London Medical - Knightsbridge Doctors

[PearlyLemons 13]

Went to the doctors today, sigh, he said I have elevated Blood Pressure, and that I would need to come back on Monday and get a 24 hour BP test down, to see if I am suffering from white coat raised BP (when the thought of getting your BP done by the doc raises it). He said he could write off that document to the Knightsbridge People, as soon as he had the results from that. So hopefully only a minor delay.

He also decided to give me a speech about Americans and how expensive health care is for someone who has a high Blood Pressure....sigh.

I've seen a few posts around here where the BP was high at the Knightsbridge medical, and most of the time it is the white coat hypertension. I wouldn't worry too much. I think the medical side of the visa process is very invasive and some of seems very unnecessary. I'm sure you'll get your visa just fine .

[srvman 38]

I've seen a few posts around here where the BP was high at the Knightsbridge medical, and most of the time it is the white coat hypertension. I wouldn't worry too much. I think the medical side of the visa process is very invasive and some of seems very unnecessary. I'm sure you'll get your visa just fine .

Thanks for your response. My GP reckons, I am getting a 24 hour test on Monday, and fortunately don't have work, so I might just try and sleep through the whole day to get the lowest reading possible.

( I am not trying to trivialize high blood pressure, I know it is a serious thing, I just would really like to get this either cleared or treated ASAP)

[otter~ 17]

Ah I'm so sorry that you had that problem I originally had an appointment with my GP on Monday but I really wanted to get this all sorted ASAP so she managed to fit me in today. I'm sitting in the waiting room now haha.

It was an extremely stressful thing to go through. I am really glad it's over. I got told that if I have no calls from Knightsbridge by Friday afternoon then my results were all fine. I really hope your blood pressure tests turn out alright! I'll be glad to get this letter and get it to them so that they can move everything along to the embassy ^^;

[srvman 38]

Thanks otter, I was perfectly fine before the doctor today, but as soon as I got inside the waiting room my heart started racing...i am just pathetic at doctors lol.

[otter~ 17]

Thanks otter, I was perfectly fine before the doctor today, but as soon as I got inside the waiting room my heart started racing...i am just pathetic at doctors lol.

I'm like that when I go to the dentist xD I am always nervous days before, plus it doesn't help that my dentist isn't very nice sometimes

Update! My awesome GP let me fit in a last minute appointment today. I showed her the letter Knightsbridge gave me, and also a consent form thing. I explained what the doctor at the medical told me and she said: "I'm surprised they are making such a fuss, I know it caused you some trouble with school but that's about it!" and she said she'd write the letter for me first thing tomorrow and it should be ready by Monday at the latest (or maybe even tomorrow!) for me to pick it up. Is it okay for me to have the letter, take it to the post office, and post it (with the fastest possible mail that royal mail will do ) ? I know they say to fax it but the receptionists at my doctors are really absent minded and seem to forget/misplace things alot xD

[fcat 79]

I'm like that when I go to the dentist xD I am always nervous days before, plus it doesn't help that my dentist isn't very nice sometimes

Update! My awesome GP let me fit in a last minute appointment today. I showed her the letter Knightsbridge gave me, and also a consent form thing. I explained what the doctor at the medical told me and she said: "I'm surprised they are making such a fuss, I know it caused you some trouble with school but that's about it!" and she said she'd write the letter for me first thing tomorrow and it should be ready by Monday at the latest (or maybe even tomorrow!) for me to pick it up. Is it okay for me to have the letter, take it to the post office, and post it (with the fastest possible mail that royal mail will do ) ? I know they say to fax it but the receptionists at my doctors are really absent minded and seem to forget/misplace things alot xD

If it were me i'd get the letter from the Dr and fax it myself, shouldn't cost you more than a pound or so plus you'll get a confirmation sheet its been sent. Id then put the original in the mail (but keep a copy yourself)

Imagine how much mail the embassy gets a day!

Edited January 17, 2014 by fcat

[Natonstan 129]

Thought i'd chip in here, I had my medical on the 9th and I too am such an anxious person, she took my BP and said it was sky high so she did the rest of the exam, took blood etc. and then took it afterwards and said it was still high, but normal high so it would be fine, all of my results went through no problem.

[shell20 746]

Right so! Sitting in Victoria coach station as I write this haha.

Arrived in London with my mum at Victoria, went and took a taxi to Bentinck street, the driver dropped us right outside the doctors. Since we were realllly early we headed to Oxford street to look in the shops and grab something to eat while we waited for it to get to my appointment time.

