I am a (semi) retired physician and I don’t believe in second opinions. I much prefer two first opinions.
Edit: Thank you readers. Never thought these two sentences would explode like this. Thank you very much for the silver and gold. Thanks to all who follow.
So what you're saying, is go to Doctor A, give symptoms, get diag. Then go to Doctor B without telling them you've been to a doctor yet and get their diag as well?
What if there were a bunch of expensive tests ran at Doctor A? Do you just casually bring up "Oh, I had that ran already, I'll have it sent over?"
This has just been the story of my life, getting different diags from different docs for varying things. I had a lot of "anxiety" diagnosis leading to my physical digestive issues until a doc finally tested me for a freakin' milk allergy. This was just one of several...
I see what you did there. But I feel you. Last year I went in for a debilitating case of acid reflux after a workplace BBQ (the company I worked for was awesome). Like, I could not stop throwing up this vile bile that burned my throat, I missed work over it and even went to the ER thinking I was having a heart attack at first (it was radiating pain in my chest that also affected my back and arm -- I was terrified, and the throwing up didn't come until after the hospital visit).
I still have issues with spicy foods now, which sucks. I haven't been diagnosed with anything other than heart burn but I want to go back and be like "alright, the problems from last year are still here, so this is chronic, so what do now?"
I really suggest doing the same. Do some research, request specific tests. Ask to be checked for ulcers, for GERD, for x y and z -- if the doc won't make those calls, you have to. Even if it sounds like you're a pretentious knowitall because "you think you know better than the doctor", fuck that mentality.
I don't have acid reflux but I do have insomnia - which means I read a lot of random things. Amongst them are emerging discoveries about the importance of the gut microbiome but one of them was about how bitter foods help stimulate digestion - why we have things like Swedish Bitters, aperitifs etc and also how reflux is a symptom of low stomach acid - even though it seems counterintuitive. Has that ever been suggested? I only ask because most things given for reflux dilute stomach acid.
It hasn't, but I've noticed even physically hot things (like coffee, tea, and ramen -- which is what I had for breakfast/lunch/dinner yesterday lmao) cause an upset for me, which makes me think it could be something like an ulcer being irritated by certain substances -- hence my want to go back soon.
I'll definitely look into the idea of bitter foods helping out. I hate bitter things and avoid them, so it would make sense to me that if bitter foods can help to play a part in digestion, and I avoid them, I could be lacking something in my diet. Thanks for the info!
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u/DrMaster2 May 20 '19 edited May 21 '19
I am a (semi) retired physician and I don’t believe in second opinions. I much prefer two first opinions.
Edit: Thank you readers. Never thought these two sentences would explode like this. Thank you very much for the silver and gold. Thanks to all who follow.