I’m in so much pain I feel sick but my GP won’t see me

[SweetSilverLark]

I injured myself five months ago. I’m seeing physio but it’s a two month wait for a face to face appointment and every night doing the exercises the video physio set me is leaving me in agony.

It’s to the point I feel sick and can’t concentrate on my work, I’m taking the highest dose of ibuprofen and paracetamol I can but they’re not doing a thing. The GP keeps pushing me back and saying it’s a physio issue and because of that, they can’t prescribe me anything.

I have been in this pain for five months now and I just can’t keep doing it. WIBU to sit in my GP’s reception on Monday until they’ll sit me in front of a doctor and let me explain the impact it’s having on my life?

In your shoes I’d just lie!! Fill in the econsult with some random issue. Get an appointment then tell the GP you had to lie because it was the only chance you had of getting an appointment. I work in a dental practice and folk lie to our receptionist quite often. Will say they’re in pain when they’re not to get an appointment same day. We don’t hold it against them.

I know they can’t fix the long wait and I don’t expect them to, but surely at the very least they could see me and see if there’s anything they can do for the pain?

Good point 👍🏻

Out the box. Make an appointment for something else, then when you have your face to face. Pounce.
I have a chronic back condition and can barely even get naproxen anymore, it's disgraceful. Drs are so afraid of being sued for addiction, that they barely prescribe anything. I hope you get some help soon

So say you have another problem and then ask about the knee when you get there.

I’m sorry to say your only options are to suffer or pay for a private scan.
My relative was told they had a sprained ankle. They said multiple times they felt it snap. The X-ray showed a crack, but they were dismissed and told it’s normal. Those X-rays were apparently peer reviewed & concluded the same. After weeks of physio and no improvement - being told to walk on it or it’ll get worse (the irony!) we eventually paid for a private MRI which revealed the break, severe bruising of the bone from continued use, torn ligaments & muscles.
And that’s how the NHS treat one of their own. Honestly, I don’t hold out much hope for you from what I’ve seen.

And the worst thing is, she works at a hospital 🤷🏻‍♀️

Get a private scan to see what's going on. Vista is a good company for scans.

I’m not medical. I don’t know why you think me working there will get me seen any faster? Our a&e is at breaking point, 18 hours wait for anything that’s not life threatening

I'd change GP

Then sit and live in pain then - as people have suggested tons of perfectly feasible options but you won't do any of them.

The point I was making is you work there and you can get there so why don’t you go there 🤷🏻‍♀️(assuming they have a Walk-in centre)

If it's as bad as you say I'd go to A&E. You haven't even had a formal diagnosis yet and to my mind that's the starting point. You should have gone that route in the first place.

Yes they would.

personal experience.

ot does depend on the reason why though.

op, if there was some kind of accident that led to this - you mention torn ligaments - then it probably should have been x rayed in the first place.

was it an accident? Have you been to an and e to get it x rayed?

Yep, second this. Find a good private physio who specialises in knees. They should be able to make a pretty good assessment of the level of stability in your knee, and which ligaments are affected/to what extent. They can then take it from there whether you need referral for MRi, or whether they need to adapt the rehab exercises to something you can cope with initially to allow you to progress.

Even though it’s an old injury, it’s worth going to your local minor injuries unit or A&E if there isn’t one local to you. ( retired A&E doc here). You’d have to wait but probably worth it to get seen.

Some minor injury centres have a system with appointments that can be booked via 111

How can a physio offer exercises if you haven't got a diagnosis, did you see a doctor at the time of the injury, had an pray or scan. Most physio won't see you without a diagnosis and the exercises could be making it worse. If you work in a nhs hospital I'd go to minor injuries, occy health or a&e.

I don't think you will be seen faster. If I was in that much pain, I would sit in a&e and wait for 18 hours. Especially since you want to sit in a gp waiting room until someone will see you. What's really the difference?

Has the pain been this bad all along or has it suddenly got worse recently? I had my knee immobilised for six weeks, I definitely didn’t feel sick from extreme pain after the first few days. I had codeine at the very beginning, and it sounds like you may need something that strong.

Can’t you make a GP appointment for something else and then talk about it when you’re there? That way you can explain in person how much it’s impacting you and ask if there’s anything else they can do to help

Firstly get an appointment with Occupational Health at work, Im amazed your manager hasn’t referred you. Then if they can’t speed you into an mri scan or outpatient appointment, find out about the price of going private and consider asking your parents for a loan.

Is the pain keeping you awake at night?
This is a red flag.

My daughter has bone cancer - in agony for months..... the GP diagnosed a pulled muscle over the phone.....I wish we'd been more pushy sooner and gone to A and E. An x-ray would have spotted it straight away. It is rare but not impossible.
@Randomlygeneratedname speaks alot of sense.

Oh and remind your GP of Jess's rule!!

Thankfully no, it’s not keeping me up at night. It’s also not a bony pain.

Can't your physio prescribe?

Naproxen or other non opioid painkillers
opiod painkillers - codeine, tramadol.

unlikely to without face to face though