Should we do as we are told?

[sunday1980]

Despite being of the "scientific field" myself, I used to put all my faith in the medical professionals and adhere to their every word. Now after years of bum advice, missed diagnosis, ignoring of test results that were abnormal and ignoring of hospital recommendation s by my gps, not one but several. I tend to take what they say with a pinch of salt and will research things before and after I speak to them. I take my health as fully my responsibility now, it's time consuming and I'm lucky I know exactly where to look for accurate info and can understand it. So no, I would never accept anything I m told without checking the scientific facts first. I've suffered way too much as a result of that in the past.
Please bear in mind that also goes for "alternative" treatments which I think have an increasing place in treatment in our society. An example is acupuncture which for years wasn't taken Seriously by the medical professionals but is now prescribed on the nhs
4sessions of hypnotism did me more good and increased my quality of life for my anxiety disorder than 14 years of pills the doctor prescribed and insisted I kept taking in ever increasing doses despite no effect and many side effects.
If I was suggested something by a member on here I would take it upon myself to investigate that advice and discuss it with my gp first.

Oh and if you haven't already have a read of a book called "confessions of a gp" it is a real eye opener, very funny and reminder that they are after all still human and may well not always be feeling well themselves! Lol

 

[noblehead]

If your Dr told you to stay away from fat and eat carbs, would you follow the advice?

A Dr wouldn't say to stay away from fat (unless there was a medical reason for doing so).

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

I would want to see a full lipid breakdown of my cholesterol and then discuss the results with the Dr, if the results were to be high then I'd certainly take a statin.

If your Dr prescibed any med, would you take it just because he/she said so?

In most cases Yes but would go back again if the drug resulted in side-effects, I don't share the belief that all Dr's are out to kill us

 

[desidiabulum]

I like and respect my GP but she is not and could not be infallible, and has made mistakes with my medication.
I like to think of it more in terms of us all having a responsibility as thinking patients to do some of the work ourselves as well -- when it comes to checking the information page that comes with medication, checking online guides to drug interactions, enquiring about and self-monitoring for side-effects, and checking reputable online guides (like the mayo clinic) for symptoms (that is how I knew to ask for the blood tests that proved I was diabetic). It would be nice to pitch things more in terms of working with GPs, rather than framing the debate as whether one has blind trust in them or no trust at all. But if a GP only wants to see the relationship in terms of blind faith then it is entirely appropriate to change to another one (as I did earlier).

 

[Andy12345]

No

 

[Pat McCann]

The doctors who opposed Bevan are all long dead. A completely different generation of doctors have grown up with the NHS being a given. There are a relatively tiny number of private doctors left in the UK who have the economic incentives that existed before the NHS, and even these have to compete with an NHS that is free at the point of use. I think this argument is misplaced.

 

[Pat McCann]

Spiker,
Of course the doctors have NOT changed. They all come from the same schools, families, postcodes and social class. The same surnames keep cropping up in my neck of the woods. Often son just takes over the father's practice and the building only changes in response to the amount of grant money available from the local councils. I will grant you one thing - they have all changed in one respect - they have all become more blatant in their pursuit of money despite the fact that in the west of Belfast where I live they are the best paid professionals apart from paramilitary racketeers and dodgy company directors. The greed was always there, nowadays it is just more overt.
The higher in the medical professions they go, the greedier they become and the more protective of the profession (not the patients) they become. Why do you think there are so many foreigners (some of whom cannot even converse in the prevailing language of their communities) in the medical profession? Why are the universities turning out so few doctors each year?

 

[sunday1980]

I don't agree all doctors are money grabbing, it's not a profession any one enters into lightly, I do believe most doctors just become somewhat "disillusioned" along the years with red tape and frustrations with guidelines etc.

Gps now receive extra payment s depending on hitting certain goals within the practice. This can be things like telling an obese patient to lose weight. They tick the box on the screen and if they make the numbers receive a share of the money given to the practice.

Now that gp has only 10 mins or less per patient. The patient most likely knows they are over weight! But time is taken up from discussing a probably completely unrelated problem by "box ticking " enforced by the medical pen pushers sitting in an office somewhere.

Also years ago doctor A would suspect patient Y had a certain illness that was relatively rare, however doctor A knows that doctor B at the local hospital has a particular interest and has done some research into this illness. Common sense meant doctor A could refer directly to doctor B. Not any more. The referral is handled by unqualified pen pushing staff who will assign patient Y a doctor within the relative department, and will probably go round in circles before, if he's lucky, will happen upon someone who knows about this illness. Frustration ensues for doctor and patient.

The government has also made some changes in the way junior doctors are given posts, causing many frustration at having to move their families miles away for a job. No wonder countries like Australia are claiming so many of our graduates!

I believe 99% of doctors do care, but restrictions and daft guidelines put upon them by the government erode them of precious time and enthusiasm.

