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1iwqfh5 | Went To Urgent Care And The Doctor Dismissed My Concerns | I'm a 25 year old female with a high BMI. I've never been diagnosed with any heart issues and the only medication I take is ibuprofen from time to time (I have a cervical osteophyte complex) and some sumatriptan when I have cluster headaches. I just recently switched to a new doctor and they ordered tests for me as I've been having issues with vertigo. I, for a year, have been concerned over this not thinking of other things that have been going on for years ie. heart flutters, pounding in chest, shortness of breath. I was always told it's normal and I was checked for asthma years ago as a 17 year old and told I don't have it though I've always had issues with breathing while running (I've always been overweight but not to the point I couldn't run), the first time I remember having real issues was when I was 12. It hurt my chest really bad to run and I always thought I was just out of shape. Back in October, I experienced and extreme pain in my chest and back that made it hard to breathe. It was excruciatingly painful. At the time i had been moving around, cleaning the home I worked at and had drank a few cans of energy drinks. Soon after, i started having issues with vertigo and my gait.
A 3 or 4 days ago I was looking at my test results (the ones my new doctor ordered) and noticed I had 2 left that hadn't come in yet. I ended up looking at my clinical notes and happened to see one I didn't realize I had. It was an ECG test from when I was 17.
The findings were as follows:
Impression:
Sinus tachycardia
Possible Left atrial enlargement
RSR' or QR pattern in V1 suggests right ventricular conduction delay
Cannot rule out Anterior infarct , age undetermined
Abnormal ECG
Yesterday, with all of this on my mind and without knowing what any of the medical jargon really meant, I called a 24 nurse's line. I explained to the nurse I'm not currently having any heart issues or pain etc just that my heart pounds/flutters when I do things like bend over and pick things up off the floor for a time or when I make the bed (it's a pain lol) or when I'm scrubbing a pan that's been scorched. Anything that really raises the heart rate causes the pounding in my chest. I explained all this plus the history and past ECG. The nurse suggested I go to the urgent care just to be safe. I explained I'd just call and schedule an appointment with my doctor on Monday but he insisted I go. The nurse ended up sending information to the urgent care about the call and such and I just ended up going. While I was there, the nurse at the urgent care was nice but she didn't know what she was doing. She said she's never used the blood pressure machine, that it was only the manual that she was used to. After, she set me up for an ECG. She put all the stickers on me, hooked everything up, then ran the test. She said she was getting a lot of small squiggly lines and it's probably due to the stickers not sticking right so she taped them on. She ran the test again and said it's still happening. She just gave in and sent the test for the PA to review. The PA came back, told me everything was normal and was confused as to why I was there. I tried explaining it was because of past/current symptoms and the ECG I had seen knowing I hadn't had another since then and I just wanted to be sure. She was rude, lightly touched my chest and asked if it hurt (people pressing on my chest and back does hurt mind you because of the pinched nerve in my cervical) and I explained it does. And she pressed on my back over my bra and I said it doesn't hurt and then explained pressing harder does "let me show you what I mean" and she said "so it hurts when you do it but not when I do it" and I said "no, it hurts when someone presses but presses harder than what you're doing and not over my bra." She kept listinf the symptoms of a heart attack and kept asking me if I had them and i told her i didnt. I wasnt there for a heart attack
She said that I might have some right atrial enlargement but it wouldn't cause palpitations and never explained my ECG at all. She sent me home. When I got home, I saw a new clinical note saying I came in after reviewing an old ECG and was presenting with generalized anxiety. I am livid. I still have no idea really what my ECG means or if she even read it right (it was closing time when they finally got me in) and I'd really like an interpretation and possible explanation. Setting an appointment with my now doctor is going to take a while and I'd love to just have an answer right now.
Here is the EKG and her findings:
https://ibb.co/fY9nyWRN
https://ibb.co/1JmfpV5Y
https://ibb.co/LfqVwg5
| AskDocs | I’m sorry you had such a bad experience. I think you got bad advice from the nurse on the phone— this was not appropriate for an urgent care visit since their job is just to rule out and treat urgent things. Also sounds like one or both of the people there didn’t know what they were doing (I suspect the first person was not a nurse but some other kind of assistant, and then the PA who is not a doctor). ECGs often have garbage “diagnoses” printed at the top which are automated computer interpretations that are more often wrong than right. I wouldn’t worry about anything in that original ECG “report.” You can follow up with your primary care doctor about your current symptoms but doesn’t sound like anything that’s an emergency or that anything significant was missed based on an old ECG. | null | null | null | null |
1iwq0yi | 18mo male with rash | My 18 month old male toddler, 10kg weight, no medications and no known allergies has a rash. Ive never seen anything like it. I did a telehealth with a paediatrician yesterday and she said it's a reaction to a virus he had 2 weeks ago but I can't shake the feeling it's something else.
Only other symptoms are a slight fever the night it broke out and fussing at night. Photo here: https://imgur.com/a/9vjYE5H | AskDocs | Vaccinated or not? A fever the night before it broke out would agrue a new infection. It's in the measles spectrum of viral rashes, particularly if it started on the face and worked it's way down, which is why I ask if he's vaccinated (the measles vaccine is pretty effective, so vaccine + no known contact or recent travel would make suspicion a lot lower, and it's its measles his pediatrician would need to know for contract tracing purposes and to monitor for the potential short and long term effects). If no concern for measles, high suspiscion for another sort of viral rash with the new fever. | null | null | null | null |
1iwp77j | 33 male. Doctor prescribed 600mg of Ibuprofen for post viral chest congestion/cough. That doesn’t make sense to me. How does Ibuprofen help with chest congestion/cough? Did he just prescribe something for the sake of it? | Doctor prescribed 600mg of Ibuprofen for post viral chest congestion/cough. That doesn’t make sense to me. How does Ibuprofen help with chest congestion/cough? Did he just prescribe something for the sake of it? | AskDocs | NSAIDs are sometimes used for post viral cough. There's no good evidence for it | null | null | null | null |
1iwovyq | Accidentally took 40mg of cialis (2x max daily amount); saw a nurse practitioner already who said I was fine, but am still worried about long term damage due to my health anxiety. Looking for second opinions here. | I am a male, 35, PA.
I was very drunk a week and a half ago and accidentally took a double dose of 20mg cialis. I have the prescription for “as needed” usage, and I basically forgot I had already taken some, and took two pills by mistake. (As a sidenote, I don’t usually get this drunk, but I’m planning to give up drinking after this scare as it really freaked me out! Blacking out is not cool.)
I did not have any priapism / extended erections (unless they occurred while I slept, but I only slept 3-4 hours that night). I called my nurse practitioner immediately the next day when I realized what had happened and told her. She said I’d be fine and to just monitor for any erections that don’t go away. But she didn’t seem overly concerned about it.
I felt fine the first day, just a little low blood pressure-y and hungover… but as the days progressed I felt like the side effects lingered even after the cialis should have been fully metabolized. I read the half life is 17 hours, but a week after, I was still having noticeably fuller erections than usual (exactly like I usually get on cialis) and I could just tell it was still in my system, so I don’t know if it’s because my body was having trouble processing the larger dose or what, but it took about a full week for effects to subside.
I’m worried because I read you can get penile damage from “recurrent” priapism, which are erections that come and go repeatedly. I didn’t have them all day long or anything, but I was definitely having erections a few times per day over the course of the first week or so after taking the 40mg. They didn’t last an unusual amount of time though.
I also read about vision damage and was kinda scared about that, because I did feel like my eyes felt a little bit blurry or irritated at times (similar to how they feel from hayfever), but I never had floaters or significant issues, more like the feeling I get after wearing contacts all day / dry eye. Even now a week and a half later I feel like my eyes feel kinda dry at times and somewhat blurry with my contacts in but could be coincidence / weather related.
Do you guys agree with the nurse practitioner that I have nothing to worry about, or could a single double dose of cialis cause any lasting issues that I should be concerned about? | AskDocs | Priapism is when you have prolonged and painful erections, not just when you have spontaneous erections. It is unlikely that a single double dose of cialis would cause long term effects. | No a single episode of double vision that spontaneously resolves and doesn’t recur is not something that is likely to cause permanent issues | null | null | null |
1iwotut | Can DVT form laying like this? | 35 years / Male / USA
Sometimes I fall asleep and take naps like this with my right leg tucked under my left.
https://imgur.com/a/aYRoh8L
Can a DVT form in 30 minutes sleeping like this? Or is it kind of impossible for a DVT to form since I’m laying horizontally? | AskDocs | Not unless you have a clotting disorder | null | null | null | null |
1iwoqfq | Eyeball is swollen and retina is enlarged | Hi today my husband M67 woke up and his eyeball was swollen. Not the area around the eye but the eye itself. The color part of the eye is much larger than the other eye as well. The other eye is fine. His vision appears fine just says the eye feels dry . It looks strange. The eye Dr.is closed on Monday so he can’t go tomorrow and may need to wait until Tuesday. Do you think this is an emergency or safe to wait until Tuesday? He has had no recent trauma to eye. | AskDocs | There is no disease that can cause the eye itself to change size so quickly and drastically as you describe. You can try posting a picture but your description is not medically possible. If there are no vision changes or pain it's probably fine to wait. | null | null | null | null |
1iwop4k | 35M - Is this the onset of jaundice in my eyes? Filling in yellow, with grey flecks, but leave a thin white ring around iris. Both eyes. | Hey all just hoping to get some advice on whether this is indicative of a problem or I’m being overly cautious/concerned. The internet is a scary place when googling symptoms and made me panic.
Picture here: https://ibb.co/0zxPYD6
My details:
• 35M
• bp1
• bupropion 300mg daily, divalproex sodium 1125mg daily
• Approximately 10 days ago, dose of Wellbutrin went from 150 to 300. However, I have been on this as well as Epival for five years.
• I do not drink alcohol
Symptoms/Concern:
• image at the link attached of some angles of my eyes best I could capture
• it’s looked like slowly over the last 1-2 days the whites have been filling in with faint yellow from the top, bottom, and sides working its way toward the middle. Curiously, the iris seems to have a thin line around it that remains more white
• there are additionally some small grey “flecks” that can be seen that were not present prior either
Some other symptoms with my body but I believe they may be related to the dose change of bupropion:
• pounding/thumping heartbeat with mild chest pain that is more like an ache
• dizziness/disorientation when first standing from a seated or laying down position
• occasional pleasant, tingly wave-like feeling in my head.
• persistent headache from temples to the side of head above the ears on both sides. It pounds along with the heartbeat.
• ringing in the ears sometimes so bad all other sound is lost although usually just around 15s or so. I cannot force it to stop by attempting to pop my ears.
• increased sweating, heavy at night while asleep, but no fever
• insomnia
• digestion issues. Seemingly defecating undigested food.
• I had nausea several days ago but not recently.
Thanks for any feedback really appreciate it. I’m hoping it’s all just side effects of the increase as most of them are listed as side effects but could use some reassurance! I also know my dose doubled ten days ago but still I have been on the medication for years so it strikes me as strange.
| AskDocs | No that is not jaundice | null | null | null | null |
1iwoa00 | My body is making Loud sounds and I’m starting to get worried | (I’m 18 female btw) So I was just laying in bed being a nobody like usual but then my body starts making loud noises like my stomach rumbling but I just ate? and this has been happening for a long time after I eat. Am I just loud or is there something else that’s happening? | AskDocs | Just your body digesting and food/gas moving through the system. In the absence of pain/nausea/vomiting/diarrhea there’s nothing to worry about. | null | null | null | null |
1iwo9xm | Lorazepam + Alprazolam + Vyvanse: Should I be taking all of these at the same time? | 42 F, 5'9" 205, diagnosed with major
depressive disorder with anxiety, as well as a binge eating disorder. I also have struggled with falling asleep for years. Medications include Sertraline 200mg, Trazadone 150mg, Ramelton 8mg, Lorazepam .5 mg/3x daily, Alprazolam .5 mg/ at night, and Atorvastatin 10mg.
I've been going to my psychiatric NP for about 4 years. There are no psychiatrists within 2.5 hrs of my home in my state. I would prefer to see a medical doctor, but that is not an option. I've been checked, but I do not have sleep apnea.
I feel like my nurse practitioner, while a very kind man, is prescribing too much medicine for me.
What do you think? Should I be taking 2 benzos at the same time? Should I be taking either one with Vyvanse? It seems like they would work against each other.
| AskDocs | You are on *a lot* of sedatives. Both lorazepam and alprazolam are short acting benzos. Weird for them both to be prescribed. | No. Who the fuck is prescribing all that? Trazodone & ramelton are both sleeping meds (although not in the same class). Lorazepam & alprazolam are both benzodiazepines, which are addictive and cause respiratory depression and should not be prescribed together. Vyvanse is a stimulant and is probably contributing to your anxiety and your insomnia. I notice you didn’t say you gave ADHD, so I’m not even sure why you’re on vyvanse to begin with. This is disgusting and your NP has absolutely no business being in medicine if he thinks this is an appropriate regimen. | Vyvanse is FDA approved to treat binge eating. | The benzos are relatively low dose, but trazodone and ramelteon are full doses. | I saw that after I commented. I still think a prescriber who chooses a stimulant in someone with uncontrolled anxiety & insomnia plus two different benzos AND two different sleeping meds sounds like someone who needs a shit ton more oversight than he’s getting |
1iwnvpr | Rash on palm and sole | 24 year old male, no preexisting medical issues.
