General Medical issues thread

[VPS]

I'll be 60 in a few months. I've suffered most my life quietly.

Not that quietly - you've complained about your health regularly on here but don't seem to want to take anyone's advice but your own

 

[mrsterryn]

Wouldn't buying drugs that are prescription wherever you are , on the black market be an issue ?
For example bringing them back into Australia?
Worrying that they have nasty additives ?
I stress about my meds to countries like Japan and suchlike that are perfectly legal and I have the doctor's letter advising why they are prescribed

 

[JohnK]

2. You describe symptoms which need to be assessed, could be due to a range of factors and hence treatment targeted accordingly.

I'm not being argumentative and I appreciate the advice but who is going to assess me? A psychiatrist?

I suffer from chronic depression. I've had it most of my adult life. Thinking back quite a lot and I think the signs were there when I was 12 years old. I went from dux of school to nobody in less than 12 months. Self inflicted.

Severe panic attacks started in 1993. Felt like I was going to die quite a few times. Valium helped a lot. The panic attacks morphed to anxiety attacks around 10 years later. Valium no longer worked and GP prescribed Xanax which saved my sanity.

I am stubborn but consider myself normal. I have chronic depression. I am claustrophobic. I have OCD. I will not see a psychiatrist. I will not change my life. I will not change my thinking. I do no not want nor do I need assessment from anyone.

So yes I'm stubborn but I also care about myself and family. I don't want to suffer. I'll do what I feel is best for my health and long term survival.

 

[JohnM]

I'm not being argumentative and I appreciate the advice but who is going to assess me? A psychiatrist?

I suffer from chronic depression. I've had it most of my adult life. Thinking back quite a lot and I think the signs were there when I was 12 years old. I went from dux of school to nobody in less than 12 months. Self inflicted.

Severe panic attacks started in 1993. Felt like I was going to die quite a few times. Valium helped a lot. The panic attacks morphed to anxiety attacks around 10 years later. Valium no longer worked and GP prescribed Xanax which saved my sanity.

I am stubborn but consider myself normal. I have chronic depression. I am claustrophobic. I have OCD. I will not see a psychiatrist. I will not change my life. I will not change my thinking. I do no not want nor do I need assessment from anyone.

So yes I'm stubborn but I also care about myself and family. I don't want to suffer. I'll do what I feel is best for my health and long term survival.

But, John, none of that seems to explain your motivation for coming onto AFF and venting so much. On the one hand, you implicitly seem to seek advice, but on the other comprehensively reject any that is offered.

 

[Quickstatus]

you know that Xanax is no longer available.

Xanax = Alprazolam

They now sell Alprax 1 in lots of 10 x 1mg tablets of Alprazolam. The ones they sell here in Pattaya are exactly the same. Not copies.

How do you know they are legit copies?. Lots of Fake prescription meds around especially in countries where prescription medicine black market exists. Alprazolam is a classic black market pill - are you buying over the counter or via a Thai dr/ hospital prescription?. "Xanax" tourism is a real thing. Inverted commas because the pills look the same but...

 

[Pushka]

Xanax = Alprazolam



How do you know they are legit copies?. Lots of Fake prescription meds around especially in countries where prescription medicine black market exists. Alprazolam is a classic black market pill - are you buying over the counter or via a Thai dr/ hospital prescription?. "Xanax" tourism is a real thing. Inverted commas because the pills look the same but...

Let alone any substances that might also be used in the production and which will never be labelled.

 

[Pushka]

I'm not being argumentative and I appreciate the advice but who is going to assess me? A psychiatrist?

I suffer from chronic depression. I've had it most of my adult life. Thinking back quite a lot and I think the signs were there when I was 12 years old. I went from dux of school to nobody in less than 12 months. Self inflicted.

Severe panic attacks started in 1993. Felt like I was going to die quite a few times. Valium helped a lot. The panic attacks morphed to anxiety attacks around 10 years later. Valium no longer worked and GP prescribed Xanax which saved my sanity.

I am stubborn but consider myself normal. I have chronic depression. I am claustrophobic. I have OCD. I will not see a psychiatrist. I will not change my life. I will not change my thinking. I do no not want nor do I need assessment from anyone.