Arrived at the doctors. Now, I'm gonna be honest with you guys: I found this whole thing a bit upsetting though I was extremely anxious the entire time.

Went to reception and was asked to hand my passport (which they keep hold of til the end of the medical) a passport photo, police certificate, and vaccination records. I was told to go take a seat in the waiting area.

I was called in for the X-ray first. Was asked if I had one before, I hadn't. Had to remove clothing on my top half and wear some little gown type thing. I...had no idea how a healthy chest X-ray result looked so I was super scared there was something wrong (I'm a worrier ^^ but I was told to go to a waiting area for women. Me and my mum chatted to a lady in the waiting room about NOA2 times which was cool

Then I was called in for a medical. Checked my eyes, ears, reflex test, eye test, blood pressure. checked my upper half and lower half (pretty embarrassing but it has to be done ) went through the questionnaire and was asked about my previous depression. Doctor asked me to take some letter to my GP so that she could give them more information. I was pretty upset by this thinking it was going to mess up my visa for some depression I suffered briefly when I was a little younger :/

Then he did the blood test, but couldn't get blood out of either arm. He said I seemed very dehydrated and to go drink a bunch of water. I returned to the waiting area pretty upset, thinking not only this depression thing was going to mess with my visa, AND the fact they couldn't get no blood out of me. So I was mega worried. I also asked him about the form I'm supposed to have for AOS and he looked at me like I was crazy so I stopped asking. He was kind of stern because I kept asking questions but I was worried so ^^;

But! Then the nurse called me through and she was AWESOME. She was really nice and saw I was upset. I explained I was worried because of what the doctor told me, thinking my visa would be declined or whatever. But she reassured me a lot of people had to go get more info from their GP, and that they'd hold my results until they get a letter faxed by my doctor. She attempted to take my blood again but no luck yet again xD told me to drink even more water and shed call me back in.

After like...6 or 7 cups of water, she called me back in. We got a tiny amount of blood and she said that was good enough. She went through my vaccinations and said I needed a flu jab. She joked with me and said she's sorry for stabbing me with so many needles xD so after the flu jab she explained the vaccination form and told me to keep hold of it for AOS.

After I was finally finished I was called to reception to pay. They gave me all my forms but they spelled my name wrong so they had to amend it. xD they handed back my passport also. The receptionist was also really polite.

I feel kind of silly for getting so upset but I get very anxious and had been panicking all week haha. I'm really glad it's over. If you're the type of person to get easily nervous just try to be brave ^^

So pretty much what's happened is they're holding onto my results until I get my doctor to write and fax a letter, THEN they will send it to the embassy. So sadly a bit of a delay but I'm seeing my GP ASAP!

So if you were having your medical today and you saw some girl drinking a ton of water and being sad/worried, it was me! XD but hopefully it'll all be fine and I was silly for worrying

I think that lady you were talking to was me! You are the girl who got approved in about 13 days right?!?! I too suffered depression and took a letter with me, a few questions, but I passed that part, now just hope they aren't going to ring me up today for any reason. Might see each other again at interview, be nice to see a familiar face!

[otter~ 17]

I think that lady you were talking to was me! You are the girl who got approved in about 13 days right?!?! I too suffered depression and took a letter with me, a few questions, but I passed that part, now just hope they aren't going to ring me up today for any reason. Might see each other again at interview, be nice to see a familiar face!

Hey! Yep that was me haha, I hope you got on alright!

Yeah the lady in reception told me that if they found anything wrong they'd call me by 5pm today, but I had no calls so HOPEFULLY that means everything is fine! And yeah it would be good to see you again at the interview, will be cool to have someone to chat to while we are all waiting

[Anna Grant 169]

About high blood pressure - note my post from last summer:

Anna Grant, on 31 Jul 2013 - 5:56 PM, said:

I am technically overweight but she just said 'You know your BMI is ....'. I said 'Yes, I know'. My BP was above the allowed measure for my age and gender - I think it had raised to 158/105 by the end of the medical. I did feel like saying 'You have prodded and poked me about - no wonder it's gone up instead of down.' However, I know I get 'white coat hypertension' i.e. it raises when I'm in a doctor's surgery. I asked her for another chance. I know if I'm given 30 minutes of quietness, I can get it to go down. It got down to the acceptable level and I was through.

I suggest that if yours is raised in the medical, to ask for some quiet time to see if it goes down.

However, since moving to the US my 'white coat' hypertension has developed into real hypertension. I am under an awful lot of stress at the moment - my husband has some serious health issues, I have had employment issues and my mother passed away and I couldn't go back to the UK. I registered with a doctor and am having some blood tests and an ECG to see what is going on with my blood pressure. I have put on weight since arriving in the US, so the doctor has told me to lose weight and reduce my salt intake.