Last Friday evening a rash showed up on my the palm of my left hand. The rash was flat, and slightly painful to the touch (a needle like pain). The morning after the rash seemed to have mostly faded away and by the afternoon was no longer visible. However, in the evening the rash returned, but the macules were in slightly different places than the night before (pic of this rash [https://ibb.co/YFXtvkjf](https://ibb.co/YFXtvkjf) ). This time the rash was not as clear as the first night, but was still painful. The morning after, the rash was once again mostly gone and faded further during the day ( [https://ibb.co/21rWqYwT](https://ibb.co/21rWqYwT) ). Tonight, on the third evening, the rash on my palm has barely returned, it is really faint. However, I have now developed a rash on the sole of my right foot ( [https://ibb.co/NgkBdNLk](https://ibb.co/NgkBdNLk) ). The rash was initially itchy, but since I took this picture the rash as become a little fainter, and is now no longer itchy, although it is slightly uncomfortable to touch (really minor needle-like pain). I'm worried that these rashes might be secondary syphilis. Almost eleven weeks ago a gave a guy unprotected oral sex, and 11 days after that I had protected anal sex with a different guy. | AskDocs | This is not a typical appearance of syphilis, but it never hurts to be tested. Viral exanthems, drug eruptions, and many other conditions could appear this way. | null | null | null | null |
1iwnshw | Will I get infected? | I am a Male who takes no medication, I work retail and I stopped a homeless thief who had put merchandise down the front of his pants and tucked into his waistband. It turns out the hand I used to take the merchandise had a cut on it (I don't know if it was there before or if the merchandise caused it). If he has something like herpes or hepatitis or something other disease, could I catch it. The cut wasn't huge but I have a serious Germ problem so I immediately put hand sanitizer on it and washed it as soon as I noticed. A coworker later threw the merchandise at me and it hit my chin, could I get something from that? | AskDocs | No, you can’t catch something like that this way. There is zero risk. | null | null | null | null |
1iwnl1d | How Serious Is This? | 40F, 145 lbs, 5'1
Bipolar disorder
Dry eyes
Mirena IUD
Wellbutrin
Abilify
Vit D
Semaglutide 0.5 mg
My menstrual cycle is very consistent and I am due to start my period in 6 days. Today I thought I was urinating on myself but it was blood. My periods are not very heavy and a panty liner is all I ever need.
This bleeding is bright red and just keeps coming. I put a pad on with the thought that if I saturate more than one per hour I'll go to the ED. I laid down and later got up to go to the bathroom for the first time since this started 3 hours prior (kept an eye on the pad). When I went it was again a bunch of blood and I passed a clot. The pad itself didn't have very much blood. I assume it was all pooling inside.
I had my IUD replaced in October. I've had some off and on light bleeding outside my period. I gave it about 3 months and went back to gyn. Issue has improved significantly but I had a ultrasound on 2/10 to confirm placement. IUD is in the appropriate place and a small fibroid was discovered. I'm not in any pain.
Should I go to the ED, try to get in with my gyn tomorrow, or some other action? | AskDocs | Are you sure you’re bleeding from your vagina? Have you looked in the mirror or inserted a tampon/finger to confirm? That being said, fibroids can cause heavy bleeding. Perimenopause can cause irregular bleeding. I’m on the combined pill (for 25 years) and randomly got my period a week early. It scared the shit outta me. But sometimes that just happens. If you’re not saturating a pad in an hour and you’re not in pain it’s fine to watch and see if it goes away. You def don’t need the ED, but a call to your gyn wouldn’t be unreasonable if it would alleviate your anxiety | null | null | null | null |
1iwnjv8 | Can you define “sexually active” | When a medical professional asks “are you sexually active” do they mean
1) have you ever had sexual intercourse
2) are you actively have sexual intercourse ie. Do you have a sexual partner currently
3) have you had sexual intercourse since your last period (to rule out pregnancy)
I’m just not sure how to answer this sometimes ; do you say “yes but not for a while”)
I know it’s probably fairly arbitrary but I am an over thinker and would like to clarify.
30F
| AskDocs | I agree it’s a bit of an unclear term and depends a bit on who is asking it and why. I tend to try to specify exactly what I’m asking if I do ask. This is exemplified by u/TheJoestJoeEver who’s said this would include masturbation, which may be very relevant to their speciality (OBGYN). But say for me working in ED, it might be I want to know if you’ve had sexual activity putting you at risk of being pregnant or having an STI. Your masturbation habits are less relevant for me. I tend to ask “is there any chance you could be pregnant” if I specifically want to know this. But I take it with a bit of a pinch of salt as lots of patients don’t know how to judge that, so a pregnancy test is usually done anyway. I think that’s why it’s best to clarify! | Sexually active = having any sexual activity recently (which deoends on the symptoms and the diseases anticipated) including masturbation and use of sex toys. Any genital stimulation and/or any climaxing. | The amount of patients who tell me there’s “no chance I could be pregnant”, but on further exploration they’re having regular unprotected sex and not on contraception. What else exactly would you be doing if you were trying for a baby? | By definition, it is a sexual activity even if it's not relevant. The relevance, off the top of my head now, is occult/hidden injury causing inexplicable pain. Also, in any genital pain, it's important to know where the pain is exactly and with which activity because it's related to inervation. | I’m a doctor (although male) and I wouldn’t have interpreted it that way either. Like “when were you last sexually active?” isn’t the last time I masturbated. Shows it’s probably a term we shouldn’t be using. |
1iwnbxz | Regularly low heart rate | Hi there, M29 Weight:135kg and I have a resting heart rate somewhere between 45-55 BPM (repeatedly confirmed on my Apple Watch and other devices) I’ve gone to my local doctor and they used checked me out and said my heart was healthy (hooked up to some wires at my feet etc) but I’ve also got a low metabolic rate for my weight and height (just checked that through a program work offers)
I’m sure my thyroid was checked previously too and I’ve had blood work done recently too and no issues were flagged - is this something I should do checks on? Or is a heart rate this low ok
| AskDocs | It's fine if your asymptomatic, which it sounds like you are. | null | null | null | null |
1iwn62s | Radiologist interpretation after CT scan for chest lump | Male 25 6ft 170lbs meds: gabapentin, vivitrol, clonidine
No known health issues besides hemochromatosis (I’m at good iron levels) I’m also 6 months sober after a severe drinking problem
I got a CT scan and I’ll post a picture of the radiologist notes in the comments, I have a hard nonmoveable lump on my manubrium bone (upper sternum) the lump is painful itself but I have significant overall chest pain also. Looks like my lung is partially collapsed based on the interpretation too. I don’t suspect an infection due to the fact that this pain and lump have been present for about 5 months which seems long for an infection to be present and I’ve also been on multiple rounds of antibiotics for other things throughout those 5 months. My doctor has little to no idea what the lump could be after this interpretation and is telling me to seek help from multiple specialists who can diagnose me better. Anyone on here have any advice? | AskDocs | It needs to be biopsied. Cancer is the diagnosis of exclusion. Infection is also possible. | null | null | null | null |
1iwn4zn | 25F Got diagnosed with mild pneumonia with stethoscope alone? How come they didn't do a chest X-Ray? | **Height:** 4'11" **Weight:** 117lb **Primary Complaint:** Pneumonia
**Duration:** Started off as viral respiratory illness (cold symptoms) for one week and has now developed into severe wet cough and wheezing. No history of smoking, drinking etc.
I went into the Urgent Care this morning and the NP listened to my lungs and said that there was wheezing and crackling in my left lung. He said that it could be pneumonia but wanted to try nebulization first to see if it cleared up. I had albuterol nebulization for about ten minutes, during which I had a severe coughing fit with lots of mucus coming up. The NP returned and listened to my lungs again and found the same wheezing and crackling sound in the left lung region. The nebulization had not really lessened it. He diagnosed me with Pneumonia and gave me antibiotics for 5 days.
The thing is, I was wondering how come he didn't do a chest Xray? Isn't that mandatory for diagnosis of Pneumonia? I am not doubting the provider, just curious as to why stethoscope was enough and if I should have asked for an Xray?
Sorry if this is a silly question. Thank you! | AskDocs | The true meaning of pneumonia is a bit ill-defined. It’s often used synonymously with a bacterial lower respiratory tract infection. Technically imaging is required for a certain diagnosis, although hearing a focal area of crackles on the chest is also very suggestive. At the end of the day, what will a chest X-Ray add. It won’t change your management a lot. If the X-Ray didn’t show a clear pneumonia, you’d still get antibiotics. And if it did, you’d also get antibiotics. It’s just a waste of time, resources, and exposes to you to radiation for no reason. | null | null | null | null |
1iwmv3t | Extreme fear that ive gotten hiv. | M21, non smoker, no current medication
Over 2 years ago I had my first and only ever hookup. It was just oral sex and he did not ejaculate in my mouth but there was precum. I also had some precum rubbed against the outside of my anus but no penetration. My only real risk factor was that i have gingivitis (no noticeable bleeding at the time) and my mouth was dry at times while giving oral
6 weeks later i came down with extremely bad flu. Very painful body aches, canker sore, sore throat, night sweats, fever, nausea. No rash. I went to the ER a few hours after my symptoms started and They tested for both covid and influenza. Both were negative (results came back in an hour so idk if they used a rapid test)
I recovered in 1 and a half weeks but one of my parents fell ill while I was sick too.
Over time i had other illness that may or may not have been related to hiv. Seborrhiec dermatitis(after visiting europe which was much colder than where i was from) and unexplained papules on my feet that took a long time to heal (has reoccured 3 times).
I have to take a employment health check soon and im worried i coulf lose my job. Whenever i search for people who though they had symptoms but ended up negative, i never saw anyone with same symptom severity as mine. So im really scared and dont know what to do, my parents dont know about this anxiety and i dont know how they will react if its positive. | AskDocs | The chance of you having HIV from this encounter is almost negligible. I wouldn’t be worried at all. For your own peace of mind you should get a HIV check, which is good practice anyway. Some other general stuff: - HIV is a very treatable condition now. In fact people with HIV are living longer than those without it. - Treated HIV with undetectable viral load is untransmittable - You do not have to disclose your status to your employer or parents. You will not lose your job. - If you are becoming sexually active and thinking of engaging in casual sex, then speak to someone if PrEP is right for you. | Just get tested. It’s quick and easy. You obviously have anxiety about it. You were obviously anxious about it at your first presentation but didn’t share about it | Exactly this. People with HIV have more regular checkups and bloodwork meaning problems are often picked up earlier. | null | null |
1iwmhgj | Alternative Treatments for a Cancer Patient | I am using conventional treatments as well, male 50s, but I want to also try other possibilities. I am starting Acupuncture, and Fever Baths, and looking for more treatments along those lines. The two previously mentioned helped friends of mine with their journeys. | AskDocs | What is your goal? Symptom management, help with side effects, or do you think there are alternatives that will help cure your cancer? | There is no evidence that any of these things will help cure your cancer or keep it from coming back. Your oncologist has recommended the best studied, safest, most effective treatment regimen for you particular case based on decades of research and thousands of patients in clinical trials. | null | null | null |
1iwmafw | Odd Mole Question | Odd Mole Question
Hello! 32F, 127lbs, 5'2" in good physical health. On medication for vestibular migraine and low dose antidepressant for IBS. The mole had formed about 3 years ago. Just wanted a second opinion as I have been on a waitlist for a derm for quite some time now and this spot has bothered me for a bit. Family doc isn't concerned but there is a lot of cancer in my family (mom- skin, triple neg breast at 46, moms sister- cervical, moms sister- skin, father- ovarian). I have had this dark mole on my face for a bit now and it originally started as a pimple/ sore. Every now and again I notice small changes, it was smaller before and it seems to have gotten darker but I foolishly never took a pic before of it. Just was wondering if the appearance of it is concerning? Thank you I will post pics in comments | AskDocs | The spot that you show is likely benign. Note that without examining all of your skin, it is difficult to know whether this is normal, or fulfills the "ugly duckling sign." Moreover, most people who post on this site do not use high-resolution macro lenses or dermatoscopic photography. If you are concerned, seek care. | null | null | null | null |
1iwm9g0 | infected nail bed | F28, non smoker non drinker, 175cm 55kg. in good health in all other aspects
Hiya
Saw a doctor a few days ago as my finger is swollen and tender around the nail, she said it's infected nail bed. She gave me antibiotics and i've been on them for two days - so far the finger has just got worse, not drastically, but it's definitely more swollen and red than it was initially. Does it get worse before it gets better or is this a sign that antibiotics not working and I should go back? don't wanna waste their time if it's nothing to worry about.
First pic was 2 days ago second pic is now
| AskDocs | Your acute paronychia looks worse. Consider seeking care. | null | null | null | null |
1iwlxor | Hello I just coughed up something weird | I ( 23M ) just coughed up a weird looking thing out. It is as big as a pea, has a weird bubbly texture and is very squishy, not hard at all. When i smell it, it tastes a bit salty. I just played soccer for 2 hours and when i got back i coughed once and it just flew out of my mouth. Am very confused what it is, its as well the first time this has happened. There is no blood, its just this pinkish looking little bubbly thing. I was a heavy smoker a few years ago but i stopped and have been smoke free for 1 and a half years so idk if it has something to do with this.
https://ibb.co/D2qj2sg
| AskDocs | It's probably a tonsil stone. Do you notice white spots on your tonsils? | null | null | null | null |
1iwluly | Fever of 102.4 with cold- when is it time for the ER? | 27F, 130lbs. I came down with a cold or maybe the flu yesterday morning, and throughout the day my temperature was around 100.4 and Tylenol/ibuprofen was keeping it down.
Today I feel mostly the same, coughing up some light mucus, feel warm and chills, mild headache, mild sore throat. Except I just woke up from a nap and my temp was 102.4. I hadn’t taken any meds since 8:45am because I’ve been on and off napping, so I just took 400mg ibuprofen a half hour ago.
Also to add, I have asthma but it hasn’t felt bad enough to even be worthy of taking a nebulizer besides some uncomfortable coughing and thick yellow mucus coming up. I also didn’t get my flu shot this winter when I normally do.
What is ER worthy? I haven’t had a fever or even a bad cold since I was a teen so I don’t really know what to do.
Thank you! | AskDocs | >What is ER worthy? Shortness of breath, trouble breathing, or low blood oxygen level are some symptoms that require immediate care. | Your fever is expected since you’re sick, so it’s not a major concern at this point. You probably have the flu or some other viral bug. Your body is also responding to the meds, which is good. If it reaches 104 or higher and doesn’t go down with fever-reducing meds, you should consider going to the ER. Based on what you’ve shared, there’s no need for an ER visit right now. | null | null | null |
1iwlow8 | My grandmother is blind but she claims she sees people | Hi! My grandmother has been blind since I was a Kid. She had a complication when she was in surgery and, as I understeand, the doctor cut a vein inside the eye and the eye flooded with blood leaving her blind. She already had problem in her eyes so she became blind.
