View Full Version : So I just saw the GP...
... as I'm quite worried about a gland type pain I've had now for a week that has been getting worse.
It's under my jaw, the typical area that gets tender when you have a cold or flu. But I don't, and it's tender and really hurts. It's just to the left and up a bit from my adams apple. The GP had a feel of it and thought it felt fine although could clearly see me wincing in pain when she touched it. Anyway she then proceeded to say to come back in a week if it hasn't gone away, AND THEN had a 20 minute chat with me about the fact it could all be anxiety. She'd obviously had a look at my record and seen I'd been in for quite a few things.
Anyway I hate when they do that as just because I have health anxiety, it doesn't mean that I'm actually immune from anything REALLY going wrong... it just makes me feel as if they don't take my symptoms as seriously as they would with someone else...
Anyway has anyone had a similar pain as the one I'm describing? It almost radiates to my left ear as well.
I noticed how you dismissed the medical professional and immediately came looking for further reassurance. Why would your doctor, if she were just fobbing you off, spend 20 minutes discussing your anxiety issue if she didn't think it were the root of your problem?
Do whatever you can not to poke and prod it and go back if it doesn't improve as she said. Otherwise, treating the real illness as opposed to chasing a diagnosis would be prudent.
Just some food for thought.
Positive thoughts
Yes weirdly to in that exact place. Only really come on today. As you say fees like throat whenI have cold but don't have one at the moment. I'm going to see how mine is in a few days but yes very odd you should write that as same thing this morning. Hurts when I press it a d conscious when swallowing.
I noticed how you dismissed the medical professional and immediately came looking for further reassurance. Why would your doctor, if she were just fobbing you off, spend 20 minutes discussing your anxiety issue if she didn't think it were the root of your problem?
Do whatever you can not to poke and prod it and go back if it doesn't improve as she said. Otherwise, treating the real illness as opposed to chasing a diagnosis would be prudent.
Just some food for thought.
Positive thoughts
I actually liked this GP a lot, she was patient with me, but my point was that because of my past history there, I just worry that they have this predetermined view of me as someone who may overreact or over exaggerate their symptoms... I'm in counselling for my anxiety, and even considering medication so I am fully aware I have it, but again, just because this is the case, it doesn't mean that there might not be something wrong (not necessarily serious, but something none the less). I'm here looking for a bit of reassurance as I didn't really get any from the doctor... :/
---------- Post added at 12:42 ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 ----------
Yes weirdly to in that exact place. Only really come on today. As you say fees like throat whenI have cold but don't have one at the moment. I'm going to see how mine is in a few days but yes very odd you should write that as same thing this morning. Hurts when I press it a d conscious when swallowing.
Is yours in the same area? Mine isn't a sore throat type of pain, more on the outside, where you'd usually feel tenderness if you had a cold.
Hey yes exactly the same! Either side of my chin under my jaw, where your glands are. Tender very often like they are swollen but GP(s) says nothing is there.
Also have sore throats and feelings like there's something in my throat but also pain on the outside of my throat too.
I also have pain in the lymph node area on the left side of my face, near my ear, and can feel hard small bumps there but not on the right.
I understand your worry, I've had this for months and months and doctors seem to brush it off.
I had this issue a little while back. It was very painful and I asked my physio about it as I was seeing him that day. He said it was due to injury/strain to the tongue muscles and gaffe me some jaw stretches and told me to put heat on it if it was bothering me.
So, this could be a possibility. It went away eventually, too :)
Ah thank you for the replies guys. It's good to hear that others have had similar things and it's been nothing. The reason it worried me as when I have a cold, this area gets sensitive as you'd expect, but I've never had it before without being ill :/
It does kinda feel strained but it's weird that it kind of came on over a few days instead of instantly like a strain normally does...
Ah thank you for the replies guys. It's good to hear that others have had similar things and it's been nothing. The reason it worried me as when I have a cold, this area gets sensitive as you'd expect, but I've never had it before without being ill :/
It does kinda feel strained but it's weird that it kind of came on over a few days instead of instantly like a strain normally does...
Can I ask if you have redness near the back of your throat? And if you ever feel like there's something stuck at the back of your throat?
When I had the tongue/muscle strain it came on very suddenly.
