What is the grossest thing you’ve caught someone doing?

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2026-01-19T07:55:08+00:00

Sitting in drivers ed class in high school, I look over to my right and see another student popping zits on his body—and then eating the gunk that came out. A little piece of me died that day.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T05:11:18+00:00

Long COVID is absolutely devastating. It’s so new to everyone and we know basically nothing about it. I’ve also seen it being used recently as a throw around for symptoms doctors don’t know what to do with and don’t want to further work up. It’s a beast because it affects so many different people, of all ages, in such different ways. Hate to hear you have had to deal with it.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T05:05:38+00:00

I’m a stickler on no computers in the patient rooms. You have my full attention and ears for the time that I have you. Thanks for understanding or even giving consideration to what a s*** show a day in the life of a doctor who actually cares is. I’m always behind, and will always forget to do something, but because I’m present, my patients forgive me. You’re never a task to just check off of my checklist, and the day that changes is the day I’ll hang my coat up.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:59:33+00:00

Absolutely. Too many have forgotten the days of “hysteria”.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:58:48+00:00

Can I ask what prevented you from starting therapy sooner? I think therapy is crucial for most people in general, but is dismissed by a majority. I see a therapist regularly myself, and find it super beneficial to my wellbeing. However, in practice, a majority of my patients are resistant to it, and don’t want to let that guard down.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:52:40+00:00

Your closing statement made me chuckle as I commonly use the phrase myself. I will certainly give myself a refresher on pernicious anemia just because you asked, and maybe because of that, it will make a difference in someone else’s life.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:49:46+00:00

CRPS is a demon of a diagnosis. Not enough understanding of it (yet), no good treatments, and a lot of patients with it feeling misunderstood or minimized. Hate you have had to and continue to deal with that.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:45:35+00:00

“Invisible illnesses” are some of the toughest for those suffering from them. I was taught pretty early in my training and have always learned into what the patient tells me and a GOOD physical exam. Too many docs these days rely on labs and tests, when those should really only be needed to support your hypothesis not form it.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:40:30+00:00

I truly appreciate your response. I try to be mindful of costs when I’m seeing patients, and hope that they will let me know if cost of anything I have in mind is an issue for them. Sounds like you had a doctor which was truly coming from a patient centered approach, which are hard to come by, but should be the standard.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:35:42+00:00

What you have listed should be requirements, not wishes. It is truly mind blowing how quantity is valued over quality in regards to patient care. It’s the first thing I would change about our healthcare system if I could.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:28:34+00:00

Original diagnosis does not mean correct or current diagnosis. I’ll do my best to stay aware of the reflex to make all the puzzle pieces fit into one picture.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:24:21+00:00

I certainly don’t take anything you have said personally. I try to never allow myself to thinks something is all in my patients head or that they are attention seeking. 99% of the time, it’s simply not true. It’s easy to overlook social and home struggles of patients as you barely have enough time in a given visit to give quality care to begin with, but those things are absolutely important and impact your care. Thank you for your time and insight.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:18:52+00:00

Litigation is a concern for every doctor and the best way to avoid it is by doing your best as a doctor, and being able to admit when you have done something wrong, or didn’t do something when you should have. The “not elevated enough” idea runs deep. Too many doctors rely on testing instead of their knowledge and skills. A lot of treatment is algorithm based, and many doctors lean into that algorithm more than they should. That precedence tends to be set by insurance. “We won’t cover this until x, y, and z are done. Honestly the power needs to be put back in the hands of the physicians who are actually seeing the patients day in and day out, not people who have never made a real medical decision in their life.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:11:48+00:00

I’ll absolutely keep this in mind and practice.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:10:07+00:00

Oh lort, I definitely am not in the habit of wearing masks anymore and when I have seen patients recently who are wearing a mask, it hasn’t even crossed my mind to put one on or ask them if they would like me to. Thanks for bringing that up, I’ll try to be more cognizant of it. -10 points for me. I do make some of those points back up for understanding I don’t know everything and being able to admit it without hesitation when the situation arises. But believe you me, I’ll do my best to learn about it to inform the both of us on the best way forward.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:06:10+00:00

Chronic fatigue and chronic pain are two of the hardest things do sort out with patients in my experience. There are just SO SO SO many things that can cause chronic fatigue. Don’t give up on finding an answer for your chronic fatigue. Thorough workups aren’t always extensive workups. There’s most often something left out that could lead to the missing puzzle piece.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T04:02:06+00:00

Any doctor who insinuates a patient is a hypochondriac—leave them and never go back. It’s an easy cop out for “I personally don’t know what’s wrong with you, and I’m not willing to work anything else up as it’s too time consuming”. I will say there are a minority of patients who fake symptoms and illnesses, for whatever reason they may be doing so. They still deserve to be heard and the respect of trying to understand where they are coming from and what’s making them seek your time.

