Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Should I go to A&E?

242 replies

Aandespine · 04/10/2024 18:07

I'm 5mo pregnant. Woke up yesterday morning with excruciating back pain. I cannot walk unaided (thankfully have a pair of crutches at home I've been using to shuffle to the bathroom and back), cannot sit, even on the toilet seat I'm having to lean to one side, cannot bend over. I'm struggling to lift myself up from the toilet seat, cannot turn over in bed. I'm climbing the stairs on all fours then I take a while at the top (in a lot of pain) to stand up straight again. My lower back is numb and I'm getting tingling pain under my belly, and shooting pains down one leg. One leg feels heavy and weak.

Have been to see the GP. They can't tell me what the issue is, no advice re recovery time or prognosis. They've just prescribed dihydrocodiene. No other advice besides to go to A&E if I experience incontinence or numbness down below. I pleaded with them for an MRI which they say they'll try to request without any guarantees/it will be at the discretion of the radiographer who will decide if there's an indication for it.

Now I've had sciatica in the past and the pain was in no way near this. I'm in tears numerous times a day and the pain is literally exhausting me. I dred going to the toilet. I'm bed bound. I have a family member taking care of my 2 young children.

I haven't yet been to A&E because I cannot sit and wait there for hours to be told the same thing (pain meds and no further diagnostics).

Please tell me what to do

OP posts:
TomatoSandwiches · 04/10/2024 18:20

I'd be booking to see a reputable osteopath, they really helped me with my SPD.

Does it feel like all your insides will fall out when you take a step?

Serencwtch · 04/10/2024 18:19

They can't do much for back pain in a&e so yes you will be sitting there in pain for many hours & prob given the same advice as your GP

If you get numbness or incontinence then definitely go straight to a&e

Are you taking ibuprofen as well as the codeine. I found that combination helped

Acute back pain/sciatica can be one of the worst pain there is. I had it from a slipped disc & far worse than child birth, dental pain, broken bones & a deep burn.

Dotto · 04/10/2024 18:19

Aandespine · 04/10/2024 18:17

I called them after I got back from the GP and they told me to go to A&E

You need obstetric physio I would have thought... Unless you have signs of cauda equina

SewingBees · 04/10/2024 18:19

I have had similar symptoms in the past and was taken seriously at A and E and I wasn't pregnant at the time. They'll likely give you an x ray and if that shows nothing then an MRI. I couldn't sit or stand but I did find a bench I could lie on. You'll likely have a long wait on a Friday evening though.

mindutopia · 04/10/2024 18:19

Honestly, I can’t imagine anything worse than sitting in A & E for 12 hours in that much pain. I think I would try to wait it out and take the pain meds if it was me personally. My total amateur guess would be that it’s SPD that is aggrevating your sciatica and pressing on a nerve. GP was useless with SPD but an osteopath was like a miracle worker.

Aandespine · 04/10/2024 18:19

UpUpUpU · 04/10/2024 18:16

Have you tried the painkillers?

Yes. They've done nothing.

OP posts:
Saz12 · 04/10/2024 18:18

Has it got worse since seeing GP? Did you "put on a brave face" for the GP and understate how bad it was?

If not given that you saw GP today and will have Friday evening A&E chaos, I'd be tempted to tough it out until tomorrow, but I'm not a medical person and am not feeling your pain!

SillyTilly2 · 04/10/2024 18:18

Sciatica type pain? Sounds like you need a physio.

Liminalstate · 04/10/2024 18:17

I'm not a medical professional but this sounds a bit like spd-symphysis pubis dysfunction. Might be worth calling your midwife team at the hospital first before considering a&e?

Aandespine · 04/10/2024 18:17

Dotto · 04/10/2024 18:16

Call your midwifery team for advice, if your community / antenatal team have clocked off you can call labour ward to speak to someone. Say you are bed bound and where can they refer you urgently

Edited

I called them after I got back from the GP and they told me to go to A&E

OP posts:
Aandespine · 04/10/2024 18:17

Yes saw the GP today.

Sorry I meant that I don't want to go to A&E just to be told the same thing - painkillers and no MRI/diagnosis.

OP posts:
UpUpUpU · 04/10/2024 18:16

Have you tried the painkillers?

Dotto · 04/10/2024 18:16

Call your midwifery team for advice, if your community / antenatal team have clocked off you can call labour ward to speak to someone. Say you are bed bound and where can they refer you urgently

Boomer55 · 04/10/2024 18:14

Well, I would go, but if you can’t sit and wait, I’m not sure what the answer is.🤷‍♀️

nootcoffee · 04/10/2024 18:09

you saw the GP today?

Aix · 04/10/2024 18:09

I'm not a medical professional, but yes, if I was in your shoes I would be going to A&E.

nootcoffee · 04/10/2024 18:08

you’re asking if you should go to A&E but then you say it’s impossible for you to go to A&E?

Swipe left for the next trending thread