Appealing against GP refusal of treatment....Any Advice ?

imposter2.0

Fking hell, cooldad - that puts everything into perspective. Best wishes to you...

cooldad

On the bright side, I have bloody good private health cover....

orraloon

That's bad news Cooldad, don't know what to say. We don't know one another, just visitors on an internet forum, but wish you the best possible time remaining.

With you on homeopathy and faith healing; the only Faith Healer I'd listen to is the classic track by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

I did have a useful session today with the chiropractor; spent a good hour with her, doubt one ever gets such a time with one's GP, gave my joints and in particular the dodgy shoulder a right going over. Outcome is shoulder joint is AOK, but I do have a pointer on some soft tissue issue around the clavicle, to take back to the GP and get tested. Feel a worthwhile spend of £60 to get those positive ticks and also a fast track to get to the real cause.

cooldad

Haha you must be as old as me. I still have a couple of his albums on vinyl. Not Next, but have all his stuff on DVD or mp3.

First album I listened to was The Impossible Dream when I was about 11. Hooked.

For all the kiddies out there, Faith Healer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rQ6BBc8f6Y

And just for fun, his take on an old Jacques Brel song, the title track on Next. Weirdly freaky lyrics for a preteen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E8bHdJ9_4k

keef66

Homeopathy is self-evidently nonsense that doesn't even make it as far as pseudo-science. But, amusing though it is, the Daily Mash t-shirt which says: "Homeopathy: Making F@ck all difference since 1796" isn't 100% right either. (I still want one though)
The brain's an amazing thing, especially in the area of pain perception and management, so homeopathy could conceivably produce results in those that believe it will, through a powerful placebo effect.
But as a sceptical scientist it's probably not for me though....

And while a lot of the traditional Chinese explanations about Acupuncture sound like complete b0llocks to me, I think again there's a chance it could work in some cases of pain management. If I had chronic pain that conventional medicine couldn't resolve I'd definitely give it a go. At least there's something physical going on, and a wizened Oriental practitioner is sticking some improbably thin needles into you and giving them a tweak. If than initiates some kind of physiological / biochemical / autoimmune event which helps with inflammation and / or pain, what's not to like?

@ Cooldad; sorry to hear about your cancer diagnosis Wishing you the best whatever...

Matthewfalle

keef66 wrote:

Homeopathy is self-evidently nonsense that doesn't even make it as far as pseudo-science. But, amusing though it is, the Daily Mash t-shirt which says: "Homeopathy: Making F@ck all difference since 1796" isn't 100% right either. (I still want one though)
The brain's an amazing thing, especially in the area of pain perception and management, so homeopathy could conceivably produce results in those that believe it will, through a powerful placebo effect.
But as a sceptical scientist it's probably not for me though....

And while a lot of the traditional Chinese explanations about Acupuncture sound like complete b0llocks to me, I think again there's a chance it could work in some cases of pain management. If I had chronic pain that conventional medicine couldn't resolve I'd definitely give it a go. At least there's something physical going on, and a wizened Oriental practitioner is sticking some improbably thin needles into you and giving them a tweak. If than initiates some kind of physiological / biochemical / autoimmune event which helps with inflammation and / or pain, what's not to like?

@ Cooldad; sorry to hear about your cancer diagnosis Wishing you the best whatever...

Cooldad - I can just but echo sentiments as above. Extremely sorry.

I had acupuncture in a field once for a fecked back. Literally 20 minutes later I was back and up and running..

TDV gets it regular (ooooeeerrrrr!) for her back and rates it. She also gets acupuncture!

Well recommended from this Parish.

svetty

You could try asking your GP for referral to the local specialist pain management clinic?

kingrollo

@cooldad - Sorry to hear your news mate - very bad stuff

Just an update for the rest of you:-

Sunday eve (3am monday morning) - Pain was so bad I got pretty desparate and called 111 - predictably that advised me to go to A&E - Unluckily I got a doctor who clearly was going the motions (I have had my spine examined many times - and you need to press to provoke pain - not finger touch) - she gave me 2 co codamal - said she would back in 45 mins to see if that had eased the pain. about an hour later a nurse came round with 2 boxes of co codamal and said I was ready to go home ! - I protested that the pain hadn't eased one iota. She said any stronger medication would have to come from and be supervised by GP.