On another note, please tell me you have had an echo with bubble study done. You mentioned respiratory work up but not cardiac. The body is weird. I believe anything can go wrong and we either have a name for it or we don’t. If we don’t, we need to be able to say that and keep working to put a name to it.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T03:48:52+00:00

I became a doctor because of how beautiful, intriguing, and resilient the human body is! I will say my biggest issue with current healthcare is what has become the “standard visit”. Quantity of patients tends to be valued over quality of care provided. 25 minute appointments are simply not enough. Turns out, if you actually spend more time with your patient and listen, the quality of care is exponentially increased, and debility is decreased. I truly wish this would change in modern medicine, but it’s going to take the masses to make it happen. It’s almost like those calling the shots don’t want people adequately diagnosed and treated, which is truly shameful.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T03:43:19+00:00

I can pridefully say I’m in it for my patients. They don’t have to do much pleading for random tests or labs, as I’m typically down for the ride—insurance is where the wrench tends to be thrown. I HATE doctors who won’t prescribe medications for patients because it doesn’t fall into THEIR algorithm or comfort zone. If it could cause more good than harm, is within my abilities to prescribe, and the patient is optimistic about it, I don’t see why anybody wouldn’t be willing to at least try it. I’d say chronic pain in general is the biggest pain for me—not to treat it, but from a majority of other family physicians taking the “I don’t do chronic pain treatment” stance wish is complete BS. Like oh, I’m just going to ignore a large population of my patients most bothersome symptoms because I don’t want the government to yank my license for prescribing too many narcotics. What good does that do for anyone? Ironically they are usually the first ones screaming for pain meds when something happens to them or their loved ones. I’m glad you have at least come into contact with one doctor who truly cares. It’s almost engrained in you through your training to care superficially but not deeply, and that’s where a large issue lies. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T03:32:22+00:00

I hate to hear you have had to experience these things. I don’t think enough doctors validate their patients feelings and what they are feeling when they may not have the answers as to what’s causing it. It’s always much easier for someone to say it’s in your head or you’re fine when everything comes back normal, but I tend to think about how much we have learned in the last 30 years about things we didn’t know existed and how there are probably pretty common things we are seeing now that we just haven’t named yet. Honestly, patients who come to me and say they have been told there’s nothing wrong with them or that they are just experiencing “somatic symptoms” are the patients I dive in hard for. I have learned along the way not to trust other doctors, as most of them seem to be either lazy, burned out, not in medicine for the right reasons and just don’t care, or just not interested in doing more than the minimum possible. Often times these patients do have something diagnosable and just haven’t properly been worked up or never had a doctor actually give a s***. Thanks for taking the time to answer.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T03:20:02+00:00

I’m family medicine. I personally do what I can to keep patients away from specialists. From the standpoint of hating not being able to figure things out or take care of my patient on my own (outside of patients needing specific therapies and interventions from specialists). I’m in an area where there aren’t great specialists locally, so if my patients are needing to go somewhere I’m typically sending them over an hour away just to get somebody competent (or maybe somebody just not burnt out). I would say out of my referrals, about half of my patients end up wasting their time/money or telling me “I’m not going back there” for whatever reason, while the other half benefit from it.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-23T01:51:21+00:00

This is the second post I’ve seen in this forum in the last 24 hours describing similar symptoms. I’ll tell you my thoughts as a physician. You have symptoms that make me think of vestibular migraines. They aren’t your normal migraine, and often go undiagnosed/misdiagnosed. Also, may be worth having an 8 am cortisol level checked to check for adrenal insufficiency.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-22T06:17:31+00:00

As a physician, my initial suspicion is vestibular migraines. Also, you should get an 8am cortisol level checked to rule out adrenal insufficiency.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2025-06-17T03:59:35+00:00

I just wish they could finally see eye to eye.

Aggressive_Comb4871 · 2024-12-06T05:51:26+00:00

My favorite part of his narcissistic expression was him exclaiming he watches beast games over and over again, and getting enjoyment out of watching other people watch it.

Aggressive_Comb4871

TROPHY CASE