Prior preparation for a doctor’s visit

Preparing for a doctor’s visit

Due to the limited time of the meeting with the doctor and its passing quickly from the perspective of respected patients, and also due to the fact that often various discussions may be raised in this meeting (apparently unrelated but indirectly important for clinical judgment), it is better for this Prepare for the meeting in advance. 

What information should you review (the day before the visit)? To make a more effective visit

What actions can you take the day before the visit? So that the doctor can get a better history and then give you the most suitable decision and treatment.

The following steps can help you have the best possible visit with your doctor:

Take a photo of your skin lesion and bring it with you when you see your doctor. And if the lesion is variable, take several photos, especially of special areas of the body that are not easy for the doctor and you to examine.

  • Record a sound of your or your beloved child’s wheezing or acute respiratory condition and bring it with you when visiting the doctor.
  •  Write down all the symptoms you have had (preferably by specifying the time of their occurrence).
  • These symptoms may even include symptoms that are not related to your visit to the doctor. and indirectly related
    • Write down the times when your symptoms bother you the most.
  • For example, if your symptoms are worse at certain times of the day or in certain seasons, or when exposed to cold weather, pollen, or other irritants.

Because allergy diseases are attacks and its severity increases and decreases, it is important for the doctor to know how many attacks you had in a day and night, especially in a week before your visit (frequency or incidence rate).

The duration of each attack was several minutes/hours or several days 

When we say that it is a severe disease that disrupts the normal process of life, whether it is in terms of sleeping/eating, activity and sports, or causing not to go to work, appointments, or school.

The effect of what hours of the day and night is very important in allergic diseases, for example, when we say that the night is worse, do we mean only when the weather gets dark, or when lying down first to sleep, or when sleeping is worse, but the disease wakes the person up in the middle of the night? or it wakes the person up early in the morning, or the attack starts after waking up normally in the morning.

The effect of a specific body position, such as lying on the back or sitting forward, which makes it better or worse, is important

The effect of mental conditions and having worry and anxiety on the development or worsening of the attack is very important

In addition to the type of food, the effect of eating and the weight of the stomach is important in an allergy attack

The impact of physical shocks such as impact pressure/cold/heat/moisture is important on allergies

Having a pet, or being interested in smoking and alcohol, etc., state any important stress or recent major changes in your life.

• Make a list of all the medications, vitamins, and supplements you take.

Bring the blood, urine, and stool tests and the results of the pathology samples, radiology photos, and their CDs, and especially the written answers to their reports, even up to a year before, and since it is related to your body, it is acceptable, and if there is a problem We will repeat again (so it is necessary to bring them with you)

• Go to the doctor with one of your family members or friends. Sometimes it is difficult to remember all the information that the doctor gives you during the appointment. The person who was with you may remember things that you have forgotten.

Your questions

• Sort and write down the questions you plan to ask your doctor according to priorities.

Your time at your doctor’s appointment is limited, so making a list in advance can help you make the most of your time. Arrange your questions from most important to least important according to time.

Some key questions to ask your doctor about asthma include:

Of the five main symptoms of asthma, including wheezing/shortness of breath/dry or phlegmatic train cough/pain and pressure on the chest/and sputum (watery or thick) after coughing, which one bothers you the most?

Does train cough lead to nausea/headache/dizziness and fainting/suffocation/wetting or not?

Extremely important questions

• In asthma, what is the most important reason for my breathing problems? That is, what happened in the last few days that this disease started or has returned to a bad state?

Is being breathless with physical and mental fatigue, then fever, throat and eye discomfort, headache, and general infection the cause of an allergy attack?

Did not avoiding food or chemicals cause it?

Have mental and emotional problems, worry, depression, fights, arguments, anger, etc. caused it?

How did it happen?

• Please state any other possible factors that caused the attack

• Will the doctor ask me for various tests or x-rays, etc.?

• The question I will definitely ask my doctor is whether my illness is likely to be temporary or chronic?

What is the best treatment for this disease?

What is the best prevention for the future of this disease?

Can allergies be eradicated?

Did I inherit from someone or did it spread to me?

Other first-, second-, and third-degree relatives have suffered from some type of allergy or are currently suffering from it

Will it be passed on to the next generation?

Am I allowed to be pregnant or breastfeeding or not?

Do you get better or worse with a particular drug?

Do you feel better or worse with certain foods?

Do you have a particular addiction to a particular food or not, for example, coffee/fast food/soda/alcohol/cocoa?

At least two hours before the first attack, what were your nutritional, mental and activity conditions?

Are you still suffering from symptoms between the two attacks? Or do you feel completely healthy between attacks?
• In addition to asthma, I also have other diseases. How can I best manage all this? The mutual effects of allergy and its medications on the other disease and vice versa means that

your doctor may ask you questions. Be prepared to answer them quickly so you have more time to ask additional questions. And enough time to draw a treatment plan in the future by a better doctor

Preferably, express your answers simply and clearly 

Answers that are forbidden and have no medical value and only waste time

I’ve been sick for a long time / I’m very bad and uncomfortable / I don’t know what’s wrong / I’m confused / I’m always sick / I’m allergic to everything / No medicine works for me / You are my last doctor / I came for a miracle / Your hand one is enough.