Would you go to A&E for a cough?

[LeopardPrint21]

Had a cough for 7 months. Have had some tests done for gastro as the GP initially thought acid reflux, have literally today been referred for chest x-ray and lung tests.

It has gotten to the point where I cannot stop coughing. Literally having fits of coughing every few minutes and this lasts from the minute I wake up until the minute I go to sleep and sometimes throughout the night too. I also feel unwell with it and I’ve felt unwell since the cough started at the beginning of the year. I feel like I can’t cough up whatever is there but I also can’t swallow it back down so it just feels stuck in my throat and all the constant coughing is leaving me feeling like I can’t breathe properly.

I have been in tears all day because I genuinely can’t go on like this, I dread every second of the day because of how bad it is. I am at my breaking point with it.

Would you go to the hospital for a cough that is constantly there and you’re never getting a let up from it along with everything else I’ve written?

It does need to be better but it already misses very serious things and we need to be careful not to make it worse in an attempt to make it better.

Absolutely not.

A&E = accident and emergency.

Don't be that dick. You have a horrible health issue but you just need to either wait it out through the correct channels (GP, referrals, tests etc) or go private.

Don't clog up A&E. It is absolutely not meant for people who can't get a GP appointment, are a long way down a waiting list, have a long-standing issue etc. It is for people who are suffering something in the moment, that is a serious issue, and needs immediate medical attention.

You can wait. Horrible to be waiting, yes, but that's life.

The fact you're even considering A&E is crazy and a reflection on how people have zero idea how to use the resources we have.

A&E - accident and emergency. I think it’s not unreasonable to say that troubles breathing might quite possibly fall under emergency. It is up to the OP to recognize how much they are struggling. I do hope they manage to get it under control and recover well

"Crazy, don't be that dick", except the full thread has numerous posts about people going to A&E with a worsening cough that the GP will not act on, and being diagnosed with lung cancer, so everyone needs to make their own decision.

Have you even read the thread?

Lots of real life experiences that show youre very wrong.

You presumably haven’t RTFT. No one who had would be as crashingly insensitive and stupid as to call someone suffering from what sounds like lung cancer symptoms a “dick”.

Either read the thread or have the decency to keep your ignorance to yourself.

OP has already said that she has had this, and it cam back clear.

There's always some dick who posts this on MN threads. It regularly turns out that they are wrong - memorably, on more than occasion it turned out that the OP had something life threatening that would have killed her if she had followed this sort of advice. It's not OP who is being a dick here.

OP, if you're able, please let us know how you get on. Don't let some of the horribly insensitive comments on here put you off updating if you have gone to A&E. Sending positive thoughts and genuinely hoping that you're alright x

I think we can definitely all agree someone's being a dick on this thread.