Posts by Brandon Newman95

fadedbear92 said:With the supplement—if I remember correctly.

With that supplement, otherwise she would've gone broke ages ago🙂🙂😉

swiftmarlin12 said:Does anyone know what the typical out-of-pocket cost is for a prescription of zoloft 50mg and xanax 0.25 mg?

If you've got that blue insurance card, I'm pretty sure zoloft 50 mg is basically free, and for xanax, you're probably just looking at a few bucks.

Kyle Lee7 said:On a good day, my primary care doctor sees about 60 patients, but on the rough days? It can hit 90. Don't ask me how I know... if they start adding blood draws to the mix, they might as well clock in at 4:00 AM. If you have a clinic with a lighter schedule, you're lucky; this place runs like a literal assembly line.

I’ve also figured out the rhythm of the lab work here. Since they open from 7:00 to 9:00, the sweet spot is arriving just a few minutes before 9:00. I’m always running a little behind, so when I rush in right before 9:00, there are only a couple of people ahead of me, and I’m usually done by 9:00 sharp.
One time, I actually showed up right at 7:00—heaven knows what I was thinking—and it was a total madhouse. There were over 30 people waiting!
I honestly don't get the obsession with showing up at 7:00 on the dot, or even worse, 6:45.
Yet, between 8:30 and 9:00, the place is practically empty.

It's probably because some people start work at 7, so they don't want to be late for their shifts. 🙂😉

Michelle Evans said:Suspecting... (something).

Take F42.1 susp. or R50 in obs., for instance.

🙂😉

darkmason11 said:So, I just got my discharge papers from the hospital a few days ago, and it says I’m still under observation (diagnosis: demyelination of the brain, unspecified). It makes me wonder... they've been running tests on me for a whole year now. Does it really take them that long to land on a diagnosis, or am I just some kind of freak case? 🤷
If anyone has a smart answer, please just shoot me a DM. 😉

It took them two years just to figure out what was actually going on with me.
Maybe it actually takes that much time to get a solid diagnosis, or maybe they're just clueless and making stuff up as they go. Or, who knows, maybe you really are an outlier.🙂😉

driftinggull21 said:So what does your discharge summary actually say, oh wise one?
If you were lying in a bed at the Mayo Clinic, the software literally won't let them process a discharge without an entered diagnosis.
It’s gotta say something. At least "susp." or "in obs."

What does that even mean—"susp." or "in obs."? "In obs" means under observation, and "susp."...

fadedbear92 said:That is the absolute truth. After three days of doing nothing but sleeping, I told my doctor, and they basically told me to quit that crap immediately. Today I'm starting on Cymbalta, does anyone have any experience with it?

I don't have any personal experience with it, but I've heard good things. 🙂😉

silentdriver75 said:Gastroenterologist – requested tests

1. Stool – bacterial and parasite testing
2. Stool for occult blood
3. Blood – tissue transglutaminase antibodies and H. pylori serology
4. Blood for Hepatitis C
5. Blood for Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus

The patient is my son, 17 years old. We live in New York City and I’m a pharmacist. A gastroenterologist ordered these tests, so my family doctor wrote five referrals—referrals 1 through 3 are for the medical and microbiology labs at the big city hospital, and referrals 4 and 5 are for the Infectious Disease clinic.

