Not the asthma bingo points, just things you’ve heard from medics that make 0 sense... let’s look back and laugh now cause I’m sure no one appreciates the comments at the time 😅;
ED/AMU consultant - (after 2 nurses and a reg tell me I need to be admitted) ‘we have no beds, so you can go home’
ED/AMU reg - ‘you’ve had 100ml of hydro, you don’t need to take ANY steroids. So no pred (true-ish) but also no preventer or nasal spray’...
ED/AMU reg - (listens to how PF dropping to red 1hr post neb, very poor exercise tolerance) ‘well if you were a normal asthmatic we’d send you home...’ (I really hope not)
AN - (in hosp after life threatening attack at home due to chest infection) ‘you have been doing so well on 10mg pred, so don’t up it. You can still prob lower to 7.5mg in 4 days time’
AN - ‘it’s a URTI, so not going to effect your asthma. Stop the nebs’ (even tho PF dropping and nebs helping)
ED/Med Con - (after I ask about calling spec ANs and local ANs for advice) ‘well I don’t rate ANs cause they’re useless’
ED/AMU reg - ‘do you need all these meds?’
ED/AMU Con- (Asks what my usual discharge plan is)... ‘well you’re not that bad so...’ (proceeds to ignore usual discharge plan)
ED/AMU con - ‘you have a wheeze (after mag, 2xhydro, and countless Nebs), but anyone with asthma and a cold has a wheeze so that’s to be expected’
AN - ‘it doesn’t matter when last neb was...’ (turns round and records not wheezing so good to go, despite wheeze present pre neb 30 mins prior)
Physio - (to patient with severe acute uncontrolled asthma, a chest infection, chronic sinusitis and rhinitis and PND) ‘I think you’d benefit from taping your mouth shut at night’
ED doc (non resp issue) ‘I want you to keep your arm moving. Wait there whilst I get a sling for you’
So do you guys have any other things you’ve been told/advised? Something that was scary to hear at the time/angered you/seemed a point pointless, but looking back you have to laugh? (Please try and keep in humorous and not a bitchfest... ta very much 😉😂)
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Suffice to say I did not follow it 😅. I think I actually came on here to freak out/ask why i was told that... (Buteyko apparently... physio said I was mouth breathing... she struggled to understand that was because I had a blocked nose 🤦♀️🤦♀️)
Hence why it comes under stupid advice which is scary at the time, but looking back you kind of have to laugh 😅 (either that or the physio was a serial killer who hadn’t yet been caught 😉😂)
I got told to do that too and did actually try it...a later physio said he didn't do Buteyko personally but had clearly heard about the taping, as he said it seemed crazy to him to block off a breathing hole in a person with severe lung issues! (Buteyko was mildly helpful in other ways, though not personally as effective as some people have found - got rid of some minor bad habits in breathing).
Have read about Buteyko but not tried it. Perhaps I should as I really struggle to control my breathing sometimes due to severe emphysema as well as asthma.
That said I do agree with the physio who said it seemed a crazy idea for people with severe lung disease. My kind of professional! Makes such a difference when someone understands.
The one I vividly remember was sitting in my GP’s office, wheezing loudly and the doctor saying “and what can I help you with today?”ummm well here’s a novel idea, how about we look at this wheeze of mine!
Omg to some of those. Especially the taping shut one!!
Paramedic (having never met me before): I don't think it's one of your worst "attacks". [Says don't need to phone ahead, normal assessment is fine on arrival at a&E.....a&e consultant takes one look at me and says "resus now!"]
Various junior docs or random docs on, having asked how I am (my summary=obviously not good): so are you ready to go home then?
