Improving your health relies on your partnership with your medical provider, especially when you suffer from a chronic illness such as diabetes, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis among others. Your provider may be an advanced practice nurse practitioner, a family doctor or a specialist with all the initials after their names, but you know your body. When something isn’t right, it’s important for you to feel comfortable explaining all your symptoms to your provider. And it’s equally important to have a provider who listens.

Patient-doctor relationships rely on both parties to fully participate in the appointment. If you’re concerned your provider isn’t listening, try these steps to get your relationship back on track.

Write Down the Details

Many health problems have similar symptoms. Write down the dates and situations when your symptoms started, improved or worsened. Bring a list of medications you take regularly. Be willing to discuss the hard truths including any illicit drug use, the amount of alcohol you regularly consume, your mental health status, and sexual symptoms. Your provider needs the full picture to make an accurate diagnosis. If you’ve written down the details, you won’t have to rely on your own memory when you may feel rushed during an appointment.

Bring Someone with You

Illness, medication, and pain can cloud our thoughts and make it hard to remember what we wanted to say or what the doctor recommended. A trusted friend or family member can help you remember what the doctor said and ask questions you may not think to ask. They can also back you up if you don’t think the doctor is listening. It’s easier to advocate for someone else than ourselves.

Make Notes

You wrote down your symptoms and information prior to your appointment. Use that same notebook to write down what the doctor says. Most offices provide a print out of instructions, tests run and diagnoses after the appointment. It’s a great reference sheet. Make your own notes about what the doctor is saying to review later. They may help you create a list of questions for your next appointment.

Ask Questions

Sometimes medical providers use big words and acronyms that don’t make sense to the rest of us. If your provider suggests a specific test, discusses your test results or prescribes a new medication, ask for details. You may also ask how to spell any words you don’t understand. Even if the provider doesn’t explain what it means well you can do your own research after the appointment.

Do Your Research

Providers do get tired of patients who self diagnose with Dr. Google. If anyone searches through the symptom checker long enough they’ll find a chronic illness or cancer diagnosis waiting to happen. In truth, most of us don’t have these rare diseases and your search on Google can cause more alarm than is needed. Once you’ve been diagnosed though, arm yourself with information especially if you have a chronic condition. Stick to websites with varified information such as Mayo Clinic, CDC, or medical research schools. National organizations focused on your health condition may also provide up-to-date research information. You can also ask your provider where you can find more information on your condition.

Complete the Patient Survey

Most medical facilities, including ours, requests patients complete a satisfaction survey. If you’re uncomfortable confronting a provider whose bedside manner isn’t what you’d hoped it would be, you can ensure clinic management knows about the problem by completing the survey. (Another note, if your provider does an excellent job tell us about that too!)

Find An Alternative Provider

We offer this as a last resort. If your medical provider repeatedly brushes off your concerns or treats your symptoms without searching for a root cause, it might be time to search for another provider. We encourage our patients to develop a relationship with their provider, especially if they have chronic conditions. This ensures you work with a provider who understands your history. Changing providers isn’t something we take lightly, but it is an option you might want to explore if your provider isn’t giving the care you expect.

Everyone has a bad day. Sometimes a provider’s less than attentive visit has more to do with an emergency situation they may have recently managed than a lack of concern for your health. If you’ve had one bad experience with any provider, we encourage you to give them another chance before looking for care elsewhere. If you feel your current provider isn’t listening, we invite you to make an appointment with one of our providers. We strive to be your patient-centered medical home.

The story headlined WedMD, FoxNews, and CNN this week. A British teen who ate only potato chips, French fries, cold cuts, and white bread for years went blind due to his poor nutrition.

Although the boy’s food choices consisted of high-calorie carb-heavy foods, his BMI and weight stayed in the normal range. 

“But the lack of essential vitamins and minerals took its toll. Anemia set in, his bone mineral density plummeted, and his levels of vitamin B-12, vitamin D, copper and selenium all cratered,” reported WebMD.com.

His lack of nutrition first led to tiredness. Hearing and vision problems then developed before he was diagnosed with “nutritional optic neuropathy.”

The boy’s diagnosis is a rare and extreme case. It highlights the importance of a varied diet for the sake of health, not just weight. Diets limited to a few foods, especially highly-processed foods, reduce the consumption of vitamins and nutrients our bodies need to function well.

Vitamin supplements can replace some vitamins we don’t receive from our diet. However, they’re meant to be a supplement, not our sole source of vitamins. The best way to receive vitamins and nutrients is through the foods we eat. A diet of unprocessed foods, vegetables, and fruits provides benefits beyond better-controlled weight and blood glucose levels.

Picky Eaters

For parents of picky eaters, it’s tempting to give in to their preferred foods. Nutritionists encourage parents to continue offering a variety of foods and then encourage their children to try new menu items. Some children and adults experience a heightened sensitivity to certain foods and food textures. They may benefit from a visiting a nutritionist and primary care provider as a great first step to improving the variations of foods they consume.

