Your a complicated severe asthma!
If i had a magic wand id wave u some new broncs!
things that your doc/cons says that m... - Asthma Community ...
things that your doc/cons says that make you chuckle!
105 Replies
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My GP was trying to be funny the other day when he told me I (or my chest infection) was being a pain! I totally agreed with him and told him I wanted to stop coming to see him. I also explained that the most common occasion I need to use my ventolin was when on an energetic horse ride rather than just normal day to day in the office, unless I have to do stairs etc. He gave a wry smile and told me the horses might have to go. He quickly told me he was joking when he saw the horrified look on my face and my protestations that I wasn't allergic to them! But he's very human and understanding, willing to listen to me waffle on about stuff.
When speaking to anaesthetist a few weeks before surgery.
Hmmmmm, you're not straightforward !
Charming !
Can I add something my fave GP said about something non-asthma related?
I was on amitriptyline for a while and mentioned I was needing to watch my weight with it (it is known to increase your appetite) and the GP said all seriously, 'amitriptyline has no calorific value...' I still chuckle to myself everytime I think of it, several years later lol.
Come on trouble
The GP who referred me (good if depressing sometimes) told me I was 'officially a funny one' with my chest!
At a later appt she said 'How are you? Please don't ask me about your chest, I can deal with anything else but not that.'
(This is not quite true, I think she also doesn't want me to ask why I feel dizzy all the time if not on the medication she provided but no-one seems very interested in working that one out. I think I have enough mystery with the lungs for the most curious of drs).
Ive also had a doc argue with another doc in a n e bout where to b admitted, and he said, if she dnt go to itu i will personaly 1 to 1 her in Resus!
Itu doc said when eventualy gettin an arterial line in, jesus ur a little bleeder when u want to b (this was after 9 attempts and the blood shot al over his scrubs! Oops)
most clasical, doc ive neva seen b4 tried to tel me i didnt have asthma! So i gave him my chdst phycian number and tokd him mayb hed like to take that argumemt up with him 
To b released from hosp today with sats of 92 on excertion, she told me, any sign of shortnes of breath, nt even an attack i need to go straight bk! These new baby docs r amazin!
I had a very similar discharge on Friday CharlieWarlie.
SATS 92, Pf 280 and wheezy when he listened to my chest. Told had recovered well and fine to go home but to follow my admittance plan to the letter! Hmm?! It says to phone ambulance or go to A and E if SATs 92, pf 250 and wheezy unable t complete sentences - lol. Haha and this was the senior consultant I see at Southampton. Just glad to get home to be honest.
Does make me chuckle these docs! I was glad to get home to, i reachd my longest stay of 17 days! X
ye what is it with these new docs, i also escaped today with sats of 92/93 on exertion and pf of 300, but eh i not complaining glad to be home also after my longest stay of 11 days.
a consultant who i was seeing about my arthritis wrote that im a pleasant 48 year old! dont mind the pleasant bit but the cheeky beggar saying im 48 when im only 41 lol - actually seeing a different doctor now and prob just as well as that one didnt seem to take in the details lol. often get 'oh you are the complex/complicated one arent you' - nice!
lol that is cheeky! They always ask me how old I am after looking at my file and I think 'all that time studying medicine and you can't do simple maths from my DOB?'
Worries me that they say that sort of thing in letters etc though - my cons has probably said I'm a stressy hypochondriac who ought to just accept there's nothing wrong and be glad. I babble like an idiot when I see her and on Thurs went round and round with saying 'I just want you to fix me' and her saying 'can't be done as everything seems to be functioning, but try the physio'.
Although I don't respond, I just get angry. In my experience, it seems like none of the doctors, asthma nurses or anyone connected to asthma, have any knowledge about it other than grouping every asthmatic together, what they have 'read' or been 'instructed' about it. I find them pompous, uneducated, mis-informed and unable to communicate. Yet still, I don't react negatively.
we just don't know what to do with you!
Oh Philomela! I identify with that feeling. I found myself sitting at the Brompton yesterday saying to the (lovely) registrar, ""I just need you to make me better"". Thankfully he's met me a few times, so he was able to just laugh at me and tell me that they'd do their best. I am so grateful for my lovely doctors at the Brompton!
Yours nose is definately not broken but did it always deviate to the right ...... No it didn't ...
