To want to complain about this doctor?

[Sarah111213]

In March/April this year, I started having allergic reactions when I ate celery. It would make my tongue swell up and my nose run like crazy.

I went to the doctors and told them about my symptoms, and they said to carry Piriton with me at all times and to avoid celery. I asked for a referral to an allergy clinic because I was worried about the allergy getting worse but they said it wasn't necessary.

Last week, I accidentally ate some celery in a salad and went into anaphylactic shock. My DP had to call 999 and I was given adrenaline in hospital and had to stay in for two nights.

AIBU to want to complain about the doctor who wouldn't give me a referral?

Hang on - your doctor told you not to eat celery and then you went and ate it and now you want to sue him? FFS!

...but skihorse - she didn;t knowingly eat celery. The celery was in the dressing (t's used in lots of things). An allergy clinic would have looked at hpw allergic she was and prescribed the epipen that she needed (her GP could not prescribe this). The OP went to her GP with clearly worrying symptoms - her tongue swelled up when she ate - all ealry warning signs of a severe allergic reaction. Definitely a referral case and yet her GP did not refer...... not good imho. His advice to use Piriton was okay but Piriton will not deal with the kind of allergic reaction the OP was showing. Her GP should have known that and referred on accordingly. I think she has grounds for a complaint.

Sorry this bit made my blood boil: "You had identified the cause of your allergy and were given sound advice by your GP. You didnt need an allergy clinic referral as you knew what caused it."

I know of a local girl (girlfriend of a teenager I know). She had a nut allergy, she didn't take it further, just avoided Nuts. In her first week at University she died because there were some hidden nuts in something she ate. There is also the case of the mother who died from a tomato allergy while cooking for her kids (she didn't eat any, just breathed in tomatoes).

So OP YANBU, and I would complain if I was you.

Skihorse, you are wrong on both counts - she ate celery unknowingly, and she hasn't said she wants to sue him.

I think making a complaint in cases like this is a good idea, because hopefully next time that gp sees someone with a similar problem to op, he will think twice before not referring them.

People with allergies get very careful about what they eat. Common sense IMO.

She can complain all she wants but if she's not going to take care over what she's eating.

You can lead a whore to culture but you cannae make it ...

By all means go back and discuss with the doctor how you manage the allergy now, and what to expect in future, but the discussion should be along those lines rather than going in all guns blazing.

Find out why a referral wasn't made. There may be a straightforward protocol - maybe the allergy clinic in your area would not have said anything different at this stage. That's not unusual for a lot of conditions - they have to reach a certain severity to warrant investigation. You are unfortunate that your condition escalated quickly, and it must have been awful for you, but I don't think it means anyone has necessarily been negligent. The allergy clinic may well have simply repeated the doctors advice and told you to avoid all foodstuffs containing celery. It would certainly make sense to avoid all salad dressings and sauces which you haven't prepared yourself or which you know are quite safe.

Unfortunately allergies are not uncommon, and they can develop rapidly. I have allergic reactions to a couple of things (as I am sure many others do) - I avoid those things. I wouldn't expect to be referred to an allergy clinic necessarily because I don't really know what other advice they would give.

that all sounds very scarey, i defintely think you should go back to your GP and tell him what happened i imagine he will be very embarrassed, but i don't think i would make a formal complaint although i do agree he was negligent, i would also make the practice manager aware of this.

to everyone who is saying you should have avoided celery, you tried to!!!! celery is in so many things sauces, etc, i guess now you know to check whether it is in a salad dressing in the future and be very careful with sauces etc but it was an accident, that is why you have an epi-pen because these things can happen.

wow Skihorse, you are way way way out of order!!!! don't post if you don't have anything nice or constructive to add.

You obviously don't have a clue about allergic reactions, they can kill you!

at skihorse. Lets hope you never develop an allergic reaction to anything and get the same crappy advice the OP got then.

Allergic reactions are serious and can kill. Most allergic reactions are not serious. The kind of allergic reaction the OP showed was not mild but a serious reaction to something she had eaten. She is not a doctor and trusted her doctor's advice to use Piriton - a bit like using a glass of water to put out a major fire. She would not have known her GP's advice was shite - who knows if he even told her to avoid celery - perhaps he just said "these tablets will stop the reaction" and left it at that.

THE OP AVOIDED CELERY - shouting at YOU skihorse as you appear not to have read the thread and are being deliberately idiotic (or perhaps not who knows). She did not realise celery was in the salad dressing.

ONLY AN ALLERGY CLINIC CAN PRESCRIBE THE KIND OF MEDICATION SHE REQUIRED. Her GP should have referred and she has grounds for complaint.

As i see it, at least you now know just how careful you have to be in future and now realise you have to check for celery in things rather than just visible chunks of celery. It's in lots of things like stocks etc. A valuable lesson in itself. i don't think the right action is to make a complaint but to go and see the doctor and discuss it further.

Presumably if you'd been referred, you would have had the epipen and not had to spend 2 nights in hospital.

I therefore you should complain - so the Dr concerned can learn the correct thing to do.

Drs are not infallible and like all of us need to learn from mistakes.

I don't think it is case of going in 'all guns blazing', but I agree with Traceybath, that drs need to learn if they have made a misjudgement.

If you have never had to deal with allergies before, then it isn't necessarily obvious how severe reactions can be, how prevalent a foodstuff can be in food production etc.

I got an epipen from my GP so not sure that it's true to say that only an allergy clinic can prescribe what she needs.

The GP should have taken the allergy seriously and either prescribed an epipen and/or referred.

I don't see how a referral would have prevented you eating celery, or reacting the way you did to it.

I don't know how long it takes, but you only went three months ago & you may still be waiting to see someone.

I do partially agree with skihorse in that the OP needs to be very vigilant of what she consumes.

I have an allergy to latex, and connected to that are other things that could possibly cause a reaction. I researched my allergy & I know what can give me reactions. Kiwis being one of them.

It isn't hard to ask to read labels is it? It must have been obvious that there was a dressing on the salad at the time. As it was, she didn't check that the salad was celery free to start with, (because the host afterwards that she was 'pretty sure' she hadn't put celery in the salad) so I do think OP needs to practice greater care with what she eats.