I don’t think you can be clinically dead for 45 minutes and still revived unless you’ve died of hypothermia. Or do you mean they did CPR for 45 minutes before they got you back?
I was almost 50 before my first ER first. First that I knew about, any way. Dislocated my finger when my horse jerked the leadrope out of my hand.
StG
No, I’ve been to the ER a bunch of times. A few times were for foreign objects in my eye. I have dry eyes, so stuff is more likely to get lodged in my eye. I’ve had two extractions of objects from my cornea followed by antibiotic ointment and eye patches. Then, I had a paper route when I was a 11-13, and had two dog bites, followed by tetanus shots and debriding. I had an inner ear infection that interfered with my balance and made me throw up. That could have waited, but since I didn’t know what it was, and it hit me at 10pm and I was scared, I went. I was taken there by ambulance after a car accident with a concussion and badly sprained ankle. I went there once when I was pregnant, and a BP machine in a pharmacy said my BP was 160/95. Machine was broken, but my BP had been elevated during the pregnancy over what was normal for me-- 125/75 on average, up from 105/55. I went for an allergic reaction to a medication once that made my face swell. Nothing terrible came of it, but as a precaution, they started an IV, and gave me one of those oxygen tubes at my nose, and had epinephrine and an intubation tray at the ready.
Those are just the highlights. I would say, though, that 1/3 of my ER visits were genuine emergencies; 1/2 were serious things that needed eventual medical care, but could have waited, however, were unusual enough for a layperson not to be expected to know they could wait; 1/12 were panics that were a waste or the ER’s time; and 1/12 were things that could have waited, except I was in a lot of pain, like a UTI that flared up at 3am on a Sunday morning. I was crying from the pain. They gave me ice for my crotch. I left with Cipro, Pyridium, and Codeine.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been to the ER, but it’s lots. I have good insurance, though.
Exactly. I’ve been to and accompanied people to the ER for injuries that needed to be checked out and tended to sooner rather than later, but weren’t things anyone would die of. Like when my husband scorched his hand with an acetylene torch. Or when a limb from a tree he was trimming fell on his head. If he’d called a doctor they’d have just told him to go to the ER. But since he wasn’t bleeding out we knew we’d be waiting a while.
The scalp repair was interesting to watch. The cut was right down to whatever that membrane is that covers the skull.
In cases like this I figure I’ll just be glad I’m not one of those with the more serious conditions.
Do you mean the first time you were admitted as a patient, or the first time you literally step foot in a hospital?
I was 16 months old. I had a high fever with seizures so they put me in an ice bath. The stuff I’ve read about hypothermia is exactly what I wonder if happened. Plus neural plasticity l.
Otherwise, the story is that the.doctors said I was dead, so everyone had a prayer session. When I revived, they said I’d probably be a human vegetable.
Reported for serving up slow pitches in a thread where jokes are inappropriate.
So an update: I got a doctor’s appointment, and my blood pressure kept being high. So he put me on Cozaar, but my insurance wouldn’t pay for that, so now I’ve just taken lisinopril.
Unfortunately, I seem to be having some light tingling in my hands and lips and feet from it. I called the pharmacist, and they told me to talk to my doctor on Monday about it–that he didn’t think it was an emergency situation. (I was worried since it said "call your doctor right away, and listed tingling under “hyperkalemia [high potassium] symptoms.”
I’m somewhat glad I waited until the weekend, so that my family can watch me. But I also kinda wish I hadn’t so I could call the doctor right away. The pharmacist suggested he might try me on a different drug to see what happened.
Ha! I am a couch potato, I guess. Especially now that I just started a blood pressure medicine. Apparently a bit of fatigue and lightheadedness is common when starting any blood pressure medication.
Any medical professionals want to chime in on why that last part, or what besides hyperkalemia can cause tingling from BP medicines, I’d be obliged.
Have you started coughing yet?
Was Cozaar (Losaarten) denied because it’s not considered a “first line” anti hypertensive?
I take Losaarten, along with Atenolol and Norvasc every day. I was on Atenolol for years, then Losaarten was added, then Norvasc. My doctor gave me the impression that he was following a pretty much cookbook progression.
Be careful about standing up quickly. I once “jumped up” out of bed and before I knew what was up, I was on the ground.
Also, watch out for the mood effects of a beta-blocker. In a confrontation, since your heart rate remains pretty stable, you might not feel the nervousness you otherwise would.
I don’t know why they denied it. They don’t tend to tell us. I do know they required a doctor’s authorization, and that my doctor did one, but that they still wound up having to change it. That said, I can find the drug for about $10 a month from a reputable online pharmacy here in the US (one my mom uses already), so I may try to use it anyways. The side effects were a lot better.
From what I’ve read, beta blockers are no longer the front line. But neither are angiotensin 2 antagonists like Cozaar. They seem to indicate that thiazide diuretics are the front line, with ACE inhibitors or AGT2 antagonists as a second line. However, my doctor checked me for swelling, didn’t find any, and so I think that’s why he didn’t go that route.
I’d also already been on a beta blocker for anxiety, which I had stopped taking because it made me feel depressed when I took it, and my anxiety was mostly under control. So I asked him not to try a beta blocker, or anything that has depression as a side effect, due to my past history.
From what I read, it seemed that drugs like Cozaar have the least problems with side effects, which has always been an issue with me. The main thing is feeling a bit tired for a while, and the lightheadness when getting up too quickly that you mentioned. Fortunately, this is supposed to get better over time, as you body adapts.
I’m also starting up slowly, being able to increase it over time if my blood pressure doesn’t get below 185/85. So far it has, on a really low dose.
And now something different:
My mom just asked me why they put me on an IV in ER. I remember them saying it was my blood pressure, but I also thought they said it was just fluids. And I can’t find anything on why they would do that. They seem to suggest that you do fluids if the blood pressure is low, not high like it was for me.
Does anyone know?
it’s mostly routine in ER, if they think you might need IV fluids and/or IV meds. It beats having to try to place a IV line under a code situation.
Or maybe the nurse/tech in ER needed some practice in placing an IV line, that works too.
I don’t mean the IV line. They did that when they took my blood to see if I’d had a heart attack. That was over an hour before they came and did anything else (after the EKG and hooking me up, of course.)
I meant they actually gave me IV fluids after I came back from the CAT scan (during which I shook uncontrollably and was quite light headed), and the blood pressure alarm went off for being too high.
I’m just wondering the science behind giving me fluids when my BP was high. Is their a fluid they could give me that would lower my BP?
There are injectable drugs given either as a bolus or continuos infusion to address blood pressure. Also, for some CT scans they give a contrast agent IV and use fluids IV to help eliminate the material.
Almost everyone who gets bloodwork gets an IV put in so that we don’t have to stick you again if we need to give you fluids or meds. Plus if there’s any chance your condition might go south we want to have the IV already in place rather than try to place it in the midst of a crisis. As for why you got IV fluids they may have been trying to wash the IV contrast out of your system, especially if you have any history of kidney problems or diabetes. Or maybe the nitro dropped your blood pressure a little lower than intended and they gave fluids to counter that.
pendgwen, ER doc
I’ve done the “ER because my chest was hurting” thing too. There’s the temptation to feel kind of silly about it afterwards, but better safe than sorry. My philosophy on the matter is summed up by a Hi and Lois cartoon which I unfortunately can’t find on line. Goes something like this:
Her: What’s wrong?
Him: My chest is hurting.
Her: Should it be doing that?
Him: I don’t know. I’ve never been this old before.
That seems to capture the whole “this feels weird and bad and I don’t know if I should worry about it or not” aspect of the whole aging process.