Waited in hospital since 10pm to see out of hours gp. It's now 2am. Do I give up and go home?

[GrrrlPwr]

There's 5 people ahead of me in the queue. Receptionist has no idea how long they will all take.

Do I go home and plead my GP for an appointment tomorrow?

Feel so stupid to have waited so long and to go home. But I ache so much. I need to go to bed

tonsilectomies are not really done nowadays, particularly with adults, but hey ready to be proved wrong.
glad you go the antibiotics op
feel better soon

@NotMyCat

I think there's tonsillitis and there's tonsillitis A colleague once was in work and said she had it and was a bit croaky, had some strepsils but was ok I get it and can't swallow my own spit, have pus all over my throat, a temperature and no pain relief touches it. Last time my dad had to drive me to OOH as I was so out of it he didn't want me driving. Usually lose about a stone and am unwell for 10-14 days The longer I go without antibiotics the worse it gets and it never ever improves without it. I know about antibiotic resistance, always complete the course but I must have had 75+ courses so far in my life

Yes, this. The people saying it’s nearly always viral and it will resolve on its own have clearly never had this kind.

So sorry you had to go through this. I had a horrific time with tonsillitis when I was younger to the point I got blood poisoning. Eventually got them out. The recovery is very painful and long but definitely worth it.
People on this thread being horrible, you obviously have not suffered from this and have no idea how I'll it can make someone. OP was in the right going to the hospital as severe tonsillitis can lead to sepsis and kill you! Think before you post!

Glad you have got meds now GrrrlPwr Hope you start to feel better soon.

Ds has come home from uni this week with tonsillitis and is in tears with the pain. He started on penicillin last night so I hope it starts working soon. It’s his second lot this term as he went to uni in September with a sore throat and penicillin although nowhere near as bad as he is now.

Just a quick question, how do you know if it’s turned to quinsy? Will it be obvious that we need to see a doctor or does he need to finish the meds first? Our gp prescribed over the phone to ds without seeing him and without talking to me so I feel a bit concerned after reading on here about complications…

I’m shocked at the people who have made out tonsillitis is not serious. It floors you and sadly I’m prone to it and it can easily get worse and more serious. My little boy had it recently and luckily he was seen quickly.

the nhs is on its knees
it is all over the news.

I'm shocked at how many people didn't read the opening post properly and then made horrible comments.
Tonsillitis can be mild but can be horrific with scary breathing problems. My adult daughter had them removed as she had 8 episodes in one year. Despite what others say, every single one required antibiotics to clear them up, including every case over the previous 4 years.
A tonsillectomy is no walk in the park for an adult but my daughter is so much better now. Hope you manage to get surgery op, it really made such a massive difference to the time my daughter took off work as she suffered so regularly with it.

Glad you got the antibiotics OP.
I remember waiting in St Thomas's for 13 hours to be seen, and this was pre covid.
Got admitted and operated to remove appendix. After op, told appendix was actually fine.

@Bunnyfuller

How many commenting here about lack of NHS cover voted Conservative in the last election.

YOU ARE WELCOME

Not me.

Why does everyone on MN assume that the people complaining about the NHS voted conservative?

Tonsillitis is the worst. My god I've been so ill with in the past..

The NHS is broken beyond repair if you ask me. I compare it to the health systems in other countries I've lived in - for example France.. majority is privatized but you claim the majority of cost back through social security. I remember the doctor coming to our house when we were very young kids, we never sat in the surgery. If you needed a doctor in the night, they came. You paid & claimed it back. Not sure if its the same now but it was excellent. It was in doctors interest to look after their patients or they went elsewhere & honestly there was no shortage of options.. Lived in many countries all provided much better care than the NHS.. as my friend who works for the NHS says, far too much money spent on ''admin'' / red-tape & ''managers'' not enough on patient care..

@PeachesPumpkin

Antibiotic resistance is a massive threat to us all. Tonsillitis rarely needs antibiotics. It is hideous though.

I had to have far more antibiotics with the sepsis that my untreated tonsillitis led to than I would have had if I’d been given antibiotics earlier on.

