Being negatively judged by healthcare professionals because ur a user or previous user

[Arthur Morgan]

Yeah. It does suck to be judged and mistreated for having a disease (addiction) and I have had my own experiences myself though at times I realized I was just being projecting.

The most recent time I clearly wasn’t projecting though. My wife actually cried when the doctor left the room because she said she sees how some medical professionals treat addicts now. Basically, I set an appointment up when I completed inpatient rehab for follow up care. They put me in vyvanse in rehab and I knew some outpatient doctors would have issues with that.

So I called one of the places that left their flyer at the treatment center for aftercare and asked if they would have issue with it and they said no, taht it wouldn’t be an issue continuing my medication. Note I have trialed non stimulants before and they either weren’t effective or had intolerable side effects.

Well, she came in the room and after reviewing what I told the nurse regarding what medications I am on, she accused me of lying about being prescribed 60mg vyvanse and said she only sees the 10mg vyvanse. (They put me on a booster dose inpatient)

And I pulled up my cvs pharmacy profile and showed her my prescriptions being that they sent me prescriptions to bridge the gap between the appointments when I completed inpatient. And she said that doesn’t matter. She didn’t apologize for essentially calling ne a liar or anything and then went onto lie to me by telling me that vyvanse is only prescribed for children with adhd and that the only treatment for adults is Welbutrin and guancifine.

I explained the side effects I get from guancifine and how I trialed strattera (liver issues) and Welbutrin (ineffective) before which is why I’m in vyvanse. And you know what she did? She said “well I’m sending a prescription for guancifine and you can take it or leave it. Guancifine caused me severe crippling depression which is a known side effect. And I mean severe. And I was happy and things going well when I tried it.

So, yeah, I left the office and called and politkey canceled all future appointments and went back to my old doctor who I didn’t want to go to because he prescribed me adderral last time I used to see him last year and I wanted to stay in vyvanse.

Fortunately, when I went back to him he asked me if I wanted to stay in the vyvanse or go back on adderral IR. I stayed in the vyvanse. And he is an addiction specialist board certified. Has his own methadone clinic at his practice and suboxone clinic.and I know I said doctor but the one that was rude to me at the previous place was a NP and I think it’s just that people that are actual specialists in addiction know that untreated ADHD can lead to self medicating.

I did relapse though if I’m being honest but I’m back on track with my meds.
I just went to a lower dose that doesn’t cause euphoria but treats ky symptoms. Euphoria caused by medications is a major trigger for me so we corrected that.

Anyhow, I feel your pain man.

Too many doctors and nurses see addiction as a weakness in the person no matter their circumstances or how life led them there. My wife is a nurse & has a more evolved view than most medical professionals because she’s had to take care of me & helped get me into a methadone program. Any time I’ve gotten clean without, I relapsed. This is the only way I’ve stayed straight. Anyway, a lot of times I dont catch when a doctor makes a smart @$$ remark, but she does. The last time I was in the ER & was honest that I was a methadone patient, the nurse didn’t ask when I last took my medicine, she asked “when’s the last time you used” referring to my methadone prescription! My wife caught it immediately! Then the doctor I saw argued with us that there wasn’t even a methadone clinic in our town! There were 2 at the time! She never did back down, claimed we were wrong! On top of it, they did what wicked people do to addicts & that was give me no help whatsoever! If the government really wants to help addicts, don’t just try to outlaw pain meds & open methadone clinics! Force health care workers to be educated on the disease that is addiction the same way they force people to be “educated” about 55 different genders! They’d rather do that than to educate them on saving people’s lives!

PS That last line is not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings & im not saying anything bad about your choices in life, im just pointing out a sad fact!

 

[golego55]

We definitely are the ones that pay for being honest. Pretty fucked up that we have to lie about our own health to get better treatment if even.

If anything you'd think some healthcare workers would understand and be compassionate given that mental illness can be a huge stigma for those working in healthcare.

 

[VerbalTruist]

If anything you'd think some healthcare workers would understand and be compassionate given that mental illness can be a huge stigma for those working in healthcare.

They definitely do exist. I have managed to find good doctors in addiction medicine who treat me like a human being.

 

[Survival0200]

I was once treated quite boldly at a dentist. Apparently he could see my other medical records from the computer. When I went there he abruptly mentioned my mental health diagnosis at the beginning of the appointment. It's sad if you are treated in an unfriendly manner just because you have mental health problems. Does it make you a lower level human?

 

[Hooper625]

I was experiencing severe back pain. It was a Sat morning and my family dr called in vicodin (2004) It didn't touch the pain. Dr told me to go to the ER they could maybe give me an injection. 6AM Sunday morning I walk into the ER with my mom. Nothing showed on the x-ray. The ER Dr decided I was drug seeking. He called my family Dr who did not stick up for me and would not give me stronger pain pills after this. I had to get a new Dr in case I ever needed pain meds. This was years before I was a full-blown addict.
There's a fun ending to this story. Two days later I had an MRI that showed a ruptured disc. I know someone that works at the hospital. The head of emergency medicine called me and apologized. He said the Dr was disciplined appropriately (which I'm sure was nothing). Asshole. To this day I will not go back to this hospital.

