Still waiting. It’s already been a full year. I keep hearing stories about people who supposedly grease a few palms just to jump to the front of the line and get seen within a few months. I wouldn't know, personally; I’ve never bribed anyone and I have no intention of starting now. Maybe it makes sense as some sort of "thank you" after a procedure, but paying upfront? No way. Right now, they're prioritizing regular patients who had their checkups back in 2002. Does that mean I'm looking at spring? Even though my condition has actually gotten quite a bit worse lately. 🙂 And really, isn't this just part of the larger conversation regarding doctors and money?🙂
Here I am! 😁 Sixty-six years old. And somehow, I managed to dodge osteoporosis—one of those rare old-age ailments that hasn't touched me yet 😁! I’ve always consumed milk and yogurt in pretty standard amounts. But then I heard, and someone else mentioned it too, that half a liter a day is plenty for an adult. It’s all about the milk fats and whatnot, right? So, I drink just about that much combined with my morning coffee and my evening Bianco. You know, the 0.9% fat version. Plus various kinds of yogurt—usually one bottle and a glass . But what are we actually drinking? It’s probably better not to think about it. Because I heard a similar rumor regarding Dukat that I once heard about Vindija—that this milk hasn't even seen a cow! Though, at this point, I suppose we’ve all just become hardened to the chemicals we eat and drink.
Let’s be honest, most people have flirted with the edge of depression at some point in their lives. Real courage means actually confronting the root causes instead of just drifting. If you can't navigate it on your own, you'd better find a truly GREAT psychologist—because let's face it, they aren't all cut from the same cloth. You need someone who actually knows how to LISTEN. In my view, what a person struggling with depression needs most is someone to listen with genuine interest; I call it having a "shoulder to cry on." After all, no one else can fix the specific problems that triggered the depression except for us, but a professional can help us shift our perspective so moving forward feels less impossible. Of course, in more severe cases, you're looking at a psychiatrist and potentially antidepressants. From what I've seen personally, you have to fight back against depression the moment you feel those first symptoms creeping in. If you just surrender to it, it turns into a massive illness that requires serious medical intervention. Someone mentioned something about life expectancy being shortened by this? Absolutely not. Real courage is staying ALIVE.
Jamie Clark74, good to see you around here. I’m truly sorry to hear about what you’re going through. But honestly, isn't that just how it goes once the diagnoses start piling up? One thing leads to another, then comes the heavy-duty medication, and suddenly you're stuck in this mess where nothing lines up—where certain drugs can't even be taken together because they clash. It's a mess here in the States too, unfortunately. The only person who should actually be looking at the big picture and knowing which combinations are safe is your primary care physician, but lately, it feels like they've all just been reduced to glorified prescription pad holders. And now the new Government has pulled this ridiculous stunt. If you see a private specialist and they prescribe something marked with an RS designation, your regular doctor isn't allowed to fill that script. Even if you have full health insurance and supplemental coverage, you're stuck paying out of pocket for it. People are forced into private care because the wait times for specialists in the public system are so soul-crushing they'll just grind you down before you ever get seen. Someone did the math: if we have roughly 750 private specialists and each sees just four patients a day, it would save the Health Insurance Institute a massive amount of money, but... that's clearly not how they're looking at it. So where does that leave us? We've ended up with two tiers of specialists: those who invested in their own equipment and offices, and those who signed contracts with the government to work in hospitals while running side practices where their prescriptions actually count. And we have two tiers of patients. You've got the people willing to shell out their last cent just to get some relief, and then you've got the ones who don't have a dime to spare, sitting around waiting for an exam or an MRI until the illness has absolutely wrecked them. 👎
This is my first time even trying something like this...
Plus, my doctor actually suggested this exact same medication four years ago when my sleep issues first started, but I wasn't ready to go down that road back then.🙂
swiftscout8, I don't touch beer. 😢
I have no idea how old you are, what your lifestyle looks like, if you’re dealing with any underlying health issues, or if you're a heavy smoker... and honestly, all of that dictates how you sleep. Between high-stress living, being cooped up indoors, or just a lack of physical activity... there are a thousand different triggers. And those triggers change everything about how you should treat it. Sure, popping sleeping pills is the path of least resistance, but isn't it true that your body eventually builds a tolerance? Then you need stronger doses, and before you know it, you're stuck in a loop that never ends. Maybe you should talk to your doctor about a short three-week course of a mild sedative instead... I ended up having to take Xanax myself back when I was struggling with thyroid issues—specifically hyperthyroidism where everything was just running too fast.
