Health Reports

Discussion in 'Health & Wellness' started by Ken Anderson, Mar 3, 2020.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I just came from my annual check-up, which I skipped last year because the doctor I liked had left and I hated the new one. I switched to another health clinic recently and saw my new doctor. I like her. She's from the Dominican Republic and has a good sense of humor.

    Anyhow, my PSA is undetectable, so the radiation treatment I received for prostate cancer is holding, and that's been ten years or more now. My cholesterol is much better than it was during my last checkup, and I was taking statin drugs then. My good cholesterol is a little low, but exercise should fix that. It's hard to exercise in Maine during the winter since shoveling snow doesn't count. What they refer to as the bad cholesterol is good though, and that's without the damned statin drugs. The rest of it is also fine, but unsurprising, given that I check my own blood pressure, pulse rate, and oxygen saturation periodically.

    I do have to get a colonoscopy because it's been a few years. I hate getting a colonoscopy, but I agreed to do so.

    So it doesn't look like I am likely to die anytime soon.
     
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  2. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    Good news Ken!! Be Well
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Thanks, Lon.
     
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  4. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    Great news, Ken!
     
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  5. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Unlike a couple of other doctors I've had, this one doesn't seem to act as if she gets paid according to the number of medications she can put me on. I'm not opposed to taking medications when they're necessary, but neither do I think that all of the medications that doctors put people on are necessary, or even a good idea. I fully understand that some people (and it may be me, one day) have medical problems that require a lot of medications, specialists, tests, and doctor visits, but I don't want to get there early.

    Several years ago, I went in for my annual checkup, and they put me on the treadmill. Although I wasn't in the least bit tired, they stopped it, saying that they thought they "saw something" on the ECG. Although I know quite well how to read an ECG, as I used to teach it to paramedics, they wouldn't tell me what it was that they thought they saw.

    They referred me to a cardiologist who, although he said my ECG looked fine, prescribed Propranolol, and scheduled an echocardiogram. The echocardiogram found nothing untoward, yet the cardiologist said he'd like to keep me on Propranol and was going to schedule some other test. This was before I was on Medicare, so I was paying for this stuff.

    Worse than having to pay for it, after a few days of taking Propranolol, my chest felt tight, I was having chest pains, and I, overall, just didn't feel good. The cardiologist was going to prescribe Nitroglycerin for angina. Now, none of this was occurring before the Propranolol. I had no history of angina or any reason to suspect that something had suddenly gone wrong with my heart.

    I told him to hold off on the Nitroglycerin and the other testing he was going to do, I forget what it was now, and went to see my general physician, explaining that this whole cycle began when a technician thought he saw something, which he couldn't (or wouldn't) describe on my ECG during a stress test and that, although the cardiologist didn't see anything wrong with the ECG, he nevertheless put me on Propranolol, which I suspected was the cause of the angina. Rather than taking me off of the thing that was causing the very thing they were worried about happening, they wanted to counteract it with another drug, and one that I probably didn't need. He told me to quit taking the Propranolol. Within a few days, I felt fine again and didn't even bother going back to the cardiologist.

    Sometimes, I think that people get caught up in the trap of taking one medication, which they may or may not even need, which causes another problem, for which another medication is prescribed, and this could go on and on until they were a pharmacological mess. This gets even worse when different doctors or specialists are prescribing medications for various real or imagined illnesses. A common medical call that I would get, as a paramedic, was for problems caused by medications or by dangerous interactions between medications that a patient was taking.

    So, I try to keep the number of medications that I am on at a minimum. Rather than taking a medication for something that can be controlled by diet, or exercise, or anything else, let me know the alternatives and give me some time to put things back in order that way.
     
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  6. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I thought so. I see I have told that story already here. At least I told it pretty much the same way. See, I'm not senile, after all.
     
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  7. Ed Wilson

    Ed Wilson Veteran Member
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    A former doctor of mine had me on a Beta blocker for blood pressure. It too caused chest pains and lowered my heart rate as well. It's good to be your own health advocate and not trust the pill pushers. With Google you can know all there is to know about your one medical condition you are dealing with, where a doctor has to know them all.They can be a Jack of all trades but masters of few. Glad you are up to snuff.
     
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  8. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Another good idea is to actually have a discussion with the pharmacist who fills your prescriptions. Most people regard the pharmacy as nothing more than the place where they get their pills, but pharmacists are far more knowledgeable than the doctors about the pharmaceuticals and are often the ones who catch things such as harmful interactions between drugs that a patient is taking.

    For some people, it's not always a good idea to study the inserts that come with the medications, because a lot of people have a tendency to experience whatever side effects they might read about.
     
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  9. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    I have been an Internet MD for quite a while now. :D I diagnosed my own gall bladder problem, gout, and shingles. :D I have to remind my doctor occasionally that I can't take certain diuretics because of the gout. :rolleyes: We do have to be our own best advocates nowadays and the internet makes it possible.
     
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  10. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    That's true; a pharmacist knows much more about drug interactions. My best friend's husband is a pharmacist and he has been an invaluable asset many times.
     
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  11. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    Happy to hear your check up was so positive Ken!
     
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  12. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    I just self diagnosed the swelling & fluid build up in my left leg and arm. It's Lymphedema. Not uncommon because of my Lymphoma. Swelling and fluid is all gone now.
     
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