I started by heading to the main hospital just to figure out where we actually needed to go. While there, I ran into a former classmate who’s a medical biochemist, and she advised me to head to the Infectious Disease clinic first, and then go to the CDC for anything they couldn't handle. At the Infectious Disease clinic, they basically tried to brush me off and told me to go to the CDC first for whatever they could do, and *then* come back to them. I had to be really firm and insist they do what they could right then and there before I moved on. Finally, they gave in and took my son's blood for tests 4 and 5. They left him with a bruise that didn't even fade after ten days! Results should be ready in about 7 to 14 days.
Then we went to the CDC, where they gave us the container for the stool sample. It was then I realized I needed another container for the occult blood test, so I grabbed two more from a local pharmacy. I took the samples to the local clinic's microbiology lab (for bacteria and parasites) and the medical lab (for the blood in the stool). The microbiology results from the CDC were ready in 7 days, while the stool blood test was done in 24 hours at the local clinic.
And to top it all off, for test number 3, they sent us back to the hospital. So, here I am again with my son at the big city hospital, only this time they try to tell me they haven't performed that specific test (tissue transglutaminase antibodies) in the last 10 days, and they weren't even sure what to do with the second part of the referral (H. pylori serology). They suggested I go to the Mayo Clinic instead. Again, I had to fight just to get an answer—they finally said they *do* perform the antibody test for kids and would draw his blood for the H. pylori serology immediately, but told me to take it over to the microbiology lab in the purple building. Just when I thought I had everything sorted, I hit the reception nurse in the microbiology lab—the absolute final line of defense in the hospital—who barely even accepted the sample, and now we're told the results won't be ready for a month!

So, I'm wondering: is it normal to have to bounce between this many hospitals and labs in New York City just to get these tests done? To me, they don't seem like particularly rare requests.

I’m asking any professionals who deal with this to please enlighten me on how we could have handled this more simply.

P.S. I’m not even going to get into the rudeness of the staff at all these different places.

Aha, well, I think you probably could have done most of that at the infectious disease clinic, the main hospital, or somewhere else, but I suspect there's something else going on here.

fadedbear92 said:I don't take it, nor have I ever tried it.😛

Check your PMs.

ambermason16 said:[No content provided to rewrite.]

The idea for Messer actually came to me when a friend handed me a box of her 0.5 mg pills. I was losing my absolute mind—just spiraling hard. I’d go from zero to sixty, slamming down five or six of them at once just to get the internal screaming to stop. Honestly? It was the only way to finally shut up the constant, frantic arguments I was having with the imaginary tenants living in my head. 😁Honestly, I’ve realized this pill is an absolute game-changer. I’m sleeping like royalty, and I actually wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world. And you are spot on about the timing—I am strictly in bed by 9:00 PM at the latest.

The 2mg dose they prescribed is tailored specifically to my body chemistry, so I think it actually has a shot at working. My only real fear is how it might clash with the Fevarin. Last time Fevarin and I were hanging out, my boss had to practically shake me awake at 11 in the morning because I was face-down on my desk, basically drowning in a puddle of drool. 🙈

We'll just have to wait and see how things play out. 🤔

So far, Messer is killing it. It’s actually pretty interesting—and I’ve heard this from others before—that people claim it’s just another manufacturer's version of Xanax. To me? It feels like a completely different beast altogether. 🤔 I’ve popped both the white and pink xanax—somewhere between two and three milligrams, I'd guess. Honestly, I could pick them out with my eyes closed. 😁

Messer is just another brand for xanax; xanax/helex/messer are all the same thing, just made by different manufacturers. As for Fevarin, I don't know, but people say it's great. Some people claim Lexapro is basically the same as xanax according to certain docs, though maybe there's just one ingredient missing from the mix. Also, if you mix it with Fevarin, expect your boss to be waking you up at 11 AM, if not even later. 😉😉

🙂

silverharbor18 said:Okay, this is honestly from way back, but I'm going to answer anyway—mostly because when I was looking into this myself, I couldn't find much helpful info online.
I've been on Celexa 20 mg for about a year and a half (though not all at once), and yeah, I can say there aren't any massive side effects—but at the same time (just speaking for myself), I haven't really felt much of a shift either.
In the beginning, it seemed to work, or maybe that's just my perception—perhaps it was a placebo effect, or maybe the dose just became too low over time... regardless, for a long while now, I've noticed that whether I'm taking it or not, I'm functioning more or less the same.
At one point, I stopped taking it for about 5 or 6 months and I felt totally fine. Due to a series of circumstances, I quit cold turkey without tapering off—and everything went okay, even without consulting my psychiatrist. Then, when things took a turn for the worse six months later, I started it up again—again, abruptly, without gradually increasing the dose. Both the starting and the stopping passed without any side effects.
The only consistent side effect I've noticed since starting is significantly reduced concentration (which is listed on the label as a side effect) and memory issues (which usually go hand-in-hand). And early on, I actually lost some weight from it 😬 But unfortunately, during that break, those few pounds came right back, and they brought along some extra weight that didn't leave when I restarted... ugh.

