do you put off going to the gp because you feel you should soldier on/are making a fuss etc ? (for yourself, not dcs obviously)

[MargaretMountford]

I have just posted a thread about asking my doctor about 2 different things in 1 appointment - am curious though as to whether others hold off going to the doctor - I tend to think I should just get on with it and not be a nuisance - not being a martyr or anything, I just think 'get a grip,it'll pass' - anyone else ?

I used to and then I realised that the list of small things was so long that if I reeled them off in one appointment he'd think I was a hypochondriac!!

So, now I go and see him when I've only got one thing worrying me. However small it may be. I still hardly ever see him.

mm, I know I should go..and will do so before I run up more of a list and really piss him off !

I'm the same MM. I've only been to the GP three times in the last ten years. It's probably not wise really.

That's why I end up asking about more than one thing - it almost doesn't seem worth it just to ask about one minor problem.

that's what I was thinking uriel..make it worth his while

I find it very difficult to fit in GP appts. I only go if I have something bad enough to keep me off work (and I don't know what it is).

Yes I took ds to the drs today, and the dr actually suggested I get my chest checked after noticing me coughing!

I'll go in a week or so if it doesn't clear up on its own.....

The last time I went, I'd been coughing for six weeks and had an excruciating pain in my ribs - turned out to be a chest infection, and the pain was caused by a cracked rib from coughing too hard!! Maybe I should go sooner if a cough doesn't clear ...

I blame my mother - we used to have to be practically bleeding out of our eyes to get off school and see a doctor, I still feel unless I'm absolutely flat out I will be wasting the GP's time. However, I do go with DS the minute his cough doesn't clear in a couple of days or if he's off form.

poor you brrrrmmm - yes, I usually have to be feeling very bad to go..am spurred on now as my arm is aching and it's my writing/drawing hand - I am much, much quicker to get ds seen

I spend so much time at bloody hospitals anyway, and have all sorts of health professionals visiting, that I always wait until 'it hasn't gone away'. I tend to assume it's same old same old and can't be bothered with it.

My mum worked in the NHS so we were brought up with the idea that doctors were god and you didn't waste their time. We also had a rather mean GP as kids (old friend of mum's, trained together or something), who had no time for time wasters and let you know. Ha! Maybe if he'd taken a little more with me then, I'd have been diagnosed with ms before I got to 43!

that's interesting barnstaple- I was in hospital as a 6 yr old for operation and had numerous visits for blood test, my brother had cancer as a boy and my surviving brother also had same op as me when older, so it felt as though we were often seeking medical help - ds goes once a year for blood test (inherited condition) but apart from that we are seldom unwell..thank goodness..maybe I feel as though I've been a lot in the past and would rather not, if that makes any sense ?

Absolutely MM. Being ill is bad enough without having to spend hours sitting on uncomfortable chairs, bored out of your brain, no tea etc.

that's the advantage of having a GP in the house.....

he can't treat, but he can have a look and say if we need to go to the GP. Haven't been with the kids for 18 months ...