NHS 111 - 12hrs wtaf!!!

[frenziednurse]

I’ve had paramedics out, I thought I was dying - rapid breathing and sweaty. I have a tooth abscess and have antibiotics but I’m in agony. Taken max amount of paracetamol and ibuprofen and a propanol for my anxiety. Paramedics safety netted me and offered to take me to hospital but as it’s a tooth infection rightly said I’d be waiting a long time in a+e. So advised I ring 111 for pain relief - call back time 12, yes TWELVE hours! What has this world come to! I have a little dd to be here for - and I feel like I’m dying a slow death!

Rant over!

Did you read what she said?
She hasnt gone to A&E. And even if she had, with her symptoms of rapid breathing, sweating, being in agony and maxed out on painkillers i think she is justified of needing more help

NOONE on a forum can say someone isnt ill enough for A&E

You need a dentist op. There won't be one in ED. Have you got one you can call at 8am?

If you’re utilising propranolol and your pulse is remaining high this would also be ringing some alarm bells too. For those scoffing, OPs symptoms are indicative of a possible worsening infection. Could this be sepsis is not a stupid question to ask and no-one should make OP feel bad for calling an ambulance. Personally I think they should have taken you in, and if you don’t want to go to A&E please get yourself to urgent care/walk in as soon as possible. Hope you’re ok OP.

Love how everyone is an expert in sepsis - which is notoriously hard to diagnose as there isn;t one single test which will rule it in or out!

Better to err on the side of caution rather than let it get out of hand though.

The whole point of raising Sepsis awareness is that it isn't obvious and when it is obvious it's often too late.

Read the story of Tom Ray. A tiny nick in his mouth from a visit to a dental surgery, coupled with a chest infection. He had stomach pain and thought he had food poisoning. He now has no lower arms, no lower legs, and half his face missing.

We have the FAST campaign for stroke. Face, Arms, Speech, Time. Many people who fail the FAST test won't have had a stroke, but it will save lives if the ones who have are caught.

Meningitis - people know about stiff necks, aversion to light and rashes.

This is no different. Sudden confusion, high heart rate, high or low temperature, breathlessness, pain out of character for the injury.

The basic rule should be 'it's sepsis until it isn't' because treating for sepsis does no harm and missing sepsis leads to death or life changing injury.

Agreed. Better safe than sorry. Always.

I hope you're being seen or have been seen to, OP.

My husband has had sepsis 4 times.

A&e and urgent care won't be able to help with anything dental related unless they take bloods and you have a bad infection they can give IV antibiotics. They will then say you need to find a dentist to treat the tooth once infection markers have reduced. NHS dentistry is on its knees and unfortunately these cases are so common but not met with much sympathy. I hope you are ok and manage to find a dentist

You need to see a dentist asap. They can prescribe pain relief and refer you to the dental hospital.

You can't pull an infected tooth until the infection is under control. She needs to see a dentist and get antibiotics.

I’m another always surprised by the idea that everyone on MN with a temperature must go to a&E immediately to be checked for sepsis

but also suprised by the drama that came with this stat- that’s 45k people a year?! In the whole of the uk. It sort of illustrates how uncommon it is (it’s right by the way, I checked, and 245k people a year get sepsis)

Me and a few friends have suspected sepsis on our medical records. It was for treatment after giving birth where infection markets were spiked and preventative antibiotics given. As protocol is to treat for sepsis that seems to be what goes on the record. None of us had it.

There is also a very wide sepsis spectrum - not every infection is sepsis

The thing is screaming sepsis at every single thing may mean other issues are missed

I had Sepsis. I was 6 hours away from being dead. 6 hours prior I had been at work with only a bit of back ache.

“Screaming” sepsis? No-one’s doing that.

in 15 years of ICU nursing I have never heard any Dr tell this to a patient, it is just rubbish!

I was in complete agony with tooth abscess. After spending hours in a&e and passed around as they ‘don’t really deal with teeth’ I paid to see a private emergency dentist and it is the best money I have ever spent.
They gave me an anaesthetic injection in my mouth to ease the pain temporarily, prescribed anti biotics which I picked up immediately.
Went back next day for another injection. Lay in bed with plenty of water, pain killers, until swelling subsided and had the emergency dental treatment.

A&e probably won’t be much help.

People often do not go to the dentist as they don't want to pay, so waiting and then go to A&E as its free.

Go to the dentist, get some antibiotics, and stop being such a drama Queen.

Finished work at 6pm
Phoned ambulance at about midnight
Various consultants I saw over the course of the 10 days I was in hospital told me if I hadn't called when I did then I wouldn't have woken up in the morning.
Which part of this are you finding so hard to believe?

The difficulty with Sepsis is that it isn't the infection that causes the problem. So you can't use the logic of 'bad infection is serious, mild infection isn't'. Sepsis is a major overreaction to infection by the body. It's a cascade of inflammatory responses. So it can be triggered by the tiniest of illnesses or injuries.

Examples I've read about/been taught about are a man who didn't feel quite right so visited the GP, and while he was there, noticed the tiniest spot on his chest. He was in intensive care within hours. A lady picked up her suitcase and felt a twinge in her leg. She ended up losing limbs.

Often it isn't the sepsis that causes limb loss directly. It's the necessity of vasopressors to keep the blood pressure high enough. The vasopressors cause constriction of the blood vessels and that means the tissue dies. Unfortunately, without them, the whole person dies. It's literally 'life or limb'.

Don’t you just love it when a stranger on a forum insists that something that happened to you, in your life, that they have no knowledge of, didn’t actually happen?

Glad you got your tooth sorted after all those years.

Sort of proving my point, on mumsnet it seems ridiculously common.
It still stands though, if anyone has toothache they need to see a dentist. They're a doctor too and can prescribe the right medication and course of treatment.

How does that relate to being dead in 6 hours? They told you you would’ve died from sepsis. You said they put an exact timing on it 😂