We're getting old (OO medical complaints)

[dbt1949]

I used pee pads for a couple of years before my cancer. Now I don't need them.

[Punisher]

No, just a mental eye wash station.

I mean we can always revive the metalhead? Poo story....

[Blackhawk]

No, just a mental eye wash station.

I mean we can always revive the metalhead? Poo story....

I'm over that one. It's the pine needle that still makes me shudder.

[Daehawk]

Into everyone's Depends a little weepoo must fall.

[Jaymon]

"Go to therapy"

man that is some shit advice. going to therapy is hard. I don't mean being in therapy.
I mean, the actual act of finding a therapist and getting into therapy is hard work.

I don't know how people manage it. its a right royal pain. I am struggling with it.
not in network, no availability for clients, way too different a belief system.


And I am dreading whats going to happen later. They are gonna ask questions. I really don't want to have to try and justify myself.
I am a strangled knot of stress, depression, withdrawn emotions, and anxiety. What do I want to work on?

I want to wake up in the morning without feeling like this is just another day of torture until the blessed release of death, which may never come becasue of how many people rely on me for every little aspect of their lives.

So yeah, I am trying to "go to therapy" but today it just feels like another stone I am pushing up this fucking hill.

[Blackhawk]

It's absolutely a pain in the ass, but it's worth it.

I ended up giving up on getting in myself. Not for lack of will, but just due to the fact that there is one, and only one place around here that offers therapy, and I spent the better part of a year getting the runaround on getting in, only to find out that they have exactly one therapist who can take Medicare - in a town with a median household income of $26,115. In other words, she's got a long, long waiting list. Potentially years.

[Punisher]

I'm assuming you are both referring to the mental kind and not the physical kind.
If so have you looked into remote therapy?
I've been doing that for different things since December. Still had a bit of a wait but it's much more convenient.

[Blackhawk]

I'm assuming you are both referring to the mental kind and not the physical kind.
If so have you looked into remote therapy?
I've been doing that for different things since December. Still had a bit of a wait but it's much more convenient.

I've looked at it, but one big hurdle I've never been able to overcome in my life is my severe discomfort with phones, which carries over to other voice/video formats. For some casual things it's fine, but for anything personal, it's a big problem.

[Scuzz]

So my colonoscopy went okay. I live 5 minutes from the hospital so that was easy. The doctor did find 4 polyps which he said he thought were benign, but because of that I will have another colonoscopy in 3 years.

While the first part of the prepping wasn’t too bad the magnesium citrate at 5am was terrible. Awful stuff, like drinking lemon flavored sea water.

[Default]

Ugh. I'm due for a probin' myself.

Re: therapists

I eventually got a therapist. She's really good at helping you sort through the mental clutter to get to some healthy solutions. Of course, she hates it when I tell her that life wasn't really worth it. She says we'll discuss that opinion after I retire.

[pr0ner]

"Go to therapy"

man that is some shit advice. going to therapy is hard. I don't mean being in therapy.
I mean, the actual act of finding a therapist and getting into therapy is hard work.

I don't know how people manage it. its a right royal pain. I am struggling with it.
not in network, no availability for clients, way too different a belief system.


And I am dreading whats going to happen later. They are gonna ask questions. I really don't want to have to try and justify myself.
I am a strangled knot of stress, depression, withdrawn emotions, and anxiety. What do I want to work on?

I want to wake up in the morning without feeling like this is just another day of torture until the blessed release of death, which may never come becasue of how many people rely on me for every little aspect of their lives.

So yeah, I am trying to "go to therapy" but today it just feels like another stone I am pushing up this fucking hill.

Try Headway.

[naednek]

So my colonoscopy went okay. I live 5 minutes from the hospital so that was easy. The doctor did find 4 polyps which he said he thought were benign, but because of that I will have another colonoscopy in 3 years.

While the first part of the prepping wasn’t too bad the magnesium citrate at 5am was terrible. Awful stuff, like drinking lemon flavored sea water.

my son prefers that over the milk of magnesia. Due to him having cystic fibrosis, he gets backed up a few times a year. He gets to take 2 bottles of that in a 4 hour period (I think)

[naednek]

Well, it's scheduled. No more avoiding it.

In the meantime, enjoy the song

[Scuzz]

So my colonoscopy went okay. I live 5 minutes from the hospital so that was easy. The doctor did find 4 polyps which he said he thought were benign, but because of that I will have another colonoscopy in 3 years.

