Are GPs useless?

[Angilion]

[..]
I also question the fact you seem to be life alteringly ill yet none of your GP's know about it. Either it is a known ongoing condition, in which case they should know about your medical history, or you have been looking on too many websites...

Once, online late at night looking looking at information about diseases, I managed to think for a few seconds that I had leprosy

I'd been reading some historical fiction and leprosy was mentioned. That brought it to my mind that I knew next to nothing about leprosy, so I looked it up. The partial numbness in one fingertip? First sign of leprosy! Well, that or too much time using a mouse without adequate wrist support. But the website was about leprosy.

 

[Angilion]

I've only once encountered a GP who seemed to not care. Brief look at my notes, some waffle while apparently not paying any attention. It actually turned out very well - he referred me to a specialist. Maybe he'd already decided to do so and his mind was on something else because the decision was made. Maybe he didn't give a damn and was just passing me on. Maybe I misread him entirely. Whatever the reason, I ended up seeing an enthusiastic specialist who went looking for the cause of my problems like it was buried treasure.

 

[Monkeynut]

I've had a couple of blood tests and they found there's "nothing wrong with me". Of course, i'm just imagining my spit being brown and waking up in the middle of the night with huge chest pains.

Might sound stupid but you're not a smoker are you?

 

[Doohickey]

(2) Volterol increases the anti-blood-clotting effect, which can result in an increased risk of bleeding or increased time taken to stop bleeding, if used in combination with heparin. Other physicians told me it was ludricous for them to have kept me on it. I am also on warfarin which is similar and no physician in their right mind would put you on volterol with it for the same reasons/issues.

There is no contra-indication to taking Voltarol while being on heparin, or warfarin for that matter, unless you have history of past or active stomach/intestinal bleeding. Voltarol does not carry an 'anti-blood-clotting' effect in the way that aspirin does (and indeed many (cardiac) patients are on aspirin and heparin (and a further anti-coagulant on top of that), or aspirin and warfarin). The main significant side effect of Voltarol is increasing the risk of stomach erosions/ulcers, which can then bleed. Not because Voltarol has thinned the blood.

 

[ethan]

There is no contra-indication to taking Voltarol while being on heparin, or warfarin for that matter, unless you have history of past or active stomach/intestinal bleeding. Voltarol does not carry an 'anti-blood-clotting' effect in the way that aspirin does (and indeed many (cardiac) patients are on aspirin and heparin (and a further anti-coagulant on top of that), or aspirin and warfarin). The main significant side effect of Voltarol is increasing the risk of stomach erosions/ulcers, which can then bleed. Not because Voltarol has thinned the blood.

My gp took me off voltarol because of the asumed risks of taking it with warfarin despite having no history of stomach erosions/ulcers? Ive been stuck orn paraceatamol and tramadol for pain killing relief ever since. Are u saying he is wrong?

 

[Doohickey]

My gp took me off voltarol because of the asumed risks of taking it with warfarin despite having no history of stomach erosions/ulcers? Ive been stuck orn paraceatamol and tramadol for pain killing relief ever since. Are u saying he is wrong?

I'm not saying he is wrong, I think he is probably erring on the side of caution which is quite reasonable. Many people safely take Voltarol (and similar drugs) with warfarin. My point is that it wasn't 'ludricrous' or wrong if your hospital doctors kept you on it.

 

[mothermachine]

Here's how it usually goes:

1) get something wrong with you, like a hurty ear
2) wish you could go to an ear specialist, but no. call up GP to make an appointment
3) wait anything up to 3 weeks for the appointment, which usually has to be in the middle of the day so you need to take time off work
4) wait forever in the waiting room because previous patients are slow/late/dead
5) get a cold, emotionless GP ask you what's wrong. you tell them, they look it up on google/webMD/whatever and prescribe you whatever they decided to endorse that month/year, BEFORE THEY'VE EVEN TESTED YOU FIRST.
6) you feel awkward and rushed, so you say thanks and leave
7) nothing changes

I took my son in to the GP last month after he'd gotten over a very nasty skin disease we picked up on holiday. The GP immediately prescribed antibiotics which he didn't need and a topical skin cream we already had. And all this AFTER his condition had clearly almost gone away. The reason we'd gone to the GP at all was to find out exactly WHAT IT WAS so we could avoid it in the future or get targeted help if needed, and out of curiosity. The GP did NO TESTS on him whatsoever before prescribing these drugs.... naturally we didn't even pick them up from the pharmacy because it would have been absolutely ridiculous to administer them given that he'd cleared up already.

