My husband has severe and constant stomach pain. We were told he had the "million dollar" workup but they can find nothing wrong with him. (except for a slightly abnormal breath test) The doctor gave him a Lactulose prescription. My husband reminded the MD that he is VERY lactose intolerant, but the MD said Lactulose has nothing to do with Lactose. The pharmacist disagrees and told my husband he probably shouldn't take it. When he did, he became ill.
Question #1, who do we listen to, MD or pharmacist?
The million dollar workup did NOT include a casule endoscopy or a octreatide scan or a pet scan. I would think that these three exams would be imparative in helping formulate a decision.
[size=It’s difficult to answer your questions w/o knowing more information. First of all, I’m not sure what kind of physician has examined your husband. If he’s having constant stomach pain, I’d recommend he see a Gastroenterologist. If this is the type of physician you’ve seen – then it sounds like you need to get in to see the doctor again and ask some questions (1- Why does the pharmacist disagree? 2- Are their other procedures/test that can be administered to assist in discovering a diagnosis? - you can’t really insist on the exams...there has to be a clinical reason to order the exams...but you can certainly ask the doctor if he/she thinks they may assist in diagnosing your husband). Another option is to obtain a second opinion by an entirely different physician – and again, I’d recommend seeing a Gastroenterologist.
][size= ]
Dustin, thank you for your reply. Yes we have been seeing a gastroenterologist. We spend an hour with the fellow, then in comes the professor to go over it all. Then we are told, come back in 3 months...We are both very frustrated and because I have some medical knowledge I am even more frustrated. At this point we are having the colonoscopy repeated but I feel that his symptoms warrant the Octreotide Scan as well as a Capsule endosocpy. Since we have good insurance, that would cover this expense, I also would like to have it done. A colonoscopy will not show a carcinoma that is on the outside of the colon plus is doesn't pick up everything. I realize nothing is 100%. Getting a man to go to another physician or facility when they aren't very fond of going to see the doctor in the first place is complicated as well. Especially when they are starting to worry that no one will figure out what is wrong with them until it is to late anyway. I will keep plugging along and hopefully we will have a happy ending. Again, thanks for your reply.
