July 27, 2010
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Doctor, Doctor
After my last few experiences with doctors, I have a burning question: is this the state of healthcare these days?
In an attempt to get into better shape—not to mention, paying attention to my health overall—I had an annual physical this past Saturday to see where my body was. Since the last two doctors were both underwhelming—doctor 1 saw me for a physical for 20 minutes and sent the Qwest Diagnostic test results with his diagnosis and recommendation (“less carbs”) in the mail while doctor 2 (a D.O.) recommended a list of suppressants for my headaches within 5 minutes of meeting me—I decided to try the practice where my wife’s primary care physician works.
On a not-particularly busy morning, the nurse saw me 15 minutes after I arrived, took my temperature, height, weight, urine and checked my eyesight. She deposited me in the exam room, where I waited for 20 minutes. When he came in, the doctor took the regular measurements and asked the typical first-time questions. Without blood-work results (I’m not even scheduled for the tests until Friday), he said that I was heading towards heart and high-blood pressure issues and that I needed to change my diet.
Within 10 minutes, my physical was done. It was when I inquired further about chronic headaches—exercise-induced headaches I’ve had for the last 15 years (any kind of exertion) and also regular intense headaches which do not go away until after a full-night’s sleep—that the visit really shocked me.
I don’t know [how heart medication, beta-blockers reduce instances of headaches]…no one knows…but they do. So, I can start you on Propranolol now…if there are no other questions…?
He said “well, it doesn’t help to just take stronger pain-killers, we need to stop the cause of your headaches. There is a whole lot of drugs I can prescribe to you that will work to prevent you from getting headaches: they’re blood-pressure medications, heart medications, blood-thinners, beta blockers, inhibitors…many different kinds. They happen to be known to prevent headaches.” When I asked how exactly these other medications work to prevent headaches, he said “I don’t know…no one knows…but they do. So, I can start you on Propranolol now…if there are no other questions…?” I stopped him there and said “Um…I’d like to think about this a little first.”
Knowing me for only 20-30 minutes, and without knowledge garnered from blood-tests, a medical-school trained physician was going to prescribe to me heart medication or high-blood pressure medication for headaches. Tell me there’s nothing wrong with that?!?!?!
A friend—a collector of all things peculiar, especially in print—showed me the above advert he’d found tucked away in a book. The incident with my doctor reminded me of the really creepy catch-phrase in this ad: “it can turn complainers into compliers.” Creepy indeed.
Comments (4)
Tony, it sounds as though you are turning into a complainer! I’d say with good reason, but don’t tell my doctor. It’s amazing how little confidence one feels after most visits to the doctor these days.
Hey there – I totally agree with the meat-market of lackluster MDs about. But for the record, I was on propranolol for 10 years – 20mg. It’s a blood pressure medication that more-or-less eliminated my migraines. I’m off it now, cause drinking a big-ass cup of coffee and not eating trigger-foods works just as well
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Hi Tony,I’m very sorry to see the article about Rachel Chen. I was wondering to know:Was Rachel from Taiwan when she was 9 to 10 years old?Is Yunhui Rachel’s Chinese name?I hope that Rachel mentioned in your article was not my elementary classmate. Thanks,Felix