To not take DD to the GP/A&E until Monday

[HearTheThunderRoar]

So DD (15) has a had a bog standard cold, so had Friday off school, much to her horror as she has three internal assessments due next week.

But now she has an awful cough that she cannot rid of and every time she tries to speak she starts dry coughing, this has happened before with most colds and the cough lingers for weeks, if not months, so the GP have always just put her on something similar to an asthma inhaler (she has sports induced asthma).

The problem is the inhaler we received last time has run out of puffs, so I will have to take her to A&E but I live abroad where we have to pay for healthcare and it costs $50 to go to A&E but I can't really afford it at the moment and the GP would only be about $20 on the Monday. If I can't get her in on the Monday, I will take her to A&E.

I feel bad though she's going to spend the whole weekend in bed with a mountain of homework to do. AIBU?

I'm not going to comment on the original OP, I think that's been covered. I do want to say this though, and it covers EVERYONE who has/had asthma.

NEVER, EVER GET SO COMPLACENT ABOUT IT THAT YOU DON'T HAVE AN UP TO DATE INHALER TO HAND

Asthma can return unexpectedly, or become worse suddenly. There are so many unnecessary deaths from asthma because people dismiss it, become complacent about it, or simply don't realise that if you've ever had asthma and its 'gone away', it can return.

OP, I can't comment on your DD's condition, but just wanted to let you know you're not alone in facing this dilemma of not knowing whether symptoms are bad enough to warrant paying for a doctor's visit you can't really afford. Every time my DDs are sick I have to consider if it's bad enough for a €60 GP visit (plus any medication they might get prescribed). Of course I will scrape together the cash if needed but I really don't want to go to the Dr unless absolutely necessary. It's really tough though, a very fine line to tread, and I suspect most people here have never had to make that decision.

I'd like to second that stratters

A friend of mine very occasionally used an inhaler during sport and had done since she was a child. She'd never had an asthma attack ever in her life and didn't feel she had "proper asthma"

Until one evening we went out for a meal and she didn't bring her inhaler being as she'd never needed it.

Evenings ended with her having an asthma attack in the street and collapsing as she had no inhaler to help her.
I was absolutely terrified and thought I was going to have to resuscitate her. Thankfully we were so close to home (and half of me still thinks I should have called 999 anyway but I knew her inhaler would help and was so so close and I couldn't do 2 things at once) that I managed to bring her round and literally dragged her up the street to her door and went and got it for her. I don't know how I managed it as I am far smaller than she is.

When she was a bit more with it she was really really shocked as nothing like that had ever happened before. I dread to think how it would have ended had her inhaler not been one street away.

I think I'm a bit of a skeptic, when it comes to asthma attacks. I used to carry an Inhailer with me at all times, and would become very anxious if I fogot it.

Notreviling - could your friend have been having a panic attack rather than an asthma attack? I've been in the situation a few times and now realise it was an anxiety/panic attack and not asthma causing me feeling unwell, breathing rapidly ect

I realise asthma

I'm not 100% pass I've no direct experience of asthma. I have had panic attacks though so I'm leaning towards no ?

She did loose consciousness briefly and THe inhaler did help. Scared the shit out of me though. I was very nearly having a panic attack I can tell you.

Sorry posted too soon.

I realise that asthma attacks can start again after years of being ok, but on reflection some of my symtoms were anxiety and not asthma which could be perceived as an asthma attack

Aw bless you! I'm glad she had you looking out for you.

I've sufferered from both unfortunatly (I'm a walking medical chuffing text book. Lol!)

I guess you'll never know what happened. Anxiety attacks can change your breathing, heart rate, make you pass out, give you chest pains ect. And if she was drinking - or drinking caffeine it can make the symptoms worse.

I do realise asthma is serious, but living with a mum and brother who are Inhailer dependant and having it myself - I do think sometimes that the symtoms sometimes are physiological

Do you mean psychological?

Sorry - yes I mean psychological. I think sometimes the mind takes over

Have to add - I don't feel that healthcare is 'free' here in the UK. We pay tax and NI to contribute.

And do you know why you have to wait so long in A&E OP? Because people like you let medication run out and end up going there for something that you could get from your GP, if you remembered.

Hope your DD is ok.

Crikey NotRevealing, that's a scary story. I'm like your friend, I don't believe I have 'proper' asthma never having had an attack. In fact I rather suspected I was just diagnosed to get the surgery's grants up. Might actually start my two puffs twice a day now. Thanks.

As the taking her/not taking her debate has been well and truly covered by now I'm not going to comment, but I will say, please just bear in mind that while she may be 'fine' now, it doesn't take a long time to change to very much not fine!
I can be literally fine one minute, and the next on the floor unable to breathe. And please please please never let her inhaler run out again without replacing it. It could be the biggest mistake you ever make in your life. I have 2 inhalers in my house at any given time. I haven't touch wood needed them in over a year, but they are there just in case.

I do have to touch upon the 'I'm a single mother, no spare cash' thing though.
Your kids are THE most important thing in your life surely, if my kids needed medical treatment, I would beg borrow or steal to raise that $50! No question. And I'm pretty sure in the case of emergency medicines, they can sort out payment plans etc? Surely they won't turn away a sick child just because you don't have the spare cash?
If not that route, then you miss a bill payment, if you actually talk to a lot of companies they will also sort out payment plans etc, I know they do, I've done it before. Just keep ringing round until you find a sympathetic ear.
There ARE ways around it. I'm actually quite shocked that someone would rather miss taking a child to A&E than find a way to find the money.

