Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Should we go to a and e?

539 replies

ChatterMonkey · 12/03/2022 07:49

Dp has been feeling rubbish for a week now, with pain caused by constipation. He hasnt had a bowel movement for a week now. The pain is constant, with waves of agonising pain.

Hes struggling to be able to medicate it, as hes not allowed to have anti inflammatory medication for seperate issues, and is wary about codeine based medicine as that causes constipation. Paracetomol isnt touching the sides of the pain.

The plan was to get a doctor appointment on monday, but the pain was really severe last night, im not sure we should wait till monday. He mentioned yesterday that the blockage is starting to affect his ability to pee properly which i think is worrying?

Hes alsp worrying now that the constipation is a side effect of something more serious, as theres nothing we can think thats triggered it. Hes worried about gallstones, or bowel cancer.

Is it worth going to a and e, are they likely going to he able to do anything, even if its just investigate and rule out some of the more scary possibilities thats worrying dp? Or would we likely be waiting ages and then sent away with a box of laxido?

OP posts:
RJnH · 13/03/2022 23:45

Casting doubt on the wisdom behind seeking the advice on a social media platform on medical issues is not negative. It's a perfectly legitimate concern. Just because I raise a point that you disagree with doesn't automatically make that point negative or unreasonable.

And I thought the OPs husband was full of s**t!

kittensinthekitchen · 14/03/2022 00:04

@RJnH

Why do you feel the need to ask for medical advice on an online forum, is beyond me.
It seems rather a lot is beyond you.
Bromse · 14/03/2022 02:07

Your husband has been through a lot, Chatter, and so have you.

Diverticulitis is very common, particularly in the 'Western world', but treatable and controllable.

From Medicine Plus: CRP is a protein made by your liver. It's sent into your bloodstream in response to inflammation. Inflammation is your body's way of protecting your tissues if you've been injured or have an infection. It can cause pain, redness, and swelling in the injured or affected area.
........
Patients always have routine blood tests when they go to hospital, to exclude as well as find out things. Liver Function tests are one of them as are Haemoglobin, blood glucose and erythrocyte sedimentation rate.

I'm sure your husband will be fine but it's good that you went to the hospital and presumably your husband is now under the care of a gastroenterologist.

Time to relax now.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General health
Girlmumdogmumboymum · 14/03/2022 05:55

Ouch I've read the updates, but if it's been more than a week where he hasn't been, it's going to be sore when he does go. When he feels the need (slightly lower down than I assume he is feeling the diverticulitis pain) tell him to pop in a gel suppository.

I have problems toileting since having a gastro operation, and its really helped to decrease pain, that and an ungodly amount of Lactulose and Laxido! ...I hope he's feeling better soon

Words · 14/03/2022 06:48

Glad he has a diagnosis now OP. All the best.

tribpot · 14/03/2022 07:14

Hope he's had a reasonable night, OP.

Laiste · 14/03/2022 08:13

@EthelTheAardvark She was in hos. for 2 weeks in the end!

There was pressure building up behind the eye due to a thickening cataract. (She should have had a cataract op only a couple of weeks before this but twice it was cancelled the day before it was scheduled!)

The gradual build up of fluid (iirc) caused pressure on a particular nerve which caused the pain and caused nausea.

She had to have strong anti inflams and lazer treatments (sometimes in the middle of the night - a wonderful opthamologist was opening the day hospital's treatment room and taking mum out of her ward and down there for treatment) to get the swelling went down enough for them to be able to do a cataract op. She got sent home to wait for appt. and it swelled up again! Hmm Another couple of days in hospital and then they did the op.

In the end cancelling that original op (in and out same day) caused her to have 3 weeks in hospital and god knows how many lazer treatments and anti inflams.

Sorry OP. Hope your DH is doing well Flowers

Original poster
ChatterMonkey · 14/03/2022 08:17

I dont think at any point I was solely

OP posts:
Original poster
ChatterMonkey · 14/03/2022 08:24

I dont think at any point i was solely using this thread for medical advice, i had decided probably before i posted that we were going to a&e, and the majority of the thread is when dp is in hospital care, it was more a support for me while he was receiving medical attention, rather than a thread giving me medical advice.

