stupid and scared

[licklemoose]

last week i started getting pains across my chest
monday i started a new levothyroxine tablet and an antibiotic for a gum infection (metronidazole)
pains started wednesday
called drs friday for appointment but they were fully booked so got the triage nurse to call me
told her my symptons ect and said about the antibiotics and she said she felt it wasnt cardiac but wanted me to go to A/e for a check up due to diabetes and family history
get there about 10am seen pretty fast had bloods and ecg, dr comes back and says ecg is fine and bloods were good except glucose which was high and that someone from cardiac team would come see me soon, repeat ecg done then dr says there were irregularities, blood pressure was high and pulse slow and that someone from cardiac team would see me soon
was then walked round for chest x ray and was told to wait for results and cardiac team
i was then given 500mg asprin and an injection in my stomach to stop blood clotting
2.30pm i was wheeled out into the corridoor and left, asked what was going on and dr said someone from cardiac would be with me soon
by this time my anxiety was through the roof, i took all my will power to stop my self from crying
had stats done again at 3.ish and was told they would be down soon
4pm stats done again and this time the nurse stood looking at me and asked if i was ok to which i broke down and said to her get the discharge papers as i wanted to leave, she asked if i wanted a cuppa and i said no get the papers im going home, she got the papers and said if i felt the need to go back, i signed and walked out in tears
everytime the dr said someone from cardiac would be down to see me i asked if i could go home and come back when they were ready and each time he told me they wouldnt be long
i was sat there for 6 hours and no one told me anything
i told dr i had bad anxiety ect and he didnt seem to care
i figured / hoped if there was anything wrong they would call me
im calling my dr tomorrow to see if he can give me answers, ive been in high anxiety mode since leaving the hospital but i just couldnt take any more
side effects of the metronidazole is chest pain
ive also been stopped thyroxine liquid and put on tablets so they need to get into my system
i stopped smoking for 3 years and started back up new years eve due to severe depression and anxiety so i know that has to stop
ive had a constant headache with this gum infection thats just not clearing up, i feel sick literally with worry, my blood sugars are staying pretty high
my dadd had a heart problem my mum had a heart problem and my mums mum had a heart problem..........im scared

 

[Wshelledy]

I am so sorry you're having to go through this! I hope you get answers soon. I don't have any idea why this would happen except you fell through the cracks in a broken medical system. Please don't give up and ignore it. It may be the new meds. But whatever is causing your symptoms you DESERVE better care. This really hits home for me. I was just given throid pilss and they have totally screwed with the good bg control I had achieved. Please keep us posted as to what happens!

 

[Jaylee]

Hi @licklemoose ,

I'm sorry to read of your worry.

A number of years ago (about 17?) I was out for the night with a group of friends. Someone came back into the pub & informed us our mate had collapsed outside. He had chest pain & was in difficulty. He had been diagnosed a while back with angina? (I think?)
We called an ambulance & when the paramedics arrived I informed them he had been drinking, but was not drunk.. They took him off to the hospital. My mates pain & stress had created a sense of panic for him along with elevated BP & heart rate that goes with a panic attack.?
Being designated driver, I followed on to the hospital with the rest of the group to support our chum?
When we found him, he was in a curtained area hooked up to monitors & stuff. He looked quite well otherwise.. Though a little "sheepish."

It turned out to be (when he owned up.) "acute indigestion.."

The nurse did however at least let us know we'd done the right thing under the circumstances...

It sounds to me like you were not informed along the way with your issue. Which understandably would add to any anxiety.

Wishing you all the best!

Edited to add; I'm not in any way suggesting a diagnosis of indigestion to the OP.

 

[Ambersilva]

The medical team in the A&E Department were doing their best to test, observe and assess what was ailing you. At the same time they were juggling the observation and testing of several other patients. Sometimes they may have been called away to an emergency in another ward. If serious cases came in by ambulance those would have been moved to the top of the list for immediate assessment. It takes time for all the results to be collated for the correct clinician to assess. We, as patients need to have patience and a good book to read while we are being observed and assessed in A&E.

 

[derry60]

I hope that this stops you worrying. Pretty much what they did with you is standard practice. All the tests would also be to rule out cardiac.Even giving you the 500mg through your tummy would be standard. It seems like there has been a lack of communication and the staff had failed to calm you down and put your mind at rest.Also, I doubt very much the nurse would have suggested you come back to the hospital if you needed to if things were that serious, they would have tried to persuade you to have stayed. You need to get things sorted though even just to put your own mind at rest.

