Should I go to A and E? I hate wasting time

[Doormouse46]

Just to say I hate wasting time especially when A and E will be busy on the weekend. For the past 3 days, I have had sickness and diarrhoea. At first I thought it was a bug, then food poisoning then maybe Norovirus. I don’t want to go to the doctors if I’m going to make more people sick.

However, I noticed the vomiting/diarrhoea comes after I eat or drink only. I even tried to have a few strawberries this morning and within 20 minutes I vomited them back up.

The same this afternoon, I ate some toast following the brat method and it came straight back up. It’s the same with anything I drink even water. I’m so dehydrated my lips are chapped and I’m pale as a ghost.

The other thing I’ve noticed is my poo (sorry) is sort of black and thick now and smells horrendous even though I’ve not eaten for 3 days now. I’ve lost weight but that’s to be expected. I have a cracking headache which I think is from dehydration.

i really don’t know what to do. I’ve tried an anti sickness band, didn’t work- I’ve tried not eating which does work but I even bring up water.

I don’t know what to do. I feel sort of like I’m dying (sounds dramatic I know). I called my mum for advice as she’s a GP receptionist and she basically told me to keep out and keep drinking water best I can.

i just feel so helpless and can’t see an end to it. I’d appreciate any advice!

I had similar a few years ago, didn’t realise I had ulcers and that they were bleeding. The “ black poo” came after I got home from hospital.
Hospital treatment was a couple of bags of blood, then a bag of iron infusion, then another bag of blood. I felt incredibly tired for a few weeks after I got home, went to GP who told me I’d still been anaemic when I left hospital but she’d not known/ looked at any notes 🤷‍♀️ Just be aware to go to your GP if you still don’t feel right afterwards. Camera down throat in hospital and again a month or so later. Make sure they give you sedation, you’ll be fine.

Hope you feel better soon.
And thanks to all blood donors, wherever you are. 💐

Poor OP, her mum is a doctor's receptionist and was dismissive of her alarming symptoms.

No wonder she hesitates to ask for help.

I hope you're now settled in a bed and feeling more comfortable
My thoughts are with you

Black poop is always down to excess iron in the poop. Iron helps your body manufacture blood cells. So if the poop you excrete is black, you have too much iron in your diet, because your body discards any vitamins and minerals it doesn't use. That said, if the poop is also tarry and/or gives off a foul odour, you have internal bleeding and you must go to hospital straight away.

The trouble is the nhs puts out messages about not going to a&e and it ends up being taken notice of by the wrong people and making them more cautious to go. I’m like the op and really cautious about if I’m wasting gp/ a&e time and probably would end up not going in a similar situation to the op and getting really ill. Whereas some people seem to go down a&e at the drop of a hat for things most wouldn’t even see a doctor with and they don’t take any notice of the messages put out. Not sure what the solution is

Read Op's update.

I hope OP's mum has learned something from this. She should at least have enough awareness to advise OP to call 111/ look up the symptoms/ use the nhs website. GP receptionists should know NOT to give medical advice.

It's for accidents and emergencies.

Black stools are indicative of an emergency. And should always be investigated as such.

I hope you've now read the OP's later posts and are suitably embarrassed at having tried to make her feel stupid for going to A&E.

Considering she has sepsis, one of the symptoms being black stools.

I did. She's in hospital with a burst stomach ulcer that's gone septic. Black tarry poop is an indicator of this.

OP, pleased you went to hospital. Wishing you a smooth recovery.
I can't believe some of what I've read on here either! The black poo made me think internal bleeding so I would have said hospital too.
I agree this isn't the best place to ask for emergency medical advice. However, there are some invaluable support threads under health which are the nicest mumsnet threads.

Goodness OP. Hope you are settled in a ward soon. Wishing you well x

The job of a doctors receptionist these days may as well be doctors gatekeeper. They seem to try their absolute flippin' best to ensure you can't see them. I noticed it a lot during lockdowns. Bloody disgraceful.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Add to that not knowing what you don't know and thinking because you work near HCPs, you have some medical knowledge and you have a recipe for disaster.

Anna8089 · Today 14:31
People really don't understand what A+E is for. Contact your gp for further investigation

Sue2024 · Today 10:51

Definitely do not go to A & E, you will pass your bug to everybody else there. Your sysmptoms can be managed at home, have a look online for tips on rehydrating etc. Once you can keep water down Dioralyte is very good for rehydrating and rebalancing the electrolytes.
Hope you feel better soon.

Hmmm. Interesting posts and interesting username formats.

I hope you are receiving the medical treatment that gets you a speedy recovery OP.

Not A&E, call 999 and ask for ambulance. Honestly you sound dehydrated past the point I would try and treat at home. This needs professional assessment and potentially treatment in a hospital.

She's in hospital

Good luck OP and well said. Some very dangerous know-it-alls in the world, sadly your mum sounds like she may be one of them.

Personally I think the standard response to the question “should I go to A&E” should be:

If you’re ill enough to ask if you should go to A&E the very least you should be doing is phoning 111

Wow, thank god there are people here who recognised the serious of the symptoms. I wouldn’t have known, and would probably have tried to soldier through it for another night.

Thank you all for persisting with OP and getting her to call 111. I hope those of you that gave terrible advice keep your thoughts to yourself next time!

Hello everyone, I’m on the ward now- and sleeping a lot. Thank you again everyone for your advice, I appreciate/appreciated it. It looks like I’ll be in here for IV antibiotics for a few more days and then a gastrocopy to see what’s happening then hopefully home :)

Completely agree about my mum, she seems to always think we are wasting precious medical time unless we are laid on the floor actually bleeding out which is where I get it from and asked on here. I think she’s feeling very sheepish and has learnt a thing or two now as well.

@Doormouse46 goodness, that sounds absolutely horrendous. You poor thing, you must have been in agony. Hope you’re feeling more comfortable now and sending you good wishes for a speedy recovery. x

Glad you are in the right place, and they are looking after you.

Good grief!! This message is exactly the reason that Mumsnet is NEVER the place to ask for medical advice.

Well, that was really brilliant, I know nothing advice, wasn't it? Have you read the OP's posts? Are you the Minister of Health, by any chance?

Sounds like you had a close call OP and probably a lesson to all of us mums who just try and struggle on regardless while feeling dreadful! Wishing you a speedy recovery and so glad that you got the medical help you needed in time 💐