Saw my GP this afternoon to discuss my recent consultation with an EP. Why do I get the feeling all I'm doing is wasting both our times, ended up agreeing to try another med first before get refered to a lung consultant as recommended by EP.
Meanwhile I was"advised" if I was going to continue using my Coaguchek he would prefer that I went onto a "Warfarin instruction course" that was recognised by the NHS??? I asked if this was in advance of my local health authority approving self testing..... no its just that the partners had a meeting and were concerned at the possibility of me tweaking the dosage as opposed to the surgery program. I pointed out that i was nearly always in a reasonable range, had been doing this for over a year, and had'nt yet managed to kill myself. I also added that NICE appeared to recommend self testing. It would appear to me that I am the only one in the area doing this, or perhaps the only one who has been silly enough to tell the bloods nurse what I'm doing to enable them to keep their records up to date. I would have thought that any instruction needed could be provided there and then if needed??
To be honest I was more than a little upset by this after all this time, any way a couple of hours later I appeared to have a brief spell of AF or whatever, chest pain fast and slow pulse etc, thankfully passed after about an hour, and now just feel wiped out again.
Am begining to understand why the A&E's are packed out every day!
Moan over
Hope everyone is well,
Ray
Written by
kernow43
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Dear kernow, if your EP has recommended you see a lung specialist it seems a shame your GP has opted to treat you first. If seeing a lung specialist has been recommended and would give you greater peace of mind, would you feel comfortable in going back to your GP and asking for the referral to be initiated? My own experience reminds me of how easy it can be to be persuaded to follow an option not of my choice by a health care professional, which is why I now sometimes ask a friend to come with me - the moral support has been really helpful to me.
I hope you get things sorted out to your satisfaction with regards to your checking your blood.
I'll bet. I have a couple of friends who are diabetics and they are always good at understanding the warfarin irritations. One takes warfarin as well.
I'm unsettled today after my INR test yesterday. Good result (2.3) and I have to go back in 2 weeks (which is better than 7 days or 56 days) so I am not as disgruntled as usual, but far from happy about the whole thing. I know I should be self testing. Or not taking warfarin. It is disrupting my peace of mind and I am annoyed that I don't rise above it and take it in my stride.
it is frustrating- I think GPs panic every so often in case they have not been vigilant enough and i shouldn't take any notice- I had a few things like this while self testing - now on Apixaban- keep well and ignore the nonsense
I agree with the above comments, your EP is the more senior physician and his call MUST be respected. If he said you need to see a lung specialist THEN YOU NEED TO! Go back to your GP and request again, if he says no then badger your EP's secretary and get them to intervene with your GP.
Never accept something that goes against what you are told, if your not happy, dont accept it. Simple as!
GP's are intelligent, generally they are nice people but they dont know as much about AF and the complications that come because of it THAN an EP does.
(PS-Sorry for shouting but I feel strongly about it. All I offer is my humble opinion!)
The debate over the issue of self management of warfarin is only going to intensify as more and more of the aging population are prescribed the drug. To be fair to the medical profession, one can understand their reluctance to let us frail old folks do 'our own thing' with what is a very dangerous drug. The difficulty is of course that while a generation or two ago most people old enough to be needing anticoagulants closely imitated the characters in Shakespeare's Sixth and Seventh Ages, the majority of us today are still as sprightly in mind and body as those in his Fourth and Fifth! They need to cut us a bit of slack.
Clinical management of warfarin is not perfect. There were countless occasions when, had I followed the recommended dosage for the time scales suggested by my clinic, my INR would have been out of therapeutic range for a worrying length of time. But I am capable of making those decisions around intervention - not everyone is of course and clearly we can't all be left to our own devices. So there needs to be more discretion by GPs. But the 'one size fits all' approach where everyone is treated like "mewling and puking" children, incapable of cogent thought, is not working. A consent form should take care of any legal concerns that GPs might have.
Like you RosyG, I'm on Glorious Apixaban, so it's not a problem anymore........hey ho! Where are my pantaloons and slippers?
So wish Apixaban had worked for me, awful headaches for 4 months... now looks like warfarin. GP has little understanding of AF and just says this is the only course of action now
Encouraged by your comments regarding my two part moan, I know it's not only me coming up against this sort of thing. but having slept on it and cooled off a little, I'm wondering if it's because I took myself off for a private consultation along with doing my own thing with my Coaguchek. I know......just because I'm paranoid it don't mean they are not out to get me....
Unfortunately there were several other points from my EP's consultation that did'nt get covered as I seemed to have run out of time in my 10min slot.
It is really me getting so bloody frustrated with this continuing " good day/ bad day " condition, not helped of course with the ageing process, and not being able to find any sort of solution. I've always been able to cope with anything thrown at me in the past, but seem to now have a condition over which I have no control.
Honestly folks, I'm not normally this miserable, just having a bad couple of days....
Does your GP practice have a patient participation group? If so contact them as they often act as a conduit for feedback. If not, ask the practice manager I f they would be prepared to consider establish one. This is becoming much more common now and it helps the practice manager to establish these links.
Ask if they they also operate a feedback survey. Our practice does and it can be a very powerful tool for helping practices to improve as if you feel this way about your GP, it is probable others will.
Alternatively you could ask to see the practice manager and vent to them and ask for a written explanation as to why your GP has refused to give you a referral recommended by your EP. Take the copy of the letter from your EP to your GP as that is your evidence. If you haven't got a copy, get one and register to be sent copies of all letters.
Venting here may help you cool off but won't change anything whereas it seems to me that your GP needs a bit of a shake up as to patient communication. It feels like a bit of a power struggle to me which you are getting the rough end of.
I had similar problem when my GP ignored what Papworth had told me and I had to speak to the main Doctor and Papworth also contacted them which got me an apology. I don't know why gps are so keen to treat af, one of my acquaintances never got to see a EP until I encouraged her to do so. She had many years of incapacity as a result. I have learnt to really stand up for myself, not to be intimidated by health professionals and to respect Papworth and what they tell me.
Yes well, I think I have found the answer.....my Premium Bonds came up with a £25 win last month, so logically speaking I must be due the big one in the next draw???
Then I'll be able to afford the best treatment, regain my youth and live happily ever after.
So true. Recently I had a procedure as an out patient for a non A.F. related condition. When I had more bleeding than was o.k. I rang the number I had been given...no answer all day. Hospital switchboard ....no answer till 3 pm. My doctors surgery was closed for training. By then I was bleeding even more so guess where I ended up? Yep a and e. If it had been dealt with straight away there would have been no need for this. I was feeling unwell and not really up to fighting my cause but you just have to or it all ends in disaster. X
I won't recount my experience with GPs generally because we'll be here all day. But based on my own personal experience, with AF being the biggy, if GP's stopped over-reassuring and trying to deal with something they don't understand, and stop acting as gatekeepers to specialists who could sort me out in minutes, they'd be short of work. I reckon about 60-80% of my time with a GP is wasted time. My whole family says much the same with other problems such as cancer, they were re-assured then given the bad news when they eventually got to a specialist and it was too late.
When I've had a problem they can deal with, like shingles I had recently, they were brill.
Koll
I think GPs like to believe they have enough answers, and with something like AF they just wheel out 'standard cures' like warfarin and bisoprolol and expect you to go down their route, whatever that is. I'm sure when we try to do something different we wake them up, and they're not happy bunnies. But we have the right to politely insist...
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