We Need To Start A Thread On Stupid Stuff Doctors Say!

[AlwaysLearning]

This was years ago, but the only thing off during the testing at a yearly physical was extremely low cholesterol levels. Despite that my doctor asked me if I was a vegetarian and my answer was no, and that I had never been, his treatment recommendation was "Eat more steak." and he sent me on my way.

For years I complained that I had abdominal pain. I can't tell you how many times I've been tested for the same three STDs without the doctors telling me that they are going to run the tests, if I've been tested before, or if I've done anything to acquire an STD. Most of the time, I find out that they've run the test when I get the bill for the lab work! Of course, that is better than the doctor who insisted that I must have been raped.

I have dozens more, but they are all pretty depressing and I don't want to revisit them. I have yet to find a doctor that I respect.

[BSVD]

My Doc humiliated me, talked to me like I was a child, and told me Celiac is an allergy to wheat. (and he's the one that diagnosed me) I feel like I did or said something wrong. Sorry, I just need to have a little pity party right now:(

[Broomey13]

My Doc humiliated me, talked to me like I was a child, and told me Celiac is an allergy to wheat. (and he's the one that diagnosed me) I feel like I did or said something wrong. Sorry, I just need to have a little pity party right now:(

 

I started seeing doctors when I was 15 years old for severe and debilitating joint and muscle pain (among a myriad of other gloriously awful symptoms), it was ruining my life before I even really had one!  I was tested over and over again for RA (despite the several negative tests before each one, doc thought, well, let's try ONE more time...), one doctor told me at 16, it's just growing pains, you'll grow out of it.  At 18 a doctor told me, well, you're abnormally flexible (I was a gymnast for years before I hit puberty and it all went downhill from there lol) and that's the price I had to pay for that "gift".  At 20 a doctor I hadn't seen before put down her notes, looked right at me and said, "I'm not prescribing you any narcotics, so know that before we proceed"...the best part is I wrote on my medical history form, I don't take opiates because I can't stand the effect they have on me...  The last doctor I saw before I gave up and researched, reached out to the gluten-free community and then ultimately went gluten-free on my own, well, the last doctor responded to my multiple requests to be referred to a GI specialist for testing (my insurance required that darn referral) by saying, "you're more likely to die in a plane crash than have celiac, that's definitely not whats happening here.   You just have fibromyalgia and IBS and depression and ADHD, have 6 prescriptions and call me in the morning."  ...well, that last part wasn't a direct quote, but pretty much.  I've pretty much given up on doctors for help diagnosing my issues, I get my anti-depressant/ADHD meds from him every month and call it a day.  Western medicine, by a large majority, is a straight up joke!! I'm coming up on 4 years gluten free and have never felt healthier in my life, so they can take their "clinical" diagnosis and shove it you know where, no one wanted to help me when I needed it so I fixed the problem before they got around to testing me for it.  Absurd!

[upsilamba]

My first real experience with a dr (aside from check-ups) was when I broke a finger as a 7 year old and my pediatrician told us it couldn't possibly be broken because I didn't seem to really be in pain, and x-rays "weren't worth it." so I walked around with a broken finger for 6 weeks until we finally went back to see an orthopedist since it still hadn't healed...and I have to say docs have been pretty consistent in disappointing me/meeting my VERY low expectations since then : )

 

I do give a lot of credit to the PCP i went to see who thought to test me for celiac this past after I told her that I was having lots of stomach pains and trying to eat healthy by "eating lots of whole grans," whoops. But minus 1000 points for when the results came back she called to tell me i "tested positive for gluten" and that I should stay away from it for maybe a year and then "I could probably go back to eating gluten again." Thankfully I'm cynical about drs that I asked her to see the actual results, researched the tests online and emailed her back to ask if the tests meant celiac disease, and if so, doesn't that mean for life? She basically answered me back with an "ummm..." and suggested I go see some random GI who could "answer all my questions." I'm trying to get the nerve up to send her a good medical book on celiac with some passages highlighted, and a note on the inside asking her to please not give her patients advice that could kill them, in future... but I know others have had much worse experiences.

