I’m terrified of going to the doctor.

I've been ignoring my problem for ages. Now I keep being told I look ill so I feel like I should do something.

I've just had a look on the internet and nearly all my symptoms point to something really, really frightening. My parents wouldn't believe me or take me seriously so I'd have to sort it out myself and I wouldn't want to tell them, but it's to do with my bowls so it seems really embarrassing.

Please help me, I really don't know what I should do. What can I expect to happen if I go? A part of me wants to keep ignoring it in case it goes away, but the symptoms list was terrifying.

There's no one I can talk to about it, this is my last resort!

Reply 1

PinkMobilePhone

Chat Forum Helper, Life & Style Forum Helper

22

Unfortunately you have to bite the bullet and go to the doctors.
We are only students on here - we're not qualified to give you serious medical advice - only a doctor can do that.

As to what you can expect to happen, it really depends on what's wrong with you!

If it's as serious as you say it is, you really need to get to the doctors.

Reply 2

ßlαcksωαn

17

Just go to the doctor if you think it's that bad or your worried about it or even just tell your mum. They'll most likely do some tests or what not..they could take a look maybe I'm not sure. But you shouldn't worry as doctors have seen it all before! You'd be better off knowing the problem rather than stressing over it.

Reply 3

Anonymous #2

Anonymous

Please help me, I really don't know what I should do. What can I expect to happen if I go? A part of me wants to keep ignoring it in case it goes away, but the symptoms list was terrifying.

There's no one I can talk to about it, this is my last resort!

Your GP will probably ask some detailed questions about the symptoms you've been having. Hopefully with the benefit of their training they can be more discriminating about differential diagnosis than worst case rare scenario internet lists are!

If it's appropriate they might ask to examine you.

Depending on this they might think some tests would be helpful (e.g. from a blood or stool sample) or that you should be referred to a specialist, where you'd get an appointment to see them in a hospital clinic. Other tests like imaging (X Rays etc) could be done here too.

1 Anonymous

...but it's to do with my bowls so it seems really embarrassing.

Your GP is unlikely to be embarassed or think you're weird or anything. The situation will be embarassing if you make it be. Plenty of people have bowel-related symptoms - it's a very common thing to see a doctor about and there are lots of things including non frightening that can cause them!

Reply 4

The Little Mermaid

Swallow your pride and book an appointment. Your health is more important than feeling awkward. I will say, though, the internet is the absolute worst place to look for medical advice. I had to break the habit as I was getting myself really worked up whenever I googled afew symptoms and came across some really horrific things. Still, for peace of mind if nothing else. You'll be so relieved when it's over that you at least took action.

Reply 5

Meep!

9

Just go to the damn doctors! You recognise you have a problem, and it's worrying you. It's never a good idea to leave something, especially if you feel it's something really nasty, to do its thing, because almost invariably, it'll get worse. The doctors have seen it all before, and probably seen worse. Just do it, NO-ONE is going to think any the less of you.

Reply 6

MaryKay

8

Anonymous

I've been ignoring my problem for ages. Now I keep being told I look ill so I feel like I should do something.

I've just had a look on the internet and nearly all my symptoms point to something really, really frightening. My parents wouldn't believe me or take me seriously so I'd have to sort it out myself and I wouldn't want to tell them, but it's to do with my bowls so it seems really embarrassing.

Please help me, I really don't know what I should do. What can I expect to happen if I go? A part of me wants to keep ignoring it in case it goes away, but the symptoms list was terrifying.

There's no one I can talk to about it, this is my last resort!

Perhaps if you made a note of your symptoms, so that when you go to see your GP, you will feel less inhibited when describing your condition to a Dr, I know that it's been repeated here ad nauseum, but believe me by the time that any Dr has qualified they are really not fazed by anything that you will divulge during your appontment.

Please go, I suspect that the condition who appear to be suffering from is affecting your life in a negative manner, if you would prefer to pm me, please do as you need to address the health problem that is affecting you atm ;console;

Reply 7

Louise88

Anonymous

I've been ignoring my problem for ages. Now I keep being told I look ill so I feel like I should do something.

I've just had a look on the internet and nearly all my symptoms point to something really, really frightening. My parents wouldn't believe me or take me seriously so I'd have to sort it out myself and I wouldn't want to tell them, but it's to do with my bowls so it seems really embarrassing.

Please help me, I really don't know what I should do. What can I expect to happen if I go? A part of me wants to keep ignoring it in case it goes away, but the symptoms list was terrifying.

