Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Personal Experiences => Topic started by: linz57 on August 19, 2016, 04:21:03 PM
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Well, after putting up with poor service and lengthy waits at my doctors I have today taken the plunge and registered at another surgery.
Not only have I been putting up with a doctor who won't give me Utrogestan because she has never heard of it, I have also has to suffer woefully inadequate responses to several queries. The latest was on Monday of this week when I went along to get my left breast examined. I think my problems with the breast are stemming from my neck and shoulder but I thought I had better get checked out. I expected a full exam with me lay down on my back, then side etc but oh no..... all I got was told to sit up while she prodded only in the area I had been having the discomfort then declared " I can't feel any lumps " . Great! Obviously I don't want there to be any but she didn't even check under my armpit even though I mentioned it felt a little strange and slightly puffy where the armpit meets the breast. She said that could be through weight gain !! I replied that I thought if it was due to weight gain wouldn't it have been the same on both sides?
She just turned around and went back to her desk😡
Wish me luck at the new surgery please ladies and pray I at least get seen by someone with more medical experience this time.
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Thanks sparkle. No appointment yet, I've just filled my registration forms in so will probably see someone next week. Doctors like the one I've had really don't inspire you with confidence. I know they have to gain experience over the years and they cant know everything but really...... ::)
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Good for you Linz57, that consultation was an absolute outrage!
Sometimes it's best to vote with your feet! Fingers crossed the new surgery will be all singing all dancing. x
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It really is sparkle. I don't know whether standards are changing or we are becoming more proactive nowadays , thanks to the Internet and forums such as this one. Years ago when I was younger I took the doctors word as gospel but no longer!
Let's hope I'm not leaping " out of the frying pan and into the fire ".
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I cannot begin to tell you how little faith I have in GP's now (you can read my experiences if you'd like to). There are apparently some good ones out there, but it's pot luck if you manage to chose one. I hope your next GP is much better!
By the way, is it me or do women in particular get treated particularly shoddily by the medical profession in general? I'm starting to think so! >:(
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I don't think that we get any more shoddy treatment than men, after all they notoriously don't attend unless absolutely necessary ::).
GPs that lack communication skills should quite frankly, not be in Practice! Bad bed-side manners should have gone out with the Ark!
Let us know how you get on.
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I beg to differ on that one, CLKD! If a guy had his testicles removed, they wouldn't withold treatment to help him, and they wouldn't put a time limit on it either. There would be an uproar! And men don't usually get hit with 'oh, it's anxiety' when they go to the GP with a complaint, instead of getting investigations to rule out other things.
I've discussed this with quite a few ladies over the last few weeks, and every one without exception thinks that we women get a raw deal from the health system.
Yes, we're still being labeled as 'hysterical females', especially by male health professionals who dominate the profession. Seemingly, we haven't moved on much from the Victorian era when husband's or families could have women committed to asylums for what was obviously 'women's problems'. This is beyond crap, and needs to stop! I also had this conversation with my male Psychiatrist who I've only recently been referred to and he agrees with me totally. Hence why he contacted my GP and told her to stop phoning the CMHT every time I come in to the surgery for help with hormonal support as it's 'not a mental health issue. It's physiological' (his words).
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I have had to change GPs from a large practice with a choice of female GPs (albeit with a wait if you want anyone in particular) to a small practice with 2 male and 1 part time female GP. One of the male GPs 'doesn't do women's issues' ??? So only does half his job then? (He is probably the last one I would go to anyway as he does not seem all that clued up on other things either)
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But there are good practices and good GPs, ours is one. they are out there and if you find one you are fortunate, as we are.
I don't think you ought to generalise. As with everything there is good and not so ggod and then downright bad.
They can't all be like Balham Park :)
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Fortunately we have a good GP and if I don't get the answer I want, I go along a couple of weeks later and say "I don't think that I took on what you told me last time" which opens up dialogue. Our GP is my age so there's little difficulty in talking about problems, DH is precise and rarely attends so if he turns up in Surgery, the GP knows it's serious.
We have a good Dentist too.
I believe that in some US States a family can have a member committed :-\
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I cannot begin to tell you how little faith I have in GP's now (you can read my experiences if you'd like to). There are apparently some good ones out there, but it's pot luck if you manage to chose one. I hope your next GP is much better!
