Thank you CLKD and Dangermouse! CLKD, you do NOT want to know how clueless this GP is about VA! It would make you spit!! She said 'oh, it's only a bit of dryness, isn't it'? She's probably in her 30's herself so I'm sitting there thinking 'ohhhh boy! Are YOU in for a surprise one of these days'!
I have to say that I am probably a thousand times worse these days anxiety wise since all of this. One of my most disturbing issues now is waking up with violent shaking in the mornings, and my flushes are worse these past few weeks than they have ever been. I'm assuming this is because my stress is out of control right now? And what makes me saddest of all is that it's now transferred onto Hubby too. He is so worried and frustrated, he is such a good man but he looks really tired and drawn this past week. I keep telling him how sorry I am that he's having to endure this with me, but he's so kind that he says it's really not a problem. He is usually very mild mannered, but when we came out of the GP'S he said 'if someone doesn't do something soon to help you, I'm going to bounce a chair off someones head'! I've never seen him so frustrated, and he's never usually the angry type and certainly not given to acts of violence. Bless his heart. Really.
We're actually discussing Dangermouse where best to spend our money privately. It seems that the nearest private 'Menopause Expert' is actually the guy I've already just seen via the NHS! He practises privately out of the Nuffield here in Glasgow on menopause issues. As I said, I don't have a return appointment with him via the NHS until February of next year! That is unless we can get a return appointment sooner when he gets the message from his secretary and/or my GP.
Other than that, I will start researching Endocrinologists privately. I think this would be a better choice for me, as you say. I definitely feel I'd benefit from having my adrenal function checked too.
Annie0710, would you believe that you have pretty much the same allergen profile as my dentist?!? Yep, it's true! I always feel in very safe hands with him as he knows all about anaphylaxis first hand, poor guy. It's actually amazing how clueless a lot of health care professionals are about it, and I'm so sorry that you had to go through so much trauma and anxiety finding out the hard way what had actually happened to you and what your triggers are. I had a biphasic reaction to start to Trimethoprim (now you can see why I'm so anxious about not getting VA related UTI'S)! I was referred to the Anaphylaxis Service at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow, and it was discovered that pretty much any drug that causes histamine release could potentially put me into shock. Estrogen via HRT is also a worry too as sudden high rises in Estrogen can cause histamine release, I was warned. So much anxiety causing stuff going on! Aaaargh!!! My BSO surgery was a worry too, as we couldn't use Morphine at all, so had to rely on bolus injections of Fentanyl inter and post operatively which are very short acting and very tricky to judge. Thank goodness the anaesthetist was simply marvellous! I remember he said 'would you mind if I have a few students in theatre? You'll see them when you come in to prep'. I said, no not at all. When I got there, there was about 8 of them! One young guy admitted that they were there as it may be a chance to see how anaphylaxis is handled during anaesthetic, and I was like 'ok. Now I'm REALLY nervous'! I was ok totally with it though, as although I was very anxious that it didn't happen obviously and the anaesthetist was thorough in planning my drugs, I figured that if it did then this was going to be a valuable experience for them to take away that could save a life. Thankfully it didn't happen though! Phew! And yes, I always pack 2 epi pens too. A lot of folk are not up with the guidelines (mainly GP'S - grrrr), that 2 should be carried in case of product failure or biphasic reaction. I must admit I never order both pens at once so that they're not from the same batch in case of product failure that may include the whole batch. I also register mine with the website so that I get an alert on my phone ahead of when they expire so that I can order in plenty of time. It's always good when a pen expires and you haven't had to use it, isn't it?
Author
Topic: Returning With A Sorry Tale. (Trigger Warning Of Sudden Psychosis Reactions). (Read 28153 times)