Losing Weight is not Easy!

In a country that literally assist people in eating unhealthy food it is hard to lose weight. The majority of people do not have the time for the gym and those that do have the time are not sure where to start from. Until I became a wellness coach I was not sure of what was healthy for me to do. I learned fast that support was the key to achieve a successful weight loss program. The products that I use are helping, however, the support that are around me picks me up when I am feeling weak and encourage me when I am achieving my step by step goals to reach the ulimate one.

Life is not easy. If food and couch potating become too enjoyable habits for some people, then people get fatter. I have lost 20 lbs after visiting a nutritionist and revisted food list. I do NOT do diets; they suck. I never weigh myself but do monitor pant size and tightness. (This works for me.) My goal is to get to 200 by year end. Am 6-1. 

Encouraged one friend to put weight loss as #1 objective; and he hated to hear this, even while I was positive and tactful. Died of a heart attack Sept 3rd. 59 yo, 5-8, 250 lbs. Bob loved to brag about being a "meat and potatoes midwesterner". 

A relative just got hospitalized Monday after 2nd stroke related symptoms. (subdermal hematoma. 6-1 320 lbs. Age 56. Seems to be recovering. I believe there is hope for his weight loss, as he has been much skinner. He knows he is 100 lbs overweight. Key is to have a PROGRAM, with guidance, support and accountability. Stay active and visit McDonalds much less often. 

Pancytopenia

A couple of weeks ago, a hematologist said I get one more CBC, then, all things being equal, I will get a bone marrow biopsy in about a month. The way I heard it was low white blood cells and lack of platelets - neutropenia. However, after asking the nurse about it a different day, she said it was pancytopenia - all 3 - RBC, WBC, platelets. About a month ago, I had a colonoscopy and EGD. Several hours later, I ended up in the ER. I got the blood work from the ER. It shows my WBC was 8.0 (range 3.8 - 10.6,) RBC was 4.80 (range 4.4 - 5.9,) and platelets 115 (range 150 - 440.) I conferred w/ an MD buddy who said, if all esle is normal, the platelet count doesn't concern him too much until it gets below 100. The nurse said The ER doesn't look at the long-term picture like the hematologist does. Since the conference with the hematologist 2 weeks ago, I've seen the light - no alcohol, no sweets, no eating-out. Weight has dropped, b/p down 20 points on each side, etc. Given the "foxhole-conversion," after the 2nd lab next week, does the smart money favor the hematologist giving me yet one more CBC (deferment,) or proceeding-as-scheduled w/ the bone marrow biopsy?

Please help me my wife is in distress

I've been married for ten years and never seen my wife acting this way. She has been taking 2 prescription drugs for many years - Elavil and Lyrica both "supposed" to help painful problems from vuvodynia, some docs catgorieze it as fybromyalgia. Recently she was prescribed thyroid medicine (God only knows why) these doctors give out scripts left & right I can't keep up with what she is taking anymore. I don't think she has adrenal/thyroid issues but she has convinced herself she is sick. I'm begining to wonder if it's hypocondriac symtoms but don't know how to diagnose that.

I need to clean the slate and start from some type of DOCTOR who can figure out 1) is there a problem in the first place. (I know she has had vulvodynia pain which she will take the leavil to control that) but recently her eyes are always dialated and she has completly lost her memory. Its scaring the heck out of me, she is usually sharp as a tack and on the ball but recently sluurs her words and is in some type of "FOG". IS this a reaction from the synthroid mixed with lyrica & elavil. I'm afraid she is going to run over a bike rider or run a red light and get t boned.

I have no help or support system here I am working full time and she is a teacher. ANYONE who can reccomend a doctor in South Jersey area or lead me in some direction please i am sleepless worried sick about my wife. I'm almost ready to fly her to MAYO CLINIC in Minnesota. Please someone give me some advice at the very least a prayer. She also takes many vitamins and supplements that are generic off the shelf stuff but possibly reacting with the prescription drugs.? Other symtoms are sometimes panic attacks, shortness of breath, extreme fatige, fogginess, dialated pupils, loss of appetite. I need help, I need something, anything will be greatly appriciated. (tears)

Different info on type 2 diabeties

I am type 2 diabetic and everything I read and see is about losing weight. I do not need to lose weight. I have been underweight and am back to where I need to be. I want/need help with nutrition and keeping weight on, but that is seemingly impossible to find. Anyone have any good resources they can point me too?