While the first part of the prepping wasn’t too bad the magnesium citrate at 5am was terrible. Awful stuff, like drinking lemon flavored sea water.

my son prefers that over the milk of magnesia. Due to him having cystic fibrosis, he gets backed up a few times a year. He gets to take 2 bottles of that in a 4 hour period (I think)

That would clear you out. But two bottles,

[Montag]

So my colonoscopy went okay. I live 5 minutes from the hospital so that was easy. The doctor did find 4 polyps which he said he thought were benign, but because of that I will have another colonoscopy in 3 years.

While the first part of the prepping wasn’t too bad the magnesium citrate at 5am was terrible. Awful stuff, like drinking lemon flavored sea water.

my son prefers that over the milk of magnesia. Due to him having cystic fibrosis, he gets backed up a few times a year. He gets to take 2 bottles of that in a 4 hour period (I think)

That would clear you out. But two bottles,

Gatorade MiraLAX prep for the win! In other news I have tachycardia and will be seeing a cardiologist this week. Just turned 50 at the end of last year.

[Daehawk]

Wheres the knob to turn on reverse aging?

And no that is not the right one.

[dbt1949]

I was looking at my foot today (I normally wear socks all the time) and there was all sort of large portion of skin peeling off, think poltergeist where the guy looks into the mirror and pulls off his face. I started pulling it off when I had a little panic attack and stopped. I have gout in that foot and had a shower yesterday. Does this mean it's getting better or "they're here"?

[em2nought]

I want to wake up in the morning without feeling like this is just another day of torture until the blessed release of death, which may never come because of how many people rely on me for every little aspect of their lives.

That's a club I never had plans to be in, but somehow here I am. I'm not sure why so many people want to be so dependent on me in one way or another. It's nothing I ever wanted.

I'm pretty sure if I let them they will drag me down with them.

[Daehawk]

I used to have people that needed me. Now its just my dog. If not for him I wouldn't care if I woke up again. I want to go when he goes as then theres zero left here but pain. Used to want to live forever.

[Skinypupy]

"Go to therapy"

man that is some shit advice. going to therapy is hard. I don't mean being in therapy.
I mean, the actual act of finding a therapist and getting into therapy is hard work.

I don't know how people manage it. its a right royal pain. I am struggling with it.
not in network, no availability for clients, way too different a belief system.

I feel this. We've been trying to get a therapist set up for my 15 year old, and the wait lists for anyone who takes our insurance are months and months long. She finally got an intake interview last week...after we put in the initial request last September. And they said it'll probably be another 6-8 weeks before someone opens up who can actually see her.

And I am dreading whats going to happen later. They are gonna ask questions. I really don't want to have to try and justify myself.
I am a strangled knot of stress, depression, withdrawn emotions, and anxiety. What do I want to work on?

I want to wake up in the morning without feeling like this is just another day of torture until the blessed release of death, which may never come becasue of how many people rely on me for every little aspect of their lives.

So yeah, I am trying to "go to therapy" but today it just feels like another stone I am pushing up this fucking hill.

No advice I can give, just sorry you're going through that man. Sounds very tough.

[dbt1949]

I used to have people that needed me. Now its just my dog. If not for him I wouldn't care if I woke up again. I want to go when he goes as then theres zero left here but pain. Used to want to live forever.

Ditto,except dog gone.

[Punisher]

Ugh..
Don't know if I mentioned this before but about 2 months ago I got a huge blister on my foot. No idea how or why.
It was gonna be a bit so I performed some surgery, ultimately popping it and cutting away the dead skin. (Don't worry, according to foot doc it was fine and I did a great job).
It's been slowly but surely healing.
Fast forward to the weekend. It started hurting but no visible change on Sat night. Did my normal bandaid change Sunday morning and took ot off at night to air out. Thats when I saw a new blister in the same area, it hurt, and was very red. Held off on surgery this time because I already had an appointment for Monday morning.
It's actually worse then the original. He cut it open and even after multiple injections of pain killers ot still hurt while he was working. Enough so that I cursed a frw times and people that know me know that I generally don't curse. It's gonna be draining for a bit and I have to soak it in water and betadine every day and rewrap it.
Ugh... was soooo close to losing the boot.

[Daehawk]

I just sneezed and made myself really dizzy for a few seconds.

Sorry about your little dog pal / family member dbt...think I may have said that before but just in case I said it again.

