hate going to doctors??!!

[kjd]

Ever since my IC days I hate going to doctors and I always get really anxious. I just hate talking to someone who I dont know and feel like they invading my personal space. Does anyone else ever feel like this?

You'd think after 2years of seeing doctors I might have gotten used to it but I think its made me worse. I just hate having to be examined or have anything done it just makes me feel sick!!!

Does this sound stupid???

I think its because I hate needles and fear having anything done to me! I am a complete wimp so when I go to doctors I always feel really sick and nervous!!! I love walking out of the doctors though I am pratically skipping as I cant wait to get out he he!!

As soon as I get in the hospital waiting room I can feel myself getting anxious and feel stupid as I know there is nothing to be frightened of. i just wanted to know if anyone else had this problem.

thanks for listening xxx

[SandyRN]

It's not stupid at all. I am impatiently awaiting an appt with a rheumatologist for this Lupus stuff, and I'm not at all happy about going. I went to soooo many doctors for so many years, and finally landed with a set of good, caring doctors that know me now, and most of all, understand and believe me.

I've got to start all over with this rheumatologist, whoever he/she might be, and tell my entire story yet again. I hate the looks I get when I explain what meds I'm on, and when I speak of the all over body pain, and the IC I just assume the doctor is sitting there thinking, "yup, we got another nutcase here!".....

So, I totally understand! Monday afternoon I go for a CT scan of my sinuses because of those horrid sores I have up there that my doc thinks are from Lupus. I dread this too because I fear the tests will be 'normal' even though I see the proof and feel the pain of these sores.

I just wanted to let you know you're definately not alone on this one!

Hugs, Sandy

[kjd]

thank you Sandy. Its so nice to know I am not alone!!
Sounds like you feel the same as me. I hate having to explain everything again! We shouldnt feel intimidated by doctors should we.

Let me know how you get on though

xxx

[humpieumpumkin]

Me 2

I hate most docs! For the longest time I have been pawned off as a head case or everything comming back normal...until my uro. As wwe speak im waiting for a callback from my primary and im going to tell her how wrong she was and ask for a refill of my anxiety meds from the stress of IC...lets hope I dont have to fire her!

Erika

[ihurttoo]

Count me in too! I also hate going to the Drs. I hate writing it all down. Then, I hate telling the nurse. And lastly, I hate telling the Dr. AGAIN. I get "the look" from all of them, and sometimes, they will even look at each other like, "Here's another one!" My meds are the biggest problem. As you can see by my sig, there are a TON of them! But, I dont take them all every day. Most of them are on hand PRN in case of an IC flare, or Lupus flare, Fibro flare, IBS flare, etc. I never know what is going to attack where or when, and each has it's own job if things go wrong. But, I sure do get the looks! I have thought many times about not even listing them, since some are only taken 3 or 4 times a year. Those are the ones I have thought of leaving off. But, then, I think, Why should I be embarrassed? I have no control over this and I am not doing anything wrong! I am not Dr shopping or shopping for prescriptions. I am fully disclosing everything and most of my appts are not to get new meds. They are just to moniter bloodowork and things.

I have finally assembled a pretty decent medical team, (for the most part.) I love my GYN, who treats my IC. I have been seeing him forever, and dont get "the look" there. They treat me respectfully and are always genuinely kind and helpful, and he has even given me his home and cell numbers and instructed me to call him if I ever go to the ER with an IC problem so he can call in and give orders so I dont have to wait. (Love this man!!)

My Rhem also goes above and beyond. She is the one who stayed several hours late (till 7pm!!), the night before my SSD hearing, to write a wonderful letter for me and fill out paperwork. (Her office had previously declined to fill out forms for me, unbeknowanst to her.)

My Pain Dr. is a jerk, but I have only seen him 4 times in the last year....at the initial visit, once when he tried to drop me because he was changing his practice to "intervention pain mgmt", and then for the 2 nerve blocks. The rest of the time I see the NP and she is wonderful! I just wish she'd get her MD so I could be done with him!!!

But, my GP is horrible. I hate going there. He always makes me feel like I am bothering him by coming in when I am sick. (Nice, huh?) Yes, I am looking HARD for a new one! I cant get in to a new one for a few months. (The new one comes highly recommended.)

The other Drs. I have to see from time to time like the Gastro, occasional ER Drs, etc. all look at me as though I came in to ask them to trim my toenails. Seriously! But, I only see the Gastro a few times a year, and will only go to the ER now if a limp has been amputated. (But, I used to have go there occasionally to get cathed when I had retention, before I knew how to self cath.) I hope I never have to go there consious (sp?) again!

Sorry to rant! But, yes, I HATE going to the Dr!! But, it definately makes me feel better to know that I am not the only one that they look at that way. (I mean obviously, I know that they look at the hypochondriacs and drug-seekers this way, but it is nice to know that they look at other legit people this way too.)

I hope and pray that soon we will find replacements for those inferior Drs. and that our new ones will be kind, compassionate and knowledgable. I also hope and pray that the other staff that treats us this way will soon be found out for what they are and be fired and replaced by kind and compassionate people who care about their patients and treat them as they, themselves, would like to be treated.

Again, my apologies for being so long-winded. As you can see, this topic fires me up!!

