Is this Doctor treating me unfairly?

diverlady

I was diagnosed with back problems (disk problems which are ongoing and pretty painful most of the time) and osteopeenia when I was 24, got made redundant in March last year, had to get a medical card to afford my doc's fee and medication but had to change doctor as my previous doctor did not accept medical cards.

So I chose and was lucky enough to get the doc that was nearest to where I am living at the moment, which I am thankful for. However, I feel like I am being treated very badly by this doctor, I am not easily offended by any means, but the last 3 times I went to visit him this is what happened, I feel like I am getting no help from this doc, he makes me feel like I am making my problems up, I get a feeling that he does not want to help me.

1.) First time I went in, I asked him for prescription for my osteopeenia, he looked me in the eyes and asked me straight out, "Why do you have osteopeenia??" I answered excuse me and I did not know he meant. He asked me again and I asked to explain further, he asked me then "had I got an eating disorder??” which I felt strongly offended. I told him I was overweight when I was diagnosed with it previously and that the reason I had lost weight since was due to stress of being of out work etc, I am not anorexia nowhere near it. He prescribed me Solpadine, which I told him I needed something stronger as my back can get very painful, even doing simple things like housework, I was not prescribed anything else.
I was told by a consultant that painkillers were my only option otherwise an operation which I don’t want to have as I am too young for.

2.) Second time I went in, I went in for the morning after pill, something which I haven’t done in years also, he asked me for details of what happened, as in exactly what happened, I am near 27, have no kids, (he did ask me how many hours previous which I know he had a right to ask) and gave me a bit of a grilling over going on to contraceptives, I told him it my personal decision that I did not want to go on them with having osteopeenia and I did not agree with it.
I never felt as embarrassed in my life, felt like a child walking out of the surgery that day!! I can understand now why some teens are afraid to go in to deal with doctors like him!!

3.) Third time I went in was Friday, told him my back was very sore, he gave me 24 of the painkillers that I wanted after a struggle, (I used to get at least 60 of these a month from my previous doctor along with other medication for pain, difene etc) I told him I could not bear the pain and I am still quite bad with it. This pain is always there and intermittently can very bad at times

I also said to him that I had been thinking and decided to give up the cigarettes, which I thought he would have been happy to hear. I wanted to get champix again as they were the only thing that worked for me before for quite a while and I said after thinking about it a lot now was a good time for me to give up.
He answered back "I don’t think it’s a good idea that you give up smoking, because your head is not in the right place at the moment". I was shocked asked him what he meant and he said while he laughed at me "with my back problems I would be under too much stress! that I would prob give up for a while and go back on them!!!”
I know I should not be smoking with the osteopeenia, and I always believed smoking made stress worse.


So basically can anyone tell me as a medical card holder is I am being treated unfair here?
Has this doctor had a right to talk to me like this? Have I been over reacting?
If I was working I would no problem for this as I have always done before.

I have had a very rough year like a lot of people, with being out of work, still in debt because of college fees, finding it all very tough like a lot of people are, and sitting in pain for most of it too which isn’t helping L

I know I can change doctors but I believe there are waiting lists etc and it is quite hard.
I just feel like I am being spoken down on, and not getting help that I need.

Any suggestions or opinions would be greatly appreciated, sorry for the really long read girls, just wanted yous to get a good picture of what I am talking about.

Novella

If you are not happy with how your doctor is treating you, I don't think it should matter what anyone else thinks. You feel you are not being treated correctly so if I was in that situation, I would change doctors.

That said, imo, you are going to the doctor and telling him what medication you need and are becoming angry because he won't prescribe it. Personally, I have faith in doctors. I think that they go to college for a long time and know what they are doing. If a doctor told me to take Solpadeine, I'd take it.

Secondly, you say he grilled you about contraception. That is fair enough, you went in to get the MAP. It is emergency contraception. Also, did I read that you "don't agree" with contraceptives? If so, and if you don't want to get pregnant etc., perhaps what you should be doing is abstaining.

As for the quitting smoking, once again, you requested a medication which he was not willing to prescribe.

what2do

Novella wrote: »

If you are not happy with how your doctor is treating you, I don't think it should matter what anyone else thinks. You feel you are not being treated correctly so if I was in that situation, I would change doctors.

That said, imo, you are going to the doctor and telling him what medication you need and are becoming angry because he won't prescribe it. Personally, I have faith in doctors. I think that they go to college for a long time and know what they are doing. If a doctor told me to take Solpadeine, I'd take it.