 

[HeatherMay_]

In my opinion, No. Most of the advice these doctors give is pure rubbish. Not to mention the fact that there not even diabetic themselves so really, there not taking in the perspective we are. I've been a Type 1 diabetic for 12 years now and have up listening to doctors about 4 years ago as I realised they had no idea what they were talking about. My doctors told me that I should be talking MORE insulin even though I was having waaaay to many lows. I also got told I shouldn't visit other countries like USA or Canada because of the big time zones as I wouldn't be able to control my sugars. I've been to both of those countries since and needless to say that my bloods were absolutely fine. I had no problems what so ever.
However if your new to Diabetes maybe you should listen to your Doc. I only know that ins and outs as I've had it for so long. If you feel you should listen then listen, if you have any doubts, do some research or see other doctors.

 

[Peachypuff72]

I ignore the weighing my food as every time I weight my food I go low at 2. That's after I've made sure I've correctly counted and weighed 3 times and asking my partner to check it. I try to aim to eat 30-40g of carbs at breakfast and 60-70g of carbs at tea time and snack on less than 15g of carbs between each meal and drinking water plenty of it. When I don't weigh my food I'm perfect. I use 14 units of lantus at 7:30am every morning and 6-8units of nova rapid at meals or more if I'm out eating or having a very carby meal X

 

[jack412]

I ignore the weighing my food as every time I weight my food I go low at 2. That's after I've made sure I've correctly counted and weighed 3 times and asking my partner to check it. I try to aim to eat 30-40g of carbs at breakfast and 60-70g of carbs at tea time and snack on less than 15g of carbs between each meal and drinking water plenty of it. When I don't weigh my food I'm perfect. I use 14 units of lantus at 7:30am every morning and 6-8units of nova rapid at meals or more if I'm out eating or having a very carby meal X

Just a Hi and welcome here. I'm T2, so I don't have to have a I:C ratio but I'm having the trouble carb counting too, only I'm the other way. I'm finding it hard to judge how many carbs are in the meal, if I don't weight or measure it, I go over.

 

[hose1975]

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.

Except that my GP, when prescribing a new medication, has a whizzy little drug interactions checker that gets automatically applied just to be sure that the medtail in question is not contraindicated. Pretty cool, eh?

 

[runner2009]

Just a Hi and welcome here. I'm T2, so I don't have to have a I:C ratio but I'm having the trouble carb counting too, only I'm the other way. I'm finding it hard to judge how many carbs are in the meal, if I don't weight or measure it, I go over.

I too have the same problem with having to weigh food to get the right numbers. Dr. Bernstein in his book also said it was a problem miss judging he carb numbers and then the amount of insulin - not counting the variables beyond our control like stress, inflammation. That was one of the reason he pushes the 'law of small numbers' your mistakes on carb counting and insulin amounts are going to be small and then t there will be less swings in BG high or low.

For me the only food I an get away with is mixed vegetable leafy green salads 250g to 600g at one meal make little difference on my BG - put some edamame hummus with srarcha hot sauce and it is surprisingly tasty.


Sent from Runner2009 Burt

 

[zand]

Except that my GP, when prescribing a new medication, has a whizzy little drug interactions checker that gets automatically applied just to be sure that the medtail in question is not contraindicated. Pretty cool, eh?

Yes, do they all have them now? Till now I have been relying on an American site which sends you emails warning of any new contraindications. That's awesome!

 

[runner2009]

Yes, do they all have them now? Till now I have been relying on an American site which sends you emails warning of any new contraindications. That's awesome!

What site is that?


Sent from Runner2009 Burt

 

[zand]

What site is that?


Sent from Runner2009 Burt

Can't actually remember, 'cos I've deleted all their emails because I am taking a lot less drugs now! If I remember or get another email I will let you know. Sorry, brain too full of other stuff to access that memory right now.

 

[AndyS]

I tend to listen to what the Drs have to say and if I am not convinced I tell them as much.
It's not like they can force us to take any of the medication and if you Dr is not prepared for you to participate as an equal in your on going care then I say it is time to find a new Dr.

The trouble is that all the books and guidelines are just that. We are all different and I think the profession is slowly waking up to the concept of personalised health care.

 

[zand]

What site is that? Sent from Runner2009 Burt

This isn't the one I was thinking of when I posted on Weds (!) but I just got an email alert from them about a drug I used to take .
www.mediguard.org

 

[runner2009]

This isn't the one I was thinking of when I posted on Weds (!) but I just got an email alert from them about a drug I used to take .
www.mediguard.org

Thx zand

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Tigerkitty1950]

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?

No No and No, doctors are full of it, they are paid to push these drugs, how many poor people are bullied into taking statins only to find
They're suffering from muscle damage, and difficulty walking.
I took them for a very short while and threw the rest away, it was killing me, worried my leg was going to collapse under me and needed a walking stick I am now in good health, no muscle problems, taking certain foods to top up potassium levels, to counteract occasional metformin cramps

 

[mpe]

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.

Since the doctor dosn't have the "statistical knowlage" to verify what he/she is being told you'd effectivly be trusting some unkown third party.
This source is likely to be the drug companies. Even where this isn't "blatant propaganda" it's hardly going to be impartial.