lynnconnolly
Well-known member
Hi Chris, unfortunately, it seems to be very common here in the UK that doctors won't look further than that which is 'standard'. That's in part why it took them so long to diagnose me. Apparently, my murmur should have been very loud, but was so subtle that three cardio's had to listen very hard to catch it. This, they say, is very unusual.
Fluid was, as you say, accumulating in what they considered to be the 'wrong' places, but despite having seen this for themselves in me before, still they insist on using my ankles as an indicator. I put on over a stone last time I had a big collection of fluid, but my cardio just suggested maybe I need to exercise more when I told him I'd put on half a stone in the week prior to my seeing him last time.
At least my gp is responsive to what I'm telling him rather than what I 'should' have and don't. I had a similar type problem years ago. I had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy but because my pain was in the 'wrong' place, the doctor thought I had gastroenteritis. As a result, I ended up being left at home for days, then finally having emergency surgery, a blood transfusion and the doctor telling me I was very lucky to have survived.
Again, even with this recent heart condition, when I was first in hospital, they told me I had numerous clots on my lungs and asked if I'd had any calf swelling etc. I hadn't, but what I did have was - about 3 weeks before - awful pain in my thigh and hip. I literally couldn't move my right leg for 24 hours. It was hot and swollen around the top of my thigh and hip and very painful. I went to see one of the gp's at our surgery and she said it was probably sciatica. My mother had died of a pulmonary embolism and she too was atypical in that she didn't have calf swelling etc., so you can see how alarming it can be when doctors won't take any notice if you don't conform to the norm.
I told this to the doctor and she said that there was no chance it could be DVT. It just doesn't happen in the thigh... well, I don't know for sure if that incident was a DVT but it would seem a tad coincidental that this happened, then I find I have clots on my lungs. The pain lasted about 24 hours, then went as fast as it had come. Even then, when I was in hospital, the consultant ordered an ultrasound of my legs to see if there was evidence of clots having passed through. The tech doing the scan did my calves... not my thigh, even though I told him that was where I believed it originated.
To sum up, if you don't follow textbook standards, you don't get diagnosed in a hurry - in my experience anyway That's why this forum is so useful to me. It shows me time and again that others have symptoms just like mine, so it's not all in my head, as many doctors here would have me believe. Do you find that it helps you personally and professionally to hear about all the diversity there can be in people's conditions?
My new gp is a star though. I'm so glad I found him! Thanks a lot for your post.
Fluid was, as you say, accumulating in what they considered to be the 'wrong' places, but despite having seen this for themselves in me before, still they insist on using my ankles as an indicator. I put on over a stone last time I had a big collection of fluid, but my cardio just suggested maybe I need to exercise more when I told him I'd put on half a stone in the week prior to my seeing him last time.
At least my gp is responsive to what I'm telling him rather than what I 'should' have and don't. I had a similar type problem years ago. I had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy but because my pain was in the 'wrong' place, the doctor thought I had gastroenteritis. As a result, I ended up being left at home for days, then finally having emergency surgery, a blood transfusion and the doctor telling me I was very lucky to have survived.
Again, even with this recent heart condition, when I was first in hospital, they told me I had numerous clots on my lungs and asked if I'd had any calf swelling etc. I hadn't, but what I did have was - about 3 weeks before - awful pain in my thigh and hip. I literally couldn't move my right leg for 24 hours. It was hot and swollen around the top of my thigh and hip and very painful. I went to see one of the gp's at our surgery and she said it was probably sciatica. My mother had died of a pulmonary embolism and she too was atypical in that she didn't have calf swelling etc., so you can see how alarming it can be when doctors won't take any notice if you don't conform to the norm.
I told this to the doctor and she said that there was no chance it could be DVT. It just doesn't happen in the thigh... well, I don't know for sure if that incident was a DVT but it would seem a tad coincidental that this happened, then I find I have clots on my lungs. The pain lasted about 24 hours, then went as fast as it had come. Even then, when I was in hospital, the consultant ordered an ultrasound of my legs to see if there was evidence of clots having passed through. The tech doing the scan did my calves... not my thigh, even though I told him that was where I believed it originated.
To sum up, if you don't follow textbook standards, you don't get diagnosed in a hurry - in my experience anyway
That's why this forum is so useful to me. It shows me time and again that others have symptoms just like mine, so it's not all in my head, as many doctors here would have me believe. Do you find that it helps you personally and professionally to hear about all the diversity there can be in people's conditions?My new gp is a star though. I'm so glad I found him! Thanks a lot for your post.
