Do You Ever Worry Unnecessarily About Visiting The Doctor?
By Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
March 15, 2010 11:57am CST
I always get nervous before visiting my Doctor as - obviously, I haven't got a clue what he's going to tell me until I see him.
Today, however, I needn't have worried. Many of my friends on here know that I have had problems with severe anaemia which is probably associated with an under-active thyroid. A couple of months ago I was prescribed iron tablets which amounts to 630mg a DAY! Subsequently, I had another blood test so my appointment today was to discuss that with my Doctor.
He told me that the blood results were extremely positive and that the anaemia has improved greatly. However, he still needs to know what's causing the anaemia in the first place, which is why I shall have another blood test in another month's time so he can then treat the under-active thyroid. Even though it is "borderline" he feels that the two go together, something I am actually pleased about as my thyroid just isn't right, I know it isn't. I can then have my iron tablets for nowt lol. He also has to monitor my kidney function but where that will lead I have no idea.
There was a funny incident..well, two actually. I told the Doc that my right side will hurt sometimes when I walk. He was sat down and he told me to stand up, then he proceeded to press my flesh around my hip area and around the side.
"Does it hurt HERE?" Press.
"Here?" Prod.
"Mmm, now where can this pain be....HERE?! Press, press, prod.
"OWWWW!" I exclaimed and shot forward because he had just found where the problem was!
We both stopped laughing for a minute, he apologised, then told me that I might have to be referred to a Pain Specialist who will insert a needle into my trapped nerve with painkillers.
Owwwww! I won't like that one bit but I don't have to think about it at the moment..fortunately!
As I walked towards the door he said..
"Not that one!" and showed me the door I SHOULD be opening in order to get out of the room.
Haha! You can tell I'm Mum's daughter alright!! She does things like that all the time!
At least we're on the right path with treatment so I am very, very pleased about it.
What was your last Doctor's appointment like? Was there a satisfactory outcome?
Today, however, I needn't have worried. Many of my friends on here know that I have had problems with severe anaemia which is probably associated with an under-active thyroid. A couple of months ago I was prescribed iron tablets which amounts to 630mg a DAY! Subsequently, I had another blood test so my appointment today was to discuss that with my Doctor.
He told me that the blood results were extremely positive and that the anaemia has improved greatly. However, he still needs to know what's causing the anaemia in the first place, which is why I shall have another blood test in another month's time so he can then treat the under-active thyroid. Even though it is "borderline" he feels that the two go together, something I am actually pleased about as my thyroid just isn't right, I know it isn't. I can then have my iron tablets for nowt lol. He also has to monitor my kidney function but where that will lead I have no idea.
There was a funny incident..well, two actually. I told the Doc that my right side will hurt sometimes when I walk. He was sat down and he told me to stand up, then he proceeded to press my flesh around my hip area and around the side.
"Does it hurt HERE?" Press.
"Here?" Prod.
"Mmm, now where can this pain be....HERE?! Press, press, prod.
"OWWWW!" I exclaimed and shot forward because he had just found where the problem was!
We both stopped laughing for a minute, he apologised, then told me that I might have to be referred to a Pain Specialist who will insert a needle into my trapped nerve with painkillers.
Owwwww! I won't like that one bit but I don't have to think about it at the moment..fortunately!
As I walked towards the door he said..
"Not that one!" and showed me the door I SHOULD be opening in order to get out of the room.
Haha! You can tell I'm Mum's daughter alright!! She does things like that all the time!
At least we're on the right path with treatment so I am very, very pleased about it.
What was your last Doctor's appointment like? Was there a satisfactory outcome?1 person likes this
8 responses
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
16 Mar 10
Hi Jane,
Since birth i've been exposed to visiting the doctor until i had my menarche, the first time i ahd my menstruation and until now. i am always excited to visit the doctor and know my present health status. the last time i had my executive check up was last october 2009. i had reflux esophagitis. i just need to refrain from taking coffee softdrinks and ice tea. those triggers of my reflux. but i am fine. the blood chem results, my blood pressure, papsmear, xray are all fine.
