Mandeep S. Saini, MD

Dr Saini has been my Primary Care Physician (PCP twice. Twice, because, to get some “new eyes” on our problems, my wife and I went to another medical group, and a different PCP. Recently I contacted his office and told him that I was not sleeping – in fact, there was a period of 6 nights in which I had a total of 4 hours sleep – and that lack of rest was causing me considerable grief, when combined with the pain I was enduring from what I believe is arthritis. Dr Saini flatly refused to provide me with a “few” ( 2 or three) Ambien/Zolpidem Tartrate 5MG pills. I told him that I always cut the pills in half, and ingest them immediately prior to retiring for the night. Half a 5MG pill is 2.5 MG of the dosage. Dr Saini explained that a person over 65, (I'm 91) who took Ambien would be subjected to night-walking, and other problems. I checked the available information on the Internet, and yes - people over 65 do have that reaction – at a minuscule rate, say, a… reported rate at about 4.7 percent in test of 1400 patients. He suggested I use acetaminophen (Tylenol) per the manufacturer's recommended dosage. That was the extent of his prescription. He failed to ask me what foods and liquids I consume during the day, and prior to retiring – a question that a physician using his medical expertise as an art would ask. When I mentioned my insomnia to a physician in my family, she immediately asked what I liquids consumed during the day, and in particular prior to retiring. When I told her I drank 3- 6, 12 oz cups /black tea /day, meaning I am ingesting between 400 – 600 MG/caffeine/day. My blacktea drinking included 12 OZ just prior to retiring. She said while it may temporarily make me feel more alert -it blocks sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain, and increases adrenaline production. She told me to stop drinking tea immediately, and just ingest water, possibly hot chocolate. I followed her suggestion. The first night following the elimination of black tea, and conversion to plain water, I was bothered by the arthritic pain – but managed to sleep 6 – 7 hours. Dr Saini may be medically qualified – but from this one experience, I question his ability to be a medical “detective”. I can only compare him to the physician who was our PCP fro several years, Dr. Roland Feltner. Dr. Feltner always asked questions about food, drinks, and habits before making a medical judgment. In my opinion, Dr Saini would be a better physician, if he spent some time asking his patient more questions , and less time typing away at the computer during the appointment.