And its been a godsend for my sanity!

Dp had a good sleep last night, got a bit uncomfortable about 5am so had a bath amd just got up then, i got a few more hours sleep....!

I think the relief of having some time off work is good as well, as thats been the cause of his stress. This has been a needed wake up call for him that nothing it more important than his health, and that its just a job at the end of the day. Will need to work on a mindset change for that but he is getting some much needed time off, that he can not feel guilty about now he has a proper diagnosis to tell them, as well as proper medical advice telling him to rest, as well as proper medical advice telling him this can be brought on by stress (this was told to him by the consultant, so not just taking the word of this thread in case anyone is concerned!)

OP posts:
EthelTheAardvark · 14/03/2022 08:25

Thanks, @Laiste. Sounds really nasty. I asked because I had had similar problems, but it turned out that was from shingles.

SilverGlassHare · 14/03/2022 08:27

@ThumbWitchesAbroad

Glad I've seen that it's been diagnosed as diverticulitis, *@ChatterMonkey*. This can be as serious as appendicitis - my mum had it, and one of the diverticuli burst, causing peritonitis and near-death. Luckily they got her into emergency surgery and had to do an emergency colostomy for her, including lavage of her abdominal cavity to remove the stuff from the burst diverticulum (this is what she was told happened) and she was in ICU for a week after. They told her if she hadn't come in when she did, she would probably have died - she was within 24 hours of it.

So yes, they DO take it seriously and I would think the bloods they were taking was to check for signs of infection/increasing white cell count.

A point about diet - if your DP is an undiagnosed coeliac, or is wheat/gluten intolerant, wheat bran/fibre will make the problems worse.
He should consider getting that checked - and if there is an intolerance there, then other forms of soluble fibre are going to work better for him. Stewed apples (pectin), prunes/plums, oats (works for some wheat intolerance but not all, especially be wary if he turns out to be coeliac), psyllium husks/powder - all of these would be better than wheat fibre. You can look up more options by searching for "soluble fibre foods", but avoid wheat, barley and rye based options.

Hope he feels better soon - as someone who suffered from horrendous constipation all my life up until I went gluten-free, I sympathise!

Your mum was very lucky @ThumbWitchesAbroad - I hope she's recovered well. My mum had a similar thing happen - went to hospital in great pain after passing blood - they didn't spot that she'd had a perforation, sent her home and she died of sepsis that night. She was 56. Diverticulitis is very dangerous if not treated appropriately.
ThumbWitchesAbroad · 14/03/2022 08:39

Thanks @SilverGlassHare - I'm sorry you lost your mum that way :( Thanks
Mum survived that, but died some years after from bowel cancer.
It's horrifying really how many people have their sepsis or near-sepsis missed, and die as a result. :(

JudgeRindersMinder · 14/03/2022 08:54

@ChatterMonkey glad to see he got the answer to what was causing the problem…I followed the thread with interest as my late dad used to have terrible issues with constipation due to a “lazy bowel” and it caused no end of complex issues.
Hopefully he’ll get some relief now knowing what the problem is, and that there might be a way through it

BIWI · 14/03/2022 09:47

@RJnH It's always a good idea to not only read the whole thread, but also to have a think about what might lie behind the thread.

In this case, it was abundantly clear that @ChatterMonkey wasn't seeking medical advice, but she was seeking reassurance - not just about going to A&E, but also about how to handle how her husband was being treated, and to help her deal with the waiting time throughout the process.

You are, of course, allowed to disagree with other posters, but how about trying a bit of empathy and understanding along the way, eh?

Original poster
ChatterMonkey · 14/03/2022 10:11

@silverglasshare im so sorry for your loss, i hope you are doing ok, what a traumatic time that must have been ❤Flowers

OP posts:
BoredZelda · 14/03/2022 10:17

So he is home now and has a diagnosis... Its diverticulitis.

