human
I agree. He should go straight to the most advanced ER/hospital local to him. A lot of things are probably going on.Once the more acute and scary things are sorted out I'd look into a sleep study to find out if he has sleep apnea since it can cause a cascade of serious problems.Also I do not mean to sound insensitive (and of course doing this is a very personal decision) but if obesity is a big problem for him he may want to consider weight loss surgery after he recovers from whatever is going on now. I was obese my entire life, once my health started failing I had gastric bypass surgery and I can't tell you how much it has helped me and probably saved my life.
gpt
I agree he needs urgent evaluation with his worsening symptoms. The differential is broad for his various symptoms and will likely need cardiac, pulmonary and GI workup.
Disclaimer: Not a doctor.With Paul's history of being active outdoors(I also wonder if he has any pets?), I also wonder if the hospital should be checking for Lyme Disease? Depending on his other symptoms not sure how high up it would be on the differential?I know that coughing is pretty rare in it, but from the sounds of it whatever he's had has been going on for a prolonged period of time, and it kind of sounds similar to this patients story, but also maybe not entirely?I guess it could be something for the OP to ask the doctor about that they're talking with.
It is something I thought about though I dont know Lyme prevalence in the UK and more importantly Lyme is more associated with heart block than with heart failure. Something worth thinking about though