The sick and diseased thread

[Dublagent66]

Gotta bite the bullet I guess...

[jsem]

There was snow in the beginning of the year. I love XC skiing, but I got sick. I was sick for a very long time, maybe two weeks - and when I got healthy I was so eager to go out skiing that I got sick again because I exhausted myself too much and too soon after an illness. So I was sick on and off for about 4-5 weeks. And then the snow was pretty much gone.

[JayOctavarium]

I have a really fucked up heart beat... not sure what causes it... and for past 6 years I get a pain in my chest every once in a while... makes it hard to breathe.. usually happens when I am stressed or used to happen during PE in high-school.  It hasn't happened in a few months but next time it does I am going to get it checked out. I have been scared shitless about it... hence the lack of going to get it.checked. shouldn't be having something  like this at 21

[BlobVanDam]

I have a really fucked up heart beat... not sure what causes it... and for past 6 years I get a pain in my chest every once in a while... makes it hard to breathe.. usually happens when I am stressed or used to happen during PE in high-school.  It hasn't happened in a few months but next time it does I am going to get it checked out. I have been scared shitless about it... hence the lack of going to get it.checked. shouldn't be having something  like this at 21

High blood pressure and being unfit could cause that (I have no idea how fit you are). I've had similar problems (accompanied by dizziness/light headedness), and I had a heart ultrasound thingy, and my heart was just fine.

[JayOctavarium]

I have a really fucked up heart beat... not sure what causes it... and for past 6 years I get a pain in my chest every once in a while... makes it hard to breathe.. usually happens when I am stressed or used to happen during PE in high-school.  It hasn't happened in a few months but next time it does I am going to get it checked out. I have been scared shitless about it... hence the lack of going to get it.checked. shouldn't be having something  like this at 21

High blood pressure and being unfit could cause that (I have no idea how fit you are). I've had similar problems (accompanied by dizziness/light headedness), and I had a heart ultrasound thingy, and my heart was just fine.

I am far from fit... which is probably what causes it. Come to think of it... over the past 8 years my weight has been fluctuating.. and it usually gets worse when I am heavier.

hmmmm

[rumborak]

Had my umbilical hernia operation today, now sitting at home with a bloody belly button. Once again they prescribed an ungodly amount of pain medication (if I read the prescription correctly, 40 pills of Vicodin, WTF?!!). There is zero pain, so I'm not gonna take anything at all. I had been told before that I have a very high pain tolerance, so maybe that's it.
Nice thing is, I'm gonna work from home for a week and take it easy. I mustn't bend my body and it's good for me to walk around actually.

rumborak

[black_biff_stadler]

I also have an enlarged prostate and can't bring myself to make that doctor's appointment either.  The last thing I'll let a doctor do is stick his finger in my ass.  That shit is just wrong.  No pun intended.

Everytime I hear about guys not wanting to get their prostate checked, I remember a marketing campaign by Canada Health a few years ago with the tagline "you can't die from embarrassment".

Get it checked out dude.

Chad's totally correct. 7 years ago I got into a car wreck with impact sufficient enough to give me what's called a seat belt sign (a bruise or contusion in the shape of where the belt restricted you during impact) and part of the run-through to make sure I wouldn't toxify my system with intestinal leakage involved the male nurse dialing out on the brown phone.

It was only slightly uncomfortable physically speaking and the worst part about it was that he didn't even make eye contact during insertion or ask me what kind of movies I like.

[lonestar]

the male nurse dialing out on the brown phone.

Fucking lol

At least he wasn't talking LSU football with you, what a conflict of interest that would have been.

[black_biff_stadler]

He was an LSU nurse at Charity Hospital.

[lonestar]

You lucky fella!!!

[black_biff_stadler]

Joke pic but true about the LSU nurse.

[rumborak]

I don't get the issues many people have with going to the doctor and having him do his "magic", even if it involves sticking the finger up the butt. I just switch into this "I'm bringing my car into the shop" mode because that's kinda how they see you anyway.

rumborak

[Orbert]

They offerred free colon checks at work last year (sounds weird I guess, but I work for a health care company) and the email that went out quoted all the statistics.  I don't remember them now, but it was pretty much what you'd expect; percentage of men who will get colon cancer is higher than you'd think, odds of beating it are significantly lower when caught early.  I went with the odds.

