My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

Sun_Addict said:

You have to persist if you’re worried. Mr SA was initially discharged from hospital with depression. Having lost my mum to a brain tumour I recognised the symptoms and refused to be fobbed off. According to our GP I saved his life by my persistence. 

I think working with doctors puts me off because I know how annoyed they get if someone won't let something go and to be fair to them every time I've been investigated for anything it's come back as normal before, I'm not very good at being assertive with my GP I seem to turn into a gibbering idiot whenever I have an appointment and usually come away feeling stupid. They also tend to fob off people who have chronic illness like mine because they see it as all being in your head, normally when I go to the GP she just says it's probably to do with the Fibromyalgia 🙄. One of my friends was at the same surgery but a different doctor and she kept going to see him with persistant pain but he kept fobbing her off because  she had Fibromyalgia as well,she ended up in A&E and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,she died about 6 months later and was only in her early 50s 😟I kept telling her to go back and ask for a second opinion but they didn't listen when she did 

Sun_Addict

It was the same with MIL, she was what GPs call a heart sink patient, she’d be there regularly with different ailments. This unfortunately led to her death as her stomach cancer was dismissed as just another one of her long list of niggles. Once she was taken seriously it was too late. Mr SA went downhill in a matter of days so it was obvious there was something very wrong. I told our GP I was certain it was a brain tumour so he fast tracked him to a neurologist he knew the same day and yes I was right. By this time he was close to being in a coma. I think it helped that Mr SA hadn’t been to the doctors for years prior to this. 

badmemory

To put it bluntly Mr SA was lucky to be a man.

Women tend to have things they need to see a doctor about just because they are women so they get longer records.  Which leads to the oh she's had this & that & this is just another.  As for the age 70 health check, don't get me started & if you wish to remain sane don't take one, it is only a tick box exercise.  The only time in my life I have had blood pressure problems.  I didn't thump her honest.  But never felt more like it.  How can you tell someone seriously that giving up smoking 25 years before had not made any improvement to their health?  I almost went out and bought a packet.  Thank goodness I didn't actually do it.  But once an addict always an addict. 

So now I avoid the doctor's surgery.  Not sure which is the worst - to virtually live there or to totally avoid there!

ladyholly

I once asked for a GP visit because my dh had pneumonia. After a long argument with dr who kept saying he couldnt come out for a cold or do anything for it which I agreed with but told him it wasnt a cold it was pneumonia. He didnt believe me but did eventually agree to see him in the surgery a 25minute walk away. When we got into the surgery he immediately told my husband he couldnt do anything for a cold but did listen to his chest. At this point he didnt say another word except to ask if he needed a sick note. If he had bothered to either listen to me or check his records he would have seen on the previous occasion he had pneumonia the GP wanted to put him in hospital, which he refused but it took him nearly 2months to recover. He has had it again since but as it was weekend the GP came out with no problem and agreed he had it although in very early stages. He knows instantly when he has it now.

Onebrokelady

Sun_Addict said:

It was the same with MIL, she was what GPs call a heart sink patient, she’d be there regularly with different ailments. This unfortunately led to her death as her stomach cancer was dismissed as just another one of her long list of niggles. Once she was taken seriously it was too late. Mr SA went downhill in a matter of days so it was obvious there was something very wrong. I told our GP I was certain it was a brain tumour so he fast tracked him to a neurologist he knew the same day and yes I was right. By this time he was close to being in a coma. I think it helped that Mr SA hadn’t been to the doctors for years prior to this. 

I know what you mean about being labelled a heart sink patient 😟I've seen so many doctors who do this. The trouble with me now is I just don't go to the doctors unless I've got something like my chest infection that I had in September because nine times out ten it's a waste of time, my gp actually mentioned that they don't see me very often and I really wanted to say that's because it's normally a waste of time. My friend goes all the time and always gets sent for tests straight away but that's because she asks for them, last time she went though her GP told her he thought it was anxiety and signed her off work for three weeks 

Onebrokelady

badmemory said:

To put it bluntly Mr SA was lucky to be a man.