[dbt1949]

Daughter-in-law has lupas and won't slow down. Always going a mile a minute. Tonight she has to spend the night in the hospital, at least I hope it's just for one night.

[jztemple2]

After having my surgery I scheduled for June of last year cancelled because of my wife's torn rotator cuff, I am now again scheduled in a bit less than three weeks to have a Carpal Metacarpal (CMC) Arthroplasty. Basically to combat arthritis the surgeon removes the small bone called the trapezium from the base of the thumb. In some versions of the surgery the bone is replaced with an artificial implant, but my surgeon uses a technique where he cuts one of the three tendons that move the hand up near the elbow, pulls it down from the incision where he removed the trapezium and folds it up and fills the space that the bone was in.

It sounds iffy, but in 2009 and 2014 my wife had it done to each wrist and she's very happy with the result. Using the tendon means no concern about rejection of an implant and according to the doc folks can get along fine with just two of the three tendons. Certainly my wife hasn't had any issues after having it done.

After the surgery it's eight days in a dressing, then three weeks in a hard cast that is removable. After that it's a month of therapy. Last time, 2014, my wife was nine weeks from the surgery to the completion of therapy and I should be able to do that in less since my arthritis isn't as bad as hers was.

[Daehawk]

My rotator hurts all the time but Ill let it hurt thnx. I wont be able to bowl now or much anything but Ill live ...for now.

[Skinypupy]

My on again/off again groin pain resurfaced significantly over the past 6 months. Some days it would be tolerable, other days I could barely move without massive pain.

Given my family history with cancer, we had tried pretty much every test to rule out that possibility and figure out what was causing it. Ultrasounds, blood tests, colonoscopy, CT scan, I saw a urologist several times, etc, etc. Everything came back perfectly clear and my doctor seemed stumped. I had just sort of resigned myself to trying to tough it out.

At my physical last week, I mentioned that it had flared up again. My doc said the last thing he could think to do was an MRI to check for structural damage. Had that today and sure enough, I have a “significant” anterior hip labral tear. He said I can still run as long as I can tolerate the pain, but other activities that involve quick movements or change of direction (football or basketball with the kids, for example) need to stop.

He referred me to a surgical consult so I’ll find out in a couple weeks what I have to do next. Bah.

Well...shit. Looks like I have to get my hip replaced.

There is a repair surgery for a torn labrum in the hip, but if you're over 40 (I'm 49) there's a sub-50% chance it'll actually work. Since blood flow naturally decreases in that area with age, it prevents the surgery from healing. She said that more often than not, people over 40 who had that repair surgery were coming back within 1-2 years and having to get their hips replaced anyways, so they are now just recommending replacement as the starting point.

The other option is to do cortisone shote every 6-8 weeks, or to just continue to tolerate the pain until it gets to the point I can't anymore...then do the hip replacement at that point.

Never having had surgery before, I'll admit this all kinda freaks me out. Seems like a very drastic step, but what the doctor said made total sense to me.

Also, just a general WTF man. HIP REPLACEMENT IS FOR OLD PEOPLE!!

This sucks.

UPDATE: Got some good news today!

I didn't feel great about the whole hip replacement route, so I met with a sports medicine doctor for a second opinion this morning. His first comment was, "Please don't get your hip replaced yet".

He said that the initial diagnosis (labral tear) was correct, but that the joint itself looked really good. No arthritis, nothing out of place, no deformity, etc. Said the tear isn't going to heal itself and that I will likely have to do the replacement at some point, but he recommended doing physical therapy to strengthen and stabilize the joint coupled with hip injections if the pain gets bad. Said to try that for 6-12 months and see how it feels then. If there's no improvement or it is getting significantly worse, then we can look at doing the replacement.

Feeling much better about that treatment route. Asked him if the hip replacement was a bad recommendation from the surgeon and he jokingly said, "Well, surgeons gonna surge". That gave me a chuckle.

So PT and injections it is, at least for the next year. Will see what happens at that point.

[Blackhawk]

About four years ago I was put on Vyvanse for what, at the time, was diagnosed as ADHD. It turned me into a productivity god for about six months, and then, once I got used to it, was just sort of there. It's one of those medications that you have to wean yourself off of slowly.

About a year ago there was a shortage, and it took forever to find a pharmacy that actually had it in stock, to the point that I was cutting the ones I had in half. A few months later there was an issue getting a refill from the doctor (she was out of the office for a week, and nobody else was willing to write one. That came down to the last minute, too. And a few months ago my insurance refused to pay for it (it's many hundreds of dollars.) It turns out that the doctor's office had called it in with the wrong diagnosis code - they used the one for narcolepsy, which I don't have. That one took several days and it wasn't until I called and made it very clear that it was a mistake on their part that caused the problem that they were willing to fix it. Again, it happened when the doctor was out of the office, and none of the other doctors was willing to send a corrected version in.

It doesn't help that it's a controlled substance, which means that I can't try to fill it - and the pharmacy can't try to run it - until three days before I'm out. That means that if there is a problem, I have very little time in which to fix it. And as my doctor isn't in on Fridays or the weekend, if my 'due date' falls on a Friday, I get zero days to solve the problem.

This time it's a shortage again. Every pharmacy in town, and every one in every adjacent town, is out. None would give me an ETA. It wasn't until one told me that the manufacturers had them all backordered that I realized this wasn't going to be solved. I've had enough of this hassle. It helps, but it's not worth it anymore.

Had the refill restrictions not been so absurd, or had either the pharmacist or doctor warned me this could happen (research shows it's been expected for months), then I'd have been able to break up the last couple of weeks worth to wean myself down. But they didn't, so I was left with nothing to work with.

Cold turkey for me. Yay.

I'm on day four now. I'm barely awake half of the time, I have headaches, I can't think clearly, I'm irritable, and my moods are all over the hell (mostly bouncing between anger, anxiety, and depression.)

This is other-than-fun, and every bit of it is avoidable. This is caused by Federal laws designed to counter drug dealers, and it is caused by manufacturers trying to pad their profit margins. The fact that human beings suffer the fallout of it matters exactly zero to any of them.

My patience for the corporate profits-over-people has passed zero and is well into the negative numbers.

[dbt1949]

A couple of weeks ago I quit taking my mood medicine, SERTRALINE. I don't feel like it's really doing anything. They gave it to me thinking it was going to stops my thoughts of suicide. Wasn't working and it was taking too long for an appointment and even then they just give you smaller doses for a month. So I quit it cold turkey. Had some strong dreams for a few days but that's about it.

[stessier]

About four years ago I was put on Vyvanse for what, at the time, was diagnosed as ADHD. It turned me into a productivity god for about six months, and then, once I got used to it, was just sort of there. It's one of those medications that you have to wean yourself off of slowly...

Sorry you're going through that. My wife is on it and my kids are on Concerta and they are all affected. The fact that the shortages are completely made up is the most annoying part. My daughter is a different person when she doesn't have the medicine. Finals are in a month and we have no idea if she will have the medicine available at that time - something history shows will not end well. So frustrating.

[Default]

Even most doctors don't know about the emotional disregulation aspect of ADHD. Imo, it's a fundamental trait, and should be in the DSM.
I haven't had supply issues since I switched to Penn Medicine. I know that isn't going to help you, but I wonder if the size of the practice has something to do with the supply issues. Penn is a very big dog in these parts.

What I understood to be the case, is generally, the amount the drug companies can make, is based on last year's demand. We are probably at the end of the quarter, so they have possibly made all they were allowed to. Cap that off with the components they use to make the meds are also controlled substances, and it's misery.

Also, the bigotry is real, so sympathetic ears are few and far between. I ended a friendship, because her daughter was showing 99% of the symptoms and I suggested she get tested. Her mom said, "I'm not going to let her use it as a crutch."

Geez, care about your kids much?

About four years ago I was put on Vyvanse for what, at the time, was diagnosed as ADHD. It turned me into a productivity god for about six months, and then, once I got used to it, was just sort of there. It's one of those medications that you have to wean yourself off of slowly.

About a year ago there was a shortage, and it took forever to find a pharmacy that actually had it in stock, to the point that I was cutting the ones I had in half. A few months later there was an issue getting a refill from the doctor (she was out of the office for a week, and nobody else was willing to write one. That came down to the last minute, too. And a few months ago my insurance refused to pay for it (it's many hundreds of dollars.) It turns out that the doctor's office had called it in with the wrong diagnosis code - they used the one for narcolepsy, which I don't have. That one took several days and it wasn't until I called and made it very clear that it was a mistake on their part that caused the problem that they were willing to fix it. Again, it happened when the doctor was out of the office, and none of the other doctors was willing to send a corrected version in.

