Posted by katekite on June 2, 2002, at 22:30:03
In reply to Re: estrogen » katekite, posted by Beliala on June 2, 2002, at 16:56:55
Hi Beliala,
Well no wonder you feel like you do!
I lived in Canada for 20 years and found that health care had to be extracted from the health profession as if I was pulling my own teeth out. Waits, etc, were terrible. As a kid it was fine -- I trusted my family doctor and he gave me antibiotics and that was that. It was a false trust, because as an adult we are on our own. Doctors don't make much money, and the insurance is a bureaucracy that is overstaffed but dangerously underbrained.Doctors are only there as advisors, these days. They are not advocates or on our side, in fact they may be against medical tests (canadian insurance has quotas -- doctors that perform too many tests tend to have severe problems, extra paperwork, inquests, reviews, etc... its extremely managed care, having known a couple doctors personally they said they would never have chosen the profession had they known.)...bad for us since there is always the copout explanation of anxiety to blame everything on and they can use up their test for the day on someone with clear tumors popping out all over.
I'm sorry your experiences have been so poor. That the neurologist did not suggest a follow-up appointment with them was really lame. There would have been tests they could have done: EMGs or nerve conduction, etc to see if everything was at least working right.
I understand your feeling that the healthcare system is so hard to navigate and so humiliating as to be not worth it. I go through phases of that. But then, I still feel sick, so I go back.
You said that your interpersonal skills and lack of assertiveness about what you need interfere with getting good treatment. With your explanation of what has happened in various appointments, I can understand how hard it would be to even consider making another appointment with anyone, let alone a new doctor. Since this is the case, I would make those personality factors the ones to concentrate working on.
One or two visits with a therapist to discuss the most effective ways to deal with doctors could go a long long way. They may also have ideas of names of GPs who are sensitive to mental health and are not dismissive.
You do need a new GP. You need one that isn't satisfied with the type of neurologist you saw. You need one that doesn't treat you like you're nuts. In fact, you need to go GP shopping as if you were buying a wedding dress. You are allowed to shop. This is good practice for learning to deal with specialists (who are fewer in number, the appointments count more since you can't waste them and they take forever to wait for).
Once you have a good GP, then the goal would be to progressively hunt down diagnoses for current problems and once properly diagnosed, treatments can be found.
And you don't do too much reading. So far you are the only one who has cared at all about your medical problems -- you'd better be reading.
The fact that you are reading and posting here says something to me, that you don't quite believe that all of what has happened to you is anxiety.
Assertiveness and improving social skills in appointments is the bottom line here. You may need to find medication such as a benzodiazepine or a beta blocker to take during an appointment to be at your best.
Don't give up. For the moment, it sounds like improving your assertiveness and continuing to educate yourself about your health care options are what's needed. That, and of course working on the anxiety aspect and pain control as best you can. Once you are more assertive and can hold your own, can address the psychiatric history and get past it with some doctors, things will work out for you.
Don't even consider giving up. This is what a lot of people go through when they have a medical problem and happen to have a psychiatric history.
We do have psychiatric problems. But we are not psychiatric problems. We are individuals who have many problems and many healthy areas. We must take control of our health care, and we have every right to do so.
You know what you need. Start working on going to get it.
kate
ps -- sorry to get up on a soap box and start raging.... just reeks of discrimination.
poster:katekite
thread:107844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020602/msgs/108486.html