When are consultant going to treat us like everyone else ??

Not sure if i ever myself when i joined so Hi I'm Karen im 48 and was diagnosed in 2000, although everone agreed i have had it much longer. i first strated having health problems at 4 or 5, but knee problems at 11, had my first operation at 17 but always told dr's i had what i would call "bone joint" type pains and alo " tendon muslcle" type pain, after 7 operations i had my knee caps removed in 1996 which helped bone type pain but not other pain, so when i was diagnosed in 2000, it made sense and was initially a relief that i wasnt going crazy. I have had to put up with consultants saying there is no such thing as fibro its depression, and that the dosage of anti depressant i was on at that time, was useless and i may as well be taking smarties, thing was at the time i hadnt felt depressed and was actually on Prozac to help with my bulimia. Fast forward cos dont want to bore you with everything, but had shoulder problems suffered for 6 years knowing it wasnt fibro pain, but really wanting to make sure it wasnt before i mentioned to dr, was referred to consultant and after minor trreatment in December 2011 i had parts of my collar bone nubbled away to stop some arthritus and to allow a bigger space between the collar bone and arm bone because i had bursitus and the bones were pressing on the bursa and making it inflammed. The pain that i had prior to op went pretty quickly, but i had got this terrible bone pain 10 times worse than original pain that i have had at same intensity every day since. On Friday i went to see surgeon, saw one of his residents who was very nice, said i have a couple of ideas what we can do let me check with Mr Ahmed i could hear consultant mention Fibro and other dr came back and said you can either have pain killing injections under anaesetic or hope it improves, i politely said well after nearly 5 months of constant agonising pain i dont think it is suddenly gonna get better, so said i would have injection, he went out again, next thing nurse came in saying your having injection now, i said ok bit shocked as was on my own, but as i have hand controlled car and can't drive at minute i was on bus anyways so was ok. next thing my consultant came in saying this is why we dont operate on Fibro patients they never get any relief, i said but i have explained the original pain has gone, this is a total different pain which i have never experienced before, and are you then saying that fibro patients should never be operated on no matter what condition they have because your view is that they won't get pain relief, he just kept saying this is why we dont operate, pushed a few places on my shoulder i told him the 3 places where pain was worse, he pushed back of my shoulder said oh pain is from insision site stuck neeedle in said im discahraging you and pain clinic can deal with you and was gone, I was angry and upset, i know i should be used to this type of treatment, but why should we have to suffer what i class as 2nd class treatment cos some dr's have a set idea about us and our condition, The younger dr came back in and said sorry, i said i wish Mr Ahmed could suffer the pain i do just for a few days, maybe he would have a different view on the subject.

Anyways rant over i have been reading posts and replys for a while i hope to get more involved now

Karen

[Ang01]

Having worked in the NHS and in particular Medical HR I fully understand how frustrating it can be dealing with some of these Consultants as they can be extremely arrogant. I always found the best way to deal with them was to go back to them in the same manner as they treated me in. it doesn't always work but at least it made me feel better. I had one particularly bad experience with a Consultant Radiologist and after I put him in his place he was always extremely charming after that. Whilst I respect their positions and they are extremely clever people they are people first and not Gods and they have no right to talk down to us. I wonder how they would feel if it was one of their own family being treated in the way they treat their patients!.

Anyway Karen, I hope you are feeling a little better now, take care Angela xx

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I have made a complant against a consultant you are right they do act as if your not important however I do write down all my questions oa and new symptomes (dyslexic spelling ) to check everything out so i can sit smile and make sure they all get answered this was how ever they behave i get my answers xx good luck next time

[Hidden]

Hi Karen, great to have you here with us, welcome!

I started off with a Consultant who treated me like dirt, he even said that my symptoms were probably in my head. I was thoroughly miserable, he refused to give me a diagnosis, I felt that I was losing the plot. Every time I saw him he reduced me to tears, hubby ended up getting cross with him too. I mentioned this to a friend I met through a local Fibro group and she recommended her Consultant at the same hospital I was going to, and I applied to change Consultants. I had to explain to my current Consultant why I wanted to change, I did this as respectfully and politely as I could, he agreed to release me and then I had to apply to the new Consultant. Thankfully she took me on and I haven't looked back. She specialises in Rheumatology but her special interest is Fibromyalgia, CFS and ME. She gave me the diagnosis I was looking for, revamped my meds, assessed my pain and at last I felt I was getting somewhere. I saw her twice to make sure my new meds were actually helping me which they were, and now I don't have to go back to see her unless there is a problem, everything is seen to through my understanding GP.

What I would suggest is, that if anyone isn't happy with their GP or their Consultant through their possible lack of understanding of their condition, perhaps they should try to see someone else. It doesn't have to be awful, there is help out there, we just have to try that bit harder than the average patient, and find someone who understands our condition and isn't going to tell us it's all in our heads. It can be quite a process but it is possible to get understanding and the treatment we deserve.