Secondly, you say he grilled you about contraception. That is fair enough, you went in to get the MAP. It is emergency contraception. Also, did I read that you "don't agree" with contraceptives? If so, and if you don't want to get pregnant etc., perhaps what you should be doing is abstaining.

As for the quitting smoking, once again, you requested a medication which he was not willing to prescribe.

Agree with this:


Re the MAP have required it once, got a few well chosen words (criticism?!) from the doctor which whilst not appreciated I probably deserved....

I have to say I agree with Novella here.

It is a doctors responsibility to ensure that he giving his patient the correct treatment. I don't think it has anything at all to do with you being on a medical card.

Did your previous doctor send all of your medical files to your new doctor? I would ensure this happens as without knowing your history your doc will have a hard time recommending the right treatment for you.

As for the morning after pill, I would imagine he has every right to ask you how many hours prior you had sex, because if it was borderline 72 hours, the morning pill could be unsuccessful and cause damage to the foetus. I'm not trying to sound all high and mighty by any means, but you say you're in debt, you have no job, and yet you did not take the responsibility to use protection, doctors probably get p*ssed off seeing this situation constantly and I think they are right to advise you to use contraception.

sesna

diverlady wrote: »

So basically can anyone tell me as a medical card holder is I am being treated unfair here?

I dont know what relevance your medical card has to this. You are very fortunate to have access to free doctor visits and free medicines.

Your general complaint seems to be the doctor not prescribing the medicines you are requesting. Perhaps he does not see them as appropriate for whatever reason.

I would imagine its normal for any doctor to discuss various contraceptive methods, when someone is requesting emergency contraception, to prevent future recurrence.

diverlady

Actually I did not mean that as in all concrecption in general, I meant as in the pill and other chemical means of concraception. I am careful as in I use other means as in none with chemicals etc. (and i was responsible when an accident happened!!)
I am not allowed to use most types, in fact I was told by a previous doctor from being on the injection years ago may have caused me to get osteopenia!!
I personal have no objections for anyone using whatever type of contraception means, I think its responsible of them.
I am already in a position that it may be hard for me to have to children in the future, thats why I said above its my choice, which I also said above in not using the pill. I think everyone has a right in choosing which one they use, and I think I have very valid reasons for not deciding to use the pill.
I explained to him an accident happened with the means I used, he asked me to give him details as in exactly what happened!!!! DETAILS
Yes he had a right to ask me in what timing (which I did explain above!!),

I am not angry because he wouldn prescribe me for what I specifically asked for, I simply explained solpadeine did not work me and he wouldnt prescribe me anything else or consider any other options for me.

As for the smoking, I did not even say to him about champix until afterwards, I would have been happy to try other means there too, but again his first reaction, was my head was not in the right place!!! I did not even mention champix until afterwards. There are other ways of quitting cigarrettes.
So in other words keep smoking!!!

Yes I know i can doctor, that may take months if i am lucky enough to get one to take me on with the waiting lists.

So in the interim, yous think he he is valid as in keep on smoking and deal whatever ways myself of pain control ?

sesna

diverlady wrote: »

So in the interim, yous think he he is valid as in keep on smoking and deal whatever ways myself of pain control ?

If your doctors not set on prescribing Champix, and it didn't work effectively for you before when you tried, you could try Nicorette.
You dont need your doctor to issue a prescription for them, and they work out much cheaper per week than a weeks worth of cigarettes cost. They're what I used to quit smoking and I found them very effective.

What medication would you suggest for pain control/what did you try before ?

diverlady

sorry i dont know how to copy and paste quotes from people above.

But in response to being very fortunate to have access to medical card and free doctor, I do realise that, however not being out of line here when I say this but like a lot of people I paid my taxes for years, and for most of them years I paid a high tax bracket and a high rate of prsi, so I think I am entitled to that to that service.

But howandever i do realise I am fortunate, but as this has been my first medical card I have ever had, I feel like been treated differently, any doctors I ever been to before I have never experienced anything like this.

And I think I made a very valid point also in my first post, that if I felt like coming out of a doctor after the MAP,(where i was responsible) how would a teen feel? I would imagine she would not go back there again, because I know I sure would not!.

sesna

diverlady wrote: »

But in response to being very fortunate to have access to medical card and free doctor, I do realise that

But howandever i do realise I am fortunate, but as this has been my first medical card I have ever had, I feel like been treated differently, andoctors I ever been to before I have never experienced anything like this.

And I think I made a very valid point also in my first post, that if I felt like y coming out of a doctor after the MAP,(where i was responsible) how would a teen feel? I would imagine she would not go back there again, because I know I sure would not!.

