Hi Tex,
Sorry your GP is not listening to you. I have no doubt that you have done whatever research you could regarding all of your ailments. Just come right out and tell him if you decide you want a referral to a specialist, especially if he just wants to chalk everything up to aging. It never hurts to get another opinion on a problem.
Marion
Rant over my Doc
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Hi Marion,
Sorry that my post was sort of misleading. I have osteoarthritis (never officially diagnosed, but the markers are pretty clear), so when he asks me how I feel, I feel obligated to mention the aches and pains, but I have no intention of taking any of the NSAIDS, corticosteroids, immune system suppressants, etc., recommended for treatment, so I see no point in going to a rheumy. When I get out of bed each morning, I just stretch the aches and pains away as best I can, and go on my way.
I still believe that osteoarthritis is caused by diet, but I'm not having any luck connecting my symptoms with my current diet. I'm beginning to suspect that the damage was done roughly 10 years ago, or more, before I figured out what was going on, and changed my diet, so there may not be much I can do at this point.
He's old, and he has aches and pains; I'm old, and I have aches and pains -- the circumstantial evidence is stacked against me, so unless I can prove a cause other than old age, it's pretty tough to argue.
Tex
Sorry that my post was sort of misleading. I have osteoarthritis (never officially diagnosed, but the markers are pretty clear), so when he asks me how I feel, I feel obligated to mention the aches and pains, but I have no intention of taking any of the NSAIDS, corticosteroids, immune system suppressants, etc., recommended for treatment, so I see no point in going to a rheumy. When I get out of bed each morning, I just stretch the aches and pains away as best I can, and go on my way.
I still believe that osteoarthritis is caused by diet, but I'm not having any luck connecting my symptoms with my current diet. I'm beginning to suspect that the damage was done roughly 10 years ago, or more, before I figured out what was going on, and changed my diet, so there may not be much I can do at this point.
He's old, and he has aches and pains; I'm old, and I have aches and pains -- the circumstantial evidence is stacked against me, so unless I can prove a cause other than old age, it's pretty tough to argue.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Definitely agree with that. A few years back I had pain in my right calf. My GP sent me off for an ultrasound to see what it was, she thought it was a DVT. By the time I had that done and got back to the surgery my GP had left for the day and I had to see another Doc. He said there was nothing wrong with me and to go home, lose weight and quit smoking. Less than three weeks later I had pain in my chest and couldn't breathe properly. I went back to the Doc and saw a different doctor. He sent me for an urgent blood test and urgent chest X-ray. he told me to come back immediately I had the results of the X-ray. I di the blood test first, then went to find a place for the X-ray (I was living in Canberra at the time).It never hurts to get another opinion on a problem.
I then had the X-ray and went home to lie down while waiting for the X-ray films. I had only been home a few minutes when the Doc phoned me and said to come straight back to the surgery as they had the blood results. Seems I did have a DVT three weeks earlier, which could be seen in the blood test results and it had ended up travelling into my lungs to form a pulmonary embolism. I was only a few hours off being dead. I drove myself straight to Emergency at Canberra Hospital, where they were waiting for me and started me on treatment immediately.
What I learnt from this is to not trust just one GP's opinion and that if I felt any doubt in their prognosis then I need a second opinion. My GP in Sale said to me the other day that she never knows what is going to walk through her door, so she needs to try to know about everything, but that she doesn't have the time to research it all.
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tex wrote:
I still believe that osteoarthritis is caused by diet, but I'm not having any luck connecting my symptoms with my current diet. I'm beginning to suspect that the damage was done roughly 10 years ago, or more, before I figured out what was going on, and changed my diet, so there may not be much I can do at this point.
He's old, and he has aches and pains; I'm old, and I have aches and pains -- the circumstantial evidence is stacked against me, so unless I can prove a cause other than old age, it's pretty tough to argue.
Tex
I have osteoarthritis in my fingers. I first noticed it in my mid 50's. I am now 63. My fingers are swollen and bent at the joints but since removing all known offending food the swelling seems to have gone down some and they no longer hurt, although they definitely remain bent. My doc simply shrugged her shoulders when I mentioned this to her several years ago, like there's nothing you can do, but I think diet is helping and I am hoping it will prevent it from getting any worse. Old age is just too easy a catchall explanation, not that there aren't changes as you age, but a lot of them are probably diet related and not a necessary part of aging, IMO.
Jean
Jean,
Before I changed my diet, certain finger joints had a lot of inflammation, swelling, and pain (in the interphalangeal joints, only). All that stopped after the diet changes. Now, though, for the last year or so, one single finger (the index finger) has been growing crooked and twisted at the distal interphalangeal joint. The distortion progress seems to have at least slowed down again after eliminating an apparent cross-contamination problem early in the year, but it hasn't stopped completely. Interestingly, only my right hand is affected.
Yep, I get the impression that doctors don't like to say "I don't have the foggiest idea what's wrong with you", so they almost always look around for something to blame. If the patient is young, the most popular default selections seem to be "obesity", "cholesterol", and "IBS", but if the patient is old enough, it's much easier to just blame it on "old age".
Tex
Before I changed my diet, certain finger joints had a lot of inflammation, swelling, and pain (in the interphalangeal joints, only). All that stopped after the diet changes. Now, though, for the last year or so, one single finger (the index finger) has been growing crooked and twisted at the distal interphalangeal joint. The distortion progress seems to have at least slowed down again after eliminating an apparent cross-contamination problem early in the year, but it hasn't stopped completely. Interestingly, only my right hand is affected.
Yep, I get the impression that doctors don't like to say "I don't have the foggiest idea what's wrong with you", so they almost always look around for something to blame. If the patient is young, the most popular default selections seem to be "obesity", "cholesterol", and "IBS", but if the patient is old enough, it's much easier to just blame it on "old age".
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.