Its been a few years now but she has personally asked me if theres like an explanation on why she sees people, even tho she is blind. She tells me she also see colors, like blue and pink, and claims she can see the silhouette of her nose.
So, my first though was that maybe the brain is giving her mixed signals from the little she sees, but I since I am no doctor, well, I wanted to see if anybody had any idea what could be happening?
She is old, so she might as well be lying but I couldnt find anything like this in google. What I fear is that maybe her blindess if reversible but since we do not have that much money and she is too old a surgery is unlikely to happen.
Edit: I will post some of my grandma data because the post keeps getting removed:c
Age: 71
Weight: 75 kilos
Location: Eyes
| AskDocs | Charles Bonnet syndrome? | null | null | null | null |
1iwlis1 | Can I change my antibiotic dosage? | I (30F) get reoccuring tonsilitis and every 12-18 months I get a really bad case of it where I am vomiting and essentially bed ridden for a day before antibiotics kick in.
On Friday I woke up to vomit and sure enough after checking my tonsils, they were disgusting and knew it was a bad episode of tonsilitis. My normal GP was not available so I went to a new one who prescribed me the same antibiotics I normally get however in a different dosage. He prescribed them 4 times a day for 6 days where my regular GP would always prescribe them twice a day for 10 days.
I have been taking them 4 times a day but they are making me feel incredibly nauseous. My question is, could I switch to twice a day to help with this? If so, would I continue for 7 days to make up 10 days or would it be less since my dosage has been higher for the last 3 days?
Thank you :) | AskDocs | From the sound of it I would guess that you're taking pen-v/phenoxymethylpenicillin. This can be taken twice daily or 4 times daily so long as the daily dose is the same. Benefits of four times per day dosing might be a slightly steadier serum level but ultimately either is allowed. Having said this, I would discuss with your prescribing clinician before making any changes to what you're taking as they may have reasons for the approach they've taken. | null | null | null | null |
1iwled4 | Random red dot on my leg? | I’m - 24 year old female with no previous diagnose or sickness
Saw a red dot on my leg that I haven’t seen before so got a bit confused as it just magically appeared. It looks like a mole/ birthmark but red, perfect round and like 1-2 millimeters high and like 4-5 millimeters wide. No itching or hurting. Don’t think it’s a bug bite but I have no idea, it’s only one on my thigh. I was thinking of a pimple but it’s in a weird spot for me and doesn’t feel like it..
I easily get anxiety so need something like an answer otherwise my thoughts will run and sorry about my English, it isn’t my first language (+ I’m kind of sick and tired)
🔹Picture in comments🔹 | AskDocs | I can't tell from the photo if it's an ingrown hair or a Campbell-De-Morgan spot. Either way it's harmless. | As long as it does not continue growing it is not likely to be worrisome. | null | null | null |
1iwl2xi | Adenovirus? Should I go to ER/Pharmacy? | I am a 21 year old female.
Starting Friday the 21st I developed a horrible headache. I didn’t think too much of it and continued as normal just drinking more water.
That evening I developed a sore throat alongside the headache and quarantined myself to my room the rest of the night.
Saturday morning I woke up to a plugged nose sore throat and plugged ears. but the headache was thankfully gone. I also started producing dark to neon green mucus, and an occasional cough. At this point I began to take “Buckleys Extra Strength Cough Cold & Flu” according to the directions. It helped for around 4 hours at a time. I slept most of the day whenever my nose was clear enough. That night my eyes began to burn and water, with occasional eye weeping/gunk. I didn’t sleep most of the night and repeatedly rinsed my eyes separately with clean wet paper towels.
Today my cold symptoms are moderate (as in not painful), thanks to the Buckleys. I took a shower and scrubbed my eyes with clean hands, warm water and soap multiple times. I’ve continued to wash my hands and rinse my eyes as needed. The burning, tears, and gunk have mostly resolved. My eyes are just very red now with a super slight but not really bothersome burning.
I am pretty confident whatever virus this is I contracted from my sister who has kids.
My question is should I seek any sort of medication or diagnosis? Is it most likely adenovirus? My symptoms seem moderate so far so I didn’t want to clog up the ER or risk spread unless I really need to. | AskDocs | It doesn’t sound like you need to go to the ER. The ER won’t be able to offer any further treatment. | null | null | null | null |
1iwkxuz | Nervous abour cancer | I'm (32 female, non smoker, previous drinker, no medications, no significant medical history) a nervous wreck about having cancer, specifically pancreatic. I know the statistics are on my side, but my symptoms are telling me otherwise. Starting 7 weeks ago I've been extremely fatigued and nauseas almost consistently. I went to the dr, they did bloodwork and sent me on my way- slightly anemic with low ferritin (8).
Since then, I've had stomach pains in the upper and upper left abdomen that sometimes radiated to my left side back and mid back spine area. Additionally, I have sharp pain on and off in my left back hip.
Ive loat 10lbs in 7 weeks. More bloodwork shows a ca 19-9 of 30 and ultrasound couldn't see the head or distal tail of the pancreas due to gas obstruction (otherwise it was unremarkable) but did show numerous small hyperechoic structures (.6 in size all around) on my right kidney and a bit of an enlarged liver.
Anybody have insights on this? I am scheduling a CT scan after getting authorization from my insurance. I'm freaking out, I have a 16 month old and am spirialing. TIA!
| AskDocs | Doubtful it's pancreatic cancer. Get the CT, continue to work with your pcp, and seek mental health therapy/ counseling for your anxiety. | null | null | null | null |
1iwkqvv | Horrible pain!! | 16 year old female ( have never been intimate with anyone )
I have had pain in my lower stomach and felt ill/ nauseous the past days, practically lost all my appetite and have yellow ish discharge, pain in my lower back and I don’t know what it is. Ive had an ovarian cyst before that ruptured and this pain is very similar almost the same but last time I had a cyst that broke I had brown discharge and this time it’s yellow?? | AskDocs | You’d need to get an examination to determine what is causing the abdominal pain. It very well could be an ovarian cyst but could also include things like appendicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, constipation, etc. The discharge may or may not be related to the pain. | null | null | null | null |
1iwkomj | STI Exposure Help | Stats: 28, male, 220lbs, 6’0”, take trazodone for sleep, pristiq for OCD, minoxidil for hair and PrEP
Hey so can an antibiotic stop an STD from “seeding” or stop me from actually fully contracting Chlamydia?
Asking because I had sex with someone and two days later he texted me informing me that he just tested positive for chlamydia (got it from someone he had sex with a while back). So, I called my doctor, but the doc said since it had only been 2 days since the exposure, I wouldn’t show as positive on a test because the virus hadn’t had time to seed yet. So, she prescribed me antibiotics to take for 7 days.
That said, since I began taking the antibiotics so early after my exposure and before the STI had a chance to seed, does that mean that the antibiotics have a chance to kill it before I actually contract it? Like will it stop me from actually fully contracting the chlamydia in the first place? If so, will I be cured after the 7 day antibiotic cycle? | AskDocs | Yes, this will likely stop you getting the STI in the first place. Similar to Doxy-PrEP. | null | null | null | null |
1iwkkyp | Baby smells like paint days after eating paint | 9mo male
No medicines or known medical problems
Has appointment with boston childrens hemotology/oncology for petechia and blood in stool
My son ingested an unknown amount of behr interior/exterior matte paint in black 2 days ago. I called poison control and they could only find the msds for the high gloss version but assured me he was fine and to look out for vomiting and diarrhea. He didn't have either and was his happy self.
Today he smells SO BAD. Like so so bad. His skin a little bit but mostly his breath smells just like wet paint to the point its making me nauseous. He's a little wheezy when he breaths in but I'm not sure if he's just being goofy or not.
Do I need to bring him to the ER?????
Edit to add hes had many baths, clothing changes, and has eaten several times | AskDocs | I personally think it’s a little risky of poison control to not have told you to go to the ER given his age and lack of information they had on the product. Given he smells of paint now, I think it’s the safest thing to take him, and **bring the paint with you**. Although most indoor pain is water soluble, some indoor/outdoor paints have other solvents in them which can be harmful when consumed. It may be the solvents that you can smell now. | null | null | null | null |
1iwkjxd | Rash on torso and mouth ulcers | (40M)I have this rash on my back and stomach. I also have several mouth ulcers. The rash appeared 2 days ago and the mouth ulcers about a week now. I was just tested for STI's and am negative with those. I should note that iam a type 1 diabetic.
Thanks in advance | AskDocs | Sounds most likely like a viral infection. Monitor how your symptoms progress. | null | null | null | null |
1iwkjwm | Possible Hep B exposure | My (new) girlfriend was born with hep b. I haven’t been vaccinated yet. Basically I accidentally touched my hand to my mouth and got some vaginal fluid in it yesterday night. I don’t know how likely transmission is in this way, I know kissing is very low risk but I’d guess vaginal fluid is a different story. Apparently if you’ve been exposed you are supposed to get an antibody injection asap. Today is Sunday and I can’t schedule with my GP, I went to an urgent care and they basically told me they can’t do anything if I don’t show symptoms of something. I have gingivitis as well which likely increases my risk. My gums were not actively bleeding of course but I’m sure it doesn’t help my chances.
I’m a bit paranoid about this. Just wish I could talk to a medical professional and know weather or not I should be getting this immunoglobulin shot or not, apparently if you need it optimally you get it within 24 hours.
Any thoughts are appreciated. | AskDocs | Risk is almost 0% especially if she's on meds for suppression | null | null | null | null |
1iwkci5 | Could I get an std from sharing a sunscreen stick with a stranger? | I was out skiing today and on the lift I was making small talk to this stranger and he offered me his sunscreen. I thought it's be a spray or something but he pulled it out and it's a sunscreen stick. I was a little grossed out but decided to smear it on my hand first and then smear my hand on my face. (It was already used.) I have a little bit of acne on my face. Could I have gotten an std like herpes or something from this?
He was an old man and I don't remember any marks on his face or anything if that helps. | AskDocs | No, you can’t get an STD this way! | null | null | null | null |
1iwk93u | Low blood sugar | 29F, 6 months postpartum & breastfeeding. Somewhere in the very overweight to mildly obese region (unsure, but I DEFINITELY need to lose weight).
I had hyperemesis gravidarum in my second pregnancy and was basically limited to a diet of potatoes & simple fruits. I struggled with keeping my blood sugar up, and monitored my sugars for two weeks as part of gestational diabetes testing (which I was not diagnosed with) and would have a sugar reading of <5 daily and <4 every few days. I ended up having to carry dextrose tablets with me just in case. I figured at the time once I gave birth this would resolve itself once I got back to eating a more varied diet again, and when I wasn’t puking my guts out.
To cut a long story short, i’m still struggling with hypos. I still have readings of <5 with symptoms every few days. I’m only seeming to experience hypos, and not hypers. I want to start to lose weight but every time I try to cut down on my calories I get a bad sugar drop by the evening.
I’m very confused as it’s only working one way with my sugars, not both up & down like you’d expect with diabetes. What could be causing the hypos without hypers?
Also, I intend to do a period of sugar monitoring before seeing my GP, but I don’t know when is best to test. My GD testing was first thing in the morning, and 15 minutes after every meal. Should I stick with this schedule so I can go in armed with information?
Thanks in advance! | AskDocs | What symptoms do you have and when you talk about values below 5 mmol/L what numbers are we exactly talking about? In young women, hypoglycemias are quite common. I wore several FGMs for a while to test them (working as a diabetologist) and in the morning I often had 3.3 and during the day 4.5 | null | null | null | null |
1iwjyoh | GP tomorrow or ER now? Face very swollen, fever, ulcer might be infected (in swollen cheek). Don't want to over react but not feeling well and struggling navigating healthcare system in general. TIA | 21 F 5'6 127 lbs
Hi, thanks for your help.
I am awaiting assessment at Behcets CoE in a few months, but have had an issue I am worried about in the immediate likely related.
Larger ulcer in R cheek for about 4-5 weeks (honestly maybe longer). Not unusual for it to last this long in me, but very weirdly shaped for and bigger than normal. Earlier this week, more painful and a little bit of pus not a big change but noticed and wanted to keep an eye on it. Pic in comments of it prior and now (looks worse to me now)
Yesterday: felt OK in the morning, then afternoon felt really tired and had a really bad headache. I had been traveling (locally) and volunteered that morning, so I figured I was just really tired. Went to bed early for me.
Today: I didn't wake up until almost 1 PM today which is super rare for me. Slept great though. I woke up feeling like complete garbage. I had a fever, but also the right side of my face was visibly swollen, where the ulcer is. I've busy been super tired and just uncomfortable all day, but still was able to clean my room and stuff, so not incapacitated. But tonight the swelling looks a lot worse to me, almost extending to my neck, the skin also is pink. I do not want my neck swelling, not my ideal plan. Face swelling stopping me from speaking at this point. (pics this morning and now)
My fever is 38.6. No difficulty breathing, but can't speak well due to swelling. Headache, tired, but swelling main symptom.
I asked a patient behcets community what they would do or if they had experienced something similar, and if calling my GP in the morning seemed appropriate. They recommended more urgent action, given severity, so I called 111. They said GP would call tomorrow -but my friend was talking for me and they couldn't see my face over the phone. Little worried I should be seen sooner, but not sure as they are the triage experts.
My GP has been really kind but unable to help with anything behcets related because it's so specialized. I have lost a lot of weight and have worsening anemia, likely due to ulcers in my mouth and esophagus (signs of them in July on gastroscopy), but they can't help treat them due to not knowing the right management for behcets, but the CoE won't see me sooner due to their own scheduling limitations, so I am waiting until likely July. I am honestly overall worried. In last 13 months, lost 70 lbs and anemia worsening pretty fast, and the mouth ulcers have been hell and required two dental surgeries, and waiting until July worries me -especially with food difficulty and dizziness.
Is this a situation that can wait until tomorrow to see a GP or should I go to A and E (ER) given how fast it's progressed and swelling? Is this a known issue with ulcers/behcet's? I've never heard of this. Are there things I can do to advocate for help from my GP until the CoE assessment? I fully recognize their scope is limited but IDK if they can do an interim plan or referral to rheum without behcets specific focus?
