Check up and a chat

The other week I get a letter from my Doctor’s asking me to come in for a check up.

I decided that I might as well go along.

The doctor was very nice. She said that they periodically check their records for certain conditions e.g. asthma, diabetes or depression, and ask those patients to come in so they can monitor their progress. As I am recorded as suffering from a depressive illness they wanted me to come in for a chat.

She took some measurements: blood pressure, height, weight etc. (not entirely sure what relevance this has to my mental health but I suppose, if I were still on medication they might want to know that I wasn’t either losing or gaining weight, it would be a bit Alice in Wonderland if I were gaining or losing height though!) Then we had a bit of a general chat about how I was getting on.

I said that, looking back on it, this is probably one of the best winters that I have had for years and that I could be fairly confident that I am currently in remission.

She said it was possible for people to get quite ill again without really noticing and so they like to check in periodically.

The appointment also gave me a chance to ask her what I should do about taking care of my mental health if I were planning on getting pregnant.

I think this is great level of service from my GPs.

I know that some day I might become more ill again. Even though it may be unavoidable, I hope that next time I’ll be able to cope with it better and it will take less time than it used to, to get from being ill to the way I feel most of the time at the moment.

It is always good to know, that if I should become ill again, my GP is on hand to help and that the process of being referred back to a psychiatrist is quite easy.

Week commencing 05/02/07

Medication: Roman chamomile
Exercise: 6
Alcohol: 7
Anxiety: Fairly low level
Anxiety Level (0-10): 2
Number of Panic Attacks:0
Severity of Panic Attack (0-5):NA
Depression: The odd blue moment
Depression Level (0-5): 2.5
Mania: Fine
Mania Level (0-5): 0

Summary

It is never plain sailing at this time of year but really, this is a very good winter for me.