i kinda feel like an idiot....

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.

Last night I got home from a 16 hr shift around11pm. I smooched around on my hubby, got a snack and sat down to surf the web for a while. I started coughing, thinking "ugh these allergies suck". but the cough kept on, getting worse. it was a hacking cough. i felt like i had a mucus plug stuck in the bottom of my throat that i couldnt cough up. i started wheezing very badly and suddenly felt like i couldnt get any air. My extremities got flushed, felt like needles were pricking me and then i started having chest pain.

i use a bipap with O2 bled into it at night so being the good nurse i am i put some O2 on. I have a h/o COPD and am a smoker. the chest pain kept getting worse and so did the feeling of something stuck in my throat (but not like i was choking, more like mucus stuck there still). i was using my inhaler trying to open myself up to cough this out but the chest pain got worse.

then suddenly i got this horrible feeling of "omg i am going to die". i cant explain what it felt like but it was kinda like God was yelling in my head "go to the hospital!". (i have only been to the ER once in my life and that was a PE 2 yrs ago but this didnt feel like it did with the PE). it was the most horrible feeling i've ever had, like this impending doom that i was having a heart attack. my chest kept hurting, i was nauseated slightly and still trying to cough that out of my throat.

it freaked me out so bad that i had my husband take me to the ER. he is the sweetest man. he felt i was having a panic attack from over using my inhaler and tried to calm me but i kept saying "i really think something is horribly wrong" so he took me to the ER.

about 15 min of being there, after the EKG, stat labs, ABGs, o2 I was able to cough and it felt like that plug in my throat cleared then my chest pain went away and i was able to calm down. it was at that point i realized my husband was right, i had freaked out because i couldn't breathe well. all my symptoms completely cleared in less than an hour of being there.

thats when i started feeling like the biggest idiot that ever walked this earth. here i was, an RN for God's sake, not to mention i work with these people...and i had over reacted like an idiot.

thats when i told the nurses "omg, I'm so sorry, can i just go home?" (lol, yeah like they were going to let me just leave, lol, but i tried). they were the nicest guys! a patient couldnt have been treated better. i told them all i was sorry for wasting their time AND their trauma room. i wanted to crawl in a hole i was so embarrassed.

they had all my test results back in no time and i was there less than 3 hrs. the doc said he thought that i had panic'd and also had some muscle spasms in my chest. i think i just freaked out from the albuterol and the wheezing.

like i said, that was only my 2nd time in the ER and i really feel like a big ole drama queen today.

have yall ever done anything stoopid like that or had a patient do it? i feel like sending them a card or something, lol.

ugh.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

I don't think you were stupid to get evaluated. Your symptoms could have been from something needing immediate attention.

I WOULD like to see you quit smoking, young lady!:nono: :redbeathe

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omg, i'm soooooooo glad you're ok.

throughout reading your post, i kept on thinking "allergic reaction".

i am relieved to hear that you only panicked.:p

i would much rather you feel like an idiot yet be ok, vs something truly happening to you.

and, your husband sounds like a keeper.

hugs to you both...

leslie

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Specializes in ED, Flight.

It only would've been idiotic if you had not gone to get checked out. Don't we always teach 'when the patient says I think I'm gonna die, believe them' ?

Glad you're okay.

Quit smoking!

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Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.
I don't think you were stupid to get evaluated. Your symptoms could have been from something needing immediate attention.

I would like to see you quit smoking, young lady!:nono:

*sigh* yes, mom...:p

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.
*sigh* yes, mom...:p

I'm only concerned for what's best for you sweetie! :nurse::redbeathe

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Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.

lol, seriously though...

i am planning on quiting this week. i have patches and a box of the Nicotrol inhaler thingys that are like a fake cigarette. Wednesday is my quit day. another nurse that i work with and I are going to quit together. we had just decided on our quit day before i left work last night actually. we finally decided we were going to actually do it instead of talking about it every weekend.

this little trip to the ER just finalized my action plan i suppose.

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Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.
omg, i'm soooooooo glad you're ok.

throughout reading your post, i kept on thinking "allergic reaction".

i am relieved to hear that you only panicked.:p

i would much rather you feel like an idiot yet be ok, vs something truly happening to you.

and, your husband sounds like a keeper.

hugs to you both...

leslie

oh he is leslie! the sweetest man God ever made!:)

he loves me even when i'm freaking out, lol.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.
lol, seriously though...

i am planning on quiting this week. i have patches and a box of the Nicotrol inhaler thingys that are like a fake cigarette. Wednesday is my quit day. another nurse that i work with and I are going to quit together. we had just decided on our quit day before i left work last night actually. we finally decided we were going to actually do it instead of talking about it every weekend.

this little trip to the ER just finalized my action plan i suppose.

That's my girl! :up:

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Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.
It only would've been idiotic if you had not gone to get checked out. Don't we always teach 'when the patient says I think I'm gonna die, believe them' ?

Glad you're okay.

Quit smoking!

thats what kept running thru my head. "what if i really am going to die??". i kept mentally talking myself out of telling my husband i wanted to go to the ER but then the feeling of doom would get worse and worse until finally i felt like i was going to code right there. it was so bad i almost called an ambulance even. part of my brain knew i was over reacting but the other part of my head was convinced this was the big one, lol.

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Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.
That's my girl! :up:

lol, wish me luck!

and if i suddenly start posting like a crazy woman and yelling at people...yall just ignore me,k? :D

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I for one am very glad you're ok. Stuff happens, and you couldn't have known. When I worked the ED, I would much rather see someone in your situation come in and have it be anxiety rather than someone with your symptoms not come in until it was too late. Honest.

In this situation you were the patient, not the nurse.

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