It doesn't help that it's a controlled substance, which means that I can't try to fill it - and the pharmacy can't try to run it - until three days before I'm out. That means that if there is a problem, I have very little time in which to fix it. And as my doctor isn't in on Fridays or the weekend, if my 'due date' falls on a Friday, I get zero days to solve the problem.

This time it's a shortage again. Every pharmacy in town, and every one in every adjacent town, is out. None would give me an ETA. It wasn't until one told me that the manufacturers had them all backordered that I realized this wasn't going to be solved. I've had enough of this hassle. It helps, but it's not worth it anymore.

Had the refill restrictions not been so absurd, or had either the pharmacist or doctor warned me this could happen (research shows it's been expected for months), then I'd have been able to break up the last couple of weeks worth to wean myself down. But they didn't, so I was left with nothing to work with.

Cold turkey for me. Yay.

I'm on day four now. I'm barely awake half of the time, I have headaches, I can't think clearly, I'm irritable, and my moods are all over the hell (mostly bouncing between anger, anxiety, and depression.)

This is other-than-fun, and every bit of it is avoidable. This is caused by Federal laws designed to counter drug dealers, and it is caused by manufacturers trying to pad their profit margins. The fact that human beings suffer the fallout of it matters exactly zero to any of them.

My patience for the corporate profits-over-people has passed zero and is well into the negative numbers.

[Blackhawk]

What I understood to be the case, is generally, the amount the drug companies can make, is based on last year's demand. We are probably at the end of the quarter, so they have possibly made all they were allowed to. Cap that off with the components they use to make the meds are also controlled substances, and it's misery.

That's one of the core pieces of the puzzle, growing demand combined with inflexible regulations. But the drug companies have also intentionally underproduced the drugs in order to boost profits (they don't make a lot on ADHD meds, from what I understand, so they limit production, especially since supply line issues have caused raw ingredients to grow more expensive), enough so that last year they were called in to explain to the DEA why it was happening.

And it isn't just ADHD meds. It's antibiotics, it's cancer meds, and all sorts of other drugs that are being underproduced, either because of restrictions, supply problems, or simply because they don't produce enough profits. We're facing yet another crisis here if nothing is done to address it.

But don't worry - the companies will turn record profits, I'm sure. And there won't be that many people who die for it - at least, if you view it as a proportion of the overall population.

[Isgrimnur]

The government should invalidate their patents, then.

[Blackhawk]

FWIW, I am biased. I have become very jaded, and very bitter about corporate profit-at-all-costs culture. As someone who can't work, and, as a result don't have much money, it's been rubbed into my face time and again that my value to the world is limited to how I can be best exploited by the rich. The constant manipulation, advertising, tracking, 'shrinkflation', elimination of services that aren't profitable enough, getting shoved into the back row because I can't afford premium medical insurance, and just constantly being 'used' has finally gotten me to the point where I don't exactly have a great deal of patience when it comes to that sort of thing.

I've very much entered the pitchforks-and-torches frame of mind. I don't particularly like it, but I'm helpless to do anything else about it. I can take the abuse and be exploited, or I can go off and quietly die off to make room for someone who will.

[Daehawk]

Heres something for the generations of us all...

[dbt1949]

I liked it but isn't it just boomers with less experience?

[jztemple2]

I just found out that the full description of the surgery I am having this Thursday is "Right thumb carpometacarpal arthroplasty with flexi carpi radialis sling". Would worry the willies out of me except that my wife has had the surgery on both thumbs and gives it two thumbs up

[Default]

FWIW, I am biased. I have become very jaded, and very bitter about corporate profit-at-all-costs culture. As someone who can't work, and, as a result don't have much money, it's been rubbed into my face time and again that my value to the world is limited to how I can be best exploited by the rich. The constant manipulation, advertising, tracking, 'shrinkflation', elimination of services that aren't profitable enough, getting shoved into the back row because I can't afford premium medical insurance, and just constantly being 'used' has finally gotten me to the point where I don't exactly have a great deal of patience when it comes to that sort of thing.

I've very much entered the pitchforks-and-torches frame of mind. I don't particularly like it, but I'm helpless to do anything else about it. I can take the abuse and be exploited, or I can go off and quietly die off to make room for someone who will.

The funny thing is, most ADHD meds are based on amphetamine and methylphenidate, two of the oldest meds in use. The only difference is how it is formulated to release into the bloodstream.

But yeah, I never hear my Euro friends bitching about healthcare to the extent that we do.

[pr0ner]

The government should invalidate their patents, then.

How?

[Isgrimnur]

A Federal bill would probably work.