It was done in a mobile medical unit out in the parking lot, by a guy with a clipboard and presumably the necessary medical qualifications.  A few questions, then in and out.  In a way, it was better this way.  This guy is probably going to check out 30 or 40 colons today, there's no way mine has any special meaning to him.  Took the car to the shop, got it checked out, everything is fine.

[snapple]

They offerred free colon checks at work last year (sounds weird I guess, but I work for a health care company) and the email that went out quoted all the statistics.  I don't remember them now, but it was pretty much what you'd expect; percentage of men who will get colon cancer is higher than you'd think, odds of beating it are significantly lower when caught early.  I went with the odds.

It was done in a mobile medical unit out in the parking lot, by a guy with a clipboard and presumably the necessary medical qualifications.  A few questions, then in and out.  In a way, it was better this way.  This guy is probably going to check out 30 or 40 colons today, there's no way mine has any special meaning to him.  Took the car to the shop, got it checked out, everything is fine.

[kirksnosehair]

Had my umbilical hernia operation today, now sitting at home with a bloody belly button. Once again they prescribed an ungodly amount of pain medication (if I read the prescription correctly, 40 pills of Vicodin, WTF?!!). There is zero pain, so I'm not gonna take anything at all. I had been told before that I have a very high pain tolerance, so maybe that's it.
Nice thing is, I'm gonna work from home for a week and take it easy. I mustn't bend my body and it's good for me to walk around actually.

rumborak

Hydrocodone (opioid ingredient in Vicodin) is extremely addictive. 

[rumborak]

I am always surprised how casually doctor's prescribe heavy-duty medicine. The funny thing is, they even asked me what I wanted. I told them that I don't respond much at all to regular painkillers, and the only thing that ever really worked was Vicodine. So, 40 pills it was!
I don't even plan on getting them at all. I'm in no pain whatsoever, not even enough for a Tylenol.

rumborak

[lonestar]

Doctors are easy when it comes to painkillers.  When I burned my hand about ten years back, I was able to get a steady supply for two months without question.  I probably could have developed a solid addiction to them if I didn't have preferred substances I was all ready addicted to at the time.

[pogoowner]

I've never taken the pain medication after any surgery I've had. Like rumborak, I have a high pain tolerance, and frankly, I don't want that crap in my body. I do enough damage without getting hooked on narcotics.

[kirksnosehair]

Take it from someone who has battled addiction for 25+ years - if you can avoid taking that junk after having a procedure then you are better off.  Even non-addicts can have a very difficult time getting off that stuff, especially if you take it for more than a couple of weeks. 

[Fiery Winds]

Is it really that bad?  Everyone I know who has taken it hasn't had problems with it.  It hardly affects me anymore when prescribed, so I usually don't take it.  It helped immensely when I was a teenager and had my wisdom teeth taken out.

[Orbert]

Wow, I wish like hell that I had a higher tolerance for pain, but I guess I'm just a wimp.  After my surgery, they wrote me a script for Oxy-something, said "take one or two every four hours, depending on the pain" and I took two every time.  If I didn't, I was totalled every time I coughed, sometimes just sitting up in bed.  I'm talking brain-numbing, seeing-stars-and-flashing-lights kind of pain.  When it ran out, I had the option of renewing the script, and I did.

Fortunately, I do seem to have a decent resistance to addiction.  Partway into the refill, I found I could get by only taking one at a time, then I cut back from every six hours to twice a day, then stopped.  I still have the bottle on the shelf, with some left in it.  I figured if something really horrible happened, it would be handy to have them.  I also figure that if I'm addicted, I wouldn't be able to resist taking them (isn't that what addiction is?) and they're still there, so I think I'm okay.

[ResultsMayVary]

I was 'diagnosed' with IBS at 16 years old. I've been living with it for 4 years. The pain can be pretty horrible from time to time, but those are rare occurrences. I'm very blessed to have a high pain tolerance as well, and like most of you guys who mentioned, tylenol and other similar basic painkillers do not do anything for me. Aleve seems to be the only thing that will even put a dent into my pain, but most of the time I can handle what the medication brings it down to.

I've only had to take some serious pain medication (Darvocet, etc) only three to four times in four years and I've been to the emergency room about the same number of times. Unfortunately for me, I never really found out what directly caused my pain issues. I could eat over $12 of Taco Bell and be fine, but eat an apple and my stomach decides it wants to party, which isn't exactly fun for me. The only thing I could ever relate it to was a stress factor (but that only explained the problem if I had any 'episodes' during finals weeks for school). All the other time I had pain, stress, school, or work wasn't involved. So, unfortunately for me, i'll probably never know the direct cause. Most of the time, my intestines just wouldn't break down the food I ate and I would just have the runs all day. And that problem was just never looked at by the doctors, but I always felt like my condition had something to do with my intestines not working properly.