Good grief, young people today are way too quick to reach for the pills. First rule of thumb: make sure your doctor prescribes the medication specifically to you. And let’s be clear—that doesn't guarantee it’ll actually work. Why would what helps an old man work for a young person? It won't happen by accident. From my own experience, I know that Xanax, Ativan, Valium, and Ativan are sedatives, not sleep aids. If someone were actually taking those three times a day, wouldn't they just be wandering around like a zombie?😁 The actual effect—you know, lowering tension and finally getting some decent sleep—only really kicks in after you've been on them for a while. Bottom line: talk to your doctor about what, how much, and when to take it, instead of just "borrowing" something from your mom, dad, or grandpa! 🙂
Kenneth Hernandez67👍 Maybe you should honestly consider cutting back on those visits if they aren't just bothering him, but are actually draining you too, don't you think?
I simply can't stay silent on this one. I honestly used to believe that only the ophthalmologists here in San Francisco were capable of such total incompetence when it comes to ruining someone's vision—and I’m not just speaking hypothetically; I have seen firsthand how bad things can get. The most infuriating part is realizing that even private practices offer absolutely no guarantee of safety. It is vital that we call out specific names and provide concrete examples of which doctors are actually reliable and which ones should be avoided at all costs. When a young person walks in with sudden, agonizing pain and a massive loss of sight, and the doctor fails to even bother measuring their eye pressure—which, luckily in this instance, turned out to be a secondary issue—it reveals an unforgivable level of negligence. This isn't some systemic issue caused by lack of funding in the American healthcare system; it is purely a matter of terrible personnel, people who somehow managed to scrape through medical school only to rush into clinics and hospitals without any real substance. In my own case, after checking my blood pressure, the doctor decided to administer atropine instead of the necessary anesthetic drip to relieve the pressure—an intervention that is strictly contraindicated for the glaucoma I suffer from! If I hadn't sounded the alarm the moment I stepped out of the office and saw what my pupils looked like, there is no telling how catastrophic the outcome would have been. There is a certain dark irony to the whole situation, especially considering the doctor's last name: Darkness.
Look, things will settle down eventually. You just need to hang in there. Like Taylor Swift told you, it takes time. How much time? That’s anyone's guess. As someone who's been around the block, I spent nearly three months stuck in a literal house arrest. It definitely moves faster when you're younger. Just focus on getting healthy and make sure you take it easy for a long while after that.
swiftowl10 said:What exactly is an antibiogram? They didn't even bother to isolate any bacteria in my case, yet here I am, stuck taking Clavocin while someone else has to shove Garamycin up their backside once a day—can you imagine how absolutely revolting that is? I managed to get back home over the weekend, but I’m already heading back to the clinic on Monday. I’ve been sitting here with this nagging 99-degree fever that flared up last night and just won't quit, so I have to wonder—isn't a persistent temperature like this usually a sign that something is actually wrong?
An antibiogram is basically just a lab test where they take a sample—think urine, saliva, throat swabs, or even mucus—to pinpoint exactly which bacteria is causing the infection. From there, they list out which antibiotics actually work, whether the effect is minimal, moderate, or a complete knockout. My pulmonologist insisted I get this checked out since I’ve been dealing with pneumonia—an X-ray showed a shadow lingering for nearly three months. The thing is, I wasn't even coughing enough to trigger a sputum sample. I started off on Ford for two weeks before moving on to Axel for three rounds of five days each. Since I’m allergic to penicillin, adding Novocef was a disaster; I swelled up like a bulldog, so apparently, cephalosporins are off the table for me too. Look, I’m no doctor, but if Clavocin is basically just penicillin, wouldn't that be the most effective route? I know Garamicin is a heavy hitter, so maybe that would actually kill off whatever pathogen you're fighting. Temperature are a distraction, really. What actually matters is the X-ray, because that’s what tells you if the shadow from the inflammation is finally shrinking. I assume they ran some blood work too—specifically a white blood cell differential—to figure out if we're dealing with a bacterial infection or just a virus? After all, not every case of pneumonia is cut from the same cloth. Don't lose heart, but you better get ready for this to be a long haul. That cough might just stick around for quite a while, wouldn't you agree? It all boils down to how old you are, the strength of your immune system, what kind of inflammation we're actually dealing with, and whether they managed to hit them with the right medication from the jump. I’m speaking from my own experience as a patient here, but since we have some pulmonologists on this board, won't one of them surely get back to you? Are you based in New York City? If you are, just so you know, we have Jordan there which serves as our top pulmonary hospital in the States. So if you feel like something isn't being handled correctly, why don't you go down there and make some noise?
