Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Im a 26F, 173lbs, 57 I have SLE Lupus, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and Idiopathic inter cranial hydrocephalus.I just had a CT W/O of the brain and neck yesterday. Reason for this was because Ive been having terrible headaches lately. I received a message today stating THIS REPORT CONTAINS FINDINGS THAT MAY BE CRITICAL TO PATIENT CARE.Impressions:Hyperdensity seen in the right frontal along anterior aspect of the right superior frontal sulcus concerning for focus of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Sorry for the all caps I just copied and paste. What does this mean? Thank you for your help. ### Response: Physician, Emergency Medicine | ModeratorAgree 100% with /u/sspwnage. Closing this thread as there is no other message that needs to be said other than call 911 or go immediately to the ER (and tell them your CT scan yesterday showed bleeding in the brain). I am a little surprised no physician called to tell you about this which I assume is just an oversight.PhysicianYou need to go to the emergency room ASAP. That CT is showing you are having bleeding in the brain. This is probably the cause of your headaches but they will need to run more tests. Seriously drop what you are doing and go, brain bleeds need to be monitored and seen by a neurosurgeon ASAP..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Hi there. Female, 20yo with Panic Disorder, GAD, MDD, BPD, the works. Hate it.Anyways, I've had psychiatrists keep me on Prozac 40mg most of my life and it's been the most comfortable. A numbing experience, but it did the job. Years ago, I tried Wellbutrin but at the time I had COVID (which actually amped my anxiety) and thought my anxiety getting worse was due to Wellbutrin, so I was taken off. Back to prozac for 2 more years. Recently, I got off it again and got on Wellbutrin 150mg due to sexual side effects and hoping it'd help my anxiety.It did not. In fact, it made anxiety worse and I've had awful panic attacks, physical symptoms that have been cleared by my GP after tests showed nothing was physically wrong.Talked to the psych, and he said "Ok well I can cross taper you from Wellbutrin slowly back to Prozac.".I swear I keep hearing never to take those together, and even my past psych wanted me to be off prozac completely before getting on Wellbutrin years ago.Note I have horrible health anxiety and dread feeling any negative physical symptoms (to the point I annoy my GP about it) and it's starting to make me feel helpless. I'm constantly bothering people and terrified of dying, and just... Feel like a waste of time to my doctor, a waste of resources to my nearby hospital when a panic attack gets so unbearable it feels like I'm fucking dying, and a bother to my loved ones even though they try to be helpful and reassure me I'm not dying.Last night was possibly the worst panic attack since I've been on Wellbutrin, even worse than Prozac PAs. Basically I was eating soft stick candy, swallowed a whole piece because I have a bad habit of not chewing my food, felt like it was stuck in my throat, tried coughing/throwing it up, began to panic when my throat started feeling weird after trying to force myself to throw up, and panic ensued. Fiance checked, nothing was in my throat and turns out it was probably a phantom feeling in my throat.But anyways, about the medication.So... I've agreed to do a cross taper and lower to 100mg for 2 weeks before adding in Prozac 20mg if I felt ok.Is this ok?Also, secondary question.What do you think of patients who suffer from these things? I'll be completely honest... I genuinely feel like a horrible person for wasting the time of people who help others that really need it.I had gone to an Urgent care when I started experiencing really bad breathlessness and a nurse came in to talk to me, I told them what I was feeling and mentioned it felt worse than most of my panic attacks. She asked me if I had a history of anxiety, answered yes, and she did my vitals and left. Later a doctor came in to check on me, nurse pulled her back outside and I had heard her say "No no, she's having a Panic attack" and their voices became more muffled as they walked away.It just... Kinda confirmed what I was already feeling and connected with other experiences of having gone to hospitals feeling absolutely shitty, with doctors recognizing me and seeming annoyed, or seeing my GP look at me with.. I dunno, not really pity, but something else that just makes me feel like I'm disappointing him, and it's not his fault... It just sort of destroys me, because every time he clears me of any physical illness, he just reminds me to find a suitable therapist and combine it with my medications, despite me knowing and not telling him most therapists around me have a year long waiting list and the ones I tried that DID hear me out... Well, didn't help at all. One I tried recently missed appointments constantly, telling me to wait until next week... for 4 weeks straight. And when I finally saw her, I wanted nothing more than to just spill the beans and vent and try and work through recent trauma with just a really horrible and abusive friendship that I'd managed to cut off, and...She said that before that, we had paperwork to fill out for the next 2 sessions. Not homework or therapy paperwork, mind you, paperwork paperwork.It's just... A helpless feeling. I feel like a bother to most doctors having the anxiety I have. I want to get to a therapy asap to stop having these obsessive thoughts about my health, and in turn, let you guys do what you do best, y'know?I'm really sorry to bother you all here. I guess I want some insight? Validation? Criticism? Confirmation of whether or not it's a huge inconvenience/nuisance for you all? I'm not sure... Any answer on the second half is welcome. Thanks, and again, sorry.. ### Response: Physician - PsychiatryProzac and Wellbutrin are very often prescribed in combination and is perfectly safe.You need to chew before you swallow your food. Basic skills of life here. There's a reason we have teeth. Please use them.There's nothing inherently wrong with you seeking medical reassurance when you're anxious about something, but also understand that medical resources are limited and healthcare workers are burnt out and very overworked. If someone comes in for the 4th or 5th time with anxiety symptoms that are similar to the past 4-5 times, it's human nature for the doctors to automatically assume it's anxiety again, which is neither medically urgent nor emergent. It becomes harder and harder for the doctor to justify medical workups when the cause seems very obvious.Having experienced anxiety symptoms for so long and so often, you can learn to recognize when it's anxiety vs something new that would feel different. You can learn how to start taking an active part in recognizing triggers of your anxiety and learning to avoid triggers (i.e. CHEWING your food) or de-escalate your symptoms before they become severe. As a psychiatrist, I'm acutely aware of how difficult is to find a therapist who can take insurance within a reasonable wait list (you should still get on those wait lists, it'll be your turn eventually). In the meantime, you can look into online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) courses you can do on your own from home. It's not as effective and personalized as working with your own therapist, but it can get you to start learning the basic skills and concepts and start practicing those skills while you're waiting for a therapist. Therapy will be essential for long-term control of your symptoms. Meds alone will never be enough..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: This is... An incredibly well thought out and insightful comment :')Yeah the chewing the food part was definitely my own fault, even my parents point out I eat way too fast and it's always been a terrible habit to break out of, something in my brain, whenever I try to chew, just says "Stop it, it's food, get it in before it's gone" so I'm genuinely trying to slow down but slip up like yesterday.The medical reassurance thing has sparked up pretty recently and I'll try my best to at least limit the urges to go. The problem is that even though I've had countless panic attacks, something new ALWAYS pops up. A different symptom that just freaks me out every time, jumps up out of nowhere, and automatically is flagged as "This is new. Panic, you're dying." Just when I get used to one symptom, another pops up. Like the breathlessness, which was never really a symptom until recently. Something I noticed after I'd gone to the doctor and got cleared was that trying to tell myself "You're fine, it's new, but nothing is wrong with your lungs and heart, just distract yourself." Tada, as soon as I'm not thinking about it, it goes away, and as soon as I think "Hey, look at that! It went away!" It comes right back because I focus on it, even if it's positive. But at least I got that down, trying to tell myself as long as I'm breathing and not unconscious I don't need to go to a hospital.About the CBT online courses, I had no idea that existed. Usually I'd only take DBT for years and not CBT even though I thought it would help more (but therapists kept saying "well you have BPD so let's focus on DBT" even though... I graduated it.)I usually assumed I NEEDED a person to have CBT therapy with, so is there a specific site you'd recommend? I'm genuinely kinda excited at the prospect of it being online.. ### Response: One suggestion I have is for your to start keeping a list of the symptoms you have when you have anxiety/panic, and also checking out descriptions of anxiety symptoms from REPUTABLE medical websites like WebMD, MDConsult, Stanford Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Johns Hopkins Health, etc, and generate a master list. When you have a new symptom, check it against the master list to see if it's considered a common anxiety symptom, and if it isn't THEN go get a medical workup.You can do a Google search for online CBT classes (be aware these are not usually Free, and if they are, there's usually a catch). Here are a few with good reputations:https://cbtonline.com/https://www.beatingtheblues.co.uk/private-patients/https://cogbtherapy.com/free-online-cbt-workbook (this is free, no catch, but very basic).


