Gentlemen, please get checked

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Devils Advocate
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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby Devils Advocate » Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:00 am

Me posting on a medical thread :? .......had to happen one day I suppose.

I'll admit straight up I'm the worlds number 1 Hypochondriac and weapons grade wuz.

I've not been to the Docs since my mum used to take me with a cough and feel ashamed I'd never had a cholesterol test or a even had my BP taken such was my fear.........OH goes balistic at me and I do feel jealous when I see sensible blokes (as on this thread) going for tests without a seconds thought........I can't do it :cry:

Anyhow, 2 weeks back SWMBO asked if I could possibly pick her up a prescription at the GPs surgery, I hate doing this as I do know the GP well and he too is always on my case when I meet him out and about.
I picks the prescription up and was just about to bolt :mrgreen: .........then I heard "gotcha".......it was the GP. :roll:
After 10 minutes of excuses,BS,grovelling and begging by me he nailed me into 3 seperate days of testing to catch up on the years I'd missed...............the bloody lot.

The @rse fell out of my world and I've had 2 weeks of abject panic.............hands up again, bloody idiotic............I just knew I'd get the book thrown at me now.

Yesterday I went for my results, again in a cold sweat with the world looking black, after half an hour he said everything was perfect, my only ailment being what he labelled white coat syndrome........he told me to google it which I did. He's an excellent Doc who diagnosed my OH with a life threatening condition 2 years back with the tiniest of symtoms, thankfully she's ok now. I'd noticed he'd taken my BP a huge amount of times over the course of the tests..........and yesterday grabbed my wrist when I went in. When he went to do the BP test later he said "it's not worth it.......your pulse rate's doubled since you came in"..........the results would be meaningless. As I say I trust the man 100% with how he basically saved OH so when he said for me to buy a BP wrist monitor and to show him the results next week I did it straight away (OMron is the one he said), I'd have freaked at the thought of this a fortnight ago. Very relieved I went home, I purchased the Omron and tried it out............Oh Gawd, as soon as that bloody pressure built up again on the band I got the white coat syndrome again.................which he'd forecast.........off the Richter scale. Tried again panicking about the reading...........worse still :shock:....and so it went on.

So I had a bit of a chill. mucked about in the garage, went for a walk and then tried again........bingo, well inside the parameters he wanted to see. With that result under my belt the panic sort of lifted, fear gone, I'd become used to it............I can nail it every time now and the pressure thing does not bother me.

I'm only posting this long winded post as I'm now going to be condescending (but genuine at the same time). There are are a lot of brave people who combat illness in a way I'd never cope, my respect for them is so very high. However there must also be idiots like me, maybe even on this forum who have this bloody affliction. So I say as an ex-wuz...........GO AND GET TESTED :thumbup: , jeez if I can do it then simply anyone can. I felt great for the first time in ages last night, not purely because of the all clear.............but because I'd beaten this phobia and will not shirk anymore worrying about things and wishing I could talk to a GP...........bloody madness to go on like that for 30 years.
The other thing is I told him warts and all my vices............yep like a bottle or 2, smoke moderately and the rest but I exercise well and don't eat rubbish.
Now I've had those results it's weird, I will be cutting back on things proven not to be good for you.......fats,salts etc..........maybe even the ciggies. This is something I wouldn't have done as I thought I was a "write off" and it didn't matter............it does now seeing all is well. As I say a daft way to behave.

Final point, I'd read this thread through cupped hands and noted the debate on the PSA test, which I wrote down and thought I'd ask about.
I indeed asked the GP about it and he was very, very cool on the idea saying it itself proves nothing, OTOH if I were to show symmptoms, or a blood test were dodgy then yes.....the test may be considered.
Now in our car club we have a few Doctors, one of them being a very modest bloke who I found recently deals with just this subject...........he was also a member of the team who actually devised and introduced these new "Health MOTs" and "well man/woman" schemes for the NHS and is in fact very high up in the hierarchy. His take on it was this. He reckons it should not be used as a "screening tool" as it simply won't do the job employed like that. He said it is an aid to diagnosis which is coupled with other tests,symptoms and associated detail, something the other GPs in the fold agreed with. It's all over my head anyway but thought I'd mention it seeing I'd asked the question to different medical pro's.

