How many people here have..........

[satchelle]

.......a medical background? What do/did you do exactly? How many of you chronic painers once or still work in the medical profession and do you believe it has helped or hurt in your quest for medical trestment and pain control? Sometimes I think I know too much for my own good being in pharmacetical research and being a nurse. Other times I am glad because I feel many who don't know (medical stuff) are or may be taken advantage of. What is your opinion?

Satch

[GJZH]

I am not in the medical profession, but certainly educate myself and am educated. I think my doctors like that I am well educated and talk to them about my health and drugs that I use. Do I think it hurts to be well educated? No, I think it is a plus. My doctors also like that I hand them lists of drugs, surgeries and doctors names that treat me. They always comment about this and thank me. I was actually in the process of switching careers from education to nursing when I discovered I had severe spinal problems...

[Kathi49]

The closest I ever came to working in the medical profession was to work in an ER at the registration desk. That's it and it was only part time when my daughter was little. As far as education goes, my Neurologist, PM, Urogynecologist and GP have all commented that they like the fact that I take the time to educate myself. By no means am I a "know it all". I simply read up and then take my questions to them. I never go in with "this is what's wrong with me." Never. It is more like, "...could it be this?" I let them do the diagnosing and THEN I either add to it or ask more questions. But, no, I have never felt I was being taking advantage of.

[ErinENj]

Nope, I don't have a medical degree. I'm about to have a journalism degree, but nothing medical. I do consider myself knowledgeable about those things that pertain to my 'condition.' I can read my own, and others' MRIs, but that just came from practice and from having too many done. I know a lot about the anatomy of the spine, what the nerves control, and what happens when there's no more disk matter left, simply because that's what's wrong with me. I know a bit about my medications, but not a whole lot about how they all work, just that they do. Also, I know how to do internet research. I consider myself pretty good at it too. That's come from my classes at school, and through neccessity. As many people say, an informed consumer is a smart consumer. I try to stay on top of the trends in medications and spinal procedures so that I can make sure that if something comes out that would help me, I know about it. I can't count on my doctors to let me know. I don't go to a spinal surgeon anymore, simply because there's nothing they can do for me except the occassional epidural, so I can't expect them to call me or something like that to let me know that some new procedure is out there. So I have to do that. Also, with my pain doc, I find that the only way I'll get the new medications is to know about them and mention them to him. I was just put on Opana ER, and the only reason is because I heard about it, researched it, and mentioned it to him. Then he told me he was going to training on it just that next week, and the next time I saw him, we'd talk about the switch.

I really believe that we can't expect these docs to do all the work, simply because they won't. They have hundreds and hundreds of patients they see every day, they can't be expected to remember me, or you, or remember exactly what we each need or are looking for. A procedure might remind my doc of me, but when it comes to my appointment, it's entirely possible he could be thinking of something else. So I know that if I bring it to him, if I mention it to him, I have that much better of a chance of getting the care I need and deserve.

I think we all have a medical degree, whether it's official or not, simply because we have to to make sure that we get the care that we need from those docs, who do have the degree, but might not neccessarily know what's best for us.

[Nathan]

I used to work in xray and I don't know if I would consider it an advantage or not. One plus is that I know about xrays and a little bit about CT scans, so when I have one or the other, which is with almost every Dr.'s appointment, I can take a look at them and see what's going on. It has been kind of a problem because there have been times my Dr. will tell me that I am fine, or that the films don't show any problems, but I have already looked at them and seen a problem. I like that I know more then, say, my brother, but there's still a lot that I don't know. But I am constantly trying to learn more about my conditions and up with what's going on with me.

[Quahog]

I have worked in the medical field. I have a few years of pre-med and I was a Paramedic in the US Army and I worked as one in the civilian sector. I would love to return to school and I have recent decided to go back. However, I am now having issues with my pain management and until this is straightened out it is unlikely that I will be able to.

My goal was to attend medical school but unfortunately things do not always go as planned.

As far as it helping, I feel in some situations it is an asset but as with anything a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Certain Doctors also consider a patient with a little education to be a hindrance

[lobelsteve]

Growing up I watched MASH, St. Elsewhere, and Quincy. As I got older I also watched Scrubs, ER, and all the Life and Death in the ER / Trauma shows.

Now I feel comfortable posting online to strangers regarding their medical conditions. I even picked up a few diagnoses from "The Office" including Count Choculitis and Spontaneous dental retroplosion.

GA #054590
FL and VA licenses as well.

[cindybear]

I was a nurse,,It seems so long ago...I worked as charge nuse nurse for 9 years before this aneurysm hit..Now I'm disabled, And my only dream was to be a nurse and I truly loved it,,,My PCP knew me as a nurse working and he knows me as a disabled person..He has never discriminated against me..Sometimes, I wish I didn't know as much as I do...But I will never regrett doing the one thing that I loved and dreamt of doing and able to do it for those short years....Cindy

[Gimpy]

I was a respiratory therapist. I worked in hospitals and dealt with all the patients. Towards the end I worked primarily in the critical care units with a lot of heart surgery patients. I miss it terribly, it was very satisfying; especially when you were the person that saved someone's life. It's pretty cool to be working on a patient when a dr. cracks open their chest at bedside for cardiac massage; but it's heart breaking to see someone's loved one pass away. I do miss it and wish I could go back to it.

