Medical Questions I'd Like Answered...

Occluded Sun · Post by **Occluded Sun** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:28 pm

I think you should just flat-out ask why he needs to know. And if he doesn't give you a straight answer - even if it eventually turns out there's a valid reason - dump him.

I've had bad experiences with doctors who, supposedly in the interests of time-efficiency, wasted more time refusing to answer basic questions about the situation than simply explaining would have taken. That's a pretty good tip-off that it has nothing to do with time, and everything to do with wanting to be unquestioned authority figures whose every word is accepted as gospel by grateful patients.

Sure, no doctor wants to spend hours chatting with attention seekers, but if they won't spend a minute or two explaining themselves their medical opinions aren't worth the trouble. And there will be trouble, unless you're the sort of person who *wants* a shaman to deliver magic reassurance.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:41 pm

A lot of religions have arbitrary restrictions on what treatments their followers are allowed to have. I recently treated a Jehova's Witness, and he had a thing in his notes that he in-advance refused to give consent for the transfusion of any blood products.

-Username17

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:43 pm

Setting aside the actual provisions of those religions, a doctor asking if there are any so they can make sure to tailor their care is actually pretty reasonable. Pleasantly surprised.

Occluded Sun · Post by **Occluded Sun** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:21 pm

That would be a good example of something that takes very little time to explain.

Hiram McDaniels · Post by **Hiram McDaniels** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 12:13 am

I have a small bump under the skin of my left foot. It's maybe the size of a pea and it's been there for a couple years now. A polyp wouldn't last for two years would it?

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 5:58 am

Hiram McDaniels wrote:I have a small bump under the skin of my left foot. It's maybe the size of a pea and it's been there for a couple years now. A polyp wouldn't last for two years would it?

A bump cannot be diagnosed from size alone. Much more important is how it feels. A hard lump is likely to be a wart, while a rubbery lump is likely to be a glob of fat. If it's been there for 2 years and hasn't been growing or changing color, it's probably not cancerous.

If you poke it with a needle, does it hurt? Does it bleed?

-Username17

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 6:42 am

Where on the foot? Bunions occur at specific joints.

Hiram McDaniels · Post by **Hiram McDaniels** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 2:06 pm

Josh_Kablack wrote:Where on the foot? Bunions occur at specific joints.

On the sole of my foot. Near the arch.

FrankTrollman wrote:
Hiram McDaniels wrote:I have a small bump under the skin of my left foot. It's maybe the size of a pea and it's been there for a couple years now. A polyp wouldn't last for two years would it?
A bump cannot be diagnosed from size alone. Much more important is how it feels. A hard lump is likely to be a wart, while a rubbery lump is likely to be a glob of fat. If it's been there for 2 years and hasn't been growing or changing color, it's probably not cancerous.

If you poke it with a needle, does it hurt? Does it bleed?

-Username17

The lump feels pretty rigid, but it's underneath the skin so it's hard to tell.

It doesn't normally hurt, but it feels tender if I apply pressure.

If I poke it with a needle, it hurts and bleeds.

koz · Post by **koz** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 4:36 am

Is wormwood a safe thing to vape? If so, what temperature should I use? Is there anything I should bear in mind before I try it?

Occluded Sun · Post by **Occluded Sun** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 7:54 am

Wormwood's pretty toxic, which is why it's used to kill intestinal worms.
Its thujone, which absinthe is famous for, isn't actually all that potent. Sage has more. There are other substances in its essential oil that are fairly poisonous, though.

I wouldn't inhale vaporized fluid made with it.

Ice9 · Post by **Ice9** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 7:54 am

If you mean artemisia absinthium, it's poisonous in anything more than small amounts. A quick look up mentioned a dose of 10 mL (significantly more than absinthe has) as potentially fatal. Never heard of vaping it.

Edit: Ninja'd

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 7:56 am

What did you want to vape it for, the flavor?

koz · Post by **koz** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:31 am

Occluded Sun wrote:Wormwood's pretty toxic, which is why it's used to kill intestinal worms.
Its thujone, which absinthe is famous for, isn't actually all that potent. Sage has more. There are other substances in its essential oil that are fairly poisonous, though.

I wouldn't inhale vaporized fluid made with it.

Interesting. So would vaping sage give me more a dose of thujone than vaping wormwood?

Occluded Sun · Post by **Occluded Sun** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:35 am

Well, yes... but although it's a delicious herb, I don't know if it's safe to inhale.