Sought second opinion my nose was broke
Nurse at gp... Ur peak flows av dropped 10% u should go bk to a and e!
My response, if i walked into a and e fully talkin, breathin normal for me and reaponable air entry they will laugh at me, tell me they have have seen me in worse states and sent me homea again lol...i think i leave leave it to ar least 50% x
I think your asthma is getting alot worse erm really three itu and hdu visits so far this year kinda gave that away before he said it then asked me what do you think we should do with you erm your my con you should know that not me telling you
Well...I saw my asthma doc a number of years ago. She is also an allergist, and you know how you use those nose sprays? Well she had decided to have her pts. use asthma steroid inhalers for their nose to see if it worked better. To do this she was having people use a baby bottle nipple attached to the inhaler with the end of the nipple cut off. So honestly...she went to go get me the baby bottle nipple in her office, but couldn't find it...so was running around her office saying ""have you seen my nipples? I can't find them! Have you seen them?"" It still makes me laugh to this day!
And yes I've gotten all the your complicated statements....my favorites being ""You're fascinating! Me: Yeah yeah, but can you help me with..."" ""No! Your just the most fascinating patient I've ever seen really."" Can I tell you how not thrilling that is to hear?
Bee
'how do you know its a chest infection?' erm i'm ill, can't breathe, i'm breathless, coughing more and stuff up. And actually feel really rubbish! He also seemed very disappointed to realise I was right when he listened to in. And the other why you waking up at night? Erm classic sign of being uncontrolled. So have of antib's and discharged o from clinic. ..
Cons : any side effects of the increased aminophylline. .. Me: only lack of sleep...cons:well atleast your breathing hey!!!
Me in resus having an attack...itu doc comes to review: why didnt you have your neb kit out with u...my response. ...A glare and when i could eventually talk i told him how i couldnt carry an electric generator around with me 24/7 to power the thing!! Dont think he like my sarcastic reply!!!
My GP actually did a 'yesss! Score one for GPs over chest consultants' complete with air-punch when I told him medication was working and therefore his diagnosis was right and consultants were wrong. Was pretty funny but felt he deserved it lol
I would love to have whitnessed that Philomela lol
Hey BeeThere you made me laugh with uour story. Not just the ""have you seen my nipples"" bit. But also (or is this just weird me again?) the fact that sbe would want anyone to spay their inhaler up their nose in the girst place!...
After i bad my stroke and i was still in ICU the cons came round at about 4am and said ""what are you doing in bed?"" well. Im sick. This is the ICU of a hospital. Its the moddle of the night....
Also the first time i saw a cons at a national level. I had a ten minute slot for the appoinent. She said ""this is so complicated. I should have set aside a whole week to study your case...
Your a respiratory, get your GP to refer you to a respiratory now go home ( thank you a & e ! , Did you really pass you communication skills osce?)
Asthma nurse at GP's I didn't know you had asthma ( after pf of 250) lest talk about preventer inhalers!
Gp I had never seen before tried to tell me I didn't have asthma (When to GP at home who said yes you do )
This time when i discharge you, go live with your mum for a month and do nothing! Be a couch potato and try and enjoy your time off!!!
Hey BeeThere you made me laugh with uour story. Not just the ""have you seen my nipples"" bit. But also (or is this just weird me again?) the fact that sbe would want anyone to spay their inhaler up their nose in the girst place!...""
No it's not just you, when I go to this particular doctor I always get the feeling as it it's a bit magic, as she's mixing her brew, she puts in a little of this and that, and is brilliant at giving me the right meds that work.
Well beethere glad it works. Thats the most important thing anyway.
me: 'nurse chest is starting to get tight again'
nurse: 'would you like me to get you some oramorph for the pain'
me: 'no i would like a nebuliser so i can breathe properly again please'
nurse: 'but what about your pain?'
me: 'im not going to need to worry about my pain if i end up back on aventilator throug lack of breathing
nurse: 'have something to eat and seee if that helps
me: 'no, a neb will do just fine ta!'
slightly worrying convo between me and an aparent nurse...who then later went on to have ago at me because my bed hadnt been chaged, i used my own towel when i had a wash and because she hadnt seen me go out to the toilet...sorry for being such an ill inconvenience patient!!!
