People who say "I haven't been to the doctor in years"

[moutonfou]

Not if it's just a neutral statement of fact.

But when it's the type of person who says it smugly, usually in response to you having been to the doctor, as if any illness is just a weakness of your own making, AIBU to want to tell them where to stick it? And the same for people who proclaim in a superior tone that they "don't believe" in painkillers/vaccinations/antibiotics/etc, because they've never bothered and "it's never hurt me."

Ecureuil

I have 3 DC aged 6, 3 and 1. Between them they've been to the GP 2 times, barring immunisations and the routine postnatal check up. DH and I haven't been for probably 8 years, except the midwife. However DD3 had meningitis at a week old and had IV antibiotics for a week and has had several clinic check ups at hospital after so still cost the NHS a fair whack!

It's just pot luck. There is nothing virtuous about being lucky enough to have good health.

Otoh, some people do overuse the GP, for example to get the equivalent of Lemsip "free" like my granny used to. The reasons for this are complex and I do try not to judge. When I worked in a GP surgery, several people used to book in before Christmas for a "check up" before the surgery shut - not necessary, but sometimes I think they were lonely and anxious about being on their own over the festive season so getting a fresh box of paracetamol and a BP check helped that.

It depends though doesn't it. I know some people who go to the doctors all the time because they are either ignorantly paranoid or they just love the attention of it. They take themselves or their children to the doctor for moderate colds or back aches. And I don't mean someone who goes and gets something checked out and it turns out to be nothing but people who automatically go to the doctor the minute they don't feel 100%.

They waste the time of the health services for no genuine good reason. And often end up taking antibiotics when they shouldn't contributing to the growing problems of anti-biotic resistant bacteria. I can't tell you how many times other parents have told me their child has a virus and is taking an anti-biotic for it. Obviously the doctors who prescribe like that are as much to blame but for some people going to the doctor for everything is a way of life.

I don't go to the doctor because my mum is getting confidential medical information from the surgery via her friend

Presumably the friend works there - couldn't she get dismissed for this? I would be inclined to make a complaint - friend or not - and I wouldn't not go to the doctor because of it. That's appalling.

Some people are just naturally more robust and have immune systems,, which work well even if they abuse their body. We cannot help our genetics. Yet it’s used as a personal criticism.

My mother used to be (well still is) like this - not going to GP, not liking to take medication (of course she was retired at the time so wasn't struggling through the working day without paracetamol) and says that my Dad is indulging himself when he takes cold remedies.

She has had a few health problems recently which ought to have made her a bit more empathetic - I don't think she is quite as bad as she used to be - but she did make you feel like you caught colds on purpose or because you were weak in some way.

They annoy me much less than time wasters clogging up surgeries for people who genuinely need it.

... or do I mean sympathetic?

I'm one of those people that hardly ever see the gp and can count on 1 hand how many times my older 3 dc have seen the gp.
Then along came dc4, he had almost weekly appointments from 6 weeks to 16 weeks as we tried to get the balance of his reflux meds right and the right hypoallergenic formula. We managed a little break with me only having to phone for more of his medicines and milk and then in the last month he's had an ear infection requiring antibiotics croup which needed steroids and left him with a wheeze that needed inhalers and eczema on his bum.
Feels like I'm never away from the place!

I take my kids to the doctors but the last time I went to the doctor was To have my iron levels checked probably 3/4 years ago.

In that time I’ve had flu, broken a toe, had thrush, injured my knee, sprained my ankle, various coughs and colds, headaches, etc but have just treated myself as they are all things that can be self medicated barring any complications.

I do think (and I would pay for this) that you could get a yearly physical, where you see a doctor and asnwer questions on your health, maybe have some blood tests etc

How healthy a person is is mainly influenced by genetics, then life circumstances (e.g. wealth, work conditions) then personal choices (staying up late). Some things, like smoking, can have a bigger influence than others, but generally, we're either lucky or not, and there isn't much we can do about it.

I'm someone who would be dead without daily medicine. Nothing I can do about that. It's how I was born. So, I go to doctors when I need to, particularly as my immune system doesn't always work as well as it should.

Just hugely glad to live somewhere that I do get healthcare.

If someone tried sounding smug to me about being in good health, I might just tell them a thing or two.

Saying that I always in the doctors/hospital with the 3 kids.
In the past month we have had 3 dentist appts, 1 emergency dental app, 2 orthodontist appts, 1 ENT appt, 1 hearing test, 1 speech therapy appt, and several doctors appts.

