Medical Questions I'd Like Answered...

[name_here]

I would not recommend simply toughening up, because that might make the problem get worse until it ruins the knee.

If it's just contact pain, it should be possible to rig something up that keeps things from touching the knee. The orthosis should help, they've served my brother pretty well after he dislocated both knees in separate incidents. You might be able to use the old one by attaching some padding to the top and bottom so it stops sliding, although I would recommend locating someone who knows what a proper fit is first so you can ask them if that will make it stop working. A proper fit is presumably one where it stays in place without pressing the sore part.

Ibuprofen is recommended for pain and inflammation, so take that.

I do not expect electromagnets will help much with this; legitimate magnetic messing about is still experimental and mostly concerned with nerve-related stuff. There may be some lab out there with some magnetic contraption that would make it stop hurting, but not actually fix things.

- Are there food additives / meds / devices to wear during exercise that can help prevent further injury? Does eating hyaluronan / chondroitin sulfate help? (Okay, if the jar itself says "is believed to to play a role in cartilage formation and repair", probably not, but it doesn't hurt to ask.)

Dietary supplements and such are largely bullshit. Protein is good for muscle development and suchlike, but it's reasonably likely you're getting enough for that already. Wearing the ortosis while exercising is a good idea.

The meds you mentioned have not been properly evaluated for long-term side effects. Do not take them.

[Shiritai]

Assuming the pharmacokinetics of that ketoprofen gel is similar to the patch form, there's a very low risk of any side effects from using that. Has your doctor considered a cortisone shot? If it's been several days with no improvement at all, you might need something more direct.

As for stuff you can do, Rest Ice Compression Elevation is still the standard as far as I'm aware; that and your topical anti-inflammatory. Good luck; tendon injuries suck.

[fectin]

Magnets have no effect on tendons.

You disagreed with Apgar & Norman's May '00 report on magnetic effects in nephropidae keratin?
(Apgar's January '09 followup published at Science here)

[momothefiddler]

Magnets have no effect on tendons.

You disagreed with Apgar & Norman's May '00 report on magnetic effects in nephropidae keratin?
(Apgar's January '09 followup published at Science here)

Holy shit.

---

Also thank you guys for your anti-anti-vaccination resources. I had a long conversation with my mother and it... didn't go horribly. There's hope for my siblings to survive to adulthood yet.

[Koumei]

So as I think I've mentioned before, I'm back on the opiates and I don't think that's going to change unless the government is violently overthrown. If people want to do that, they have my blessings.

Anyway, because it's packaged with paracetamol, and the usual approach of the government is not "minimise harm" but "just tell people not to do stuff" so I don't know how much damage is being done here.

At what level of paracetamol intake will it likely become dangerous from all that liver damage? I'm not asking for advice on how much you think I can safely consume, which would be unethical for a doctor to answer, but given it's happening anyway, more "at what point is it likely to start killing me"?

[Dean]

So I'm writing this story where I want a character to be born with some disease or disability that makes her mobility impaired in a significant way, wheelchair bound is my instinct. Then through a combination of extreme dedication and consistent medical attention she overcomes her disability and by the time she is an adult she competes as a professional athlete.

I want it to be a modern day version of the Wilma Rudolph story but I don't know what diseases or disabilities could cause that anymore because polio doesn't really exist anymore. Any advice on what disease the character could have? Lacking any help I will either go with extreme scoliosis or just never mention the diseases name.

[Username17]

At what level of paracetamol intake will it likely become dangerous from all that liver damage? I'm not asking for advice on how much you think I can safely consume, which would be unethical for a doctor to answer, but given it's happening anyway, more "at what point is it likely to start killing me"?

The current guidelines are that they don't want people taking daily intakes of more than 4000 mg for fear of causing chronic liver damage. Vicodin, for example, has 500 mg of paracetamol in it, so ideally you shouldn't take more than 8 in a day.

Which frankly seems like kind of a lot of Vicodin to me. But I understand that people with opiate tolerance feel differently.

So I'm writing this story where I want a character to be born with some disease or disability that makes her mobility impaired in a significant way, wheelchair bound is my instinct. Then through a combination of extreme dedication and consistent medical attention she overcomes her disability and by the time she is an adult she competes as a professional athlete.

Cerebral Palsy would be my go-to on that one.