 

[Circuspony]

It's difficult in A&E because you can't always get an idea of what the staff are dealing with. I went in at 5pm and was discharged at 3 am - staff shift changes meant my notes got lost and my blood sample went awol. From listening to staff talk the was a major trauma in that was keeping th busy too. I completely understand how stressful it is when no one is telling you what is going on & you're scared. Can you get in to see your GP this week?

 

[therower]

It can be extremely stressful waiting in A&E. Minutes seem like hours and everyone else seems to get seen before you.
It doesn't help that no one gives a specific time period. Soon to you is 15 mins , soon to a busy specialist is as soon as that gap appears for them to come and see you. It's not ideal but it's a lot more than you'll get elsewhere in the world.
My wife is a nurse, not in A&E, but is very good friends with some who are. She once told me that the longer you sit there the greater the chance you'll walk out again. If you're seen really quick it's more likely to be far more serious.

 

[licklemoose]

i understand what you are sayin but with heart history in my family mum dad and mums mum my anxiety got the better of me and i just couldnt take anymore and had to go, a few years ago i was in a/e for chest pain caused by a cough they did all the tests and go someone from the cardiac ward straight away and he came and said he wanted me in clinic the next day, i had more tests a heart scan and a stress test all was clear, i guess that how i wanted things to go friday
ive spoken to my dr oday whos assured me if it was serious they would have been in touch or would have left an urgent message for dr to call me, hes keeping his eye out for my results and will call as soon as they are in, im seeing another dr wednesday so will have a chat with her
ive looked up the side effects of my thyriod meds and that includes chest pain
it was also aniversaries for my mum and dad last week and the funeral aniversary yesterday and that always causes major anxiety

 

[pleinster]

i understand what you are sayin but with heart history in my family mum dad and mums mum my anxiety got the better of me and i just couldnt take anymore and had to go, a few years ago i was in a/e for chest pain caused by a cough they did all the tests and go someone from the cardiac ward straight away and he came and said he wanted me in clinic the next day, i had more tests a heart scan and a stress test all was clear, i guess that how i wanted things to go friday
ive spoken to my dr oday whos assured me if it was serious they would have been in touch or would have left an urgent message for dr to call me, hes keeping his eye out for my results and will call as soon as they are in, im seeing another dr wednesday so will have a chat with her
ive looked up the side effects of my thyriod meds and that includes chest pain
it was also aniversaries for my mum and dad last week and the funeral aniversary yesterday and that always causes major anxiety

Hi. I think you have been "treated" atrociously. It's so frustrating to feel that powerless. I hope results ease your stress. Listen to your own doctor. Sounds like you have a lot on your mind too with the anniversaries etc. All of it will be contributing to the worst case scenarios in your head. That's not surprising; in fact it's understandable...but please don't let it all get into your thoughts to the extent that it dominates everything and drives you up the wall. Don't based how you feel on fear and feelings of powerlessness due to other people. Good luck.

 

[fletchweb]

last week i started getting pains across my chest
... my dadd had a heart problem my mum had a heart problem and my mums mum had a heart problem..........im scared

That really sucks - for two reasons - the potential side affects from the meds and then being treated as a non feeling person at the hospital. Throughout the years the most trouble I ever was in (other than when I was diagnosed with Type 1) was having negative reactions to pharmaceuticals - as a result I don't take them any more and haven't for years - (with the exception of my insulin for obvious reasons). I'm not telling you what to do but as a result of similar experiences in the past I've lost a lot of respect for Health Professionals. There just humans who have a job - some are intelligent and some are not. If I were you try to stay away - the last time I had a gum/tooth issue was when I got all 4 wisdom teeth extracted and the doctor prescribed me an opiate - I almost Over Dosed - thought I was going to die - so instead of going to the hospital I sstopped taking them and just endured the pain because that was better.

Good luck and I hope your gum infection clears up - ones mental health is just as important as ones physical health - you may want to be a little more discriminating in the future. (Easier said than done I know)

All the best!

 

[Wshelledy]

i understand what you are sayin but with heart history in my family mum dad and mums mum my anxiety got the better of me and i just couldnt take anymore and had to go, a few years ago i was in a/e for chest pain caused by a cough they did all the tests and go someone from the cardiac ward straight away and he came and said he wanted me in clinic the next day, i had more tests a heart scan and a stress test all was clear, i guess that how i wanted things to go friday
ive spoken to my dr oday whos assured me if it was serious they would have been in touch or would have left an urgent message for dr to call me, hes keeping his eye out for my results and will call as soon as they are in, im seeing another dr wednesday so will have a chat with her
ive looked up the side effects of my thyriod meds and that includes chest pain
it was also aniversaries for my mum and dad last week and the funeral aniversary yesterday and that always causes major anxiety

I'm glad to hear you're doing better. I'm sorry but do NOT believe the dr that they would have called you. I had a family member die because of problems with the ER like you describe. Her daughter is now a millionaire but that doesn't replace her mom. Always advocate for yourself! As someone else said the drs are only human and they fail sometimes.

