I don’t want to see a specialist and here’s why

After a long procrastinating, I finally went to see a doctor last week. Mostly for the reason of my medications refill, otherwise I would’ve dragged my feet even longer.

This is my new PCP (primary care physician). He will take care of all my conditions from now on. No more specialists except an eye doctor once a year. By the time of an appointment I’ve already had some research and blogging under my belt that I briefly presented to the doc. He agreed with everything, put me on a low dosage of Neurontin (a neuropathy med) and ordered blood work. The results were good, cholesterol is normal, A1C is 6.1, down from from 6.2. My blood pressure was 120/80, and I have lost a few pounds. Love it.

Overall everything’s under control and I don’t see a reason to see a specialist who will likely confirm what I already know. The copay is higher, besides, most specialists work out the local hospitals, hence an extra ‘facility fee’ in addition to my copay. The grand total hits $100. One hundred dollars per visit, oh no, not me. I can’t even fathom this.

Some sites such as Diabetic Connect, are all for seeing an endocrinologist. Endocrinologists or endo for short, are doctors who specialize in endocrine glands disorders. These are the glands that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream; pancreas is one of them. These doctors, Diabetic Connect states, are trained in diabetes and its complications, they can prescribe insulin & other meds, offer diet & exercise plan and prevent further health problems. Sounds good on the paper but I can handle both the diet and the exercise plan that suit me, I am not on insulin nor on any diabetic meds, knock on the wood. I had my A1C checked, looks fine. Besides, with an additional fee it becomes cost prohibitive while I’m on a budget so thanks but no thanks. Moreover, some doctors come with an attitude that I’m not looking for. Been there, done that.

In my humble opinion, the specialists or at least some of them are oriented to their specialty. I bet that if I see my former rheumy doc and complain of a low back pain, she would no doubt relate it to my RA and subsequently order a bunch of unnecessary X-rays. However now I know now that this is a form of a neuropathy (nerve damage by an elevated blood sugar). I was seeing her for the longest time, she was actually the one who had finally correctly diagnosed my RA. Other than that, she didn’t even tell me that my BG was high, never ordered diabetes-related blood work, and wrote off all my early diabetes symptoms as the side effects of Enbrel and the other RA meds. So I’m done here.

I will have to see my new PCP again in six months. I tried to ask about 12 months but this didn’t work.  So six months it is.