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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To hassle the doctor for appointment re ds cough

92 replies

ChloesFurball · 20/12/2012 09:56

Took 20 mins to get through to surgery, had to insist. DS has had a hacking cough for 2 days, otherwise seems ok, temp normal, off food a bit. Got told they were very busy, however I insisted. Last time I waited 45 mins after my appointment time to see doc. All that with a bored 2 year old.

OP posts:

Lara2 · 20/12/2012 10:16

YABU - hacking cough for 48 hours is NOT an emergency, especially as temp is normal and still eating and drinking. Half the children in the world seem to have hacking coughs at the moment, dose him up, keep him warm and drinking and just stop wasting everybody's time!

Catsdontcare · 20/12/2012 10:18

Yabu. What exactly do you think a dr can do for a cough?

CatsRule · 20/12/2012 10:20

My 9 month old ds has similar only it sounds like a bark but this is his 4th week being unwell and lost weight that he really doesn't have to lose. I felt like I was wasting Dr's time with yet another appointment but my health visitor insisted. Don't be fobbed off until he has been unwell for as long as my ds! Trust your instincts. Surgeries must give appointments to vulnerable people inc children and elderly.

Original poster

ChloesFurball · 20/12/2012 10:21

Check all is ok?? He had been playing with a friend's child and she has had a cough and now developed a rash. He has not developed a rash (yet - if he does, I hope not) but I think it is a precaution to get the doctor. Also, with the Christmas period upon us, surgeries will be closed.

OP posts:

ISingSoprano · 20/12/2012 10:23

Surgeries will be closed but there will still be Out of Hours provision. The world and his wife are phoning today for an appointment in case they are ill before/over Christmas (I kid you not).

LaCiccolina · 20/12/2012 10:24

A cough? Yabu.

Irritating but unless he's actually sick quite what do u think doc will say?

Catsdontcare · 20/12/2012 10:24

A dr won't be able to predict a rash though. Sorry think you are being ott about it. Surgeries may be closed over Xmas but there will still be out of hours dr's available.

Seeing a dr today will achieve nothing other than wasting a valuable appointment.

Lara2 · 20/12/2012 10:25

But if he hasn't developed a rash, and only has a cough, what exactly are you expecting the doctor to do? Get out the crystal ball and predict???

DowntonSprouts · 20/12/2012 10:25

So you are insisting on an appointment...just in case it gets worse and he develops a rash.

But at the moment he's had a cough for 2 days?

The doctor will only treat what he sees when he examines the patient. Not what it might or might not be in a few days.

YABU and taking up an appointment which might be needed by someone who really is ill.

LaCiccolina · 20/12/2012 10:25

Many docs are actually closed just two days. Get a grip. If there's no rash there one can't be diagnosed!

Conflugenglugen · 20/12/2012 10:26

A cough can go on for weeks, and still not be an emergency. And many rashes are simply viruses leaving the body and absolutely nothing to get alarmed about - barring ones that don't go away if you press a glass on to them.

YAvprobablyBU

Catsdontcare · 20/12/2012 10:26

Phone nhs direct if you want some reassurance fgs

Lara2 · 20/12/2012 10:26

cross post Catsdontcare

ChocHobNob · 20/12/2012 10:27

With no other symptoms, you should only need to see a GP for a cough after 3 weeks. YABU. He wont be able to do anything other than tell you to carry on whatever you are doing. Not nice for your son though, but coughs and colds are rife at the moment.

cory · 20/12/2012 10:29

What everybody else is saying. The doctor will only be able to deal with what he sees on the day. Having a cough for a week or two with a viral infection is normal and does not require treatment. In case the cough is a viral one, there will be nothing at all the doctor can do even if your ds goes on to develop a rash (and viral rashes are very common). Treating ordinary viral infections is part of the parent's job, not the doctor's.

My dd couldn't get to an appointment with her GP when her large ovarian cyst ruptured last week and she was in agony; there was simply no way of fitting her in. I hope the appointments weren't taken up by people who had had hacking coughs for two days.

wasabipeanut · 20/12/2012 10:30

I'm sorry but YABU. These coughs, colds and temperatures are bloody annoying but they are self limiting. GP's can do zilch. I would be a bit more concerned with a tiny baby but not a 2 year old. I currently have a 2 year old on my knee with a slight temp, limited appetite and cough/cold etc. so I do relate!

XBenedict · 20/12/2012 10:32

Yes you are being unreasonable. In your OP you've even said "otherwise seems ok, temp normal, off food a bit" It really is a waste of an appointment IMO.

ISingSoprano · 20/12/2012 10:32

Seriously, OP, you might find this useful.

DowntonSprouts · 20/12/2012 10:32

Half the country must have a bit of a cough or cold at the moment.

Can you imagine if we all tried to get appointments with our doctors, just in case it gets worse over Christmas?

What is this friends rash anyway? Has it been diagnosed as something serious or is it just ( most likely) a reaction to having a bit of a virus?

WinterWinds · 20/12/2012 10:40

Your DS has had a cough for just 2 days and you are insisting on a doctors appt just in case??

YABU i'm afraid. Dont know what you think the doctor will do, just a waste of everybodys time IMO.

My dd had a reoccuring cough last winter would last for 3-4 weeks at a time. She would stop for a few weeks then start up again, this went on for months.
I still didn't take her to the doctors maybe i should have done. But was waiting for the next bout to start but it never did. She has been fine since.

If your ds is still coughing in a few weeks then you'd be justified in taking him but you haven't even given him a chance to get it out of his system yet!

Nixea · 20/12/2012 10:41

ISingSoprano Even if the OP doesn't, I actually found that link really useful so thank you for posting it!

Aboutlastnight · 20/12/2012 10:43

My kids cough from November til May. I worry if fever more than 3dats, sudden onset of barking/seal like cough, rash appears, other symptoms. DD1 has asthma so sometimes a visit is needed for steroids.

But cough on its own? Nah.

MsElleTow · 20/12/2012 10:47

YABU I felt terribly guilty taking an OOH appointment for my DS at the weekend because he has impetigo and the pharmacist, who I sought initial advice from, insisted I should.

He, also, has a terrible cough and is severely asthmatic, but at the moment has no need to see the GP.

I have had a cough since Saturday, no other symptoms, it wouldn't even occur to me to go to the doctor.

A couple of years ago I had a horrible fluey virus over Christmas, as did DS1. I saw the GP for something else a few weeks later, and mentioned it. She commented that I had not been in, I said "of course not, what could you have done?" She said she wished more people thought like that!

MissCellania · 20/12/2012 10:49

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

cory · 20/12/2012 11:06

Am beginning to feel a little bit sorry for the OP who is getting a slating.

Though not quite as sorry as I did for my dd at the weekend.

You see, OP, doctors can only do one thing at a time: if they are busy doing a parent's job, like dealing with the common cold, they cannot at the same time be referring another patient for a scan which might reveal a serious condition requiring instant treatment.

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