When is it appropriate to see the GP

[ChickensAndChops]

My wife has flu/covid/other viruses are available

She has been ill in bed since Friday and is no better. She has only left bed to go to the toilet and has probably only drunk about 500ml of water since then. No food.

Says she feels sick but hasn't been sick, has headache, aches, pain and fatigue. We don't have any covid tests and seems silly to get one now at this stage. I really want her to go to the GP tomorrow once it's open as she is hardly ever ill like this (probably the 2nd or 3rd time in 26 years together). She doesn't want to waste anyone's time but I think that she needs to be checked over.

She has now agreed I can call the GP surgery in the morning who will triage and see if she needs an appointment but is this enough?

YABU leave her be she is fine without intervention
YANBU call the GP in the morning

Hi OP. I would imagine this is very stressful for you. As PP said, sometimes we do need to make decisions for our loved ones. If I were in your position, I would make a list of symptoms your wife has - not eating, barely drinking, struggling to breathe etc. Check if she has a rash anywhere, is she clammy, does she have a fever. And would call 111 again, and list the symptoms factually. Where we are, you get seen quicker going via 111. Otherwise, please go to A&E - your wife sounds unwell.

You could now try your actual GP as it sounds like you trust them. Make sure you mention the phlegm, the breathing.

If she’s done a couple of wees today, there’s no way in heck she’s only had 500ml of fluid since Friday.

Go to A&E. If she's as unwell as you're saying you won't have quite a wait and will be seen fairly swiftly. If she can, the best thing to do when drinking is eat something. Even a nibble of a cracker of biscuit will abate the nausea - a trick I learned when I had hypermesis with pregnancy. She needs seeing today, and quite quickly too.

She could have. I've not had a drink today yet and been for 3 already.

If she has flu then they won’t prescribe anything and it’s doing the rounds. That said she may have a bacterial infection on top of it… it sounds like she does so personally I’d want to see a doctor and I would go to gp or a&e

What about her breathing problems? I’m surprised 111 didn’t send an ambulance when you mentioned this.

Some information about flu:
It's a virus
It can mostly be managed at home
It's a virus that can and does kill healthy adults
There is no such thing as "just" a virus
If you're extremely unwell with flu to to A&E you may need to be rehydrated
You can develop secondary infections from the flu which will need treating
It can take several weeks to fully recover from the flu

Oh boy. I’m not the biggest fan of our 111 out of hours service. I have had two serious situations with my kids that could have been resolved by 111 acting sooner. First was a two week old baby with a 39 degree fever - that was a week’s hospitalisation but 111 were useless and I waited 8h for a call back (had made my way to a&e by then); the second was a quinsy in a 3 year old that the ooh GP refused abx for - ended up with sepsis and in hospital.

Unwell
Drinking small amounts/??is she actually passing urine
Difficulty breathing
Nausea
Coughing grey sputum
Heart racing

She needs to see a doctor.

Take her to a&e

Check her pulse, you only need a watch to time it. Google if your not sure how to. Take her temp. I'd be worried about sepsis. Pack a bag for A&E. But check pulse and temp asap

OP, did you not notice that a doctor gave advice above last night? You seem to have missed or ignored it.

Crush ice for her mouth and call 111 for medical advice

She's done the latter now.

The key thing is fluid. She is almost certainly dehydrated.

did anyone mention fluid tolerance? 5ml every 10 minutes.

It sounds like this terrible flu bug thats going around at present, which im just getting over, seems it comes and goes people i know had it for 3 weeks or more. I was in bed for 5 days couldnt eat, headache, sore throat, terrible cough, mucus, aches all over even my teeth and eyes ached.
My daughter son in law and grandson now have it.
Her drinking is another issue, i could not take anything with milk in it as it made the mucus worse so ended up with hot juice.
Your wife not drinking is the issue here, try her with some ice cold or hot juice, sit with her while she drinks it.
Tel 111 just to check on her progress.

Sorry just read your update, anti sickness tablets are brilliant and work, i forgot i took these also as i felt sick.
She will feel better im sure if she takes her tablets and drinks.

We have all had this in our house. Pretty sure it was flu rather than covid because like you, not this ill with covid.
Couldn't eat or drink.
DGS (lives with us) had to syringe water into his mouth as he wouldn't drink either.
Get her some re-hydration sachets (this helped me and DGS as drunk less but was more beneficial.
Day 7 both of us fine, very snotty now but not during but temp back to normal and eating and drinking fine.

I imagine 111 is only effective if the person ringing them tells them the truth. I can't imagine 111 dismissing breathing difficult to just prescribe anti sickness tablets.

Get her all the over the counter meds she is able to have at once (they will make her feel less rubbish). Perhaps pick up a blood oxygen monitor if you are out at the chemist's anyway.

Keep an eye on her breathing. If she can't speak whole sentences go back to 111 or 999 (trust your gut). I have seen people hospitalized with pneumonia which started off as a seasonal infection and hospital was eventually where they needed to be.

Covid tets only work the first 5 days wheh covid is in the nose abs throat area after this it passes through the body .
chest /lungs for example where the test no longer works with the swap.

OP your wife could be doing with hospital where she will be put on a drip she will be seriously dehydrated by now and this puts all sorts of pressure on the body.

Hope she gets seen today

Whilst that is true for mild infections I tested positive for Covid for 4 straight weeks and was admitted to hospital in the third week (with basically the symptoms you describe + vomiting). Only started testing positive about 4-5 days after symptoms developed.

My partner had similar a few years ago and it ended up being quite serious food poisoning with unusual symptoms - his main symptom was an unbearable headache. He was drinking a lot more than that and he still ended up severely dehydrated. He was also lucid and didn't seem as unwell as he ended up being- he was fobbed off by 111 but I was starting to suspect meningitis with his symptoms so we went straight to A&E and that's what they initially tested for.

I think you really need to get your wife checked out, especially if she's having breathing issues.

@ChickensAndChops , advanced nurse practitioner here, take your wife to a &e.
Mention that you’re worried about sepsis. Mention that she is struggling to breathe. Mention that you already spoke to 111 but you’re still not happy.

Don’t leave this another day, she needs to be physically seen. Urgently.

Be the adult and advocate for her, she is too ill to do so for herself.

Your description of symptoms here doesn’t match with the response from the on call doctor. I hope you weren’t apologetic and minimising when you spoke to the doc.