Thanks for your help. | AskDocs | I think this is probably a borderline case where either options could be appropriate. In the absence of another cause of your fever (e.g. flu like symptoms) I think going to the ER is not unreasonable. If you do decide to wait at home but the swelling worsens or you can’t open your mouth, then go to the hospital. | A few things to just pick up on. - Getting sent to A&E by the GP is not a failure, so don’t be frustrated by this. The GP may be able to send you directly to a speciality with a letter (ask them for one if you do get sent). And in the morning the staffing is better so you will likely be seen quicker than overnight. - Any restriction opening your mouth is a bit of a red-flag for me. This can be a sign there’s deeper infection which needs urgent attention. If you do have restriction I’d consider going to A&E tonight. - The height of your fever doesn’t have much correlation to how unwell you are. Some viruses which aren’t concerning can give you a high fever. - Friday is about right timing for developing a viral infection if your friend had one. | null | null | null |
1iwji0m | How can I easily catch up on my vaccines? My parents have been antivax since I was 10 |
Hi, my (20m) parents have been strongly antivax since I was 10 in 2015. I have no clue how to do anything medically by myself and I really want to get caught up on my vaccines and stuff. Preferably without my parents knowing since I still live with them and I’m on their health insurance, if I lived on my own it wouldn’t be as big of a deal. I also don’t really know what vaccines I had before then and don’t know how to access those records (idk if they even matter since it’s been so long) I’m also in Indiana. Thanks. | AskDocs | go to your doctor and explain your situation and ask if you can get a cash price for the vaccines so it doesn’t go through the insurance if you’re very concerned about that. they should be able to access your vaccine records through the state. if it’s only since you were 10 you shouldn’t have too many to catch up on- TDaP, HPV, flu, covid, and meningococcal | null | null | null | null |
1iwio1g | Am I a phenomenon? | I am 25,male,no medications. Not Smoking (until 2 years ago have Cannabis Smoking tho,completely sober since).
Now here my question. its a bit different from what you normally see here I suppose..
I havent been sick a single time in my whole adulthood
I am 25 and the last time i was sick was when I was a child. And with that i also include any form of colds and flus. Not a single viral or bacterial infection. Now you can think I am lying or whatnot but I am just saying this because I am wondering how its possible. I have never met or heard of a person like me. I am not living in isolation or anything, i work iat a retailer. I can be in the same room with someone literally "dying" from coldlike Symptoms and not Catcher anything.
I am not even living a very healthy lifestyle or anything. I eat whatever,i dont take any vitamins or other suppplements. I go to the gym occasionally but not as much as I should..
I cant remember the last time I was at a Hospital either. Some blurry images from when I was very young come to mind..
Am I just very lucky and blessed with a good immune system?
I am really not trying to flex.. this just always made me wonder. | AskDocs | Combination of youth and luck. I don’t think there’s too much to read into this. I wouldn’t assume you have some superhero immune system or anything. | Not outside normal seasonal variation and COVID. | null | null | null |
1iwilxd | 19M Penis Issue HELP!! | 19 Male I have a penis issue. so pretty much i guess this has been an issue my entire life but i only noticed it when i was able to fully pull my foreskin back. I noticed in porn guys have their pee hole directly at the tip of their penis but mine isn’t it’s like on the top of the head but i also have a second hole in the middle top of the head. it kinda looks like a slit idk. no pee comes out of the second one but it just makes everything really uncomfortable. sex, masturbating, even changing clothes cause that second hole is super sensitive to touch. Obviously i’m too embarrassed to go to my parents about it. I did go to my family doctor and he told me to just go get circumcised cause it’ll fix it and than refused to refer me to a urologist. But i have a very strong feeling he’s only telling me to get circumcised since he’s extreeeemly jewish and also happens to do circumcisions. Can anyone please help me out?!! (idk how to post a picture on here but if a doc here needs one please let me know and i can email or dm one!)
https://ibb.co/Psys6bkz | AskDocs | Can’t see the photo (you can DM if comfortable). Sounds like it could be hypospadias. If it’s causing problems you can have it surgically corrected. A circumcision (especially a rogue office job rather than a urologist in theatre), doesn’t sound like it will fix this. | null | null | null | null |
1iwifq3 | Fast-Growing Black Mark on Child’s Scalp – Concerned Parent Seeking Advice | Hey everyone, I just noticed a rapidly growing black mark on my first grader’s scalp. My wife saw it half a year back but was not very concerned as it was rather small back then. However, when I checked today it appeared to have more than doubled in size during the last 5 months.
Please have a look at the photo via the following link: https://imgur.com/a/1AzsLTm
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? Should I be urgently concerned? Any advice would be greatly appreciated before we can see a doctor. Thanks!
Additional information:
Age: 6 years old, male, 115cm height, 23kg weight, no medications or any other health related issues. | AskDocs | The image is poor quality. If you are concerned seek care. There is not enough information for more insight. | null | null | null | null |
1iwiecc | Weird Freckle on Toe | Hello, I’m a 22-year old male, on 0 medications, no family history of skin cancer, but other cancer (breast) runs in my family. I’m wondering if anyone has seen a freckle like this as I can’t find any photographs online of similar freckles. I sent the picture to my doctor, but my appointment isn’t for another 3/4 months and I’ve had this thing for at least a year. I’ll attach a link to reference the picture I took.
https://ibb.co/ynmtStZm
| AskDocs | The image is not adequate quality for an opinion. | null | null | null | null |
1iwi7uo | I (31f) am having pain in c section 14 months later. | Hi I am 31 female 5ft 11in 265 pounds. Non smoker. My baby was born early January via elective c section. Never had any problems until last night. I sleep on my front and always have done, but last night I got up and it felt like it did when I was in recovery the pain was there. It’s a burning numb pain not on the scar on my belly at top of the scar. I’m plus size so it hangs over. All day today there has been an ache and some burning. There is no physical sign of problem on the scar and I’m not bleeding anywhere. Any thoughts on this do I need to be seen straight away? Is this normal? Thanks | AskDocs | Should get checked to rule out hernia but sounds like neuropathic pain from the scar. | null | null | null | null |
1iwi3g4 | Strep throat as a kid | So I wanted to know something:
When I was younger, between the ages of 7 to around 12, I would often have severe strep throat, throwing up constantly, until I couldn't anymore and I would just throw up awful biles and blood, it would happen for at least a few days, I would have chills, I wouldn't be able to sleep, and I couldn't eat or drink anything or I would throw up. And my throat hurts like hell. Is this normal for people having strep?
I was around 60 to 80 pounds during this period, between 4 feet and 5 feet, male, and I are decently healthy meals | AskDocs | Yes, this is very common. | null | null | null | null |
1iwi1vv | I don’t know what happened to me and my local hospital won’t tell me | I am 15(m) 170 pounds and a couple months ago I was in the shower and I got out and I felt nauseous (I often feel nauseous b/c i get migraines frequently so it’s common) anyway I leaned over expecting throw up to come out but instead I felt a sharp pain on the left side of my head, shortly after everything became extremely bright and I collapsed. when I collapsed it was like a slide show, one second I was standing, another i was in mid air, and lastly I was on the floor (I live in a RV and my bathroom is extremely small) I also felt no pain when I fell but I was fully conscious (I couldn’t fell or see anything but I could hear absolutely everything) it was almost like I had no connection to my body at all, after I finally had control over my body, my mom walked in the bathroom and she helped me get up. We then entered the living room and everything happened agin, everything got bright, the slideshows everything but this was slightly different I was twitching on the floor, agin I was fully aware I just couldn’t see or feel anything I didn’t even know I was twitching it was like my body was moving by itself. I also have many side effects. Deja vu, loss of time, and I feel detached like Im viewing my life but someone else is controlling my body. When I went to the hospital all the doctors said was that I had early signs of pneumonia but I am almost certain early signs of pneumonia could not cause whatever happened, could someone tell me what happened? | AskDocs | Sounds like vasovagal syncope. I assume the hospital doctors ruled anything else out? | null | null | null | null |
1iwh0bj | Male 30. Drinking for a month. Will urgent care give me withdrawal meds? | Male 30.
I’ve had some health issues and relationship issues…. For the past month I’ve had a few drinks per day with benders on the weekends. I want to quit drinking but I’m afraid of withdrawal.
I’ve been to the ER before in previous years after heavy benders where I was feeling VERY bad and they always gave me withdrawal meds (I never asked for them).
This time I feel more calm but I’m starting to feel very bad whenever my BAC reaches zero. Can I go to urgent care and straight up ask for withdrawal meds? I can’t afford the hospital. | AskDocs | Probably not but call your pcp and discuss this. They will help you :) | null | null | null | null |
1iwgvnb | Hi, I am 31 year male, 5 ,10 inches, 72 kg weight,Indian.I had some stomach pain just below left rib cage and back side of stomach So I went to dr , he asked me to do a CT scan, and unfortunately it says STOMACH IS COLLAPSED WITH DIFFUSED WALL CIRCUMFERENCIAL THICKENING MEASURING 18MM, I am afraid? | Is this a symptom of carcinoma?
| AskDocs | Agree. Also an empty stomach usually looks it has thickened walls as well. | null | null | null | null |
1iwgg6a | Chickenpox scabs, no longer contagious? | I’m a 17-year-old, female in senior high with a really mild Chickenpox. I got it twice. (1) When i was still months old, (2) currently at 17. My chickenpox hasn’t spread over my body. Mostly, it was just at my face (like 5 blisters that has scabbed over), my arms, and on my upper part body (they turned into scabs in no time and didn't form even a small blisters.)
Once the blisters has turned into scabs, am I no longer contagious? I wanted to go to school next week since it has scabbed over but I keep overthinking of people who thinks that I’m still contagious. I’ll be in college this year and hasn’t taken even a single entrance exam due to chickenpox. I really wanted to go to school to make up for anything I had missed. I didn’t even get to take an exam for the second semester : (( | AskDocs | Varicella (chickenpox) is no longer contagious when all the blisters have crusted over and no new blisters are appearing | null | null | null | null |
1iwgc8b | Bronchiectasis | 81M
I am the caregiver to my 81 yo father. He has bronchiectasis and things have gotten really bad and I am at a complete loss as to what I should/can do for him.
He is on a twice a day regimen with albuterol and saline (separately) using a nebulizer. In addition to that he uses the acapella (pickle) device, and ends with the Breztri inhaler.
He coughs all day and all night. He isn't sleeping hardly at all.
With all that said, he is very sedentary but not significantly overweight (6'3", 240lbs). He drinks wine every night and does eat chips and other carbs.
He's also been severely depressed since his girlfriend of 10 years broke up with him in March 2024. She is almost 20 years younger than him and my suspicion is that she ended things because she didn't want to take care of him and he has no money - although she never told him this, she just blamed it on that they never go out anymore. <eyeroll> I have him on 50mg sertraline to help with the depression.
His quality of life is zero at this point. He is wanting quick fixes and has been looking at one of those smart vests. To top it all off, I also suspect that he is developing dementia.
I just don't know what to do. I go to all his doctor appts and take meticulous notes. | AskDocs | Does he have an increased cough, increase in sputum production, and/or a change in sputum quality (thickness/color)? He may be having a flare of his bronchiectasis and may need a course of antibiotics. Has he ever had a bronchoscopy or regular sputum cultures to see if he has any resistant bacteria in his lungs? Do you know the underlying cause of his bronchiectasis and how it has progressed over time? Does he see a pulmonologist regularly to address his broncheictasis? In the meantime, a smart vest may be helpful to help clear out his secretions. | null | null | null | null |
1iwgbii | I'm concerned I have "reopened" or torn an internal surgical site from 3 years ago | Age: 25
Sex: Male (FTM transgender)
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 16st 4lbs
Race: White British
Duration of complaint: approx 48 hours
Location: UK
Any existing medical issues: ME/CFS, Adult Onset Tic Disorder, Type 2 Diabetes, Hypothyroidism, Acanthosis Nigricans, Autism, ADHD, OCD, EUPD/BPD, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Gender Dysphoria
Current medications: Sodium Valproate (Valproic Acid), Atomoxetine, Sertraline, Amitryptiline, Propranolol, Lansoprazole, Levothyroxine, Testosterone, Naproxen, Sumatriptan, Suppliments (multivitamin, biotin, vitamin D)
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Quick background explanation of the surgery:
I had a "bilateral mastectomy with free nipple grafts" in Jan 2022 as part of my gender affirmation surgery. The surgeon used the double incision technique due to the size of my breasts pre-surgery. This left 2 long thick scars on my chest approximately where the bottom of the pectorals are (I think?). I healed perfectly with no issues.
Current situation:
I have had a bad cough for 6 weeks because I've had flu, followed by tonsillitis, and a chesty cough that hasn't left since. I've been coughing so hard constantly, and yesterday I got a sudden sharp pain along ¾ of my left mastectomy scar as I coughed. Now it is agony to cough, and I'm crying out in pain after each cough. When I am sat not moving, the area is sore and throbbing. It is also very tender to touch the area along my left scar, but there is no bruising and no swelling (that I can tell, because I'm overweight!).
My concerns:
Is it possible I could have "reopened" the line where the muscles/tissues were stitched back together internally? Or is it just a coincidence that it's directly under the scar, and more likely to be an injury to the muscles between my ribs? Is it worth going to the doctor, or is it pointless because there's not much they can do to help? I'm in quite a bit of pain and I'm not feeling much, if any, relief from ibuprofen or paracetamol, and with my bad cough still present, it feels like I'm making it worse with each cough.
| AskDocs | >Or is it just a coincidence that it's directly under the scar, and more likely to be an injury to the muscles between my ribs? This. | Try hugging a pillow. Put ice over the sore area. Can call your pcp and ask for a few pain pills or muscle relaxant too. | null | null | null |
1iwg9m7 | Can you avoid menopause if you have avoided most/all of your intended periods (due to illness/malnutrition*) | I’m a female, with an eating disorder, I have had a total of 2 periods my entire life. Although that said, I’m not necessarily asking this question in regards to me, more just out of curiosity.
