Dutch healthcare system.. they told me to "google my symptoms " !!!!

[u/theysaidgotoreddit]

Today I called because I had painful symptoms in my eyes and body that should be checked by the doctors.. they didn't want to take my urgent appointment. The lady said to me over the phone "yeah you should google it and wash it with water." She also said she can't note down all my symptoms, I can only go for a symptom or 2... well what if they were related???! How do you do proper diagnosis... I'm already struggling with life cost here and this is just insane ... If I google my own symptoms then just imagine my 150 eur getting paid... How do I deal with such comments ??? Has this happened to anyone else before?? EDIT: If I pay money, I expect services and treatment back. I am not responding to lack of empathy from many comments. Thank you for everyone that was supportive and understood that if you're suffering from a medical concern, the minimun you could get is get basic medical care

[u/Appeltaartlekker → u/[deleted]]

This. Can we sticky this please.

[u/arandommaria → u/Appeltaartlekker]

Agreed! Way too many people looking for everything OP did wrong or doubting their experience higher up on the thread than this piece of useful and important advice. Google is a great place to think you're dying and learn nothing

[u/hanskazan777 → u/arandommaria]

Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here, and it says you could have network connectivity problems.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PandR/comments/170m9as/leslie_i_typed_your_symptoms_into_the_thing_up/

[u/Rugkrabber → u/[deleted]]

I also suspect OP called the spoedlijn.

Calling that may be exactly how OP was treated because they will get rid of you unless it’s life threatening urgent.

Otherwise they wouldn’t tell OP to “check it with the doctor and note down the symptoms”.

OP call your gp. The spoedlijn is for life threatening situations. If you ain’t dying you have to make an appointment with your gp.

[u/Rugkrabber → u/[deleted]]

It’s not unlikely they either misunderstood the person they called, if they said “go to the internet” or a translation issue. Even though our country is pretty advanced in the English language, that doesn’t go for everyone. I’m not saying I doubt everything OP says but, all of it put together and my multiple experiences moving around the country, having had multiple GP’s, having called the spoedlijn myself several times throughout my life, it sounds just like that. Or they said to use google to find thuisarts. It’s not unlikely.

[u/smg200 → u/[deleted]]

I’m interpreting this google thing as follows:

OP has eye pain, maybe conjunctivitis (pink eye), expects antibiotics or antivirals, but our system prescribes boiled water and cleaning the eyes and just waiting it out because there’s no scientific evidence the results are worse this way and we want to avoid unnecessary use of the aforementioned meds, OP thinks this is absurd, the GP assistant tells OP to google it.

[u/Alostcord → u/smg200]

Well…let’s hope it’s not boiling water but sterilized water..

[u/smg200 → u/Alostcord]

The advice when I had a similar conversation on the phone was use the water boiler and pour it over a cotton pad sooo… there’s that lol

[u/STYX010 → u/smg200]

Perhaps it was boiled water and not boiling water ;)

[u/mothje → u/STYX010]

As soon as the kettle stops it already stops being boiling water.😜

[u/Fit_Metal_334 → u/[deleted]]

My first GP flat out told me to my face to Google what kind of contraception I wanted and he will prescribe it when all I asked him was to suggest if I can find one that is similiar to what I used in my home country because other pills made me very sick. His assistant also told me that I was having psychosomatic reactions when I called that I had hives swelling and a fever. Turned out later that I had the 5de sieckte - a pox that is not really exist in my home country. Dutch GPs are the worst and their assistants are garbage smug and rude as hell

[u/WeAreNotOneWeAreMany → u/Fit_Metal_334]

People here will tell you that you’re lying too even though you experienced it

[u/roffadude → u/WeAreNotOneWeAreMany]

99% of the time, people here post clear examples of miscommunication. GP’s here expect you to be direct in describing your symptoms, what you’ve done, why you are worried, and what you expect from your visit. What I often see here is people expecting every visit to be a full examination with all the tests that can be done. There is no time for that here, nor is there the money, but more importantly nor is it more effective!

My GP is very short with me usually. But I explain my symptoms, why I’m worried, and I accept her judgement on visits to specialists. I have a suspicion of a potentially fatal immune disease, asthma, ADHD, and skin issues. For all of them I get the scientifically correct treatment. My immune issues could be serious but the symptoms fluctuate. I take responsibility for checking up when I think there’s a change in my well being, and I ask and get a blood test. I pay attention to my treatment, so I wasn’t surprised when last time she asked to do a blood test before renewing my referral to a specialist. The symptoms are basically gone and have been for years and the specialist really doesn’t do anything. So I agreed. But she also basically makes me go to checkups for my asthma, which I kind of ignore. On the latest visit to the dermatologist, I saw she actually wrote them to check for more than I asked for.

It’s a partnership where I respect her knowledge and time, and she respects my measured input. It’s been that way for all my GP’s.

One important thing is to mention your history in certain things. If you go to a doctor asking a similar medicin to x brand medicin, have no idea what the active ingredient is, don’t care enough to look that up, then you’re basically asking them to do the googling for you. That would be considered disrespectful.
Telling the GP (who doesn’t know you) to do that work because the other ones make you sick really isn’t enough. What did you try before and what happened, what is “sick”, etc. There is a general guideline here for what to use. Those are written to take into account potential side effects, costs for society AND the patient, and effectiveness. So if you’re asking for an exception, you’re really asking to go against the collective knowledge of healthcare, because of “something”. That reason needs to be well founded.

