Weighing in on the indigestion issue...and other comments on doctors

[Guest guest]

Having acid reflux disease and resulting problems therein are not simply

caused by over eating...I realize that some doctors may have this

opinion but then everyone is entitled to their own ideas about things.

I have SEVERE Irritable Bowel Syndrome and I mean SEVERE starting in

January I went through another horrid bout of IBS and was living on

water, weak tea and the occasional cup of broth.. That's it. No food,

no other anything else for several weeks. I had reflux from Hades

during that time. My hiatal hernia made its presence known and my life

was generally miserable.

I was taking Zantac and other medications for acid reflux disease to no

avail. It was a miserable time.

This is just another example of doctors " blaming the victim " something

so many of them are SO GOOD at doing. If we have a problem it is our

fault because of A, B, C or D. Those of us who are overweight are often

told that any illness we have including cancer can be cured by losing

weight and exercising. I wonder what they tell World Class Athletes who

have diabetes, cancer, asthma, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia

to name a few of the illnesses that either I or someone I have been to

doctors with were told would magically go away if we would just lose

weight, eat less or exercise.

It's no wonder that so many people end up dying rather than going to a

doctor or emergency room when they are extremely ill. Patients,

especially women are marginalized and patronized by the medical

profession. As a Case Manager over an almost 20 year period I can't

tell you the number of people I have watched get sicker and/or die due

to neglect by doctors, not just one doctor but many doctors. I can tell

you the numbers are in the thousands.

My best friend almost died of septicemia 3 years ago because her

temperature hadn't gone up high enough to get the doctors attention even

though she had all of the other symptoms. I threw a fit with the doctor

and when I say I threw a fit I mean it makes the Tasmanian Devil on the

cartoons look calm. I got his attention she was admitted to the

hospital and had immediate surgery. If we had waited she would have

died and the doctor admitted that to me.

Never surrender your personal power to any doctor, always take anything

a doctor says with a grain of salt and do your own research. Remember

doctors only PRACTICE medicine, they haven't perfected it and we

(especially women) are the guinea pigs.

The point of this message is not to bash doctors but to recognize that

they are human beings who are not omnipotent and that we need to be

aware that they make mistakes. We have to be responsible enough to make

the choices that work best for us while acknowledging the parameters a

doctor may set up for us.

If I was following my doctor's directives to the " t " my blood glucose

levels would still be in the 250 plus range and I would not be enjoying

the improved health I have seen over the past several weeks. My doctor

is overjoyed at my BG numbers but wants me to take more medicine and eat

more carbs. Well, I am not spilling protein in my urine, my BG readings

are almost normal and I am beginning to feel alive. I will pass on the

extra carbs, work on losing weight (which I do need to do) and continue

to watch my health improve and my diabetes go into remission.

We know our bodies better than ANYONE else does. We need to listen to

them and follow their lead. For Eunice that is eating a modified diet

of what she was previously eating, for someone else it may be being a

vegetarian, for yet another it may mean following a low carb diet and

for yet another it may mean eating what they want and exercising like

crazy to burn the carbs.

Doctors and their tests are tools to help us help ourselves. Let us

recognize our own responsibility in this equation and not use doctors as

crutches or allow them to be barriers to good health. They are like our

glucometers -- a means by which we can get information, what we do with

that information is up to us.

Getting off the soapbox for now,

Ardee-ann