The love I feel for Doctors

Doctors

I know there a life send as is the NHS, but sometimes doctors really wind me up! The other week I finally got a doctor who listened to me, months after I'd gone to the doctor repeatedly asking there assistance, after not going for another other than pill checks as mine never gave me any help, the local pharmacists were more useful to me!

Basically for a very long time I've been suffering with headaches, sometimes migraines. These headaches are continual dull aches, that last me all day, I wake up with them and frequently go to bed with them, painkillers don't help, and no I don't need glasses except for reading and yes I use those (etc.). Yes I've changed my pill to try combat it, no it did nothing, yes it's been cold/hayfever weather but no its not those I know the difference, it literally has not left my side for as long as I can remember. 

I've also been suffering for years with a problematic stomach (no details necessary), however for the last 6 months the occasional bloating has become full blown daily, I now no longer wake up with a flat stomach, I look a teeny tiny bit preggers, not a problem if i was, but I'm not, and it's sore, it hurts to breathe in so much that I can't, Ive taken to wearing jeans and baggy tops/jumpers to hide it, my waist has gone from being small and feminine to unrecognisable as you can't see past the swollen stomach. I constantly feel nauseous, and no I'm not preggers, yes I have periods, yes I've double checked anyway. Yes I'm eating a healthy balanced diet and swimming weekly (not the last 2 weeks- whoops), the toilet trips are well... not ideal, yes there probably is a problem there but no not enough to be causing this stomach without something else. I now end up going to bed in agony,  and looking at least second trimester preggers worth, I feel so inadequate, so unhappy with myself, I try eating healthier but I know I eat a good mix anyway, I step on the scales and am now 9lbs heavier than Christmas.. so stomach issues continue.

The last one is this nagging irritating throat, no it's not hayfever as it's been going on for months on end. No it's not a cold, listen a family friend had a aggravated, sore itchy throat yes same symptoms, she got checked out, had throat cancer and died, horrific as she was fighting fit, no I don't think I have that, however if I feel the need to get you to examine my throat to try and work out why it keeps doing this after multiple antihistamines etc I think I have valid reason, it scared my shitless, I'm not going to ignore this throat anymore! Foods also aggravate this so much that I'm continually trying to clear my throat as it feels tight, itchy, sore, round about it then makes it worse.. so yes, irritating, and yes affecting me daily, hourly, and yes no doctor has wanted to spend more than 5 minutes wanting to discuss this with me, they keep writing different prescriptions as they don't work and tend not to examine me properly... or at all!

So Doctor A's the one who I ended up so frustrated with, after I left I went home and cried, probably not all doctor A's fault, this was the second to last in a line of non helpful non sympathetic doctors making me feel as if I had no right to be there, judgemental looks as I was trying to explain the symptoms and multiple fob off's of 'hayfever', 'upset stomach', 'virus going round', 'not drinking enough' no doctor, just help me please? first question on hearing about my headaches was, have you had your eyes checked "yes, last time it was mentioned I went and specifically had a test", maybe it's your pill yes, that's why I changed it to see if it was relevant- suffice to say inevitably nothing changed. Are you under any stress? well yes, financial, work, you bloody doctors messing me around everytime I come here, looking at me in shame that I should be walking through your doors, getting rid of me in 5 minutes without examining me at all... yes, yes I'm a bit stressed, but I don't let myself get stressed, this is a dull ache, that continues all day until I go to bed, and as soon as I wake up, its different, trust me.. hmm..... the doctor has no idea, and puts it down to stress- now I and anyone else know there own body, when you say its different, you know its different. 

So when I mentioned my stomach bloating, which to describe as if someone had punctured a hole, put a pump in there and blown it up until it feels like its going to burst put it down to my pill, my age, my putting on weight, no I say, this is not the reason, it's painful, it's sore, yes I've put on weight and I think it's all lying on my stomach, heavy, sore. Are you pregnant  Doctor A asks no, I'm on my period, ahh well it could be that that's caused the bloating, no, it's been getting gradually worse for months now, and no I haven't been eating any differently, putting on weight, doing anything different, and yes it is probably something to do with my toileting, but this is something you need to look into instead of giving me yet another different type of pill to try and combat irregular toileting. I was getting stressed at this point, and had a giant migraine appear, okay maybe stress can affect me from time to time but I know when it's different. 

When I mentioned my throat it was as simple as, hayfever/cold.. no I say its continuous, I'm always having to clear my throat, its always scratchy, it always hurts, after certain foods it gets 100% worse and I end up aggrivating my throat trying to get rid of the problem, eventually said doctor looks down my throat and says your doctor term for large dangley thing that's not your tonsels are touching the back of your tongue, this could be assisting, oh right, thanks for finally LOOKING at me enough to find something! so I got yet more pillls to try combat that.. ramble ramble ramble etc.

Eventually I had an appointment with a different doctor, Doctor B was absolutely brilliant, after at least 6 months of going to doctors, them prescribing me numerous (and expensive after added up) things to try 'sort out' what they thought the problem was, she examined me. She actually examined me, within minutes of feeling my stomach, watching my whince in pain, asking all necessary and intrusive (and embarassing) questions she had decided I needed blood tests, blood tests for this, that, bowels, intestines, intolerances to foods etc to find out what the cause was, as with umpteen stomach prescriptions behind me nothing was changing, and said bloated stomach, agonising pains were getting worse and worse, so one thing down, she actually beleives me! and doesn't think it's time of the month related, 'just' toilet related, and funnily enough there's a running theme of this sort of thing in my family, glad she acknowledged that, and my grandad was ceoliac. right, so next up was my throat, I said how previous doctor said there was no way I could be allergic, because I didnt ever get rashes, even though as soon as eating some foods (that are all the same food type) my throat gets aggravated and feels slightly closed up. This also isn't physcological, as my partner has cooked dinner before, I've not known what was in it, instantly start up with aggrivating issues and he's told me what's in it. He's been supportive and gets so annoyed at the ack of help, and I feel so bad with complaining and him having to live with my wrteched throat!! Doctor B says Doctor A is a fool fact and that there clearly could be an intolerance to something scribbles a few more things on blood tests theyre to check for, after explaining reaction to certain foods, then she looks at my throat, and my ears... and up my nose, and says well your scienuses are clearly blocked not hayfever cold blocked but blocked enough to potentially have to look into it further in the future, so we'll start trying to clear those as this could be a reason for the headaches, and this will most probably be attacking your throat. In addition your stomach is affecting your throat through acid, which could partially be reason for swelling. So my throat could be being made worse, by both ends of my body, lovely! Despite mentioning this to every doctor before Doctor B noone had made a link, looked at my ears and nose, or even did a thorough inspection of my stomach/chest/pelvic area!

Anyway rant over, I know it's unimportant but I get so frustrated when doctors just cattle market you, yes individual patients do suprisingly need more than 5 minutes, and for you to actually listen to them suprise suprise, yes I'm 23, I go to work every day, through headaches/migraines/upset stomachs/agonising stomach cramps and yes I'm here to get help not try and skive work.

Let's hope these tests actually find out what's wrong, I've got a few new pills to be dealing with to assist the throat mending and scienus problems, and one to assist the acid in my stomach. I'm just so glad there's a reason everythings been playing up because I literally feel crap every day from one of them, and it was really getting me down, and the stomach is not helping how I feel about my appearence.

Swings and roundabouts, rant over! Anyone else had problems like this? I might change doctors as my boyfriends are more helpful with him, and it's closer to ours.