Take a Panodil and stop pestering us!

I am one of those people who is a bit hard to get to the doctor. It is not that I do not trust them, I do. It is just that I do not want to go to the doctor until it is absolutely necessary.
 

Something started to brew in my head in the middle of July. I started getting the weird feeling of pressure (not headache) in my head and I started to feel like I have low grade fever but all of it was coming and going. After three days of that I decided to take the COVID-19 test. Just as I have made the decision all the symptoms vanished. Week later they came back but stronger. At that point I decided that it is the time to call the doctor.
 

That first phone call was at least weird. After I have described the symptoms, I got two questions, did I go for a COVID-19 test and what do I think is wrong with me. I said that I did but that I still didn't get the results. The lady on the phone responded that they can't consult me until I get the results back and until then I should just take a Panodil. Panodil is the universal "magical" cure for everything in Denmark just like Andol is in Croatia. That was just so frustrating, I am not feeling well and they do not want to help me and they are asking me to self-diagnose myself. That goes against everything I was taught and that is one feels unwell, one should contact the doctor, describe the symptoms and receive help. What one shouldn't do is to try and self-diagnose! And they are telling me to do just that.
 

It has gotten worse the next day. The pressure in the head and the feeling of low grade fever was combined with dizziness. Fortunately for me, test result for COVID-19 came back negative, so I was hopeful that now I will get proper medical help. So I started calling again. My doctor, the one I called yesterday went for holiday so the answering machine was instructing me to call the service called "medical-assistance". So I did after work, I described all the symptoms in detail and two hours later they called me back and said that I should take antibiotics and if it doesn't get better that I should call my doctor on Monday.
 

I got a bit better between Thursday and Sunday morning but on Sunday afternoon dizziness came back in full swing. And in accordance to doctors instructions, I called in my regular doctor and told that I am getting worse and that COVID-19 test results came back negative. Despite that, she was dismissive and condescending. She refused to take me in with two explanations. Firstly, I need to give antibiotics some time to work until Wednesday and secondly, even though I have a negative COVID-19 test result I might have contracted it in the mean time and they have a strict rules for patient care (or patient non-care) during COVID-19 times. 

 

Wednesday came and there was no improvement, so I called on Thursday morning. This time, finally I was talking to the doctor who wasn't trying to get rid of me but she explained for how long can I expect the dizziness to last and that I should get a time at ear, nose and throat specialist and she will take me in for a blood test.
 

The dizziness persisted but at least now I was more at peace because I knew what to expect, because the doctor finally took me seriously and because something was being done about it and it took a week to get there.
 

By the end of the next week dizziness slowly subsided, I got a nasal spray for my breathing problems and blood test showed that there was an infection going on but nothing else.
 

But I didn't write this because of my health issues but because of the treatment that I got from the medical personnel. Why was I being dismissed at the beginning? Why did it take them a week? Why was I asked to self-diagnose myself?
 

My boss was curious about my experience with the doctors and she shared a similar story. On multiple occasions when she needed proper medical help, the doctors were dismissive and they were not taking her seriously. I heard more of almost identical stories.
 

Why is it like that? It is a public health care system and the doctors did swore on the Hippocratic out that in one part says the following: "I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required..."
 

Until doctors remember this maybe all people who are sick should apologize to them for their condition and the inconvenience they are causing to them.
 

I think this type of attitude from the side of the doctors is at least unprofessional. People don't contact them because it is a fun activity but because something is going on and they need help. Croatian health care system has its own problems and it can take moths if you need some specialized medical check up like MRI but if you need help from your family doctor they will find time to help you. If something is seriously wrong suddenly and you need an ER, you will get an ER. I was never in my life treated with such an attitude from a medical professional and I don't think anyone should. What if there was something seriously wrong and not just some benign sinus infection?


P. S. I will appologize to all the doctors who are commited to their job and patient care.