primary care physicians

[Katje]

Has anyone had problems with their primary care physicians because of their MS dx? I am on my 5 primary care doc. Seems like I am too complicated, they want to deal with it etc... because of my MS dx. I have only found a couple who treat me fairly, but I moved. I had this problem in Colorado before I left, no problem at all in Texas. I moved back to Colorado and seems like nothing changed in 10 years.

[Special Kay]

Could you be more specific about you mean by "treat me fairly"?

My PCP is great. When she makes recommendations to me about general health issues (like supplements, vaccinations for travel) she'll always advise me to also ask my neurologist first. She has other patients with MS and (without breaching confidentiality) she will tell me what they are finding useful, like in terms of diet, etc. She even thanked me at my last physical for educating her about Tysabri and PML risk.

Good docs are out there! If it's meaningful for you, my PCP is a D.O. (so is my neuro, as a matter of fact), and they can tend to be more holistic/preventative in their approach.

If you like your neuro, perhaps he/she can recommend someone that they are comfortable working with?

[apple19]

I am so sorry you are having problems with primary doctors.
I don't have a problem with mine. In fact he referred me to a neuro. who after a year of testing diagnosed my MS. Now he works well with the rest of my medical team. I hope you find one that you can have a life long relationship.

Take good care!

[MarkLavelle]

Are you asking your PCP to deal with your MS sx/issues? I don't really expect mine to deal with much beyond check-ups and monitoring things like high BP and pre-diabetic lab results. I just go see the appropriate specialist (physiatrist, ENT, neuro, ...) for special issues (yes, I have good insurance).

I'm not saying there aren't PCPs who do a lot more, but I've never found mine to be a problem...

[Katje]

I think for me, I have symptoms but not typical MS symptoms. I go see the doctors and of course they don't find anything because in the end it's most likely MS.

For example one time I had all over body pain, so bad you could not even touch my ribs. I went through CT scans, blood tests etc.. they nothing. Said I needed to see a therapist because it was in my head. I was later given some steroids for something else and my body pain went away.

I have other random things, which all seemingly turn out to be most likely MS but I don't see my neuro. I can understand it frustrates doctors but none of them suggest it might be MS and they insist these symptoms are psychosomatic and want me on anti depressants.

My MS has been silent for years, so naturally I am not used to going to my neuro and when I get a symptom I assume it's something what other people get, not MS.

[Sarahsue]

I am generally not a fan of doctors. I have had several bad ones, and only a handful of good ones. When I finally found a PCP that I liked, I was ecstatic. She is actually a nurse practitioner. She has been super supportive through this whole thing. She has two nieces that have recently been diagnosed with MS, so it is almost like we are going through this journey together. Whenever I go see her for anything, she always asks me about my MS. I recently talked to her about my Tecfidera and I was actually impressed with how much she knew about it.

I guess my advice to you is to just keep going to different doctors until you find one you like. Ask for referrals from people you know. I am sorry you are in this frustrating position!

[marti]

The only problem I have with ANY doctor is that as soon as they hear you have MS then EVERYTHING gets filtered into the MS category. It's like that's all they hear and decide to blame all our aches and pains on MS without researching at all.

[Katje]

The only problem I have with ANY doctor is that as soon as they hear you have MS then EVERYTHING gets filtered into the MS category. It's like that's all they hear and decide to blame all our aches and pains on MS without researching at all.

I get that too. it's so frustrating sifting through symptoms. Is it MS or not and I think some doctors simply don't want the trouble.

I got a letter the other day from a Doctor I stopped seeing a year ago. it said he no longer wants to see me but wil see me for 15 days if there is an emergency untiol I get a new doc. I got the same letter from him a year ago and then they said it was a billing error, now I get the letter again a year later? I called 3 times, finally they told me that they sent me a certified letter with an explanation.

[MSer102]

I had just changed to a new primary not long before my MS diagnosis. I had seen her once and she seemed OK. I went to see her the second time right after my diagnosis to ask her to help out because the neurologist I was seeing had a terrible personality. Well my new primary also turned cold and rude and made it clear that she didn't want to be bothered with anything like MS or a patient who has MS. I was really shocked that a physician could be so unprofessional. .

Thank goodness I she showed her true colors right away because I changed right away to a new primary who has been wonderful. She's been my primary now for many years. She knows enough to stay out of anything related to my MS but stays on top of everything else and doesn't give me any grief about anything.

[onlyairfare]

I've found it most helpful when my family doctor and my neuro can work well together. Even though I am currently working in Arizona most of the time so I have a primary care doc here, and my neuro is in North Carolina, the neuro always lets my PCP what is going on, what he is thinking, and how things are going with my MS. If my family doc has questions about whether a problem I have is related to MS, she'll call and talk to my neuro.

For a long time I didn't have a neuro at all as I just couldn't find one that was competent and a reasonably decent person, and since my MS was very stable, my family doctor wrote all my scripts. He was quite knowledgeable about MS, as he had quite a few MSers in his practice.

[Thinkimjob]

Hello, all. I've been extremely fortunate with my doctor. She is a good woman. Basically told me I knew more about MS than she ever could because I had it.
Writes scripts, understands the depression, doesn't try to force anything.
I can't cope with medical people at the moment. I'd break down sobbing. I don't even want things to get better, I just want things to stay the same, just for a while.

[Kittianne54]

My ms neuro will tell me to go see my primary when my bp is getting high, or some other non ms issue. The primary gets copies of all specialist's tests. The neuro likes to blame things other than ms for any symptoms. He loves to make referrals. He has me seeing a urologist and endocrinologist, botox neuro, sleep disorder neuro on a regular basis. He also has ordered mri, eeg, physical therepy, rituxan infusions, various symptom meds, etc.

The primary seems like one of my neoro's various referrals. The primary takes it well and does what he needs, he doesn't seem bothered or intimidated by the almighty neuro.

[Katje]

Well I am in Colorado. I belong to another forum with a lot of Colorado MS members and they complain about doctors and neuros here. I moved away for a few years and it was much better so I thought it was just me or bad luck here. I come back to find what I left is the same and confirmed by other people who live here.

One person I know who has MS, she flies out to NY to see a neuro and optho neuro. She has one pcp here but she drives all the way out to Longmont for that and I just can't believe there aren't good docs in denver.

[anneth121]

When I was dx 16 years ago had a lovely primary care doc who of course retired. In 16 yrs have had 5 docs retire! Anyway, the older the doc the more they seem to know about MS. My recent pc doc said there is sooo much stuff cramed (sp?) in their head in med school they had one day on MS!
I didn't really need or want her to help me on MS. Wanted her for all the other medical and getting older stuff. Have my MS neuro for MS. She's real good about refilling my meds, even some MS ones. I'm in the NoWest where we seem to be slammed with MS. My neuro's office is real busy and refilling thousands of meds is time consuming but my pc doc is willing to do the refills.

[laurasari]

I have a primary care physician that I have had since before my Ms diagnosis in 2001. He does not treat my MS dysautonomia or hypercalcemia but he works closely with my Neuro cardio and endo. Are you asking the pcp to treat your MS cause if not there should be no issue. Good luck