Paramedic: takes me in car cause van may be a wait and he thinks I’m not that bad... talking in way in ‘yeah if you were brittle we’d have had to wait for the van’ ‘erm... you do know severe = brittle right? New term and got changed a couple years go...’ ‘WHAT?! Oh God! Please don’t die on the way in!!!’ 😂😂😂 (now I state I’m severe/brittle so there’s no confusion 😂😅)
Hahahaha! That's similar to the anaesthetist at big hospital an hour from home. I was supposed to be convincing him I was fine for a GA for an eye op. Instead, asthma being terrible, he wanted me "in our resus now". I refused because wanted my usual hosp, told him my sats etc would be fine (they weren't 😬) and then he said "but if you die on the journey I'll never forgive myself. So please don't!" Then he emailed my consultant so by the time I saw him (cons) on ward in my usual hosp, he got me to tell him what happened then grinned and said yeah I knew all that he emailed me! 😳😂
It did me too. Particularly the way he said "what happened the other day then?" So I told him the whole story and then laughs and says "yeah I actually knew all that 😂" He's fab though.
Also, random a&e consultant pops head into cubicle (where junior is seeing me and doing just fine) and calls out "you need to breathe more slowly". Thanks for that.
'So it's not asthma...I think it's just cold air irritating your throat'.
Apart from the fact my throat was not an issue other than some mild post-coughing issues...it was late summer, 25C out and the hosp had no fans or aircon. I did actually say 'what cold air?' Would have quite liked some tbh!
Also have had a number of 'it's just a virus not your asthma'. Err if I do have a virus it will trigger my asthma.
ED dr: 'Don't move! You said it triggers you and I want to send you home'. (If getting up and going to the loo a few steps away is triggering me, perhaps you should reconsider?)
Same ED dr: ALL your obs are normal. Yes, all. Well I guess your peak flow is lower but that doesn't matter much. HR is 115...this was when I was better. Pretty sure it would have been higher when I came in because asthma sets it off. She didn't even blame the salbutamol like usual, just said it was normal at 115 and higher). They only did obs twice in 4 hours though, even when I was having magnesium before being sent home. Mag is meant to be on a monitor really - have had it not on one but felt they could have been s little more on top of obs especially when they didn't seem to grasp what normal was!
Same hosp, diff ED dr, my nemesis: this definitely isn't asthma (maintains this even after infection is found on X-ray...of course that wouldn't kick things off). Have some magnesium to bring down your heart rate. (Mag sulph can correct some arrhythmias, but not sinus tachy. Of course it looked like she was right when it did come down due to my breathing getting better).
Same ED dr (this is local hosp) after reading my summary, which says I am under a tertiary clinic for severe asthma: 'why don't you just go here for clinic, it's nearer to you?'
I sometimes feel like marking them on their BS answers...please if you make stuff up, make it internally logical and at least somewhat scientifically plausible!
Lysistrata, you just made me think of another one. From GP as my PF was good (bear in mind this was a day after the attack) “You didn’t have an asthma attack, it was just a very long panic attack”. I was struggling for about 5 hours! Longest panic I’ve ever heard of!
Experienced quite a number of those that you mention there Emma!
Also had;
Resp Cons - “we don’t know why your breathing is so unpredictable and you are needing IV Magnesium sulphate in A&E resus every 2 weeks, so ........ I don’t want you going to A&E”! 🤷🏼♀️😳 (hilarious but true!!)
In A&E and advise docs I can’t do more than tiny breaths so the first thing they say is “Take a deep breath, ..... deeper than that, take a big breath!” - er, that’s kinda the problem!! 😳🙄😆
Sat in A&E with monitor on and it keeps alarming as my breaths are so tiny it thinks I’m not breathing ...... dept sister gets annoyed with the alarm, so puts it on mute then shuts the curtain🤔🤦🏼♀️😂
Please keep the funny posts going Emma as I love hearing everyone’s experiences so we don’t feel as odd one out as we can often feel in the face of medics! Pam x
My asthma nurse once said “if you have an attack go straight to A&E. Whatever you do don’t come to the surgery” ie we don’t want to deal with it! Did make me chuckle as I was thinking of the Bob Newhart unexploded bomb sketch “noooo don’t bring it up here!” 😂
🤔All at my GP surgery do have a certain “rabbit in the headlights” kind of look when I present myself there, so I know what you mean 😂
One GP that I had spoken to (gasped to, to be precise 😉🤣) on the phone told me that as I was already on the highest level of meds of that they could deal with in the community there was no point going to them!
