first time poster. I don't know why it's taken me this long to get on a forum, but i think this will be helpful.

My girlfriend of 5 years has crohn's. she was actually diagnosed after we were together for 3 years, though she started presenting symptoms much earlier and basically ignored my pleas for her to see a doctor. well actually, she saw one doctor who found nothing and then gave up for 2 years until she finally has an episode in an atlantic city hotel that destroyed her body.

I've been feeling for a while that her Gastroenterologist is not doing all he should be. She told me that when she calls him or gets a check up he just asks "ok how have you been feeling? Alright do you want to change the dosage to this and see if it's better or works after 6 weeks?" And that's it. My father suffered from diabetes his whole life and I know his doctor is very involved.

Honestly if depends on what she wants from her doc. Different people want different levels of involvement. Some people only want their doc to suggest possible actions or just prescribe meds as they desire. Other people want their doc to basically tell them what to do. Same with detail. If she feels comfortable speaking up with symptoms and he knows that ten or may be fine that he just asks how she is if he expects she will self report anything without prompting.

Personally: usually my doc starts with how am I (I give a general okay, good, not great, etc) then he proves a bit more asking about BMs, blood, nausea etc. Then he tells me my options (if there is multiple choices) pros and cons. Sometimes he will give his recommendation, other times he will leave it completely up to me. Personally I like it because I know I am bad at bringing things up without being directly asked however I would also prefer to be told of all my options before his recommendation so I can go through in my mind what I think before hearing his opinions. Because sometimes I value some things more than he does. For example I was willing to tolerate extreme nausea from a med because I was going to the washroom less.

Really it comes down to what does she want? Does she feel her doc isn't informative enough, would she like more guidance or more probing questions? And then if she likes her doc she could ask directly. E.g. "What would your recommendation be here" or "i like when you ask about my symptoms because sometimes I forget to mention them".

I think she wants to get more options, but is under the impression that her doc is doing exactly what any other doc would do. but she's still a new case, and she takes BC as well and I know her doc never really gave much adjustment for that.

Hi, our son was diagnosed 3 years ago. We live in Jacksonville,FL and had a bad experience here, so we spent a lot of time researching Doctors that would listen to us. We been taking our son for two years to Dr. Benjamin Gold in Atlanta. We just got back from one of our trips a couple days ago. It's more than worth it to us. Our 9 year old son is doing great. gicareforkids is his practice Best wishes searching! Jason

I agree that a new doctor is needed. A treatment plan should be in place and followed up by the doctor properly. There are many IBD specialists in Manhattan if you are willing to travel out of Brooklyn. I personally travel to NYC to see my doctor who is based out of Mount Sinai Hospital.