10 replies to this topic

[taikara]

I haven't had a primary care physician since I was about 21, so I decided it was probably time to get one. The convenience of being able to call in and get an appointment within 24 hours was mighty tempting, as I've had a few bouts with various infections recently.

Very Bad Idea.

First of all, in order to get a new primary care physician, I had to call in and make an appointment - and apparently, new patients are not priority, so it was a  6 month waiting period until I could actually get in to see the doctor I chose. Fine, it's no better anywhere else, whatever. I could just keep going to the clinic in the meantime if I really needed to see a doctor.

So, I finally get in, and let's just say it was the worst consultation I've had with a physician ever. She wouldn't even let me finish statements, and worse, she said some shockingly nasty things which I won't even get into.

The thing I found truly obnoxious was her over-eagerness to deem me a depressed individual and put me on anti-depressant medication. No tests, nothing. She suggested this as a solution before she ever even touched me.

Her reason? All of my physical complaints can apparently be explained by depression.

However, just about EVERY physical symptom can be explained by depression.

Headache ---> Depression
Upset stomach ---> Depression
Lethargy ---> Depression
Nausea ---> Depression
Constipation/Diarrhea ---> Depression
Weight loss/gain ---> Depression
Muscle pain/soreness ---> Depression
Stubbed toe ---> Depression
Skin rash ---> Depression
Infection ---> Depression

If some of these don't make sense, they can still be explained by depression. For example, you stub your toe because you can't concentrate because you are depressed. If you are depressed, your immune system sucks, so you get infections. Think about it - pretty much every physical symptom can either directly or indirectly be caused by the stupidly vague "illness" we call depression.

It's all very convenient if you don't know the person, don't care to know the person, and don't feel like probing into their statements any further. So, I'm wondering, what the hell do we even have doctors for if everything can be explained by depression?

Contrarily enough, I consider myself a generally pretty happy individual. Sure, life sucks sometimes, but hey, that's just life.

The worst part is, if I want to change physicians (which I probably will, though you know what they say - the hell you know is better than the one you don't), I would have to go primary physician-less for another six months. Apparently, it's their policy that if you're switching to a new doctor, you can't make appointments with the old one.

Whee.

This would be a good time to discuss how you feel about the ever-more-common practice of prescribing anti-depressants for stomach aches. If you can't tell, I'm very much against it.

(Note: She finally conceded to at least a standard battery of tests when I mentioned my medical history and previous test results from prior institutions, albeit grudgingly.)

[DeathDude]

Whoa 6 months for getting a physician eh, that sounds about the same amount of time here, and for some offices, they are not accepting new patients at all.

Anyways back to the main point at hand, in my opinion, the doc you saw was totally unprofessional, firstly with the fast conclusion about diagnosing depression like that. Thats a bit fast to do, usually from what I hear, most docs ask a lot of questions about symptoms someone may be feeling, anything a person is feeling, that sort of thing and even then they are hesisitent to prescribe meds like anti-depressants, because depression and its common cousin anxiety are quite similar, in that sometimes most people think they are depressed when really its just anxiety being the cause.

I think one of the main reasons, why this doc was so eager to make a diagnosis like that, was the ol clinic idea itself. What I'm getting at is, most of those walk in clinics, generally always have most of the doctors prescribing something, have a cough? Here take this medication, oh your leg is feeling funny, medication for that. Seems to me in more of the doctor offices (in which I attend one and have had a family doctor for years) are less likely nowadays to precribe a medication, unless they deem it to be necessary or because of some risk that there may be. They would prefer that the body heal itself, or least for a person to rest to heal whatever ails them (cold, flu etc...)

The whole everything being linked to depression idea is definitely on the mark too, as I have noticed that from experience, and from others I've talked to who have had the same sort of experience. Some docs indeed are quick to make that observation and suggestion to go on anti-depressents. Yet you would think, some of these docs would have a bit more sense, after all anti-depressents are drugs, which try to modify a chemical imbalance that exists, to help with whatever sort of depression a person might be feeling, since there are many different sorts of depression, and varying levels from very weak to very strong.

I'm also very against the whole idea of trying to link depression to many of the ailments you listed above Tai. Depression is a serious thing, and doctors should not be trying to just chuck out a quick fix like that, just for a person with a stomache, or a headache or whatever the case may be. Anti-depressents do cause changes to happen, and its affects vary from person to person, not to mention the many and key word many side effects, for the first little while, which can have even more harmful effects, to a person than before they were taking the meds.

I wouldn't let this doc get to ya though Tai, bad practice she was doing, trying to go that route of the quick fix, when really she should have been listening, which is what a doc should be doing, and not trying to push their own agenda, based on observations, especially if its a first time patient.

