how often do you go to doctors

[rebeccad]

well my question is in the title how often do we all go to the doctors, i feel im obsessed with the doctors and the feeling of reassurance when you walk out, i vow not to go again for at least a month but give it 2 or 3 weeks and i feel i need to go again the feeling of reassurance doesnt last, it has been 5 weeks since i have last been and i am going again on friday. My husband says the doctors must see my name and roll their eyes but i seriously feel i need to go. My health anxiet is at its all time high at the moment and im really struggling, i am really embarassed to go back as i know im probably known as the hypochondriac, another thing hypochondriacs are always the butt of jokes, at work i laugh along with my colleagues when they call me dr google but inside im not laughing as i know how it is impacting on my life x

[Matt King]

I barely went to the doctors for years and started going about once a month or so. It's probably something to do with being a bloke but even with health anxiety i'd really rather not go to the doctors haha.

You won't stop feeling the need to go to the doctors/getting checked over until you completely believe that what you're experiencing is anxiety. I know it's not easy trust me. With new sensations/symptoms popping up out of the blue or just when you start to feel better, it's only natural to want reassurance that it's nothing serious.

Providing that your doctor is 100% happy that it's just anxiety, you can start accepting it and move towards feeling better :)

[anxious2]

I go at least once a month and I always say I'm not going back for as long as possible. I am afraid of them thinking I am a hypochondriac and I am embarrassed to go, even taking my children as they know me by now. I have been many times though as I have sjogrens syndrome which is causing me to have recurrent chest infections and I have endometriosis and severe pms. So I always go with genuine complaints but I have too many.

[lett20]

if i makes u feel anybetter i was going every other week .. and now at the request of the doctor because my anxiety is so bad i go every week xx

[cassy1989]

I go once a month but thats my drs decision because she likes me to see her once a month to see how my depression and anxiety is and to talk about any worries I have too. So it works quite well for me because if I am anxious about any thing I normally wait until my monthly appointment and then talk it all through with my dr.
If it's some thing I am really stressed about I will go sooner though xx

[swgrl09]

I go every few months after being terrified of going. Now I am trying to not go as much, but when something really gets to me I would rather get it over with so I don't have to worry any more.

@ Matt - Sometimes I wonder if that is a male thing too. My fiance never goes and never feels the need, although he doesn't have anxiety about it either. I find myself worrying about him not going.

[matrix123]

I'm terrified at going to see doctors...so I always try hard not to go

[honeyb]

I would live there if i could. I always feel re-assured when leaving, but a couple of days later i start over analysing and thinking about things i forgot to mention.

[countrygirl]

I think the worst time is when you are thinking you are hiding your health anxiety from your Dr but of course you are only kidding yourself!! After a lifetime of ha about 4 years ago I decided to be very open at the Drs about my ha and after moving house and area I now have a really good sympathetic Dr who is happy to discuss with me what I am frightened of.

10 years ago I was working at a Drs ( yes I know bit like a heavy drinker working in a pub!) and the non medical staff used to make awful comments about one patient who obviously to me had ha, they were quite rude to him ( he came at least 3 times a month) but I always made sure that I was very nice to him to make up for the others. The worst person was the practise manager so you can imagine that I kept my secret very very well hidden!!

I think nowadays that there is much more understanding of mental health issues.

Have you discussed your ha in depth with your Dr???

[LAURA48]

Hi

I work for a GP - HA is a problem but some people are in daily for literally pathetic problems - sorry I am not undermining people on here but appointments are so valuable and people in real need cannot them.

Patients even abuse A & E for a sore finger, sore throat, etc. I can understand chest pain, etc. but common sense is needed too. I had not visited my own GP for 15 years! - now I am having a relapse am seeing him one a month - he is a lovely doctor but hate going - usually I ask for a telephone consulation.

Again not judging anybody because when anxiety is in full flow everything gets out of proportion but just wanted to put my view across.

Laura

[Worried_Male]

I went to the doctors every few days for about 6 weeks when my anxiety was at its worst.

Looking for reassurances that i would never get.

[countrygirl]

I can appreciate Lauras post about the lack of common sense ( didn't think I should call them what I wanted to!) in people who go to A&E with very minor problems like a mild cold etc or who are drunk ( don't start me on that one).

When I was at the GP's there was a def difference between the time wasters who thought it was the "uman right" for the Dr to treat a paper cut and the people with HA, very obvious due to their attitude to the staff.

I remember one day a elderly man had a heart attack in front of me and stopped breathing etc, the physiotherapist and one of the Drs managed to get him going again with CPR and he went to hospital in ambulance and a few days later we got a formal complaint from his son ( we didn't know he had a son) because we had not contacted him to tell him his father was ill. Not a word of thanks for saving his fathers life.

[meche]

In the space of 2 months I visited my doctor 4 times, went to A&E once and phoned them 2-3 times. That was the first time I'd been to the doctor in 12-13 years! My anxiety was sudden and I didn't know why I was experiencieng all these symptoms. I made the mistake of googling and put myself on a death sentence. Thing is, by the time I knew it was anxiety it was too late - I already knew the symptoms on MS, tumours and every neuro disease. That's never left me! xx