 

[Hexenstahl]

I have to honestly say this after reading all these posts: I'm glad I never encountered doctors like these in my life so far. It makes me even more thankful for what I have. I think I may have encountered one or two docs who were incompetent idiots, but never prejudiced or arrogant. They never treated me with a condescending attitude.They all knew I am an addict and were either professional enough to not let personal opinions seep through, didn't care, or were intelligent and educated enough to know how addiction is not a lack of integrity of character or something like that.
Doctors in america and the UK seem to be very different animals than our doctors here. I'm not sure if that is due to cultural differences or differences in our educational systems.

He was probably a dushbag all the time because his own kid was a drug addict. I shouldn't have used that against him like that.

NEVER feel sorry for people like this! Always keep in mind that the war on drugs (war on addicts) exists because of people like him. It is because of these brainwashed sheeple, who can't think outside the box that the system puts over their head, that we still continue to suffer unneccessarily. They don't feel for us, right? So why should we feel for them...

 

[Arthur Morgan]

I was experiencing severe back pain. It was a Sat morning and my family dr called in vicodin (2004) It didn't touch the pain. Dr told me to go to the ER they could maybe give me an injection. 6AM Sunday morning I walk into the ER with my mom. Nothing showed on the x-ray. The ER Dr decided I was drug seeking. He called my family Dr who did not stick up for me and would not give me stronger pain pills after this. I had to get a new Dr in case I ever needed pain meds. This was years before I was a full-blown addict.
There's a fun ending to this story. Two days later I had an MRI that showed a ruptured disc. I know someone that works at the hospital. The head of emergency medicine called me and apologized. He said the Dr was disciplined appropriately (which I'm sure was nothing). Asshole. To this day I will not go back to this hospital.

I had a similar experience in the Army if you can believe that! It didn’t concern being labeled an addict, just getting proper help. My wife is a nurse & was able to get a job at the Army hospital on post because of me being active duty. My sick call doc referred me to a specific doctor to get my back checked. I didn’t get to see him, I saw an overbearing Major! He came out with the MRI & said I had nothing wrong. I just needed to exercise more & if I’d dedicate myself to working hard, I’d be one of many who came back & thanked him later! I asked if he had spoken with the doc about it! He claimed he did. My wife was speechless & I was in tears! She went to work that night. She happened to be on good terms with a neurosurgeon who she told what happened & asked her to look at my MRI. She agreed to & told my wife that Major Page was an asshole & no one liked him! Turned out I had degeneration in 3 discs. 1 was almost gone, the other 2 were pretty far into it, but not as bad! She went to the doctor herself & set up another appointment for me! When I went back in & saw that bastard Major Page, he turned his head & pretended not to see me! He tried to fuck me up worse than I already was! That is expected with some civilian doctors, but I would never have thought it would happen in the Army. That was at Ft. Bliss in El Paso in 2009.

 

[feelingood7282]

Too many doctors and nurses see addiction as a weakness in the person no matter their circumstances or how life led them there. My wife is a nurse & has a more evolved view than most medical professionals because she’s had to take care of me & helped get me into a methadone program. Any time I’ve gotten clean without, I relapsed. This is the only way I’ve stayed straight. Anyway, a lot of times I dont catch when a doctor makes a smart @$$ remark, but she does. The last time I was in the ER & was honest that I was a methadone patient, the nurse didn’t ask when I last took my medicine, she asked “when’s the last time you used” referring to my methadone prescription! My wife caught it immediately! Then the doctor I saw argued with us that there wasn’t even a methadone clinic in our town! There were 2 at the time! She never did back down, claimed we were wrong! On top of it, they did what wicked people do to addicts & that was give me no help whatsoever! If the government really wants to help addicts, don’t just try to outlaw pain meds & open methadone clinics! Force health care workers to be educated on the disease that is addiction the same way they force people to be “educated” about 55 different genders! They’d rather do that than to educate them on saving people’s lives!

PS That last line is not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings & im not saying anything bad about your choices in life, im just pointing out a sad fact!

