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What should I do regarding my doctor?

K

krunchykrome

Lifer
So about a month ago, I had some scary extremely painful headaches and random pain in my head. No explaination at all. I saw my primary doctor (the one whom this post is referring to.) After 10 miuntes of seeing him, he immedietly sends me to the emergency room at a local hospital to have a CATSCAN and a spinal tap done. I do both of these. He calls me a few days later and says the results were good. He gives me a prescription for some painkillers. A day later he calls and gives me a prescription for amoxicillan (an antibiotic.) I take all of these drugs. A week later, he sends me to get a magnetic ink MRI. This was about two weeks ago. Now since then, my head pain has gradually gotten better, although, sometimes, I can feel pain on the verge of coming back. So, for the past two weeks, I havent heard anything from my doctor. A week ago, I got frustrated and called the office. They said he would be out of the office all week, because he was doing rounds. But a secretary told me my MRI was good. They said he would call me yesterday. I get no phone call. I call the office today, two weeks from the MRI, and they sai he's been on vacation and he wont be back for another week.

Now, I am pissed off because Im sent to do all this stuff, and my doctor said the next step after the MRI would be to send me to a neurologist. But he leaves me hanging for two weeks after my MRI? Im afraid to do anything physical, like go to the gym, because the pain would come when I exerted any force. Now I feel like a hermit crab waiting for my damn doctor who doesnt give a sh*t about it to call me back.

What should I do?
 
sounds like he's on top of things - he's treated the direct symptoms and he's testing for the cause.

Being a doctor is a job like any other - the man needs vacation. What with HMO's and malpractice lawyers, he isn't paid nearly as much as the stress of his job should be earning him, so cut him some slack.

If you want my advice, I'd call the secretary and explain your situation and then ask for the names of some neurologists and a copy of your MRI results, and then go see the neurologist yourself.
 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Get a different doctor? Doesn't really sound like you have any recourse unless you just want to bitch at him

Good luck
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Yea, Im not looking to get legal with him or anything. But do I have good reason to b!tch at him and be angry about this situation or is this common with these kinds of situations? Im considering changing my primary doctor all together. I just dont want to make a scene or make such a deal about this if it "happens all the time."
 
I went to my PCP complaining that I was seeing double at night when I got tired. He told me that it was just exhaustion and that I shouldn't worry about it so I didn't. I went back a few weeks later telling him I was seeing double in the morning and that it was lasting gradually longer and I was getting 8hrs of sleep per night. He told me that I probably needed more sleep than that (I was 18 at the time) and I should sleep 9-10 hours and not come back for a month.

3 weeks later I was seeing full-blown double 24/7. I was driving, playing sports and making straight As in school. Finally my mom noticed my eyes seemed off center and I told her I was seeing double and the doctor told me not to worry. Thankfully she immediately took me to my eye doctor on an emergency appointment. They flipped out and sent me to a neuro-optimologist.

He almost had a heart attack and chewed out my PCP. I had 2 full days of tests done including injecting stuff into me. I then had an MRI followed by a CT scan the next day. Eventually I was put on a near lethal dose of Prednazone and I had to stay home for 2 weeks because I broke out in severe hives and could hardly stay awake. Turns out I had an Orbital Pseudo-Tumor that was ripping the retinal nerve off of the back of my eye and it had gotten SO big it was pushing my eye out of the socket, thus double vision.

Anyways it took almost 2mo. to see straight again and then 8mo. off that to step me off the steriods, but thankfully I avoided surgery even if I would up with retarted stretch marks and a face fatter than Rosie O'donnell for 10mo.

Moral of the story, if you know there's something wrong and your Dr blows it off either don't back down until he fixes it or keep going to someone else until they listen to you. It's your body and they can not tell you what you are feeling.
 
Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
sounds like he's on top of things - he's treated the direct symptoms and he's testing for the cause.

Being a doctor is a job like any other - the man needs vacation. What with HMO's and malpractice lawyers, he isn't paid nearly as much as the stress of his job should be earning him, so cut him some slack.

If you want my advice, I'd call the secretary and explain your situation and then ask for the names of some neurologists and a copy of your MRI results, and then go see the neurologist yourself.
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I just called, and the I told the secretary the situation and that the doctor was gonna refer me to a neurologist after the MRI. She said she couldnt give me names of any. I understand that everyone needs a vacation. However, my head condition was pretty severe and it was not normal at all. And waiting 2-3 weeks until he comes back from vacation to refer me to a neurologist could mean life and death. It's not a broken arm or an upset stomach, my issue was with my brain. I could not exert any force without extreme pain in the left to backside of my head.
 
