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AIBU?

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Original poster

to ask for your symptoms if you've had sepsis?

116 replies

cherryscola · 27/11/2023 17:40

Hello,

I went to the GP this morning and was diagnosed with a chest infection. Have been given antibiotics.

I am just worried as I feel so unwell and this has been ongoing for over 10 days at the same level.

  • I cannot get warm no matter what I do. I am currently covered in goosebumps and my skin on my arms has a purple tinge to it. I'm thinking this could just be because I'm so cold though?
  • I feel so tired and weak, my muscles are just aching.

The other symptoms are usual of a chest infection, my chest is hurting and i'm coughing a lot, don't currently have a temp (36.1) atm.

I'm just curious on what your sepsis symptoms were? I don't normally get ill like this and it's just freaked me out.

OP posts:
NashvilleQueen · 27/11/2023 20:51

Thank you @Stomacharmeleon. Same to you x

Hoping the OP is being seen to

Seascape1325 · 27/11/2023 21:13

Hope your being seen to and feel better soon

Nineteendays · 27/11/2023 21:26

I had it in labour. A whoosh of heat and then absolutely freezing. Very high temp. Uncontrollable shivering. Really struggled to sign the form for c section due to the shaking.

I hope you’re being seen to and are on the mend soon op.

Ourshoddyhouse · 27/11/2023 21:29

39°+ temp, no appetite, vomitting/nausea & needing to pee but not passing urine.

Hope you feel better soon OP.

Pigglesworth · 27/11/2023 21:37

I would go to the hospital and look at getting intravenous antibiotics. I haven't had sepsis but I had a kidney infection that I think was heading that way had I not gotten intravenous antibiotics. The GP told me earlier that day when I got antibiotic tablets to go to hospital if I started shivering, which I did. My symptoms (that I remember) were:

Shivering/cold
Temperature (came down after paracetamol)
Body pain (hence paracetamol)
Exhaustion/felt like everything was like moving through wet cement, movement was very effortful
A feeling that something was wrong (i.e. I was on an infection/health trajectory that felt very wrong and life-threatening)

Ringsender2 · 27/11/2023 21:37

Absolutely! There's a whole stage of symptoms of sepsis developing before septic shock sets in!

Nightmanagerfan · 27/11/2023 21:40

Temp of 41c but shivering and teeth chattering under a duvet. All I wanted to do was sleep and I thought I was going to die and didn't care. I knew the symptoms so went to hospital and was admitted for IV antibiotics and pain relief. I was very unwell for about 48 hours.

lljkk · 27/11/2023 21:50

I didn't have sepsis but....
I had rigors
Fever of 40.9 ( apparently this is high)
Slept all the time
Threw up in bed
Could only keep a little water down, had to have paracetamol suppository to get temp down

I didn't have confusion, blurred vision, dizziness, muscle pain, slurred speech, sweaty skin, funny skin, lack of urination, raised heartbeat or a lot of sepsis things. The doc nearly sent me home but I pretended to doze off & he changed his mind.

You can be very ill without sepsis. It sucks. I was in hospital 5 days, needed IV antibiotics to get better. If you can keep antiBs down you'll probably be alright.

ShouldIbeLeftWithLess · 27/11/2023 21:54

I went from extreme shivering and violently shaking to the hottest I've ever been in my life (hotter than when I've had a general temperature). I was already in hospital for something else when that happened so got seen to very quickly. Leading up to this I was tired, lightheaded, going hot and cold, dizzy spells over the period of a few days.

Heronatemygoldfish · 27/11/2023 22:04

My sepsis was due to a uti. It took several days to get a doctors appointment during which I treated myself with over the counter drugs and felt progressively worse. I got to take one dose of antibiotics before I collapsed at work with shivers and a ridiculously high temperature as well as severe vomiting. I worked in a hospital too; my colleagues pushed me into a wheelchair and wheeled me round to the medical assessment unit where I was immediately admitted and put on IV antibiotics. I was later told by the consultant that I could have died. I was fit and 28 years old at the time. I've never taken 'sorry we don't have any appointments' as an answer since, if I've had another uti.

Hope OP is being treated properly and is on the way to feeling better.

Mariposista · 27/11/2023 22:12

Very glad you are being seen OP.

Anyone else with chest infection symptoms- please don’t leave it 10 days. My lovely friend ended up like the OP, thinking ‘Ill be ok it’s a cough’, ended up so poorly.

Ghskl78888 · 27/11/2023 22:15

I had very few and mild physical symptoms, for me my mind became a fog. I couldn't keep up or follow a conversation, I could hear words but not able to work out what people were asking. I was very confused but didn't quite understand why.

Confused2124 · 27/11/2023 22:19

the two symptoms that I had that set it apart from normal flu was extreme cold - like I could have sat in a fire and not been able to get warm. And the second was not making any sense at all - in my head I was - a bit like sleep talking when you’re half awake.

weegiemum · 27/11/2023 22:26

I started with pain in my leg where the cat had scratched me. The following morning my leg was swollen and red and painful, I was shivering and sweating and worst of all I had this overwhelming feeling of dread, that I was going to die.

It was a weekend and dh (who is a GP) was working and when I called him he said he'd get someone to cover but that would take a few hours so to phone an ambulance.

