What? Not the all time classic "My system is different than everyone else's and medicines affect me differently"?

Kinda thin-skinned...

I especially like #5 and #11. I hear those daily. How about "98 degrees is a fever for me"?

Given the stonewalling of pharmaceutical companies, the go-along to get-along attitude of the FDA and the tendency of too many docs to repeat what the last pharma-sponsored CME soundbite told them? Woe betide the patient who does not research their medications on the internet, I say that with genuine sorrow. Internet research is the worst way to find these things out ... except for all the other ways. Especially "asking your doctor", which is a fool's game when it comes to pharmaceuticals. Most doctors will briskly deny even the side effects which the drug mfr is obligated to advertise on TV! I would recommend RxISK.org as the most reliable and information rich site; if you can get your doc to look at it, that's a sign of a good doc.

Well, I am sensitive to medication - my ssri is at 1/3 the normal minimum dose because I over-react to it and can't function on a full dose, I am not allowed antibiotics because I have reacted to so many, including the last one I had which attacked my liver and landed me in hospital.....

But I'm autistic!

Fortunately I have a GP who understands that not everybody who says they are sensitive to medication is being a pain in the neck. For this to be the number 1 hate for doctors just shows how ignorant some of them are.

Well the #1 thing that I, a patient, worry about is what doctors AREN'T telling me.

Is it because clinical research is still up in the air? (just tell me that- I get it).

Is it because the % of patients that have poor prognosis with xyz disease is low? (I want to hope for the best yet have knowledge of the worst).

Is it because certain serious side effects with xyz medication is small? (It is my right to know!)

Is it because you, the doctor, are having a busy day and tell me my pathology is benign when it's not- because you only glanced at it and had no idea I'd read it myself?

Lastly, I worry about what I'm NOT being told by doctors simply because they don't want me to worry. Ironic... isn't it?

So now I do research on the internet; only I don't go to patient forums and unreliable sources. Instead I buy recently published textbooks and look at clinical studies. I wish I didn't feel the need to do this- I am well aware that I have no formal education and most importantly no field knowledge in medicine- I was really counting on you, the doctor, for all this..... but I can't trust most of my MDs anymore because their concern for me "not to worry" is greater in their minds than my right to be informed and make choices based on that information.

But PLEASE, don't ignore the remarks advanced by patients who have diligently researched and studied the ailment they are dealing with in order to insure their appropriate treatment. There could be along list of what patients also either don't want to hear, or don't hear because the physician doesn't want to provide anymore explanation than he/she wants to apparently avoid further discussion, get the patient out of the examination room, and on to the next patient. Too many patients unfortunately experience a multitude of side effects from treatment that could have been eased had the physician taken the important time of explaining those side effects that might occur and what the patient can do to ease them.

After 30 years in primary care ... these are routine and don't bother me anymore. Actually they open up an opportunity to bond and get to know the patient and family better. "Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace - Dalai Lama"

Thanks for the office humor...needed a chuckle this afternoon :D

They do not like to hear
I got 2nd Medical opinion stating I do not need to do this surgery.
Generating revenue for their own practice should come 2nd and the right healthcare treatment first.
That's why Physicians / Dentist/ Hospital CEOs',, should be working on salary and be educated that Healthcare is a "Public Service". It is an extension to the fire department, Military, teaching filed.

"I am very sensitive to all medications."
"It hurts all over."
"I can't exercise."
"I read on the Internet..."
"98 degrees is a fever for me."
"That's not what my other doctor said."

If you want your patients to stop annoying you with these statements, stop doing an exclusion and symptom management model as your first (or only) course of action and start using a positive diagnosis and treatment model instead. The book When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnosis and Unnecessary Tests by Len and Kosowsky is a great place to start. "I've ruled out all the horses, so let's start looking for zebras," should be a common mantra when these "difficult" patients come in.

Why would docs spend their time making mocking and derisive complaints like this instead of spending the exact same time to diagnose, for example, the 1:2500-5000 patients they see with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is frequently misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia or seronegative arthritis? (It also commonly includes med sensitivity, pain, low temps, dysautonomia and exercise intolerance.) Five minutes in a clinical setting and decades or even generations of systemic problems are all of a sudden explained. These patient complaints can lead to you being an agent of knowledge, understanding, hope, and healing.

With physician morale already so low, this macabre "humor" does not allow physicians to pull through with a laugh and return renewed to their profession. Nor does it restore patients' trust in physicians. This article only perpetuates and increases the gap, hurting all involved. Stop complaining about patients presenting with uncommon symptoms and start figuring out what's going on to cause them. Be doctors, for heavens sake! Then you will go home happy and fulfilled, reveling in how these clues led you quickly to the correct diagnosis and treatment/management model. And your patients will go home praising you, too. That will lead to some real laughs worth sharing.