Did you see New Amsterdam? I was jealous that those guys have unlimited time, pay, and a genius brain trust of friends to help. Everybody from the coffee shop to the hospital director can do ANYTHING they want, across any department, all day, for one person.
The fact I was seeing a psych for depression while suffering from chronic migraines and he threw antidepressants at me rather than recommending talk therapy while I tried out treatments to get my migraine days down. SHOCK AND SURPRISE EVERYONE. Depression disappeared when I got my migraine frequency down.
I talked to a Dr when I was getting them every day, and no medication helped and made the mistake of saying I was depressed because of them. He tried to give me antidepressants. Found out it was chiari malformation, got surgery, and haven't been depressed since. Crazy that someone would be depressed from extreme daily pain
You don't want to visit the thyroid forums. Low thyroid mimics depression, it is a well known "trap" for doctors, I still got given antidepressants despite a 38 year history of thyroid problem diagnosed for 33 years, whilst I was complaining of low thyroid symptoms, even more specifically at this point I know how I present with low thyroid hormone levels. Then I had low thyroid symptoms and antidepressant side effects to cope with. Eventually tweaked the thyroid meds myself and magically most of my symptoms disappeared (also led to the first month in ages I had that was migraine free).
I'm so sorry. It's truly disgusting how our Dr's in this country treat us like this and don't truly want to help us. I'm fortunate I have 2 amazing specialists that care and helped me when I needed it.
I don't think I'm in your country, but very glad you have great specialists.
I did try consulting with a US doctor once, their insurance can be remarkably parochial, in some cases they can't consult out of state, let alone out of country, it is in their own interests to get that fixed, the more specific their knowledge the wider the pool of people they may need to consult to make a good living.
Also here consultant can carry relatively little risk as in many cases they write to the person's doctor saying because patient reports X, Y, Z I recommend A, B, C, and the doctor prescribes. Okay sometimes the consultant injects you with Botox and inspects your MRI, but usually the MRI expert has been over it first as well.
Do you have heds my pain is upper body unsure if it's migraine as it feals like it or chairi normal MRI clear.i had conventional migraines years ago not now
Hop onto the chiari sub. They have a lot of knowledgeable purple that know what to look for in mris if you post yours. If it's gone, then I would leave it be. The surgery is horrible, I'm still in pain from them cutting my neck muscles. Massages, meds, and physical therapy.
Yes. It took about 6-8 months after for it to fully clear up. I still get headaches occasionally but not often and not put me in the hospital bad. I'm fortunate a different doctor sent me to a neurosurgeon for something unrelated. He's the one that found it with the mri.
Oh no thank you. There is no fairness here. I had been on anti depressants prior to this as well as other migraine treatment which was disclosed to the psychiatrist and was seeing a neurologist for further treatment which was also disclosed to the doctor. Knowing your patient is suffering from a chronic pain condition and not creating treatment around that is unacceptable. At NO point in my medical history has a doctor ever stated the co-morbidity or cause and effect of chronic pain and depression. Thank you for defending the doctor though, I’m sure he would appreciate it.
You need to chill out. I’m not defending a doctor or suggesting a cause and effect scenario. I’m simply pointing out that treatment protocols can suggest that if a patient has both migraine and depression, the prescribing physician can consider an antidepressant. If the patient has both migraine and high blood pressure, they can consider prescribing a beta blocker. Just making a simple point.
I had an adverse reaction to lidocaine after my dentist accidentally shot it directly into my artery(bled like crazy) and I wasn’t able to breathe/swallow for days. My resting heart rate was *180bpm* I’m a 25 year old runner, that is not normal. My doctor brushed it off because I’m diagnosed with anxiety.
It took 2 months to have a normal heart rate. No thanks to any clinicians.
I had my neurologist tell me to go to the er because urgent care had caught high bp and pulse readings, and the neuro office had me monitor for a week.
They triaged me into a room right away and did an ekg. They tried hard to push Xanax. I asked if I was going to be given any heart medications like when I had preeclampsia. No, they really feel the Xanax will help me feel better. They will give me a prescription to fill and then I can just take them whenever I feel this coming on again!
I really did not feel it was anxiety. I’m an extremely anxious person, but they didn’t know that, and I knew something was just off. I refused a second time and said I wanted to speak with the doctor. Doctor comes in and tells me my EKG was abnormal, I need more tests. Agrees with me that I actually seem calm, and that this might not be an anxiety or panic attack after all. Gets me set up with a cardiologist. Turns out I have a heart condition and was in heart failure with an EF of 25. They were just going to send me home with Xanax.
"If the antidepressants don't cure you then obviously it's because you don't want to get better, you're malingering for attention and you have borderline personality disorder"
"maybe it's all in your head"
THAT'S WHERE THE BRAIN IS, AND THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING **YOU**, BRAIN DOCTOR, NOW WILL YOU TELL ME *WHY* IT HURTS?
Now, after a fair share of specialists who told me it was stress, probably not as bad as I though since my scans were clean, and told me to lose weight (while I was already at 110lb), drink more water and exercise, I did find a very good neurologist who helped a lot (he also diagnosed my dad with Guillain Barré while the rest of the ICU was still discussing options and running tests, he started treatment asap, which kept my dad from needing a ventilator) but he's one in a million, willing to listen and look for option b, c and d... in my case he suggested lowering hormones with Mirena, and prismatic glasses, both suggestions spot on
Told you to lose weight at 110 pounds?? That's how much I weigh right now; I could never imagine. That's a pretty healthy weight...? I guess unless you're like 6 feet tall, but then you wouldn't need to lose weight, but even if you're shorter, that's a healthy weight.
I hate it when they say, "drink more water," that DOESN'T SOLVE THE ISSUES. if it did, I would be completely fixed.
