Overdose/ Self-Poisoning Question - Advice?

Hatter · 04-03-2011, 12:18 AM

I've taken about [several] ODs since the end of January, and at first I felt pretty much okay, I'd have a sore tummy the next day and stuff, but nothing major. So I thought I'd leave it, not get it checked out and not tell anyone about it. But now I'm starting to feel ill and I have no idea what to do. I'm terrified of going to the doctor about it in case I've done something stupid enough to actually make me ill and they'll tell my parents.

I told my psychologist, who asked the psychiatrists at the hospital, who want me to get a blood test, but I really don't see the point, looking online it appears to be that the damage is already done and there is nothing anybody could do to sort it after the 24 hour window.

Is there anything other than going to the doctor which I could do to stop the sore stomach and nausea?

Sorry for rambling, and thanks in advance for any replies :)

Sleepless123 · 04-03-2011, 12:37 AM

Overdoses add up regardless of the size and i would say that you are at extreme risk as you have not been seen/treated after any of them.

i dont think that you can do anything except go to a doctor or hospital or this stage and would reccomend that you follow advice regarding having the blood test. Well done for telling your Psychologist but you really do need to follow the advice given now.

i know this isnt what you wanted to hear but its really important. What country are you in and how old are you?Then it may be easier for us to work out how likely it is that they can involve your parents.

But having said that regardless of whether they have to tell them or not i think you really need these tests/help and should consider it.It could be a matter or life or death.i dont want to scare you but just cos you had been feeling well doesnt mean you are.And it may mean they can do things to treat you or at the very least monitor you if you are not well and that again could prove essential.

Can you talk to your Psychologist about your fears regarding your parents finding out?Presumably he/she has not told them so far and will be able to understand your fears most likely and be able to re-assure you further.

im sorry - i know im saying all the things you dont want to hear but this is really important and im concerned about you.You should get out after any OD and your body has been under enormous strain.

xx xx

Hatter · 04-03-2011, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleepless123

Overdoses add up regardless of the size and i would say that you are at extreme risk as you have not been seen/treated after any of them.

i dont think that you can do anything except go to a doctor or hospital or this stage and would reccomend that you follow advice regarding having the blood test. Well done for telling your Psychologist but you really do need to follow the advice given now.

i know this isnt what you wanted to hear but its really important. What country are you in and how old are you?Then it may be easier for us to work out how likely it is that they can involve your parents.

But having said that regardless of whether they have to tell them or not i think you really need these tests/help and should consider it.It could be a matter or life or death.i dont want to scare you but just cos you had been feeling well doesnt mean you are.And it may mean they can do things to treat you or at the very least monitor you if you are not well and that again could prove essential.

Can you talk to your Psychologist about your fears regarding your parents finding out?Presumably he/she has not told them so far and will be able to understand your fears most likely and be able to re-assure you further.

im sorry - i know im saying all the things you dont want to hear but this is really important and im concerned about you.You should get out after any OD and your body has been under enormous strain.

xx xx

Thanks for taking the time to reply :)

I'm in the UK and I've just turned 18, but with all the SI and stuff, I'm scared they'll tell my parents anyway. And if I wasn't fine, then they'd find out since I live at home. My psychologist said she won't tell my parents, and the doctors shouldn't either, but that doesn't mean they won't - she said it herself, it's at their discretion to decide if they have to.

I've got an appointment with my GP on Tuesday, and I'm not sure if my psychologist will have written to her by then, and if not I have no idea how I could possibly bring it up, the GPs at my surgery always like to keep appointments between 5 and 10 minutes, and I need to discuss other stuff too, and since mum made the appointment for me, she knows why I'm going and will expect me to have some sort of answers when I get home.

Animad · 04-03-2011, 11:35 PM

So long as they're not something you are doing that will lead to serious harm to yourself (ie suicide) or others, then at 18 they can't tell your parents and you are fully under the confidentiality laws of the UK; as fully as your parents or anyone is. If they have said they won't and the doctors shouldn't then they should keep to that and confidentiality is something all doctors hold very strongly; if they break it then they potentially have to hold up their argument for doing so in a sort of court and if this isn't strong enough they can lose their licence to become a doctor so they won't just tell them and it isn't really at their own discretion.

You NEED to bring it up. If not at this appointment then book another that your mum doesn't know about and theirs no reason why you should tell her anything that goes on in the doctors, wheher personal or not; do you expect your mum to tell you everything?! It's the same now you're 18 and she has to realise that even if you lay it down like that.

Doctors usually do have 10min appointment slots which is why they like to keep them this way. However, if they feel the need they will overrun and I personally have had one which has lasted almost half an hour before. I felt really guilty for slowing him down and increasing waiting times for others but it was something I needed and doctors will recognise this.

It may be easier if you write out about the ODs etc than say it, some people find this easier and if that is the case I would suggest you give more information about them than what has been given here (not saying you've not given enough here, there is a limit to what you can say on the FAF due to tip sharing) and let them know EVERYTHING you think may be important. The reason you should go is to see if they can find out the problem which may be due to the ODs or something totally different that just may affect these. Also, damage can be done and your doctors will want to know the extent of this as that can affect a lot of things which go on with your body and also what tablets you can take in the future as well as treatments can be given to help; it's not necessarily get seen within 24hrs or that's it, there's nothing that can be done though you should be seen straight away after an OD.

Also, if you do OD then it is important to get checked out at A&E and not drive yourself there. This is because all ODs (however small you may think they are/ whatever meds they may be) do carry a risk, some more than others and there's also a chance you could react badly to an ingredient in the tablets too (which doesn't just mean the active ingredient (ie Ibuprofen/ Paracetamol...), it could be whatever they use to bind the tablet together/ the colouring used etc) and the more you take then the more you could react. As well as this, you need to get seen so they can see at that point if it is causing any damage because if seen straight away they can assess whether your kidneys/ liver/ heart/ other organs are affected and ways of helping these and reducing the risk of any further damage in the long term but knowing at the moment whether there is any damage is important. I'd also make sure you tell them how much alcohol you drink as well as things like whether you smoke/ take recreational drugs as these can also have an affect on certain organs too.

Animad · 04-03-2011, 11:40 PM

Also, given the circumstances, really no advice should be given via us on what meds you can take for the nausea. If it's after an OD then I'd say none but other than that you should really ask a doctor as any damage that may have been done by these ODs as well as any meds you may be on and any medical problems you may have can affect whether or not you should use certain medications and which one would be best for you.

Hatter · 12-03-2011, 12:04 AM

Thank you for your replies,

I couldn't bring it up when I was at the doctor, she was rushing me just so she wasn't running late for the rest of the day, so I was out within 10 minutes.

And for the last week or so I've been feeling pretty ill, so I'm too scared to go back. I keep getting bad nausea, and stomach aches which are keeping me off school. I've really messed up...

Animad · 12-03-2011, 12:13 AM

As for the fact that it's potentially the cause of the problems you're still seeing now and you're feeling really under the weather I'd strongly advise you to see a doctor (even if that's an out of hours GP over the weekend) about this and see what they think/ if anything else needs to be done and you need to tell them the full story so they can help you as much as they can and give you the right treatment. If you don't then they may miss something or even potentially put you on treatment for something else which then worsens this. If you struggle to tell them then I strongly advocate writing things down and passing them to the doctor to read. It can take a lot of stress away from you and also give them additional information which you may have either not been able to say or have forgotten due to the stress you were in at the time.