I'm here looking for a bit of reassurance as I didn't really get any from the doctor..
"The GP had a feel of it and thought it felt fine"
That's some pretty good reassurance in my book!
Positive thoughts
Can I ask if you have redness near the back of your throat? And if you ever feel like there's something stuck at the back of your throat?
Not really... I thought it looked red but the GP didn't think so :/
---------- Post added at 23:36 ---------- Previous post was at 23:35 ----------
"The GP had a feel of it and thought it felt fine"
That's some pretty good reassurance in my book!
Positive thoughts
Well it just means my glands aren't raised... the pain is very much there, right now it's actually quite bad :(
MyNameIsTerry
28-04-15, 05:18
"The GP had a feel of it and thought it felt fine"
That's some pretty good reassurance in my book!
Positive thoughts
This situation is not limited to HA. Just having an anxiety disorder can bring these issues, its happened to me twice and I've had to look elsewhere for a solution (dentist & pharmacist who did a better job than my GP who dismissed it as anxiety). Peoplw without anxiety disorders get the same issue Steve raised here where a GP does little better than asking a passerby in that they examine but give no indication of what something may be.
Its obvious Steve's GP is opting to monitor this. If you've had it a while, the extra week is unlikely to make any difference but if its new (and its clearly nothing serious) then they are going to do this to see if it goes on its own.
However, you would still expect to hear what might be the problem. Thats standard. I would expect to hear something as would people without anxiety disorders or they feel like they have wasted their time. Some may just trust the doctor and move on, but thats not how everyone sees it as we have learnt to question our care thesedays.
Perhaps with Steve having HA, she chose not to fuel the fire by giving reassurance with any possible reasons? Perhaps she hasn't a clue what it is and hasn't considered the impact to HA since many GP's are limited in knowledge of mental health?
If she explains her reasons, I think thats fair. If she doesn't bother and just tells you to come back with nothing about what it could be or what you can do to try and treat it at home then you can feel a little cheated.
When I answer a thread, I often look at the post history. The OP has complained of colds since the New Year. Certainly, in light of that, one might have some sore glands. MOST certainly in light of that, one would be constantly poking and prodding them. The GP determined, based on the response, that the glands weren't raised. A gland that is fighting an infection or virus will swell and be tender or painful. A gland that has been poked and prodded will be painful and the surrounding area sore but not necessarily swollen. Although, keep on poking and prodding a node and it will swell or fail to resolve properly on it's own. I know ALL about nodes having had two 5cm+ cancerous ones removed from my neck along with 23 others for good measure. A painful node is a node doing it's job. A painless immovable hard node is one for concern.
I'm not saying the OP isn't feeling symptoms, I am saying it's not sinister based on the GP's examination and description of symptoms and history with colds recently. And, based on the OP's statement that it comes and goes for no apparent reason leads me to believe the GP's assessment as well. The fact that the GP spent the time and had an extensive discussion about the OP's anxiety leads me to believe this is a caring, thoughtful and THOROUGH medical professional.
I understand that there are good doctors and not so good doctors. It's apparent the GP didn't dismiss the situation. On the contrary, she spent quite a bit of time discussing the real issue and included a followup option should the symptoms persist. But what can a forum of anxiety sufferers say with any assurance that a trained medical doctor didn't already say?
Positive thoughts
Thank you for the replies guys. Just to be clear I don't take any replies here the wrong way unless they are obviously malicious (which I haven't encountered yet).
MyNameIsTerry: that's exactly my problem with doctors sometimes... I would feel a lot more comfortable if they shared their thoughts with me. I understand they don't sometimes to prevent worry, or simply because they don't have time to list the 50 possible things something could be, however when they say something like "come back in a week", the first thing that goes through my head is, "well what could change in a week, and what does that mean?"
Fishmanpa: You are one of the most helpful and positive people on this message board and I have great respect for anything you say on here. I guess what annoyed me about her bringing up my anxiety is that I accept I have it, I have learnt to rationalise about 50% of my usual health worries now and stop myself panicking, I actively sought out a therapist and pay £45 a week to see her to try and get over my health anxiety, and am constantly working on it in my own ways too... and when she brought it up, it just made me feel, I dunno, it made me think "I'm doing everything I can, what more can I do? Now can you please take my symptoms seriously!".