🤣 serious buck passing. I do feel quite sorry for them to be fair, but they do squirm
Ha! I’ve heard that one so much now I preempt it if I’m seeing a GP whose never met me. Case in point Monday... got an emergency appt cause needed carbocisteine. Asthma still dodgy too due to the virus so receptionist records it has asthma and infection. She hears me coming in and freaks. Freaks even more when I casually mention the 3 night admission the week before, and then again when PF is only 40% (not sure other obs but assuming sats 96 and high HR 😅😂). Spend 5 mins reassuring that no I don’t need hosp, I am only there for carbo. Sort it all out and on leaving ‘of course come back if things don’t improve/get worse’. I stop, look at her ‘LBH if that happens I’ll be straight up to the hosp cause realistically there isn’t anything you guys can do for me’... ‘yeah, true. Well if you need anything else then’ 😅😂😂😂
PF improves 5% after a neb (goes from almost 40% to almost 45%). ED doc (reviews an hour after neb and I can feel it starting to drop again) - ‘well your PF has improved so you can go home’
"We'll need to keep you in but you'll probably be home tomorrow"
Yeah, I won't be.
"I need to see if you need 4 hourly nebs now". Yeah, I don't. I generally don't manage that at home. Please go away. If you have no idea, I'd rather you didn't bother.
To be fair, quite a number of us with these humorous experiences don’t present as “normal” or “standard” asthma, so can’t really be too surprised when a medic is taken aback by this weird response.
The issue invariably is that they just don’t listen to us as expert patients in our own chronic condition. If we ask for help then usually we have exhausted all options that we can at home so we really, really need help.
I for one don’t go to the doc for anything I can manage myself. That’s probably why they freak out and panic when we do rock up!
I think we find their comments particularly amusing as they state too much of the obvious without actually thinking of the common sense behind it and how daft their comments actually are 🤦🏼♀️🙄😆 x ......... bring it on and keep them coming 👍🏻
Yes Echoblue. I was once in my docs office wheezing, gasping for breath in and out. Perfect PF and O2, only thing that was off was my racing heart rate. My GP looked both confused and had an expression that said “help, what do I do?!” She then just looked at me and said “your wheezing” 🤣 Think that’s why the AN said “don’t come here if your ill”
What’s even worse is my respiratory specialist didn’t have a clue what was going on either. Just looked and said “interesting” (glad I’m such a novelty but I’m struggling here to complete a basic life function. Can you say “interesting” once I can breathe again, thank you) and threw every drug he could think of in a “medication trial”
Ah yes, the medics over use of the words “interesting case” when they haven’t a Scooby Doo! 😂😆 cracks me up. Even worse is when they immediately follow it with “can you let me know when you get answers?” 😳😆 sadly been getting that one way too often!
Yeah my consultant says he's given up second guessing me and just assumes I won't follow any kind of expectation. Says things like "even in normal asthma ...." then gives me a look. 😂
I find AMU a nightmare as they always want to assess me (yes I know that's their job but I don't need assessing!) and there's always a vague plan if not more specific (depending who I've seen on entry) yet they always try to tweak it. No. Just no. Stop it.
One of my GP’s never knows what is happening and just says “panic attack” when he hasn’t a clue. Having said that I don’t think he has been practicing long so I think anything that doesn’t follow the rule book is going to cause trouble. If the specialist doesn’t know then he has no chance😃
Ah yes, that old cherry! The panic attack that actually isn’t a panic attack! Yes, I am breathing a little faster than normal, but that is because I can’t take bigger, deeper breaths! You then get the “slow your breathing down” so you slow it down and then struggle to breathe and your sats dive so they panic!! 😳🙄🤦🏼♀️
.... and yes, because of doing my calm controlled breathing (albeit a little faster than ‘normal’) I can hold my sats up a little better which is why my sats are looking ok (at that moment!) and yes, my heart is pounding because my body is having to work overtime to sustain me and not because of the salbutamol nebuliser that was done 6 hours ago and haven’t given me any since so can’t be said to be attributing to it!!
You can pre-empt so many of the assumptions....... but potentially we would be slipping back into EmmaF91 bingo if we aren’t careful 😉😂😂 it becomes so predictable!!
