To not go to a&e?

[heartmugoftea]

I'm 36, otherwise healthy. I've had chest pains since Friday, DH thinks I should go to a&e. I choked on my drink either weds or Thursday and coughed for a good few minutes quite violently.. could that just have caused this persistent chest pain?

Surely your doctor's surgery should be your first port of call? Give them a ring, get triaged.

ROFL here I can't get a telephone call from a nurse for 16 days.

Well I'm sorry to hear that, clearly that's area dependent. Where I live that's not the case but I appreciate everywhere is different.

That's not really a&e territory.
Chest pains, yes, cool clammy skin, grey complexion, pains into neck etc - Heart pains. that's a&e. Any breathlessness, any loss of consciousness, any fitting etc would be a&e territory.

You've more likely pulled some muscle or even popped a rib somewhere in your chest when you choked. Probably aspirated some fluid hence the coughing - that's designed to stop you choking; its the body's natural and expected response to fluid going toward the lung. They cant/wont do anything for you at a&e aside from give about a 14 hour wait to tell you you pulled a muscle and then tell you to take some pain relief

Have you taken any pain relief - take some paracetamol,

does it get any less with pain relief - even it comes back? Are you able to sleep? Are you able to breathe normally? Your colour is normal for you? if all the above are Yes - then you're probably ok.

@toomuchfaff thank you for the reassurance. I feel like I'm maybe getting a bit of jaw pain but I'm not sure if that's my hypochondriac mind taking over. I can breathe ok, complexion is fine etc. I've been taking gaviscon as I was wondering if it was reflux initially but I'll try some paracetamol and see if it helps.

Hi, jaw pain along with chest pain especially in women definitely needs to be checked out even if just for peace of mind. Try your GP but if no joy I personally would get checked by A&e.

Chest pain is a tricky one. Anywhere is going to do an ECG just to cover themselves. If you call 111 you are likely to end up with an ambulance and potentially a trip to hospital for bloods so I wouldn't do that. If you still feel you need to see someone in a day or so and can't get a quick GP appointment do you have a minor injuries unit nearby?

Jaw pain and chest pain?

A&E

Essentially if you were certain you had this ?near choking episode and the pain was a hangover from that violent coughing then it would be fine not to go. But it doesn't sound like you are certain.

Chest pain into jaw of an uncertain cause will always trigger advice to be reviewed in A&E for ecg and bloods. It's very unlikely to be a cardiac cause at your age unless you have other significant comorbidities/family history. If you need reassurance of this then your husband is correct you'd need to goto A&E. I think it's unlikely you'll get past GP receptionist triage with CP/jaw pain, and even if you were to see the GP it's unlikely it's of benefit to them in a medicolegal sense to do anything other than advise you attend A&E.

If you call 111/999 for cp/jaw pain seeking advice and you don't have any history of shortness of breath, collapse/faint, nausea or vomiting then you'll code CAT3 ambulance response - which depending on your region means waiting for between 2 and 6 hours for an ambulance crew who again will not be willing to risk their registration in reassuring your on the tiny chance that it is your heart so will also just drop you off at A&E.

It's your health ultimately it's your decision what to do. If you on reflection recognise that you are certain it's just a bit of muscular ache from the coughing and you're a bit of a hypochondriac normally then you would not be unreasonable to not goto A&E. If this is out of character/you're uncertain then it's A&E where they can properly consider the cause and exclude serious pathology.

I would go to A&E, because my cousin didn't and died. I'm not saying that you are about to pop your clogs, but it sounds like you need someone properly qualified to have a good look at you,

If you have strained a muscle or something, then at least you will know. But not going because you don't want to make a fuss or waste anyone's time isn't wise.

You'll have twanged a muscle coughing. Just ring 111 for advice if you're worried.

I'm surprised you didn't try and see your gp.
I'm no expert. There probably online checklists you can look at though. I am 40 and wouldn't go to a and e unless I had a severe pain but perhaps that's incorrect.
I'd look online or call 111 if couldn't see gp.

@SleepyRich thank you for your thorough reply. If it's no better in an hour or so which I doubt it will be then I might go to a&e when DH is home from work. I'm wondering if it's more of a gastrointestinal cause as I've also noticed my upper stomach is very tender between my ribs, I've been feeling sick and needing the toilet a lot more and feeling full very quickly. It's all very random symptoms

Not even the NHS says immediate a&e for any chest pain https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chest-pain/

@Weatherfor

pain symptoms
Starts after eating, bringing up food or bitter tasting fluids, feeling full and bloated
Possible cause
Heartburnn or indigestionn
I've been feeling really full and bloated lately

I would go to a and e, they will triage you and would be better to get it checked out with those symptoms.

What did 111 say or are you not in the UK?

Anyone presenting to 111 with chest and jaw pain will be rightly advised to go straight to A and E.
They may even despatch an ambulance for you.

111 and your GP will say A and E. Chest pain is not something a GP had the right equipment to assess.

Yes 111 no doubt would send an ambulance if the op said 'chest pain'. The fact she's had it for days and sounds like indigestion is very relevant so gp or 111 always the first port of call.

I would advise GP. Could be acid reflux/indigestion or a blockage/narrowing in the oesophagus.
Any Unintended weight loss?

Nausea, chest pain, jaw pain, indigestion symptoms - listen to your DH.

It is possible to not keel over straight away from a heart attack or have narrowing, rather than a blocked artery. So go, they'll do a quick trace and blood test, exclude the possibility, you go home again.

Or, see a gp they do a quick assessment and ecg then you go home again.
A&E is for accidents and emergencies. Chest pain brought on by a coughing fit days ago isn't either.

Ring 111 and they will tell you what you need to do.

I agree that you should ring 111. Often people mistake indigestion when it is actually heart related.