In October's REDBOOK magazine there is an article "Health Lies All Women Tell (yes we mean you)" that I found to be very interesting.
They list the top 10 lies that most women tell their doctors. We may think these lies are just little fibs, but telling lies to your doctor can have serious consequences. Our dishonesty may be keeping your doctor from preventing heart attacks, pregnancy complications, even cancer.
- Of course, I floss.
- I'm not a big drinker.
- I've never had an STD (sexually transmitted disease).
- I'm monogamous.
- I don't smoke.
- I watch what I eat and exercise.
- I'm taking my medication the way you prescribed it.
- I use sunscreen every day.
- I'm not taking any medication.
- I always use birth control.
More than a quarter of women in the survey didn't believe their lies were a big deal. But lying to the person who really needs to know the truth--and is bound by doctor/patient privilege and federal law to keep that info private--can be a very big deal. When you tell even a fib, your doctor can't diagnose you correctly, which wastes your time and money and may keep him/her from giving treatment that could save your life.
Think about this when you are tempted to make like Pinocchio with your doctor.
Now, let's be honest. Do you ever lie to your doctor? (Men can answer, too. As I know they lie, too...remember I am a nurse and have heard it all)
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Comments: 51
The dentist is another story. I guess that's why he's made so much money off of me!
about my health, after all, they don't have all the answers,
and are just as unhealthy as we are, and need to take their
own advice.
Every time I go in and the nurse asks all those questions in the beginning about allergies, etc, there are a few that ALWAYS come up that make very little sense.
"How many drinks do you consume in a week?"
"Do you always wear your seatbelt?"
"On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is your pain?"
First of all, I don't drink often but it's never regular. I might want to have a glass of wine but I"m not going to throw the bottle if I don't finish it, so I might have a few glasses in a week. Then I might go for a few weeks without drinking anything at all. I can't just do an average in my head!
What does my seatbelt have anything to do with anything? It tells them if I'm a risk taker or not? Well sorry, but if I don't wear my seatbelt once or twice in a month does NOT mean I'm going to be doing all sorts of risky behaviors like unprotected sex with some random guy i met on the street, or anything else.
And how bad is the pain? They ask this every time I go. I could go in with something completely painless that is a completely different issue, and they STILL ask. And really, what am I comparing it to? I went in with a sinus infection a few weeks ago and was asked. I asked them if I should be comparing it to the worst pain I've ever felt in my life, the worst pain from a sinus infection I've ever had, or the worst pain I think I could possibly ever have at any given time for any reason. The answer would be completely different depending on which scenario they were asking. So why even bother asking if you're not going to be specific?
UGH. Sorry for the rant, I just hate going to the doctor.
The big one that I can think of now.....Could you be pregnant? No, my BF had a vasectomy 20 years ago. Are you on birth control? See the answer to the last question. Then they want me to take the darn pregnancy test anyway!
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Too often the results are as Cybergwen and Ron indicate. Many don't care. Many medical records are nothing but BS and your care is according to the latest articles in the Journal Medicine or what-have-you and people like MJ W though very smart in what she won't tell them is pushing their luck reporting adverse effects as this information, though required by law to be reported, is NEVER reported that is why many of the drugs that do more harm than good are on the market and people are taking them completely ill informed..
The area where this is most prevalent and the "doctors" are the worst is in the "mental health" machine the more brilliant the "doctor" thinks they are the less they know about their patients and the TSI's have become a drug pushers dream as the majority being acknowledged are designed to produce a desired result and not to determine a proper treatment.
I have asthma and would never dream of lying. Because if I did, I could end up being so out of breath that I could die.
That's dangerous to keep things from someone who's just trying to help you.
so no I don't lie to him/her...........
I was seeing my doc for chronic back pain. It was so bad for years that I could not even walk my dog. Not even a block, I was in so much pain. I had been to several doctors by that point to get some answers, but everyone stopped looking when they saw my weight. Even though I tried to explain that I was working on losing weight (and I have lost 55lbs) and that it does not come off overnight and I needed relief NOW.
After several months of MRI's, neurological tests, seeing specialists and what not, I had no solution. The only relief I could get came with smoking weed. I was begging my doctors for medication for the pain but they just would not give it to me.
Finally, I was crying hysterically in the doctors office because I could not even walk up my stairs because of the pain. I could not sleep, could not eat, could not walk, I was miserable. The weed only took the edge off the pain. I begged my doctor and finally he prescribed vicoden.
