I’m low-income in Los Angeles, California and am on Medi-Cal. I found this youngish (I want to say late 30’s) doctor 3 years ago that took my insurance. I felt he was awesome at first. He was very savvy, and it was much easier to communicate with him than the super old doctors I’ve had in the past. He also had raving reviews on multiple sites, and even has 5 stars with 300 reviews on yelp.
He was upfront about not prescribing unnecessary medication or treatments, and I thought he was looking out for my best interest at the time. One example was, I get frequent gallstone attacks, and after some painful visits in the emergency room, I finally asked about getting my gallbladder removed (which was recommend at the ER). My doctor convinced me not to go through with the surgery because he felt the risk of surgery complications outweighed the discomfort I got. Eventually, every time I would inquire about something, he’d just tell me to live with it as long as it wasn’t life threatening.
However, this year, I noticed he’s become incredible incredulous. Just constant scoffing at me and making me feel like I’m crazy. One example that pops out is, I sustained an injury while doing deadlifts at the gym. I just had intense nerve pain from my lower back down my legs. I initially self-diagnosed after doing some research online as a slipped disc. I went to two different chiropractors who diagnosed it as a slipped disc. I told my doctor what they told me, and he laughed at me and asked “how would I know?”. It was incredibly awkward.
When I requested to check my hormone levels through my blood test 6 months ago, my doctor told me it was unnecessary because even if my levels were off, there wasn’t anything that could be done about it (I think he was referring to my insurance). I told him I just wanted to know out of curiosity and because my dad and grandfather both had low-testosterone levels and my mom has osteoporosis. When he gets the results, he just tells me I’m fine and everything looks normal. He never explains anything to me though. I showed my lab results to a physician friend and he told me I was very low on testosterone and everything was not fine.
I asked to put in another request for a blood work today and when he was checking the boxes on the sheet for what to test for, I asked if he could check the hormone panel again. He had a very passive-aggressive tone and said, “this is the last time I’m doing this for you. Every time we check your hormones, its fine.” I didn’t know how to respond, and I didn’t want to cause any drama, so I just said okay. I don’t understand why it’s difficult to monitor my hormones. Isn’t the doctor just checking the boxes? Is he footing the bill or doing something extra?
I don’t know how to handle this situation. Should I bring up his attitude or would that just make it awkward? Should I just find a new doctor all together? I did some research today and found that all the doctors in my vicinity have very bad reviews, especially compared to my current doctor.
submitted by /u/SoOutofMyLeague
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I’m low-income in Los Angeles, California and am on Medi-Cal. I found this youngish (I want to say late 30’s) doctor 3 years ago that took my insurance. I felt he was awesome at first. He was very savvy, and it was much easier to communicate with him than the super old doctors I’ve had in the past. He also had raving reviews on multiple sites, and even has 5 stars with 300 reviews on yelp. He was upfront about not prescribing unnecessary medication or treatments, and I thought he was looking out for my best interest at the time. One example was, I get frequent gallstone attacks, and after some painful visits in the emergency room, I finally asked about getting my gallbladder removed (which was recommend at the ER). My doctor convinced me not to go through with the surgery because he felt the risk of surgery complications outweighed the discomfort I got. Eventually, every time I would inquire about something, he’d just tell me to live with it as long as it wasn’t life threatening. However, this year, I noticed he’s become incredible incredulous. Just constant scoffing at me and making me feel like I’m crazy. One example that pops out is, I sustained an injury while doing deadlifts at the gym. I just had intense nerve pain from my lower back down my legs. I initially self-diagnosed after doing some research online as a slipped disc. I went to two different chiropractors who diagnosed it as a slipped disc. I told my doctor what they told me, and he laughed at me and asked “how would I know?”. It was incredibly awkward. When I requested to check my hormone levels through my blood test 6 months ago, my doctor told me it was unnecessary because even if my levels were off, there wasn’t anything that could be done about it (I think he was referring to my insurance). I told him I just wanted to know out of curiosity and because my dad and grandfather both had low-testosterone levels and my mom has osteoporosis. When he gets the results, he just tells me I’m fine and everything looks normal. He never explains anything to me though. I showed my lab results to a physician friend and he told me I was very low on testosterone and everything was not fine. I asked to put in another request for a blood work today and when he was checking the boxes on the sheet for what to test for, I asked if he could check the hormone panel again. He had a very passive-aggressive tone and said, “this is the last time I’m doing this for you. Every time we check your hormones, its fine.” I didn’t know how to respond, and I didn’t want to cause any drama, so I just said okay. I don’t understand why it’s difficult to monitor my hormones. Isn’t the doctor just checking the boxes? Is he footing the bill or doing something extra? I don’t know how to handle this situation. Should I bring up his attitude or would that just make it awkward? Should I just find a new doctor all together? I did some research today and found that all the doctors in my vicinity have very bad reviews, especially compared to my current doctor.
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