Here's mine: hurt finger, urgent care doctor wrote note to get physical therapy, went to sessions including heat treatment and exercises; also did home exercises
Had to see regular doctor (old, male) to get examined and get okay for physical therapy but he told me, "You don't need physical therapy. All you need to do is wash dishes in warm water." Unfortunately I was too dumbfounded to have a comeback.
Luckily the prescription from the first doctor had not run out so I just used that up. The therapist told me that if I didn't come in for therapy, my finger would have stayed stiff (finger wouldn't bend). And yes, it was my middle finger! That happened to the therapist's husband who lost some mobility.
New doc- old one retired. Needed an up of medication. She looked at the labs and blithely said, "You're fine." This was AFTER I had gone through the whole saga of how I had gotten on the meds in the first place with my old doc, as well as my worsening symptoms.
She kept insisting I was fine. I wanted to scream, "Well, what do you think I came for? Just to hear you dismiss me?"
She made me do a virtual consult with a specialist. There were actually two of them on the conference call. They were quite quick to make the change after going through my lab history and symptoms.
Up until about 3 weeks ago, I hadn’t seen any Doctor aside from Urgent Care in 4 1/2 years. When my soon to be 5 year old was an infant, I had a cough. Tried relentlessly to get an appointment with the doctor. I just wanted to make sure I couldn’t give it to him. Either no answer or had to leave a message for doctor. No phone call back, flash forward 4 years. Having problems with my cycle, most likely due to fibroids. Insurance says need a referral to see OB (because it isn’t a regular pap😳, try two weeks for doctor, finally after a message and ? Calls where no one answered, I get lucky. Get an appointment. Explain to Doctor I need complete physical and why I need to see an OB. He says I should have gone to the Emergency Room (would not have gone under normal circumstances, much less now). Then asks if my parents had issues with fibroids (wasn’t aware males got fibroids). Orders blood, urine and stool. Results took a week to get a fit has been a week. No word from doctor. Urine came back with issues and I am anemic.
When I was 18 and getting 4-6 migraines every month during my period, the old male doctor dismissed me saying, "these are all in your head (he wasn't making a pun) and you're just trying to get out of school. Don't be silly!" Of course I believed him because he was the doctor. When I went to a woman doctor a few years later, still suffering blinding headaches every month, she gritted her teeth and said (my words, her meaning) he was a fool and started me on appropriate pain meds.
I have Kaiser, and it's very difficult to get any information on someone new. I have a recommendation from a friend, but that doc's not taking new patients.
It's one of those things that I find myself putting off because my health isn't that bad.
These stories (and yesterday's original) are frustrating to read!
Here's mine:
My husband stuck with a doctor for years after I left the guy for being rude. Then DH developed an illness. Respiratory symptoms, very tired. He went to the doctor who said drink fluids, get rest, it'll pass. He wasn't getting any better so he called the doctor days later, same result but with a little attitude. He was feeling worse so he called again around 8 am one day (close to two weeks have passed by this point). The office said the doctor would call him back. By the time the doctor called back it was 8:30 that night and my husband was the priority patient in the ER. It turned out he had a very serious lung infection and he was placed in the ICU. The fact that the doctor waited 12 hours to call back finally convinced DH to change doctors.
It really makes you feel terrible -
Had awful female issues. Had a D and C, issues continued. Doc 1 said there couldn't possibly be another problem after the D and C. Went to Doc 2. Did another D and C and found problems. Problems got better for a short amount of time, but then had significant pain. Went to Doc 3 with severe nausesa, abdominal pain, and hip pain. Doc 3 told me maybe it was the way I was sitting. Wound up in the hospital the next week. Met Doc 4 who very quickly diagnosed endometriosis. Did surgery. Surgery didn't work, but for years she convinced me another surgery and awful drugs would help. Finally saw Doc 5 who did another surgery which finally brought significant relief.
Throughout all this I learned a few things: If the issue is significant, find the best specialist you can. Don't waste time with doctors who aren't experts. If they aren't listening or you don't like how you are being treated, leave right away.
I have a horrible problem with canker sores. I get them so bad it is hard to eat or talk.
I had a dentist tell me not to worry about it since nobody has ever died from a canker sore.
Yes, they are canker sores not herpes. Yes, I've eliminated foods and tried different tothpastes, etc. I just seem to go through phases where the problem is just out of control.
Have you tried taking Lysine for your canker sores? I used to get them a lot and also cold sores. I started taking 1000mg Lysine every day and now I seldom get them. Lysine is an amino acid and is good for lip and mouth health.
If I feel one coming on I double or triple the amount I take.
Yikes, lots of stories of bad experiences. Thanks for sharing, everyone.
I never went back to that doctor. One thing really frustrating with my health insurance is I'm not able to change doctors right away. It happened a few years ago so I haven't thought about it much.
I had a bad experience with a male ob/gyn when I was a teenager. He was very patronizing, and I was already terrified. I've usually gone to female doctors since then. My current PCP is so wonderful! She always listens and is so bubbly. My whole family goes to her. I just love her!
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02-04-2021, 07:53 PM
That happened to the therapist's husband who lost some mobility. 
, try two weeks for doctor, finally after a message and ? Calls where no one answered, I get lucky. Get an appointment. Explain to Doctor I need complete physical and why I need to see an OB. He says I should have gone to the Emergency Room (would not have gone under normal circumstances, much less now). Then asks if my parents had issues with fibroids (wasn’t aware males got fibroids). Orders blood, urine and stool. Results took a week to get a fit has been a week. No word from doctor. Urine came back with issues and I am anemic. 
Wound up in the hospital the next week. Met Doc 4 who very quickly diagnosed endometriosis. Did surgery. Surgery didn't work, but for years she convinced me another surgery and awful drugs would help. Finally saw Doc 5 who did another surgery which finally brought significant relief. 