Also to explain the 'diagnosed' term i mentioned at first, the doctors didn't outright tell me it was IBS, since I was 16 at the time and IBS is extremely uncommon at my age (according to the doctors). At the local hospital by my house, I was the youngest patient regarding gastrointestinal pain/issues that my doctor has ever had, especially since the age average was in the late 30s/early 40s. After several inconclusive tests and shrugging shoulders for a few months, they just decided to diagnose with IBS. I'm still not sure to this day if that was an attempt to actually diagnose my condition or just to label my condition just so my parents 'felt' like they knew what it was.

Has anyone else had any similar problems?

[kirksnosehair]

Is it really that bad?  Everyone I know who has taken it hasn't had problems with it.  It hardly affects me anymore when prescribed, so I usually don't take it.  It helped immensely when I was a teenager and had my wisdom teeth taken out.

Is it really that bad?  As I mentioned above, for non-addicts, probably not too bad, but it depends on the person.  Getting off prescription opioid medication is no cakewalk if you've been taking them for a long time, but some people don't struggle with it.  But don't be fooled by the image of prescription pain meds being safe because they come from the pharmacy.  The fact is, more people die from overdosing on prescription pain meds each year than from heroin and cocaine combined.

These drugs can be very dangerous.

I also figure that if I'm addicted, I wouldn't be able to resist taking them (isn't that what addiction is?) and they're still there, so I think I'm okay.

That's only part of what addiction is, but you are right.  If you were addicted you would not be able to resist taking them.

[rumborak]

Coming from Germany I was a bit stunned at the American ease of self-medication actually. I have this friend who suggested to me, after I complained of sore muscles after a hard workout, I should put myself on a steady level of aspirin for weeks to help with that.

rumborak

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I gots chlamydia. Gonna go get her treated.

inb4condomrhymes

[jsem]

I gots chlamydia. Gonna go get her treated.

inb4condomrhymes

Ouch.

[King Postwhore]

Coming from Germany I was a bit stunned at the American ease of self-medication actually. I have this friend who suggested to me, after I complained of sore muscles after a hard workout, I should put myself on a steady level of aspirin for weeks to help with that.

rumborak

Well from all the studies I've read it says having two aspirins a day is good for the blood flow.  It thins the blood.  But then we see reports that a wine a night is good and then too much (2) is not good for you.

[MykeHavoc]

I was 'diagnosed' with IBS at 16 years old. I've been living with it for 4 years. The pain can be pretty horrible from time to time, but those are rare occurrences. I'm very blessed to have a high pain tolerance as well, and like most of you guys who mentioned, tylenol and other similar basic painkillers do not do anything for me. Aleve seems to be the only thing that will even put a dent into my pain, but most of the time I can handle what the medication brings it down to.

I've only had to take some serious pain medication (Darvocet, etc) only three to four times in four years and I've been to the emergency room about the same number of times. Unfortunately for me, I never really found out what directly caused my pain issues. I could eat over $12 of Taco Bell and be fine, but eat an apple and my stomach decides it wants to party, which isn't exactly fun for me. The only thing I could ever relate it to was a stress factor (but that only explained the problem if I had any 'episodes' during finals weeks for school). All the other time I had pain, stress, school, or work wasn't involved. So, unfortunately for me, i'll probably never know the direct cause. Most of the time, my intestines just wouldn't break down the food I ate and I would just have the runs all day. And that problem was just never looked at by the doctors, but I always felt like my condition had something to do with my intestines not working properly.

Also to explain the 'diagnosed' term i mentioned at first, the doctors didn't outright tell me it was IBS, since I was 16 at the time and IBS is extremely uncommon at my age (according to the doctors). At the local hospital by my house, I was the youngest patient regarding gastrointestinal pain/issues that my doctor has ever had, especially since the age average was in the late 30s/early 40s. After several inconclusive tests and shrugging shoulders for a few months, they just decided to diagnose with IBS. I'm still not sure to this day if that was an attempt to actually diagnose my condition or just to label my condition just so my parents 'felt' like they knew what it was.

