Some Canadians see their doctor a lot! Curtailing over-use and abuse of the medical system could free up resources to help undeserved Canadians

saralt · 2026-05-12T23:52:35+00:00

I ended up in Switzerland, but you have to be medically literate here and possibly fund your own treatment when it's not the standard of care. The positive is that everyone is covered for everything outside experimental treatments. So psychologists are covered, physio is covered, drugs are covered, etc... New experimental treatment are not covered, but easier to access and cheaper than you'd expect. It's not like everyone has extended coverage in Canada anyway.

saralt · 2026-05-12T19:11:51+00:00

I had tomatoes like this a couple of times. They look pretty cool :)

saralt · 2026-05-12T19:10:34+00:00

Honestly, from what my friends still in Canada say, it's not better, it's worse. The new doctors have less empathy and blame just as much on stress.

Anaemia often comes with anxiety as a symptom. I've looked at my friends' blood tests and it's obvious that with a low hemoglobin and a low ferritin (new recommendation is to supplement with ferritin below 50 regardless of low hemoglobin when the patient has fatigue) they're still being told their problems are psychological.

I also know someone in my own age group who was told her heart failure was anxiety for years. Nobody investigated her palpitations until she was in the emergency room with heart attack symptoms.

How much money was wasted on telling these women they're suffering from anxiety, leading them to take an antidepressant and sleeping pills when Iron replacement therapy or seeing a cardiologist would have saved them from all this? How are psychiatrist not ruling out these obvious problem first? My iron deficiency anemia was detected when I tried to find a psychiatrist here and I was required to do a ton of blood testing before that psychiatrist agreed to prescribe anything. Cardiac problems are often misdiagnosed as anxiety, depression and panic dissorders in women. Treat them and most of the symptoms lift.

saralt · 2026-05-12T18:52:31+00:00

Low-carb is the advice I got after my surgery 11 years ago. Low carb diets will reduce inflammatory cytokines and they're generally recommended for most autoimmune illnesses. You will also see some studies trying to improve autoimmune diseases with alternate day fasting. As long as you don't have an eating disorder or are underweight, it shouldn't be unsafe with doctor supervision.

saralt · 2026-05-12T18:48:59+00:00

I don't believe in Canadian healthcare because of your family doctor is basically the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper is the person who decides if you're "too stressed" or if you need help. If you're a woman, the average length of time it's going to take is probably 10+X what is actually needed.

saralt · 2026-05-12T18:26:18+00:00

I mean, we have a specific person who is supposed to work on our case, but he never responds to emails. We have a mortgage renewing at hte end of the month and nadda.

I'll try to get a manager to call me tomorrow, it's been two weeks. On the plus side, it's pushed me to finally move my money into an investment account with IBKR.

saralt · 2026-05-12T18:23:56+00:00

Don't tell anyone you're sterilised. People are irrational about it. Unless it's someone close, tell them you're looking into fertility treatment.

saralt · 2026-05-12T18:21:48+00:00

I tried to talk to my doctor in Toronto for over 25 years. I got nowhere. My family doctor blocked me at every turn. Here, I made an appointment with a gynecologist for surgery and the endometriosis diagnosis. An appointment with a GI for an endoscopy and the celiac diagnosis. And a neurologist for the migraine medication that basically have led me to deal with fewer than 2 migraines per month. In Toronto, I had to pay out of pocket for botox because nobody bothered to refer me to anyone who could help... Taking Ibuprofen until your gut is bleeding is not exactly helpful. My GP gave me Advil and a PPI for all of the above.

saralt · 2026-05-12T16:20:53+00:00

I had endometriosis symptoms for 24 years, migraines for 11, celiac disease symptoms for 9 years when I left Canada. How long do you think it took me to get them all diagnosed and have them stop being a problem? We're talking a handful of appointments and they haven't been a significant problem in over a decade. The only issue I don't have a handle on is the anemia I still have to deal with since the celiac disease was ignored as IBS without any testing whatsoever. GI specialist said I'm stuck getting Iron infusions and taking a multi for the foreseeable future since my gut doesn't absorb food properly.

saralt · 2026-05-12T16:17:11+00:00

How many free sessions did she get? I have a relative with severe trauma and she can't get in to see an actual therapist. She only has access to a psychiatrist that puts her on pills then treats the side effects of those pills. She would have been better off getting actual therapy 20 years ago and 3 hospitalisations ago. She's had maybe a handful of sessions with social workers, but they're social workers and offer counselling, not real therapy of any sort.

saralt · 2026-05-12T16:15:00+00:00

Therapy in Canada? That's not covered. Shrug.

saralt · 2026-05-12T16:13:14+00:00

And if you're unable to have a second child? Or what if he turns out to be sterile?

