Doctors In Your Area

[twin#1]

I have found it to be a challenge to find a gastroenterologist who doesn't think that the IBS symptoms from celiac aren't in my head since I am a woman. The questions they ask me I gaurantee they would never ask my husband. It has taken so long to get any true treatment for some things that I now have a hernia and need surgery however the doctor I was seeing had his staff schedule yet another test, without telling me why and what they hope to determine from this new test, meanwhile the hernia is getting bigger and bigger. So I went to another gastro doc for a 2nd opinion and during our conversation he asked me if I was the kind of person who "gets all worked up over things". I was stunned and didn't quite know how to reply. I told him that I am basically the kind of person who takes charge of my situations and can get a lot accomplished without any problems however I WAS frustrated with my health care and the situation I was now in so if he thought I was worked up then that was why.

It goes along with a piece on the ABC 7 news a few weeks back where Noah Pransky said that researchers are discovering that IBS really IS in your head!!! And then went on to say that researchers at UCLA had discovered that the pain mechanism in the brains of women with IBS didnt' work the same way the pain mechanisms did in women without IBS. I couldn't believe it. IBS is a symptom, not the disease itself.

I know we are out of the dark ages but sometimes I still see a long tunnel.

Sigh...

[gfgypsyqueen]

Sorry you are having such a hard time withthe Drs. I've been there too. I think most of us have been there. Everything is female problems, but please don't commit to serious research about actual female problems.... drives me nutty. Not sure if you have a diagnosis of Celiacs yet, but that was a huge help for me. Now they just look at me in shock when I say I have Celiacs. "What do you eat?" is the favorite follow up question.

Can you force the surgery? The drs office staff will hate you, but you need to get it done. Hope you feel better

[nikky]

sorry to hear about your negative experiences, but dont loose faith, there are good doctors out there but unfortunatly it seems the situation has to get worse before it gets better. Try pushing for the op, you need it done and if they refuse to do it then that is malpractice because its causing your condition to deteriorate unnessacerally.

I hope you feel better soon and you dont get to much of the "its all in your head, take some anti depressants and you'll be fine." We all know this is real and thats what counts, my sister has been told she has IBS (i personaly think its coeliac because she is almost constantly aneamic, but shes had tests for it 3 times in the last 2 years and all have been clear) so i kinda know how you feel.

Good luck.