If a (should-be period-having, but too ill to do so) body hasn’t had a period in years, would that still result in menopause? or would it come earlier? or later? | AskDocs | No, it does not work that way. And actually, if you have stopped having periods due to your malnutrition, you have actually already induced an early menopause state (low estrogen, bad for your bone density, etc). It’s reversible right now if you gain weight but your body will have endured a “menopause” state during the time you were restricting your food. It’s very bad for your overall health and it will not make your true menopause come any later. | null | null | null | null |
1iwg7h5 | Can GI doc tell me what a small bowel follow through actually looks for/diagnoses? 37F here. | (All of this in search of anemia cause) 37F.
Had a Small Bowel Follow Through with huge jug of barium (grossss) and fluoroscopic x-ray series in Sept 2024. Colonoscopy and endoscopy were clear. GI doc said he wanted to do this to make sure nothing going on with my small bowel.
SBFT was “normal” so the doc wants me to have the pill camera. I never got to talk to the GI doc, only the nurse. The nurse didn’t explain exactly what the SBFT was for. What it shows, what it diagnoses etc. I was under the impression that after the SBFT was done, that was it, I was good and we were chalking my anemia up to my periods.
But the nurse says the SBFT was to make sure I was ok to have the pill camera (but pill camera was never ever mentioned).
As I’ve said in a a previous post, I’m terrified of the pill camera (having foreign object in my body) I’m so scared of it getting stuck. But anyway. My main question here is … what’s the SBFT show and why haven’t most people I’ve talked to ever heard of it!
Thanks doctors. For real!
| AskDocs | You can see strictures or leaks or indirectly see tumors | null | null | null | null |
1iwfpwc | What type of fixes are available for someone like me? | Hello, I am a 28F with SEVERE urinary incontinence. I’ve suffered with recurrent urinary tract infections that have spread to my bladder, kidneys, and bloodstream without me noticing, and have left me hospitalized in multiple occasions since I was a child. I have the type of rUTI’s that I can’t feel. I have to keep a very close eye on my urinary tract, because I’ll only know I have a UTI by the sight/slight smell. I don’t have the burning/itching/needing to go every five seconds, etc. In fact it’s the opposite for me. I CANT feel when I need to go. I can’t feel the burning. I will quite literally pee myself. All I feel is the severe abdominal pain it is causing me right now. The last time this happened the infection had spread so far it gave me a 103 degree fever.
Having said all of this: I’m going through it yet again. The UTI, abdominal pain, nausea, etc. It seems to have worsened since having my son in the summer of 2018, but I can’t say for sure. I also know there are many different methods of fixing urinary incontinence where some are less invasive then others. I guess I’m just looking for some advice on whether or not this is something that would be medically necessary to get surgery for, and should I go to urgent care, or is this more of a “hospital any time this happens” type of scenario. Urgent cares never seem to help, and just send me to the ER anyway. All help and advice is wonderful, thank you in advance. | AskDocs | Have you considered seeing a urologist? Contrary to popular belief, urologists treat women too! | null | null | null | null |
1iwfjkn | Bruises on my 4 years old child | Hello everyone,
I am the father of a 4-year-old child.
I am 38 years old myself.
My son is very active; he spends his time running and jumping, whether in the playground or at home! He never stops. Of course, he sometimes falls.
Last Friday, my wife exclaimed while bathing him when she saw the bruises on his legs. (Shins and knees)
While looking for a solution to reduce them, I came across testimonials saying that bruises on the legs could be a sign of leukemia.
I am now in total panic...
Would you advise me to see a doctor? | AskDocs | I am more concerned for bleeding disorders (leukemia included) when there is significant bruising in areas that don't typically take a kid-induced beating, places like the chest, neck and back. I expect every kid from 12 months to 10 years to have the potential for fun bruises on the legs, especially the shins and knees. | null | null | null | null |
1iweuel | Mesh Erosion Or Fine? | Hello! 25yo, Female, 5’4 and 190lbs. First time poster here but I’m worried lol. I just got a solyx single incision bladder sling on 1/30. It’s been great, but I noticed about a week ago that I now have a bump at the entrance of my vagina. It’s textured and it kinda feels like I can feel a tiny tiny prick in it. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s pretty defined and I’m worried if I’m supposed to feel the mesh or not. Is this to be expected? | AskDocs | Only way to know is an exam by the surgeon that put it in. | null | null | null | null |
1iweo3t | Can I get prescribed a benzo so I can have sex? F22 | I’ve been diagnosed with severe anxiety which I manage fairly well in all aspects of my life besides sex. If I’m not plastered, there is a high chance I cry during sex, freeze, or reflexively hit my partner.
I have sexual desire. But when I fantasize, I’m not imagining myself in such an anxious and tightly tuned body. In actuality, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to relax to normally enjoy sex without alcohol.
At what point could I take benzos for sex? This is really impacting my confidence. F22 | AskDocs | Better to work with a therapist to develop coping strategies and hopefully overcome this anxiety around sex. Benzos are almost never a good first line treatment for an ongoing anxiety issue. | You claim you’ve already worked with a therapist. You should talk to a Psychiatrist about this problem you’re having and run through the options for treatment. There are a lot of treatments you need to try before turning to a benzo for sex. This can easily escalate from “I just need it for sex” To “well I’ll just pop one for sleep today” and then “I had a stressful day at work, better pop one today” until you’re taking it everyday, multiple times per day. Super unhealthy coping. Benzos can be used for situational anxiety in some cases, but typically it would be for something that’s infrequent and finite. For example, it’s ok to use a benzo three times a year for an airplane ride or something of that nature. But arguably (for some people) sex is a recurring part of daily life. A provider with good judgement won’t recommend a benzo for something you do multiple times per week, or possibly everyday. I feel like your responses here just want us to validate your desire for a benzo. Calling it a “sweet sweet benzo” in your other comment is also strange. You seem like you are set on getting benzos and looking for a reason to get a prescription. Please work with your PCP, psychiatrist and therapist together on finding the best option. | Do you have PTSD? Or have you experienced sexual assault? Sounds like a trauma response, obviously I could be wrong. But benzodiazepines are contraindicated with PTSD. Also, echoing others, they’re not great for anxiety in general apart from infrequent situations (ie airplane, medical procedure). | Having anxiety symptoms so yeah benzos for better sex. Like really? REALLY? Guy also said he can't enjoy sex potentially without alcohol. Giving benzos to this person is a disaster waiting to happen. We don't even know yet what this patient has tried yet before going to benzos for their anxiety... You're grossly negligent in your answer, and I'm glad you have no prescribing privileges. | In these situations, it doesn’t matter how nice/kind/caring/loving/safe your partner is. Your body made an association that sex = dangerous. Even if you consciously do not feel that way, your subconscious does and your brain is trying to protect you from this “danger”. You are likely having a trauma response/fight or flight Unfortunately, how you overcome this is through exposure therapy. You need to find a therapist who specializes in SA trauma. It is a hard process, but definitely worth it as you will gain control over your body again. There’s different ways to go about this, EMDR and PET are two very common methods. You can have your life back. Apart from being contraindicated in PTSD, benzos likely would not help and may even make your trauma response worse because your mind can more easily confuse time/place (even subconsciously). If you are interested in trying daily medication for PTSD (some people do some don’t), Prozac and other SSRIs can be good choices to lower anxiety responses (altho they commonly impact libido so would have to play it by ear) I understand why it would be appealing to take a pill that makes everything better and allows you to have a sexual relationship with your partner, it’s just more complicated than that. I guess it depends on your relationship with your provider but perhaps you could compromise and agree to trauma therapy while having a short term benzo prescription knowing it’s not a forever solution. It’s a controversial take, but if you are already drinking before having sex (not sure if I read that wrong) this could be a less harmful solution. |
1iweglr | 20M - Stomach bug for 8 hours? | While at work yesterday around 1PM, I began to feel very weak, nauseous, dizzy, and flushed. I assumed I was just hungry. Ate a bit, drank some juice, and didn’t feel better.
Co-worker took me to the hospital. Threw up twice, about 3 hours in between. Got some fluids and anti-nausea medications.
Doctors think it was just a stomach bug. Got discharged last night around 11PM. Slept through the night no problems and was able to keep water down all night. Woke up with a brutal headache, some fatigue, but no more nausea. I feel a lot more energized.
I’m just a bit confused because I thought stomach bugs last longer? I assumed that I would be throwing up for a lot longer. I’m glad to be feeling better, but it felt like a super short sickness for all the stories I hear. I tested negative for flu. No medical history, don't take any medications.
Can a stomach bug last for only a little bit of time like 12 hours or so? Could it have been food poisoning?
| AskDocs | Everyone reacts differently to different viruses/bugs based on both your inherent immunity and also the bug itself. Some people might catch the bug and have minimal to no symptoms, others may be very unwell from the same thing. That’s to say, there is no “correct” answer. | null | null | null | null |
1iweg20 | 18M (1M in the picture i will send) does this baby look like he has fetal alcohol syndrome? | I wasnt able to add the picture to the post so i shared it in the comments | AskDocs | It is not possible to rule out fetal alcohol syndrome on facial features alone, and presence of some of the classic features is not diagnostic as there may be other reasons for the presence or absence of features. The most reliable way to diagnose FAS is to ask about history of alcohol use during pregnancy if there is clinical suspicion due to presence of morphological and neurodevelopmental features not explained by other factors. | If the baby is you or a sibling then yes you could ask your parents if your mother consumed alcohol while pregnant, because I would not be diagnosing a child on the basis of a single picture showing some facial features which could be totally normal variants. You need to have the alcohol history before interpreting symptoms to come to a diagnosis, and FAS is more than just some facial changes. On the other hand, neurodevelopmental symptoms and some facial features do not constitute FAS without in utero alcohol exposure. | null | null | null |
1iwe6ve | Do I need to get seen for antibiotics if pus develops or can I generally continue to treat potential paronychia at home? | 32M, 6'2, 175 lbs, moderate drinker, non-smoker, no other health issues.
On Friday night, I noticed that there was some discomfort around the tip of my right thumbnail (I had been gardening and also peeling a bunch of citrus). Yesterday (Saturday), it was slightly more painful (especially if there's pressure on the nail) and I noticed a slight dark spot under the nail. I tried looking to see if it was a splinter or dirt or anything, but can't really tell. Last night the pain continued to get worse (almost like a throbbing pain that isn't too bad if there isn't any pressure applied to the nail and hurts pretty bad when pressure is applied) so I decided to soak my thumb in warm Epsom salt for 20 minutes. This morning, I woke up and noticed a little pus filled spot under the nail that drained when I tried to look at it. The pus draining seemed to provide some relief and it doesn't hurt quite as bad when I push on the nail but it obviously still hurts.
No fever, no streaking redness, the area doesn't seem particularly swollen. Based on my Google searches, it seems like this is probably paronychia? Can I continue to treat this at home or does the fact that pus developed mean that I now need to get antibiotics?
Here are some pictures (they probably aren't particularly helpful though): [https://imgur.com/a/91RkbDr](https://imgur.com/a/91RkbDr) | AskDocs | You do not need antibiotics for this. The development of pus is not an absolute indication for antibiotics. The face that it’s somewhat draining is a good thing. Any fevers, red steaks, or worsening swelling and redness moving up your finger then see a doctor. | null | null | null | null |
1iwe5r0 | eye infection ??? | I (16F) have woken up the past 2 days to the worst eye crusts/gunk ever (pictures in comments). I’m currently sick — I had a fever this past week, and now I have a horrible cough, and even coughed up some blood yesterday (kinda irrelevant but I’m just so tired of bodily fluids coming out of me 😔). I also wear contacts which I think is the likely culprit. My left eye is prescription + blue light protection and my right eye has no prescription and just blue light protection. They’re daily contacts so I just throw them away after each use. I’ve been using contacts since about october 2023.
Should I go to the doctor for this? I honestly don’t really wanna go but if this won’t heal on its own I’ll go. Should I also stop wearing my contacts until it gets better? | AskDocs | Probably conjunctivitis (pink eye). You can see a doctor to get an Rx for antibiotic eye drops. Please don't use your contacts. You should not wear contacts until your infection clears. | null | null | null | null |
1iwe3rn | Brain bleed or CSF leak? | Stats ; 27y female, 158 lbs, vape but trying to quit, no other health problems.
Yesterday I hit the top of my head pretty hard on the pointy part at the bottom of my chandelier. No loss of consciousness but I definitely did hit it pretty hard. Later in the evening my nose started dripping a clear fluid that had a very blood like taste. The dripping only lasted a second, so it wasn’t a ton. I’d say 1/4 of a teaspoon. Ever since then I have a metallic taste in my mouth, slight headache but it isn’t positional… it’s just constant. No dizziness. No confusion.
I’m sure if any doctors respond to this, they’ll just say to go to the er bc obviously head injuries can be serious but what are the chances I just hit my head pretty hard but I’m fine? | AskDocs | Are you still having ongoing dripping from your nose (e.g. if you tilt your head forwards). Normally it takes a reasonable mechanism to cause a CSF leak. I’m not sure what your chandelier is like, but I struggle to see this causing a significant head injury. That said, if you have ongoing dripping which isn’t like usual snot and takes salty, then you should go to the ER. | Sometimes banging your head can release mucus from your sinuses. Sometimes pain can also cause production of nasal secretions. It *could* be CSF. It seems unlikely if it’s stopped now. | null | null | null |
1iwdqzo | I have lymphedema in my face from a scar and I don't know what to do | Age: 34 male
Weight: 161 lbs
No history of disease and not taking any meds
Two months ago I sustained an injury and got a horizontal half inch cut one inch under my left eye. It's a deep scar. Things seemed strange about the left side of my face since then. The whole left side of my face is more swollen than the right now. My skin was flaking easily. It seemed even touching my face could cause a small wound or pinch mark, and they're not healing well.
Well since two days ago the region around my left eye is becoming swollen. The area is darker than my other eye and there are pockets of swelling popping up, but it's still mild. I did some googling and it all makes sense now. The cut went right through the lymph node, and now I have lymphedemia.