My heart rate goes absolutely crazy. ( my worse was 150 bpm sitting still, normally I’m around 69bpm) I think it does a great job at keeping my stats up. I always worry about having a heart problem but it seems pretty strong to me.
- The OOH dr who told me 'I know it's rubbish increasing your steroids again [this was when they still seemed to be doing something] but look on the bright side, you'd be dead by now in some countries or 100 years ago'. I actually found this hilarious, if a little blunt.
- The lovely F2 with no filter AT ALL, luckily encountering the asthmatic who thinks everything is hilarious when she gets worse: 'you're conscious! I didn't expect that from what they told me (err...I wasn't quite that bad, though I've been better). Oh wait I read your VBG wrong and nearly wet myself...I thought it was an ABG.' [for anyone not familiar with the delights of blood gases, venous blood gas values are meant to be lower so any dr reading those and thinking they're arterial may be worried).
- The consultant I didn't normally see, standing in for my usual before I was referred to my current one: 'I can't do anything for you, I'm just keeping an eye on you for Dr M as he's away. You're going to [tertiary hospital] are you? Who are you seeing? Is it Dr C? He's the one who's really fat I think, though he's lost weight I heard. Oh Dr J? He used to work here - he's very serious. I think he's too serious for you.'
I normally hate and fear clinic but this appt was hilarious even if nothing was changed (I didn't expect anything). He basically just gossiped about everyone at the tertiary hospital, then asked about my new inhaler, rummaged in a drawer and said ' Is it this one? I have a whole drawerful of asthma inhalers I collect, but I have to hide them as someone keeps throwing them away'. He had a work experience student with him who must have thought both of us were mad.
“You’d be dead now in some countries or 100 years ago” love it! So tuned into my black humour! 🤣 I know I shouldn’t laugh because it’s true but it’s just the blunt delivery. I had a great aunt she was the funniest person I ever met because she really just said it as it was
Oh I found it funny for the same reason. I wanted to say 'don't hold back, tell it to me how it is will you?' Much preferred to the ones who try to reassure me 'no you're not having an attack, don't worry, you won't end up in hospital'. Tenner says I'm right here...oh look.
Not asthma related but I broke my foot back in April. I had to go up to A&E. I think the gentleman I saw was an advanced practitioner. He looked at my foot and said “don’t worry you won’t feel a thing when it drops off” I almost pulled a muscle laughing. I was in a lot of pain and it helped me deal with it. Laugher is a great natural pain reliever.
Very true re laughter, though I find annoyingly it can be hazardous to laugh during an asthma attack. No more DamnYouAutocorrect compilations for me with dodgy lungs. Or misheard lyrics, Js706 and EmmaF91
GP - ‘I’m not that happy giving you more steroids cause you’ve had so many courses already this year and the possible long side effects...’ Me - ‘... are a lot better than the probably short term side effect of not taking Pred’ GP - ‘there is that yeah. Ok let me write you up some. Possible diabetes/osteoporosis/AI is definitely the better option than probably death/resus/admission’ 😂😂
Me sitting in hosp bed. Only 3rd/4th admission to new hosp (in 3/4 months) and really not that bad... con comes in slams notes down ‘it’s not fair. You’re meant to be coming up here, new job, new life and I feel like we’re making you worse (goes off on rant trying to organise getting my new mab earlier or having something in interim) ‘erm isn’t the ‘its not fair’ meant to be my line? It’s ok. I’m not even that bad atm compared to how I’ve been prev’ 😂😂
Sat in majors with doc I know well and is very aware I’m a frequent flyer. Comes over with his minion who’s only been in ED a couple days (around black Wednesday). ‘So here we have a nice chronic brittle asthmatic.’ Turns to me ‘dr x here hasn’t been here too long’ turns to minion ‘have you ever US a lung before in a medical setting? No? (Turns to me) Do you mind?’ (Me cracking up at the first sentence) ‘no. By all means go ahead. I know I don’t have a pneumothorax’ doc ‘shhhh. That was gonna be my question (turns to minion) so why would you want to US a lung? What would you be looking for?’ 😂😂😂 (ps I had just done my own medical imaging course at uni so freaked out minion when I could read the US and explain how it worked 😂😂😂)
Para - (whilst waiting to go in to RATs) ‘we’ve just got these new vans. What do you think?’
