Tuesday, July 7, 2009

New Doctor Time

So I went to see my primary care doctor today, since I am still throwing up, fast heart rate and the list of other problems I have been talking about for months now. I told him how I just went 9 days on hardly any food and most was liquid. How I lay in bed all the time because my heart rate has been so high when I stand up, how I am wore out and can not basically do this anymore. To which he said nothing.

Now when I first saw him, I told him I tested positive for H. Pylori when I was in the ER back in March and he said "Oh a lot of people get H. Pylori and it is not something that we have to treat unless it causes a problem and I don't think you have a stomach ulcer because you would be in more pain." For the record H. Pylori does a lot more than just cause ulcers, it can cause chronic gastritis and stomach cancer. It is also being linked to depression, heart disease and bowel cancer.

So today when I asked him if I could do a bowel sample and test to see if I have an active infection of H. Pylori to confirm it he said "Oh well there is no bowel test for it, just a blood test and a scope for them to look in your stomach." I informed him that there was a bowel test and a breath test and he said "Well there maybe, but I haven't heard of it and they are not accurate." OK first off they are very accurate and they do exist, go to any gastro website and it is what all the gastro doctors use both to diagnose H. Pylori and to confirm that the infection has cleared after treatment.

He then asks me if I have H. Pylori and been treated for it. (note at this point that he was told before that I had it and he saw no need to treat it). I tell him yes I was told I had it in the ER back in March and he says "Oh well if you have H. Pylori we have to treat it." ummmm OK yea.

I tell him about my dark urine that I have been having on and off, so he gave me a urine test which was fine and also normal color urine. So I got him to give me a cup for when it is dark so they can test that.

He then wrote me a script to treat the H. Pylori (which I can't take till my parents are back from a wedding in VT that they are going too. So I will start taking it around the 22nd of July in case I react to it.) He also wrote me a script for an acid blocker since I told him that when I took the TUMS my heart rate sometimes would go down and how it no longer hurt to breathe. He said maybe I have GERD. Well that is all fine and good except if I treat the H. Pylori there is a good chance if I have GERD it will get worse since H. Pylori lowers the stomach acid and killing it will raise my stomach acid back to its old levels. So this is going to be a gamble.

I asked him if H. Pylori could be raising my heart rate and he said "Oh well it could, maybe if you have an ulcer, but it may not be doing it." Then I said "OK I know everyone thinks my fast heart rate is from anxiety, but I am not nervous 24/7 so why is my heart beating so fast?" and he said nothing.

At that point I started to ask where he wanted me to put the urine sample when I was done, but before I finished my sentence his hand went on my shoulder and he started "Dear heavenly father............blah blah.......maybe we are on to something (referring to the H. Pylori and my heart).....blah blah ...AMEN." OK first off where do I put my urine sample and what does he mean "We"? We are not onto anything. I am guessing on my own and the only thing you did was write a script for something two months ago you said didn't need to be treated.

I also have been having this pain when I push on my right side by my kidney area, so I bought that up and he told me "Well there are bones and muscles there." Well you don't say...I never knew...he guys I have bones and muscles...it must be how I have moved around all these years. That was it he never checked...good thing after he told me I have bones and muscles there the pain stopped....NOT!!!!

So I am tried of the praying people (I am not anti-God) and going to find another doctor after I take these massive amounts of pills and hope to God that I don't end up sicker.

I am tired of being sick, it is played out and I am bored with it. I feel like I am going in circles. If he does not remember nor had the information in my chart that I have H. Pylori then how can I trust that he remembers how sick I have been since coming off xanax and how after I fainted on the paxil my heart rate went up and has stayed up??

Finding a new doctor will be a pain, by this point in time my story is 6 months long and has a lot of details, they don't seem to listen or understand any of it.

4 comments:

Marie said...