Women tend to have things they need to see a doctor about just because they are women so they get longer records.  Which leads to the oh she's had this & that & this is just another.  As for the age 70 health check, don't get me started & if you wish to remain sane don't take one, it is only a tick box exercise.  The only time in my life I have had blood pressure problems.  I didn't thump her honest.  But never felt more like it.  How can you tell someone seriously that giving up smoking 25 years before had not made any improvement to their health?  I almost went out and bought a packet.  Thank goodness I didn't actually do it.  But once an addict always an addict. 

So now I avoid the doctor's surgery.  Not sure which is the worst - to virtually live there or to totally avoid there!

Sadly you are right,it's well researched that women are discriminated against when it comes to their health. Don't even get me started on the treatment for menopause 😡
My friends surgery monitors her all the time and she is invited for all routine health checks.Ive never been invited for a health check despite being told they are supposed to do one after 50 I think. My GP said oh we don't seem to have a record of your blood pressure anywhere so replied why would you, I probably visit about once a year and on  those visits no one has taken my blood pressure, I know it's ok because I can check it at work so she told me to check it myself at work and if I was worried to send them the readings 

Onebrokelady

I decided to read all the info leaflets that come with my medication last night to see if any of them could cause the problems I am having but none of them really list a cough as a side effect, the only one which had anything was Codeine which shouldn't be taken if you have a lung condition so that might be a possibility,I also discovered you cannot take Ibuprofen or aspirin while taking codeine and the codeine alters the levels of these drugs in your blood,I've been told to take both by my GP despite being on codeine constantly 🙄
I take Omeprazole for acid reflux and have been on this drug for over ten years ( I estimate) the leaflet says that you should only take it for four weeks and if the problem persists to go back to the GP for advice. I have done this and she said to increase the dose. The leaflet says you can take it long term but need to be closely monitored by your GP because it can cause problems like low magnesium which can effect your bones, I've never been monitored while on this drug in all the years I've been takin it, it can cause in increase in hip and wrist fractures due to its effects on bone health.
I am also on Fluoxetine and I know the list of side effects with this drug is massive but I balanced that out with the benefits I get from it which are usually very good, however I have noticed it's not as effective as it used to be so I asked my GP if I could try coming off it due to it not really working anymore, she said that was fine and to just stop taking it, even I know you shouldn't do that and the lealflet states that you should only stop taking it under supervision from your doctor. It also lists drugs which you either shouldnt use at the same time or only under supervision and I have been prescribed a different anti depressant in the past that shouldn't be used at the same time but had no advice or supervision,I stopped taking it myself because I felt  awful 😟
The GP I had before this one was brilliant and really on the ball, I didn't go to see him very often but when I did he was very good, I used to see him at the gym more than the surgery 😀 sadly he retired so I moved to my current surgery which is closer but definitely not as good 
I have come to the conclusion that I am going to have to become more forthright about my treatment and the meds I am taking 

Sunshine_girl2

OBL I think maybe you should be more assertive , so many doctors these days just ha d out drugs as the answer to everything. I class myself very fortunate not to have to take much medication apart from vitamin D.  maybe it's time for a medication review for yourself 

I had a cough for a very long time back in 2007 , and i was referred to cardiology twice in 2 years for possible lung cancer as my X-rays picked up a mass on my right lung . Had a battery of tests and this was ruled out . They eventually diagnosed a pulmonary AVM and I had my stent fitted in 2020. What I am trying to say is , it could be anything so don't think the worst. 

Have a good day . 

Sun_Addict

Both Mr SA and a friend of mine have been on Omeprazole for years. Good idea to be more forthright. Our last GP was brilliant but retired. Now it’s pot luck who you get, I couldn’t tell you the names of any of the doctors at our surgery now.

Onebrokelady

Sunshine_girl2 said:

OBL I think maybe you should be more assertive , so many doctors these days just ha d out drugs as the answer to everything. I class myself very fortunate not to have to take much medication apart from vitamin D.  maybe it's time for a medication review for yourself 

I had a cough for a very long time back in 2007 , and i was referred to cardiology twice in 2 years for possible lung cancer as my X-rays picked up a mass on my right lung . Had a battery of tests and this was ruled out . They eventually diagnosed a pulmonary AVM and I had my stent fitted in 2020. What I am trying to say is , it could be anything so don't think the worst. 

Have a good day . 

I'm trying not to think the worst 😊 and I'm swaying towards thinking both my cough and my throat problems are caused by the reflux as it does also fit with the symptoms that I have 😊