For most children, picky eating is a phase. Others may require a combination of physician care and mental health therapy to move past their extreme picky eating. 

If you’re looking for ways to increase the variety of nutrient-dense foods in your diet, try our Witcher’s Weight Loss Warriors. This group meets every Monday and provides information on menu planning and food education. Or if you believe your or your child’s picky eating has stretched on for years and you need additional help, contact us for an appointment with one of our providers or our registered dietician. 

Do you know the difference in emotional health and mental health? We often hear the terms used interchangeably, but they refer to two different areas of a person’s health. While emotional and mental health work together, it’s possible to be strong in one area and weaker in another.

Mental Health

The way our brain processes and understands information refers to our mental health. It includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Our mental health affects our relationships, how we manage stress, and how we exercise reason.

Symptoms of mental health problems affect us physically through mood changes, lack of energy, over- or under-eating, abusing drugs or alcohol, having suicidal thoughts, sleeping too much or not enough, feeling helpless, or having an inability to perform daily tasks.

Mental health disorders include bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia among others.

Emotional Health

Our emotional health dictates how we react to situations and circumstances based on how our mental health interprets that information. Expressing emotion in an age-appropriate way indicates good emotional health. It requires us to manage our emotions and determine the correct response to situations.

Better Together

While mental health and emotional health refer to two different areas of our health, they work together to help us manage everyday stress. When we can process information from a situation correctly, we’re more likely to respond in an emotionally correct way. This allows us to manage difficult and even traumatic events to find solutions, develop resiliency, and learn coping skills.

Difficulties with your mental or emotional health are not cause for shame. Statistics show 1 in 5 people will experience a mental illness this year. Instability in mental or emotional health can lead to problems at work and in relationships and can lead to abuse of drugs and alcohol. 

Don’t struggle alone. Reach out for help now. Our counselors are ready to help you face your mental or emotional health struggles so you can lead a stronger, healthier life. To make an appointment call us at 662-282-4359.  

No matter how well you control your diabetes everyone has problems from time to time. One of the most common diabetes complicates is deviations in morning blood sugar. These highs or lows can cause problems throughout the day and can be caused by medications, changes in diet, exercise, or hormone levels.

Low Morning Blood Sugar

The main cause of low morning blood sugar levels (also known as hypoglycemia) in diabetic patients is an excess of background or long-acting insulin. Blood sugar levels are considered low if they dip below 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). Readings that reach 54 mg/dL and lower are cause for concern and immediate medical treatment.

Symptoms of low morning blood sugar include:

• headache
• sweating
• dry mouth
• nausea
• lightheadedness
• dizziness
• shaking
• hunger
• anxiety
• blurred vision
• pounding heartbeat

Consistently low morning blood sugar can lead to tiredness and headaches that last throughout the day. It may also reduce your awareness of low blood sugar levels which can be dangerous if those levels drop into the severe range.

If you’re experiencing low morning blood sugar levels, your first step is to visit with your medical provider. Your provider may want to adjust your insulin dosage or timing before bed. Other causes of low blood sugar may include drinking alcohol before bed, forgetting your regular bedtime snack or changing what you eat, or exercising too late in the day.

Other ways to combat low morning blood sugar include eating a bedtime snack of carbs and protein, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, and exercising earlier in the day.

Dawn Phenomenon

On the flip side of low blood sugar levels, some diabetic patients find they wake with high blood sugar levels. Our bodies are designed to release hormones that increase blood sugar levels in the morning. This blood sugar ensures we have the energy we need to wake up and get started on our day. Bodies without diabetes release insulin to manage the excess blood sugar. Diabetic patients don’t respond to insulin the say way so you may wake up with high blood sugar.

Dawn Phenomenon may not be the only reason you’re experiencing high blood sugar levels. Other causes may include not taking enough insulin the night before, other medications, or a change in your bedtime snack. 

If your blood sugar levels are high for several mornings in a row check it during the night between 2-3 a.m. and take those numbers to your medical provider. They can help you determine if the Dawn Phenomenon is the problem and how to treat it.

Somogyi effect

The other cause of high morning is the Somogyi effect. This usually has more to do with diabetes management rather than naturally occurring hormone changes like in the Dawn Phenomenon. The Somogyi effect is caused by taking too much or too little insulin before bed or skipping your bedtime snack. If your blood sugar levels drop too low at night, your body may produce more glucose in an effort to prevent dangerously low blood sugars. The effect leaves you with high morning blood sugars, also called rebound hyperglycemia.

Before making changes to your diet, insulin doses, or other routines consult with your medical provider. They can help pinpoint the cause of your low or high blood sugar and work with you to formulate a solution. If you don’t have a provider who regularly helps you manage your diabetes, our providers are ready to assist you with management for a healthier, happier lifestyle.