Hypochondria, a Dominican phenomenon?

[dv8]

the only sign of hypochondria i have seen so far was miespoo's family urge to have me tested and cured of all things commonly thought as incurable in modern medicine.
migraines? surely they can be cured! followed a visit to neurologist and laryngologist, then brain scan, x ray of my head and god knows what else. i put a stop after a visit to otolaryngologo, a viscous nasty woman who, in order to check my throat sprayed some nasty stuff right inside my throat that promptly gave me torsions and made me vomit into her bin. upon examination that followed she pronounced that vomiting burns my throat. you don't say? i fought the need to bang her head on the side of the sink and refused any more treatment from her. still, we paid enormous bill for "tests" - mainly looking inside my nose, mouth and ears.
motion sickness? can be cured by fantastic dominican doctors. all i need is a neurologist. fine, can do that. and oh, i have to go to the ear/nose butcher again. no way!
i have no idea why this need to fix me but i swear miesposo has faith in doctors that amazes me truly. he has no idea that gynecologist in here will not venture any closer to female parts than a quick glance, almost as if a toto could kill him!
oh, sorry, it turned into a bashing of dominican medicine :cheeky: i did not mean it like that. i dislike all doctors, in fact...

 

[MeMeATL]

Plaquetas Bajas= House Arrest!!!

I will agree a bit with the statement about some people taking a Doctor's orders very serious.

Last month while in Villa Gonzalez I caught an everyday cold: runny nose, sneezing and headache. I went to the "hospital" where I waited for the doctors to return from their 4 hour lunch break.

After all of this I was prescribed 500mg Acido Menophin (sp?). I am certainly not a pharmacist but I thinking to myself this is Tylenol.

The same week my friend had all of my same symptoms with the addition of fever, hard cough, dizziness, and chills. We went to the a private clinic this time to be seen by the doctor. They gave him all types of exams and when the blood analysis showed his "plaquetas" where in the 100's the neighbors arrived with all types of teas, ointments and potions (which I had to take as well:ermm.

He was prescribed the SAME 500 mg Acido Minophin (2 x's daily) and told NOT to leave the house.
Those meds were not working for me so I was afraid to imagine myself with another adult in pain for 7 days.

After 2 days I could no longer stand the sight of someone in so much pain, so I took the car (hate driving in the Rep Dom) went to the pharmacy to get the closest thing to Nyquil (antitusivo) I could find. I was a good lil nurse a gave him that Nyquil every 8 hours around the clock that entire week. Needless to say he stayed in the house during this time but was in such a trance-like sleep I did not bother him.

Our friends and neighbors stopped by to check on us and told me their stories of Acido Minophin only being prescribed to them for everything as well and their many tales of "plaquetas".

1) What should I have told the doctor to get some pain relievers (i.e. Vicadin, Percocet)?

2) Is it common to be told not the leave the house for such long periods of time?

B.T.W. When he awoke the following week and realised I had been out alone I was in a bit of trouble. Appearantly I was on Bed/House Arrest as well.
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[dv8]

every time i have any flu-like symptoms i am rushed to the doctor for dengue tests. seems to be a major worry of all dominicans who get a cold...
miesposo has a pharmacy and we seem to have good sales...

 

[sarita]

my partner is dominican and isnt like this at all but his child is always ill. the grandmother takes her to the doctors with even a sniff. shes not allowed to leave the house we went to pick her up once and she had a bad gripe(seemed fine to me) but she wasnt allowed to leave the house and especially couldn t go to the beach with us. they were treating her like she was practically dying and if ur told ur ill often enough i guess u begin to feel it especially when ur 4. this really gets on her dads nerves but she lives with grandma and he has no saying in her life. my kids area little younger and dont even notice when they have a =cold and have to be seriously ill to not leave the house. about doctors theres a great one in sosua. dr gill hes great and doesnt charge u for things u dont need. oh and my daughter wears cloth nappies too lol shes allergic to disposible.

 

[LaTeacher]

sarita you're my new hero!
the first one i've "met" who uses cloth.
i've seen a lot of the kids with "bad gripe" who really have a runny nose. i get mad when i see them all hooked up to nebulizers too - especially when it's unnecessary (i know that some of the kids, especially in the barrios really need it because of the contamination, but seriously!)

 

[Lambada]

i have no idea why this need to fix me but i swear miesposo has faith in doctors that amazes me truly.

Maybe miesposo's family has you down as a fragile gringa from the cossetted first world, a precious china doll (ha! :cheeky so they are trying to protect you? Maybe they don't want miesposo to become miviudo any time soon?

The ubiquitous unwarranted faith in doctors stems, I believe, partly from the poor educational standards here (albeit miesposo doesn't fall into that category) & partly as a throwback to the Trujillo legacy when at that time questioning & challenging could lead to some terminal consequences. The era is over (well, that's debateable but another time, another place...) but the mindset remains.

I applaud any expat who comes from a country unaccustomed to treating medics as experts on a pedestal & who tries to share some of that thinking with Dominican friends. It is beginning to change here, but slowly. Personally I don't consult a doctor in any country until I've done my own research & can present 5 or 6 possible diagnoses to help guide their thinking (unless I'm unconscious, of course :ermm

miesposo has a pharmacy and we seem to have good sales...

Is Gregorio ex of Farmacia Popular one of your staff? If so, please pass on my best wishes.

 

[bachatony1]

Laughter is the best medicine

This thread is hilarious! It makes me feel alot better about my wife and in-laws (American) who I consider hypochondriacs. My father-in-law called us at 3 am to rush him to the hospital because he's had a cold for 3 days. (They apparently don't believe in calling an ambulance.) Many times we've rushed to the hospital from work or other activities to find that a family member's leg hurt, throat hurt, etc...When my wife gets a cold, she is completely disabled (i.e. needs to be carried and treated like a baby) and she's only 24 years old! Sorry for complaining, but this thread makes my situation look normal! Thanks again for the laughs

 

[Chirimoya]

You hear people saying "fulano estaba interno" for the slightest thing. Most children have been "interno" several times, while where I come from this hardly ever happens.

This has as much to do with a private medical system where doctors and clinics prey on people's anxieties and squeeze as much $$$ out of them as possible when they are at their most vulnerable, as with a culture of chronic hypochondria.

I think I need to lie down. ?No me van a poner el suero, doctor?

 

[dv8]

lambada, i think the only reason the polish doll gets all this treatment is because i passed to miesposo estimated costs of transporting my dead body to poland (that is unless the government will seize it as a potential biological weapon) that counted to few thousand dollars. he probably thinks: to pay for her when she's alive - fine, but to pay for her when she is dead - that's asking too much!

he himself refuses going to the doctor when sick but he makes such scene with moaning and complaining that i have to resort to calling his mother and giving him back to her until he is better.

ps our only worker from farmacia popular is judith, do you know her?