When you consult with your family physician to report about your gastritis symptoms, your doctor will evaluate you for any symptoms and signs of gastritis. He may then refer you to a medical specialist, a gastroenterologist, if he thinks you are suffering from gastritis.
You need to be well-prepared for your appointment in order to get the best treatment possible for your condition. Listed below are some helpful advices in preparing for your appointment and to know what to expect from the doctor:
Bring along a partner, friend or family member who can assist you in remembering things that you may have forgotten that your doctor needs to know. Your companion can even help you take notes of important things like instructions the doctor is saying during the appointment.
Make a list of all steroids, supplements, herbs and medicines (over-the-counter and prescription) you are presently taking. You can show the list to your doctor during your appointment.
Put down in a small notebook all your personal information that your doctor needs to know. These may include recent life changes or stressors in you life that may be affecting your health.
List down all symptoms you have experienced even ones that may not seem connected to the condition that you are complaining.
Call your doctor’s office to see if you need to adhere to certain restrictions prior to your appointment. You may need to ask the office if there are things you need to do or avoid to properly prepare for your appointment. If you are required to follow certain restrictions like avoiding alcohol or eating fatty, fried, acidic or spicy foods that irritate your stomach or temporarily halting your intake of certain medications you’re taking prior to your appointment be sure to follow them faithfully.
To help prepare relevant questions to ask your doctor, listed below are some of the questions that can help you understand your condition more:
What condition am I suffering from?
What tests do I need to undergo?
Is my problem chronic or acute?
What do you think is the best treatment plan for my problem?
Are there other good treatment plans besides that ones you are suggesting?
Is there a good treatment plan that addresses both my present condition and my other health problems?
What things do I need to do and things that I need to avoid?
Do I need to consult with a specialist? How much will that appointment entail? Will my visit to a specialist be covered by my insurance?
Can you prescribe generic medications instead of branded ones, if possible?
Can I bring home reading materials like brochures, pamphlets and materials to help me know more about my condition?
Can you suggest websites I can visit to learn more about my problem?
Do I need to do a follow-up visit?
If you have other questions outside those listed above, be sure to ask them to your doctor.
Your doctor needs to ask you questions in order to gain more information that will lead to a correct diagnosis and a good treatment plan. Some of the doctor’s questions may look like these:
Can you describe your symptoms?
Are your symptoms severe? (ex. Is the pain in your stomach mild or very painful? Or does your stomach pain feel like a stabbing pain or does it feel like a mild stomach ache?)
Are your symptoms coming and going or are they unrelenting?
What things (foods, medicines, antacids and other factors) seem to worsen or better your symptoms?
Have you recently experienced unexplained weight loss?
Do you take pain killing drugs everyday?
How often do you drink alcohol?
Are you feeling too stressed out all the time?
Have you observed if there is any sign of blood in your feces or if your stools are black in color?
Have you ever had an ulcer?
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