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sorry, another question as a newbie to this site....did anyone feel they were not believed by health professionals?

loopyloo1 profile image
15 Replies

when i explain my symptoms the doctor just nodds and she is writing her prescription for Cipramil....i reckon she thinks i am imagining it...all in my head..im working full time but have had an OHS referral....worried i will be sacked if i take too much time off work so keep struggling in every day...and its stressful. the stress makes the pain worse

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loopyloo1 profile image
loopyloo1
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15 Replies
Kasha profile image
Kasha

I can so relate to this, my GP has told me Fybromyalgia does not exist!!! Ask your GP to refer you to a rheumatologist? I did and they diagnosed Fybro BUT I wasnt happy that they had done proper tests to rule out anything else going on so I went back to my GP and insisted on a 2nd opinion. I had this appointment yesterday and the consultant was fabulous!! so understanding and helpfull and she is writting to my GP to tell her that Fybromyalgia DOES exist! and is going to advise her on the way to treat my condition so after feeling like a turtle wading through mud for years! I finally feel the medical proffession are listening. Be assertive (not always easy I know) but ifyou are like me you know your own body and YOU know something is wrong so insist on a consultants opinion. good luck xxxxx

loopyloo1 profile image
loopyloo1

thanks kasha, I did ask to be referred to a rheumatologist but said it was not nessecary as my bloods did not indicate inflammation. im going to pay and see a specialist, ive been saving up! Im in sussex and they seem to have cash flow problems!! it took them 18months to arrange for the merina coil to be removed in hospital (embedded, but thats another story!!)

a turtle wading in mud is very apt :-)

are you still working? im really struggling with that at the mo

fibro does not cause inflammation, you really need to change gps, I did recently after a life time with the same sugery, I was diagnosed with in weeks, I was told I have fibro for 30yrs, my previous gp was useless, she wouldnt give me any meds, good luck on your journey to find an answer

yanto71 profile image
yanto71

I love doctors!! Did that sound convincing enough. I have to take my wife with me to stop me dragging my specialist over her desk and beating her with a chair. She's single-handedly destroyed every ounce of what little faith i had in doctors. My hands and feet are deformed because she didn't believe that i had rhumatoid arthritis, she insisted i only had FM because of my blood results. She took me off methotrexate to prove herself right and within two months i was off work, in agony and my fingers and toes were twisting. She has since eaten a huge piece of humble pie but that doesn't make my joints any better. Also after telling me i had FM she has done nothing about it, i've looked on line just to find out that there are tablets for it and what the symptons are. So i'll be seeing her in court!!

Oh you poor man it's so very painful, the only thing that

Helps my husband is the methotrexate, and that has side

Effects but better than the pain

What a bad doctor my husband goes to the specialist ever

3 months and the pain nurse ever 6 months but his pain is

Controlled no one should have. To go through that kind of

Pain in this day and age.

omg Yanto your story is disgusting, how the hell can these quacks get away with itI always distrust doctor now, my first baby was stillborn due to a cock up, he weighed3lb at 38 weeks, and wasnt growing properly doctors never picked up on it, my youngest son was given the wrong vacine at 3 months old, my youngest daughter nearly died due to the midwife leaving me, and the cord prolapsed, so emergency c section, then 3 yrs of hell with my gp, I was literally crawling on my hands and knee crying in pain, still she wouldnt give my any meds, never supported dla either, my dad nearly died 6 yrs ago to a blunder by his gp misdiagnoses, so now Im in charge of me, I gen up and the net all my probs and the meds, god help them now if I dont get help,

My GP is great. But she referred me to a local rheumatologist who had sent a leaflet to the surgery claiming to be particularly interested in helping patients with fibromyalgia. On the first consultation she told me she didn't think I had Fibro. Also, that I had very bad osteo-arthritis in my knees, and she couldn't understand why I wasn't in more pain with them!