Me - ‘erm... 🤷♀️🤷♀️ it goes nee naw whoop whoop and doesn’t make the patient fall off the trolley so... good???’ Para - ‘true’ turns to fellow para who’s just come back and they spend the next 20 mins outlining how crap they are compared to old ones, and how the ‘more expensive’ models (+£3000-£5000 each) would be a lot better and last longer
Nurse giving me mab at spec hosp ‘so which hosp were you at before? Who did you see? Oh HIM’ (her and her friend start to gossip about old con (they didn’t have a very high opinion which was fine as I only saw him once and have heard bad stories from other patients of his 😉).... my new con walks in and joins in) 😂😂😂
(I feel like I may present myself in a way medics are happy to bitch to/in front of cause I have multiple of these types of stories 😂😂)
Phone rings. It’s GP (not mine) ‘just ringing to follow up and see how you are after last weeks discharge’ Me - muttley laughs hysterically and cannot stop Him - ‘are you ok? You’re sounding really poorly atm?’ Me - catches breath ‘I’m currently sat on a majors bed attached to mag, fluids and o2neb so....’ Him - ‘ok then. Erm. Well. I’ll just put down that you’re not ok and are in hosp again shall I?’ Me - ‘sure. What ever floats your boat’ Him - ‘ok. Thanks. Hope you heft better soon. Bye’ (hangs up)
Con taking pic of spiro results to upload to his notes (something I’ve witness him do multiple times with various things including a 3/12 PF diary of mine) ‘Don’t worry I’m just going upload it to your notes. It’s not my personal phone. Look I’ll show you’ Me ‘ nah don’t worry. I don’t think you get your rocks off on spiro graphs’ Him ‘no. No I don’t.’ (Can see him mentally think ewwww) 😂😂😂
Accidentally get caught in a staring contest with my con whilst I take inhaler in front of him. I crack up. ‘So what do you think of my inhaler technique?’ ‘You breathe very well’ ‘why thank you. When I can I’m awesome at breathing, it’s the times I can’t that I struggle’
Also the bit with your cons for some reason reminded me of a conversation with one of the asthma registrars I saw in clinic:
'Dr J [lead consultant] asked me what I'd like from Santa for Christmas once and I said a FENO machine.'
Me: 'er...' (thinks, you need a break from this clinic)
Her: 'I just get fed up with going up and down the corridor looking for it. I want my own.'
Is there a resp Santa do you think? Delivers spirometry and FENO machines to resp drs who have been very very good this year? I wonder what the coal in the stocking equates to...
Being told by consultant after asking questions about upcoming treatment that I was "obviously a person who liked to be in control". He seemed very irritated I had even asked anything about my treatment.
I’m known as muttley by far too many para crews here 😂
Also last time on arrival at CDU at the resp hospital by ambulance transfer (resp + a&e in different hospitals here) the paramedic went to start saying who they had and the nurse on reception said “no need, I know who you’ve got I recognised the top of her hair!” 😅 it’s not even a weird colour or style!!!
