General Medical issues thread

[Pushka]

On a less serious note daughter vomiting and diarrhea 2 days ago then last night waiting for taxi in Pattaya hotel to go to Bangkok wife not feeling well and dizzy. She vomited 3-4 times early in the trip and then halfway through the 2+ hour trip I woke up and vomited 3-4 times. Both had diarrhea at hotel but nothing for me since.

Took imodium earlier and everything ok so far. Trying to work out what may have caused it is doing my head in. I didn't have dinner 2 days ago and didn't eat much yesterday other than hotel brekfast of fried egg and bread. The only thing we ate together each day was hotel breakfast of eggs and rice soup. Strange.

Just a virus. Families share these things. If only for 24 hours it’s not a problem.

 

[drron]

If the hotel breakfast was all you had together it is likely the cause or you have come across a bug that can cause gastro eg norovirus.

 

[k_sheep]

I think many doctors forget that the normal range for virtually any pathology test is from 2.5%-97.5% of normal people.Therefore 1 in 40 patients who are normal will have a TSH for example that is lower than normal and 1 in 40 a TSH higher than normal.
You are not the first to have that problem.

........ can you please teach all the ED staff who keep insisting all the low positive troponins are my (the labs') fault?

Seriously the amount of time, energy and money we waste chasing "false positive" troponins, because highly trained doctors still don't understand how we make reference ranges based on values from completely healthy people (not generally ones you see in ED), and STILL 2.5% of them will be high.

Bah!

 

[JohnK]

Just a virus. Families share these things. If only for 24 hours it’s not a problem.

Wife still not feel well. She's off to Chiang Mai already with daughter. I had a big breakfast and appear to be over it quickly.

 

[Pushka]

Wife still not feel well. She's off to Chiang Mai already with daughter. I had a big breakfast and appear to be over it quickly.

Sometimes gastro bouts leave you feeling a bit limp. That’s where the gastrolyte drinks work wonders. Even if frozen and sucked as an ice block which works very well for kids.

 

[JohnK]

Sometimes gastro bouts leave you feeling a bit limp. That’s where the gastroyte drinks work wonders. Even if frozen and sucked as an ice block which works very well for kids.

I think you're right regarding electrolytes. Should have got some this morning.

I did say that I appear to be over it quickly but my upper body is sore. I guess one can describe it like flu like symptoms.

 

[drron]

........ can you please teach all the ED staff who keep insisting all the low positive troponins are my (the labs') fault?

Seriously the amount of time, energy and money we waste chasing "false positive" troponins, because highly trained doctors still don't understand how we make reference ranges based on values from completely healthy people (not generally ones you see in ED), and STILL 2.5% of them will be high.

Bah!

I diagnose a lot of benign troponitis.
Then there are the ones with another reason for the elevation and simply looking at past tests shows the level hasn't changed over a few years.
At least half of the troponin tests ordered are not even indicated.

 

[Hvr]

Sleeper sell: Anaesthetists want name change so people know how skilled they are
The director of the anaesthesia and pain department at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital said colloquially anyone providing anaesthesia in Australia could call themselves an anaesthetist, including GP anaesthetists and nurses who provided sedation.

He said a name change could clear up this confusion.

“If the only person who can be called an anaesthesiologist is someone who had specialist training, that would just simplify things,” Professor Scott said.

“The ‘ology’ implies special knowledge and research.”

I know we have a lot of medical personnel here. What do you think of changing the title of anaesthetists?

 

[Pushka]

I know we have a lot of medical personnel here. What do you think of changing the title of anaesthetists?

One of our best friends is an anaesthetist. If some (and I’d say minority of uninformed people) don’t know the meaning of the word does it really matter? How does it change anything? They’ll sure find out when they get their gap bill!

 

[QF WP]

I have a number of school friends who are anaesthetists, including one who was my wife's anaesthetist during a procedure. I believe only those that have the postnominal and training can call themself that, anything else is false.

 

[Renato1]

On a less serious note daughter vomiting and diarrhea 2 days ago then last night waiting for taxi in Pattaya hotel to go to Bangkok wife not feeling well and dizzy. She vomited 3-4 times early in the trip and then halfway through the 2+ hour trip I woke up and vomited 3-4 times. Both had diarrhea at hotel but nothing for me since.

