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!

[Lynn28]

Unexplained abdominal pain and pain that can't be found. Here's a quote form the page I'm about to post. "In many patients, a definite cause is never established". Something ALL of us are dealing with. I find it best myself to do as "Much" research on my pain as possible. I spend a lot of time reading through the new england journal of medicine as well as many others. This way I can go to the doctors office with not only proof that my pain exists, but proof that DOCTORS themselves don't understand why!!!! This way NOONE can call you crazy, because if they do, than basically they're calling their own kind the same! CRAZY...

This is a VERY good report. I think everyone here will benefit somehow by reading it. We all basically have to do the doctors work for them, but they recieve the money and the degree. The only thing we get is a migrain! Knowledge is power. Arm yourself ;-)

http://www.aafp.org/afp/991015ap/1773.html

[Bionic Granny]

After reading all of your comments, I can truly understand how you must feel. Yesterday, I had an upper GI series done to determine the cause of my bloating and pain. Notta, nothing, except that my small intestines are all on the left side and there is a possiblity that there is scar tissue pulling them together and the only way to relieve the pain is the operate and I've had too many surgeries and this will just create more scar tissue in the future. I, like all of you am sick of doctors and I have a wonderful surgeon, but he is stumped by all this. I also was given elavil to help me sleep, becuase your body needs to sleep to heal and I certainly have not been sleeping. If any one knows why my intestines are all on my left side, please let me know. My gastro also said I had IBS--short for "it's bull s--- I'm sure all of you have heard the same thing from your doctors. Can the lot of us all be crazy? I don't think so. Bloating and looking like you are pregnant is very real and painful. Hope someone has the answers. Have a great Easter!

[trinity_n_one]

I understand what all of you are saying as the last 10 years i have bee expreiencing all this pain on my right side and having chest pains! I think I have had all the tests in the world to solve this or for them to tell me there is something wrong but it seems as all of you that they say they can't find anything! Give me a break, all of us can't be insane or at least making up this! no one in their right mind would lie about this! The pain gets so intense that i would like to die instead of all this pain or for me to get all of these tests tat takes so much time and some are nasty to have done!

[tiredofpain]

Well my sympyoms are cramping pain under left rib then moves all around to lower ab then to my back pain turns to burning to sharp. i get really cold and start shaking sometimes i puke  sometimes i have constipation then diarrea. I have had black stools yellow stools soft stools hard stools, sometimes i can go 2wks without moving my bowels . I have had my bile duct cleaned out do to sludge then had my gallbladder removed 2wks after that that was in october last year. I have had my tubes tied also .Someone had mentioned endometriosis to me but i have not went for laproscopy yet im scared, i have had so many tests im tired of being poked. I have had upper and lower scopes . I have had some scope to check my bladder, scope to check my kidney also.My pains i have been having the last 3days are sharp all throughout abdomen and diarrea some bloating feel hot but not running temp. I just recently switched gastro dr he trys and feels bad but i dont think he really knows whats wrong either.
He put me on trazodone and aciphex But couldnt take them trazodone gave me migraines aciphex just didnt work. So he put me on xanax and nexium.I go back in a wk or 2 whenever i schedule it . I dont really know what to do next except to be cut open again. But the more your cut open it leaves scarring tissue in that alone can cause pain! Well gl2u all keep in touch!

[barbau]

I've been through the same thing.  I had pain, nausea, some vomiting, small appetite and of course weight loss.  I've now lost almost 30lbs since November.  Initially, my PCP pushed anti-depressants but I refused.  I've had them before, I know what it feels like to be depressed, I'm not depressed now.  His reasoning was that I would gain some weight - what about the pain and other symptoms?  I had all the usual tests, endoscopy, ultrasound, CT scan and a heap of blood tests, all came back normal except for a small hiatus hernia - no gastritis, ulcer etc.  My PCP did give me proton pump inhibitors as he thought it might have been an ulcer, but they didn't do anything.  He just kept saying to keep taking them cos 'every little bit helps'.

Finally he did send me to a gastro who ordered a new lot of blood tests and stool tests.  These came back normal except for the stool tests which showed a massive amount of fat being passed through, I eat a low fat diet.  He then ordered a 72 hour fecal fat test which I am waiting on the results of, I don't see him again till Friday of next week.  He thinks that it's a malabsorption problem due to a virus I contracted which affected my pancreas.  Not all pancreas problems show up on the tests... sigh...  Apparently the 'fix' is simple digestive enzymes.  I'll let you know how I go after seeing the gastro dr next week.  

Oh, one thing I thought I'd mention, the gastro dr said to stop the PPI as there was no indication I needed them.  When I said that I'd tried to stop them but got aditional symptoms he said that that's normal, there is a rebound effect of acid when you stop taking them, so I'm slowly weaning myself off them, lol, now I've got acidity/burning as well, something I haven't had since having gall bladder removed 5 years ago.

Barb

[davesh]

My symptoms are also similar.  It helps to know I'm not the only one with these problems.  I think the Doctors and Specialists I have seen think I'm a nut case. They give me that look like I don't know what I'm talking about. Anyone else have upper right quadrant pain the seems to cause gas and other pain throughout the whole abdomen?