I think you'll find more urgent care and nurse practitioner places open to meet the demand in the US.

The Doctors should probably be referring them to a psychologist, because they're probably a Hypochondriac. That's their responsibility, you know.

A lot of which is spawned from the Republican spin doctors. Like I pointed out to Cool Matty, we really don't know what's going to happen. No one knows. There's a whole lot of speculation, but no one really knows at all. As someone who is not party affiliated, I think we'll be OK.

You should receive a document from Social Security this year about 1 month prior to your birthday. It should show you how many credits you have towards earning your SS and how much you would draw if you started on SS on your birthday. In that document it also explains that the problems you posted above are based off of current projections and laws. What it says is that at the current rate, they won't be able to continue paying out 100% and will have to pay out closer to 70% instead. It also alludes to the fact that congress will probably do what they did before, which was that since people are living longer, they raised the minimum age before you can begin drawing SS. If they do that, then they can continue paying out at 100%.

It's really not as big of an issue as people make it out to be.

[EDIT: Thanks Ford for the correction. eludes =! alludes]

I would just like to add that there are provisions that can be added to reduce the amount of abuse when it comes to paranoid patients. As a matter of fact, several countries have such provisions. These people will actually get a phone call from a representative explaining to them that they're abusing the system & in many instances there's actually a penalty. They go in to this a bit in the "Sick Around The World" episode of "Frontline" which can be streamed via Netflix.

"They will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years."

-- Newt Gingrich

Anyone remember how Johnson accomplished the destruction of the Democratic Party? Yeeeah.

the word is "allude." elude is something completely different.

Oh, I definitely agree. However, using these recent provisions as an example, a lot of things have been left out, and I don't think it is hopeful that many of these helpful provisions that you point out are going to be implemented because it seems like so far these have been REALLY half-assed attempts at public provision of health care.

I hope you are right though!

My lifetime limits for certain things are already depleted on my insurance.

I'd sure enjoy a system that doesn't **** me every time I get a migraine so bad I start uncontrolably vomiting and need to go to the ER because I get really dehydrated and need an IV.

What about Urgent Care facilities? Any around? They would be far less expensive.

I will vomit until yellow stuff comes up then nothing about 4 times a year.

Sometimes its so bad that I take bottles of water in the bathroom just so there is something actually in my stomach to throw up.

An urgent care facility won't give me an IV, what they do instead is give you an emergency referral (makes an e-room visit cost more). I still have to go to the e-room and get an IV of something because I become severly dehydrated.

This has happened to me before.

Ditto

It happened to me once. I vowed never to drink that much again.

Yeah I know one time it was booze related. It happened a few other times when I hadn't had anything to drink in weeks.

You seriously have to go to the hospital for that? What I've got (permanent medical condition) makes me vomit 10 times worse (at least from how you made it sound, not to mention I can pretty much guarantee it since it's ****ed up my body over time as well) and I have never once needed an IV for being dehydrated during a migraine.

Try having migraines so bad you throw up literally every 10 minutes, for roughly 3 to 4 hours STRAIGHT, not even able to keep medication down since you throw up so fast and so much. Over a period of the years that you've had the condition the acid that's constantly being thrown up from them has actually completely obliterated your lower esophageal muscle allowing food that you eat to constantly travel back up the back of your throat, waking up in the middle of night choking on what you ate for dinner. Not to mention feeling short of breath constantly as well as being woken up from it on a regular basis, to the point where you get maybe 3 hours maximum sleep every few days.

The worst for me is when I take gravol or anything with ginger in it.. And throw that up. It tastes so godawful. I throw up so hard my entire chest just feels like someone is ripping it apart down the middle, my stomach feels like its in my throat and i actually cannot breathe sometimes I vomit so violently. I've thrown up until there was absolutely nothing in my stomach, but I just laid at the toilet since I figured there was no point in moving much anyways.