A mate of mine (female) went to the GP recently to ask about her Polycycstic Ovaries and trying to get some answers about it and treatment/help because it causes all manor of problems for the person suffering with it. The GP told her:

"You could always just get pregnant, that would help".

What. The. Actual. ****. This is from an apparently qualified healthcare professional.

Bottom line(s);

Grossly overworked, grossly overpaid, grossly overrated. Often rude, rarely sympathetic. Occasionally forget you entirely and leave you in the waiting area for ONE HOUR before you go and ask wtf is going on and find out the GP went home already...

They have WAY too much to do and WAY too many people to see to really care about any single patient any more and patients suffer as a result.

What we need:

Dedicated centres for each type of illness, like the rest of Europe. Got an ear problem? Go and see the ear specialists. Something wrong with your foot? Go and see the foot specialist. Something "generally" wrong? Go and see the GP who will refer you immediately. It's not hard. We're on a massively larger scale than the rest of Europe but it absolutely can be done.

But what does the govt. to? gives YET MORE POWER to GPs.

Idiocy.

End of rant.

PS. My partner is a staff nurse in the NHS so I am in NO WAY at all anti-NHS. It's better than anything else in the world. But that still doesn't make it good enough.

 

[powlesY]

Here's how it usually goes:

1) get something wrong with you, like a hurty ear
2) wish you could go to an ear specialist, but no. call up GP to make an appointment
3) wait anything up to 3 weeks for the appointment, which usually has to be in the middle of the day so you need to take time off work
4) wait forever in the waiting room because previous patients are slow/late/dead
5) get a cold, emotionless GP ask you what's wrong. you tell them, they look it up on google/webMD/whatever and prescribe you whatever they decided to endorse that month/year, BEFORE THEY'VE EVEN TESTED YOU FIRST.
6) you feel awkward and rushed, so you say thanks and leave
7) nothing changes

For sure. You go in there with the intention of fighting for a proper answer but then general politeness takes over and you end up leaving the same as you left none the wiser.

****.

 

[Hostile-17]

For sure. You go in there with the intention of fighting for a proper answer but then general politeness takes over and you end up leaving the same as you left none the wiser.

****.

So how is it the GP's fault if you have been polite instead of persistant?

 

[powlesY]

So how is it the GP's fault if you have been polite instead of persistant?

I don't mean it like that. They just have a way of making you accept things and then leaving. I've had a good few rants in there and still leave without any improvement. Perhaps it's my flaw, maybe others know what i'm talking about. They should be bouncers they are that good of getting rid of people.

So good at making people feel like a statistic or an entity in a factory rather than an individual person.

 

[ethan]

Many people safely take Voltarol (and similar drugs) with warfarin. My point is that it wasn't 'ludricrous' or wrong if your hospital doctors kept you on it.

I shall have to see about this then by going back and getting this changed, as not being able to use a NSAID (Volterol) safely is having one hell of an effect on me being able to recover and cope with this torn tendon and associated sciatica at the moment. Thanks for the reply.

 

[stockhausen]

... [GPs] just have a way of making you accept things and then leaving. I've had a good few rants in there and still leave without any improvement. ...

How many times have you changed to a different General Practice?
How many times have you been FORCED to change to a different General Practice?

... Perhaps it's my flaw ...

That sounds very perceptive of you

 

[Destination]

I took my son in to the GP last month after he'd gotten over a very nasty skin disease we picked up on holiday. The GP immediately prescribed antibiotics which he didn't need and a topical skin cream we already had. And all this AFTER his condition had clearly almost gone away. The reason we'd gone to the GP at all was to find out exactly WHAT IT WAS so we could avoid it in the future or get targeted help if needed, and out of curiosity. The GP did NO TESTS on him whatsoever before prescribing these drugs.... naturally we didn't even pick them up from the pharmacy because it would have been absolutely ridiculous to administer them given that he'd cleared up already.