If your diabetes is uncontrolled it will cause you to lose weight, so work with your doctor to find ways to improve your insulin resistence. There are many approaches, primarily watching the carbs and sat fat in what you eat, but also including exercise and medication.

When your diabetes is better controlled by medication it will be easier to keep weight on. The insulin resistance actually interferes with getting nutrition into the cells, that is why the sugar is in the blood and not the cells.

Not trying to diagnose myself, but could it be possibe I have Leukemia?

I've woken up on different occasions with 5-30 random bruises on my legs and I've been fatigued, exhausted, & weak every day for about a year now. Most importantly, I'm having trouble concentrating.

I'm 36 & I've had all of these symptoms for about a year now. More recently (about 6 months now) I've been dealing with SEVERE joint/bone pain, blurred vision, nausea, loss of appetite, & dizziness. Random, frequent fevers/sore throats. My lymph nodes are ALWAYS very swollen & painful. My doctor has been shrugging it off each visit. She finally ordered a CT scan that I got yesterday. I don't know what to think /: I've been feeling SO awful for a year now. I've had to drop out of school. I'm very anxious to know the results of the CT scan. Can anyone relate?

WHY WAS I EVEN BORN?

Maybe it's taken 59 years to figure out how stupid I am.

I just spent an hour on the phone with my cousin; she has a Master's degree in hospital administration. She's worked as a rec therapist in a MHU many years ago.

I'M BAWLING MY EYES OUT NOW. She says,"I don't mean to preach at you....".

BRIEF HISTORY:
I had young kids, a mom who was totally dependent on me for everything due to a stroke, and a husband trying to kill himself many times because of his job.

The FP prescribed Prozac for me.

I didn't take them as prescribed. I was under too much stress with the divorce, death, estate, kids, work and house. I don't think I realized what the SSRI's were about. Maybe I didn't/don't even have depression.

Now, in the last year: A sought counsel from a psychiatrist, who thought I'd do well on Wellbutrin but first said, "your more normal than you think."

Now, the cousin has made comments that, "I'm resisting the MD about taking the pills, you told him you want off, so he's abiding by your wishes."

I went to him last week and said, "If you want me to take the meds then I will." "No, I don't." BUT, he said he'd give me anxiety meds.

Everything I say or do she critiques/critizes me: helping her move all over shit out of her storage, my FB message to my daughter who for unknown reasons won't talk to me right now (her dad died and she has just stopped talking to me) Everthing, anything I say or do is criticized.

The apt complex I live in has cockroaches. I've fought them tooth and nail, every which way, the continue to invade after being professionally sprayed.

Now, I've found bed bugs too. I tell the cousin I'm calling an aunt to get some money to move out. You don't have a good enough relationship with her. WHO the fuck is she to tell me.

I'M JUST ONE BIG EFF UP, without her saying it.

She told me recently she didn't like Wayne at all.

Well, I think when it comes down to it, she probably doesn't like me either but because she's into "finding God's purpose" here on earth, and she, herself is standing in a food line, she's taking me along too (my son makes too much money for us to qualify for food stamps) and my "resume isn't good enough," so I'm not getting any calls.

I'M UPSET, I SHOULDN'T BE WRITING THIS BUT I'M ?

WHERE SHOULD I TURN?

Is taking Prilosec for symptoms of pancreatitis recommended?

How Prilosec works:
* Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor that suppresses gastric acid secretion by specific inhibition of the H+/K+-ATPase in the gastric parietal cell. How do you know that I have gastric acid overproduction & that is the cause of all of these problems?