Well keep in mind that if he looks at the MRI, X-Rays and CAT scans that he's most likely telling you they look fine but in reality they look fine to him but he is then sending them off to a Radiologist to have them looked at since doctors are not trained to read these types of films and determine what is fine and what is not.

I know a guy that got an x-ray done of a finger he thought he broken, doctor said "it's not broken" but then two weeks later the doctor called him and said to come in for a cast because his finger was broken, after the radiologist reviewed the x-rays this was discovered to be the case and in those two weeks he went with a broken finger hurting like hell.

My fiancee is a x-ray tech and goes on and on about how doctors act like they are qualified to made a diagnosis off of an x-ray when in reality if it's not something right in front of them then they have no f'ing clue.
 
Originally posted by: Lazy8s
I went to my PCP complaining that I was seeing double at night when I got tired. He told me that it was just exhaustion and that I shouldn't worry about it so I didn't. I went back a few weeks later telling him I was seeing double in the morning and that it was lasting gradually longer and I was getting 8hrs of sleep per night. He told me that I probably needed more sleep than that (I was 18 at the time) and I should sleep 9-10 hours and not come back for a month.

3 weeks later I was seeing full-blown double 24/7. I was driving, playing sports and making straight As in school. Finally my mom noticed my eyes seemed off center and I told her I was seeing double and the doctor told me not to worry. Thankfully she immediately took me to my eye doctor on an emergency appointment. They flipped out and sent me to a neuro-optimologist.

He almost had a heart attack and chewed out my PCP. I had 2 full days of tests done including injecting stuff into me. I then had an MRI followed by a CT scan the next day. Eventually I was put on a near lethal dose of Prednazone and I had to stay home for 2 weeks because I broke out in severe hives and could hardly stay awake. Turns out I had an Orbital Pseudo-Tumor that was ripping the retinal nerve off of the back of my eye and it had gotten SO big it was pushing my eye out of the socket, thus double vision.

Anyways it took almost 2mo. to see straight again and then 8mo. off that to step me off the steriods, but thankfully I avoided surgery even if I would up with retarted stretch marks and a face fatter than Rosie O'donnell for 10mo.

Moral of the story, if you know there's something wrong and your Dr blows it off either don't back down until he fixes it or keep going to someone else until they listen to you. It's your body and they can not tell you what you are feeling.
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Yea, thats what everyone is telling me, to go see another doctor. All the tests results are good, everyone is saying that Im ok. But I know something is wrong up there. Would an MRI, catscan, or spinal tap find a tumor?
 
Yes, the MRI is a soft tissue scan and a tumor is harder. It would also detect an anurism but I doubt that's what you have. If you go to another doctor and explain the situation I believe your current doctor's office would have to make the scan images available to them.


The reason mine took so long to diagnose was I had braces...metal=ususable MRI.
 
A lot of doctors when they go on vacation, have someone else arranged to cover emergencies or things that come up while they're gone. Did you ask his office about that?

good luck & hope you feel better soon.
 
Originally posted by: badmouse
A lot of doctors when they go on vacation, have someone else arranged to cover emergencies or things that come up while they're gone. Did you ask his office about that?

good luck & hope you feel better soon.
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Yeah I was going to say that surely he's arranged for somebody to cover for him while he's gone. If not then I'd seriously think about changing physicians.
 
Doesn't he has someone covers for him while he is out vacation? Kinda weird that the office is open but nobody are there to cover the patients.
 
Originally posted by: crystal
Doesn't he has someone covers for him while he is out vacation? Kinda weird that the office is open but nobody are there to cover the patients.
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many will not do it. Krunchy has a history with this doctor and being see. some doctors do not want to step in and override the orginal doctors orders.


But if KK wants to he should go get a 2nd opinion on it.

other then that there is nothing he can do.
 
Originally posted by: crystal
Doesn't he has someone covers for him while he is out vacation? Kinda weird that the office is open but nobody are there to cover the patients.
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Switch PCPs.
 
Do these headaches only occur when your are exerting yourself, and then linger on for several hours after they begin? Or do they just randomly happen...?
 
Originally posted by: bignateyk
Do these headaches only occur when your are exerting yourself, and then linger on for several hours after they begin? Or do they just randomly happen...?
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Actually, yes they do occur only when I am exerting force and they do linger for a few hours afterwards.

Why?
 
