Everyone being so over the top / pushy doctor?

[Manchildd]

Hi everyone.
currently on holiday in Cyprus. I have 2 heart conditions, prolonged QT and SVT. Just to paint a picture a few years ago I discovered the two. I started having seizures and it wasn't a good time. I had to stop driving and spent a long time in hospital. Fast forward 3 years I'm driving again, living a normal life on medication etc.

i do get heart spikes, most days in fact. Due to these two conditions my heart sits at about 110 and eating is a trigger. All I need to do is chill out, take my medication and it'll pass.
last night at dinner with everyone around me my heart spiked to about 124 (this is nothing, it can go to 200s)

the protocol from my cardio team is that if I have a seizure / if my heart spikes to 160+ for 10 minutes or more then I go to hospital.

when I'd finished my food we left to go back to the room. I went up to a staff member and kindly asked if someone could collect us as I don't feel very well. There were a couple of nurses in earshot that then started ordering chairs, asking to give me space and asked what's the matter. I said to them my heart is a little quick but this happens ALL THE TIME and I just need to get back to the room. They wouldn't let me and quite literally blocked me from going. They were taking my pulse and it was 124. They then instructed staff for an ambulance. This was working me up by this point as nobody was listening. I didn't need an ambulance I just needed to go back and chill out. Ambulance was called.

my brother at this point told everyone to calm down and cancel the ambulance. They did.

instead they had asked the staff to call a doctor.
doctor game and immediately said I need to go to hospital (without doing a single check.) I know my body. Nobody was listening to me. When everyone realised that I'm not going, I had to sign a waiver saying I was refusing treatment. The doctor was very pushy for me to go, he demanded my passport details, address, GP details etc.

eventually my heart rate settled (as it always does) and the doctor saw that I was fine. But I felt so pressured he even got a cardiologist on the phone to me on his phone saying you have to come in and have bloods and be admitted. Saying that I could die. All of this hyperbole over something that happens to me most days. Nobody was listening.

the doctor then said I need to pay him €150 for the visit. I questioned this as I never called a doctor. A lot of people at dinner were drunk (I don't drink) and it was so dramatic. Realising I wasn't getting out of the €150 I paid it. Realising he has charged be twice x2 €150!!!! He then started being super nice saying everyone was being dramatic and that he will call me tomorrow (today) to refund the €150.

do I ask for the full €300 back? AIBU to think this is ridiculous? I felt so cornered and claustrophobic. These nurses were telling me to breathe into paper bags, to clear space, shouting 'SHES GOING TO HAVE A SEIZURE' - I haven't had a seizure in 3 years. I have my license back and cleared for driving. At no point was I worried. I have a device in my chest that alerts me if I'm in arrhythmia and it didn't go off. I tried to explain this. It happens nearly every time I eat an evening meal. I wasn't in SVT and medication corrects my prolonged QT.

just feel so shit about it all today. I just feel like there was lots of hyperbole and people wanting to be the hero / medical professional out of work times. Perhaps im being harsh but the 2 nurses weren't even listening to me. They kept telling me I need to do this I need to do that. I know what I need to do, I have protocol from my team and I wasn't panicking. I was just getting pissed off no one was listening to me and now I've ended up being charged $300 for the experience!

thanks for reading so sorry it's long.

I don't understand why you asked someone to collect you if you were just headed to your room? That seems to be what sparked this off. Were you unable to make your own way there? Because if so, the reaction seems proportionate tbh.

The nurses wouldn't have sprung into action from you simply stating "I don't feel very well". You must have said something else - be honest, we're you over dramatic about it first? Why did you ask to be "collected"?

The restaurant is far from the room. It's a huge resort. I also have young DD. People ask for the buggies all the time and what I really don't need to be doing when my hearts fast is to be walking (uphill) for any length of time.

They were very drunk.
I don't drink.

the conversation went
'hi staff member, please could you arrange a buggy as I don't feel too well'
'of course, what's the matter?'
'my hearts a bit quick, this happens all the time don't worry'

You said you didn't feel well and needed transportation. It's incredibly rude to say medics are trying to be a hero outside of work. You won't be saying that if one time your HR doesn't settle (POTS?).