Possible Side Effects:
* Headache, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, dizziness, trouble awakening and sleep deprivation.
* Osteoporosis related fractures
* Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea
* The risk of community-acquired pneumonia may also be higher in people taking PPIs
* “Since their introduction, proton pump inhibitors (especially omeprazole) have been associated with several cases of acute tubulointerstitial nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys that often occurs as an adverse drug reaction”.

Scarely. Do you supposed to take this in the middle of major multi system problems? The doctor took PT off 3 very good cardiac meds. Now he is suggesting Prilosec. Does this make sense? No evidence of ulcer.

Will Prilosec likely cause more problems or solve pancretitis like system-wide injuries? Are American doctors/lawyers trying to kill people?

Massage therapist looking to work with Diabetcs

Are there any doctors here that would be willing to trade consulting services with a new massage therapist looking to work with diabetics. I am a diabetic who has had my diabetes under control through diet and exercise for the last year. I am really passionate about diabetes and obesity in general. My ultimate goal is to become a dietician and licensed clinical social worker specializing in obese clients with eating disorders. Until then i want to focus my massage work on these clients and their primary health care providers. I am looking for someone to give me advice on how to establish professional relationships with doctors who specialize in this area. I want the work i do to pay for school to better prepare me for the work i will be doing after school.

You can still have swelling, pain, redness without an infection. It's called inflammation. There is usually always inflammation with infection (unless your are, have a non-functioning immune system, or have a latent or sublcinical infection). However, not all inflammation is due to infection. If you twist your ankle and it swells up-inflammation. Pull a muscle in your groin-inflammation. Inflammation is the body's response to injury whether that be from a virus, bacterium, parasite or due to a dog bite, sports injury, or stress.

Most likely I have an infection, however, the lymph nodes did a good job of sequestering it so I may not have the typical systemic signs of infection (like fever and feeling like crap in general). This is likely why the antibiotics won't work without the incision and drainage-they won;t be able to effectively penetrate the area.

Anyway, it's good that I went to the doctor. They had a patient last week who had something similar. He had a cyst, cyst got larger, "invaded" the parotid gland, parotid became enlarged, and the patient finally decided to come in to the ED. It looked like he had a baseball protruding from his neck. This guy, however, developed sepsis because he had let it go too far (and his body didn't or could no longer sequester the infection). He actually had several incision and drainages over a week.

Trying to live in the world of Dialysis

I am on dialysis and I am so upset by everything that goes on in these centers. I had to do a lot of complaining and asking the state to investigate my unit. They used to do a lot of yelling at the patients and forcing their choices in treatments onto the patients. Now that they can't yell at us anymore they play manipulating, controlling, mind games with some of us. They seem to not be able to handle their jobs without being in complete control of our treatments and can't stand it when we want to add our input into it.

We all are in need of medical alert ID. An ID card is free for the printing. When any of us try to get one they put all kinds of obstacles in our way. Every patient should have one; it is a necessity of our living with our condition. We found a way to get the bracelets (Cost is between $20 and $40) for free, all we need is a letter from our nephrologist (sp? - kidney Dr.) stating three things. I asked her yesterday to write a letter for us patients. The letter we need so we could get the ID bracelet. She told me no, to have the social worker do it. The social worker can't do it, it must come from the DR on the Dr's letterhead; or the supplying company won't provide us with the bracelets.

I explained this to her and she said, well, get it from your family Dr than. ????????? I am totally appalled at the lack of concern for our needs and necessities for life. This is just one of many issues with our unit. We may be dying, but we are not dead and we don't need or want their help to get there. They will be giving us all T-shirts soon; they went around getting our sizes from us. They can provide us with T-shirts but WON'T help us get a bracelet ID.

15 yr old facing another spine surgery

I have posted before regarding my son. quick history due to scoliosis he had a spinal fusion surgery done at johns hopkins june 1st 2011. Since the surgery he complained of chronic back pain and eventually we ended up at a pain management clinic and he is now using a tens unit which does help with the pain but he cannot wear it constantly so he still has periods of pain and the drs do not want to prescribe narcotic painkillers due to fear of addiction. He was prescribed celebrex but it didnt help.