Haha had to share this one - saw GP today as asthma is still being awkward - not bad, just picky and annoying with what it will respond to. GP is trying me on Intal but he also said he was going to ring the chest clinic - to ask for advice now he has proved I actually have asthma - but 'mainly to say ner ner you said there was nothing wrong' (more or less his words lol).
Had to laugh at that one, almost wish I could be a fly on the phone line for the conversation and see whether he can resist pointing out that they've been a bit useless.
Why are you on beudesonide nebs...urm a well...coz my consultant put me on it as nothing else working...
Did he think i prescribed the drug myself or something!!??
I had a nurse practicioner at my new uni doctors surgery tell me that I didnt need too be refered to a consultant there because she was more than capible of controling my asthma! She proceeded to take me off half of my medication, and take my nebs off repeat prescription becuase I apparebtly I dont need them.
The best bit was when I went back after an A&E visit and se asked why if I have brittle asthma was I on such a small ammount of medication, and why I didnt use my nebuliser when I first felt ill. I told her I had been taken off it all becuase I 'didnt need it'.
She proceeded to look really angry, and ask who on earth had done that, I said 'you did'. The look on her face was priceless.
At my last GP appointment, well at least your breathing is still ok (whilst reading the latest letter from my consultant which appeared to indicate that one of the spirometry results was less than 60%). OK why did he put my straight on to prednisolone and want to see me a month later! I usually manage two months between reviews with the warning to phone if I need any help.
Heehee, gracehasaname, I've also had a similar 'you did' experience although not quite the same. A so-called GP with asthma 'interest/specialism' said who on earth put you on that dose (?1500mcg beclomethasone inhaler). Hmm, you signed off the prescription the asthma nurse organised at review?! Also, it would have been good manners/common sense/professional to have read my notes first rather than sound so vague throughout the whole appt.
Also, been told recently nice to have a challenge and I'm stoic? Hmm, not sure about that but at least not giving up. Same nurse also said that's rubbish in reaction to consultant suggestion of hyperventalation rather than atypical asthma.
hehe, liking the 'you did' moments TJ and gracehasaname - not sure I've had one of those. Have had the 'total failure to bother to read notes or ask any relevant questions' with OOH once - ok it was an emergency appt with a dr I didn't know (and never want to see again) but the doctor I spoke to on the phone who told me to come in had read them!
TJ, that nurse sounds great, hold on to her. Always good for us 'weird' types to have someone in our corner.
in a shocked voice ' your dinner actually looks edible!'
Thanks Philomena, was nice to hear that. Like your GP comments recently too. She is generally good but doesn't seem too keen on writing out action plans or seeing peak flow diary. Have consultant appt for test results discussion soon after bronchial provocation showed little reaction but good ventolin response at the end.
B, your consultant sounds great lol! Hold on to that one...pretty blue notes lol
TJ, I'm always after nurses who aren't into PF diaries...when they look at mine it tends not to be very helpful and then I have the 'peak flow' conversation... But hope you manage to get a plan out of her and good luck with the consultant! Hopefully s/he will have got off the hyperventilation thing.
Silly doc...why are you on all this asthma medication...erm because thats what the doctor prescribed :-|
Nurse So why haven't we done spiromtory?
Me I was told I couldn't do it because of the hearing aids
Nurse Who told you that?
Me You did
General bemusement followed
On me speaking to an anaesthetist. He asked me if I was allergic to anything so told him I was anaphylactic to a particular antibiotic. He says in a sarcastic voice...'what makes you think you are anaphylactic to it?' Er well because I have had an anaphylactic reaction to it before...surely tht's the only way there is of knowing you are anaphylactic to something!!! What an arse!!! It was the way he said it as well...as if he thought I was making it up! You cannot imagine an anaphylactic reaction! It's fairly noticeable!!
Loobyloobyloo uve remined me of the itu docs a week ago, askd me if i was alllergic to anything and i said yes to midazolam...and they question what it done to me...explained go very swollen, have difficulty breathing, very red etc...his response...best not give you that then as ur already im itu of your breathing, although its a good relaxent...my mummy kindly said as i couldnt talk very well...ull be dealing with a bigger prob than just her asthma if you give her midaz as she goes rather spectacularly!! SHe looked at my mum with disbelief!!
