Questioning the effectiveness of seeing doctors

[MeanOleRedHead66]

I have posted a few times here, and it seems like most everyone here suffers from just about the same problems I do.  I am interested in learning about what tests you have been subjected to, as I have been subjected to a myriad of them all with NO answers.  I was told today that there is nothing physically wrong with me.  Does that mean that I am making myself hurt?  I asked him that and he replied, "It just means that the source of your pain is not able to be found by scientific means."  OK, now what?  He said he "thinks" I just have IBS.  Just?
I don't understand why we have no rights as patients to be told what they are actually thinking.  I saw it in my chart as we were talking, my primary care physcians office refferal nurse indicated that I am "Hypochondrial in nature".  Hello. That REALLY ticked me off.  
I am seeing my chart from my primarys office on Friday.  And then that same day seeing my primary doctor too.  
My request to you, please, if you would take a few minutes and send me an email with your symptoms and diagnoses, (you don't have to add your real name if you don't want to)your age of onset and what YOU think caused(es) your pain.  I will print them and take them with me.  I want them to be able to tell me that all of you are "HYPOCHONDRIAL" too.  
I think its high time someone stands up and takes notice of the pain that people go through and are forced to live with because doctors think they know everything.

My email address is:  ***@****

My name is Denise and I am 35 years old with 5 children.  Please help me to maybe help us!

[Addie]

Everyone should check their records and question the doctor for errors and get these errors corrected.  Check carefully for omissions and question every concern you have.  It is your body and no one should violate it.  We pay good money for professional help and we are entitled to good quality health care.

If we make a mistake in giving a doctor's office incorrect information, i.e. ss number, health insurance, etc. etc., the doctor's office will want this corrected immediatly.  

It is a 2 way street.

[MeanOleRedHead66]

Well, I went in and reviewed my record today... I can't begin to tell you how angry I am att he negligence of my primary caregiver and the people that work under him.  I have requested a full copy of my ENTIRE record, and after my appointment witht he nurse practioner tomorrow... to ask her why no one has ever caught any of the discrepancies and irregularities in my chart, I am changing doctors.  I have been with the same office for several years (8 to 10 at least) and in the small part of my chart I read today I counted at least twenty mistakes, and test results that were abnormal that I was NEVER told about.  Including the report from my ERCP done 8/27/01.  In that report it said there was obvious pancreas disease and that they backed out of the pancreatic ducts to prevent any further problems.
Hmmm... the test was done in August... no one from my docs office even read it until Oct. 10, 01' and I was never told about the pancreas disease part of the report.  They told me about the divism, but that was it.. and that didn't sound so serious.  
I am going to see an attorney Monday and going back to the gastro doc that did the ERCP for more information ASAP.  I want to know what all he found and what pancreas disease I have.  
I hope everyone will take an hour of so and make the appointment to go and READ your medical chart.  If there is anything you don't understand, ASK what it is.  And keep asking until you are satisfied.  
I feel a little better knowing that at least ONE doctor that I have seen in the last three years found SOMETHING.  I thought maybe I was a nut for a little while there!

Now the search for the pancreas disease starts as does the search for a new doctor.  
I'll be back to post soon as to what happens.  I wish we could start a group somehow to support each other a little more informally.
Take care everyone and feel better.
{{{HUGZ}}}
Denise

[reb]

Hi, I just found something of interest. It was an article in a UK magazine which suggested that "Candida" can cause health problems such as IBS. Candida is a yeast and just one of hundreds of tiny parasites and bacteria that live in the gut. A healthy digestive system behaves as a mini eco system where good bugs ensure efficient digestion and absorbtion of food while destroying any potentially harmful bugs- and keeping Candida under control. If the balance gets upset (can be caused by antibiotics, aspirin, bacterial or viral infections, poor diet, pollution, stress) candida can overgrow and evict the friendly bugs. Some of the symptoms are listed below.
Some major symptoms:
abdominal bloating, diarrhoea or constipation

Minor Symptoms
Persistent drowsiness / tired all the time
Headaches / migraines
Loss of balance
Rashes
Mucus in stools
Belching and /or flatulence
Bad breath
Tightness in chest
Heartburn and indigestion

Getting a diagnosis isn't easy, as candida is present in everybody's gut, so there is no clear cut method for testing for it in the laboratory.

The article goes on to say that even though the symptoms are "unpleasant" or even disabling, they are also likely to be dismissed by doctors as trivial complaints easily treated with over-the-counter medicines... sound familiar???

Some of the suggestions are the use of a good quality probiotic (not yogurt) to rebalance the gut and possibly excluding some types of food like wheat and dairy products and introducing more organic fruit, veg, and meat.

This really caught my eye because candiasis is hard (if not impossible) to diagnose and that the symptoms are likely to be dismissed by doctors.

Although my disruption of digestion was obviously caused by antibiotics, I thought it may help some of you out there. The probiotics I have taken have helped A LOT, I just am still extremely tired... which is much preferable to being in constant pain!

[evinrude]

This may help some of you. A few weeks ago I had unbelievably excrutiating pain in RUQ just below the ribs, bloating, swelling, chills etc. the same symptoms as many of you describe. First diagnosis was gall bladder, but there were no stones. Blood, urine, ultrasound, Xray  etc fine. Finally sent for CT scan which showed a perfect body. Diagnosis - you guessed it: IBS (for the umpteenth time).
In disgust (and pain) I made my own arangements to see a GI specialist who may be unique: he listened to me. Apparently I dont have IBS - he was very clear about that. He located the source of the pain as being the top of the kidney (not the gall bladder/liver/GI tract!) and in the absence of evidence of renal problems he thinks that adhesions (resulting from exploratory laparoscopy 8 yrs ago ?) are probably the source. The adhesions are possibly connecting the kidney to part of the colon - so the smallest constipation pulls on the kidneys and nerves.
Some doctors can't find their kidneys from their colons!
Once the precise location of adhesions has been found (and the nerves that it is pulling on) there is a way to move forwards: Firstly you know that at least one of them knows you are not mad. Secondly, if the pain becomes too unbearable, intelligent surgery is possible.
I am still in pain, but now it makes sense.
Good luck to you all.

[Lynn28]

Denise, did you have to read the report in the doctors office only? Now if I call my PCP and request a copy of my records, will it be the same as if I looked at them in the office???
I'm definitely doing this. Good for you!!! If you can, let me know.

THANKS!
Jenn

[MeanOleRedHead66]

I got this link in my emal this evening, it as a very good discription page for IBS.  Its worth the read if for nothing more than Ideas to help us all cope.

Goodnight everyone!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/findinformation/answers/answerdetail.cfm?objectID=2F5BC8D1-F09D-495F-B0D4A305788B7E81

AND

http://www.mayoclinic.com/findinformation/answers/invoke.cfm?objectid=F32C84B7-11F3-4E9D-80A5AD5354F27F4E