We went for check up with ortho surgeon last thursday at johns hopkins and new xrays show that the 5 vertabrea at the base of his spine before where the rods start are bowing out and looks like a backward c. Thats the cause of his pain and the dr gave him the option of dealing with the pain or fusing those vertabrae-well my son chose the surgery. I was in so much suprise i really didnt ask any questions and have been waiting to hear back from the drs to get my questions answered. So if anyone has any experience with this i want to know how will this affect his mobility? im also wondering how long he will be out of school and how long i should plan to be off work with him as i am the only person that will be caring for him.

The surgery is sched for oct 21st-5 days before his 16th bday. So much for a sweet 16 for him. Thanks in advance

Severe Itchy Scalp HElP! Please?

I am bothered by severe itchy scalp. I have seen a dermatologist without any real help. He wrote a prescription for "medicated Shampoo" but it cost almost $400.00 a bottle so it is not an option. Both the doctor and my hairdresser agree that there is nothing visibly wrong with my scalp. It is not overly dry or overly oily, no dandruff or any other conditions. I have tried rinsing with a baking soda solution, with moderate success. I am now trying a vinegar rinse but it is too early to tell. I do seem to get immediate, though temporary relief. That relief may or may not last... too soon to tell. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks

Found something that helped Slow My Cancer!

I'm a very recent cancer survivor... It was a rapid cancer that took my left breast. The Dr. said it was RARE because of the Size and Number of cells that took root in the one side and did NOT SPREAD!! I've been taking a supplement that helps fight Free Radicals, and has been proven to help with over 200 other conditions. After research I found it also helps SLOW Cancer Cell Duplication. I did NOT know I had cancer at the time I started taking it. I was taking it for general health and knew the effects were powerful, like having a Super Antioxidant in my system.

There is Proven Science that's backed up by the US National Library of Medicine stating this really DOES HELP!! I'm more than willing to share this information with anyone looking to improve their health. I'm looking to help as many people as I can, God wouldn't want me to keep this to myself. Thank you. Have a Blessed Day.

Can I get my medical records from a doctor?

Can I get my medical records from a doctor if the medical exam that I went to was a free exam to test to see if I was compatible with a medical procedure that was available for purchase?

Or since I didn't pay for anything, and they spent their personal/professional time doing the testing, are they not obliged to give me the resultant medical information on me?


They talked to me, not me to them so much. They did the many tests and gave me their professional opinion, spoken and written. Mostly, I want to know what the law actually says in regards to my getting the full documentation.

E.g. am I *legally* a patient if I paid nothing?

Again, what the law ACTUALLY says is what I'm interested in.

Euthanasia

Does anybody have insight on euthanasia? I know in various jurisdictions there are serious legal concerns.

However, being very close to some aging adults, I am vary perturbed about how we "humanely" treat our companion animals, our pets, to being put asleep when the pain is just too great for them, however, we can't come to terms with doing this to our own grandparents and parents.

There comes a time when the quality of life isn't worth it for the person suffering. We have a fix on where this might be for our dogs and cats. But more highly sentient beings, our human companions and family, we seem so hesitant to give the same relief to. What is your take on this?

I understand that Switzerland views this differently. I think the most difficult aspect is determining that quality of life. I watch dementia patients and think to myself- that is not a good quality of life. But those people are in their own world so there is the possibility that my view is wrong.

I watched one parent die from cancer when I was still a teen. Now I am watching the other die from Alzheimer's and it is much worse. If it had been my cat, its life would be over.

Why won't eye doctors see me?

I make an appointment, I call to confirm and they confirm, I call the day of the appointment and they confirm. Then I show up, and the office staff all look at me and say I have no appointment and say goodbye.

I have a pterygium. (A common growth of the sclera over half of the cornea.) I inform them of this in setting up the appointment. Then I walk in and they refuse me.

Basically all I want is for a Doctor to look at it, give his/her professional opinion, and to answer some questions I have about cornea damage from the growth, and expected damage from the process of removing the growth, and what standard degradation of vision I might expect.

