Inspired by Ice water/weight gain thread - stupid things you've heard from doctors

[ms.yt]

After reading the ridiculous assertion that a doctor claimed drinking ice water could make you gain weight, I thought it would be fun to share stories about crazy things we've heard over the years from medical professionals. Not trying to bash doctors or anything, but we all know there are some out there that aren't the best and brightest. Heck, I'm a teacher, and I know plenty of educators that don't have much going on upstairs! I'll get us started.

I had a friend who was a smoker. When she was pregnant her doctor (who wasn't an ob, but a small town gp) told her that it would be okay to smoke through her pregnancy because if she was craving a cigarette, then so was her baby. He said that was much worse for the baby than anything smoking would do to him.

When I was pregnant with my youngest, I went for a follow up with my surgeon who had performed my lap band. He chastised me for gaining weight, even though I was 4 months pregnant. He told me that there was no reason for any woman to gain weight during pregnancy. He was always such a jerk, but that one really got to me!

 

[terri01p]

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I twisted my ankle at work several years ago and ended up chipping a bone. I had to go to a worker's comp clinic instead of my own doctor and the place was awful. I would have to wait up to 2 hours past my appointment time and saw a different doctor everytime and they would often contradict what the previous doctor said.

I had this one doctor who asked me if I was having trouble driving since my right ankle was injured. I said, no, my car is an automatic. I can easily use my right foot for the gas pedal and can brake with my left foot so I don't have to move my right foot back and forth. The doctor said, "You can't brake with your left foot!" I asked why not. She practically shouted, "It's illegal!" Really? My dad taught me to drive and said I should learn to brake with both feet. He often used his left foot when he was driving a patrol car all day and his right foot would get tired. Yep, a cop taught me to brake with my left foot! Besides, how would a traffic cop know you're braking with your left foot? Like they can see into your car and pull you over for it? I couldn't wait to get cleared and stop going to that place!

 

[MizTink]

i went to a doctor (as a teen) for joint pain. my dad was diagnose with rheumatoid arthritis really young. anyways, i guess i tested negative. so the doctor goes on to say that my problem was my weight. i was barely overweight. i mean BARELY. whatever......except this was his same snswer to my jaw locking, popping, and hurting. turned out to be tmj.
maybe he thought i chewed a lot!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I had a friend who was a smoker. When she was pregnant her doctor (who wasn't an ob, but a small town gp) told her that it would be okay to smoke through her pregnancy because if she was craving a cigarette, then so was her baby. He said that was much worse for the baby than anything smoking would do to him.

My OB told me something to the same effect...and he is one of the best high risk docs in my area. Before I got preggo I smoked and drank a ton of caffine. He said to quit one at a time so I don't spaz...I had no trouble quitting both with the exception of a coke or 2.

He told me "well quit falling asleep in the lazy boy chair and your problems will be solved".

I also was having some other problems with my pregnancy. I told him how I felt at work (sick...light headed...later found out I had high BP) and he said, "So stop working."

 

[Mermaid02]

My son was having anxiety issues... I had just gone back to school and he had to go to daycare before school (not after, I was out by then).... anyway the doctor said to me-

"He doesn't want to be a daycare kid.... WHY does he have to be a daycare kid?"

I just looked at him.... I'm rarely speechless but I was that day.

 

[dakcp2001]

I just had a Dr refer me to a weight loss clinic that has you take amphetamines three times a day as an appetite suppresant while you eat only 500 calories of protein a day Thanks doc, that sounds super healthy! After I heard about the clinic I called the Doc to ask if she had been confused ro made a mistake. Nope! I looked up the appetite suppresant and it said highly addictive. Awesome! So I asked my Doc if she could just write me a prescription for them herself and she said no way. lol. SO send me somewhere to take something so awful you wont prescribe it. NO thanks!

 

[dazeddaisy]

DF had the flu a few years ago. Proper flu where he was so ill he could not get out of bed. Called the doc to make sure it was just flu and the doc advised him to cut out butter from his diet.