Monday - 1st Day off sick
Private physio - accupuncture and ultra sound - no immediate effect - advised me to get naxproxen (ant inflamatory) from GP. showed me seating and sleeping positions - things did start to ease about 11pm

Tuesday
Woke up - pain had subsided to manageable levels - didn't take anymore co codamol - had one naxproxen - pain felt ok until around 2pm. Another visit to GP - and my depression\anxiety is worsening very quickly - esp at night. GP said I could combine co cadomal and naxproxen - limit of 8 ccml per day. Set me up with some counselling

Tommorow
Annother accupuncture session

Thursday
Staff NHS physiotherapy session

Friday accupuncture

My plan at this stage is to get pain under control with the least medication. If I can get back work - I will have self fund the jab in due course - will exhaust the free options first.


Not really a political person - but no way will I vote tory again after this.

imposter2.0

I knew the tories were to blame

You probably know this already, but - regardless of their efficacy - the sooner you can get off the codeine, the better your insides will be...

sloppyschleckonds

kingrollo wrote:

I will have self fund the jab in due course - will exhaust the free options first.


Not really a political person - but no way will I vote tory again after this.

:shock:

Matthewfalle

so you were happy to vote tory before even though you knew other people were suffering what you are suffering now?

webboo

kingrollo wrote:

Thursday
Staff NHS physiotherapy session

You work for the NHS.

imposter2.0

Webboo wrote:

kingrollo wrote:

Thursday
Staff NHS physiotherapy session

You work for the NHS.

Works for the NHS and voted Tory. Must be a Consultant Surgeon

Matthewfalle

Imposter wrote:

Webboo wrote:

kingrollo wrote:

Thursday
Staff NHS physiotherapy session

You work for the NHS.

Works for the NHS and voted Tory. )

this.

the mind boggles.

kingrollo

I havent voted tory in many years.

I am in a pretty desparate place with this and my depression. I look to this thread. I truly regret posting that comment now.
please dont let the politics derail a thread that has until now been helpful to me.

slowbike

I don't think it'd matter which party you voted for - treatment (or not) would be similar.

sloppyschleckonds

Does anyone know approximately how much this course of treatment would be if paid for privately?

veronese68

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Does anyone know approximately how much this course of treatment would be if paid for privately?

I'm guessing in the long run it will cost more than just paying for the jab in the first place.
Not saying treatment should be justified predominantly by cost, but in this case it sounds like paying for a treatment would have saved money overall.

kingrollo

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Does anyone know approximately how much this course of treatment would be if paid for privately?

£1800 - £2500

sloppyschleckonds

kingrollo wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Does anyone know approximately how much this course of treatment would be if paid for privately?

£1800 - £2500

I'm not surprised

ridgeway_swiss

The simple reality is that the NHS is far too cheap and cannot afford these services and it will keep cutting treatments until something changes.

1) i'd consider changing GP
2) call up some health insurance companies and get some policy quotes, declare the illness and clarify if they'd cover it
3) take a look at some low cost country "health tourism" prices, perhaps in Poland (or other) it could be much cheaper (flights are cheap) your GP may even help suggest some overseas surgeries for this

Beyond that i'd do some serious research into alternatives, there must be some.

Has surgery been considered ?

Have you seen a Consultant (sorry if i missed it in the thread)

kingrollo

Some good news....

I went for an emergency orthopaedic assessment today - and she is recommending an MRI and a Jab - I told her that I thought these werent funding she said:-

Those guidelines are for non specific low back pain - you problem is clearly coming from the facet joint - so its not non specific low back pain

The guidelines are guidelines - if the treatment gives you six years relief then its worth doing.


Basically what I have said from day 1 - pleased - but really angry with GP for putting me through all that stress

ridgeway_swiss

Hey great news !!!!

Happy pain free days again very soon i hope

craigus89

Glad it turned out well for you.

FishFish

Ridgeway Swiss wrote:

Hey great news !!!!