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: This is amazing. I've never considered a master list and I'll get on that right away. I kinda wanna make a physical and digital one and make them both look nice, so it seems I've got a new art project :DAlso the free online CBT workbook seems best while I look for a CBT therapist or at least get into the therapy waiting list from the psychiatric hospital nearby I get medications from. I apologize for being a little difficult, but here's my question:Concerning symptoms in general, what if it's a new symptom that feels particularly severe or a general symptom from before that feels significantly more severe than usual?Usually I start to panic once let's say... I have dizziness, and suddenly that dizziness morphs into lightheadedness and a feeling faint sensation. Luckily I've been able to tell myself "just lie down, this is probably anxiety" but that was waaaay before, with my health anxiety ramping up again I'm afraid of just freaking out once something comes up and I forget in the moment.Although, I do guess that comes with the territory of learning my symptoms. But like I said, if a symptom is extremely severe, I should probably check with other things like accompaniment of other symptoms that are new and not anxiety related, or if something happened to spark the symptom right? I'm really sorry, I just wanna make sure I know when to panic and when not to, although I realize that's also something I'll need to work on, controlling panic.. ### Response: I encourage you to read up on Box Breathing techniques. When someone gets stressed or anxiety, its easy to start hyperventilating, and hyperventilating can induce anxiety symptoms. So learning how to control your breathing can go a long way towards getting anxiety and panic symptoms under control. As soon as you notice that youre feeling anxious, take yourself away from the trigger and go find a quiet private place, preferably dark, and take 5-10 minutes to do the Box Breathing technique. Most anxiety symptoms will go down by doing that and youll be able to better differentiate where youre having anxiety or an actual new concerning symptom.https://www.webmd.com/balance/what-is-box-breathingI also would suggest you find some guided progressive muscle relaxation videos on YouTube and start learning that skill. Its incredibly effective at calming anxiety attacks. If you can successfully complete a whole session, youre probably not going to feel much anxiety afterwards..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Hey! Im a 33F. 59, 215lbs. Diagnosed with arthritis in my back in 2020. No daily medications normally. ER just started me on prednisone 60mg daily, metaxalone 800mg TID and diclofenac 75mg BID. I have had chronic back pain for years now. I work as a nurse and as you all know the constant pulling and lifting of patients is hard on the back. I did some dumb things as a new grad working short in long term care and ended up with lots of back pain. I went in 2020 to have it evaluated. My NP did an X-ray and it just showed arthritis. She ordered PT but at that time I was working a covid unit and they started mandatory extra shifts and I wasnt able to schedule the PT. About 6 months ago I started having issues where when I would go to stand up my back would catch and Id be stuck bent over for several minutes until it loosened up. I kept saying I was going to schedule an appointment but never did. (I know, I know. ) At work the other night my toes/foot went numb. I ended up going to the ED. They did a CT scan of my lumbar spine and told me I had bulging discs. When the ER NP came in, he told me I had 4 bulging discs in my lumbar spine and he felt they were causing nerve compression which was causing my numbness/tingling. He said I was at risk of herniating and put me on a 10 lb weight restriction until I follow up with primary care for a MRI. (They are a small ED and have no MRI available.) The CT report just came through on MyChart and it says I have bulges at L4-L5 and L5-S1. So am I understanding that that would only be 2 bulging discs? Im thinking my husband and I maybe just misunderstood him when he came in. This is a different side of nursing for me and Im not too sure about the risks and such with disc issues. Is the risk of herniating really high? My job wont put me on light duty because it didnt happen there and they just told me to ask for help with transfers/boosts. I work on a very heavy floor thats not considered ICU but they still call it critical care. Its lots of post ops and amputations. It tends to require a lot of lifting and pulling. Im just feeling really anxious about work and I guess am just looking for reassurance/ guidance. Interestingly enough two days before my foot went numb I was having nerve pain going across my shoulders and radiating down my arms. So Im sure Ive got stuff going on higher up as well. I was able to get a PCP follow up on Wednesday so Im hoping to get more information there.Also- is it common for the numbness tingling to come and go? Im assuming its the meds helping? Because at first it was continuous. Now sometimes it travels up my leg into my thigh but It wont last very long. Maybe an hour or so and then goes away.Sorry for the novel- thank you if youve gotten this far.. ### Response: I question everything this ER NP has told you. You're correct, if your report says L4-L5 and L5-S1 that's two discs. Not sure why they said that those disc bulges are causing the pain. It's well known that imaging findings in back pain, particularly minor and common findings of disc degeneration, do not correlate well with back pain. That is to say, imaging findings like yours are not necessarily the pain generator. Was a physical exam done with a lower extremity Neuro exam?.


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: The NP, MD and nurse never once looked at my foot. I was at work when it started. Im a vascular nurse so I checked pulses and my other nurse friend did a very quick assessment for weakness but it was fine. At the ED they all just kept telling me it was sciatica, which Ive had before but its never made anything go numb. Then once the CT came back they said it was nerve compression from the bulging discs.. ### Response: Hopefully your primary care doc will actually do a physical exam.I'd caution you against recommending things based off of what you've seen. That's unsafe, inaccurate and bad practice..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: This post is about my dad, who is about to leave the hospital after a 2 night stay.Age: 55Sex: MHeight: 5'8"Weight: ~180-200Race: whiteDuration of complaint: 5 daysLocation/issue: Esophageal tear, 4 stomach ulcersAny existing relevant medical issues: T2 diabetes, high BP, GERD, alcoholic for ~25-30 years, anxiety, compressed ulnar nerve due to bulging cervical discs - lots of back pain and numbness in armCurrent medications: metformin, no BP meds (had a bad rxn), alprazolam, venlafaxine, there are others I can't remember but they're not super relevant to my concernI'll be brief here, but can answer questions if needed. I don't live near my parents so I'm hearing everything from my mom.Wednesday: Dad isn't feeling great, but that's not uncommon due to the alcoholism-diabetes combo and current back pain. Mom and dad go to the gas station, dad goes to the bathroom, employee informs mom that dad has passed out in the bathroom. They call the ambulance, blood sugar is 54, he's given glucose, and feels better. Refuses to go to hospital, mom takes him home.They walk inside, he feels lightheaded again and vomits multiple times. Mom goes to get a towel and he then passes out and begins to aspirate vomit. Mom sits him up and slaps his back until he can breathe again. Brief comedy break- he says "wow! I feel better!" He goes to the bathroom and is bleeding a lot from his rectum. Refuses again to go to the hospital (he's an ornery fellow, but it's understandable because he doesn't have insurance).Thursday: He goes to his PCP Thursday morning and PCP says he has lost up to 1/3 of his blood and needs to go to the hospital. Dad refuses again. No major events occur the rest of the day.Friday: Dad tells mom he's feeling alright, he eats some food, seems normal. She goes to work. She returns and I'm not sure what exactly happened, but he begins bleeding profusely from the rectum again and goes to the hospital Friday evening.Drs can't identify the source of bleeding and are thinking diverticulitis. He continues to bleed and is given 5 pints of blood over the course of the evening/overnight. They prep him for colonoscopy in the morning. Drs tell mom situation is critical and to be prepared for the worst.Saturday: Dad doesn't respond well to the barium so they do endoscopy through the mouth instead and find an esophageal tear and 4 stomach ulcers. The esophageal tear finally resolves on its own so they didn't do any repair. Rectal bleeding largely subsides but there is still some with every BM. They plan to do a colonoscopy later. Hemoglobin was 9 at intake, now is 7.6. He's on a magnesium drip and gets another pint of blood for a total of 6 pints. Saturday night is not too eventful. Blood pressure is low despite typically high BP.Sunday: Bleeding has mostly subsided. Hemoglobin is still very low. BP still low. GI doctor no longer wants to do colonoscopy and says dad can go home. Floor Dr and nurse think he should stay. Dad is worried about medical bills and claims the hospital is "trying to kill him" so has opted to go home.I have two questions- should he really be going home?? And given he is a physically dependent alcoholic, should he be given alcohol or no? Mom says he was not given alcohol during his stay and did not have any seizures or severe withdrawal symptoms. Last time he had alcohol was probably sometime Friday morning or afternoon. I know quitting alcohol cold turkey is very dangerous so I'm surprised he has been mostly ok in that regard. He's anxious, irritable, and paranoid that the hospital is killing him, but otherwise not terrible. Is he over the hump after 2 days cold turkey? Should my family remove all alcohol from the house and keep him dry? Supervised small doses?I'm surprised he's allowed to discharge himself so soon after nearly dying, when his stats are still bad and his doctors don't even agree. My family hasn't been given much information and don't know how best to take care of him at home. He can be quite the asshole and doesn't listen to anyone (even his doctor) so restricting alcohol or anything else would be difficult.I'd appreciate any advice on home care, what to look out for, and especially what to do about alcohol. For reference his intake varies a lot but sometimes it's as high as a whole 750mL bottle of rum in one day. Supposedly it has been "less" lately due to acid reflux.Edit Sunday Aug 7th: his hemoglobin had gone up, but dropped back to 7.7 and there's a small amount of blood in his stool. So he's still at the hospital for now.. ### Response: Glad that he is staying in the hospital.He should strongly consider medications such as naltrexone (oral or intramuscular injections that last for 30 days) or acamprosate which can reduce alcohol cravings. This is the type of medication he should get a prescription for once he is discharged. Once he is home, remove any triggers he might have at home.Wish you and your dad the best.


