Dr Dimari's Medical Sciences Thread - Read the first post

[StreamLighter]

Dr Dimari

StreamLighter

I just like wanna ask u something..
Okay I dont feel like going to the doc cuz of these headaches
and stuff

So anyways -
I've been having these horrible headaches for 6 months now
its on my left side and it hurts from the eye to the back of the head.
Ill have them for hours and hours
and if i take any kind of medication
like that ib crap or something
my stomach will be in such pain for the next 2 days or soo..
I did some research and stuff
and they said its cuz of allergies...
but ive never known for them to be this long...
So do u think it could be allergies ?
thanks :]

Well... its hard to say...

How often do you get the headaches? Everyday
When you get them, how long do they last, and do they get worse of better? when i wake up till i fall asleep, they get worse sometimes and better sometimes ..
Do they come on suddenly, or gradually? suddenly somedays and gradually like today
What does the pain feel like? thudding, throbbing, achey, stabbing? throbbing and stabbing ><
Are there any symptoms you get before the headache starts? eg. Sickness, flashing lights in the eyes, wiggly lines, aversion to lights? i get nothing like that, but when i have the headaches i sometimes get weak.
Are they any other symptoms you get during the headache? weak
Do you have any other symptoms after? no
Have you notice any triggers? nope
Does the Ibuprofen help? nope, i take 1000mg or i take other over the counter 1000 mg and nothing helps out at all.

As for the ibuprofen, it can give you a stomach ache, and so its best taken with something to eat.
i do eat something wit it, but i mean its just pain like my stomach is being ripped from the inside ><

I really recommend you should see your GP, as horrible long lasting headache are no fun for anyone, and although they usually don't indicate anything to serious, its always best to get checked out. GP? im not good wit doctor names ><

As for allergies, I'm not too sure that is likely.
okays

everything i type is bolded :]

[Golden Dysprosium]

GP stands for "general practitioner", which is basically a Dr.
As for the allergies thing, it is highly unlikely to be caused by allergies, as headaches (to my knowledge) aren't typically caused by allergic reactions.

[StreamLighter]

thanks golden

[Dr Dimari]

StreamLighter

Dr Dimari

StreamLighter

I just like wanna ask u something..
Okay I dont feel like going to the doc cuz of these headaches
and stuff

So anyways -
I've been having these horrible headaches for 6 months now
its on my left side and it hurts from the eye to the back of the head.
Ill have them for hours and hours
and if i take any kind of medication
like that ib crap or something
my stomach will be in such pain for the next 2 days or soo..
I did some research and stuff
and they said its cuz of allergies...
but ive never known for them to be this long...
So do u think it could be allergies ?
thanks :]

Well... its hard to say...

How often do you get the headaches? Everyday
When you get them, how long do they last, and do they get worse of better? when i wake up till i fall asleep, they get worse sometimes and better sometimes ..
Do they come on suddenly, or gradually? suddenly somedays and gradually like today
What does the pain feel like? thudding, throbbing, achey, stabbing? throbbing and stabbing ><
Are there any symptoms you get before the headache starts? eg. Sickness, flashing lights in the eyes, wiggly lines, aversion to lights? i get nothing like that, but when i have the headaches i sometimes get weak.
Are they any other symptoms you get during the headache? weak
Do you have any other symptoms after? no
Have you notice any triggers? nope
Does the Ibuprofen help? nope, i take 1000mg or i take other over the counter 1000 mg and nothing helps out at all.

As for the ibuprofen, it can give you a stomach ache, and so its best taken with something to eat.
i do eat something wit it, but i mean its just pain like my stomach is being ripped from the inside ><

I really recommend you should see your GP, as horrible long lasting headache are no fun for anyone, and although they usually don't indicate anything to serious, its always best to get checked out. GP? im not good wit doctor names ><

As for allergies, I'm not too sure that is likely.
okays

everything i type is bolded :]

I spoke with a couple of colleagues of mine, and they are thinking along the same lines as myself. We think you are suffering from Chronic Daily Headache Syndrome - an atypical type. This basically means that you often experience quite crap headaches everyday. The history you have given is a little concerning in that you suffer with a lot of symptoms that affect you quite a lot. I recommend for you to see a GP, and to get an expert opinion. As for the ibuprofen, taking 1000mg is not recommended, and it is no surprise you feel stomach pain; as it can inhibit the production of the protective lining in the gut. For you headaches, maybe take something with acetaminophen/paracetamol based, 2 500mg tablets up to 4 times a day. However, if ibuprofen is not working well, I would recommend maybe seeing you GP so that you can have a more powerful antiinflammatory pain killer.

[Miss Boom]

I'm guessing you've been asked this over 9000 times already but I'm going to ask too anyway:

First, is there any difference between the symptoms of swine flu and the symptoms of ordinary flu?