I think what you have is called an exertion headache (also known as exercise or sport headache). I suffered the same when I started lifting about a year ago. All tests will come up negative, and there really is no explanation for them. There are many possible causes, such as improper breathing, inadequate warmups/stretching, but if you are like me, none of these helped either. I saw a doctor, had all the MRI's, etc.. done, and eventually was prescribed indomethacin, a powerful inflammatory. Taking about 30 minutes prior to lifting seemed to make the headaches go away.

I later found a way to make the headaches stop without taking the medicine. When I started lifting, I did an entire-body workout 3 times a week, and primarily used machines. I found that switching to a workout where I did different muscle groups different days, and using free-weights made the problem go away.

Likewise, you will need to STOP lifting entirely for close to two weeks before resuming your lifting if an exertion headache occurs (not sure why, but if I keep lifting, they will never go away. I have to give it a break)

EDIT: On a side note, exertion headaches are harmless, so no need to worry about brain damage or anything from them. Google for more info on the subject...
 
Originally posted by: bignateyk
I think what you have is called an exertion headache (also known as exercise or sport headache). I suffered the same when I started lifting about a year ago. All tests will come up negative, and there really is no explanation for them. There are many possible causes, such as improper breathing, inadequate warmups/stretching, but if you are like me, none of these helped either. I saw a doctor, had all the MRI's, etc.. done, and eventually was prescribed indomethacin, a powerful inflammatory. Taking about 30 minutes prior to lifting seemed to make the headaches go away.

I later found a way to make the headaches stop without taking the medicine. When I started lifting, I did an entire-body workout 3 times a week, and primarily used machines. I found that switching to a workout where I did different muscle groups different days, and using free-weights made the problem go away.

Likewise, you will need to STOP lifting entirely for close to two weeks before resuming your lifting if an exertion headache occurs (not sure why, but if I keep lifting, they will never go away. I have to give it a break)
Click to expand...


Holy sh*t. The headaches started for me about a month ago in the gym. I was lifting some weight on a bench, and I felt something strange in my head, and a moment later, I got the worst headache of my life for an hour. And for the next 2 weeks, anytime I would try to exert force, the painful headache would return. It was only in the gym. I have taken it easy and havent gone to the gym for about 2 weeks now. My head has felt good, but Im scared to try again.

Thanks much! I will research it when I go home. I wish my doctors could give me as much relief as your explanation/suggestion did.
 
the first important lesson i learned in college is that premeds are dumb. the oones that go on to be doctors beat out a bunch of retards in gpa, and spent a long time in med school. this doesn't make them smarter or more considerate for their patients. If you are lucky, your doctor is one of the engineering dropouts. Use google/webmd/ATOT etc from now on.
 
LOL, yeah, the first time I had one of the headaches I was in the middle of a bench press, and I thought I was having a stroke.
 
I think you need to relax.

Your doc has probably had his vacation planned for weeks, months. It sounds like he has done everything he can to help you, except cancel his vacation.

 
say he touched you inappropriately. this seems to work with alot of people who aren't satisfied with their doctor. oh, and you can get alot of money from it
 
Originally posted by: Lazy8s
I went to my PCP complaining that I was seeing double at night when I got tired. He told me that it was just exhaustion and that I shouldn't worry about it so I didn't. I went back a few weeks later telling him I was seeing double in the morning and that it was lasting gradually longer and I was getting 8hrs of sleep per night. He told me that I probably needed more sleep than that (I was 18 at the time) and I should sleep 9-10 hours and not come back for a month.

3 weeks later I was seeing full-blown double 24/7. I was driving, playing sports and making straight As in school. Finally my mom noticed my eyes seemed off center and I told her I was seeing double and the doctor told me not to worry. Thankfully she immediately took me to my eye doctor on an emergency appointment. They flipped out and sent me to a neuro-optimologist.

He almost had a heart attack and chewed out my PCP. I had 2 full days of tests done including injecting stuff into me. I then had an MRI followed by a CT scan the next day. Eventually I was put on a near lethal dose of Prednazone and I had to stay home for 2 weeks because I broke out in severe hives and could hardly stay awake. Turns out I had an Orbital Pseudo-Tumor that was ripping the retinal nerve off of the back of my eye and it had gotten SO big it was pushing my eye out of the socket, thus double vision.

Anyways it took almost 2mo. to see straight again and then 8mo. off that to step me off the steriods, but thankfully I avoided surgery even if I would up with retarted stretch marks and a face fatter than Rosie O'donnell for 10mo.

Moral of the story, if you know there's something wrong and your Dr blows it off either don't back down until he fixes it or keep going to someone else until they listen to you. It's your body and they can not tell you what you are feeling.
Click to expand...



Dude your name should be "LazyEyes"....sorry 😛
 
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