Look at the arm atrophy on that guy. But there's nothing actually wrong with his muscles or bones. He has damage to the motor control functions in his brain, causing his muscles to atrophy from disuse. If you could bypass the block and stimulate the muscles directly, they'd develop normally.

-Username17

[Dean]

Would it be possible to overcome Cerebral Palsy if an individual had unlimited dedication and decent medical support if the process was begun at an early age? If the character did daily versions of the Kill Bill "move your big toe" process and never stopped would it be possible? I'd like the character to be seen as empowering to people who know the disease well so I'd like it to be at least theoretically possible rather than saying my character got better in a way which is impossible and magical.

[Koumei]

That does sound like a lot of Vicodin, but by comparison, the best you can get without a prescription is Panadine Extra, which is 15mg codeine with 500mg paracetamol. So you need to take four tablets to get proper pain relief and your whole daily allotment at once to feel good. Getting a prescription for Panadine Fort (30/500) halves the necessary amount. Hydrocodone works out to something like 6:1 so presumably Vicodin is 5-10mg each and thus you don't need as many, and thus as much liver damage.

Endone (5mg oxycodone ~= 50mg codeine, plus 500mg paracetamol) gets you by on just two tablets at once assuming your condition isn't a "lying in a hospital bed" one (at which point you generally go to the ~=20:1 of morphine injections (with no paracetamol, and people there to make sure you don't forget to breathe or choke on your own vomit) or up to fentanyl).

I know you know all that (except maybe "how much Koumei needs to get the medically intended effect or the personally desired effect"), I'm just displaying my penis sizeunderstanding. I've done enough research to know I'm on the edge of what they recommend, and what the ideal medication would be. Just not enough research to know how much of a safety buffer there is between doctor recommendations and actual limits, nor how to effectively reduce the harm without reducing my quality of life.

Damnit, I really need to catch cancer. You get that from standing in the rain, right? Or is it the one badgers give people?

[Username17]

Would it be possible to overcome Cerebral Palsy if an individual had unlimited dedication and decent medical support if the process was begun at an early age? If the character did daily versions of the Kill Bill "move your big toe" process and never stopped would it be possible? I'd like the character to be seen as empowering to people who know the disease well so I'd like it to be at least theoretically possible rather than saying my character got better in a way which is impossible and magical.

Cerebral Palsy is a spectrum that runs from total invalid status to only mild impairment. It's non-progressive, but prolonged periods of movement failure can lead to progressive musculoskeletal maldevelopment. You could get put into an external exerciser that would keep your muscles toned no matter how severe your condition was. The actual damage to the motor control centers doesn't really heal, but brain plasticity being what it is, it is possible for some people with cerebral palsy to master specific kinds of movement with practice and training.


I assume you want something like this, and this is totally a real thing.

I know you know all that

I totally didn't actually. Panadeine Extra is a brand name, and things are only sold under that name in Australia and New Zealand. I had to look it up. In the rest of the world, that's called "Tylenol 3" or "Co-codamol."

-Username17

[fectin]

Go for spinal injury. That can take years to heal, paralyze you nearly any degree, and can also (rarely) heal pretty much completely.
I personally know someone who had the exact same injury as Christopher Reeves. Same injury, same vertebra, even the same cause (thrown from a horse). He was similarly paralyzed for a long time, but now he just walks a little oddly.

[fectin]

Oh, or crazy brain trauma. That's extra neat, because one of the (sometimes) effective treatments is deep brain stimulation. Fantastic video for Parkinson's here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBh2LxTW0s0

...though the same basic treatment fixes all kinds of problems. It's crazy voodoo magic though; it obviously and repeatably works, but the explanations for why are a little hand-wavey.

[ishy]

When under the effect of Local anesthesia which does not function perfectly, so you still feel pain, and the doctor tells you something like: "Tell me to stop if it hurts too much".

How are you supposed to determine if you're suffering from too much pain?

[erik]

Can you bear it? The doc doesn't want you moving nor in crazy pain.

[edit:] I should belatedly add here, there's no point in being in undue pain and waiting to see how much you can bear. Without knowing specifics, typically a doctor won't be terribly annoyed if you let them know that you need more numbing. You don't get a gold star for being a hero.

Occasionally I hold eyelids for doctors removing sutures from corneas and such and in those cases we'd rather the eye be totally numb from topical anesthetic drops than have a patient who will be feeling it since that can cause additional tearing and movement (which especially isn't desired when your manipulating a blade around the front of someone's eye). Once the patient starts feeling stuff that means the numbing drops are wearing off and we'd rather be informed then than once it wears off even further.