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: My son (19M) 6'1" 210lbs who lives approx. 2 hours away at university. No relevant health history besides depression. No routine meds. Doesn't smoke or drink. Yesterday, around 18:00 apparently, he took 50 500mg acetaminophen tablets in a suicide attempt. I was notified at around 02:00 this morning by my ex-wife. I immediately called 911 and notified them of the situation. Ultimately he was taken to the ER a little after 03:00. I have been unable to speak with him due to being Baker Acted. My ex-wife was able to find out that they'd given him something to induce vomiting. My question is roughly 9 hours after ingestion he should definitely be receiving Acetadote, right? I'm not saying that he he isn't, but it wasn't mentioned apparently. It has been quite sometime since I've worked in critical care (RN), but we would have definitely put him on Acetadote. Am I safe in assuming this is the case? Also, in an otherwise healthy young man, what, if any, longterm complications might we be looking at? Thanks in advance for any help.. ### Response: No long term complications if he recovers from this, which he should if the timing is correct. There's only 2 ways these go 1) liver failure or 2) complete recovery. He should be early enough in his overdose to be treated..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: My sister (30, Hispanic, 5'3", about 250 lbs) has several medical conditions and a long history of undiagnosed neurological symptoms.Two or three years ago, she started having numbness and weakness in her hands and feet and sometimes arms and legs that got much worse in the heat. She was having a couple of other symptoms at the time (can't remember, but I think one was having trouble seeing out of one eye) that made us wonder if she might need to be screened for M.S., but she didn't have insurance at the time and it resolved after a couple of months, so she never got it checked.Last year in June, she started having multiple grand mal and absence seizures per day, including episodes of stat ep, and an EEG confirmed temporal lobe epilepsy. She also had periods of disorientation with no obvious seizure activity. She tried several medications and they finally settled on max dose Depakote. She has not had a seizure in six months that she knows of.Two or three months ago she suddenly developed the inability to tell if her bladder was full and she also had sudden full releases of her bladder. This has been improved with medication.On June 8th, she went to the ER for a severe headache. She was diagnosed with cervicogenic headache caused by muscle spasms in her back and neck (new onset).On June 29th, the ER gave her a steroid injection (for asthma) in the front of her left thigh and her thigh immediately went numb. It remained numb until this past Monday, when she developed severe pain in her thigh with difficulty walking and bearing weight on that leg. There was no redness, swelling, or other obvious indication of infection or blood clot. Her PCP said it was likely femoral nerve entrapment as a result of the injection and that it would likely resolve over time.Last night (Thursday), just before 5 pm, she had a sudden onset of left sided numbness in her face, neck, left arm, and left leg. She could no longer feel the nerve pain in her thigh at all. She also had blurry vision in both eyes. The paramedics noticed slurred speech, word finding problems, and facial droop. She was able to make it to the stretcher with help. By the time that she got the ER (level 2 stroke center), her entire left side was paralyzed and she had zero sensation on that side. Whenever she tried to lift her left leg, visible muscle spasms were present in her thigh. She also could not feel her pubic region at all and had great difficulty urinating. At no point did she have a headache. She said she had no lapse in memory and does not believe she had a seizure (her SO was with her also). Her blood pressure and blood glucose were normal. Head CT and MRI did not show signs of either a hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke. After a couple of hours, she showed slight improvement - able to slightly lift her affected arm and leg, although she still has no sensation. The facial droop and slurred speech had mostly resolved, but she was still having word finding problems. She was told it was likely a TIA caused by her Nexplanon and that it would be completely resolved by morning. They said if it wasn't a TIA, it could either be an unusual presentation of a seizure or a psychiatric condition (she has depression, anxiety, PTSD, and ADHD, all controlled). She was admitted to the step down unit for observation. They said they could not give her any of her medications until the hospitalist approved them.This morning (Friday) my sister had recurrence of the left sided numbness and could no longer move her arm and leg. The hospitalist was surprised to find that the symptoms had not resolved. The hospitalist said it was likely not a TIA and that they would be looking for other causes, like M.S. The symptoms slowly began to improve again, then the numbness returned along with the paralysis. This has improved slightly again. She had a repeat head MRI and CT, an echo, and a carotid ultrasound, all normal. She was assessed by speech therapy (normal) and PT/OT, who found severe deficiencies and recommended inpatient rehab. At no point throughout the day was she given any of her regular medications, including her Depakote, which is critical for her. The nurse didn't answer any of her call lights all day, and she sat in her own urine for hours, tried desperately to hold her bowels because he was so irritated every time she called that she was afraid to use her call light.Her case worker informed her that both local inpatient rehabilitation centers denied her admission because she didn't meet the criteria based on the neurologist's diagnosis (which we had not yet been updated on). Finally the neurologist came and did a super quick assessment. My sister could lift her left arm about three inches off the bed and her left leg about two inches, and still had almost no sensation. She still could not walk or bear weight at all. The neurologist said that they had ruled out all emergent causes and that it was probably a manifestation of conversion disorder and that it would go away in a few weeks. She will be discharged tomorrow and given a referral for home health.After the neurologist left, my sister started crying. She felt dismissed and judged and crazy and she started wondering if she was faking the whole thing. I reassured her that what she was feeling was real and that I believed her 100%. I called the patient advocate, but they were gone for the weekend. I contacted the house supervisor and requested either a different neurologist or a transfer to another hospital. She said she would talk to the neurologist to see what he was thinking. After they talked, they basically denied both requests, as well as a request for inpatient rehab or PT, and said she would still be discharged tomorrow.There are stairs that lead up to her mobile home. Her SO is not strong enough to assist her with the at home care she needs until home health comes through and she will clearly need significant around the clock care. She will not be adequately cared for at home.I'm not sure if we should just do the best we can until she can contact her regular neurologist on Monday (there is no after hours emergency line), or if we should check her out tonight and take her to an academic hospital for a second opinion and further testing. Our closest major cities are Shreveport, LA (1 hr), Little Rock, AR (2.5 hr), and Dallas, TX (2.75 hr). Any advice would be extremely helpful.This is what I know about her medical history:Hard of hearing Temporal lobe epilepsy (June 2021), last known seizure 6 months ago Cervicogenic headache due to neck/back spasms (June 8) Asthma Unstable SVT (frequent episodes for awhile, but no episodes in a few years) Fibromyalgia Left leg - possible femoral nerve entrapment (June 29) Rectal abscess surgery (Feb 8) ADHD Depression Anxiety PTSD Chronic/frequent laryngitis? (sore throat, loss of voice, and fever every two to four weeks for at least a year, not diagnosed) Upper back pain/vomiting when eating (April) Severe sleep apnea - hasn't received CPAP machine yet Urinary incontinence Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease Chronic rib pain - both sides, since teenager Enlarged spleen (Dec 2020) Hypertension Hyperlipidemia COVID (2020) PCOS Acid refluxThese are the medications I'm aware of:Ozempic (for weight loss) Metformin (for weight loss) Cymbalta Depakote Albuterol Gabapentin Oxybutynin Indomethacin Trelegy Singulair NexplanonShe rarely drinks alcohol - causes back and shoulder pain. She does not smoke cigarettes. She has her medical marijuana card for epilepsy, but rarely used it until this week, when she began smoking frequently to try to control the leg pain.Please let me know if you have any questions.. ### Response: I hate to be that physician but in the absence of any actual findings on multiple MRI, ECHOs, Carotid US, sometimes conversion disorder may be more likely than a rare esoteric disease. That being said, what led you away from conversion disorder?.


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Thank you for responding. I thought that required a pretty significant stressor. The only thing that's come up in the past couple of weeks is the nerve injury. Nothing else has really been stressful lately and her mental health has been under control. The altered mental status and muscle spasms left me with the injection that it is medical in nature. Also her history of neurological issues presenting over the past three years. I was thinking Todd Paralysis or MS might be more likely. They didn't do a spinal MRI, a spinal tap, or nerve conduction studies. Not sure if it was necessary or not.. ### Response: Conversion disorder does not require a significant stressor to be present, although significant is a relative term in itself. That being said, an extensive work-up would include MRIs with/without contrast of brain, cervical spine, thoracic spine, lumbar spine +/- lumbar puncture. If this has all been done and negative, it is more likely conversion then a obscure neurological disease although the latter in itself is difficult to rule out..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Given the timeline Ive described, would it be reasonable to assume the relationship between Covid and these complications?Would it be reasonable to assume the relationship between MI and demand ischemia?Interestingly, the transfer hospital did not initiate treatment for COVID-19. Could this have changed the trajectory of the case?. ### Response: Sounds like the likely timeline is COVID infection --> demand ischemia, MI. Given the situation, it sounds like the transfer hospital and receiving hospital appropriately triaged the issues and treated the most life-threatening issue (the acute MI) first.This patient had a lot of risk factors for getting very sick with any infection, not just COVID. Going without clopidogrel likely also helped precipitate the MI, though no one will be able to say to what extent.I don't think that initiating COVID treatment at time of presentation would have made much difference..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Hello all... I am a white 33yr old male, 5'9 180lbs no meds taken currently. This is the second time I have had cellulitis in two months. I was wondering if sea moss was beneficial in any way to help the healing process as well as make it faster it's extremely painful and I have it on both of my feet in lower legs I'm afraid to go to the hospital because of the area that I live in they are too quick to judge and stereotype you and I have extreme anxiety going to the hospital so is there anything that I can do to get this healed and taken care of as quickly as possible please any and all comments ideas and suggestions are welcome and will not be criticized or Taken the wrong way. ### Response: If on both legs not likely to be cellulitis.Please include one of preferably more of the pictures in your post as an imgur.com or imbb.com link. It makes it easier to help with something when it can be examined visually..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: My dad (52M, no prior health issues except mildly high blood pressure, on a blood pressure med) is currently hospitalized for a pneumothorax after an injury. He broke several ribs, and one of them pierced his lung. The pneumothorax was small, so we assumed hed heal fine on his own, but yesterday he had to be transferred to the critical care unit because he had developed AFib in his sleep. Once his heart rate was stabilized, they put in a chest tube, because X-rays showed air and fluid. Hes been draining a lot of blood and fluids from the tube.They arent sure if the AFib was caused by the collapsed lung, but he has no history of irregular heartbeat or heart problems. Is this common after a pneumothorax?. ### Response: Essentially, anyone can develop atrial fibrillation at any time for numerous reasons including you and I. That being said, the stressors on his body could have induced a state conducive to this, or it is possible that these are 2 separate problems that happen to occur around the same time, ie a person with a stroke who also has a UTI. One would not have necessarily induced the other in this case..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Please take the time to read this. I am extremely sick and not sure if I am going to survive much longer.31M. 5'8"; 125LB; Caucasian; trouble breathing/abdominal pressure; 7 year duration; condition undiagnosed - separate diagnosis of reactive hypoglycemia; current medication (Acarbose 50mg every meal); ZERO drugs/drinking/smoking/vaping/caffeine;My name is Jason Otto. I've been so sick for so long I don't care about online anonymity anymore. Here's a pic of me to prove I'm not making this up:https://ibb.co/1vHzn3xI am extremely messed up. I have been unable to work for the last 8 years and savings have nearly run out. I am now homeless (living out of my car). I have traveled the United States in search of help and I am currently at Harvard. I thought I would get help here but it's more of the same: condescending doctors who take very little time to even talk to the patient and figure out what's wrong. I don't know where else to turn.I am currently looking for a doctor that gives a shit about his/her patients. I'm looking with someone with integrity. I am willing to travel anywhere in the country and can be there within 24 hours. Most dismiss me after the usual 20 minute appointment and tell me nothing else can be done. There is no brainstorming, no critical thinking, no followup, nothing. I don't think that these people understand how serious this situation is. I cannot work, I can barely get out of bed (now my car-seat) in the morning, my cognition is in the toilet and I am unable to function in daily life. I am a vegetable.My problems began in April 2013. I had been having gastritis for a good 6 months and was treated unsuccessfully by several GI docs and their PPIs and H2 blockers. Out of desperation, I went to a chiropractor at the recommendation of a friend. He said he sees all sorts of weird stuff and he will ACTUALLY LISTEN TO YOU. Sold.I see this guy and he thinks my gastritis is due to a hiatal hernia. I now know that this can be seen on an xray and that he was completely full of shit, but I was desperate so just told him to "fix me please". Desperation breeds bad decision making, and without family support I didn't think twice about it.He said he could manipulate it back into place and laid me down on the table, stuck his fingers in exceptionally hard, deep into my abdomen, just under my ribs, about an inch below my xiphoid process, and pushed in and pulled down toward my naval very forcefully.I feel like he moved something out of place.Since then I have had trouble breathing, eating, and feel like I'm constantly being hit in the stomach. I feel like the life is being sucked out of me. It's hard for me to move, it's hard for me to think, refreshing sleep is next to impossible, and I feel like I'm stuck in overdrive all the time because I am so uncomfortable that I cannot calm down. Something feels out of place in my abdomen, almost like it was shifted downward, and no one can seem to tell me what it is or how to treat it.I've had CTs, MRIs, xrays, and many other tests. GI has been ruled out with extensive testing (EGD, barium swallow studies, gastric emptying scans, etc.) It feels like it is outside of my GI tract, almost as if my liver has been displaced. When you go to a doctor and say you are having problems in the epigastric area, you are referred to a GI. GI has been ruled out, and there is nothing wrong. It feels like it's some sort of organ or something else that has been forcefully moved. I feel like I'm in hell in my own body.I struggle to focus because I feel the need to constantly lay down. It's like being hit in the stomach and needing to sit there for a moment to just relax and catch your breath, but the feeling is constant and never goes away. This has crippled me and I cannot do simple things like reading books.If anyone has any idea on what this could be, or has any recommendation on where to go or who to see, PLEASE let me know. I'm someone who always repays the favor, and if you can point me in the right direction or help me in any way, I will more than make it up to you.I used to be a somebody, and now I'm rotting away in my vehicle. I've lost 40 pounds because the thought of food makes me sick, and I cannot find relief.Thank you.-MAlso, THERE IS NO PAIN. I need to make that clear. It's pressure/tension that is constant and I do not feel pain with this at all.I also feel a beating heartbeat in the area, like my heart is pushing against it. The heartbeat is pronounced.Here is a link to an image I uploaded showing the area (under xiphoid process, near liver and diaphragm): https://ibb.co/ByrJ4xSScan list:CT chest, abdomen; MRI chest, pelvis, abdomen; xray chest, pelvis, abdomen; Abdominal ultrasound; Echo, stress test; Tons of blood workEGD; Barium Swallow Study; Colonoscopy; Gastric Emptying Scan; Capsule Endoscopy; Pillcam. ### Response: This is now getting filled with bad advice and advertising. I think good suggestions that will come up have come up, and the discussion is over..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Since you're already in the neighborhood, have you tried this group? https://undiagnosed.hms.harvard.edu/. ### Response: UDN is a good thought, and I think worth looking into. I hope this suggestion gets upvoted more. They have great success stories and are run by great people. It also illustrates that "I am at Harvard for medical care" can mean a bunch of different hospitals, clinics, and doctors, who all have varying expertise and areas of focus.However, a couple things to point out:It's a research study, so not the same as "having a doctor." You also need a study recommendation letter from a health care provider."We cannot accept all applicants." Eligible participants "have at least one objective finding." I honestly don't know how they define that, e.g. is weight loss objective enough?"After all of the necessary information is received... it typically takes 6-8 weeks... to decide whether to accept...."They have about 12 clinical sites across the US, not just Boston.Not trying to dissuade OP. If it were me, I would absolutely be looking at UDN. Let them decide whether you're eligible or not. I'm just trying to provide perspective about what to expect..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Thanks!It does seem structural but I'm having a hard time getting anyone to believe me. Most docs don't even want to hear my history of how this happened. They're on auto-pilot and seem to just want to know what the symptoms are.I'll look into sympathetic nerve damage.. ### Response: Posts by unflaired users that claim legitimacy by virtue of professional medical experience are not allowed.If you are a medical professional who wishes to become a verified contributor to this subreddit, please message the moderators with a link to a picture of your medical ID, student ID, diploma, or other form of verification. Imgur.com is convenient, but you can host anywhere. Please block out personal information, such as your name and picture. You must include your reddit username in the photo!We do not accept digital forms of identification..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Thanks I added that to my list of things to look into and will be following up with someone on Monday to hopefully evaluate it. I have a list of everything that everyone on here has said and I'm going to bring it to the attention of the next doctor I find.. ### Response: To be honest I wonder if you had some traumatic injury to the celiac plexus. This sounds like a neuropathic pain secondary to the chiropractic manipulation. This is a very unusual story you give, so I can't say I have a strong hunch what is going on, but this seems like a reasonable thought. I'm sorry you've ended up in this predicament. You may consider seeing a pain specialist for discussion about a very particular procedure of a type of nerve block..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: I've been thinking the same, and am trying to find out how to know for sure. I'm told that x-rays show the diaphragm, as well as CT scans, but nothing is ever mentioned. I've had an ultrasound of the abdomen as well which I was told would show something if there was a problem, but nothing is coming up.. ### Response: Just so you know, x-rays show the diaphragm so-so, but not great. CT would certainly show more detail. Earlier you stated a hiatal hernia "can be seen on an xray," which is true in the sense that an obvious one would show up, but not all would show up.Likewise, an ultrasound of the abdomen could in theory show some diaphragm abnormalities, but that's not often what the sonographer and radiologist will be looking at most closely..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: t that's not often what the sonographer and radioloThank you.I have had a lot of imaging, including CTs, over the past several years. Do you think a second opinion from a radiologist would be a good idea? Usually you get an order from a doctor and the radiologist does and reads the scan, but are there options for people who just want a radiologist to look over old testing? Can I pay someone to look at old tests?. ### Response: In general, radiologists definitely look at old scans, and that could be considered a second opinion. This pretty much means the patient has to bring the images on CDs.However, when this happens, it involves a "front line" non-radiology doctor (medicine, ortho, neuro, etc.) who sees the patient and usually is ordering a new scan and wants to know how today's MRI of the hip compares to the 2015 scan from Far Across The Country Clinic, LLC. Rarely the front line doc might have old scans only and just want his/her local radiologist to take a look as a courtesy.I have never run across exactly the 2nd part of what you're suggesting: patient directly sees/pays a radiologist to review stuff (with no front line doc involved). This probably exists somewhere in the world, but it has a sort of "boutique" feel to it..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Hi Docs & Medical Community -Coming to you all hear with some saddening news. It's been approximatley six weeks since my partner "attempted" suicide via hanging, and I have had extremely limited information on his current condition due to a variety of factors. These include being a non family-member, and his remaining family being very difficult to work with, less than caring of his current condition, and not being the ideal parents. The background for these are for another subreddit, but I'm happy to divulge any information if you all need more. I will try to be as analytical and non-emotional as I can in this post, as I'm only attempting to gather information from those directly involved in the field, as opposed to my resources of compiling random pages on the internet. Hope you all can help, and if you need any information please ping me.For security reasons, this is a throwaway, but I will be checking the post on my main account routinely and can log back in to answer any questions you all may have. Thank you very much for your help.I made an original post on r/TrueOffMyChest yesterday, that you can find here. It may have some information that may be relevant, although focuses more on my emotional state and less on the actual medical facts.