Happy pain free days again very soon i hope

I liked your idea of trying a foreign provider. Some are really quite sophisticated and usually more tractible than the NHS and clearly more accessible than UK private treatment. I had a knee injury treated in India - fine since.

drlodge

orraloon wrote:

OP. Have you tried an assessment by a chiropractor? Ok, so is classified as alternative medicine, but perhaps perhaps.

I'm not convinced a chiropractor is "alternative", I definitely approve of this route. Not to be confused with an Osteopath.

I had a slipped/prolapsed disc about 10 years ago, saw a physio initially which in the early stages was good but after a few weeks, the exercises they gave me actually made things worse. They are trying to treat the symptoms without knowing exactly what is causing the pain.

I went to see my GP, who referred me to a Consultant specialist, the next day I had an MRI so he could see exactly what was wrong - prolapsed disc between L4/L5. Said I had two options (1) steroid injection (2) operation (discectomy?) Didn't fancy (2) so went for (1). It had zero effect. After that, he had no other advice.

Someone somewhere soon after that (might have been the GP) suggested a chiropractor, who practised at the surgery. I saw him for a good many times and he had a very positive effect on my back. Immediately before my 30 mins treatment I had a deep tissue massage which helped warm everything up and meant the chiro cold get straight on with treating me and made the sessions more effective. He also looked at the way I walked, lifestyle and once or twice used acupuncture. An all round "treat the whole body" kind of guy, an oriental chap.

After a while, I believe the prolapsed bit of disc kind of dies and dissolves, but a good chiro can really speed up your recovery and help prevent it reoccurring.

So my advice would be - find yourself a really good chiropractor. And get an MRI if you don't already have one.

imposter2.0

drlodge wrote:

I'm not convinced a chiropractor is "alternative", I definitely approve of this route. Not to be confused with an Osteopath.

Chiropractors are considered as 'complementary' therapy in the sense that it is not usually available via the NHS route. So yes, it is alternative in that sense. Other alternative therapies include hypnotists, faith healers, witch doctors and Jedi mind tricks.

itboffin

kingrollo wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Does anyone know approximately how much this course of treatment would be if paid for privately?

£1800 - £2500

I'm glad its working out for you but out of interest who quoted that amount? I had the same injection 5 years ago for my C6 issue, like you after almost 2 years of the strongest painkillers doing pretty much nothing other than turning me into a zombie, i finally got a referral to a private clinic who did the MRI scan, confirmed the issue and recommended the injection however my local area (Wiltshire) weren't funding at that time because the whole procedure cost +£8k :shock:

Again like you i had the injection and within a few days the pain started to go, mind you i've had to radically change my life and continued taking a medical called Gabapentin for a few more months, those pills did more for me than any painkillers.

kingrollo

itboffin wrote:

kingrollo wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Does anyone know approximately how much this course of treatment would be if paid for privately?

£1800 - £2500

I'm glad its working out for you but out of interest who quoted that amount? I had the same injection 5 years ago for my C6 issue, like you after almost 2 years of the strongest painkillers doing pretty much nothing other than turning me into a zombie, i finally got a referral to a private clinic who did the MRI scan, confirmed the issue and recommended the injection however my local area (Wiltshire) weren't funding at that time because the whole procedure cost +£8k :shock:

Again like you i had the injection and within a few days the pain started to go, mind you i've had to radically change my life and continued taking a medical called Gabapentin for a few more months, those pills did more for me than any painkillers.

Those quotes I got from nuffield and spire health. I think what they do though, is that you can't just turn up for the injection. You have to have an consultation/mri/consulation/jab under mri conditions/ follow up consulation & after care.

DeVlaeminck

drlodge wrote:

orraloon wrote:

OP. Have you tried an assessment by a chiropractor? Ok, so is classified as alternative medicine, but perhaps perhaps.

I'm not convinced a chiropractor is "alternative", I definitely approve of this route. Not to be confused with an Osteopath.
.......

So my advice would be - find yourself a really good chiropractor. And get an MRI if you don't already have one.

I know there are differences but Osteos, Chiros and other Physios that learn manipulation are often going to use the same techniques.