I fell really hard on my knee and after a day or so it still hurt so I went to the doctor. I was told to take some asprin, a hot bath and keep my leg raised. Turns out my patella was shattered. It was so bad I had to get my patella replaced by a metal plate thing. The hospital was surprised the doc missed it since my knee was pretty much no existant.

 

[golfgal]

When the kids were little every time you would bring them into the dr they always had a "virus". Now, I only brought the kids in when they were really sick and often "knew" what they had, ear infection or pneumonia were the usual suspects at our house. One year Dd had bronchitis that was "just an virus" -which I know can be viral but it had been going on for MONTHS--that turned out to be asthma. DS was told he had a "virus" when he actually had pneumonia in both lungs.

The worst was the week we brought DD home from having stomach surgery and we found out that DS17's best friend at the time had Whooping Cough. Well, DS started coughing and he sounded JUST like the cough on the internet so we called the dr to get him an antibiotic. DD had not been vaccinated for whooping cough because of a medical condition. The dr INSISTED that it was viral and they couldn't do anything about it. I finally had to bring in information that whooping cough is indeed bacterial before they would give DD anything to prevent her from getting it.

It was the only clinic around so we didn't have a choice but go there.

 

[WDWBarb]

A few years ago I fell and shattered my wrist. I was referred to a surgeon and he placed an external fixation device on me. After wearing it for 7 weeks, he removed it but then admitted that he had made a mistake and the surgery wasn't a success. He said I'd have some movement in my wrist, but certainly not as much as anticipated. I asked him if it would worsen with age and he said, "Well, you could very well get hit by a bus on the way out of here today so I don't feel like I have to answer that question."

Um... wha??? You just botched my surgery and you're also being a jerk to me? His nurse followed me out of the room and apologized on his behalf. She was very nice - I felt sorry for her, having to work for him!!

 

[Katieinwonderland]

About a year ago I was at the Dr getting a prescription for Valium - I'm terrified of flying and take them to stop me freaking out on the plane. The Dr asked where I was going and I told him it was an eight hour flight from Florida to England. As he was writing the prescription, he was telling me about relaxation techniques, therapy that could help etc...then he mentioned "or you could just drive there!"

To England.

From Florida.

I mentioned that it would take an awfully long time and my car might not survive the Atlantic Ocean. He looked at me and said, "oh right. The ocean. Whoops!"

 

[Angelrose]

When I was around 15 I went to the dr to tell him about the terrible cramps I got with my period. What was his advice???

Everyone gets them. Don't worry about it. HUH?

 

[Mermaid02]

When I was around 15 I went to the dr to tell him about the terrible cramps I got with my period. What was his advice???

Everyone gets them. Don't worry about it. HUH?

Spoken like a true man...........

 

[KandD]

I saw a nutritionist once that asked me if I drank while I was eating. And I responded, "No, I really only drink alcohol when I go out." And he says, 'No, I mean drink any type of liquids." And of course I reply yes.
He continues to tell me that I should take one or two sips of water before I start eating just to wet my palate and then don't drink anything again until a half hour after I finished eating.
Umm....and HOW is this supposed to help me with my nutrition??

 

[MizTink]

i've heard that before about drinking during a meal. i can't remember the exact reason though........

 

[cheerful chickadee]

at my ds's 4yr well child check-up I mentioned to his ped that he was a very picky eater and I asked for suggestions or for info on a supplement. He asked me if ds gets lots of sweets and junk food and I said "no except for at Grandma's house -you know how Grandma's are, I ask her not to give him that junk but he ends up with it anyways". The ped responds "well it is their house, their rules, what they say goes". I don't think so, my child, MY rules. So then he says "then maybe he needs to stay away from Grandma so he doesn't get all those sweets, limit contact". Okay buddy.

