To be absolutely hating the infernal constant questioning about alcohol when all i want is a pill-check.

[crypes]

Went for pill-check at surgery with nurse,after the blood pressure then came the alcohol questions. How many units, would you say you drink heavily, how many times a week, when you say you drink alcohol can you be more specific. of which i replied "no". It seems like mindless, nosey, nanny state patronising crap. I have a bil who is an alocohlic and altho constantly in hospital has no weekly support at all, and is currently going cold turkey on his own. So why all the questions.

Don't know. It annoys me too that they assume people lie about their alcohol consumption and add a few more units too it.

YANBU I hate it too.
I always say, "i will only admit to 14 units!"
That must set alarm bells ringing!

It's a standard question in a "health check" - along with whether you smoke and, if so, how many.

As far as I know you are perfectly entitled not to answer the questions though - I'm no Dr but I am not aware of alcohol having an adverse effect on the pill? If it did, however, then you could understand the questioning.

I always lie.

I always say "Not nearly enough"

I take the mini pill as far as I know that doesn't have the stroke and heart risks of the combined pill, but I still have to go in.

Waste of time as well because most people lie anyway, well I do. Yanbu it's nanny state and nosey.

A couple of my friends are doctors and they reckon most people lie when asked how many units they have so they assume it is about double whatever people tell them.

They might be having some sort of health drive. When I registered at my local health centre they did a urine test for diabetes although I reckon it was a drugs test as in dodgy area

If you feel the need to lie about your alcohol consumption you obviously feel you have a problem.

Excess alcohol consumption causes huge costs in the nhs, you can't really blame them for trying to keep a lid on it.

I hate it cos I can never remember what a unit is

The rule is you double the amount of alcohol people say they drink and halve the amount of sex.

Yeah, god forbid a health professional asks you questions pertaining to your health once or twice a year...

I used to work in the NHS (scotland) - and was peripherally involved with the smoking cessation scheme. One of the big wigs involved stated that once they'd got the general public to cop on to stopping smoking, then they'd start a similar awareness scheme about alcohol. Getting a gp to ask about your drinking is all part of this.

They never ask me about drinking - maybe i don't look like the type

But they do give me the hard sell on the coil every time i go!

I don't get asked about alcohol either, but I do get weighed each time and I never did before dd3.......

What is a pill-check?

When I'm not pregnant, I have one modestly sized glass of wine with dinner, almost every night. I never have a second (well, I do if eating out but that's about twice a year).

Last time I went for a pill check the nurse (whom I like and is generally sensible) said - "now - have you managed to reduce your alcohol intake, because it says 14 units here and that's at the top of the guidance. I said that it really was 14, not "14", but she still thought I should be reducing it... because... not sure why really. Double

Think that sometimes the extra questions get extra (quaff?) points for the surgery which from what I understand is something to do with funding?

Liver disease is increasing at an alarming rate in the UK due to a number of factors but in no small part excessive alcohol consumption. UK hepatologists are currently lobbying the government for an increase in funding for treatment and prevention of liver disease as they can already see how much of the UK population is going to be affected by this. A step in the right direction is to make everyone aware of the real dangers of drinking too much and that alcohol is not some benign happy juice. Women are more susceptible to liver disease than men, and so if during a routine pill check up you're asked a few questions that may make you more aware of your alcohol consumption is that a bad thing?

Alcohol consumption is a huge public health issue so there is more and more work being done in NHS re brief interventions and raising awareness. Good thing in my opinion.

Maggiepy - You're thinking of QOF - Quality Outsomes framework. Not sure if alcohol is part of it but there may be Local Enhanced Services which pay GPs for asking about alcohol consumption

It just annoys me, what next? junk food? how many times do you eat a takeaway etc?. I know the NHS are obviously trying to obtain some on-going statistics but i think its intrusive. I am a SAHM who doesnt have a life and the A andE Units are full of drunks every FRiday and SAturday night(apparently) so the nurse decides to get some statistics from me. Seems like their grasping at straws really.

The oral contraceptive pill is generally contraindicated where there is liver disease; if a woman uses excess alcohol it could be worth checking liver enzymes with a blood test. If they are abnormal then the woman may need to stop her pill.

These questions are generally asked for a reason - we don't ask them for fun. You visit a health professional, be prepared to be asked questions about your health and factors that may affect it. It's not nosey, nanny state, mindless patronising crap.

I say I am tea total and they don't believe me.

Well, should you ever have a health issue related to your alcohol intake I trust you will not blame the NHS for not being proactive enough.

Honestly, why lie?