To go to A&E over this cough

[tothinkimhaving]

I know this sounds ridiculous and if I saw this thread title I would tell them they are being ridiculous to go to A&E for a cough, but hear me out (though fully accept I will probably be told that I am being unreasonable and will accept that!).

I caught my son’s cold on Monday and had a cough accompany that. I am over the sniffles but this cough has remained and is worsening by the day!

I can’t breathe in without the overwhelming urge to cough and when I do it’s a full on coughing fit happening every 5-10 minutes to the point my chest and tummy is in pain and I’m at the point of vomiting. Every time I cough it’s like it’s not enough and it won’t stop!

i haven’t slept properly in days because I am waking up constantly in a coughing fit and it’s led me to having problems breathing properly during the night so I’m currently having to sleep sat up.

I’m getting breathless doing simple things like walking up the stairs or even just drinking for longer periods of time, and where I’m coughing so much I’m getting bad head pain and feeling as though my breathing is very light afterwards and I’m really having to try my best to breathe properly.

I’ve had a lot of pain under my rib cage and no appetite at all.

I went to the doctors today for something completely unrelated and while there she took my obs and my resting heart rate was very high (120 she checked minutes apart because she was concerned that it wasn’t going down) and my oxygen levels were low but ‘acceptable’. While this isn’t overly worrying generally, because of how I’m feeling it has made me worry.

I have had a collapsed lung before due to bacterial pneumonia and while I know it hasn’t happened again, I’m worried there’s something wrong and want to get my lungs x-rayed.

Would it be totally stupid to go to A&E for this or should I just wait it out and hope it goes away? I’m feeling awful in myself and no amount of Lemsip or cough meds is helping.

again, fully accept being told I’m unreasonable because I partly know I am being

Definitely do a covid test..I've had all the exact same symptoms even the pain in my rib cage.. its the 4th time I've tested positive and I was convinced it wasn't covid but it is and I've never been as poorly.

Your GP was totally negligent.

I've had a bad cough since 17th Sept. Was very painful and a had a high temp. Gagging when I coughed etc
Felt very poorly til last Friday but it is improving now. Really lingering though..

Did you make another GP appt? I would be calling them saying you need an emergency appt or call 111.

I dont think you should go to A and E

Oh and have done loads of covid tests during this time all negative.
Your GP sounds hopeless given your history

i think given your history of collapsed lung, and from what you have described as symptoms, A&E is not unreasonable.

It makes me laugh when GPs say they can only deal with one thing at a time - would that the patient had the option to make such a distinction and just suffer one thing at a time. I know they are busy, but once you have passed the dragon at the desk and waited weeks for your apppointment it would be helpful to be able to discuss more than one thing rather than wait several more weeks.

And anyway, how is the patient who is not medically qualified to know which of their ailments is the most important to deal with first?

I would not be entirely happy to go to GP, have him/her note a resting heart rate of 120 and then be sent on my way.

I honestly think you'll get no joy with A&E. My DM has a similar cold/cough, has gone to doctors and not got antibiotics and she's been in hospital twice with pneumonia and sepsis. The cough is getting better but there are some nasty viruses out there.

111 will just send the op to A&E anyway, after endless hours on the phone that would be better spent in A&E.

Sounds like Covid though unfortunately. Don't let that stop you from being seem, it sounds like you could become quite ill quite quickly if you're not.

Good luck booking an appointment with the GP for any time soon. I was at mine last night and the soonest next appointment I could get is for the 26th October. Nothing at all but fore then, and the emergency appointments (all five of them!) are gone by 9am.

Definitely try 111, and keep an eye on it. If the shortness of breath gets worse, definitely get seen to. If your o2 was "low but acceptable" it could be getting lower if there's infection. I know everyone says don't go to a&e and waste their time, but i had a similar problem a couple years ago. GP gave antibiotics and I went back a couple days later as not feeling better, struggling to climb stairs to the bathroom without having to stop to catch my breath. The GP phoned 999 from his office there and then and i was admitted for a week.

I've also had a cough that's left me breathless, though not to the point I can't sleep. Mine came on when I had Covid at the end of August. I've had antibiotics and steroids, which eased it a bit. I went back to doctor's yesterday and have an inhaler to help open airways, although my lungs aren't crackly and am not wheezy. I've been told it's a side effect of lungs recovering from inflammation from virus. Although last evening the receptionist called me to make an appointment for me to have an ECG.

My advice would be to either see your GP or call 111 for advice.

have you done a covid test-when i got it i was coughing like that for a month nothing could be done about it

honestly i dont think you'll get much from a and e apart from a really long wait

Out of hours GP

I'd go
I have a history of pneumonia (3 times)
Twice GP thought it was a virus
And wouldn't give me antibiotics
Those times I've ended up in hospital with drs worried about organ damage my lactate was so high
I was referred to immunology after that

@whynotwhatknot

Apart from pulse/bp/o2 sats checked, maybe a chest xray, antibiotics/steroids if needed, oxygen if needed, a nebuliser if needed... There's probably more.

The op sounds quite unwell and would be right to seek more help. 120 is very high for a resting pulse and low but okay sats can drop quickly.

And I'm basing this on my personal experience - my mum would be dead if she hadn't gone to A&E with a cough. She was in respiratory failure and was in hospital for almost a month.

I would get it seen too. Sometimes if you ring 111 you can get an urgent care appointment. This sounds like what happened when I had pleurisy and it didn’t get better on its own.

Go to A&E. The symptoms you're having aren't something to ignore, especially given your past history.

It sounds like you may need a breathing treatment and Prednisone (UK version) to reduce the inflammation in your lungs. Even if you don't have an infection now, continuing with a cough that bad can lead to one, or worse.

I’d be worried because of your past history. I
Wouldn’t consider you being unreasonable in the slightest to go to a&e but personally I would call 111

I would say 111 or OOH
I went for a cough once (I thought maybe chest infection as it had just started) and sat coughing in the waiting room. Doctor came out to shout someone then came back with some equipment so I was being nosy who was really ill. Yes, it was me
I couldn't stop coughing and ended up with 6 nebulisers over that weekend, steroids, 3 courses of antibiotics and I had pneumonia
Doctor pointed out you can't breathe if you're coughing constantly

1. Do a COVID test
2. If negative try and get an out of hours GP appointment or go to a walk in centre. NHS website will have the details for your local area.
3. If you can’t get an appointment ring 111. They’ll most likely tell you to go to A&E or for you to call an ambulance if it’s chest pain.

I’d be very surprised if it was anything cardiac but it’s always better safe than sorry.

So frustrating when a doctor will only see you for 1 thing in an appointment, but I get how their time is limited in the current climate. (Shouldn’t be that way though)

In the mean time rest up, plenty of fluids, vitamin C, take a hot bath or use a face steamer to open up your airways.

If you caught the cough on Monday and it's been getting worse my question is why you have waited till 4 on a Friday afternoon to decide to do something about it?
You have a responsibility to look after yourself and unless it's a life threatening emergency A+E is not the place to go.
111, out of hours GP, pharmacy.
If your doctor was worried she would have dealt with it whilst you were there.

I had this with covid. The only thing that remotely helped was pholcodine - took months to get better

Go to GP and get an emergency appointment.

If they wont see you, call 111 and get an OOH GP appt.

Do a covid test while you're waiting.

I had very similar symptoms a month or so ago. The sleeping sitting up was very annoying and exhausting. Has just about gone now but took a long time

Sounds a bit like whooping cough. I had it a few years ago as an adult and it was very different to a normal cough. Call 111 and describe the cough to them and get a GP appointment.