One consultant ( not my consultant thank goodness) said to me a while back...'it would be better for your asthma if you didn't work and if you lived on your own as it would stop you catching lots of bugs' oh, ok I'll just live on my own and not have a life then!!! Glad I didn't listen to him as I love my job and my husband and wouldn't swap them for the world !!!
This is a great thread!
Just thinking about cons I spoke to back in the summer - asked usual questions about what might have caused attack, building work etc. and asked if I have any pets. When he found out I have cats and a dog said oh those will have to go!
There is absolutely no evidence that I'm allergic to animals at all - have had cats my whole life, have lived with a dog for five years and only had problems with asthma in the last 9months. Have also been on holiday this summer where there were no animals, and symptoms weren't any different whilst there. Good thing my husband wasn't there or his response would have been I'll get rid of her before I get rid of the dog!
Spookymilo my cons told me to get rid of my rabbit to...i told him he can run an allergy test before i just get rid of the poor thing
Classic from night nurse..you sure you want both codien and zopiclone...itll knock you out and make you very sleepy...my response, it hasnt for the past 3 nights so if it does tonight itll be a miracle....love it!!!
So silly this automatic 'get rid of your pets'! Never been told that (no-one's asked if I have any) but it might be nice if the people who said that realised that not everyone has the same triggers...
Just remembered a vaguely funny thing my old cons in London used to do. Bear in mind this guy is a big, big cheese in the asthma world, not just a bog standard resp cons. Anyway, every time I saw him he'd ask how I'd been, I'd tell him the same. He'd frown and get the PF meter, I'd blow about 600 (not my best and I was never really symptomatic at appts, wasn't as bad back then anyway). Then he'd say (without asking if I was actually symptomatic at that moment) 'well you don't have asthma, you're just overbreathing, but just in case it's something extremely exotic that we've missed, have this test.' Every time! You'd think he'd have remembered from the previous time, but then he never actually read my notes. This went on for about 4 appts before he discharged me with my cough as 'post-viral cough and hyperventilation' - and a Clenil inhaler.
Saw the GP today as asthma flared up and needed steriods. He said what dose steroids do you usually get? 5mg? HA I wish Doc!
Also asked me what I do, told him I was a student nurse, so he went on to say that seeing how I have asthma and the placements I have been to must mean that I can deal with a patient with airway no bother, (dont think this is quite right but anyhoo!) Then he said that airway problems scare him! Didnt think this was the best thing to tell a patient with an airway problem!
This was asthma nurse today:
On me telling him that the pharmacist was querying me needing another seretide when the dose on the prescription was still only 1 puff twice a day: ""Well pharmacists are all anally retentive, just like accountants. You're not an accountant are you?""
After I described the reaction I had to a wasp sting, he said quite calmly, ""That sounds like a borderline anaphylactic reaction, you might need an epi-pen, I'll check with your GP and get back to you"" (me thinking WHAT! Can't believe they would prescribe an epi-pen just like that with no allergy testing, further info or anything!)
And those who have been discussing PF will like this one, he checked my inhaler technique by getting me to take a puff of ventolin, said it was perfect, then we discussed a couple of things then he did peak flow and I was amazed that it was 20 higher than my previous PB and said so to him. It wasn't until I was driving home that I twigged that I'd taken ventolin just before doing the peak flow, so of course it was high...
last week told my con,have tell hubby stop when having sex as carnt breath! He said try another position ,well that made us both laugh.He sends me a copy of the report back to my doc so blinking hope he doesnt put that on it hahaha↲
EDIT-Seriously though,yes have read up about it and is def a trigger for lots of people with asthma x
I second that!!! Definitely a trigger!! Although my husband celebrates his achievement in terms of ' if it makes me wheeze he must have done a good job!!' oh dear... too much information !!
TMI Loobylooby - laughing is not good for my asthma!!!
I think my GP has been abducted by aliens and replaced with a clone. Conversation just now:
Her: You're not any better are you?
Me: No
Her: Are you going to hospital?
Me: No
Her: Okay, well that's done, what's next on your list?
Hur??????
Actually she did come back to it, was her trying to emphasise that she thinks I should be in Costa, bad trick to play as I took it literally and moved on. Got to go back again tomorrow - going for record number of GP appointments in a week. 