So I did as I couldn't put any weight on the leg and they took one look at the redness and swelling and my 40 degree temp and got me to hospital. By the time dh got there I was hooked up to the first of several IV antibiotics and so delirious I didn't know who he was! I was totally out of it for 5 days, but woke up lucid on the Friday morning and got better after that. This included lots of awful fever-dreams and on the night my kidney function was struggling and they had thought about itu, what I can only describe as a near death experience.

If you're only feeling like this after 10 days I'd assume you didn't have sepsis but it might help to see your doctor to see if you need a different/extra antibiotic.

MissDollyMix · 27/11/2023 22:31

hope you’re ok OP and well done for getting seen.
Not me but my DH had sepsis 5 years ago. His only symptoms were grey, clammy skin, absolutely no energy- very weak, low urine output (that was only picked up at the hospital- I don't usually keep a track of these things!) no appetite, racing heartbeat. He wasn’t vomiting, didn’t have a rash or a high temperature, was still able to have a coherent conversation. I’m so glad a clued up nurse picked up on his symptoms (whilst the doctor was still dicking about saying it wasn’t sepsis) Bless him, he had no idea what sepsis even was, just thought he could take some antibiotics and be fine again. He was taken into ICU and was in hospital for 2 weeks. It was horrific at the time but he’s made a full recovery. Point being, for anyone reading this, it’s great to be clued up about the ‘traditional’ symptoms of sepsis but it doesn’t always present as you think it might and if you think you or anyone you know might have sepsis- please get seen!

MissDollyMix · 27/11/2023 22:32

Should also add my DH had been ill at home for 10 days so it doesn’t always come on quickly.

SheIsStuck23 · 27/11/2023 22:34

The best of luck in A&E OP 🤞

BertieBotts · 27/11/2023 22:34

I am glad you're going in. I lost a relative to sepsis. Apparently no real symptoms at all except for feeling tired and then presenting with confusion - they rushed her into hospital, it was too late. (She was already on antibiotics for an infection).

I had uncontrollable shivering with a UTI, it wasn't sepsis, but they were concerned enough they kept me in overnight on IV antibiotics.

I hope it's a false alarm, but I am glad that you are going in to be seen by someone in person.

biscuitnut · 27/11/2023 22:35

I remember feeling ill and being sick. I couldn’t make it to the toilet to throw up, my legs gave way. The last thing I remember was a certainty that this was it, I was dying, like an overwhelming feeling of foreboding and dread. I woke up in ICU. This was 15 years ago and I survived intact.

Penguinfeet24 · 27/11/2023 22:36

Sepsis feels like you're dying, honestly. I had it from a chest infection I very stupidly left and my temperature raged for days, I was confused, hallucinating and genuinely thought I was dying. If in doubt, just be seen, it's not worth the risk waiting.

WhyMeWhyNowWhyNot · 27/11/2023 22:38

I had sepsis from a UTI - symptoms were vomiting, uncontrollable shivering and totally inability to warm up and apparently I looked like shit 😬. Thankfully was v quickly diagnosed by paramedics and whisked to hospital for IV ABs.

Inheritanceconundrum · 27/11/2023 22:40

Glad you are going in. My husband nearly died of it. He'd had a bad throat infection, then suddenly went downhill - fever, shivering, sleeping lots, severe muscle aches, purple tinge to skin, diarrhea. It was touch and go. He ended up on life support in a coma. He'd been seen by a Dr that morning too. He'd never felt so ill. If unsure, always get checked out and then, even if they say you're ok, if you deteriorate, you must get checked out again and quickly.

Eggsley · 27/11/2023 22:50

I had sepsis following mastitis, had felt dreadful since DS's birth - I'd been ill for about 10 days, then taking oral antibiotics for 3 days, then woke up one morning with uncontrollable shivering, I was so cold.

Got an out of hours appointment at the doctors, sat there for 45 minutes waiting, I was so, so thirsty, it hurt to breathe, every bit of me ached, I was slurring my words, it felt like the floor was tilting. I had to hold on to the wall to get back to the car. I thought I was going to die but felt so ill I didn't care.

Doctor recognised what it was and sent me straight to hospital, my legs gave way when I got to the surgical assessment unit, it took every ounce of energy to breathe. I was really lucky, they caught mine fairly early on, I was feeling so much better 24 hours later.

I really hope you are being seen and are feeling much better soon OP.

SwordToFlamethrower · 27/11/2023 23:01

Apparently sepsis feels so bad, you feel like you're dying.

champagneandff · 27/11/2023 23:13

My mum had sepsis earlier this year. It started with an infected gall stone.

In the days leading up to her admission, she was very tired, urinating less and less, and shivery like you described.

By the time we got her to hospital (the silly thing lived alone and didn't tell anyone how ill she'd got) she was still very coherent, but was turning yellow and still shivering. I tried to get extra blankets for her but the nurse explained that she actually had a temperature but her body was telling her that she was cold.

I would urge you to please go to hospital. It was a sheer stroke of luck that I went to visit when I did, and if it had been a couple of hours later, she would have passed away in her sleep.

Sepsis can come on very very suddenly, but fortunately, can also be treated very quickly. Go to hospital, explain your concerns. If they send you away with antibiotics, I would ask you to ask a friend/family member to stay with you over the next couple of days to make sure that you don't get worse.

Xxx