Feel guilty for the amount I go to the Doctors

[lavenderboux]

Last week I had my 4th GP appointment of the year and I came away feeling like such a burden on the system. My doctor did not say anything that made me feel like I'm overusing the service, I just felt conscious that as far as 2024 is concerned I've seen them every couple of months! There were some years pre-Covid that I wouldn't need to go there at all.
All of my appointments have been for totally legitimate reasons (women's health, infections requiring antibiotics) and I'm trying to remind myself of this; I just can't shift the feeling of guilt!
I totally understand that there will be people who, due to their health conditions, require more regular appointments with their GP (and that it's not a competition as to who goes there the most rarely!) but I think for me it's the knowledge that I don't have any long-term conditions that warrants close monitoring yet I feel like I'm at the GP a lot.
I don't really know what I'm seeking from this thread. Maybe just reassurance that they don't think "her again!" when they see my name on the list 😂

You had infections so you went to the Dr to get treatment at the earliest opportunity, which in fact has saved the NHS money. If you had ignored it and the problem became more complex or developed into something like sepsis then it would have cost the system far far more.
I do think however you should examine why you feel this guilt? Kindly it's not really normal to be worried about this kind of thing

Please let this guilt go, it's just ridiculous. You need medical care, you are entitled to it and you deserve it. Everyone does. I'm happy that you are getting the treatment you need.

Don’t feel guilty! You need care.
People have runs of sickness …frequently for a time and then years with nothing.
What sort of system is it when people feel embarrassed about using it appropriately.

Gosh I used to have to trawl through GP notes for a living and some people would turn up 20 times a
year for things like colds and feeling a bit under the weather. I put it down to some form of hidden depression. So don’t feel guilty. Most people rarely see their GP so it balances out.

As long as you're being truthful when you request an appointment then the likelihood is you needed the appointment or they wouldn't have given it to you

Gosh, four times is nothing - I know elderly people who visit the (free) GP a couple of times a week just for a chat, because they're lonely!

I'd never been seriously ill in my life until a couple of years ago. I had a weird illnesses that knocked me flat and I was at the GP at least weekly for "monitoring". Not to mention seeing specialists, getting scans, xrays, ultrasounds, blah blah blah. Fortunately, I've recovered from that particular illness, but then I had to have a total knee replacement as well. I've given my private health insurance an absolute belting in the last couple of years.

My ex partner, who is in allied health, said that's just what happens when you turn 50 - every part of your body starts letting you know how old you are. I never thought I'd need a joint replacement at 54, but here I am, diagnosed with hereditary osteoarthritis. It just is what it is.

Anyway, I've paid 40 years of taxes towards our public health system, as well as paying for private insurance for 30 years, so I don't feel in the slightest but guilty! And neither should you.

I feel the same. Until I was 60 I rarely needed to go other than for contraception and pregnancy. Since then my health has gone downhill and I had a catalogue of long term conditions. I HATE going and avoid at all costs but sometimes I have to.
I went in Feb with a nasty skin infection and asked the GP if I had done the right thing going or should I have waited. She said I should have gone sooner.
Four appointments this year plus regular blood tests. My last appointment escalated to an urgent 2ww referral (all ok).

Thank you so much everyone for your very helpful and reassuring responses. Some really useful perspectives there which I will be sure to remind myself of.
The rational side of me knows that I'm being silly - I've only ever gone to the Dr's for legitimate reasons and with symptoms that couldn't be self-managed. I think I feel like because I just hear so much about how the NHS is on its knees, primary care in particular, and would hate to think I'm contributing to the immense pressure they're under. Just need to remind myself that I'm using it for the exact purpose that it was designed for!!

I'm really glad to hear that you are okay.
It sounds like those of us who worry about over-using the system are actually the ones who should probably speak up sooner than we do!

I took part in an nhs survey recently run by my hospital consultant (Rhuemotology) it was trying to find out why people delay seeking medical help. He said it was such a massive difference in cost between doing preventative medicine and actually having to fix things that they are trying to encourage people to seek medical help.

Don't feel guilty.

Getting a GP apt round here requires death so if you need to go and do then use the service.

I hope you are better soon

Tell my surgery that!

2 weeks I rang every day and you can only have an apt if it's urgent.

After 2 weeks of ringing daily I was refused an apt as "it can't be urgent after 2 weeks".

Went via 111 online. Came up with 30 min call back required.

Within 3 hours I'd had a phone call with 111 who rang my drs and said I needed an apt and 2 hours later I'm on LT medication and told I may need a F2F neuro exam. 🙄

If I got through the door I wouldn't be feeling guilty 😂