Confessing a Guilt as Physician

[slymedic]

I have a guilty confession to make - I'm a physician & have been visiting this site for a few months. I've found it extremely useful. The knowledge-base available here far exceeds that of many other drs, especially non-specialists.

The Mayo clinic paper quoted that a large proportion of bfs sufferers were medically qualified and were worried about their symptoms because they knew what fasciculations could mean. I'm aware of at least 3 other drs who also post on this site. I've not 'fessed up because I wouldn't want to be put in the position of being bombarded with difficult or sensitive questions. There is also a medicolegal aspect to this. I'm sure that this is the position of the other drs I've corresponded with.

Out of interest, if anyone else would like to 'fess up to having a medical background you can log out of your account and still post a reply to this message. Or use the poll option.

Shymedic

 

[dylan.dibber1]

my cousin is a doctor. she freaked me out over christmas when she acted very gravely to my mention of my 2+ years of fasciculations -- but in the end, i figured that just like i can be an electrical engineer and yet fairly naive to some disciplines, there's no reason for her to have specialized knowledge of BFS and ALS shortly after graduation.

anyway, it's good to hear that you find comfort in the community here. hope you stick around under one pseudo or another.

 

[starGalaxyGazer]

I think regular doctors has quite poor knowledge about neuro diseases. When I told my story, the regular doc said "I have nothing to add, cause as I can see you know much more about this diseases (ALS nad BFS). You should visit neuro department".

M.

 

[starGalaxyGazer]

I can't seem to get the poll to allow me to vote, but yes I too am a physician (an internist). I agree with you about the information on this board far exceeding what is taught in medical school concerning fasciculations. In fact it wasn't until I read the section on benign fasciculations in "Adams and Victor's Textbook of Neurology" that I learned there were other entities besides ALS which caused fasciculations. I guess considering that BFS is benign it was thought not important enough to discuss. Fortunately my neurologist was up to date on the subject, but I still had to specifically ask him whether he was familar with the term BFS before he acknowledged it.
I'm sure the general public finds it difficult to understand why all doctors are not familar with every disease or illness. Especially internists who as the joke goes "know everything and do nothing" (meaning they are not procedure oriented). The reality of the situation is that there is only so much that can be taught in four years of medical school; and we are told that by the time we graduate, half of what we were taught will be obsolete. That is the reason there are residencies which allow the physician to specialize in a particular area. Even then no one is going to learn everything about everthing.

 

[JennFiction]

So, if it is not a big problem for you tell us more what you've read about benign fasciculations in this "Adam's and Victor's textbook..."
What is the cause of BFS? How long it usually lasts and what is the most common patern of presentation and so on?

I think it would be VERY interesting for all of us.

regards
Marcin

 

[RamirDl12]

Adams and Victor is the textbook of Neurology, or at least one of them. I don't have a copy of the textbook handy so this is from memory but this is what I remember.

There is an entity of generalized fasciculations in the absence of weakness, atrophy, or hyperreflexia. It is intermittant with periods of worsening during stress or illness . It's cause is unknown but it is speculated to be post-viral or autoimmune in nature.

According to the text eventual resolution can be expected.

 

[reneecatx]

I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV! (J/K)<---I promised Dale I'd always put that there.
Jen

 

[BriBriBB]

And I like people who always keep their promises! Thanks JJ.

Dale

 

[TheTrex]

To any of the doctors/med students~

I would've never guessed in a million years doc/med students would be reading this board.

I for one went ape$hit over these twitches when I looked them up on the internet. My GP sent me to a neuromuscular specialist that had worked in an ALS clinic. He did the emg test and not one twitch was recorded. I was twitching at the time so I don't know what to think. I was found to be hyperthyroid on a blood test before going to the neurologist. Both doc's think my thyroid is causing the twitching, but could still be BFS. My guess is BFS, although my med's are still being adjusted.

I admire med student and doc's. Lots of hard work to get where you've gotten, stress, long hours.

BTW~ Do any of you "male" doc's have any ressemblence to Dr.Carter on ER?

Renee

 

[ziggy]

Yes another M.D.
Honestly I went through about 5 specialists before I was convinved this was benign. Even then it was not until I stumbled onto this website that I realized this was an actual syndrome.

I don't know why it's surprising to find M.D.s here. If anything we're probably more neurotic because we've seen the "zebras". I for one also felt more self-conscious seeking help because I didn't want my intenist to think I was crazy. Had she been able to say to me "You give a perfect history for BFS" when this all started it would have saved me and my family a lot of agony.