Second, I feel sick, I drank about my own volume in water today and my head still feels like it's going to explode, I've felt exhausted for days, I'm freezing, I feel like I've been kicked down a flight of stairs, my nose is running and if I sneeze any more, my head will come off. I've also got weird, sensitive, tickly, prickly feeling on my skin and in my lungs and I have a bit of a cough. Most of this has come on within the last fortnight or so and it's slowly getting worse.

I visited that wonderful NHS Direct website today (along with every other berk with a bit of a sniffle and internet access) and did the test there, which promptly told me to shove it because, while I have a nice collection of symptoms, I am apparently missing the most important one; a temperature. So, can you have flu without a temperature and might I have flu?

I have an allergy to something unknown but apparently quite abundant which makes my nose run and makes me sneeze but it seems to have been getting better recently (finally! I've only had it for four years though) so I don't think it's that.

[Icey Kisses]

What's the worst part of medical school? (I'm about to start applying! razz )
And the best?

[Golden Dysprosium]

I'd say that's an opinion thing. It's for people who have no problem combining gross hands-on stuff with hours of cramming for stuff.

[Dr Dimari]

Miss Boom

I'm guessing you've been asked this over 9000 times already but I'm going to ask too anyway:

First, is there any difference between the symptoms of swine flu and the symptoms of ordinary flu?

Second, I feel sick, I drank about my own volume in water today and my head still feels like it's going to explode, I've felt exhausted for days, I'm freezing, I feel like I've been kicked down a flight of stairs, my nose is running and if I sneeze any more, my head will come off. I've also got weird, sensitive, tickly, prickly feeling on my skin and in my lungs and I have a bit of a cough. Most of this has come on within the last fortnight or so and it's slowly getting worse.

I visited that wonderful NHS Direct website today (along with every other berk with a bit of a sniffle and internet access) and did the test there, which promptly told me to shove it because, while I have a nice collection of symptoms, I am apparently missing the most important one; a temperature. So, can you have flu without a temperature and might I have flu?

I have an allergy to something unknown but apparently quite abundant which makes my nose run and makes me sneeze but it seems to have been getting better recently (finally! I've only had it for four years though) so I don't think it's that.

The symptoms for swine flu and ordinary seasonal flu are pretty much identifcal, wit the exception that it is very rare to get seasonal H1N1 in the winter, so at current, any case of flu being diagnosed by GPs and the new Fluline, regardless whether it is actually a swine H1N1 flu or a seasonal H1N1 virus, is being diagnosed as another case of swine flu.

Symptoms include:
Fever
and then any TWO from the following:

Coughing, Sneezing,
Sore thoat and runny nose
Diarrhoea and vomiting
Fatigue
Muscle Stiffness and aches
Headache

To me what you described is either a different viral infection, such as rhinovirus or a bit of a chest infection or possibly another allergy. I would say you don;'t have swine flu, as temperature really is the thing we are looking for in diagnosis of this flu.

[Tiej]

i am waiting for results back and college acceptance letters . but my first choice was medical science

[Seaine]

Hi, I am wondering if you know of likely underlying conditions for hypersomnia. I don't have anything obvious like multiple schlerosis, and as fas as I can tell I'm not depressed (and no doctor has suggested to me that I am).

I've had the symptoms for it since I was ten or eleven - sleeping at least 9 or 10 hours per night and up to 12 or 13, extremely strong urges to take naps during the day sometimes lasting 2 hours, extremely hard to make myself get up in the morning/after naps, sleep paralysis, feel sleepy all the time despite the amount I sleep. I was diagnosed a couple of months ago with a sleep study that basically just ruled out everything else such as narcolepsy, RLS, or periodic limb movement. They had me sleep for about 7 or 8 hours and then had me take 5 naps throughout the day. I had no trouble falling asleep for any of the naps (after all, 7 hours of sleep is not even close to enough!) and my average time to fall asleep was less than 10min.

I also have chronic migraine syndrome, currently at 1 or 2 migraines per week on three preventatives + migraine rescue triptan. One of my childhood neurologists suggested that chronic fatigue was associated with migraines when my mother complained about my sleeping, although he did fail to diagnose or treat my hypersomnia.

I also have low blood pressure - 90/60 resting. I also have Raynaud's syndrome, started maybe 2 years ago; that is undiagnosed but I am not stupid and I can use the internet. I have also fainted unexpectedly, went to the doctor for that. The internet tells me that these three things can be associated with hypersomnia. When I fainted I was tested for anemia and I did not have it. My thyroid was also tested but they said it was normal. I've heard that people with hypothyroidism usually weigh too much but I weigh 110lbs at 5'2" and I eat whenever I want, so it seems unlikely. However, I've heard some others with hypersomnia say that their thyroid tested within normal range, but thyroid medication still helped them.