Would have been my guess. My husband has it, it can be nasty but is usually easily managed.

godmum56 · 14/03/2022 10:19

@ChatterMonkey

I dont think at any point i was solely using this thread for medical advice, i had decided probably before i posted that we were going to a&e, and the majority of the thread is when dp is in hospital care, it was more a support for me while he was receiving medical attention, rather than a thread giving me medical advice.

And its been a godsend for my sanity!

Dp had a good sleep last night, got a bit uncomfortable about 5am so had a bath amd just got up then, i got a few more hours sleep....!

I think the relief of having some time off work is good as well, as thats been the cause of his stress. This has been a needed wake up call for him that nothing it more important than his health, and that its just a job at the end of the day. Will need to work on a mindset change for that but he is getting some much needed time off, that he can not feel guilty about now he has a proper diagnosis to tell them, as well as proper medical advice telling him to rest, as well as proper medical advice telling him this can be brought on by stress (this was told to him by the consultant, so not just taking the word of this thread in case anyone is concerned!)

Glad to hear things are improving. The best medical advice ever given to my late husband was when he had brochitis and went to the GP to get treatment so he could go to work. The GP said "you stupid man go home and go to bed"
SilverGlassHare · 14/03/2022 10:20

@ChatterMonkey Thanks - it was 13 years ago and I don't think there was so much awareness of sepsis then. It's great that they're taking your DH's problems seriously. If he starts running a temperature, or vomiting, take him back immediately, even if he has an appointment later that day or the next day.

@ThumbWitchesAbroad I'm really sorry to hear your mum passed from bowel cancer, that's awful. Flowers

hopeishere · 14/03/2022 10:40

I was also diagnosed with this once at A&E. Was given antibiotics and sent home. Don't think I even had a blood test! Never followed up. No further treatment or appointments!

Astressie · 14/03/2022 11:02

I have mild diverticular disease diagnosed through colonoscopy- no real symptoms that I was aware of, but have always thought I had a "funny" tummy and had a couple of episodes of very bad unexplained diarrhoea. The disease is when pockets form in the bowel and a high percentage of people have this especially as we get older. When the pouches become infected it is called diverticulitis and antibiotics usually sort it out- not everyone's gets infected . The symptoms of the disease without the infection can be constipation and or loose bowels sometimes with lower left abdomen discomfort relieved by passing gas or going to the loo. It is said to be caused by low fibre diet/ high animal fat diet. I was really shocked that I had it as not that old (i like to think) -55 and always thought I had a good diet - basically vegetarian with little meat. I am now completely meat free but watch my iron intake . I have cut down on gluten and lactose / high fat dairy products. The one major change is having breakfast every day (one thing I didn't do before)- large bowl porridge with various healthy toppings including ground nuts and blueberries , soya/ oat milk and a probiotic. Hope this helps in some way Smile

RJnH · 14/03/2022 11:53

I have read many of the responses including advise to use suppositories and opinions of what might be the cause. I was only questioning the wisdom of seeking advise from a social media platform on a medical issue. The OP has even stated that they were not on here solely for medical advise. Therefore medical advise did make up a part of the rationale and that was what I was questioning. I still stand by that. The emotional support bit is a separate issue as there is no risk to life or limb. Do you think spending 30-40 minutes reading through responses on an online forum is the best use of your time when dealing with what could potentially be a very serious medical emergency. If you were getting chest pains would your first thought be to call an ambulance or ask random strangers on an online forum for advise? Of course this could never happen to me, as according to you I lack the requisite piece of hardware.

winnieanddaisy · 14/03/2022 12:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RJnH · 14/03/2022 12:06

Question

Your partner is getting severe headaches and has been vomiting.

  1. Spend 30-40 minutes on an online forum asking random strangers if they should go to the hospital?
  1. Get your partner to the hospital ASAP
RJnH · 14/03/2022 12:25

[quote WouldBeGood]@RJnH the op asked, got good advice, and her DH is being treated as a result[/quote]
Quite the contrary some of the advise was not good. The problem arrises, how does the OP filter out the good from the not so good?

You cannot seriously claim any credit for this. He would have been treated anyway with or without the advise from this forum.

Mischance · 14/03/2022 12:33

melhm I am sorry that you have this problem.