Shell shocked after a and e visit

[Onethreefiveseven]

I am looking for advice on what to do next as I feel like I'm not coping

I started developing very severe neck pain yesterday. I am not inexperienced with pain, I've been through significant, life-threatening medical events. This was far worse pain than breaking a bone, for example, or an infected surgical wound. I've also had migraines and this was much worse. The closest comparison was when I went into hyperstimulation during a pregnancy induction and felt like my abdomen was in a vice. This time I felt like my skull was about to crack. It was so extremely painful and very frightening, I also had blurred vision on my left side. The pain was so intense I can't describe it.

I was sent to a and e by 111, got there at 8, told 3-4 hours wait. I sat in waiting room on a hard chair groaning and crying. By the time I was triaged the wait had become 5-6 hours and then by 11pm 8-9 hours. I spoke to a receptionist who made it clear that I wouldn't be seeing anyone until the morning. No pain relief until then. So I asked my partner to pick me up and we called 111 again desperately trying to get pain meds. Spent the night waiting for callbacks and begging for help down the phone. Sobbing and at times screaming from the pain. I finally got some codeine this morning, after 14 hours of indescribable pain.

This morning the pain is more under control and I thought I would feel relieved but instead I feel odd, psychologically, in a bad way. Kind of dead eyed and like I want to cry but can't. Hopeless. The fact that I interacted with so many people and no one helped. No one even really seemed to believe me how bad the pain was. I'm not writing this to blame them. Maybe they were doing what was necessary, prioritising other patients. It was still horrific though.

I will make a drs appointment for my physical health but I want to know what to do, today, to try to minimise the psychological effects. I've barely slept and I can't figure out what to do. Has anyone else been through a prolonged period of very intense pain and/or been denied pain relief, and found a way to cope with the emotional aftermath. Maybe just writing this down will help, I don't know.

What pain relief had you tried? You say none but mostbpeople would use otc medicine before 111

Were you instructed to take no more ?

That sounds like it could be a stroke. How is your blood pressure? Can you urgently see the GP? How is the pain now? Sorry to hear they didn't help you.

could it be the codeine ? I only took one dose as it made me feel so bad. I felt out if it and v disconcerted and v sick !

Codeine made me feel awful. Really awful. If your symptoms are that severe I don't think the go is the right place.

My mother had the headache from hell, the worst of her life and neck pain. She had a subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Like you, she was fobbed off. She was then misdiagnosed.

You also seem to have neurological symptoms.

Please go back to A & E and your husband or partner need to advocate for you.

Same here my husband has had severe shoulder and back back . It's been so bad that he has been crying out loud in agony with the pain .it's interfering with his sleep . He's been given pain relief but it's not working . This has gone on for a month and has got worse and worse. He has rung the doctor several times but has been told to persevere until he can get physio. I think he needs a scan. Sorry to hi Jack your thread but it seems it is hard to get taken seriously and to get help . I'm thinking of going private to speed things up

@greencartbluecart
I should have said that I needed adequate pain relief. I had taken some nsaids and paracetamol at home but they didn't touch it.

OMG I’m so sorry to hear this.
I had a similar experience recently. Excruciating headache but only lasted a few mins.
The next day I went to the GP who sent me to an and e, I was triaged within 45 mins, saw and A and E doc within a couple of hours, had a head CT an hour later, was then admitted and given a bed to sleep in and then had a lumbar puncture the next morning.
They were all busy, all stressed but they cared. In fact the LP was very difficult and I tried to go home and they were so caring and gentle towards me trying to get me to stay and have it I was almost in tears.
I say this to let you know things aren’t like this everywhere. The human race and esp those in the caring professions do still care and you matter to them. You just had bad luck. The rot has obviously set in there and a culture of not giving a shit/it’s cool to not care has set in. Seen in many times in my working life as an NHS midwife.
Please complain.

Sorry you're going through this. No big advice, but might be worth not talking about it as 'neck pain'. What you talk about regarding the skull sounds more serious and might be taken more seriously as it does have more connotations of stroke etc than the neck pain which make it sound muscular and less extreme.

I would also be concerned about this

The last post sums it up . Pot luck . I think it is down to luck if you get seen that day due to whatever else is going on and staff shortages.

I mean - obviously mention the neck pain too, but framing it as that would make it feel less urgent when very busy people are having to prioritise lots of patients.

Shocking treatment but I think you should go back to A & E and wait it out. Not the GP

Thank you for your concern everyone. My vitals are all normal and the pain is reducing a little which is why I'm no longer treating it as a physical emergency. My intuition is that it is now my mental health that is most at risk. I hope I'm making the right decision, I'm not certain. I am very sleep deprived. Going to Google subarachnoid hemorrhage

Yup, during childbirth I had around 40 hours of agonising pain that made me delirious and deranged. Epidural and intervention for the last 2 hours. I was unwell afterward and diagnosed with PTSD, previously not even knowing birth trauma was ‘a thing’. In any situation where a person is in extreme pain and/or fear, a trauma response can occur in the brain. It doesn’t mean you’re weak or somehow lacking, it’s a coping mechanism your brain uses to deal with the event. In my case it was being seen by so many people who I expected to help but then didn’t/couldn’t, that made it worse. It felt like being desperate for help and pain relief, being coolly observed from the side and then the observer passing by without helping. It can totally mess with your head.

Meningitis?

Why didnt you stay in A+E after being triaged? What did they say at triage though? What assessments did they carry out?

@Onethreefiveseven

Can you ring your GP's surgery now and ask to speak to one of the GPs?

I had a very similar experience, pain far worse than any migraine ever, nothing in my medication arsenal had touched it. Admitted to A&E observation ward for the night, told I needed a brain scan in the morning. Given morphine, then more morphine. Then sent home as the headache had stopped ( yes, morphine will do that) Of course as soon as it wore off at home headache came back.
Friend suggested I call her chiropractor. Best idea ever. Within minutes she identified exactly what was causing the pain, a trapped nerve. Without me telling her the path of pain she traced it on my skull. Manipulation, pain gone.

I have a friend who had a traumatic mismanaged birth, and she felt similarly where she felt like the rug had been pulled oit from under her of how she thought she'd be safe in hospital, that its a place to be cared for and made well. It shook her to the core and she had to have counselling. I hope you're OK op and get the help you need.

Could it be an adrenaline slump? I get a dissociated, numb, queasy/sleepy spaces out feeling after being over adrenalised.

I can’t do theme parks anymore. Trivial in comparison with your experience, but the post trauma feeling sounds similar.

For me, TLC, caffeine and sugar does the trick. Sugary porridge, bacon sandwich, coffee, coke.

and sleep.

My GP gave me acupuncture for torticollis (wryneck) - one huge needle in the top of my head. Instant relief and so far it hasn't come back.

@NotTheMrMenAgain
Thank you I feel like you've described it exactly. I had similar issues during labour but "only" for five hours. I think it changed me, and I'm worried that this is going to be even worse

You can’t assume the psychological symptoms are mental health and not caused by a physical event.

You need to go back to A&E and stick it out, It will be a really boring/unpleasant several hours and you may end up being told it is a cluster headache but, even if it is a small chance, it might save your life.

I don’t think you have other good alternatives.

Please demand to see a doctor today or get your partner to demand it.