If not "life threatening", there is no rush... :(

[Forevermarypoppins]

I have crossed the line of aging into "needing to see the doctor" more often than I'd like! I've have a vertigo issue for years but episodes were far and few between. NOT any more unfortunately. Since mid Nov, I've had 3 head spinning and nausea events with #1/2 taking a good 48 hrs to recover from ( mainly nausea). #3 has kept me housebound for days on end although I'm able to go out now. The constant feeling of being "off" remains.
As "no luck" would have it, my 12/6 and then 12/13 PC appointments were cancelled by my DR for whatever reasons and I did finally see him 2 days ago. Now my ENT referred appt isn't until 2/3. Therefore it will be about 8 weeks between first feeling crummy and getting into ENT! There is literally next to nothing I can do to make all this go away except for a head movement "exercise" to help move calcium deposit in my inner ear. It is not being solved . I am hoping the ENT will do the head exercise in her office or set me up for a few PT visits for that.
Talking with my elder uncle and my gf, they each are waiting MONTHS to get in to see a Neurologist and a PC. Why, I wonder? Then I think to myself, both my PC and Cardiologist are in there early 70's. I like them both and joke that my next dr's will be too young for my liking but it's inevitable. I ponder if they both have been asked to stay in practice because the need is there but incoming new Drs are not? Anyone else have this experience too?

 

[vanillagirl]

I’m sorry you are dealing with vertigo. It’s awful.

It’s really hard to get into doctors and tests here as well. I had to get a mammogram done. Made the appt in October and my appt was just last week! That was first available. I need a gyn appt I scheduled in November and the soonest available is the end of April. I see a gastro and it was 6 months wait for the soonest appointment. I stalked her online availability amd was able to bump it up but still months to wait. Not being able to see a doctor in a timely manner has been really concerning. Usually I’ve been able to see my primary within a week or two but knock wood that is still the situation now. It’s been a few months since I’ve needed to.

Here in my state I can schedule myself for PT without a dr referral. Maybe look into that possibility to get relief sooner? I have done that for back issues.

I heard in the coming years nurse practitioners will be seeing more folks than doctors.

 

[tvguy]

I have crossed the line of aging into "needing to see the doctor" more often than I'd like! I've have a vertigo issue for years but episodes were far and few between. NOT any more unfortunately. Since mid Nov, I've had 3 head spinning and nausea events with #1/2 taking a good 48 hrs to recover from ( mainly nausea). #3 has kept me housebound for days on end although I'm able to go out now. The constant feeling of being "off" remains.
As "no luck" would have it, my 12/6 and then 12/13 PC appointments were cancelled by my DR for whatever reasons and I did finally see him 2 days ago. Now my ENT referred appt isn't until 2/3. Therefore it will be about 8 weeks between first feeling crummy and getting into ENT! There is literally next to nothing I can do to make all this go away except for a head movement "exercise" to help move calcium deposit in my inner ear. It is not being solved . I am hoping the ENT will do the head exercise in her office or set me up for a few PT visits for that.
Talking with my elder uncle and my gf, they each are waiting MONTHS to get in to see a Neurologist and a PC. Why, I wonder? Then I think to myself, both my PC and Cardiologist are in there early 70's. I like them both and joke that my next dr's will be too young for my liking but it's inevitable. I ponder if they both have been asked to stay in practice because the need is there but incoming new Drs are not? Anyone else have this experience too?

Changes in our healthcare system have created a shortage of specialists. I had an urgent (but not emergency) kidney situation and the earliest kidney Doctor appointment I could get was 4 months later. Had to wait another 2 months for a kidney biopsy. I had a suspicious spot on my face that turned out to be cancer and there was a three month wait to see a Dermatologist to get a biopsy, and another four month wait to get an appointment to have it removed.
Interesting about the ages of the Doctors. I have had to switch Doctors twice because my Doctors retired, both at age 60. My Primary was one, and his 75 year old partner took over his patients temporarily until the medical group forced him out because he was too old school and set in his ways. For example, he did not believe in colonoscopies until age 65, not age 45 as is current opinion in the Medical world.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I feel that way from too much salt and too much heat. There is a little known thing called POTS and if its going on avoiding processed foods, food salt and sipping Powerade/ Gatorade all day to balance out the Potassium and other salts more evenly helps a lot. No harm in trying if you are stuck waiting. Also, if you are ever feeling super unwell an ER visit will fast track referrals. Being dizzy and nauseous can be all sorts of complicated things, I wouldn't just write it off as a nothing.