I hate it when they ask you that!!! It's not like you're going to say 'yes please... I'd love to go to hospital!' Usually with me it's a case of me being too ill to put up a fight and to argue about whether I'm going or not!!
just caught up on all your posts... properly made my tummy chuckle!!
and Ratty ive had that...went to gp three times in one day, on the third occasion, she said, ""right you going to listen to me know...because your going to hospital""
on another occasion...went to gp as a tad rough, they said, were calling you an ambo, i told her it wasnt necessary and that I just wanted more steroids... and she refused to give me presciption and said i wont need them as id be having IV as soon as i get to costa...i compromised and told her that I wouldnt have an ambo as i could still talk, but if she gave me a letter stating id been to see her, id drive myself...she didnt believe that i would, so i reminded her that she gets sent the discharge letters and she cold ring the hospital to check up on me if she likes...cheeky mare did ring up...
rang up emergency services once, and the doc said: so, do you want to go to hospital? me: well, no not really... the doc: so why are you ringing? well, because even though i dont want to go, i really need to...!!
me with the pain management doc: so, im having an operation next month...
an operation, what for?
to remove the tumor oon my spinal cord
oh, youve got a tumor have you?
yes, well that is why ive seen you for the past year...!!!
ie the type that never bothers to read the files...
phone call from gp today...
uve not had ur flu jab yet this year-
- no i keep landing in hossie
well ive book u in for the 11th, and we are going to make an assessment for what else we can give u-
-er urm, well, thanx i guess...see you on the 11th then!
Cons sees me sitting in the waiting room
' you aren't here for clinic are you'
Me: 'nah, I just like wasting my life sitting in hospital waiting rooms for no reason'
Nurse No horsenees is not a side effect of Clenil,
it's just your inhaler technique is shit.
Have a spacer
Aslo GP so tell me in your own words why you think you are here....
Well the spacer does help if you are taking MDIs (and maybe rinsing your mouth after - also helpful for Symbicort), but what is that nurse on about? When I tried Clenil hoarseness was listed as a fairly common side effect on the leaflet - and I had it too!
Just remembered that when GP was asking about my strange ongoing dizziness (which I don't think is related to the asthma but is a bit of a mystery) I was telling him I'd already been sent to cardiology by the resp consultant as pulse was very fast, but they were really just going through the motions and spent most of the time asking me if I was stressed. His response was 'yes, stressed by c**p diagnoses I expect!' lol, he does come out with some good stuff, have to love his lack of respect for medical authority.
Doctor in A&E looking at my ECG printout with slightly worried expession.
""This isn't right. This is just too slow. Let me listen to your heart""
She listens to heart, takes pulse, prints another ECG, gets a nurse to take my pulse, I'm starting to get slightly worried. She looks at printout again.
""No, this really isn't right, too too slow""
Sudden smile on her face
""Ah ha, but you're not 68 and you don't have a pacemaker - wrong patient""
OMG, I'm already freaking out - don't do that!!!!!!
ratty that doesn't surprise me - my friend has had that experience more than once
Haha Philomena, sounds great. Have you seen the book 'Confessions of a GP'?
saw GP on wednesday, got the: so what do you think we should do/what do we usually do for you in this situation? um, you're the dr, you tell me!!!
In the waiting room, heard consultant rant about ?IT issues. Everyone creased up laughing including patients/admin staff and others. Don't think I can go into any more details here
lol TJ, wish I could have heard that! I had a teacher who used to ask me every time he had IT issues (very small 6th form class, think he figured I must know the answer as I was under the age of 20 and therefore automatically clued up with computers).
Haven't read the Confessions book no, though think I have seen it somewhere. Mind you, not sure I want to read it given how much time I spend at the GPs - really would rather not know what is going through their heads ('oh no, not her again...mmm, must buy some wine for tonight...why can't this woman ever come with something simple?)
Rose, know what you mean - I really hate the 'what do you want us to do?' OK, nice of you to ask but I need some guidance here...
I realy dont understand that 'so what would you do at home talk' with the doc! Well mr qualified lol i would do my nebs, increase steroids assess how i am.and see what pf was doing...oh pretty much what i have done and then i rock up here, we you try and make me laugh b'coz your seeing me again, i make you laugh even more b'coz im 'mazin then you give me all the super duper iv drugs!!! Sorted 
Expert patients know more than the doctors?
