Dr. Quack?, Negligent, or just an ignorant, $ hungry *&%#$?
Question:
Last yr. June-partial numbness in left hand &3 fingers
script: ibuprofin; never diagnosed, not as bad but still a tingly sensation.Last Christmas-noticably fatigued,depressed,nateuos,Inc... fatigue,usually high energy no appetite,w/drawn.Up till this May was seeing Dr.X for increasing "symptoms"all to wich he prescibed more "ANTI-INFLMS".7 different to be xact.I've got 2 full pages of symts. From migrains,weight-gain,cold sweats,hot to the touch but no fever,feet & hands blazin hot ,severe back pain crying; pain, lack of sleep;pain,intense morning stiffness,cluster headaches,dizziness,ringing & hollow feeling 3x's in 2 wks. in right ear.Etc. I've had pain in my rt.shoulder for 20+yrs.off and on,now chronic pain.Sent for xrays,said came back fine,proof their not.New Dr reqst Md.fls.33dys ago ,was told"Dr.X not lettin them go" has never prescb.pain meds or diognost anything?
Answers:
Usually if it’s severe, a good doctor will refer you to a specialist in that field. The office of your old doctor must forward your file to the new doctor upon request from the new doctor. Sounds to me like your doctor just doesn’t care and wants you in & out as quickly as possible so that they can move on to the next poor sap.
When I felt tingling and numbness in part of my hand, my doctor prescribed some anti-inflammatory meds but also referred me to a specialist who deals with nerve damage. A good doctor knows their limitations and is not afraid to recommend someone who may be better suited to handle your condition.
It's the law that the doctor releases your records upon your written request within a certain time frame. He may charge you for copying costs, but they will be minimal. Sounds like you should go see a principled family chiropractor..good luck and God bless.
I would remind the practice that they are YOUR X-rays, and you paid for them. Your medical records belong to you as well, and you only. Remind them that it is both your legal right to leave the practice, and your legal right to retain possession of your X-rays and a copy of your medical record. They cannot legally keep these things. Inform them that if they give you any more crap, you will file a formal complaint w/ the State Medical Board. And yes, you're right to leave the practice. Have you been screened for lupus, for any other auto-immune disorder, and a thyroid disorder as well, some of your symptoms describe Rheumatoid Arthritis in its infancy to me. I would insist on those as a very beginning. I only go to Allopathic Physicians in an emergency (and usually only after stopping off at my Chiropractor or ND's first...) and I only go to them as a last resort, knowing what I'm getting myself into. I usually go for the diagnosis, to confirm what I usually already know, and then treat myself naturopathically anyway. There is, however, a time and a place for everything, and doctors and modern allopathic medicine have saved my life twice now and the life of my 11 year old daughter once.
I would also highly suggest the services of a homeopath and a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to you and suggest that you look at never taking anti-inflammatories again, especially steroids.
I do not think this is only your doctor's fault. If you take 7 different kinds of anti-inflammatory drugs, expecting a cure when ALL you're doing is suppressing symptoms w/ toxic drugs, that's on you, and NO ONE else. You made the decision to go this route and to continue it for months and months, over a year now. It's just time to seek a real cure and another path, not to apply blame. You bought into the system, too. It didn't work. It wasn't supposed to. It's part of your path to have to look for REAL healthcare and an alternative path, if you ask me. This is a common motif. You need to ask yourself a) who you're really angry with, yourself, or the doctor? b) Whose responsibility is it IN TRUTH to heal you? Yours or someone else's? I know my answer. c) Is this really the doctor's fault or did you just hit the limits of an imperfect healthcare system, and an inexact science w/ limits? It is NOT always possible to correctly diagnose a problem, even for the most experienced and expert diagnosticians. There is grey area. There is murkiness and unclarity. There are diseases as yet undiscovered and emerging. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. Human beings can and do make mistakes. They are imperfect, just as you are. Did your doctor see you on at least 7 occasions? Did he or she listen to you and attempt to help you? I don't consider this so much quackery as a limited belief and education system that wasn't able to help you. It happens. I personally am very willing to forgive doctors and other healthcare professionals b/c I am intimately aware of what they are confronted with, and the limits within which they work. And this includes mental and educational and belief system limits as well. I don't believe this situation is about "in the right", or "naivete" (except maybe yours), or quackery or negligence. I am not yet certain of the negligence part. If you as a patient were to come at me w/ rage and anger and blame after a year of my trying to help you, I might "pull my wagons in" too, and drag my *** or out and out refuse to release your medical record to you for fear you might be trying to put a malpractice suit together. Why blame anyone? Why not just go on and search for what really works for you, and put this all behind you? Here's another clue: If you ever did file suit, and I as the doctor showed I had not only seen you, but taken EXTENSIVE notes, prescribed 7 different appropriate medications, continually re-evaluated my treatment and my diagnoses of you (and here's another clue: There HAD to be some kind of diagnosis, whether it was shared with you or not, b/c there HAS to be a diagnosis w/ a CPT code attached in order for the doctor/practice to get paid.), you would have a HELL of a time proving I was in any way medically negligent. Don't waste your time. Go on and find what really, truly will work to heal you. You aren't any clearer about your condition than your doctor is.
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