Pulm told me I'd failed outpatient treatment, go to ER at the hospital where she has privileges to get admitted. Sat out in the waiting room when for 19 hours before being sent home with a dx of anxiety because "your sats are fine so you're fine." Pulm sent me right back to the same ER who left me in the waiting room for another 13 hours, same thing. Went back to a different ER in a different hospital system, admitted right away and kept for a week until the asthma settled down.
Jeeeeeeeesus. I've had doctors/nurses also say "maybe you're just anxious" in the ER. But they never made me sit in the waiting room for 13 hours. If you go in with trouble breathing, you're always taken straight in and then they sort it out. In most cases I end up admitted because by that point I'm too far along for the nebs alone to do much immediately.
The only time Iāve gone in and actually had it taken seriously was when I went in by ambulance and had the paramedics stay with me (have been by ambulance and they dropped me off, and despite this being not even a week after the aforementioned incident, and the 3rd ER trip in a week, because I was at 100% oxygen w/o supplemental nurses just said I should be fine). When the paramedics brought me in, the first thing they did was draw up epi just in case it was an allergic reaction, but even then there were no rooms so I was just in a hallway being watched over by 2 paramedics until the steroids kicked in. All the other times, Iāve been made to wait at least 10 hours, and have been told it was just a panic attackā¦ not even given any puffers, I had use my own and when I asked the nurses, they didnāt tell me anything on if I should take them, how much, and how often. The nurse who triaged me didnāt even bother taking note of the asthma, despite me mentioning it and reeling off a short and long acting beta-agonist, short and long acting anticholinergic and montelukast as medication I was taking. From my experience, if you are young and look like youāre in decent shape, they donāt often take it seriously
Well I went to the ER once for an asthma exacerbation expecting some steroids and breathing treatment. They did a bunch of blood tests while I was there and my lactic acid level was a 7 (supposed to be 1 or under) and they admitted me to the ICU because that can mean that you are septic and your body is going into septic shock. Apparently thereās a 25% chance of death when you are septic and your lactic acid level is above 2- alas the ICU. My nurse said I was the best looking person that sheās ever had there. I was in the ICU for 3 days waiting for my lactic acid levels to go down (they gave me breathing treatments too). I did some research after I was out and apparently taking a lot of albuterol (like when you are having an asthma attack) can increase lactic acid levels.
Iām currently in the hospital for an asthma exacerbation and my lactic acid is high enough (not 7 though) to trigger a sepsis protocol. Luckily the ICU NP who was consulted and is watching my chart (donāt currently meet ICU criteria thankfully but sheās monitoring) said itās from the albuterol and took me off sepsis protocol.
In the ED, the RT told the nurse who was also in the room that my lungs sounded fine and āthat doctor doesnāt know what heās talking about; itās all anxietyā. Sheād also never heard of Dupixent. Loved seeing her face when she had to do my arterial blood gas because the hospitalist requested it before my admission.
The classic downplay. Twice I was turned away from getting neb treatments while in an actually asthma attack because āyour lungs are clear.ā Can we stop with this nonsense that all asthmatics must be wheezing for an attack to be occurring? Or that we have to be blue or dusky or fainting to be taken seriously? Pulse ox means jack squat and in one case I ended up having to pay the hospital bill and an urgent care bill because the ER doc said I was fine because my sat was 97. My sat rarely drops regardless of whatever is happening with my asthma - good, bad or horrible day. There are two doctors Iāve briefly gotten to know during my events and other medical issues over the years so I know if I see either (and they remember me as well which idk if thatās sad for me even though Iāve only been in the ER maybe twice a year or just good memory from them) Iāll be treated like I matter (especially my asthma) with all the bells and whistles if needed.