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
18 Mar 10
thanks friend. if we will just be a cooperative patient then our doctors will be happy and the work will be less stressful for them. hehehe. i am compliant as far as taking the medicine is concerned.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
16 Mar 10
Hello Winky! I am so pleased that you are feeling much better now, my friend. Doctors are there to help us aren't they and it must be a stressful job for them at times.
1 person likes this
@ladydecember (4)
• Philippines
16 Mar 10
I have the same feeling as yours. I really get scared when I visit my doctor. I'm afraid he'll going to diagnose me with a disease. Even though I'm a nurse, I still get scared. And even if I feel something is wrong with me, I still opt to keep it to myself and not visit the doctor. :)
@HelloMickey (1655)
• Hong Kong
16 Mar 10
You are a nurse and you still get scared, that's why almost every people becomes nervous to see a doctor.
I needed to visit an ophthalologist last Monday, as my eyes got diseases, I can't sleep on Sunday night only because I was afraid I could not make the appointment with the ophthalologist, I became nervous as I didn't want my eyes diseases became severe, and I am not rich I am nervous as I really hope that it would not cost a lot to me. But you know the consulting fee is very high when we visit a specialist.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
16 Mar 10
I feel so sorry for you ladydecember. I suppose being a nurse you know more about the various ailments we can get anyway, so it's no wonder you feel apprehensive my friend. As for you HelloMickey, I also feel sorry that the consulting fee is so high when seeing a specialist. It's like you have to pay a premium for their expertise isn't it, which is a bit unfair from your point of view. I hope you get your eyes sorted out my friend.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
16 Mar 10
To be honest, up until moving to this wonderful(!) City of Carlisle I hardly ever went to the Docs. I've not stopped since then culminating in the anaemia and thyroid blah-de-blah. Or maybe it's a sign that my body just isn't functioning like it did 6-7 years ago. The Doc says he's still worried about my kidney function as "someone in their 40s like yourself shouldn't have problems with their kidneys!" Great! At that moment I had a fleeting image of a dialysis machine in my head. Doctors have a wonderful way of cheering us up although it was funny when he prodded me in the side and I shot forward 'cos he found the dodgy nerve...and getting the doors mixed up. Haha!
1 person likes this
@myzire72 (1154)
• Singapore
16 Mar 10
No, I don't. I do not have any medical history of any ailments. On the contrary, I trust the doctor so much that I believe my illness will be cured once he diagnosed it and give me the necessary medication. So, for me, there's really nothing to worry about.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
16 Mar 10
It's not that I don't trust the doctor...it's rather like when I go to the Dentist's. I always worry beforehand if there's anything wrong with my teeth and that he may have to fill a tooth..that kind of thing...and he never does!
It's the same with the doctor so I was worrying unnecessarily...like I always do.
@bamikalipal (588)
• Philippines
16 Mar 10
Bwahahaha, obviously you are your Mum's daughter :-). There's nothing wrong with that, though. Each of us have our own idiosyncracy.
I am very glad that you and the doctor are going in the right direction and soon everything will be resolved. Forget about the pain, don't think about it now. Sometimes we have 'to lose a battle in order to win a war.' About the kidney, some people may think it has no relevance to anemia. But it plays a significant role in that it secretes a hormone called erythropoetin that stimulates the bone marrow to produce erythrocytes or red blood cells.
The last time I went to the doctor for my physical exam was a big-time disaster. When the doctor took my blood pressure, it was 180/100. Before he took it, the nurse's reading was 110/70. I was suffering from the "white coat syndrome." :-) He prescribed a blood pressure pill which I took. The next day at work, I felt like I was spacing out; went to the nurse's office who checked my BP again. "What's going on, your blood pressure in 80/40." She immediately ordered me to stop taking the pill. Instead of going to the rehab department where I worked, I went to the social hall where I asked myself, "where in the world am I going.?" I was nervous to the nth degree.
