Update March 2014 Private ENT Appointment

I had my private ENT appointment on Fri 14th Feb with Dr Marshall at Nuffield, Glasgow.  The doctor was very welcoming and pleasant although there was one massive problem, he had NOT received the referral from my GP, this was the second referral that had not been received.  Dr Marshall had no access to my medical notes and no access to the MRI previously carried out in 2013 six months after my symptoms had started.  I had to explain everything to Dr Marshall which I was happy to do, a fresh pair of ears always helps. " I was sitting watching television in Oct 2012 and noticed a woosh noise followed by a massive headache next morning, pain and pressure in my ear and neck then more symptoms then developed...." you get the picture I went through all of my symptoms.  He examined me and tried to separate a few of the symptoms but I had to interrupt and said the reason I was there because every other GP has done the same, I explained I had none of these symptoms before and it all stemmed from that one night of the woosh and headache.  I mentioned I had painted my ceiling before my symptoms started but felt that I was being rather stupid saying it but somehow I felt sure it was connected.  He decided that possibly my eye symptoms were not associated and it was a coincidence that I had developed a haze/spider web in that eye and a pressure feeling and that he was unsure why my eye creaked.  I was happy to put that aside if that made him feel better but what did he think caused my other symptoms?  Well he couldn't give me an answer and provided some recommendations for my GP to follow.   He wasn't too interested in the rhythm of my tinnitus and when I mentioned Pulsatile Tinnitus he quickly moved on in the conversation although I mentioned three times it was slightly worrying that it reminded me of a baby's ultrasound. He did examine me, looked at my throat, ear and nose and palpated inside my mouth and my neck. He said he had no idea what was causing my symptoms. Four days later I received my invoice of £200 and a diagnosis of LEFT SIDED FACIAL PAIN. Weirdly I assumed the area where my hair grows is called my head or my skull, the parts I pointed to and had conversions about were my head, I never mentioned anything about my face or facial pain!  The recommendations were to visit a dentist- already done, visit optician- already done and a range of blood tests- done they have all come back clear for antibodies and Vasculitis. A referral to a pain clinic was also recommended this has been followed through and I have received a questionnaire sheet and body map to fill in but there was little room on the head of the body map to mark and explain, so the picture attached is what I printed out and included when I returned my questionnaire, I also gave a full list of my symptoms.  I marked an X where I have the constant pain and pressure and a O where I felt the pressure and woosh/whirr noise.  Do I feel stupid doing this? Yes I absolutely do but as no one is listening, I felt I had to. I am the one suffering and have suffered since October 2012 and no one seems interested in trying to help me.  I work hard and pay taxes the same as everyone else, I don't abuse my body with drugs, I don't smoke, I have an occasional glass of wine which I now struggle with as my head doesn't like it and the noise in my head gets really loud, I am not overweight and do not cause a burden on our NHS system yet the NHS dishes out Methadone, Gastric Bands, Nicotine patches and has to carry out numerous heart operations to unclog peoples arteries as they eat nothing but high fat foods, is the system really fair for people like myself?  I will await my pain clinic appointment.

Thanks for reading Whirring Wanderer