---Patient Information: USA, 25M, 6'0", 192, White, Attempted Suicide Via Hanging - Hypoxic Brain Injury. No exisiting medical issues - daily workouts w/ weightlifting and cardio, very diet and food aware. Current medications include 20mg daily Wellbutrin, started 2-3wks before event happened. Prior to Wellbutrin, 20mg of Prozac daily. Casual smoker (vape-nicotine) and regular alcohol intake (2-3 drinks/mo). No recreational drugs. Past history of mild depression and anxiety, routine therapy. Zero previous suicide attempts or thoughts at self-harm.---The last several weeks have been quite stressful and devastating as you can imagine. There's a lot more to the information-specific side of the story, but the long story short is an abusive, neglectful, and incredibly religious mother, who has cut off her son. She is unwilling to call the hospital for daily updates, and obviously they can't release any information to myself or his friends, as we're not family. We have been able to get some limited information through friends of friends - my partner was a graduate school student in biology, and has many friends who know some individuals who work at the specific hospital he's at and were able to nail down some information. With the exception of yesterday's update, in which my partner's best friend drove to the hospital and used one of his friends there to squeeze some actual information (I'm not sure that's legal, but we are totally in the dark and the only person who has information will not share for her own greed), we know nothing concrete.The information yesterday was helpful in a way. For my full emotions, I can't say I'm any better, but from a purely medical standpoint I'd like some help deciphering it. Again, I understand this is a sticky situation involving HIPPA and legality, so want to be clear that I am not advocating for any unethical or illegal reporting standards. I fully understand the rationale and logistics behind HIPPA and it's protection laws. I hope, from a personal perspective, you all can see how we had to do what we did in order just to learn SOMETHING. I am not a judgemental person, but his mother is subjectively awful for her behavior in the past and now, withholding information and not even picking up half of the hospitals calls regarding updates about her own son. We just have to work with what we have.The reason I bring this up at all is due to the fact I want to stress the 'concrete' nature of the status update yesterday - while all of our other updates have had questionting validity due to them being passed through multiple sets of ears and open to interpetation, this one came directly from the source. Anyways, I will attempt to construe a timeline below:Mid-Feburary: Initial incident occured. I discovered my partner hanging by a constructed noose in his bedroom. While I don't know how long he was cut from oxygen, I know that it was >4min and <11min. If it was closer to 4, I'd assume he'd be awake by now. If it was closer to 11, I figured he may be confirmed brain dead and/or medically dead at this point.I called 911 and began CPR immediatley. 911 was quick response, and from call time to arrival was no more than 3-4 minutes. In this 3-4 minute period, I opened his airway and performed CPR while simeltaneously on the phone. I did not detect a pulse nor breathing, and once the EMTs arrived, they relocated me into another room for comfort & questioning while attending to him in the field. They shocked his heart back from AFIB, and I do not remember them confirming if they restarted his pulse.Late-Feburary: 13 days after event. I have no information. I am called by my attorney (who I called to be safe and attempt to find out more info) to see if he knows anyone who can get any contact update. I have contacted his mother by now who has expressed her disgust for her son and says he is an "unforgiveable sinner" and wishes not to be contacted by me anymore. When my attorney calls, he gives me no information other than "no brain activity." I immediatley assume brain death, and am disheartened (to say the least) at this news. I assume at this point that it is irreversible and he will not wake up.Early-March: Limbo period of no information update. My attorney can only guarentee me that he will have any information if she dies - in which case I will be informed.Through grapvine comprised of partner's close friends, limited information is listed that he has been transferred to a highly-rated neurosurgery hospital, and has been moved from "Critical" to "Critical-Stable". His body is improving, but no update on his brain status and activity. No one knows who authorized the transfer, or if it was done by the State or a hospital administration decision. His mother does not answer my request for comment. Brain activity has gone from "no brain activity" to "little to no brain activity" if that makes a difference - it did not to me, at least not at the time.Late-March/Present: Partner's best friend made the state-crossing drive to his current hospital, which as of yesterday, he is still at and not reported medically dead. Source-based information was relayed as follows: Still in "Critical-Stable" condition, with significant brainstem activity. They would not say if it was a persistent or permanent vegetative state, rather they listed it as a "medically-induced coma to allow the brain to heal." They implied that they COULD wake him up if he wanted, but they were holding off to see if he would have a better response. I'm unclear on what that means. They could not give him an exact date on when he was moved from one "level" of inactivity or trauma to the other, so I cannot confirm that. They said his OFFICIAL condition was "Stable, but Unresponsive" which could mean a number of things. I am optimistic that they have taken away the notion of a sudden brain death, but am trying not to a) get my hopes up, and b) speculate on anything that was not explicitly confirmed.In addition to those updates, they said his vitals were normal, and he had sleep/wake cycles, but no voluntary response to stimulation. Whether this is due to a brain injury or the medically-induced coma or some combination of the two is unknown. While he is still on a ventilator, it was reported that it is no longer breathing FOR him, simply assisting him in his breath. His heart was put on bypass, but is pumping on it's own at the moment. This is the last update I have.---So, here we are. This is a lot of words. I want to state - I don't know how to feel. I'm not writing this post for someone to sit here and tell me it's going to be okay. I know, logically, there is a very small percent change (<5%, if not smaller) of him ever waking up, and a fraction of that small chance of him being "normal" in the sense that he was.My intention with this post is to try and get some real life experience from those who have seen something similar or have an area of expertise in this field. I've read a LOT of things on the internet, some of which make sense, some of which don't, and some of which conflict each other.IF YOU HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS OR NEED ANY MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. WILL UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN.---I'm not religious, but ask all of you to send some good thoughts his way. You never know. I know that there are a thousand possibilities of varying severity through this outcome. I'm hoping it's the one that he's happy with.. ### Response: Thats a very sad and difficult situation, Im so sorry.Im not sure we can help a lot with all this second hand information.The fact that he has a wake/sleep rhythm and triggers the ventilator means that hes not brain dead. The first fact means hes probably moving to (at least) a persistent vegetative state.The chances that he recovers without important disability are slim. Its very hard to predict if this remains in the range of persistent vegetative state or if more consciousness will recover. A next step would be if meaningful communication would be possible.An MRI, EEG and the results of a neurological exam will help inform prognosis, but there still will be significant uncertainty..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Age 40 Sex MHeight 6'1 Weight 190 Race W Duration of complaint Week Location Left index Any existing relevant medical issues PsA Current medications Biologic Include a photo if relevantLast weekend when planting a very large agave/century plant, I got three spines in my left index finger. Two I got out (but they hurt for days after -irritant/poisonous?). The third I felt a stick but didn't see a mark and couldn't find anything to remove. All week the finger has been warm, red, stiff, and a bit swollen. No change in a week, though now the first joint is a bit painful when pushing on it. I've got PSA, so used to having stiff hands, but this is a little different.I've held a very bright flashlight to it and cannot see any foreign body under the skin.For sure had DTAP 8yrs ago when my first was born. Not sure since.Go to the GP? Let it ride? If the doc, do they just throw oral antibiotics at it, or is there something more effective?. ### Response: Missing critical elements of history and no images. You may have an infection and you should seek care. Infections in the hand can be serious..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: 29F, 5'2, 80 something lbs, end stage liver failure etc.This one might be long, but I appreciate any kind of advice or input. I'm concerned my sister has been kind of pushed to the side since COVID19 and she's currently in critical, critical condition despite having been discharged. My family is confused on what to do, how to help her, especially since she's been denied a liver transplant. But anyways, here it goes:On March 5th my sister was found collapsed on her bathroom floor, she was completely yellow. Her boyfriend rushed her to the ER, where he was told to call family (us) because she wouldn't make it. From there she was transferred to a larger hospital, placed in surgical ICU and had a team immediately on her case. At this point her liver was failing, and she had an infection but they didn't know the source nor the bacteria causing it. She couldn't breathe on her own etc. Over the next week they threw all the antibiotics at her hoping something would stick, put a tube in her stomach to drain fluid that had built up around her bladder, put her on 24/7 dialysis since her kidneys began to fail, so many tests ran, I unfortunately can't recall all the details right now but if there are any specific questions I can likely answer.It was very touch and go for a while but her fever had gone away despite never finding out the source of infection. She was tolerating the dialysis and the last day I saw her she looked like she was doing a little bit better. Then COVID-19 hit my state and we were no longer allowed to visit her. Phone updates from the RN told us she was doing better, but they never had any specific information on what specific doctor's were saying, questions we had just weren't getting answered and my sister was unable to tell us what was going on. Within one week, we were told she was well enough to go down to general, despite previously being told she would go down to regular ICU first, and be in the hospital for at the very least a total of 6 weeks. She could breathe (not very well) on her own at this point and could communicate, so the hospital was no longer relaying information to us despite her not being in good enough condition to actually understand what was going on and couldn't remember what doctor's were saying to her. The next day we get a call that she's getting a port placed for out patient dialysis, and she was discharged that same day.We knew she wouldn't be 100% obviously but thought she would be better than she is. She comes home and can't walk, can't breathe very well at all, is completely yellow, is in constant pain and honestly looks like she won't be able to make it much longer. We don't know if she can survive with this liver, she was denied a transplant (whole 'nother story) and despite getting outpatient dialysis she looks worse and worse. She was told she was getting a home care nurse, they aren't coming now. She was supposed to originally be getting PT, they won't come out anymore (honestly don't think she's at that point now anyways). I'm trying to facilitate the care she needs and I'm trying to get her appointments set up but all doctors are only doing video call (completely understand). I'm just so scattered right now and have no idea why she was discharged. Should I take her back? Will they even be able to do anything? I don't understand and I'm just looking for any kind of advice I can get.Edit: The liver failure was precipitated by alcohol abuse and exasperated by the sepsis from her bladder infection. The last we had heard from the transplant team was that she was considered a good candidate (after 3 interviews) despite the alcohol abuse. We got a letter in the mail yesterday stating the denial. I am not trying to negate from the alcohol abuse, that was the reason her liver failed. Just that she also had a lot else going on that led to the condition she is in.. ### Response: Posts by unflaired users that claim legitimacy by virtue of professional medical experience are not allowed.If you are a medical professional who wishes to become a verified contributor to this subreddit, please message the moderators with a link to a picture of your medical ID, student ID, diploma, or other form of verification. Imgur.com is convenient, but you can host anywhere. Please block out personal information, such as your name and picture. You must include your reddit username in the photo!We do not accept digital forms of identification..