The subsequent x-rays didn't show the arthritis. In the second (and last consultation) I had with her she told me I should be glad I didn't have cancer, and that there were patients in the hospital with real problems, and while I might be finding life difficult, feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to help. Gosh - I'm so glad she told me that ... I could never have figured it out for myself!!! And I felt so much better afterwards (NOT!)

loopyloo1 profile image
loopyloo1

Kaz, thats why im not bothering with a local Rheumy im going to the top man.... Im annoyed at being treated like a whinger, and the doctors putting everything down to the fact you are in your forties, female hard working, tired all the time.....she said to take a holiday...yeah great...i use my holidays to ensure i work no more than 4 days without a day off (do shift work) also to take ad hoc days off...ah well, should stop whinging i guess :-)

yanto71 profile image
yanto71

Seems to me like all docs are the same. let us know how you get on, i was thinking of going to Bupa, maybe they're different when they're being paid loads of money.

Kasha profile image
Kasha

I was working full time but had to give it up due to my Fybro, It wasnt so much the job I couldnt manage but the travelling to and from work :-( I worked 45miles away! on a good day it would take an hour there and an hour back but on a bad day it could be up to 3 hours!! I was ending up sitting in my car for approx 3/4 hours per day! I couldnt walk by the time I got there. we had also moved to new offices up two flights of stairs with NO lift so it all got too much so I have returned to being a foster carer :-) I look after teenagers (That can get themselves washed and dressed If they choose to lol) so no lifting little ones, appart from my grandson. Im not even sure I am up to the emotional stress fostering can bring but I feel I have to do something, Im notready to just give up yet.

I really hope you get the answers you need from your GP, its not fair that you have to spend your own money on what should be provided for you :-( Could you not see another GP in your practice? (((((gentle hugs))))) x

loopyloo1 profile image
loopyloo1

Kasha, thats what worries me.... losing my job i love....but i have had an OHS referral and they have made reasonable adjustments to my shifts...no night shifts since 2011 and no very early starts..the earliest i start is 7am ( that is very difficult as the morning usually start with the runs when i have a big flare up...yuk). I agree that its the getting there that is difficult... i usually sit in my car and rev myself up to walk the rest of the way but stairs are a nightmare.

I did see another doctor and she was the one that found the low vitD, when i went to see her again she had gone :-( i was gutted because i think she knew the Belgian doctor was right. i will look into changing my doctors practice.

thanks for the hug..i needed that :-)

surely these gps should look through our notes, the only time I ever went the see them was when I was pregnant,Ive never been when for going for the least ache , in fact Id say Ive got a phobia about going, Ive given birth and been home the same day, after having 9lb plus babies, Im 5ft, I just went on and on, Ive never been dpressed, until all this started, and yet they blame depression, I think in another few yrs, this name fibro will change and it will get to be shown to be a realy serious illness, not a new fangled trumped up illness for shirkers, that it deamed to be by many, I dont want to claim benfits but what other choice is given me, make me better and let me work and you wont see me for dust

hi .. please remember that some people have had good experiances with GPs and specialists i am not making excuses but at the moment its hard to diagnose FMS .. everything else has to be ruled out . you have the right to change GPs I know this is not easy and stress does not help but we are here to support everyone loopyloo1 you need to do whats best for you x good luck and gentle dyslexic hugs

soul61 profile image
soul61

ive just been diagnosed and im worried for the future. im struggling at work at the mment and ivr got to go and see occupational health.My partner is finding it hard to understand as well.

loopyloo1 profile image
loopyloo1 in reply to soul61

@soul61 i can empathise with you..i have seen the OH twice and my atttendance trigger point warnings have been extended...i find i need more odd days here and there as opposed to long episodes of sickness. I work in central government and they are cracking down on sickness and sacking people who are frequently sick more than 12 days a rollling year or 6 episodes, whatever comes first, im at 9 episodes already and definately worried for my future at work so i use my leave when i have a flare up.. as for partners....mine is 10 years younger and we used to do active stuff...since 2009 im a bit like an old lady, cant even walk the dog anymore:-( still must be optimistic,but it is hard when others see you as a malingerer.

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