Gimpy

[Mark N]

I haven't worked in the medical field and other than the first aid taught in the Marine Corps and the practical use I learned as a football coach. I know the self-education I have with spinal issues has helped me. I don't worry as a result of knowing what is going on and I have been able to guide my surgeon and an ER doctor to my problem. The ER doctor commented on how much I knew about my spine [I was in for heart attack pains that were from my thoracic spine] and I told him after 15 years of dealing with this I should know something.

I have always thought it is better to know as much as you can. Since I have started down this road I have learned more about spines and medication than I ever dreamed I would.

[BrokenBladder]

Nope no medical background here. Once I started getting sick though I became an insane person looking for information. I was on the internet and going to the library constantly. My doctors appreciate the fact that I have knowledge of what's going on without pushing them too much.
I think it's a good thing for all of us to become knowledgeable about our illnesses. Also being a part of BT I have learned alot about other things as well.

[Kira]

I graduated med school in May 06 (have my MD) but have not done a residency yet because of frequent hospitalizations. I am in grad school right now working on my MPH (Masters of Public Health).

I think it both helps and hurts me to have a medical background. I learned literally nothing about my disorder in med school but did learn a lot of the underlying science and also learned a lot about the various organ systems it affects, which has enabled me to understand the stuff I learn about my disorder. It also helps me to advocate for myself because I know what they SHOULD be doing for me in the ER/inpatient/etc. My metabolic docs know more about my condition than I do, but I know more about it than most of the rest of my docs, so I have to do a fair amount of explaining. I am not sure what would have happened if I didn't have a medical background... would have still had to do that explaining, but it likely wouldn't be as clear in my own head and they may not have taken me as seriously when I do explain.

The way that it hurts me is that there are some docs who don't want to admit that they don't know and they really don't like to be told what to do, no matter how gently it is done. I don't usually care, though: I have learned that my disorder is rare enough that they just plain DON'T know about it and that I have to advocate for myself, whether they like it or not. So, when I go to the ER or get admitted by a general medicine team, I hand them stuff from my metabolic doc outlining what needs to be done, and I gently tell them what is usually done when I get admitted. Then, if they don't listen and start doing things their own way despite the fact that I need certain things done, I get more and more firm with them until they listen. If that doesn't work, I just insist that they call my metabolic doc for instructions, so that they are hearing it from a specialist, not from a patient. That way it doesn't conflict with their egos, because it is like they are consulting a specialist rather than admitting they don't know.

[Peter B]

Steve,

You are too damn funny.

As in most areas of life, if you have at least a modecum(sp?) of intelligence, you'll educate yourself as far as any issue pertains to you.
While I was going thru my medical odysee there were a number of times where a resident would come into my room where the end result would be that I was doing the teaching.

In fact, because it was a teaching hospital, 3 or 4 of the doctors would brfing groups of students into my room to "examine" me. One time after a "class", the doctor came up to me and told me I taught them more in 20 minutes than he could teach them in a week. Made me feel good. I needed it.

I must say, it's not that difficult to educate yourself when you're problems are few. Doctors have much more to learn, needless to say.

One time, a doctor actually gave me a dirty look because he must have thought I was usurping his authority or something.

Pain free days,
Pete

[ainee]

I didn't know the first thing about medical terminology - just as well I didn't, because the doctors and many others in the medical profession, didn't and still don't believe what I'm telling them. I've researched from the ground up, discounting many illnesses and conditions because I didn't have certain symptoms.
An osteopath in 2001, felt my spine and said that my back muscles were "all knotted up." I had many tests - even MRI's with dye, couldn't find "knotted up" back muscles. I had injury to my spine years ago, but the worrying symptoms only developed in 2001.
The nerves come from the spine, so if there is trauma to the spine in any way, injury, surgery, toxins etc., causing damage to the nerves, this can cause neurological symptoms and if my MRI's couldn't find knotted up muscles, there may be others with injury to their spines which go undetected - without finding a cause for their symptoms and illness.
I've lived on the land all my life and was a professional wool classer when I became ill. I had a symptom similar to our sheep (I've posted my information in many threads on BT.) If it hadn't been for our sheep's diagnosis and fax from the vet with a diagram of the sheep's symptoms and treatment, I would never have known - and I would not have survived on medication my doctors wanted me to take.
So not knowing anything about medical conditions and medical terminology, certainly saved my life. Many human neurological illnesses and conditions, have similar symptoms to those in livestock - give or take a few and put into human terms. I believe what I've discovered will give better health to many, regardless of condition, illness, diagnosis or cause.
But try telling that to anyone with medical knowledge - no-one seems to be interested.
ainee

[finz]

I'm a hospice nurse.....or at least I would be if I could work :(

The advatages are being familiar with medical terms, how the system works, meds, etc.