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Ineligible? Its probably the alcohol. Transplant has very strict regulations. I cant believe any transplant team would say shes a good candidate if she lost her liver due to alcohol abuse. Just like with cigarette smokers. You have to quit and show at least 6 months to a year smoke free before you can even get on the list. Its a long process.I had to wait five years after my stomach cancer to get my transplant. So I did my best to follow my diet and restrictions set forth by my nephrologist and dialysis center.Im only speculating, about your situation. Im sorry if any of this sounds harsh.It took 3 years of waiting on the list and finally as my health took a turn for the worse, my ex donated his kidney to me 15 months ago.If she will not comply with the program, theres no reason to transplant a healthy organ in a person who wont stop those destructive behaviors. The restrictions/rules are there for a reason. I had So many moments of pure anger, crying, frustration and hopelessness. But thats normal considering the situation.I AGREE, she needs to be hospitalized. Her dialysis center should be advocating for her. Find out who is the social worker for her clinic and contact them ASAP.Also, did you know that for a liver - you can donate just a portion - it doesnt need to be the entire organ for a successful transplant. You (family) could still get tested while you work with the transplant team to make her eligible.My mom has cirrhosis of the liver & she too was ineligible because she was a heavy smoker and soda drinker. She wouldnt quit. Shes outlived all the doctors predictions. But shes suffered tremendously. I finally got her and my dad to quit about five years ago. Shes still too afraid to have transplant, shes set in her ways. So everyday is sheer hell at this point. Im terrified for her with COVID-19. One person has already died at her assisted facility living.Heres my take on part of the reason she was worse after she came home is most likely the dialysis. Its a new thing for her body. It has to adjust to it slowly over the next few months. Depends on how bad she is. It wrecks havoc on your body. You can have extreme lethargy, dizziness, headaches, nausea and cramping.She has End Stage Liver Disease. She is living with terminal illness. The only real thing besides humor & my kids that helped me cope was educating myself. About my disease, dialysis etc.I am so sorry this is happening. Wishing you both the best in the future to come.. ### Response: It's hard to tell you what's happening or what to do without more detailed info, although I completely understand that you do not have this information, and this is all exacerbated by the current isolation requirements. If I were you I would be focused on finding someone to talk to who can explain things better to you or her medical power of attorney (which, by the way she should definitely have at this point). Does she have a follow-up appointment with a liver doctor within the next week?What medical problems did your sister have prior to March 5th when she was found down in the bathroom? Do you understand what is the primary source of her liver failure? Most common things are alcohol abuse, hepatitis C, or toxicity from a Tylenol overdose... others have what's called "cryptogenic" liver disease which means "it's a mystery" but these cases usually don't present as rapidly and dramatically. Sometimes even young healthy patients just have really bad luck and get a bad viral hepatitis that leads to fulminant hepatic failure in a very short time span.Reasons for being denied a spot on the transplant list generally fall into one of three categories: 1 - not sick enough yet, 2 - too sick or has other serious other problems that mean even with a transplanted liver she would not survive long enough to benefit from the very scarce resource of a liver donation, and 3 - not eligible due to history of current or recent alcohol or drug abuse.From what you describe it sounds like she was reasonably healthy and has had a sudden dramatic decline in her health which included an ICU stay with multi-organ failure (liver, kidneys). Then at some point she had somewhat "stabilized" enough, although remained in overall poor health due to her illness. At this point she was discharged home with home health, outpatient dialysis, and PT for rehab, but given the current worldwide situation those services are not being very reliable. Pain, weakness, and some shortness of breath are honestly part of her disease and may not (by themselves) warrant re-admission to a hospital... depends on the severity and whether there is any intervention that could be done in a hospital setting to improve her. Perhaps she should have been discharged to a skilled nursing facility, but these have specific requirements which she may not have met. I can speculate all day but without detailed information it is hard to give good answers.I'm sorry for what you and your family are going through - both the fear of your sister's declining health as well as the uncertainty and confusion you are dealing with. I know it must be very frustrating. Like I said above, the most important thing is getting more info. And if she truly is getting sicker and looking worse at home them take her back to the hospital ER. They may or may not readmit her, but at least she would be evaluated and you'd have a chance to talk with someone about her situation..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Thank you so much for this thoughtful reply, I'll try to clarify on some of the things you mentioned. I'll try to be as concise as possible.The cause for the liver failure is alcohol abuse, unfortunately.2 weeks prior to March 5th I saw my sister and she looked healthy. She had been complaining about UTI pain and she told me she saw a doctor and got antibiotics, I told her she needed to go back if she's in pain still since it could spread to her kidneys and she said she would. She never did either of those things, so that bladder infection I'm sure, is a result of a long standing infection. She didn't look jaundice two weeks prior, she has always been a drinker, however until this happened unfortunately I don't think anyone (in the family) knew just how bad it got. Apparently she was drinking very very heavily the week/2 weeks prior to collapsing. We didn't hear much from her the week prior to the hospital, her boyfriend told us she was trying to kick alcohol and wasn't feeling well. I honestly can't tell you exactly how things got to the point that they did, as she was living with her boyfriend at the time. I certainly have my own questions as to why it took her collapsing on the floor yellow as you wouldn't believe for him to get her to the hospital... But that's another story and something I'm trying to think about right now.I'm guessing her reason for not getting a spot on the transplant list is either due to your #2 or #3. We were assured when they first started speaking to us that alcoholics are eligible for liver transplants if they feel they are a good candidate, and they thought she was. We went through 3 separate interviews. We just got the news she was denied via letter in the mail just yesterday.She has a follow-up appointment via video call with a liver doctor on Wednesday.I've talked to my mom today about how we need to set up a POA. We didn't think she was going to make it while she was in the hospital/when we could still visit, so while my mom was acting as her advocate, nothing legal has been set up yet. I agree, that needs to be done asap.I forgot a couple things in my original post about how she was considered to have sepsis due to the infection, and she had aspiration pneumonia. Not sure if that's relevant at this point. I'm just taking with my mom rn were trying to make sure we're including as much info as we can remember.Your summary sounds very much on point, and that's kind of where I'm at. Do we take her to the ER? Do we wait until her video call on Wednesday? I can't figure out why she was discharged, and I don't feel like we were armed with enough information about her current condition before she was discharged and were confused on what to expect, what were working with, etc. She's currently in a lot of pain, she's not very alert today, she does have dialysis tomorrow. I'm just so confused lol.Thank you for your help, I'm trying to prepare for what my next move is going to be, everything has been so confusing having COVID19 thrown ontop of all of this. I do feel like this lack of communication wouldn't have happened before all of this, and it's just been confusing trying to figure it all out. She came back to us very very sick, and I just have so many questions.. ### Response: Sorry that you and your sister are in this situation, but for this extra information and the long standing alcohol dependency/usage, it sounds like she was denied on that basis. Yes, there are circumstances that can alcoholics can get listed but transplants are reserved for candidates that can make use of their own life and the life of the person whose liver is being transplanted. In other words, it isn't just her life that they are considering. The decision to offer or deny someone a transplant is not a light decision, it involves a whole committee that looks at all aspects of the patient being considered. They look at the usual age, sex and medical history, but also socioencomic history, psychiatric, social structure and support. They usually require a certain number of months of sobriety and vigorous compliance to AA, follow-ups, medications, etc before they can seriously consider any candidate as there is nothing worse than transplanting someone, and that person end up going back to old habits, get lost to follow-up and wasting a healthy transplant that could have gone to someone else. However, just because she was denied now, does not mean she cannot become eligible later.Long standing alcohol consumption can lead to eventual liver failure, and any binges on top of that can throw someone into fulminant hepatic failure and the resultant complications, which sounds like the situation your sister is going through.Unfortunately, she is very, very, very sick and her condition is unlikely to improve dramatically, and she will have more setbacks along the way or she may have an abrupt decline, even while waiting for a transplant. Failed livers have a very high chance of more bad things happening, even with the best therapies and intent. If she is not doing well, such as she is having increased confusion, or unable to be aroused, fevers, gastrointestinal bleeding, I would bring her back to the ER where they evaluated her for transplant (the large hospital, sounds like an academic hospital), if you can. If she cannot make it to the hospital where the transplant evaluation is possible, the closest ER will do, they can stabilize her and decide what to do once she is stable.Hoping for the best! Let us know if you have any more questions..