I was trying to establish why you felt it important to state you had a medical card several times in your original post. It seems now that you feel that the doctor is treating you differently because you have a medical card, as opposed to how he would deal with a private patient.

Medical card contracts are very lucrative for GP's, and difficult for them to obtain. I dont see why he would treat you differently as a result of you being entitled to free treatment

diverlady

Sesna,

Nicorrette did not work for me before unfortunately.

As for pain control, I spoke to my pharmacist who suggested that I ask my doctor to be referred to a pain specialist, who this doctor shuggred off. I also suggested physio again as I forgotten exercises I was given before, he said it would not work.
I simply told him what I was prescribed before, what had worked for me, he said no, I explained I was at a point where I would try anything, he is the expert so all I want is some of relief whatever kind it is, when you get to stage where your in as much as me, you would try anything.

At the moment its constant heat patches (which are fairly expensive), hot water bottles, hot baths, solpadeine which is doing nothing for me.

I have to take 2 different types of medication for my osteopeenia for the rest of my life, personally I do not like taking medication in general, I have tried holistic therapies, sports massage etc to no avail

sesna

diverlady wrote: »

Sesna,



As for pain control, I spoke to my pharmacist who suggested that I ask my doctor to be referred to a pain specialist, who this doctor shuggred off. I also suggested physio again as I forgotten exercises I was given before, he said it would not work.l

If you feel that is the case, I would challenge him to justify any reasons he is giving. If they are not satisfactory, I would move doctor, as suggested by a previous poster.

diverlady

sesna wrote: »

Medical card contracts are very lucrative for GP's, and difficult for them to obtain. I dont see why he would treat you differently as a result of you being entitled to free treatment

Well it was just how I felt, as I was never treated like that before. I did not realise that these deals were very lucrative to them.

Obviously this doctor has a personal issue with me then, with the asking for very personal details which he did not need to know (RE: Contraception details, as in how exactly did the accident happen, and asked me elaborate again, where I was just lost for words....) and for the "eating disorder" comment which I thought was very much out of line for a disease I obtained through no fault of my own..

As for my "head not being in the right place" another comment which I felt he should not have speculated, seeing as I only met him 3 times.

Can anyone see my point of this?

sesna

diverlady wrote: »

Well it was just how I felt, as I was never treated like that before. I did not realise that these deals were very lucrative to them.

Obviously this doctor has a personal issue with me then, with the asking for very personal details which he did not need to know (RE: Contraception details, as in how exactly did the accident happen, and asked me elaborate again, where I was just lost for words....) and for the "eating disorder" comment which I thought was very much out of line for a disease I obtained through no fault of my own..

As for my "head not being in the right place" another comment which I felt he should not have speculated, seeing as I only met him 3 times.

Can anyone see my point of this?

You can change doctor, or if you feel strongly you can make a complaint here
http://www.medicalcouncil.ie/professional/complaint.asp to find out if your complaint is valid and admissable

diverlady

sesna wrote: »

You can change doctor, or if you feel strongly you can make a complaint here
http://www.medicalcouncil.ie/professional/complaint.asp to find out if your complaint is valid and admissable

Thank you Sesna, i am going to look into changing doctors during the week, I just hope it does not take long,and I will look into that link also.

I would be thinking about other people here too, if he treats me like that, nearly walking out in tears everytime I left him, I am sure there are others treated like that also.

I have actually noticed that the clinic is always very quite when I go in, so maybe a lot of people feel like already. My housemate also noticed that anytime she was going past there was nobody there at all different times.

I do feel very strongly about this, I am sure anyone in my situation would.

But thanks again, I will look into this further

tagoona

Hi Diverlady.
Sorry for you troubles.
I know it does seem like trouble in that you've been forced to change doctors by the whole medical card thing.

As a pure outsider though, I would be tempted to read into your descriptions that you were almost too cosy with your previous doctor.

A good doctor can't in any good conscience just continue prescriptions that the previous doctor had. He's examining everything you've ever been prescribed. Perhaps there are better drugs on the market now.

As the MAP is also an emergency measure, it shouldn't be handed out without a conversation and an attempt at least to encourage someone not to resort to the MAP.

Instead of just changing your doctor, visit him and tell him your concerns. He may be able to explain his logic to you better. If you feel there are still issues , then by all means, change your doctor. But you may not find what you are looking for.

