# Stupidest advice ever given to you by a Doctor **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 9, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588 "2011-12-09T04:42:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/61 "2011-12-10T00:47:06Z")
Misdiagnosis. I was _seriously_ sick, coughing up _huge_ amounts of phlegm --he said, & kept saying “sinus infection”. I had lost 30 lbs over the previous 6 months. New doc said: a fungal infection of the lungs. Antibiotics were useless–I needed anti-fungal tablets. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/62 "2011-12-10T01:00:30Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > “Take some Benadryl for those hives” sounds like okay advice, right? > > Me “Oh, perfect, I just picked up some generic Nytol (sleep aid) I’ll take that” > Him “Yeah, um, I’d rather you took Benadryl” [huh?] > Me “It’s the same thing” [thinking he just didn’t know what the ingredients were] > Him “I’d still rather you just took Benadryl” > Me “They’re both 25mg of Diphenhydramine, I’ll just take one pill instead of two, it’s the same as Benadryl” > Him “I’d rather you just picked up some Bendadryl” > > I gave up after a few back and forths since I wasn’t getting anywhere. If he had given me some reason for saying that so I’d understand where he was coming from I’d understand. My guess is that it’s easier to say Benadryl then to assume I was taking the right thing, but that’s why I specifically said “Diphenhydramine Hcl” hoping he would say “Oh, as long as you know it’s the same thing, then it’s okay” but he didn’t. > Another time, for some back pain he told me to take 4 motrins 3 times per day. Okay. So I asked him for a script for 360 (30 days) of them. When he asked why, I told him that buying them over the counter would be very expensive but if he wrote me a script for for either 360 pills (or 180 400mg pills etc) my copay would be $5.00 it would save me a lot of money…he refused. This wasn’t bad advice but these two things together where amongst the reasons I left him. > > Come to think of it, I’m not sure the first part was bad advice either, but I still classify it as something stupid he said. Especially since I clarified that I clearly had a generic version of the same drug and he didn’t defend his reasoning for wanting me to take the name brand…had he, I may have been persuaded. I’m not against listening to other peoples opinions, but if you’re not going to give them to me, I’m just going to stick with mine…so there. Maybe he owned stock in © McNEIL. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/63 "2011-12-10T01:17:58Z")
Woke up having horrible stomach pains, and was out of town, flying back that afternoon. I went to the ER and was told it was Appendicitis. I asked them if I should get it removed right away and miss my one hour flight, (SJC to PDX), and they said to go ahead and fly back home and go to a hospital there, it’s not that bad yet, plus the high altitude while flying would alleviate the pain. They almost turned the plane around I was in so much agony. By the time I got off the plane (rushed off ahead of everyone else) and to the hospital it had burst. The ER doctor was incredulous when I told him about my earlier ER visit and subsequent recommendation for air travel. Me: “They told me it wasn’t bad enough to miss my flight and that the altitude would make it feel better.” Dr: ::staring silently, blinking at me:: “That’s…in no way, shape, or form an accurate statement.” ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/64 "2011-12-10T01:23:22Z")
When I was 19 I noticed something weird about my right eye. You know that “spot” you sometimes get when a flash goes off in your eyes? I had that all the time in the center of my right eye - couldn’t see anything at all straight ahead. So I went to a eye doctor, who told me I had looked at the sun long enough to blind myself without being aware of it or feeling any pain. Riiiiiiight. I told him he was insane and that I wasn’t paying for the visit. I went to another doctor, who examined me. He then called in his partner, who did another exam. They called in another doctor in the building. (Hey, guys, look at this! Have you ever seen anything like it?) First doctor came in and told me they didn’t have the faintest idea what the problem was and that they were sending me to Emory. I was diagnosed with ocular histoplasmosis. This disease can be progressive and at that time was not treatable unless caught very very quickly. If I had listened to the first doctor and my disease had progressed, I could have lost my sight totally instead of in only one eye. Granted, OH was not commonly seen in the South, but damnit, man, admit it when you don’t know! ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/65 "2011-12-10T01:32:57Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Woke up having horrible stomach pains, and was out of town, flying back that afternoon. I went to the ER and was told it was Appendicitis. I asked them if I should get it removed right away and miss my one hour flight, (SJC to PDX), and they said to go ahead and fly back home and go to a hospital there, it’s not that bad yet, plus the high altitude while flying would alleviate the pain. > > They almost turned the plane around I was in so much agony. By the time I got off the plane (rushed off ahead of everyone else) and to the hospital it had burst. The ER doctor was incredulous when I told him about my earlier ER visit and subsequent recommendation for air travel. > > Me: “They told me it wasn’t bad enough to miss my flight and that the altitude would make it feel better.” > Dr: ::staring silently, blinking at me:: “That’s…in no way, shape, or form an accurate statement.” This is the winner. Holy crap! This wasn’t a case of misdiagnosis (which happens all the time, even to good doctors). They KNEW what your problem was, understood it was a potentially near-term deadly condition, and told you to take action which would have prevented you from obtaining immediate medical help. That’s so incredibly bad, it sounds almost deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/66 "2011-12-10T01:49:14Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Woke up having horrible stomach pains, and was out of town, flying back that afternoon. I went to the ER and was told it was Appendicitis. I went through something similar. One morning I woke up in horrid stomach pain, suffered through it for about 6 hours, and went to the ER. After sitting there for 3 hours in a private room, I was diagnosed with severe dehydration, given 3 IV bags of fluids, and released. It helped for a short while. That night the pain worsened, and the next morning I went back to the ER. They said it was a simple case of food poisoning, told me to keep to fluids only, and I"d be fine in a day or two. If I wanted I could stay the night, or I could go home, so I chose to go home. Later that night, the pain was so bad I vomited, then passed out. When I came to I asked my mom to take me to a different hospital. We got to that one, explained what was going on, and they said it’d be at least 3 hours before I would be seen. By this point the pain had gotten so bad that it had spread through my chest, I was beyond pale, vomiting everything, and barely hanging onto consciousness. We left, and went back to the original hospital. This time a surgeon came in. He took one look at me, and ordered me taken to the OR immediately. Turned out my appendix had ruptured the first day. The toxins spent 2 days flowing through my body and nearly killing me. ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/67 "2011-12-10T02:46:47Z")
I haven’t personally gotten bad advice, but my aunt was in a car crash that broke her jaw in two places and knocked her silly for a while. The doctors decided to put her on a sedative to keep her from wandering the halls in just a hospital gown (wide open in the back!), happily screaming for her doctor through her wired jaw. When she didn’t come out of it within a few days the doctors told my grandmother that it was permanent brain damage. One of them said “put her in a home and forget you ever had a daughter.” Instead she took my aunt home and started weaning her off the sedative. Inside a week, she was completely back to normal. Being a nurse, my aunt later looked up the drug she’d been given. Turns out there was some evidence that the drug could prolong the kind of damage she’d sustained. If my grandmother had listened to the doctors, she very well could have spent years in an institution, on that sedative. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/68 "2011-12-10T03:04:29Z")
> [@Bilbo1967](#): > > Not really bad advice as such, but last year I visited my doctor and described my symptoms to him. His reply was, “That’s weird, I wonder what it is”. Not really what I wanted to hear! It is far better for an MD to admit that they don’t know, then for them to ignore it or prscribe something risky/expensive on a hunch. I assume he pointed you towards a specialist. As for me, I was prescribed Strattera to treat my ADHD. When I went back two weeks later, I told him the pills made me near-suicidal and a little loopy. He said; Don’t worry, just stick with it for a few more months :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/69 "2011-12-10T03:29:35Z")
> [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](#): > > Thank you. I understand that I was, in fact, depressed, but being prescribed antidepressents to “treat” what seems like the most natural reaction in the world to my circumstances always rubbed me the wrong way. Why try medicate away ordinary human emotion? Well clinical depression is much more than just your feelings. Depression can impact your life in a way that isn’t acceptable to indulge in. A person might be unable to sleep, or sleep all day, or lose weight because they have no appetite, or feel so hopeless they literally can’t force themselves to do their schoolwork or other essential activities. So the antidepressant can help lift a person up enough to function, because unfortunately people have to keep functioning. They’re never going to medicate away normal sadness. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/70 "2011-12-10T03:39:24Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I’m about to get allergy shots starting next year. Supposedly they will make my allergies significantly easier to deal with and possibly even “fix them” or pretty close to it. It will take a while, though. I wish they were perfect (I’d love a cat) but they aren’t. I got allergy shots for years. But I’m still strongly allergic to cats and can’t spend more than 30 minutes or so in a cat household before I’m miserable. If they work for you, great! But they didn’t for me. > [@Anaamike](#): > > Allergies are only your body’s own insane histamine reaction to innocuous things, so i’m sure technology will eventually find a way to make your histamine calm down except for a real threat. LOL, I’m sure technology will get there eventually, but parasites already have it beaten: [Hookworms](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/health/01iht-01prof.14122951.html?pagewanted=all) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/71 "2011-12-10T03:55:48Z")
Not me, but my sister went to the ER complaining of major dizziness, vomiting, weight loss and fatigue. The doctor took one glance at her and handed her a prescription for pills. He laughed and said, “It’s no big deal. You just have a virus. Don’t worry. It’s not like you have a brain tumor or anything.” She had a brain tumor. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/72 "2011-12-10T04:38:12Z")
Let me just jump in here for a second on the allergy thing. Allergy shots are not a cure. They do work but the goal is to reduce symptoms. According to [this meta-analysis](http://www.respiratoryreviews.com/apr00/rr_apr00_immunotherapy.html) the mean result is 45% reduction in symptoms and that is after about 12-18 months of therapy. Primary treatment is still to avoid allergens. However, you need to be reasonable. Telling my patient who is a veterinarian to avoid cats-not helpful. Telling my cat-loving patient with two elderly kitties that I would not recommend adding a new kitten-reasonable (she got one anyway :(). As for the appendicitis/flying-I can’t think of anything worse to tell you. The drop in pressure from altitude causes increased pressure from abdominal gas, which is why many people have stomach problems with flying. This increased pressure can increase the risk of rupture. As for shingles-it can be difficult to diagnose early. I recently saw a patient with sciatic pain and no rash and told her she had sciatica. She didn’t get a rash for several days. (Granted, sciatica is an inflammation of the sciatic nerve and this can be caused by shingles). Anyway, when she came back to me I could diagnose her from across the room. Another recent patient complained of severe elbow pain. I wrote in my note that it sounded like shingles but she had no rash. I told her to call immediately for a rash and sure enough she was back in two days with a classic rash. I can’t criticize a doctor for misdiagnosing early shingles. As a patient-after falling and feeling my ankle crack and being unable to put any weight on it-I went to the college infirmary and told them I thought I had broken my ankle. The doctor said “Even if it’s a hairline fracture they won’t do anything until the swelling goes down. Come back in 4 days when the orthopedist is here to get an X-ray”. The orthopedist took about 2 seconds to tell me I had a bad break with ligament damage and needed immediate surgery. It took a plate and 7 screws to put it back together and I still have swelling and arthritis in the ankle as a result of the additional damage I did in those 4 days. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/73 "2011-12-10T05:18:06Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > They’re never going to medicate away normal sadness. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/74 "2011-12-10T05:40:05Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Cite? Oh for pete’s sake. I’m cutting out a rant / explanation here, because GRRR! Can we please get back to doctors being dips and save the med-bashing for another thread? (I have no stories. I don’t go to the doctor very often.) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Violaceous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Miss\_Violaceous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Violaceous)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/75 "2011-12-10T06:15:42Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Looks like it was bad medical advice, because the problem wasn’t even allergies! > > For previous posters, including the person who said that doctors can “fix” allergies; it doesn’t work like that. Epi-pens are common prescriptions precisely because doctors can’t fix allergies! If the doctor had been right about his diagnosis, your two options would indeed have been “get rid of the cat” or “deal with it.” Good thing he was wrong. I once had a doctor on the first visit ask me out of the blue if I had any allergies (yes, I have occasional reactions when the pollen is high, if I’m near something really moldy I go off like an alarm, and I have extremely mild cat allergies that only go off if