Are you self medicating because of no GP appointments?

Before the pandemic, I was only allowed 1 month's supply of Naproxen and accompanying Omeprazole and had to have a face to face review before each prescription so I tried to limit taking it to 3-4 months supply in one year. Come the pandemic and afterwards I now have enough of the stuff to start selling it! (Joke, I never would!). My reviews have become rather sparse, are always by phone and conducted by a pharmacist arranged by the GP surgery.
So no I don't self medicate with prescription drugs as my surgery seems so happy to prescribe them (I request them online), without seeing me and just the occasional phone chat with a pharmacist.

I won’t even start on the difficulties of contacting our GP practice - I fin it enormously frustrating to hear the public being told to ‘contact your GP’ with various symptoms of potentially dire illnesses! How, when the practice answering service seems to have been designed to get rid of persistent callers?

Do I self-medicate? No, fortunately I don’t have to, because all my regular meds are set up for me to order repeat prescriptions online. I got beyond the point where OTC pain meds were any use, and was prescribed codeine, which I’m very wary about because of the potential for addiction.

What is really going on? Why don't receptionists answer the phone? Why aren't doctors back at work?

Nannapat1

Before the pandemic, I was only allowed 1 month's supply of Naproxen and accompanying Omeprazole and had to have a face to face review before each prescription so I tried to limit taking it to 3-4 months supply in one year. Come the pandemic and afterwards I now have enough of the stuff to start selling it! (Joke, I never would!). My reviews have become rather sparse, are always by phone and conducted by a pharmacist arranged by the GP surgery.
So no I don't self medicate with prescription drugs as my surgery seems so happy to prescribe them (I request them online), without seeing me and just the occasional phone chat with a pharmacist.

Why don't you stop getting more from chemist's if you have too much?

I do, I have codeine prescribed for arthritis which I take at night but in the day I’m not keen sue to restrictions on driving plus moving about helps a lot. I therefore buy the lower dose from the chemist for day time use if needed. I appreciate I could get a prescription but I don’t have enough time in my life to wait for the doctor to see me. I buy my own ibuprofen too. I need it every single day for pain relief and it’s anti inflammatory uses. Do I feel bad about this, no. My daughter came close to losing her hand because we couldn’t get her seen. I’m quite happy to manage my own health. I’m a grown up not a fool.

Bagsgs, you’ve been very lucky only to need one lot of antibiotics. Those of us on immune suppressants are prone to infection that needs antibiotic. My last chest infection needed 3 courses and steroids. I’m advised to take an emergency antibiotic when travelling abroad. In Europe I don’t feel it’s necessary, my experience has been of excellent care

We have a shortage of Doctors in this country and last time I tried, a shortage of antibiotics. When I had tonsillitis badly in the new year it took 1 gp app. 2 calls to 111 and finally my son ( a Dr) to take a photo and send to the online clinic . After some questions and £39 and s fall out with the pharmacy ( private prescription) I finally had the antibiotics I needed. So I hope pharmacists are soon able to prescribe antibiotics and know how to examine someone properly and diagnose

I was amazed to receive a call from my Dr. this week. I take opiate pain relief, and it was raised at County level that no one had checked how I was doing within the previous 2 years! So I got a 2 minute call to check...

Like many older people I have multiple problems but the surgery will only treat one problem per consultation. Even if you try to bring up a second symptom you get a swift response that this visit (or more usually phone call) is for one ailment only and please book and make a separate appointment, goodbye.
Its such a waste of time.
So yes, I end up self medicating for several reasons.
Goodness knows whether the self administered drugs are reacting to the prescription ones from the surgery. Who knows?

Treetops05

I was amazed to receive a call from my Dr. this week. I take opiate pain relief, and it was raised at County level that no one had checked how I was doing within the previous 2 years! So I got a 2 minute call to check...

No-one has checked mine since I was sheilding. I am getting a review tomorrow for my Class A meds.
Now that is a coincidence.

Well at least they Mexican accent will be brilliant when they get out of jail. I certainly wouldn’t be taking medication without coming from a qualified source in uk doc pharmacy etc I’ve been given antibiotics from a pharmacy in uk and had really bad reaction to them because they shouldn’t have been given to my medication I’m already on which landed me 4 days in hospital via a blue light ambulance with broken ribs and fractured shoulder so I wouldn’t recommend anyone taking anything that hadn’t been approved

Nannapat1 I wish my GP give me omeprazole and naproxen on repeat, I'm still phoning monthly for mine. It's a pain sitting for ages in a queue on the phone waiting to ask for it.
I have Sjorgens and waiting on my first rheumatologist appointment at the hospital, it's been months. I Googled a sore tongue, mouth ulcers and dizziness and it said it could be a Vitamin B deficiency caused by the Sjorgens. So on the phone I went to my surgery and asked for a blood test to check my levels. I found out I've folate anemia and put on the highest dose of meds. My GP should of been checking my bloods from last year just in case this happened.
How is it we have come to the stage that we are diagnosing ourselves or self medicating. Plus how many poor souls are out there with illnesses that may find out too late to be able to get it sorted.

Yes Marydoll…. I realised very early on in this rotten system that 111 is just a ‘triage’ system to see if you’re ill enough to persevere to jump through the hoops to get a doctors app. Now the Covid pandemic is officially over can we expect the system to revert back to normal ….I don’t think so!!! Every doctor at our surgery is part-time ….which smacks of being so well paid , that they have no need for full time work anymore! Young docs, as well as those winding down to retirement!!!
They’ve stopped giving a damn about patients.