Just food for thought

FarmerGreen

I used to get at least 60 of these a month from my previous doctor along with other medication for pain, difene etc

diverlady

tagoona wrote: »

Hi Diverlady.
Sorry for you troubles.
I know it does seem like trouble in that you've been forced to change doctors by the whole medical card thing.

As a pure outsider though, I would be tempted to read into your descriptions that you were almost too cosy with your previous doctor.

A good doctor can't in any good conscience just continue prescriptions that the previous doctor had. He's examining everything you've ever been prescribed. Perhaps there are better drugs on the market now.

As the MAP is also an emergency measure, it shouldn't be handed out without a conversation and an attempt at least to encourage someone not to resort to the MAP.

Just food for thought

Thanks for your message on food for thought.. but......

As for the quote being too cosy with my previous doctor, that is certainly not the case!!. He would not have been the type of doctor to hand out anything, and I dont expect to be handed out anything, as I said in a previous post I have tried different methods when I had money when I was working, as to avoid not taking medication for it. I prefer to go down different avenues as in pain specialists, maybe different procedures and indeed different and better medications.... When you get to my point where sometimes I am in that much pain I can hardly sit or do normal day to day activities, I would be more than happy to try new medications that would be better, maybe there is something out there that may agree with me and wasnt as strong as what i was on before, that could work very well, if I were given the opportunity to try.


I have seen a consultant, who agreed with my medication at the time and who also said it would be the only thing to cure my pain, if I were not to proceed to surgery, which I am too young for.

As for the MAP measure, I have been in a long term realtionship for 3 years, this is a measure I have always been using, I was not irresponsible, simply for the first time in 3 years something went wrong if you know what I mean.
I explained what happened, in two lines which should have been enough information for any doctor (as it happens all the time) and I told him times which I did not mind, obviously I do know about this, consequences etc I am not immature to this. I was not embarrassed in explaining to him either. I wont post exactly what i asked on here, but when I told afterwards, she was very very shocked. And I was told by this doctor to tell my partner how to use the method we used correctly, which he did not take too kindly to either.
The method we used happened to have a fault! A method we have used for years. And I do know you cant go in to a doctor and say what you want and expect him to give it over straight after either.

As for my other problems, he has all my medical records, as in Xrays, mri scans and dexa scans to prove my problems.

I know I might seem to come across as blunt here, but I am not immature to know what is right and wrong of someone to say something, but obviously I dont want to post exactly what was said to me here. But I do know what he asked he afterwards was not needed for his information!!

diverlady

FarmerGreen wrote: »

I used to get at least 60 of these a month from my previous doctor along with other medication for pain, difene etc

And your point here is??

I know that might seem like a lot, but it wasnt in the scheme of things!

60 of a certain pain medication a day, where you were allowed to take up to 8 a day, they are not morphine or anything we are talking about here!!

As i said I dont like putting chemicals into my body when not needed so they were never taken when not needed and I did try other methods.

etc, as in pain killing gels.

Difene for an antiflammatory.

I studied toxicology in college so I know about the effects of drugs in the body, but as I said I tried other methods not involving toxins in the body to no avail.

So I get from your point, sit back and suffer in silence!! And do nothing about it.

God I came on here for advice, now feel like I am being put into a category of someone who is just out there looking for drugs!!!
To which i am totally against btw.

diverlady

Deleted User wrote: »

As for the morning after pill, I would imagine he has every right to ask you how many hours prior you had sex, because if it was borderline 72 hours, the morning pill could be unsuccessful and cause damage to the foetus. I'm not trying to sound all high and mighty by any means, but you say you're in debt, you have no job, and yet you did not take the responsibility to use protection, doctors probably get p*ssed off seeing this situation constantly and I think they are right to advise you to use contraception.

I def do agree with you there on that one, I know your not being all high and mighty there because I actaully think the very same thing.
I had hoped if i was lucky enough to start having children in a couple of years time after finishing college and paying off college fees, but after the unexpected last year, that is not going to happen, that would be a very silly thing to do. I was in college for 5 years, and working at the same time, so would have been in quite a good position but not now. But no I am not one of these people who dont care what kind of environment you bring children up in, in fact the opposite, thats why my initial plans will obviously not be going ahead now. And I also made my views of this clear to the doctor.

sam34

i can understand him asking for details re the MAP and what happened

its not a medication to be taken lightly, and its not without risks

now, a lot of people panic and go looking for it when really they dont actually need it

take a look at threads in PI, people sometimes advise to get the MAP if a girl so much sees a guy come, "to be on teh safe side"

but thats not how the MAP is supposed to be taken

so, i think its legit that he asked for details, just to ascertain what the actual risk of pregnancy was and if you really needed it

i would think far less of a doctor who just handed it out on request

diverlady

Thanks for your answer sam, however I am highly aware of the risks of the MAP and information that is required for it, I was not happy about illicit details of my sex life in order to get it!!!