Also, and I expect this might have to do with Doctor of Record issues, I am homeless and since I have to make do on damn near nothing I tend to look the part somewhat. Plus my eye is scary to look at for others, and makes my vision quite impaired for any employment.

Can any Doctors or Atty's comment on such a Dr's legal situation; so that I can be informed and so choose myself my extremely limited other options I might need to take to actually get some healthcare?

Appreciatively,
1 in 4 million.

It's a terrible feeling to be alone

and afraid without a single soul who gives a damn.

This is a reminder to those who may have relatives or friends who have few contacts.

Please don't brush them off when they talk about some medical concern - they are just scared and believe me, no one will ever appreciate your attention more.

Imagine getting bad news from your doctor and having no support, no one to tell. Taking 2 buses to chemotherapy (in the rain, the snow, the heatwave) treatments and going home tired and sick and fearing if you will even live thru the night.

I just want to say thank you to those here who are kind enough to try to help each other. For some of us, it's honestly the ONLY small comfort we have. I wish I had friends who treat me as I treat them. I think I'm a wonderful friend who genuinely cares and extends myself to those in need. Most people are too self absorbed.

Remember those you know who may not even be able to post here - a phone call or brief visit can mean the world!

What if marijuana cured cancer?

The oil that comes from the resin of marijuana does cure cancer and it does it without any side affects. Here is something that has been around our children for decades and you'd think someone would have told the world about it's curing capabillity's wouldn't you. Not a word was spoken by the government here in the US about a cure even being out there. The AMA is partly the reason for no one knowing about this find. Why would a cult want us to know about a cure we could use ourselves. There is no money to be made if we can cure ourselves is there?

It's been said that if this caught on that the cancer wings in all the hospital would have to shut down, so be it. All our friends and relatives could live instead of die. If marijuana was legal a person could grow their own and make their own oil and treat themselves and win the battle against cancer and have very little cost involved if any cost for that matter. I have a friend in the hospital right now. She had cancer over a year ago and she was treated with chemotherapy drugs and radiation. Complications set in motion by the use of these drugs and treatment are giving her a run for her life now. She keeps telling the doctors it was their drugs that are making her body go through all these changes and they know she is telling the truth. She wants to know why the US is not using the hemp oil (cannabis oil). The doctors keep telling her the government and AMA won't let them use it and they just walk out of the room. She tells the doctors that if she had listened to her friends she wouldn't be in the hospital dieing of cancer. She would have been living a full life again.

One patient out of a thousand might survive cancer on chemo and radiation, but 999 will survive with cannabis oil treatments in seven to nine weeks and some will cure their cancers faster. Cancers on the inside and the outside of our bodies can be cures and with no side affects. The word is out and now all it is going to take is a whole lot of people with some guts to get it changed. Stop being a sheep.

Strange foot problem

Yesterday I came inside and I had difficulty walking without my foot hurting. Even sitting, the top of my foot hurt, between the ankle bone and center of my foot. I put a cold compress on it and took 2 aspirin and went to bed.

I don't remember twisting my foot, dropping anything on it, etc.

This morning it started hurting when I got up. I was about to get some aspirin so I could go out and get my chores done and it felt as though something "moved" in my foot. I don't know how else to describe it. Then, after a few minutes it quit hurting on a continual basis.

I notice that if I press down on my entire foot it is fine; but, if I only press down with my heel elevated the same area hurts a very little bit.

Is there a nerve or tendon in that area that may have caused the problem?

First time Trigly level is below 150

Just under 150.

This has been an issue since 18 yrs ago (then around 800). I have been taking 1500 mg of Niaspan - with this, Triglyceride level came down to around 330.

I was on the verge of being prescribed Statin. I reduced rice, banana, and added Quinoa. Eliminated grapes but substituted with Berry. Also started with Pistachios nuts. Started with salmon (not frozen) fresh fish. Slightly modified exercise.

Not sure what exactly made the difference that from 330 it went to 147. Just at the border. Any thoughts on which change made the most difference?

