Please can you advise me what I should do, or how I should move forward? See below.

[Isabeau]

I have taken Escitalopram 20mg a day for nearly two years now. Two months ago I tried to get out of moving car (60 mph!) and last month I sat on the loo and calmly swallowed at least 12 co-codamol + as much paracetamol and escitalopram as I could get my hands on! Getting an appointment with my doctor (i.e. the SAME doctor) is like trying too see the Queen! I also suffer from GARD and haemorrhagic gastritis. I get dizzy when I blow my nose or cough - and I cough a lot (it can be a symptom of GARD I'm told). I feel unwell all the time. I am extremely efficient at work and absolutely hopeless at home. I am menopausal also. My doctor has just renewed my escitalopram, prescribed HRT (Climagest) and changed by GARD medication to Omeprazole (80mg pd for 2 weeks and then 20mg twice a day). I have never broken a bone until the last three months - I fractured my thumb and then last month I chipped a bone in the knuckle of my index finger of my right hand. I was given no medication (except a splint) and was told they were soft tissue injuries and advised that I could continue to work. I am a secretary! Consequently I am in constant pain with my hand as well now, and - quite frankly - concerned that the length of time it is taking to heal may result in arthritis and affect my livelihood. I am still only 55. I don't know what to do!! I am only allowed to discuss one thing at a time with my doctor! The last time I tried to make an appointment with him I was given an appointment (after much persuasion) for 6 weeks' time - 3rd June!

[Hidden]

Hi

You seem to have been having a bad time

I no getting to see a GP is not as good as it used to be , but yours seems worse than ever

Would you mind seeing a different GP , maybe in the surgery ,that could get you in quicker or changing surgeries all together , might be another option

As for you broken bones in your hand , they do just strap them up , but if you still have pain & you don't feel they have healed correctly , I would take myself to A&E & ask them to XRAY them for you , as you say this is your job !

I no its hard when we suffer with anxiety to speak up , but sometimes we have to & it could be the best thing you have done to see a different one

Let us no how you go on

Love

whywhy

xxx

[Isabeau]

Thank you so much. Problem is whenever I see another GP I have to explain everything over again - like they can't just read my records! Just seems that the NHS has no continuity of care. Get this, my sister is practice manager at my doctor's and she is hopeless - couldn't even get a doctor to visit our mum in good time (she died before the doctor came). Her salary went from £14000 per annum as a medical secretary to £35000 as practice manager! No fault to her as she does as good a job as she can - but then they tell us that the NHS has no money! She does the same job as she did before - just with a different title ... and I still can't get to see the same doctor without waiting ages. I really feel that something is so wrong, and I just feel afraid all the time - but I shouldn't if the medication/diagnosis is correct, should I?

[Hidden in reply to Isabeau]

No I don't feel you should

Make an appointment , even if you have to wait & mean while keep venting on here when you feel like it

Let us no how it goes

xxx

[1979ukmale]

Off topic, but in 2001 I was suicidal , and had insomnia, and went to see a new GP, who told me to pull my socks up, and get to work however I felt. She begrudgingly signed me back onto prozac, and said that if i insisted on her giving me a sleeping aid like valium, it would go on my record for employers to see!

In hindsight it was a nasty way to treat someone who was on the edge of death!

My latest GP visit resulted in the guy pulling out his textbook , and looking up what generalised anxiety was. He had no idea, so i ran him through the science and likely medication choices. LOL

In my opinion GP's are your enemy quite often!

I digress