How do you get doctors to listen to you?

You'll have to fight tooth and nail. It's absolute BS Doctors seem to think they know the bodies of their patients better than them, which is technically true, but last i checked they arent the ones who can feel whats wrong or not. My mom works for social services/cps and is under a very stressful workload and enviroment almost 24/7, she was having trouble breathing for months and felt a lump on her neck and they kept telling her she was imagining it because of stress due to her job, and she had something wrapped around her throat, idr what it was exactly, but they fucked around for so long she had to have a risky surgery to get it removed and ended up taking over a month off of work for it. She had to fight doctors for over a year before she finally found someone by threatening to sue them :/

Long story short, if you feel something is wrong, do not stop pestering them to look at you, or keep looking. and if need be look as far and wide as you can.Your life is worth more than their degree and no risk should be left unchecked.

I take you seriously. I can only suggest what I have seen work with loved ones (and a time or two, myself).

I don’t know where you live, so I may have no clue what obstacles may exist.

One: keep a pain journal. Idiotic, I know, but doctors tend to believe what they read and not what they hear. After all, people are telling them all day every day that they’re in pain. When you see a doctor, ask them to read it. Write down questions you have. Make the most of the time they give you. And tell them what you mean when you say it hurts. “It woke me at 1 am and kept me awake until 7.” “It hurts so much to shower I just cannot stand it when the water hits.”

Two: If possible, take an oblique approach to helping find pain relief. Can you get a referral to a pain management specialist? Their JOB is to know about pain.

Three: Ask for paper copies of tests. Keep at least a general record of what you discussed with your doctor and what action was taken.

It’s a maddening, frustrating thing to go through.

I hope it doesn’t offend - I’ll keep you in my prayers.

Doctors are awful about fibro. At a certain point, I think the dominant strategy is just to cycle through new doctors infinitely until you get one that actually goes along with it, but obviously that takes forever.

I’m so very sorry you’re going through this. I know you’re on your own which makes the situation even more challenging. The only thing that comes to mind is checking to see if there is a patient advocate you can access to help you navigate the healthcare system.

Was just skimming through this article:

GoodRx Health: What is a patient advocate and how can they help me?

Wish I could think of more, I just hate this for you. 😔

I'm sorry.
I've been very fortunate in that my doctor for the first 40 years of my life was my father and that my doctor since then is someone who reminds me of my father....he does listen, and we have good conversations.. He advises me about what to take for ailments, what not to take and when I need to have a test done to make sure.
I know that a lot of people are not as happy with their doctors and that some doctors aren't very helpful or even polite. ❤️

You are right ...

That is a terribly vague and demeaning answer considering that she knows your history that you are a single parent , why can't she treat you with the respect of someone that has suffered through dan adult

I noticed that after I got a PhD medical doctors starting listening to me more.

I don’t know how it works in the US but my doctor will just send me to specialists if I need them. With the insurance and having to wait for tests, also you have to be in your network.

There are so many barriers. Is there anyway you can see a different doctor?