Fibromyalgia Support Group

I have. My doctor couldn't diagnose me and as we all know Fibro is hard to define even on a good day. I became a "problematic patient" and was summarily dismissed via a certified letter. Personally, I think he was entirely too lazy to pursue my illness and I frustrated him with my myriad of aches and pains that constantly moved around. IMHO, he was inept and not capable of properly treating me so there was no big loss in that department.

My current doctor didn't even want any past history from doctors I had seen previously. I feel this was in my best interest and now I'm being treated properly. My doc says that CFS is the beginning of Fibro and we who suffer process pain differently than those who don't have this illness.

Don't allow any doctor to place a label on you as that's only one persons opinion and most of the time, totally inaccurate.

I have had 6 doctors that all wanted my past records.. so that is the issue... I had a doctor write a 6 page letter of what happened to me and he is on my side, and most docs dont acknowledge it, and one said, he was not going to call him since he was my gynecologist! No where did it say he was, and he was not a gyneocologist...

This can be a problem if you apply for Disability. They look for any negative they can find and sink their teeth in.

One doctor I had said I was uncooperative after I refused to "try" an anti-depressant I'd tried before and had experienced bad side effects from. Like, he had to see for himself.

The Judge decided that I wasn't willing to even try to get well. What I said had no bearing even though I've lived with my body all this time.

Lately they've been very sensitive about the release of medical records. So if you don't want your records sent from one doctor to your new one, you don't have to release them. Just explain to the new doctor that you think your old one was completely out of tune with you, and you want to start from scratch. I dunno...I've never had a problem with a doctor when I refused to give them access to any of my other medical records. Hopefully you won't run into any!

you can have your records released to you. Then you could review the records and leave out the doctor's who did say negative things. It should be your right. It's your body, your records. The only thing is, office's usually charge you per page, so it can get pricey.

But I've seen doctor's write down something different from what I say. It's ridiculous. So after seeing that, I'm not going to have my actual chart go from place to place without me seeing it first. Test results and the like, that's fine, I'll send those because that has no personal opinions or inflections.

The more I deal with doctors and since I've begun to work at a hospital, I realize that as patients, we have more rights that we realize. And the sooner doctor's realize they need to earn our business and be worth our time (not the other way around), the better. You are your only advocate. A doctor or nurse or anyone else is not going to fight for you. And with a disease/disorder (whatever they call it) like Fibro, you have fight even harder because it's still not as widely respected as it should be. It's not fair, but it's the truth.

I haven't run into that problem. BUT, I know it does happen so, before I go to the doctor each time I write how I've felt since my last appointment, what meds I'm taking and how they are (or are not) working, any questions I might have, issues I want to address. This helps me to remember what I need to ask/tell him and I also have them put it in my chart. They have no problem with this and I get my veiwpoint and attitude in my records. I keep it to 1 page so they won't refuse because there are so many pages. I don't know if all doctors are willing to do this, but it would be worth a try. Especially since SSDI could be an future option.

Doctors write all kinds of bad things about you that you would never even dream of.

I found this out when I got all my records for my disability hearing and it had nothing to do with moving from one doctor to another.

A Doctor who I thought was so kind wrote that FM was a psychotic condition and that I must have a history of it in my family. Another doc who I saw for a pap smear had me drug tested without me knowing it and it came out negative. That was a complete surprise.

Doctors will also make rude comments in the chart about your weight and as others have said, they will most definately comment on how cooperative they feel you are.

I don't think there is much you can do about it. Doctor's are egotistical in nature and if you call them on something like this, they would never admit that they could be wrong.

But I agree, after having viewed my records, I want them kept private. If I start with a new doctor I don't want him/her to have any preconceived ideas. I want a fresh perspective, after all that is why I'm seeing a new doc.

I am wondering if our records will all be online someday soon and available to any doc like our prescriptions now are.