GPs and your health record
Discussion
Just as rant to get it off my chest. Why didn't the GP look into my history before prescribing a new item, well I think it's because our surgery used to 6 full time GPs but now has only 5 part-timers/temps and only ever 2 on on any given day so my old GP (now retired) knew me and my history but over the last few years I haven't seen the same one twice. End of last year I had need to see a GP due to my very spasmodic insomnia returning and it was getting me down and making me very anxious about not sleeping for days on end (have suffered this for 29 years), now when I lived in France my GP there prescribed Zolpidem with the instruction that I should not take a tablet unless I really needed to, that is keep it beside the bed and if I couldn't sleep by 1am then take the tablet. This worked extremely well and I only had to resort to it occasionally so 14 tabs would last the whole year.
Roll forward to my visit to the GP here and explaining the situation (my history from my old GP before going to France is on record) so I asked for some Zolpidem explaining that I'm not a serial abuser of sleeping tablets and the response was no way and no chance of this surgery issuing a scrip for them but you can have Mirtazapine instead so with no option I said OK I'll give it a go.
Now last week I had my HbA1c blood test and the result was that I'm now well into the diabetic range, now bearing in mind I have/had T2 diabetes and up to October last year was in remission I was suitably shocked at the result. I couldn't understand it as I was expecting another fall in my numbers and not a big increase so I did some research and it turns out the that drug shouldn't be taken if you are diabetic or pre-disposed to diabetes or have liver issues which I do as it makes blood glucose control very difficult/impossible. I know, perhaps it's my own fault for not trawling through the minutely printed leaflet that came in the package, something I will do from now on but you just trust that GP know's what they are doing or trust breaks down.
If the GP had bothered to look at my records on the system they should never had prescribed the Mirtazapine for my situation, I have now stopped taking it and luckily have had no issues since stopping 4 days ago as there were dire warnings of not to do this due to the rebound effects. I do have some Zolpidem left that I kept for "special occasions" e.g. desperation and have gone back to operating as my French GP suggested and have had no sleep issues in the last 4 days
Rant over...
Roll forward to my visit to the GP here and explaining the situation (my history from my old GP before going to France is on record) so I asked for some Zolpidem explaining that I'm not a serial abuser of sleeping tablets and the response was no way and no chance of this surgery issuing a scrip for them but you can have Mirtazapine instead so with no option I said OK I'll give it a go.
Now last week I had my HbA1c blood test and the result was that I'm now well into the diabetic range, now bearing in mind I have/had T2 diabetes and up to October last year was in remission I was suitably shocked at the result. I couldn't understand it as I was expecting another fall in my numbers and not a big increase so I did some research and it turns out the that drug shouldn't be taken if you are diabetic or pre-disposed to diabetes or have liver issues which I do as it makes blood glucose control very difficult/impossible. I know, perhaps it's my own fault for not trawling through the minutely printed leaflet that came in the package, something I will do from now on but you just trust that GP know's what they are doing or trust breaks down.
If the GP had bothered to look at my records on the system they should never had prescribed the Mirtazapine for my situation, I have now stopped taking it and luckily have had no issues since stopping 4 days ago as there were dire warnings of not to do this due to the rebound effects. I do have some Zolpidem left that I kept for "special occasions" e.g. desperation and have gone back to operating as my French GP suggested and have had no sleep issues in the last 4 days
Rant over...
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