Are You a Bad Patient? How Well Do You Know Your Body?

I have a very high tolerance for pain. So when I got an ear infection a couple of years ago, I was literally in tears before I went to the doctor. I will go and go and go and go until I can't go anymore. Unless I have a fever of 104 or I'm vomiting, I'll keep going because really it's just what I do.

Now my husband, on the other hand, is such a dramatic baby. He'll be in bed for a week with just the sniffles. Personally, I think it's an excuse to get some extra "shut-eye". LOL

I've been pretty lucky in the last five years - haven't gotten sick much. But when I do, I'm like you - I can usually tell when my body has had enough and needs medicine. I'll go to the doctor immediately if it looks like I have a sinus infection, and I've never been wrong. But if it's a cold or stomach virus I usually wait it out and get better on my own. As for your BFF - if anyone is sick for six days, they really should go to the doctor. And certainly not travel! Yikes!

IMO I don't think that people should rush to the Dr unless they have been sick for more than 3 days with no signs of improvement. I rarely go to the Dr and the same for my daughter. We usually get over stuff within the three days, only twice had my daughter been sick longer (with improvement) and then I called. Both cases were viruses and they can only run their course.

I think in a lot of cases people just don't get the rest and nutrition they need to help their bodies heal. I also know my body well I have lived in it for 41 years and know when something is just not right. I know my daughters well since she is with me 24/7, well she was until school started.
The only doc we see regularly is our chiropractor. We are there about every two weeks for well visits.

I'd much rather be proactive rather than fixing it.

So with that being said? Since I can't afford to get sick, when I think it's important, I go.

If your BFF is going to NY - she won't have a good time if she is sick. If it's not the flu - she can be given an antibiotic and on the road to recovery within 24 hours.

So what does it take to make me go? When I have a fever for more than 24 to 48 hours and it doesn't feel like the flu. If I have a cough that gets stuff up...eeewww...

Yes I know my own body to well for my Doc at times,I don't like to make the call but will & will almost everytime get in same day or next.There has been a few times where I ignored the pain & prayed it would go away but then I break down & go in & have been diagnosed with something everytime with extensive procedures/testing of course.I can handle the common cold sniffles,sore throat,sneezing,runny nose but once my left ear is in pain I think I better get in.I'm a sahm preggo with our 4th so me getting sick is like a tornado hitting home it can't happen but does every now & then.But i'm glad that hubs & my in-laws step in to help (I have geat in-laws)
I would tell your friend she needs to go in to be seen she will be spreading her illness to others as she has received the illness from another bad patient (as you put it).

My dad was like you....waiting until the last minute to go to the doc. He died after a long battle with 2 different kinds of cancer.........I hate to say it but i am just as stubborn.

My health insurance is to stay healthy.

Yep I'm a bad patient. I had been having severe back pain on and off for about 6 months in 2007. I had a job that was a lot of manual labor so I thought I had just wrentched my back. Hubby kept telling me to go to the doctor but I was like no I'm fine and just had him rub it with ben gay which did nothing. I started to vomit so I went to the doctor. Turns out my gallbladder was totally blocked and it was so severe I was about to go septic. Had emergency surgery.
With my first child I was 33wks preggo and woke up in the middle of the night with pretty bad back pain. It went away and I went back to sleep. My BFF came to visit that day and could see I was uncomfortable and she kept asking if I was ok. I of course kept saying I was fine. After she left I thought maybe I should call the doctor. They said go to L&D just to get checked out. No big deal if it was nothing but I was high risk so they thought it would be good just to get checked. Got to the hospital and it turns out I was in full on labor and was 8cm. Baby was born 20 mintues later.
With my second pregnancy I was a bit more aware of what was going on with my body. Went into early labor again which was caught early enough that they were able to stop it so I could get the steroids and I delivered a week later at 34 weeks this time.
I'm trying hard to be more proactive with my own health now that I have two kids.

I like to think that I'm a good patient. I know my body so well that I can diagnose myself and am right about 99% of the time. I know when a cold has turned into a sinus infection, when a cough has become bronchitis and when something needs to be attended to. I'm also really good about following orders and knowing what to do to treat symptoms. I mainly go to the doctor because I can't get an antibiotic without them. I'm also really good about knowing when my kids need to be seen and put on medication, same with my daycare kids.

I used to be the same & would wait it out to go to the doc but as my family has gotten bigger & my husband has started working lots of hours, I try to get in quicker b/c I don't have time to be sick. I have never gone & left w/ something that they couldn't treat. I won't go if I can tell it's not semi-serious. I feel that I'm guarded w/ information that I give to my doc. I don't want to be one of those " whiney dramatic " people. I often wonder if some of those things I leave out , may hinder my care.

We (kids and I) only go if it is a 'have to' appointment for meds or if one of us has been sick a few days and no signs of improvment.

ETA We do the 'Well' visits too.

My husband... well see my post titled 'husband question'. He has become a crazy person about doctors in general.

Hi R.!
I think I am good at taking good care of myself, I do all my annual check ups and preventive exams or tests etc. I don't like to feel sick, but when that happens I just go to the doctor and try to find out what is going on with me. I don't rely always on doctors, I do my search and try to read a lot about what I am feeling or why I am being sick so I know what to ask the doctor when I see him. I ask many questions (even when many doctors don't like it) I obey my doctor when I am sure he/she knows what he/she is doing otherwise I look for another opinion and that has saved me from many problems. I do not wait until last minute to see the doctor, I think I know my body and most of the times I know when it is time to see the doctor.