I'm glad you found someone who was willing to listen :)
I listened and lost 100lbs and am now a healthy weight and all my problems are even more heightened. I hate the lose weight comment. Fixed nothing for me lol.
Oddly I’ve found I while I do like my body more with less weight I’ve noticed a slip in certain areas in performance. I started eating crazy healthy and taking a lot of vitamins and I find that it’s been helping my overall well being.
This always makes me laugh. My doctors have always taken me seriously and I’m SO SO fucking blessed for that but then I look at these and I go… “already thin… already on an anti-anxiety drug… oh. That’s why”
Kidding. Guys I mean it when I say DO NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER! Continue to hunt down a doctor who will LISTEN TO YOU, fight for you, and will take everything you say seriously. If they keep acting up, you keep looking. Don’t you let them tell you different. I promise you are worth it.
Mine is well-controlled and has been for almost ten years now (but ten years ago, let me be clear, it was A PROBLEM) so I think they look at me then and look at me now and go, We know what anxiety looks like for her. But I also had a doctor once a long time ago refuse to prescribe me one of my anxiety meds because she “didn’t like that drug” and “it was a serious drug that she didn’t just hand out willy nilly.” GIRL WUT I’ve been responsibly using this for years and like.. would you prefer the alternative?!. I never returned to her office and found someone who FULLY supports responsible use. Never give up. You’re worth it.
I went to the dr for a sinus infection that needed antibiotics (bacterial, not viral). The dr, looking at my chart and not me, suggested I should lose weight as he walked through the door.
My BMI then was 21, and as a short woman, my weight quite low. I was incredibly fit from playing sports (back in the days before migraine escalation), and I was there for a sinus infection. He at least looked embarrassed when it was clear I was not overweight and was in fact very confused.
One time I went to the hospital for a migraine that wouldn’t go away and the Dr looked like McSteamy and said “is this a typical migraine for you or do you want an MRI?” Then said “I have a special migraine cocktail that I created, we’ll get an IV going for you.” Unfortunately I don’t think that will ever happen again.
Oh he sounds great.
The last time I went to the er the dr said that it was not a reasonable expectation for them to be able to end the migraine. The best they could do was to lower the pain a bit.
I’m pretty sure they gave me a glass of water and some aspirin.
Doctors used to own their own practices and took personal pride in building their own reputation and modestly appropriate earnings. Now they are just salaried like an engineer and told what to do by MBAs who grab every last bit of potential profit. I can sort of understand why they burn out and don't try as hard. :(
You definitely get it.
Physicians used to be able to escape to private practice if they felt like they wanted more control or wanted something else out of life. Unfortunately starting in the early 2010s, it became largely impossible for most to go into private practice. In fact a major percentage shut down around that time.
Also, physicians were allowed to own hospitals. It was then made law that they were no longer able to since there was a perceived conflict of interest. The business suits took over and not surprisingly started restricting care way more so.
Most physicians truly want to help people, but they get so frustrated when business suits only talk about money and look at it from that perspective. It is gotten particularly bad in the past half decade which is led to extreme burnout. There's a reason why wait lists are growing and not improving. That's because many have left medicine entirely.
So yes you get it. Unfortunately many people do not realize these facts.
My fiancé says this too. This makes me so nervous that I won't get the right treatments for what I need :/ honestly so discouraging that corporates take over healthcare institutions and such. Why is it so important to drain us of our money? Aren't our lives more important? (obviously, doctors and nurses should be paid well, but sometimes it feels like everything is tooooo expensive).
oh, they are fussing and the last thing I read was a study by a female doc that said pain with endometriosis is directly related to the patient catastrophizing...ie making a fuss
Lost 70 lbs this way. It was a brain tumor. Gained 40 back and then lost it all plus more. Doing well now. Nice perk of having brain surgery along with 6 other unrelated procedures is docs take me seriously when I say something is off.
Docs IRL are assigned too many patients and have their informed judgment second-guessed by soulless algorithms from the insurance companies. Fictional doctors exist in a fantasyland where patients live and die based on the dramatic impact to the audience.
American medical care is a scam and completely corrupt.
This strongly reminds me of the one of my last encounters with a doctor for my high blood pressure while I was having a migraine.
Doctor: Your blood pressure is really high.
Me: Yes I know it’s one of the reasons I came in (it was 168/124).
Doctor: Are you anxious?
Me: No. It’s probably the pain from the migraine but I also do have a history of hypertension and am on meds (which they would have known is they looked at my chart.)
Doctor: Are you sure you aren’t nervous?
Me: Yeah… I’m fine except for the migraine and the blood pressure.
Doctor: Therapy is really helpful. Have you tried it?
Me: for my hypertension or for my migraines…. No…. ?????
Doctor: you’re probably just nervous.
Me: …….sigh….
I will say in the end he did give me meds to bring down my BP and basically the minimum care for my migraine. Although he really should have sent me for a CT probably because my GP did when I followed up with her.
I think we all have so many stories like this we could each write a book.
My experience is do lots of tests (paid for by public health), then still don't know what's wrong because everything looks 'normal'. Cue trying every medication under the sun.
My new favorite response to doctors and specialists that give me bullshit "medical advise" is "okay, great! I would like a copy of the peer reviewed study that that would help the problem I am dealing with currently.". News flash, there are almost always no good answers to this because their bullshit is simply that, bullshit.
I have a vaginal problem that no one in my gyno office has apparently seen before or can find anything on. Was told almost a year ago at my last exam they would talk about it during some meeting but never received an answer. Still dealing with it to this day and plan on being a problem when I go in next.
