Can I just have a moan about getting an appointment with the doctor?

[DumbledoresGirl]

I will cry with frustration if I don't get this off my chest.

I am in pain. See here fro more information. It is not terrible pain, but it is pain and needs to be looked at.

I ring for an appointment. When asked if I want to be seen today, I generously say no, to allow room for more anxious/serious cases. Then I am told that if I am not seen today, I will be seen in a fortnight. There is no halfway house. Well, the pain is too bad to wait a fortnight, so I say, in that case, I want to be seen today.

So a doctor now has to ring me. What shall I say to the doctor? Oh no, the pain isn't so bad I need to be seen today, or shall I lie and say the pain is greater than it is?

I hate the modern appointment system. Why are there no appointments to be had, say next Monday or Tuesday? The system stinks.

DumbledoresGirl, I'd exaggerate when the doctor calls Otherwise you'll never get seen. Chronic pain is far more 'annoying' than short bursts of severe pain, well imho anyhow.

I had to moan and go see the doc for aaaaaaages before I got referred. Saying that after investigations and appointments for my problems I was told 'we can't find anything have you tried painkillers' aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. So I feel for you!

good luck!

Oh MrsBigD Thanks for replying and being so honest, but what you said just confirms my fears really.

Can you see the nurse instead?

I always go to the nurse, then she just rings up the doc when she sees it needs seen, and I get right in.

Told doctor would ring me within 2 hours. He has about 10 minutes to go.......

I might be in pain but I have a week's shopping to get....

DumbledoresGirl... there's always on-line shopping

Did they call?

In my case doctors were useless to put it mildly. However in your case as you have/had a reconginsed 'condition' they might be able to do something.

I know exactly what you mean,if you have an ongoing problem then you haven't a hope in hell of seeing a dr in my local practice.I actually cried once on the phone to the receptionist as I was so bloody frustrated .I had been to see the nurse to have smear and asked a few questions,she told me to book appt with my dr.I tried to see my lovely lady doc a few times and each time I've been told "if it's not urgent then ring back on such and such a day " so I duly ring back at 8:30 on said day ,keep ringing trying to get through,fianlly get through to find all the appts gone...aaaaaarrrgh.
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest

at least at my surgery I have no issues getting an appointment, just the diagnosis for anything but general stuff.... do I need say more?

Any luck DDG?

I just phoned for an appt,for ongoing problem and it os on august 1st !

I must say it's usually pretty good getting an appointment at my GP's - its a RAF medical centre, however, getting my prescritpions from them is another matter. They have a dispensary, and i was prescribed some hormone tablets for bleeding caused by my depo injection. That was three weeks ago. I paid for it at the time as i was told it would be in within three days. The GP has now prescribed something else, which i'm also having to pay for as it's a seperate precription, even though i haven't recieved the first one yet. I also had tpo wait four days to get antibiotics for DS2!

Yes MrsBigD, a doctor rang me shortly afterwards and I am seeing yet another doctor at 4:50 this evening. But what a palava!

I am still anxious about what will be said and what treatment if any will be suggested. I dond't know that the SPD does account for my current pain, and I am not optimistic that exercises etc will make any difference as they didn't when I was pregnant.

Oh well, at least I am seeing someone, although I maintain it really could have wiated until after the weekend and did not need to waste 5 minutes of a doctor's time going over my symptoms on the phone, especially as I am not actually going to see that doctor.

sounds so familiar DDG, I hardly ever get to see the same doc twice. For all you know the symptoms you have now are because you were suceptible (sp?) to suffering from spd?

I for fact am convinced my pains are related to my cycle, i.e. second half can be sheer agony and lower back pain shooting into the legs and weak ligaments are a given during the 2 weeks leading up to end of cycle. But as I said alledgedly there's nothing wrong with me ... ah right I'm a hypochonder then...

The GP told me she didn't think it was SPD because the pain wasn't in the right place (although it is where it is exactly where it was when I was diagnosed with SPD 3.5 years ago!) I am being sent for an xray and (as she suspects that will show nothing) possibly a scan later.

I know what will happen: xray and scans will show nothing wrong, pain will gradually go (hopefully) and everything will have been a waste of time and resources.

Cynical, me?

not at all cynical... realistic

The only way I'm getting to grips with my back issue is working out to strenghthen the core muscles. Unfortunately though that usually leaves my abdomen sore for days... when I asked the doctor whether it could be related to my 2 c-sections and pregnancies I got a very vague 'possibly'. WTF?! That's great diagnosing isn't it. I'm so fed up with painkillers that I've now actually booked an appointment with my mum's doctors over in Germany when I'm flying over for a long weekend...