More than 10 years ago, a student doctor in my GP surgery botched a simple blood pressure reading on me. He cranked the cuff up too high, which made me angry and hurt my arm. By the time he managed a reading, my BP was way up. So he called in the b*tch female GP I never go to. Unsympathetic, she sent me home, but not before decreeing that I should report for another BP measurement the following week. And so began 6 months of BP measurement hell, which ended with my husband, a cardiologist, phoning the senior GP to get a sense of perspective.
I do not have high blood pressure. I never have. They labeled me with 'white coat effect'*. Rubbish. What I have is a built-in annoyance with idiocy. Particularly in GPs. It starts when I book an appointment. Thank goodness I can now book online and avoid the ferocious gatekeepers. I then check-in at the handy terminal (avoiding said miseries/nosey parkers) at the desk. I sit and wait and wait and wait (sometimes up to an hour). The waiting room is hot, uncomfortable, smells of the great unwashed, and is full of sick people. I try yoga breathing. I stretch. I take a walk. I browse the Cosmo. I feel my blood pressure rising, but I am not sick. I just need a prescription review. I wish I could run away. Unfortunately, I can't avoid the actual doctor. He does have his uses.
Eventually, I am called. He repeats my contraception prescription annually, provided I can provide a BP reading. He accepted that Dr B was suitably qualified to monitor my blood pressure. I hope he never finds out that Dr B doesn't have time to take my home BP readings; I do it myself. I bought a BP monitor with the right sized cuff for my arm. I take the measurement on my left arm, about 1 week before I am due to see the doctor. Tickety-boo. All is well. Life goes on.
Does anyone else feel like this when they go to the doctor?