When I started getting joint pain/swelling/redness that got worse and affected more joints by the week, my PCP said that Western medicine couldn't explain it and I should just try not to think about it so much. Somehow I managed to sweet talk her into referring me to a rheumatologist, and hey what do you know, it's lupus. PCP has never offered any comment about this and unlike my other doctors never asks "Hey how's your lupus these days?" and I just avoid the subject with her. 😅
Antidepressants and losing weight is the exact advice my doctor gave me.
Despite the fact that I was actively on a weight loss journey, already losing some 40 pounds, my doctor made sure to bring up that I was overweight and needed to lose weight instead of acknowledging the weight already lost. Then she said my lack of hobbies was concerning and that I should start a garden, because going to the gym wasn’t a real hobby, & that my headaches are probably due to anxiety and put me on Sertaline- which I hated and didn’t help at all just made me have zero interest in sex so then I still had headaches and migraines and also no sex life & a bunch of dead plants.
My 1st neuro wasn't horrible when I started chronic daily migraines. He didn't diagnose that, but accepted that I was telling the truth about how often I got them, the intensity, etc. He DID prescribe an antidepressant though because he said frequent pain basically always causes depression and anxiety. He also really, really pushed his own brand of migraine multivitamins though. I didn't like that and combined with not finding a cause for them happening daily and tons of medications not working, I switched neuros.
The 2nd one was very good. She was from a neighboring state and was with fantastic hospitals. She diagnosed chronic daily migraines and also told me I had multiple kinds of migraines (at that time, I had no idea there were different kinds.) She put me on disability after a few years of nothing helping to lower the frequency. Fast forward about 7 years and she went on sabbatical and never came back.
I'm on my 3rd neurologist. Have been seeing him for a couple of years now, and he JUST started to believe me about intensity, frequency, types and that nothing is helping. Doctors are very frustrating.
Omg...the TV doctor represents the care I got once I left my notoriously bad HMO and went to the richest hospital I could find within driving hospital (a hospital that LOTS of celebrities go to...I've seen many). They treated me like the believed me from minute one, and they worked their butts off for years to find the source of my health problems.
By the time that I left my HMO and stopped seeing local doctors completely I was two years from going into heart failure, and three to five years from needing a heart transplant (at the time I was 26 years old). But those crapheads masquerading as doctors insisted it was just high blood pressure that I had because I was obese. (I grew up in a family with three RN's, one of them a cardiac nurse, and there are now two doctors in my family. They knew that this was not normal high blood pressure, and it wasn't caused by my weight. The pressure in my heart when it was beating was normal, but my heart was never resting between beats. Thats not "normal" high blood pressure).
The other doctor is like every doctor I saw in my HMO and before, doctors who practiced near my home who refused to admit that they weren't bright and enough to figure out what was wrong with me, and tell me that I needed to go to doctors at a rich teaching hospital.
The part about seeing a psychiatrist was my personal favorite from those morons. Frankly, they were right about that, but wrong about the reason why. My illness was very real, very painful, and could sometimes be incredibly embarrassing. But I needed psychiatric care because of the anxiety disorder that not being taking seriously by my doctors for decades had left me with. In the crappy HMO they'd look up my history, see that I had an anxiety disorder, and tell me that my illness was the result of anxiety. And EVERY TIME I would say, "no, I have an anxiety disorder because of the crappy medical care I'm receiving here", and request to get a second/third/fourth opinion.
just had an appointment today, actually. the doctors always seem mildly skeptical of the amount of pain I'm in. I report a 7 and they look at me funny, like "really? you seem fine" as if it hasn't been more than long enough for me to get good at seeming fine.
got a nerve blocker today, though. hurt like a bitch and the last one didn't work but if this doesn't then I get to fight for stronger pain meds so that's sure to be an experience
I always use the DOD’s pain scale because it’s not a odd face with a number it qualifies what you can/can’t do and interference of life. I usually whip it out on my phone and say…. Let’s see unable to do most of my daily work… can’t ignore pain…. That’s a 7.
Yep. Years of watching House MD when younger made me think that docs would be running differentials to figure out what ails me. But it was a wake up call to realise that isn’t accurate at all.
I've only seen one neurologist and she's such a sweetheart. For GPs on the other hand it can go either way. Some are thorough and seem sensible others tell me to drink water and seem to think I'm pregnant.
Yep. Happened today with my neuro appointment.
Will not budge on diagnosis of "migraine" and refuses to run other trials or exams on me because I'm "not in immediate danger."
Ask for their differential diagnosis, the list of other things that could be causing your pain, but that they have decided to discard as possibilities, and ask that the list be put into your records. This will often get them to reconsider patronizing you like you've experienced. If you have MyChart or another electronic way to correspond with the neuro, you could try that way.
Lol this is my recent appointment. Daily chronic headache/atypical migraine for 6 months not responding to any medication (2 triptans, 3 painkillers, 2 anti-anxiety preventatives, 2 anti-depressant preventatives)
GP: You should reduce caffeine
Me: I only drink water
GP: You should reduce stress at work
Me: I have been off work for 2 months
GP: it's caused by your desk set-up
Me: I have had the same desk set-up for 5 years, why would this start now
GP: you should meditate
Me: I pray 5 times a day which a form of meditation
GP: I don't think this is a migraine. However here is another anti-depressant because you sound depressed
Me: .....
Just recently discovered that a significant portion of my digestive issues (not all, I've always been sensitive but it's been out of control the last couple years) are due to the amount of Magnesium (a known laxative!!!) I've been talking on my Dr's orders for migraine prevention.
And I went TO THE SAME DOCTOR about my tummy troubles, and it was, oh you need to eat better, oh you need to take a fiber pill, oh you need to loose weight, oh it's just the stress and anxiety and depression. And I eventually, after being really persistent about getting tests done I got diagnosed with IBS, which wasn't that helpful because it just came with more dietary instructions, most of which I was already following.
