To be scared of Sepsis?

[bananaplease]

It seems to be in the news so much that people are dying from this and it happens without people realising.

Is it a new thing? I don't remember hearing about it much before, but that might just be the increased power of social media/news apps etc.

I might stop reading the news. It's so depressing.

DS1 had as a tiny baby (15 weeks), a cannula had snapped in his foot and got infected in hospital. It was fucking terrifying.

It used to be called septicaemia but evidently that was too hard to spell. Not a lot you can do about it really. I would stop worrying as you're very unlikely to get it.

Why on earth would a meningitis vaccination prevent you getting sepsis?

I had it - from we think a cat scratch!

Raging cellulitis in one leg, it was scary how fast it developed. There's 6 days of my life I simply don't remember, apart from some scary hallucinations (I was conscious and interacting with people, I just don't remember) and went into kidney failure - the next slot in the dialysis ward was mine, when my kidney function improved as the antibiotics finally started to work.

I was in hospital for 2 weeks and on antibiotics for another 6 weeks. They had to try several to get one that worked - I think I'm more scared of antibiotic resistance than almost anything else.

ArgyMargy
Because it’s it’s a vaccine for some strains of meningitis and septicaemia

My friend got this after having flu. She was on her own with her dc. Luckily a friend came by and realised how ill she was otherwise she would have died. She ended up in icu or hdu for 15 days.
What is scary is how the symptoms are so vague.

We are right to be scared of it and I'm pleased awareness is rising.

I developed sepsis last year after, we think, a bad bite. I went in to A&E and was discharged the same evening before being readmitted the following day.

I was transferred to a second hospital by ambulance and was told I'd have a 40% chance of dying. I'm under 40with 2 small kids and was petrified.

I was told I would lose at least my leg but thankfully my treatment was first class then. I had 2 weeks in hospital being pumped full of drugs before being released and stayed on antibiotics for a further month. It was the most terrifying time of my life. Drs told me if I hadn't gone back to a&e the following day as I did then I would be dead. Frightening.

I developed sepsis last year after I caught tonsillitis and a chest infection within a few days of each other. Scary experience. I was lucky. A few days in hospital on IV antibiotics and I could come home. I wish I had taken myself to the GP rather than struggling on for a week. As it was I had to be transported to hospital in an ambulance after my temperature spiked and I started to go a bit do-lally.

It is serious but early treatment is very effective. Just be vigilant when looking for the signs:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/sepsis/

I imagine the incidents of sepsis will increase along with antibiotic resistance...

I wish I had taken myself to the GP rather than struggling on for a week

Yes to this. I knew I had mastitis, but with a newborn and a 19 month old I felt like I didn’t have time to go to the Dr’s and I could just feed through it. By the time I went to the Dr’s it was nearly to late.

It is very scary.
I am a GP and terrified missing - not in UK though. I would hate to be doing my job in UK
In early stages closely resembles flu - health services could not cope if everyone with flu went to hospital.
The message is if you feel you are getting worse despite rest/ fluids/paracetamol then ring your GP/ after hours/ambulance.
Be aware rashes/heart racing/ severe headache/decreased urine output/ severe chills and whole body shakes. Watch changes in levels consciousness.
. If someone in your family sick set your alarm for every 2 hrs during night and check on them.
Be especially careful around children and elderly who become sicker more quickly.
Trust your instinct and insist on help/ attention if you are worried.
Most people who are sick like this don’t have sepsis. It is actually comparatively rare but scary.

I had it after having my youngest. I nearly lost my leg and I was in intensive care for a week. Fucking terrifying and that and the traumatic emergency c section left me with ptsd and like Chienrouge above I now really struggle when me or anyone I love is ill. I think it's awesome that people are more aware now, hopefully it'll save lives.

Fortunately sepsis is easily picked up on with basic observations. Its been around forever. The body can compensate for so long so deterioration can be quick and frightening. There is a new proforma used by the NHS to recognise and treat sepsis.

