• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Should we do as we are told?

Totto

Totto

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,831
Location
Gotland
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
In what circumstances should we ignore our Drs and other HCPs advice? If ever? Or should we always do as we are told?

I don't think so.

What do you think?

They may be experts in the medical field, but we are experts on ourselves.
 
Tricky question,
to a big extent do as we are told but i do believe that if we think there is something wrong and they don't then you have to push and be heard
 
If your Dr told you to stay away from fat and eat carbs, would you follow the advice?

If your Dr wanted to put you on statins without sharing the cholesterol breakdown with you, would you take them?

If your Dr prescibed any med, would you take it just because he/she said so?
 
To a certain extent follow the advice of medical experts - however - use your brain and research things for yourself and don't be a doormat or a fool - after all it is your body and you know it best.

Plus Drs aren't always right and can make mistakes - they don't know everything.
 
Totto said:
If your Dr told you to stay away from fat and eat carbs, would you follow the advice?

If your Dr wanted to put you on statins without sharing the cholesterol breakdown with you, would you take them?

If your Dr prescibed any med, would you take it just because he/she said so?
Click to expand...
No to all three
 
But I did do as I was told. I looked up diabetes on the internet , looked up diabetes uk (lol!) and was guided to diet doctor by a rebel from this forum. The only problem seems to be that they don't like the advice and info I found (with the exception of dr Mann) . Having tried rice, bread and pasta (not at the same time - I dint fancy an overnight stay in hospital) recently to prove a point (surprisingly my bs rocketed) I feel I have enough evidence to stick my vees up (I like to be mature about these things! Lol)
 
Totto said:
In what circumstances should we ignore our Drs and other HCPs advice? If ever? Or should we always do as we are told?

I don't think so.

What do you think?

They may be experts in the medical field, but we are experts on ourselves.
Click to expand...
No, we shouldn't always do as we are told but we should certainly listen to them and make an advised decision. What we certainly should NEVER do is ignore all medical advice but accept the advice of a complete stranger on a forum eh ;-)
 
mo1905 said:
No, we shouldn't always do as we are told but we should certainly listen to them and make an advised decision. What we certainly should NEVER do is ignore all medical advice but accept the advice of a complete stranger on a forum eh ;-)
Click to expand...
;)
 
Oh, so I asked for Metformin on the advice of a complete stranger on this forum. Was that wrong? My GP would not have given it to me if I hadn't asked.
 
but we are experts on ourselves.
Click to expand...
That's is exactly why I would recommend that you follow your doctor's instructions - you don't know enough statistics to realize that your anecdotes carry no weight, and I doubt that you have the statistical knowledge to make an educated decision about which drugs are best. Your doctor, on the other hand, acts on instructions made by people who do have that knowledge.
 
You wouldn't normally be able to get metformin without a doctor's prescription. He/she knows more of your medical history so for example he might have refused it if you had a kidney problem.
If you had taken advice that met would be a good idea and gone to an internet seller then that would be different (and foolish)
 
I was tired, or fatigued, with severe memory impairment, and in pain, for a decade. I was told I was depressed and to eat medicine for this. I knew it wasn't depression so I didn't take the tablets. Finally I took things in my own hands and started self medicating with thyroid hormones while all the doctors I had seen in unison said there wasn't anything at all wrong with my thyroid but hey presto, I recovered most of my abilities in a fairly short space of time.

Had they understood why I had a heart rate of 48 while unable to walk more than 200 metres or made the connection between loss of appetite and weight gain or just look at the oedema on my arms and face or my hair loss and my non-existent outer part of eye brows that typical and exclusive for hypothyroidism I would have been diagnosed while still in my thirties.

I am a bit reluctant when it comes to trusting medical men and women. It took them four years to find my diabetes and it wasn't my GP who found it anyway, it was me insisting on testing and it took half a year to finally come to the conclusive test.
 
zand said:
Oh, so I asked for Metformin on the advice of a complete stranger on this forum. Was that wrong? My GP would not have given it to me if I hadn't asked.
Click to expand...
But you still discussed metformin with your doc. Would you have taken them if you received them from a complete stranger ? What you did was exactly right. The whole purpose of this forum is to ask/give advice and then discuss with your healthcare providers :-)
 
No, I would def not take all the advice doctors give me. They are human, make mistakes and don't know my body the way I do.
I'm not feckless but I've been told some gems:
No need to do blood tests
If my BG is high, don't inject, just wait for it to go down on its own, but eat as normal.
Don't travel to Asia.
Don't travel to India.
When travelling ensure I'm always near a hospital.
Don't drink.
Eat digestives twice a day
The list goes on and gets more ridiculous
I am a diabetic but I'm also a person and I think a doctor often doesn't see that I need to be about TO LIVE MY LIFE, and I will make allowances for my diabetes but I still want to do everything



Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
AMBrennan said:
That's is exactly why I would recommend that you follow your doctor's instructions - you don't know enough statistics to realize that your anecdotes carry no weight, and I doubt that you have the statistical knowledge to make an educated decision about which drugs are best. Your doctor, on the other hand, acts on instructions made by people who do have that knowledge.
Click to expand...
Question is, do you need a drug? Who will tell you? And will your GP tell you about side effects?
 
Totto said:
Question is, do you need a drug? Who will tell you? And will your GP tell you about side effects?
Click to expand...
He certainly won't tell you about the side effects of taking a cocktail of prescribed drugs together, because he won't know. That's up to you to research or suffer the consequences.
 
I have nothing but the greatest respect for my GP and all the various "ologists" I have been in contact with over the last 16 months.

The "ologists" are experts in their own field and know far more about drug treatment and side effects than any lay person could ever know, but that isn't to say I didn't do my own thorough research to ensure I knew as much as I could in order to retain some sort of control.

GP's are different. They are a Jack of All Trades Master of None. They have to be. It is the nature of their job. If they can't determine a diagnosis they refer you for tests and then hand you over to an "ologist" if necessary. Or at least mine does.

I would never refuse a drug recommended by a doctor without first discussing it in depth with the doctor and listening to what they have to say as regards its benefits balanced against the side effects.
 
I do to a point but also research what they say as in the endo and my DSN say,As to my GP he just acts as my drug supplier and things like doing blood and urine tests for general screening
 
Back
Top