 

My slightly uplifting stupid dr story was a few years ago - after going in to an ENT to find out why i was getting constant shooting pains through my nose (not to mention sinus infections, migraines, etc), the very lovely, intelligent dr and had me do a CT that found I had a giant, POINTY bone spur stabbing into the inside of my nose. Unfortunately I moved before I could have him do the surgery to remove it, so I then shopped around 3 different surgeons who all told me that the bone spur couldn't be causing any problems for me, that it was most likely allergies or all in my head or take your pick of condesceding things Drs like to say to 22 year old women.

 

The uplifting part, though, is when I finally did find a doc who was "willing" to humor me and take out the bone spur, and I came back to tell him after how ridiculously better I felt, he looked at me and said, "Huh, maybe I should stop telling all my patients this won't help them." So, progress? Or baby steps, at least? : )

[cherries]

      When asking if there was a test to see if I was lactose intolerant the physicians assistant's nurse could hardly tell me the response from the physician's assistant with a straight face. She said to tell you to drink a quart of milk and see what happens. I immediately said I am not going to do that!

       I haven't actually got much help from the doctors unfortunately.

That sounds like my doctor, he refused to any kind of blood work and told me if it makes me feel better than just do it. Needless to say I'm looking for a new gp. I told my endo that gluten free foods seem to help my blood sugar, and he said that I was sensitive to gluten. My peditrist told me to eat gluten and a month later, no energy, dark rings under my eyes and the neuropathy that had been reversing was back!

[Scott Adams]

I think this thread should be resurrected!

[squirmingitch]

If you don't talk to doctors then they don't say stupid stuff.

[Dima Salahi]

On 2/5/2012 at 3:23 AM, elizabethh said:

I have a good one! Just a little over a month ago I was at the doctor's office for the stomach flu, and he asked me about the celiac disease after seeing it on my chart so I just briefly explained to him what happens with that, then he says:

 

Doctor: "Wow you need to get that checked out, you have that really bad and you need to find out what's going on."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Doctor: "You have a severe case of it, other people do not have it as badly as you do."

Me(getting nervous and confused): "What exactly do you mean? I have it worse?"

Doctor: "Well when people have celiac disease they can't eat gluten while they're sick, but once their intestines heal then they can eat gluten again."

 

WHAAAAT?!

 

Totally never thought I would look at a DOCTOR, feeling like they are totally stupid. I spent like 15 minutes explaining to him how it really is and being in total shock that anyone could think/say that, much less a doctor! Omg!

I had an opposite response. I want to him for second opinion; he said well it looks like you don't have it as bad as others, you have villi in your intestines, the gluten only destroyed some of them in different areas, which means you can get gluten once a week or so. Of course, he apparently wanted to get rid of all my villi, if I was stupid enough to go along with this idiot.. I wonder what they study at med school, these doctors! 

[MissMish]

On 2/4/2012 at 4:12 PM, researchmomma said:

I am amazed that a Celiac specialist would actually say with complete conviction: if no genes, you cannot possibly have Celiac. Dr. Fasano even states that it is possible.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for putting this in your post!!! I am close to crying because I have needed to hear this for so long now!

Eight years ago, I stopped eating gluten to see if it would stop my migraines. It stopped nearly all of them.

Five years ago, my GI told me I did not have Celiac because he tested my blood for the genes, my blood did NOT have the genes, so it was impossible for me to have Celiac. He said I had gluten sensitivity and IBS, and to just stop eating gluten and I'd feel better (I had already been eating gluten-free for 3 years at that point). He said the good news was that I didn't have to be as careful as someone with Celiac disease. He refused to have me try eating gluten to do a biopsy, saying that without the genes he couldn't justify it.

Ever since then, I have wondered about that because people who don't have the genetic predisposition to breast cancer still end up getting breast cancer even without the genes, so why would Celiac be any different? It just never rang true for me.

Two months ago I went to a rheumatologist and didn't mention being gluten-free because why would I?! And of course she needed to do blood work for RA and Lupus and Sjogren's and a whole list of others. I didn't know she tested for Celiac. Well guess what?! After all this time of being gluten free, without cheating, I had a video conference to find out my test results and the rheumy told me my "test panel lit up for Celiac disease."

I almost fell out of my chair.

I've been super careful at home about cross-contamination, and during Covid, of course, have not been eating from restaurants, etc., so it's no surprise to me at all that I'm doing better.

Thank you again for this post. I LOVE me some vindication!