 

[barkley]

one of the reasons we've opted for an hmo (well, kind of a hybrid ppo/hmo because in recent years we can self refer for specialists) is because of the number of primary care providers retiring/lack of replacements. over the last years we've lost 2 due to retirements and with the second it was HARD to find a replacement (all had long wait lists for new patients). with our hmo if they lose a doctor they have to assign us a new one (we were VERY lucky when this happened at one point some years ago and we were assigned to a fantastic doctor that had not taken new patients in years). I am happy that my current doctor is a good bit younger than me.

long waits? longest wait for a specialist we've enountered is dh's sleep doctor-1 year wait so you make sure to make your yearly checkup appointment as you exit from your current year's.

vertigo? awful, vile-and nothing as depicted in movies. I've had 2 bad episodes and It was terrifying. never knew it could throw you off your feet. I hope you get seen soon and it's something easily resolved.

 

[leebee]

Sometimes when I get vertigo, I cannot tell where my arms or legs are in relation to the center of my body. It's awful. I take meclizine or ondasetron to help offset the nausea and vomiting. It works somewhat, sometimes, but the vertigo is still there. I've also found that when I can feel it coming on, if I take a decongestant the vertigo can sometimes be avoided. Doc says it's due to inner ear pressures, changes, salts, etc. If I can keep from getting too congested, it can help with the vertigo. I also know better than to look up!

 

[TippyThomas]

I go to my primary care and my endocrinologist every 6 months each. Any time either of them need to send me to a specialist for a referral it generally takes months and months to get in. They are all within the same medical network as well. Seems the waiting lists are rather long. I agree that it seems like there is no rush at all.

 

[piglet1979]

I feel that way from too much salt and too much heat. There is a little known thing called POTS and if its going on avoiding processed foods, food salt and sipping Powerade/ Gatorade all day to balance out the Potassium and other salts more evenly helps a lot. No harm in trying if you are stuck waiting. Also, if you are ever feeling super unwell an ER visit will fast track referrals. Being dizzy and nauseous can be all sorts of complicated things, I wouldn't just write it off as a nothing.

My DD has POTS. Heat is a big trigger for her. She is on medication for it and has been much better but in the summer she still has some episodes and when that happens she eats salt packets and that levels her out until she could get somewhere to eat. Mainly was happening at horse shorse.

 

[piglet1979]

We have waited for months for specialist for my DD. Last year we waited 9 months to get into the neurologist for migraines. Once we finally saw her, things got pretty bad (she had a constant headache this whole time) that we had to go to the ER 4 times in a month and the last visit was for stroke symptoms that, after going through tons of tests, was just a migraine. We have also seen doctors that end up leaving the state to work in a warmer climate. She had an awesome cardiologist that moved to Arizona. The good ones seem to never stay.

 

[NotUrsula]

I've got both POTS and Ménière's Disease; I've had them both since childhood. IME, there really is no effective fast treatment for Ménière's that doesn't do more harm than good; as any of the surgical treatments are likely to significantly damage your hearing. (Ménière's usually causes some hearing loss on its own, along with tinnitus in most cases, so as my doctor explained it to me, going for the surgical options to try to stop it means accepting the likelihood of losing your hearing entirely.)

The Epley Maneuver (the exercises you have been taught) is not much help if the problem is Ménière's, because it isn't the crystals in your ear that cause it; it is fluid pressure in the inner ear. (The Epley is effective for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which is caused by movement of calcium crystals away from where they are supposed to be. BPPV is more common than Ménière's, but has a different onset pattern usually.)

Provided you are not unlucky enough, like me, to have both POTS and Ménière's, if one of them is the culprit you can pretty easily narrow it down by how your body reacts to salt. Salt, particularly with the electrolytes found in sports drinks like Gatorade, helps with POTS, and usually pretty quickly. Ménière's is more stubborn, but the opposite is true of it; salt makes it worse, so the usual recommendation is to follow a low-sodium diet and take a diuretic if you have a flare-up. My doctor also gives me a scrip for low-dose valium (2 mg) which is very effective at reducing the symptoms of a Ménière's flare-up; he says that no one has been able to determine exactly why it works in most instances, but it almost always does.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

I've got both POTS and Ménière's Disease; I've had them both since childhood. IME, there really is no effective fast treatment for Ménière's that doesn't do more harm than good; as any of the surgical treatments are likely to significantly damage your hearing. (Ménière's usually causes some hearing loss on its own, along with tinnitus in most cases, so as my doctor explained it to me, going for the surgical options to try to stop it means accepting the likelihood of losing your hearing entirely.)

The Epley Maneuver (the exercises you have been taught) is not much help if the problem is Ménière's, because it isn't the crystals in your ear that cause it; it is fluid pressure in the inner ear. (The Epley is effective for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which is caused by movement of calcium crystals away from where they are supposed to be. BPPV is more common than Ménière's, but has a different onset pattern usually.)

