The Medical Thread: We're experts on everything else; why not?

[dxmnkd316]

Unrelated but affirmed my avoidance

when my liver was in free fall from mono, that was the most miserable I have ever been. It was basically torture. The itching alone was the worst. I still have scars near my ankles where I was scratching so much. Most nights I slept in 20-30 minute intervals, sometimes longer, because I would wake up and have to either take a hot shower or rub myself with biofreeze. For whatever reason, extremely hot water on my legs stopped the itching.

I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone.

[DrDemento]

Unrelated but affirmed my avoidance

when my liver was in free fall from mono, that was the most miserable I have ever been. It was basically torture. The itching alone was the worst. I still have scars near my ankles where I was scratching so much. Most nights I slept in 20-30 minute intervals, sometimes longer, because I would wake up and have to either take a hot shower or rub myself with biofreeze. For whatever reason, extremely hot water on my legs stopped the itching.

I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone.

The pruritus seen with chronic liver disease has often been described in the dermatologic literature as one of the most severe (rivaling scabies). I can fully understand your misery having had patients need hot showers or compresses on an hourly basis.

[dxmnkd316]

Biofreeze worked really well too. I still have like four bottles because I had stocked up.

There was some evidence that opioid antagonists could help. Which could explain why biofreeze worked so well. Menthol is a weak kappa opioid antagonist. Don’t remember if I saw any studies about effectively bathing in menthol. But I’ll be dammed if it didn’t work.

That smell still brings a sense of “euphoria” or something like that. Just because of the relief. I can definitely buy literature calling it near-worst. The relief of my now wife scratching my back was... indescribable. It has to be close to what heroin or morphine is like.

[leswp1]

Les: you are not alone with the reaction to SHingrix. The number of people who complain to me about a reaction is far more than has been reported in the literature. I find almost 75% call me within a few hours and threaten me with retribution! The shivering can be severe but the reaction usually lasts less than about 6 hours. As far as Tylenol, the early reports that seemed to indicate it was a bad idea have been far outweighed by it's ability to lessen the post shot reactions. Not so with aspirin. Most of us still feel there is far too great a risk of Reye's syndrome. There is really no great evidence of this happening frequently, but all it takes is once as the consequences can be very serious. Once thought of as only a problem with young kids and Varicella (Chickenpox) or flu, it is just not worth the risk as a few cases have been reported and although a relationship to a previous vaccination has not been made in absolute terms, even a tenuous cause and effect is just not worth the risk.
Glad you joined in, although late to the party, your input is always valuable.

Took care of a C 0 (as in zero) quad who had Reyes at 14 yrs old. That gave me a healthy respect.

If I had a choice b/t Tylenol and Ibuprofen I would take the Tylenol any day of the week. Ibuprofen is starting to get an interesting rep for screwing up gut health with changing the gut biome. For the most part Tylenol is cleared out of the system fairly quickly. For as needed use I can't see any detriment in using it unless you are taking way too much (Americans like to do that- more is better) or if you have a pre-existing condition that contraindicates it. Ibuprofen can cause all sorts of issues- had 3 different people have GI bleeds the last 6 months I was in practice. All with regular use. My favorite- a lady with a Hgb of 6 who didn't have time to go get things dealt with, didn't I understand she was busy? YIKES!!

Besides all that Tylenol is a lot faster in and out of body and IMHO works better for constitutional symptoms related to being sick

[Jimjamesak]

Absolutely smashed my left middle finger last night at work (while working OT). Had a big ol' cut on the fingertip and had to get three stitches but no broken bones. Weird thing is: no pain. Is that normal for an injury of this type?

[DrDemento]

Took care of a C 0 (as in zero) quad who had Reyes at 14 yrs old. That gave me a healthy respect.

If I had a choice b/t Tylenol and Ibuprofen I would take the Tylenol any day of the week. Ibuprofen is starting to get an interesting rep for screwing up gut health with changing the gut biome. For the most part Tylenol is cleared out of the system fairly quickly. For as needed use I can't see any detriment in using it unless you are taking way too much (Americans like to do that- more is better) or if you have a pre-existing condition that contraindicates it. Ibuprofen can cause all sorts of issues- had 3 different people have GI bleeds the last 6 months I was in practice. All with regular use. My favorite- a lady with a Hgb of 6 who didn't have time to go get things dealt with, didn't I understand she was busy? YIKES!!

Besides all that Tylenol is a lot faster in and out of body and IMHO works better for constitutional symptoms related to being sick

ll true - sometimes very difficult to take the time to explain all of this about medications to patients. many just want a quick answer and simply want something (or anything) to take. Add to that all the TV advertising for the newest (and most expensive) medications and you have patients coming in and wondering why we will often stick with the proven meds that have worked safely for year sin the past.

[leswp1]

ll true - sometimes very difficult to take the time to explain all of this about medications to patients. many just want a quick answer and simply want something (or anything) to take. Add to that all the TV advertising for the newest (and most expensive) medications and you have patients coming in and wondering why we will often stick with the proven meds that have worked safely for year sin the past.

Ah, for the days when there were no direct to consumer ads for things like erythropoietin, chemo drugs and other things that people don't have a prayer of being able to request because there is no way they would be able to know what to request. What a waste of $$ and an impediment to good treatment

[psych]

Ah, for the days when there were no direct to consumer ads for things like erythropoietin, chemo drugs and other things that people don't have a prayer of being able to request because there is no way they would be able to know what to request. What a waste of $$ and an impediment to good treatment

I feel like I remember reading an article a handful of years ago that said the only two countries in the world that allow direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs were the US and New Zealand.

[MissThundercat]

I have both eyebrows pierced. There is a huge red bump under my right eyebrow and I have no idea what it is or how it could have happened, especially considering I've been cleaning the piercing with saline water and not being stupid with it.

I think Monday, I will call a medical professional and see what they say it is.

[DrDemento]

I feel like I remember reading an article a handful of years ago that said the only two countries in the world that allow direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs were the US and New Zealand.

i was not sure about New Zealand but knew that the US was the only other country that allowed this sort of advertising. I find it very interesting in the commercials that everyone with all these rather severe afflictions are shown at healthy young ages and jumping and skipping around like they are in summer camp! And the voice over? They slowly describe how wonderful life is and then very softly and quickly tell you most of the side effects (including sudden death) and of course, to discuss them with your physician!

[DrDemento]

I have both eyebrows pierced. There is a huge red bump under my right eyebrow and I have no idea what it is or how it could have happened, especially considering I've been cleaning the piercing with saline water and not being stupid with it.

I think Monday, I will call a medical professional and see what they say it is.

See a board certified dermatologist. General physicians get so little training in skin things that they will most likely be just taking a rather uneducated guess. Small cysts are common in that area, some are actually from an ingrown hair that curls around into a little ball like area. others are small infections around a hair follicle and still others are blocked oil glands. Usually fairly simple to treat once a diagnosis is made. Exceedingly uncommon for this kind of thing to be dangerous.

[dxmnkd316]

“If it’s dry keep it wet, if it’s wet keep it dry”

[Kepler]

“If it’s dry keep it wet, if it’s wet keep it dry”

[DrDemento]

“If it’s dry keep it wet, if it’s wet keep it dry”

And if your not sure, you can always spray it with Windex.

[MissThundercat]

Whatever that thing was popped, leaving pus on my face. However, I'm taking it as a sign that piercing didn't heal properly, and so I will remove said piercing.