Covid and Work, Covid Advice and General Chat

Thanks Hopeful. Well spoke to the GP few days ago and she said to come off all BP meds for a week. Wasn't over concerned re my bloods as my white cells and lymphocytes have always been quite high so that's probably my normal. Good news is after coming off the meds I've played two games of golf and didn't overheat at all and on my walk on Saturday just perspired as you would on a two mile walk rather than massively over heating which I have been doing, so it does point to the meds! Having said that after my HBA1c was better I have had a couple of Bank Holiday treats so a few more carbs for a couple of days, so it could be a lack of carbs that caused the over heating! It wasn't low blood sugar I don't think. I have had a few of those, usually on the golf course or when I am hungry and that's more of a cold, clammy sweat that improves after eating something rather than an over heating style sweat - but it could be. Cutting down on carbs again this week so will probably know more by the end of the week.

I don't have a meter so don't test. Never been offered one and to be honest I don't want one. I know many find it useful but I'm obsessed with testing, taking my blood pressure etc, and I would over do it and worry all the time so with my personality I think the bad would outweigh the benefits.

Re the foot the appointment was massively frustrating. I have a lazy big toe apparently, which means I am walking flat footed on one foot so all impact is on the ball of the foot so hence the pain. Just been given some exercises to do and that's it. Seemed a load of waffle really as no reason given for this "lazy toe" and if it's been like that for years why no pain previously?! No scan or treatment offered so very disappointing but he is the "expert" so I'll try the exercises but not holding my breath!

Thank you, it's good to have someone to talk to about this sort of stuff. Hope you are well, and always here if you need to vent!

Hiya yeah all still good, although my BP has gone up a bit due to being off the meds so either hoping the GP on Monday will re prescribe Amlodipine or try another med. I don't know what it is about NHS physios and the like when it comes to "injuries" and muscular or skeletal issues. Any other health problem you would be sent for tests, scans etc to find out what the problem is before suggesting any treatment but bar an x-ray on the foot last year they always seem reluctant to examine the injury correctly and send for scans. I can remember in my football days I used to see a couple of private physios. They would generally diagnose then you would sit there with ultrasound or electrode treatment etc. I even had a long standing hamstring issue that two appointments with a kinesiologist sorted. That was weird though I admit. They deal with pressure points and I was sceptical but after 6 months of feeling like I was being shot in the back of the leg every time I put my socks on I haven't had the problem since! He wasn't cheap though. £60 a session and that was over 10 years ago.

These telephone appointments are bizarre I agree with you. In one I had to stand my phone up whilst on a video call to the consultant and point the phone at my feet whilst trying to listen to him. It was impossible! I too miss the days of ringing the surgery and getting an appointment on the day. Problem is I think originally my surgery had something like 6 thousand patients and 8 GP's. Now they have about 35,000 patients with the same number of GP's!

So after the last few DWP appointments being by phone they have cancelled next weeks phone appointment and it's now taking place at the job centre! So they agree that until I receive my second vaccination I can apply for work from home jobs, but now I have to visit the job centre in person. So GP surgeries don't want you anywhere near them but the Job Centre is fine?!?!? Just hope I don't have to hug anyone!!

Hopeful34 said:

That is so crazy Max. Sending you virtual hugs.
I saw that the GP's were going to make it a permanent way of working that the initial triage was by telephone and then if the person on the phone deemed it necessary you got a face to face appointment. However, that rapidly changed and now we've got the choice of a telephone or face to face appointment apparently. Will wait and see if that happens in reality.

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Must confess I've quite liked the way GPs work now to an extent. Obviously it doesn't work if you need certain conditions physically looked at but I find you don't feel rushed on the phone and if you are like me I have previous results etc on my PC so I can have my records in front of me.

I've heard that more than 70% of employees at the DWP don't feel safe going back themselves and strike action has been rumoured. It's fairly obvious that they are desperate to sanction people and that's easier to do if people go to the centres. I better put an Allegedly in there!

*Update - They messaged me to say they had changed it back to a phone appt. Surprising and pleasing but why go through that in the first place?!

Oh the joy it never rains but pours! After recovering from all the small issues of the last few weeks my GP has sent me for an urgent referral to Haematology at the hospital after my blood work came back abnormal! She redid tests after my White Blood cells were 11.8 and my Lymphocytes were 5.3. Second round of results WBC at 12.9, Lymphocytes had dropped to 3.5 but my Neutrophils had suddenly shot up from a normal 5.3 to 8.2. I was hoping it was down to that insect bite I had a couple of weeks back but my WBC were 11.2 in February and are still rising. The only thing that comforts me is that my WBC, Neutrophils and Lymphocytes have always been in and out of the abnormal range and can drop as quickly as they jump so hopefully it's a case of a new GP just covering themselves. Not sure how high these readings need to be to be considered extremely worrying?

On top of that my metatargila is getting worse and I now may need foot surgery. Bet my friends at the DWP will be delighted to hear all this (not!) As I say never rains but pours!

