Do you follow what your doctor wants you to do or do you make your own decisions

about what you will do/won't do what meds you will take/won't take?

Just trying to figure out if I am an annoying patient or average.

On edit: I don't mean to sound like someone is not an independent thinker if they follow their Dr.s advice, I just despise Dr visit, and meds to an extent that sometimes I really might not be doing what is best for me.

I've been going to the same doctor for years and have built up a lot of trust. So I will usually give their advice a shot more often than not. Ultimately the decisions about your health are yours, but you have to have some trust. Try a different doctor if you don't.

But I also make them based on the best information and advice I can get. My dr, a pretty good guy btw, went to med school. I went instead to grad school in anthropology. I am paying him for his expertise on things he knows more about than me. I would be foolish not to consider his recommendations pretty seriously. But in the end, the decision is mine. I am the client and he is the hired help.

It wasnt easy to find him. He always comes up with something I hadn't thought of before and he really listens to me. I go a long way to get his advice, so I follow it.

I am changing. I follow most of what my GP says but, the truth is he does not listen to me and he misses a lot. I would love to see his school records. He is just going through the motions, taking his check and paying his dues at the local country club. I told him my family history and some of things he replied were about were, at the very least, callous and could be construed as negligent disregard. He wants an office visit when they are not warranted because he wants that charge every time. As soon as I have insurance again I am having my records transferred.

and find their arrogance annoying. If I have a doctor to work directly with me, it's one thing, as we can talk about things and make choices together. But when a doctor refuses to send me copies of tests conducted, makes decisions that affect my life, or doesn't take my wishes into consideration, tough shit--I won't listen or obey their actions.

I think sometimes I'm in a state of denial about some things, and that authoritarian "orders" from a doctor just set me off, to a point where they want me to stop doing something at the flip of a switch, and that's impossible. Moderation is one thing, but that isn't even an option with some doctors.

And if I have my own opinion on something, they never listen to me about something, because as one nurse said, "they're" the ones with the medical degree, not me. I find that arrogant and without merit, and only makes me less likely to listen to them.

Does that help? ;)


Afterthought: I am on Medicare, and the category, "Health Safety Net" which is essentially just above Masshealth Essential--IOW, Welfare. So I have very little real control over what doctors I get to see. I have a Primary, who I rarely see, but a resident, who has to follow the advice of the Primary. And it's the Primary that I have problems with. I got rid of her about 5 years ago, when I got a CYA letter from her (the resident at the time was the WORST doctor I've ever had, and I couldn't stand him any longer), and I finally found a good doctor, but she left the area, and I had to get started all over again. The limits are that all the doctors are in the clinic attached to the teaching hospital, and I have to work with this group.

But it ain't by no means...the whole enchilada! Not that I don't trust him...I do - to a certain extent...its just that his/hers individual perspective is only one part of the puzzle, the way I see it - perhaps a bit limited(if you will) coming from a strictly and totally western, academic background to address/alleviate the symptoms at hand first and foremost which (more often that not) fail to really address the holistic view (cause/root of the problem) which is why I also consult an MD versed in integrative-type medicine as a complimentary means in addressing whatever medical problem(s) I might be having if I feel that it is serious enough!

(Lucky for me - I've not had to deal with any of this recently).

Be aware too that many western docs these days are really wined and dined by the RX industry to such an extent so that whatever they prescribe may or may not be necessarily in your/ our own best interests, to those ends. At least, I feel, to some degree.

Yeah. I'm optimistically cynical.

I think that as Americans....we are way, way, WAY over-medicated and basically only just scratch at the very surface of a dis-ease and perhaps just some (gulp) simple exercise and modest change(s) in diet and perhaps a less-stressful/balanced lifestyle just might be what the non-coerced doctor ordered...for some (maybe many) ailments...is my feeling.

Truth be told ~

last spring.

I started working as a pre-school teacher in the spring and was pretty much sick
not stop the moment I started working there. I got tired of my former doctor only throwing antibiotics at me, not trying
to find ways to help me stay well. So I called a friend who is a doctor that went to medical school where I now live.
He lives in another area now. I asked him who he likes that perhaps he knew from med school days (he's in his 50s).
He got me hooked up with a former school mate who is excellent. He is very thorough, spends lots of time with you,
and will take the time to make sure you've covered everything. I do NOT feel like herded cattle.
He ran a vitamin pannel on me, etc...and we found out I was pretty low in some essential things, even though I eat well.
I'm feeling better overall. And I'll be doing a sleep study soon as well.