My main disadvantage is my anger and total disgust with the way I have been treated. I spent over 2 years going from dr to dr to finally find the right specialist to dx TOS. I've been told soooo many times that it's all in my head. I've been told to suck it up and work through the pain. It is so frustrating to be talked down to by my former peers. It bothers me on a very deep level that so many in the medical profession don't take their responsibilities as seriously as I did. If I suspected a patient had a psychosomatic illness, I would make sure they got psychiatric help. If they were in pain, I would make sure they had treatment or medication to relieve it. I understand that doctors do deal with some patients who are just drug seekers, but why make me fight for over 2 years to just get a tens unit !?!? And....my favorite....no effort to apologize for being proven wrong when the tests do prove I have TOS !

[lobelsteve]

I didn't know the first thing about medical terminology - just as well I didn't, because the doctors and many others in the medical profession, didn't and still don't believe what I'm telling them. I've researched from the ground up, discounting many illnesses and conditions because I didn't have certain symptoms.
An osteopath in 2001, felt my spine and said that my back muscles were "all knotted up." I had many tests - even MRI's with dye, couldn't find "knotted up" back muscles. I had injury to my spine years ago, but the worrying symptoms only developed in 2001.
The nerves come from the spine, so if there is trauma to the spine in any way, injury, surgery, toxins etc., causing damage to the nerves, this can cause neurological symptoms and if my MRI's couldn't find knotted up muscles, there may be others with injury to their spines which go undetected - without finding a cause for their symptoms and illness.
I've lived on the land all my life and was a professional wool classer when I became ill. I had a symptom similar to our sheep (I've posted my information in many threads on BT.) If it hadn't been for our sheep's diagnosis and fax from the vet with a diagram of the sheep's symptoms and treatment, I would never have known - and I would not have survived on medication my doctors wanted me to take.
So not knowing anything about medical conditions and medical terminology, certainly saved my life. Many human neurological illnesses and conditions, have similar symptoms to those in livestock - give or take a few and put into human terms. I believe what I've discovered will give better health to many, regardless of condition, illness, diagnosis or cause.
But try telling that to anyone with medical knowledge - no-one seems to be interested.
ainee

I agre there is no such thing as notted up muscles in medical texts. My guess would be trigger points, but that is not what's causing your symptoms. Are you saying you have Scrapie? Only Dr. House would have gotten that one right.

[ainee]

G'day lobelsteve -
No, I didn't have Scrapie - well I don't think I did, no tests found any reason for my symptoms - but some of my symptoms - intense itching and neurological symptoms were similar to Scrapie.
Our sheep had PEM - Polioencephalomalacia, a brain wasting/destroying disease. I found that my symptoms were similar - give or take a few and put into human terms. Of course, not knowing anything about medical terminology at the time, I told the doctors that I had sheep disease symptoms.
Oh boy, how that amused them! - I was far from amused, as I was suffering great pain from my horrific symptoms - but when I started to research, and found many illnesses and conditions in humans had similar symptoms - and the sheep's treatment (and other easy treatments later) suppressed my symptoms, I kept gaining knowledge - I kept giving this knowledge to my many doctors. Even recently, I filled my doc in on some of my latest research - he still didn't believe me.
I believe an injury to my head and spine in 1995, triggered the Opisthotonos in 1997 and the horrific spinal vibration I suffered a couple of years later, caused my "knotted up back muscles", which over time caused trauma and damage to my nervous system.
In 2001, I started to write down all the injuries, illnesses and symptoms I could remember - I'd had some slight symptoms over the years, but didn't worry about them. I'd known of one symptom several months before the fax from the vet, but wasn't concerned about it. The fax from the vet with a diagram of the symptom and also the treatment - and our sheep who died - saved my life.
I pray one day, that someone will look up and see the light - I believe this treatment will save many from suffering.
lobelsteve, maybe this would make a pretty good story line for Dr. House - I certainly could have a go at writing the rest of the script for him.
Have a nice day
ainee.

[Lea]

Being a nurse has definitely helped me in my quest for treatment. Because of my close work with physicians, I have always gotten good referrals and sometimes the docs I worked with would actually call and get me in to see their colleagues. It also helps that I can spot a doc who isn't interested in helping me.

My current physicians treat me as a colleague and even give me professional discounts for my care. Can't beat that!:D It also helps to be seen as an equal partner in my care decisions, which is how it should be, regardless if you have a medical background or not.

It is also a hindrance in that you can really scare yourself with just a little bit of medical savvy. I am going through a work up for a fever and all the stuff it could possibly be is scaring the poop out of me:eek: I'm trying not to catastrophize or diagnose myself, ya know?:rolleyes:

[Matuboo]

.......a medical background? What do/did you do exactly? How many of you chronic painers once or still work in the medical profession and do you believe it has helped or hurt in your quest for medical trestment and pain control? Sometimes I think I know too much for my own good being in pharmacetical research and being a nurse. Other times I am glad because I feel many who don't know (medical stuff) are or may be taken advantage of. What is your opinion?

Satch


No medical backround at all, I took some courses in college such as anatomy one and two and my dad is a doc, otherwise most stuff I just picked up on the net (which has actually been a lot.) Still, the more I read, the more I realize I don't know. I would have never survived medical or even nursing school!