[aside]
Worst doctor-inflicted pain I've ever had was when my nose was being cauterized for a nosebleed that wouldn't stop... they numbed it with a needle up my nostril before proceeding. My body was shaking 30 minutes later from the pain of the needle that brought the anesthetic. I can't imagine that whatever they did was worse than what that needle brought. I tolerate pain well but nothing else has ever made my body shake uncontrollably afterward. That was creepy.

[LurkMOAR]

Anyone know anything I can do to relieve gastric distress from Metformin? I try taking them with meals and that doesn't seem to help any. Is that something I can pop an immodium for, or would that be a bad idea?

[Username17]

Anyone know anything I can do to relieve gastric distress from Metformin? I try taking them with meals and that doesn't seem to help any. Is that something I can pop an immodium for, or would that be a bad idea?

If you start metformin slowly and gradually increase the dosage and take it with meals, gastric distress is less likely to occur. Once you're on a steady dose, the gastric distress should go away on its own. If your gastric distress manifests as diarrhea (which it usually does), then immodium should help for as long as the reaction persists. If it's pain, it should respond to analgesics, and so on.

-Username17

[Stahlseele]

summer is back.
so are my allergies.
mainly my eyes go from itchy to burning and back without rhyme nor reason and are constantly tearing up as well.
otherwise the sneezes and my damn mouth and throat being itchy on the inside . .
what are good ways to get rid of the annoyance of having basically my own body fight itself over some plant sperm? <.<

[Koumei]

You can get a variety of antihistamines, and you should be able to find one that works for you. Failing that, hookworms. Just give your immune system something to actually fight.

(I am not a doctor, you should first check with Ant before finding various infections to get.)

[erik]

Lastacaft and Pataday seem to be really effective 1/day eye drops at preventing allergic conjunctivitis since eyes were your worst complaint. The may have different brand names in Germany. Could ask an optometrist or ophthalmologist what they recommend.

[LurkMOAR]

Anyone know anything I can do to relieve gastric distress from Metformin? I try taking them with meals and that doesn't seem to help any. Is that something I can pop an immodium for, or would that be a bad idea?

If you start metformin slowly and gradually increase the dosage and take it with meals, gastric distress is less likely to occur. Once you're on a steady dose, the gastric distress should go away on its own. If your gastric distress manifests as diarrhea (which it usually does), then immodium should help for as long as the reaction persists. If it's pain, it should respond to analgesics, and so on.

-Username17

It didn't bother me at first, I've been at max dosage for about three months now. Just lately it's been tearing me up. I'll try immodium then.

[Username17]

It didn't bother me at first, I've been at max dosage for about three months now. Just lately it's been tearing me up. I'll try immodium then.

That's the opposite of the way it usually goes, and while that probably isn't a sign of life threatening lactic acidosis, it actually could be. I'd ask to get my arterial blood gases done and shit just to rule that out.

-Username17

[Maj]

@Stahlseele - An antihistamine of some type is probably your best bet. For me, Loratadine is the best. It lasts a long time, it actually works - well enough that I can leave Benadryl (diphenhydramine) behind - and I have minimal side effects (none).

[LurkMOAR]

It didn't bother me at first, I've been at max dosage for about three months now. Just lately it's been tearing me up. I'll try immodium then.

That's the opposite of the way it usually goes, and while that probably isn't a sign of life threatening lactic acidosis, it actually could be. I'd ask to get my arterial blood gases done and shit just to rule that out.

-Username17

Hmm... I'm not showing any other symptoms, but getting that checked out wouldn't hurt. I've got a pretty good insurance plan (THANKS OBAMA!).

If it means "not dying", then I'll switch meds, but I'm really scared of having to go on insulin. The metformin controls my blood sugar pretty well, and the weight loss side effect is pretty helpful; My doctor said my diabetes is not very severe, and I MIGHT be able to reverse it with weight loss and lifestyle changes (but no promises).

[Stahlseele]

@Maj / erik:
thanks, i will ask around for these or similar stuff over here.

[Nachtigallerator]

@Maj / erik:
thanks, i will ask around for these or similar stuff over here.

Ceterizin is available OTC in german pharmacies and pretty cheap, you could try that for symptom relief. The pharmacist insisted my doctor recommended it for "hay fever", which I don't have, but it works against dust mite allergy, too.