Going home after your visit
After your sedation
How to look after yourself for the rest of today, after sedation in the emergency department.
You have had sedation today. The medicine can stay in your body for about 24 hours, so please follow this advice even if you feel completely fine. Make sure someone at home reads it too.
Your care details
To be completed by the team before you leave.
this Emergency Department your nearest A&E other:
none needed
Call 999, or come back to the emergency department, if any of these happen
These can be signs of a serious problem and need checking straight away.
- Trouble breathing, or breathing that is slow, shallow or noisy
- So drowsy that you are hard to wake or keep awake
- New chest pain
- Being sick (vomiting) that will not stop
- Severe pain, swelling or bleeding at the procedure site, or it is getting worse
- Swelling of the face, lips, tongue or throat, or trouble swallowing
- A spreading rash, or wheezing
CALL 999 if you are too unwell to get to hospital, or someone collapses or stops breathing.
For the next 24 hours
- A responsible adult must take you home and stay with you, ideally overnight.
- Do not drive, ride a bike or operate machinery.
- Do not drink alcohol or take recreational drugs.
- Do not sign legal papers or make important decisions.
- Do not be the only person looking after a child or a dependent adult.
- Avoid cooking on a hob or using dangerous tools.
Eating and medicines
- Start with small sips of water, then move on to light food.
- Take your usual medicines as normal, unless you were told otherwise.
- For pain, you can use paracetamol or ibuprofen if you normally can.
- Rest quietly and avoid anything strenuous for the rest of the day.
Where to get help
999
Life-threatening emergency, or a red-flag symptom above
111
Urgent but not life-threatening, or you're not sure — call or visit 111.nhs.uk, 24/7
Your team
Use the department phone in Your care details above