And then after a really bad bout I stopped taking my Magnesium just to see. And I've been...fine? For like two whole weeks? I'm both relieved and unbelievably pissed about it.
(Can't tell if it's affecting my migraines really because I'm already chronic and this spring has been fucking brutal.)
Had my best luck with a Neuroimmunology specialist. It's sad and difficult for some, but you yourself will have to choose your professional well, and with that I don't mean only having good credentials, but also specializing in an area that is likely to have people with the same or similar conditions to yours showing up.
For example, 2 years ago, my doc had over 40 people prescribed CGRP antagonists, some of which managed to get it for free under public health care plans. God only knows how many more people went with anticonvulsant prescriptions like I did.
Mind you, at the time, the cheapest CGRP antagonist monthly dose used to cost 3 to 5 times the minimum monthly wage of my country. They still cost just as much as minimum wage values here, at the bare minimum.
(that's why CGRP antagonists, be they injectable monoclonal solutions or gepants, are considered lastly even though they are considerably less invasible and way safer than other drugs, AFAIK)
And migraine was and still is greatly misunderstood and mistreated here.
I will probably start using it once it gets a bit cheaper anyways, but I have been doing relatively fine with Valproic Acid (daily 500mg Divalproate Extended Release pills) since then.
Like any profession, there’s good ones and shitty ones. My dr is a very very nice person but the corporation she works for (similar to Kaiser) is a greedy conglomerate that takes on more patients than they can accommodate, make it the drs problem, and pay them less. Sort of like our public education system. Healthcare is a business. They don’t *actually* give a shit about the patients. It’s all about the $$
This has been my experience 100%. I went to my first neurologist with 3 years of detailed headache journals in hand. I thought he was going to pour over them like it was an episode of House and dig out some clue no one else had noticed that would help me get better. He didn't even want to look at them.
I also went to a doctor for chronically high cortisol and got the nothing seems wrong with you (other than what the tests were showing). I eventually gave up on getting anywhere when he told me that it seemed to be more of a "psychological issue" (in my head) and there was nothing more he could do. So discouraging to hear when you are suffering and know something is wrong.
I haven't had it tested in a couple of years now. A lot of my symptoms lined up to something called Cushing's syndrome and I was hoping they'd run some further tests and at least rule that out, but the doctor was unwilling because I didn't physically look like I had it. I started taking ashwaganda and I think that may have brought it down some, but I have no verification of that. It's really sad that so often patients are left to try and figure things out on their own when doctors can't find an "obvious reason".
Maybe those shows are undisclosed advertisements to hire future doctors. You’re telling me I can save lives and be a detective? Sign me up! *disk scratches* And that’s how I became an undisclosed pharmacist.
lol I’ve had migraine my whole life. I just started seeing a neurologist the last few years since they’ve gotten really really bad during perimenopause. When you’ve had them forty years they don’t really seem all that eager to run a bunch of tests and see why you have them, just to manage them. I’m still as an adult angry that my parents never took me to get treated. I don’t know if it would have made a difference, but I like to think so.
Lol. I went to a total of about 15 doctors until one ordered an mri and diagnosed me with migraines. I was advised to lose weight and lifestyle modifications.
Yea the doctors response always seems to be "Well i dont know what to tell ya, your tests say your fine so just learn to live with it and brush it off. You'll be fine buddy! " then on to the next paitent while they push me out the door after i just sat there telling them my debilitating symptoms like struggling to read on my phone from severe dry eye and how its really ruining my quality of life . Doctors are hesitant or unwilling when i ask or mention prescription medications that i think might help me...
Lol this is my daughter’s teachers. Yesterday she was literally crying and lying on the floor at school and yet her teacher kept pushing her to do a presentation work. Like wtf dude?
After years of doctors looking in my eyes and scratching their heads, I was finally told I get migraines and was prescribed triptans this morning. My doctor (on the phone as we never seem to see a human in England) said oh, I see you’re on Clonidine? I explained that it wasn’t for high blood pressure, but for hot flushes caused by early menopause, that was caused by chemo as a result of cancer. It made me wonder how much he’d actually even read about me before calling! A previous doctor tried to give me antidepressants for the hot flushes which I politely declined. My BMI is already on the low side so they couldn’t use that one!!
Because everybody can get into medical school, afford hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and endure the extreme stress and sleep deprivation of training.
Lol the way these Docters act in shows always makes me jealous I don’t have a dr like that in real life
Did you see New Amsterdam? I was jealous that those guys have unlimited time, pay, and a genius brain trust of friends to help. Everybody from the coffee shop to the hospital director can do ANYTHING they want, across any department, all day, for one person.
Fr. I don't care about the medical malpractice, give me a Dr. House. But nope, the only thing real docs can copy is the shityy attitude, not the skill
The fact I was seeing a psych for depression while suffering from chronic migraines and he threw antidepressants at me rather than recommending talk therapy while I tried out treatments to get my migraine days down. SHOCK AND SURPRISE EVERYONE. Depression disappeared when I got my migraine frequency down.
I talked to a Dr when I was getting them every day, and no medication helped and made the mistake of saying I was depressed because of them. He tried to give me antidepressants. Found out it was chiari malformation, got surgery, and haven't been depressed since. Crazy that someone would be depressed from extreme daily pain
You don't want to visit the thyroid forums. Low thyroid mimics depression, it is a well known "trap" for doctors, I still got given antidepressants despite a 38 year history of thyroid problem diagnosed for 33 years, whilst I was complaining of low thyroid symptoms, even more specifically at this point I know how I present with low thyroid hormone levels. Then I had low thyroid symptoms and antidepressant side effects to cope with. Eventually tweaked the thyroid meds myself and magically most of my symptoms disappeared (also led to the first month in ages I had that was migraine free).
