I would guess that about 9 out of 10 times I’ve seen a doctor (nearly always for a cold or flu,) I’ve never been treated. The other 10% (minor cuts, rashes, ear pain, etc.) I get like 3 prescriptions.
Is it just me?
I’ve never gone to the doctor for a cold or a flu. What can they do for you? They pretty much just have to pass on their own.
A general practitioner isn’t for treating you unless it’s something super easy. Even then he might just tell you to grow up if you’re always coming in for cuts and rashes. The general practitioner is supposed to help you identify Something Bad and can point you in the direction of a specialist. The specialist, interestingly enough, specializes in his specific field and will be the one to finally actually treat you.
Don’t go to the doctor for colds and flus. You’ll just make the doctor sick.
Colds and flus are caused by a virus and aren’t treatable. Secondary bacterial infections are treatable with antibiotics but if you don’t have any bacterial infection there’s nothing the doctor can do other than say “rest up and it’ll be gone in seven days.”
Unless you are off work for more than 3 days and need a medical certificate. Then you say to the doctor something like: I have had a cold for 3 days and need another 2 to recover. Can I have a medical certificate to cover me for time off work.
American doctors have by and large become tools of the pharmaceutical industry. It’s nearly impossible to get one to listen to you for more than 2 or 3 seconds before shoving a couple Rxes down your shirt, flipping you the bird, and walking away.
You need to find a new doctor if yours is giving you that type of treatment. I have “fired” bunches of the ones I have had but the ones my family has now are like raw gold in value and not only listen but also care and go the extra mile to make sure everything works out OK. That has been super important a few times.
You must have really great health insurance if you can afford to go to the doctor for a cold or flu. Since I don’t have insurance, I usually wait till I have about three things wrong with me, before going to the doctor.
Loved it. And in GQ.
What you (should) get when you go to the doctor depends on why you went.
Some people go on a regular basis just to try and stay healthy. Most of the time those people get (only) good advice (diet, exercise, lifestyle) or other sorts of preventive care (screening exams, e.g.).
Many diseases are chronic in nature (diabetes, hypertension…) and those diseases do better with pharmacologic intervention in some people.
Some people only go to the doctor when they feel sick or are injured. Most of the things that make you feel sick are self-limited and will get better on their own, whether caused by viruses or bacteria or some other physical cause, such as back pain, say.
The drive to write unnecessary prescriptions is not so much the effect of being a tool of the pharmaceutical industry as it is expediency. Patients tend to be dissatisfied when “I was sick and the doctor did nothing” even though the problem they had was self-limited and nothing should have been done. So a prescription satisfies the patient that their particular problem was, in fact, significant, and neither their time nor their money was wasted.
The truth is, we (the public) love medicine. We love being treated and fawned over and made to feel as if our particular issue was significant. The prescription has become a sort of proxy that confers signficance on an illness. Problems that rise to the level of “needing” prescriptions are more satisfying to many people than those which did not need one, and it is often more expedient to write a prescription than to explain why one was not needed.
Jimmy goes to the doctor with a cough. “It’s the flu. You’ll get better.” Minimal satisfaction. “4 hours of my day, $40 and he didn’t do a blessed thing.”
Johnnie goes to her with a cough again. “It’s the swine flu. Here, get this prescription for oseltamivir filled right away.”
Next week at the Bridge Club. Johnnie: “I had a sort of a close call with H1N1 but we got to it in time. Thank God. Glad your cold is better, Jimmy.” Zinger.
I note with some wry amusement that it seems an awful lot of pharmaceutical marketing is directed at consumers these days. But go ask your doctor: Is Boniva right for me?
There’s no smiley for a bird or I’d put it right here. Gotta run.
Since the OP is looking more for shared experiences, there is no General Question here. Moved to IMHO.
samclem Moderator, General Questions
I’ve never had this experience with civilian doctors. Air Force doctors, yes, but not doctors who were not in the military.
Not the last time, but the time before that, the doctor spent 45 minutes listening to my various problems, and suggesting solutions. He didn’t suggest a single prescription, but rather lifestyle changes. He DID tell me to continue taking my maintenance meds.
I think you need to change doctors, or perhaps you need to learn to become a better patient.
My dad had a whole host of chronic issues resolved when he retired from the military and started seeing a civilian doctor.
It is a little frustrating when you go to the doctor for an issue and they don’t “treat” you, but since you are still alive to post here, Superhal, it would seem that you were able to save money on a bunch of prescriptions that you ultimately didn’t need.
I’m in good health considering my age and weight, and about the only time I go to the doctor is for a checkup. And my doctor always takes the time to talk with me about any health-related concerns I have and suggest things I might do about them, like how I should exercise more, or whether I should consider seeing someone about my occasional bouts of depression. The only time I’ve gotten a prescription is when I needed one for some temporary condition.
I’ve been to [guessing] ~5 different doctors in the last 6 or 7 years. It’s the same with all of them. I’ve had 2 good doctors in my life: one retired and one moved out of state.
What do you suggest I could do differently when each visit looks like the “zip it” scene from Austin Powers?
(That is a rhetorical question. Don’t answer it.)
Sometimes it’s a sinus infection.
Read your earlier post and look in the mirror if your experience is personally different from the average experience despite having seen multiple providers. Especially the part where you get flipped the bird.
I fully recognize many doctors are super jerks. However of those, fewer are in primary care…
Wtf are you even talking about?
I have no idea what the “average experience” is (and neither do you), but I’m increasingly hearing stories that line up perfectly with what I’ve been experiencing at the doctor over the last few years. I have a few friends and family members who have quit going to the doctor because of it, and won’t go unless they’re basically on death’s door. Awhile back I was in a college class of ~30 and the discussion came up, and everyone agreed that they’ve been having the same problem, including the professor. Actually, the lecture was about how it didn’t used to be like that, and it’s still not like that in some other countries. There’ve been threads about it here as well, where lots of people agreed. Hell - what am I talking about - THIS thread is about it.
If anything in my experience is “personally different from the average” it’s that I’m not dumb enough to think they actually treated me or put any effort into a diagnosis when they slapped me with the latest flavor-of-the-week from GlaxoSmithKline.
I hope you didn’t think 5 doctors have literally flipped me the bird. Jesus.
Because IANA Doctor, I find it necessary to visit one sometimes to determine the difference. Do I have a virus or bacterial infection? Virus? Oh okay, going home now, thanks for seeing me. Bacterial infection? Great, which antibiotics will it be this time?
In general, I wait three days to see a doc and only go if it isn’t getting better, whatever it is.
I have a DO who has tested me for everything under the sun when I went in with “hurty hands” that have been hurting me for months. She finally said she thought it was carpal tunnel, but has not treated it, nor has she referred me to a specialist who will treat it. In fact, she won’t even write “carpal tunnel” down on my chart and I haven’t a clue why. My official diagnosis is “unexplained hand pain.” Why does my doc not want to confirm the dx and/or treat it?
I have had some good doctors and I have had some bad ones. I agree that they won’t treat you for the flu or a cold - there isn’t much to do.
I just found a new one and so far I think she is wonderful. Listens when I talk and is actively trying to find a solution to my problem.
IMO you can increase your experience by going in prepared. Write down all the things you are taking and write down all your symptoms, and how long you have been experiencing them. Knowledge is king in the medical profession, the more accurate the information the better they can help you. However, your body has a finite number of responses to problems, so your symptoms could mean one of many things.
If you have a bad doc, find another. One doctor that I liked recommended (when I moved away) that I go to a pharmacy and ask the pharmacist who the best doctor was in the area. He said that they deal with doctors every day and get a feel for who cares and who doesn’t.