Falling apart at 60+ Are GPs really interested?
Discussion
One inevitability that has hit me now is that as you progress through the 60 barrier, many of us seem to be collecting ailments at an increasingly alarming rate...
...what makes it worse is the attitude that some GPs (in fact many) seem to take when discussing the 'new problem' with them in the hope that there is a fix!
The impression frequently is..."well you are getting old aren't you! What you do expect?". They may not actually say it, but you can see the line plastered across their foreheads when they actually say.. "hmmmm, yes ...a difficult one! Take paracetamol and you will be fine!"
I for one seem to be accumulating problems with hand numbness, occasional sharp pains in the wrist (that make you drop what you are holding), nerves in the thumb and forefingers getting stabbing pains and feeling if they have just been set on fire, tight feelings in my forearms, pains in my heels, tighness in my calves and achilles heels, pains in my hips occassionally...etc etc
...but although I know from my own research that some of these symptoms are possible down to arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, trapped nerves, etc etc, can I get a proper investigation done? ...Naaaa! Mobility is very important to me, including retaining it for as loong as I can, but seems that GPS don't really bother when you hit my age... and I have seen this problem with my parents as they get older too!
Rant over.
...what makes it worse is the attitude that some GPs (in fact many) seem to take when discussing the 'new problem' with them in the hope that there is a fix!
The impression frequently is..."well you are getting old aren't you! What you do expect?". They may not actually say it, but you can see the line plastered across their foreheads when they actually say.. "hmmmm, yes ...a difficult one! Take paracetamol and you will be fine!"
I for one seem to be accumulating problems with hand numbness, occasional sharp pains in the wrist (that make you drop what you are holding), nerves in the thumb and forefingers getting stabbing pains and feeling if they have just been set on fire, tight feelings in my forearms, pains in my heels, tighness in my calves and achilles heels, pains in my hips occassionally...etc etc
...but although I know from my own research that some of these symptoms are possible down to arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, trapped nerves, etc etc, can I get a proper investigation done? ...Naaaa! Mobility is very important to me, including retaining it for as loong as I can, but seems that GPS don't really bother when you hit my age... and I have seen this problem with my parents as they get older too!
Rant over.
Since my parents have hit 60 they seem to have been at the dr's every week for some ailment or another, their GP has been brilliant in arranging investigations and referrals.
Most GP's are brilliant at their jobs, maybe you need to see another GP within the practice. Go there with a specific complaint in mind for example the wrist/thumb pain. If you go with a long list of different problems it's difficult to focus on each one effectively within 5-10 minutes.
Most GP's are brilliant at their jobs, maybe you need to see another GP within the practice. Go there with a specific complaint in mind for example the wrist/thumb pain. If you go with a long list of different problems it's difficult to focus on each one effectively within 5-10 minutes.
Oh I absolutely agree..one ailment, One appt!
trouble is these days is you have absolutely no control over what GP you see, and if you do want to see a specific one, invariably you can wait for a month or more.
The old days of having your own specific favorite you could call on is long gone...its a lottery, one which I am very unhappy about!
trouble is these days is you have absolutely no control over what GP you see, and if you do want to see a specific one, invariably you can wait for a month or more.
The old days of having your own specific favorite you could call on is long gone...its a lottery, one which I am very unhappy about!
I think it really does vary from GP to GP and their particular biases. My wife had a very nice lady GP who came highly recommendewd by a friend whose son had been proactively treated by her.
Absoloutely useless for anyone other than kids.
Fobbed you off with reassurances and an odd blood test if you pushed it. Kept on telling my wife she should count her blessings and not worry about the signs of ageing. After about 18 months of messing about we eventually we insisted we get an ultrsound scan and it turned out my wife had a very large grapefruit sized growth in her abdomen which required fairly urgent and major surgey and a few worrying weeks while we waited for the op and the biopsy. Even then we had to pay privately to see a consultant because she didn't think it urgent enough to ex[pedite. Had it been caught earlier it could have been done with a night in hospital and keyhole surgery instead of a week in hospital and 3 months convalecsing
We moved GPs and they have been fabulous. But sadly the squeaky wheel gets the grease in the NHS. The original GP was awash with smack heads and kids (often in the same family) and I guess my wife's relatively minor but mutiple symptoms didn't register on the radar of a GP dealing with what presented as more serious problems.
Absoloutely useless for anyone other than kids.
