One Of THOSE Patients

Yep, that's me. One of them. I listen to the doc, ask questions, then do what I decide to do based on my own experiences, wants, and... well, sometimes just habits.

I just met my new doctor. I finally decided it was silly to keep complaining about my primary care doc and give the one Steve has been raving about for a couple years a try. His name is even more unpronounceable than the former guy, but that's never bothered me. In face, when I had a doctor in St. Paul, her 7 syllable last name was so hard for the staff to pronounce that they called her the equivalent of Doctor Mary rather than Doctor Wilson. I personally found that offensive and made a point of using her last name, which had the hilarious effect of talking to staff who had no clue who I was trying to get an appointment with. 

But I also became one of THOSE patients with her. It's why I finally moved on. 

It usually happens when they go over the meds list, particularly the OTC stuff. Why did I take this? That? Stop. 

Give up coffee? Nope, not gonna happen. When I'm behind the wheel up to 14 hours a day, as I was then, coffee is just going to happen. Sometimes twice on particularly long days, stopping for weekends so my body still reacts to it come Monday.  Besides, it does have actual benefits other than keeping one alert. A couple decades later, I was again advised by my cardiologist to stop coffee, and did for a while. However, once everything was all fixed up and I was getting active again, there were - still are - mornings I have a cuppa. I pay strict attention for any flutters, which aren't supposed to be happening now after the ablation. 

They did start to kick in, and completely quitting coffee didn't help. After reading something, I tried easing back on my calcium. The OTC supplement is a 3-pill dose, containing also magnesium, zinc and omega 3s. Two days after I cut back to 2 pills, the flutters stopped.  I reported the change and reason for it to my cardiologist on my next checkup. She hadn't heard of the correlation, or perhaps hadn't connected a small calcium overdose to irregular rhythm, but she didn't suggest I change the dosage back, just ran the tests needed to confirm things were good.  That's because she's one of THOSE doctors, willing to trust some patients to have some practical wisdom and pay attention to their own body. We previously had been working for several months to balance two different medications to find the ideal combination for my blood pressure as well, and that worked just fine. If any other doctor questions my combination, somehow the phrase "my cardiologist" clears the air promptly.

Meanwhile I'm back to a morning cuppa on those days when I want to be extra alert and energetic.

Doctor Unpronounceable also wanted me to quit taking vitamin C. My multivitamin "should be enough." Too bad my body wasn't listening. I inherited genes leaving me susceptible to canker sores. Mom used to insist powdered alum would fix them, but it only stung. Tasted horrible too. Vitamin C, taken daily, totally prevents them. The dose can be 500 or 1000 mg., depending on everything else going on, including other meds. Thing is, you can't OD on it. The body uses what it needs at any given time, then excretes the rest via the stools. Constipation means up the dose, too loose and it's time to back off. The state of the stools lets you know the proper dose. Simple, safe, with no canker sores for decades. A medication change can mean constipation, and that means the C dose gets a boost too, so much simpler than adding meds for that side effect.

Give up ibuprofin? Nope, not that either. I've been taking it at various levels since 1985. Aspirin doesn't do the job. Tylenol is even more useless, and larger doses affect the liver. Yes, of course I know to have ibuprofin with food. Somehow that's never been a problem! (Ahem.) I also get regular bloodwork done, and my kidney function is still fine after all these years. These days I'm not taking anywhere near the maximum dose I did for years while I had no insurance to replace my knees  and couldn't afford to take the time off work to recover from a pair of surgeries, but at bedtime it helps me ignore all those little aches and pains which do their best to keep me from sleeping. I know my heart needs a good night of sleep as often as possible, and for me it's an easy choice. I had this discussion again with my new doc, asked him why he wanted to insist I drop ibuprofin after listing my reasons for taking it, and decided to simply nod at his points and keep doing what I'm doing. I'm definitely one of THOSE patients still.

The guy I just quit asked me a question that really set me on the path to getting ready to ditch him. Once my knees and heart procedures were finished, I was told to get out and walk. Unfortunately the sidewalks here are very uneven, with curb cuts at every driveway. Balancing is hard enough on two new knees on a level surface. After switching to walking in the street, I picked up a little distance each day, but an ankle started griping. That's when I switched to pool walking. My ankle still bothers in the pool some days, but ibuprofin and a light snack before leaving the house keep it tolerable. I've managed to work up to an hour most times, and made 80 minutes 2 days ago. When the now former doc heard me say I was now doing pool walking for exercise, he looked at me like this was the weirdest thing he'd ever heard of, asking me, "Why?" Now this is a geriatric specialist in a cluster of communities full of senior citizens and pools specially designed for our ability issues, and he needs to ask why I pool walk? 

Sure, it took a while, inertia being one of my strong traits, but I switched away from him. It's because I'm one of  THOSE patients. Barring a reason I find compelling, I plan to stay that way.