What can I do to further halve it - say bring it to about 70 without the Statin drugs?

Causes of Peripheral Neuropathy

I want to know who's telling you peripheral neuropahty is contratindication? It can be, but there are multiple causes of peripheral neuropahty. There has been a series of articles either in Massage Today Mag. or perhaps it was in my Massage & Bodywork magazine, I forgot but in any case they talked about the various types and yes massage can be a very appropriate treatment. However, if you don't know or understand medical massage/health conditions then by all means don't just perform massage on somebody without understanding what you're working with. 


Unfortunately I've found a lot of mis-information is being given in many massage schools. A couple of other examples would be" not to massage the ankle areas in pregnant women," (If that's such a problem for inducing labor, why isn't it a standard treatment when women are past the due date or for other reasons need to deliver but they aren't in labor) Another one is that" massage gets rid of toxins in the muscle tissue". Your body automatically does this within a few hours unless the person has some type of medical condition that prevents it doing so,. We know it does a lot of wonderful things, but we must not just accept what somebody tells us we must research things for oursleves. 

High blood pressure and altitude

About 6 years ago I went to Ecuador and landed and "home base" was Quito. I had some discomfort there which I attributed to my room being on the third floor and only accessible by stairs.

I was not in the best of health as I had recently finished chemo and radiation therapy.

From there we went to the Galapagos Islands and other than fussing about the heat, all was okay--health wise.

We returned to Quito and immediately went to the mountains as my friends wanted to go to the "spa". I got sick right away. I felt light headed and nauseous. I was hanging onto a post when one of the employees insisted that I see the doctor on duty there.

The doctor was very concerned and said that he did not have the meds that I needed but would get them the next day. He did so and actually apologized that they would cost $10.00! Anyway he gave me enough to last for the rest of my trip.

He gave me a long list of things that should be checked out by my doctor in the States when I returned.

I didn't particularly want to go to the spa in the first place and this really convinced me that I should have stayed in Quito. I was so weak I couldn't even go on a hike. Have to say it was a beautiful place with a neat museum.

From there we went to a river location and although I had some difficulty with the hiking--out of physical condition--no more dizziness, etc. I quit taking the meds and having lost the list of things to check I didn't go to the dr. upon my return home either as I felt fine.

My blood pressure was checked about a month ago when I had some dental work done and it was okay.

I have avoided going to any high altitude locations as a result of this experience; but, now am interested in going to South Lake Tahoe for the dog sled rides my friend suggested.

I haven't been to the doctor to discuss this and wonder if I would just have to see what would happen if I go to the mountains or if the doctor would prescribe something for me to take as a preventive or in case I have a problem.

Old doctor vs. New doctor

Life is such a compromise. Ideal age of a doctor to me is 40-55. But if you have to choose between old (above 60) or too young (below 40), which would you rather prefer?

Pros:
- old doctors bring wealth of experience.
- people mellow down as they age.
- younger doctor may be more up to date in technology
- younger doctor may be more energetic and willing to think out of box

cons:
- old doc may not care since they'll retire in a few years.
- old doctors may die
- old doctors may retire
- old docotors may be biased based on experience
- young doctors may have attitude
- With less than 10-15 year experience, they haven't seen it all
- young doctors may be too ambitious to expand business, which may adversely affect your care.


I'd go with younger doctors.

Forget the experience thing. Shaky hands, memory loss, and failure to learn the latest new advancements make older docs -alas- obsolete. Let them retire and open more opportunity for newer internists if they're old enough to do so. Even the youngest Dr. has had 10 years of education before meeting you in a clinical setting. So what's the problem?

Should I go to the ER?