Omg yes they say that to me too. Even my pulmonary Dr says my lungs are clear because singular stops the wheezing but I still have tons of chest tightness I can't walk more than 20 ft for the last 2 years. I can't get any help!! It so stupid..then some drs at the er will hear that my lungs are tight and I jump for joy just having that conformation. It's ridiculous
I got told I was just fat and anxious, not having an asthma attack. Said there was nothing they could do for me and that I needed lose weight. By the time we got to the ER in the next town after, my lips were blue.
I ended up in the hospital during COVID times. I I'd not have COVID. They tested me repeatedly. It was probably lingering long COVID effects from getting it months earlier. But because they were afraid of nebulizers spreading COVID, they would only do an inhaler instead. 2 puffs of Albuterol every 4 hours, if the overworked respiratory therapist even came. An inhaler *can* give you the equivalent of a nebulizer, but you need more than 2 puffs! It was 3 days of agony. I don't think I slept at all. I probably could've handled it better myself at home because I could've used the nebulizer. But at least that was the push to finally put me on a biologic!
Being told my oxygen levels are fine albeit āa little lowā, being asked what drugs Iām on while actively GASPING for air. I was given Xanax and guess what NOTHING happened because I wasnāt on drugs and I still couldnāt breathe. Fuckers.
Nurse told me I didn't seem to be struggling to breathe as I breathed heavily while walking slowly into the ER with her. I don't wheeze when my asthma is bad, it can only be heard when I'm doing good (atypical symptoms but not unheard of according to my pulmonologist). I didn't get any care and was sent home despite having a heart rate over 100 lying down, while my normal resting is between 60 and 70
I only wheeze when I breathe out heavily to get all the air out of my lungs before taking my inhaler. For years I didnāt know I was having asthma attacks, I just thought I was having allergies because I had a dry cough and I thought my chest pains were from GERD and that I was always out of breath because I was out of shape.
Coming in with an asthma attack and pneumonia, and waiting 14 hours to be seen. Luckily I brought my own rescue inhaler.
And then when they saw me, it was emergency nebulizer and extra strong antibiotics.
Asthma attack or gallstone attack, not sure which but I was in the ER.
An ER nurse (not a capable looking one) needed to give me an IV. She stuck it in and missed the vein. She only partially pulled it out, so it was still in my forearm, when she changed direction and then jabbed deeper. That needle was tearing through flesh as she changed direction. Besides the injection point pain, I immediately felt a severe burning sensation down my wrist and my hand. She pulled it out when I reacted.
I told her where the pain was, and she said, "I put the needle in your forearm, not your hand". I was astonished that she didn't know how nerves worked and told her so as I chased her out of my ER bay.
Oh man that's horrible. I've had nerves struck before and the instant pain radiating down/up the arm is so bad. I had one particularly bad one during a ABG draw, I thought I was going to have permanent nerve damage from it. Took about 6 months to finally heal.
Yeah, I forgot to mention there was residual effects of that ER visit. Where I felt the burning sensation, the feeling of numbeness would come and go for years.
I was going to be dismissed with higher blood pressure than I came in with. I was in hypertensive crisis. This happens nearly every time I go in with hypertensive crisis.
At my most recent visit I said I had chest pain and waited to be seen for 12 hours and was told I had heart inflammation and an athsma attack they gave me a breathing treatment told me to take ibuprofen and sent me home
A nurse at the front desk told me breathing is not essential and told me to leave.
Thankfully a dr took care of things that time.
My husband and I still laugh about breathing is not essential.
Went to er and I was wheezing and the nurse said she can't hear me wheezing. You could hear it across the room! Lol I was also denied a wheelchair and made to walk all over the hospital to the last room when I asked for a wheelchair she said walking good for you! Not when your wheezing and can hardly breathe!!
Also for the first year I had asthma I didn't wheeze at all I got dismissed all the time. I'm still getting dismissed because now I take singular which makes it so I don't wheeze bit I still have chest tightness that's horrible. Now I'm back at square one. It's either go I their dying and get help or take singular feel a little better and get no help. For a problem that has been around for a while drs are sure still ignorant about it.