Throw in a bunch of tests to determine wtf was going on... Tubes shoved in my throat and nose having to wear it for 24 hours to monitor my body's pH balance, sleep studies, scopes shoved down your throat and into your stomach, etc. Not fun at all.

Then you'll have had a bad experience with migraines.

All of that has happened to me.

Wow, what condition is that? Is there no treatment?

I have severe migraines that run in my family, pretty much every single member suffers from them, but I ended up getting them the worst out of everyone.

The condition I have gotten because of the constant migraine's is simply referred to as "LES", or a "Loose Lower Esophageal Sphincter". Basically, everyone has two muscles, or sphincters, in their throats. The primary one is located right near the windpipe, and when a person swallows it controls whether or not it's food and closes off your airways so that you don't aspirate anything. The second muscle opens, contracts, and if functioning properly, is supposed to stay closed which prevents food and acid from constantly traveling back up the esophagus. Because of the constant migraines, my Lower Esophageal Sphincter has completely been eroded away. Because of this I also aspirate some of my food, which is not fun at all. For those of you that don't know what that means, I literally inhale the food I have eaten after it's been processed for a few hours in my stomach, so it tends to be very acidic as well as chunky feeling in my airways. Goes down when I swallow, then comes back up 2 or 3 hours later mixed with bile and whatever the hell else is down there, and goes into my lungs.

There are several ways of treating it, but mine refuses to work with any medication. I have been prescribed so many medications in the last few years I don't even know how to keep track of them anymore, and I don't like taking pills or medication in the first place. One medication gave me severe heart palpitations, and the one I am currently on gives me night sweats as well as constant headaches, stiffness and being tired all the time.

I've been to my doctor god knows how many times, and he's supposed to be one of the best GI's in Canada, but he's really not. I get maybe 5 minutes to describe my symptoms, most of which he shrugs off (one symptom being my throat actually closing while im asleep and I stop breathing, similar to sleep apnea only I do not have it, it's caused by my GERD).

The last step if medication doesn't work is called a Fundoplication (sp?). Essentially, a small incision is made in the upper chest cavity or they can go down your throat, which ever you choose (although the chest method yields better and more consistent results), they do the same thing... They tie your stomach around the bottom of the lower esophagus, making it into a makeshift LES, although this only works in 6/10 patients.

Basically, I'm living with it for life unless I can get an operation done and be one of the lucky ones that it actually works on.

At least I don't have cancer. Yet. This can actually turn into esophageal cancer if not taken care of. I can't complain though, I'm still alive.

You can take pills to prevent it. Toporal works pretty well. I don't know what it's called but it runs in my family. My dad has it way worse than I do, but I guess it gets worse with age. My youngest brother has the problem too.

EDIT: Ninja posted by Temp with waaaaaay more info...

Just curious actually. I know you are a fellow toker, and I'm wondering actually if smoking helps your conditions at all.

As far as I know, smoking is absolutely forbidden for people with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: smoking stimulates reflux and (independently?) barrett metaplasia.

Have you not gone to different doctors?

BTW, you total ass, get the fundoplication. Success rate is very high (you were misinformed) although it can be slightly lower (but still high) if you have respiratory tract involvement.

"At least I don't have cancer. Yet. "

WTF? Stop smoking and stop whining. :p

Tenshu, I mean smoking weed, not cigarettes. Temperamental has said he smokes before, so I'm wondering if it does help with his condition.

I was told to avoid smoking cigarettes &/or marijuana because of an ulcer. I think that the reason was similar to what Tenshu stated.

It makes it worse. It doesn't matter if it's magical mystical maryjane it's still SMOKING and probably going to make his condition much worse.

I inhale a psychoactive hot ash. I also have unrelated brain and tracheal problems.

Jesus christ you are thick Emon

I didn't mean if marijuana somehow cures his sickness. I'm wondering if it alleviates any sort of PAIN that might go along with his condition. It sounds like throwing up for 3 to 4 hours is probably painful, and I imagine there would be some nausea as a result.