I checked my sugar at 5:30 pm and it was 317 and I took my 5 units of regular insulin checked it at 7:30 it came down to 305 I ate supper had Chinese pepper steak no rice just the pepper steak and a big glass of water and a peach that is all I ate waited to 9:45 checked sugar cause I feel strange after taking the insulin at 5:30 and when I checked it had went back up from 305 to 348 I thought insulin would bring it down I feel funny dizzy on standing and thirst and confused a little what should I do any help please

Eliminating the need for glasses or contacts

I am wondering if I can gradually wean myself off of contacts/glasses. I am 27 years old and have been wearing corrective lenses for 5 years, I got my prescription -1.50/-1.75 back then and it has stayed the same ever since with the -1.75 going down to -1.50 one year and back up the next. My up close vision is perfect and if I go without glasses my vision is better by evening.

The other day while experimenting with an eye exercise I stumbled upon all by myself, I found that after roughly 30 seconds of repetitions I could focus on more distant objects (specifically text) and they were much clearer, albeit only for a short time before I would have to blink. I have a limited understanding of how the eye works but from what I understand this exercise forced the eye to refocus back and forth while never looking away from the same object by changing the level of light taken into the eye. (I use non-prescription sunglasses that I flip up, focus, flip dow, focus, repeat, repeat.)

I got my glasses at a time when I was spending most of my waking hours in a small "office/cubicle" at work, roughly 36x36 inches. (private school, weird setup, etc. etc.) and my eyes didn't get a lot of outdoor, long range use at that time.

What I'd like is to find an eye doctor who will prescribe me weaker corrective lenses, say -1.00 or whatever it takes to get me just inside the legal requirements and then later on a weaker ones so I can still drive, etc. and pursue this exercise without using my normal prescription since it seems to ruin all progress as soon as I have to use corrective lenses to drive. Is there any legal implications in a doctor doing this for me?

What if cardio tests find NOTHING?

I had warning signs of a heart attack: pressure in chest, lightheaded, nauseous. Two days of tests in ER found NOTHING. Stress test went very well.

Doctors' verdict: anxiety. I feel 100% certain that anxiety is not what happened. I know what anxiety is. I was under NO stress at all when this "thing" happened, and don't have many stressors in my life, compared to most people.

I would love to believe the doctors but I don't think they're right. There is heart disease in my family.


The doctors recommended no treatment or meds, since they don't think I have a heart condition.

I have ZERO reason for seeking any type of anxiety treatment, because I don't have anxiety. It's that simple.

I had a one-time cardiac incident. It scared me because it felt significant and came out of the blue.

I need to have credibility when I report what I'm experiencing. I am absolutely positive that this was not anxiety.


What should I do?

Ranting about a co-worker

Leave it to the pros? Like you? I don't know what kind of social worker you were, but I think you need educate or re-educate yourself on the subject of depression. This is a medical condition that affects people with varying degrees of severity, regardless of their station in life. A millionaire with depression suffers it, at least in part, for the same reasons as a homeless person: a chemical imbalance in the brain.

Note that anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics and the like improve the condition of the mentally ill; give these same medications to a healthy person and they would either have no effect or would make that healthy person 'crazy'. Apparently, you've forgotten that depression is a medical condition. Sometimes, as with thyroid dysfunction, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, Cushing's, Lupus and Alzheimer’s, the medical cause for the depression can be quite clear. Depression also frequently co-occurs with heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. But often, there is no clear cause. That doesn't change how devastating the depression can be for the person suffering with it.

Stating that people who do "[talk] suicide" are "very likely doing the species a favor" if they follow through is the height of irresponsibility for someone with your background. Mentally ill people LISTEN to you- to them, you're one of the experts. If you used to be a social worker, you should realize that statements like the one above could be taken seriously by someone looking for help. I'm shocked. If you still have a license to perform social work, it should be revoked.

You say that you have worked with "people that had some pretty good reasons to kill themselves... But nobody was talking suicide." Do you realize that people who genuinely needed your help would have picked up on your attitude and consequently not asked for what they needed? Did you ever consider that many of those downtrodden people you worked with didn't open up to you because of your attitude? Probably not.

You give the impression that you've left social work. If you have, please, please, please, don't go back. If you haven't left, do. Actually, I don't expect this post to make a difference in your attitude. I wrote it so that those who come here looking for help or answers will know that your callous remarks should be ignored.