if your doctors can't cure your disease or even can't diagnose your condition, what will you do ?

[swansont]

!

Moderator Note

Our policy is and AFAICT will continue to be that if you aren't a medical professional, you shouldn't be dispensing medical advice in response to anything resembling a diagnosis request. (And if you are a medical professional, I suspect that you would not be doing this over the internet)

As soon as you ask what you should do regarding some affliction you have, the only acceptable response is to consult (in person) with a medical professional. And that's where we shut down the thread. "What causes rashes?" is OK. "I have a rash, what do I do" is not.

This is, IMO, consistent with our approach to discussions involving dangerous activities and illegal acts. We can't stop you from self-diagnosing (or using some other site to do so) or putting yourself in harm's way, but we will not be a party to these efforts

[Ophiolite]

Oph - I thought most 1st world countries had decent health care, current criticism of our NHS aside. I know the US hasn't - I was being facetious, sorry if that did not come across (I put a wink there to indicate lack of seriousness). In a country as advanced as the USA I would expect a person to be able to go to the doctor when ill to get checked out without having to worry about finances. I think it is deplorable that they can't.

Then, my apologies to you for not catching the facetious/sarcastic tone. I am normally alert to such. Ignorance is widespread and I have my fair share, but I get annoyed when I think I see it where it ought not to be. (I completely agree with the inconsistency of universally available affordable health care. If humans have rights then that is certainly one of them.)

[DrP]

Thank you Oph - the part about getting an injuction from going back was also meant to be humorous, which clearly did not come across. I would still advise going back to get further opinions or to get a better explanation if the OP doesn't understand what the doctor is going on about. Better to go and discuss things than to just shy away and sulk in ignorance of what is going on in your body. How anyone could advise them NOT to go to the doctors without any knowledge of the person or what is wrong with them I do not know.

 

The problem with some people is that they only believe what they want to believe. I knew someone who had an MRI scan to investigate some really severe back pains. I went with them for support when they got their results. I listened HARD to the doctor who said that the scan showed absolutely nothing that could give the patient the grief they were having. In the report it noted some wear of the vertebrae at certain places. When questioned about the wear the doc said that this was completely normal for a person in their 30s (the patient was 50) - so in fact they looked in fine health and the pain was sue to something else.... All fine.... until a few weeks later the patient is telling everyone (including their doctor at the surgery) that they have terrible degradation in their spine which was shown on the MRI and this is what must be causing the pain... the doc proscribed all sorts of treatment (all wrong) based on the info given. I was pretty annoyed with them because I was there when the hospital told them that there was nothing out of the ordinary with the MRI and that the wear was a lot less in someone of their age than normal.

 

I still do not know what was causing the pain - I do not have contact with them anymore. But it was so frustrating to hear them telling different doctors different things, mainly wrong, and then slagging off the health system for being shit (when they were bending over backwards to help the person). The doc gave them something for the pain which started to help.... then they gave the credit for the pain relief to the homeopathy they just started taking. It was ridiculous... they ended up being sent to a mental hospital a short while later - it was tragic.

[StringJunky]

Thank you Oph - the part about getting an injuction from going back was also meant to be humorous, which clearly did not come across. I would still advise going back to get further opinions or to get a better explanation if the OP doesn't understand what the doctor is going on about. Better to go and discuss things than to just shy away and sulk in ignorance of what is going on in your body. How anyone could advise them NOT to go to the doctors without any knowledge of the person or what is wrong with them I do not know.

 

The problem with some people is that they only believe what they want to believe. I knew someone who had an MRI scan to investigate some really severe back pains. I went with them for support when they got their results. I listened HARD to the doctor who said that the scan showed absolutely nothing that could give the patient the grief they were having. In the report it noted some wear of the vertebrae at certain places. When questioned about the wear the doc said that this was completely normal for a person in their 30s (the patient was 50) - so in fact they looked in fine health and the pain was sue to something else.... All fine.... until a few weeks later the patient is telling everyone (including their doctor at the surgery) that they have terrible degradation in their spine which was shown on the MRI and this is what must be causing the pain... the doc proscribed all sorts of treatment (all wrong) based on the info given. I was pretty annoyed with them because I was there when the hospital told them that there was nothing out of the ordinary with the MRI and that the wear was a lot less in someone of their age than normal.