At my regular dental check-up my doc mentioned that sooner or later I will need my one wisdom tooth removed as it was growing in kinda funky, I agreed and asked for a referral to an oral surgeon for a consult. The oral surg. comes in and he is wearing a scrub top with a huge tuft of chest hair coming out the top of the v-neck and he has on a huge chunky gold chain, he was also overly tanned and leathery. His appearance just threw me off for some reason. We make some small talk and I mention we've paid off our trip to disney and that we're leaving in a week and that I'd wait until we came back for the wisdom tooth removal. He then goes on a 10 min lecture of how irresponsible it is to go on a vacation and neglect my tooth and that if it were him he would cancel his trip and have surgery, he doesn't care how much money he would lose on his vacation, if you have money to go on vacation then you have money to have your tooth removed (who ever said anything about the money?). I was speechless, I've never had a medical professional speak to me like that, it was supposed to be a consult! needless to say, I never went back and I let my dentist know what a creep he referred me to.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I've had two incidents that really boil my blood with doctors related to their stupidity:

I saw the physician at my school health center for bouts of low blood sugar. I told her that it typically happened within a half an hour of eating. She accused me of lying about it, said everyone has episodes of low blood sugar, and told me I was overreacting. She refused to perform a single test. It took me another year before I went to a different doc (at the urging of the DIS) and found out I had diabetes. Apparently she has never heard of reactive hypoglycemia.

After I moved here it took me awhile to find a good doc who would listen to me. I saw an endo at one of the local hospitals. He told me since my a1c (blood sugar average) was good, I had nothing to worry about. This was after I told him I experience low blood sugar 3-4 times a week and often end up well over 200 after meals. He said that the lows were "annoying but not dangerous." I was furious with him over that statement. I want to see him try to drive a car, operate a roller coaster, or restrain a violent child when he is so low he can barely stand up. It's more than just an "annoyance." I never went back.

 

[PlainJane]

i've heard that before about drinking during a meal. i can't remember the exact reason though........

I've heard it too.

Something about neutralizing enzymes that are supposed to help breakdown the food.

The most ridiculous thing I've been told by a doctor was that I was too young to have shingles. I did have shingles BTW. The doctor also didn't offer any explanations of what the skin condition could be if it weren't shingles. Also didn't offer a consult to a dermatologist.

My family has a long line of being told they were too young to have various conditions. We do get them younger than usual, but not at unheard of ages.

 

[ms.yt]

I forgot another related to my lap band. With a lap band, if you don't chew your food about 30 times before you swallow, it can become lodged, blocking any more food or even water. Besides the fact that you can't eat or drink if this happens, it is also very painful. It basically feels like you've swallowed a jagged rock! Well, one time over a July 4th weekend, I ate a piece of steak and apparently didn't chew it enough first. For several hours I tried to see if it would correct itself, but it became obvious it wouldn't. The only solution at that point (which my surgeon had stressed was the appropriate course of action) is to go see him to have the band loosened so the food can go down.

I called his office, but he was out of town for the weekend, so I got the doctor who was on call for him. I had thought that my surgeon was the most hateful doctor I had ever encountered, but I was wrong. This woman was rude, and she told me right away that she didn't have any experience with a lap band. She also clearly didn't want to have to go to the ER on a holiday weekend. Her solution for me was to mix up a solution of meat tenderizer & water and sip it to try to break down the steak! I tried this for about 3 hours, but since you can't even keep water down when this happens, it was obviously not going to work. When I called her back, she yelled at me for calling her back so soon because I should have known it would take several days for this to work! I told her I wasn't waiting several days & she needed to meet me at the ER! When I got there, all the nurses told me I was in for a real treat because apparently she had already shown her lovely personality to them! It was a horrible experience all the way around!

 

[Ppufi]

This happened to me while I was sleeping, but my mom filled me in. It really pissed her off.

I had to get a port put in, and I guess they inserted something in my neck to help guide them. (I was nine at the time, so I wasn't really informed about things.) Anyways, I had stitches on my neck from this. They were there for a little bit. But one morning, while I was sleeping, a nurse came into my room (at the hospital) and started to remove the stitches! My mother was fuming. I could've awaken during this ordeal, screwing up my neck, or just have become completely traumatized. Thankfully I didn't wake up, but my mom gave the women plenty of lip.