Has anyone else had any similar problems?

Yes sir, right here. Going on one year since I was on stage belting out tunes and then collapsed. Went to the ER and was told it was likely a stomach flu. After a few weeks, things started to feel better but then suddenly grew worse. Went to my doctor and took a blood test which revealed that I had somehow gotten Epstein Barr Virus, which gave me mono. Was on my ass for a few months and literally felt like I was dying. All this was right after coming off of a series of sinus infections, colds etc. So by the end of it, my body was completely fucked. It had no idea how to get back to normal. I could barely eat anything. Even drinking water hurt. The depression and anxiety kicked in full gear and made the stress unbearable. A lot of doctor's seem to be clueless with IBS and such. My doctor sent me to a gastroenterologist, who was little help. I had trials of ultrasounds to see if I had gall stones and GI scans revealed no further results. 
Typical daily symptoms for me are intense, severe gas pains. Literally, non-stop. My stomach hasn't felt empty in over a year. Bowel moments are both ends of the extreme. Sadly, even after a thorough release, my gas remains. If anything, it intensifies for a while. My girlfriend who was pre-med at the time started reading up on IBS. I started by completely changing my diet. No more caffeine, dairy, red meat, fried foods, anything cooked in butter etc. I typically eat oatmeal and kiwis for breakfast, cold-cut turkey with humus and brown-rice chips on either flour tortillas or pita bread, and then various vegetable and rice dishes with chicken for dinner. I can also eat pastas cooked with canola oil in meatless red sauces. I take peppermint oil pills, fennel seed pills and a glass of metamucil with every meal. I spend a few hours every day doing yoga and exercising to help relieve cramps. Its tough though. Every day is a struggle. I will have pains regardless, but if I'm careful, I can at least remain some what comfortable. I will also start therapy again soon and hopefully get on some meds to help with the psychological issues that are intensified from the physical pain and stress side of it.
I always try to remain thankful that I have what health I do have. Luckily, IBS does not develop into something worse or life-threatening, but it is incurable. I will have to manage this the rest of my life. But wind the clocks back a year to where I was rushing to the ER, going delirious, thinking I was dying a week after turning 25. Simply put, it put a lot of things into perspective and I think I have a much better outlook on life. The biggest bitch of it all is that it effectively ended my singing career, which was finally coming together. But I take notice of far more important things in my life now and am happy that I at least have a handful of great memories from my short-lived fling with success.

Feel free to share more thoughts on your condition, as its certainly refreshing to not feel completely alone in this regard. Don't know too many other folks that can relate.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I gots chlamydia. Gonna go get her treated.

inb4condomrhymes

Ouch.

Indeed. At least it's treatable though.

[rumborak]

So, even though I had my surgery only on Wednesday, other than a bit of discomfort I barely notice anything at this point. I've checked web pages and they all talk about weeks of healing and use of painkillers.
So, now I'm stuck in this weird quagmire that I feel like I could show up at work tomorrow with no problems, but any website I've seen says I shouldn't.

rumborak

[Orbert]

Take the time off, and enjoy it.  When I had the Big Snip (the V word) they told me to take it easy for at least a week, no lifting, be careful going up stairs, all that.  Hell, that evening I was fine, but I milked it.  No point in letting a few days off of work and getting served a bit in the house I pay for.

[fruit fiesta]

Currently have bad cold...been lurking the forums, I am pretty familiar with forums and I want to get acquainted here. I feel really bad...ain't fun being older and sick!!

[black_biff_stadler]

Hey fruit, have some chicken soup and avoid the Dream Theater subforum. I'll keep you safe my brother for there are mentally unstable n00bs afoot there

[Rina]

So, even though I had my surgery only on Wednesday, other than a bit of discomfort I barely notice anything at this point. I've checked web pages and they all talk about weeks of healing and use of painkillers.
So, now I'm stuck in this weird quagmire that I feel like I could show up at work tomorrow with no problems, but any website I've seen says I shouldn't.

rumborak

Orbert's right. Take some time to be home and recover even if you feel fine. That's probably WHY you feel fine, lol, because if you strain yourself you'll probably be feeling pretty awful pretty fast.  Enjoy the relaxation time.

[DebraKadabra]

*bump*

So I've been off of work sick since Wednesday with infectious gastroenteritis.  Basically anything I eat makes my stomach revolt against me.  All I want is a fricking cheeseburger dammit...