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Not the OP but have seen plenty of cases of 'young' alcoholics with severe or fulminant liver failure. I've also seen plenty of much older alcoholics who don't develop any of the usually associated diseases. It's a bit unpredictable but generally someone who develops severe disease at a young age will have been drinking a very significant amount over a sustained period of time. And some people are particularly vulnerable to disease unfortunately.. ### Response: The degree of liver damage related to alcohol can definitely vary person to person, and probably has a genetic component to it. Just like some people can smoke their whole life and not get lung cancer, some people can drink and not develop cirrhosis (I don't recommend anyone try this). Those cases are the exception to the rule. Smoking and alcohol generally have a dose dependent insult to the respective organs.But definitely have seen early 20s in full liver failure and die, related to alcohol. Some might argue that the developing liver during childhood are more prone to alcohol-related damage.Wow you and your family are really having a terrible month. You seem very calm and reasoned despite the fear and chaos going on. In any family facing these kinds of ordeals it is always very helpful to have someone like you who can rationally absorb information and help others understand.Things that you should "go to the ER now" for would be an altered mental status to the point of near unconsciousness even when you try and speak to her, unbearable pain that is worsening, fevers, significant breathing difficulty (a very rapid respiratory rate like 30+ times per minute or otherwise looks like she is "getting tired" of breathing), a rapid expansion of her swollen belly, or if she cannot do simple tasks of daily living like drinking water or using the restroom on her own. If she is not quite that bad I think it is likely safe to take her to dialysis tomorrow. The dialysis nurses will have a keen eye for patients who are too sick to be at the outpatient center, if they don't seem particularly concerned about her and she tolerates dialysis well then I think she can go back home and await the hepatology appointment / video call on Wednesday. Hopefully you will have much more information after that and can then come up with a plan for the future.Patients with alcoholic liver disease do indeed received transplants all the time. Just because she was not a candidate once does not necessarily mean she never will be. For liver failure caused by alcohol or drug abuse, most donor networks will require abstinence for some period of time (usually several months at a minimum)... but it also sounds like she needs quite a bit of "medical optimization" before she would be well enough to undergo a liver transplant anyway. She needs to recuperate and heal from her infection more and keep taking all the liver failure medications they prescribe. They may also be waiting for her kidneys to hopefully recover some. Hopefully in another week or two she is feeling a bit better and stronger... once she is able to she should strongly consider some kind of addiction recovery program (there are many free ones as well as ones covered by most insurance companies).My very best to her and your family..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Father, white male, 73 Approx 170, 58 Date of onset 2015My father is currently in a nursing home with the diagnosis of dementia. What is odd about this is that the dementia was sudden onset. The first thing that happened was that my father had an episode they called syncope in December of 2015. He fell down and according to my mother he appeared to seize up. My father is a poor historian since all this and my mother as well so I have to relay this as my memory serves and as she told me so some pieces are missing and some things may be confused.After the syncope episode he did go to the hospital. I am not sure what treatment he started at that time. I believe he had a work up for stroke and seizures and it was negative. In the subsequent months/years my father began to become obsessed with checking his blood pressure. BP readings were not abnormal at this time but he was convinced something was wrong with him. In the medical records it was documented that my father stated something is wrong. That was the last time my father was ever somewhat normal. He lost interest in his usual interests. He appeared quiet and withdrawn. I believe at this time he was taking medication for high blood pressure, prostate medication, cholesterols meds, and Zoloft.My father deteriorated badly enough that he was especially confused one night. My mother and I were concerned enough to take him to the ER. He had severe hyponatremia. I believe his sodium was in the critical range. He had a long hospital course. I believe the hospital corrected the hyponatremia carefully and slowly and I do not find fault with them over this. During the hospital stay my dads heart went bradycardic and he coded. He had to receive a pace maker.After they corrected the sodium my dad never came out of the confusion. He underwent so many work ups to see why he was experiencing the confusion. All the scans, PET scan, blood tests were negative for anything that would explain the confusion.My dad came home with the pacemaker and remained confused. He remained with a flat affect. Loss of interest in hobbies. Diagnosed with dementia at this point. The doctors couldnt explain why a sudden onset of dementia but said this wasnt the usual presentation.Sometime after this my dad had an episode of status epilepticus and went to the hospital. He was placed on a seizure medication at this time. I dont know which one but I can tell you that after he began seizure treatment his personality returned. He improved somewhat.After this he began to deteriorate to the point of not being able to use the restroom in his own. He started wearing diapers. He became bedridden. My mother decided to place him in a nursing home. He recognizes family but isnt oriented to time and space. I do know he began mirtazapine around this time. I was hopeful this would improve his condition if it were not truly dementia. I believe its been about a year since and my dad remains confused. Hes still wheelchair bound.I read promising studies regarding mirtazipine but as time goes on Im not hopeful he doesnt have dementia. Im posting this in hopes anyone can provide any insight over my dads case. My hopes are that he had pseudo dementia.Ill add that all of his care was provided by the VA. We never accused them of any wrong doing. His primary care doctor and neurologist no longer work at the hospital. They asked us repeatedly if my dad was an alcoholic. We would ask why he seemingly developed dementia overnight and they would ask us if he were an alcoholic. My dad was a heavy drinker at times but we didnt feel like alcohol contributed to anything so said no. I know from working in GI that if someone is an alcoholic its hard to hide from a proper work up. Its possible my dad drank more than I knew and its possible that he truly did have dementia but hid it. I guess my question is does this sound like true dementia? Is there anything else that can be ruled out?. ### Response: You say sudden, but it sounds like this has been slowly progressive now for almost 6 years, not overnight. That's a fairly typical course for Alzheimer's disease, with initial loss of memory, later urinary incontinence and more global confusion, and later loss of mobility and total impairment. Pseudodementia has particular findings on assessment that indicate for or against; one element is depression. Your father has been on antidepressants, but it's not really clear, at least to me, what depressive symptoms he has had other apathy and loss of affect.But other things don't fit. Neither pseudodementia nor Alzheimer's dementia present with seizures. Severe hyponatremia can, but that would need a workup and cause. Sometimes the cause is brain injury causing syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH), which lowers sodium, which can cause seizures, but it's still not obvious why the first episode of syncope. Eventually severe bradycardia requiring a pacemaker, but not initially?Timing and type of head imaging makes a difference. With the the triad of dementia, incontinence, and now loss of mobility, has there been any discussion of normal pressure hydrocephalus? It would usually be picked up, or at least suspicion identified on CT at some point, but it partially fits and should at least have been ruled out..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Based on the history you give I would be very surprised if he had not had imaging of his head either CT or MRI and this would certainly have identified if normal pressure hydrocephalus was the cause of his symptoms and this is important to rule out as if identified early it is treatable.It does actually sound pretty good for a history of dementia and I was unclear from your history whether he had in fact had a stroke as this can sometimes lead to a form of dementia known as vascular dementia which is common but presents slightly differently to the more common Alzheimers dementia. In vascular dementia the progression of symptoms tends to be step wise with sudden deteriorations followed by a plateauing of symptoms and then further sudden decline. In Alzheimers the decline tends to be more of a slow and subtle deterioration. You can actually develop seizures with Alzheimers disease which can develop relatively early in the disease but they can be treated with anti epileptics.Dementia cannot explain the hyponatraemia though; however from the history there are 2 common causes for hyponatraemia. Firstly your father was being treated for hypertension and quite a few of the medications used to treat high blood pressure can cause hyponatraemia. This increases if people are on multiple agents to reduce blood pressure and diuretics tend to be the worst but ACEi and ARBs also cause it. Secondly there seems to be some suggestion of alcohol use and at times you say your father was a heavy drinker. Alcohol particularly if drinking over recommended safe limits can also cause hyponatraemia as well as seizures. It is also a risk factor for developing Alzheimers disease and can actually cause a rarer form of dementia known as wernicke-korsakoff syndrome; although from the description you give I suspect this is unlikely to be the cause.. ### Response: Its not uncommon for people to say what youre saying, which is they are shocked at how rapidly a person can deteriorate. I hear it all. The. Time. And its totally understandable.The reality is he was slowly deteriorating before that episode, and you didnt notice it. People with early dementia are good st hiding it. We as doctors get used to picking up on the small signs but family doesnt always realize it. Ask them to recall something very specific, and they cant. But they keep light happy conversation very well. And they always seem happy and they say things are going well. In reality they dont remember much.Then something happens. They get sick with whatever and family is shocked at how it becomes full blown dementia. This is classic presentation for a UTI in the elderly. Something that little can make them completely confused.I suspect that was going on for him. You said he had a heart attack, his brain may have not gotten enough oxygen for a short but also, and that can cause permanent damage. You touched on sodium, Im sure you know correcting that has potential downsides as well.Regardless of what caused it, it is what it is now. Outside of it being one of his medications causing it, I suspect theres nothing you can do. Theres some medications they use to treat it, Im not familiar with them.Sorry youre dealing with this. Its hard to watch someone slowly slip away. Make sure youre taking care of yourself, a therapist can help often. And reading up on how to deal with dementia patients is helpful also, theres lots of small things to do that make both of your time together better.


