Would you comment on a non-mask wearer when in public?

[92miles]

If you passed a fit young person coming into a busy venue as you were exiting, and that person wasn't wearing a mask, would you say anything to them?

I wouldn't because you've got no way of knowing if that person is exempt. It is also possible the person does have a mask and had simply forgotten to slip it on. I think they will pretty soon notice others wearing masks and it will remind them if that's the case.

I've witnessed other people making comments to non mask wearers when in public though.

Certainly true for me! All it did was make me sleepy and permanently hungover.

Same. I had it alongside Amitriptyline for a while at night. I've never been so groggy in my life!

My GP diagnosed mine, this thread is getting weird. As if it’s getting some sort of organised attack.

I just googled as was worried my GP did something wrong.

‘ Seeing a GP
There's no specific test for trigeminal neuralgia,
so a diagnosis is usually based on your
symptoms and description of the pain.
If you've experienced attacks of facial pain, the
GP will ask you questions about your
symptoms, such as:
• how often do the pain attacks happen
• how long do the pain attacks last
• which areas of your face are affected
The GP will consider other possible causes of
your pain and may also examine your head and
jaw to identify which parts are painful’

'They refer immediately, to rule out tumours or MS, and to confirm the diagnosis.'

Yes I think I said earlier a ct or mri will be arranged by a gp to rule out other causes, however a neuro referral is not needed to scan.

There's some info for you below on how there isn't a specific test for tn, GPs will go on symptoms and clinical presentation. Neuro referrals will be necessary in more complex cases perhaps requiring high doses as I said.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/trigeminal-neuralgia/diagnosis/

I'm surprised some people on here aren't more supportive regarding my newly diagnosed relative who is being managed so far successfully by their gp.

Perhaps a new thread should be started in general health to discuss everyone's different experiences in primary care?

Clearly the Queen Square consultants are on here tonight

'I was categorically told that the dose GPs are allowed to prescribe is simply not enough to actually do anything but get your body accustomed to it'

Well that is not true. Lower doses can work for some people. Gps are allowed to prescribe high doses of meds! I mean they even prescribe drugs like diamorphine in palliative care you know.

'Why are you insisting that your information is correct when several people with TN have told you that it isn't? '

I'm saying it isnt all blue lights and collapsing. That TN can be diagnosed and managed effectively by GPs. Your misinformation could be incredibly scary for anyone newly diagnosed who thinks they should be fast tracked to neuro when infact primary care is appropriate, certainly initially.

My daughter is exempt and she has had months of shit from people when she’s not wearing a mask.

She looks like a fit, healthy 16 year old - however, she has Tourette’s and her tics make mask wearing impossible

She tries to wear one, because of all the judgemental arseholes, but has hospitalised herself in the process several times.

She wears a couple of lanyards - a Tourette’s Action card that you can only get with proof of diagnosis, and a mask exemption one but they make fuck all difference

No one collapses and gets blue lighted with TN. Where the hell are you getting this shit?

I think I'll believe the person with the medical degree if it's all the same to you.

'No one collapses and gets blue lighted with TN. Where the hell are you getting this shit?'

'Shop staff then call an ambulance because if someone screams and keels over in your shop, that's what you do. They also have to clean up any mess you've left. Paramedics arrive, you explain the situation, they may take you in and give you the serious hardcore pain relief you can only get in hospital'

^ upthread

They can and do, yes ct or mri can be done to rule out other causes but they do manage as well as diagnose TN.

My GP sent me straight to hospital, as in their words "it's possible this is TN, but that has to be diagnosed by a neurologist".

As far as my medication was concerned, my GP has never prescribed it (if I remember correctly, he said he couldn't prescribe the anticonvulsants) and I didn't start with anticonvulsants either. I've been through two different ones, Carbamazepine and Oxcarbazepine. Neither worked.

My son goes to a special secondary school for moderate to severe LD. They have taught the children to wear masks. In the beginning for 5 mins at a time. Now they all wear them on class. I am asthmatic and it can get quite bad but I force myself to wear a mask in a shop. If I can't breathe I just give trolly to DH and go outside and take mask off. Too many people don't try hard enough to wear mask. My mil thought she could not wear one but she wore it around house for 5-10 mins at a time and can now wear it for about 20 mins.