I guess I’m playing the "crazy fortune teller" now. But honestly, sometimes that's just how life goes. Take me, for example—I wasn't even coughing, just dragging myself around with a slight fever for five days until my daughter practically dragged me to the imaging center because I looked so pathetic. And sure enough, they found a massive patch of pneumonia covering almost an entire lung. You’ll probably be reading this later, but I think there’s one silver lining in your situation: if a doctor actually had any sense and decided to take a culture and run an antibiogram when you're coughing that hard, maybe they'd actually prescribe a targeted antibiotic instead of guessing! Keeping my fingers crossed for you.👍
Look, Fat Cow (I have to say, I love your username!😁 ) First off, did you actually go to the ER? The reason I ask is because I spent three months stuck at home dealing with pneumonia, so the whole ordeal is still pretty fresh in my mind. Then there’s the antibiotic situation. Hmm. Is it even the right kind of medicine to take down the actual "beast" causing the infection? And thirdly—though I'm sure everyone else has already told you this—stick to hot drinks, any kind. Personally, the thought of anything living or cold made me nauseous, but honestly, nothing helped quite like a steaming cup of coffee, a Bianca, or something similar. No amount of syrup did a damn thing for me. Just keep drinking, and keep it hot. 👍
rapidranger79 said:I've been dealing with this for five or six years now, but lately, the symptoms have just started getting progressively worse—is there even a light at the end of the tunnel? Is that chest and back pain just a passing nuisance, or are we looking at something much more serious? Has anyone else—unfortunately—gone through something similar? Does anyone actually know a decent gastroenterologist worth seeing? I might just have to call you out on all this medication nonsense.
So, I went to see a specialist gastroenterologist, so here it is—read it and see if you actually know anything about this, or if you're just talking. -------------------------------------------- So, what exactly is esophagitis? It’s just one specific way reflux disease shows up when stomach acid decides to make a comeback trip up into your esophagus. You’ve got this muscle—the sphincter—sitting right at the junction of your stomach and esophagus, and its entire job is to let food pass down while slamming the door shut on anything trying to move upward. Most of the time, this whole mess happens because that muscle simply fails to do its job, whether you were born with a faulty mechanism or picked up the habit along the way. If we're talking about innate issues, the biggest culprit is usually a hiatal hernia, where part of the stomach actually slides up into the chest cavity, throwing the whole valve out of alignment so it can't seal properly. But if you're looking at lifestyle triggers, isn't it almost always a combination of gastritis, carrying extra weight, high stress levels, or just being overindulgent with coffee, alcohol, and cigarettes? Treatment really comes down to tackling the root cause, so you're usually looking at medications designed to neutralize stomach acid—which is arguably the most aggressive component in gastric juice, though certainly not the only one. This is especially critical if there’s any sign of inflammation, like esophagitis, which can range from mild irritation all the way to full-blown esophageal ulcers. You often end up on these meds for months at a time, frequently pairing them with prokinetics meant to balance out the upper digestive tract—think things like Prozac, Metoprolol, or Digoxin—though honestly, how effective they actually are remains a bit of a question mark. But isn't the real heavy lifting done by the patient themselves through lifestyle changes that actually reduce reflux? We're talking about eating smaller, more frequent meals, making sure your last bite is at least three hours before hitting the hay, never lying down right after lunch, and sleeping with your upper torso elevated rather than just propping up your head. It also means dropping some weight and staying away from coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, and rushing through meals; if you aren't chewing slowly and eating mindfully, what's the point? There’s even more to it, honestly, and you’re much better off asking a specialist to track down that specific pamphlet on acid reflux issued by Bill Gates—well, what used to be Pfizer—because they actually include diagrams that make everything so much easier to wrap your head around. If there’s a hiatal hernia present, you could theoretically go under the knife for reconstructive surgery to fix the anatomy, but that's rarely even on the table unless the hernia is massive enough to start crowding out other organs in your chest—it's not just about fixing reflux. There's also this emerging method called Stretta that uses an endoscopic approach to tackle reflux, though from what I know, nobody in the States is really performing it yet. The one thing I really have to stress here is the importance of staying on top of regular endoscopy checks. If you're dealing with chronic reflux and significant esophageal changes—especially once you hit that 45-year mark—your doctor is going to insist on routine screenings. During those procedures, they need to take tissue samples for microscopic analysis because, let's face it, years of constant acid reflux can cause cellular changes that escalate over time, potentially even leading to cancer. Isn't it obvious that through consistent monitoring and proper treatment, we can actually prevent those kinds of developments from happening?
