To go to A&E

[FretYeNotAllIsShiny]

Posting here for traffic.

I had a mirena put in mid-march, bled continuously until it was expelled end of May, bled an extra week. Finally stopped, then this thursday started again. Heavy, a lot of grape sized clots. Doctor has prescribed me provera and I've had 3 doses. Still bleeding, though it has slowed a little, only one or two big clots today.

But I'm very tired, and I'm cold (not like me) and I feel a little light-headed. Should I think about going up or just carry on until my anemia results come back from the GP. I've got some iron tablets and I've taken one today. I feel I'm being dramatic.

"Offblack" - the OP's condition was "not" an emergency as evidenced my diagnosis - she could have waited to see GP. Just because A&E Dr said they would have taken their wife is irrelevant - it was NOT an emergency

Seniorcitizen, if I'd listened to people like you I could be dead by now. I had intense stomach ache and was throwing up so I asked DH to take to A & E as it was a Sunday. No doubt you would have told me not to waste their time and see my GP. It turned out I had acute pancreatitis and an inflamed gallbladder.

I'm glad you're ok OP.

Seniorcitizen1 yes, it was found not to be an emergency after she had been checked out by a qualified medical professional do you have any medical qualifications? The GP had even told her to go to A&E with those symptoms!

I am having chemo so every time I get a raised temperature I have to go to A&E for immediate blood tests to check it's not a life threatening infection. I've probably been there about ten times in the past year. A couple of times with other issues, but mostly it's raised temperature and symptoms of possible infection. Each time they take my bloods and start me on IV antibiotics within an hour of my arrival. Each time it has been unnecessary as the tests have shown my immune system is OK and it's just a normal infection, so it's not an emergency. But obviously no one knows that until they've done the tests I always apologise for wasting their time and taking up a trolley, and every single time they tell me not to be so silly and that I absolutely must come back immediately if I get any other symptoms

As evidenced by diagnosis, it was not an emergency.
Unless, it had been an emergency, evidenced by diagnosis.
Diagnosis gives the evidence.
So a GP could have gotten that evidence, in days if not a couple of weeks, which is fine if it's not an emergency. But actually, if you need to know whether some thing needs immediate treatment or not, there's an even simpler way. Don't have any. If you collapse, you obviously needed that immediate treatment. Which now needs more treatment, different, more complicated costly treatment. Unless you're dead. And that, in a nutshell, is the grey area.

If you are am emergency you go straight to A&E you do not come on here and adk opinion of non-clinical posters who cant offer a diagnosis. If you meedto adk its mot an emergency

Senior - not true. I posted on here before I went because I was not sure. In the back of my mind I knew I needed to go but if I had said to someone "I have numbness in my foot and leg already but now my bum is numb" they wouldn't have necessarily said a&e
But it was an emergency

Seniorcitizen1, bloody hell, please get a grip, she went a&e, she got treated and thats it, I remember once going a&e and some tit was in there because he had hiccups!!! now he was a bloody timewaster.

Not necessarily. Persistent hiccups can be a sign of oseophageal cancer

Hiccups are actually a common symptom of a terminal ill patient being at the very end. Random fact there. Plus if they had been hiccuping for a prolonged period of time then seeking medical treatment is wise.

Good for you Senior if you always know what to do in every situation and never need advice or reassurance from anyone else!

Unfortunately, Senior, there are conditions that are life threatening that are not well understood by Joe Public, hence the campaign around sepsis.

Senior, I hunk the problem is that attitudes hellbent on pointing out that most conditions aren't an emergency means that many posters like to check whether they should be going or not, their instincts are probably telling them to go, but their heads are saying "but wait...."

I've been here for 8 years now, I think, and in that time there have been loads of posts by MNers having genuine emergencies (sepsis, haemorrhaging, pulmonary embolism, ectopic pregnancy etc etc), but they weren't quite sure if they should go to A&E or not. People are allowed to post if they're unsure, it's not always obvious which symptoms need to be urgently checked when you're not a medical professional.

If you meedto adk its mot an obvious emergency

fixed that for you.

I get angry when people come on here and ask if they should go to A&E. The clue is in the name - if you have had an accident (eg fell and damaged arm/leg etc) or you are near death's door then yes - anything else is Gp or out of hours. It is really simple

It really isn't. I am an A&E doctor (and GP). That is total bollocks. There are a huge number of serious conditions needing emergency treatment, that aren't always obvious, even to doctors - including heart attacks, strokes and haemorrhages.

I never do internet diagnoses on MN (well, I did once for a poorly toe, but there was a photo ) but several times I have seen posts by people who genuinely didn't realise the potential seriousness of their symptoms and have advised them to go to A&E. Medicine is not simple and only an idiot thinks it is.