Thanks Hopeful, always nice I can talk to you. No appointment as yet they just rang to see what hospital I wanted to attend. One 5 minutes away or one in the middle of Brighton, you would have thought they could have worked that one out by themselves! Hoping it's just an over cautious GP. None of the others seem to have been concerned when they have been elevated over the years so we will see. Remember one GP saying if it's something serious they would be "really" high rather than just elevated but don't know if that's true. I do have arthritic hips but that's Osteoarthritis I assume.

The foot is a real pain. The discomfort is now in the toes ands at times I experience what feels like a small pebble under my foot, but there is no pebble. I believe that can denote Morton's neuroma but will see what the consultant says at the next appointment,. Just can't seem to have a run of no doctors for a while!!

Hope you are all ok?

HSSS said:

Well I returned to work mid week after 2 months sick with a work injury and then 3 months unpaid, mostly due to me being unhappy with their COVID measures and them agreeing as I still have lingering injury issues restricting duties. So first time back since pre Christmas

I spent the morning with an unmasked unofficial HR person having their exemplary hand washing rules explained. Ok it was a little more than this but still a refusal to accept aerosol transmission because they aren’t compulsory. They also eventually explained (unprompted by me but gratefully received) why they were exempt and that they could only wear it for an hour or two at a time. Well excuse me but wouldn’t a meeting with a person such as myself be a good time to at least try a while. The whole purpose was reassurance knowing I am cv and worried. I had to request open windows.

Then within an hour another member of staff went home sick as they’d had a cough for two days and felt unwell all week Two days later another was really ill with classic symptoms and a third isolating as a result. Today I heard that the first had a negative lateral flow (which miss 50% of positives) and the second a negative pcr. So it seems all’s well (for now) despite the panic.
During the next 48hrs I saw every single worker in close proximity to another without their (mostly thin cloth) masks being on their faces. My ffp2 remained closely fitted all day except when I went outside for lunch and breaks. It seems vaccinations and May 17th relaxations mean the covid variant and rising cases and long covid don’t matter at all.

Welcome back

on the plus side my youngest left school Friday so one less worry.

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Welcome back indeed! I'm staggered at the continuous mistakes and lessons not being learnt by the Government and down, which is once again being proven by the spread of the Indian variant. "Every" single time they let go of the brakes this happens and lessons aren't being learnt at all. I shopped last week in a local store and that particular road must think that they are immune as 80% of customers and staff weren't wearing masks. Then I had my DWP experience where GP's and others still don't see people face to face but Job centres do! If in your case HR aren't even on the ball what hope is there that anyone else will tow the line! I still hear people bleating about their freedom being taken away by having to wear a mask or having to abide by restrictions without any realisation of the irony (or not caring) that it's people not wearing masks and not going with the restrictions that limits those freedoms in the first place! What about the rights of the rest of us? Is wearing a mask or staying a safe distance to protect others really such a deprivation of liberties?! Good to hear from you HSSS.

Hi Hopeful, hope you are well? No news on haematology appt as yet. Got to call them Friday if I haven't heard anything so I'm not on the urgent, urgent list. Have a skin appt on Thursday (the joy) just checking up on the old sun spots you get as you become older but not anticipating a problem. More worried about my car as it's in for a service today and worst case scenario it could need brakes, clutch and suspension arm so my credit card could be in therapy by the end of today! We shall see, fingers crossed, but my car and I seem to be ageing at the same levels! It's done 110,000 miles but I can't afford a new one and the quandary is no car, no job but no job can't afford a car so hopefully it survives and can stagger on for a few more years! How's you?

Hiya, Yep just got the car back today. Not as bad as feared although repairs had to be done to pass the MOT. Will need new brakes once I start work again but as I don't do too many miles at the moment it can survive. The guy I use now seems to just do bits when needed rather than some garages tend to repair before they need repairing which has it's pros and cons. I probably have a higher chance of breaking down using this guy but I've got breakdown cover so not really an issue. It's funny really because with things like a kettle, oven, washing machine etc many of us tend to only buy when the old one has failed whereas with cars many of us get things repaired or replaced sometimes thousands of miles before it's needed.

Hope all goes well with the eye screening. Think my last retinopathy screen was 2019 due to Covid son no idea when they will call me in again, although I had a full eye test at the optician last September and I was told that the tests they do can show up any issues at the back of the eye as well as the usual screening. I suspect I will have another HBA1c soon although I've fallen off the wagon a bit re carb intake since my score came down last time so will probably ask if they can delay for three months so I can get back on track. As you say all these tests just stress you out which only makes things worse.

Well it never rains but pours! At the skin doctor all the sun spots on face were fine and then I ask as I live alone is it worth having a torso screening at the GP's every so often? She seemed a bit put out but said she would have a check and noted a mole that looked fine to the naked eye but under her microscope looked a tad red with black in the middle. So they cut it out there and then and now I have to wait up to 4 weeks for the results! Not sure if that's lucky or unlucky!!