I am still recovering from a severe kidney infection. I was hospitalized for 4 days last week. He did not seem
very thorough to me, and since the drip antibiotics were working, the dr at the hospital only gave me a glance over
each time he came to see me. I don't think he really understood how sick I was. or didn't care. I don't know. I had proper pain management, though. However, he only prescribed 5 days of oral antibiotics upon my release from the hospital. on day 6 I went for a follow up with my GP and I told him that the hospital doc only gave me 5 days, and as sick as I was/am, I wondered if that was enough.
He actually said something like: only 5 days, oh, no, no, no. That won't do. Ummm. I think you need 10, yea I'll write it for 10.

So you have to be proactive if you think you need better care. It's ok to speak up and say what you think.

That's pretty thorough. I'm in kidney failure, and when I get an infection, I get a PICC installed and do IV antibiotics at home. Which is fine with me; I'd go fucking insane in the hospital.

after the urgent care doc sent me there. The urgent care clinic I use is good.
I was very sick.
The general practitioner we use NOW is good.

ER doctor was good. He's the one that had me admitted, but he also could clearly see how sick I was with a high fever and high pain. I couldn't walk on my own until the fourth day they let me out.

Perhaps I wasn't clear.
I was saying that my hospital doc, once admitted, was not all that great.

I kept complaining of throat pain, he poo poo'ed me. But he really didn't give a crap cuz
he just gave me a glance over for each day I was in the hospital since my fever was coming down.
I also had strep throat, with spots that I saw on my throat when i got home.
The antibiotic I was on in the hospital and now that I'm home is prescribed for both kidney and strep throat infections, (i looked it up)
so since my fever was still gone, my husband and I let the throat thing ride until I followed up with my now good general practitioner.
My general practitioner gave me more oral antibiotics because he wasn't thrilled with the fact that the hospital doc only gave me 5 days
of antibiotics when I should have gotten more.


My point was to the original poster (op) that I speak up if I think there is an issue that needs addressed or
have even changed doctors when we didn't feel like we were getting the help I needed.

We seem to have role reversal, but it works for me. I get their advice, then do my own research, then report back to them, we discuss it and go from there. Usually they end up agreeing with my conclusions because they see I do my homework.

and feel kind of bad about it. I am just annoyed because I was fine with going to the Dr once a year for a physical and now I have to go more frequently.

I mean that I follow doctor's orders but I also change doctors if I think that they're a quack and what they're recommending is not right for me.

I went and saw a doctor once about 15 years ago. He tried to immediately slap me on drugs for a mild blood pressure problem instead of first suggesting I lose weight. Since the doctor was younger and fatter than me I ignored his advice.

There seem to be two types in my family. Those with health problems all their lives who die young at 70 or so and those who never have even the slightest complaint and live to mid 80's or 90's. I come from very hearty mountain stock.

I fully trust my doctor but I partake of his advice like it's a buffet. I rarely choose to eat everything he's serving.

I often leave prescriptions, lab requests, or referrals on my desk (okay, honestly, mostly on the floor of my car...) to age. At some point when they've become embarrassingly crumpled, dirty, or illegible, I act upon them or I throw them away.

but otherwise i listen to those that went to med school

she gave me the name of a drug she was considering putting me on for 3 months and asked me to do some research on it and see what I thought, and when I see her for a followup this week, let her know if I want to go on it or not.

I like that approach, she can take it with me because she knows I will do some online research and form an opinion. I like doctors who recommend things, don't sell it as the only solution, and give patients time to do research and come to a decision with pressuring them to decide on the spot. My family doctor is the same way, she'll give me a choice of meds, see if any appeal to me. With other conditions, she'll recommend surgery occasionally but if it takes me a year or two to come around to her way of thinking, that's fine with her.

What he wants me to do, I do. But we do have real discussions.

I can't recall anything where after discussing options we didn't both wind up on the same side.