He told me that I would have to return weekly for drug tests. He said that was the law (But I found out is not). At that time, I told him I had been using weed and that it would show up in the drug test. He said "Hey, what you do behind your closed doors with your husband is your business, and if anyone asks, we will say you took a trip to CA to see a doctor out there. Don't worry about that." So, with some confidence, I went the next week and took the drug test.
I was called back to the doctors office - he is the only doctor in that practice. He told me without blinking, that I would not be seen by him again, that I was excused from his practice because my urine had cannabinoids in it. When I brought up our conversation last week when I told him that they would be in my urine and he said it wasn't a problem, he walked out. He refused to prescribe me any more pain medication for my back.
I talked to his office manager and nurse, and explained my situation. They said they know I told the doctor all of this and they were not sure why he was being like he was. They got him to allow me to continue seeing him, but about a month later I left.
I have a new doctor now, and she knows EVERYTHING. She is amazing... very supportive, and very non-judgmental. I love her. She did some more looking at my back, and because of her work, I now get epidurals for the pain once every 3-4 months. I no longer need vicoden or weed for the pain. I am walking 2 miles a night (a huge improvement from the block I was able to walk before), and I have lost 55lbs. I feel great, and I no longer dread going to the doctors.
Telling the truth to your doctor is important, but its just as important that your doctor does not fly off the handle when you do tell them.
First, that I actually tell the truth to the doctors I've seen throught my life. I figure they can't help if they don't have the facts to work with.
Second, and loudly, my mind was screaming . . . .
"DOCTOR??????? WHAT DOCTOR???????"
No insurance. No money. No doctor now.
#1 - I tell the nurses or doctors I floss because if I don't, I have to hear a long discussion of "pregnancy talk and teeth" or if not that, then they just "wouldn't understand. It hurts!"
#6 - Watching what you eat and exercise.... - Well, if I don't tell people I watch what I eat while pregnant, I get a long discussion of stuff I don't want to hear and exercise, that's a big lie. I tell them "yes, I walk sometimes." Then if asked how often, I tell them "Oh, I sometimes walk to the neighbor's house." My poor, poor neighbor! LOL!
I crave certain foods - cheese, dairy with this pregnancy, and if I told any doctor or nurse, all I want to do is eat cheese and milk with cereal all day, what do you think they would tell me while pregnant? OH GOD! I don't want to hear that long drawn food talk.
Exercise, if I tell them I don't exercise, they will tell me I'm "overweight or obese" and I simply don't want to be reminded about this problem. That wouldn't fix the overweight problem, so why talk about exercise if all you hear is "you need to lose weight" constantly and people can't offer the tips - you can do this and its easy exercise. It don't work that way and doctors/nurses aren't easy about how they respond on this. Its like smoking- many nurses and doctors put you down for making a mistake. You gotta be pretty much perfect in their eyes (so, why argue?)... Just tell them the lie and get out of the hospital bed. LOL
#7. - I'm taking my medication the way you prescribed it. If you tell your doctor you aren't taking medications, what will they think? It is pointless to see him/her. Instead of arguing about, "I think you should prescribe me this medicine instead or this may help more" just tell the lie and with hope and prayer; hope your condition will improve without the medicine, but go ahead and fill the prescription because if you don't, then your doctor may not have faith in you, and you may lose a good/bonding doctor that listens - like some don't.
#9 - I'm not taking any medication. - Its easier to say "I'm not taking any medication" because simply, if I tell the nurse I'm taking a blood pressure medicine, with this pregnancy, they may ask "Why' and I don't want to go into detail about my blood pressure going up due to my child being taken. I feel too horrible as it is with my kid gone, why have to talk about things? Telling them you aren't taking anything - does NOT lead to so many questions. And some medicines are embarrassing to say for example: anxiety meds because then you have to hear the nurse say "You know what helps that...." and then you're like "omg, not another long drawn story. I'm tired and want to leave the hospital to go home!"
#10 - I always use birth control. LOL!!! This is a funny one. I don't know much about birth control and I don't want to keep the doctor in the office for an hour, explaining it over and over, so I just told him "yes, I'm taking it, but I think I had an allergic reaction and that's why I got pregnant again." I have a 9 month old and am 7 months pregnant... Does that say anything?
I'm still trying to find a good birth control, but most likely, I will go back to that embarrassing thing again and get pregnant or either, have 3 kids till I'm 21 and then with government insurance (will not pay for tubes tied until 21) - get my tubes tied at 21.