Fobbed you off with reassurances and an odd blood test if you pushed it. Kept on telling my wife she should count her blessings and not worry about the signs of ageing. After about 18 months of messing about we eventually we insisted we get an ultrsound scan and it turned out my wife had a very large grapefruit sized growth in her abdomen which required fairly urgent and major surgey and a few worrying weeks while we waited for the op and the biopsy. Even then we had to pay privately to see a consultant because she didn't think it urgent enough to ex[pedite. Had it been caught earlier it could have been done with a night in hospital and keyhole surgery instead of a week in hospital and 3 months convalecsing
We moved GPs and they have been fabulous. But sadly the squeaky wheel gets the grease in the NHS. The original GP was awash with smack heads and kids (often in the same family) and I guess my wife's relatively minor but mutiple symptoms didn't register on the radar of a GP dealing with what presented as more serious problems.
V8 Vum said:
I for one seem to be accumulating problems with hand numbness, occasional sharp pains in the wrist (that make you drop what you are holding), nerves in the thumb and forefingers getting stabbing pains and feeling if they have just been set on fire, tight feelings in my forearms, ..etc etc
Don't worry. I had those symptoms when I was 15 and Agnetha Fältskog was hot. If your lucky like I was, you might not go blind after all. It's really scary. My mum went to the GP for a ongoing pain recently (can't remember where it was) and was told they would refer her for some physio. They would usually try physio and if that didn't work then it's off for a scan, but apparently due to her age (mid 60's) that is unlikely.....
Time to start saving to pay for private stuff!
Time to start saving to pay for private stuff!
I'm dealing with this with my 77 and three quarter year old father. He's developed acute pain in his hip/spine and I've had a week of the hospital saying "well at his age...."
I'm trying to get through to the hospital that 10 days ago he was in the garden working and walking perfectly well, the fact that he now can't sit up at all because he's in agony, isn't because he's just old and isn't because he doesn't want to so just giving him pain killers and helping him to mobilise isn't the answer - something is wrong and they need to work out what the problem is.
It's a nightmare, they seem to look at him and think "old bloke, bound to be a bit dodgy on his pins" and move on. I dread to think how those without pushy relatives get on
Last week's averted problem was the (mis)diagnosis of a broken hip and an intention to send him home (in an ambulance because he can't sit in a car) with painkillers.
Some of the staff are fantastic, but some really do appear to be in the wrong job...
I'm trying to get through to the hospital that 10 days ago he was in the garden working and walking perfectly well, the fact that he now can't sit up at all because he's in agony, isn't because he's just old and isn't because he doesn't want to so just giving him pain killers and helping him to mobilise isn't the answer - something is wrong and they need to work out what the problem is.
It's a nightmare, they seem to look at him and think "old bloke, bound to be a bit dodgy on his pins" and move on. I dread to think how those without pushy relatives get on
Last week's averted problem was the (mis)diagnosis of a broken hip and an intention to send him home (in an ambulance because he can't sit in a car) with painkillers.
Some of the staff are fantastic, but some really do appear to be in the wrong job...
Think GP's should have a wake-up call regarding the elderly...but I can't see that happening until there is a unfortunate major event...
Over the years the rose-tinted glasses have fallen off in respect to GP's, and the way they are regarded with 'reverence' by many. The notion that they are somehow elite and can do no wrong has been promoted over the years, but....they are people, with the same prejudices, the same drives and the same failures as anyone else...
Sure, they have fairly long and arduous training, but so do many other skilled professions on and off the job, and indeed there are a few very good ones, as there are again in any chosen discipline. But they are 'in business' to earn a living... a very good one at that!
Over the years the rose-tinted glasses have fallen off in respect to GP's, and the way they are regarded with 'reverence' by many. The notion that they are somehow elite and can do no wrong has been promoted over the years, but....they are people, with the same prejudices, the same drives and the same failures as anyone else...
Sure, they have fairly long and arduous training, but so do many other skilled professions on and off the job, and indeed there are a few very good ones, as there are again in any chosen discipline. But they are 'in business' to earn a living... a very good one at that!
^^^ Couldn’t agree more! I’m currently having a bit of a “difference of opinion” with my & OH’s GP regarding both of us (both being slightly 60+) & am debating going in ‘guns blazing’, go through the practice manager or just say I want to change GP & /or practice. I get the impression that our GP “watches the pennies” far too closely & avoids doing things that may cost him.
V8 Vum said:
Oh I absolutely agree..one ailment, One appt!
That's fine until you have a systemic disorder that can cause many apparently unrelated symptoms. In my case my condition was only disgnosed when I went to my GP with a) a persitant cough, b) "hives" all over my legs and c) sudden arthritic joint swellings. That's three completely different ailments, but only when presented together does the disgnosis of Sarcoidosis become obvious.It does worry me that GP's are under time constraints and patients are discouraged from telling their GP's everything that ails them in one sitting.
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