When to see gp for things like sniffles

[drew_wymore]

when to see gp for things like sniffles

Hi All,
I know this might be a really silly question but I want to ask. I'm currently being treated with Imuran and Prednisone. I moved over the last weekend and it wiped me out and I caught a cold. Its not too bad right now and I'm treating it with OTC stuff and I'm doing ok. I'm wondering at what point I should see my GP for antibiotics or a check up since I'm on the immunosuppressors.

 

[katiesue1506]

I have the same question... although I'm on Humira and I'm not sure whether to chalk my symptoms up to that or a cold... but I think I've been sick for about three months now... mostly running and stuffy nose... some coughing and lots of mucus. The other problem is that my GP doesn't know about Humira so she's in the same boat I am... and doesn't know what to treat or how to treat it.

 

[butt-eze]

You are never jumping the gun by calling your doctor with cold-like symptoms. When I was on remicade I had shortness of breath and let it go for a couple of weeks. Turned out I had pneumonia that hospitalized me for a month. The key is that you don't have to actually go see the doctor. Just simply call the office and let them know your exact symptoms. Do you have a cough? If so, is it productive? If so, what color is it? What is the length of time you've had these symptoms? I used to apologize to my doctor for calling too often but they said it was very important. Being immunosuppressed is nothing to mess with. An HIV patient would be calling their doctor and so should we. Maybe a little weird or scary to compare to an HIV patient but it seems to me that it is the same idea...

 

[katiesue1506]

Sometimes productive, sometimes not... mostly green if it is though.

And sorry for kinda hijacking your thread, Drew... but you posed an AWESOME question

 

[butt-eze]

Green usually indicates an infection and is worth calling about.

 

[soupdragon69]

Hey guys,

I just seem to live at my GP this last while again. Have had severe sinusitis with fluid behind both eardrums and its only finally all clearing now after almost 4-5wks. Was back at my GP again this evening again sigh... has put me on another anti sickness tablet as have ongoing probs but he has been fantastic. Thankfully so are the girls at reception and the nurses too as there are just some days I feel like crawling under the door am that embarrassed to be there "yet again".

Would rather nail a problem early though and they always say to me they know if I ring its for good reason and always have me in that day. My GP has even put on my notes I am to have a 20min app each time and not 10mins as he says I need time to talk things over with him being I have so many interconnected health issues.

Just feel very thankful I do have someone that listens to me and also a great team working with him! Just dont know how I would have coped this past year especially.

Now I have said all that I reckon if you dont start to pick up after the first couple of rough days you need to nail it early rather than later no matter how much we hate going!

 

[drew_wymore]

Sometimes productive, sometimes not... mostly green if it is though.

And sorry for kinda hijacking your thread, Drew... but you posed an AWESOME question

Don't apologize at all Katie. I just hadn't see anyone ask it. I've always lived by the creed that the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. I figured we're all in mostly the same boat in terms of being immunosuppressed and maybe there were guidelines that some of us had learned as to when to talk to our docs without seeming like a hypochondriac.

I talked to my GI's nurse today about my second go around with the pill cam and asked her about my symptoms and she said not to stress out unless I start running a fever or my symptoms get worse. She also said though, never to be fearful of going in for a check up since it doesn't hurt anything given the drugs I'm on which made me feel much better.

 

[drew_wymore]

You are never jumping the gun by calling your doctor with cold-like symptoms. When I was on remicade I had shortness of breath and let it go for a couple of weeks. Turned out I had pneumonia that hospitalized me for a month. The key is that you don't have to actually go see the doctor. Just simply call the office and let them know your exact symptoms. Do you have a cough? If so, is it productive? If so, what color is it? What is the length of time you've had these symptoms? I used to apologize to my doctor for calling too often but they said it was very important. Being immunosuppressed is nothing to mess with. An HIV patient would be calling their doctor and so should we. Maybe a little weird or scary to compare to an HIV patient but it seems to me that it is the same idea...

It is short of creepy to compare us to AIDS patients but the reality is, is that we are sort of like AIDS patients. When people ask me about the drugs I'm on and the crohns in general I explain it to them that it is sort of like AIDS because more people are familiar with that then with Crohns or autoimmune disorders and they seem to understand better.

 

[Jeff D.]

Normally for me when I get a fever or if I can't deal with the symptoms.

 

[Kev]

Sort of damned if you do, and damned if you don't. (I know, a trite response).

There is no cure for the common cold.. (another bit of genius advice, right?).. So what are the actual benefits of going? Well, first off, as you said, you are on immuno suppressors... it could turn serious PDQ. how good is your doctor? How long does it take to get an appointment? What are you doing... taking your temperature, scaling/noting your symptoms, a 'packed' bag with enuff essentials/info in case it means a trip to the ER, and possibly an overnite or longer stay in the hospital? sort of like planning for a 'natural' disaster, except on a single person scale. OTC products do so little... alleviate symptoms that could be telling you something 'vital'. If possible, limit your use of them... why add to the chemo mix in your body IF you can avoid it. Get plenty of rest, take it easy, eat totally right for your situation (not the best time to play fast and loose, or is that lose? Or is it play fast N loose and 'lose'?). Then, allow time for things to run natural course... 'They' say a cold runs 3 - 7 days.. I dunno. Maybe its just my advanced years, but most colds stay with me 7 - 10 days. Flu takes a bit longer... usually symptoms move downward.. chest congestion, stomach issues, more intense pains (but those could be std IBD symptoms). Thing to watch for is that you don't just lie down and accept it. Any chest inflamation can turn into pneumonia IF you allow congestion to build up too much... Really... If you enter your 3rd week, day 15 plus, and aren't feeling better, or if fever or other symptoms you can AND do measure take a drastic turn for the worse, get to see a professional, your GP or emerg dr ASAP. That's all pretty self evident advice, no rocket science there at all, but.. wer'e living (or trying to) with a lifelong chronic illness, we all either have compromised immune systems, or else take drugs that do it for us, and we have to play it safe.. Problem is, if you dont' have something really life threatening going into a dr's office or emergency room, chances are (and it's no exxageration, I've been exposed to a/b resistant strains of bugs on 75% of my hospital stays - even got red flagged for a while - no joke) you WILL be exposed to something really nasty in one place or the other..


