Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - I feel awful, and a question about hospital

Rlyss · 05-19-2005, 11:39 AM

For the past week I've been feeling like shit. It's worst in the morning and gets slightly better throughout the day but it's always there. I don't know if I've had my appendix out (I can't see a scar so I guess not.)

I get a cramp, like a stabbing pain in my stomach, about 3 inches to the left of my navel, and sometimes on the right of it too. Last week it was cramping further up, right in the middle of the torso below the breastbone. It's general cramping and stabbing pains for the first minute or so, then it gets localized to the area near my navel, then it sort of fades out again. It's like a knife twisting around

It's slightly less agonizing if I lay flat on my back... if I lie on my side it's worst. I took some paracetamol tablets but I don't think they did much.

I've never had a regular doctor, I've only had one checkup since becoming a teenager (and that was 5 mins at the most) so I don't know anything about how to go about consulting a doctor, especially since I've only been in the UK for a couple of months.

This morning it was the worst it's ever been and I was wondering how one goes about going to hospital. I was hardly going to call an ambulance, I'd have to get a bus. Can someone just walk in to hospital reception and say 'I've had stomach pains for a week'? I ended up going down to a local doctor's surgery and registering there, but I can't get an appointment for nine days, and even then their policy is that the first appointment after registering is with a trainee doctor.

I guess I'm asking if anyone knows what might be wrong with me, and also if someone can tell me the boundaries... this doesn't seem to be life threatening, so the emergency room is out, but it doesn't feel like something that'll pass - getting worse every day for a week now.

What should I do?

05-19-2005, 11:39 AM	#1 (permalink)
Rlyss The Pusher Location: Edinburgh	I feel awful, and a question about hospital For the past week I've been feeling like shit. It's worst in the morning and gets slightly better throughout the day but it's always there. I don't know if I've had my appendix out (I can't see a scar so I guess not.) I get a cramp, like a stabbing pain in my stomach, about 3 inches to the left of my navel, and sometimes on the right of it too. Last week it was cramping further up, right in the middle of the torso below the breastbone. It's general cramping and stabbing pains for the first minute or so, then it gets localized to the area near my navel, then it sort of fades out again. It's like a knife twisting around It's slightly less agonizing if I lay flat on my back... if I lie on my side it's worst. I took some paracetamol tablets but I don't think they did much. I've never had a regular doctor, I've only had one checkup since becoming a teenager (and that was 5 mins at the most) so I don't know anything about how to go about consulting a doctor, especially since I've only been in the UK for a couple of months. This morning it was the worst it's ever been and I was wondering how one goes about going to hospital. I was hardly going to call an ambulance, I'd have to get a bus. Can someone just walk in to hospital reception and say 'I've had stomach pains for a week'? I ended up going down to a local doctor's surgery and registering there, but I can't get an appointment for nine days, and even then their policy is that the first appointment after registering is with a trainee doctor. I guess I'm asking if anyone knows what might be wrong with me, and also if someone can tell me the boundaries... this doesn't seem to be life threatening, so the emergency room is out, but it doesn't feel like something that'll pass - getting worse every day for a week now. What should I do?