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?

You can go but expect a long wait! I was on chemo and had severe pain and couldn’t breathe. I went via ambulance and had to sit in a full waiting area for 5 hours then spent the night being pushed around on a trolley from corridor to corridor. (I had 2 clots in my lungs!)
you would be seen as very minor and either thrown out pretty quickly or be there for HOURS to be seen and told to go back to your gp!

And what do you think A&E will do? She will sit there for hours and then be referred back to her GP or told to wait for tests. They will do precisely bugger all for a cough.

I'd probably try 111 online and see where that got me. (I assume talking to them on the phone would be tricky with all the coughing).

If you're concerned enough that you're prepared to sit in A&E for hours on end during a heatwave, then absolutely you should go.
I hope that you're feeling better soon.

My MIL had almost exactly this and she had every test under the sun but no cause could be pinpointed. I can’t remember how she found out but it turned out to be an allergy to something. She was pretty much cured with antihistamines. Just a thought.

OP did you see the GP today or was it a telephone call/online? If the latter I'd call 111 as pp's have suggested and ask for advice. Is A&E your only option, do you have a drop in centre near you?

I had a near-constant cough years ago that lasted for a few months. More of a dry cough but it went on night and day and was awful. I had already been diagnosed with asthma but only had a reliever inhaler at the time - a preventer (steroid) inhaler sorted me out and I have not suffered the same since. I wonder if it's worth trying? It's relatively harmless and you would know within a few weeks if it works or not.

I also don't think this is what A&E is for.

Not unless it has brought on acute respiratory issues. The pathway for tests will be the same and A and E visit will not accelerate that.

My bil was fobbed off by his GP with gastric issues, diagnosed with IBS.

He ended up going to A&E with severe stomach pains and not pooing for days. He collapsed at reception, was taken in as an emergency, . He had bowel cancer
He had a humongous bowel blockage and was operated on same day. If he'd waited for the GP to get his act together he'd likely be dead now.

My son saw a gp at 2pm on a Friday who gave us an urgent referral for a pediatric gastroenterologist - so we'd have seen one the following week. By 9pm that Friday he was fading so fast I drive him to a&e at the local children's hospital. We had to wait for a few hours but he was admitted that night and was in for 3 weeks. The fact was he was way sicker than the gps had picked up on (he'd been bounced round the gps surgery for 2 weeks never seeing the same person twice and often not being seen at all whilst rapidly deteriorating). When he was admitted he was severely dehydrated, had lost 12kg and his kidneys were packing up. And his gp was still counselling patience.

Only if I were coughing up blood. It's neither an accident, nor an emergency.

That will depend on whether they agree that it is "just a cough" and can wait. They can certainly run tests then and there if they think it warranted, they can ask for a respiratory consult and they can admit her if they think she's ill enough. They can issue prescriptions. Or they can agree with the gp and send her away.

I have a hard time trusting GP's so would go personally. It could absolutely be an emergency and I think 7 months is a very, very long time to have a cough.

Don't go or not go based on advice here. Make that decision based on what you are going through.

No idea if they will be able to help you. But be prepared to sit in a waiting room for hours only to be told to go back to your gp.

DH went to A&E for a cough but it was acute, probably been coughing for 3 days or so but he rapidly deteriorated one evening. He was struggling to stay conscious, making not a lot of sense when spoken to, was blue around the mouth and had high heart rate and rapid breathing. His SATs were 85 on arrival and heart rate was 180. His only symptom for days had been a cough.

So yes a cough can be a reason to go to A&E but depends on lots of other signs.

Can you check your heart rate? Anybody you know have a SATs monitor?

What advice have you had from the GP? Any treatment tried at all?

As distressing as it is OP and I really do sympathise it doesn’t warrant an A&E visit. Can you contact the departments that have been referred to find out how long waiting times are? Let them know that you can accept a short notice cancellation if that’s an option. I understand it’s frustrating as someone who is awaiting various appointments themselves.

Do you have an O2 monitor at home OP? If you do and it's reading 92% or below then head to A&E as below that is classed as a medical emergency. My late OH had a lung condition that caused coughing fits and he had to go on oxygen during flare ups to keep his O2 sats up. It sounds similar to what you are describing.

If you don't have one I highly recommend buying one - they are only about a tenner.

Ask your GP if they can prescribe something to help the coughing. Codine works well as an cough suppression medicine.

A&E would not help.

Have you had a test for Whooping Cough? Your symptoms sound similar to mine a few years ago. There's not a lot a doctor can do at this stage, but at least you'd know it was temporary. Other than that, I'd recommend some calming breathing exercises; that helped me.

If it was an emergency it wouldn’t have lasted 7 months

I've had mine for three months. GP gave me a nasal spray, then an inhaler, now trying a combined inhaler. Nothing has made any difference. I had a chest X-ray this morning, but it feels north of my collarbone not in my chest. But I wouldn't go to A&E.

Go to a and e now

Its crazy people are suggesting otherwise.

This is what I would do I think. But if you are literally unable to breathe, then it’s an emergency and yes I would go.

And advice like this is why A & E is often at breaking point.

You cant know that.

Of course they can order tests/ admit if needed. Wheyher they do or not is up to them.

Some things are tine sensitive, as gas been mentioned on this thread.

It's your health op, I would definitely go.

I had something that sounds very similar although I only had it for 7 weeks. Has the GP checked your chest and does it sound clear or is there crackling?

I was in hospital twice due to the severity (I am also pregnant) but it was unbearable. I had 3 courses of antibiotics, two courses of steroids and an inhaler. It took ages for me to feel better and I couldn’t talk at all without a severe coughing fit so I understand how you feel

I took cetirizine in liquid form and brought a nebuliser off Amazon and I’m sure these are the only things that stopped it