Anyhow waffle over, and if there are per chance other guys/ladies like me on here, just go and have a natter with the GP.........my fear is over now and a bogey man is put to rest.
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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby katy » Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:36 am

I am the same as you was :D We had a full check through BUPA including body scans and I won't do it again. They did find out I had a heart murmur but further tests proved I was fine...just that some people have them...I didn't want to know. If something startles me now I worry my hearts going too fast :shock:

My OH always seems to be having tests and he is very healthy. I pointed out that we knew2 people with the same cancer, one ignored the symptoms, he was well until 2 weeks before he died. The other was diagnosed by chance, had a terrible time with chemo etc but he still died within months. I don't want to find out I have something they can't cure.

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby IreneD » Sat Feb 23, 2013 1:03 pm

Totally understand your fears, DA and after my recent experience I'm wishing I'd steered clear of the medics and ignored my lump - at least until it got big enough to be noticed by other people, I've been an emotional wreck apart from the physical discomfort of the op. and after effects. Hey ho.......On topic, my brother got prostate cancer 7 years ago and it was discovered after symptoms, difficulty urinating being one. Up until that point, he'd been like you, never went to the doctor, had never had any tests of any sort then whoosh - total life change. He is doing really well re the cancer, 6 monthly PSA checks show barely detectable levels, but emotionally he isn't the same person, it's that brush with mortality thing, plus the treatment is pretty brutal, that takes it's toll on the body.

On a lighter note, I love this article by Woody Allen on hypochondria - I can relate very well :D

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/opini ... -look.html

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby chrissiehope » Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:13 am

Well done DA - that is a very inspirational post :thumbup: (bet you never thought you'd be called inspirational, eh? :lol: )

I think the worst thing about illness is the fear of the unknown - unlike Katy, I need to know everything, I get my head around it and then get on and deal with it - not for everyone, I know, but for me it works :thumbup: :D
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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby katy » Sun Feb 24, 2013 11:26 am

chrissiehope wrote:
I think the worst thing about illness is the fear of the unknown - unlike Katy, I need to know everything, I get my head around it and then get on and deal with it - not for everyone, I know, but for me it works :thumbup: :D
Yes that is the same as my OH. He went for a blood test last week to check if he has kidney stones again. I asked if he had any symptoms and he said no but he just wondered if they had returned. :lolno:

I have the same fears as Woody Allen but I do the opposite and stay away from Doctors. If they tell me I am healthy I don't believe them :lol:

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby Devils Advocate » Sun Feb 24, 2013 11:58 am

Thanks Irene,Chrissie, Katy.

Chrissie, you are exactly how I'd believed most women were, nothing seems to phase you, OH or other female family members and friends.......they go for their regular checks, can talk about illness and in general don't raise a sweat. I've been just the opposite for years now :roll:

I used to give blood on regular basis..........got my certificate for my pints.............then I read somewhere giving blood is a great thing as it would pick it up if you had a disease.........I stopped giving then and things got worse............stuuuupid!

I'm that bad the bunfights it used to cause at home, indigestion I'd hit the deck, a once in a 5 year headache had me making sure I'd new undies on in case I conked out in Tesco's etc etc. pathetic.

If I ever was watching a TV programme and a medical subject came on that was it............flicked over ASAP.....OH seems to revel in them, jeez I'll go into the living room and she'll be watching something in a hospital that just makes me go all wobbly...........she just says it's good to know these things, I suppose she's right but again I just couldn't or didn't want to know.

I'm being totally honest here so don't laugh, if I did see a glimpse of one of these programmes and for arguments sake they said "and/he found a lump under his/her armpit" then that was it. When showering I can't touch under my armpit :shock: ...........I just have to rub a bit of shower gel on with a sponge and spray it off with jets of water................so the chances of me doing self checks was less than zero.........still is at present probably.................yep daft once more but the truth, am I on my own here?........probably :|

Is Katy the exception to the rule here, being similar to me. I just thought all women were stalwarts with this sort of thing.

