National Osteoporosis Society - Osteoporosis Forum / Osteoporosis Forums / General Chat / Who does your doctor treat? / Latest Posts

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Linz — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:18:21 GMT

Honey, how awful for you! I hope you have complained and will see justice, and will also feel better soon.

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Linz — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:16:45 GMT

Kelly, hi! As for male and female docs, my experience is that there are decent specimens of both (and the opposite.) To me, there definitely is a difference between disciplines - from both a personal and professional standpoint. Surgeons seem much less able to think beyond the anatomical, while physicians tend to treat the person. I'm lucky to have a good team of GP, rheumatologist, GI man and bone specialist - 75% are female; coincidence.......hmmmm? :)

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Sarah W — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:34:00 GMT

Honey
Your stay in hospital sounds horrific. I do hope you feel more secure at home - and that your swollen stomach gets better.

Sarah

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

SheilB — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:00:33 GMT

Hello Honey, I just want to say how very sorry I am for all the unpleasant things you have been through. You will find this forum very supportive, even if it is just for others to listen to you. I do hope you feel more comfortable soon. Do you have family and friends about you? With best wishes, Sheila

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Honey — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:06:01 GMT

AnneB,

You are very fortunate to have caring and medics taking care of you. My Rheumatologist is also interested about any research I have done and also about supplements, K2 as you also mention. Regarding K", I cannot get that now, apparently the company realised it was tested on animals and now have a different K supplement supposedly as good.
I also take a high dose Vitamin D drop as my bloods showed I was virtually deplete of it. I have to take zinc too, my body wasn't absorbing nutrients from my diet and I came out in bleeding eczema all over my body and face, the only part of my face and neck with normal skin was the very tip of my nose, it was even in my ears and up my nose, my hair began to fall out too.

Sarah

My Gastro consultant isn't convinced at all that I have Crohn's Disease as diagnosed by Dr E. in London, I'm inclined to think the same actually. I was put on high dose steroids and given Infliximab, niether of which helped with the "Crohn's" symptoms, I was still in a great deal of pain despite taking regular doses of Morphine. I have never been one for taking medication, not even an aspirin and all of a sudden I found myself in a London hospital having to take 32 tablets a day. However the one good thing that came of it is that the Professor, (Dr Emmanuel of UCL) believed me about not being anorexic and acknowledged that when eating causes such pain, it's quite normal to be afraid to eat and all his Crohn's patients had similar problems whilst untreated. My Gastro consultant locally, also conceded that I wasn't anorexic and apologised for what I had been through (he wasn't the same consultant that diagnosed me by the way)

I am not on any medication at now and only take my Vitamin D, Calcium, vitamin K and Zinc. I am still very underweight and having lost 3.5 inches in height, find it even more difficult to eat as my stomach has become so swollen, does anybody else have a similar problem.

Whilst in hospital I got a lung infection and was told that I may not live over the weekend, it was a frightening time, I am now terrified of hospitals and my greatest fear is having a fracture and needing to be admitted, to be frank I don't think I could go. The lack of cleanliness and hygiene effected me too, I became paranoid about the general lack of hand washing I witnessed. The bathrooms and toilets where filthy too. On one occasion in the shower, I lifted the shower head to rinse my hair only to discover it was covered in faeces and consequently was all over my hand. I am now left with OCD which has turned my life upside down, just as much as the OP.

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

AnneB — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:44:26 GMT

Hi Kelly Ton,

I'm lucky that both my GP and my consultant endocrinologist treat ME. They both listen to me, listen to what's wrong, take me and my concerns seriously, and look at things I show them. When I take extra supplements (like vitamin K2) they are interested and always happy with the research I have done, in fact, by their admission, I've educated them :) I've no complaints. Both my GP and my endo (and cardiologist) are concerned to give me what medications I need even when that is not what NICE or the PCT say.

All my doctors are male btw. My personal experience of female doctors are that they are generally less good than the male ones, usually because they are part timers, they balance family and work, whereas male doctors are full time. I will always choose to see a male doctor, though I know, from having worked in the NHS, that some female doctors are excellent (generally the full time ones I have to say) and that some male doctors are useless - I saw a male rheumatologist soon after my osteoporosis diagnosis who was useless and so I complained to my GP who referred me to another consultant.

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Kelly Ton — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:49:50 GMT

Linz, I wonder if there's a difference between male and female doctors? What do you think?

