Should have my new doctor taken my health concerns a bit more seriously?

I haven't been to a doctor for years! So I finally got established with one today. And went down the whole list of the top things I felt were the most important. I kinda felt like he blew off a couple things. I'm pretty positive I have arthritis (and maybe sometging else along with it)and have had back problems for 28 years. (At certain times I can barely walk) He said "What do you want me to do about it?" Then he pretty much told me it was because I need to lose weight. I told him I still had these problems when I was thinner.. Then I told him about what's been happening for the last 5 months or so. First I woke up (in the middle of the night) with an extremely bad headache that wasn't a migraine and didn't feel like a headache I've ever had before. Not long after that. Maybe couple weeks later, I started having these little tinges of pain suddenly hit me off and on throughout the day. And that happened for about 4-5 days strait. And have happened off and on ever since. He blew it off as sinus pressure and told me to get some nasal spray. I know what sinus stuff feels like. This was in my brain area, and it wasn't (pressure) it felt weird. . This is why I hate it when I get on here and ask the public what they think, then everyone resoonds with "Go see a doctor" lol I did and still don't have answers

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4meAndyou · F

Because he is your new doctor and you hit him with everything all at once, I don't think he had time to properly address all of your concerns.

It's good to HAVE a doctor, so that he can manage visits you might want to take to specialists.

When you see your doctor again, deal with ONE problem at a time. Doctors usually have 15 to 20 minutes to spare on you.

I think the first problem is that a general practitioner like your doctor knows very little about osteoarthritis. So you need to ask for a referral to a back specialist.

Second, because the headache is now gone, but you are concerned about it, you could ask for a referral for a cat scan of your brain. I think you will feel better and safer if you can eliminate what you obviously fear.

I get a lot of headaches including icepick headaches, which sometimes are caused by one arthritic shoulder, and by tension in my neck, which does a number on my head.

NoThanksLeon · M

I love when doctors suggest we lose some weight while they and their staff are three times fatter than we are.

CrazyMusicLover · 31-35

From my experience, doctors won't take these symptoms seriously. They don't care about back pain because it's almost considered as a norm now. Headaches aren't considered as something serious unless you've never had them before and they last for more than *a certain period of time* or are very intense.
They don't care much if you feel like fainting from time to time...it's just blood pressure or stress.

But if his idea of a solution to back pain is losing weight without any x-ray then I'd say, yes, second opinion sounds like the right decision.

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