Tired of the healthcare system!

[frugal-one]

Recently a friend told me she was experiencing VERY high blood pressure and normally had low bp. She went to the doc and had all kinds of tests done. She called because the bp kept going up and no response from doc. Long story short... the doc stated she prescribed bp meds for her to pick up to lower bp. Friend asked about test results and was told "They are here but I have not looked at them yet."
YIKES... prescribe drugs before checking to see the source or reason for the problem. This seems to be par for traditional medicine of late!

I have been having issues and recently went to see a herbalist. I have to say I am seeing results! I took my DH too and he is not experiencing the same type of help. He does have debilitating doctor-induced issues however. If he would only have questioned his docs ... he would be in better health today! We will give the herbalist a few months to see if she can help him too.

[pinkytoe]

I concur. I have made a decision not to seek conventional medical care again unless I have an emergency, ie break a bone. In every case in the past with me and those I know, it has become a circus of tests and procedures that bring nothing but more of the same and always a prescription of some sort.

[HappyHiker]

All too true. Unfortunately, many Western healthcare providers have devolved (sometimes due to the demands of health insurance requirements to see many patients for too brief a time) into treating symptoms with the band aid of prescribed drugs without diagnosing and healing the cause of the symptoms...

We humans are body, mind and spirit--all three inter-connected, and a dis-ease is related to all three components. An integrative or holistic healer is often the answer for those of us who want our whole being treated--not the symptoms. Two books worth reading are Fire Your Doctor and Linus Pauling's How to Live Longer and Feel Better.

Personally, I've found many of our illnesses can be directly traced to what we put into our bodies in the form of food, chemical additives, tobacco and other toxic ingredients. Often, our dis-eases come from clinical or sub-clinical shortages of many vital vitamins and minerals--and not knowing how to release stress and tension in safe ways.

We really owe it to ourselves to become educated advocates and safe-keepers of our own wellness.

[JaneV2.0]

The Last Well Person, by Hadler is an interesting read on this subject.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yea basically agree. Doctors seldom know how to even diagnose a problem, much less treat it.

[pinkytoe]

I saw this article today and it reminded me of how my own father, a physician, decided to forgo treatment when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He went quickly and in my estimation with grace.
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjan12/learning-from-doctors01-12.html

[Miss Cellane]

Devil's advocate here, but the OP has one example from one doctor. That means the doctor isn't practicing good medicine, but doesn't necessarily extrapolate to "all doctors are bad and to be avoided at all costs." And I agree that the story in the OP is an example of a lot of things that can go wrong with our current system.

Now, I'll admit there are flaws in our healthcare system. And there are probably just as many bad doctors as there are good ones. For myself, I tend to see a doctor only where there is something seriously wrong with me. With the doctor in the OP, I'd have been furious and demanding that he review my test results before prescribing anything. Or I'd be off to a different doctor.

But I'd probably have died 30 years ago if it wasn't for antibiotics when I had terrible pneumonia. And my SIL and nephew would have died during childbirth if ultrasounds and other pre-natal diagnostic tools hadn't been invented and used. And my nephew would have died within 24 hours after birth, but for the intervention of multiple health care specialists.

It's like anything else. You need to do your research and ask questions constantly.

[Aqua Blue]

I myself would be family-less if It wasn't for the medical community, my sister has had grand mal seizures since she was a young child. Without the seizure meds she would either be gone or badly brain damaged. My one brother just had a neck artery repaired that had 99% blockage, I can see the handwriting on the wall. My other brother had colon cancer 0 years ago, and recently he and his wife(married after the cancer) had a baby girl. my ex wouldn't be here either, he had a ruptured appendix at about 30yo. My dearest friend had a pacemaker at 42. She has had lots of good years since then. And then I think of all of the friends and family who would have had awful deaths if it wasn't for the meds and pallitive care they recieved at the end of life. Having worked as a nurse in Nicu for many years, I think of all the other families who wouldn't have gotten to be families.

Most certainly it isn't perfect, and I am actually thinking I will change physicians because who I have seems mediocre in the areas I need help, but all in all I am happy to have the medicine we have.

[frugal-one]

Thanks for the book recommendations. I agree that, at times, medications are necessary. However, lately it seems medications are given even if not necessary. Recently, I posted about how doctors are being give "kickbacks" on medicines they prescribe. The doctor my DH used to repair his knee made over $870,000 last year just from these kickbacks. His salary was not included. That is another reason for being tired of the healthcare system!

[puglogic]

I have changed physicians four times in the last ten years when the previous ones devolved into the behavior the OP talks about. I was deathly sick two years ago and my then-doctor prescribed antibiotics. When I asked her whether the infection was viral or bacterial or fungal or what, she said she didn't know, just take the antibiotics already. I didn't, and they're still in the fridge (hey, never know when you're gonna need amoxycillin in an apocalypse...)

By contrast, my current doctor has prescribed stress reduction, exercise, yoga and meditation for my blood pressure issues. That, and the herbal Hawthorn Berry, have brought it back down into normal range (ymmv) I've told her that blood pressure meds are a last resort, and cholesterol meds are out completely. Seriously, that sh** will kill you. And I am in the camp with HappyHiker that most of our bodily ills are brought on by weakening our bodies through too many toxins (alcohol, caffeine, drugs, sugar) and mistreatment (obesity, not enough movement/light, too much existential stress).