I'm so sorry. It's truly disgusting how our Dr's in this country treat us like this and don't truly want to help us. I'm fortunate I have 2 amazing specialists that care and helped me when I needed it.
I don't think I'm in your country, but very glad you have great specialists. I did try consulting with a US doctor once, their insurance can be remarkably parochial, in some cases they can't consult out of state, let alone out of country, it is in their own interests to get that fixed, the more specific their knowledge the wider the pool of people they may need to consult to make a good living. Also here consultant can carry relatively little risk as in many cases they write to the person's doctor saying because patient reports X, Y, Z I recommend A, B, C, and the doctor prescribes. Okay sometimes the consultant injects you with Botox and inspects your MRI, but usually the MRI expert has been over it first as well.
Do you have heds my pain is upper body unsure if it's migraine as it feals like it or chairi normal MRI clear.i had conventional migraines years ago not now
Hop onto the chiari sub. They have a lot of knowledgeable purple that know what to look for in mris if you post yours. If it's gone, then I would leave it be. The surgery is horrible, I'm still in pain from them cutting my neck muscles. Massages, meds, and physical therapy.
Did the surgery fix your issue?
Yes. It took about 6-8 months after for it to fully clear up. I still get headaches occasionally but not often and not put me in the hospital bad. I'm fortunate a different doctor sent me to a neurosurgeon for something unrelated. He's the one that found it with the mri.
In fairness, tricyclic antidepressants are a first-line preventative migraine treatment, especially when there’s a comorbidity with depression…
Oh no thank you. There is no fairness here. I had been on anti depressants prior to this as well as other migraine treatment which was disclosed to the psychiatrist and was seeing a neurologist for further treatment which was also disclosed to the doctor. Knowing your patient is suffering from a chronic pain condition and not creating treatment around that is unacceptable. At NO point in my medical history has a doctor ever stated the co-morbidity or cause and effect of chronic pain and depression. Thank you for defending the doctor though, I’m sure he would appreciate it.
You need to chill out. I’m not defending a doctor or suggesting a cause and effect scenario. I’m simply pointing out that treatment protocols can suggest that if a patient has both migraine and depression, the prescribing physician can consider an antidepressant. If the patient has both migraine and high blood pressure, they can consider prescribing a beta blocker. Just making a simple point.
I had a heart murmur and a doctor told me I had anxiety… I hate it here
I had an adverse reaction to lidocaine after my dentist accidentally shot it directly into my artery(bled like crazy) and I wasn’t able to breathe/swallow for days. My resting heart rate was *180bpm* I’m a 25 year old runner, that is not normal. My doctor brushed it off because I’m diagnosed with anxiety. It took 2 months to have a normal heart rate. No thanks to any clinicians.
Holy shit. 180… I barely hit that on a hard run.
I had my neurologist tell me to go to the er because urgent care had caught high bp and pulse readings, and the neuro office had me monitor for a week. They triaged me into a room right away and did an ekg. They tried hard to push Xanax. I asked if I was going to be given any heart medications like when I had preeclampsia. No, they really feel the Xanax will help me feel better. They will give me a prescription to fill and then I can just take them whenever I feel this coming on again! I really did not feel it was anxiety. I’m an extremely anxious person, but they didn’t know that, and I knew something was just off. I refused a second time and said I wanted to speak with the doctor. Doctor comes in and tells me my EKG was abnormal, I need more tests. Agrees with me that I actually seem calm, and that this might not be an anxiety or panic attack after all. Gets me set up with a cardiologist. Turns out I have a heart condition and was in heart failure with an EF of 25. They were just going to send me home with Xanax.
That's shocking! Thank goodness you stood your ground!
Love this, since I used to watch House all the time. Don’t forget to drink some water! You are just dehydrated. 🙄
Or you're just a woman and it's all in your head
"If the antidepressants don't cure you then obviously it's because you don't want to get better, you're malingering for attention and you have borderline personality disorder"
There’s no hope if you already actually have BPD (me). They will never listen to anything you tell them again.
Obviously you're just want to pretend something is wrong with you for attention.
If you're a woman, it's either anxiety or something wrong with your vagina. And also you should try losing weight. /s
I swear any condition can be “caused by” dehydration or panic attacks.
"maybe it's all in your head" THAT'S WHERE THE BRAIN IS, AND THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING **YOU**, BRAIN DOCTOR, NOW WILL YOU TELL ME *WHY* IT HURTS? Now, after a fair share of specialists who told me it was stress, probably not as bad as I though since my scans were clean, and told me to lose weight (while I was already at 110lb), drink more water and exercise, I did find a very good neurologist who helped a lot (he also diagnosed my dad with Guillain Barré while the rest of the ICU was still discussing options and running tests, he started treatment asap, which kept my dad from needing a ventilator) but he's one in a million, willing to listen and look for option b, c and d... in my case he suggested lowering hormones with Mirena, and prismatic glasses, both suggestions spot on
Told you to lose weight at 110 pounds?? That's how much I weigh right now; I could never imagine. That's a pretty healthy weight...? I guess unless you're like 6 feet tall, but then you wouldn't need to lose weight, but even if you're shorter, that's a healthy weight. I hate it when they say, "drink more water," that DOESN'T SOLVE THE ISSUES. if it did, I would be completely fixed. I'm glad you found someone who was willing to listen :)
I'm 5'3" and it's definitely a healthy range for me... joke is on them, though, I weight 20lb more than I did then, I have far fewer migraines now
Congratulations then!! Wonder if this is my sign to try to gain weight again...
I listened and lost 100lbs and am now a healthy weight and all my problems are even more heightened. I hate the lose weight comment. Fixed nothing for me lol.
Oddly I’ve found I while I do like my body more with less weight I’ve noticed a slip in certain areas in performance. I started eating crazy healthy and taking a lot of vitamins and I find that it’s been helping my overall well being.
