Hi peeps.

I'm getting really peeved off with the "so called" medical profession.

Actually, not so much them, more the beaurocratic idiots that feed off of them. Receptionists. IE. The silly uneducated who prevent you from seeing your Doctor.

Despite, or perhaps because of all of the drugs I'm taking to allay the beast, I tend to find myself asleep as soon as I come home from work.

I know some people don't have the luxury of sleep, as I've been their myself.

I'm now falling asleep whilst at work, usually after running out to my car for a blast of air conditioning.

Anyhoo.  I got in touch with the A&E Doctor who has placed me on all these medications in order to ask him to provide a referral letter for private treatment with a neurologist and he said he couldn't
as he works for the NHS only.(UK).

This man placed me on this regime and now wants nothing more to do with it due to political reasons.

To date, my Verapamil has been upped from zero to 720mg per day, along with Tegretol upped from 100 mg to 300 mg and not one ECG or BP check has been forthcoming.

I'm getting a bit crapped out here, as I purchased a home BP check device, and it seems to run from BP, 250/160 at 120 bpm
to 190/68 at 50 bpm.

Given that Verapamil patients should be ECG monitored, I'm getting rather distressed at the lack of patient monitoring going on.

PS: I Studied medicine at Glasgow University for 5 years. and not prone to hypocondriac fantasies, strangely enough with the intension of further study in Radiology.

I copped out as the UK NHS paid crap. Went back into IT.




   

hi Derek,   If I haven't welcomed you before I'm doing it now.

   
Quote:

250/160

  as I'm sure I don't have to tell you...THAT  is a very high BP.   Especially for someone as young as you appear to be in your picture.
What are your chances of finding another Doctor who will take you on?  In the U.S. we would fire him and find someone else who would treat us.   Politics have/should have  no place in medicine or treatment of patients.

While a Verapamil dosage of 720 is in the normal range of what is usually prescribed , it doesn't seem to right for "YOU"  

Do you have oxygen?   As an abortive it works for so many of us and is the safest thing out there as well as cheap, no side-effects and did I mention IT WORKS!    lol

I would seriously try to find a new physician.  Falling asleep at work, high BP doesn't sound good to me at all.

Please keep us informed , as well as feel free to ask any other questions you may have.  O.K.?   We care.

Linda

Hi Derek,
I and probably most here know exactly what your going through with Dr´s I called one Headache specialist and got the receptionist and told her my story she said "thats really painfull but we only have an appointment free in august, by the way what medical insurance do you have" if i was private id have seen the Dr the next day. I thought i would be treated in accordance to my problem and not to my insurance company. animals are treated better than us but then again ive long come to the view that the world is mad and im the only sane one LOL

keep you chin/chins up its a long road but we all get there in the end, my appointment is in 2 weeks.

Mark

I'm wondering if the unit of measure for BP might be different over the pond....

HI D - one of the meds I was on was Verapamil, which is a wonder drug for some people.  But in my case it took my NICE one-hour clusters and turned them into 12 hours!  It wasn't good for me - and obviously the wrong med for you!  I am now ONLY on oxygen, and an occipital nerve block works great too!  Good luck and get another doctor!

Have you called the OUCH helpline yet?


Quote:

I got in touch with the A&E Doctor who has placed me on all these medications in order to ask him to provide a referral letter for private treatment with a neurologist and he said he couldn't

So, why don't you ask your doctor for a referral letter to see a Neuro who specialises in headache conditions. If you're going private and don't mind travelling, then I'd recommend Dr. Manjit Matharu at Queen Sq.  University College London. If it's NHS then your closest is Dr. Pickersgill at University Hospital, Cardiff.

No ECG's - they need shooting.

Here's a quote re Verapamil from the OUCH website -


Quote:

1. Verapamil Verapamil is currently the most preferred drug amongst sufferers of both ECH and CCH. Medical research has shown that higher doses are needed than for other uses of the drug. Dosages of the drug vary from between 240mg to 960mg per day, normally taken in tablet form three times a day. The strength of the tablet is increased every two weeks until it is effective in stopping cluster attacks or until the maximum dose of 960mg per day is reached. However, verapamil can have side effects including 'heart block' (a block in the conduction of the normal impulses of the heart). It is therefore mandatory that individuals are given an ECG before taking the drug, and then again each time the dose is increased to check for any potential abnormalities

.

Rod