Took imodium earlier and everything ok so far. Trying to work out what may have caused it is doing my head in. I didn't have dinner 2 days ago and didn't eat much yesterday other than hotel brekfast of fried egg and bread. The only thing we ate together each day was hotel breakfast of eggs and rice soup. Strange.

My friend who lives in Thailand half of each year says a doctor first put him onto the following antibiotic pills for such situations in Asian countries.
He said to me, "For bacterial gastro/ food poisoning. NORXACIN 400. 2 tabs every 4 hours till symptoms stop. Accompanied by electrolyte replacement fluid therapy."

I don't know where my friend gets those pills (also known as NORFLOXAN), but he has a big supply over there, and is always curing his friends with them when they get ill from the food.
Regards,
Renato

 

[cove]

How many folks over fifty have two aspirin with them pretty much at al times as a just in case scenario of a crushing chest pain?
Of course if you are on warfarin or are allergic to aspirin you wouldn’t chew aspirin without water while waiting for the ambulance.
Seems to me to be a reasonable safeguard for a major group of the population who are not on heart medications.
Your thoughts?

 

[Hvr]

Your thoughts?

Apart from taking a headache tablet for a temporary illness, I don't take medicine without explicit clearance and instructions from my GP.

And yes, I am in the aforementioned demographic.

 

[JohnM]

I'm waaay into the demographic (as Cove would know ), but I take no medication at all and carry nothing with me. Long may it stay that way.

The only time I ever take pills regularly is Doxycycline when I'm visiting malarial zones.

 

[Pushka]

My friend who lives in Thailand half of each year says a doctor first put him onto the following antibiotic pills for such situations in Asian countries.
He said to me, "For bacterial gastro/ food poisoning. NORXACIN 400. 2 tabs every 4 hours till symptoms stop. Accompanied by electrolyte replacement fluid therapy."

I don't know where my friend gets those pills (also known as NORFLOXAN), but he has a big supply over there, and is always curing his friends with them when they get ill from the food.
Regards,
Renato

I think norxacin has been banned now. Too many bad side effects if I’ve got the correct drug.

 

[docjames]

My friend who lives in Thailand half of each year says a doctor first put him onto the following antibiotic pills for such situations in Asian countries.
He said to me, "For bacterial gastro/ food poisoning. NORXACIN 400. 2 tabs every 4 hours till symptoms stop. Accompanied by electrolyte replacement fluid therapy."

I don't know where my friend gets those pills (also known as NORFLOXAN), but he has a big supply over there, and is always curing his friends with them when they get ill from the food.
Regards,
Renato

I don't normally comment on this thread, but I couldn't leave this one there without rebuttal. That's terrible advice (so bad as to be dangerous).

Norfloxacin comes as 400mg tablets, and the dosage is one tablet twice per day. Expect significant side effects if taken as described above. There is no benefit in taking higher doses (rare exception may be in those with extremely high body weights). The drug is (in Australia at least) in short supply and there are better antimicrobials out there for the most part anyway.

Due to (increasing worldwide) antimicrobial resistance, it's highly likely to be ineffective anyway (ie. a poor choice for SE-Asia travellers diarrhoea).

I'd suggest your friend find a new doctor.


The fluid therapy is the one piece of good advice and in the majority of cases of traveler's diarrhoea that would be sufficient treatment (and is probably what would be working rather than the antibiotic overdose). In fact usage where there is no need is what causes antimicrobial resistance.

I'll leave these two links for more info:

Travelers' Diarrhea - Chapter 2 - 2018 Yellow Book | Travelers' Health | CDC (more than you'll ever want to know)

What is antimicrobial resistance?

 

[JohnK]

I don't know where my friend gets those pills (also known as NORFLOXAN), but he has a big supply over there, and is always curing his friends with them when they get ill from the food.

The pharmacies there stock almost everything but not always cheap either.

I take some antibiotics without consulting a doctor and I'll take anti-fungals such as ketaconazole as needed but cautious of taking too much else and certainly cautious of anything I give to my wife with the issues she's had in recent times.

Imodium is ok for situation above although I'm not sure that's wise either unless need to be out and about.

 

[get me outta here]

The drugs from that general part of the world could have anything in them and the label will not be reliable.

 

[blackcat20]

Still havent got my biopsy results. The clinic has them but the doctor is away

 

[Pushka]

Still havent got my biopsy results. The clinic has them but the doctor is away

Well, you’d hope that if they were not good that someone might have called you. Seems a long time.