Cheers :thumbup:
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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby katy » Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:38 pm

I used to give blood on regular basis..........got my certificate for my pints.............then I read somewhere giving blood is a great thing as it would pick it up if you had a disease.........I stopped giving then and things got worse............stuuuupid!

No kidding, I used to donate, have rare B rhesus negative. They used to fetch me by car as they needed fresh blood for open heart surgery. The last time I was lying there I got a sharp pain in my chest, probably indigestion, but I never went again :oops: :oops:

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby IreneD » Sun Feb 24, 2013 1:22 pm

Katy - I also am B rhesus negative! DA says we are alike, fancy having the same rare blood group! Two of my daughters are AB negative and one is O negative - I assume my ex is negative which is one of his rare plus points :lol: - back in the days when I had my babies, if a rhesus negative mother gave birth to a rhesus positive baby, it could have life-threatening consequences for the baby. When I found out I had a rare blood type, I did once try to give blood but the nurse really messed my arm up (and couldn't get any blood out of me) - it was black and blue for ages, I never tried again. :oops:

I am like you, DA - a hypochondriac but I don't ignore things, I get them seen to but I usually take months of hand-wringing before I do and in the meantime I imagine the worst. I had pain and discomfort in the liver area for 18 months and gave up drinking for that period as I convinced myself I'd damaged it with drinking too much. In the end, turns out I've got a gallstone which was actually a relief as I'd got myself dead and buried with cirrhosis (at the very least). Gallstone is still there as I'm too scared to have an op. and will only do so when/if I get more trouble with it, it's not too bad re. discomfort and I don't worry about it now I know what it is and my imagination is back in the box. I do put off going to see a doctor, I worry for ages about a symptom first, which is pretty stupid. I only agreed to the hemithyroidectomy because the doc. said tests showed it could be cancer - which it wasn't, as it happens (although I was convinced it was, once he'd mentioned the possibility)

I'm not sure who's the worst off, you with your phobia (which you've overcome - well done!) or me with my health anxiety and fear of doctors........ I think, generally speaking, you're right about the differences between men and women though. (Me and my brother are exceptions to the rule :( ) My OH is very stoic, he gets the odd thing wrong but never worries about whatever it is and it's always me who forces him to go and get it checked out, he'd just live with it and not worry. And I also want to say (not my place to say any more) Chrissie you are my hero, love your attitude.

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby Devils Advocate » Sun Feb 24, 2013 1:50 pm

There was actually a bit of a falling out last night, caused by my new toy. :lol: OH did mention you needn't check BP every 90 seconds and relay the results to her so I switched to 5 minutely tests.

Anyway one was 8 points up on my last one.......although still ok........but freak out time again.

Did the next test a minute later but that was that..........WCS had obviously set in once more :thumbdown: ..............pulse rate was up massively and each test went worse........I got a boll0cking and she hid the machine.

So, I'd calmed down a bit and had just had a race with some mates online before starting to prepare dinner (My job on a Saturday night)...had a shower, kebabs were cooking nicely and I reached for a bottle of beer i whilst dads army started in the kitchen.....OH was now in the shower and I was at peace :mrgreen:

Opens the bottle and the bloody kitchen door opens, and there's OH standing there bedraggled with a towel around her head clutching me hidden machine............on to my wrist straight away and button pressed..............eek 117 over 70 with my slowest pulse rate ever :thumbup: She then glared at me, mumbled something and bug5ered off to dry her hair.

Now not being afraid any more of googling medical things I banged 117 over 70 into this medical site and it said "borderline low" :shock: ..............I ran in panic to tell her and she switched the hair dryer off (she doesn't like switching that off at the best of times so I knew it was a risk), none the less I told her of my new problem!!

She said "I'm going to throw that F****** thing in the bin" and switched the hair dryer back on again........kebabs went down in a lump :thumbdown:
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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby IreneD » Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:04 pm

Hahahahaha - oh you do make me laugh, DA!! I've had SUCH a similar scenario since coming back to Spain! I've got one of those machines here and the first thing I did when we got through the door was check my bp. It was high! Next day, checked it again and it was in the red area which, on my machine means go see a doctor - I was in total panic mode and OH and I were all set to go galloping off to the hospital but I knew that if I did that, white coat syndrome would make it even higher so I did some deep breathing and brought it down into the orange area (which is still not good.) I should explain that my monitor has markings on the side - green, yellow, orange and red and it blips into one of these after a reading.