By the way, is it me or do women in particular get treated particularly shoddily by the medical profession in general? I'm starting to think so! >:(
I agree with you there Tempest - although someone would need to provide me with evidence to say definitively. Of course there are good practices and bad practices - we can all cite examples of these. However there are too many examples of women being fobbed off as you say due to insufficient understanding of women, hormones - not just sex hormones but thyroid etc as well, and the menopause, coupled with outdated views and information.
... and it's not just about communication skills - which some most definitely lack - notably one of my female GPs whom I refuse ever to see again unless I have to in an emergency, but also as above, about knowledge and about being prepared to actually try just a little bit to be a bit more up to date and to admit if they don't have enough specialist knowledge and refer women if necessary.
Linz57 - well done for taking the plunge - what an unpleasant experience. My doc ( above GP) hadn't heard of utrogestan either and had to look it up but at least did prescribe it in the end ( but that was probably because another GP had already prescribed it). This particular GP ( the one I don't like) also though I was having too much oestrogen when I complained of tiredness and aches and pains - because I was using vaginal oestrogen as well as HRT!!! Good luck with the new doc! :)
Hurdity x
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Thanks Hurdity, fingers crossed!
I used to have a wonderful doctor until two years ago, he was the same age as myself and we got along great. He was clued up on women's issues and went to various conferences on hrt. Sadly he retired, hence me ending up with the choice of seeing either the clueless one, the doom laden one who puts the fear of the worst case scenario into everyone or Cruella de Ville. You'd daren't go to see her with your hair brushed and wearing a little makeup as she bellows at you and says if you're fit enough to get to the surgery you're not that ill. EEK!
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I have gone to some funny doctors in the past ::)
One I signed up with, in the old days by sticking a pin in the list, did not do contraceptive pills, and the only doctor who did gave out 12mth prescriptions (and big NO NO just after one of the earlier general cancer scares). He also had his tea delivered in a china cup, with a biscuit on the saucer in the middle of the consultation. ??? So I went to the FPC where there was only one doctor (no nurses ???), who was a bit odd too, but I put up with that until I found a better practice.
The practice I was with got bigger, opened another surgery on the other side of town, had a wide choice of doctors (every other week because they were running 2 practices), but they dumped me for being out of catchment (which they had changed >:( )
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Isn't it so frustrating dahlia girl? You would think that finding a suitable doctors surgery would be quite straightforward but no, it seems everything conspires against us.
Years ago my family had the same doctor for thirty years or more and he was always concerned about our welfare and he became a friend. Nowadays with larger surgeries that personal touch has gone and there is no continuity. Such a shame. It's in and out in two minutes without the doctor knowing your history.
Have you found a decent surgery now ?
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….. but not too ill, Linz, to have a house-call?
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I had the choice of my village practice (which I avoided for 20 years), the next village practice (which is worse) or the next small market town (v bad reviews - also know 2 people who have resigned from working there).
I have gone for the village one because I can walk there and they now have a part time doctor who is good and a new full time one who seems ok. They will, one day in the future ::), join with the one in the other village and make a bigger one on new premises with more services, so hopefully it will attract doctors who want more experience and become a bit more forward looking. They are ok to refer you for anything if you have private medical insurance. I am not sure how good they are with HRT. One doctor does not have anything to do with it and I have only seen the nurse for checkups. They are less stingey with the vagifem though ;D
If I do not get on with this one, I do not have any other option, really.
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This reminded me of some bad experiences I had with counselling sessions a few years back !
The first said after our first session she couldn't possibly give me the amount of help I needed, which was fair enough
I was re referred to counsellor number two who after three sessions told me to ask my gp for a hysterectomy and my problems would be solved.
Onto counsellor number three who I noticed after second session talked a lot about her cat so me being me went home and googled the counsellor all seemed ok until I came across a link for a blog her cat 'writes ' honest I couldn't believe what I was reading it was so off the wall ! I decided there and then she needed help more the me and i never went back ! That was me and counselling over and id never go again !
Sure there are some good ones out there and i have since had psychotherapy with a psychologist which was amazing. I'm sure there are good gp practices too , I'm lucky to have one. Just thought id tell you my funny experiences which i do laugh at now ! 😊
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Thanks Hurdity, fingers crossed!
