Posted by gardenergirl on April 9, 2006, at 13:14:03
In reply to Re: Blind Faith In A P Doc, posted by Phillipa on April 9, 2006, at 13:03:09
> Seems after MRI's ordered by the neurologist that my cervial spine is narrowed and can create paralysis if in a car wreck. but when i told the pdoc about my sytoms he wasn't interested and said that's not my specialty it must be anxiety.
Um, Phillipa. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you told your pdoc. But cervical narrowing would not be related at all to a pdoc's speciality, so I think his response makes sense.
> Hence I do not have respect for the ones I now know. And the last study I read said psychiatrists have the highest rate of suicide among doctors. So is it because they do or do not take meds?
I don't think that it's quite that simple, but that's for another discussion.
About your original post, though. You asked why do people come here if they are going to listen to their pdocs. Well, I come here as well as use other resources in order to be an informed consumer of health care services. I think it's the patient's responsibility to the best of their ability to have some knowledge about treatment in order to make an informed decision.
And as others have said, physicians do indeed know a heck of a lot more about how the body works and how medications can interact with the body and other substances than I certainly do. I don't expect my doctors to know everything about everything off the top of their heads, but I do expect them to consult references and to be thoughtful about treatment decisions.
I would not take it upon myself to know that taking Drug A might increase Drug B's blood levels, and thus might mean I need to lower drug B. I would expect my doctor to work with me on this based on my report of what I know...how I feel, and his/her knowledge of medicine.
It's a team effort, not a competition of who knows more or who knows best.
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:630791
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060408/msgs/630945.html