 

I still do not know what was causing the pain - I do not have contact with them anymore. But it was so frustrating to hear them telling different doctors different things, mainly wrong, and then slagging off the health system for being shit (when they were bending over backwards to help the person). The doc gave them something for the pain which started to help.... then they gave the credit for the pain relief to the homeopathy they just started taking. It was ridiculous... they ended up being sent to a mental hospital a short while later - it was tragic.

If they were admitted to mental health services after then they were losing or had already lost their mental balance, it probably explains their behaviour with the doctor; it was probably a symptom of their distress. They knew they had a problem but were attributing it to the wrong thing; deliberately or mistakenly. A lot of people do this. A physical problem is easier to talk about than a mental one. There is a certain stigma associated with mental illness.

Edited January 17, 2017 by StringJunky

[fresh]

if your doctors can't cure your disease or even can't diagnose your condition, what will you do ?

 

sometimes the right doctor is not there yet for you.... and do you 100% count on your doctors ?

 

the simplest one, for example, acne, very hard to totally get rid of it.

[Function]

Sidenote: I think in lots of cases if can be more mentally destructive to lots of patients living with symptoms which put limitations to their daily activities when the doctors can't objectively diagnose a disease.

 

I think that, in those circumstances, some patients would even be relieved if they would get diagnosed with a very destructive disease (e.g. a very agressive cancer), just because then they know they have an objectively observable disease, no matter what the prognosis would be. Actually knowing they have something objectively observable, I think can be really relieving to patients who would otherwise be told that they'd have to learn to live with their limiting symptoms, even when there is no good treatment in case of disease. They'd at least feel understood and they wouldn't feel alone anymore (or at least, not as much as before).

Edited January 17, 2017 by Function

[jfoldbar]

i hope i can tell my story of what i DID do, rather than what i might do, without judgement.

 

will try to keep it short, so ask for details if you want

 

i am a 40y.o. man. i live in sydney australia.

when i was 22 y.o. i started to get sick, very sick. it affected me 24/7. generally a muscle problem (details would go on for hours)

went to various doctors who all said it was in my head and there was nothing wrong with me.

still getting worse. by 23-24, i was not far off wheelchair. every muscle was shutting down. even going blind.

eventually i met 1 doctor who actually believed there was a problem, but had no idea what or how to fix.

eventually 2 doctors had told me i had just months (or less) to live.

 

there was one particular day, 1 doctor gave me some antibiotics to kill some bug in my stomach. in the following days i was passing out, and bleeding everywhere. i then spoke with another doc who said "that bug is supposed to be there".

i then came to realise that if i wanted to live, the only way was to help myself.

 

so i went to war.

 

every minute of every day i was reading. every medical thing i could get my hands on. and every far fetched theory or idea i could imagine, i tried it. i had already lost all, there was nothing else to loose.

researched every chemical and food that was in my life for any ideas. when i discovered tests that could be done, i pleaded with the 1 doctor(by then about 5) who believed me to run those tests.

eventually those tests showed an inconsistency that i could work with, to dig myself out of my hole.

with a combination of the right herbs(natural stuff),whether by trial and error or by various test, i eventually came good.

 

i didnt really think of myself as 'ok' until i was about 33-34. im now better than ever.

 

anything is possible, if we put our mind to it.

[nec209]

As i know it is very common after you move from one doctor to another, nobody can help you, what will you do ?

consider you put any thread regarding your condition in this forum, it will be locked.

Do you feel helpless and hopeless, what will you do next ?

 

 

Probably the diseases is really hard to diagnose base on symptoms why the doctor is hard to find diagnose of it.

 

Or diseases not common. Meaning in 50 years being doctor he or she only sees the disease one or two times.

 

If country supports specialist payments some times they better than family doctor. Like you have pain in knee and you see the family doctor he or she does test and cannot find the problem. Next step is to get your pay OPT to see specialist that deals with knee or hip if that is what is causing your problem.

 

If your country does not cover the cost to see specialist than that is break down of healthcare in your country.

 

Like you have knee or hip problems but cannot see specialist that not covered under your healthcare plan.