Not to mention he obviously has said he smokes so I think if it were really harmful to his condition he probably, you know, wouldn't do it.

I think you show to much hope for mankind here. I once heard of a patient smoking through his tracheostomy:http://www.empowher.com/files/ebsco/images/tracheostomy_tube.jpg

Smoking hurts his condition, period. Stopping is the only option.

You call me thick, but you are jumping to conclusions here. I know you didn't suggest this. A lot of people have the opinion that marijuana, because smoking it is in most cases not nearly as bad as cigarettes, must mean it won't cause problems in other situations. That's what I was referring to. Even with other positive benefits (like pain relief) it's aggravating his condition so he should STOP.


Why would he stop? It doesn't appear he's even bothered to get multiple opinions or have the proper procedures done to treat his condition. You'd be surprised how outright stupid people are when it comes to medicine. People think they are better off without, they don't think it'll work, they think they are "tough enough" to live without it or a variety of other incredibly stupid reasons.

It's sort of like milk w/ heartburn.

Hey guys I think Tenshu's like, a doctor or something

Just doing my best sir, saving the lives of human beings.

Please step back citizen while I give these children hope.

You could always eat your weed instead of smoking it.

Or get a vaporizer, though that might still cause aggravation. Either option is healthier anyway.

Whoa how'd this all turn into an argument about weed lol...

Lemme backtrack a bit and answer some questions/comments here..




That's a really long story that's developed over 4 plus years, but to sum it up yes I have been to around 10 different doctors, 3 specialists (one of which is my current one), all of which have been totally useless. I remember one young doctor actually cutting me off and asking "You don't do any weird **** like swallowing swords do you?"... I just walked out of his office after that and got a referral to a different doctor (the specialist, as this guy was just a walk in clinic doctor).

Let me clear one thing up about weed here... It is bad for my condition, as it's inhaling smoke. BUT, for me, I use it to help with the constant stomach nausea and churning that the medication does not help with. When I smoke, vaporize, etc, I get relief within a few moments, instantly. And yes, it does 100% take the nausea away, but I don't really get pain unless I am actually throwing up, which if I feel coming on I never smoke and wait for it to pass. I also have a mild case of tourette's syndrome, which no other medication has helped, except Marijuana. Hands down, and I will fight to the death over this, Marijuana definitely helps to control a huge majority of my problems ( extreme nausea, stomach burning and churning, the inability to keep food down due to the nausea, not able to eat properly in the mornings or other times of day, etc). But yes, of course I will not deny (as it'd obviously immediately place me in the dumbass column) that the actual act of smoking something does absolutely nothing to help the irritation from my LES/GERD.

Vaporizing is the safest way for me second only to eating, but when you eat Marijuana it takes longer to take effect, not to mention I do not want to be high for 8 hours straight. Again, if I smoke I am able to get instant relief, still function perfectly normal (you cannot tell if I am stoned off my ass or not), and be able to have enough time to come down from it within a few hours, rather than a long period of time which would be the case if I were to have eaten it.

I also want to note that I have tried several trial and error studies to see if my smoking actually seems to make my symptoms worse or not, and aside from the nausea being relieved, nothing else happens. I have gone months without smoking, and my condition remains the same. It never gets worse or better, it's just there, regardless of what steps I take. Diet modifications, etc, do not help.

The worst thing about it for me is that it's affected my life in certain ways. I used to be a hard core workout fanatic, but now I can barely do an hour without feeling like someone kicked me in the gut or actually throwing up something. I've just lost interest. I refuse to smoke before I work out, so I have to suck it up if I can, which I usually do but I still can't pull off a 3 hour work out by any stretch like I used to before I had this condition.



