Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To refuse to leave the Drs/A&E until someone helps my child

122 replies

CountryMummy1 · 10/03/2015 06:51

Long story short..... I have always known something was wrong with my DD(3). Mouth breathing, snoring, teeth grinding, speech probs. She has seen numerous community pads who said she was fine. One looked at her tonsils and said they were fine so adenoids were probably fine too. She has fluid in ears but it was put down to a recent cold.

I have always had her on an Angelcare monitor as her breathing has always seemed a bit laboured when she was asleep. The last few nights the alarm has gone off constantly. She is stopping breathing for up to 2 minutes and I have to shake her to breath. We went to A&E the night before last who said it was sleep apnea but they couldn't admit her, I needed to go to Drs for referral to ENT which I did yesterday.

I can't take another night like last night. She stopped breathing hundreds of times an hour, sometimes for minutes at a time. I can't let her go to sleep again until she is in hospital. I need to get some help today and I don't care if I have to refuse to leave A&E and get arrested.

OP posts:
DontDrinkandFacebook · 10/03/2015 06:58

I don't blame you, it must be very frightening and stressful. Could you go back to the GP and beg him to push the referral as a priority/emergency? And see if there is any special sort of monitor she can wear in the meantime?Tell him you think she's at serious risk and would he want to be responsible if something awful happened? If she is really not breathing for as long as you say then that is not right at all.

TiredButFine · 10/03/2015 06:58

Could not read and run....so sorry for you, you must be terrified and exhausted. Until someone with actual advice comes along Flowers

sneepy · 10/03/2015 06:59

Do what you have to do. I've found that health services don't take notice until you've really made a nuisance of yourself. Good luck, hope your little girl is all right.

DontDrinkandFacebook · 10/03/2015 06:59

Sorry I guess the angelcare monitor is something she wears rather than a baby listening monitor?

jigsawlady · 10/03/2015 07:00

yea do it.

if needs be get an ambulance, this means a&e is practically guaranteed to take you seriously.

I know thjs is questinable but I would ring them now saying your daughter is asleep and struggling to breathe

good luck getting it sorted

Walkacrossthesand · 10/03/2015 07:00

'Hundreds of times an hour, sometimes for minutes at a time' Confused - last time I looked there were only 60 minutes in an hour. I appreciate that you are worried, but exaggeration makes people take you less seriously, not more. What did the GP say? Has the alarm really just started going off constantly when it used not to - could the battery need replacing?!

ginmakesitallok · 10/03/2015 07:02

It must be frightening but yabu. What did the doctor say yesterday?

wheresthelight · 10/03/2015 07:02

ring format ambulance and tell them you dd isn't breathing and definitely force the issue before something awful happens!

can you ring your local mp's office and see if they can help push the referral?

ginmakesitallok · 10/03/2015 07:04

Oh and don't call an ambulance! Firstly it won't make a&e do anything differently, and secondly it's not an emergency.

Original poster
CountryMummy1 · 10/03/2015 07:05

The Dr yesterday said no child dies of sleep apnea and they will eventually breathe. But it doesn't feel like that when you are watching it.

OP posts:
tortoisesarefab · 10/03/2015 07:09

Have you tried videoing her so that they can actually see what she is like? They should at least do a study to check her oxygen levels when asleep. At least with a video you could actually show them

Walkacrossthesand · 10/03/2015 07:11

No, it doesn't - but it's true. In hospital for sleep oxygen level monitoring (to confirm/rule out sleep apnoea), the alarms are switched off as they'll go off all night... then the children go home until they have their op! Suggest not putting the monitor on any more, you need to sleep or you'll be a wreck!

Snozberry · 10/03/2015 07:11

An ambulance is not a guarantee of being taken seriously in A&E and shouldn’t be called unless you need it. That is stupid advice.

I understand how frustrating it is OP, I have had to beg and fight for every bit of care DD has needed. I would go back to the GP today and explain you feel the referral needs to be urgent and ask what you can do in the meantime to help her.

Original poster
CountryMummy1 · 10/03/2015 07:12

I have got a video of her snoring and stopping breathing. She doesnt want to eat or drink this morning as she has a huge blood blister in her mouth due to all the teeth gnashing

OP posts:
Gileswithachainsaw · 10/03/2015 07:13

Oh I remember your other threads. There's a lot to be said about a parents instincts.

do what you need to do something is clearly wrong g.

how horrid for you both Flowers

Kundry · 10/03/2015 07:14

The monitor is not helping you at all - honestly, switch it off.

You have had the same advice from numerous doctors. Has it occurred to you that they are right?

DustyBedhead · 10/03/2015 07:18

Do what you need to do so that you're taken seriously. My dh is under a consultant and has been for a number of years, he needs to be attached to a machine with face and or nose mask every night. The machine has card with a chip you have to slot in and you have send it off periodically so they can collect data from it to moniter your condition. If it was nothing to worry about like that Dr told you there wouldn't be treatment out there, hope your little one gets some help.

Silvercatowner · 10/03/2015 07:18

In my experience, doctors and hospitals take zero risk with children truly struggling to breathe. I'm afraid I agree with the posters who advise switching off the monitor.

Booboostoo · 10/03/2015 07:19

It sounds like sleep apnea which can affect children. Can you ask for a referral straight to a sleep clinic to cut down waiting time?

ZenNudist · 10/03/2015 07:21

Go private?

youarekiddingme · 10/03/2015 07:24

It's best to have various videos of different nights to show it happens often.

If your struggling to get her to breathe again then 999.

It is scary but sleep apnea is common. Snoring often indicates obstructive sleep apnea but she could have central apnea too if her tonsils aren't enlarged.

Try getting a pulse oximetry mater and recording her oxygen saturation. Hoe serious it is is usually based on de saturation.

Also agree about keeping it factual. So how many times does she actually stop breathing and for how many actual seconds. (A sec is longer than most of us think!).

Ask gp for referral to ENT.

sosix · 10/03/2015 07:25

Take dd to a and e and explain. She sounds like she has sleep apneoa, my dd1 had it.

hazeyjane · 10/03/2015 07:27

Ask to be referred to the community nurses and loaned a sats monitor.

You can also buy a finger pulse oximetry from Amazon for about £30. Whilst this won't be a continuous reading, you can take her sats when she is not breathing, so that you can tell your gp what her sats readings are on these occasions.

Ds has sleep apnea, and has had sleep studies, but because his O2 levels dip and come back very quickly it has been decided not to give him oxygen or cpap. When he is ill though, his oxygen levels can dip very low, and it is not always apparent that his breathing is getting laboured, so we have the finger pulse oximeter.

WipsGlitter · 10/03/2015 07:28

I agree don't get an ambulance. Whatever is wrong with your daughter won't be fixed quickly so having her in hospital overnight won't 'cure' things. It's not acute whatever is wrong with her.

I've read some of your other threads and I'm going to be blunt. I think YOU need to get some help for your anxiety. I think you need to say no medical appointments for three months for your daughter. Just let her develop and then review. You are making yourself miserable. I have a child with SN so I know what it's like but nothing you're doing at the minute is helping.

CSLewis · 10/03/2015 07:34

Regarding the blood blister from teeth grinding - take her to the dentist asap, tell them about it and ask for a mouth guard to be made for her, which she can wear at night.

Swipe left for the next trending thread