Anti depressants only work for about one in five people. Demand some psychotherapies from your doctor Carol.
What are psychotherapies please @AnnieS?
If you mean counselling I have already been offered it twice & refused. I just don’t want to talk about my problems to a stranger. I’m doing alright talking about it on here - and to friends & family of course.
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We are very lucky, all through Covid and beyond we’ve been able to see our doctor and he is charming, respectful and helpful, phones to discuss things and explains and I always see the same one
BUT, I feel mean saying it, but I don’t think I do have complete faith in him. He’s busy and I think sometimes he doesn’t look into things as deeply as he could
For example, three years ago I went to him with a small sore spot that wouldn’t go away. He said it was just excema but two years later when I persisted it turned out to be Bowen’s disease. Not serious and easily treatable but I knew something was wrong
Another time, out of the blue, I had very bad bouts of gout over a year. My doctor was very good, gave me all the treatments etc. But then one time he wasn’t available and I saw a locum, who pointed out that the blood pressure tablet I was taking was known to cause gout. He took me off them and gave me something else, and I haven’t had gout since!
So no, good as he is, I don’t have complete faith in him!
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Yes I meant cognitive behavioural therapy which can help you see your situation in a different way. Because they are there in a professional capacity and totally neutral they would perhaps challenge you more than people here as a personal relationship can interfere with the process. It can be uncomfortable to go through but ultimately can help a lot. It’s just an alternative to taking meds that have little evidence of efficacy in more than about 25% of patients. But of course it’s not for everyone.
Maree - Bowens is another possibility for me but the Dr just said “fungal”. We’ll see. When I had skin cancer before it started as a tiny bead of “water” on my nose but it kept returning. That GP just gave me cream to put on it and when I went back about 6 months later for something else, another GP was very cross when I told him I was still using it and referred me to hospital immediately. It was then more advanced and I had to have surgery to remove it. You don’t know who to trust!
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Sometimes they just seem very casual about things, and not as if they are considering things properly
Cannot fault my GP and the practice nor their care. Yes I trust them
It’s not just the doctors… Its the pharmacists too. I was once given the wrong medicine.
Our GP practice has it’s own pharmacy attached. my husband was once given a box of medication which should have been for high BP. He remarked to me that the packaging looked different and was going to take it then we double checked with the leaflet and it was for stomach tumours!!
I have some faith in my doctor but he is only a ‘General Practitioner’ and consequently can only point you in the right direction and prescribe medication. I can, and have, overruled my doctor in the past, and I have the final say of what goes into my body and whose advice I decide to take.
I have the greatest respect for someone who has spent most of their lives learning their profession and helping people, but they have to follow a protocol, and we are all different.
This June, I am in my tenth year delivering prescriptions and will have hit the 100,000 scripts by then. So far I have made one cock up, but realised before finishing that delivery and put it right. It is a serious business, handing over someone the wrong medication.
It’s not the delivery - it’s the person making up the prescription who is at fault.
technically the GP is responsible…
How so? When we complained they said they would raise (something like) a serious incident review. I was told that the GP signs the prescription form and it then goes to be dispensed. One member of staff makes it up and signs and a second member of staff checks and also signs. So 2 people failed to dispense what the GP prescribed.
My general practitioner was at school with me. He was the very best of the best but he was a victim of Covid.
I’ve found another GP and she is excellent. In SA, there is private health care which comes at a cost. I’m always satisfied with the doctor’s care.
Fortunately I haven’t really needed a doctor for years but finally decided I need to get some help re for long covid, so arranged a telephone consult. A couple of days before that I had quite a bad fall, which I mentioned on the phone and found myself fast-tracked for a physical examination, samples… was sent off for xrays and given antibiotics. Had two texts this morning to say the xrays don’t show any factures but increased arthritis and I should make an appointment to discuss that. Got to say that after all the bad press the NHS have had, I was impressed.
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Glad you had a good experience at this awful time. What did they say re long Covid? I had that for a couple of years. The docs said they didn’t have a clue what to do.
- Hi AnnieS I’m being referred to a Long Covid Clinic but need to get blood screening test first. There are various websites giving advice - depends what symptoms you have I think. In my case it’s just tiredness.
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Am I dissatisfied with my doctor?
Yes and No.
So years ago, I “fired” my doctor because she would NOT order a basic medical test for me. I begged and nothing. So I “fired” her and did some research (by firing, I mean I stopped going to her for appointments hah)
For basic medical testing, I use this Request A Test company. When I say “Basic” I mean, Complete blood count, estrodiol, estrogen, tesotsterone, cholesterol, and a Cancer Antigen 125 test, twice a year. They have millions of tests hah
I travel for fun but no matter where I am in the country, I can get blood work done at some lab (brick and mortar) and literally just download the results to my ipad days later, sometimes next day.
Sorry for going on such a long tangent but I am a firm believer in taking control of my health! I will be posting a link (hope it isn’t against the rules).
Keep in mind, I do have a different doctor for my prescriptions. I take my results to him, and he renews my prescription.
It’s a bit risky, analysing your own results, usually these tests are performed as part of a wider investigation, looked at in isolation can be a counter productive.