Equally the people who ask if you've been to the doctors just because you have a virus annoy me. It is a virus the doctor will do nothing unless you are really not recovering or really unwell.

I do go but when I have a health concern. If people talk to me about their health and it is something I know about I will just tell them what I know about what treatment is available and real danger signs.

The ones who really annoy me are those who proudly proclaim they've haven't seen the doctor or taken a day off sick and then bend your ear about all their aches and pains.

They describe quite scary symptoms, show you weird swellings and lumpy joints and refuse to go to the doctor.

Scared of the hospital, they'll carry on whining about how terrible they feel and in the next breath tell you how everyone they know that went into hospital came out dead. They're not going to hospital. No. Uh uh. They're not going in because you come out dead.

These are the twonks who'll carry on until they're too weak, feeble or terminal for any treatment to be successful and then end up dying in hospital, fulfilling their own prophecies.

At the funeral, there's some other one who tells you "She was fine until they took her into hospital! Didn't bother the doctor. Didn't take a day off sick! I'm not going into hospital! You go in there, you come out dead!"

It starts all over again.

I would sooner go to the doctor if something's been bugging me rather than become a serial conplainer.

complainer. FFS. 😳

I'm with you on this. There are lots of people who hardly ever or never have to see a doctor and don't feel the need to be smug about it because why would you want to make someone who has to see their doctor(s) a lot feel as though they're somehow inferior for not being in rude health. Lots of my friends rarely see a doctor, none of them smug me for having to see mine far more than I'd like due to multiple health issues that can't be ignored or cured by some paracetamol and an early night. In fact one of those friends told me just last week that I should see my doctor soon and tell him about something that's been going on for years and had a flare up just this week. Because here's the thing, even those of us who do have to see our GP or a consultant or consultants quite a lot can feel as though they're causing a fuss and that we're being treated for enough things without adding yet another thing to the list.

And I know I need to listen to my friend because a couple of years ago I finally mentioned something that seemed ridiculously silly to my GP and found myself in hospital that night for something that had become possibly life threatening.

Rant over!

Like a pp I think it comes around in waves as to when you need a GP.
I tend to have nothing wrong with me for years and years and then once I finally have to visit for something fairly minor I end up with hospital appointments and nurse appointments and prescriptions and the like.
I think last year was my worst ever, I had a bug bite that got infected, so on antibiotics, then I was asked cos of my age to have a well woman check. After the results of that I was sent to about 9 different appointments to find nothing wrong with me.

Nothing wrong with the NHS sending me off to various appointments, I didn't mind that at all, but each one was a worse scenario, so I got pretty scared as each time I was ok, it was the next level of what could be wrong, the last level would have been cancer. So I am very very lucky.
Then rope burn, then I had a terrible tummy bug, I expect to need a Dr again in about 7years.

I think, in some ways it's because people are responsible for their own immune system and health, so people can be quite righteous about how healthy they are. That being said, some illnesses can't be helped no matter how healthy your body is.

It is also because good health and wealth are linked.
Look at all the rich city bankers running marathons and competing with each other. They are all in good health.
It is just a class signifier. Depressingly so.

My dad has been like this all his life: seemed to feel an enormous need to tell people that he is never ill, has perfect teeth, and never gets tired. Enormously proud of his physical fitness.

I sometimes wonder if it is to do with the fact that his dad (who was overweight) died young: it's created a fear of illness that forces him to keep telling himself that he's fine.

Rather tough for his wife and granddaughter who have suffered all their lives from a genetic disorder.

But most of all, tough on him- old age has come as a bit of a shock. When you base your sense of security entirely on your robust health, old age is a hard thing to bear.

A decorator that i use was like that. I could see that a possible chest infection was building up, but he was adamant that he never saw a Doctor. That accumulated in him letting me down and then turning up and doing a shit job, because he could barely breathe.

If you are really healthy then fine, but I've worked with people who have spread stuff and moaned on for days, when one day off dosed up, would have cleared it.

When I returned to work after being signed off with pneumonia, a work colleague spouted on about never being signed off, as though it could have been prevented.

It isn't just about your immune system,but who you come into contact with. Getting buses puts you at more risk than driving,or handling money etc.

I think that it is really worrying, the-dog-eat-dog, road our Society is going down.

Lucky them I had to see a GP 3 times this week 😔

"it's because people are responsible for their own immune system "

How so?

I've been seriously ill and now have generalised lymphadenopathy, which is a natural immune response condition that cannot be treated and just has to run its course, up to two years.

When I ask my Consultants about improving the immune system,they say that it is largely set, except for severe abuse of the body.