Do doctors actually care.

7 months ago I was very constipated a lot of pain when going to the toilet etc. I was given laxative and stool softeners by my doctors . I had a phone consultation with a consultant and was told that I will need a camera up the back passage. I was put on a waiting list and told to use the laxative and stool softeners long term until I got my appointment. (I am still waiting for the appointment) but feel a lot better now. Then in October I got balanitis. To cut a long story short( if you want to hear it see my older posts) I got creams every time I stopped the balanitis came back. I’m in the middle of a 3 month intensive course of cream. I was told that if this doesn’t work I may need to be circumcised. I really don’t want to be circumcised and have been loosing sleep worrying about this. ( my reasons for being here doing my research).

I never mentioned that I’m type two diabetic. I was opening a new pack of canigloflozin tablets for my diabetes yesterday and I don’t know why because I have been on this tablet for over a year I thought I would read the leaflet. Two of the most common side affects are constipation and balanitis ( caused by thrush) . I asked the doctors today about this and was told that I have a diabetic review in February to speak to my diabetic nurse about it. I’m fuming that they give me all this medication and even prepared to circumcise me when most of my issues could be caused by a drug that they are giving me. They never thought that most of my problems were caused by this tablet I had to read the leaflet and tell them. They are supposed to be the experts. We put our life’s in their hands and trust them. 😡

[Hidden]

Thanks for the reply. We have spoken before. I’m hoping when they change the medication this will stop my balanitis. Hopefully I won’t need to be circumcised now.

[Hidden]

Please do not be offended, but can I ask if you are overweight? The reason I ask is that type 2 is closely associated with being overweight. I have read Dr Mosley’s 800 calorie book, and if documents that type 2 can very often be reversed by adhering to a planned weigh loss diet such as his.

I myself am not type 2, but I do have high blood pressure. Since 1st Jan I have lost 11 pounds and I have been able to reduce my medication whilst achieving a totally normal BP reading.

I really think it’s worth the investment, particularly in order to avoid circumcision and cure the balanitis - let alone reverse the type 2 diabetes. I’m pretty sure you will see an improvement if you give it a go.

Good luck.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Yes I’m overweight. I’m working on loosing weight just now.

[MrKenny]

Mine now has turned into a fast moving factory - Max 10 mins and try to kick you out for next patient. No longer that personal professional connection. It’s the system unlike many years back.

[Nous]

hi Cdg35 ... imo what happened to you is terrible ... for me it's an example of why it's super important to take a very active role in one's healthcare versus passively accepting and doing what healthcare providers want to do to us / for us

[Hidden in reply to Nous]

Thank you for replying. I’m just glad that I noticed this before having to get circumcised. I’m hoping now that the balanitis will clear permanently. As Mr Kenny said it’s like a factory now. Only allowed to talk about one condition per appointment they don’t look at your records they just throw more medications at you to combat the side affects of the other medication that they give you.

[Nous]

i'm glad you avoided circumcision too ... i agree with you ... whatever happened to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you " ?

[Hidden]

I had balanitis from dapagliflosin (same drug family) some years ago. It works by getting you to excrete more sugar in your urine. I was immediately taken of it and put on Byetta for a while. The balanitis went immediately and never came back.

[Kenage]

Patients also have to take responsibility for their own care. Dr's are not magicians with a magic pill to cure all. Society wants a pill or cream to cure something that they could have prevented with proper diet, exercise and basic cleaning. There's a reason why they say medical practitioners or they have been in practice for how ever many years. Put your part in your care, lose weight, eat a healthy diet, exercise and help yourself before complaining to your doctor that everything below your waist hurts. You are visiting a doctor office not Hogwarts. Cut us some slack and partner with your doctor to find a solution to the problem that you have partially created.

[Hidden in reply to Kenage]

You don’t know my medical background. You don’t know what I have tried and not tried. I have never had an issue with personal hygiene. We as patient put our trust in doctors and that the treatment they give us will help our issues. They have this e consult system they don’t read the information we right. They have our records in front of them they don’t read them. If my doctors had been doing their job properly they would have thought these are side affects of this tablet he is already on we better change this instead of giving more drugs or even suggest surgery to combat a problem caused by the medication already on. We are just a number now. I have had a few appointment with my doctors about my issues. God forbid you have to go over your 10 min slot. If I was like this in my job I would have been sacked. It shouldn’t take a patient with no medical training to diagnose the problem. That’s what doctors are trained and paid to do.

[Anonduck]

Drs have to know a lot of information and they probably don’t remember every side effect that could be possible for every drug, there are a lot of drugs in this world with even more side effects. You see a specialist about your diabetes I presume... who would have probably had more of a chance of connecting those dots as they specialise in one area.

If that was the first time you had read the leaflet then I personally would be asking you why you don’t feel it important to read this before starting on the medication...? I’m pretty sure every box tells you to read the leaflet before taking the medication inside of it? I’m glad you seem to have figured out the issue but at some point we all have to realise that drs aren’t mind readers and take a bit of responsibility for our health too.

[healthymale]

I'm glad you found out balanitis is a side-effect of your medication. I think you're correct that the medication caused your problem.It is sh***y that your doctor was ignorant of this. He/she should have known better. You went through all of this anguish for nothing. I wonder is he/she was setting you up for a circumcision to make a quick buck. Circumcision is a multi-million dollar business in North America. I think you should find a new doctor.

That being said, balanitis is more likely to happen in diabetics than non-diabetics. In a previous reply I suggested giving the glans and inner foreskin a good lathering daily to keep balanitis in check. Even though I am not diabetic, I have been doing this for years and I rarely had any problems with balanitis. Whenever I had problems, they were minor and paying extra attention to cleaning under the foreskin resolved the problem in a day or two. I know a lot of people discourage the use of soap for cleaning under the foreskin, but I have had no problems with this practice. I do agree that mild, scentless soap should be used if you go that way.

Best of luck in solving the balanitis problem and in getting proper medical care.

[Hidden in reply to healthymale]

Thanks for your reply. I’m off that tablet now. I’m still on the anti fungal cream for another week or so. I have been clear since a couple of days after starting the cream.

I wouldn’t say that my doctors were doing this deliberately or for financial gain. I’m in Scotland so it would have been on the nhs. My doctors are more like a factory even before the covid you could only speak about 1 problem per appointment and you only got a maximum of 10 minutes per appointment. You may need to wait another 4 weeks for the next appointment. Now due to covid most of the time you have to do an EConsult. Where you don’t even get to talk to the doctors. I believe that now that I have had thrush/ balanitis it’s a nightmare to get totally cleared of it. I’m a bit scared to stop the cream now.

[healthymale]

I hear you. I know it can be scary to stop using something that has been helping you, but you can experiment and see if daily washing under the foreskin is enough to prevent balanitis on its own. If not, you can always go back to using the cream.

[BalanitisHellHelp]

How are you doing these days? I'm in the same boat as you, apart from the diabetes...