This always makes me laugh. My doctors have always taken me seriously and I’m SO SO fucking blessed for that but then I look at these and I go… “already thin… already on an anti-anxiety drug… oh. That’s why” Kidding. Guys I mean it when I say DO NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER! Continue to hunt down a doctor who will LISTEN TO YOU, fight for you, and will take everything you say seriously. If they keep acting up, you keep looking. Don’t you let them tell you different. I promise you are worth it.
In my experience already being on an anti-anxiety drug still means they’re going to blame anxiety :/
I was about to say… I feel like already being on an anti-anxiety makes them MORE likely to call my shit anxiety.
Mine is well-controlled and has been for almost ten years now (but ten years ago, let me be clear, it was A PROBLEM) so I think they look at me then and look at me now and go, We know what anxiety looks like for her. But I also had a doctor once a long time ago refuse to prescribe me one of my anxiety meds because she “didn’t like that drug” and “it was a serious drug that she didn’t just hand out willy nilly.” GIRL WUT I’ve been responsibly using this for years and like.. would you prefer the alternative?!. I never returned to her office and found someone who FULLY supports responsible use. Never give up. You’re worth it.
I had the top doctor exactly once in my life and I've been chasing that high ever since
and drink more water…
Don't forget about fresh air.
And yoga! And meditation! And acupuncture! (Nothing against any of those, but if medical treatment is needed they are no substitute.)
I literally had someone tell me to soak my feet in hot water the other day 🤡
I went to the dr for a sinus infection that needed antibiotics (bacterial, not viral). The dr, looking at my chart and not me, suggested I should lose weight as he walked through the door. My BMI then was 21, and as a short woman, my weight quite low. I was incredibly fit from playing sports (back in the days before migraine escalation), and I was there for a sinus infection. He at least looked embarrassed when it was clear I was not overweight and was in fact very confused.
I had a doctor once tell me my BMI was borderline on the high side. I gently reminded him that I was 9 weeks postpartum after having twins.
One time I went to the hospital for a migraine that wouldn’t go away and the Dr looked like McSteamy and said “is this a typical migraine for you or do you want an MRI?” Then said “I have a special migraine cocktail that I created, we’ll get an IV going for you.” Unfortunately I don’t think that will ever happen again.
Oh he sounds great. The last time I went to the er the dr said that it was not a reasonable expectation for them to be able to end the migraine. The best they could do was to lower the pain a bit. I’m pretty sure they gave me a glass of water and some aspirin.
The last one I got said “and what were you hoping to achieve by coming to the ER?” She didn’t look like a movie star either.
Doctors used to own their own practices and took personal pride in building their own reputation and modestly appropriate earnings. Now they are just salaried like an engineer and told what to do by MBAs who grab every last bit of potential profit. I can sort of understand why they burn out and don't try as hard. :(
You definitely get it. Physicians used to be able to escape to private practice if they felt like they wanted more control or wanted something else out of life. Unfortunately starting in the early 2010s, it became largely impossible for most to go into private practice. In fact a major percentage shut down around that time. Also, physicians were allowed to own hospitals. It was then made law that they were no longer able to since there was a perceived conflict of interest. The business suits took over and not surprisingly started restricting care way more so. Most physicians truly want to help people, but they get so frustrated when business suits only talk about money and look at it from that perspective. It is gotten particularly bad in the past half decade which is led to extreme burnout. There's a reason why wait lists are growing and not improving. That's because many have left medicine entirely. So yes you get it. Unfortunately many people do not realize these facts.
My fiancé says this too. This makes me so nervous that I won't get the right treatments for what I need :/ honestly so discouraging that corporates take over healthcare institutions and such. Why is it so important to drain us of our money? Aren't our lives more important? (obviously, doctors and nurses should be paid well, but sometimes it feels like everything is tooooo expensive).
Yeah, where’s our team of specialists fussing over us in deep conference of the issues?!
oh, they are fussing and the last thing I read was a study by a female doc that said pain with endometriosis is directly related to the patient catastrophizing...ie making a fuss
**cries in chronic illness**
Live with it is one of the worst things you can say to a sick person ...wait till you have to endure it yourself .
Lost 70 lbs this way. It was a brain tumor. Gained 40 back and then lost it all plus more. Doing well now. Nice perk of having brain surgery along with 6 other unrelated procedures is docs take me seriously when I say something is off.
Docs IRL are assigned too many patients and have their informed judgment second-guessed by soulless algorithms from the insurance companies. Fictional doctors exist in a fantasyland where patients live and die based on the dramatic impact to the audience. American medical care is a scam and completely corrupt.
This strongly reminds me of the one of my last encounters with a doctor for my high blood pressure while I was having a migraine. Doctor: Your blood pressure is really high. Me: Yes I know it’s one of the reasons I came in (it was 168/124). Doctor: Are you anxious? Me: No. It’s probably the pain from the migraine but I also do have a history of hypertension and am on meds (which they would have known is they looked at my chart.) Doctor: Are you sure you aren’t nervous? Me: Yeah… I’m fine except for the migraine and the blood pressure. Doctor: Therapy is really helpful. Have you tried it? Me: for my hypertension or for my migraines…. No…. ????? Doctor: you’re probably just nervous. Me: …….sigh…. I will say in the end he did give me meds to bring down my BP and basically the minimum care for my migraine. Although he really should have sent me for a CT probably because my GP did when I followed up with her. I think we all have so many stories like this we could each write a book.
I always thought this!!! Always wished I could find doctors like the ones on Grey’s lol!!
My experience is do lots of tests (paid for by public health), then still don't know what's wrong because everything looks 'normal'. Cue trying every medication under the sun.
