rant about doctors
Oct 21st 2014, 11:51 am
#16
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Re: rant about doctors
Yeah I've had all the peak flow stuff before I'm fine.
I'm coughing a lot. A side effect of all the sinus stuff I've had in the past means I'm absurdly sensitive to any crap in my throat . it makes me heave ( insert rude comments as appropriate! )
He said " if you are coughing until you vomit then you have asthma until we prove otherwise"
Oh and I miscounted. Including all the refills, there are 22 items on the script he gave me
I'm coughing a lot. A side effect of all the sinus stuff I've had in the past means I'm absurdly sensitive to any crap in my throat . it makes me heave ( insert rude comments as appropriate! )
He said " if you are coughing until you vomit then you have asthma until we prove otherwise"
Oh and I miscounted. Including all the refills, there are 22 items on the script he gave me
Oct 21st 2014, 12:52 pm
#17
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Re: rant about doctors
Maybe asthma has changed a lot, but when I had it I had 2 inhalers. Why you would need 14 I've no idea, especially if you've not had a thorough diagnosis! Did he not even do a peak flow test? That's a pretty basic, easy one, and if he couldn't even be bothered to do that, but gave you 14 inhalers, that sounds pretty dubious to me.
We are registered with a GP here, a young guy, he seems pretty good on the couple of occasions I've needed to see him so far. Went to a walk in once, and it was also OK! I think we were lucky to get registered, and also to like somewhere fairly rural and yet with access to Doctor options.
We are registered with a GP here, a young guy, he seems pretty good on the couple of occasions I've needed to see him so far. Went to a walk in once, and it was also OK! I think we were lucky to get registered, and also to like somewhere fairly rural and yet with access to Doctor options.
Oct 21st 2014, 1:07 pm
#18
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Re: rant about doctors
Sorry some context. 3 different inhalers all with multiple refills
Oct 21st 2014, 1:07 pm
#19
Joined: Feb 2006
Location: Red Deer, Alberta
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Re: rant about doctors
I'm at home , sick and cranky and totally and utterly hacked off.
I've had a cough for 4 weeks now. Started off as a usual cough, i always come down with something this time of year for various reasons.
After 4 weeks it is beginning to get me down a bit, so I trundle off to local walk in
very briefly explain the symptoms.
he decides I have asthma and have I ever been tested for it.
as it happens yes I have 10 more so years ago. and no i don't have it.
but if you are coughing that hard then we assume you have asthma until proven otherwise
here have a prescription for 4 different inhalers/steroids/other crap that you probably don't need.
but I don't have asthma
well come back in two weeks if you don't feel better, if you do , keep refilling the inhalers because you have asthma
how can any medical professional call that a diagnosis?
Now I wasn't necessarily expecting a prescription. I don't take antibiotics etc if i can possibly help it. A "it's probably just a lingering virus" would have been okay by me. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't anything infectious.
My young niece had asthma, I've seen a full on near death asthma attack. I don't have that and I need a diagnosis of asthma like i need a hole in the head at the moment.
so what do I do?
I've had a cough for 4 weeks now. Started off as a usual cough, i always come down with something this time of year for various reasons.
After 4 weeks it is beginning to get me down a bit, so I trundle off to local walk in
very briefly explain the symptoms.
he decides I have asthma and have I ever been tested for it.
as it happens yes I have 10 more so years ago. and no i don't have it.
but if you are coughing that hard then we assume you have asthma until proven otherwise
here have a prescription for 4 different inhalers/steroids/other crap that you probably don't need.
but I don't have asthma
well come back in two weeks if you don't feel better, if you do , keep refilling the inhalers because you have asthma
how can any medical professional call that a diagnosis?
Now I wasn't necessarily expecting a prescription. I don't take antibiotics etc if i can possibly help it. A "it's probably just a lingering virus" would have been okay by me. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't anything infectious.
My young niece had asthma, I've seen a full on near death asthma attack. I don't have that and I need a diagnosis of asthma like i need a hole in the head at the moment.
so what do I do?
Oct 21st 2014, 1:35 pm
#20
Lost in BE Cyberspace
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Re: rant about doctors
FWIW I have the exact cough you have and yeah I get it every year this time... Bloody weather I reckon. Dads a doctor and says every year "you'll get over it". It takes 6 weeks but, I get over it. Sometimes he gives me some antibiotics for 2-3 nights, aligning with James' diagnosis.
Oct 21st 2014, 1:46 pm
#21
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Re: rant about doctors
Yep hoards of germ ridden kids combined with busiest time of year and airctravel means I can pretty much mark off on my calendar when I'm going to be sick.
Doesn't normally last this long though.
I'm against taking antibiotics unless its a proven bacterial infection. 3 days worth sounds like a sub therapeutic dose . good way to promote resistance.
Doesn't normally last this long though.
I'm against taking antibiotics unless its a proven bacterial infection. 3 days worth sounds like a sub therapeutic dose . good way to promote resistance.
Oct 21st 2014, 1:53 pm
#22
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Oct 21st 2014, 2:10 pm
#23
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Re: rant about doctors
But if it were up to me i'd just suffer it out until the cough goes away. The antibiotics haven't actually done anything so far.