She is actually one of the better doctors there and I have no real issue with her. I can tell she genuinely wanted to help me and took her time when speaking to me.
In regards to what reassurance can I find on these boards that a doctor can't give me? Well that's simple, for me anyway. If I have a particular symptom that I'm worried about, coming on here and finding out that other people have had the same thing and it turned out to be nothing is EXTREMELY reassuring to me. It really does work to alleviate my panic. I never Google ANYTHING. I truly don't, but the irony is that in the past, Googling things could sometimes bring relief if I were to find out that what I'm experiencing is nothing serious and quite common. However obviously the flipside is reading something you don't wanna see.
The benefit of somewhere like here is that it's a lot safer. If I post a symptom on here, no ones gonna reply, "oh yeah that sounds like cancer to me!" (hopefully not anyway!).
MyNameIsTerry
29-04-15, 06:05
When I answer a thread, I often look at the post history. The OP has complained of colds since the New Year. Certainly, in light of that, one might have some sore glands. MOST certainly in light of that, one would be constantly poking and prodding them. The GP determined, based on the response, that the glands weren't raised. A gland that is fighting an infection or virus will swell and be tender or painful. A gland that has been poked and prodded will be painful and the surrounding area sore but not necessarily swollen. Although, keep on poking and prodding a node and it will swell or fail to resolve properly on it's own. I know ALL about nodes having had two 5cm+ cancerous ones removed from my neck along with 23 others for good measure. A painful node is a node doing it's job. A painless immovable hard node is one for concern.
I'm not saying the OP isn't feeling symptoms, I am saying it's not sinister based on the GP's examination and description of symptoms and history with colds recently. And, based on the OP's statement that it comes and goes for no apparent reason leads me to believe the GP's assessment as well. The fact that the GP spent the time and had an extensive discussion about the OP's anxiety leads me to believe this is a caring, thoughtful and THOROUGH medical professional.
I understand that there are good doctors and not so good doctors. It's apparent the GP didn't dismiss the situation. On the contrary, she spent quite a bit of time discussing the real issue and included a followup option should the symptoms persist. But what can a forum of anxiety sufferers say with any assurance that a trained medical doctor didn't already say?
Positive thoughts
I think the patient, Steve, has answered the question there which could have been simply dealt with by doing what you have here, joining the dots between the possibility that anxiety can compromise the immune system causing things like colds and the lymph nodes are the result of localised infection, most likely the colds. But remember, colds & infection don't have to be linked to anxiety, there could be other factors that can be separate (not serious ones I'm saying here) hence can be addressed through methods separate to addressing the anxiety disorder.
The patient, Steve, left not understanding what the issue was and is left hanging for another week to see if it goes on its own or needs another assessment.
If the GP was clearer about this, we wouldn't have this thread. So, I wouldn't say particularily thorough, its not like a diagnosis has been made or even a partial and there has been no mention of ways to treat the reoccurent colds which can be done without treating the anxiety disorder, but perhaps more the expected standard.
Remove the anxiety disorders from the equation. Someone going to their GP about this to be told they don't believe they are raised and come back in a week if the pain is still there isn't an attempt at diagnosis other than to ensure no red flags. That gives some reassurance. However, it tends to be nice to hear a bit more than that and to understand what the doctors initial thoughts are.
---------- Post added at 06:05 ---------- Previous post was at 05:49 ----------
Thank you for the replies guys. Just to be clear I don't take any replies here the wrong way unless they are obviously malicious (which I haven't encountered yet).
MyNameIsTerry: that's exactly my problem with doctors sometimes... I would feel a lot more comfortable if they shared their thoughts with me. I understand they don't sometimes to prevent worry, or simply because they don't have time to list the 50 possible things something could be, however when they say something like "come back in a week", the first thing that goes through my head is, "well what could change in a week, and what does that mean?"
Fishmanpa: You are one of the most helpful and positive people on this message board and I have great respect for anything you say on here. I guess what annoyed me about her bringing up my anxiety is that I accept I have it, I have learnt to rationalise about 50% of my usual health worries now and stop myself panicking, I actively sought out a therapist and pay £45 a week to see her to try and get over my health anxiety, and am constantly working on it in my own ways too... and when she brought it up, it just made me feel, I dunno, it made me think "I'm doing everything I can, what more can I do? Now can you please take my symptoms seriously!".