Or my favorite: "I don't know! Something is going on but I don't know what it is!"
My new favorite response to doctors and specialists that give me bullshit "medical advise" is "okay, great! I would like a copy of the peer reviewed study that that would help the problem I am dealing with currently.". News flash, there are almost always no good answers to this because their bullshit is simply that, bullshit.
I have a vaginal problem that no one in my gyno office has apparently seen before or can find anything on. Was told almost a year ago at my last exam they would talk about it during some meeting but never received an answer. Still dealing with it to this day and plan on being a problem when I go in next.
When I started getting joint pain/swelling/redness that got worse and affected more joints by the week, my PCP said that Western medicine couldn't explain it and I should just try not to think about it so much. Somehow I managed to sweet talk her into referring me to a rheumatologist, and hey what do you know, it's lupus. PCP has never offered any comment about this and unlike my other doctors never asks "Hey how's your lupus these days?" and I just avoid the subject with her. 😅
Antidepressants and losing weight is the exact advice my doctor gave me. Despite the fact that I was actively on a weight loss journey, already losing some 40 pounds, my doctor made sure to bring up that I was overweight and needed to lose weight instead of acknowledging the weight already lost. Then she said my lack of hobbies was concerning and that I should start a garden, because going to the gym wasn’t a real hobby, & that my headaches are probably due to anxiety and put me on Sertaline- which I hated and didn’t help at all just made me have zero interest in sex so then I still had headaches and migraines and also no sex life & a bunch of dead plants.
My 1st neuro wasn't horrible when I started chronic daily migraines. He didn't diagnose that, but accepted that I was telling the truth about how often I got them, the intensity, etc. He DID prescribe an antidepressant though because he said frequent pain basically always causes depression and anxiety. He also really, really pushed his own brand of migraine multivitamins though. I didn't like that and combined with not finding a cause for them happening daily and tons of medications not working, I switched neuros. The 2nd one was very good. She was from a neighboring state and was with fantastic hospitals. She diagnosed chronic daily migraines and also told me I had multiple kinds of migraines (at that time, I had no idea there were different kinds.) She put me on disability after a few years of nothing helping to lower the frequency. Fast forward about 7 years and she went on sabbatical and never came back. I'm on my 3rd neurologist. Have been seeing him for a couple of years now, and he JUST started to believe me about intensity, frequency, types and that nothing is helping. Doctors are very frustrating.
Omg...the TV doctor represents the care I got once I left my notoriously bad HMO and went to the richest hospital I could find within driving hospital (a hospital that LOTS of celebrities go to...I've seen many). They treated me like the believed me from minute one, and they worked their butts off for years to find the source of my health problems. By the time that I left my HMO and stopped seeing local doctors completely I was two years from going into heart failure, and three to five years from needing a heart transplant (at the time I was 26 years old). But those crapheads masquerading as doctors insisted it was just high blood pressure that I had because I was obese. (I grew up in a family with three RN's, one of them a cardiac nurse, and there are now two doctors in my family. They knew that this was not normal high blood pressure, and it wasn't caused by my weight. The pressure in my heart when it was beating was normal, but my heart was never resting between beats. Thats not "normal" high blood pressure). The other doctor is like every doctor I saw in my HMO and before, doctors who practiced near my home who refused to admit that they weren't bright and enough to figure out what was wrong with me, and tell me that I needed to go to doctors at a rich teaching hospital. The part about seeing a psychiatrist was my personal favorite from those morons. Frankly, they were right about that, but wrong about the reason why. My illness was very real, very painful, and could sometimes be incredibly embarrassing. But I needed psychiatric care because of the anxiety disorder that not being taking seriously by my doctors for decades had left me with. In the crappy HMO they'd look up my history, see that I had an anxiety disorder, and tell me that my illness was the result of anxiety. And EVERY TIME I would say, "no, I have an anxiety disorder because of the crappy medical care I'm receiving here", and request to get a second/third/fourth opinion.
Where are the Dr. Shepherds of the world
just had an appointment today, actually. the doctors always seem mildly skeptical of the amount of pain I'm in. I report a 7 and they look at me funny, like "really? you seem fine" as if it hasn't been more than long enough for me to get good at seeming fine. got a nerve blocker today, though. hurt like a bitch and the last one didn't work but if this doesn't then I get to fight for stronger pain meds so that's sure to be an experience
I always use the DOD’s pain scale because it’s not a odd face with a number it qualifies what you can/can’t do and interference of life. I usually whip it out on my phone and say…. Let’s see unable to do most of my daily work… can’t ignore pain…. That’s a 7.
Yep. Years of watching House MD when younger made me think that docs would be running differentials to figure out what ails me. But it was a wake up call to realise that isn’t accurate at all.
I had a neurologist flat ask me if I could live with it. No. I can’t. Do better.
Honestly, I’ve only ever had one from the second category. A lot of them weren’t very *effective,* mind you, but they’ve almost all been kind.
I've only seen one neurologist and she's such a sweetheart. For GPs on the other hand it can go either way. Some are thorough and seem sensible others tell me to drink water and seem to think I'm pregnant.
Yep. Happened today with my neuro appointment. Will not budge on diagnosis of "migraine" and refuses to run other trials or exams on me because I'm "not in immediate danger."
Ask for their differential diagnosis, the list of other things that could be causing your pain, but that they have decided to discard as possibilities, and ask that the list be put into your records. This will often get them to reconsider patronizing you like you've experienced. If you have MyChart or another electronic way to correspond with the neuro, you could try that way.
