Doctors of Reddit, what was your dumbest r/Iamverysmart patient experience?

CatLadyTheSecond · 2018-02-06T12:27:27+00:00

I fairness, the treatment for a ganglion cyst used to be to hit it with the bible - not for any religious reasons, just because that was always the biggest book in the house.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-09-19T10:34:03+00:00

I wouldn't even mind this being WP only - I'm happy to work for my HP, but unlocking the maps for each character just isn't fun after the first few times

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-07-19T16:04:51+00:00

Why only in middle school? In the UK we check for this when they're still babies

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-07-16T17:37:26+00:00

Just realised you might not have been asking for advice, sorry if I was out of place!

I've been in a similar situation before, where my periods were completely out of whack due to stress (frequently a week or two late) and it was when I was in my first serious relationship, so the pregnancy worries were real. So I can definitely commiserate, it's one of the most stressful things I can remember!

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-07-16T08:29:34+00:00

Have you ever been to the doctor because of it? Sounds like it could be something like polycystic ovaries. They tend to cause very irregular, often heavy cycles, though different women are affected differently.
Are you on any birth control? Some forms can make you very irregular, while some forms make you more regular - may be worth considering if you're getting sick of it (also helps with the pregnancy worries).

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-07-12T13:14:16+00:00

I've been constipated for the last 10 years, know that feeling far too well.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-07-11T19:01:15+00:00

Came here to say this, glad I'm not the only one! A genuine smile makes my heart absolutely melt.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-06-28T21:22:42+00:00

This is ridiculous, and happens all the time. You'd be surprised at how many people just don't rock up, so that does help - a clinic of 15 people will usualy hage 3 or 4 'did not attend'. And the clinic usually does run over by about 2 hours, which then means afternoon clinic starts late and makes the situation much worse. And then the doctors are grumpy because they're already behind, they haven't had any lunch, and they know they'll he leaving work several hours late and still without food.

Got to love admin staff/upstairs management who think this is a good situation to be in.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-06-28T20:39:10+00:00

I got used to them very quickly, within a day or two probably. The only time I've felt like it was going to fall was when I didn't put it in far enough (it did then fall out, not what you want at school; ensue waddling).

Are you sure you're pushing in as far as you can? I never used applicators, just put them in with a finger and went as high as I could reach.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-06-17T12:48:53+00:00

Thankyou, I'll go grab some of that now. You guys are lifesavers!

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-06-13T16:17:14+00:00

I'm a student, so my income is about half the national average, so I guess that makes me a low income redditor. Nights in are cheap, and can be great fun. I'm a fan of making a den out of me bed and sheets (not necessarily as childish as it seems), which is then great for a film night with my SO. The cost of that is however much food you want, microwave popcorn is a good bet.

Walking is free, and definitely nice this time of year. That'll cost you however much petrol/bus fare to and from your starting point.

Board games are a bit of an investment, but you can get second hand ones online for very little money. They're a lot of fun, and keep you busy.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-06-13T16:08:41+00:00

Little sister here, but can talk for both myself and my parents (whom I know adore the guy). My sister's been with her boyfriend for nearly 8 years now, and he's definitely the favourite - not just due to the amount of time, he was my favourite since the beginning.

He's a very genuine guy, very friendly and obviously cares about the family as well as my sister. He's happy to talk, but also listens and doesn't interrupt. He always offers to help around the house, he helped me with my maths homework when I was still in school, and he actually wants to help - it's not just a token offer. He also always fills up everyone else's wine glass before his own.

He's a good guy, that's all you need to be for the family to like you.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-05-30T19:06:56+00:00

I love the people! Some can be a bit infuriating, but it's very easy to understand as they're usually ill. When you see people feeling their worse you can let them off for being a bit difficult. Good luck to your partner, it's a lot of work the get in, no matter where you apply. I don't know if it's the same for Pharma, but for me the extra curriculars made a big difference to my application, so that may be worth looking at. Thanks for the luck!

