1st post/arthritis/rheumatologist nightmare

[richardg]

i am actauly still on the learning curve.
January 8th I am going on elimination diet to find out what foods exactly are giving me grief......
Not to far away...Prince George, B.C.
Rich

[hope101]

There are a few of us Canadians, eh?

[zakksdaddy]

Hi again,

Thanks to everyone for the words of support. I wish I could respond more frequently, but my home PC is on the fritz, and I'm limited to small bits of time at work where I can hop on the internet and type.

Burgess - I read your stories before making my post. Your discipline is unbelievable. Glad to hear you've taken care of your problems!!

Richard - Wow. That's a bizarre coincidence (same age - 36), same early symptoms, etc... That list of drugs you were on makes my stomach hurt just by reading it. I'm really glad you got pointed in the direction you did. Good luck with the elimination diet!! How long has it been since this all happened to you?


I'm going to my first naturopathic doctor consultation today. I feel confident, and ready to tell her what I need from her (in addition to listening to all she has to tell me). Wish me luck!!

Dr. McDougall himself was also kind enough to email me several times with answers to some questions I had. Class act. Makes me put all that much more faith in what he has to say.


Re - Rheumatologist nightmare: I feel like George on that episode of Seinfeld where he just obsesses about all the things he wished he'd said at the time someone insulted him (haha). I must've replayed that visit 1000 times in my head since last week. Here's a choice nugget:

Doctor (upon seeing that my swollen joint count was down almost 20%, hearing I felt much better, and my grip tests were normal. ): "If you woke in the night and your bedroom, kitchen, and living room were on fire, would you put out the bedroom fire and go back to sleep?!"

Me (at the time): No response, continued to stare at shoes.

Me (a few days later): Of course not. I would continue to fght the fire (diet, exercise, sleep, stress control, regular sleep) until it (arthritic issues) was completely 'put out'.


Why does stuff like that never pop into my head til later???!!!!

My (former) doctors verbal approach is one of control and intimidation. He talks in a very authoritative tone. He talks very fast. And he talks ALOT. All done for the purpose, I believe, of keeping the patients head spinning so that by the end of the visit he's blindly walking out with a prescription in his hand, having had no thought in the matter himself.

Thanks again everyone. I really enjoy reading all the stories around here.

Scott

[chewy]

I'm in North Vancouver BC.How long have you guys been Mcdougalling?I have been for about 15+years....

[hope101]

Hey, Chewy. Me, I'm a newbie. Vegetarian for 10 months, McDougaller for really only 4. Did you make it okay through all the storms there?

[richardg]

i am 40 now so i have been Mcdougalling for about 3 years.
couple tips...
1- watch stress.. stress increases pain.
( and some beleive that a extreme period of stress is the what trigger for psoriatic arthritis..)
2 -the nightshades...
potatoes...tomatoes...and ball peppers- these have effects on some people.
3 - coffee is the root of all evil...
i also suspect I may have a touch of cealic disese as I had a beer the other day and I litterly could feel my feet start burning and then swell. My shoes will actually get tight when I feel bad. Beer i understand is full of gluten from the barley...
Anyway goodluck and keep us posted...
Rich

[DianeR]

My approach with doctors comes from the realization that I don't have to convince them. I tell them I'm not convinced about their recommendations and won't agree until I am. I remember one doctor who was heading out the door and I had to say, "Excuse me, but we aren't through here!"

I haven't had a doctor bring up religion. Geez, so his work is based on faith, rather than science? I know, this smacks of one of those great comebacks you think of a half-hour later

My last experience was with an orthopedist that wanted to do surgery on my knee. Indeed, the surgery had been scheduled and this was just the last doctor's visit prior. He was the one heading out the door that I had to call back. My knee was getting better with physical therapy and so I wanted to continue with that, at least until the point I stopped making progress. He was angry and claimed what I was doing was foolhardy, I would be calling him in agony in a few weeks and we would have to reschedule the surgery, etc. I simply told him it was my decision. Heck, he couldn't operate without my consent, after all.

Then my knee completely healed with the therapy. I have a last visit with the doctor, who tells me he is glad we decided against the surgery. Sigh ...

I can't say I've always handled doctors as well. I remember one dentist who insisted I couldn't be in pain. But really, why would I lie? I made the point, but I'm afraid I blubbered it. Something about dentists and tooth pain makes me a wimp, or at least slow on the comebacks. I just went to another dentist, taking the entire family's business with me. My husband was angry, so he told them how disrespectfully they had treated me. It turned out I needed a root canal on the tooth the first dentist insisted was perfectly fine.

I think this sort of thing happens to about everyone. I find I do better if I try to anticipate problems before I go in and role play in my mind what I would say.

Of course, the best thing is to get yourself healthy with diet and exercise and stay away from doctors all you can after that. Unfortunately, that still leaves dentists.