Feeling judged by doctors...

Thats not on at all and you should lodge a complaint IMO.

How are you feeling now??

WSS

"Western woman with binge drinking habits" is hardly a diagnosis by any stretch of the imagination, You go to the doctor for help not be judged by biased views.

That's really inappropriate, I also think you should make a complaint.

Even if she did think you had a drink problem (which you obviously don't), there are sensitive and professional ways of approaching the issue.

Hope you're feeling better now.

If she genuinely thought it was alcohol related shouldn't she have ordered blood tests/etc for liver damage?

Hope the pills help though.

Exactly. I feel more like she was just having a go for the sake of it, tried to explain it was my hen night and had actually been quite moderate considering, but she didn't really want to listen. Then she had to backtrack anyway so was clearly talking nonsense. I just feel a bit wishy-washy and don't really want to eat, but hopefully the pills will settle it down when they get into my system properly.

That's ridiculous! I would definitely complain. There's no excuse for that. I have totally felt judged by doctors in the past. I fainted the day after st. patrick's day and got a concussion and had to go to the hospital. The doctor's first reaction was, "you're suffering from alcohol withdrawal because you drink too much," and my response was, "I had work last night and didn't get to go out," the jackass! Complain complain complain, you don't need to put up with such abuse.

That's outrageous, you should definitely complain. She is in a position where a certain level of professionalism is meant to be a given, that is totally inappropriate of a medical professional, I would be asking for an apology.

Aside from the rubbish bedside manner, pooing old blood is not to be taken lightly.

Have you been offered any other tests? Yes it could just be a bad a case of food poisoning that can cause a bit of blood, but even so it's pretty severe for that to happen.

I really hope they follow this up accordingly.

Were those her actual words?

WDBS.

I would a) make a complaint, and b) go and see another doctor just to be on the safe side.

It happens to me reasonably often, and although I know why (I have Crohn's), it still scares the $h!t (no pun intended) out of me every time.

That's terrible and so judgemental!

I would go and see your own GP to be sure you could have some form of food poisoning and he may take stool samples, it's not long till your wedding and you don't want to ill between now and then.

That's completely out of line. The doctor I had before my one judged me and it put me off going to him and in got really ill. I faint a lot and he told me I was just a little girl who faints as I'm growing (was 20 at this point?!) I'd fainted in a bar and he said "it would have been because you were drunk" those exact words! I don't drink at all but it annoyed me he never even asked he just assumed. When i said i don't drink he just laughed and said "all girls your age drink" and gave me a lecture on binge drinking!

Whereas the doctor now saw the dangers of my condition and I was actually rushed to hospital that day. I would definitely complain and I wish I'd had the confidence to say something about him.

That is awful, I would be livid. I actually think that's quite racist. I hate my doctors and always feel like I'm being judged for time wasting. So much so that I wont actually go just to ask about one thing, I wait until I need more pills and ask about things all in one go.

I would seriously make a complaint. To assume that you were drinking and that you have an alcohol problem is disgusting. And the western comment, just a little bit racist.

I have an appointment at lunchtime for a gungy ear and vertigo. I think I have an inner ear infection but I'm sure that my Dr will blame something else. Maybe my western lifestyle?

That is utterly appauling that the Dr would even comment like that. I'm with everyone else. Lodge a complaint, and also go and see your GP because after the way she treated you, i wouldn't feel confident that she has treated you correctly. Where blood where it shouldn't be is concerned, i'd be getting a second opinion...one from a less judgemental doctor who's more interested in my welbeing that critiquing my lifestyle.

A few thoughts:

1. Sari does not usually equal Muslim; in fact, more likely Hindu. Regardless, I wouldn't mention any of your observations about the doctor in any complaint.

2. A doctor commenting on binge drinking is, IMO, totally appropriate in general terms. You went to her after a night out, she suggested that your lifestyle may have contributed to your state of health.You queried it, she reassessed (i.e. backtracked) and revised her diagnosis.

3. A doctor (or anyone) making a comment on your lifestyle in regards to a racial (or any) stereotype is absolutely unacceptable and I would complain about this.

I would complain. Well I would tell others to but porbably wouldn't myself. I have had knee problems since I was 14 and have felt judged by doctors in relation to that. I am a size 12 and weight just under 11 stone and was referred to as "obese patient complaining of knee pain". My BMI is absolutely fine for my weight/height and I left that stupid man's office crying. Maybe they just say things without thinking. I agree with FTLOMB that they need to talk about the dangers of binge drinking but you need all the facts before you label people surely?

? That is outrageous

I was mortified. Had to take my Mum in from then on for a few appointments to fight my corner ?

I am thinking it over. She sort of mumbled it as she turned away too reach for blood pressure checking stuff so I suppose she would just deny it if I did actually put in a complaint. She was an emergency doctor person at a clinic the NHS helpline made an appointment for me at, so not anyone I would have to come into contact with again or even a place I would be likely to go back to.

^ that is awful. How could he say 'obese' without any of the actual obese BMI info/data as proof?

There are some nasty doctors out there. When I was 17 I went to Egypt for a week and came back with D&V. After a few days of it, I went to my GP, worried I had malaria or something. His response was 'is there any chance you might be pregnant?' That was the only diagnosis he could offer (I was not pregnant).

I recently saw a different doctor and I told him that I'd been completely exhausted all the time. He said 'tiredness is the second most common complaint we get, I'll have five more people today tell me they're tired'. Brilliant, I don't feel tired any more. In actual fact, another doctor offered me a blood test, which showed I have an underactive thyroid, which causes tiredness.

Isn't this what the OP did though? by assuming the doc was muslimand that she was judging her?. I think FTLOMB hits the nail on the head on all counts.

Oh yeah I would apply it to both cases

You beat me too it footlong ref a sari. My suggestion would have been Hindu or Sikh as opposed to Muslim,hence why I questioned if those were the exact words? As for the overweight comment, is that worse than my gyne consultant last week telling me she was surprised I had a bmi of 25 because I was 'a skinny little thing?' She judged me too be underweight the same as she judged you to be overweight by visual methods,then retracted when she had the facts?

Sorry, I didn't mean sari at all, I have typed that in error without thinking. I meant her head was covered...not a burka, but a head scarf where her full face was showing, but she also had a sort of sari/long scarf draped around her body. I think that is a Muslim style of dress, but of course am happy to be corrected by posters who know more than I do on that matter.

I agree that she did judge me based on the facts I gave, however she picked and chose her facts and was selective, then when I called her on it, she back-tracked. Before she diagnosed anything related to 'binge drinker' she was aware that I had previously been sick for no apparent reason the day before. Then shortly after admitted that actually having 'old blood in stool' as she called it would not have occured so quickly after drinking.

I understand in other cultures, situations and in medical terms 4 glasses of wine is binge drinking, but she ignored certain facts and made that offhand comment which was unnecessary and actually it turned out to be unlikely anyway for the 2 to be related.