[Mc_Big_G]

Doctors were baffled. Treatments didn't help. And Lindsay eventually realized that if he wanted his life back, he would have to do it himself.

This applies to almost any health problem you might encounter in the US. It's rare to find a doctor who actually cares and even more rare to find one that will dig deep to help you.

One of the greatest lies ever told is that you can trust your doctor and that there isn't more you can do if the doctor says so.

[joeax]

The problem probably lies somewhere between afraid of getting sued and not wanting to shake the medical groupthink apple cart.

Last year I was suffering through a bout of strange fatigue that came about right after a mysterious throat infection. There were days I could barely go up the stairs without being winded or without assistance. I googled around and started reading about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and found this large, shadow community of millions of sufferers. Many of these people have had these symptoms for years, and when they go to the doctor they are simply told "It's all in your head," and if lucky, they'll run some tests and prescribe something that gives them temporary relief.

I asked my cousin who is a doctor about his opinion on CFS, and he told me it was difficult to diagnose and even harder to treat. The most they will do is refer you to a specialist or even psychiatrist.

After a couple months my fatigue went away on its own. But I did find that creatine helped. And this has been backed by others in the CFS community who have stated that eating raw meat relieves their symptoms (natural creatine in meat is destroyed once cooked). But a doctor would never tell me that, because if there isn't conclusive proof from a medical journal and/or a big pharma drug to prescribe, they are either too afraid or unwilling to say anything.

[h2odragon]

You probably can trust your doctor, but look at his situation. You're one of how many patients he's seeing today? You're a valued customer and the Doctor even likes you, and still he cannot give your problems a fraction of the attention you do.

I find it puzzling that so many people's first (and often only) reaction to health problems is "see what the doctor says," never granting themselves agency or permission to conclude they're actually sick or try a treatment that someone else didn't recommend.

[DangitBobby]

I hate to say it, but I think that having someone in a clinical setting that serves as a patient rep (like a doctor lawyer) that the doctor is actually interested in listening to could be helpful. The biggest issue is patients don't know what's important to say, and doctors don't have the time or patience to probe the patient for enough details.