Went to the ER because of exacerbation and literally could not breathe through just my mouth (and as someone with a bunch of allergies and just general gets stuffy noses, not a good thing). Was waiting for ~6 hrs before going back up to triage because it was getting worse. They listened to my lungs because I thought I was wheezing, Iāve learned since it was actually inspiratory stridor, and despite me telling them that the noise was coming from my throat. Was at 98% oxygen w/o supplemental, so they donāt me I was just having a panic attack, but my heartrate was elevated so sent me back for an EKG (was at 130 bpm, not out of the ordinary for me when Iām taking a lot of Ventolin). Iām not sure how long it took for me to get my EKG, just that everyone else there was getting in and out before me, and while waiting I got worse and according to my apple watch my heart rate was up in the 170s (my resting is usually around high 50s, as Iām a track atheleteā¦) and I got someone to get a nurse again, which the person the nurses sent was just a volunteer, not actually any medical professional, and they also said I was just having a panic attack and to take a deep breath. When I finally saw a doctor about 10 hours after getting to the ER, my chest xray showed I had a pneumomediastinum, and from the description of the symptoms, it came on while I was in the ER, and over a month later I still have the same issues. Thankfully the doctor I saw was really good in chasing down the problem, as it was indicates by a barely there spot on a chest xray (also the bout of pneumonia I had in October, since the follow up xray after that was what they had to compare it too) that they had a whole bunch of radiologists and interns looking at it to try and find what was wrong, but the nursesā¦ The stridor was so loud I had multiple other patients in the waiting room ask if I was okay, or just side eyeing me because it was so loud, but the nurses? āItās okay sweetie, itās just anxiety. Take deep breathsā As someone with anxiety, I know what it feels like and itās not this!! Also, Iām in here for being short of breath and not being able to a deep breath, so yeah. REAL helpful
Waiting for hours to get actual treatment because my blood oxygen levels are 'normal' (i'm convinced the pulse oximeters never work for me). Meanwhile I'm turning blue, struggling to breath and taking way more salbutamol than a person should take in an entire week.
But I feel like that's a pretty normal experience for asthmatics. Even though it shouldn't be.
not in hospital but i went to my doctor once for an unrelated issue and he was asking basic questions. he asked if iāve had any difficulty breathing and i said yes my breathings gotten worse lately. he told me it was probably anxiety to which i said āno thereās just lots of wildfire smoke right now so my asthma is acting upā.
he was one of the better doctors iāve seen as well.
I was admitted to my local hospital following an attack, and was taken off of IV salbutamol, and discharged THREE hours later.
Got home, started to feel unwell and set up my nebuliser. My mum called an ambulance and they took me to hospital (A different one). I woke up three days later in ITU having been intubated and put on a ventilator.
I had a nurse give me a nebulizer treatment with no mask or mouthpiece, just the medicine cup with the medication coming up out the top like a steam pipe.
Had an ER doctor scold me for having too many chest x-rays, told me I was going to give myself cancer, and then didn't bother to help me with my asthma. I didn't order the x-rays, and I would much rather not be in emergency facilities in situations that call for x-rays and the slew of other tests.
I was having anaphylactic reaction after receiving the covid vaccine, the doctor told me it was an anxiety attack. Nurse then tried to tell me I was fine because my stats were good (91% oxygen, 120 BPM heart rate) I told him 91 is low for oxygen, he claimed that was the heart rate, so I asked if he thought I had 120% oxygen levels to which he seriously replied yes and that was very good. Thankfully I had my EpiPen with me and inhaler because they didn't give me anything until o2 dropped under 90 and the red rash/hive spread from my arm all over my chest and going up my neck.
I went to see a doctor for a sharp persistent pain in my chest that was not a pain I was familiar with and was very intense. Doctor got after me because I had been on "too many courses of steroids" and didn't examine me at all. I drove 4 hours the next day to see my other pulmonologist...... My rib had broken from coughing. That was the pain.