Philomena, it was quite funny in a way. The Confessions of a GP book is good. Know what you mean about the 'oh no, not her again'. Not looking forward to my next visit which I may put off as long as possible. The resp. cons will have written to him about my 'no asthma' & reducing off max dose steroid inhaler. Also ENT cons. has put me on reflux med. which is to continue under GP.
This same ENT consultant said caffeine can make mucus worse? Anyone ever heard this? No way am I giving up a few mugs a day esp. given the amount of water etc I also have
My GP when I went to see her a little while ago said oh hello, I was just thinking I haven't seen you for ages! Just shows how frequently I've had to be there in the last year. Probably more times than I had ever been in my life before.
Nurse at hospital...i dnt understand why you are here, its not like we are needing to push you to the toilet on the commode...well nice nurse, how a about my pf bein 170, reduced air entry, short of breath, wheeze, needing o2 and ivs... Basicaly medical attention that i cant do at home!
Another nurse...who dont you just go home, shut al the doorr and windows so the smoke doesnt get in, and if you get into any trouble, come straight back...urm no thanks, but heres a plan, you get me so im breathing a little bit like the average person, with out any extra attachments then il happiy go home! 
the nice gp man ...
""your a semi-invalid at the moment""...oh geeze thanks for reminding me!!
""in the 25 years i have been a gp i have never met someone so complicated and sever as you...i am sorry i cant fix you"" .... aww bless,thanks again for reminding me, but that was lush!!
x
A and e doc meeting me for the first time... So have you ever been to ITU? Yes! Have your ever been intubated? Yes! Ooooooooooooo we best sort you out pretty quickly then
loverly doc from MAU...i remember you from last time, i sent you to ITU and even though your having a nasty attack you always seem to have a smile on your face...(suprisingly the same nice doc that sent me to ITU again this time!!)
GP today: 'If you were an athlete entering the Olympics you'd have to have a methacholine challenge to prove you did have asthma - the centre's at Northwick Park...You're not entering the Olympics, are you?'
lololol! My mum will crack up when I tell her, I've always been such a lazy so and so. She thought it was funny enough that the only doctor to get it right for me was one with an interest in sports medicine.
GP did say they'd added a lot of odd sports recently but I told him the only thing I was good at in that line was skiving games. Wasn't bad at swimming actually but somehow don't think I will be turning up poolside for the Olympics this year or any year, especially given current state of asthma...
Heehee, sounds like a mad GP Philomena.
It's the same one who did an air punch when I told him the medication was working and he beat the consultant! Today we ended up having a slightly bizarre discussion about new Olympic sports including beach volleyball.
He does crack me up sometimes though sadly he had some less amusing things to say today such as reminding me there are only so many medications and he's tried most of them so not to expect miracles from cons appt even if I'm not going back to useless local cons. Uggh. Hoping the cons, wherever they are, does have a few more ideas.
charlie very dissapointed to see what nurses said to you, i m a nurse and if before i was told i had asthma would never speak to a patient like that, i would like to say not all nurses are as nasty as that x
hi all,
i went to the gp last week as couldnt get help from anyone else, and firstly he said, ' i am no proff, wat do you want me to do'
then asked me was i sure i wasnt pregnant!!!!
bless hime, he couldnt sort me out, but at the time i just wanted someone to know i was really struggling to gain some control.
g x
my usual gp who I've seen for many years, your far from perfect but better than you have been, good job he meant my asthma lol x
Regretingly ive had to change GP but as first impressions go they seem.really nice!
This particular one said, this bit on you discharge form that says about anxiety, do you believe it? My response, no! His response, its funny becuase nearly every asthmatics discharge form i have seem recently, the asthmatics seem to be suffering from anxiety all of a sudden!!
Great, no wonder GPs arnt always that good with our care when they get told rubbish like this!!
X
Oh good grief charlie_warlie, were these all from the same source, me wonders? Anxiety never from not being able to breathe perhaps?
I almost hope they were from the same source (would at least mean fewer people peddling this).
What gets me is how they then leave you to it a lot of the time, as though anxiety=nothing wrong, even though I've had friends with this and it's pretty nasty in itself. If someone was actually anxious and stressed enough to have that much trouble breathing without any underlying lung condition, they'd surely need help of some sort - surely drs should be trying to refer appropriately if they genuinely think this is a problem, rather than basically saying 'go away, you're fine'. To me it implies they don't know that much about it and are just fobbing people off a lot of the time.
