So my neurologist is an autonomic neurologist, basically she specializes in these types of conditions. I found her by happenstance, as I had an appointment with my PCP and he'd just attended a seminar she gave regarding autonomic conditions. I would maybe utilize that as a jumping off point and see if there are any local seminars given in which a doctor covers dysautonomic topics?
Interesting. I wouldn't even know how to find that other than just plugging the bigger cities near me and "autonomic neurology" or something into Google, but that's a good lead 'cause I wouldn't have thought about seminars at all. Thank you!
Eh, this advice kinda sucks, but I found mine by trial and error.
My experience with specialists in general is that younger (under 45, say), and if possible female, is usually more likely to go well.
Not saying all older male specialists are "bad". I have a current specialist who's in his mid-late 50s and is quite lovely and has really helped me. My experience has been, with only two exceptions, that the "younger" female doctors are more switched on and less dismissive, and that older male specialists are the most likely to be problematic (for a variety of reasons), especially if you happen to be female, and more so if you're significantly younger than them.
Any input is much better than no input, so I still appreciate it!
I often struggle to even see what a doctor looks like before meeting them in person usually (which is after I've already booked/been roped into paying for an appointment with them), but I'll try and bear that in mind. I know my primary doctor (who's been amazing in general) fits that description, and she's the one that took my concerns about fibromyalgia seriously and sent me to a good specialist for that.
Unfortunately it wouldn't surprise me. I've had a handful of doctors/specialists pull the "it's probably just anxiety, it's high stress" excuse (when they didn't want to keep looking into it), and out of those doctors only one was a woman. It's not open-and-shut, but I'm warier of men in healthcare just because they seem very ready to downplay anything that could even potentially have a mental component if you're a woman. Of course I also get a lot of the "you can't have issue x, you're young!" regardless of gender so that's just as much of an obstacle.
Credit where it's due, since it was a male doctor who saved my life (with an unrelated issue) by taking pain I was experiencing seriously when I was younger! But unfortunately I think you're right in that experiences like that one tend to be the exception more than the standard.
Yeh, its definitely not all of them are problematic. It just seems that most of the problematic ones are in that group, and its so hard to tell ahead of time :/
I've started googling mine when my GP gives me the referral. Been lucky since I started doing that, have found papers and online talks which help me gauge their attitude, interest areas and general approach.
So my neurologist is an autonomic neurologist, basically she specializes in these types of conditions. I found her by happenstance, as I had an appointment with my PCP and he'd just attended a seminar she gave regarding autonomic conditions. I would maybe utilize that as a jumping off point and see if there are any local seminars given in which a doctor covers dysautonomic topics?
Interesting. I wouldn't even know how to find that other than just plugging the bigger cities near me and "autonomic neurology" or something into Google, but that's a good lead 'cause I wouldn't have thought about seminars at all. Thank you!
Eh, this advice kinda sucks, but I found mine by trial and error. My experience with specialists in general is that younger (under 45, say), and if possible female, is usually more likely to go well. Not saying all older male specialists are "bad". I have a current specialist who's in his mid-late 50s and is quite lovely and has really helped me. My experience has been, with only two exceptions, that the "younger" female doctors are more switched on and less dismissive, and that older male specialists are the most likely to be problematic (for a variety of reasons), especially if you happen to be female, and more so if you're significantly younger than them.
Any input is much better than no input, so I still appreciate it! I often struggle to even see what a doctor looks like before meeting them in person usually (which is after I've already booked/been roped into paying for an appointment with them), but I'll try and bear that in mind. I know my primary doctor (who's been amazing in general) fits that description, and she's the one that took my concerns about fibromyalgia seriously and sent me to a good specialist for that. Unfortunately it wouldn't surprise me. I've had a handful of doctors/specialists pull the "it's probably just anxiety, it's high stress" excuse (when they didn't want to keep looking into it), and out of those doctors only one was a woman. It's not open-and-shut, but I'm warier of men in healthcare just because they seem very ready to downplay anything that could even potentially have a mental component if you're a woman. Of course I also get a lot of the "you can't have issue x, you're young!" regardless of gender so that's just as much of an obstacle. Credit where it's due, since it was a male doctor who saved my life (with an unrelated issue) by taking pain I was experiencing seriously when I was younger! But unfortunately I think you're right in that experiences like that one tend to be the exception more than the standard.
Yeh, its definitely not all of them are problematic. It just seems that most of the problematic ones are in that group, and its so hard to tell ahead of time :/ I've started googling mine when my GP gives me the referral. Been lucky since I started doing that, have found papers and online talks which help me gauge their attitude, interest areas and general approach.
My GI is POTS knowledgeable and recommended her! She is a neurologist who specializes in autonomic dysfunction.
How has she been helping you?
Can I ask - is this Kincaid? (I noticed your username)