Just thought I would relay my experience with my GP. Having been told of my MS I contacted my GP surgery to ask for an appointment, which at first they declined, when I explained my situation they found a slot.
So I went in the doctors room and was asked how are you doing with all your bits and bobs, to which I replied what do you know about MS ? Oh no she replied, then she looked at my notes and pulled up the scan report. so we had a chat about the situation to which she was very non committal
But to top it all she said do you reallise you have had twenty minutes of a ten minute appointment
I have had two GP’s like this and it is very frustrating.
do you have an MS nurse?
I usually go straight to my ms nurses now if i think my problems are related to ms. They are great. I get the information i need from them and if i need medication i go to my gp then and tell him what my ms nurse has suggested. Both GP’s knew very little about ms and made me feel as if my symptoms were ‘all in my head’. A quick call to the ms nurse reassures me i am not going insane! and if she is busy she always calls me back when she can and always has time for me.
My gp has said no one in the practice really knows anything about ms as its not something they deal with.The neuro asked me to discuss fatigue meds with the gp…the response was there arent any meds just have an extra amitriptyline and you will be fine after a good nights sleep!!!
Tree65,you are so correct.My GPs have been brilliant.I rang the surgery a few weeks ago I was realy ill and crying because I could take no more of this horrid disease,my doc came out for a home visit straight away.The doctors I have seen have been totaly brilliant.I no longer have to wait weeks for an appointment as I have and am so poorley.
Some times changing doctors works very well for some of us,I am so glad I did they are so understanding.
oh pip some are just plain and simple uncaring.It is a fight for us MSers toget the help and respect we deserve.
Treek I am so lucky now,I ring the doctors surgery and tell them how I am feeling and they get a doctor to ring me back to have a chat and see how he/she can help.I get full body stiffness at night and have done for over a year,I had enough of it and rang the doctors,doctor gave me a prescription for Baclofen.
Hi pip, as far as I’m aware, there are 2 meds which can be used to help with MS fatigue, Modafinil and Amantadine. From what my GP has said though, these would need to be prescribed by your neuro, so it may be worth giving his secretary a call.
Thanks for that Mags…Funny enough I had my first appt letter come today to meet my ms nurse next week.From what I have read on here most people get ms related help from the ms nurse so hopefully he/she will be a gud un and no more need for the gp.
My GP has been one for 30+ years-and well liked by is patients. The staff he works with are sometimes not so favourable. Why? Because I believe that he genuinely has the best interest of his patients at his core-not what is cheapest or easiest for the GP practise.
He is NOT a specialist in MS-hes a General Practitioner dealing with screeds of complaints/symptoms and I dont expect him to know everything but I do expect him to be interested in what I have to say. He says its me thats the MS specialist as I am the one living with the illness and welcomes that we work with and learn from each other to find the best way forward in dealing with my symptoms.
I appreciate I am lucky and it makes me angry/upset when I read others stories, such as yours. I can sympathise cos I have/had a neuro who didnt give a damn. It makes me wonder why some of these eejits chose the ‘caring’ profession.
I wish that you all find an understanding professional-whether that be Dr, neuro, physio, ot or a.n other cos it does make a difference if someone truly listens to you.
Take care, Ellie x
PS Local and/or online MS support groups are an option (or indeed an addition) if a physical support person is not possible.