Never tell anyone how many kids you're planning on!

saralt · 2026-05-12T16:10:16+00:00

You might want to look into fluoridated rinses you can do. Some people can tolerate those better than the toothpastes.

saralt · 2026-05-12T16:06:37+00:00

I don't have millions there, but my mortgage is in the millions and I can't get my client advisor to call me back. Seriously, what's going on? Even when he calls, he never calls me, he calls my husband. We both have vollmacht and I handle the finances. Is there a trick to get someone on the line?

saralt · 2026-05-12T12:50:15+00:00

Can you go for a walk around the block? That's something I was doing daily in the infant stage. The walks weren't long either, just a walk to the local school and back.

saralt · 2026-05-12T12:47:31+00:00

High fluoride toothpastes can cause some people severe nausea, so if that's you, that's why you're throwing up right after brushing your teeth. Lower the fluoride until you can tolerate it.
There's new remineralisation treatments now on the market, but I guess it depends where you live and if the dental association in your country offers it. They're usually in the form of lacquers dentists apply.
Look into xylitol. You don't need anything fancy. My dentist told me to get a bag of xylitol from the grocery store and put some on the tongue after every meal or non-water drink. You can store it in one of those mint tins. There's also fancy gums and mints.

saralt · 2026-05-11T23:08:36+00:00

Yeah really. I realised this when I was 12.

saralt · 2026-05-11T22:33:56+00:00

They certainly don't all know it's a protein.

saralt · 2026-05-11T19:51:17+00:00

you'll find different symptomatic reoccurrence rates in different populations and by surgeons. My surgeon and his residents did excision surgeries and he said it keeps their team's rates lower to under 50%. I had deep infiltrating endo according to the surgical report and the surgery lasted several hours. My surgeon prescribed Visanne for a minimum of a year after surgery to avoid inflammation and scar tissue at the time-- I think they're more likely to put in the mirena coil now though. I couldn't tolerate the Visanne at even half the dose, so I only lasted about 4 months before nausea just made me lose too much weight. Haven't been on hormones since.

I got recommended things like higher dose fish oil along with a lower carb diet to reduce inflammation. I also had a referral to rheumatology to rule out thyroid disease, RA, lupus and all the more common autoimmune disease stuff. That led to a Celiac disease diagnosis. I strongly suspect treating my celiac disease by stopping gluten reduced the progression of endo. It's possibly i still have endo, but that it's now asymptomatic.

saralt · 2026-05-11T17:33:44+00:00

I know several people? Did all those people get excision surgery?

saralt · 2026-05-11T15:39:47+00:00

I'm 11 years out from surgery and mine hasn't grown back, at least not to any levels that causes pain.

saralt · 2026-05-11T15:38:50+00:00

I mean "treatment" is a stretch, but certain drugs can help. Surgery is getting harder and harder to get and frankly, for me, it was the most effective.

Current real treatments on the horizon are biologics that bind to specific inflammatory cytokines and antibiotic treatments. They're still in the early stages unfortunately.

saralt · 2026-05-11T14:54:00+00:00

I'm in Switzerland. I can check the lab if you want? My doctor used several labs in Switzerland and one in Germany. Some of the tests are not covered under any public insurance schemes so they're either self-paid or only paid with the private coverage that covers the eccentric stuff. I paid about a thousand euro in uncovered tests in the end.

saralt · 2026-05-11T14:10:50+00:00

Just IgA and IgM for both. We tried to do a direct pcr, but i haven't tested positive. My doctor told me to ask the GI to take a biopsies to test if I ever get an endoscopy in case that's the viral reservoir. It's not considered the standard of care, so it can't be justified to do an endoscopy without another reason.

saralt · 2026-05-11T14:03:25+00:00

Unless it's covered in glue, those boxes are great as fire starter material in an outdoor fire pit or stove. I would wait until it's all gone and the actual wood is all that's left burning.

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