What not to keep from your doctor

When it comes to our visit to the doctor, there are several things that we let slide by and don’t tell the truth on. We tell them for a variety of reasons and have good reasons for them, but the truth is that you are only hurting yourself. Not telling your doctor critical things (ex. not taking your pills, borrowing a pill from a friend, or just fibbing the details. The little secrets we keep from our doctor can be hazardous to our health. Here is the top things we keep from our doctor:

1.  I’m not taking the pills you prescribed
                We all intend to fill the prescription that is given to us, but sometimes we don’t get to the pharmacy, find our insurance doesn’t cover it, or just stop taking them once we feel better. These can all be good reasons at the time, but they hurt us all the same. If you tell your doctor that you’ve been taking the pills, but your doctor points out that you still have the symptoms they will prescribe a higher dosage or another prescription. This can delay your recovery and/or cause side effects because your doctor doesn’t know how the original pills affected you. If it is antibiotics that you stopped in the middle of the bottle, only part to half of the infectious bacteria in your body is killed. This leaves them with a resistance to drugs and typically causing the illness to return but with greater force. Money could also be a reason for not taking the prescription, if it is talk to your doctor about a less expensive medication. Don’t forget to bring up any herbal or alternative medicine that you are taking; it could cause you to have a bad reaction with the prescription that you are taking.

2. I’m crash dieting
You decided to crash diet to lose weight before a big event, but at the doctor’s office you know he/she won’t be happy with you if they found out. With any diet that goes to the extreme (especially involving laxatives or stimulants) has risks to it even if you just do it for a few days. You can throw off your electrolyte balance and become dehydrated, which will harm the heart and kidneys to start with. Talk to your doctor about a weight loss plan that would be better fitted to you, or if you are going to cleanse anyway talk to your doctor about doing it safely as possible.

3. I’m scared! There’s something wrong with my…down there.
Sitting in the examination room in a paper gown does not inspire confidence in talking to your doctor about your sex life and partners, or possibly admitting to being a victim of sexual violence. But you need to talk to your doctor about these, they can judge whether or not you are at risk for STDs and to schedule the needed screenings. Certain types of STDs can lead to cancer, infertility, or even be passed on to future children. This is why it is so important any differences in how you are working down there, sexual assault or a change in partners. Scheduling a separate appointment to talk about these specifically would be a good idea, so that when you go in you don’t feel rushed at the annual exam. Talking to your doctor about your sex life can help make it better, there are thousands out there that have low libido and there are treatments for it. Opening up can help release the stress and you will walk out feeling better knowing that you aren’t fighting this alone.

4. There are several health problems hanging from my tree
You may think nothing about some of the health issues of your family and when you see the doctor they are the furthest from your mind. Thinking about them may cause you pain or grief, and it’s no wonder you don’t want to talk about them. But think about this, if it happened to someone in your family, can’t it happen to you? Talking to your doctor about your family’s health history can help them determine if you are at risk and schedule screenings to catch these problems before they grow into the untreatable stages. Your doctor may ask you questions that seem to come out of now where, but they do have a reason. Your symptoms could stem from a condition that is not so easy to see, and your family history can help your doctor find the true cause.

5. I’m seeing another doctor
It’s always important to find a doctor that you feel comfortable with, but when you start seeing a doctor on the side you want to spare your first doctor’s feeling you will keep it quiet. Your doctor may appreciate that you are trying to consider his feelings, but there is no need to have “the break-up” talk with them. They will respect your choice and will work with your new doctor to get all your files transferred. But, if you are going to two doctors at the same time it can get dicey. Your doctor needs to know what other doctors you are seeing, what prescriptions they have you on and what testing you may be undergoing. Because miscommunications are common when you don’t tell your doctor what is going on they may prescribe a medication that will have a bad effect with the medication from your other doctor. Treat your general physician as your main doctor that has all of your records and know what’s going on with everything.

 

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