You’ve done some traditional testing and medical professionals say you are fine. What next? Don’t give up, don’t give into depression and don’t feel the need to validate your suspicions to anyone, not even a doctor.
Being repeatedly told you are fine while experiencing chronic pain or illness is naturally depressing. You begin to doubt yourself and wonder if you truly are fine. There is a very fragile line between knowing there is something making your body unhappy and falling off the edge from not being supported.
The first thing to do is to start reading, being careful not to take on every illness you find. Also, be careful not to discount a condition because your symptoms are not identical. You may see weight loss as a symptom and have experience weight gain. You won’t necessarily have all of the symptoms and you might have unlisted symptoms. Focus on the general condition.
Next see what other illnesses or conditions share these same symptoms. You will likely find many. Don’t be discouraged. You are fact finding.
Before you lay these symptoms out for a medical professional do some tracking. Keep a log of symptoms that are chronic, those that cycle and those that are consistent. See if some lesson or worsen with activities, stress or foods. Suspect sugar in its many forms when documenting food and its relationship to pain.
Accurate records are important. You will get a limited amount of time in front of a doctor or medical professional. The data you have and your questions about the potential conditions you researched will be vital in expediting your visit.
If there are tests you feel might be important in ruling out conditions, have your list ready so all your testing can be done at once. Note the potential conditions you would like to discuss with your medical person in order to eliminate them from your list. Consider making a copy of your symptoms and your list of concerns to personally offer your medical person.
Find a medical professional who can handle non-traditional thinking. If you are at the point of searching for the cause yourself, you have obviously been elsewhere. Narrow down your search for the right professional by asking questions of the office staff or nurse before making an appointment.
Some of the questions that will guide you to the right professional are:
1. Is the doctor or medical professional usually on time?
Starting out with someone who overbooks and is running frazzled all day is not someone who can take the time to think outside of the box and really help you search for the cause.
2. Is the doctor willing to discuss alternative medicine, natural remedies or non-traditional therapies?
If you have been told repeatedly that you are well, clearly you have to consider that what is troubling you is not on the radar of your average doctor. If this person is untrained and unable to discuss natural cures you are starting out with one hand tied behind your back while wasting time and money.
3. Can I speak with the doctor’s nurse?
Ask to verify your interest in talking to a doctor that is open to digging into a situation that is not ordinary. You need specific help and will require special attention. Your search will not be interesting to everyone. Talk to the nurse briefly and let them know you have been given many misdiagnosis and really need someone capable of going to the next level of discovery. “NO” is a good answer. You have just saved yourself the trauma of selecting the wrong professional again. A nurse who knows the practice and can speak fluently for the professional is a good place to start.
4. Does the doctor or professional use alternative medicine?
Consider a professional who is already thinking openly about alternatives. A medical doctor who specializes in “integrative medicine” will already be familiar with holistic practices and is less geared to throwing pharmaceuticals at a problems. Also consider a doctor of naturopathic who is not a medical doctor but licensed. Other professionals may have certificates in training, or not, and are among those who deal in alternative healing, eastern medicine, holistic medicine or natural healing.
Not all doctors or healers are created equally. You need to find someone who is right for you and your body.
5. Is there any upfront fee or packaged free program?
If you find a medical support person who will be offering a reduced price package price for long-term treatment or visits, run. Do not pay upfront for treatments that you cannot verify you need. Never pay in advance.
6. Is the office capable of ordering blood tests, as well as, 24-hour urine tests and reading them?
24-hour urine tests are helpful in finding information that blood tests cannot always provide. You will want someone who can order alternative forms of testing. Additionally, this professional should be able to decipher the results. Not all medical doctors have this experience.
Don’t ever be shy about who you allow to work with you. Your body’s wellness is at stake.
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