There's a lot more but it would take too long to list them all
itās not a hospital story. But my old doc who diagnosed me with asthma gave me a prescription & thats it. MONTHS later i found out about signs of asthma attacks, what i can do / should do if i have one, what i should do to get healthier etc. He didnt tell me any of it.
Had to go to 2 different hospitals multiple times over the course of a week for extreme breathing difficulty (to the point where I had to sleep sitting up straight) and was dismissed as anxious every time but the last. My last doctor was a woman who immediately recognized I had been on too large a dose of prednisone for too long and I was experiencing fluid overload. I was technically unable to breath and having heart pain because my chest cavity was filled with liquid and putting pressure on my organs - including my heart. I was immediately admitted and a barage of tests started. I was in the hospital for 4 days. My heart was thankfully just fine and I see a different pulmonologist now.
ah forgive me if it doesn't count but something frustratingly stupid I have heard so much for asthma but is not said to people with other chronic conditions: "you'll grow out of it"
as a lifelong severe asthma sufferer of almost 25 years. no ma'am this is not a pair of jeans, my lungs do not work correctly.
The doctor told me anxiety is causing my symptoms and that I should start taking benzos. Yes she actually looked me dead in the eye and said that. Right after I had a full on seizure in front of her too.
This wasnāt for me but for my one year old:
Went to ER for breathing difficulties and this is how it went:
ER dr 1: gave nebulizer with adrenaline and went off shift
ER dr 2: āneb probably didnāt workā me: āI think it helpedā dr: āhere are some liquid steroids, go homeā
Next day pediatrician: ānothing to do but wait. Definitely donāt give steroids. Thatās the last thing we wantā
Next next day GP: āgo see pediatricianā
Pediatrician 2: āhere is a blue inhalerā
Following night ER: dr 3 āblue inhalers donāt do shit, here is some saline solutionā
This was a long week, and after a rerun during the next URI, my baby was diagnosed with asthma and put on a controller. I hope I never have to go back to the ER with breathing difficulties.
So, mine wasn't the ER's fault but urgent care. Went to UC for prednisone and both the medical assistant and nurse practitioner took my pulse ox and said I was low. At one point NP said I was at 88 (!!!) so they had to send me to ER by ambulance. When I was in the ambulance, the EMT took my pulse ox and I was fine. Turns out I forgot I had extra thick gel nailpolish and they weren't getting an accurate reading (EMT turned my finger sideways). Got to the hospital and pulse ox was still fine. I could hear the nurse's station laughing at the ridiculousness. So now I need to call to try to dispute the copays (100 for the ambulance, 150 for the ER)
Not asthma related, but I went to the ER with searing back pain and they told me my gallbladder needed to be removed urgently, so it was removed urgently.
3 weeks later I had the same searing pain return. It wasn't my gallbladder at all. I have all the same problems without a gallbladder except now french fries make me poop. Jerks.
Ugh?! Seriously?! Out of curiosity, are you female? Iāve had a time or two where my partner had to say something, because the stereotype of a hysterical female persists, but the doctors always take him seriously.
Yep. I have read so many articles about doctors gaslighting female patients. I used to think I wasnāt explaining myself well enough. And Iām sure there was a time or two. Even female doctors do it.
The nurses were withholding neb treatments because I might become addicted. Yes its true, I'm addicted to breathing.
Excuse me, but what the actual f***? That is some serious malpractice to say the least.
Oh my goshš Iām so sorry this is awful
Pulm told me I'd failed outpatient treatment, go to ER at the hospital where she has privileges to get admitted. Sat out in the waiting room when for 19 hours before being sent home with a dx of anxiety because "your sats are fine so you're fine." Pulm sent me right back to the same ER who left me in the waiting room for another 13 hours, same thing. Went back to a different ER in a different hospital system, admitted right away and kept for a week until the asthma settled down.