If the skin condition had cleared, then how would the GP be able to determine what caused it?
You know CSI isn't real, you can't magically find what bacterium caused something if the bacterium isn't actually there in the first place?
The GP prescribed you a cream you already had, so... the right thing?

 

[powlesY]

How many times have you changed to a different General Practice?
How many times have you been FORCED to change to a different General Practice?

There's only one general practice in my town.

 

[Herman Gelmet]

I don't want to go into my medical problems but I do want to suggest some things which I did, which might help someone else:

1. Write an official letter of complaint to the practice manager, explaining why you feel that the consultation was below par.

2. Leave feedback about the practice on the NHS Choices website.

3. Get a phone which records audio via built in microphone and before the consultation gets started, place it on their desk and make it look obvious what you are doing. If they ask, tell them you always record GP consultations. Even if your device doesn't record anything this can get their attention and you never know it might even make them actually try to diagnose you!

4. Make a list of things you need and go in with that intention (my list was: are my symptoms abnormal? If they are, I need an accurate diagnosis. Once the diagnosis is known you need to know if and how it can be treated). Simple!

I now have a much better GP and things are progressing properly.

 

[powlesY]

They are trying to force anti-depressants on me trying to tell me it's all in my mind. I guess my mind just decided to give me a massive headache and cough up stuff all the time and completely change my pearly whites to a bunch of disgusting decaying ****s in the space of 18 months?

I've literally got nowhere to turn, no support from doctors, no support from family. It's sickening. Argh.

 

[joxang]

They are trying to force anti-depressants on me trying to tell me it's all in my mind. I guess my mind just decided to give me a massive headache and cough up stuff all the time and completely change my pearly whites to a bunch of disgusting decaying ****s in the space of 18 months?

I've literally got nowhere to turn, no support from doctors, no support from family. It's sickening. Argh.

Anti-depressants aren't just for depression you know...they're prescribed for a whole host of other problems that involve the nervous system. You sound like an extremely demanding patient, but maybe you should try cooperating with the GP. If you do that, they'd be more inclined to offer you more as well, and if their management doesn't work then you can move onto the next step.

If you act like a brick wall then the GP isn't going to bother hitting his head against it repeatedly.

And for the record, yes, 'your mind' can give you all sorts of symptoms that might seem impossible .

 

[Destination]

They are trying to force anti-depressants on me trying to tell me it's all in my mind. I guess my mind just decided to give me a massive headache and cough up stuff all the time and completely change my pearly whites to a bunch of disgusting decaying ****s in the space of 18 months?

I've literally got nowhere to turn, no support from doctors, no support from family. It's sickening. Argh.

Did you do the diet analysis I suggested?
Your teeth to go off that fast have to have sugar or acid from some source.
You chest pain at night, and lots of your symptoms, including the rotten mouth, decaying teeth, could all be coming from acid reflux/regurgitation, which could be stress induced or physically induced.

I can't give medical advice, but when people go off on one as you've described, usually in future the folks treating you will want rid of you, rather than provide you with care. People remember ******s, within large practices the receptionists can usually spot you half a mile down the road, as you'll be part of an elite little band they detest to see arriving.

Try the diet analysis first.

 

[Doohickey]

They are trying to force anti-depressants on me trying to tell me it's all in my mind. I guess my mind just decided to give me a massive headache and cough up stuff all the time and completely change my pearly whites to a bunch of disgusting decaying ****s in the space of 18 months?

I've literally got nowhere to turn, no support from doctors, no support from family. It's sickening. Argh.

No-one is forcing anything on you. If you disagree with the treatment plan then you don't have to take the tablets. Instead of resigning yourself to what you've been given/told, why don't you at least go and see another doctor? (if you already have then I missed that as I skim read)

 

[powlesY]

No-one is forcing anything on you. If you disagree with the treatment plan then you don't have to take the tablets. Instead of resigning yourself to what you've been given/told, why don't you at least go and see another doctor? (if you already have then I missed that as I skim read)

Well not forcing, they aren't allowed too - but they are trying their best to make me say yes.

I've seen 4-5 different doctors in the same surgery. I get the same off of all of them.