In our current medical climate, I feel like it's critical that everyone take charge of their own health, research remedies and medicines, and don't just hold out your hand and trust what a doctor puts into it. And if they don't do the job right for you, fire them and get another. (Heaven help me, I just agreed with Mitt Romney) Doctors are not gods any more.

[danna]

Just a note of caution...high blood pressure, especially if a very new symptom or if it keeps going up;
can be a symptom of kidney disease or kidney cancer. Plus a few other things that should be checked not just prescripted for.

[puglogic]

Sudden, persistent high blood pressure of any kind is a huge warning sign that something's gone wrong (if her blood pressure's always been low). Fast transitions from way-low to way-high are just not normal. I hope your friend got a second opinion pronto.

[ljevtich]

I concur. I have made a decision not to seek conventional medical care again unless I have an emergency, ie break a bone. In every case in the past with me and those I know, it has become a circus of tests and procedures that bring nothing but more of the same and always a prescription of some sort.
Ditto with me as well. However, I have gone to a naturopathic doctor who realized I had a wheat allergy and I have been much better ever since. Never would have occurred to me nor to a regular doctor. Now if I could only get my DH onboard with the idea. But we do not go to docs too often. And we did not get a flu shot this year. We have been eating oranges and getting Vitamin C thru foods and I do believe we will be able to get thru the winter without it.

[domestic goddess]

Actiually, it isn't always necessary to know the exact cause of a problem to initiate treatment, and it can be life-saving not to wait. Refinements to treatment can be made as you go. If doctors had waited to treat my severe hypertension until they knew the "exact cause", I might not be here now. With a blood pressure of 237/173, waiting just wasn't a good idea. Standard blood pressure meds brought my blood pressure under control, and continue to do so. Hypertension runs in both sides of my family, so there isn't any other treatable reason for it, as is often the case. I just got a double whammy of genetics.
I am taking all older, tried-and-true meds, and doing well now. But with no symptoms, my first clue of hypertension might have been a heart attack, a stroke,or death. Waiting for an "exact cause" can be deadly.

[Jemima]

I'm getting quite disillusioned with my personal doctor, a woman I've been seeing for over fourteen years. When I first started seeing her, the medical practice consisted of her, her partner, a nurse practitioner, and a few nurses. Several years ago the practice was taken over by a big greedy hospital system and nothing's been the same since then.

She seems to be ignoring my main concerns: chronically stuffy sinuses and ringing in my ears, ovarian cancer (which my mother had and survived), and ending up with amputations as my father did. Her focus seems to be exclusively on heart disease and cholestrol numbers, and keeping the appointment to fifteen minutes. My podiatrist referred me for a test of circulation, which was just what I wanted but didn't know existed. (I'm happy to say my circulation is just fine.) She, the podiatrist, also referred me to an ENT specialist with whom she is familiar. I'm starting to wish I could go to the podiatrist for everything. She takes her time with her patients and I don't mind waiting past my appointment time at all.

Last winter I got a lung infection and it turned into a three ring circus. My regular doc wasn't available, but since I was coughing blood, I accepted an appointment with the new guy. He gave me a script for an antibiotic that worked, but failed to suggest a standard TB skin test. He referred me for a lung CT with dye, but didn't bother to tell me that I needed a kidney function blood test first nor did he get preapproval from my insurance company for the CT. I ended up waiting at the hospital for nearly four hours while my doctor's office scrambled to get approval for the test.

My next stop was a pulmonary specialist who told me my scan was "ugly" (I had a cavity in my upper right lobe), plus there was a round dark spot at the base of my esophagus which he seemed to think was cancer. My upper GI test showed no abnormalities, so I'm guessing that the horrible, scary tumor was in fact the brass button on my jeans. I made it a point to wear pants with a plastic button for the follow-up scan, and there apparently were no problems.

In the end, I figured out what was going on myself. I had been given an antidepressant that also acts as an anticoagulent. No one told me not to take aspirin with it, and I was popping them like M&Ms because of back pain from a really bad physical setup at work, plus hours of commuting. I have a weak blood vessel in one nostril and I think there was blood dripping down the back of my throat almost constantly. I wasn't so much coughing up blood, but throwing it up. None of the docs ever figured out what was wrong.

Like pinkytoe, doctors are going to be a last resort for me from now on. :(

[danna]

Agreed domestic goddess; of course high blood pressure being treated is always urgent....but, in a lot of cases the reasons should be looked for.
I have had high blood pressure since I was in my 30's and here doing well because of treatment. Both parents had it too.
My sister was put on pills in her 40's put in her mid 50's it starting raising and instead of just upping her meds her doctor had
kidney tests done and both of her kidneys were failing. She has been on dialyaes (sp?) first at home and now in the hospital; the quick diagnoes
has at least saved her life if not her kidneys.

[domestic goddess]

I would never say that reasons for illness shouldn't be looked for, but that it isn't always necessary, or optimal, to find that before initiating treatment. Note that I said "initiating" treatment, as treatment can, and should be, fine tuned as we age and things change. Even changes in weight can affect medication dosages.
I'm sorry your sister is undergoing dialysis; it is not an easy thing to undergo. My aunt was on dialysis for a long time, because a virus attacked and damaged her kidneys, and she never had any symptoms. My mom had a kidney work-up done, due to uncontrollable hypertension. Her kidneys are normal, and so is her blood pressure, now that we have gotten her to take her medication. She had a lot of erroneous ideas about how the medication would act. I just seem to have "bad genes" in this area.