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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

I went to A&E with period pain

16 replies

BlxckBeth · 21/12/2023 15:52

And I feel like such an idiot.

In my defence I've had my tubes tied and was on the contraceptive injection so haven't had a period in six months but the pain was like nothing I've ever felt before and it was higher up than period pain.

It was the middle of the night and the pain made it so I couldn't sleep and I felt light headed and was sick so called 111 and spoke to an OOH doctor who told me to go to A&E.

To be fair the doctor I saw thought it was gastroenteritis and I had a UTI but then later on the day my period came and I felt like such a bloody idiot.

Has anyone else done anything similar?

Just to say I didn't mean to waste A&Es time!

OP posts:

ErrolTheDragon · 21/12/2023 15:58

Much better to go and it be a false alarm than ignore severe pain until there's a crisis. And period pain can be excruciating.

DH has been to A&E with chest pains which turned out to be indigestion, the doctors said he was sensible to go. (He does have a heart condition but I think this would apply to anyone)

kitsuneghost · 21/12/2023 15:59

You are not wasting A&E's time
You pay your NI and you were in need and told to go.

This obsession with not wasting doctor's / A&E time can make problems worse and cause a bigger strain on the NHS

You did the right thing OP

AuntPru · 21/12/2023 16:01

Don't worry about wasting anyone's time, you followed medical advice. I'm glad you've got an explanation for the pain now! FWIW, I know someone who was convinced her 4yo had appendicitis as he was in agony. After several hours in A&E he let out the world's biggest fart and was fine. Turns out trapped wind can be really painful!

youneveractually · 21/12/2023 16:02

presumably you’d tried pain relief and it had not touched the sides?

cezannesapple · 21/12/2023 16:06

I used to get such severe period pain that all the usual stuff didn’t work. One day I hobbled into my GPs practice and begged for an appointment and he gave me some opioids. I couldn’t even walk 100 yards without collapsing. If you weren’t expecting a period and you had that level of pain I can entirely understand going to A&E. I hope they gave you some of the good stuff.

Aparecium · 21/12/2023 17:06

I was blue-lighted to A&E with - indigestion.

I'd had an episode of severe chest pain. Lasted maybe 10mins and left me feeling shakey. Following day I still didn't feel well so went to see the GP, who called an ambulance there and then.

Who knew you could get cramp in your oesophagus?

These things happen. Severe pain needs to be dealt with. Luckily you're OK.

Lochness1975 · 21/12/2023 17:10

I was had just pain and pins and needles in my arm, was taken to an and e by ambulance, turns out it was a panic attack. First and only one I ever had. Paramedics thought it was a heart attack.

ManateeFair · 21/12/2023 17:15

Just because your period came the next day, that doesn't necessarily mean that what you had the day before was period pain, though, does it? Maybe it was in fact what the doctor suggested. Or maybe endometriosis?

Either way, though, you experienced sudden and severe pain that wouldn't go away and didn't feel anything like pain you'd ever experienced before - and you phoned 111 first. You did the right thing by going to A&E.

I think people think that they've 'wasted A&E's time' if it turns out there's nothing seriously wrong with them, but you really haven't. I'm pretty sure that most people who go to A&E with (eg) chest pain do in fact turn out to have very bad indigestion or trapped wind or even a panic attack, but that doesn't mean they were wrong to go to A&E because it actually could have been a heart attack and only the doctor would be able to tell you that.

MiddleagedBeachbum · 21/12/2023 17:20

I thought I had period pain / trapped wind / stomach bug…. It got worse and worse until I went into A&E - I had a ruptured cyst on my ovaries which could have killed me.
it’s always better to get it checked and out and tbh, despite getting your period it sounds like there could be something more going on x

Mumof2NDers · 21/12/2023 17:21

It was suggested to me by a work colleague that it was ridiculous that my DS went to A&E with black poo. Turns out he had Helicobacter Pylori which if left untreated can cause peptic ulcers and eventually stomach cancer!
Thankfully you had nothing seriously wrong with you. But you could have and it’s always best to check

BiancaBlank · 21/12/2023 17:32

My mother took me to A&E when I was in my 20s after I collapsed in the bathroom during an exceptionally horrendous period. I can still vivdly remember the doctor’s withering scorn when I eventually got seen (and was sent home with a couple of Nurofen).

It still makes me angry tbh. Yes, of course A&E staff are frazzled and periods are a fact of life, but when a woman presents and says what she’s experiencing goes above and beyond anything she’s experienced before, it ought to be taken seriously. I had stage 4 endometriosis, as it turned out. She could at least have suggested that as a possibility - it’s not rare.

Anyway op, you shouldn’t worry about wasting the NHS time! So many serious conditions start with inconclusive symptoms. I’m glad it turned out to be OK.

SatanClaws · 21/12/2023 17:33

Pain is a valid reason to seek medical attention.

19lottie82 · 21/12/2023 17:33

Op, I did the same! Never suffered from period pains. Came off the depo injection a few years ago. 6 weeks later had horrendous pains like I’ve never experienced, went to A&E, they couldn’t work out what was wrong but the pain eased so they let me go home. Shortly after I had the heaviest, lumpiest period I’ve ever had in my life.

Zanatdy · 21/12/2023 17:39

Period could be a coincidence and maybe you’ve got gallstones or something?

ForTonightGodisaDJ · 21/12/2023 18:21

Seriously I've had this and it turned out I had ENDOMETRIOSIS in particular a 10cm endometrial cyst on my right ovary that had ruptured. I'd push for an ultrasound.

Rocknrolla21 · 21/12/2023 18:36

MiddleagedBeachbum · 21/12/2023 17:20

Same. I couldn’t really pinpoint my symptoms apart from having a sharp pain in my side. I just felt really weird. I’m not even sure how dp managed to convince me to go to hospital, I’d normally have to be at deaths door. It ended up being a ruptured cyst, we also found out I was pregnant at the hospital, I had surgery and was in for a week with a drain which sucked 2 pints of blood out of my stomach. It drives me batshit on here when people come out with ‘if you don’t know whether you need go to an and e then you don’t need to go’. How tf do they know unless they’re a qualified doctor who’s examined you? Along with ‘if you leave a and e because you’re sick of waiting then you didnt need to be there in the first place’. My oh had an accident at work and went in with a piece of metal sticking out of his eyeball. Was told there was a 4 hour wait, after sitting there on the metal chair in the waiting room under fluorescent lights for 11 hours he was then told it would be another 7 hours, so he got up and walked out with metal hanging out his eye socket. Luckily managed to get into an eye clinic later that day.

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