Wish me luck, im going to battle my GP!!

[lisad123]

Been countless times to my GP with stomach pains, bowel problems, feeling sick and full. He keeps telling me its IBS and sending me home with tablets. This has been going on for 3 years!! Im tired and not getting any better. Im going this morning to demand a referral.They have only ever done basic blood tests and one for Coliec's.
This is TMI, but symptoms are:
Pain in bowel and now right side
Back pain (but not like muscle just a ache)
sick feeling
feeling full even when i havent eaten
Yellow and mucus diahorra
tired, oh so tired
bloating (I look about 4-6 pregnant!)
dizzy (not often and might not be linked)
and not feeling like i have finished after going for as poo.

Im so tired of it all, but need to be strong to demand a refferal. Im sure if i went every week they would refer me but I dont have time. I have 2 autistic kids and a dh with cancer, I just have to suck it up, but the pain is getting worse :(

I havent name changed (although considered it) as I dont see why I should be embarassed.

I will demand a referal, i will not take no for an answer!! help me stay strong please MN

Polite but plain speaking is the way forward. Chin up & look the GP in the eye. Good luck.

have written a list, hopefully it will work. I normally end up crying

It's incredibly difficult.

Give yourself credit for daring to go.

I don't suppose you could take a friend or neighbour with you, as an advocate?

Another idea - you could ring NHS Direct first. They are almost bound to say this needs looking into further. Once NHS Direct say that, the GP can't refuse to refer you, or will find it more difficult.

Take your list definitely.
Don't worry about crying. Any good GP has tissues to hand. Just make sure the words still come out.

Calling NHS Direct may prove a waste of time as they will say go to GP for further advice. The protocol will not say tell the patient they need to see a consultant.

How long ago was the coeliac test? It may be worth having it done again. I have coeliac disease and it sounds very much like it, are you anaemic? But it also does sound like IBS as I often get the same symptoms even when not eating anything with gluten in it. I think i'm sensitive to other foods.

When you are referred they will ask you to keep a food diary for a couple of weeks and then go back so I would do that now. Keep it very detailed and include any symptoms and how long after eating they appear. You may notice a pattern forming. I have recently noticed I get symptoms around the time I ovulate, which is odd and may be a coincidence or I wonder if my hormones play a part.
I occasionally keep a food diary just to keep an eye on what i'm eating and what upsets me. Stress is awful for stomach problems and does play a part in the way I feel and how my stomach plays up. Other triggers are coffee, fatty foods, any pre made meals, flavoured crisps, sugary foods, chocolate, Steak, if I eat a plain bland diet for few days just drinking water I always feel better.
Flavoured teas are good as well for settling the stomach, definately worth trying eliminating foods and then slowly reintroducing them as everyone has different triggers.

I also notice if I gluten myself I get tearful and upset and very tired which can last a while.
Good luck x

I have been though NHS direct before when pain was bad, they sent me to out of hours who gave me pain meds and told me to my own gp
Sitting in waiting room now!! Naughty me with mobile on

woo hoo, referral done! I did cry but while yelling at him he again said IBS, and I lost it. Told him everything i have read suggests IBS should be a last dx, i sick of being in pain and so so tired, i have two girls with Autism and a husband with cancer and i need to be well for them and i want a referal now"! was so proud of myself.
He examised me, i nearly fell off the bed when he pressed my right side. He did ask loads of questions about periods but has referred to gastro docs. Hopefully finally get to the bottom (in pun intended) of this!

Glad you feel like make puns. Well done you.

well done for getting gp to listen, i hope all works out well for you.

Hooray for lisad, it is horrible when GPs don't believe you or fob you off.

Good luck with this pet. I don't want to worry you but it's ridiculous you've not been referred sooner, as some of these symptoms could point to quite a serious illness.

I hope you get sorted out pronto and it's nothing dodgy.

I know Gloria that's what makes me so mad!

I did have to laugh when he said "well if it was cancer it would have shown in blood test" really is that why so many people are dx'ed late!!

Fantastic, lisad123, very well done. Think about changing GPs if you can, as well, so you don't need so much courage next time!

That's good your getting a referral, but you should change doctors if this one has been giving you the run around for so long.

The doctors comment about if it's cancer it would show in a blood test is total rubbish and he really shouldn't be telling patients this. I had cancer last year and it didn't show in my blood and not only that but my thyroid function tests came back normal despite me having a huge lump, part of which was a tumour. It was only diagnosed after an operation to remove it. Blood tests don't show everything and GP's seem to think if a blood test is clear then there is nothing wrong.

I really should change, they failed dh, they missed his cancer for over a year and only found it by accident!
They also said I had stomach ulcer when in fact I had gall stones which three days later nearly killed me as I developed paracretis!
It's just so hard to find a good GP, and one closer doesn't offer many "that day appointments" were as mine you can ring at 8am an get an appointment same day as they save loads back for this reason.

It is hard to find a good GP, I agree, but honestly think about it. At least a group surgery, if there is one, gives you a choice of doc.

well done. It's so hard to fight GPs isn't it. You need a new one though, by the sounds of it

Got appointment letter this morning for dec, but we are away that week
Hopefully I can try and get cancelled appointment, will call them monday

Am following you Lisad123 as I have similar symptoms, although it only took me 6 weeks to get a referral - as I had health insurance!! Funnily enough I am thinking I might have pancreatitis (spelling?) and I see you have already been through that once. I can imagine how you feel with your DH having had cancer - what's his situation now?

Pancretisis is so very very painful I thought I was dying, the night I was admitted I don't remember much other than waking and seeing a nurse by the side of my bed and the doctors saying I had scorched them they were very quick because it is very very dangerous

I have private health care but because this has gone on so long it's considered an old issue
Please keep
Me updated

Dh is doing very well but he'll remain on chemo for rest of life as they can't cure it, just control it, but he is feeling so well we tend to nit think about it.

I should get to see a consultant in the next 14 days, should know by Friday exactly when. I am having a bad day today. I think I have chronic pancreatitis, not acute. In many ways I hope that's what it is, the big C word is on my mind 24/7. You sound like a very calm and sensible person, whereas I am a fuckwit - I go to bed worrying about it, have long nightmares all night, then wake up worrying about it! Although to be fair that's when it hurts the most, late evening, early morning.

Do post back and let us know if you get an earlier appointment, December seems ridiculous - if I'd had an NHS referral the waiting list here was 48 days.

Have you been abroad? What you have could be Giardia. This is found in a stool test, but can be hard to spot. I caught it last year (in the UK!) and was really quite unwell for a time. (was tested for all sorts of much worse things). Fortunately very easy to fix. Ask your GP about it or try google. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.