She is actually one of the better doctors there and I have no real issue with her. I can tell she genuinely wanted to help me and took her time when speaking to me.
In regards to what reassurance can I find on these boards that a doctor can't give me? Well that's simple, for me anyway. If I have a particular symptom that I'm worried about, coming on here and finding out that other people have had the same thing and it turned out to be nothing is EXTREMELY reassuring to me. It really does work to alleviate my panic. I never Google ANYTHING. I truly don't, but the irony is that in the past, Googling things could sometimes bring relief if I were to find out that what I'm experiencing is nothing serious and quite common. However obviously the flipside is reading something you don't wanna see.
The benefit of somewhere like here is that it's a lot safer. If I post a symptom on here, no ones gonna reply, "oh yeah that sounds like cancer to me!" (hopefully not anyway!).
It may not be a GP assuming its due to an anxiety disorder. It may be that they simply wish to monitor the situation but surely the patient would like to understand that? That seems fair to me. There would also be no reason why she couldn't suggest the link back to anxiety but caveat it to provide a check up and then go from there. Thats common practice as far as I have seen.
Thesedays I am more assertive with doctors. Before I joined places like this, joined charities and started to research my condition, I was fobbed off by my GP over medication, symptoms & side effects. I know that now hence being more assertive and asking them until they answer.
One good example from mine was my bruxism that I mentioned on your previous thread. My GP wouldn't give me advice when questioned and kept replying "its just something you can get with anxiety", which is fine in terms of cause, whereas my dentist gave me an exercise, the option for a nightguard and advice on diet. Now I wouldn't accept my GP saying that and would pursue tha matter of how to treat it. Who provdied the better service there? The dentist.
So just a little example of how sometimes doctors/GPs won't take what a patient says seriously:
I mentioned in other threads and possibly this one that I've been experiencing nausea and cold/flu like symptoms without actually having one lately. Now there was a week about 3 weeks ago when I stopped taking Omeprazole for a bit as my acid had subsided. During this week I noticed my nausea had stopped. I went to the GP and mentioned that I think it's the Omeprazole causing it and asked if I could try an alternative medication for acid and she literally said this, "no no... if anything it would HELP nausea, these tablets can't cause things like that. Keep taking them, it will pass.".
I went back on the tablets and low and behold my nausea and cold symptoms started again. But in my head I was thinking "well the GP said it can't be the tablets and it will pass"... so I stuck with them. Now, a few days ago I'd had enough and thought screw it, and I threw away my Omeprazole tablets and have been putting up with acid for a few days, and guess what: my nausea and cold symptoms have GONE. I am 99% sure it's the Omeprazole causing it. My worry now is that if I go back to my GP to try and get alternative medication, she will say the same thing. The funny thing is, when looking at the paper that comes with the medication with listed side effects on, the ones I'm experiencing are listed there! So why is my GP completely blind to this? It's like in her mind, whatever I say is an overreaction and dismissed instantly.
MyNameIsTerry
29-04-15, 12:24
I grew up being told to ask a pharmacist about issues with meds as they know far more about them than GPs. A lot of people seem to say the same.
I would suggest you tell her its in the PIL with the medication so she can't dispute it.
If you haven't got it, it says the same on Drugs.com in the side effects section.
So, it's well known.
I've seen GP's make mistakes with meds. My asthma inhalers once got cancelled without me knowing until I had to renew them. I didn't know I had been cured! I've seen people in the chemists across from my surgery being told by the pharmacist that he won't issue the meds on the prescription due to interactions and to tell the GP to sort it.
This is why we do sometimes have to manage our doctors. But I would class this as a different issue to your neck as a GP would have greater understanding of that.
I grew up being told to ask a pharmacist about issues with meds as they know far more about them than GPs. A lot of people seem to say the same.
I would suggest you tell her its in the PIL with the medication so she can't dispute it.
If you haven't got it, it says the same on Drugs.com in the side effects section.
So, it's well known.
