I'm just wondering peoples take on if you need to go to hospital at this given time with all this virus going on? I am sometimes having heart symptoms & my cardiologist wants me to have another heart tape when this all dies down and have been put back on bisoprolol as I was put on propranolol to help with headaches but am now going back on bisoprolol. I am a bit worried incase I needed to go into hospital at all incase they put it down to covid 19 as I have read that they are declaring covid 19 for all cases! They are also putting covid 19 down on death certificates whether it was that or not and that really worries me that if I ended up going in with heart symptoms etc that they would just declare me as a covid 19 patient & put me in beside covid 19 patients.
Written by
Teresaw40
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Thankyou for your reply I was just worried about going in with any problems other than covid just now & I live in Scotland so not sure what you mean by nightingales? X
Specific specialist covid hospital's set up or adapted to cater for covid. My City Hospital has been turned into a Nightingale covid only. Therefore we go elsewhere ATM.
Aah ok I get you now and know that we have one just been built in Glasgow too. I try not to watch the news much at all as it just worries me but then I go on fb & it's full of all the horror stories too! Why do they not promote the good stories about how many have came through it 😫 x
Unfortunately the Nightingale Hospital in London has not got the staff to cope with Covid patients. It is safe to go to Hospital, Covid patients are separated, in fact people are dying because they are scared to go,you must go if necessary.
Don't be silly. Of course you should go to hospital if you need to do so for other conditions. They have been saying that. Death rates are quite high at the moment for deaths from other causes because people aren't going when they should.
Covid cases are in separate areas of the hospitals and locked down hard. I wouldn't go to A&E without a phone call to my GP first, but needs must. Not all deaths will be put down to Covid. You have been listening to hearsay and scare stories. Choosing not to go because going anywhere is increasing your risk is a valid point. But don't choose not to go based on random advice.
Thankyou for your reply and I will take all that on board and I agree there is so much stories out there that are and can be very scary but I will if need to go to hospital and get checked out. It's just such a scary time at present and I'm hoping and praying that it will all die down really soon. X
It's very hard to get into hospital with Covid -19 apparently - you have to be very very very ill! If you really feel you need to go to A&E you should especially with heart attack symptoms. It used to be that A&E was full of people with minor ailments but now even people with real emergencies are staying away so in a sense they are also victims of the virus 😢
Yes I know it is very difficult to know when to go nowadays as I have been a few times before where they monitor me & see how things are & do bloods etc but they always say to go if any chest pain etc but I dont want to go unnecessarily incase its just indigestion or muscular. Wouldnt have bothered me before to get it checked out but its hesitant these days. X
There arw concerns that people are under reporting cardiac symptoms due to fear of being admitted. This will store up problems later on. Doctors keep encouraging the public with genuine concerns about other illnesses to seek advice as there are doctors and nurses to look after you well away from cv19 patients. The 111 website is a good starting place.
Hi, I read yesterday that if you become breathless or more tired or think you need a check up then don't be afraid to ring for an ambulance. The rest of the hospitals are still doing primary care and looking after patients like normal. This was written by a paramedic.
I have several trips to the hospital in the coming weeks. I think that if there is a need for hospital treatment we shouldn't refuse that. My visits so far have been very well arranged and the foot traffic is well down on historical levels. No Covid cases allowed.
I have had almost every medical procedure to find out what is causing my arrhythmias and breathlessness but nothing was shared with me.
Not a word of my latest MRI scan done almost 5 months ago.
Now my breathlessness has escalated to where it happens at rest too. Sudden whooshing in the ear in time with my heartbeat when I stand up and causing me to nearly faint.
I will just sit it out and I have told my wife not to phone emergency come what may. Will just have to "ahem" live with it.
Please don't worry about being taken into hospital. Normal A & E I am told by a sister in St Thomas's isn't taking people with heart problems, they go straight to cardiology.
A friend was taken into hospital last Saturday with a TIA (he refused to take an anti-coagulant as he said he didn't want nosebleeds as he said was happening to another friend who was on warfarin - he is now on Apixaban thank goodness). Anyway he said the hospital was brilliant. Red part of the hospital was for Covid patients and Green side for any other illnesses. Cardiology was well away from anywhere else. He also said it was extremely clean and well organised. This was a hospital in Wales near Chepstow. I have also been told that most hospitals adopt the same criteria and it is only the media where you hear the bad news. Good luck and try not to worry. Easier said than done though isn't it.
