Wibu to call the ambulance back?

[Lemononachair]

Been having bad chest pain on and off since yesterday morning. Woke up around 3am with severe pain that has been constant ever since. Pain is intense and like a heavy crushing weight on the left side under my breast.

Ended up calling 111 for advice and they sent an ambulance, who checked me over and said all their tests came back ok (ECG, etc) but that to rule out heart problems I would need a blood test. I felt that given the current situation with coronavirus that avoiding a hospital visit would be best, they said I can have the test done by a GP but would take a few days for the results.

Since then I have tried to take painkillers and sleep until I felt well enough to call the GP but the pain is so awful. I can't sleep more than an hour or so at a time until it wakes me up again. Painkillers help a little at first but wear off quickly and never actually stop the pain. I keep retching and am very nauseous and dizzy.

I can't get to the GP as I can't get public transport or drive myself. I don't have anyone who can give me a lift, and I can't even get myself to the nearest shop to get more painkillers!

Paramedics did say I could change my mind and ring them back to get taken to hospital but should I? Am I just being a baby? Is it a good idea to go to hospital for a blood test and pain relief when it may have lots of people with coronavirus there? Don't know what to do, feel like I'm making a fuss over nothing but it hurts so bad 😞

@MingeofDeath:

I'm quite pale but lips seem to look normal. I'm cold if that's relevant at all, when they took my temperature in the ambulance it was a little below normal.

Moving doesn't affect the pain. Nothing in my arms, neck or jaw but a little in my upper back.

Deep breathing doesn't affect it, my breathing is normal except when I'm having a wave of nausea and I have to breathe deep in order to not throw up.

I have ibuprofen and paracetamol based cold tablets as that's all I have in the house. Have taken both and they take the edge off temporarily but otherwise do nothing.

I hope you have rang 999 by now. Your GP will just send you to A and E, in fact if you told the receptionist you needed an appointment today for chest pain then they would say you need to ring 999

You need to phone 999.

No one on here could, or should, try to convince you otherwise.

Your symptoms are listed as warranting a 999 call.

Call the ambulance...... pack a bag to take to the hospital

Yes call 999 now

Have you had Covid?

I had this after Covid - it was pericarditis and I needed IV antibiotics. It was fucking agony at night / lying down.

Please go to hospital

Call them back.

It sounds exactly like when my husband had pericarditis. They gave him strong painkillers, but kept him in overnight to be sure that's what it was.

I'd go to the hospital and get them to monitor you to be sure, but wouldn't be surprised if this is what it was.

I also say call 999.

Crikey, call them back to get you. It's not worth the risk.

You need to call 999. If you have any aspirin, take 300mg.

Could be any of the diagnoses from PPs, could even still be an MI (heart attack) - what could be an N-Stemi.... had you had gone to hospital earlier you would have had a blood test confirming if it is/isn't.

If (worst case scenario) it is, you are further damaging your heart muscle by delaying treatment.

Make a call, wether taxi or ambulance. They both will cost a lot but you'll only pay for one.

Please ring back. My mum’s heart attack was only diagnosed by blood test, all other tests including ecg were normal. She ended up being transferred to specialist hospital and having a stent fitted. Women’s results can show differently, you need that blood test.

As far as I know I haven't had COVID but they definitely ruled out a heart attack so I didn't think it was that serious. Hence why I thought I'd be ok to wait for the GP but it's getting worse not better.

I can't cope with the pain any longer though, I'm going to call them back.

I hope you have called 999.

4 years ago my husband woke up with slight chest pains and a feeling like a bag of sugar sitting on his chest (it's how he described it).
111 sent an ambulance - ECG, temp, all obs were normal but the paramedic wasn't happy and they took him off to hospital.
The blood test showed that he had had a heart attack. It didn't present with any of the classic symptoms that you think you should look out for, and he didn't fit any of the usual criterai for being at risk of a cardiac event.
He was in hospital for a week and ended up having a stent fitted.

You need to go to hospital for the troponin t blood test.

My covid started like this, get seen OP.

I’m not sure it’s very clever to try and get an MN diagnosis instead of just calling the ambulance back

@Lemononachair

As far as I know I haven't had COVID but they definitely ruled out a heart attack so I didn't think it was that serious. Hence why I thought I'd be ok to wait for the GP but it's getting worse not better.

I can't cope with the pain any longer though, I'm going to call them back.

They didn't definitely rule out a heart attack - that's why they suggested you go in for blood tests.

The ECG didn't show you were having a heart attack but they don't always. My dad has had four heart attacks and never shown ECG changes. He has to have troponin levels measured (via blood tests).

Please stop delaying. Phone now and explain your symptoms.

It could well be gall stones or some other cause.

Or it could be a heart attack or other cardiac event. Your symptoms aren't insignificant and you really shouldn't ignore them or delay calling. If you need treatment, particularly if it's an MI, the sooner that is done the better.

If you are well enough to be debating this and already refused an ambulance you are well enough to make your own way to hospital. An ambulance isn't for your use because a taxi would cost a fortune. Get a friend, ask on fb, most areas have a covid help group that are willing to do things like this. If the ambulance man was really concerned he would have taken you in last time. Don't waste resources.

I would call them back.

@Regulus or ambulance women

*woman ffs 😂

They did not definitely rule out heart attack: ecg only picks up 95% of heart attacks. They advised you to have bloods too, and you chose not to have them at hospital. If the pain had subsided that would have been fine; it hasn’t and it isn’t. Also hospitals are now safe and treatment is astonishingly quick.

CALL OR GO NOW - DH has just had a stent put in a blockage that could have killed him at any moment (93% LAD occlusion, high up).

You're very ill. Whether with Covid or something else, you need a doctor to diagnose you. This situation is exactly what hospitals are for.

Hope you've called the ambulance back already.