Urgent Cares, OCD, and ME!!!
Buddies?Prepare to be dazzled?This is one irate chick sitting here typing?
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Sooooo?I have been sick since Friday?Right? Right?On Sunday, I am feeling sooo bad that my husband takes me to Urgent Care. Great. Well, Mr. Doctor man spends less then five minutes with me, says I have Strep Throat and sends me on my way?Prescription in hand?The cost? 35 dollars for the co-pay?
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So she takes her sad sick self to the local Kroger Pharmacy, and gets her 10 pills?The cost? 47 bucks!!! WITH INSURANCE!!! I about fell over at the pharmacy?But I realize it could be worse, so I take my sad sick self home and hope that its all gonna be better?
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Soooo?Here I am today?I am now on day 6 of feeling bad?Not better, exactly the same!!! Not only that, but seriously, still cant eat?My mouth is soooo red, swollen, sore and sensitive that I can barely stand ANYTHING to touch it?I have probably consumed less then 500 calories per day, since Friday!!! UGH!!! I tried valiantly to eat a cheeseburger today at lunch because I wanted it sooooo bad?But it was disastrous?It HURT!!!
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Okay?Sooo. I know this just isn?t ?Right??I don?t feel like this is Strep throat at ALL?I have never had a sore mouth and I NEVER have not been able to eat?So, I get in today to see my family doctor. Who I LOVE by the way?
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She takes one look at my mouth and says ?You do not have Strep!!? WHAT?!?!?!? So why in the hell have I been taking these damn 47 dollar pills all week???? She did a culture to confirm, what I have is a VIRUS, no different then the common cold, that somehow manifested in my mouth and throat in the form of Ulcers!! UGH!!! Antibiotics do NOT help a virus at all?
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Now at this point, my OCD kicks in?I am like WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??? Am I a freak? How did I get it? Why is it in my mouth?????? How do I get it out???? Am I going to die? Is everyone I came in contact with gonna die???
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She laughs, and gently reassures me that NO, I am not a freak, that she has seen 5 cases this winter! That is not exactly common, but its not unusual! I am NOT going to die, and it is transferred the same way a cold is, a cough, a sneeze, a handshake?And the worst news? There is absolutely nothing she can do for it?It has to run its course!!! GOOD GREIF!!!!
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She did, however, prescribe a topical numbing ointment for my mouth?So with my 15 dollar co-pay for the office visit and the 10 dollar co-pay for the medicine, I am now out 107 dollars, a day and a half of work, visited TWO medical establishments, with TWO medical professionals, ONLY to be told that there is no help for me????
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UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!
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I am now going to go drown my sorrows and my ulcers in tapioca pudding? If you made it this far, GOD BLESS YOU and please go enjoy a steak in my honor or something!!!
Dawn,
Ohhhh that sucks I remember years ago I had something that sounds very simliar to what you have now I remember it being very painful.
Heres to hoping you feel better very soon,
xoxoxo
Becky
I went through a similar situation just over 2 weeks ago. I was on VACATION no less and had a horrific nasal drip that made my entire back of my upper throat agonizingly sore. Nothing helped and waking up in the morning and taking a swallow was so painful. I went to Urgen Care and waited for 2 hours. The doctor said, well….you have a virus and I can’t give you anything. I begged him for something and he gave me noise spray but said it probably wouldn’t work. So I suffered for the rest of my vacation and then went to work (at a hospital) and told the doctor I worked for. He gave me a prescription, took it and felt better the NEXT MORNING.
Gotta love the medical establishment sometimes……
WHAT?!?!? That’s terrible!!! I can’t believe that first Dr!!!!! Did you call him to shout at him yet?!?!?! I’m so sorry you’re feeling so bad…..I hope it doesn’t take too long for you to get better. Feel well soon.
Oh Dawnie, You made me laugh and I needed that today! Your situation isn’t the least bit funny, but the way you tell it is and I know that we would get along so well!
Thanks for sharing and I am so sorry that you are so sick and that it has to run it’s course…how awful! The bright side, you’ll have a great loss this week!
