Just been three days in hospital for nothing...

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Sorry, if it is a bit longer but wanted to write everything down to explain the situation.

Last Monday I started to get very bad diarrhea which lasted until Tuesday. I blamed it on the raw fish I ate. On Wednesday night I got bad abdominal cramps, on Thursday it moved to the lower right side. I went to the GP on Friday, who suspected appendicitis and called the surgeon at the local hospital to see me.

I've just came back from my three night stay at the hospital and everyday I saw a different doctor. Everybody said something else and despite me being in a lot of pain they discharged me this morning. All my blood tests were negative and so was my urine, nothing suggested that I have appendicitis. The second day I wasn't allowed to drink or eat anything from midnight for the ultra scan the next day. When I had my ultra scan they couldn't see anything because my bladder was empty. They didn't bother to do a second ultra scan.

I am now back at home with lots of codeine and paracetamol but it doesn't help at all. What are my other options? I am off on holiday in less than four weeks and I am really scarred that something happens while I am there.

I would go back to the GP and he will be able to refer you for a scan. Hope you feel better soon :)

Thanks. It's 1:40am and I can't sleep because of all the pain.

I'd ring 111 or your OOH if the pain is that bad.

Hope you feel better soon.

This happened to my neighbour last week. He was discharged after a few days with codeine etc. he went back once, briefly, as he was in so much pain, they still couldn't find anything.

After a few days at home he started getting less pain, and being able to eat a bit more. A week later he's fine. They just assumed it was a bog standard gastroenteritis. Quite normal, if a pita (literally). He needed hydrating and pain management, but other than that, it was just time. H's pretty much back to normal now.

When I was admitted with suspected appendicitis it turned out to be severe IBS, which would also tie in with the diarrhea.

You must go to your GP in the morning, totally unacceptable they didnt repeat the scan.

surely if thats ok you must ask for an endoscopy. If things are just as bad

Hope you are better soon

Scans for the internal lower abdomen to look at ovaries are always done on a full bladder, but there is also an internal scan that doesn't need a full bladder.
Agree that you were not given the correct care and investigations.

An endoscopy/barium meal for your intestines and another scan for your ovaries is called for.
Good luck.

Ah OP when I saw the title I knew it would be suspected appendicitis! I've been in hospital 5 times with this in the past 3 years. The last time the pain was so bad that I collapsed in A&E, had severe vomiting for 2 days and they still just controlled the pain and sent me home. I am 100% certain that its my appendix. It's always exactly where my appendix is and it being my gall bladder has def been ruled out.

I know that medically there is no longer such thing as a grumbling appendix however I've had my GP say that my case would argue that some patients do have it. There is often a slight spike in white blood cell count when I have the bloods but its not enough for them to do anything. I've also had the gem from a consultant that if it were my appendix I would be "writhing in pain". As I was losing consciousness with the pain instead he decided it was nothing serious and discharged me.

I've just had my second baby and as soon as we can afford it we are going to go private and get some proper in depth tests done. I constantly feel that the doctors have two goals -either diagnose appendicitis and operate or if they can't do that, pump me full of painkillers and send me home.

Like you I was also left on nil by mouth for 24hrs plus. The first time I was breast feeding and my milk nearly stopped as they wouldn't even give me water. The last time I was pregnant and it took anti emetic injections to get the vomiting to stop. This was on day 3 of being nil by mouth and they eventually realised that they needed to listen to me saying that I was being sick because my system had been empty for 36 plus hours.

Horrible experiences and make me lose faith in hospitals. Time and time again I've been rushed in, sometimes by ambulance, blood pressure a concern, in agony, vomiting etc and time and time again they pump in tramadol and send me home. I don't know what to advise but know that you are not alone.

If you are still in pain, you need to go back to your GP. DD had one sided abdominal pain & was rushed to hospital with suspected appendicitis. An ultrasound scan showed that she had a twisted ovary. This is very rare, but please do not delay if you are experiencing severe pain and go back for further investigations.

That's horrible. My dh Was in hospital for nearly 3 months with appendix. Because he was type1 diabetic they don't want to open him up. They kept insisting it was bowel related and kept doing more tests but the doctor would order the test on Monday, it'd get done mid week, results would take a few days, would be negative so he'd order a different test, would take a few days, then results a few days etc etc .... They eventually opened him up as it was 2 days before xmas and they wanted the ward clear, Lo and behold his appendix was glowing but it had adhered to his bowel hence them missing it.