If you need hospital treatment please go. A neighbour in the flats in our development died of pneumonia two days ago, she was walking around until a few days before her death. She didn't die of Covid 19 and we haven't been able to speak to her husband who parks outside our house. But (this is speculation) she may have needed treatment for pneumonia but was keeping safe. We will know more when we see her husband but it has been such a shock in our community.
Oh no that's not good! Poor woman but I will defo go if need to. I received my kardia device this morning so will keep an eye on things through that also. Do let me know when you speak to your neighbours husband & take care x
Teresa, I was going to delete part of my reply (about my neighbour) and then got back online and saw you had seen it. I am sorry that I brought that into my reply as it is not relevant to you and is pure supposition. These are such strange times, and when we clapped for the carers last night we were all thinking of her and wondering what on earth had happened and worrying about her husband.
BUT the other part of the message (visit the hospital if you need too) still stands. Best wishes x
Thats ok & I hope her husband is ok, he will be absolutely devastated obviously but it seems like you are good neighbours who will look out for him. I will defo go to hospital if I need too thankyou x
I am sure you should be guided by your GP, if that's possible. I would not, myself, go and sit in an A&E waiting room at present, for fear of infection. After all, most people with corona virus do not show symptoms for the first days and some never know they've had it, so no one can know without a test who is carrying it.
I'm sure the hospital would not want this either and will give you other advice for your safety. I'm not, myself, convinced that it's easy to be seen at a hospital but I don't really know.
Yes my doctor has said that if I needed to go to hospital for screening I'd have to go to the admissions unit 1 which she says is a covid ward so that is very scary and as much as I dont want to go there ot kinda sets off anxiety which is not good for the heart either! Still feel like we're living in a nightmare just now & I'm hoping & praying that gonna die down soon x
A nightmare indeed - partly because we don’t seem to be really being told just what is happening.
However, I did speak to my lovely daughter in law about this (she’s one of the people we all clap for on Thursdays!) and she says that A&E is very different now and has been made safe for people so you really don’t need to worry!
I have a daughter who is a nurse too in Edinburgh & she has said that pretty much every ward has covid patients now & she was very upset last night as she had to watch a man die as the doctors turned down his oxygen & stopped doing obs on him & labelled him palliative & just left h to basically suffocate was her words & she said she brought him into a side room for his own dignity & she said she was talking to him but he was looking at her terrified 😥 so so sad & horrible that the doctors are just leaving them to die like that! My daughter said he was about 70 0dd or 80 but that's not the point . So scary as I dont know if I can stay away from hospital as I'm still having lots of symptoms & waiting for my cardiologist to phone me. I have my other medication I was on before friday as couldn't stand another day of bisoprolol effects but not sure if it will help but I'm praying it will x
Hi Teresa - thanks for posting that. We really are not hearing what is happening in the NHS, I feel sure. I have heard also from a relative who works in a care home and a friend who has been in hospital rather similarly sad stories.
I can understand your worries and would phone your GP to go over the symptoms. My own experience tells me that anxiety makes them all far worse but some symptoms do need to be dealt with. Your GP will surely help.
My doctor has said to now take 2 propananol 1 in morning 1 at night to see if that helps & wants to possibly up my anxiety meds soon but to try both tablets 1st . I phoned my cardiologist secretary & she said that my doctor saying that I would be in a covid ward if I went in was disgusting & not true & said there are safe wards if I needed to be in there & also that a&e has been made safe for patients but I'm hoping that I dont have to go there at all! Fingers crossed this works & all will be well for us all again soon. Take care
I'm on setraline for my anxiety although before all this virus I was doing just fine then became ill but not sure what it was as swabs for flu & covid came back negative 6 weeks ago but I could function and was generally ok but I had just moved house too so just took a lot out of e & was when I had time to rest that it hit me & since then been on different meds etc so was having nausea & not eating coz has no appetite but I forced myself to eat a little few times a day to try keep some strength up and drank lots of hot cuppas & water. Chicken cup a soup was a saviour lo. Started to feel much bette till started bisoprolol then been crap since then but now taking 2 lots of 80mg propananol a day I feel bit nauseous again & very tired & weak! Nightmare just hope it all let's up asap & hope you find a solution too! Still waiting to hear from my cardiologist 😫 x
Poor you - it's tough indeed, especially in the present situation of the disastrous mess caused by the virus and added to by our seemingly inept government. Navigating our way through both the illness and this is tough. The stress of it all is provoking various ailments, I feel sure. In my case my stomach and neck problems have flared up bringing on headaches, "fog" and a weird dizzy feeling on bending. It took me a while and a phone call to my GP to convince myself that this was anxiety related, but I am now convinced it is.