I am housebound but I can contact my GP on line. She either replies to me on line or telephones me. The pharmacy is part of our surgery. I do have cocodamol on repeat. No other medication.
The other day after I contacted her re pain she visited me.

Alioops, I've had Sjogrens for more than twenty years and my GP has never checked my bloods for that condition, nor RA inflammatory markers because they are not paid to do those tests. My RA consultant checks those.

Nanatoon I’m on codeine for arthritis and sciatica and three prolapsed discs…. I was going along nicely taking 2-3 a day ( allowed 8)…when they put me down to a maximum of 2 a day. So yes I have to buy the 8 mg OTC….which are not really strong enough !
And of course I buy ibuprofen to help with the swelling. We are forced to self medicate these days for lack of any doctor who actually gives a damn. Of course being over 70 you’re written off as too expensive anyway . If I could get to Mexico that’s where I’d be heading..!!!

ExDancer

Like many older people I have multiple problems but the surgery will only treat one problem per consultation. Even if you try to bring up a second symptom you get a swift response that this visit (or more usually phone call) is for one ailment only and please book and make a separate appointment, goodbye.
Its such a waste of time.
So yes, I end up self medicating for several reasons.
Goodness knows whether the self administered drugs are reacting to the prescription ones from the surgery. Who knows?

I’m surprised that you are worried about your time when your doctor treats thousands of patients who all want a chance to speak to him/her. Of course you can only discuss one ailment at a time with your doctor; your doctor has only about eight minutes per appointment (it used at be ten minutes) and so if you need more time or to discuss more ailments you need to book further appointments or book a double appointment.

At my surgery there are the same number of doctors as before the pandemic yet you can’t get a face to face appointment because none of them work 5 days. One only works 1 day. Even the nurses are part time. It’s no wonder people can’t see their doctor. This is all since covid. What happened to the Hippocratic oath.
Private doctors here we come.

It amazes me how prescription drugs are easily available abroad. We went to Barcelona a few years ago and I realised I'd gone without my Levothyroxine (only available on prescription) here in the UK. I went into a chemist and wrote down 100mcg Levothyroxine and gave it to the young lady. She came back with the right dosage and 100 tablets and charged me just over 3 Euros. That was 3 months supply for a couple of pounds. They are free to patients here but I'm only allowed 28 tablets at a time. I was gobsmacked but grateful to say the least.

Just to add to my post I've been sat in our surgery waiting to see the doctor in plenty of time for my appointment and someone has gone in before me and taken well over the 10 mins. The person came out and after waiting for ages and doctor wandering off somewhere else finally got in.

Quite a few of my health issues now are definitely interconnected.
It would not make sense to only talk of one issue at a time.

It worries me how doctors simply do not see the whole picture. They separate us into sections that are not helpful.
And then no-one actuslly gets any better.
We end up with more and more medications to treat the symptoms that stem from other medications. Doctors seem to not really understand this.
The exception is with pain meds. The Govt. are nagged at to reduce prescribing them, but living with constant extreme pain is really awful and indeed crippling.
The doctors seems concerned that I am addicted......well They cannot fix my painful knees so how is avoiding pain meds a win?
It really is not !

Can understand the temptation to stock up on medicines. Care has to be applied as tgey do have use by dates and these shouldn't be exceeded. Can't imagine how many different types of antibiotics I ever need. Had shingles again recently and it was antiviral, nerve meds, and high level pain killers I needed.

pinkquartz

Quite a few of my health issues now are definitely interconnected.
It would not make sense to only talk of one issue at a time.

It worries me how doctors simply do not see the whole picture. They separate us into sections that are not helpful.
And then no-one actuslly gets any better.
We end up with more and more medications to treat the symptoms that stem from other medications. Doctors seem to not really understand this.
The exception is with pain meds. The Govt. are nagged at to reduce prescribing them, but living with constant extreme pain is really awful and indeed crippling.
The doctors seems concerned that I am addicted......well They cannot fix my painful knees so how is avoiding pain meds a win?
It really is not !

That was the whole point of being a good GP, to see the whole person, not a liver here, and a knee there, etc. Any GP has notes and should see the whole picture. Specialists often do not.

This is one of my main worries about private GPs, etc- they do not have access to patients' notes and history- and rely on patient to tell them what is wrong and what they 'need/want' for tests, and medicines, etc.

That is how many of them make money.

Nanatoone

I do, I have codeine prescribed for arthritis which I take at night but in the day I’m not keen sue to restrictions on driving plus moving about helps a lot. I therefore buy the lower dose from the chemist for day time use if needed. I appreciate I could get a prescription but I don’t have enough time in my life to wait for the doctor to see me. I buy my own ibuprofen too. I need it every single day for pain relief and it’s anti inflammatory uses. Do I feel bad about this, no. My daughter came close to losing her hand because we couldn’t get her seen. I’m quite happy to manage my own health. I’m a grown up not a fool.

Nanatoone- Your last sentence is quite something. Doctors take years to qualify, then more years to gain experience and more study. You don't have to be a fool to realise they they are more qualified than anyone to prescribe drugs and treatments, to assess contra-indications with other drugs, and more.

Ibuprofen has many side-effects, dangerous ones too, and can interact badly with other medicines, depending on the individual too. Are you absolutely fully aware of this?