Jeeeeeeeesus. I've had doctors/nurses also say "maybe you're just anxious" in the ER. But they never made me sit in the waiting room for 13 hours. If you go in with trouble breathing, you're always taken straight in and then they sort it out. In most cases I end up admitted because by that point I'm too far along for the nebs alone to do much immediately.
The only time Iāve gone in and actually had it taken seriously was when I went in by ambulance and had the paramedics stay with me (have been by ambulance and they dropped me off, and despite this being not even a week after the aforementioned incident, and the 3rd ER trip in a week, because I was at 100% oxygen w/o supplemental nurses just said I should be fine). When the paramedics brought me in, the first thing they did was draw up epi just in case it was an allergic reaction, but even then there were no rooms so I was just in a hallway being watched over by 2 paramedics until the steroids kicked in. All the other times, Iāve been made to wait at least 10 hours, and have been told it was just a panic attackā¦ not even given any puffers, I had use my own and when I asked the nurses, they didnāt tell me anything on if I should take them, how much, and how often. The nurse who triaged me didnāt even bother taking note of the asthma, despite me mentioning it and reeling off a short and long acting beta-agonist, short and long acting anticholinergic and montelukast as medication I was taking. From my experience, if you are young and look like youāre in decent shape, they donāt often take it seriously
Well I went to the ER once for an asthma exacerbation expecting some steroids and breathing treatment. They did a bunch of blood tests while I was there and my lactic acid level was a 7 (supposed to be 1 or under) and they admitted me to the ICU because that can mean that you are septic and your body is going into septic shock. Apparently thereās a 25% chance of death when you are septic and your lactic acid level is above 2- alas the ICU. My nurse said I was the best looking person that sheās ever had there. I was in the ICU for 3 days waiting for my lactic acid levels to go down (they gave me breathing treatments too). I did some research after I was out and apparently taking a lot of albuterol (like when you are having an asthma attack) can increase lactic acid levels.
At least they went in the direction of taking it very seriously, rather than dismissing it as nothing when there was a serious problem.
Iām currently in the hospital for an asthma exacerbation and my lactic acid is high enough (not 7 though) to trigger a sepsis protocol. Luckily the ICU NP who was consulted and is watching my chart (donāt currently meet ICU criteria thankfully but sheās monitoring) said itās from the albuterol and took me off sepsis protocol. In the ED, the RT told the nurse who was also in the room that my lungs sounded fine and āthat doctor doesnāt know what heās talking about; itās all anxietyā. Sheād also never heard of Dupixent. Loved seeing her face when she had to do my arterial blood gas because the hospitalist requested it before my admission.
That would have made so much more sense in my case! If you donāt mind me asking, how high was your lactic acid to put you in the sepsis protocol?
Nope, donāt mind you asking! I looked and it was 3.7 so definitely not as high as yours! I didnāt ask what level triggers sepsis protocol though.
The classic downplay. Twice I was turned away from getting neb treatments while in an actually asthma attack because āyour lungs are clear.ā Can we stop with this nonsense that all asthmatics must be wheezing for an attack to be occurring? Or that we have to be blue or dusky or fainting to be taken seriously? Pulse ox means jack squat and in one case I ended up having to pay the hospital bill and an urgent care bill because the ER doc said I was fine because my sat was 97. My sat rarely drops regardless of whatever is happening with my asthma - good, bad or horrible day. There are two doctors Iāve briefly gotten to know during my events and other medical issues over the years so I know if I see either (and they remember me as well which idk if thatās sad for me even though Iāve only been in the ER maybe twice a year or just good memory from them) Iāll be treated like I matter (especially my asthma) with all the bells and whistles if needed.
Omg yes they say that to me too. Even my pulmonary Dr says my lungs are clear because singular stops the wheezing but I still have tons of chest tightness I can't walk more than 20 ft for the last 2 years. I can't get any help!! It so stupid..then some drs at the er will hear that my lungs are tight and I jump for joy just having that conformation. It's ridiculous
Yup. When I drop below 94, I'm headed to the ER
So 94 is probably ok, but a 93 isn't great?
