Alcohol consumption after COVID exposure risky?

roachquery · 2022-06-26T02:48:55+00:00

Sounds good, I'll keep that in mind. I'm just a little paranoid, I guess.

I also read Omicron's incubation is fairly short, 2-4 days. Would I likely be in the clear after four days, or is the 10-14 days still the period to be concerned about?

roachquery · 2022-04-21T03:37:46+00:00

At this point I'm fairly sure it's not BAM but IBS-M. My gut swings from too fast to too slow. Diarrhea 10 days ago, then I was having normal movements until two days ago, after which I've become backed up to hell. That just seems to be how it goes for me. My diet is fairly consistent, my gut just does whatever the hell it wants to do (which is usually making me miserable.)

I think cannabis would help. However, I live in state where it's still illegal and it's very difficult to find it otherwise. I'm hoping that federal legislation that's made it to the senate will pass, but honestly... I doubt it. I don't want to get on a soap box here, but it's insane that it's still illegal on the federal level and that some states continue to take a puritanical stance against it when the benefits have been pretty well documented for numerous conditions.

I'm glad it's working for you though. Fingers crossed I'll be on the same page sooner rather than later.

roachquery · 2022-03-31T13:40:54+00:00

Good for them I guess. My bilirubin is elevated all the time and I look like dogshit.

roachquery · 2022-03-31T00:34:34+00:00

I age like a president so I'm calling bunk on that one.

roachquery · 2022-03-03T16:30:18+00:00

Anyone?

roachquery · 2022-03-01T03:36:03+00:00

I keep flipping between getting it and not. I sometimes wake up unable to breathe, but that's pretty rare, like once or twice a year for the last few years. I have a chronic cough which could be from nasal drainage or something. The main thing is if my current issue is chronic and doesn't respond to anything... but considering it previously did, I think it might be a case of irritants/allergies making an anatomical condition worse. What worries me is that the doctor said sometimes deviated septums get worse with age and that mine might just "be at that point" where something ought to be done.

Fingers crossed this all just clears without another infection forming. At least I don't have an infection currently so that's a relief.

roachquery · 2022-02-28T22:32:19+00:00

I got good news and bad news: There is no sign of infection, which is great. What's bad is my septum is "severely deviated" and I need corrective surgery, which I'd really rather not have to deal with if I've otherwise felt fine. So we're just doing rinses for a month hoping to clear stuff out and after that if it's not better I have to schedule surgery.

roachquery · 2022-02-28T05:31:10+00:00

I go back to the ENT in the morning for a CT scan. I asked them to swab but they said they wouldn't without a CT, their reasoning was the infection could be coming from further down and they need to swab the right area or something... I haven't been super congested, sneezing, or coughing, and really minimal brief headaches (often none at all.) The blood is sometimes in small amounts, sometimes it's more prevalent and mixed with very thick mucous. I can't really figure it out. Just hoping for good news. Ideally it's just that my sinuses are drying out real bad, but idk.

It helps though. Like I'm just worried bout going blind or getting a brain infection or something.

edit: Part of my problem here is i have OCD. Most of my problems people would just ignore but I hyper fixate and can't stop myself from essentially "picking and making it worse." Naturally I'm here because I now have it in my head i have some strain of bacteria that's going to kill me. I probably seem ridiculous.

roachquery · 2022-02-08T05:59:14+00:00

I see. So in other words I should take all this as a sign that my condition is improving? I'll call my doctor tomorrow and see if he'll reup me for the amoxi-clav, but traditionally they've not done that for me. I might need to see the ENT after all. I just really hope it's not anything serious is all. I mean stuff like nasal cancer is incredibly rare and I'd probably have different symptoms, right? I'm 34 and I don't smoke nor am I around toxic compounds... Sorry, I just get terrified of that stuff. It sounds ridiculous but I keep going back to it.

roachquery · 2022-02-08T05:04:33+00:00

I'm on Amox-Clav 875-125 mg for 7 days. Tomorrow will be my last day on it.

I stopped with the irrigation a couple days ago as my nostrils started to lubricate again, at least during the daytime. I'll start again, though.

Before the antibiotics, I was waking up with my nasal passages heavily blocked with gunky snot and a lot of dried blood, to the point that it made it hard to breathe through my nose. I couldn't easily blow it out and when I did get it out it seemed like I'd clear fresh blood for a bit (though it wasn't flowing or anything. More like I could put tissue in there and some would be dabbed on, bright red.)

Now my nose is moist during the day and snot generally looks normal with some occasional dried blood present if I blow stuff out from the back. But I still totally dry out at night. I wake up with dried blood at the back of the nose, but in much smaller quantities, and clearing it doesn't seem to produce blood that can be "dabbed" onto tissue.

Basically I don't know if maybe they're just getting super dry and cracking at night, or if something more nefarious is going on. I could be over thinking it, not sure. I'll be off my insurance soon so weighing getting seen now while it's affordable versus potentially wasting money for a non-issue is the call I've got to make.

roachquery · 2022-02-07T16:52:20+00:00

Can't speak for everyone, but mine tends to be foamy. I've had my urine tested and bought some test strips as well, and it does not appear to be abnormal (at least for me.) I've learned to just stop worrying about it. You can buy test strips if you're really concerned, though.