Obviously this situation is extremely serious and I don't know what to do. I don't know how it will progress. I'm honestly considering the possibility of assisted suicide in the future if it progresses to a life not worth living, and I read there is no cure. | AskDocs | Not much information here. Consider being evaluated and treated by a LANA-certified therapist or the equivalent in your country. [ | null | null | null | null |
1iwdqly | Symptoms looking like bowel cancer | F22 the past couple weeks I’ve had severe lower left abdominal pain that radiates to back sometimes to the right, bloating stomach that hurts to touch, thin stools with little blood coating on outside and when wiping and lots of mucus, feeling incomplete when I go toilet and when I do go nothing seems to come out I have felt for hemorroids there seem to be none and weight loss (3kgs in 12 days but I haven’t been eating much because of pain)
I’ve been to ER recently for this pain they done a abdominal pelvic ct scan that came up clear, all bloods have came back normal, faecal calprotectin was normal and all other faeces tests were clear of infection.
My grandad died of bowel cancer my mum, aunty and step sister all have found polyps during their colonoscopy’s and same sister has IBS. If it was cancer would it have come up on ct or faecal calprotectin test? I have a referral for a GI specialist and on the waiting list for a colonoscopy but it will take months should I push for one? | AskDocs | If bowel cancer is colon cancer then unlikely given your age and lack of family history (in a young age), and normal imaging. | null | null | null | null |
1iwcwnz | Every time i try to sleep, i vomit. | (Male, 19, Australian, Caucasian, 6’0 ish and 100kg ish, no other medications or complications)
Its been over a week, and every time i go to bed, no matter what i eat during the day, i get a really sore stomach with a feeling somewhere inbetween starving and overfull, i get some really bad gas and acid reflux (which happens to me occasionally but never this often) and i cannot go to sleep until the feeling passes. Some nights it goes on its own, others i have to vomit until i’m dry heaving just to stop feeling pain. I spend every night until the early AMs on the toilet though, scarfing down antacids and praying.
It only ever happens when i try to sleep. During the day i feel fine, and once I’ve laid down i start feeling this pain in my stomach and the rest then follows suit. I can feel my stomach churning. I cannot think of a single thing it could possibly be, and its only happened recently.
As a lifestyle change, i have started making more of my own meals recently because my parents have been away, but i’ve only been making the same food I’m accustomed to eating. It just makes no sense.
I want to be able to sleep again. | AskDocs | Sounds like a reflux issue. Elevate the head end of your bed about 15-20 cm and see if that helps. | null | null | null | null |
1iwcvih | Perioral dermatitis question (28F) | I (28F) have been dealing with Perioral dermatitis for over a month now. I was prescribed “Erythromycin Topical Gel USP, 2%” to use twice daily for four weeks. I know it will take a while to clear up, but I almost feel like it’s making it worse. I have used it for 5 days so far. My face is now really dry and the gel hurts when I put it on. Is this normal? It has also been very cold here in the Midwest so I’m not sure if that’s drying out my face either. I wash my face twice a day and only put the gel on that area, and a little moisturizer on the rest of my face. I have never dealt with this before. I attached images. The top picture is from today, the bottom picture is a week or so ago.
https://imgur.com/a/h1myCYB
My questions: is the gel supposed to hurt? Does it get worse before it gets better? Is there anything else I can do to make this go away?
Current meds: Wellbutrin xl, birth control pill, propranolol
Heath conditions: Perioral dermatitis, anxiety, unspecified tachycardia | AskDocs | It looks like an irritant or allergic contact dermatitis on top of your periorificial dermatitis. | null | null | null | null |
1iwcpl0 | Bumps all over head of penis | 18m
The head of my penis has had all these bumps on it for as long as I can remember so it's not really something new, though I don't really remember what it looked like when I was 12.
Anyway, It kinda hurts when I rub across it dry so I looked it up and I couldn't find anything that looks like it. I even asked chat gpt and it just said 'I'm not a doctor'. It is only on the front side so l'm guessing maybe it's from the friction of my underwear?
Is this a problem or just a cosmetic thing?
Pic⬇️
https://ibb.co/twLDyGBK
Edit: I do also masturbate maybe 3 times a week but Im pretty sure that doesn’t cause this. | AskDocs | It looks normal to me. | null | null | null | null |
1iwcm70 | Advice on xray if anyone can help | can feel a lump in my neck/ jaw area so I went to a dentist for an xray and he said everything looks normal. I’m going to go to a doctor for a consultation but the appointment isn’t for a couple of weeks so I was wondering if anyone here can detect anything from the xray… It won’t let me attach the phot here so if anyone is open to seeing it let me know
Male 29 5’10 200lbs | AskDocs | Is the bump bony? If it’s soft tissue then it won’t show up on an X-Ray, which is why we normally order ultrasounds for neck lumps. You will likely need to just wait until you see your doctor who can examine you and if needed, order an ultrasound. | It’s unlikely to be obvious on it, maybe if it was a large stone. | null | null | null |
1iwcdsr | Should I go workout with mild fever? (37.1-37.3 Celsius) | I’m 20F and the thing is I've caught some nasty virus, the symptoms are pretty mild, although a slightly elevated temperature (37.1 -37.3 C) has been bothering me for almost 2 weeks now. It doesn't go up or down, and I've been skipping my boxing practice for the past 2 weeks for this reason, but it's getting annoying and I really want to go hit that gym. This fever is showing up as general weakness but I think I can handle it, the only thing that worries me is that training with it might make my sickness worse. What do you guys think? Should I just forget about it and go workout or is it better to refrain from training until I'm fully recovered? | AskDocs | A temperature below 38 degrees C is not a fever. 37.1-37.3 is within the range of normal. It's perfectly fine for you to exercise if you feel up to it. | That is also a normal temperature. | null | null | null |
1iwcbnb | A little bump on my ball sack | Hi guys!! I am 20m and i noticed a bump on my ball sack it is colorless and doesnt really itch or anything but was just curious if it can be something serious or not!!!!
I can show it you personally in the chat but wasnt feeling the need to share pics here. Please if anyone has the required knowledge or can help me in any way then let me know in the comments ill dm or directly text me!!!!
| AskDocs | It would be impossible for anyone here to diagnose without seeing/examining it. Lumps on the testicle can be benign (e.g., spermatocele) or serious (e.g., testicular cancer). Would recommend you have it examined by your GP. | null | null | null | null |
1iwc3xg | Allergic reaction or something else? | M23. Never had any dermatological or health issues, aside from the occasional cold and food poisoning.
On January 22, I noticed red bumps on both my left and right hand, and also two smaller red bumps on my left leg. They didn’t itch or hurt, and I had no other symptoms whatsoever. After a few days, they disappeared, leaving behind brown spots, which eventually faded as well.
Before the rash first appeared, I had used a chocolate-scented body wash and I also tried a method to keep my clothes smelling fresh, where I added a few drops of essential oil on a cotton ball and placed it in the dryer’s lint compartment (don't know what was in my mind when I did this).
After I eliminated both the body wash and the dryer method, the rash stopped spreading and eventually faded.
However, today I noticed a few red bumps again, on the left hand, without any other symptoms once again.
During this time, I did routine blood tests on February 7 because I haven't done them in three years and everything came back normal, with all values within the reference range.
Could the rash be related to any of these factors, or do you think it could be a reaction to something else? I've noticed that I don't react well for some time now to garlic.
I’d really appreciate any suggestions or personal experiences! Thanks!
P.S. The photos were taken during the first time the bumps showed up. So that would be exactly last month.
https://ibb.co/wFJGJ693
https://ibb.co/LDdM5TQp
https://ibb.co/qYS6Gt9K | AskDocs | There is no routine blood test - elaborate. Have you shown all the spots? Symptoms? | null | null | null | null |
1iwc00l | Symptom Avalanche | I \[20M\] have been having acute diarrhea for the past three days, accompanied by strong abdominal pain, and after some medication, it's only really started to get better today.
However, while I was sitting for a lecture, about two hours ago or so, I began experiencing sharp chest pain on the RIGHT side, close to my sternum, that mainly manifests with breathing (especially inhaling deeply).
With no apparent correlation between these two things, my first thoughts went to Covid-19, as I remember it inducing pneumonia-like symptoms as well as digestive issues. But I've not been aware of anyone catching that thing in a long while... any help? | AskDocs | This could be so many things it’s hard to comment online. Many viruses can cause diarrhoea and some pleurisy causing pleuritic chest pain. Not just COVID-19. One differential for someone your age with pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath is a spontaneous pneumothorax, however you’d be unlucky to get that at the same time as your diarrhoeal illness. If you feel worse or have significant shortness of breath seek a face to face review. | null | null | null | null |
1iwbun8 | Have I got thyroid cancer? | Thyroid Cancer?
52yo Female, don't drink or smoke. 5 years post breast cancer (left mastectomy, 1/3 lymph removal, chemo x 16, radiation x 25), hormone blockers, dessicated pork thyroid, antidepressant, 3 years post gastric sleeve surgery, height 171cm, weight 78kgs.
I have a PET scan each year as a breast cancer check up. Each year my thyroid shows low activity due to Hashimotos.
I just had my last scan, received results and celebrated 5 years/remission... the oncologist says follow up my thyroid with my doctor (who does my thyroid testing/scripts). I expect it's would just the normal low glow, but this time there is enlargement on the right and it's lit up a lot more than previous scans.
I am getting bloods tomorrow, and an ultrasound. And then a fine needle biopsy under ultrasound.
Questions...
1. Could this just be hashimoto thyroiditis flare, even though it's enlarged and glowing on 1 side?
2. Could it be a benign nodule?
3. Will I know any facts before the fine needle biopsy or will I have to wait?
4. If it's not cancer will they be able to tell from tomorrow's US?
I can't get the biopsy where I live, that's why it's just a normal US tomorrow. I think after those results come in I will be told how urgent the biopsy is?
I just really, really do not want to have cancer again. I have been told "the good news is that thyroid cancer is very treatable". And yes, I'm grateful for that.. but I don't want cancer and I do not want treatment. Treatment is never without long term side effects and it sucks...
Guess I'm looking for some reassurance? I'm not even sure actually? First time posting.
Thanks. | AskDocs | It could be a Hash flare, which can affect one side less frequently than both sides. That's what it would look like on PET if so (enlarged and glowing). It could be a nodule, though they don't really specify if it looks like diffuse involvement of the whole lobe or more focal. You'll get more information from the ultrasound, for sure. It could just look like thyroiditis, in which case they probably wouldn't biopsy. It could be a nodule, either suspicious looking or not, which they'd probably biopsy either way since there's PET activity (ATA recommends biopsy of focal nodules 1 cm or larger that show on PET). Worst case, it could show something suspicious for lymphoma, which Hashimoto increases the risk for. | null | null | null | null |
1iwbl84 | Does it matter if the bradycardia is on resting HR or during a stress test? | 24F | Asian
I've been going through an investigation for almost a year now (mostly waiting for appointments) after a fainting accident that led to a bad fall which progressively became debilitating, recently I finally had a cardiology appointment. Due to previous experience where doctors dismissed my complaints, I made sure to update my health and symptoms diary as well as scoured my old files that could be of use for the doctor. I found an old stress test when I was 22 that says "sinus bradycardia", and reading the top right corner there's a HR of 50bpm.
The appointment was a lot better this time and the doctor asked me what's the lowest HR, I said i'm not sure as I don't really monitor it nor have an equipment to do so. Only what was stated in the old test I was about to show him but he didn't want to see it, when I said 50bpm he said it's not that low. My husband thinks that the doctor might have thought it's a resting HR but I am not sure if it matters that it was on a stress test rather than normal ECG, should I clarify this to the cardiologist or just leave it? | AskDocs | This is a resting ECG. It even says resting ECG. | Yes they are. But they don’t look pathological. | null | null | null |
1iwbbs3 | Deep pore or? | 37M. I clean regularly but have had this hard nodule for over 6 months. Sometimes it gets sore. You can tell there is a hole and it seems like a huge deep pore. It has gotten inflamed before. I squeezed it and used acne cleaner but no improvement. I figured I could wait until it clears up but it hasn't so he we are. Tia.
https://ibb.co/G4f6Fj3w
https://ibb.co/kgW6Qkzp
https://ibb.co/cS6XZT1s
| AskDocs | Likely a small epidermoid cyst. | null | null | null | null |
1iwb73q | first ever STD tests / exam - after assault. Questions. |
Hello - throwaway for obvious reasons.
I (22F) have a couple of questions I would massively appreciate if someone could answer, sorry I am freaking out a bit. I’m hoping this is an okay place to post, happy to be redirected to any more suitable subs.
It’s taken me a long time to work up to this but I’ve never been tested or seen by a doctor before, it’s been 3 years since I was SA’d, but I was too scared / traumatised to do any checks or take care of myself.
After working with a wonderful therapist I’m finally booked in, and if it’s relevant I’m going to a SARC (sexual assault referral centre) for the testing (NE UK). I believe it’ll be a full STD panel. They know my history of the assault.
Nervous question list below:
1.) Is it likely they’ll do any exams? Or just tests? It’s obviously been years since the assault.
2.) I bled a lot at the time, and then on and off for a couple of years afterwards, but within the last year everything seems to be more regulated, is that relevant for me to mention? I think the pain during attempted sex afterwards was more psychological.
3.) The assault involved vaginal, anal and oral do I need to mention that? And also a sharp object that caused quite a lot of vaginal bleeding.
4.) Should I shave? I haven’t really shaved properly since so it’s messy, but I’m thinking I’m now embarrassed. I don’t mean completely bald but would a trim be helpful?
5.) how much talking about what happened am I going to have to do? Now I’m thinking the pain and stuff afterwards could be relevant but also surely there’s no way there would be any indicators after 3 years?
Any other information on what might happen so I can feel prepared would be great.