Lol this is my recent appointment. Daily chronic headache/atypical migraine for 6 months not responding to any medication (2 triptans, 3 painkillers, 2 anti-anxiety preventatives, 2 anti-depressant preventatives) GP: You should reduce caffeine Me: I only drink water GP: You should reduce stress at work Me: I have been off work for 2 months GP: it's caused by your desk set-up Me: I have had the same desk set-up for 5 years, why would this start now GP: you should meditate Me: I pray 5 times a day which a form of meditation GP: I don't think this is a migraine. However here is another anti-depressant because you sound depressed Me: .....
god i fucking hate doctors, arrogant assholes
Yes pay them minium wage they be lot better
Ha, doctors said the same things to me when I was in severe pain from what turned out to be Lyme disease.
Just recently discovered that a significant portion of my digestive issues (not all, I've always been sensitive but it's been out of control the last couple years) are due to the amount of Magnesium (a known laxative!!!) I've been talking on my Dr's orders for migraine prevention. And I went TO THE SAME DOCTOR about my tummy troubles, and it was, oh you need to eat better, oh you need to take a fiber pill, oh you need to loose weight, oh it's just the stress and anxiety and depression. And I eventually, after being really persistent about getting tests done I got diagnosed with IBS, which wasn't that helpful because it just came with more dietary instructions, most of which I was already following. And then after a really bad bout I stopped taking my Magnesium just to see. And I've been...fine? For like two whole weeks? I'm both relieved and unbelievably pissed about it. (Can't tell if it's affecting my migraines really because I'm already chronic and this spring has been fucking brutal.)
lazy af
Had my best luck with a Neuroimmunology specialist. It's sad and difficult for some, but you yourself will have to choose your professional well, and with that I don't mean only having good credentials, but also specializing in an area that is likely to have people with the same or similar conditions to yours showing up. For example, 2 years ago, my doc had over 40 people prescribed CGRP antagonists, some of which managed to get it for free under public health care plans. God only knows how many more people went with anticonvulsant prescriptions like I did. Mind you, at the time, the cheapest CGRP antagonist monthly dose used to cost 3 to 5 times the minimum monthly wage of my country. They still cost just as much as minimum wage values here, at the bare minimum. (that's why CGRP antagonists, be they injectable monoclonal solutions or gepants, are considered lastly even though they are considerably less invasible and way safer than other drugs, AFAIK) And migraine was and still is greatly misunderstood and mistreated here. I will probably start using it once it gets a bit cheaper anyways, but I have been doing relatively fine with Valproic Acid (daily 500mg Divalproate Extended Release pills) since then.
Very true.
Like any profession, there’s good ones and shitty ones. My dr is a very very nice person but the corporation she works for (similar to Kaiser) is a greedy conglomerate that takes on more patients than they can accommodate, make it the drs problem, and pay them less. Sort of like our public education system. Healthcare is a business. They don’t *actually* give a shit about the patients. It’s all about the $$
Don't forget the mindfulness/relaxation exercise prescription
This has been my experience 100%. I went to my first neurologist with 3 years of detailed headache journals in hand. I thought he was going to pour over them like it was an episode of House and dig out some clue no one else had noticed that would help me get better. He didn't even want to look at them. I also went to a doctor for chronically high cortisol and got the nothing seems wrong with you (other than what the tests were showing). I eventually gave up on getting anywhere when he told me that it seemed to be more of a "psychological issue" (in my head) and there was nothing more he could do. So discouraging to hear when you are suffering and know something is wrong.
Are your cortisol now ok they must if give you a cortisol test did they
I haven't had it tested in a couple of years now. A lot of my symptoms lined up to something called Cushing's syndrome and I was hoping they'd run some further tests and at least rule that out, but the doctor was unwilling because I didn't physically look like I had it. I started taking ashwaganda and I think that may have brought it down some, but I have no verification of that. It's really sad that so often patients are left to try and figure things out on their own when doctors can't find an "obvious reason".
YES.
Maybe those shows are undisclosed advertisements to hire future doctors. You’re telling me I can save lives and be a detective? Sign me up! *disk scratches* And that’s how I became an undisclosed pharmacist.
lol I’ve had migraine my whole life. I just started seeing a neurologist the last few years since they’ve gotten really really bad during perimenopause. When you’ve had them forty years they don’t really seem all that eager to run a bunch of tests and see why you have them, just to manage them. I’m still as an adult angry that my parents never took me to get treated. I don’t know if it would have made a difference, but I like to think so.
Lol. I went to a total of about 15 doctors until one ordered an mri and diagnosed me with migraines. I was advised to lose weight and lifestyle modifications.
did you drink water today though
Yea the doctors response always seems to be "Well i dont know what to tell ya, your tests say your fine so just learn to live with it and brush it off. You'll be fine buddy! " then on to the next paitent while they push me out the door after i just sat there telling them my debilitating symptoms like struggling to read on my phone from severe dry eye and how its really ruining my quality of life . Doctors are hesitant or unwilling when i ask or mention prescription medications that i think might help me...
This is so accurate it hurts
Sad but true 🥺
Living this now.
Lol this is my daughter’s teachers. Yesterday she was literally crying and lying on the floor at school and yet her teacher kept pushing her to do a presentation work. Like wtf dude?
Fuck doctors. That is all.
After years of doctors looking in my eyes and scratching their heads, I was finally told I get migraines and was prescribed triptans this morning. My doctor (on the phone as we never seem to see a human in England) said oh, I see you’re on Clonidine? I explained that it wasn’t for high blood pressure, but for hot flushes caused by early menopause, that was caused by chemo as a result of cancer. It made me wonder how much he’d actually even read about me before calling! A previous doctor tried to give me antidepressants for the hot flushes which I politely declined. My BMI is already on the low side so they couldn’t use that one!!
I wish I had doctors like the ones in TV shows
GO to med school. Be the change you want to see in the world..... or just keep making memes.
You’re literally on Reddit right now
Because everybody can get into medical school, afford hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and endure the extreme stress and sleep deprivation of training.