I am in the US, so financial calculations need to be factored in.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, felt like I was going to die, then vomitted.
Now heart beating slightly off, not feeling great but not terrible, had mild chest pain earlier in evening…
Kinda feel off. Have medical insurance with large deductible.
Ignore it? Taxi to ER? Call 911? Genuinely don’t know and don’t like 911 since police are involved.
Also I feel hot, feel burning around my neck.
I am in the US, so financial calculations need to be factored in.
God I fucking hate what capitalism has done to what should be basic human rights.
**tl;dr ** Probably severe acid reflux but hard to say, use your insurance to get checked out, cops are a non-issue for this kind of call. To the Europeans, yes we know our health system sucks.
First off, I am not a health professional. However, based on somewhat common knowledge, If you’re barfing blood or pooping what looks like coffee grinds, immediate 911 call you’ve got less than 24 hours left. If your chest pain continues, that’s highly likely a trip to at least urgent care, don’t ignore chest pains. If you woke up choking on your barf, but it settled down and able to catch your breath, and your chest pain is going away it’s highly likely acid reflux which can be caused by a lot of different things. Either way you need to get looked at by a doctor soon and not consult the Internet. Your copay is shown on your insurance card for a dr’s visit so you can do your financial calculations. 50 to 100 bucks now is better than 500 to 10,000 bucks later.
Don’t wait either since you have insurance. Urgent care’s usually covered at a more affordable rate. If you get admitted to an ER from the urgent care, MOST halfway decent insurances will cover you so you’re not out hundred’s of thousands of dollars for a Tylonal. Before the Europeans chime in, yes, health insurance in the US sucks. It’s not free. You can talk the hospital down on your bill and you can absolutely renegotiate your minimum payment. Sometimes, if you’re nice in talking to both the insurance and the hospital, a grant can be found and you owe nothing. It’s a lot of work and time so don’t panic when you see the first bill.
So everyone in the US knows, cops are never involved in a 911 call unless there’s a crime in progress or there is an immediate threat to the responding EMS team. Don’t call 911 with some kind of threat. Obviously you’ll be in a panic and the 911 operator will only send what is needed.
Learned recently that reflux can cause throat cancer or some shit. Listen to what your body is saying.
This is what killed my grandfather. Before he passed, they removed half his esophagus and pulled his stomach into his chest to remove the damaged parts, that lasted a few years, then he gave in to cancer.
Definitely get on top of it while you still can.
Chiming in to say you’re right. I ignored acid reflux for years and now have what’s called “Barret’s esophagus”, pre-cancerous cells in my throat. It turned out I had a hiatus hernia. Had that repaired and now have a gastroscopy every couple of years to check I don’t have cancer. So yes, listen to your body.
You definitely want to get that checked out
Vomit, burning, heart pain etc… Are all in the “pretty alarming” category
This was me when I had Norovirus, though the puking was preceded by firehose-level shits until I took an Imodium, after which it switched ends before deciding on some rather unpleasant alternating events
I had those issues before the doctor diagnosed GERD/Reflux, and prescribed medication. Now I take a Famotidine every day, twice if I’ve had something particularly spicy. I never have that problem anymore.
I finally did something about it when I aspirated in the middle of the night, like you did. It can actually give you pneumonia, which happened to me.
BTW, a banana can act as a pretty good acid treatment in a pinch., like in the middle of the night.
Also, which side you sleep on makes a difference, too. Your esophagus goes straight down the middle of your chest, until it reaches your stomach, which makes a left turn. So when you sleep on your left side, the opening to the esophagus is above the stomach, making it difficult for food to slip into it.
But if you sleep on your right side, your stomach is above the opening, and any undigested contents are up against that opening… if it’s weak, or opens, gravity draws that food into your esophagus, causing reflux.
So sleeping on your left side is preferred.
Really sorry you don’t have healthcare! Have you tried the NHS symptoms checker?. You don’t need to be eligible for NHS treatment to use it, you don’t even register. IME they are a bit trigger happy with saying you need to get checked out but it will hopefully give you a steer. Good luck
Op, you alive?
Could be a simple case of reflux - when some stomach valve doesn’t stay completely closed during sleep and lets gastric juices and food creep upwards.
But the best medical advice is not to seek medical advice from randos online. Go to urgent care and see what they say, or at the very least lookup if there is a nurse hotline where you live and call it.
This sounds like GERD/acid reflux, which I am unfortunately far too familiar with. Go see a doctor.
If it takes too long to see a GI specialist, there are OTC acid reducers like omeprazole you can start in the interim. They take a while to see results, especially if the reflux has injured your esophagus.
Sounds almost identical to my panic attacks. But im no dr, go see one if you don’t feel better
I always ask myself, “is this worth driving across town and waiting in a gross lobby for 4 hours?”
Yes. I personally wouldn’t call a wee-woo wagon, but it’s def not normal.
You okay?
I’ve had something similar other than the heart rate stuff, and like top comment says it was acid reflux. But if an irregular heart rhythm persists more than you have felt before, then absolutely go!
Do you have any chest, arm or back pain? Do you have a pulse oximeter?
Can you go to a minor ER? If you hadn’t said your heartbeat was off, I would say not necessarily a big concern at this point, but this also sounds similar to what happened to a friend of mine with an aortic dissection.
She thought it was food poisoning at first, finally went to a minor med, they refused to treat her bc her and sent her to the ER ASAP. She ended up in the hospital for several weeks.