There's no one I can talk to about it, this is my last resort!

I have Crohn's Disease, I've got problems with my bowels but I know that if I don't see a doctor as soon as I show signs of a possible flare up, i'm in trouble. Having problems with that area is nothing to be embarrassed about, honestly.

Bite the bullet and phone your doctor. You need to get it checked out straight away if you are worried. Your doctor will deal with much worse things, believe me, so don't worry about speaking to them about something as sensitive as this. They deal with things like this all the time and they will know how you are feeling, they aren't scary!

You can't ignore what is going on but the worst thing you can do is google symptoms. You are not a doctor, you have no idea what is going on inside your body so don't try and find out what is wrong with you online, it causes nothing but worry and most of the time, it's nothing. But to find out, speak to your docotor as soon as possible!

You don't have to talk to your parents about going to the doctor, that is completely up to you but if you do have a problem, something which is confirmed by a doctor then don't go through it alone, tell your parents.

Reply 8

Talya

16

OP.. the internet is a bad place to try and diagnose yourself. Just go to the doctor and tell him your symptoms, I find mentioning that you looked on the internet makes them very defensive and think you are some kind of hypochondriac.

Reply 9

Dalimyr

17

You should never be afraid to see your doctor, no matter what's wrong with you. I paid the price for that, and to be honest I really regret it. I had very serious depression for a few months in the run-up to my exams last year. I put it off until a couple of weeks before my exams, at which point it was too late - the meds didn't take effect until about three weeks after I started on them, by which time I'd already sat half of my exams. The depression and its associated symptoms (particularly anxiety) destroyed my ability to study and revise, and I dropped out of uni as a result. If I'd seen a doctor in December or January instead of April, I probably wouldn't have found myself in that mess, but with bad experiences of GPs in the past and the depression ****ing with my mind, I was terrified of making an appointment until it was so bad that I felt I had no choice but to do it.

Reply 10

Anonymous #1

OP

Okay thanks for the reasurance. See my parents have never taken me to the doctors before so it's like the unknown, so that's why I'm so nervous about doing it on my own. They also keep things like that really quiet, like my mum has had an operation without telling us before.

I'm sure it can't be as bad as I'm thinking. But, it's been hapening for months without getting any worse, which makes me want to carry on forgetting about it.

Reply 11

*knowitall*

Now - what you've just said explains it all!

Your mum had an op without telling you! Amazingly weird - but prob means that being open about health issues is not the "normal" thing in your family.
So you are just reacting to a health scare like you've been brought up to do.

So just decide to be different. Go and see your doc. It's very straightforward. Some people see their doctors every week - it's not that bad you know!

Good luck.

Reply 12

*knowitall*

And while you're practicing being more open - are you talking about blood in your stools? It's the most common thing that people worry about on this forum!

Reply 13

Saffie

11

go, they will be nice to you and they're used to talking about "embarrasing" things.

Reply 14

Liar

12

I have ulcerative colitis (a form of inflammatory bowel disease-the other being crohn's disease) and put off going to the doctor for months when the symptoms first started to appear so i understand the situation you are in. Is this problem that you're talking about that you have blood in your stools, diarrhoea, stomach pains, lack of energy etc? If so then you may have this too. If not it could be ibs or a multitude of other things. You realy need to explain to us the symptoms otherwise we cant really help. Either way get yourself off to the doc before whatever the problem is gets much worse...

Reply 15

-steph-

2

I know you said that you cant tell anyone, try telling your best friend and ask he/her to go with you.

Reply 16

nuttymimi

2

I was very much like you last week. For quite a few months now I've had problems with my bowels and I finally realised I needed to get something done about it. I had to force myself to make the doctors appointment and was seriously worried about going. Once there it took me ages to actually get to the point but once I did my doctor was so good about it. She just asked me lots of questions about all my symptoms and how I was feeling and it wasn't embarrassing telling her the problem at all. She also had a feel of my stomach and then diagnosed me with IBS, it was so much easier than I thought. Doctors are used to people coming to them with problems like this and IBS in particular is really common so she really had had lots of people come to her with exactly the same problem/symtoms as me. You'll feel so much better after going to the doctors, its such a relief to finally find out why I've been feeling the way I have and to know that its not quite so abnormal as I thought. Good luck, Im sure it will all be fine x

I’m terrified of going to the doctor.

Related discussions

Articles for you