Provided you are not unlucky enough, like me, to have both POTS and Ménière's, if one of them is the culprit you can pretty easily narrow it down by how your body reacts to salt. Salt, particularly with the electrolytes found in sports drinks like Gatorade, helps with POTS, and usually pretty quickly. Ménière's is more stubborn, but the opposite is true of it; salt makes it worse, so the usual recommendation is to follow a low-sodium diet and take a diuretic if you have a flare-up. My doctor also gives me a scrip for low-dose valium (2 mg) which is very effective at reducing the symptoms of a Ménière's flare-up; he says that no one has been able to determine exactly why it works in most instances, but it almost always does.

What you said about Meniers sounds almost exactly what my husband's Dr has told him/treated him about his Menier's

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have crossed the line of aging into "needing to see the doctor" more often than I'd like! I've have a vertigo issue for years but episodes were far and few between. NOT any more unfortunately. Since mid Nov, I've had 3 head spinning and nausea events with #1/2 taking a good 48 hrs to recover from ( mainly nausea). #3 has kept me housebound for days on end although I'm able to go out now. The constant feeling of being "off" remains.
As "no luck" would have it, my 12/6 and then 12/13 PC appointments were cancelled by my DR for whatever reasons and I did finally see him 2 days ago. Now my ENT referred appt isn't until 2/3. Therefore it will be about 8 weeks between first feeling crummy and getting into ENT! There is literally next to nothing I can do to make all this go away except for a head movement "exercise" to help move calcium deposit in my inner ear. It is not being solved . I am hoping the ENT will do the head exercise in her office or set me up for a few PT visits for that.
Talking with my elder uncle and my gf, they each are waiting MONTHS to get in to see a Neurologist and a PC. Why, I wonder? Then I think to myself, both my PC and Cardiologist are in there early 70's. I like them both and joke that my next dr's will be too young for my liking but it's inevitable. I ponder if they both have been asked to stay in practice because the need is there but incoming new Drs are not? Anyone else have this experience too?

Wishing you improved health, @Forevermarypoppins. I hear you about how tough it is see medical people. 's

 

[goofyernmost]

I have crossed the line of aging into "needing to see the doctor" more often than I'd like! I've have a vertigo issue for years but episodes were far and few between. NOT any more unfortunately. Since mid Nov, I've had 3 head spinning and nausea events with #1/2 taking a good 48 hrs to recover from ( mainly nausea). #3 has kept me housebound for days on end although I'm able to go out now. The constant feeling of being "off" remains.
As "no luck" would have it, my 12/6 and then 12/13 PC appointments were cancelled by my DR for whatever reasons and I did finally see him 2 days ago. Now my ENT referred appt isn't until 2/3. Therefore it will be about 8 weeks between first feeling crummy and getting into ENT! There is literally next to nothing I can do to make all this go away except for a head movement "exercise" to help move calcium deposit in my inner ear. It is not being solved . I am hoping the ENT will do the head exercise in her office or set me up for a few PT visits for that.
Talking with my elder uncle and my gf, they each are waiting MONTHS to get in to see a Neurologist and a PC. Why, I wonder? Then I think to myself, both my PC and Cardiologist are in there early 70's. I like them both and joke that my next dr's will be too young for my liking but it's inevitable. I ponder if they both have been asked to stay in practice because the need is there but incoming new Drs are not? Anyone else have this experience too?

I no longer even try to make an appointment for something new. Unless I suspect something isn't in need of immediate attention, but should be seen sooner rather than later I simply go to the emergency room. Even if they say go home it sometimes opens the door and let's you know if it requires immediate attention or they think that it will just run it's course and repair itself.

Keep in mind that unless it is tremendous pain or other important symptoms, giving it a few days observation before going is my recommendation. If, however, it shows some symptoms of things like heart attack or stroke or maybe a large bone protruding though the skin waiting might be permanent.

 

[TinkAgainU]

... I had a suspicious spot on my face that turned out to be cancer and there was a three month wait to see a Dermatologist to get a biopsy, and another four month wait to get an appointment to have it removed. ...

I have personal experience with this and the damage waiting can cause. If you've had skin cancer, I strongly suggest setting up a 6 or 12 month standing appointment with a dermatologist (whatever your insurance allows, and it might be more often if you've had a skin cancer removed). Make each appointment for the next appointment before you leave.

I also make sure that it is a Dermatologist who does MOHs surgeries at least once a month (most MOHs doctors do them regularly, so their staff can just book you for the next date), so you can get anything really iffy handled sooner. Waiting can result in very extensive surgery and a lot of reconstruction, plus totally staying out of the sun (not fun for a Disney lover). Getting something treated early can be a such a quick easy fix. Again, if you've had skin cancer once, you already know you need to step up your prevention steps.