[A. J. Raffles]

Bloody hell! Is there any way for you to ask around for a doctor who might actually be worth waiting 6 months for?

[Juni Ori]

Whoa... Even here with free (well, ~15€ per year if you go even once, but after that free) public healthcare I haven't encountered as unprofessional doctor. Ever. Actually, now that I think of it, most of doctors examining me have actually listened and made some effort to fix me. Okay, every basket has bad apples, but I don't really remember anyone at all like that! Stupid depressionphile...

[Blood-Pigggy]

Sucks for you, my personal doctor is totally badass, he's probably the coolest guy ever, and he's the funniest dude ever.

[Frodo]

That's really bad, Tai.  

A doctor should LISTEN to you - it's their responsibility to listen to their patients's concerns, and not just fob you off like that.  Anti-deppressants are NOT the answer to everything.  

About the 'shockingly nasty things' she said.  I don't know what she said to you, but if you found it offensive \ disturbing \ upsetting in any way, you should report it.  

I'm sorry you went through this Tai.  

[DeathDude]

Think part of the issue at hand in this case, and in cases like this, is the whole concept of those walkin clinics. Now not sure how it is in the states, but here since there is free health care, walkin clinics here get a portion of the taxes people pay every year for taxes, which also goes to pay for saleries etc, so usually there is some concern for the docs working there for new patients, and generally not likely to pull off the whole first patient analysis because I can ideal.

Nevertheless in any case this doc was out of line, and if ya have to go to that clinic again Tai, if its close to where ya live or whatever the case, make a mention if ya can not to see her (if you remember her name), if something were to arise, otherwise just shop around. There are probably other clinics that have a shorter waiting list for patients (but again distance may come into effect and thats up to you if ya would want to travel that far), thats how it is here, but ya could always put your name down and least if ya don't find a family sort of doc, at least you have that base covered, because at least in the future if you have to deal with a doctor, most family doctors will not pull that sort of behaviour, or go to that length to make an assumption that quickly, without first consulting you and making sure its okay with you, to proceed.

[BeefontheBone]

Oh my god. Any guesses about how much Pfizer are paying her? You realise the US healthcare system sucks *money-maker*, right? The NHS may be horribly underfunded (the British like to get things free but not to pay any taxes for it, like many other peoples) but at least one effect of that is that they try to avoid prescribing crap for no good reason.

And we wonder why ADHD, depression, autistic spectrum disorders and so on are so overdiagnosed...

[Juni Ori]

Beefy... Exactly! But I'm not going to the politics (again), I guess I've already killed couple threads because of it!

[taikara]

@Frodo: Well, I think I used a poor phrase here. She didn't say anything really out-of-line, it was more her tone and attitude. I would get into it, but to do so effectively, I'd have to reveal some of my medical history to Teh Public, and due to past experience, that is probably a Bad Idea

@BP: Yeah, my pediatrician was awesome. I think pediatricians care a hell of a lot more about their patients. Ever since I Grew Up, I've hated all my internists (primary care physicians, whatever the hell they call themselves now - doctors who suck too much to specialize, maybe?). This one really has been the absolute worst, though. At least the others kind of pretended to give a damn

@Beef: Actually, in most cases, the US health system sucks a lot more for people who can actually afford to buy into it than it does for those who can't. You can walk into one of the health department or welfare clinics and get a diagnosis and required medications for almost nothing. If you have insurance, though, watch out. When I got a sinus infection a couple weeks ago, I went to the private clinic that my company uses - the doctor asked me if I had insurance, and I wish I had said no, because she says, "Great, then I can prescribe you the really good stuff." She then proceeded to write a prescription for a $120 antibiotic (which I didn't know was that expensive until I got to the pharmacy). The insurance company I use doesn't provide immediate coverage for prescriptions - they give you a discount card which takes about 20% off, depending on the medication in question, and then you have to personally wrangle with them over what they cover on the rest of the cost. If I had gone to the health department clinic, I would have had to spend probably about $30.00 on the whole shebang, with no extraneous worries.

[Sean]

Doctors!

zomG I hatez them

In all seriousness, I haven't been to a doctor for years and don't plan to start anytime soon. I've been *kvetch*ed at quite a bit recently to get my *money-maker* to a doctor for severe weight loss (suppousedly) but it's just not something  of appeal to me. Doctors suck.

If young kids can't be convinced to go to a Doctor because they're expecting blanket-term *bovine droppings* and a crappy diagnosis then there must be something going wrong

As for waiting times, I don't think any of that's too bad over here but our health-care isn't exactly great. Free health=care? Can't really expect much more from 'em, they are on budget.. and if they actually spent money doctoring they couldn't afford all those fancy houses n stuffs!