I understand what you are saying, and I agree, but this is not the case for me. I have had more opinions than you would believe, from different cities and areas of the province. Believe me when I tell you though, when it comes to my body and something being wrong, I don't **** around. I don't want to die, and I don't want to live with a condition that's going to hamper my way of living. I've gone out of my way to go to specialists, done everything I could in terms of modifying lifestyle, etc. Believe me when I say, this is not a pleasant thing to deal with. Waking up every single morning feeling like you're going to throw up, not able to eat, go about certain daily activities (like a breif work out, sex, or something that gets you moving that early in the morning), is not a nice thing.



A couple things wrong with this statement... The first thing being that the success rate is actually NOT very high at all in helping the condition I have. Believe me I've looked into it, and read up on it, considering I have to deal with this on a daily basis it has been something of an interest with me to figure things out. Not only that, but I've had MORE than one doctor, including specialists, repeat these statements. On top of that, I am apparently not a good candidate for the procedure, for whatever reason that the doctor did not clarify (which I will be having done with my next appointment). So unless you're overriding all of the doctors, specialists, and medical articles I've been reading and hearing with your opinion, I'd like to continue believing you're incorrect.




http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6639174

That's just one relating to my specific condition. The success rate does not necessarily depend on how successful the surgery itself is, but how successful it remains well into the patients life. Of course the surgery has a fairly decent chance of fixing the problem or at least a great deal of it, it has a vast amount of highly possible side effects post-op, as I just posted above. I could find more but it's 2am and I am a bit tired at the moment.

Second, I'm not whining at all. If I was whining I'd be asking you guys to feel sorry for me, which I'm not. I was just giving a detailed explanation of the story so I don't face the usual Massassi cross-examination of every word I have said.


I think/hope that kinda covers it all a bit better.

I'm not a doctor, I'm just an ass, but... what medication are you on?

Also, that article you mentioned is dated 1983. Nowadays they do nissen fundiplication laparoscopically, with high success rate, meaning: reflux is fixed more often than not. Apart from that, complications (dysphagia/achalasia, herniation) are possible of course.

But surgery is only indicated for people who have tried proton pump inhibitors, so that's why I ask what medication you are on.

Again, I'm not a doctor and I don't know better than literature, specialists, etc... but I'd still like to have a grasp of your situation.:tfti:

Oh God the medication..

Yes, I have been taking nothing but PPI's over the last few years. The one I am currently on is called "Apo-Lanzoprazole", which is a fancy word for Prevcacid. It doesn't help at all really, and I get side effects such as constant headaches as well as being extremely tired all the time. I took myself off of it and sure enough, the symptoms went away immediately. And yes, before people say "it must be the weed and you're burning out", it is not. I get that very rarely when I smoke, and it usually happens towards the end of the day anyways. I'm just one of those lucky people that doesn't feel the burn out until literally hours after my last "toke" of the day.

Over the last few years I've been on tons of medications.. Nexium, Pantoloc, Novo-Ranitidine, and some other ones I cannot remember, but those are the major ones that I took for long periods of time. Nexium was the only one that actually helped with zero side effects, but my drug plan does not cover Nexium and it costs 86 dollars per bottle, which I just can't afford. Apparently I can get my doctor to sign a special note saying that yes, they have tried everything and Nexium is the only one that works, so I absolutely need it, and they will actually start to cover it. I am in the process of getting that letter sent off.

Pantoloc gave me really bad heart palpitations, frequently. For so long I thought it was the coffee I was drinking, or that it was related to the condition (apparently GERD can irritate a nerve in your throat which causes heart palpitations), but in fact it was the medication. As soon as I stopped Pantoloc, the palpitations all but disappeared (I still have them but they are very infrequent now).

All the other stuff just simply didn't work, or I had the usual side effects like Diarrhea, Headaches, Stomach cramps, etc.

Back on topic, I just came across this article on the World Wide Web..

Actually, for 95% of those, I'd say we did get mad. And of course, the final comment is tasteless and not based in reality. The healthcare bill is not about the right to see a doctor, not even in the slightest.

Troll quote is trollllling.

Good one Temperamental!