One of my neurologists mentioned that a vitamin B-12 deficiency could cause fatigue, but then he did not test me for it. Perhaps he decided I didn't have enough of the symptoms...

What kind of tests should I ask for and what kind of things should I look into, before concluding that my problem is simply genetic and I'll just need to take amphetamines whenever I want to feel awake?

[Munkers]

Seaine-- In regards to your thyroid test, there's quite a bit of debate right now as to what constitutes normal levels. Ranges differ from lab to lab and providers all have different opinions of when it's appropriate to treat. At one point the American Council of Endocrinologists stated that TSH levels should never be above 2.5 in an otherwise healthy individual, but later changed the recommendation. When your bloodwork was done, did they test your T3 and T4 in addition to your TSH? It's important for all three of those factors to be looked at as someone can have normal TSH, but low T3 and T4. You might also consult an endocrinologist (if you haven't already) about your values.

You said you've already had sleep studies done. Did they also check for sleep apnea? If you're experiencing apneic spells the quality of your rest is being compromised so, even though you sleep for 8+ hours a day, it's very poor sleep and you're not feeling rested from it.

Overall, it sounds like you've covered your bases pretty well and the things left to you are those things which are a bit more "on the fringe" and may be harder to find a provider who's willing to help you search for the cause of your problem. Maybe look into your adrenal function? Adrenaline is involved in your body's natural cycle of waking up and feeling alert so maybe there's some impairment in that pathway?

[Seaine]

Munkers

Seaine-- In regards to your thyroid test, there's quite a bit of debate right now as to what constitutes normal levels. Ranges differ from lab to lab and providers all have different opinions of when it's appropriate to treat. At one point the American Council of Endocrinologists stated that TSH levels should never be above 2.5 in an otherwise healthy individual, but later changed the recommendation. When your bloodwork was done, did they test your T3 and T4 in addition to your TSH? It's important for all three of those factors to be looked at as someone can have normal TSH, but low T3 and T4. You might also consult an endocrinologist (if you haven't already) about your values.

They didn't tell me the specific values, and later when I called trying to get them to fax it they never answered their phone. I'm 250mi away now so I will ask my new sleep doctor to retest me for it. Maybe he'll be looking for something that they weren't, anyways, since they were only testing it for the fainting.

Munkers

You said you've already had sleep studies done. Did they also check for sleep apnea? If you're experiencing apneic spells the quality of your rest is being compromised so, even though you sleep for 8+ hours a day, it's very poor sleep and you're not feeling rested from it.

Just one sleep study, and yes they did. I had around eight hundred wires/tubes/stickers. Okay, not really that many, but yes I had a sensor over my nose to check for exhaled breath and stickers on my chest and back to check for breathing movement.

Munkers

Overall, it sounds like you've covered your bases pretty well and the things left to you are those things which are a bit more "on the fringe" and may be harder to find a provider who's willing to help you search for the cause of your problem. Maybe look into your adrenal function? Adrenaline is involved in your body's natural cycle of waking up and feeling alert so maybe there's some impairment in that pathway?

Actually one of my migraine preventatives is Propranolol, which is a Beta blocker. I assume that is about the same thing as decreased adrenal function. However, I've had the symptoms years before I started taking Propranolol, plus it prevents about 75% of my migraines so I'd be unwilling to stop taking it even if it did make my hypersomnia a little worse. Other than that, I am not sure how to look into my adrenal function. Is there a blood test for that, or something?

[Munkers]

Seaine

Actually one of my migraine preventatives is Propranolol, which is a Beta blocker. I assume that is about the same thing as decreased adrenal function. However, I've had the symptoms years before I started taking Propranolol, plus it prevents about 75% of my migraines so I'd be unwilling to stop taking it even if it did make my hypersomnia a little worse. Other than that, I am not sure how to look into my adrenal function. Is there a blood test for that, or something?

No, beta blockers don't affect your adrenals like that. In your case, the beta blocker is acting on your blood vessels to help prevent the constriction that occurs in some migraine sufferers.

But yes, looking into your adrenal function would involve blood tests.

My only other possible thought is that maybe this is somehow autoimmune, but again, you'd be dancing in territory that not all physician agree about in terms of treatment or whether or not it's even a legitimate condition.

[Dr Dimari]

Icey Kisses

What's the worst part of medical school? (I'm about to start applying! razz )
And the best?

The worst part about medical school is sometime the hoops you have to jump through, the crap you suffer from some doctors who really have no life and long ours to get to see what you need to!

The good stuff: everything can change, the stuff is interesting, patients treat you very well and one of the team, and you can make mistakes without being punished for them (not that I encourage deliberate mistake making, but often you pick up certain lessons by the things you do wrong)