Hi, has anyone else been admitted to hospital as an emergency and told they have sepsis only to find it’s not mentioned on discharge notes?
I’m worried that my gp and my employer won’t realise how much I’m still struggling to function after 4 days in hospital with the added complication of unexpected penicillin anaphylaxis. I’ve been home for 4 days but I’m still struggling to do the simplest of tasks 😢
Have you asked your GP?If you need a sick note for your employer she/ he will need to know the full story …simplest just to check.
You could ring the ward and ask for clarification and maybe another discharge letter, or the consultants secretary. Good luck
It seems like once you’re off the ward you’re forgotten unfortunately 😕
Was it confirmed sepsis or ‘just’ suspected sepsis? What does the discharge letter actually say? It would be a pretty serious error on the hospital’s part to omit confirmed sepsis from the discharge letter. However, having been down the sepsis pathway myself when I had meningitis, if a doctor even suspects it could be sepsis, because of how rapidly life threatening it can be, they treat it as if it definitely is until they’re absolutely sure it’s not. In practice, that means starting antibiotic and supportive treatment without test results, often before the tests have even been run, and can result in patients being given sepsis appropriate care for up to two or three days before cultures and bloods come back that mean the medics are satisfied it’s definitely not. Were you discharged home on antibiotics?
In any event, sorry to hear you’ve had a rough ride. Even if it wasn’t confirmed sepsis, the GP should have enough medical knowledge and experience to determine whether or not you’re fit for work at the moment, and will take your current health and ability to function into account. Ultimately, your employer has to be guided by your gp. From personal experience, anaphylaxis on its own can wipe you out for several days even when otherwise well, so that on top of whatever else you had going on would also make you feel pretty naff, I’d imagine. If you’re certain you had sepsis, or are uncertain that the discharge is correct, I would suggest as others have to ring either the secretary for whichever consultant you were under, or the ward.
It was suspected, told I had a very high inflammatory markers plus a rash on hands and wrists that didn’t go when pressed (glass test) was on iv and oral antibiotics until discharge then a few days oral antibiotics. Also on steroids which I’m tapering over the next 12 days as instructed. Feel rubbish and feel like I’ve been left not knowing what comes next, petrified it’s going to happen again 😢
You’re really going to need confirmation as to which it was: with the caveat that I’m not medically qualified, my understanding from my own experiences is that unfortunately, none of that is definitive one way or the other. Antibiotics on discharge would be appropriate either for sepsis or a bad infection. Steroids would potentially be appropriate for either of them depending on the source of underlying infection, but are also standard treatment for several days at high dose post anaphylaxis. Any acute infection will put your inflammatory markers up, and although petechiae (the non-blanching pinprick spots) are considered a massive red flag for both meningitis and sepsis, and should always be acted on urgently, they’re not actually unique to those and can occur in a variety of conditions that make people unwell, including some straight forward viral and bacterial infections. I actually quite frequently get them if I cough a lot, as they occur due to blood vessels leaking under the skin, which can be brought on by pressure.
If the references on your discharge letter are only talking about acute infection rather than sepsis, I would be inclined to think they ultimately concluded it wasn’t sepsis, particularly as you were ‘only’ in hospital for 4 days. However, I would speak to your GP tomorrow and ask them the question outright: did I have confirmed sepsis? They should be able to give you an accurate, definitive answer, and you can go from there. But ultimately, whether it was sepsis or not, they’re not going to say you’re fit for work if you can barely look after yourself. If it turns out it was sepsis, you may find the sepsis trust useful:
They have lots of information about recovery, and also reassurance with regards to people worrying about it potentially happening again. There’s a nurse led helpline you can ring, too.
Thank you, I’ll phone gp tomorrow and see what I can find out
As a nurse I agree with everything you’ve said. When sepsis is suspected we have what is known as the “golden hour” to start treatment, so will treat as positive till we know. It’s only when the cultures come back that you will know for certain, and it’s definitely possible to feel extremely unwell even without sepsis. 4 days is a quick turnaround for someone treated for sepsis, any antibiotics usually continue for longer periods to ensure the bacteria is no longer in the blood. I would phone the ward and ask them to confirm, they can access your blood results quickly and if they have made an error will amend your discharge summary. It’s not the case that once your discharged your forgotten, and they don’t want to help. Whether sepsis or not, does not automatically correlate to your recovery. Your GP will support you in your recovery and rest needed even if it wasn’t sepsis. He should also be able to access the hospital blood results and confirm if cultures confirmed sepsis. Hope your feeling better soon. 🤗
Thank you 😊
Yes I was sent by the GP straight to the hospital a couple of years ago with query of sepsis. Was seen by specialist sepsis nurse and immediately started on 2 different IV antibiotics. Once bloods and urine samples had come back I was diagnosed with pneumonia. Stayed in hospital for 3 days on IV and oral antibiotics and then sent home with more antibiotics. Had no problem getting a fit note from the GP.
I have had sepsis, but it is on my notes from the hospital. You will feel very weak for a long while and your memory will be crap for months. Hugs.xxxx
I would think from your description that maybe it was only suspected sepsis and the hospital were being cautious. Your severe allergic reaction will have knocked your system for six too so it will take a while to recover. Do take care and don't go rushing back to work . Remember too sometimes things get left off records and records can depict a different picture depending on how a doctor relays the info. We all miss bits out on occassions but trust in your case that maybe it was not Sepsis so was excluded from details recorded on discharge. Take care and stay safe.
Thank you 😊
I was once admitted in hospital and diagnosed with sepsis based on symptoms. However, I was given a specific blood test to test sepsis a few days later and it came back negative. It took me a few months and an extra lot of antibiotics to get better again.
I was admitted twice in 2 months with urosepsis. First time I was discharged after only few days as temperature had gone down. Had a long course of antibiotics and told to make sure everyone knew it was urosepsis not a uti. Second time a month later I was in a lot longer and felt far worse. Took months to get back to normal and had antibiotics for a year. Checked my GP medical record and just show an infection not urosepsis probably because the discharge notes don't have that on them anywhere.
This is what I’m worried about, my gp is not very helpful generally and doesn’t seem to understand that being on biologics affects the immune system so I struggle to get taken seriously when I have an infection 😕
Frustrating. After I had been in with the sepsis (they also discovered kidney cancer on a scan at the same time) my rheumatologist wrote in a letter to my GP that they should have been advised that I was in hospital but they would not have known presumably until they had the discharge letter. He also suggested I remind them when I am in but have to say I was not even able to realise what day it was at the time. Very disjointed.
I don't understand if someone had sepsis they are sent home to recuperate. When I had it I was unconsious and was close to death.
If you catch it quickly enough, that degree of illness can sometimes be avoided - it’s why even the slightest suspicion is now acted on, no waiting to see what happens first. If sepsis is a possibility, treatment is (should be!) started immediately; every hour counts, so better to give someone a couple of days unnecessary treatment than wait and have them die. However, although there aren’t actually any guidelines on antibiotic course length, it’s extremely unlikely you would be sent home after a couple of days with confirmed sepsis, even if it had been caught in the early stages when you weren’t critical.
When I was hospitalised because of an infection contracted during my elbow replacement, it seemed that I was asked every 5 minutes if I felt OK , hot , feverish etc and had my temperature taken . After a couple of days of this ( and feeling totally fine ) I asked the friendly young registrar what they were expecting. He told me , reluctantly it seemed , that they were worried about the possibility of sepsis. When I looked this up I was very thankful for the great care that was being taken .
Wow some great news ! How did I ever cope without a fab consultant. 
Maybe it’s not RA
