emergency room

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Close up of vitals monitor in hospital with doctors and patient blurred in background

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How to Know When to Go to the ER for Migraine

NewWhen a migraine attack intensifies beyond the familiar threshold, it can leave you questioning: Is this “bad enough” for the emergency room? It’s a tough call to make, especially when past ER visits may have left you feeling misunderstood, your outward composure misrepresenting the severity of your distress. Recognizing a Migraine Emergency A migraine attack [...]

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TracyK

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Lupus

How the Collapse of Primary Care Is Impacting the Entire Health Care System

I am writing this post from my bed. I’ve spent a lot of time horizontal during the eight years since my lupus diagnosis, but today’s prostration is the result of a week of failed attempts to obtain medical care. After exhausting all of my options, and sailing close to sepsis, I ended up in the [...]

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Kat Harrison

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@xokat

Mighty With Migraine 3y

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What’s been your experience with going to the emergency room for a migraine?

My experience with the ER (which I know some countries call A&E) and migraine treatment has been a wild ride.

Back when my pain management was a lot more volatile (in terms of huge fluctuations in pain levels), going to the ER was always a go-to strategy for me. I became so well versed in how to explain my health history, even going as far as to tell them what my migraine “cocktail” was for breaking my current attack.

But in the past five years, I’ve actively avoided this tactic and suffered at home. Why? Because the fight for medication became harder. The bills piled up. The relief was temporary, and inevitably my migraine roared back. “The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze,” as they say.

So I’m curious: What’s been your experience? Has it been similar to mine?

#HemiplegicMigraine #Migraine #Fibromyalgia #Endometriosis #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #RareDisease #Disability #mightywithmigraine #EmergencyRoom

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Kat Harrison

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@xokat

MentalHealth 3y

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In a crisis situation, what’s been your experience with ambulances?

Have you ever been in an ambulance before? Were you the patient or did you ride along with a loved one? What was it like from an emotional, mental, and physical perspective?

We’d love to hear about your experience — the good, the harrowing, the stuff you haven’t told others. A few things you can think about:

☎️ What was it like to call emergency services?
🏥 Was your interaction with the paramedics comforting or traumatic?
🚑 What do you remember about the actual ride?

P.S. Your answer may be shared in an upcoming story on The Mighty.

#MentalHealth #SuicidalThoughts #Stroke #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #RareDisease #Caregiving #EmergencyRoom #CheckInWithMe

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sparticles4

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@sparticles4

ChronicPain 3y

Pain, pain and more pain

It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I was doing quite well until recently and now I’m sadly back needing support from those who understand.

Just over a week ago I was taken to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain. I spent 12 hours in the ER only to be told it was likely a ruptured ovarian cyst (due to my history of PCOS), given painkillers and sent home. This was on the Friday evening into Saturday morning. On Sunday evening I returned to the ER with the same pain, and waited 9 hours to be told it was a UTI, be given antibiotics and sent home. Wednesday I saw my GP and was referred to gynaecology, where I was inpatient until Friday. I had an ultrasound which revealed nothing, and the only abnormalities they’ve found is the UTI, which doesn’t explain the amount of pain I’ve been in (an amount that requires morphine). I finished my course of antibiotics and still being in pain, went to see my GP again today. My GP gave me more antibiotics and painkillers but still doesn’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m incredibly lucky to have the most amazing friends who will sit in the ER with me for hours on end, as well as answer their phones at all hours of the day should I need them, but it’s incredibly frustrating that nobody can figure out what’s wrong with me and they’re still just throwing drugs at me. #ChronicPain #UndiagnosedIllness #severepain #EmergencyRoom #Hospital #gynaecology

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@asterisk

Anxiety 3y

Anxiety has evolved!

Last night I was at A&E. I had been having palpitations and was breathless. I was there for 7-8 hours and in that time had blood tests, another ECG and a chest x-ray, all of which came back fine.

So now I just have to accept it is anxiety. And that the attacks are every day and unpredictable. And I don’t even have to be anxious to get them. Fun times.

I slept all day when I got back. I was absolutely exhausted. Didn’t work for that reason.

#Anxiety #palpitations #breathlessness #AnxietyAttack #AnxietyAttacks #ER #EmergencyRoom #BloodTests

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OvarianCyst 4y

Ovarian Torsion

I experienced ovarian torsion on Sunday. I was in the ER most of yesterday. I have a 5cm ovarian cyst. One doctor was talking surgery. Once he left they basically said because of my "complex surgical history" they were sending me home to wait it out. 🙃🥲 #OvarianCyst #ovariantorsion #EmergencyRoom #NecrotizingFasciitis #Sepsis

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MentalHealth 4y

An Update on Being a burden

Thank you to everyone who left such kind messages. My apologies that I haven’t responded, yesterday was overwhelming and I felt unable to do more than read everyone’s regards.

For those who didn’t catch my comments on the original post, I ended up going to the hospital after I phoned NHS Direct as they were concerned about my heart and lungs. I had an ECG, chest X-Ray and blood tests, and luckily nothing came back abnormal and I was given oxygen, a mild sedative and then sent home to rest and relax.

I ended up texting two of these “friends”, to tell them what had happened and hopefully make them see that words and actions have consequences. I spoke at length about doing this to my best friend and my partner, and both advised me to say what I needed to say then mute the conversation. When I came back a while later, both had replied despite me telling them a reply was unnecessary. One gave me a genuine, heartfelt apology, accepting their responsibility for the situation and realising that I may not accept their apology or forgive them for what they did, but asking that I acknowledge their apology. The other said that the whole situation was bullsh*t, that they “didn’t know how to deal with someone who has multiple chronic and mental illnesses” and that the whole situation was unfair on everyone involved, but also acknowledged that all that probably pales in comparison to what I’ve been through these past 2 days. I really don’t know what to do now. On the one hand one seemed genuinely sorry, and like they wanted me back in the group, and even said that they’d been thinking about everything they’d said since they said it, and the other felt less sincere, like they were trying to pass off what happened as my fault, rather than taking responsibility for their words and actions. #MentalHealth #physicalhealth #HospitalVisit #EmergencyRoom

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Candida Reece, Written by Dida

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@candida-reece

MyalgicEncephalomyelitis 4y

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#EmergencyRoom visits with #ChronicIllness

I made this graphic from a video that I made for TikTok. An ER doctor made a video expressing his frustration when people aren't happy to hear that tests didn't find anything wrong, resulting in many responses from the chronic illness community. I doubt the doctor was really think about us, in particular, when this video was made- probably more so the people that use the ER incorrectly when they should be going to an urgent care or primary physician (and I'm sure that this pandemic is making it harder to NOT vent, and do these kinds of things,) but this unveils another issue- insensitivity to chronic patients. So, whether this is an issue of a bad choice of venting, or a true misunderstanding of patients- the bottom line is that choosing to be a doctor or nurse gives you a level of responsibility that obligates you to take it seriously, and try not to weaken the confidence patients have in you. When you hold lives in your hands, you have to be more careful than others, in many ways. Watching what you put out in public is one of those ways. Having compassion for, and listening to your patients are also required. Chronic illnesses can have acute symptoms that require emergency treatment. We know our bodies, and usually try to avoid the ER if we can. We don't do it for fun, but to get help or relief. Sometimes our chronic pain flares severely & we can't wait to get into primary care & many urgent cares can't/won't use the medication we need for relief, so we have no choice but to turn to the ER. Sometimes, a complication of our illnesses happen that requires emergency care, but it's hard to see because of our chronic conditions. Don't write us off. For more, follow me or visit the link in my profile. #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #Fibromyalgia #MultipleSclerosis #Spoonie