Along with the Celexa, they tried to put me on Eglonyl during my "evaluation" at the Mayo Clinic for outpatient treatment, but I never actually started it... apparently, that stuff makes you gain weight like crazy. And given my workload combined with depression, the last thing I need is a bloated body! I'll be at my wit's end 🤣

Enivay, since there hasn't been an effect, my doctor pulled me off Celexa and switched me to Zoloft (50mg), which I start in two weeks after I gradually taper off the Celexa.
So now I'm immediately curious—what are people's experiences with that? I know it's individual, but still... what's the consensus?
And apparently, you lose weight on 😁, so I'm really interested to hear...
So, yeah, did I already ask about experiences? hehe

Don't just jump straight to 50 mg of Zoloft. For the first two days, take 1/4, then move to half a pill for the next two weeks before going to a full pill. Otherwise, you'll be stumbling around the house like a drunk. With Zoloft, it starts to wake you up after 2-3 weeks, so usually, people take an anxiolytic like xanax, Remeron, or something else alongside it.

ambermason16 said:I started a new medication regimen today... 35 mg of [redacted] per day (yeah, I know the drill), Faverin 200mg (haven't touched that in ages), Misar 3*2 mg (honestly, I have zero clue what that even is), Esperal 500mg—or maybe just half a tablet at 250mg, same old story—and Lexaurin 6mg PRN. Has anyone else ever dealt with this kind of cocktail? And specifically, what are your experiences with Misar? Also, how does everyone handle such a high dose of Faverin?

Misar hits you hard within 20 minutes, but man, the drowsiness is unreal. If you usually hit the sack around 10 PM, expect to be out way earlier than that. 🙂

Robin Hernandez8 said:So, I’m currently taking some pills that have Roch 2 stamped on them... has anyone else ever dealt with these? Does anyone actually know what they are? 😕

Could it be Rivotril?

Over at the clinic on H. Macanovća in Washington, D.C., Dr. Tamara Pavičič is taking on two new patients.

fadedbear92 said:And staying healthy? That’s becoming an expensive hobby, too—unbelievable.

Oh, absolutely. But man, it pays off—provided both the client and the therapist are actually fired up about it. You have to put in the work. It’s a grind, honestly. A total blood, sweat, and tears kind of job.

Kate Collins67 said:You’re talking about an on-call doctor—you know, the one covering one or more departments outside of regular business hours. Your father isn't usually seeing the on-call physician; he's seeing his primary attending. That means the on-call doc isn't even briefed on your father's specific condition, unless—God forbid—he's dealing with colon cancer. You get your updates from the doctor actually managing his care at the hospital, not some guy passing through the ward. If an emergency happens with your father while the on-call doctor is there, *then* you'll hear from that doctor about what went down.
I don't understand how this is confusing to you.
The more detached a doctor is from the patient, the clearer their head is—which, medically speaking, leads to better outcomes for the patient. I won't even get into the socio-psychological side of things here.

Regarding that bolded part—I really can't agree with you there. I think everyone needs a certain amount of empathy and emotion, but you just have to know how to switch it off when necessary. You shouldn't be a complete robot.

Patrick Reyes15 said:I am genuinely glad to see some positive hospital stories in here. These kinds of experiences should be the norm, but unfortunately, they seem to be rare exceptions. You clearly caught a break, and I'm happy for you because I wouldn't wish the treatment I've witnessed in hospitals over the last few months on anyone.