When I came out and rang a friend of mine who is 36, she was absolutely disgusted and she said he did not need to anymore than what you told him.

My thread was origionally posted about how was treated with this doctor, statements he made and how he made me feel, and how he was unable to help me for my problems whether it be medication or not.

Which I think as a patient, he was unwilling to help me out in any way instead of just getting no no no..... and when asked for justification to get answered "your head isnt in the right place" (regarding quitting smoking) and to be asked "had I an eating disorder?" (regarding the osteopeenia), which I dont and never did have.


After thinking about this, I am going to go and pay for a second opinion to a doctor I have never been to before and I am going to ask them for advice from a different experts point of view (I will have to pay for this, but I dont mind at this stage).
I am sure they can tell me whether he has been doing his job or not, whether his questions for the MAP were needed or not, and whether his statements were valid/fair etc.

I will take it further from there

Nuggles

I don't think asking if you had an eating disorder is wrong. He's your doctor, it's a medical history question.

Dublin2Physio

diverlady wrote: »

I also suggested physio again as I forgotten exercises I was given before, he said it would not work.

Might be an idea to email your old physio as they should have your exercise programme on file that way you can pick up the exercises where you left off.
I'm sure your physio will understand the situation and be happy to help.

If its a new problem though you should get it looked over again to make sure the exercises are appropriate for the problem.

irishh_bob

diverlady wrote: »

Sesna,

Nicorrette did not work for me before unfortunately.

As for pain control, I spoke to my pharmacist who suggested that I ask my doctor to be referred to a pain specialist, who this doctor shuggred off. I also suggested physio again as I forgotten exercises I was given before, he said it would not work.
I simply told him what I was prescribed before, what had worked for me, he said no, I explained I was at a point where I would try anything, he is the expert so all I want is some of relief whatever kind it is, when you get to stage where your in as much as me, you would try anything.

At the moment its constant heat patches (which are fairly expensive), hot water bottles, hot baths, solpadeine which is doing nothing for me.

I have to take 2 different types of medication for my osteopeenia for the rest of my life, personally I do not like taking medication in general, I have tried holistic therapies, sports massage etc to no avail

most GP,s have but a very basic understanding of pain , sounds like you have chronic pain and therefore need to see a pain specialist

princess-lala

Most doctors are trying to reduce the amount of medication given out at any one time, I have a number of different health issues and about 3 years ago I would have been taking up to 30 tablets in any one day.

Now I take 4 for a recent complaint - I went to see a pain management specialist and they are amazing, to me anyway.

OP your gp has to ask these questions especially about the map, if you are unhappy though could you not change to another doctor in the practice??

_Whimsical_

I understand that questions have to be asked regarding giving out the MAP and I'm glad it's not taken lightly by doctors. However at the same time I'm sure that there must be a way to do that and to be respectful of the woman asking for it and to remain mindful that she's in an in embarrassing position but trying to do the responsible thing. I don't think that anyone asking for the MAP for the first time at 27 should come out of the doctor feeling hugely embarrassed or humiliated as the OP did. The importance of what any woman taking the MAP is doing should be impressed upon her but she should come away relieved.

OP on reading your post I think that a common thread of you not feeling comfortable or respected runs through all your visits to your new doctor. If you feel that way it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. It's one of the most intimate relationships you have outside of the close inner circle of important people in your life. It's imperative that you feel comfortable discussing the most personal details of your life with your doctor. Being honest I'd feel uncomfortable if a doctor made comments about me having an eating disorder or that my head was in a bad place if neither of things were true. I'd find them inappropriate and out of place.

Doctors do sometimes differ on what course of treatment they deem most appropriate and a change in treatment can be trying. It is easier to accept however when you feel you're being listened to, respected and your needs are being taken into account by your doctor. I feel unsettled reading your post because I think that you feel very uncomfortable with your doctor. If you've had a history of generally feeling comfortable with doctors you've seen in the past and this is unusual for you then you owe it to yourself to listen to your gut here. Not all doctors are fantastic and not all personalities gel. Having a bad relationship with your doctor can have a detrimental effect and make every health problem 10 times more stressful than it need be. Sit down and have a good think and consider your experience with this doctor as objectively as you can. If you still feel he's not the right one for you then leave him. Don't let the medical card keep you there longer than you feel is right.