My mil has COPD and has trained herself to wear a mask for about 20 mins or longer if just sitting as on a train.

• Are you screaming or are you keeling?
• I'm screaming and keeling.

👌

@nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut

No one collapses and gets blue lighted with TN. Where the hell are you getting this shit?

I think I'll believe the person with the medical degree if it's all the same to you.

Nobody mentioned 'blue lighted to hospital'.

I mentioned losing consciousness from pain in public and people calling an ambulance, which has happened to me (not in Sainsbury's, granted. Sainsbury's was for illustrative purposes only ).

I'm saying it isnt all blue lights and collapsing. That TN can be diagnosed and managed effectively by GPs. Your misinformation could be incredibly scary for anyone newly diagnosed who thinks they should be fast tracked to neuro when infact primary care is appropriate, certainly initially

Again, nobody mentioned 'blue lights'. I'm not sure why you feel the need to embellish what people have told you (for example, the myth that if something touches my face I wet myself which you've repeated countless times).

If you have a condition which may be caused by a brain tumour or MS, yes, you will be fast tracked to a neurologist appointment/MRI.

A GP cannot know you have TN from a brief examination, nor can they know you don't have a tumour or MS. That's why they can only make a provisional diagnosis, which is then confirmed by a neurologist.

And again, CT scans are not used to investigate TN.

I used to care for someone with TN many, many years ago, and am honestly shocked to realise so many here suffer with it.

Sorry about your daughter, @alloalloallo. A very misunderstood thing, Tourettes. This must be hell for her.

A bit baffled by the person talking shite about the condition.

@Indoctro

Nope I'd just secretly think to myself they are a d*

I appear healthy but have severe asthma (have been hospitalised, and am on steroid inhaler aswell as medication) and sometimes I can't breathe properly with a mask on. If someone confronted me I'd tell them they aren't the mask police and my personal health is none of their concern. Also probably tell them to fuck off!

@TheVampiresWife Sorry should have been clearer, I was replying to Janiie, I wasn't referring to your post.

[quote nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut]@TheVampiresWife Sorry should have been clearer, I was replying to Janiie, I wasn't referring to your post.[/quote]
No bother, it's so easy to lose track of who's talking to who on a thread like this

Why on earth would somone still be wearing a bloody mask! It's farcical

No I wouldn't as I don't have the ability to tell if someone is exempt just by looking at them, unlike some posters.

Reading through this thread I'm quite saddened by the lack of empathy and understanding from some of the replies. Just because someone with a certain condition can manage to wear a mask doesn't mean everyone with same condition can manage as well. Any condition has varying degrees of severity and each individual manages differently.

I work with five children who have autism and they are all individuals. One would happily wear a mask all day but that doesn't mean the other four would. One of them you wouldn't stand a chance of getting him to put it on or put it on for him, let alone actually keeping it on. Two would manage to keep them on for a few seconds before fiddling with them and then taking them off again. As for the fifth child, he would treat it as a new chewing toy.

[quote Blossom64265]@XenoBitch

did you not get that I was talking about myself being the crazy woman sobbing in the milk aisle or do you really not think we should be pushing ourselves to keep others safe?[/quote]
If you're putting yourself in that state to keep a mask on you're a fool.

@mookie81

In my location, I don’t qualify for an exemption despite my difficulty. They recommend claustrophobics sign up for cbt and put on their masks. Well, actually they are a bit nicer about it than that with lots of “helpful” fact sheets with tips like practice wearing your mask at home. (Can you sense my sarcasm)

"Every second person has a 'hidden disability' or 'exemption' these days."

Hidden disability doesn't require inverted commas. Using them makes it look like you are saying they don't exist which of course is ablist and I am sure you wouldn't want to be thought of as that sort of ignorant person.
Ds has hidden disabilities - severe learning disability, autism and severe anxiety. He is not capable of putting a mask on himself. If you put one on him he would pull it off. If you kept on trying to do that, he would attack you - headbutting, biting and punching - because you would be really scaring him and because he does not tolerate anything on his face. Unfortunately there are some who would still expect him to do the impossible and wear one ( perhaps by somehow restraining him and tying his hands up) because as you said, they don't care enough about others