I got told it must be stress even though I pointed out not being able to breathe was the most stressful element in my life...bit circular really!
I get anxiety and asthma, for me at least as far as breathing goes, they are very different. For example: its only difficult to get air into my lungs if its asthma. With anxiety, I can easily breathe, the problem here is that I do it too much. Fortunately I can mostly control anxious breathing issues so they don't usually bother me.
I struggle to see why the medics get so confused by it all, maybe my experience is different from the usual. My GP doesn't seem to confuse the 2 so some appear to understand.
A recent discussion with a locum:
me: I think I'm about to start with a chest infection but the asthmas fine (insert gross description of other symptoms here involing virus ridden green stuff)
locum: how many times are you using ventolin, a week.... More than a few times?
me: Erm.... when I said fine, I meant in comparison to how its been recently
You'd think they'd take just a quick glance at notes!
Same source??
I think the reason it is on my discharge form is because the doc asked if i ever get anxious and i openly told him, yes course i grt anxious, you cant expect not to when you cant breathe. I also told him i get worried becuase i love going on road trips and being adventurous and always tend to land in costa when out and as i dont have an action plan etc im worrie dthe docs in a different hosp arent going to know how my treatment should be. So my cons and gp both agreed that it was just the normal worries then. So i agree. And then becuase i was honest bang its now on my latest discharge form...GREAT! Ah well i guess there could be worse things. I dont think i would be human if i didnt panic slightly during and attack. Who doesnt when they cant breathe lol
xx
Same doctor on all the forms saying anxiety I think?
Sometimes I think being honest and polite, which I always try to be however much they are pissing me off as I feel you should be and also it *ought* to be more constructive, gets you nowhere!
Thought I'd told cardiac registrar that I thought it highly unlikely my problems were all down to stress given I really wasn't that stressed at the time and hadn't had these problems when I really was stressed. His report to the resp cons said I'd agreed my problems were caused by stress! Then she said 'well, do you agree? and I said 'not really' without saying I really hadn't agreed at all and he was twisting what I'd said, and she seemed to think that was agreement too.
I just felt it was ridiculous to say I was never stressed - everyone has some stressful things going on in their life - but trying to be reasonable and say that of course there was some but the biggest thing was this breathing issue got me nowhere - they just tuned out and heard 'yes, I'm stressed and my problems are all down to that'.
Oooo i just remembered one from my laat trip to a and e where i met a very obnoxious twit...strolled into resus told me i wasnt having an attack as sats ok and wanst wheezing....he also told me (drum roll please lol)
... That i wasnt breathing...
I looked at the resus nurse, then peered down at my chest then back to the resus nurse ( by which time the doc seemed to have thought two mina with me was enough and strolled off ) question the resus nurse and said she you not be worried that im not breathing but somehow, magically im managing to kinda talk to you??
Funny that i wasnt having an attacl but landed in itu that night!!
Some docs really do scare me for where they trained!!
Xx
Hmmmm...so he didn't seem bothered that you 'weren't breathing' then and just walked off?!!
I worry too. Who let this guy graduate?! Who accepted him?!
Obviously not...the lack of air entry was what knackered me out so much for the horrible monkey watching ward...however much the people in ITU are, i would much rather not be there!! Very annoying having someone watching over you every second of the day and night. The good thing is that becuase you have an air mattress, if you fart you can blame the bed....lmao *chuckling away to myself*
Xx
When I was in hospital a doctor told me I that I do not need to use my inhalers because all asthmatics rely too much on their inhalers.
Strange how the consultant said that I was not to stop any medication and if anything he would be adding more for me to use. The other doctor was there when the consultant said that and he never said a word but just looked down at his feet.
Critical care nurse that just reviewed me for the millionth time: you have mice in your lungs...you can hear little sqweeks! Great, do i get them a wheel to run on? Lol got to love itu staff lol x
Nurse: can we please share the monitor, as your trouble and i want to keep and eye on you.
Me: no, im infront of the desk am i not close enough? (cheesy grin)
Nurse: actualy can hear your lungs dont need the monitor to tell me if you stop breathing!