Anyway, it's a wonder I haven't worn it out over the last few days but I am now normal!! Hurray! I don't know what it was all about, I suppose I was just totally stressed out, plus the pain in my shoulder probably helped push up the readings. Normally I have quite low bp - around 115/65 and my last one this morning was 127/72 so I'm getting there. Actually I stumbled across a really good website re. bp - I've just found it for you, this guy talks a lot of sense and I want to stay medication free if possible even though I do get these bp 'spikes' which some websites say are just as dangerous as regularly high bp. I like this chap's take on it though. http://www.dietdoctor.com/should-you-ta ... d-pressure

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby El Cid » Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:06 pm

Devils Advocate wrote:
Now not being afraid any more of googling medical things I banged 117 over 70 into this medical site and it said "borderline low" :shock: :
That's a pretty healthy figure - it certainly isn't low. Start to worry if it is below 90/60 and even then it does you no harm but you would only worry if you felt any effects like dizziness.

I have to keep mine low and it's normally 105/60 with a pulse of 55.

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby Devils Advocate » Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:17 pm

Bloody 'ell Sid, you've a pulse rate like SWMBO...............how to you manage that? it's not worth having a heart :mrgreen:

Irene.....great link.
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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby chrissiehope » Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:31 pm

IreneD wrote:.... Chrissie you are my hero, love your attitude.
Awww, thanks Irene, that's really sweet of you :D , but I'm nothing special ...just doing what needs to be done :thumbup:
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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby IreneD » Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:41 pm

DA, the dietdoctor is a really interesting website, I am a big believer in food being so important for a healthy body. This quote popped up on facebook this morning "Medicine is not healthcare - Food is healthcare. Medicine is sickcare. May we never forget that." My eldest grandson pointed me in the direction of this guy, which you might find interesting, all about why we get sick and how important our environment is etc. There's a bit of blurb about the zeitgist movement but it's worth sticking with it until Dr Gabor Mate appears. You will need 40 minutes free to watch it. Well worthwhile imo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYbeyU3pQvI

Chrissie, not at all, you really inspire me (she has overcome......stuff, chaps)

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby frank » Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:47 pm

El Cid wrote:
Devils Advocate wrote:
Now not being afraid any more of googling medical things I banged 117 over 70 into this medical site and it said "borderline low" :shock: :
That's a pretty healthy figure - it certainly isn't low.

Sid
Bl00dy would be for me! :lol: Despite a cocktail of pills, mine is way over that!
Regards, Frank

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby Devils Advocate » Sun Feb 24, 2013 3:27 pm

Mine is Frank, that was a freak result when caught unawares........when I'm stressed I can get a good 410/200..........so the machine says :mrgreen:
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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby El Cid » Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:28 pm

410/200 would kill you.

Those wrist monitors are not as good as the arm ones. I tried one and sent it back as it would not give consistent readings.

These people make some good ones and they are recommended by the experts.

http://www.andmedical.co.uk/

Sid

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby frank » Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:41 pm

Devils Advocate wrote:Mine is Frank, that was a freak result when caught unawares........when I'm stressed I can get a good 410/200..........so the machine says :mrgreen:
I gave up checking mine, too scary! :thumbup: On about reading about things on the internet, a guy we know was always having problems and getting no joy from the doctors, so decided to do his own research. Long story short, he told the specialist what blood tests they should be doing, as according to him he was suffering from XXYY Syndrome, a quite rare condition.
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/48xxyy-syndrome
The tests confirmed what he said, the specialist was amazed by the depth of his knowledge on the subject. :thumbup:
Regards, Frank

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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby Devils Advocate » Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:53 pm

Frank, that's incredible........but well believable.

Sid, I'm wondering too if the unit is ok now, or whether in fact my BP can vary 50 points in 1 minute :?
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Re: Gentlemen, please get checked

Postby Nimrod » Sun Feb 24, 2013 5:03 pm

I've got an Omron on advice of my quack.
He told me that next time I came in he'd check it for accuracy against his machine.
It was accurate to a point or two.


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