I havent posted here in a while but I always know that I can come here with a question or a concern and I will get some good answers and advice.
Well, first of all I had my 3 month appt with my RD this morning and Im not sure if Im reading her right. All she did was ask me if I am sore and just checked my hands and checked my vital signs everything was fine. She then went through my chart and asked was still taking 10 mg of prednisone. I answered yes, and then she says well, just start going down to 7.5 and stay that way for 2 weeks then go to 5mgs. I told her that sometimes when I do that I really go in to a bad flare. She immediately said "well, just dont do it then. " " because I dont want you to be calling me." Well, what she meant by that was, and... I know it was my fault but I was out of pain medicine one time and I had to end up calling her cell# to call me in a prescription and she was at the mall with her kids.At the time she was kinda put out over it because I interrupted her day out with her kids. She asked me if I could wait until Monday and I told her "no" so she said she would call it in. I was surprised when she called in a prescription for 180 vicoden. I never had that much before. I believe she did that so I wouldnt bother her.
Back to the office visit----My Rd. finished up her evaluation which lasted a total of maybe 10 min. and asked If I needed any prescriptions today. I told her no I didnt. She then said again "because I dont want you to be calling me" she kind of made a joke out of it but I really felt that she meant it.
My question is: Isnt that part of being an on call doctor, is for emergencies? So, just because I let my prescription run out on accident should I have had to suffer without any for a whole weekend? Does this seem that my doctor really could care less? The reason I go to her is because she is right in my town. If I change I will have to go 30 miles away. I know that's sounds kinda whiney but would you change RD's or deal with it because she is close in my area?
Thanks
momof3
Well, I guess you need to weigh how your care has been up until this point, and if you feel she will be there for you if you need her. My gut reaction is that you can do better. She could be working with you to help you get off the prednisone, by adjusting other medications, but instead she just says, "well don't do it then"???
In regard to your phone call and her reaction, I can understand her being upset if you were someone who calls her frequently when the office is closed, but a one time call? Her reaction should have been more of concern for you, rather than being annoyed, in my humble opinion!
I agree with Gizzy.....How on earth did you get her cell phone number anyway? The one and only time I had to call for the on call physican to call in my meds on the weekend I went through the service at the office and they had him paged and he called me. I certainly wasn't ever given a cell number.....Shame on her for giving it out if she didn't want you using it. How were you to know she was at the mall?
What other meds are you on mom? Perdisone is a great medication for short term use. If predisone is the only med you're on; there's your problem right there. Your doctor should have you on a DMARD treatment and increase your dosage and allow you to get off the predisone. You think it's hard to cut it back now? Wait and see how hard it will be a year or two from now when it's nessesary for you to get off that stuff.
Long term use of predisone is not recommended and it seems that your doctor would rather you take it than bother her. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that.
Thank you all so much
To answer your question about how I got my Rd's cell phone number:
Well, when a patient calls her office on off hours or weekends she gets paged by the oncall nurses. When they paged her for me she called me and I wasnt at home at the time and when I returned I checked my messages and she had left one and then I checked my caller Id and pushed redial and that's how I reached her. I hated to do it but I had to. I was afraid she wouldnt call me back.
And yes it was my first time calling on her off hours. Yep I think I will start looking for another doctor. She doesnt seem to care that she has had me on prednisone for 3 years. Im aso on arava and enbrel
I was on methotrexate but I used to get so sick being on it that I ended up taking myself off of it. She got upset but she just wouldnt listen to me she just kept saying "you'll get used to it give it more time. I was on it over a year!!!!! My hair kept falling out I was getting sores in my mouth and sick on my stomach.
I am hoping one day that I will find an RD that cares. I try to tell my current Rd how I feel. I tell her that sometimes I feel so bad that I can hardly get up out of bed. She just looks at me. I think the only thing she cares about it getting paid. If she only knew how painful this disease really is. Know one knows until they lived it. I hurt so bad sometimes and I get really scared that I wonder if Im dying instead of really having RA and then I think about my 3 kids who are 21, 19, and 11 and I know that I have to keep hanging in there for them. Thank you all for your responses
momof3
Hmm...yep she sounds pretty incompetant, I think you should find someone else.Get a new doctor, don't go back. That is what I would do if a doctor treated me that way. She doesn't seem to understand that she works for you. She is your employee. You pay her to perform in a professional way. You don't even necessarily need to know that she has kids or has a life at all - that's not your problem.I agree....you kind of know right away if you are going to be able to accept a medication or not. That's not too good to just have you wait it out.
Start shopping sister. Certainly sounds like you've got a tough case of it.....but you could at least get a doctor that's more willing to work with you instead of brush you off with answers that aren't really helping you.
Hang in there.
Hmmm, I agree with the other posters....get rid of her and get a kind, understanding, sympathic doctor.
Good luck to you.
Susan By all means, get another RD. I will be getting a new one myself. This one of mine has been draining & giving me a shot of cortisone in my knee every month since March. I saw my Orthopedic Dr. & he said no way all those shots. I know it is hard to change, but we deserve a good & understanding RD. Good luck to you. Trisha I agree. Change doctors. My RA doctor says his goal is for RA not to prevent me from doing anything I want to do. Whatever that takes. If I am having what I think is an unrelated problem, he wants to help with that too. You doctor at least has to be on the same side as you in the battle. I called around today and found a new RD. Im hoping he will be more sympathetic. I really thought that my current RD was how all RA doctors were. I have an appt with him on Aug 23 and my next appt with my current Dr. is in Sept. When I go in Aug and if I really like the new RD what do I do? Would I call my current RD and have my records sent down to him? I know this will probably make my current RD mad but oh well I guess. I will let you know how my visit goes. Thank you momof3 That sounds like the perfect way to do things. Go meet the new doctor....and if you like him have all your records transfered to the new doctor. If it was me I'd just call and have my records sent over. You might have to go in and sign some paper work to have your records released, and you might have to pay a small fee to have your records copied but it will be worth it. Chances are you'll never even see the doctor. Once you're removed from her schedule she'll never even know you're gone. No real reason to see the doctor in person and have to be faced with "telling her". Chances are she won't even realize you're gone. Don't give it another though. She doesn't sound like she deserves a formal send off. I would get my records sent over before your appointment. One thing is for sure, your current RD is an uncompassionate b____! How dare she treat you like that. Such a disrespectful, flippant attitude. You need a caring, interested doctor. I hope this next one is that.
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