I've never tried sertraline, nor would, since I had bad reactions ten years ago on two occasions to similar drugs. If you are settled with it and have got over the side effects, and it is working for you, then you are lucky. I've never been able to find any drug to help with my over-active worrying mind. The only ones that do anything useful are zolpidem for sleeping and diazepam for calming, but doctors have fallen out with that last one these days.
Yeah I seem to be tolerating setraline ok again fingers crossed but I was very weak & shaky & dizzy yesterday after taking 2 lots of propananol 80mg in a day so must have lowered my blood pressure down a lot so didnt take 2nd dose last night & was ok. Took normal dose this morning & so far so good but do feel a bit shaky & a little bit nauseous but hopefully that will pass soon. Just a nightmare as like you sat its bringing on other ailments for me too & my doctor is putting it down to anxiety also! I'm not so convinced but it could be that too, I'm just hoping it will all settle soon x
I would ring the hospital to check beforehand. I was recently in hospital - 111 call - after a vasodilator caused me to become hypothermic and my temperature dropped to 33C. Because of my age and conditions the nurse told me that I should ring 999 and not 111 if there was a future issue. I would be wary about entering hospital at the moment, and it looks as though a discussion about possible prostate cancer will be via a phone call and not face to face.
Thanks for your reply John-boy-92. Yes I'm very reluctant about going & praying that I wont have too & my doctor said to take 2 meds a day now & see how that goes & maybe up my anxiety meds soon but all we can do is hope & pray that all will be well in this world again soon & we all stay safe. Take care, Teresa x
Sorry for late reply but that sounds awful, how long were you in hospital for and did you feel safe enough whilst there? It's all very frightening & daunting at this time. I wouldn't have had a problem before popping in for a check up but its terrifying even the thought of going in. X
I was in hospital for 24 hours. I was in the corridor from the ambulance drop off point for about 10 minutes, then they moved me straight to a bed in A&E "Majors". The staff were brilliant as always (including the guy with the food and tea who also fed my wife), and about 1 am one of the nurses turned up pushing a bed and said, look what I've found! Then she pushed me to the "Acute" ward and made up an impromptu bed from two chairs, pillow and blanket for my wife.
I've been going to the new Southmead hospital before it was officially open. As I've recounted here many times, back in the day when the senior clinician asks your permission to ring your wife at 1:15 am as they want to take you to the ICU, sedate you and put you on a ventilator, you know things are getting serious. They saved my life then, plus when I had a stroke, and before that when I had peritonitis, so I know that they will pull out all the stops if necessary. I have the prospect of another biopsy - I'd rather avoid that as I have to stop taking an anticoagulant for days - so I'll see what the PSA results are shortly.
Wow it's so heart warming to know that you were really well looked after and you felt safe and that they also made sure your wife was ok too. Can I ask what you went in for? It kinda eases my mind a bit incase I did have to go in for any reason. X
I took a supplement called citralline malate that is found in water melons. It metabolises to nitric oxide that expands the arteries causing lower blood pressure, and usually improves aerobic exercise performance. My body reacts strongly if it doesn't tolerate something, and it didn't like this. Vertigo, body temperature dropped to 33C, low SpO2, low blood pressure; it took quite a few attempts before they could get a line in and take a blood sample.
Oh my goodness that wasnt good! Glad your on the mend now though, I am taking a multi vitamin supplement every 2nd day but unsure whether to continue it or just take some vitamin D3 as that's recommended just now. Multi vitamin has just a small dose of vitamin d3 in it 5ug & I'm sure I prob get enough of the other vitamins through food etc. X
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Confused re should I go to hospital
Will this tiredness ever go
When to go to hospital 
Are there times when an AFib episode is just going to happen?
3 options given by cardiologist
