Novocastrian

Maybe you should get some relaxing hobby such as making videos of Canadian coinage.

magnumpi

Don't u mean "a relaxing hobby" your gramma has goton bad since you became retarded, I mean retired oops (or do I)

magnumpi

So last night I went back to the docs as the anxiety pills were not helping, in fact the pains started to become more frequent and the Nitro spray is now my best friend :@(

My doc has referred me to a cardiologist at last, I wanted this like 6 months ago !! So we see how long from today it takes to secure an appointment in Canada, I hear in the UK it can take months to see a specialist? We see !!

Dorothy

I work in a cardiology department at a major teaching hospital. The advice given by the doctors always is "if you have chest pain and you're worried go to ED. NOW, not later".

magnumpi

It's not a constant pain it's just when I walk or go up down stairs, in fact when I am just sat I feel great !! I can manage the pain with for thought and by just stopping what I am doing for a minute or two.

I would just like to know what is causing it? I am now trying a drug for excess acid. Just to rule out GERD. I had the stress test ECG, holtor monitors and they show nothing, so maybe a cardiologist can shine some light on my issues?

caretaker

Don't be so hard on the old fella, I think he's mostly speaking foreign now. I hope you get this thing sorted out Magnumpi, I have no experience of this subconscious anxiety but it sounds terrible.

scrubbedexpat091

Largely will depend on where your located and what your GP includes in the referral, but I can share my experience.

From referral to appointment with the cardiologist in BC, took just around 6 months.

Time spent with doctor about 5 mins, most of the appointment was with the techs operating all the machines.

magnumpi

Ha ha Fk dat, if it's that long I will just walk into an A&E and wait my turn in there

Oink

I'm all for some measure of public healthcare but that's taking the piss.

scrubbedexpat091

My wife has an appointment in November with a specialist that was booked in March with referral sent in January.

Siouxie

Sorry to hear that!

I'm surprised your doctor hasn't suggested you wear a heart monitor for 24 hours, so that they have some record of what's happening when you have the pains. Perhaps ask?

From personal experience (and family members) in Ontario it's about 3 months from referral to appointment with a specialist, but it also depends on the specialist - some are busier than others. Each medical practice seems to have their favourite specialists they like to refer to, for some reason.

Keep that nitro handy and get yourself some baby aspirin, if the chest pain doesn't subside after taking the nitro then take 2 baby aspirin (under the tongue - not swallowing). That was the advice given to me by the ambulance service here.

magnumpi

The haltor monitor was a 48 hour thing I carried for 2 days. I had minor pain, not as bad as recently but it showed normal. And I have been taking baby aspirin one a day since the pains started.

Novocastrian

Actually no. The grammatical construct was correct, but I'm not surprised you don't know that.

On topic. Stop drinking water; fish f*** in it.

Dorothy

Referrals to specialists are triaged according to medical necessity. Someone who is triaged as not urgent will wait longer than someone urgent who will wait longer than someone emergent.

My personal experience of seeing a cardiologist in Ontario was less than 6 weeks from GP to specialist appointment. However, anecdotes of others' experiences is not going to do anything other than frustrate you.

Magnum, perhaps you could ring the cardiologist's office and let them know you're available at short notice should a cancellation come up. And BE available if they call you.

Stinkypup

I resisted chipping in and am glad I did as Dorothy sums it up very nicely. They get the referrals from us and triage the referrals depending on need hence long waits for those with likely low risk, lesser symptoms. It is like that in any specialty. If concerned that symptoms are worsening then attend ER as has been suggested.