Sick abroad with no insurance. Please be nice, I know I'm a dumbass

[ABroadAbroadandill]

Am on a European citibreak with DP. Arrived on Friday. I felt ill on the plane and again in the taxi. That night I woke up with excruciating upper abdo pain (in waves, almost like contractions) and worst black liquid shits of all time. Am alternating between freezing and boiling.

No nausea or vomiting. No back pain.

Haven't eaten since Friday. Still shitting through the eye of a needle.

DP has gone out to get diaoralyte, immodium and the strongest pain relief you can buy otc here.

I would've gone to urgent care if I had had insurance but just can't afford a big bill or risk them admitting me and missing my flight.

Does it sound like pancreatitis?

I had a bit of a binge Thursday night as was end of work before our holiday and also the eurovision semi final. 1 bottle of wine and a large gin. I don't drink regularly. I eat low carb/low fat and am a bit overweight but working on losing it.

I know I'm an idiot for forgoing insurance. Believe me, will never do it again.

😭

Travelling at the moment it’s even more important to have insurance. If someone caught covid abroad and were not allowed to travel home imagine the costs involved there.

I also knew someone who was on a walking holiday and broke a leg, the cost of treatment was over £3k , luckily they did have insurance.
insurance is not that expensive and if you travel on a regular basis get the yearly cover, you never know when you might need it.

If any posts are ‘sanctimonious’ it’s the ones getting on their superior high horse and judging people they don’t know.

Hope you got checked out OP. Even without a GHIC physical card you will still be covered.

Sally, its nothing to do with luck having travel insurance. Its stupid and foolish to travel without it.

Totally right, I always have insurance but I have learned about the GHIC card from this thread which is usefu to know so whether the OP is genuine or not the thread has served a purpose

Or trying to drum up sales for travel insurance!

Possibly a bit late but I’m on holiday at the moment and also suffering with contraction like abdo pains this morning after vomiting but no diarrhoea. My children had a sickness bug at the end of last week so I can imagine it’s from them. Buscopan is also marvellous for cramps so if you can get hold of those then they might help. The concern is the black stools which could indicate bleeding so if you can (regardless of the cost) I would try and get seen. Hope you’re feeling better soon and get to the bottom of it so you can enjoy your break.

any update OP ?

I understand that over 20% of people go on holiday without insurance which is shocking

Dear god, are there really that many people stupid enough to take such a risk??

And on a side note, is anyone else wondering how many posters have offered money to help OP out of her fix?

You’re right of course, surely User12345678 or whatever the default username is would’ve been sufficient, I didn’t even notice the username at first 😂 And yes creating italics would be a total faff especially on a mobile. Also there’s an awful lot of detail, what she drank watching the semi finals of Eurovision etc. If I was in excruciating pain I don’t think I could manage that or at the very most the bare minimum of detail. I suspect a begging thread gone wrong when sensible posters started talking about GHIC cards instead of sending money. 😆
Ho hum.

My insurance company has a section where you can buy insurance if you are already abroad. You could try that.

That's not how insurance works.

You insure to protect against something that might happen in the future not to claim against something that has already happened. Any insurance taken out now would not cover this medical claim, it might cover her if she was to have a nasty trip and fall or loss of baggage unrelated to this episode.

NHS contact or local embassy/consul is the best option for anyone who finds themselves abroad in a bad situation, not an imaginary bad situation

What you've said. Plus obviously MN is the first place you'd go to if you were really ill, unlike perhaps asking someone in the UK to dial 111 for you...

i would probably forget travel insurance just for a weekend

Surely that's like joining the AA with a broken car. Why would an insurance company allow you to wait until you fall ill / have an accident and THEN pay a (modest) premium to cover a (large) bill?

Because you can't get ill or have an accident over a weekend???

@notanothertakeaway The AA does allow you to join on the spot if you have broken down.

Has there been an update from OP?

The AA does allow you to join on the spot if you have broken down.

It does, but they also charge an extra call out fee that you wouldn’t have to pay if you were already a member.

Any purchase of insurance is a balance of money spent vs chances of using it. It’s a valid choice not to buy insurance, if you are young and low risk. If people didn’t buy more insurance than they ended up needing then the insurance companies wouldn’t be the most profitable businesses in the world!! So, no, not buying it is not dumb!!

Hold on. Please can posters not indicate that you can buy insurance once the accident/illness happens. You really really cant! Imagine the scenario. You pay £30 for a week's travel insurance and then immediately claim costs of £5k.

Why on earth would insurance companies allow this!

Please dont say you can do it! People will always take risk, say they will be careful etc and foolishly go abroad without cover. More fool them!

Go to a &r. If yi have an ehic card that will work. They can also get a temp one online (make sure it's a health care hospital and not a private one though

You may have free travel cover from your bank

It’s a valid choice not to buy insurance, if you are young and low risk.
Low risk of what? Lower risk of some illnesses than much older people maybe, but no less likely to get something like appendicitis and no less likely to have an accident. I had a friend who couldn't fly back from holiday because one of the children developed chickenpox. The EHIC/GHIC card doesn't cover flight changes or additional nights in a hotel.

If people didn’t buy more insurance than they ended up needing then the insurance companies wouldn’t be the most profitable businesses in the world!!
But unless you have a crystal ball, you don't know if and when you might need it

So, no, not buying it is not dumb!!
Your opinion. I know enough people who have required more than covered by EHIC to say you're bonkers for travelling without insurance, whatever age. For example, someone relatively young needing to be flown back by air ambulance; someone very young so ill the parents had to fly out; and someone who had an accident needing an operation who became very unwell under the anaesthetic and spent quite some time in hospital afterwards.

Of course thankfully most times we feel like insurance is a waste of money as we haven't needed it but i think it should be considered an essential cost like a passport. If you can't afford travel insurance then you will be completely stuffed if you ever incurred the cost of treatment/hotels/flights not covered by EHIC. Plus it's usually combined with covering baggage etc.

Back to the OP, if genuine, I hope all is ok.