I used to have a wonderful doctor until two years ago, he was the same age as myself and we got along great. He was clued up on women's issues and went to various conferences on hrt. Sadly he retired, hence me ending up with the choice of seeing either the clueless one, the doom laden one who puts the fear of the worst case scenario into everyone or Cruella de Ville. You'd daren't go to see her with your hair brushed and wearing a little makeup as she bellows at you and says if you're fit enough to get to the surgery you're not that ill. EEK!
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Re. your Cruella de Vil comment: This is crazy. So a woman who feels fine but has found a small lump (hopefully just a cyst) shouldn't be at the GP's?
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My last GP was worse than useless - kept telling me there was nothing wrong with me in spite of me ticking every menopause symptom in the book because 'women under 50 didn't get menopausal symptoms'. :o Eventually told me I could think I was menopausal if I wanted to, but I still didn't need any treatment >:(...fortunately, I moved areas and now have a lovely GP, but I am dreading either me moving or her leaving the surgery...it really is a lottery.
Well done on leaving linz57 - I hope your proactive behaviour is rewarded by a great GP at your new surgery.
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Well I'm over at the new surgery in the morning as I have to see the nurse for a well woman check before I can book an appointment with a doctor. Wish me luck!
Yes katejo, it's an appalling attitude for a doctor to have isn't it? There were always appointments available to see Cruella as nobody wanted to book In with her. Funny that eh? Seriously though, how she gets away with it is beyond me.
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We have one GP at our surgery that you can always get a same day appointment for, one you can get a same-week appointment for and one you always have a 6-8 week wait to see... Guess why I prefer to join the 8 week waiting list?!!
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I don't blame you Dorothy, although waiting can be frustrating it's better than having a wasted and useless appointment .
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Good luck today Linz57, hopefully they'll be all singing, all dancing! I still can't get over your breast exam, outrageous! x
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Once again I have received excellent service, help and advice from our GP surgery this morning. We have been with the practice for 36 years and I would not change.
There are good ones out there and I wish that the ladies who are struggling could find one as it makes such a difference especially when you have chronic or long standing health issues.
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When we moved to this village 30 years ago, the local surgery in a small town 3 miles away, held a surgery in a room in the village pub once a week! I was told that it was a tonic just seeing the doctor, whose list we were put on. Lovely man, now retired. There was only one doctor that I would avoid if possible. He had a reputation of hating women. Once I went to see him only to witness him dressing down another member of staff. Then he didn't look at me, just wrote an inappropriate prescription. I ended up having to go to A&E a few weeks later, which could have been avoided. It had taken courage to go to the doctor in the first place. When my husband couldn't bend his knees, his reaction was why would you want to do that! And sent him on his way! So glad he's retired! The younger doctors who have taken over the surgery give good service, but in line with everywhere else you have to wait to get an appointment.
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Doesn't it make a world of difference having a doctor who is approachable and willing to listen? Its awful if you have one with a gruff manner who won't even give you the time if day.
Well, I've been to my well woman check up at the new surgery and I have to say the nurse was just lovely. I was in with her for half an hour and we chatted about a few different things. She also gave me a proper breast check thank goodness. She is a lady in her fifties with first hand experiences of anxiety and menopausal problems so she knew where I was coming from.
The doctor I would like to see is away on holiday for two weeks so I will wait until she is home and I'll take things from there. The waiting room was bright, friendly and there was music playing.... Unlike my previous surgery which was like a morgue! Also, the ladies in reception were very welcoming so, at the moment it looks good , but I suppose time will tell. I have a good feeling about this place though.
Oh yes, one more thing, the nurse, like me , couldn't understand why my previous doctor had referred me to a gynae and wouldn't prescribe Utrogestan to try out.
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That sounds really positive! Hope the new doctor is as good as the rest of the practice seems to be.
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I'm delighted to hear this Linz57, it sounds really really promising. Well done you!
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Thank you Dorothy and Elizabethrose. I've heard good reports but I'll see what's what when she is back in the surgery. I'm feeling a bit more hopeful and optimistic at the moment anyway..... Fingers crossed!
Right, now I need a cuppa and a relax......😉