# Medical Advice please



## Holly22

We're thinking of moving to France, the Aquitaine region. My Mum is hoping to come with us but suffers with Meniers Disease (ear related issue that she's on ongoing medication for, she's 70 years old, but very active and healthy otherwise). I'm after some advice if anyone has any experience with this and what there situation is. Obviously we'll get medical insurance for her but first hand experience would be much appreciated. 
Many Thanks


----------



## Crabtree

Are you asking for information about the disease or how it would be treated in France? If the former can your mother not explain it to you?My mother had Meniers and as the disease progressed it caused more and more dizzy spells so that may be something to think about.In respect of treatment I would be fairly confident that she would get better and more prompt treatment in France than in the UK frankly-depending of course where you move to-many rural areas in France have problems attracting doctors.
However the first hurdle that you will need to overcome is getting Visas -unless of course you are EU citizens.Part of this process is showing that you have sufficient income to move to France(usually equivalent to the French minimum wage called SMIC ie €20k pa before deductions) and that you have health insurance to cover you until you can join the French Health system.The problem that your mother has is that generally existing conditions are excluded by insurance companies.She should research as to whether she can get an S1 from the DWP and whether this would be acceptable for the visa(probably not)
So a lot of research needed but if you have any more questions then please ask


----------



## Bevdeforges

As Crabtree mentioned, if she will require private health cover (at least for her first few months) she may have trouble finding one that doesn't exclude pre-existing conditions like this.

The other matter I was going to mention is that of the extent to which you and your mother can function in French. Yes, there are doctors in France who speak English - and plenty who list English as a "language spoken" in their online listings (mostly those appointment sites that give you considerable info about each doctor). But as a practical matter, you generally do better if you can deal with basic conversational French. Outside larger cities and towns, holding out for an English speaking doctor just means you may not be able to find anyone to treat you.

But, searching online for "maladie de ménière" brings up loads of information in French, including quite a bit on treatment, so you should be able to compare what the current treatment is here in France vs. the treatment your mother has been receiving (in the UK, I assume). There are medications and treatments in France that may not be what she is used to in the UK - or it may be basically the same thing. A new doctor here is likely to want to do a new round of tests in order to have information in the language, format and standard terminology that they are used to.so just be prepared (and perhaps you'll be delightfully surprised).


----------



## BackinFrance

Just be careful not to move to a medical desert or a technical medical desert, of which there are many in Nouvelle Aquitaine which is a huge region and by far the biggest in France. It would also be a good idea to check out how far you would have to travel to a GP, a specialist or a properly functioning university hospital (CHU). For example, Bordeaux is a major city, but hospitals there are under intense pressure.


----------



## Poloss

Limoges Chenieux hospital is good


----------



## ccm47

I think the best thing is to find somewhere that has good transport connections and within quick and easy reach of a hospital with a 24 hour A&E. 
We've been here 7 years now and live roughly midway between Bordeaux and Agen. Our village has no doctor but the neighbouring one does and there is a hospital in town 10kms away. 
Here's a summary of our reality:
1. Local health centre: 3 doctors, one of whom is Belgian and speaks English so he's our médecin traitant. That at least means I don't have to accompany my OH to appointments. None of the nurses or the receptionist speak English, so I have to be available but not present. Big bonus over UK, appointments available within the week for routine matters. There is a pharmacie some 200m away, no English speakers.

2. Dentist: 20 km away, has dozens of English speaking patients but taking on nobody new. She delights in speaking English but would like to retire however she can find nobody to even assist her despite moving her surgery to the brand new health centre . Her receptionist only speaks French.

3. Ophthalmology: eye tests had to be done by an opthalmologist after a couple of months wait. No walking in to an optician for a test 10 minutes later! Spectacles are a prescription item. OH needed cataracts removed:: one done within 2 months, and the second 6 weeks later, new spectacles prescribed thereafter. 2 years later OH developed a problem. Optician made an appointment for him in a different town 30 km away for the following week with a consultant, problem lasered off the week after. Some English spoken by both opthalmologists but not the staff.

4. Routine hospital treatment: eye operations carried out locally as a day patient, required a pre-op interview with the anaesthetist in French as she was Romanian. I have an auto-immune system problem which needs monthly treatment, the current doctor in charge speaks no English, some of the nurses do. My consultant is in Agen and I see him on a yearly basis. He is quite taciturn and after 4 years under his care I have no idea if he speaks English or any other foreign language but what's important is that he sees me on time. I do know (from another patient) that some of the nurses and ward doctors speak English. Urology consultant and treatment is done in Langon clinique. X rays and blood tests may be done in entirely separate establishments, but need a prescription. Our preferred laboratoires operate only in French.

5. Emergencies: A number of smaller hospitals have recently shut their night A&Es, so patients are sent to Bordeaux or Agen depending on the severity of the emergency. You may get to hospital in time to be treated but additional fatalities are expected. Daytime A&E: after an anaemic collapse my OH took me in, I was seen very swiftly. A couple of years later I fell from an electric bike injuring my knee and my head (despite wearing a helmet) again I was seen very swiftly but the head injury required a second and a third check up at Bordeaux ! During which time I was on crutches for the knee, travelling such a distance was not comfortable. 

Over all we are very satisfied with the care given and would probably settle in or around here again as life is for enjoying.


----------



## jweihl

I suffered a bout of vertigo in February. Not sure what caused it. My GP prescribed several meds and then wrote me an ordonance to see a "kine vestibulaire." By the time gave the meds a couple of weeks to work and then get an appointment with the kine the symptoms had gradually faded away. Still, the exam was fairly interesting with hookups to sensors and computers. He pronounced me "normal" and said to come back in two weeks, which I never did as I came down with COVID the day before my follow up. I had no idea that such a specialty existed, but now I know!


----------



## Crabtree

There is a theory that as you get older the liquids in the balance mechanism get more viscous and that by manipulating the head and neck and using a chair to turn you up side down or round and round you shake up the liquid in the inner ear


----------



## bhamham

Stand on one leg while you brush your teeth.


----------