So yes I'm stubborn but I also care about myself and family. I don't want to suffer. I'll do what I feel is best for my health and long term survival.

Stubborn yes. Normal behaviour given what you've described? No. You know that. And not seeking treatment doesnt exactly show a lot of self care.

 

[Quickstatus]

Let alone any substances that might also be used in the production and which will never be labelled.

Yes, looks the same is the oldest con in the book. Fake Louis Vuitton bags are easier to spot if you know what to look for compared to an fake Alprazolam pill

Here are the some of the legit Alprazolam pill identifiers. It's a generic pill, they are all Alprazolam 1mg. it comes in different shapes and colours by different manufacturers. There are others. As I said - easier make a fake pill that is impossible to spot than a fake Louis Vuitton

BTW to be clear I'm not saying @JohnK Is getting fake pills. Only that there is no way of verifying if buying over the counter in Thailand at a cheap price.

Just be careful @JohnK . Please get a prescription and get the pills from a reputable source. (I believe Alprazolam without a prescription is also illegal in Thai ??)

 

[TheRealTMA]

Yes, looks the same is the oldest con in the book. Fake Louis Vuitton bags are easier to spot if you know what to look for compared to an fake Alprazolam pill

Here are the some of the legit Alprazolam pill identifiers. It's a generic pill, they are all Alprazolam 1mg. it comes in different shapes and colours by different manufacturers. There are others. As I said - easier make a fake pill that is impossible to spot than a fake Louis Vuitton

BTW to be clear I'm not saying @JohnK Is getting fake pills. Only that if buying over the counter in Thailand at a cheap price, there is no way of knowing.

Just be careful @JohnK . Please get a prescription and get the pills from a reputable source. (I believe Alprazolam without a prescription is also illegal in Thai ??)


View attachment 361575View attachment 361576View attachment 361577View attachment 361578

Surely it’s unwise to buy any sort of pills on the black market overseas then bring them back into Australia? But hey what does that matter if you save $5.

 

[Quickstatus]

$5.

I don't think it's the price per se. The AU Gp won't prescribe it without a psychiatry review

 

[MARTINE]

I don't think it's the price per se. The AU Gp won't prescribe it without a psychiatry review

.. which is the law with good reason .. primum non nocere .. first do no harm….its not used that often as there are far better options….avoid the ‘cure’ being worse than the condition under treatment

@Quickstatus - not aimed at you dear colleague!! Just adding some context for non-medicos that this is not a drug which is regularly and routinely prescribed and getting a script overseas should be encouraged. Regarding the black market - no drug should he bought. If you are lucky you just wasted money on a sugar pill abd it makes no difference

 

[CaptJCool]

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[JohnK]

But, John, none of that seems to explain your motivation for coming onto AFF and venting so much. On the one hand, you implicitly seem to seek advice, but on the other comprehensively reject any that is offered.

Posting about a very small snippet of the issues I face (or venting as you call it) helps me. I'm struggling.

I don't seek advice. Asking me to seek psychiatric assessment is not advice. I like to see if anyone else experiences similar issues. Read what I post and ignore it or simply ignore it without reading it. Putting me down doesn't achieve anything. I don't quite understand all the resentment.

 

[SuePa]

Posting about a very small snippet of the issues I face (or venting as you call it) helps me. I'm struggling.

I don't seek advice. Asking me to seek psychiatric assessment is not advice. I like to see if anyone else experiences similar issues. Read what I post and ignore it or simply ignore it without reading it. Putting me down doesn't achieve anything. I don't quite understand all the resentment.

I think it's concern for your health and well-being, not resentment. Take care.

 

[JohnM]

Posting about a very small snippet of the issues I face (or venting as you call it) helps me. I'm struggling.

I don't seek advice. Asking me to seek psychiatric assessment is not advice. I like to see if anyone else experiences similar issues. Read what I post and ignore it or simply ignore it without reading it. Putting me down doesn't achieve anything. I don't quite understand all the resentment.

I have today ignored my own long-term advice to not respond to your posts.

But this will be it.

As you know, but others may not, we have met a couple of times. I have listened to you in person.

But there comes a point where the best of us despair.