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Sarah W — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:45:23 GMT

Sue
How shocking to be told you were anorexic and all the time you had Crohns disease. Appalling. Like you my OP is 'inflicted' by incorrect treatment. I am a controlled epileptic and take Anti Epileptic Drugs (AEDs) and a side effect is that AEDs lower you Vit d levels, so you must be precribed a high dose of Vit D every day after the menpause.

My GP was unaware of this so for 10 years I took AEDs and no vit D and the result is OP.

Like you I have changed my GP and the new GP is really helpful. But we are still on our own.

Thank goodness for this forum, without it I would still be struggling and probably on bisphosonates.Instead I was advised to read D r Marilyn Glenville's book Osteoporosis How to prevent, treat and reverse it. And becuause I read that book I felt able to ask the right questions.

I'd recommend reading that book.
Sarah

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Linz — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:51:12 GMT

I have to say that my GP treats ME; which is all of your first four options, because that's who I am :) I know I'm lucky to have a doctor who is knowledgeable, empathetic and honest. If she needs more expertise, she refers and doesn't take chances. She will also tell me when there is no easy answer (as happens when one is juggling various conditions). We have philosophy in paediatric nursing, that parents are the experts in their children, and I believe that we all experts in ourselves - a decent GP will take account of this

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Honey — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:15:18 GMT

I introduced myself briefly as a new member a couple of weeks ago, but didn't say very much about myslef and haven't posted since. I backed of feeling a bit uneasy about telling my long and complcated story.

Regarding the treatment I have had from my GP, I was frist diagnosed some years ago by my ex GP, I was told as though it was no big deal and nothing was explained to me. After being misdiagnosed over another health problem, which I feel has ultimately lead to my present OP condition, I changed my GP, to that of my fiance's. My present GP is a lovely man, but still not very proactive in treating me for OP. My consultant is much more proactive and is trying to get me some treatmetn, of which I can't remember, but it's a 2 year course of self administered injections, according to the NICE guidlines I am 3 years too young to have the treatment.

My last bone scan showed that I have the bones of a 90 year old and My consultant said it's the worst result he has ever seen, I fo course found this upsetting. I have 3 fractures in my spine and have fractured my ribs more times than I care to remember.

I first went to see a consultant almost 30 years ago with stomach problems and weight loss. I was told in no uncertain terms I was anorexic and if I didn't start to eat meat I would die (I am vegetarian). I was terrified, I didn't know much about anorexia but enough to now I wasn't suffering from it. But being young,naive and scared, I went along with the treatment, I had to see a therapist and was afraind of not being thin enough and therefore getting accused of wasting her time, I didn't eat much for a couple of days before each visit. The therapy was doing more harm to me than good, and all the time my stomach problem was being ignored. I was by now stuck with this anorexic label and was never taken serioulsy until a couple of years ago, after several hospital stays for weight loss, I demanded to see an expert in the field of gastoenterolgy and was sent to London to see a professor, within a few weeks I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.

I am sorry, but I have to sign off now, but will try and catch up tomorrow.

Sue

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Kelly Ton — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:52:13 GMT

Sarah, Yes the GP is constrained, but I have heard a lot of stories of people being fobbed off with 'what do you expect at your age', by GPs and by other healthcare professionals. I'm interested in getting a view of what people find is the focus when they see a GP or anyone else in the NHS. For example, pain from a fracture may, and has been, be put down to osteoarthritis purely because of the patient's age. Women are assumed to be dependent on a man and unlikely to have a job. I'm interested in finding out how widespread that is, from people who have struggled to get appropriate treatment.

RE: Who does your doctor treat?

Sarah W — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:17:11 GMT

Kelly
I do not think it is just about the GP - but the fact the the NHS fails to prioitise the prevention and treatment of OP, so the GP is really between a rock and a hard place.

Having appeared to feel sorry for GP's - I have changed my GP from one who did not give a damn about OP and could not be bothered to find out about it, to a GP who is proactive and helping me with diet and supplements and following this with suggesting Bone Turnover test.

So there are good GPs out there! But it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Sarah

Who does your doctor treat?

Kelly Ton — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:29:51 GMT

Not who are his other patients, but who / what is he treating when he treats you?

You as a person with a life and family, and a living to earn, and interests
Your illness
Your age
Your gender
Some stereotype he thinks you should conform to
Something else.

I've already seen a few posts to the effect that the medical profession, and the rest of the world tend to think that OP stands for Old People.

I'd be interested to hear what people think from their own experience.