Thank you, I am so grateful for anyone who bothered to read this!!
| AskDocs | 1. They may want to do an exam. Whether or not they do one is completely up to you. Some people in your situation may feel more comfortable just getting other testing and talking for now, and then coming back later on for an exam. Do what is best for YOU. 2. Yes, that's relevant to mention. If you keep track of your periods, having a record of those would be helpful. 3. Yes, more information is always helpful. 4. There is absolutely no need to shave. All types of pubic hair are completely fine and normal 5. Again, that is up to you. It may be that information you give about what happened during the assault can help clarify any symptoms you're having, or what type of exam they would like to do. As I said before, if you only want to tell them some parts of it first, then end up coming back to tell them about other parts later, that's also completely fine. | null | null | null | null |
1iwaz46 | Safely changing birth control? 23F | I have been on Yasmin combined birth control for 10 years and I have decided to change to Rigevidon. I was just wondering how I can safely change from one to another. I was thinking of taking the full 21 days of Yasmin and then having my 7 days pill free, then switching to the other Rigevidon. Will i still be protected if I do it this way? Thank you!
| AskDocs | You must start the new pill the day after you finish day 21 of Yasmin, with no interruptions and no placebo pill days | null | null | null | null |
1iwautc | Toddler suddenly limping. No known injury | 2 year old male
33 lbs
37 inches tall
Up to date on vaccinations
No medications
Only medical history is that he developed crossed eyes suddenly about 6 months ago, has seen an opthalmologist and was found to be extremely farsighted
On Friday night my son stayed with his grandparents. When he woke up on Saturday morning his grandmother called me to let me know that he was saying 'ow' when his left leg was touched and was limping from the time he got out of bed.
There are no recent instances where he had injured himself and no visible swelling, bruises or anything on his leg.
I monitored him yesterday and when he got up this morning he was dragging his left leg and it seemed to be a bit worse. It's almost as if he is trying to not bend it.
He's otherwise acting totally normal. No fever, still playing, eating, having normal urine output/ bowel movements and doesn't seem to be in any pain unless you touch his leg. He is even still running around, but with a significant limp.
We don't have a family doctor (mine retired, literally none available here)
My only option to have him evaluated would be to go to the ER.
Is this something I should wait out a few days to see if maybe he just pulled a muscle? I hate to take him in and have him wait hours on end and tie up resources for nothing, but I also don't want to miss something or have him with a damaged leg.
Appreciate any insight
| AskDocs | A non-traumatic limp in a child should definitely be seen by a doctor, especially if it is getting worse, not better You are absolutely not tying up ED resources. That is what they are there for | null | null | null | null |
1iwahxd | If a drop of acid gets into the eyes, does it hurt immediately or does it take time for the pain to appear? Can chemical eye burns happen without you feeling it at all? | Hi. 25M here. I did a diy experiment with hcl and baking soda last wednesday. I don’t ever recall any drop of acid splashing into my eyes at all. I don’t recall feeling any pain or discomfort in my eyes at all.
But i have this fear that maybe a tiny drop of acid got in my eye and i didn’t notice it. Maybe its too small to be noticed and it did not cause any pain sensations all. Im not sure if this is possible? | AskDocs | Wear safety glasses when working with acid. You’d feel it though. | null | null | null | null |
1iwah5i | Potentially staph? | I’m 22, male, take no medications and have no other conditions.
I train martial arts occasionally, mostly BJJ and MMA. My last session was on Wednesday, and now (on Sunday) i’ve noticed a yellow pimple/boil on my right knee. I usually get ‘Mat burn’, or friction burn and normally have small minor scabs on my knees because of it. And that session i might’ve had very small open wounds because of it.
I have a pretty intense hygiene routine instantly before and after training, scrubbing behind my ears and everything in-between to my toes with anti bacterial soap to try and combat things like staph and ringworm infections, as it can be common with the sort of training
I just wanted a second opinion on what this pimple/boil could be, as it’s a bit more yellow in comparison to some staph images i’ve seen
Attaching image in comments, thanks! | AskDocs | No one can speciate bacteria based on viewing an image. I suspect folliculitis. | null | null | null | null |
1iw9sv4 | Heart attack or panic attack….still haven’t gone to sleep | I’m a 30 year old female with controlled high bp, diabetes, severe anxiety and panic disorder I am overweight but quit smoking when I started my GLP1,socially drink as I had 2 margaritas last night.
I have a history of severe panic attacks and many many
ER Trips thinking I was having a heart attack. I followed up with a cardiologist after and had every imaging/testing done. I've been off of work a few weeks and not taking my adderall, I took it today around noon and have not slept, my heart rate is still high and my chest feels tight. My BP is around 120/79 - 110/90 with a consistent pulse of 90s.
My pulse ox has been at 99-98% all night as well. I'm having trouble taking deep breaths in experiencing air hunger and muscle pain in my back. Could this actually be the one time when I really don't want to go and just sleep | AskDocs | Probably your anxiety | null | null | null | null |
1iw9k5p | HIV risk | Hi. I'm male, 23 years old.
Can I get HIV if I wiped my penis with a cloth where my sexual partner wiped his penis with?
I'm not too sure if the part that came into contact with my penis is where his sperm is. Secondly, the amount of sperm is little and was mixed with my saliva since before he came I was giving him a BJ. Lastly, the interval where we wiped out penis on the cloth is 3 minutes interval.
What my chances of getting HIV from this | AskDocs | Contrary to popular belief that HIV is like paint, if it touches you you have it. It is very not transmissible. Only recently I've decided I'll openly disclose the odds in my nation which has free Healthcare, but I'm not ready to say the numbers online. But since you are paranoid with it lets just say that my worries are that people will laught at the numbers. You don't need to get tested all the time. | null | null | null | null |
1iw9dat | White spots on tongue: pictures | White spots on tongue
Hello, Saturday I found these white spots on my tongue. The area feels quite numb. I suspect an STD but not sure. The picture that’s taken from a different angle from the others was taken 24 hours before the others. Thanks.
https://ibb.co/KRL86j6
https://ibb.co/qLGCLbMw
https://ibb.co/xqZ9R8BG
Age
27
Sex
Male
Height
6’ / 1,83m
Weight
76kg
Race
White
Duration of complaint
Two days
Location
Western europe
Any existing relevant medical issues
Genital HPV
Current medications
Inosine pranobex, nothing else
Include a photo if relevant
| AskDocs | Why are you taking inosine pranobex? | null | null | null | null |
1iw8fwe | Bump in left armpit | 39M, 187 cm, white. Painful bump in left armpit. No drinking, no smoking, no drugs. Germany.
Posting here because doctors don't know what it is, but also tell me not to worry.
2 years ago I noticed a bump in my left armpit. It is exactly where the normal bump in my right armpit is. Everyone has that one, I assume its muscle. The bump in my left armpit is about twice as large as the one in my right. It feels completely solid and immovable, harder bit harder than the one on the right.
Sometimes its completely painless for weeks, and then its painful for few weeks again. Its a dull pain directly where the bump is, but it also feels like its radiating. Sometimes down to my elbow (which has bursitis btw), sometimes into my left pec. Tissue in my arm and pec can feel tender at times. I have the feeling that its almost always painful when I'm sick (which has been frequently lately). I have pain in my left shoulder as well, but it feels more like its at the top.
I've had ultrasound done, as well as an MRI (without contrast medium). Neither technology shows anything. Doctors are 100% certain its completely harmless. They are 100% sure its not the lymph node. They are 100% sure its not cancer. They have said its probably a sports injury. The specialists I've seen have tried to quickly dismiss me every time, I had to beg for an MRI, its not interesting to them.
The last option I have from my current orthopedist is surgery. I am now at the point where I am considering it, because the pain is annoying and a constant reminder that something might not be right.
If anyone has an idea, I'd really appreciate it. | AskDocs | If the US and MRI were negative, then it could be a lipoma. I've removed a few axillary lipomas | null | null | null | null |
1iw890y | Postpartum hypertension | Did anyone have experiences with postpartum hypertension? I’m 3 weeks postpartum at first I was getting high blood pressure readings then it seemed to stabilize but now at 3 weeks I’m getting high readings again 150/100 but my heart rate is 60. Is that normal? If I take labetol will It make my heart rate to low ? Also getting severe headaches to. 30 years old/not overweight/ no smoking/healthy | AskDocs | This is actually potentially quite serious and you need to call your obstetrician if they aren't aware of this. This could be postpartum hypertension. | null | null | null | null |
1iw870n | I recently shaved the area around my anus, there is a small cut where I messed up. Is there a high risk of infection due to excretion being in that area. | I am 18m, USA, Arizona and I’m pretty concerned this is a possibility and am slightly paranoid about this now and I’m not sure what to do. I know I could use a band aid or other remedies however my question still stands. | AskDocs | It's a risk, for sure. I've seen and consulted on a few of these due to shaving. Just do your best to keep the area clean and dry, and seek care if it becomes more painful or develops swelling. | null | null | null | null |
1iw7v91 | Just need some reassurance after getting blood drawn | I’m 18f and got blood drawn from my arm for the first time in 3 years. It still hurts over 12 hours later and I’m convinced part of the needle got stuck in my arm. Yes I know that’s not really possible and I’m fine. Just need to be told by someone else lmao
Also it can’t reopen somehow and bleed right? I showered last night and immediately bandaged it because I’m so worried. I know these fears are irrational but they’re still there and some reassurance that I won’t bleed out in my sleep from a stuck end of a needle would be nice
| AskDocs | You'll be fine. The hole in your vein is already closed. | null | null | null | null |
1iw7jul | Planning to Postpone My Colonoscopy Tomorrow Due to Health Concerns | 29M Hi, I'll keep this simple and straightforward. I'm seeking a second opinion about the colonoscopy.
Can I have the procedure tomorrow while feeling feverish, even though the thermometer shows 36.6°C? This is my immune system's typical response. Even when I was infected with COVID, my temperature was 37.6°C at most, I also have a sore throat and secretions.
Other concerns I have before the colonoscopy include vertigo, which, according to an MRI without contrast, didn’t show any central cause, and episodes of heart arrhythmia, as my heart sometimes beats hard and irregularly for short periods while I’m sleeping
Thanks a lot for any suggestions! | AskDocs | Your temp is normal. Your other issues sound chronic but if you don't feel comfortable then postpone the procedure and get your chronic issues worked up! Plus we don't know why you are getting the colonscopy but I assume it's not an emergency | Sounds like it would be ok to proceed with the colonscopy but again if you don't feel comfortable then it's OK to cancel too | null | null | null |
1iw7exz | Umbilical hernia and back pain | 25F 165cm 48kg no medications no smoking no drinking I recently found out I have an umbilical hernia after I felt pain above my belly button. Prior to this I have been dealing with lower back pain. Could the hernia be causing my lower back?
Can I still go to the fitness? | AskDocs | >Could the hernia be causing my lower back No. >Can I still go to the fitness If by this you mean work out/exercise, then sure. Though it's generally advised not to lift heavy as you may make the hernia bigger | null | null | null | null |
1iw7eml | Surgery point not healing. | I am 19M. 80kg and 5'6 .
I recently got pilonidal sinus surgery. And they did excision and cut out the infected flesh. Now it's been 2 months and 9 days its not healing. It was healing very fast in the first one and half month but then it started to get slow. Now it's very small (1 inch) and overall it's 95% healed but it is taking too long. Like I don't feel a difference between 15 days ago and now. It's very close to get filled and healed but it's taking hell lot of time. Also the excision was not that deep . I am getting dressing regularly and using hydrogel (cutimed gel) in Dressing. What is the reason and should I take any medicine currently I am not taking any pill or medicine. I was taking antibiotic but stopped on the Doctor prescription . | AskDocs | These can be very difficult to get to heal up and can take many months to finally heal. Sometimes if the healing stalls or it looks like the cyst recurs, then the patient might need to undergo repeat surgery (Sometimes multiple repeat surgeries) | There doesn't have to be skin over it for the cyst to recur, in my experience. Just do the best you can do to take care of it and wkeep working with your surgeon to get it healed. You can always seek a second opinion from a plastic surgeon | null | null | null |
1iw7bjx | Multiple Cherry Angiomas At Age 30? | M30, 160lbs, 5'10. Non-diabetic. Slightly elevated total chol. Indian.
Last November I noticed a cherry angioma on my arm and after further investigation, I noted several more on both my arms. They are very tiny and range from 1mm to 3mm. Some are just dots while others are slightly raised. I have counted a total of 10 so far.
I have hairy arms so it's difficult to spot them. Which is why, I've been spotting new ones over the last few months when the hairs shift here and there.
Yes, everything online says they are harmless. But I'm still concerned about them at my age. I just turned 30 in January.
I just got lab work done and liver, kidney, CBC etc. was all normal. Cholesterol could be slightly better. | AskDocs | If these are cherry angiomas, they are not worrisome and common at 30. | null | null | null | null |
1iw72q9 | Is it safe to cycle after having stitches in leg? | Stats: 32X (AFAB), 155cm, 63kg, white, UK. Occasional drinker, vape nicotine, no smoking or other drugs
Primary complaint: question about activities after having stitches (from 2 days after having them put in)
Medical issues: autism, spina bifida/tethered cord, depression, anxiety
Medication: mirtazapine 45mg, pregabalin 525mg, nortriptyline 30mg, testosterone gel (not sure on exact dosage)
I'm not sure if anyone will be able to answer this, but I need to figure out how I'm getting to work tomorrow so thought it was worth a shot!
I had some injuries on my legs sutured yesterday (self harm - I'm as OK as I can be, and trying to seek help). My range of motion seems to be normal but I forgot to ask the doctor whether I should avoid activities like cycling while the stitches are in. Is anyone able to give general advice on whether I'd be ok to cycle (regular push bike) or whether it could affect healing?
[Image of the most extensive injuries post-stitches here](https://ibb.co/wh3pkgx9). Slightly NSFW in that you can see my underwear I guess. Also hopefully obvious content note for self injury aftermath.
I can provide further details if needed. Thank you! | AskDocs | I'd avoid it if I were you. | null | null | null | null |
1iw6mif | How safe are you from HPV after one dose? | I have two questions regarding a female in her 20's who is not vaccinated against hpv (because she is not sexually active).
1.If she were to be with a male who has been exposed to hpv before, would said female get it too? Or does the man have to have warts to transmit it to her?
2. If she were to have unprotected intercourse, with someone who has had hpv before, inbetween shots (they got the first shot only but have to wait for a couple of months for the second) would they get hpv? How effective is one dose of HPV vaccine? What's the point in doing it two or three times?
Thank you. | AskDocs | I largely agree with this. Your point about HSV is misguided. For HSV, no visible spots need to be present for transmission. | null | null | null | null |
1iw6md3 | anemia + low pulse ox + trouble breathing/passing out, should I be concerned? | AFAB, 30, 5’2, 105 pounds or so. I take iron supplements, Lyrica, Trintellix, Lubiprostone, Qulipta, CBD, and multiple antihistamines. History of tethered spinal cord, dysautonomia secondary to tethered spinal cord, asthma, anemia, migraines, and something called MCAS. Phobia of doctors/hospitals.