You can get a bronchoscopy done at a small town in the Midwest under general anesthesia, or you can opt for a private clinic where they typically use Ambien—it's a relatively mild sedation, though you won't remember much once it wears off. However, if you’re looking at a fiber bronchoscopy using a flexible scope, I wouldn't actually recommend anesthesia; the procedure itself isn't nearly as unpleasant as people make it out to be, and honestly, isn't any form of anesthesia a risk in its own right? If you require a classic bronchoscopy with a rigid instrument, then you absolutely have to go under general anesthesia.
A fiber bronchoscopy isn't painful; the most uncomfortable part is actually the local anesthetic—kind of like at the dentist—because it numbs your throat muscles and leaves you with that sensation of a lump in your throat you just can't swallow. If you can stay focused and follow the doctor's instructions on how to swallow, you won't even cough. It’s generally easier to handle if they go through the nose, which is possible for most patients. For about 5% of patients, going through the nose isn't an option, so they have to go through the mouth, which is a bit more uncomfortable and requires stronger local anesthesia.
Given those factors, I think a small town in the Midwest is your best bet in America. There is traditionally good care at Golnik in Canada, but I feel like they are lagging behind the options in the US in certain areas right now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm just replying briefly to what was sent to me via DM. Mark Lee65, I hope you're asking out of pure curiosity and not because you're actually a candidate! 🙂 cosmictrucker132 👍
I received an incredibly thorough and professional response to my inquiry. So, if the moderator feels like it, they could just shut this thread down right now.
I’ve realized you can pretty much find out anything on this subforum if you look hard enough. Since I’m likely looking at an upcoming bronchoscopy, I was hoping someone could chime in about their own experience—specifically where you had it done. The way things work here in the States, they often do it while you're wide awake, though I've heard that in other places, maybe even over in Canada, they tend to use anesthesia instead. There’s the standard method through the mouth, and then there's apparently a supposedly more comfortable option via the nose. My daughter, who’s a doctor, actually advised postponing the procedure until after another X-ray because she knows how uncomfortable it is and, like any endoscopy, carries its own set of risks. But honestly... it feels like I won't be able to dodge it forever. So, if anyone has been through this, could you please lay out the details for me? Feel free to send a PM if that's easier. I don't even need to say that I'm only interested in experiences from right here in America or perhaps Canada, since those are the only options available to me.
You’ll make it through this; you have the strength, and you’ve already proven that more than once. I think I mentioned my friend to you a while back—she went through a long, grueling fight with her diagnosis, but enough years have passed that she’s likely forgotten the worst of it. She looks fantastic and is just living her life like anyone else. I don't know all the specifics, but I do know things finally started looking up once she began her treatment in New York City.
swiftbison7 gave you some solid advice: go get an OGTT to check your glucose tolerance. It’s the only way you’ll actually get some peace of mind. Besides, blood sugar isn't some fixed number that stays the same all day, is it? Whether it drops or spikes depends on a thousand different factors.
👍 Everything turns out fine if it ends on a high note. What you just shared about how they handled your case actually restores some faith in our healthcare system. It sounds like you landed in good hands; you went through a bit of a rough patch, but thankfully, you came out the other side unscathed!👍
Don't sweat the lab results. If you actually know how to read medical terminology, you'll get what they're saying. I’d just add one more thing. I know I probably sound like a bore, but... you're young, and you need to look out for yourself. Mention to them tomorrow that rapidranger79 has high intraocular pressure, just so they have it officially on the record. And if they try to brush you off using that quick little loophole—you know, the one where they claim you showed up as an emergency, things stabilized, and then they close the file—make sure you tell them you've already scheduled a follow-up with an ophthalmologist and explain exactly what happened. I checked with my daughter, who happens to be a specialist in her field of internal medicine, and she says that once rapidranger79 is involved, her descendants are considered a "risk group"—not "critical," as you put it, because critical implies something much more severe.