 

[licklemoose]

seen dr today
all bloods were fine except glucose which was 6.2
the blood test they do for heart attacks was normal
no x ray or ecg results so im having ecg at drs tuesday afternoon
i also had a chat about my new thyroid medication making me unwell and her reply was the same as almost 4 years ago 'im on thyroxine and never been sick so its not that'
i was doing ok'ish on the liquid and started tablets 2 weeks ago and things went downhill after 1 week, just as it did 4 years ago

 

[Wshelledy]

See an endocrinologist about the thyroid meds. All you have to do is read the insert to see that they do indeed cause some people to feel bad. I've been on mine for about a month and I can tell you its been a challenge.

 

[licklemoose]

See an endocrinologist about the thyroid meds. All you have to do is read the insert to see that they do indeed cause some people to feel bad. I've been on mine for about a month and I can tell you its been a challenge.

ive been discharged by endocrinology because he felt a TSH 3.31 was a perfect working thyroid, he took me off liquid thyroxine which i was doing ok on and demanded i go back on tablets despite me telling him how bad i was while on them
i was at the drs 3 times a week, hospital at least once a month, i honestly thought they were killing me
i will call a decent dr monday and hope he will put me back on the liquid
ive also just got hubby to agree to buying me an adrenal stress test as i feel my cortisol is screwed again
dam drs seem to think one pill suits all but thats not the case, ive had many different types of thyroid medication and some im ok with but other issues cause them to give me problems

 

[Freema]

if one is really scared it doesn't help not wanting to show people around feelings, feelings like that need expression to have a chance to lower down... it is actually also important to tell health care persons how you feel ( you did to the doctor, but it is the nurses that have the most time with patients )because fear and panic and that alone can affect heart rate like fear and panic of cause can... well yes it is annoying to wait such a long time for many hours in a hospital... but they have so much to do, sometimes people get in at the same time with emergency problems and it could be they were busy helping another person with acute heart attack and then it is important that they can prioritize even if that leaves some waiting in another room sometimes for hours..
but it is sad they don´t have anyone that can take special care when people with anxiety problems are hospitalized.I have my self-have lived almost at hospitals in 5 periods for more than a year altogether... so I do know how busy people working there are..if one is very scared it can be a fine idea to bring a relative to sit beside bedside to help to calm you down..unfortunately, it is quite normal to wait for hours there

 

[Freema]

hope you´ll find a doctor that can help you with your thyroxine it is very important to be in the ideal level and that level is also a bit different from person to person... I have been fighting too to be allowed to get to the level I need to be in to feel well..


if you take metformin you levels of THS can be screwed so that it looks like your are much higher in thyroxine than you in fact are...and therefor TSH is not realiable when being on Metformin

 

[Wshelledy]

Tsh is not a good reflection of how much t4 your thyroid is producing. Look at t4 levels. Also important to see what free t3 you have. Think of t4 as the energy storage. T3 is the real indicator of how much energy is circulating.

 

[licklemoose]

Tsh is not a good reflection of how much t4 your thyroid is producing. Look at t4 levels. Also important to see what free t3 you have. Think of t4 as the energy storage. T3 is the real indicator of how much energy is circulating.

they wont ever check my T3 levels allways just TSH, when i was on T3 only the endo i was seeing increased my dose because my T4 was too low.....refused to see her again
ive not had much luck with endos the first one said i didnt have a thyroid problem TSH 5 he said i was an overweight anxious depressant

 

[Wshelledy]

In case you need info to talk to the dr... TSH (secreted by the pituitary) is in a negative feedback loop with T4 (secreted by thyroid). So if T4 increases through meds it sends a signal to the pituitary to slow down. Conversly if T4 is low it sends a signal to increase production of TSH. T4 is converted as needed to T3. T3 is the 'energy hormone'. With out enough T3 you gain weight, feel anxious and depressed. Normal T4 levels are 6.09 - 12.23 ug/dL. At 5.75 my dr INSISTED I go on T4. My thyroid is also enlarged so her hope is to decrease the inflammation by decreasing the amount of work its doing. Hope this info is helpful.

 

[amandakelly]

I’m so sorry I can’t imagine the panic you must’ve been going through!! I hate the waiting game they play!!