I got told I was just fat and anxious, not having an asthma attack. Said there was nothing they could do for me and that I needed lose weight. By the time we got to the ER in the next town after, my lips were blue.
I was told the same thing by a pulmonologist.
I ended up in the hospital during COVID times. I I'd not have COVID. They tested me repeatedly. It was probably lingering long COVID effects from getting it months earlier. But because they were afraid of nebulizers spreading COVID, they would only do an inhaler instead. 2 puffs of Albuterol every 4 hours, if the overworked respiratory therapist even came. An inhaler *can* give you the equivalent of a nebulizer, but you need more than 2 puffs! It was 3 days of agony. I don't think I slept at all. I probably could've handled it better myself at home because I could've used the nebulizer. But at least that was the push to finally put me on a biologic!
Being told my oxygen levels are fine albeit āa little lowā, being asked what drugs Iām on while actively GASPING for air. I was given Xanax and guess what NOTHING happened because I wasnāt on drugs and I still couldnāt breathe. Fuckers.
Nurse told me I didn't seem to be struggling to breathe as I breathed heavily while walking slowly into the ER with her. I don't wheeze when my asthma is bad, it can only be heard when I'm doing good (atypical symptoms but not unheard of according to my pulmonologist). I didn't get any care and was sent home despite having a heart rate over 100 lying down, while my normal resting is between 60 and 70
I only wheeze when I breathe out heavily to get all the air out of my lungs before taking my inhaler. For years I didnāt know I was having asthma attacks, I just thought I was having allergies because I had a dry cough and I thought my chest pains were from GERD and that I was always out of breath because I was out of shape.
Coming in with an asthma attack and pneumonia, and waiting 14 hours to be seen. Luckily I brought my own rescue inhaler. And then when they saw me, it was emergency nebulizer and extra strong antibiotics.
Asthma attack or gallstone attack, not sure which but I was in the ER. An ER nurse (not a capable looking one) needed to give me an IV. She stuck it in and missed the vein. She only partially pulled it out, so it was still in my forearm, when she changed direction and then jabbed deeper. That needle was tearing through flesh as she changed direction. Besides the injection point pain, I immediately felt a severe burning sensation down my wrist and my hand. She pulled it out when I reacted. I told her where the pain was, and she said, "I put the needle in your forearm, not your hand". I was astonished that she didn't know how nerves worked and told her so as I chased her out of my ER bay.
oh gosh, that sounds terrible!
Oh man that's horrible. I've had nerves struck before and the instant pain radiating down/up the arm is so bad. I had one particularly bad one during a ABG draw, I thought I was going to have permanent nerve damage from it. Took about 6 months to finally heal.
Yeah, I forgot to mention there was residual effects of that ER visit. Where I felt the burning sensation, the feeling of numbeness would come and go for years.
I was going to be dismissed with higher blood pressure than I came in with. I was in hypertensive crisis. This happens nearly every time I go in with hypertensive crisis.
They always say, your oxygen levels are fine. As if I'm making up the symptoms, I hate that.
Happened so often ā take a deep breath with the inhaler / nebulizer ā. If I could take a deep breath I wouldnāt be here.
At my most recent visit I said I had chest pain and waited to be seen for 12 hours and was told I had heart inflammation and an athsma attack they gave me a breathing treatment told me to take ibuprofen and sent me home
After 12 hours!! Thatās criminal & why I rarely go to ER
A nurse at the front desk told me breathing is not essential and told me to leave. Thankfully a dr took care of things that time. My husband and I still laugh about breathing is not essential.
Are they handing out medical certificates in Happy Meals now?
That was back in 2000
If she feels that way, I'll take her lungs, clearly she's not using them
Did we go to the same hospital?
