I don't mind educating a doc, as long as they actually want to learn. I went to a primary care doc once with a mouth full of sores I'd had for a month. He was mystified, but when I told him I thought it might be a manifestation of Sjogren's, he took me seriously and researched it and figured out how to treat it.

I've even been a poster child of sorts for autoimmune disease. My ENT used to introduce interns to me (with my permission, of course) so they could see first hand what happens to the mouth and sinuses in Sjogren's. Most interns only get to see this stuff in textbooks.

Unfortunately, I've met far more docs who were arrogant and refused to listen to me than ones who were truly interested in getting to the bottom of what ailed me. I've been yelled at and thrown out of offices for politely pointing to documentation from credible medical sources. So many doctors have been hostile to me that whenever I see a new one I tend to be defensive myself, which is not a good way to establish a doctor/patient relationship.

I don't mind answering a question about whether or not I am depressed because chronic illness can affect your mental status. What I do resent, though, is being accused by a doctor of lying when I state truthfully that I am not depressed. Or when a doctor is pointedly ignoring my physical symptoms and stating that they must have a psychological origin just because that doc hasn't seen a case like mine before.

I don't expect a doctor to be perfect. But I do expect them to give me a chance.

fanfaire