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: What are permanent treatments for sleep apnea? Due to the fact that obstructive sleep apnea is the result of anatomical characteristics, the question of a permanent cure is complicated to answer. You can definitely do a home sleep apnea test to be sure if you have it or not. Ongoing, sleep apnea may be treated by a CPAP machine or an oral appliance. A CPAP is worn nightly and works by opening up the airway with air pressure. CPAP is effective for the treatment of sleep apnea, but many patients find it difficult or impossible to tolerate. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machines are machines in which doctors give the nasal mask to the patients that provides continuous air pressure, which opens the blockage in the passage that was causing obstructive sleep apnea. As a result, the patients can easily breathe, and they dont feel any breathing sensation or apnea. Due to this, the patient sleeps well with no snoring, and they wake up fresh in the morning. So this treatment is a very important treatment; however, patients first dont understand this, but once they start using it, they start noticing some changes. They feel active because earlier the sleep, which was not complete or used to be in fragments, you were waking up in between, and you were not aware of it, but now that sleep is complete, the patients feel much better. In addition, if people say that they will ignore it and say they dont need these machines, they will bring complications. Because if you are short of breath and there is less oxygen supply of blood to the organs of the body. There is the possibility of having a heart attack very much; if one has diabetes, then it may get uncontrolled; if someone has BP, then it may get uncontrolled, there is a chance of stroke. Also, the other life-threatening disease may get fatal because of obstructive sleep apnea. So it is very important to identify obstructive sleep apnea, get it diagnosed, get treatment, and, if needed, use a CPAP machine, which is very important for your life. So if you do these things along with lifestyle modification like early dinner. Few exercises can be done, such as walking, working on weight reduction and looking at your health benefits to reduce the use of CPAP machines. In this video, our SimpliHealth expert, Dr. Preeti Sharma Senior consultant Pulmonology and Critical Care at Apollo clinic Chandigarh explains the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GhgspGvrQY. ### Response: There isn't a permanent treatment for OSA. There are many treatments for OSA with various indications and various treatment success. CPAP is the most widely applicable with the most consistently positive outcomes. Oral appliances can improve symptoms and in some people normalize their overnight obstructive events, but doesn't have as good long term outcomes as CPAP. Some people may benefit from a surgery where their jaw is moved forward, but it only applies to certain people when their jaw is set very posteriorly. There are also hypoglossal nerve stimulators, but are effective in only certain instances of OSA in which the airway closes in a certain pattern..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: My son is 5 weeks old, I am not sure of his height right now but he weighs 9lbs 4oz. his medical history is complex and I believe it is valuable information so I will start with that..When my son was exactly 1 week old we went to his first pediatrician appointment, they noticed he was looking a bit yellow so they did a bilirubin test the levels came back critically high (21). We were immediately brought back to the hospital and they started him on bili lights however they never tested his bilirubin before we discharged from the hospital I had him at, so we truly dont know how long his levels were that bad. We are RH incompatible so I am certain thats probably what caused the really high biliWhile hospitalized for the bilirubin, we quickly noticed our son was having problems breathing. He was holding his breath for pretty long periods of time. A nurse told us at one point that his respiration rate was only 14.. he was having desaturations and bradycardia with this so he was quickly life flighted to a hospital that was better equipped for this situation. Our son spent 1 night in the NICU and then 9 days in the special care unit. It took him EXACTLY 48 hours to have another breathing episode at this hospital. He was life flighted at 10 pm and then 48 hours later at exactly 10 pm he started having issues again. They did a 1 hour EEG and told us there was nothing substantial And that they didnt find it necessary to do a 24 hour EEG. they decided to try Pepcid 0.2mg because they started to think this was reflux related. At the same time they started the Pepcid he stopped having these breathing episodes. They did not run any further testing and just stated that he was having reflux and was holding his breath because of the acid coming up.My son is now 5 weeks old. We were home for less than 2 weeks and we are now hospitalized again. On Wednesday around 3:30pm our son had what looked to be seizures. His eyes were looking to the left, they were sort of vibrating rhythmically in small side to side movements (not across the entire eye. They stayed looking to the left but kind of vibrated??), and he was unresponsive. We snapped in his face and tapped on him, talked to him and everything and he just was not responsive. He ended up doing this 3 times back to back. Each episode would last about 30 seconds with a 1-3 minute break between each of them. We took a video of it and showed it to our pediatrician who immediately told us with certainty that our son was having seizures. He was admitted to the hospital that night.. they did blood work and did find his electrolytes slightly out of normal ranges, however just a few hours later when they repeated the labs he was back to a healthy range and I was told that couldve happened because of the IV fluids he was on..Once again, our pediatrician made the call to send him out to a better equipped hospital. They sent him to a childrens mercy he was there for 24 hours on an EEG which they did not find anything on.. they told me hes not having seizures and that this movement is normal Im sorry but I truly dont think this is normal. Ive never seen a baby do this and our pediatrician found it alarming enough to send him out to childrens.. our pediatrician has 30 years of experience. Hes a smart guyChildrens mercy discharged us with no answers. We begged them to run more tests or consult with a neonatologist and they refused we left that hospital and went to another one in the area that is well known for their high quality PICU & NICU. we went in and showed them the video.. the nurologist that watched the video said he also does not think this is seizures, however he doesnt think its normal.. right now the plan is to do an MRI tomorrow. In the past he has only had CT scans done, but nothing was found on them..I am absolutely desperate. Our kid is being life flighted twice in his first month of life, and hes spent nearly half of his life in the hospital at this point something is wrong, and no one knows what direction to point us in I asked about the eye movement possibly being related to a balance issue or an issue with his ears and they told me no.. Ive asked if reflux could cause it and theyve told me no Ive asked what could cause it and they give me broad answers I need a direction to go with this. Neurologists dont seem to be finding anything. Could this be a cardiac problem?? Does anyone have any advice on what to ask for if the MRI Comes back normal? Our son needs help. He is miserable. He doesnt sleep, hes not eating very well he gets hungry every two hours and I dont even think hes getting enough milk because he falls asleep every time hes eating and wakes up so upset because hes starving he doesnt let me put him down. I am not being dramatic when I say I have to hold him all day and all night. He will not sleep unless someone is holding him, and usually that someone has to be me. I need help something is wrong and I cant keep doing this. I dont have the energy in me to keep fighting with these doctors.. please help. ### Response: Were seizure like episodes actually captured on EEG? Did he do the weird stuff while the leads were actually on? It's possible to have seizures, but have a normal EEG if you're not actively seizing.However, not all abnormal movements are seizures..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: 24F 57, 190lbs Meds: Lexapro, Buspar, Zyxal, Allegra, Pepcid, metoprolol tartrate, NuvaringPMH: postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome, hypermobile Ehler Danlos syndrome, and Celiac diseaseOther background: moved to NYC over the summer, works in cardiac surgery and critical careBefore the past few weeks, I had symptoms well under control with meds and lifestyle.3 weeks ago, I woke up out of the blue with itchy, raised hives all over my entire body. I went to urgent care and got a 5 day run of prednisone and steroid cream. Hives continued to fade and pop up all over. A week later, I went to my allergist. She gave me hydroxyzine to manage itching. A few days before it started, I had gotten my flu shot and COVID booster (Pfizer). She said maybe it was a hypersensitivity reaction to one of the vaccines, and that wouldnt last more than a few weeks. We couldnt come up with another trigger other than maybe environmental due to the apartments heat kicking in or the weather changing to cold.After seeing her, things worsened. The hives have been terrible still. Ive been getting pain, hives, and swelling in my small joints (fingers, wrists, ankles). Today, my face started swelling too. I have no idea if its still a vaccine reaction, a new allergen, or something else. Its getting harder to manage and no new ideas from my drs. Any ideas?. ### Response: If you have urticaria, this is acute urticaria. They can both be managed the same way.Finding a "cause" for most urticaria in most patients is not a reasonable expectation. Laboratory and other evaluation is not evidence based. Following the evidence-based treatment approach in Figure 2 will greatly improve most patients: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/all.13397.


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: Gender - male Age - 54 Weight - 165lbs Height - 5'11So my father has been a heavy alcoholic and smoker for 40+ years but im concerned about his health. About 15 years ago he went to the doctors to get some tests done and his doctor literally said to him "I don't know how you are standing here in front of me", He also had a blood pressure of over 200 and his blood pressure is still at around that level today.But a few months ago he felt really dizzy to the point where He got a doctor's appointment, Then at the doctor's they did a ECG on his heart and said that he must of had a silent heart attack. They also took his blood pressure and it was 260/180.But my father still drinks and smokes like crazy, He did take tablets to lower blood pressure but he still doesn't care.Seriously, How the hell could he still be alive when he has been living with critical blood pressure of over 200 for at least 15 years? Cause apparently if you have a blood pressure of over 180/120 then you have a 80 percent chance of dying within 1 year.Now I love my father but I think he is a ticking time bomb and im worried. ### Response: The body can adapt to a lot of things, seems that your dad is lucky. Not sure what type of advice youre looking for, seems that you know the answers. He should stop drinking and smoking and take his blood pressure medication because youre right, he is a ticking time bomb, he could suffer a brain hemorrhage or a heart attack at any moment, or even start to develop symptoms of lungs, heart and liver conditions..


Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. ### Instruction: He's also not vaccinated against covid although I think he caught covid a few months ago because he was pretty Ill (He just couldn't be bothered taking a test tho). He has also never got a vaccine in his life (Apparently) and he was offered to get his covid/flu vaccine but he just doesn't want tohe is a heavy smoker and alcoholic (Does it everyday), He also use to do alot of other drugs back in his early day (I.e coke, ketamin, Ecstasy etc) but even his doctor said to him 15 years ago that he should be dead.Now I know that things such as heart attacks, Strokes etc doesn't seem to run in my family luckily and both of my grandparents (his parents) are still alive, my great grandparents (His grandparents) also lived to thier late 90s so maybe genetics plays a role here but still, I thought him having that silent heart attack a few months ago would of motivated him into getting his shit together but it hasn'tAlso, The doctor's gave him folic acid tablets to treat his blood pressure (Which I don't really understand). He also went for a scan the other day on his heart but they lost his scan results. ### Response: Folic acid is known to help reduce the risk of having a stroke. It looks like you cant do much else if your dad doesnt want to help himself a bit. Genetics might be doing their part here, theres really no way of knowing for sure why he hasnt any other complications, but thats a good thing :).