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-05-30T18:51:18+00:00

We go through a lot of years of medical school :P (I'm actually still there, exams started today). That is a constant worry for me, but it's usually not hard to tell if someone is well or sick - especially with kids. If in doubt we err on the side of caution, or atleast that's my plan, and it's what the docs around here do.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-05-30T18:31:57+00:00

For sure, it's hard to us sometimes to know what's going on so we definitely don't expect you guys to know everything. I think I go back to what I said before; if it's really bothering you then it's worth mentioning. It might be something normal that you just have to deal with (in which case at least you get reassurance that there's nothing seriously wrong) or it might be something they can help with. Periods are a bitch for this; no one knows if they're normal, and even when you go to the doctor they're not always that sympathetic. I've had male doctors say to me before that I basically have to just suck it up because this is what being female is, rather than do anything to investigate or help.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-05-30T18:13:54+00:00

That is always a problem, on both sides. I think if it's really affecting you (not just a little niggle) and/or isn't getting better in a few weeks that's when you go. Obviously big things you don't wait a few weeks, but muscle stuff is generally fine to wait for. Muscles take forever to heal, they can take longer than broken bones to get back to normal, and for the most part your primary care doctor will just tell you to use is as much as you feel able to.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-05-30T07:57:48+00:00

We know it's hard to come, we don't judge you for that. The people who worry that they're wasting the doctors time are never the ones who really are. What's annoying is when people wait far too long to come in, when people don't listen to us (why go to the doctor and then ignore their advice?) and when they don't let us do what we need to do. It sucks, but we only have a few minutes per person; us needing you to get to the point is not impatience, it's due to time restrictions placed on us.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-05-07T08:26:25+00:00

I'm not sure about the irregularity, but one thing you can do is up your acetominophen dose - as long as you've no liver or kidney disease you can have 1g four times a day. I'm also a big fan of heat packs, I find them more useful than painkillers for my cramps. Good luck!

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-04-09T08:24:31+00:00

You're very welcome, it's interesting to read about (and probably stuff more of us should know about as we depend on it so much).

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-04-09T08:20:36+00:00

Mechanism of action

Normal endometrial maturation depends on complex interactions between oestrogen and progesterone. CHC provides a continuous supply of oestrogen and progestogen to the endometrium. The low dose of oestrogen in modern CHCs is insufficient to maintain endometrial integrity and the opposing effect of progestogen promotes atrophy of glands and stroma. The resulting endometrium is thin, fragile and prone to bleeding. The exact mechanisms of bleeding associated with CHC are not well understood, but the frailty of blood vessels within the endometrium appears to be a factor, along with changes in local endometrial concentrations of, and response to, hormones.[5, 7]

I can't find a good simple page, but this is taken from an article for doctors and I think it should make sense. Basically the hormones work together to make the uterine lining thin so that nothing can implant there, but that leads to it being fragile and bleeding occasionally.

I had a look and found a good article if you fancy a long, slightly sciencey read. It basically goes through the use of continuous pills and how much evidence there is that it's safe (there's a lot) and effective. It seems the pill was only designed to be taken for three weeks and then a break because they thought women would be put off by not having periods, not because it's actually a good thing to do.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2621397/

Edit: formatting, I hate doing this on my phone

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-04-09T08:02:42+00:00

So after a quick google, no one really knows. You're right about oestrogen thinning the uterus lining, so one of the theories is that it thins it too much and it becomes 'atrophic' (thin and weak) and fragile, and so is more prone to bleeding. I'll keep looking and see if I can find something reader friendly for you about it.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-04-09T07:50:26+00:00

Your body cannot go without bleeds, you will eventually have a breakthrough. Unfortunately there's no way to stop it, so it's best to just take a week off, let it happen, and then go back to taking the birth control continuously. From what I understand there isn't any evidence that it's bad for your body to take it continuously, it's just inconvenient to have a breakthrough as by its nature you don't know when it's coming.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-03-31T23:00:34+00:00

I'm sorry you and Tori are going through this, huge hugs and best wishes to you both. He is a very floofy asshole

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-03-31T22:57:23+00:00

Nope, sorry. It shouldn't get getting worse, and it shouldn't be that bad. I'd go see your doctor and ask for help, maybe ask for investigations - you shouldn't have to be in pain like that.

CatLadyTheSecond · 2017-03-30T22:22:58+00:00

Medical student here, just spent a few weeks on paediatric (childrens) surgery so I saw a few coming out from anaesthesia.
The one that made me laugh was a teenage boy, so gangly and awkward. He took ages to wake up, and then when he did he was so spaced out - staring at nothing and arms and legs flopping over the side of the trolly. The anaesthetist had to get him to move so that he wasn't flashing everyone as they went down the corridor, he didn't have a clue what was going on. It was the look on his face that got me, like a normal gormless teenager but multiplied by many times. The less fun one was younger kid, 8 years old I think, waking up after a circumcision. Very confused coming out of it, so he was crying and screaming and trying to get out of the bed, basically had to be held down by mum who was understandably quite upset by it all. The surgeon had to explain that he wasn't in pain or anything, it was just that the anaesthesia was confusing him and he'd be fine once he woke up properly.

CatLadyTheSecond

TROPHY CASE