re: In the modern era is a doctor nothing more than a gatekeeper for medication?

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For example, birth control should be sold next to the gum and chap stick by the cash registers as far as I’m concerned.

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Out here in the West, you can visit your pharmacist and he can prescribe birth control

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possess up-to-date medical knowledge that far beyond what they were taught in medical school

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Well, I think I can diagnose your problem right now. You have acute hypochondriasis.

My docs are pretty up to date.

Teledoc is a fricking joke

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but having to educate the doctor on these things doesn't make me feel very confidence in their ability to diagnose and just makes me look at them as a tool to get tested for suspected illness or to receive a prescription for a certain medication.

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The irony of this statement. You think extremely highly of yourself, but in reality you are a moron.

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I suffer from the same... Yea most ENT or GP don't know anything about this condition... Hell, the medical community in general doesn't yet have good data or understanding on this condition so you can't really blame the doctors... email me if you want to discuss in more detail ramlsu at gmail

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I've suffered from similar problems since I was a child. I've had three surgeries to remove polyps since I was forty.
I turned 76 last August. There is a picture on facebook of me jumping rope on my 76th birthday so I'm in pretty good health, but suffer from symptoms similar to the OP. Last Fall I awoke dizzy, couldn't walk, and threw up. MY wife is an RN. We thought possible stroke or Heart Attack. Called the ambulance and went to emergency room. They did an MRI on my head. Dr said brain is excellent and clean for a man my age.
Still no answer to the cause.
Since then I have visited a Pulmonologist. Lungs excellent.
ENT-MRI of my Sinus, Ear test, and a test for vertigo.
Everything is fine.
On the way home I self diagnosed my self.

I'm a Hypochondriac! ;)

Somethings are very difficult to diagnose. I've tried Allegra D. It stopped up the wrong end, its constipating but but didn't stop the head problem. Tylenol Sinus seems to help as much or more than anything else I've tried but it has long term side effects as well.

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I guess I'm hoping I'm wrong or that he can just address the sinus symptoms, dizziness, ears ringing, etc.

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Vestibular neuronitis or Meniere's Disease. Unrelated to your GERD.

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LPR is just GERD that gets to your pharynx. You aren't special and you aren't an enigma. GERD isn't related to your sinuses, either. You are the worst kind of patient. Doctor shop on and on, hoping that one will tell you what you want to hear. If you are dizzy and have ringing in your ears, you likely have inner/middle ear problems or obstructed eustachian tubes. It is so fricking unlikely to be related to your fancy name for GERD.

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I wrote this post feeling particularly despondent, but I never felt special. LPR is pretty common. Common enough that virtually every GI, GP, and ENT should know about it. The problem is that they don't. The GI dr and the gp flat out denied that GERD can cause anything but heartburn and esophagitis.

I've never doctor shopped. The first doctor I saw for this was a GI because GB surgery was the last medical issue I had prior to experiencing these problems. I did go to two GIs but that was primarily because I was not happy with the office staff of the first GI (needing to reschedule my appointments without telling me until I got to their office, etc). I started going to a local GP who referred me to an ENT.


According to the ENT, I do have obstructed Eustachian tubes. Actually, I got diagnosed with that by my GP back in September who gave me a prescription for Allegra D. The ENT said I should take steroid nasal spray instead. Can't say it has done anything for my ears though. I had a VNG as well that came back without anything abnormal.

When I told him I was first diagnosed with Eustachian tube dysfunction back in September of 2018, he really didn't comment at all. Eustachian tube dysfunction isn't going to last 10 months without something continually aggravating them. It's in the literature that LPR is seen in a lot of patients with recurring Eustachian tube dysfunction, so again, I feel like LPR is the root cause of the majority of if not all of my issues.

That's what's so infuriating about this. I've read through enough journal articles and talked to enough real people who experience these issues every day to know that there is a link there, yet I can get virtually no guidance from supposed medical professionals (at least in the local area) on how I can find any relief.

Google search a symptom. Good luck with that...

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In the modern era is a doctor nothing more than a gatekeeper for medication?

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I'll give you a pass this time. Its ok for ppl to come OT to flesh their thoughts out but this is type of dumb shite that will frick you up in life. If you said this to me, i would never take your dumbass seriously. I dont think you understand the work it takes to get into med school, this isn't pipeline type shite dawg