Hi everyone, hope you are having a pain free day.

I need help communicating with my neuro. I feel so stupid saying this because I had a wonderful career and communicating was one of my strengths, not a weakness. But my neuro makes me feel like a bad child and I continue to let her do it.

My neuro is a 40 something, educated at the University of Miami and then Baylor, is about 5 feet tall and 100 lbs. She is the only doctor I have a problem with. Basically I feel she downplays every symptom I have. When I talk about my pain, she looks at me like I'm crazy. She does not believe in fibromyalgia at all and we had some words about that but I dropped it because I knew that most neuros don't believe in it. 2 weeks ago I was in the middle of a terrible pain flare. The pain hit a level I had not experienced before and my husband became very concerned and called her office. He never got a call back from her nurse, as promised.
About a year ago, I went to another neuro for a 2nd opinion and casually brought up some issues with my neuro. She encouraged me to stay with my neuro, stating that my neuro is excellent - one of the best.

So how do I break this negative communication style and get the most from my office visits? Right now, I just hate going to see her.

Thanks,
nancyh

Fire her... The best Neurologist in the world is no good if they will not help you when you need it...

Cathie

Yeah i agree get rid of her, if she isn't prepared to listen to you, and especially help when your in real trouble, then whats the sense in going to her, [ she probably is the other neuro's friend, a lot of them know each other ] i am sure you can find a lot better doctor than that thing.

Nancy,

Its so important to have a doc believe your symtoms and be on your side - agree with the others that you need to find someone in your camp..... what do you have to be careful of is saying anything negative about another doc - they all "TALK" - maybe state in positive manner such as looking for second opinon - someone closer to home - anything that doesnt make them appear in a negative light to the other doc (thus making you look like a "non-compliant" patient....)

I found out the hard way - a doc wanted to do surgery without doing recommended tests frist - I went to another doc saying one should always get a second opinion for surgery unless its an emergency right (which they should)? The second doc - as soon as he found out I had seen the first - turned out they were tight lunch buddies - was very difficult too - and its taken me a while to find a decent doc in his field (it was GI) - I asked my trusted docs for recommenations and they were very helpful.... its so important to have them as a team!

What dangerous places we find ourselves in!

When I first decided the neuro I'd had wasn't for me, I asked for cy's of my file..I was charged almost $20 to have six pages of clearly 'filtered' notes prepared which contained very little...test results in it? A noticably edited summary. All other second opinion docs I met with I merely stated that 'I don't think I communicate well at all with this person.' That way, you don't bad mouth...the records provided by the now ex-doc and the subsequent tests these other docs recommended said VOLUMES.

If you don't trust a doc to TRUST YOU when you describe your pain issues, how can you TRUST THEM to treat you???... There are times when that doc who is 'the best', skill wise in some areas may not have the skills YOU NEED. Unless you are a hundred miles from a major metro area, suss out who else is out there....Ask your other docs about getting a few names for a second opinion....your other docs aren't going to give you names of the real turkeys.

Nancy, I dearly hope you find a 'keeper'! - j

Thanks all. It's a hard thing but I've got to find a new doc. I get anxious, like a small child, when I have to see my current "specialist?" I am 90 minutes from Vegas where one has to be extra careful about doctors, as least I've not been "lucky" there but I have a couple of people I could ask. Thanks for your input, I need to take some action...

nancyH