Swallowed nose stud? Lol?

[Louna]

I know the title sounds ridiculous. How does one swallow a nose stud? Well, let me explain.

my sleeping pattern is backwards at the moment. I went to sleep last night at 5am. I woke up at 12pm, just in time for sunday lunch.

So, halfway through my sleep, i woke up. It must have been 8am or 9am ish. I was half asleep, but i was holding my nose stud. I must have been fiddling with it in my sleep.

I immediately fell back asleep, when i woke up at 12pm, there was no sign of my nose stud at all. I have looked everywhere, all day i have searched for it. I’ve had my whole room out, its not in any clothes, bed sheets, under mattress, under bed, ANYWHERE.

So i have come to the conclusion that i must have swallowed it while half asleep / in my sleep. Its the only explanation i have.

Its a “twist stud”. So it is straight on one part and has a curve on the other. Its made of surgical steel and is titanium plated.

At first i was panicking about it hooking onto something and not “passing through”.

I called NHS 111 to just ask for advice. The nurse i spoke to said it doesn’t sound like an issue and to just keep an eye on my stools etc.

But then she said “because you were asleep, you could have breathed it in.” And to just check for any chest pains etc.

Now i’m worried i have breathed it in instead. What if its sitting in my lungs right now? Like its such a small thing what if its just gone through unnoticed :(
I am in absolute panic. The panic is making my chest hurt, it was fine earlier. So now i can’t distinguish between the 2.

I can’t afford to pay £50 in taxis to the nearest hospital and back. I don’t know of anyone who can take me. I’m just such a mess right now and i’m in absolute panic over it.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Did the nurse mean if you had chest pain there & then? I would imagine if a foreign object was in your lung you would have symptoms. From my asthma I know even tiny pieces if bacon can cause symptoms a doctor can spot. Your lungs would be trying to expell the object.

I think she is just trying to be cautious because the stomach would be a lower priority to the lung.

[Louna]

Did the nurse mean if you had chest pain there & then? I would imagine if a foreign object was in your lung you would have symptoms. From my asthma I know even tiny pieces if bacon can cause symptoms a doctor can spot. Your lungs would be trying to expell the object.

I think she is just trying to be cautious because the stomach would be a lower priority to the lung.

its 3.18am now. This happened before 12pm so going on 15+Hours now. I haven’t had any coughing or urge to cough apart from basic throat clearing. I would have thought id be struggling with coughing or something but i ended up calling them back to ask what she meant and all she said was that pains could be related to it and thats it? So now i just have to wait and see. I can’t even think of sleeping, i’m too scared i’m gonna stop breathing because of it or something If its in my lung ugh :(

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think you would probably have been woken in a coughing fit if you breathed it in. When I was a kid I had lots of problems with my asthma and remember one time they asked about the bacon bits because of my wheezing. If something so tiny could do that then you would expect a nose stud to aggravate your lungs more. If it had happened I really think you would know about it quickly so the length of time suggests everything is going to be ok. If you can't sleep try to occupy your time to distract yourself and you may end up tired enough to get some hours. You will catch up tomorrow if not... and hopefully find that stud has rolled under something.

[Louna]

I think you would probably have been woken in a coughing fit if you breathed it in. When I was a kid I had lots of problems with my asthma and remember one time they asked about the bacon bits because of my wheezing. If something so tiny could do that then you would expect a nose stud to aggravate your lungs more. If it had happened I really think you would know about it quickly so the length of time suggests everything is going to be ok. If you can't sleep try to occupy your time to distract yourself and you may end up tired enough to get some hours. You will catch up tomorrow if not... and hopefully find that stud has rolled under something.

yeah that was my thought too. i had quite a good sleep last night and i woke up feeling fine. Still no coughing / breathing issues or “pain” so looking more and more doubtful that its in my lungs. Still a little anxious but i think i’ll survive haha