However, in swapping stories with other chronically ill people, I’ve realized that there’s also a systemic problem in medicine: Doctors often don’t listen to their patients. I thought if I could just find the right combination of words, then doctors would understand and provide me with the treatment I needed. When I think about being a Black woman of Jewish ancestry, the most prevalent problem I have is doctors discounting the probability of me having a disease that is statistically less common in African Americans.”įor years, I thought the problem was me. “I have had innumerable experiences of doctors not listening to me. How can I convince doctors that I’m an informed patient who knows what’s happening with my body, and just want a partner in treatment rather than a dictator? It’s assumed that I’ve been using Google too much, or that I’m “malingering” and making up my symptoms. Yet it’s not easy to just convince doctors that I know what I’m talking about. These days, I prefer to be labelled noncompliant rather than risk my life taking a medication I know is bad for me. “No matter the amount of work I do on my intrinsic value and my being the expert on what I feel, being unheard, ignored, and doubted by a professional who society holds as the ultimate arbiter of health knowledge has a way of destabilizing my self-worth and trust in my own experience.” It’s landed me in a weird space sometimes - fighting for my rights when I also don’t necessarily care whether or not I live. Sometimes, I also have to convince the doctors in the hospital that no, I can’t take any SSRIs. On top of that, the increase in suicidal thoughts has often landed me in the hospital. So, I end up either in conflict with my provider or taking a medication that inevitably worsens my condition. Yet doctors have repeatedly ignored my warnings and prescribed them anyway, because maybe I just haven’t found the “right” SSRI yet. As with many with bipolar disorder, SSRIs make me manic and increase suicidal thoughts. I don’t tolerate selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the first-line treatment for depression. I have treatment-resistant bipolar disorder. Sometimes when doctors don’t listen, it can be life-threatening Moreover, he didn’t actually offer any useful advice to improve my situation. My lived experience in my body was seen as less valuable than his medical degree. He brushed each objection aside and didn’t listen when I tried to describe access barriers to water exercise. I tried to explain the many reasons why I can’t go to the pool: It’s too expensive, it takes too much energy just getting in and out of a bathing suit, I react badly to the chlorine. He suggested I try water exercises, as low-impact exercise has been shown to improve fibromyalgia symptoms. Once, I went to a rheumatologist - a specialist in autoimmune and systemic musculoskeletal diseases - to try to better manage my condition. I have fibromyalgia, a condition that causes chronic pain and fatigue, along with a laundry list of associated conditions. Is it too much to expect doctors to believe the words that I have to force out, amidst spikes of pain, after I’ve dragged myself to the emergency room? Yet so often I’ve found that doctors only look at my patient history and actively ignore most of what I’ve said. This is a powerful perspective.Īs someone with a chronic illness, I shouldn’t have to advocate for myself when I’m at my most ill. How we see the world shapes who we choose to be - and sharing compelling experiences can frame the way we treat each other, for the better.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |