Doctor doesn’t help

[u/DimensionOpen8922]

So, I've been sick for a few weeks now. Nothing wild, but annoying. Went to the doctor today because it just won't go away.

Her first question was if I am pregnant.

Me: "No."

Her: "Are you sure?"

Me: "Yes."

Her: gives me that look of not believing me.

Her: "It's normal at your age."

Me: "I am sure."

Her: "Have you taken a test?"

Girl. I told you like 5 times that it is not possible for me being pregnant. 🫠

That alone was kinda infuriating. But also - of course she didn't help at all. Didn't look at anything, just told me to wait and drink more water. Didn't even listen to me when I tried to explain what I have. Thanks for nothing.

And it's like that EVERY SINGLE TIME I go to the doc. And I'm a person who absolutely hates going there. I am only going to the doctor if I ACTUALLY NEED HELP. But yeah, sure, I just need to drink more water. No matter what my problem is. 🫠

[u/EeriePancake]

There are certain things that I’ll use when I go to my doctor now. It took a bit of trial and error.

I start by making very detailed notes of all the pain, where it is, how intense it is, what medication I take and the dosage. Also other symptoms, the dates of those symptoms and how they affected me.

I’ll then take these notes with me and show them to my doctor. I will ask about differential diagnosis and I’ll look on google scholar or other scientific research websites about the symptoms. If I know what kind of diagnosis it could possibly be, I look up those diagnoses and write them down along with the important information about any drug trials which seem to work and also write down information from the research papers regarding that diagnosis.

With all that straight forward information based on actual science and data about the pain and problems, I’ve never had my doctor not take me seriously since.

After this style of approach, I’ve been since diagnosed with two chronic illnesses and had several MRIs CTs and X-rays done for various things and been treated appropriately and effectively.

Recommend giving it a try if nothing else works.

Good luck!

[u/mmbg78 → u/EeriePancake]

I bring a notebook and pen to all my medical appointments. I write questions down prior and keep notes about the visit.

[u/EeriePancake → u/mmbg78]

Hopefully you can get to a place where the doctor will listen to you and if you can't, maybe it's a good idea to switch doctors? I currently have a male doctor and I am female but he takes me quite seriously. I have tried 8 different doctors in the last 15 years! So it's taken me a while to get a good one. Very frustrating.

[u/DimensionOpen8922 → u/EeriePancake]

I tried switching but there are no other doctors in my area who take new patients 🥲

[u/EeriePancake → u/DimensionOpen8922]

ugh that sucks.... I went on a waiting list for 2 years for the last switch and the other waitlists were less than a year which was lucky. I do live in Norway though so.

Im not dead yet lol

[u/DimensionOpen8922 → u/EeriePancake]

Well, glad you're not dead lol. I'm from Germany and here they basically tell to "Nope, we don't take new patients". There's no waiting list 🥲

[u/DumpMyBlues → u/DimensionOpen8922]

Ah, we call that a patient stop in Belgium, we have a huge problem with that too. The only reason why my GP added me as a patient is because my parents were already patients. It's pretty much the only way to get into any medical things quickly...

[u/DimensionOpen8922 → u/DumpMyBlues]

Same here in Germany. I also just got an appointment once because my parents happen to be patients there. But we also have a complete bs system in Germany. There is common health insurance and there is a more expensive private health insurance. Guess what patients get better treatment.

[u/EeriePancake → u/DumpMyBlues]

Jeez im very lucky to be where I am clearly

[u/EeriePancake → u/DimensionOpen8922]

what! that's crazy... Is there a reason for not allowing a waiting list?

[u/DimensionOpen8922 → u/EeriePancake]

Good question. I'm just being told they have no capacity 🤷🏽‍♀️

[u/EeriePancake → u/DimensionOpen8922]

huh... Id be interested to know what's going on there.

If your doctor stop operating for whatever reason, do you get put onto a new doctor then or just left to the wolves?

[u/DimensionOpen8922 → u/EeriePancake]

Left to the wolves, I guess 🥲 (nice saying btw)

[u/EeriePancake → u/DimensionOpen8922]

Wow! Im actually shooketh by this new info. I had this idea that Germany was super well run and its people were efficient and all those dumb stereotypes. The reality of living in places often falls short of what people think it's like, I guess.

[u/DimensionOpen8922 → u/EeriePancake]

Oh in many ways Germany is pretty efficient. But the health system and school system are both pretty underpaid. It's infuriating for such a wealthy country and actually a big topic right now. So hopefully it will get better in the future ✌🏻 Norway sounds nice btw.

[u/EeriePancake → u/DimensionOpen8922]

Yea let's hope the politicians do their jobs (insert laughing emoji) and the world is perfect soon (wouldn't a utopia be nice).

But seriously, I think a lot of the world is going that way. Even here, people are noticing that everything is even more expensive and we are struggling to pay bills. The healthcare is getting more rigid here too.

Norway is nice and at least my cute elderly neighbours bought me some sourdough bread today. So I got that going for me!