Educating another doc !!!

Post by **Polar Bear** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:03 pm

Hi folks.

I go on holiday in about 10 days time and my prescription is due during that time, so I rang my medical practice to get an 'early' prescription. No problem so far.

I asked the receptionist - would you ask doc to consider prescribing some extra codeine to allow for plane flights and long train journeys. One can only ask??

I have mentioned before that my usual doc is great, knew little of rls, but we are working together, he is learning and I have given him the mayo algorithm etc.

Medical practice rings me about an hour later. Doc wants to talk to me. NOT my own particular doc I don't know this guy), but the doc who is writing today's presciptions. he was very pleasant.

Doc says......Not a problem to give you a few extra, lets say 10 extra codeine, what are you taking them for, diahhrea (sp).... uhhh... no for rls.

Doc says, Have you tried quinine......... Uhhhhhhh... no, isn't that for cramps and not rls ?????

I say to doc... we are talking movement disorder/dopamine here, not cramps.

Doc says, this requip, isn't that also for Alzeimers.... Uhhhhhhhhh, No... not that I've heard of......... I understand it is for Parkinsons

Doc says is the codeine strong enough that you are taking. I say, well probably not but I am trying to work with a balance of requip and codeine and keep them both as low as poss. Even tho I still get symptoms.

Doc says, why not increase your requip. AAAAHHHHHH !!!!!
I say, I don't want to do this until absolutely necessary, I don't wish to risk augmentation.

Doc..........What's that ?????

Me...... Trust me doc, I am not being cheeky.... but I have totally researched this as best I can.

Doc..... You sound like a sensible lady, I'll give you an extra 15 codeine.

Well, I got my early prescription, and I got some extra codeine to help with the travel.

But I was not impressed. Nice guy but knew less than nothing of rls.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:59 pm

Wow, that's just soooo sad...and soooo true WAY too often.

I know that the Foundation tries to work on this issue, but there is just so much to do, and not enough money to go around.

At least he knows more than he did, and that is good. So pats on your back for helping with that. And, you have your meds...which in a situation like this is not always assured!

I broke in a new doc recently, too. But, as my fulltime doc. So far, so good. She actually read everything I gave her...and I gave her A LOT! Her grandmother has RLS and is augmenting. That helped me tremendously because I gave her info she could read to help figure out what to do.

I also gave her an 18 page document that relates - by date - everything that we've tried (for me) and the results. I didn't think she'd read it. But, she called me the other day about other tests she ran (nothing is wrong, which is good) and mentioned something that made me realize she HAD read that whole thing.

I'm pleasantly surprised. And happy that she's only 12 blocks north of me as my last (very wonderful doc) was 60 miles or so away.

SquirmingSusan · Post by **SquirmingSusan** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:26 pm

Hey! I've been to that doctor! :roll:

Stuff like that makes me wonder if there are any objective standards for what doctors need to know to practice medicine. It seems like you can go to 10 different doctors and get 10 different versions of misinformation. And then they wonder why we're all doing research on the internet...

Good for you, Betty, for sticking with him and continuing to correct him, and for getting the extra meds you need! You rock!

Aiken · Post by **Aiken** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:36 pm

I'm often very bitchy about uneducated doctors, but to be fair, there is SO much to know in medicine that you can hardly blame a general practicioner for not knowing everything about every neurological disorder, especially ones that have really only come to light in the last few years. There are just so damned many of them. In my own field of computer science, there's just no way I could wrap my head around everything there is to know in my one lifetime, and it only gets worse as time goes on.

I think what bothers me is when a doctor tries to treat you for something he has to know he doesn't understand well enough. I mean, halfway through that conversation, he should have stopped and said, "Hmm, I'm starting to think maybe I don't have the training to make these suggestions to you," instead of continuing to make poorly-educated guesses at your treatment. That's what I do when someone asks me how to tackle a programming problem I don't know how to handle: I say I don't know, and send them to someone who does.

Some doctors can be far too prideful, or arrogant in some cases, to admit they're clue-deficient. That's what I have a problem with.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:02 am

You nailed it Aiken. Waaaaaay to prideful and arrogant.

Then again, it must be very hard to say, "Uh, yes, I know I'm the doctor and I have a gazillion years of education and I'm charging you a huge amount of money to know, but i'm stupid about this' While I know that's not what they would say, that's what some people would hear. It take chutzpah to say, "You know, I want you to have the best care possible and I want to check on this before we continue," leaving the patient open to interpret that statement in a negative way.

I, of course, would only take it extremely positively!

Post by **Polar Bear** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:53 am

And makes us wonder where we would be, and how we would be, if we were not able to access info on the internet and a site such as this.

I pity those sufferers who are not fore-armed when going to an uneducated doc.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 7:14 pm

Yes, that was our parents and grandparents. I can remember my grandmother going from one doctor to another about the incessant RLS. She had it every day for 30 years before she had the real name. And during that time she was dismissed completely or treated for things she didn't have. From quinine to a mental hospital...

Think of all of us who would be in the same shoes today if we didn't have the Internet and sites like this. I am thankful everyday I come here for the education and knowledge that resides in these posts.

maddielouise1 · Post by **maddielouise1** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:40 pm

I thought Quinine was being taken off the market, anyway. Maybe if RLS was named after someone famous who has it, it would get more attention and thus more understanding and education.