walk, sit, stand or lie down, turn my neck or lift things without excruciating pain?"
He says: "You probably have that fibromyalgia, even though I do not believe it even exists".
He goes on:" I can't help you. You need to do some yoga or take stress reduction classes. Why are you crying?"
Me: "I am in pain 24/7, I cannot sleep. It hurts just to lay down... and honestly, my father just died."
Him, standing up, signaling we are done now..." Oh, well, you are just grieving. I know, I also have a background in psychology. You need to relax, take some anti-depressants and chill out. I can't help you. I shoot up necks for a living." He left the room.
Hubs wanted to punch his lights out.
(3) Nov. 2009 Another rheumy with a major god-complex tells me I need to take methotrexate because he believes I have "undifferentiated spondyloarthropy" even though I do not have the markers for the disease.
I am so desperate, I consider it. I do have OA, so I thought maybe he knows better. But when I question him about the potential side effects of the drug, stating first "with all due respect...."he gets red-faced and yells at me "Well, that is NOT respectful at all. Are you questioning my 35 years experience? Do you think I would risk my reputation and give you something that would harm you? Do you know who I am???"
Hubs wanted to punch his lights out.
(4)Dec. 2009 A woman doctor-PCP comes highly recommended to me-- takes my health history reads it, says the first doc I mentioned is the "best" and the third is a "quack". When I mention the burning pain I have, she says I am just stressed and writes a script for an anti-depressant, tells me to "relax, girlfriend", and come back in six months.
I ask:"but what about all the symptoms I told you about--the fatigue, my hair falling out, the constant abdominal pain, shortness of breath, diarrhea/constipation"?
She snarks back: "Well I can't solve all your problems for you. C'mon, time to go. I have other patients"
I wanted to punch her lights out.
(5) Jan. 2010 I see an integrative MD for 9 months. When I ask him repeatedly about my hair failing out, he laughed and said, perhaps I was “jealous and I wanted to be like hubs”—referring to his bald head!"
About the continuing severe pain, numbness, tingling, burning and gait/ataxia issues, brain fog I had, despite all kinds of therapeutic treatments I paid for at his clinic--acupuncture, massage,supplements? (but balked at chelation treatments)
He said I needed to do volunteer work "to get my mind off the pain." WTF?
I could not even tie my own shoes or dress myself at the time. Turns out, I had dislocated SI joints, sacroillitis, piriformis syndrome, pelvic floor dysfunction, osteopenia, hypocalcemia, pudendal nerve entrapment, small nerve fiber neuropathy and L1-L2 nerve impingement.
and finally....regarding the IgG food antibodies testing he did while I was already gluten-free because I was trying it to see if it would help?
He insisted to hubs and me--when I asked if it would affect the results he said REPEATEDLY--
"Oh, that will not affect the results of the test whatsoever!!!"
He told me it was perfectly safe to eat gluten--as it was not a high level. Just avoid soy because I had an intolerance to that.
Give it a few months and I would be right as rain.
I did that for another 9 months, going downhill so fast I nearly died.
WE both want to punch his lights out and sue him and OWN his fancy clinic.
(6) Jan. 2010 A nurse practitioner in my former GI's office barked at me "It's not gluten! You do not have celiac sprue! you can eat gluten! He went down there last year (he did an endoscopy) and you are fine. You just have GERD! and IBS and probably fibro. Take the anti-depressants. Those are good drugs for fibro and take the Citrucel, carafate, and PPIs.... and take the methotrexate, too. Everyone is trying to help you but you don't take the drugs or listen to our advice. " I threw all the scripts in the wastebasket and never went back.
Well, as it turns out, "he"--the famous GI doc I saw for 12 years and who knew about my 90 lb. decline, labeling me "anorexic"--me, who was overweight for 10 years?---
never did the biopsy when he was "down there"!
Hubs and I--and my new GI doctor--- want to
kill him.
There are a few more:
the Neuro in 2009 who said emphatically, the burning, numbness, poor reflexes, muscle mass loss, ataxia and loss of memory were not a "neurological issue because my EMGs and Brain MRI were okay"...and I should go back to the rheumatologist"
and... my very nice Primary Care guy who was so frustrated for all those years he could not help me figure it out but kept sending me here and there--- when I told him what I DID have (3 years later) he turned pale, flipped through my encyclopedia-sized chart like it was suddenly all so very clear and illuminated by the sun and said " OMG! That's it! of course! you need to be gluten free for life!".....
The kicker? His children have celiac, but as he put it "Wow, I did not know how it manifests in adults."....
...there are more, but I am pooped from typing so long.
"We need to start a thread on stupid stuff doctors say! It would be hysterically funny." Skylark posted this in another thread. So I thought I would get it started.
