Visiting the Doctor

After my fainting episode in Slovakia, I wanted to visit a doctor in Budapest to make sure everything really was okay and to get a blood test. There is a clinic in Budapest with English speaking doctors. Some of my friends have gone there in the past and that is where I headed.

Overall, I was really impressed by my experience and it gave me some answers as to why I may have fainted. With most health care being free in Canada, it was strange having to pull out a credit card to pay for my treatment. The doctor they gave me was very friendly and explained things very well.

After chatting with me about what happened, they performed a number of tests to see what could have been the caused. The first was a series of tests to see how my body reacts if I sit up or stand up too suddenly. They then did a blood test. Back home, whenever I go to the clinic for a blood test, it takes a day or two for me to get my results, but here, they had an in house lab for immediate results. I guess that is what you get when you pay for your healthcare! I wonder how the periodontics care is and how long would that take.

So it turns out I am slightly anaemic which means I lack iron in my blood. The doctor recommended that I either take a multivitamin with a high iron content or find a low dosage iron pill to take daily. I also have some difficult adjusting if I sit up or stand up too quickly. Its nothing major, and for the most part shouldn’t affected me. Those two contributing factor, plus the warmness of the restaurant and probably me being dehydrated most likely caused me to faint.

Its somewhat comforting to know what is going on at least. And most of all, I now know what its like to faint and will sit down before it happens again! Now to fill out all the insurance papers…