Not my reg cons but one who knows how much pred I’ve been on and how much time I’ve spent in hosp this year “have you thought about trying to increase your activity levels and losing weight”. Me - “OMG NO! I had no idea I’d gained weight from taking pred and sitting in a hospital bed!” 😂 Some practical ideas on how to manage that might have been appreciated
Most drs on learning I’m a clinical Med student - “oooh you could probably do this cannula/blood test/abg on yourself!” ....no thank you
Also on learning course “so here’s your abg, what do you think?” (Or becomes a teaching session on them) me “bad enough to justify some more drugs, please prescribe”
Fellow Med student who I hadn’t met before “now I know you’re actually on the same placement as me, but I have to find a wheezy patient as my case presentation. Can I use you?” 🙄 yes, please give all my medical details to my course mates that’d be great
Frequently used by consultants who know me in teaching to run through asthma treatment (acute and long term), talk about side effects and give accounts of what various tests are like
In resus the heart rate alarm has the regular setting and then also has EXTREME TACHY (complete with caps lock for the alert!) for when you hit 150 which always makes me laugh! But I’m normally pretty close to that when I turn up so the machine will start blaring and people will come charging in like “what happened?! What did you do?” And there will be met sat there on a neb like “...I sat up”
Also fairly recently had a near silent chest in a&e so the reg decided to test the poor little F2 on their a&e induction on me 😂 but knowing what the examination findings were it was quite funny watching the tension as they listened and seeing if they had the confidence to go for it! (They did! 🎉)
I actually laughed out loud with all of those! I could feel your angst with them. I particularly loved the one about thinking it was a good idea to use you as an example then splattering your private medical detail to your whole class!! Hmmmm, you would think common sense would have prevented considering that one 🤔😉😂
And about the cannula and abg 😂🤦🏼♀️ right, like who would actually want to have a go at that on themselves even if you could get the angle?! 🤔🤪
On the pred one I often resorted to sarcasm in the end “yeah, fat or dead, tough choice, which would you advise?”, became a bit of a retort of mine when they started having a go at number of steroids/weight gain at the time!
Also can really relate to the silent chest bit as that is how I usually present to A&E and they really panic about it. You can see them listen, then some more and increasing frustration as they look at you, yes, you do appear to be still alive but why can’t I hear? That’s when they are desperate for you to take a big deep breath, but hey, guess what, that’s the problem as I can’t!! Happens every time. Finally, when the ICU Reg’s and Consultant are circling ready to cart you off someone finally agrees to look at the plan I have brought and been pointing to for the last few hours 🤪🙄🤦🏼♀️ x
Please can you work in Respiratory or A&E and change practice?! We will all happily offer our services as a guinea pig example “interesting” patient for any of your course 👍🏻
It just always makes me chuckle when they go to find juniors to make sure they know what it’s like and there’s an unspoken drum roll before they present findings 😂😂
Yeah, thankfully my locals are finally getting better at treating aggressively early so there’s less getting to resp after 7+ hours in resus and still having silent chest 🙄
I definitely need to avoid working in resp I think! BUT I do actually want to work in a&e if I can get stable enough to manage it!
I have seen some (usually the ones who are less good at it and expect a wheeze) look puzzled and start tapping/adjusting the diaphragm of their stethoscope to check it's working. Yes it is working, no there isn't much to hear lol.
I did want to crack up when I had a med student say 'I think I can hear some respiratory noises suggesting asthma'. No, I really think you can't. Stop hedging your bets and confess! Though to be fair I'm a horrible one to spring on the med student as I'm not typical, but he was with an F1 who wouldn't have known I was tricky either. Then the med reg swept in before the F1 got a go - she came back later determined not to miss out.
I remember getting rushed in by ambulance Christmas night, consultant in resus says we are really busy and we’ve gave you hydro and magnesium I think you will be better at home, a nurse then came and said no way do I think it’s safe for you to go home I’m getting a 2nd opinion, someone else came took blood gases and called for itu, to get a bed ready for me.
Sometimes I don’t think they take asthma seriously, my consultant now is fantastic and if I’m not on her ward she always gets me moved so I’m under her. X
Try to avoid triggers, from GP who obviously didn't know much about asthma. I had a mental image of being inside a sort of '60's spacecraft, bubble object.
I was on 2 hour nebs 1 hour monitoring was seen by icu, critical care doctors and respiratory doctors who said they would keep an eye on me. Can’t breathe so call nurse, health care assistant comes and tells me there is nothing wrong with me
A&E Dr assessing pt who had just been bluelighted in by paramedics who had to administer even more epi as pts throat swelled shut enroute (in addition to pts self administered AAI *2 pre- ambulance arrival) "It can't be anaphylaxis - there's NO stridor!" All 3 paramedics glared @ doc (2 on ambulance crew & their pt me - rxn happened on duty)
As opposed to the A&E Dr at our ambulance service home base "paramedics know early Epi saves lives! "
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- rxn happened on duty)
Asthma very unstable.
