I have debilitating chronic pain from fibromyalgia, and need a pain management doctor to help me…read moreget through life. My first appointment with Dr. Sikka was great. Not only did she spend a lot of time with me, she seemed attentive. I appreciated that she gave me some acupuncture and eastern medicine insights as well, which I wasn't expecting. Sure, the office was incredibly crowded and dirty, but I was hopeful that she would help me get the care I need.
After that first visit, everything went downhill.
She always seemed rushed and preoccupied, like she was thinking about other things, and even left the door of the exam room open on multiple appointments, so that everyone in the waiting room could hear what we were talking about. She asked me several rude and inappropriate questions. She asked me in a very accusatory manner if I lived with children, insinuating that I was irresponsible enough to leave my medication out for children to take and die. When I tried to explain things to her, she would give a response that indicated she totally disregarded what I had said. She often snapped at me.
Dr. Sikka wanted me to get an EMG. So I tried calling her office over the course of a month and no one would call me back to schedule the EMG. Multiple phone operators told me that their office was not the one to schedule the EMG, even though Dr. Sikka told me they do it. Dr. Sikka's assistant, Jasmine, told me to call her to schedule the EMG. So I left three messages, and still heard nothing. Luckily I had booked an EMG appointment at UCSF, a month and a half later from when I started seeing Dr. Sikka. That means that her office refused to return my calls for one and a half months. In an appointment, I asked Jasmine why she hadn't returned my calls. She said that her answering machine was broken. So even though she knew she had to schedule my EMG, and that her answering machine was broken, she still did not help me. Everyone in this office gives different (incorrect) information and instructions, so it takes an absurdly long time to get any procedures done.
Eventually, Dr. Sikka wanted to increase my dosage of nerve pain medication. She told me to take my current prescription three times a day instead of twice, and she would write me a new prescription when I was close to running out. So the day comes when I am running out, she writes a new prescription, and my insurance company denies it (because, duh, that's what insurance companies do). I called Dr. Sikka's office to tell someone to follow up with the insurance company, and to let me know what happens. I then called the following day because I didn't hear back from anyone. The phone operator at the office informs me that there was no record of my call the previous day, and so no one had worked on it.
So I emailed Jasmine, to try to get her to start working on it. I get snappy responses back from her, as well. At the end of that day, I get a call from a very angry Dr. Sikka, who proceeds to yell at me. "I have just spent two hours on hold with your pharmacy, and I WILL NOT DO IT ANYMORE. It's not my problem." I tried not to lose it. I asked her why she hadn't called my insurance company, who is the one not approving the new prescription. The pharmacy had nothing to do with it, they were just following the instructions of the insurance company. Again, she yelled at me and said she would not spend any more time on it. Let me repeat that. She said she would not work on getting me a prescription that she said she would give me.
All in all, I told the phone operator, Jasmine, and Dr. Sikka herself to call my insurance company and NOT the pharmacy, and no one listened. It's like this office has no idea how insurance companies or medical bureaucracy work.
Now, I am totally out of a medication, that if stopped suddenly, can cause seizures. And the reason I am out of it is because Dr. Sikka told me to blow through my other prescription and she assured me that she would get me more. Just one of the many responsibilities of a doctor is to ADVOCATE on the behalf of patients to their insurances companies to ensure they get the care they need. Has Dr. Sikka never called an insurance company on behalf of a patient? I am totally baffled. To add insult to injury, she screamed at me over the phone for something that was totally not my fault.
IN WHAT UNIVERSE IS IT OKAY TO YELL AT A PATIENT???
TL;DR
I under no circumstances would recommend anyone to see her. She is totally unprofessional, disrespectful, and will not advocate for you to get the care you need.
If you want compassionate, respectful, and affirming care, DO NOT SEE THIS DOCTOR.
***Update: in a final effort, I sent a heartfelt and pleading email to Dr. Sikka and still have not heard back. She is effectively ignoring me and not attempting to help me get my medication. The only thing that makes sense to me is that there is something seriously wrong with this office and doctor.