Hugs,
Amy
Amy

[pingpong]

This reminds me of a frustrating experience I had a few years ago. I used to be a technical writer, and my job involved observing people doing their jobs and writing training materials. I was working at a chemical plant, and for those of you who are unfamiliar with this type of set-up, this plant had several large vessels (about 50,000 pound capacity) called reactors, since they would charge (add in) a variety of chemicals and allow these chemicals to react and create a new chemical - in this case, ironically enough, they made the active ingredient in a medication used to improve bladder tone! One of the chemicals used is called phosgene, which, I understand, is a combination of carbon monoxide and chlorene and is "highly poisonous". This stuff is so toxic that inhaling it can kill you. The stuff is stored in a separate building and anyone handling the cylinders had to be in full protective gear with supplied breathing air - I mean the whole nine yards. Anyway, after I had watched this chemical operator charge the phosgene and everything has been cleaned up and supposedly back to normal, I felt a strong puff of air in my face, and it seemed to be coming from the part of the reactor where the phosgene had been added. The chemical operator with me also felt the stuff, and boy, did things get interesting! Each of us had to shower, shampoo and put on clean coveralls (luckily for me, they had just remodeled the womens' shower, so at least I had a nice place to was this "poison" out of my hair). Then EMS came, and we both rode to the hospital with oxygen masks on and the siren going full tilt. We got to the ER, and had chest Xrays and arterial blood gas studies done, since phosgene kills by causing lung edema, which apparently could be seen on the Xrays and in the ABG's. Then a doctor comes in to talk to me and asks me about my medical history. When he heard about my lupus, he started asking me all kinds of questions about it, and in the meantime I'm thinking: "Hey! Phosgene! Poison! Forget the d**m lupus and tell me if I'm about to suffocate to death!" I was in no mood to educate him about lupus! Obviously, I survived, so it wasn't phosgene after all, but I wanted to smack the guy, and the entire experience was totally surreal!

[ladylin]

I also hate going to the doctors, any kind. I get VERY nervous, to the point where I have to fight not crying. Which leads me to not asking any questions or asking for more information or details. So I end up paying for 2 mins of them telling me what is going to happen next...so not worth it I've even tried to write my questions down on a note card but I still can't ask them. I went to the doc yesterday, he said he was going to reduce one of my meds, and them put me on another one (I'm on 5 things now!!) and he wants to me see another doc for a 2nd option..so that means to me...he doesn't know what else to do.

[SandyRN]

ladylin, I think it would be a great idea if you took someone close to you with you to your next appointment to help you ask those all important questions. I'm sorry that you're so intimidated that you don't get the healthcare you deserve! Is there anyone that can go with you the next time?

[Sarojini]

I hate going to doctors too... I don't think that's abnormal at all. At this point, I'm more sick of it than anything, because I am in some doctor's waiting room at least 2-3 times a month with all the things that are wrong with me... *sigh*

[ladylin]

I've taken someone with me before, but it didn't help too much. And I don't like taking my mom because, well, honestly I don't know how to explain how it is with her. ah well, some day I will hopefully get over my fear of docs, you would think I have after a couple years of this

[Berkshire Road]

Gee, after nine years of going from doctor to doctor, hospital to hospital, and invariably being told that either (a) I was not experiencing pelvic pain, (b) the pelvic pain was all in my head or (c), my personal favorite, I was a drug addict seeking narcotics by inventing symptoms -- why would I have issues with going to doctors?

Thank heavens, two years ago I found the perfect team of practitioners for me, and I am now permitted to have (gasp) pain relievers for my pain, and other wildly unreasonable things like that. I don't know what I'll do if they ever move or close up shop.

So many of us have had similar experiences. You go to see a medical professional, trained in pathologies that occur in the human body and sworn to do no harm, and instead of helping with your physical pain, they just add emotional pain on top of it. OK, I'm getting angry again just thinking about this issue, so I'm stopping before I give myself a flare.

[MerryBerryMoose]

I get so nervous when seeing a doc (even if I have been seeing them for 3 years) that I break out in hives!!! How embarassing is that?

I have this gasto. who tires to get me less anxious by cracking these RIDICULOUSLY corny jokes or saying comments that he knows will go to the painfuly gutter like side of my teenage brain. I have to admit (though I will never say this to him)...his jokes/comments really do make me feel less anxious and a little more relaxed (sometimes after laughing until I almost pee). Although, I will never forget the look on his face when he told me (when I was 13-14) that I would have to have surgery to remove my gallbladder. That was one of the few times in 4 years that I have seen him that serious.

Anyway, hope you all can find a doctor(s) that you are comfortable with. Sometimes that can make a HUGE difference in your treatment/progression.

[dodgewoman]

I HATE going to the doctors as well. I hate opening up to people that I don't really know that well. I actually hate wasting the time too:blush: I feel like I will waste time b/c after 7 years of seeing numerous docs and getting horrid tests done, it was all in my head! I finally found a great doctor that I trust, but I still feel like this. Actually I wish I could find a doctor WITH IC, now that would be a treat b/c I bet they would call everyday to see how your are!

[steph4308]

I hate it too. So much time wasted in the waiting room (having to go to the bathroom the whole time). I'm tired of explaining the whole thing over and over again. One thing did this last time before seeing a new uro is to type up my health history and give it to him before he came into the room. He appreciated it and it saved us both a lot of time. Now I can keep adding to it.

[kjd]

Its sooo nice to know that I am not alone. Looks like we all hate going to doctors :-)!

thats such a relief to me!

x