Slept for 18 hours yesterday because I couldn’t wake up - GP or A&E?

[Headproblems]

Just looking for some advice because I know the NHS is massively overstretched at the moment and I don’t want to waste resources if this is just a GP thing.

Basically for the past few months I have been experiencing lots of headaches and some dizziness and oversleeping. It hasn’t been consistent so I’ve never really got it checked out because it’s never been enough to cause huge issues.

However this week, every day I have been struggling to wake up and until at least 10am I have been in and out of sleep feeling completely without control, no matter how hard I’ve been trying to stay awake I fall straight back to sleep within minutes and have to force myself to stay awake.

In the middle of this week I walked upstairs and my ears went fuzzy and my head started spinning, it was really scary because for about 3 minutes my ears went in waves and I could barely hear, like I was under water.

I’ve tried earlier nights but nothing has been helping. I have my own business and it’s affecting my work, being unable to concentrate and missing meetings.

Yesterday I slept for 18 hours throughout the day, it was impossible to wake up I was so drowsy, at one point I thought I was awake and I was talking to my partner about ingredients (?) but I was still asleep and apparently all he could hear was muffles, and it got to a point where my head started waving and it felt like I was falling every time I shut my eyes, this lasted for about 10 minutes.

I awoke at 8pm and went back to sleep at 1am, and this morning couldn’t wake up until 11am and had to literally force myself into a cold shower to wake up.

I managed to get up and ready, have come downstairs and I am so dizzy I feel like I’m going to pass out (I haven’t), and my head feels like there is pressure around my temples.

I’ve not taken any new medication and the medication I do take I have been taking the same for about 8 years now, no changes that I can think of in diet, I do feel dehydrated from all the sleep though.

I’m unsure whether to call 111 because I’m feeling shaky and dizzy but not sure if it would be better to wait it out until Monday for an emergency GP appointment.

But not being able to wake up is scaring me and frustrating me, I don’t want to be sleeping the days away, I physically just cannot wake up no matter how hard I try.

Please if anyone can give me some advice or has experienced this before I would really appreciate it

And schools/teaching is another area

Yep. And dogs.

The fact the that your partner hasn't raised any alarm bells seems rather strange....

This whole situation screams GP not A&E.

@Ionlydrinkondaysendinginy ,

The doctors want to diagnose and treat, not judge.

Plenty of people are very stoic for a prolonged period and then the symptoms crescendo into an emergency.

Would A&E want to miss a heart attack because someone had had ongoing chest pain or a diabetic coma because someone had fatigue and a raging thirst for a couple of months?!

I do understand that which is why I belive mumsnet shouldn't allow medical threads. As the only qualified person I saw post in here was a dr saying it's not an emergency and wait until Monday but people came at her for being wrong.

Chest pain is an emergency though and your told to go for a&e for that. Being tired for a couple of months I'd expect the person to of gone to their gp in that time

How on earth do you know that was a real Dr??

Advice should always be to go to a and e - which even 111 seems to realise.

But the OP didn't just rock up to A&E she spoke to 111 who advised her to go. When she got there they whisked her straight in from triage so I would say she absolutely did the right thing. Yes she's been advised to follow up tomorrow with her GP but as of yesterday she followed the right course of action for her. I hope she's doing ok today.

If the advice is for everyone to go to a&e everytime then there's no point in posting, 111, gps, ooh or urgent care we should all just go to a&e everytime

There's definitely no point in posting to tell someone not to go to a and e despite 111 telling her to!

I agree which is why I didn't my initial post was why on earth have you waited 2 months and then decide on a Saturday you need to get it checked. Then when she posted a&e had given her paracetamol I asked why she didn't think to take one before going. Then when she said how dismissive the a&e dr was that is when I said its because its not an emergency and when posters said not being able to wake up, is an emergency I pointed out the op got up at 10am had a shower, got dressed, came on mumsnet, rang 111 and then sat awake in a&e all evening.

This whole situation screams GP not A&E.

It screams 'read the full thread or at least OP's updates' to me.

Amazing how even typing all this out hasn't made you have a think about why you feel the need to pick apart every tiny thing this poor woman has said.

Then don't post on social media. I'm not the one who's carrying on you are im happy to accept we disagree on the situation and I genuinely hope op manages to get a gp appointment on Monday and the gp orders a full blood workup and they can get to the bottom of her fatigue. I said on my first comment this isn't aimed at op but I just don't understand posting medical issues on mumsnet when the majority of people aren't medical professionals, don't have access to her medical records and can't actually see how she is its pointless but it's not just her so many people do this and it makes no sense it just causes panic and anxiety.

I’ve seen more than a couple of times on here, people posting after being fobbed off by HCPs, who are advised to push for help at A&E whose lives are saved.

Absolutely in certain circumstances I would agree with this 100%

Hope your gp gets you sorted x

Hope you get to bottom of it. Good luck

Sorry for the lack of updates, I slept until 2pm today. Couldn’t wake up. Came downstairs fell asleep with a coffee in my hand after less than 5 minutes awake. Feeling so exhausted today with loads of pressure in my head. Not sure why there’s an argument on this thread, thank you for all of those supporting and well wishes.

Just wanted to note that I had taken paracetamol before going to the hospital - I had taken it three hours prior which hadn’t touched the surface, so I was due more by the time I got to my 5pm slot.

I sought advice initially saying I don’t want to burden A&E. The doctor told me I they couldn’t do anything yesterday because it is a chronic issue but needs investigating straight away, so they have written to my GP to say I need a referral to a specialist and MRI and fasting test for diabetes.

I hadn’t gone to the GP because my symptoms
had been inconsistent for the past few months and to be honest I thought I was burnt out. Every time I mentioned it to my family I got shut down as being lazy so I thought maybe it was in my head until I deteriorated Friday and became incredibly worried so followed 111.

It’s upsetting to be questioned and my symptoms ripped apart when initially I had said I was worried about going to A&E because I didn’t want to be a nuisance.

I wasn’t ‘playing on my phone’ all night hence I didn’t upset this thread until I left at 10:30pm.

Again thank you to everyone else who has been so kind. X

@Headproblems good luck I hope they get to the bottom of this for you soon. Make sure the receptionist knows you have been referred back by the hospital. Stress the symptoms and length of time you have been unwell.

@Headproblems ignore the idiots, I’m glad you went to A&E and were seen. Make sure you chase up the GP if you don’t hear anything. Hope you feel better soon. 💐

I hope you get to the bottom of it OP and feel better soon x

There's always twats posting here - think it's their mission in life! Don't respond. Just pretend they aren't here. You did the right thing in going to A&E.

Hope you can get to the bottom of it all xx

As others have said, ignore the idiots. Just because A&E referred you back to your GP doesn’t mean you didn’t need to be there in the first place. You absolutely did the right thing. At least A&E ruled out any imminent danger to your health. Not that that negates the fact it still needs sorting of course or that it’s still a worry for you.

I hope they get to the bottom of it soon and get you on the road to recovery. Let us know what the outcome is when you get chance.

In my experience when ya call 111 you get an appointment rather than just a walk on where ya wait yer turn, sometimes it's at a&e and other times at the clinic across the road from a&e