To go to urgent care (or am I a drama queen)?

[fashiondevotee]

Just wondering what other people would do in this situation...

Been ill for almost a month now. Started with one heck of a sore throat, which I croaked through for about a week, now a cold and suspected chest infection. Coughing up greenish mucus (sorry, TMI!), chest pain, dizziness, the works. Went to the doctor on Thursday but she didn't seem that concerned, I got some antibiotics and went on my way. I'm still not feeling much better though, antibiotics haven't worked at all. I've been too tired to get out of bed and my heart keeps racing erratically.

I ended up ringing 111 who told me I needed to see a GP immediately, but my surgery has absolutely no appointments and said there was nothing they could do.

Would you go to urgent care for this...? I don't want to waste the doctor's time but I'm also getting a bit anxious.

Yes I'd say get seen. I had pneumonia once, will explain my symptoms in case it sounds similar, regardless though get seen.
I was ridiculously tired, exhausted, could barely move. Had sharp shooting pain across my chest when i coughed or even if I breathed to hard. As well as coughing up and vomiting a huge, I mean huge, amount of green mucous. Ended up being admitted to hospital for a week. I'd had a slight cough for months beforehand which I didn't go to the doctor about.

What is your breathing like? My exh was diagnosed chest infection when it had already developed into pneumonia. Next day he ended up in A&E unable to breath. Was in hospital for 3 weeks. It was scary.

Please get yourself into hospital, but make sure someone else drives.

If there is an urgent care nearby just go . I thought pneumonia too tbh . Sepsis sounds scary so don’t wait to see how you feel just go

Go to and e. Why wait another half a day? You've been sick for a month?

Ask your GP for an Extended Access appointment this evening - they should be able to get you an appointment at whichever surgery is running the scheme - it may not be your own, but it should be reasonably local. You will be able to book through your own practice, or possibly through 111.

You can find out the detail of your local service from your CCG website and / or your GP surgery website. If there is no info on your GP surgery website they are in breach of the comms requirements for the funding.

I'm a triage Nurse Specialist. You need to be examined, including oxygenation (the finger clip thingy) and probably a chest XR, today.

A&E would not be inappropriate, based on the symptoms you describe.

Don't put it off any longer.

You should go now. By going this evening there will be inevitability less staff on and it will take even longer to be seen etc. Frankly spending the night waiting when you are more even tired will do you no good. Not quite the same starting symptoms (UTI rather than throat) but I essentially did the same and soldiered on for a couple of weeks and left it and left it and ended up hospitalised on IV antibiotics with sepsis. You haven't been feeling cold - shaking teeth chattering have you? I didn't know until later that this was a big sign of spiking a fever

Resting pulse of 110 is very high IMO. Mine is literally half that.
My dh had pneumonia a few years back and it sounds like this. The GP initially gave him some ABs but they weren't enough and it developed into pneumonia. It took him ages and three lots of very strong ABs to be taken simultaneously - (which messed up his digestion something rotten) to get well again.

Do go op. A few weeks ago I came down with a nasty uti which turned very quickly to sepsis. I couldn't drive and as I'm a single parent my friend couldn't take me there as she was fielding my kids and my bf wasn't close enough to home. I was told to call an ambulance. I did. Paramedics were very snotty with me and it seemed they thought I was time wasting and that all I needed was some oral antibiotics and I'd be fine.

I got admitted and after 4 bags of IV antibiotics I was told that had I just opted for the oral ABs they would not have worked as my infection levels were so high. They wanted to keep me in for 48 hours as they were so worried. Your resting heart rate sounds dangerously high. Please go in.

The fear of time wasting is horrible especially when you're made to feel a drama queen, but you've done all the right things and you need an appointment NOW!

Urgent care please. You need to be checked out by a medical professional.

if you call 111 again and say the GP won't see you, they will find a GP that will in your area (they did this for ds the other day) or they will point you in the right direction

I get high pulse rate when I have chest infections. It's your body working harder while it's ill. I would definitely get seen as you probably need different antibs or at least someone to listen to your chest

I'd go to A&E or the walk-in. Sounds like a GP will just send you to A & E anyway so you should go there yourself now.

OP, I had pneumonia last year and your symptoms are very similar to mine. I was sent to A&E by my GP as my heart rate was so high.
I would definitely recommend you get seen by at least Urgent Care. It may just be a nasty ol' chest infection that needs another AB, but it's better to be sure.

Get to out of hours ASAP

My DH had pneumonia and the longer you leave it the harder it is to get over

I could have written this myself today! My resting heart rate is 123, I've been in bed all weekend. I have a gp appointment at 3pm. Keep us updated how yours goes

Definitely go to hospital OP and go as soon as possible.

The 111 team will be concerned about sepsis from the pneumonia. A fast heart rate and fever with infection symptoms are characteristic of septicaemia. My grandmother died from that at 60 and a friend of my friend just died age 30 from it, leaving behind a young family. You can fall very ill very quickly so just get seen as soon as physically possible.

I was told if you're registered at a GP and go to the walk in centre, your GP get charged for this. So if you tell them that you're planning to go to the walk in, they may be able to find an appointment for you.
It's worth a try?

Hope you feel better soon.

I think you should go.

I'd go to a&e now. I wouldn't leave it till later. Hope you feel better soon x

A&E is not unreasonable in these circumstances if you can't get a GP appointment.
I'm a nurse and have worked in A&E and you would absolutely not be wasting anyone's time.

Listen to the medical professions in this thread and go immediately OP! Pneumonia/sepsis is no joke. I hope you get seen ASAP.

A&E now OP. You are beginning to trigger for ?Sepsis. You need seeing urgently.

@PeoniesarePink seriously, with advice like that you should be banned from posting! What a liability.

I do hope the OP has listened to the plethora of better advice on this thread and not yours

I wouldn’t attend A&E, you could wait for hours. What you should do is call your GP surgery back and if they can’t give you an appointment then ask for the GP to call you back today. They can’t refuse telephone triage and the GP can then decide what the next step is.

But is her GP likely to call back today?