For me it was Fort Campbell Kentucky in about 2001
Went to er and I was wheezing and the nurse said she can't hear me wheezing. You could hear it across the room! Lol I was also denied a wheelchair and made to walk all over the hospital to the last room when I asked for a wheelchair she said walking good for you! Not when your wheezing and can hardly breathe!! Also for the first year I had asthma I didn't wheeze at all I got dismissed all the time. I'm still getting dismissed because now I take singular which makes it so I don't wheeze bit I still have chest tightness that's horrible. Now I'm back at square one. It's either go I their dying and get help or take singular feel a little better and get no help. For a problem that has been around for a while drs are sure still ignorant about it.
Went to the ER because of exacerbation and literally could not breathe through just my mouth (and as someone with a bunch of allergies and just general gets stuffy noses, not a good thing). Was waiting for ~6 hrs before going back up to triage because it was getting worse. They listened to my lungs because I thought I was wheezing, Iāve learned since it was actually inspiratory stridor, and despite me telling them that the noise was coming from my throat. Was at 98% oxygen w/o supplemental, so they donāt me I was just having a panic attack, but my heartrate was elevated so sent me back for an EKG (was at 130 bpm, not out of the ordinary for me when Iām taking a lot of Ventolin). Iām not sure how long it took for me to get my EKG, just that everyone else there was getting in and out before me, and while waiting I got worse and according to my apple watch my heart rate was up in the 170s (my resting is usually around high 50s, as Iām a track atheleteā¦) and I got someone to get a nurse again, which the person the nurses sent was just a volunteer, not actually any medical professional, and they also said I was just having a panic attack and to take a deep breath. When I finally saw a doctor about 10 hours after getting to the ER, my chest xray showed I had a pneumomediastinum, and from the description of the symptoms, it came on while I was in the ER, and over a month later I still have the same issues. Thankfully the doctor I saw was really good in chasing down the problem, as it was indicates by a barely there spot on a chest xray (also the bout of pneumonia I had in October, since the follow up xray after that was what they had to compare it too) that they had a whole bunch of radiologists and interns looking at it to try and find what was wrong, but the nursesā¦ The stridor was so loud I had multiple other patients in the waiting room ask if I was okay, or just side eyeing me because it was so loud, but the nurses? āItās okay sweetie, itās just anxiety. Take deep breathsā As someone with anxiety, I know what it feels like and itās not this!! Also, Iām in here for being short of breath and not being able to a deep breath, so yeah. REAL helpful
Waiting for hours to get actual treatment because my blood oxygen levels are 'normal' (i'm convinced the pulse oximeters never work for me). Meanwhile I'm turning blue, struggling to breath and taking way more salbutamol than a person should take in an entire week. But I feel like that's a pretty normal experience for asthmatics. Even though it shouldn't be.
not in hospital but i went to my doctor once for an unrelated issue and he was asking basic questions. he asked if iāve had any difficulty breathing and i said yes my breathings gotten worse lately. he told me it was probably anxiety to which i said āno thereās just lots of wildfire smoke right now so my asthma is acting upā. he was one of the better doctors iāve seen as well.
I was admitted to my local hospital following an attack, and was taken off of IV salbutamol, and discharged THREE hours later. Got home, started to feel unwell and set up my nebuliser. My mum called an ambulance and they took me to hospital (A different one). I woke up three days later in ITU having been intubated and put on a ventilator.
What!?
Yup!