Come on - you asked staff for help when you didn't feel well and people were trying to help you.
The doctor came out to see you. No you shouldn't ask for the money back 🙄

They don’t know you. They don’t know your medical history.
For all they knew, you could have been downplaying something dangerous and they didn’t want a death on their hands.

Well I personally feel like people not listening to me, going against my wishes and leaving me with a $300 bill is rude.

I don't have POTs. I have 2 heart conditions which are controlled by medication. I just needed to take my medication (which I did) and go and lay down.

I felt embarrassed in front of 200 people in a restaurant and people shouting SHES GOING TO HAVE A SEIZURE is rude. When that was not happening at all.

Of course, I understand this, but I was telling them my medical history. Telling them what the protocol is and even in the end showing them letters from cardio in regards to the protocol

still got ignored.

It’s probably better that they overreacted than underreacted to someone unwell. Seconds can save lives and it was your heart. I hope you are feeling ok now.

I think one possible issue with saying 'my hearts a bit quick, this happens all the time don't worry' is that people don’t automatically know that it’s being medically controlled? People ignore random stuff about their bodies all the time so I can kind of see medical people springing into action despite you saying that it happens all the time and not to worry. In your position OP I think I’d take to lying…! “Arthritis playing up a bit” might have achieved what you wanted…

Edited for typo

I didn't want medical help though. Why the eye roll?

I just wanted to get back to the room quicker so I could lay down?

I’m totally with you, OP. You have a medical condition you understand and is under control, and no one listened to you. I suspect your €150 is a lost cause although you could point out again that you personally never requested a doctor.

Thank you.
yes I understand this and it's always better for anyone to over treat than under of course.

I had no privacy, everyone was shouting over each other and everyone was very drunk. I just felt very exposed and not listened to at all.

Thank you for understanding.
thought I was going a bit bonkers from some of these replies!

Thank you.
yes absolutely people don't know it's controlled but once I showed them letters, and my implanted device (which gives heart readings in my phone which showed a normal rhythm) I just wished they left it at that. There was lots of 'IM CPR TRAINED DONT WORRY'

i wasn't in cardiac arrest or in TDP. I just wanted my bed 🤣🤣🤣

You've previously had seizures though? Look, you think they were rude, they think you were medically in trouble. Things don't always settle. Medication doesn't always work. They won't know that. All they've heard is you saying outloud that you don't feel well, your 'hearts a bit quick', and you need help getting to your room.
Claim for the mistaken 150 that was taken.

I'm a nurse and totally agree with you. We're taught to assume the person has capacity unless there is evidence to the contrary. They should have listened to you and you shouldn't have to pay.

I absolutely understand this. I've had tachycardia following COVID infections and definitely wouldn't have been able to walk far during an episode. Eating used to bring it on.

The protocol would be the same as yours - do some vasovagal manoeuvres, take a beta blocker if that didn't do the trick and let my nervous system calm down until it passed.

Stress and all the fussers around you wouldn't have helped.

Yes, I would ask for all €300 back.

For the future, could you ask your cardiologist for a letter to carry with you which explains your protocol?

Why bother doing an AIBU if you aren’t interested in the other side?

It doesn’t matter how much you TOLD the doctor, people downplay medical issues all the time because they don’t want to go to hospital.

I do agree you shouldn’t have to pay though.

I get that but a heart rate of 124 isn't medically in trouble.

when I would have seizures before my heart would shoot to 200-300 bpm. I love a normal life, I drive again and work full time.
im not down playing what I have, prolonged QT can be dangerous if left untreated. But it has been treated and my heart spikes most days. If I saw a doctor each time it spiked I would be seeing doctors multiple times a day each week.

I'd definitely want the money back - £300 is a lot to just let go. As for the rest, maybe they have different protocols in Cyprus for dealing with the condition?

I think you said the nurses were drunk. Were they holidaymakers themselves or from Cyprus? What was there native language? Could certain nuances have got lost in translation?

You should have just asked to be collected and left it at that.

Huh?

I've said to multiple posts against me 'I get that / I understand'

replying back to the posters defending my point doesn't mean I'm not interested in the other POV.

They were British, on holiday. They were slurring and stumbling which is why I don't think they were listening to me. That's why I've called them rude.

not because of their profession or anything else.