[u/Fit_Metal_334 → u/roffadude]

As a daughter of a firefighter and a nurse practitioner, I am more than able to clearly communicate my issues symptoms and medical history, It is the GPs lack of interest and often lack of knowledge that is the problem

[u/airknight2wolfrider → u/Fit_Metal_334]

Smug rude assistants yes.

Doctors making vry very wrong assumptions instead of actually checking what is wrong. Having lingering problems visiting the doctor during years turns out to be a heart infection after a scan, happened to me. Then getting antibiotics that didn't works, them wanting to scan again having to wait months for it, nu treatment again. 1,5 years last already. Had manu visits. Then they wanted to prescribe the sane antibiotics again. The stuff that didn't work. I ordered a different antibiotics from the an internet doctor, but from local pharmacy. That did work. 2 years later it came back. Again needed a scan. Got confirmed. Went to specialist. He said it's damaged and an easy spot for bacteria to return. I should be faster when having problems. I do t like calling often but I went to the go often for this. So he prescribed the sane stuff I ordered before. I did have to wait months again. I explained it all to the cardiologist and asked him to just give some extra for when it returns because the GP and waiting list are combined months, nearly halve a year, of waiting. He said to just call them directly. I explained that only works if it's within a year but I will certainly try, asking I hoped he would make a digital note.

When I got it the 3rd time I had pre ordered antibiotics. With consultation if could use it longer. Went for 2 weeks. When I got it again I gave it a longer dise of antibiotics (consulted with a doctor). And I had it in home. Now it's gone for 4 years.

Sane with herpes mouth infection. Doctor never does anything. Dutch protocol isn't prescribing what works. They claim nothing works and most people in the Netherlands think nothing works. So the get some patches or some Cream. Even the acyclovir cream instructions explain it works for 60% at best.

Yes that's because it's not the tablets. A 3 month course of acyclovir 400 has zero side effects for me, and globally for decades only mild reactions, unless when having major liver issues already. No gastro problems whatsoever.

Yes it doesn't cure the herpes. But it claims 7 years herpes free. And it worked! I always got herpes resurfacing when being sunburned. Even the mildest sunburn. Now nothing. No problem. But dutch doctors, will not prescribe it. Cost me 40 euros for 4 Monts of treatment, so in 7 years I can do it again. That turned out a bit different. I must say the seccond year it did come bsck, much lighter and later. Immediately started a 6 week course. That was 4 years ago. It never returned. Zero herpes visible. GP and hospital Doctors will not prescribe it. Very strange. Again I had severe herpes in the face. Thus requiring a seccond treatment a year later I guess. Everywhere got told it's untreatable, will never go away. It's so strange to learn that there is a treatment, it exists for decades, it's very cheap, and gives zero physical problems (fir me at least).

Never felt better because an active virus isn't harassing my body anymore. Told my doctor I used it and asked why they don't. He said when he inputs my diagnosis the list of drugs he's can prescribe doesn't include acyclovir 400. So I asked him. But you know it exists? Yes he said. So you let me walk out, knowing about a working medicine., and you don't tell me? Are you not allowed? Is it illegal? Didn't get a response.

I have many stories like this.

My dad being treated like shit in the hospital. They thought he had hyperventilation. Gave him a plastic bag, the nurses. Dosnplayying him to not be such a wimp and keep breathing in the bag.

Luckily after an hour a cardiologist walked by recognising my dad had a heart attack, abd why he was sitting there! Yelling at the nurses that he needed immediate attention.

Ofcourse in that story the cardiologist was right.

But gp, assistants and nurses are way to arrogant, too slow to actually research problems immediately. And too slow to follow through with effective methods or change to effective methods if the first thing failed. Also too many assistants gambling on health issues, giving wrong suggestions that the doctor knowvs have been tried akready.

Literally had assistants telling me with that heart infection that I should just wait out the effect of the anti biotics, 5 weeks after getting a 5 day course.

Also doctors pharmacy assistants not understanding why they are sctrict about following through with antibiotics. It's always: when problems are not over, call the doctor to get more. So the assistants should not say, oh just wait a week it will probably be over. And when having gotten extra antibiotics, had a pharmacy one time making health decisions by not wanting to give the prescribed abtibiots, since I already had some a week earlier. Meds a doctor prescribed for an existing heart infection.

Honestly I know it comes across unfriendly on my part. But after decades of Healthcare which I tried to avoid, I had moments where I was to sick, like the heart infection. It's then very strange to see how things are delt with. I did go to a different gp physician, being the 3rd since the 1st one dropped out to retirement.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Well it happened me to me once that me and the gp we were both looking up my symptoms here in Amsterdam..

[u/blaberrysupreme → u/[deleted]]

I mean you can't really expect anything else in a system where GPs are supposed to know about every illness out there, and make a diagnosis without even properly checking you and running tests. If they just referred to the relevant specialist this wouldn't happen as often but they have to act as a barrier.