Thank you Arthur for sharing your experience..I bet your wife (being a nurse) sees and hears ALOT of those prejudice, unnecessary smartass remarks among other healthcare professionals she works with.....some are ok, some have NO business being in the medical field.Medical field should be for those who are exceptionally caring and non judgemental !!!! Ofcourse they thought you were lying bout the methadone clinics ...they prob think ....your all doped up on that methadone and dnt know what your talking bout...LOL. or that u "seeking". Their options of you change IMMEDIATELY the second they see that you are on a controlled substance...esp.methadone. Thanks again Arthur !! Awesome that you have a wife looking out for you that catches ALL comments that those assholes slide in. That way you can decide about going elsewhere or different Dr. Ty

 

[feelingood7282]

I had a similar experience in the Army if you can believe that! It didn’t concern being labeled an addict, just getting proper help. My wife is a nurse & was able to get a job at the Army hospital on post because of me being active duty. My sick call doc referred me to a specific doctor to get my back checked. I didn’t get to see him, I saw an overbearing Major! He came out with the MRI & said I had nothing wrong. I just needed to exercise more & if I’d dedicate myself to working hard, I’d be one of many who came back & thanked him later! I asked if he had spoken with the doc about it! He claimed he did. My wife was speechless & I was in tears! She went to work that night. She happened to be on good terms with a neurosurgeon who she told what happened & asked her to look at my MRI. She agreed to & told my wife that Major Page was an asshole & no one liked him! Turned out I had degeneration in 3 discs. 1 was almost gone, the other 2 were pretty far into it, but not as bad! She went to the doctor herself & set up another appointment for me! When I went back in & saw that bastard Major Page, he turned his head & pretended not to see me! He tried to fuck me up worse than I already was! That is expected with some civilian doctors, but I would never have thought it would happen in the Army. That was at Ft. Bliss in El Paso in 2009.

WOW !!!! it is shocking that even in the military you are STILL judged and looked down upon. That asshole Major Page should see what it feels like to have back pain due to bulged n herniated discs. What a total ASS !!!!!! Amazing how .....if we say something hurts and for whatever reason they can't "see" (X-RAY MRI,CT SCAN,etc.) the reason.....then the person MUST be "seeking". UNREAL but that's how it is unfortunately!!!

 

[feelingood7282]

If anything you'd think some healthcare workers would understand and be compassionate given that mental illness can be a huge stigma for those working in healthcare.

Hi golego55 ... Agreed!¡. Definitely!!!! ALL healthcare professionals/workers are supposed to be unbiased and nonjudgmental setting all personal opinions aside .....and do what they are trained to do .....TREAT (or at least try to)THE MEDICAL ISSUE AT HAND .....NOT PERSONALLY JUDGE our choices or situations. This is NOT how it's supposed to be!!!!

 

[feelingood7282]

I was experiencing severe back pain. It was a Sat morning and my family dr called in vicodin (2004) It didn't touch the pain. Dr told me to go to the ER they could maybe give me an injection. 6AM Sunday morning I walk into the ER with my mom. Nothing showed on the x-ray. The ER Dr decided I was drug seeking. He called my family Dr who did not stick up for me and would not give me stronger pain pills after this. I had to get a new Dr in case I ever needed pain meds. This was years before I was a full-blown addict.
There's a fun ending to this story. Two days later I had an MRI that showed a ruptured disc. I know someone that works at the hospital. The head of emergency medicine called me and apologized. He said the Dr was disciplined appropriately (which I'm sure was nothing). Asshole. To this day I will not go back to this hospital.

Thanks Hooper625 for sharing your experience!!! DAMNNN !!! Sounds like they really fucked up !!! Misreading the MRI AND treating you like you like u had nothing better to do but hang out at the ER and try to get pain meds. I would love to truly believe that the incompetent Dr you saw was actually disciplined but ????? hard to say really if he actually was. Certainly deserves to be !!!!!!! Too bad your family Dr didn't stick up for you... especially since he knows you well....being your family Dr. Hope your back is doing better now. I know how that feels !!! TY again.

I was experiencing severe back pain. It was a Sat morning and my family dr called in vicodin (2004) It didn't touch the pain. Dr told me to go to the ER they could maybe give me an injection. 6AM Sunday morning I walk into the ER with my mom. Nothing showed on the x-ray. The ER Dr decided I was drug seeking. He called my family Dr who did not stick up for me and would not give me stronger pain pills after this. I had to get a new Dr in case I ever needed pain meds. This was years before I was a full-blown addict.
There's a fun ending to this story. Two days later I had an MRI that showed a ruptured disc. I know someone that works at the hospital. The head of emergency medicine called me and apologized. He said the Dr was disciplined appropriately (which I'm sure was nothing). Asshole. To this day I will not go back to this hospital.

 

[gordonliddy]

I was in shock. I didn't understand what was happening.

I think that doctors are less smart than people generally assume they are. I was in denial about this, but I think that the public should consider that doctors might be in the same category as ....attorney's, or whatever? People who have a lot of school but aren't necessarily smart.

What changed my mind was COVID. We saw a lot of terrible government policy, but just like lemmings stupid doctors went along with it.
So many stories of doctors behavind rudely in this thread. How else can you explain it? Maybe doctors are kind of dumb.