do doctors actually listen?

[metamorphica]

Just a little rant to get it off my chest because...

Just had a lovely conversation with my doctor on the phone regarding recent test results. Not going into the joke that is them thinking my thyroid levels are fine, but one of the issues discussed is a chronic cough i've developed from Covid i had last year.

The doctor asked me a serious of "do you have this symptom" including do you have acid reflux and i just knew what was coming -

"well i can prescribe you Omeprazole"

"NO thankyou, id rather not take that when i believe i have low acid not high, due to not absorbing nutrients properly as is shown by my need for b12 injections and the fact my potassium levels came back low even though i eat a lot of foods with that mineral."

"How can we treat you if you keep refusing medications we offer?" (this is after refusing steroid inhaler for asthma due to it interfering with thyroid conversion, when i know i do not convert well as it is.)

"I have had hypothyroidism for over 10 years doctor, i am an advocate for my own health, especially in regards to my thyroid and done thorough research into what helps and hinders it. I am willing to try medications that dont negatively effect my thyroid as can be seen by the large prescription list i have. Tell me would you willingly take a drug that you know can adversely effects your health?"

Silence....

So tired of GPs like this. Ones that dont listen and dont take into account symptoms.

[greygoose]

Exactly! Why would you accept the medications they offer if you know they're not going to 'treat' your condition? Where's the logic in that - and where's the treatment?

[arTistapple]

Anger on your behalf. On all our ‘behalves?’.

[serenfach]

Well done for advocating for yourself. My GP did not believe in low stomach acid, I told him about the burp test and he was not interested. I think they have a tick box in their brain that separates different body parts and they push drugs for that body part with no idea how it will impact the whole body, or they dont care, just here is a pill- next patient please.

[Stourie in reply to serenfach]

I think that they just don’t care enough. Jo xx

[Imaaan]

Tell me would you willingly take a drug that you know can adversely effects your health?"

^^^👏👏👏

Such a shame that many think they know what's best for us more than ourselves. A double shame they consider us difficult when we refuse treatment.

[humanbean]

I got rid of my chronic cough after my first bout of Covid in 2021 by buying a nebuliser which I use with saline ampoules I bought from Amazon. To begin with I used it every day/evening, but as my cough reduced and eventually disappeared I only used it when I felt as if there was something I needed to cough up. It helped enormously.

I got Covid for the second time immediately after Easter this year. I got a really bad cough again (although not as bad as the first time), and again my nebuliser has been incredibly helpful.

Another weapon in my arsenal for helping to clear my lungs and keep coughing away is to take NAC i.e. N-Acetyl-Cysteine, a supplement that is sold on lots of websites. It is usually sold in 600mg capsules. NAC is rather smelly (smells of bad eggs due to it containing sulfur), but products with good capsules make the smell quite faint. My favourite are Swanson NAC capsules.

NAC thins mucus and phlegm, makes it runnier, and makes it easier to cough up. It doesn't work quickly for me. I will take 1 capsule a day for 2 or 3 days before I get the result I want. (I don't take it all the time.) When I'm out for the day and can't use my nebuliser I will take 2 NAC if necessary to help get the mucus and phlegm shifted more quickly.

[metamorphica in reply to humanbean]

Mine isnt a chesty cough with mucus. It's an inflammation of the trachea, one that causes a dry cough from the irritation. One good thing the doctor is doing is referring me to a respiratory clinic, as the only thing that seems to ease it is antihistamines and ventolin inhaler.

I do get some mucus from allergies though, so will look at that supplement.

[humanbean in reply to metamorphica]

I had a relative with a constant cough that went on for years. It turned out to be caused by one of her regular medications, and a change of treatment fixed the problem, although I can't remember either the condition she was treating or the treatment.

It would be worth looking up the Patient Information Leaflets of anything you take just in case it is a known side effect of something.

[metamorphica in reply to humanbean]

Mine specifically started after Covid. But many years ago i was on Ramopril which caused a chronic cough, which stopped when i changed to something else, so it's something i do pay close attention to.