I bet most of the people flaming me don't have to pay healthcare. I have to pay for healthcare (Australia), not A&E, admittedly.

Saying that, if my dd needed meds, then I would gladly pay! I seem to remember a poster on here some years ago who has lung problems as a result of her parents not properly treating her asthma!

Get that bloody credit card out, I can't believe anyone would put paying off a credit card over their dc health! Surely that is why you have a credit card...for emergencies?

countessmarkyabitch If the op is SO confident that her daughter doesn't need A&E or a dr, why post about asking ISBU to not take her til Monday? IF she doesn't have asthma issues, then why consider taking her on Monday, when she will be ever better than now.

Op is unsure whether her dd needs help, she has been told yes, dr or A&e NOW. But has decided to ignore that....

...so why post if 1] she is SO sure her dc is OK 2] she is going to ignore advice?

It's really tough though, a very fine line to tread, and I suspect most people here have never had to make that decision. I do[make that choice], and I don't mess with my dds health, so if I am the slightest bit concerned, we go to the gp. $50 is not wasted when I know my dc are OK, or given meds to help them. At the end of the say, I choose to live in a country that changes for medical help I choose to have children. I don't get to mess about with their health!

It's the asthma word, that set everyone off.
People know their own asthma, they don't know the asthma OP's DD has.

DH got misdiagnosed with asthma (was actually pneumonia). By a GP who was important local asthma expert. Nobody should have known better than him. But he got it wrong.

I asked someone (Prof at a Medical school, has asthma himself) how DH could be so misdiagnosed. He said that asthma is huge umbrella term that it means a huge range of breathing difficulties. Some severe, some mild, very diverse. It isn't one disease.

There will always be borderline moments in deciding how to treat it, for those who have their individual asthma to manage. If OP's DD decided to be selective mute today then she didn't even had asthma symptoms today.

It's past 10pm now where OP is so she has made her decision.

OP, why bother posting to ask? You know your DD, her cough and how her breathing is so you are the best judge, why bother posting because chances were you would get a flaming as equal as sympathy.

Sounds like your DD needs a weekend in bed to rest, homework aside, I hope she feels better soon.

The OPs $30/50 dollar uncertainty is something most people can't relate to due to free healthcare or knowing to move money around and sacrifice other things. It does remind me why I'm glad we have the NHS, much as high amounts siphoned from my wage is annoying I know I'll never have to wonder whether I should seek medical care or not because of money. I have relatives in the US who've had to really consider things because of very high insurance costs and not enough cover, it's a horrible place to be in.

And all that's grim infected insect bite squeezings, lava removals and cyst removals all DIY because it's expensive to go to the hospital...well they get a lot of youtube hits but it's pretty sad to resort to cutting open your own skin and risking a bad or worse infection because of costly healthcare.

I have something like this for monitoring oxygen levels in both myself and DS - we both have asthma. It's reassuring to see the oxygen levels come back up when the blue inhaler is working.

www.amazon.co.uk/Oximeter-Display-Includes-Carrycase-Batteries/dp/B002MEUFKW/ref=sr_1_1?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1424516907&sr=1-1&keywords=pulse+oximeter+fingertip

How did she get on ?

Get your daughter seen ASAP - asthma can be fatal! What sort of parent lets their child run out of medication. Get off the computer and start being a responsible parent...

Op do you have a peak flow metre or a pulse oximeter? I find these helpful in monitoring my asthma. Hope dd is ok. Sounds awful having to pay, so thankful for the NHS here.

www.amazon.co.uk/Oximeter-Display-Includes-Carrycase-Batteries/dp/B002MEUFKW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424521443&sr=8-1&keywords=pulse+oximeter

I hope DD is feeling better now and I agree that it's easy to take the moral high-ground when you don't know what it's like to be on the bare bones of your arse and need to pay for healthcare.

Don't get complacent, folks. It's coming to the UK soon enough. We're being softened up for it now.

Asthma can be fatal, yes. That does not mean that every person with a cough who has occasionally used an inhalers is at risk of dying. A headache can be a sign of meningitis or a brain tumout, but you don't rush your kid to a&e every time they have a headache. Chicken pox can be fatal, but again, you'd stay home.
Telling op she is a bad parent because she isn't bringing her dd to emergency for a COUGH is ridiculous, and totally unfair. Especially from people who have the luxury of the nhs to look after every little sniffle.
Although if you run in to hospital every time your child has a cough, you won't for much longer.

DS and I have the subset of asthma that means we cough, not wheeze. Hence the concern about a teenager with some history of asthma potentially having a flare up that is not being recognised.

Countess. I see you are still at it. I don't believe you and your family have asthma or you would be well aware that a cough can also be an indicator of not being able to breathe. Your comments are unhelpful and uninformed. wheezes can be silent and coughing can be the only symptom of struggling to get sufficient oxygen. I remind you. People die from asthma. Hardly a little sniffle. A and E is there to determine which it is. If a child cant speak and has a history of needing inhalers then any sane person treats it as a potentially serious problem.

I used to work on a children's ward 20 years ago. I remember the little mites coming in fighting for breath, being given nebs and put on an aminophyllene drip. Asthma needs to be taken seriously, without prompt treatment (and that includes having a salbutamol inhaler on you at all times) it can still be fatal.