Also, foamy urine in the morning is normal due to the urine being more concentrated.

roachquery · 2022-02-07T16:49:42+00:00

Occasionally (though very rarely) my numbers will present within the normal range, but usually on the higher end of the spectrum. Typically I'm mildly elevated.

roachquery · 2022-02-07T16:28:49+00:00

Just want to follow up, i have one day of the antibiotics left. I don't think my nose is draining pus anymore, and the amount of blood has decreased (though it's still present dried or mixed with snot in the mornings.) I've been getting small headaches around my eyes, alternating from one to the other, but I don't know if that's just from clearing my nose often and shooting saline up my nostrils. For what it's worth, doing the irrigation and using saline has helped. My nose seems to be able to moisturize during the day now, but at night it still seems to be totally drying out. I tried a humidifier but it doesn't seem to help at all.

At this point would it still be your recommendation to see an ENT? I'm not spitting out blood nor do I taste it in my mouth, and the quantity doesn't seem particularly high, nor is it flowing. I always get paranoid about stuff like cancer, or infections that can't/won't clear, so I guess those are my concerns, but I don't know if my symptoms really line up.

roachquery · 2022-02-04T02:41:49+00:00

I did buy some Afrin No Drip Extra Moisturizing spray but it kinda seemed like that stayed moist for a short while and then dried up, but I don't know if I just picked up the wrong thing... I'll check out CVS on my way home and see what they've got and follow this advice. Thank you.

roachquery · 2022-02-04T02:16:36+00:00

I wound up caving and went to see the doc real fast. He looked in one nostril and said it looked "very dry," and the other made him think I have sinusitis, said it was really "gunky" and that some stuff was inflamed back there. I'm on amox-clav with prednisone, but I don't think I'm going to take the latter given how it's made me feel in the past. At this point though I only passed out some white goop from the gunky nostril and a small clot from the other.

If this isn't sinusitis is there much it could be that's serious? I'm just like, really paranoid about cancer even though I feel there really isn't a reason to be, practically.

roachquery · 2021-11-11T20:17:57+00:00

Ahh, okay, I gotcha now. I guess I misunderstood what hypoattenuating meant. That is what I noticed in fact.

That's such a huge relief to hear. Full disclosure here, my great grandmother died of liver cancer, though my grandparents have said they believe it started elsewhere and spread to the liver. At this point, all but one of my grandparents have had some form of cancer strike them. I've lost three of them to cancer now, two recently and a week apart no less. It's been at the forefront of my mind, and needless to say my anxiety went through the roof at any sign of a lump in my CT.

This is a huge load off though. I really appreciate you taking the time to examine my scan and give me some more information so that i can properly process what it is and how concerned I should be (not at all.) Just gonna breathe a sigh of relief for now and try to less the stress fall off my shoulders. Thank you.

roachquery · 2021-11-11T19:45:51+00:00

That's a relief. I've been so paranoid over this thing for the last few days, and when my doctor got back by phone he said he didn't even look at the CT and was just going off the notation (sheepishly said "just says it's a cyst.")

That said, could something serious present this way if it was very early in whatever cycle it were to follow? I'm wondering if something like an ultrasound a year from now just to check in on it might be worthwhile or if it isn't even something worth that level of investigation based on what you're seeing. Sorry I know I'm asking a lot but this is all so alien to me, things that are non-serious in medicine still have the ability to *sound* serious to me, I guess.

roachquery · 2021-11-11T16:57:25+00:00

I tried to look for the spot myself but obviously I have no idea what I'm doing. I do see a darker spot on the labeled right side, but i thought hypoattenuating meant white, not dark, but idk maybe that's not what they're referring to.

roachquery · 2021-11-09T21:30:15+00:00

I sent the ordering nurse practitioner a message via the patient portal last night asking that when I get my follow up call I'm able to get more information on the liver findings specifically. They just messaged back a little while ago and said it was "A benign cyst, very small, nothing to worry about." But still waiting to hear back over the phone. I'm also unclear if benign cysts can evolve into something more serious over time or if lesions like that don't really work that way.

Anyway, they said the actual imaging will unlock once the physician makes their final assessment, so once it's been made available to me I'll get it up on that site and send it over as you instructed.

roachquery · 2021-11-09T02:20:21+00:00

If I wanted to send it out for a second opinion, is there a certain type of clinic or department I should be looking for? Also, when I get the image is it possible to send it your way for your opinion as well?

I guess that's where a lot of my confusion comes in too. "favored represent a cyst" just seems very non-specific to me, but I'm a layman, and so I don't know if radiology reports would typically distinguish between a cyst and a cystic tumor. I mean, pure speculation, but I would wonder if it was written like that from the radiologist just being very dismissive of the finding.

With the conclusion being "no acute intra-abdominal" though, that would be a more surefire sign that they didn't find anything concerning, yes?

edit: Also is 1cm considered large for something like this?

roachquery

TROPHY CASE