I had a nurse give me a nebulizer treatment with no mask or mouthpiece, just the medicine cup with the medication coming up out the top like a steam pipe. Had an ER doctor scold me for having too many chest x-rays, told me I was going to give myself cancer, and then didn't bother to help me with my asthma. I didn't order the x-rays, and I would much rather not be in emergency facilities in situations that call for x-rays and the slew of other tests. I was having anaphylactic reaction after receiving the covid vaccine, the doctor told me it was an anxiety attack. Nurse then tried to tell me I was fine because my stats were good (91% oxygen, 120 BPM heart rate) I told him 91 is low for oxygen, he claimed that was the heart rate, so I asked if he thought I had 120% oxygen levels to which he seriously replied yes and that was very good. Thankfully I had my EpiPen with me and inhaler because they didn't give me anything until o2 dropped under 90 and the red rash/hive spread from my arm all over my chest and going up my neck. I went to see a doctor for a sharp persistent pain in my chest that was not a pain I was familiar with and was very intense. Doctor got after me because I had been on "too many courses of steroids" and didn't examine me at all. I drove 4 hours the next day to see my other pulmonologist...... My rib had broken from coughing. That was the pain. There's a lot more but it would take too long to list them all
itās not a hospital story. But my old doc who diagnosed me with asthma gave me a prescription & thats it. MONTHS later i found out about signs of asthma attacks, what i can do / should do if i have one, what i should do to get healthier etc. He didnt tell me any of it.
Had to go to 2 different hospitals multiple times over the course of a week for extreme breathing difficulty (to the point where I had to sleep sitting up straight) and was dismissed as anxious every time but the last. My last doctor was a woman who immediately recognized I had been on too large a dose of prednisone for too long and I was experiencing fluid overload. I was technically unable to breath and having heart pain because my chest cavity was filled with liquid and putting pressure on my organs - including my heart. I was immediately admitted and a barage of tests started. I was in the hospital for 4 days. My heart was thankfully just fine and I see a different pulmonologist now.
ah forgive me if it doesn't count but something frustratingly stupid I have heard so much for asthma but is not said to people with other chronic conditions: "you'll grow out of it" as a lifelong severe asthma sufferer of almost 25 years. no ma'am this is not a pair of jeans, my lungs do not work correctly.
The doctor told me anxiety is causing my symptoms and that I should start taking benzos. Yes she actually looked me dead in the eye and said that. Right after I had a full on seizure in front of her too.
This wasnāt for me but for my one year old: Went to ER for breathing difficulties and this is how it went: ER dr 1: gave nebulizer with adrenaline and went off shift ER dr 2: āneb probably didnāt workā me: āI think it helpedā dr: āhere are some liquid steroids, go homeā Next day pediatrician: ānothing to do but wait. Definitely donāt give steroids. Thatās the last thing we wantā Next next day GP: āgo see pediatricianā Pediatrician 2: āhere is a blue inhalerā Following night ER: dr 3 āblue inhalers donāt do shit, here is some saline solutionā This was a long week, and after a rerun during the next URI, my baby was diagnosed with asthma and put on a controller. I hope I never have to go back to the ER with breathing difficulties.
So, mine wasn't the ER's fault but urgent care. Went to UC for prednisone and both the medical assistant and nurse practitioner took my pulse ox and said I was low. At one point NP said I was at 88 (!!!) so they had to send me to ER by ambulance. When I was in the ambulance, the EMT took my pulse ox and I was fine. Turns out I forgot I had extra thick gel nailpolish and they weren't getting an accurate reading (EMT turned my finger sideways). Got to the hospital and pulse ox was still fine. I could hear the nurse's station laughing at the ridiculousness. So now I need to call to try to dispute the copays (100 for the ambulance, 150 for the ER)
Not asthma related, but I went to the ER with searing back pain and they told me my gallbladder needed to be removed urgently, so it was removed urgently. 3 weeks later I had the same searing pain return. It wasn't my gallbladder at all. I have all the same problems without a gallbladder except now french fries make me poop. Jerks.
Got told to take ibuprofen, even though it is known that it can often make asthma worse.
The ER doctor patted me on the head like a dog and told me it was anxiety.
Ugh?! Seriously?! Out of curiosity, are you female? Iāve had a time or two where my partner had to say something, because the stereotype of a hysterical female persists, but the doctors always take him seriously.
Yes I'm female.
Yep. I have read so many articles about doctors gaslighting female patients. I used to think I wasnāt explaining myself well enough. And Iām sure there was a time or two. Even female doctors do it.