I actually have a lovely story of my own that happened following my first post, but first, naturally, I have to recount a complete catastrophe.
My mom was admitted to the ward, and in the middle of the night, she was dying from the pain, yet there was nothing listed on her chart that could actually help her. Of course, the nurses aren't allowed to administer anything outside of the prescribed list, so Mom kept begging them to call the doctor. But here's the thing... the doctor wasn't around, and they wouldn't call him. So you're just left sitting there. Luckily, Mom managed to get a hold of us over the phone to explain the situation, pleading for us to do something, because by that point, she couldn't even catch her breath from the agony. After that call, we phoned the unit to check on her, and the nurse actually gave us false information, telling us Mom was doing great and everything was fine. Well, we lost it. We rushed to the hospital and ended up in a massive confrontation with one of the lead doctors, who was incredibly dismissive toward both us and my mother, throwing out disgusting comments like, "If she doesn't like it, she can just go home," or when we asked for an injection, he snapped, "What, do you want a musical performance too?" Honestly, we didn't hold back either; we were giving it right back to him, and things got heated in the hallway. It was a terrifying, miserable scene.
Naturally, the next step would have been a lawsuit and all the legal fallout that comes with it. However, her surgeon stepped in and sorted the whole mess out; that other doctor actually came forward to apologize to both her and us, and from that moment on, everything improved. Her surgeon is truly a special, kind man who fights for his patients and refuses to tolerate injustice or the arrogance of other doctors. It just goes to show there are decent, caring people out there—they're just hard to find.
Because of the wonderful way he treated her, Mom practically came back to life; she found this new surge of energy, and now she's back home, happy and content. We've left all those terrible experiences behind us and are focusing on this new lease on life.
It just goes to show—that genuine human connection and actually giving a damn about the patient can lead to a much faster recovery and, honestly, just a way happier person overall. All it really takes is a little bit of basic human decency.

I sign off on that part completely. However, I've noticed that if you're actually polite to the doctors, they're immediately polite back to you. Yeah, sure, they're all different. Based on everything I've dealt with so far, I've mostly had nothing but praise, though I guess it depends on the administration and how much effort they put in. I've also gone to private clinics, and it's the exact same thing. It all comes down to them and us.🙂

Elizabeth Davis said:@Kimberly Ward/">@@Kimberly Ward
Yeah, unfortunately you're spot on... if we could just clear out everyone who keeps messing up their own lives from the system, maybe then people who actually take their recovery seriously!

Sadly, I am right, because I've lived through it myself. Look, I don't want to be the bad guy here—I have zero problem with anyone who actually wants to kick their alcohol or drug addiction—but those people who just refuse to change? Honestly, when you combine an F-22 habit with booze and weed, there’s just no room left in any hospital bed or any way to get help. There's simply no space. 🙂
I totally get where dawn999 is coming from.🙂

wanderingridge8 said:I take 5mg of Normabel at night and 2.5mg of Moditen at night. Why shouldn't I mix alcohol with this? And what about weed?

It’s honestly people asking questions like this that make me wonder why there isn't enough space in our hospitals for people who actually need a bed and real medical help. Seriously, you aren't supposed to touch alcohol with this stuff, let alone drugs.

Elizabeth Davis said:The thing is, no matter how "small" a problem seems at first, if you don't deal with it right away, it’s almost guaranteed to snowball into something way bigger.
I mean, seriously, basic sadness can turn into full-blown depression if you're the type of person who just lets it swallow you whole. And one mental health issue can easily be "swapped out" for something even more intense if you aren't actually monitoring your state and trying to fix things...

Anxiety is so freaking widespread these days that practically everyone deals with some version of it... and if someone already has any kind of disorder, they've basically got a front-row seat to catching it too!

Look, if you aren't going to look out for your own health, nobody else is going to do it for you. If you're coming on here asking if it's okay to keep drinking and smoking, I'm pretty damn sure you'd only actually want to hear it if we gave you a green light.

If you want to drink, fine; if you want to smoke, go ahead; but don't come crying when the consequences hit you in the face.

👋

Alright, thanks a lot.🙂