Love you girl,
Connie
Hi Dawn,
First of all, I am SO sorry you’re going through this….it sucks, but I don’t have to tell you that. Second of all, speaking as a pharmacy tech, there are a lot of doctors that will prescribe things only because they get kick backs from drug reps. The first red flag is being prescribed something when the proper tests haven’t been done to confirm a diagnosis. That is so WRONG. When we actually do need these drugs for a bacterial infections, they aren’t going to work because we build up a tolerance for them. I HATE THAT!! I see it everyday. “Oh, its probably this, so take this”. Its crap. I know you may have wanted to know that beforehand, but just so you know for next time (hopefully not a next time, but just in case). If a doc tries to give you an RX without a proper test, tell him to shove it. Sad to say you will have to ride it out, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and keep using the numbing stuff (lydocaine of some sort I assume). Hope you feel better soon buddy….I’m thinking about you! Peace Out…
Janis
From peaceful serenity to flaming rage, what a difference a day makes! LOL! Nothing boring for you QT!
Hi all,
as an ER doc, I thought I would chime in before everyone gangs up on the medical establishment
Strep throat is often hard to diagnose. many people are carriers, that is they have a postive culture but are not symptomatic. others have symptoms of strep, and are culture negative but still have a bacterial infection that respond to antibiotics.
For legal reasons I can’t give medical advise but I can tell you how I treat patients. If a patient has Flu symptoms such as a cough and runny nose with a sore throat, most likely this is NOT strep. if the patient has a sore throat, swollen tonsils with exudate and no runny nose or cough this is more likely strep, but even if a culture is “negative” i will treat with antibiotics since it is most likely a bacterial infection that will respond to antibiotics. The other possibility is mononucleosis.
so a strep culture is not very helpful. if my exam and clinical suspicion is consistent with a bacterial infection than I will treat no matter what the culture shows. plus patients don’t have to wait another hour in the ER for the test results!
Any questions or concerns, ask your Primary Doctor!
hope this helps.
Dr Marc
A steak? A STEAK??? Sister, I’ve not had a bite of red meat in over a week!!! Tell me to go eat a steak for you!! Who do you think you are, anyway, my friend!?
Well, I already knew there was no hope for you, so what else can I say???
Well the most important part of this blog is right here I think
She did, however, prescribe a topical numbing ointment for my mouth?So with my 15 dollar co-pay for the office visit and the 10 dollar co-pay for the medicine, I am now out 107 dollars, a day and a half of work, visited TWO medical establishments, with TWO medical professionals, ONLY to be told that there is no help for me????
First off I’m glad you’ve come to finally realize that there is no help for you!!!!
I kid you know but I so couldn’t resist that one!!
Honestly though how frustrating that must have been for you!! Crazy stuff.. I sure hope it runs it’s course soon and I’m happy to hear you are at least getting some kind of caloric intake!! Even if it is tapioca pudding.. YUCK! Get well soon Dawn!!!
I sure hope you get better real soon sounds like you have really suffered with this one! Have you tried Insure or Boost the both taste good to me after I have been real sick and very hungry there have been times that was all I could keep on my stomach.
~ Lennae
wow..you have been through the ringer.. and thats why i refuse to go to a doctor.. they often lie to make money.. or just get us more sick.. you are gonna kick this virus!!
You poor thing. I feel for you. I am starting to get sick myself today. Same type of stuff. I couldn’t eat this morning and my throat hurts, my head hurts and feel sick to stomach at times. Here’s to getting better quick!!!
AWWW Dawnie!!!!!!! ((((HUGS))) Well not really, don’t want your cooties!!!
Those doctors in the immediate care are terrible. I once fractured my foot, they did xrays, and they said it was a SPRAIN!! Then they called me 4 days later and told me “Oh we re-read your xrays and it is broken”. Thats not a good thing!!! So I had 2 sets of xrays done, an air cast, a velcro thingie, over $500.00 due to the doctor. So I feel for you girlfriend!!
And stop with that OCD stuff, you aren’t a freak, and maybe the only good thing out of this is you are losing weight!!! So sometimes you have to take em how you can get em. Hope you feel 100% soon!
Your black cloud friend
Tina
Awww that sucks, so sorry to hear that you’re still sick. It sounds just awful too.
Hang in there.
I do hope you are better soon!!
I’m glad to hear that you finally found out what was wrong, and it was just a virus. I hope you start feeling better soon
Hi, Hope you feel better soon. Take care.
So sorry to hear that you’ve been sick. That’s terrible that you had to go through all that only to find out they can’t do anything for it! Oh and the $47 on meds that wouldn’t even help…. I’d be levid!!!!!
It’s amazing how sometimes, you and I are going through similar things at the same time! I feel your pain! Except mine is not in my mouth…mine is in my stomach!! I am so sick and I just KNOW that inspite of having taken my antibiotics, I am STILL going to have to visit my Primary Care Practioner!! Argh!! The good news is, that inevitably, we’ll lose weight!! I hope you feel better Dawnie!