I was actually lucky. I think it wasn’t too busy at the ED, so triage was quick (one NS was on and another came on not long after. One person was being seen and one was in front of me.)
Maybe lucky if that took all of 10-15mins. I got in quite quickly, IV + anti-emetic first. Moved 3 times (chair + 2 beds). Dozed a lot. First bed was where I got Panadol (didn’t touch the edges) and finally whatever it was they gave me. After 30 mins it still didn’t clear, I moved beds again, but I managed to doze it off maybe after another 90min+ and didn’t need the next line. Maybe 5ish hours all up? It did take a couple of hours to see a Dr., but everything else was very smooth.
It was just the fact that it was so debilitating? Like at the worst, I could sleep it off for a few hours, or overnight, but this was not budging at all. I maxed out my OTC stuff and wasn’t sleeping through. Utterly nauseous, super light sensitive. Felt like living hell like a hangover on steroids. Given this was not alcohol related, definitely made me think how I ever survived hangovers in the first place. I mean I jest now, but there was no way I would have ever gone to ED if I didn’t feel it was this bad.
(I’ll admit I was slightly embarrassed. I hated the thought of taking up a bed from someone else who might have needed it more, so as soon as I was good to go, I was out of there. So grateful to all the HC staff. No one made me feel as though I was wasting their time and just said come back if it’s an issue again.)
It sounds entirely reasonable that you went to the ED! Who knows if it was a sign of something really sinister like a brain haemorrhage? That’s awesome that you got attended to quickly, given the rampant stories of overloaded EDs - which is a symptom of underfunding and not at all something you should feel personally responsible for. I’m glad they were able to treat you. It really sounded like hell…
🖤 It sounded like it was a bit of an anomaly from the snatches of staff conversation I could hear.
Definitely! I got checked for meningitis and asked a few questions to rule out anything else. The eye pressure I was most concerned about didn’t seem to be a worry and that eased off with every else. That was probably my main concern, so definitely worth checking! ✨
