“I don’t know why while I take prednisone my joints feel much better and as soon as I am off prednisone, I have such intense pain.” I shared that with my then GP. His response was to ignore my comment and focus only on what he wanted to go over.
That is called Medical Gaslighting. It is when a doctor downplays a patient’s concerns, ignores them, or tries to convince a patient it is imaginary or due to something else.
Anyone who has lived with chronic illness has probably experienced this at least once.
“I don’t want an autoimmune illness. I am not a hypochondriac, but these things run in my family. My older brother has M.S., my older sister has Psoriatic Arthritis, asthma runs in my family, I have relatives with Type 1 diabetes.” I told my current GP that a few years ago. After I told him that, he began to take me seriously.
An excellent book for anyone about dealing with doctors was written by a doctor whose blog I follow. Phoebe Chi is a doctor and her blog is phoebemd.com. Her book is Being Empowered,,,, for a healthy heart. Just the first chapter on being an empowered patient makes the book so worthwhile to buy and read.
After reading her book, I changed how I approach doctor appointments. I kept a symptom log including how often, when, triggers etc. I also began asking more questions during appointments. I became an informed and empowered patient.
Since 2017, I have seen 2 different rheumatologists, a gastroenterologist, two different dermatologists, two different orthopedic specialists, two different physical therapists, spent half a day being x-rayed, seen an ophthalmologist, had so many blood tests and more. In only 3 years, I have been diagnosed with Celiacs Disease, Fibromyalgia, Degenerative Disc is my neck, and Sjogrens. That is on top of the Hashimoto’s Hypothyroid and asthma I already knew I had.
I share all of that just to let you know that I KNOW the frustration of dealing with many doctors.
What has helped me?
1- I pray before I go to a doctor. I invite Jesus into the process. This helps me to focus and also asks the Great Physician to come along with me.
2- I keep a journal of symptoms such as when I have a low grade fever and for how long, rashes, pain, etc.
3- I let each specialist know that various autoimmune problems run in my family.
4- I ask questions.
5- I read information from reputable sources such as Web MD, Mayo Clinic website etc.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
Jesusluvsall's Blog 
I can’t stand going to doctors. Most of them never help me. Before I was diagnosed correctly with Celiac Disease, I suffered for 10 years undiagnosed. I even had a doctor prescribe motion sickness pills after I told him about the nausea & gut pain I was experiencing. Boy was he wrong! I have found most doctors to be arrogant and uncaring. Most of them don’t know Jesus, which makes them cold and arrogant. I stay away from them. This is very good advice, thank you! Praying for you. God bless!
I understand your frustrations
I pray for full recovery so that you don’t have to go through all this, big bro. 🙏
Thankful Abba is for you at every step. Be safe. 🤗
And thanks for sharing this.
Thank you little sister 🙂
I admit I am really not one for going to doctors as well as I likely should. Haven’t had a lot of success in getting recommendations to specialists and the genetic testing typically needed remains cost prohibitive. But, your approach sounds wise. Thanks, Matt! Sending prayers your way. 🙂
Thank you for praying 🙂
Such great advice, Matt. I strongly concur about a health journal, especially for those with chronic or degenerative illnesses. It helps to be able to go back and see how long we have had a symptom. It has happened with my husband that I am shocked when I go back to see when I first wrote about a symptom, thinking it was a few months ago, only to find out it was nearly 2 years ago!
Thank you 🙂
How are you?
Thanks Matt. I’m taking notes for an appointment this weekend. Good advice. 🙏👍
When is your appointment?
Saturday morning. I’d appreciate your prayers as well.
Will do
Thank you!
May God lessen your pain.
I too fear going to a doctor. And I always keep praying while I am in the waiting room.
I pray in waiting rooms too
Oh Brother Matt….
I pray you are completely healed. That’s very good advice for people who have to deal with multiple doctors especially. I was always of the opinion that I must let my body heal naturally and never even took a paracetamol unless I was completely burning up. I don’t pop in pills and I used to….earlier follow a very healthy lifestyle. Even when I was diagnosed with autoimmune and had severe rheumatoid arthritis, I kept pleading with the doctor to not give me steroids. I couldn’t move a finger then ….but I had quite some hope lol. I’m not a very nice patient because I dont want medicines usually. So maybe someone should advise doctors on how to deal with psycho patients like me too😅🤣😂🙃😉
Stay blessed and healthy in Jesus’ name…Amen🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Thank you for praying 🙏 😍😍😍😍😍😍
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Good advice. Thank you.
Thank you 🤗
I was recommended to check your site out, after I had done a post called ” Can I Get More Spoons?” So many of your posts resonate with me. And I’m like ” This guy is talking to me”. Thank you for such a wonderful site glorifying God. I am now following your blog. Peace and Blessings.
Thank you for following and such kind comments. Blessings my fellow spoonie