Oct 21st 2014, 2:10 pm
#24
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Oct 21st 2014, 2:28 pm
#25
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Re: rant about doctors
Try anti histamines, even the city has ragweed and it might be an allergy to that, or other citified allergens if a cough has been hanging round this long.
I used to get bronchitis yearly until I had a Pneumovax shot, well worth the money. A couple of years ago I ended up in Emerg with a cough that was causing breathing problems. It was a seasonal allergy and, wait for it, mild asthma which I have never had before. I was given some codeine to help me sleep and a ventolin inhaler. I use that rarely but when I do it makes a difference.
Also coughs can be caused by acid reflux and if you are coughing enough to vomit then your throat could be extra irritated. So google some info on that.
My standard anti coughing measures are now using some cough sweets called Bentasyl they are gummy and keep the throat moist. Good for bedtime as they are sugar free. I try and find some codeine based meds to take at bedtime.
Its possible that this doctor was right you know.
I used to get bronchitis yearly until I had a Pneumovax shot, well worth the money. A couple of years ago I ended up in Emerg with a cough that was causing breathing problems. It was a seasonal allergy and, wait for it, mild asthma which I have never had before. I was given some codeine to help me sleep and a ventolin inhaler. I use that rarely but when I do it makes a difference.
Also coughs can be caused by acid reflux and if you are coughing enough to vomit then your throat could be extra irritated. So google some info on that.
My standard anti coughing measures are now using some cough sweets called Bentasyl they are gummy and keep the throat moist. Good for bedtime as they are sugar free. I try and find some codeine based meds to take at bedtime.
Its possible that this doctor was right you know.
Oct 21st 2014, 2:36 pm
#26
Muskoka, Ontario
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 3,045
Re: rant about doctors
So I just briefly explained to the hubster...
He said Asthma could be a differential diagnosis but it really depends on what symptoms regarding the cough you told him you had..... Eg Worse at night/morning etc. He laughed/scoffed at the amount of medication prescribed. He did say at four weeks he would need to have pretty convincing symptoms to consider Asthma. He said if in doubt get a second opinion....
HTH...
He said Asthma could be a differential diagnosis but it really depends on what symptoms regarding the cough you told him you had..... Eg Worse at night/morning etc. He laughed/scoffed at the amount of medication prescribed. He did say at four weeks he would need to have pretty convincing symptoms to consider Asthma. He said if in doubt get a second opinion....
HTH...
Oct 21st 2014, 10:46 pm
#27
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Re: rant about doctors
Tirytory. Thanks for that. I think I will if it gets worse.
And bats I'd be willing to consider it if I hadn't been through this before back in the UK when I had a sinus infection and couldn't see my regular gp.
We went through all the peak flow stuff before my regular doc realised what was going on.
I honestly feel like this doctor was twisting my answers to fit asthma not the other way round.
He didn't even ask if I was coughing stuff up until after he'd wrote the script.
Oh and bats, self medicating with anti histamine is not an option at moment
And bats I'd be willing to consider it if I hadn't been through this before back in the UK when I had a sinus infection and couldn't see my regular gp.
We went through all the peak flow stuff before my regular doc realised what was going on.
I honestly feel like this doctor was twisting my answers to fit asthma not the other way round.
He didn't even ask if I was coughing stuff up until after he'd wrote the script.
Oh and bats, self medicating with anti histamine is not an option at moment
Oct 21st 2014, 11:01 pm
#28
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Re: rant about doctors
Going through something similar the last ten days. Diagnosis was that it is probably viral and that I need to take plenty of fluids etc.. Fever has subsided but I am coughing like a peasant with consumption in Les Miserables and in constant need of pain killers. Debating whether to visit the GP again, they say if it's not bacterial infection antibiotics are ineffective, but it almost seems that by the time they know an infection is bacterial or not (assuming no obvious discharges) then much more respiratory damage could be done.
Oct 23rd 2014, 4:29 am
#29
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Re: rant about doctors
for those who care 
had a much better nights sleep last night and can feel the difference in the cough. Still not gone 100% but definite improvement.
Don't feel as generally crappy as I did either. I guess the moral of the story is next time I feel the need to go to the doctors, wait two days and then see if I still need to go !
had a much better nights sleep last night and can feel the difference in the cough. Still not gone 100% but definite improvement.
Don't feel as generally crappy as I did either. I guess the moral of the story is next time I feel the need to go to the doctors, wait two days and then see if I still need to go !
Oct 23rd 2014, 4:32 am
#30
limey party pooper
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 9,987
Re: rant about doctors
for those who care
had a much better nights sleep last night and can feel the difference in the cough. Still not gone 100% but definite improvement.
Don't feel as generally crappy as I did either. I guess the moral of the story is next time I feel the need to go to the doctors, wait two days and then see if I still need to go !
had a much better nights sleep last night and can feel the difference in the cough. Still not gone 100% but definite improvement.
Don't feel as generally crappy as I did either. I guess the moral of the story is next time I feel the need to go to the doctors, wait two days and then see if I still need to go !