I was fobbed off for weeks with tonsillitis. Kept telling me it was viral. GP would not take a swab. Finally after 6 weeks when I had lost a stone, couldn't speak she gave in, with much grumbling. Strep throat. 3 days of the correct ABx advised by the lab and I was cured. If I had been in France it would have been sorted in days.
We need a campaign to change the system.

I had bad tonsillitis once and didn't get it treated due to long waits for doctors appointment and due to everyone telling me to stop being a drama queen and that it would pass.
After not eating and barely drinking for 5 days and finding it hard to breathe and being in excruciating pain, I was went to hospital against the advice of others, who claimed I'd be wasting NHS resources and to wait for a GP appointment, I was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess and had to be admitted as an emergency and put on drips of steroids, antibiotics and strong painkillers and was there 2 nights.
Just shows how serious infections can get if not treated.
Hope you feel better soon xxx

Where do people come up with this nonsense about tonsillitis rarely needing antibiotics? People often need antibiotics, it's up to the doctor to decide not us,that's why it's important to get checked out.

My GP surgery has written a letter saying they have to suspend the e-consult service for 7 days. They have a backlog of over 150 to get through, one GP has resigned and another has gone on maternity leave.

It's going to get much worse by winter.

I hope you're getting better treatment now, if l could help l certainly would. PLEASE, after ten years of Tories this is what we have . All remember this at the next election - promises and people you can't trust

Why does everyone on MN assume that the people complaining about the NHS voted conservative

No idea. Approximately 67% of the electorate turned out for the last general election and the tories on with approximately 43% of the vote. Statistically you’re more likely to be speaking to someone who did not actively elect the tories.

That does raise the question of the culpability of the apathetic who didn’t vote at all but I’m willing to bet the majority of people didn’t actively choose this.

Hi OP
Glad you are feeling a bit better. I suffered awfully when I was a teen/early twenties with tonsillitis. I must of had it 10 times, missed so much school and college because of it.
Eventually had them removed, it was such a relief!
I swore that if any of my kids had recurring bouts of it, I would pay for them to have their tonsils remove. It is such a debilitating illness.
Keep well and warm, sending you lots of love ❤️

@CloseYourEyesAndSee -I don't know where you live but getting hold of a GP is quite problematic for many of us. And we certainly won't get seen the same day. I'm currently sitting in a walk in clinic as my surgery don't answer the phone.

@ElftonWednesday - my GP's surgery don't do e-consult forms

@Colouringaddict - impossible to get one at mine

It's a shame the ooh gp couldn't give you abx but to be fair I didn't read read whole thread

@GrrrlPwr

Glad you got the antibiotics, lots of people seem to think they have tonsillitis when they have a sore throat from a cold, you know the difference when you get recurrent bacterial tonsillitis, there’s no cold symptoms with it, extreme pain, pus, rash. Ignore the ones on here who’ve never had it.

I get recurrent tonsillitis too, last time I went to out of hours as dh had been away at a funeral a few days and kids both had a sickness bug, I couldn’t get out the house, I was so ill as soon as dh home he dropped me to ooh and nurse doing triage told me off for leaving it so long (was 2-3 days) as it was on the verge of turning into quinsy. Can be life threatening as throat swells and blocks airways. I never leave it now if I can help it. I do always try gargling with salt as soon as tonsils feel a bit weird, moment they’re painful it’s too late though. I gargled with whisky in the early stages once and almost passed out from the pain.

My dc get it too, eldest was only 11m first time he had it, he was dribbling from the mouth as not swallowing saliva, ended up in a&e with him. Strep throat type of bacterial tonsillitis is awful.

Youngest just had it recently and I could only get phone appointment with gp, his tonsils so swollen they were touching the dangly bit in the middle, I recognised it as strep-throat type as he had the red pin-prick rash and pus everywhere but she sent him straight to a&e to rule out quinsy as so swollen. You were in the right place, they’re just overwhelmed at the moment. I’m getting my tonsils out next year too hopefully.