John, do what you like - but why do you constantly post your miseries on AFF, yet do not accept any of the comments/advice/recommendations (frequently from the many medical professionals on this forum)?

You claim to be struggling. You post on AFF. Kind and compassionate people here try to help. But what do you do? You kick them in the teeth. Hard. And then just keep moaning.

You reject and argue about EVERYTHING.

What is it about AFF that makes you want to subject us - endlessly - to your bizarreness? Do you do the same on other online forums? Why us? Are we so kind that you are just taking advantage of that?

You clearly have enough time to sit and type endless whinging posts. Try turning that time to helping yourself, instead of clogging up our time - that you constantly push back on - with your misery.

John, I truly wish you well - but you really do need to go away and help yourself, not put on an attention-seeking performance to others for absolutely no tangible gain.

Actually, very likely to your detriment...

Think about that last comment...

Neither good for you, nor good for us...

 

[Quickstatus]

which is the law with good reason

Correct. But It's a problem widespread in medicine - an expectation that medicine creates and perpetuates that a pill is the answer (and often more pills)

I have a cough = gimme antibiotics
I have pain = gimme painkillers
I can't sleep or have anxiety = gimme sedatives
Etc etc

People coming in with bags of pills is normal these days. So in a way the medical profession is culpable with the easily available prescriptions

There is a relatively new prescription service called SafeScript that go some way toward giving prescribers insight into a patients prescription history wrt certain high risk medicines - these are the narcotics, gabapentin/pregabalin and benzodiazepines.

The overprescription of these meds can be detrimental to patient health and safety which is why GPs are tending to require specialist review where these meds are involved - psychiatry in the case of alprazolam is one. A GP that overprescribes these meds in comparison to their colleagues is also likely to attract the attention of the PBS.

So the question is do we see the Dr to get a pill or a solution to a problem

 

[tgh]

So the question is do we see the Dr to get a pill or a solution to a problem

I suggest that we have become massively dependent on drugs ; in many cases they keep us alive but the propensity for dependence then develops.
The all pervasive web has made us better informed but this feeds the demand for fast and easy results from medicine.
A doctor, perhaps unable to diagnose accurately and unable to change lifestyle traits is under enormous pressure to prescribe a pill

 

[cove]

I have confidence in both my GP and cardiologist. I follow their advice.

 

[mrsterryn]

I am grateful that I haven't needed antibiotics in decades , however I do take other drugs eg diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol. All of which are well managed by my GP. I do have some pain relief also prescribed by my GP.
Husband gets scripts from his GP, his neurosurgeon and at the moment from his surgeon . However our GP is aware of all the new meds .
Actually that is why I am happy , so to speak , to pay and follow our GP lol because as others have said I trust him. Also as I have said before he is the one that almost ten years ago met my husband who had gone there "just in case " and decided that as he had never seen him before he would run a gamut of tests to get a base line on him. Well 48 hours later one golf ball size brain tumour discovered.
Thanks to that GP my husband is still here to annoy me (btw he is also on this forum lol Hello dear )

 

[JohnK]

BTW to be clear I'm not saying @JohnK Is getting fake pills. Only that there is no way of verifying if buying over the counter in Thailand at a cheap price.

Just be careful @JohnK . Please get a prescription and get the pills from a reputable source. (I believe Alprazolam without a prescription is also illegal in Thai ??)

Thank you for your help as always. I know people don't understand me but that's fine.

It is very clear that I can only get Alprazolam in Australia if I see a psychiatrist. If I'm not mistaken that's $500-$600 for first visit (Medicare refunds $250) and if I'm lucky I'll get a script for 50 x 1mg tablets that should last 2-3 years. Or I'll only get a script for 10 x 1mg tablets and need to keep going back for more scripts.

I bought 10 x 1mg Alprazolam tablets last night for 800 baht which is $35. I also know a pharmac_ that sells them for same price. I'll buy another 10 x 1mg tablets this week and they should last me at least until next trip in June.

Acupuncture. Meditation. Hypnosis. There is no cure for chronic anxiety. I don't like the unknown. I will do what I feel is best to ensure that my life is comfortable and experimenting with a psychiatrist to find a non existent solution is not my idea of comfortable.

Thanks again for all your help.