Just a cough/cold? Or more sinister?
 

How the HELL do you know?

I've been suffering with a cough and what I thought was a recurring cold for about five weeks now.

Yesterdays visit to the docs produced a diagnosis of fairly serious bronchitis, and I've been referred to the hospital for an X-Ray to check for lung damage etc, and placed on large anti-biotics.


But how do you KNOW???? How not to waste the doctor's time?

Anything more than 3 weeks that hangs around I go and see the quack just in case.

I was medically discharged from the RAF when I had Bronchitis, Pleuricy and Pneumonia all in one go...:freak3: so know how you feel

Put me in hospital, anything chesty now in I go for a check up..

Duration over 3 weeks, weight loss, chest pain, coughing blood, shortness of breath, persistent fever are all very good reasons to see the Doc. Most of the people that come with respiratory infections don't have any of these features so if you have at least one you're certainly not wasting our time.

So if you make your appointment on the day of your first sniffle, the dcotor will be ready to see you just on cue;)

(and they wonder why people go to A&E on a regular basis:rolleyes:)

Not at ours, can only make an appointment on the day so mad scramble to get through at 8am finally getting through some 10-15 minutes later to be told there are no appointments left please try again tomorrow.

It really annoys me when I finally get a appointment with the doc and arrive 5 minutes early, my docs has one of those led boards that beeps and scrolls patient name and room to go to but always flashes about 5 names before mine and the waiting room is completely empty.

People who book appointments and then don't turn up or cancel should be made to pay in my book for time wasting.

Had the first, third, fifth and sixth.

Now I just feel ill and tired all the time, though not sleepy.

Just make yourself an appointment and get down there, I work in a GP surgery and in truth, the only time-wasters are the people who don't bother turning up.

If it's causing you problems or concerning you in any way then that's reason enough to get it checked out.

I have had a cough for over 30 years, yet my missus has a friend and her mother went to the doctors as she had a bad cough for 3 weeks and she was diagnosed with cancer.

Risk of cancer relative to symptom duration has a peak and tails.

I'm just saying two tales :D The later is an extreme and no one would expect it plus she is about 70 :)

work long hours truck driver never see a doctor never can get appointment had a cough for 4 years plus not dead yet i go to hospital instead not my fault no one caters for me

You've got a bunch of options. If you call your surgery when they're closed you'll get details of the out of hours service, failing that you're likely to also have drop in services nearby. It might also be worth looking at changing surgery if you're having a problem getting an appointment, there are a couple near us that do telephone triage with a Dr that morning and others that have open surgeries where you can just go along and wait your turn on a day off.

Please do get checked out soon though, as a GP practice manager I have the task of handling and investigating incidents and I've seen three in the last six months that honestly shocked me where people who've been otherwise well become terminally ill and pass away in months due to lung cancer.

It's like putting your car into a service, yes it's inconvenient and often means taking time off but ultimately it's worth it.