To want to go to the doctor again after age 50?

[Sleepydoor]

I suspect most people will say I am being unreasonable, but when I turned 50 my doctor ordered all the expected tests including mammogram and colonoscopy. He then suggested putting me on medication for results that were approaching borderline and I had follow-up tests every 3-6 months for various things. I was not diagnosed with anything -- I just had a number of results that were close to borderline. I feel fine. I am going through perimenopause and have been trying to improve my exercise and eating habits to combat this, but I don't want to get on this treadmill of regular testing and medications when I feel okay. Honestly, I'd rather just take good care of myself and let nature take its course. AIBU?

Are you in the U.K.? Sounds like great care if it is NHS.

Or is this a private GP?

Either way you have the right to decide what medicine you want to take.

You are lucky your doctor is taking an interest in you, rare these days!

I think it is easy to say ‘let nature take its course’ until it does!

I think you just need to feel in control. Talk with your doctor about how often and what tests you are happy/unhappy with having and agree on a plan. If you feel summoned, then you won’t feel in charge or happy about it.

Thanks, that is good advice. I think I just need a new doctor. I know my doctor is good, but I feel like he is trying to maximize his billing over striking a balance for me with the amount of treatment I can tolerate for my well-being, if that makes sense.

I agree with pp, if this is NHS I'd bite their hand off for that sort of care!!

At 54 and peri/menopausal, I've been battling for 2 years to get an appointment to even discuss HRT, every appointment made would be cancelled by the surgery or swapped for a telephone appointment, which would then be cancelled (as face to face was required!)

The thought of being offered a series of tests just because was over 50 would be amazing!

What results were borderline? Maybe get healthier and fitter got 6-12 months and then be retested and see how things are looking. If you don’t get on top of it yourself, then in 5 or 10+ years down the line, you may regret not taking advantage of your doctor being proactive with testing and medication.

You can of course refuse it all, they can’t make you do anything.

So IS this NHS?
Because routine mammograms here are generated by The Breast Screening Service, and coloniscopies would not be done without clinical signs/symptoms or a positive FIT test.

No, it's not the NHS. I'm in Canada.

I'm in Canada. It can be hard to get a family doctor, but otherwise the care is good.

What a nice problem to have. Being able to access an abundance of medical testing and care to ensure robust prevention sounds amazing. And if you don't want it, that's entirely up to you and I don't think you're unreasonable either. Going to appointments and following up test results etc is a bit of a faff when a lot of them come at once. Nobody's in the wrong here.

Your judgement sounds fine to me.

Does it not surely depend on what the medication is and your results?

Do you know that most of the people reading this wouldn't be able to get a clinical investigation or treatment even if they would die without it? Either very insensitive or naive. I live abroad with decent healthcare but refrain from bragging about it, it's not the peoples fault they have the NHS in the state its in.

I didn't realize I was bragging. I am being given a different perspective though, so I do appreciate that other people think this is a lucky problem to have.

No poster owes other posters to refrain from discussions simply because others are in a worse boat. Should parents keep from discussing their children or women from their pregnancies because there are women reading who are struggling to conceive and are infertile? Posters who have decent-paying jobs can't discuss money issues they have because there are posters reading who are at NMW or trying to find a job? Come on.

I think you should enjoy your high quality healthcare. What a non problem.

As you are 50+, it is likely to be the actual menopause, not peri. (Average age of last menstrual period is 51.)

I don't want to get into all of my results, but as an example, my blood sugar is not in the pre-diabetic range but it is in the range below it. I have been in this range most of my adult life but now (because of factors like my age and my weight creeping up) my doctor wants me to have blood tests every 3 months and then schedule an in-office visit each time to review my results.

My periods have become irregular, but I am still getting them at least every 60 days. My understanding is that I am perimenopausal because menopause means it has been a year+ since your last period.

Don't be ridiculous.

I understand your thinking OP. It must've overwhelming.
I would love my Dr to be more interested in me.

Post 50 I have had a mammogram and invite to self test BP.

Are you paying per test or is this all included in your health insurance so you'd pay the same whether you were being tested or not. I think if the latter I'd work out which tests I wanted to continue but perhaps vary the frequency. If you are paying per test then he's a cheeky thing and you are not wrong to say no. However I am nearly 52 and have still not been called for a mammogram (nhs) which I know is in line with the guidance but I'd have loved to have been called in on the dot of 50 for testing.

I don't pay for any of the tests or doctors visits (universal healthcare coverage in Canada) but my doctor seems very focussed on billing as much as possible. He comments on it frequently and it makes me feel like he cares more about billing than whether it is strictly necessary. He's also routinely an hour behind with appointments, so a doctor's visit takes a minimum of 2 hours if you factor in 20minutesx2 travel time.

I do empathize with you though. It seems like we represent two extremes.

My brother lives in Canada and is looked after much better than we are in the UK - he gets many more appointments and tests as standard, all working towards preventing issues before they start.

@Sleepydoor I get it.

I’m not in Canada, but have very good health insurance and sometimes feel like they run every test under the sun because my insurance will pay. On the one hand this is good, but it can also become extremely stressful (most recently a whole load of breast stuff).

I have borderline cholesterol issues and had to change doctors because the one was nagging me half to death and like you, I was happy to work on other aspects of my health without a medicine that would cause other issues.

this would be 1000s of pounds.

I remember my overnight stay in Canada hospital where the bed cost me 3k before any tests or healthcare…