I've seen GP's make mistakes with meds. My asthma inhalers once got cancelled without me knowing until I had to renew them. I didn't know I had been cured! I've seen people in the chemists across from my surgery being told by the pharmacist that he won't issue the meds on the prescription due to interactions and to tell the GP to sort it.
This is why we do sometimes have to manage our doctors. But I would class this as a different issue to your neck as a GP would have greater understanding of that.
Yeah it was actually a different GP that refused to accept that my medication was making me ill. The neck thing is still there... I've been trying to just ignore it the lsat couple of days, but at least I'm not feeling ill all the time now... although my acid has come back :( lol
MyNameIsTerry
30-04-15, 04:28
So, if your cold/flu symptoms are removed by stopping this medication, maybe there will be an impact on your lymph nodes too?
Did you notice this side effect mentioned:
general feeling of discomfort or illness
sore throat
chills
fever
nasal congestion
runny nose
sneezing
ear congestion
cough
All of those could make you believe you have cold/flu symptoms.
These are either in the Rare or Incidence Not Known or Less Common categories.
So, I suggest you think back to when you started this and determine if your issues have come during that time and most likely close to when you started this medication.
Lymph nodes take time to go down anyway so whilst other side effects would disappear potentially very quickly, these require your immune system to resolve them. I'm not clear on how this medication could result in this though as its not listed as side effect and they normally inflame due to localised infection but that doesn't mean its anything other than a basic issue.
If the GP was clearer about this, we wouldn't have this thread.
"The GP had a feel of it and thought it felt fine..." And I have to imagine she said a few more words than just that. A hypochondriac worth their wait in salt wouldn't let it rest at "It feels fine to me". Just sayin' :whistles:
Positive thoughts
MyNameIsTerry
30-04-15, 04:48
"The GP had a feel of it and thought it felt fine..." And I have to imagine she said a few more words than just that. A hypochondriac worth their wait in salt wouldn't let it rest at "It feels fine to me". Just sayin' :whistles:
Positive thoughts
Thats one for Steve to answer.
Interestingly though, I noticed that CPE actually included this as an issue on his blog where he said he always found it strange how people with HA didn't question the doctor thoroughly so I guess it is an assumption either way until the person tells us what they did.
Of course, the same GP has missed out on the Omeprazole side effects mentioned above.
"The GP had a feel of it and thought it felt fine..." And I have to imagine she said a few more words than just that. A hypochondriac worth their wait in salt wouldn't let it rest at "It feels fine to me". Just sayin' :whistles:
Positive thoughts
That's genuinely all she said. Infact, she felt my glands, and actually then sat back down and said nothing. I had to actually ask her "did they feel ok?" and she said "yes... so... have you thought this could all be due to anxiety?".
That's literally how the convo went. Although I'm a hypochondriac, I do try my absolutely hardest not to act like one in front of doctors in the fear that if I do, they won't take me seriously. So often I actually hold back on asking too many questions, and then I get home and bang my head against a wall for not asking the questions I should have :/
---------- Post added at 11:46 ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 ----------
So, if your cold/flu symptoms are removed by stopping this medication, maybe there will be an impact on your lymph nodes too?
Did you notice this side effect mentioned:
general feeling of discomfort or illness
sore throat
chills
fever
nasal congestion
runny nose
sneezing
ear congestion
cough
All of those could make you believe you have cold/flu symptoms.
These are either in the Rare or Incidence Not Known or Less Common categories.
So, I suggest you think back to when you started this and determine if your issues have come during that time and most likely close to when you started this medication.
Lymph nodes take time to go down anyway so whilst other side effects would disappear potentially very quickly, these require your immune system to resolve them. I'm not clear on how this medication could result in this though as its not listed as side effect and they normally inflame due to localised infection but that doesn't mean its anything other than a basic issue.
I did see these side effects. I also went on a review website for this drug and LOADS of people said they got flu like symptoms with it. Although it's not a common side effect I really do believe it's what caused me to feel so bad, as it seems twice now it's done it on separate occasions. My neck still hurts but I actually think the pain is subsiding. But the generally sick feeling has completely gone!
MyNameIsTerry
30-04-15, 11:51
So, does that mean she didn't believe there was actually physical pain, Steve?
On that basis, I find it strange she bothered with a follow up.
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