My goodness. First of all...he prayed on you? What kind of dr. are you going to? I have NEVER had a dr. do that. Also, have you had a scope so they can look at your stomach and be sure? Also, have you tried just regular Zantac that you can buy at the store. When I had gastritis (which by the way made me soooo sick to stomach feeling all the time even though i did not actually get sick) my doc..that I miss since we moved..gave a me a script for Protonix but of course I go into google mode and find all bad experiences on it. So I just took zantac..extra strength..twice a day and it made me feel so much better. Just my two cents. My heart has been feeling better lately but like my husband says...i sot or lay all day long everyday. So even walking up the steps to the bathroom gets my heart going like crazy. So i do think at least part of it is that we are not doing much. Inactivity can cause a heart attack. Well that and your smoking...stop doing that. Have you ever tried acupuncture? I would love to try that.

Brian Baxter said...

Just a regular doctor. After my last one yelled at me, my parents found this one for me. I was too sick at the time to doctor shop and all of Albany loves him since he works with the poor in this country and 3rd world nations. I find it weird too.

Scope I haven't done yet for several reasons. I am scared to death of it. I don't want them to sedate me with benzos at this point because it is too soon after coming off xanax and I do not want to be resensitized to them again after how sick I got with xanax. It should be 6 to 18 months before I get any benzo and I am trying to play it safe. Also at the time I had no health insurance so I could not afford one. If it comes down to having to scope I will, just would like to get around that for now.

I took pepcid for a few weeks back in March, but it didn't help. Zantac I took many years ago, but because I smoke I can't take zantac since nicotine and that drug has an interaction causing heartburn hehe.

Acupuncture no because I can't do needles or I could faint, but I would do acupressure.

Yes inactivity is no good for the heart and I was starting to exercise till I could no longer eat again. I was so weak from not eating I didn't dare, but soon as I eat more I am getting back on the treadmill. I will be honest it is scary for me to exercise right now because I am worried I have a heart issue that is being over looked, and at the same time I was never one to exercise so making it a habit will be a hard for me, but I will do it.

Unknown said...

Maybe the answer to all of our prayers is you find an actual competent doctor.

When I was in high school, I had an ulcer. No one believed me, everyone said I was too young to have an ulcer. So my mom took me to a bunch of quacks, chiropractors and nutritionists for my serious tummy aches. Then she started taking me to psychiatrists and psychoanalysts. Because I had bad stomach aches. I finally refused to see any more shrinks till she took me to a regular doctor. Her response was to have me move into my dad's house. They were divorced since I was 5. So I was still in terrible pain, missing 2 or 3 days a week from school. My dad took me to a doctors clinic in the mall, which had a gastorintologist. He wasn't at the clinic often, but after several weeks I finally got to see him and he made an appointment at the hospital for me to get a gastroenoscopy. Lo and behold! I had an ulcer! Like I had known for over a very painful year. The diagnosis didn't help my pain, the pills they gave me didn't help either. It just gradually went away over a few years. That and Mylanta helped.

So anyways, listen to your body. No one knows it like you. And fight till you see the right doctor. I mean, I probably did need to see a shrink, just from having a mom that refused to get me real help, but instead wasted a lot of time making me go to shrinks. I was puking blood! How can that be psycosametic?!?!? And you know what the shrink told me? He said to pretend to be sick and stay home from school a day. I was missing far too much school as it was, I wasn't about to fake being sick. I ended up quitting and getting my GED.

BLAH people that don't listen! Especially doctors! Amen to the doctors who do, like that awesome gastorentoligist.

Marie said...

I know you are afraid of the endoscope but I think you need to weigh the fear of a short procedure or going months and months hardly eating and getting sick all the time. Ironic that I can give advice bu can't take it haha. It is the only way to find out for sure what is going on in there. Getting sick that often is not good or normal. Not that many people actually get physically sick from anxiety so there is something else going on. I am afraid to exercise too. So i hear ya. But i walked to park down the street today and it felt so nice to be outside and with the trees. Being inside everyday all day is just making me feel worse. All i do is pay attention to every ache and pain I have. Not good you know? But seriously...google the drs show and tell them your story.