If you have any worries then see your GP.... so they advise

[yello]

I just wonder if anyone has? Had slight worries and just visited their GP with them, that is.

You read such advice in so many places that I'm sure it's taken for granted. So I feel sure that people do it. I can't help but feel that you're putting yourself at the mercy of a sympathetic ear. I wonder how many folk get chucked out being told that all they need is a kick up the arse, albeit a little more politely. Or perhaps not!

I mention it because this morning, talking about 'bed side manner', I recalled an instance of when I went to the docs many years ago with a squash injury to my wrist. Almost the first thing the doc said was 'I'm not going to give you a sick note'!! I was astounded! I hadn't gone there for that at all.... it would have served little purpose as I was self employed!!

Anyone have any similar stories?

 

[vernon]

He told me to pull myself together.

That was before I told him that I felt like a pair of curtains.

How did he know? Thats what I want explaining to me.

 

[yello]

Was it perhaps that you gave your name as Bob Monkhouse?

 

[DougieAB]

They also tell you to go and see your GP for an "MOT" once you turn 50. What a waste of time! All he did was to take my blood pressure (which I knew was fine) and asked if I felt OK.

 

[yello]

I guess what I'm wondering is if GPs would actually prefer to see you only when your arm is hanging off (metaphorically obviously!).... or certainly not to have their time wasted by everyone who thinks they've got a brain tumour at the first sign of headache.

I was half hoping for amusing tales of people being told to p*ss off because they done exactly as people have suggested and gone to their doc!

 

[Fnaar]

They also tell you to go and see your GP for an "MOT" once you turn 50. What a waste of time! All he did was to take my blood pressure (which I knew was fine) and asked if I felt OK.

I asked my doc about one of those, when I'd had a period of ill health, and I got BP check and a blood test (I take statins for high cholesterol.) Weight was taken and inaccurately recorded by nurse, and she made my height 2 inches shorter than I've been for the last 30+years. Total waste of time. And because she recorded my weight and height wrong, I was recorded as borderline obese. Which if you look at me, you'll see is difficult to believe. I haven't been to the doc since, but if the doc brings up the borderline obese thing, I'll suggest the nurse has her eyes tested.

 

[ColinJ]

I am at one extreme ... I didn't call the doctor when I felt ill, or very ill, or seriously ill or when I thought I might die - I waited until I felt that I probably would die if I didn't make the call and by then I was too ill to make the call myself! (PS This approach is not recommended, folks! ) That was the first time I'd seen a doctor in about 25 years.

At the other extreme, I know people who go to the doctor when they feel that there is anything at all wrong with them. A barely noticeable cough, the slightest of shivers, or the mildest of elevated temperatures. They probably average 10 visits a year! They tend to come away with paracetamol and a recommendation to take it easy. They think that the doctors think that they are hypochondriacs but they still keep going on down to their health centres, month in, month out.

Apart from the fact that it must be a big waste of NHS resources, I also worry that a doctor might think that they are 'crying wolf' on the rare occasion that something serious actually is wrong with them.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

My quack used to be some alternative loon who I don't think really thought medicines were a good thing, one time I went to see him with a persistent sore throat and he told me that chewing whole cloves of garlic was very good for sore throats. Thanks.

 

[tadpole]

I went to my local surgery, not feeling to great, having put it off for five weeks, (I was too ill/busy to go really) doctor told me I was OK,just a case of an upset stomach, 5 hour later I was in the local A&E before being moved to the Heart Hospital for tests. Two weeks later I was back to work, 2 stone lighter, and none the wiser.

 

[dan_bo]

My quack used to be some alternative loon who I don't think really thought medicines were a good thing, one time I went to see him with a persistent sore throat and he told me that chewing whole cloves of garlic was very good for sore throats. Thanks.

Problem?

 

[Fnaar]

I have a friend who is training to be a GP, and he's told me about TUBEs (Totally Unnecessary Breast Examinations) which are frowned upon

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Problem?

Definitely not, happy to consume vast quantities, however on this occasion I wanted drugs, strong drugs.

 

[ColinJ]

My quack used to be some alternative loon who I don't think really thought medicines were a good thing, one time I went to see him with a persistent sore throat and he told me that chewing whole cloves of garlic was very good for sore throats. Thanks.

I eat loads of garlic and I hardly ever get a sore throat.

Or close friends ...

 

[dan_bo]

Definitely not, happy to consume vast quantities, however on this occasion I wanted drugs, strong drugs.

Ah.

 

[MrJamie]

I had a bad pain in my abdomen for a day or so, went to the docs, he told me it was nothing and should pass soon. It got worse and I went to the out of hours surgery, this doctor basically told me i was wasting their time, poked my belly and told me that it was okay and it wasnt appendicitis because I wasnt in enough pain and sent me home. The 3rd trip, less than 12 hours later I literally hobbled back in and was sent for emergency surgery with a burst appendix.