What would you do?

[Jer's Girl]

I have certainly felt much worse with this disease, but I am feeling pretty sick and frustrated right now.

I have been having symptoms of a partial block (not being able to go to the bathroom for days, then only able to go with stool softeners), and this scares me because this is how I was feeling before I ended up needing a stoma for six months last year.

I have also been very dizzy and weak. I feel like I can't concentrate, and nasiated, although I haven't thrown up yet. No weight loss.

I have an appointment with my Dr that I made a month or so ago when I started feeling sick like this, but it is for August. I just called them to see if I could get in sooner and the nurse said that I can't, but if I feel really bad I should just go to the ER.

I don't feel that I need to go to the ER, as I don't think I am really to that point yet. I am in some pain, but it is not horrible. I just feel so frustrated that I have to wait so long to just see my Dr, let alone get any tests done, and I am a little worried because I have been through all this before.

So what do you do when you can't get in to see your Dr? I'm guessing there isn't much I can do, but I thought it might make me feel better to ask.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

That is frustrating, I'm sorry to hear you're not doing so well. I can't believe the nurse didn't even try to get you an appointment. When I'm feeling bad and call my GI's office, they always try to get me a sooner appointment. When I had pretty bad gastritis a couple months ago, my GI bumped up my appointment from being a month away to being 3 days away.

Are you able to see your primary care doc sooner? My regular doc can prescribe pred if need be and can order some tests (mostly blood work, x rays, stuff like that). It's worth a try, most GPs don't have a long wait to see patients. At the very least it's better than going to the ER. If you get worse but still not bad enough for the ER, you could also try a walk-in/urgent care clinic. I get pretty decent treatment at my local urgent care and the bill is usually much cheaper than the ER.

Another thing you can try, and this has actually worked for me in the past, is to call up your GI's office and cry on the phone and say you can't wait that long to be seen. I did that last year - I called in March to schedule my first colonoscopy and they said the soonest opening was June. I waited about a month but couldn't take it any longer, I felt like I was getting worse by the day, so finally in mid-April I called up and burst into tears saying I just couldn't wait that long and I felt so awful and just needed to be seen sooner. The nurse was so sympathetic and said that she had an opening the following week. I didn't mean to be pathetic and cry on the phone, my emotions just poured out, but it worked.

Good luck! I hope you figure out something that works for you and I hope you feel better soon!

 

[Misty-Eyed]

I just guzzle stool softeners at the slightest hint of me not being able to go because it gets too bad.

That's crazy that they won't let you get an appointment sooner!! I always email my GI's secretary till she gets me an appointment asap!!

Where abouts is the blockage though? Is it anywhere where it could be dilated fairly easily?

I hope you feel better soon.

 

[DustyKat]

I'm not sure how things work there, but if it were me I would go to my GP and explain the situation and have them call and speak directly with the GI.

Dusty. xxx

 

[kllyeve]

Am having the very same symptoms!!! I see my GI tomorrow!! So I feel your pain! I am hoping to get some help - we'll see.

Hang in there!

Ps I did cry to my GP and got two weeks medical leave as I couldn't sleep due to the pain from inside as well as the body and joint pain I was feeling.

 

[ameslouise]

Hey Nicole - Sorry to hear that you are not feeling well!! I keep looking at your gorgeous picture on all your posts and thinking that you are nothing short of fantastic!

That is ******** that your doc's office is making you wait until August! I would call them back and demand to speak with the doc, or speak with another nurse. Tell them you will NOT use the ER as your doctors office and that you need to be seen right away. That just really gets my goat. If I called my doc, first of all, he calls me back the same day, second, if I needed to see him, he would squeeze me in.

Good luck - hope you can get in soon and that it turns out to be not serious.

xo - Ames

 

[Jennifer]

The ER isn't only used strictly for emergency cases where you've lopped off your arm and need it reattached immediately. You can also go simply to see the doctor and have some tests done while you're there. No one gets turned away. I've gone in for less symptoms than you have because I wasn't able to see my GP at the time and didn't want to wait 2 weeks. Usually if you're toying with the idea of wanting to go, you might as well go. They can do blood work and tests to see if you do have a blockage or not which can actually help in getting an appointment with your GI sooner. Its up to you but I'd probably go.

 

[Jer's Girl]

Thanks to all of you for your replies! They mean so much right now.

Cat, I have cried (not on purpose, but just out of desperation) on the phone to my Drs office several times. All that makes them say is "go to the ER if you are doing so poorly." We are just so medically understaffed here in NM, there is really no way for them to fit me in. I am going to try calling my GP tomorrow like you suggested.

Michelle, I don't know exactly where my blockage is (if I have one). My whole stomach is bloated and I am getting sharp pains on both sides.

Aww Ames! That made my day. You always look so lovely in your pictures too! I am a short hair lover, so I always like your haircuts!

Crabby, thank you for giving me the permission I needed to go to the ER if I need to. Sometimes I really feel that I just need someone to say I should go to make me not feel like I am just being a baby and need to suck it up. I am not going tonight, but I will think about what you said. It would be great to get those tests done.

Dusty and Kllyeve, thank you so much for your replies too! I will consider everything that each of you said.

I appreciate all of your advice so much! I hope all of you are well tonight!

 

[AndiGirl]

My advice would be to go with your gut feeling, and what your body is telling you. Your health is everything.

I was told by my doctor to wait several years ago. I had been flaring up with the Crohn's and recovering from a bout of shingles to boot. Life was miserable then! I listened to my doctor and waited. I was still working, which was even crazier. I should have took time off.

In early March 2008, I almost passed out at work. My heart started hurting, and I honestly thought that I was having a heart attack. I couldn't get a hold of Scott or Randy. My mother was visiting relatives in Norway, which meant I had to try to get a hold of my father. My dad rushed me to the Emergency Room. I found out that my potassium level was dangerously low (the heart pains), and I had a partial blockage. The doctor and my father were lecturing me out letting things get so out of hand. I told them that my doctor had told me to wait. He was the same doctor that would always say, "You look well." He would say that in every one of my visits. I ended up filing a complaint against him and switching doctors. I don't want anyone else to end up in such a situation.

Please Nicole, go with your gut instinct and with what your body is telling you.

 

[Carrie]

I think Dusty's suggestion to see your GP is a good one if you are considering/able to wait things out a few more days. I've done that in the past, and I was able to get the the appropriate doctor a lot sooner than I would have otherwise.

Hopefully things will settle down a bit and you will start feeling better soon. At least you know you have some options for getting the treatment you need.

 

[Jer's Girl]

Andi- I'm sorry for what you had to go through! It feels like Drs never take us seriously until it gets to the point where something drastic happens!

I am trying to listen to my body, and I kind of do want to go to the ER, but it also feels like it will probably be a waste of time where they just don't know what to do with me, or they admit me, keep me there for a few days, don't know what to do with me and send me home. I still don't know what the right thing to do is.

Carry, I got a GP appointment for next week, so I guess that is a start.

I have had a tummy ache (with no BM's), a horrible headache and have been very dizzy all weekend. I have also felt like throwing up, but it hasn't happened yet. Still no fever (I never get a fever). I guess I just keep waiting it out for now.

Thanks guys for all of your advice and support.