Just my two cents worth, but I earned that two cents worth the hard way

 

[tvguy]

I have personal experience with this and the damage waiting can cause. If you've had skin cancer, I strongly suggest setting up a 6 or 12 month standing appointment with a dermatologist (whatever your insurance allows, and it might be more often if you've had a skin cancer removed). Make each appointment for the next appointment before you leave.

I also make sure that it is a Dermatologist who does MOHs surgeries at least once a month (most MOHs doctors do them regularly, so their staff can just book you for the next date), so you can get anything really iffy handled sooner. Waiting can result in very extensive surgery and a lot of reconstruction, plus totally staying out of the sun (not fun for a Disney lover). Getting something treated early can be a such a quick easy fix. Again, if you've had skin cancer once, you already know you need to step up your prevention steps.

Just my two cents worth, but I earned that two cents worth the hard way

No problem with appointments once I was an established patient. I was an automatic 12 month followup patient until the biopsy came back positive, then I immediately became a 6 month followup patent.
This practice is three Doctors and one PA. Two Doctors do the exams, one Doctor does all the MOHs surgeries (that is all that Doctor does full time) .

 

[Dznypal]

I’m really interested in this thread about the dizziness and vertigo since out of the last 5 mornings I woke up 2 mornings with the room spinning. Not a great feeling. Actually it’s scary.
It doesn’t last long. If it helps anyone all I do is close my eyes for just a few minutes.
Funny thing is the rest of the day I’m fine except for a bit tired
I didn’t mean to hijack the thread

 

[DodgerGirl]

I agree about all this quite well. The exact same thing happened to my dad last week when he went in for an eye doctor visit and Dad had to wait a long long LONG time for his eye doctor to see him and the eye doctor never saw Dad and so Dad had to talk to the office secretary and she told him that they had no record of Dad's eye doctor visit and they finally told him that they messed up the time of his appointment and so my father ended up leaving and he was so mad and they moved his appointment to March and this week instead of a checkup they just gave him an eye test and the week before last week my father had eye drops put in his eye. And this isn't the first time Dad has had problems with this eye doctor

 

[tony67]

Yeah - the system is a mess. In my state depending on your health plan its almost impossible to see get a PCP in the local area - and I live very close to a major hospital system. From what I understand it has to do with the cost of malpractice insurance. because of this did not se a doctor for about 10 years - I was not driving an hour to see a PCP. BTW - I had BCBS which in theory is the "gold standard"...well its not.

I changed plans and was able to get a local Doctor - but could not get an appointment for 9 months and they would not give us any referrals until I saw him - even for a dermatologist for very dry skin problems.

As for the OPs statement about:

MONTHS to get in to see a Neurologist

That is pretty much how it is - we have had several concerning incidents and had to wait months to see a Neurologist and it always seems to be before the holidays so then we are stressed about it during the holidays and in the end they find nothing.
Last time we saw a Neurologist in 2021 he just went on and on about something that had nothing to do with why we were there.
He was a smug SOB and spent very little time on the actual issue.

Our system is a total mess, but so are many of the other countries people rave about.

I've said this before - and I have first hand experience with this on the Insurance\billing side of it - but the whole thing with health insurance is to deny deny deny as long as possible. As long as they have that money in the bank they are collecting interest on it. How many people just give up and pay the bill out of pocket instead of fighting it for months. People are busy and don't have the time.

South Park did a pretty good episode on the Health Care System.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

I’m really interested in this thread about the dizziness and vertigo since out of the last 5 mornings I woke up 2 mornings with the room spinning. Not a great feeling. Actually it’s scary.
It doesn’t last long. If it helps anyone all I do is close my eyes for just a few minutes.
Funny thing is the rest of the day I’m fine except for a bit tired
I didn’t mean to hijack the thread

For now, my PC thinks I may BPPV. There is an "exercise" a person can do at home to help ease the problem but there is also Physical Therapy for a more stronger approach. That's where I'm at.

 

[Micca]

I heard in the coming years nurse practitioners will be seeing more folks than doctors.

Over the years my doctors have retired or passed away, I now have a NP as my regular medical caregiver. I like him and he hasn't steered me wrong, but even he is difficult to get in to see. He takes care of all the routine stuff and if a one-off situation pops up, they tell me to go to urgent care as there are no NP appointments available for several weeks.

Maybe an upside is the waiting room times are almost non-existent. Maybe that's a result of covid when they figured out having a room full of sick people waiting to see the doc was a bad idea. I seldom wait even 5 minutes for an appointment with the NP.