I think it would be more effective to consume it via tisane. Which is also tasty, and reasonably safe. But I suspect consuming enough to have a noticeable psychological effect would also go well into a danger zone.

koz · Post by **koz** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:38 am

Occluded Sun wrote:Well, yes... but although it's a delicious herb, I don't know if it's safe to inhale.

I think it would be more effective to consume it via tisane. Which is also tasty, and reasonably safe. But I suspect consuming enough to have a noticeable psychological effect would also go well into a danger zone.

Thanks - I've had several similar stories told, which is why I wanted to put the idea to the Den test. Maybe our resident doctor might chime in with more info, but based on this, I think wormwood definitely sounds like the 'no-vape' zone.

Count Arioch the 28th · Thu Jul 30, 2015 12:46 am

Alright, I don't know what's going on. I had an upper endo last Friday, and ever since then I've been tired. I've been unable to complete my workout routine nearly every day since then, I've only gone twice since the procedure, and today I had to leave work because I'm literally so tired I was passing out in my chair (walking up one flight of stairs left me winded, fucking riding the elevator back down almost made me pass out, I fell out in the parking lot back to my car, etc). Tested blood sugar, 120 (it's been about 3 hours since I've had food).

This is probably my paranoia kicking in, but they did a biopsy on something they found in my throat and they found... something that requires multiple medicines. They won't elaborate on voicemail (understandable) but I have to call them tomorrow for the details at a time I normally sleep.

EDIT: The issue has been resolved. I was having a reaction to my statins and my doctor took me off them, I no longer feel terrible. Also, the Gastro told me that he just found irritation and told me to stop eating dairy and wheat products for six week. I'm... not sure I can do that but I'll give it a shot.

RadiantPhoenix · Post by **RadiantPhoenix** » Sat Sep 05, 2015 8:54 pm

What would be the obstacles to creating some sort of time-release alternative to pills that's easier to keep track of?

erik · Post by **erik** » Sat Sep 05, 2015 10:09 pm

RadiantPhoenix wrote:What would be the obstacles to creating some sort of time-release alternative to pills that's easier to keep track of?

Delivery and dosage.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sat Sep 05, 2015 10:18 pm

Peoples' stomachs dissolve things at different speeds. Modified release capsules that release things over twelve hours exist, but that's an average. Some people at getting the medicines released over eighteen hours or more, and others are getting it out in six. Medicines in modified release capsules don't really work for all people.

-Username17

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Sep 05, 2015 10:38 pm

I think radiant is looking for something other than pills, like a patch or, conceivably, an implant.

erik · Post by **erik** » Sat Sep 05, 2015 10:41 pm

Tho he wanted non pill delivery which mostly is either topical or injection which have their own foibles. [Edit oh and inhaler I guess for some. ]

I know of ophthalmic drugs that can be done as time release injectables instead of topical. Tis just used with surgery since you're already in the eye and leaving medicine is easy.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Sep 05, 2015 10:50 pm

I know nothing about medicine, but nuvaring might be a usable model here. It's a plastic insert that releases hormones ina low dose over three weeks. I don't know about the viability of this in non-vaginal locations on the body, but it's a precedent.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 10:15 pm

What is the actual physiological cause of the pain and discomfort experienced when a lactose intolerant person eats dairy? Is it a pressure thing from the accumulation of gas? Not that I'm going to do this, but would creating a direct vent for the stomach/intestines, like say through a needle or cutting, resolve the pressure?

erik · Post by **erik** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 12:36 am

Like venting the space station to clear out a fart, eh?

Morat · Post by **Morat** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 3:27 am

Prak wrote:What is the actual physiological cause of the pain and discomfort experienced when a lactose intolerant person eats dairy? Is it a pressure thing from the accumulation of gas? Not that I'm going to do this, but would creating a direct vent for the stomach/intestines, like say through a needle or cutting, resolve the pressure?

The lactose that could have been digested in your small intestine by you and then absorbed (if you were a weird mutant milk-drinker) instead passes intact to your colon where it is then fermented by bacteria. The undigested lactose raises the osmotic pressure, and you end up with more water in your intestines because the water is trying to equalize the amount of stuff dissolved in it on each side of your intestinal membrane. The more dissolved stuff in your intestines, the more water flows in to dilute it. The extra water also expands your intestines, which speeds them along and makes you digest even less stuff. That's where the diarrhea comes from, your shit is liquefied because there's too much water.

The other thing is that much of the byproducts of the fermentation of the lactose are indeed gases. This is where the other symptoms come from. So, theoretically, you could build something that would remove the gases. But you wouldn't be able to solve the diarrhea problem unless you just pumped the rest of it out, too, not just the gases.