Symptoms: tingling/numbness in hands and feet, chest pain, chest feels heavy, head pressure, weirdly low numbers on pulse ox, trouble staying conscious while completing tasks
I’m supposed to be getting iron infusions for the anemia (my ferritin was 9 despite months of high-quality supplementation) but it’s taking a while to get all the prescriptions and the insurance company stuff and the preauthorization settled.
The thing is, I’m really out of breath. Every time I try to do household chores or even sit up for too long, I get dizzy and have to gasp for air. Then I start making dumb typos and it’s hard to think and my head feels like it’s going to explode, then I get double vision, and then I start yawning until I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. I have an oxygen concentrator (because the asthma used to be really bad when I lived in an environment with lots of secondhand smoke, I’m OK now though) and I’m fine and normal as long as I use it. But if I take a break from the oxygen concentrator, even to use the toilet, I start to feel really sick again, like my body is telling me that I’m going to die. Also, if I try to have sex or do active household chores, shit goes all fuzzy and I instantly fall asleep.
I have a pulse ox. I decided to see what number it shows. When I’m not using the oxygen, it reads low numbers, between 90 and 95. When I’m using the oxygen, it’s normal, like 98 or so. My friends are like “should you maybe go to the ER? You look like shit,” but I’m not sure what the ER would do for me except give me fluids and send me home, since I don’t have the prescription for the specific type of iron I’d need (because of the mast cell stuff the doctor said it’s only safe for me to get a specific type of iron) My heart rate is between about 110 and 120 or so, which doesn’t feel that bad (I’ve had it go up to 180 or so so anything under that feels like no reason to worry)
Is there anything I can do to manage my symptoms at home besides using the oxygen tank? I’ve been trying to stay calm and drink broth, but I can’t sit here on the floor with this dumb tube in my nose forever. My pets need me to get up and take care of them, and I haven’t showered in an embarrassing number of days because I get too out of breath just washing my face. Also, is there any point at which I should maybe consider going to the ER?
(I know I have a history of waiting to go to the ER until all the doctors are like “you didn’t shit for two weeks post-surgery? Why didn’t you come in earlier?” or “wdym you decided to just raw dog having kidney stones?” but I feel like I don’t have proof that my weird new symptoms aren’t just dysautonomia, which I know ER doctors hate seeing.)
(Also, how do I rule out panic attacks? I don’t think I have anxiety because I don’t feel anxious- if anything, I just feel sleepy and apathetic- but I know that’s the first thing doctors want to rule out in cases like these. I really hope this is psychogenic because hospitals scare me.)
| AskDocs | Go to the hospital. This is not ok to DIY. Do not pass go. Go to the hospital. | Doesn't matter. You cannot even go to the bathroom without nearly passing out. Go to the hospital. | null | null | null |
1iw6jki | Freaking out about >20,000 d-dimer levels | 31F, non smoker, totally sober, 58kg, 5’9. Super active and healthy lifestyle, I run, swim, bike, everything. Use one movicol a night for bowel issues, have a high burden ectopic beats (around 2k per day at last check).
I went to ER yesterday on doctor’s orders for suspected pulmonary embolism. My d-dimer came back at >20,000 so immediately got taken through for a chest CT - totally clear. ER doc discharged me and told me to follow up with my primary care doc to redo the d-dimer to see if levels have decreased. I’ve been stupid and googling and saw something that said high levels like this are uniquely associated with heart failure, cancer, etc. I’m freaking out. I just need someone to tell me how likely it is I’ve got something terribly wrong. | AskDocs | What symptoms were you having in the first placed, and how do you feel now? | null | null | null | null |
1iw67p0 | Itchy Rash Near Ankle | I am 23M. I have not been diagnosed with anything and I am not on any meds. It's tough to take good pictures but I'll put the best ones in the comments. I've had this abnormality near my ankle for a couple months now. It feels dry and has a couple of pimple-like bumps. It doesn't hurt when I press the area but it does occasionally itch a lot. Is it just a dry spot that can be fixed with lotion or something? | AskDocs | It could be many conditions, but consider first approaching as [ | null | null | null | null |
1iw5ki2 | OLD INJURY! Just wondering if anyone could identify what type of blood vessel this was? Small, but very strong flow and pulsatile. Deep Lac exposing muscle on the outer mid calf. Closed in theatre. | Bleeding did not stop or slow despite firm pressure with gauze until the wound was closed with sutures.
Was told it was just a capillary but that seems odd given the the pulsating and pressure given the distance it was spraying…
I’m leaning towards it being an Arteriole but thought i would see if anyone else can either confirm or deny my theory haha
VIDEO HERE:
(please excuse the blur, covered my patient ID band for privacy)
https://imgur.com/a/GJpxPl2
Not that it is very important to this question but in line with the sub rules:
18 AFAB
No blood thinners
Thank you in advance! | AskDocs | It was probably a small arteriole, not named. | null | null | null | null |
1iw53s7 | Any reason the centre of my bruise is a different colour? | I took a blow to the chest from a large piece of wood (50kg) and the resulting bruise is relatively clear in the centre.
I’m a 54year old man, 100kg. I was doing some diy and made a mistake resulting in a 4mtre piece of floor joint dropping down a hole, but the pivoting on one end to be flung upwards into my chest.
Why does the bruise look this way, and do I need to watch out for anything with a blow to the right side of the chest?
https://imgur.com/a/72HyHoD | AskDocs | It looks that way b/c there is less blood in the center. Not concerning | null | null | null | null |
1iw4qby | I’m curious how you drs would feel if a patient with anxiety come to you weekly | I’m actually really embarrassed and in someways feel a bit disgusting that I’m taking up other peoples spots to see a dr but I can’t help it
This is embarrassing but I’m 27 years old and I’ve had 220 consultations and I hate hate hate myself for it
I feel like my dr might hate me for it but I’m not sure, the thing is the symptoms I get is so so real and it triggers me a lot, crushing pains in my chest that last all day for weeks at a time, tingling in my face hands and feet, really bad pain in my stomach, headaches that last a long time, that’s just a few of the things
I’ve tried like 5 different meds, I tried each one for atleast 5 months and none helped, in fact they made me worse
I’ve currently been in therapy for 2 months and I’m still seeing no improvements
I’m just curious, I’ve actually done everything my dr has suggested, I’ve tried every med I’ve been given it’s not like I’m not listening to him but nothing helps
Would you as a dr be mad & hate me if I come that many times ? | AskDocs | I usually see my patients with severe psychological problems once a week. If the situation stabilizes we take longer breaks. For patients with depression and/or anxiety it is a big challenge to keep a doctor's appointment. My first intention is just about giving my patient a positive experience, overcoming the urge to stay at home. | For me the severity depends on how much your all-day-life is affected: can you keep up with your hygiene, housework, job? Do you meet other people, can you leave home alone? Are you in danger to harm yourself/others? and how much ressources you got: friends, caring partner, therapist, hobbys, job, day-structure, etc. To decide about the severity i would need to meet you in person and have a talk for at least some minutes. | null | null | null |
1iw4ps5 | Difference between hives and these red spots I get on my hands? | hello all! im 20F, 5'5, 150 lbs. currently on montelukast, fluticasone nasal spray, albuterol, and omeprazole as needed. i have a slew of other health conditions (asthma, fibromyalgia, and allergies mainly) i do not drink or smoke.
recently i had an anaphylactic reaction to some sushi that i was eating. it was a rather scary experience and i have been experiencing some severe health anxiety. today my skin broke out again and i realized the thing i have been calling hives my entire life might be something different? it would take a weight off of my mind just to know what they are. i have sensitive skin. i was wondering if this was something else entirely, or just a milder form of hives. they're itchy, usually localized to my hands. triggered by stuff like saltwater (tears from crying, pickle brine, saline nasal spray, etc.) or dish soap, or i just get them randomly. one time i got them full body after doing my cat's flea meds. i've been getting these my whole life, the raised hives were pretty much a first. both images are not the clearest/as bad as they get due to not showing up on photo the best!
any pointers are appreciated!
itchy red spots:
[https://file.garden/ZeOk7\_aj1Fo9Khft/481384978\_612149275305470\_4278888859755023621\_n.jpg](https://file.garden/ZeOk7_aj1Fo9Khft/481384978_612149275305470_4278888859755023621_n.jpg)
hives for comparison:
[https://file.garden/ZeOk7\_aj1Fo9Khft/IMG\_20250218\_220853.jpg](https://file.garden/ZeOk7_aj1Fo9Khft/IMG_20250218_220853.jpg)
| AskDocs | I suspect that you are showing some type of [ | null | null | null | null |
1iw4o18 | How to reverse my father's fatty liver | Hey everyone, I’m hoping to get some guidance for my dad, who was recently diagnosed with grade 2 (moderate) fatty liver. He drinks alcohol almost daily, which I know is a major factor here. We’re determined to help him reverse this, but we’re unsure where to start. If anyone has experience or knowledge about managing/reversing fatty liver, I’d deeply appreciate your advice on the following:
Diet Changes:
What foods should he prioritize (e.g., veggies, lean proteins, specific grains)?
Are there foods that must be avoided (sugars, fried foods, etc.)?
Any proven meal plans or supplements (like vitamin E, omega-3s, milk thistle)?
Alcohol:
Can he reverse it without quitting alcohol entirely, or is abstinence 100% necessary?
If quitting cold turkey isn’t feasible, are harm-reduction strategies (e.g., cutting back slowly) effective?
Lifestyle Adjustments:
How critical is exercise, and what type (cardio vs. strength training)?
Weight loss goals – does BMI matter significantly here?
Medical Interventions:
Are there medications or prescriptions known to help fatty liver (e.g., pioglitazone, others)?
Should he ask his doctor about specific tests (fibrosis scoring, liver enzymes) to monitor progress?
What to Avoid:
Beyond alcohol, are there OTC meds (e.g., acetaminophen), processed foods, or habits that could worsen it?
Has anyone here reversed grade 2 fatty liver, especially with a history of alcohol use? How long did it take?
We’re planning to consult his doctor, but I want to arm myself with community wisdom too. Thanks in advance for any insights – this means a lot to our family.
TL;DR: Dad has grade 2 fatty liver and drinks daily. Need advice on diet, alcohol reduction, meds, lifestyle, and what to avoid to help reverse it. Personal experiences welcome! | AskDocs | Lose weight, eat healthy (Mediterranean diet, for example) and most importantly in your father's case, stop drinking. Drinking less can theoretically improve fatty liver but most people who have a drinking problem can't control their drinking so abstinence is the only way. If he quits alcohol it'll reverse but it will take a lot of time. | null | null | null | null |
1iw42ug | What is wrong with my toe :( | Female, 25, hashimotos thyroiditis
This is a new low for me so please be patient 😅
For the past maybe two months there has been some... dry, crusty skin on my big toe knuckle. I have noticed this month my toenail has not grown like my other one has and it seems to have no cuticle or crescent anymore. It only hurts occasionally.
What could this be and how would I go about treating it at home? Doctor is a last resort 😅 Can't afford it right now.
My guess is potentially an infection since I am a little bad at maintaining my bathtub and there's what I think is pink bacteria in there that occasionally builds up. But I am unsure.
Photos in comments | AskDocs | This is a common look and site of a frictional dermatosis from footwear. | null | null | null | null |
1iw3o0b | i (24f, 130lbs) am scared i accidentally sniffed some of my cats gabapentin, i feel high | hi! im scared of what i posted as my title, i have to give my cat gabapentin twice a day and im scared i accidentally sniffed some, is this possible? im really freaking out and just need to know please | AskDocs | How would you have accidentally sniffed gapabentin? | Unless you were snorting it or sticking it up your nose to smell it/inhale it sharply, breaking a capsule while breathing isn't sniffing gabapentin. | null | null | null |
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empty or missing yaml metadata in repo card
(https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/datasets-cards)
Reddit Health QA Dataset
Dataset Description
Dataset Summary
This dataset contains medical questions and answers collected from health-focused subreddits. Each entry consists of a medical question and up to five answers provided by verified physicians. The dataset focuses on real-world medical queries and professional medical responses, making it valuable for healthcare-related natural language processing tasks.
Supported Tasks and Leaderboards
- Question Answering: The dataset can be used to train models for medical question answering
- Information Extraction: Models can learn to extract medical conditions, symptoms, and treatments from text
- Medical Language Understanding: The dataset helps models understand medical terminology and reasoning
Languages
The dataset is primarily in English (en).
Dataset Structure
Data Instances
Each instance in the dataset contains:
- A question ID
- The question title
- The detailed question text
- The subreddit source
- Up to 5 answers from verified physicians
Example:
{
'question_id': '1iwovyq',
'title': 'Question about medication dosage',
'question_text': 'Detailed description of the medical issue...',
'subreddit': 'AskDocs',
'answer_1': 'First physician response...',
'answer_2': 'Second physician response...',
# ... up to answer_5 and answer_5_physician_flair
}
Data Fields
question_id: Unique identifier for the questiontitle: Title of the medical questionquestion_text: Detailed description of the medical issue or questionsubreddit: Source subreddit (e.g., 'AskDocs', 'DiagnoseMe')answer_1toanswer_5: Physician responses (if available)
Data Splits
The dataset is provided as a single split containing all Q&A pairs. Users can create their own train/validation/test splits as needed.
Dataset Creation
Source Data
Initial Data Collection and Normalization
- Data was collected from medical Q&A subreddits including r/AskDocs and r/DiagnoseMe
- Only questions with at least one answer from a verified physician were included
- Answers were filtered to remove non-physician responses, bot comments, and low-quality content
- Text was cleaned to remove URLs and normalize whitespace
Who are the source language producers?
- Questions: Reddit users seeking medical advice
- Answers: Verified physicians with various specializations (marked by their flairs)
Annotations
The dataset does not contain additional annotations beyond the original content and physician verification information.
Personal and Sensitive Information
- All data comes from public Reddit posts
- Users' Reddit usernames are not included in the dataset
- Personal identifying information in questions and answers has been preserved as it may be medically relevant
- Users should be mindful of privacy concerns when using this dataset
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