AIBU to be annoyed after an unnecessary late-night A&E trip?

[Avie29]

Hi all just a quick one, so 6 days ago i rang the Dr as my 2yo was constipated, she hadn’t gone for 5 days atleast and kept trying but nothing 🤷🏻‍♀️ and was prescribed cosmocol 1 sachet a day by dr which she drank really well, 4 days full amount, she didn’t have any yesterday as she was being sick, yesterday evening i was rubbing her tummy and noticed a hard lump (this was day 10 of no poop) so i rang 111 and got a call back from out of hours dr (10pm) and was told to take her to a&e that evening, so we packed a few things and drove 40 mins to a&e and arrived about 11pm, we then waited around until gone 3am only to be told “ oh just up her dose of the cosmocol each day up to 8 sachets until she goes” AIBU to be so bloody annoyed that either dr i spoke to before going to a&e could have told me that!? And saved us waiting around for 4 hours! And not getting home till just gone 4am!

A and e haven't dealt with that appropriately if she hasn't pooped in 10 days and I'd go back if I were you

It sounds like she has a bowel obstruction, go to your GP today, I suspect they'll send you back to hospital she's not pooped in 10 days and is now vomiting. That's a medical emergency

I suppose the only question is did someone examine her and make that decision? Because if they did then that's an extra level of information to make a decision that the Dr on the phone didn't have. Sometimes you need to see the patient to make sure that you are making the right clinical decision.
I think most acute presentations in medicine should be seen face to face but then I'm at the end of my career and sadly it's an old fashioned idea.....that is until something goes wrong and the courts ask you if you put yourself in the best position to make whatever clinical decision you made. Many cases that settle out of court do so because not examining is indefensible.

Hope your little one is ok .

That doesn’t sound right after so long with no movement. Hard lump and throwing up.

Did they scan her or anything?

Really frustrating. We had a similar A&E trip with our then 1 year old, waiting for hours and then she was just given a glycerine suppository and sent on our way. Made me resolve to have some at home - tip for you, too.

No bowel movement, hard lump, being sick... i would go back if I were you. Better safe than sorry.

How is she now? Has she pooped yet?

My grandson didn’t poo for 28 days. Went to A&E after calling 111 and being told to go. After triage he was told it would be at least a 10 hour wait.

He has been diagnosed with a lazy bowel but nobody in NHS takes it seriously. He has had 14 different types of laxatives and various enemas over 10 years.

I guess while they don’t see anything it’s easy to do nothing.

Hey thanks for the replys, her brother was sick a couple nights before her vomiting, so we told dr we wasn’t sure if her vomiting was due to this or her constipation, the a&e dr asked how many sachets she was taking and i said 1 a day as that is what the dr who prescribed it told me and he said well thats not enough and told us to up it to 8 sachets a day over the next few days, and printed us off a sheet on dosage etc, then as an afterthought said “oh i will have a feel of her tummy quickly”, he said he can feel the lump and it definitely feels like poo backed up and sent us on our way 🤷🏻‍♀️ i have phoned her gp and requested more sachets as the 30 she originally prescribed won’t last the 30 days now and am waiting for a call back, no scans, she seems completely fine, is still trying to go can see her straining bless her but still nothing, we have given her 2 sachets today but because its stronger flavour its not going down so well (she has only drank half so far today) so i have requested flavourless ones this time.

Try a glycerine suppository! Can do alongside laxatives, it just makes it a bit slippery in there to encourage it out.

@MrsBroccolini I have been told not to give her suppository while its still compacted as they can cause her to push when its still hard and can cause alot of pain and even tear.

Gotcha, sorry - I've read up on this now and can see my advice in these circumstances was bad, very sorry ! I think my daughter's must not have been at impaction.

I think you would be more annoyed if they told you not to worry and then she became seriously ill because nobody checked her out properly.
It’s always better to err on the side of caution with babies and toddlers.
I would have probably advised you to take her straight in too in case it was a bowel obstruction

I don’t know what the guidelines are for children, but from personal experience as an adult, the only thing that helped me with impaction was fleet saline enemas. Suppositories had no effect and movicol was no use when already impacted.

@user293948849167 I wasn’t annoyed that we had to take her in, we always err on the side of caution, my annoyance is that we spoke to 2 doctors before taking her in and neither of them suggested upping her dosage the dr at a&e didn’t even check her over before telling us to up her dosage so im sure the doctors we spoke to beforehand could have said the same and there would have been no need to take her in.

10 days not going is serious, they should not have sent you home, be careful if she’s sick as it may be overflow. It’s dangerous in an adult to go that long, never mind a child. I’d be getting a second opinion, poor child must be in pain

But the advice about dosage had to be combined with a physical examination to rule out anything more serious.

@incognito1991, she seems perfectly fine 🤷🏻‍♀️ no pain, still her usual self, we went to park today and fed the ducks etc still eating and drinking fine. @UhOhRatPoo the a&e doctor didn’t examine her until we were pretty much done discussing dosage and about to leave with our printed advice sheet, he didn’t seem concerned at all, was almost amused that we had bothered to come in.

This 100%!

Ugh, no examination...such bad medicine

it was probably a wait until the morning situation, if that is available.

And yet her actual parent says she isn’t and is acting as normal. And the docs weren’t overly concerned.

but I guess you know best.