Me: chuckle more and share the monitor lol
A few from my latest admission:
See my cons going round teaching med students and I ask if I can join (got finals in a few weeks :s) and his response was: ""you're attached to o2 and iv amino ... I don't think it's appropriate!"" (boo!)
And when trying to persuade him to let me go home: ""I don't trust you or your lungs!"" ... Thanks lol!
B x
0243 rings bell
0243.20 HCA answers bell. Ask for neb.
0255 monitor screeming, HCA pops along, checks im ok asks me if hike a cuppa! (lol philomela!)
0302 cuppa arrives...
0317 neb arrives...nurse explains how shes sorry i didnt get it straight away, didnt think it was urgent!
WTF?! Half hour wait coz she thought she would continue to sit at the desk drinking her cuppa...yes miss nursey person, i can see remember! Result...b2b nebs thanks, just whati need to try and get home before the weekend!!!
Xx
ps sorry about the rant!!
HCA~
'your eyes look so sleepy an lush, i tried not waking you but i needed to make sure you was still conscious and that the monitor was telling the truth'
aw bless him...hes a really good HCA, definatly have him again lol
xx
Always worries me when a nurse tells you your better off without a certain consultant...hmmm wonder why!! Good job i dont have them now then hey!!
Hehe. Oh dear charlie_warlie, what a time you're having. Wonder why they said that about consultant.
When I was in A & E the other weekend the Consultant taking care of my treatment at my last hospital admission came and saw me when I was in A & E and he said I don't patch people up you know to only see them again next month you know. I don't know your lungs do like to cause trouble don't they
Me- can i have a neb please (orchestra playing a tune)
Nurse- are you sure you need it as your last one was only two hours ago, your sats are fine and we need to get you back onto inhalers
Me- i dont have inhalers at home i have nebs, yes i nees one now as it is extremly tight and im sure you can hear the wheeze and the last time i had my sats checked was 6 this am to which they were 92 on air and anything could have happened between now and then...
Nurse- ill just go get you that neb and we will recheck your sats
2 mins later...neb running (on o2) sats 87% ... No dont need neb at all now kind nursey person do i??
Argh why dont they listen to the patient!!
Rant over!!
Xx
hehe, just remembered what GP said at last appt,
imagine blowing a malteser across the room when checking peak flow
lol TJ! You should have asked them to get a packet so you could try it (and then eaten one every time you got it right...)
On a related note, there have been studies (and I don't have references for this, so apologies to the scientists on here) showing the prospect of getting a reward can improve your performance - off the top of my head and very roughly (so please don't shoot me, medics and brain people), the increase of dopamine triggered by the idea of the reward improves cognition.
Anyway, apparently one of the experiments done involved promising senior doctors a bar of chocolate if they got a diagnosis right. I believe the study found the doctors who were promised (and given) chocolate had a significant increase in correct diagnoses! This really made me laugh - I think I might have to take some choc to my appt at the RBH and promise everyone on the team a bar lol.
Thanks Philomena, will have to remember both of your points 
my asthma nurse last week: you work for health services which makes it ridiculous that you would have to come here to have me tell you what you already know!
so true! but at least when i returned to work and said that the nurse said ""remove me from the triggers"", they got into action, sent me home for the day and organised a different work station further away from the dust and building work!
Ambulance repsonder does an ecg he says your hearts going fast and your sat nice & relaxed for me ? as im sat there struggling to breath (nothing to do with sirens & blue lights coming to me)
New a and e doc from the states!
Since ive met you tonight, ive had a new understanding to the term asthmatic, and theres no such thing as text book anymore!
Another jem was: so what do you actualy want me to do as you are on all initial treatment at home-erm how about give me so ivs and get me breathing again? (dont worry people i didnt actualy say this to him!)
xx
hehe think this thread needs bumping, and I'm still chuckling slightly over parts of yesterday's appt so thought I'd post.
It was a very useful appt, but pretty much the first thing he said after reading through everything was 'well you still have me absolutely baffled.'
Then when I asked things like 'will the Symbicort keep helping?' etc he said something along the lines of 'Well usually we find X with asthma...but with you I don't know, I can't say.'
My family and friends already think I'm weird lol, and now I'm officially a mystery to medical science. Wonder if I can get a T-shirt
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