at what point do you reach out to your doctor?
 

i'm talking about issues that pop up that make you think, "hmmmm..well that cant be normal". could be anything. day-glow stool, weird bumps, rashes, etc. cloudy pee..haha.

i make a conscious effort to NOT google symptoms. what? you rub Tiger-Balm on it and move on with life? take a wait and see approach?

one got me yesterday. a 3-day minor calf cramp. not a full blown cramp, but it occasionally felt like that twinge you get right before a "charlie-horse"..you know the one where you freeze all movement and hope it passes only to be BAMM !!! #@$!#!#$!! i went mtn-biking yesterday and it was haunting me. the big climbs and i would get that twinge..get off and stretch it out.

then the thought jumped into my brain. DVT? i did have oral surgery a few days ago.. SOB! i cracked and emailed my doc, just in case. prob nothing, but a she suggested a blood test to rule it out. i dont know squat about DVT pain, but it just crept in. my boss had one a few years ago, and it freaked him out. i was so tempted to call and ask what the pain was like.

just wonder when you elevate to threat level orange on personal health things.

when folks around me are running about..
screaming oh deity... oh deity..
or the red stuff just keeps going...
my body architecture has been re arranged...

Vash your expected to blow it off.
and be dead in the morning..

You did the right thing..

Rika

If the little voice in the back of your head tells you something is wrong, something is wrong until shown to be otherwise. Not saying go hypochondriac on every little thing, but you don't F around with stuff that gets your spidey sense tingling.

Blood test is not what you do for DVT, you do a venous doppler, then maybe a V-Q scan.


I tell all my patients with diabetes to call me if the idea of calling me for a foot/leg problem even pops into their head. Do not pass Go, do not wait until they see me next. Help me to help you. I would rather look at it in my office on Saturday morning than look at in the hospital on Sunday night.

Added bonus, if I look at it in the office and it does not spook me, it saves you a trip to the hospital. If'n it looks scary, I call down and do a direct admit, and it saves you a long wait in the ER.

D-Dimer test? that is what the card said. if anything shows up then some scan. i wasnt paying total attention.

That's what they're there for...……..if you have a good one.

I listen to my body, and sometimes I'll wait and watch, and sometimes I don't. Fortunately, I'm pretty healthy.

Here's a few guidelines for you.
If there are new holes that weren't there originally - go to the Dr
If there are things coming out of your body that don't normally come out of your body or that you do not recognize - go to the Dr
If there are things that are on the outside that are usually on the inside or vice versa - you should probably go to the Dr
If anything has radically changed shape, something larger or smaller or in a new configuration - you may want to see a Dr
If you seem to have lost the ability to do basic things (walking, talking, lifting things, breathing, bleeding, etc...) then you should probably see the Dr
I made these up on the fly, so new rules may need to be added.

I think that should mostly cover it.

Take aspirin immediately if you suspect heart/stroke/circulatory problems.
That may make the difference.

This.

That is the job of your doctor. I presume you have a "family medicine" or GP doc you can see that you can see as needed. Often the busy ones have physicians assistant that can see you for minor stuff, and call the doc in if they think it is warranted.

My goal would be to never see a doctor again, but common sense tells me that is stupid. As an official geezer, I see an ophthalmologist once per year, and my GP once per year even if all is well.

If I feel something is "off" or unusual I call the doc.

When I'm carried in horizontally.

Me too. I make MrsWD listen too. Sometimes I have to hold her head under the covers. :D

Doctors in offices can't even be reached anymore. I call and get a VM and some menu. I understand why. But if they do call me back sometime in the first day, which is rare, I can ask about that appointment I'd make and they tell me 2-3 months.

No, I immediately go to the doc-in-the-box about a 1/2 mile from me when at home, or if it's urgent enough to not go to the ER but needs attention anyway, I just hit the closest one. They are all over the place. I've been sewn up more than once, had stuff removed from my eye, been given percoset on a Sunday morning when a tooth has gone off the charts and more. Always excellent service as most of these cats are trained in emergency medicine.

And if you do need to go to the ER, they call ahead for that 'direct admit' that Toby mentioned. You know, if a doctor calls the ER, they pretty well know you're not some loser with no insurance trying to get some meds for the flu. Waiting 8 hours in the ER is for chumps.

If there are tests indicated, sometimes the DITB will see me by appt in 3 days. Other times the results are sent to the internist that clears me for surgery or checks me out thoroughly once a year. The office doc is good for the annual and he is the one that will stop by your room and collect money if you land in the hospital.

Overall, pretty useless but the DITB doesn't do the annual.

lol.....

The first thing I do whenever there is a health question is bypass all medical professionals and head straight to a car forum for advice 😁

Seriously as others have stated listen to your inner voice it usually is right . For me it's a combination of inner voice and wife barking at me ☹️ . As I get older I am marginally smarter and less stubborn ......... marginally 🙂

Ahh..the old 'Dutch Oven' :)

"at what point do you reach out to your doctor?" = Pain!

See if you can use one of the Dial a Nurse programs - your health ins. co. may offer that - tho RNs can be ... um somewhat variable

I have a "boutique" type PCP, FWIW

If you have severe, rapid onset of pain and you can not identify the cause seek some sort of help. Why would you risk it?

That right there is funny.

Kinda on topic.....

I have not so good skin complexion. All my life. I'm 63. Went through the Accutane regimen in my mid-20s. Painful joint discomfort during procedure but knocked problems back 80%. It changes things. But Man, the 90 days or so are rough.

So I get some bout of ear and sinus infection at turn of this year. Doc gives me 14 days of Bactrim.

My skin is "almost" like porcelain at day seven.

Call my doc brother and ask what's going on. Like what the heck? He says, "Oh yeah, simple antibiotics are out there for that. Creams, pills and that will fix you up."

Never asked.

MrsWD had the “when do you go” conundrum about a week ago. We gave our friends a Valentines Day gift Feb 13 - stayed at their house and babysat 4 kids 8,6,4, & 2 while they took the night off. We spent 14 hours in close contact with these 4 little disease incubators and, having no immunity, kind of expected to catch something. I got off easy with 24 hrs of GI distress. MrsWD got a very bad cold that lasted the full 10 days, but she had a cough that would not go away. We monitored her temperature and it stayed normal, but the cough persisted and with all the COVID-19 talk were getting concerned. She didn’t want to sit in a waiting room full of sick people so she waited another day. Fortunately it was the right call, but it could have gone either way.

Doctors offices need something like an airport cell phone lot where you can stay in your car until they call and say are ready for you. I don’t like sitting in a room full of sick people waiting to be called to see the doc.