Whether this will be covered with health insurance will depend on your health insurance policy and it is wrong of that doctor at Knightsbridge to scare one of you by saying how much it costs to treat in the US. There are many generic drugs which can help and do not cost the earth. Most health insurance has a deductible (in the the UK, that would be called an excess). You have to spend that amount of money a year before you can start using your health insurance. Luckily, my policy pays out 'per visit' to the doctor - 'per test' for blood tests. So, by shopping around, I have found that it is covering me fine for the moment.

So. If you do manage to get through the Embassy medical with 'whit coat', please still keep a watch on your blood pressure when you get the US.

[shell20 746]

Hey! Yep that was me haha, I hope you got on alright!

Yeah the lady in reception told me that if they found anything wrong they'd call me by 5pm today, but I had no calls so HOPEFULLY that means everything is fine! And yeah it would be good to see you again at the interview, will be cool to have someone to chat to while we are all waiting

Hi, the dr told me too that if anything was wrong they would contact me by Friday, I too have had no phone calls TG. I was like you so anxious, I didn't sleep the night before at all! The dr was lovely, the reception staff were lovely too and so was the tech for the x ray, although I must admit that was probably the scariest part of all!

So it will be interesting to see how long the results get to the American Embassy the dr said to me Tuesday by the latest, but I looked on the site today and I think probably Tuesday by the earliest as there seems to be a "Bank Holiday" on Monday.

I'm counting the days now, we are so close to having our "Happy ever after". Let me know when you hear anything wont you?!?!

[otter~ 17]

Hi, the dr told me too that if anything was wrong they would contact me by Friday, I too have had no phone calls TG. I was like you so anxious, I didn't sleep the night before at all! The dr was lovely, the reception staff were lovely too and so was the tech for the x ray, although I must admit that was probably the scariest part of all!

So it will be interesting to see how long the results get to the American Embassy the dr said to me Tuesday by the latest, but I looked on the site today and I think probably Tuesday by the earliest as there seems to be a "Bank Holiday" on Monday.

I'm counting the days now, we are so close to having our "Happy ever after". Let me know when you hear anything wont you?!?!

I found the X ray part rather scary as well, I wasn't very well over Christmas (I had a really bad cough too!) so I was worried it would make my lungs look bad on the X ray or something But since I had no calls I'm hoping everything was fine.

My arm is really bruised from where they kept trying to take blood though, hopefully it will go down. It's really painful, purple and blue! But at least they finally were able to do my blood test haha. It was weird because I usually have no problems when I have it done for tests at the hospital.

And good luck! Hopefully yours gets to the embassy fast and they will schedule your interview quickly mine will be a little delayed I reckon since I need the doctors letter, but hopefully it won't be too long for an interview. My fiancé is so excited and so am I! The longest part of the journey is all over, now just the wait for an interview appointment!

[shell20 746]

I found the X ray part rather scary as well, I wasn't very well over Christmas (I had a really bad cough too!) so I was worried it would make my lungs look bad on the X ray or something But since I had no calls I'm hoping everything was fine.

My arm is really bruised from where they kept trying to take blood though, hopefully it will go down. It's really painful, purple and blue! But at least they finally were able to do my blood test haha. It was weird because I usually have no problems when I have it done for tests at the hospital.

And good luck! Hopefully yours gets to the embassy fast and they will schedule your interview quickly mine will be a little delayed I reckon since I need the doctors letter, but hopefully it won't be too long for an interview. My fiancé is so excited and so am I! The longest part of the journey is all over, now just the wait for an interview appointment!

I think you are like me a born worrier! I don't think your appointment will be delayed at all! In fact wouldn't be at all surprised if I see you in the waiting room, a bag of nerves again as you were when I saw you after your xray. Next time hopefully we wont be sitting in those dreadful gowns though. ha ha ha!! My fiance says he is holding in his emotions until the interview, but tonight I saw he getting a tad excited when he was sat talking to me on Skype! I will be glad not to have to Skype any more and just be able to be together in person! I am getting very excited now, just can't wait to be with him again and not have to leave. I hate it when we part we both end up crying.....

[srvman 38]

Gah, I lost the letter Knightsbridge wanted me to give to my GP.

Do you think I need to ask Knightsbridge to send me over another copy or simply asking my doctor to write a letter of the action being taken on my Blood pressure, and faxing it off to them would suffice?

[srvman 38]

I have already shown it to my GP by the way, I just seem to have lost it between then and now.