Medical Melodrama

[IJustDontKnowAnymore1]

Ok I have no idea in the medical side of this here so please enlighten me if you do know! However I do know my mother is one of the most dramatic people I have ever met!

She says she has acute bronchitis causing asthma attacks and has been told to rest or it could bring on pneumonia.

Apparently she's had antibiotics, steroids and one of those puffer asthma things.

Her husband says she was so ill when the ambulance arrived that he thought she was going to die and they were 2 hours stabilising her...

Please can someone tell me if this sounds like it is plausible or melodrama?

Thank-you!

I think to some degree it depends on how old she is and her general state of health. A woman in good health, in her 50s or 60s, maybe a bit melodramatic. A woman in her 70s or 80s, or in generally poor health, not so melodramatic.

That happens to my Mum, sounds totally plausible.

Depends entirely, Does she actually have asthma? Is she telling you this from hospital?

I think if you are asking you already know yourself if she is telling you porkies or not.

It’s entirely plausible. Happened to me in my 20s so not restricted to people in 70s. It could be a bit of both melodrama and plausible, my mum is a hypochondriac and likes the attention being ill brings her. If it was that bad oral steroids may be ongoing for quite a few weeks and inhaled steroids will be forever. She would likely be nebulised to ensure the salbutamol intake was sufficient and on antibiotics at least a week.

People of any age can still die of asthma attacks so entirely plausible, but the fact you're asking shows you already doubt her.

Asthma attacks can be fatal, and bronchitis can trigger asthma attacks so plausible.

Is she still in hospital?

Also if her husband has never witnessed an asthma attack before then he probably did think she was dying. Watching someone fight to breathe is terrifying, especially the first time (and especially if their asthma is usually well controlled)

If she was suffering chest pain etc then it's plausible that paramedics would have worked on her. Did her husband say if they had done an ECG or given oxygen and checked her sats? Given a nebuliser? Paras can do all that and it takes time. You didn't say whether they decided to take her to hospital or not. If hospital is not necessary but a person is acutely unwell then paras will usually stay until they are stable enough to see a GP because they have a duty of care. It's one if the things that ties up ambulances from getting to more serious cases, but they have to attend if thetes any suspicion of a heart attack.

I am immunocompromised and can become this unwell too. I've never called an ambulance as I have people who can transport me quicker but this time last year I had to go to OOH and had a similar diagnosis - bronchitis, borderline pneumonia, pleurisy and costochondritis. I felt like I was dying (and simultaneously hoped I'd die to stop feeling so awful) and ended up on antibiotics for over a month as well as a steroid inhaler on top of my usual blue puffer. My SATs were at 88% and the GP I saw was very concerned that if I didn't improve from 2 days of antibiotics that I'd need admission.

So I don't think it's entirely unreasonable for them to be a bit dramatic over it. You say she's dramatic, but does she have form for medical dramatics? I'm terrible for downplaying things and making jokes so people think I'm not too bad/dealing with things, which means I don't always get help or sympathy apart from immediate family who know that I use humor to cope.

Hi, here's a few answers. She just turned 60 and as far as I know had the odd spot of mild asthma in the past but not enough to make her carry an inhaler.

She's always extremely dramatic about illness and is very regularly unwell and will often google the worst case scenario, she decided it was likely she had chron's disease once when she actually had a bad case of stomach ache and diarrhoea!

I think it's around 50 times in the past 25 odd years that she's been in an ambulance!

I appreciate this could be very real but I feel a bit stuck in the boy who cries wolf situation now where I just don't know how much to believe.

Oh, she's actually home now so was there less than 12 hours.

Yup. Entirely plausible. There is a really nasty bug going round too at the moment. If you're in generally good health you'll just feel really shit. I got it but I'm pregnant and asthmatic. I had the fright of my fucking life the week before Christmas with the worst asthma attack I've ever had.

An older lady with asthma could have easily deteriorated very quickly with it. My doctor was very clear that it was 999 if it happened again.

She says it took 2 hours for them (the ambulance or the hospital?) to stabilise her but she's home less than 12 hours later?

Chinny reckon.

I have a friend who has had a number of admissions to hospital due to asthma over the past YEAR so I can believe 50 admissions over 25 years. She often ends up in High Dependency or Intensive care, so these are major emergencies.

My husband is over 60and he was given an inhaler for a chest infection the virus does seem really bad this year .He has never had one before . So she will need to rest .

Very plausible, I was very similar, ambulance to hospital, very unwell, given same drugs as your mum and I was home 4 hours later

Ok thank-you everyone, I will treat it as real until I see otherwise!

Ex nurse here, sounds totally plausible.

Doesn't mean it's true though!
( I too have a dramatic mother, can you tell?)

Totally plausible!

Happened with DD
10am - routine appt at asthma clinic totally clear lungs
2pm - DD sneezes and shows sign of cold
8 pm - struggling to breath so dash to hosiptal
9-11pm - pump her full of drugs but still breathing problems so admitted on 15-30 minute observations and 2 hourly nebuliser
9 am next morning - drugs have kicked in a bit and frankly they need the bed so discharged with a bag of drugs

I have brittle asthma and think it sounds like twaddle.
Being told to rest to stop pneumonia?
Bollocks.

I think people often like to justify their use of ambulance /hospital with a life or death story to go with it.

Have you ever notice that people were always 'rushed' to hospital? - more often than not paramedics take people in just to be on the safe side but we all love a bit of drama!

However, I don't know your mum. Maybe a bit of brisk sympathy is all that's required?

I was taken twice last week in an ambulance, not rushed, didn't need to be but both times on medical advice to call 999.
(Not my asthma, I have tachycardia, suspected SVT)

Ok, I've had more info (sort of);

"She has acute bronchitis and as it has become so bad she ended up with a severe asthma attack.
She was blue and unable to breathe. The paamedics gave her oxygen, steroids and a nebuliser.
Once they had her stabilised she went to hospital.
They say she must rest and not exert herself so she can breathe easier.
She is on lots of medicines.
They said it is possible it could be a touch base of pnuemonia and if she’s not careful it could develop into full pneumonia.
They were going to keep her but she wouldn’t stay.
She is in bed, her voice is very weak."

That's copied and pasted from my mums husband.

If it is true, what can I do / expect from her in regards to getting well?

Tia!

It sounds possible but the problem with people who are generally melodramatic regarding health is your instinct is you are prone to not believe them. I had an aunt who made every cold and paper cut into a life changing drama. In her 80s she WAS actually very ill indeed and we didn’t take her seriously until it was clear this wasnt one of her dramatic turns. She turned out to have overian cancer the poor thIng. It’s so hard to know how to react to news like your Mums. They don’t do themselves any favours at all when they are prone to exaggerate.

If she is on appropriate Medd for the asthma hopefully that will be more controlled. If she has bronchitis/maybe pneumonia she will probably feel dreadful not least because it’s exhausting due to constant coughing and the lack of sleep that can cause. With rest and the right medicines she should start to feel over the worst within a week but something like a bad chest infection can leave people weak and exhausted for a month or two esp if they’re a bit older or not in good health generally.