the cat rubs himself on my face, and my one cat isn’t allowed in my bedroom so not really an issue,) I wasn’t there for allergies but she really wanted to talk allergies to the exclusion of stuff I had real questions about. She insisted on writing a scrip for something, despite my insistence that my occasional OTC use was fine (I didn’t fill the scrip after googling the side effects she never told me about… especially since I was good with the OTC meds!) And of course she nagged me half to death about getting rid of my cat, bringing it up three or four times in the one visit and treating me like an idiot for politely refusing. I think I got the “you’ll have to suffer” line, too… what sufferng! I can’t remember the last time I reacted to my own cat as opposed to a stranger-cat. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/76 "2011-12-10T13:39:02Z")
> [@Miss\_Violaceous](#): > > And of course she nagged me half to death about getting rid of my cat, bringing it up three or four times in the one visit and treating me like an idiot for politely refusing. I think I got the “you’ll have to suffer” line, too… what sufferng! I can’t remember the last time I reacted to my own cat as opposed to a stranger-cat. Not to mention being told to dispose of every scrap of fabric in the house, carpets, drapes, no leaving towels hanging in the bathroom or kitchen, changing from hand towels to paper towels. Hard core air filter units in all the rooms, venetian blinds, tyvek covers on all the bed mattresses and pillows, and a duvet. Washing the linens every day … :rolleyes: Only allergy problem I seriously have is walking into the Jewet City Flea Market. After 5 minutes I am wheezing and it feels like I have bugs crawling around under my skin, so I just don’t go. Well, and the forsythia and pine tree by the house try to kill me in spring pollen season ☹ so we cut the pine down last summer and this spring the forsythia goes. \ ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/77 "2011-12-10T18:49:46Z")
I messed up my ACL one year. When the doctor told me you’re **probably** going to need an operation, we can do it this afternoon. I got hung up on the word probably. I kind of wanted to hear **we have** to gas you and slice you open because it’s not going to heal. I put him to it this way and asked him if it was him what would he do. He didn’t want to answer that question. I said I’ll take my chances and wait. It healed on it’s own. Later on I heard from people who had the same operations some of them have problems during certain seasons with their knees after it. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/78 "2011-12-10T20:07:00Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > I’m a bit confused by this. Pediatricians are doctors who take care of infants, children, and adolescents, sometimes up to age 21. Why would you switch to “a grown-up doctor” before age 18? The only other kind of doctor who would see you would be a family practitioner, and the only reason they’d see you is that they treat pediatric patients. > > Also, doctors are supposed to ask parents to leave for part of the time once patients are 12 or so, but it may be very hard to do so if the parent insists on staying. Why are you confused?\> I have never been in a pediatricians office with my kids. We go to a “family practice” all the DO’s and PAs take care of patients aged 2 days to 102 years old. And I do insist on staying in the room with my 12 yo when the brusque rude and demeaning Dr. C is in there with us. I always ask for the appointment with the nurse practioner but he horns his way in everytime. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/79 "2011-12-10T21:19:37Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Cite? Ignoring the fact this is a fundamentally idiotic thing to say, it wouldn’t be cost-effective from the insurance company POV, and insurance companies are a big player in healthcare, especially managing chronic conditions, which clinical depression is. (Replace ‘insurance companies’ with ‘governmental health system’ in the above if your country swings that way.) ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588/80 "2011-12-10T21:38:23Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Diosa’s story reminds me of something! When I was fifteen I got malaria from a trip to India, and none of the doctors in the States knew what it was! They thought hepatitis, or mono, cholera, or any number of sexually transmitted diseases, and gave my mom all sorts of advice. I didn’t include it because I don’t remember too much of those two weeks; I was sick as a dog and barely remember even my conscious times. Then, we called an Indian doctor who upon hearing the symptoms was like “Yup, that’s malaria; I’ll get her some quinine”. > > In the American doctors’ defense, none of them had ever seen the malaria spirochete. (I think it’s a spirochete). Not even in the lab, just in pictures. To be accurate, malaria is a _Plasmodium_. Spirochaetes are stuff like syphilis, yaws and so on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-advice-ever-given-to-you-by-a-doctor/605588.md?page=5)