Dsis has sepsis at Christmas. She has terminal brain tumours and is now in palliative care. She was staying with me for a last big family Christmas and just became increasingly drowsy and confused then started screaming in pain (which is not that unusual due to her condition) - but couldn't say where. It was DD1 who noticed one of her legs was red hot and the other cold. Called 111, OOH GP came out, ambulance was called and she was admitted to Acute Assessment on Christmas Eve, and later admitted to a medical ward. Treatment was superb. (She has a DNR so they wouldn't admit to ITU)

She appears to be through it but there has been a significant impact on the rate of her deterioration.

My DM died of sepsis in March last year but, no, I'm not scared of it. You might as well be scared of all life-threatening conditions and that way madness lies.

Antibiotic resistance, on the other hand, is a far more worrying issue. With anti-bs in everything from the food chain to hospital drips, and no new ones on the horizon, something drastic at government level is going to have to happen soon.

it terrifies me after I got an open blister that went manky after a swim in the sea - I could see the infection tracking up my leg, it was so painful and I was almost delirious with a temperature, swollen glands I didn't even know I had, big black bruising. IV antibiotics sorted it out just fine, but I did have a 'what if they hadn't worked' moment.

Agree with pp who said you feel like you are dying. I remember saying this to my DH. 3 hours later I was on the resuscitation ward.

It also caused me to become delusional in the final hours before admission. Talking complete nonsense. I remember feeling very scared and paranoid too. All are known symptoms of sepsis. Forewarned is forearmed.

Yes, I said to DH ‘I genuinely feel like I’m dying’. I felt like my body was slowly and gradually closing down.

I had sepsis a year ago just now! It started out as a chest infection and within two days I had pneumonia, sepsis and a secondary infection, I had a heart rate of 163 and was told I was in danger of having a heart attack ( at 29) was bloody scary!! Needed double antibiotics and fluids running wide open.

it’s always been around but I think people wait / can’t get appointments for the doctors and the infection takes hold 🙈

I was also told that there was a high chance I would die. Not what you want to hear when you have a week old baby!

My DS had it when his chicken pox blisters became infected. He was rushed in from the OOH dr and put straight on a drip of antibiotics. He was in for a week and was very poorly. Had to be readmitted a week later due to complications.

If we had left him until the morning instead of taking him to the out of hours GP he probably wouldn’t have made it. I ignored the advice of 111 who told me to give him calpol and put him to bed. I knew he wasn’t right - my older 2 had had chicken pox a few weeks earlier so I knew the difference between how they were and how he was. Very frightening at the time - I had no idea a so called ‘trivial childhood ailment’ like chicken pox could lead to potentially fatal sepsis.

My then 3 week old DS had sepsis. It was touch and go for the first two days. This was almost 10 years ago and hospital was amazing - we were fast tracked as soon as they saw him and pretty much had needles / drips in him the second they took him from me. Hospital for 9 days which was the most terrifying period of my life. He's fully recovered but did suffer bowel problems for two years, they think due to being pumped with antibiotics. I think he was fortunate.

I had it after my coil moved. Thought it was trapped wind at first due to abdominal pain, then assumed flu. Had in hindsight been ill with infection for around 8 months: disgusting discharge, drenching night sweats, weight loss >10%. GP fobbed me off. Which was doubly concerning as some of my other symptoms which were due to fluid in my abdomen (nausea, weight loss and feeling full quickly after eating) are those of ovarian cancer. I Saw a different GP 3 days before I was admitted who probably should have sent me to a&e, but I played down my symptoms (no time to be ill!). Had absolutely amazing care first in a&e, then resuss then on a ward (well, a corridor then 2 other wards), and then at home.

My fertility is almost certainly fucked. Thank god that appears to be the only long lasting effect.

I’m absolutely paranoid about the kids, especially the youngest every time they get High fevers. They’ve all had every vaccination going, but you cannot vaccinate against every organism that can cause an infection. And I really take the GPs advice on antibiotics, as I only want them
Used when unavoidable so they’re effective when required.

Sepsis has always been around and killed people quickly, it's just that there's more awareness now with campaign highlighting it.