so, that's the end of my long winded and almost completely useless reply to your question. One point I would strongly disagree with is that theres' no such thing as a 'silly' question. Crohns'/IBD is too serious an issue for any of our questions to be considered 'silly'.. And you know who would probably give you the 'best' answer to this REAL, LEGITIMATE question? your doctor.. SERIOUSLY! Why not pose this to him/her at your next visit. That way you'll get an informed, professional answer to it from someone who is intimately familiar with your medical background and crohns situation.

 

[drew_wymore]

Sort of damned if you do, and damned if you don't. (I know, a trite response).

There is no cure for the common cold.. (another bit of genius advice, right?).. So what are the actual benefits of going? Well, first off, as you said, you are on immuno suppressors... it could turn serious PDQ. how good is your doctor? How long does it take to get an appointment? What are you doing... taking your temperature, scaling/noting your symptoms, a 'packed' bag with enuff essentials/info in case it means a trip to the ER, and possibly an overnite or longer stay in the hospital? sort of like planning for a 'natural' disaster, except on a single person scale. OTC products do so little... alleviate symptoms that could be telling you something 'vital'. If possible, limit your use of them... why add to the chemo mix in your body IF you can avoid it. Get plenty of rest, take it easy, eat totally right for your situation (not the best time to play fast and loose, or is that lose? Or is it play fast N loose and 'lose'?). Then, allow time for things to run natural course... 'They' say a cold runs 3 - 7 days.. I dunno. Maybe its just my advanced years, but most colds stay with me 7 - 10 days. Flu takes a bit longer... usually symptoms move downward.. chest congestion, stomach issues, more intense pains (but those could be std IBD symptoms). Thing to watch for is that you don't just lie down and accept it. Any chest inflamation can turn into pneumonia IF you allow congestion to build up too much... Really... If you enter your 3rd week, day 15 plus, and aren't feeling better, or if fever or other symptoms you can AND do measure take a drastic turn for the worse, get to see a professional, your GP or emerg dr ASAP. That's all pretty self evident advice, no rocket science there at all, but.. wer'e living (or trying to) with a lifelong chronic illness, we all either have compromised immune systems, or else take drugs that do it for us, and we have to play it safe.. Problem is, if you dont' have something really life threatening going into a dr's office or emergency room, chances are (and it's no exxageration, I've been exposed to a/b resistant strains of bugs on 75% of my hospital stays - even got red flagged for a while - no joke) you WILL be exposed to something really nasty in one place or the other..


so, that's the end of my long winded and almost completely useless reply to your question. One point I would strongly disagree with is that theres' no such thing as a 'silly' question. Crohns'/IBD is too serious an issue for any of our questions to be considered 'silly'.. And you know who would probably give you the 'best' answer to this REAL, LEGITIMATE question? your doctor.. SERIOUSLY! Why not pose this to him/her at your next visit. That way you'll get an informed, professional answer to it from someone who is intimately familiar with your medical background and crohns situation.

I love you Kev .. :eek2: I do mean that tongue in cheek You've added some very good and obvious thoughts to the discussion.

I did actually pose the question to my dr's nurse as noted. You make good valid points though and I appreciate the feedback for sure.

 

[Keara07]

Awesome question - had a similar one. Love the Humour too. My GI told me three weeks ago to see my GP for anything not in the gut, and to avoid the over the counter stuff for now so not to mask symptoms as i did that leading into the ER with tylenol....oops.

 

[Wiles]

It's something I always struggle with myself. I really don't like going to see the doctor if I think I'll be wasting their time. It just makes me feel like a dummy if I go and it turns out to be nothing serious.

Once I had really bad chest pains, and after not being able to sleep a wink and only being able to breathe very shallowly I thought I ought to go to a doctor.
The doc jabbed me in the chest with his thumb, and asked me if it hurt there. Oh yea, it hurt there a lot. I don't know if he was mad or what, but he was pressing really hard. I felt like punching him in the nose and asking him if his face hurt. It was just a pulled muscle and he treated me like crap the whole time I was there. He's left a lasting impression that makes me want to stay away from the hospital if I can.

 

[Lee1975]

I try and not go to the doctors unless I can help it.

Throughout my childhood I always seemed to be at the doctors, which resulted in my taking a lot of time off school but the thing is I was always complaing of the same pains in my stomach. Well at least I can tell everybody "See I told you I was ill"

But I go and see him when I'm feeling really rough and when my medication / pain killers dont work or when I realise that there is a flare up on the way. I dont know about anybody else but I can tell when a big flareup is on its way by the changes in my skin on my face and forearms.

On occasions I have had to go to A&E in the middle of the night to ask for a doctor to see, and am normally told by the nice receptionist that i should have called my doctors surgery to get the out of hours doctor to come and see me. This is when I tell them politely that I am an outpatient at that hospital, and that my Gastroentarologist who is based at that hospital has explicitly told me on occasions like this I am to make my way immedietly to the hospital for medical attention and not to even consider phoning the doctors surgery and waiting a couple of hours in extreme pain only to be told to go to the hospital.

This is normally followed by the receptionist saying " I apologise Mr Richards, please take a seat and a doctor will see you shortly"