For lunch, I had pizza with anchovies in which I poured more salt. I felt better.
Obviously, seeing someone in a white lab coat makes me nervous, my idiosyncracy. It's weird, to think that when I was in school, I didn't mind having my classmates use my arm to practice drawing blood. I used to have bruises all over, but I allowed my constant craving for chocolate to override my instinct for self-preservation. The teacher, seeing the bruises, confiscated the chocolate and told everyone, "In real life, you don't choose your patients. You can't say, get out, I don't like your veins. Next in line..." Hahaha.
Janey, you're not alone. Idiosyncracies can be funny when we think of it.
The best of luck to you!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
16 Mar 10
Thanks very much for that response my friend. Well, my doc didn't wear a white coat but I know what you mean. There are loads of them in hospitals and I get even more nervous there...and I'm only visiting lol.
Well, my doc didn't wear a white coat but I know what you mean. There are loads of them in hospitals and I get even more nervous there...and I'm only visiting lol.
@pandaeyes (2065)
•
17 Mar 10
I hardly ever go to my doctor.
Last time it was for a blood pressure check.
I had gone to a job interview with a physical test and the nurse said mine was terribly high.
Anyway the doctor took it and said it seemed fine and then lent me the BP monitor to take home and use every day.
A week later I took it back and he looked through the results and said it was perfect.
He thought the job interview was probably using things like the health check to filter out certain criteria like age(I was 46 then)but of course there is no proof of that.
He is a nice man so I never feel to worried about appointments.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
17 Mar 10
My Mum's blood pressure is different every time she visits the Doctor! I'm glad your doctor is a nice man..it does help.
@vandana7 (100300)
• India
15 Mar 10
Honestly - I hate doctors. :) I will keep them out of my doors and out of my life if I can. I had this nightmare when the surgeon was pulling out all my intestines (I think this was immediately following the movie COMA). So doctor is something I avoid. I suffer psychologically I suppose when I have to visit one. :) I hate dentists too. They do use those instruments which remind me of that nightmare. :) I hardly ever visit an allopathic doctor. :) The last time was when my toe nail broke (I hurt it somewhere and I didnt realize it because I'd been so busy with guests). It started bleeding, and there was my papa panicking more than he should. So I landed in front of the doctor and she wrote a prescription. They bandaged my toe, which came out in less than half an hour anyway. :) The prescription brought down my leg pains that I'd been suffering for more than 10 years. :) Ironically, I did consult other doctors about leg pains, but they failed to give me any satisfactory medication. So my conclusion is, you go to be treated for one ailment, and come out treated for another. :) Next time I have leg pains, I should be complaining about headache. :)
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
15 Mar 10
Oh dear! I can tell you're not a big fan! I, too watched Coma many years ago...and read the book as well. I reckon that probably goes on in real life but I try not to think about it! 
The reason I'm feeling more positive about my Doctor was that he seemed more enthusiastic today. The last time I was there he looked tired and didn't really want to say anything. He apologised today for "talking too much." Haha! I prefer that approach than ME telling HIM what's wrong with me!
The reason I'm feeling more positive about my Doctor was that he seemed more enthusiastic today. The last time I was there he looked tired and didn't really want to say anything. He apologised today for "talking too much." Haha! I prefer that approach than ME telling HIM what's wrong with me!
@free_man (7330)
• United States
16 Mar 10
Hi Janey. I am thankful I have never had to go to the doctor I don't get aches and pains I don't have anything wrong with me. My mother was Indian and believed in natural cures for everything. She didn't believe in doctors. I can't remember a single day of my life ever being sick thank God. I am so sorry for those of you that have to see doctors I believe they are around for population control. When we get too old they find away to keep us on so many medicines that it drives some people mad. And have you read the symptoms that some of this medicine that they make. Some of them can kill you if you have this or that wrong with you. No I never worry about anything I leave all my problems in Gods hands and what ever happens happens the way God wants it to happen.
