...And DINASTY is DOWN!

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 403 Location: Cincinnati, OH

I've caught the killer super death flu. ugh. Death would be far more preferable to this. I don;t even think I can begin to explain how bad I feel. Been home last two days frfom work, plus today, think I'm going ot have to take myself tot eh Doctor, and man I Hate doctors, no offense, just a preferance. been drinking tons of water, tea, and apple juice, and trying to sleep as much as I can... my fever finally broke, and I'm at a normal temperature, but I can't get rid of this head cold. Got the headache/cough/sore throat/stoped up nose. UGH! anyways, so if any of my posts lately have been fruity, I blame it all on the fever! Wink

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 4797 Location: BEERMUDA

LOL cheer up man, take somthing strong LOL!

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 2036 Location: VALHALL

Hope you get well soon Dinasty !
Drink something strong Very Happy

Cheers

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 583 Location: St Joseph Missouri

Hang in there man. You only have about another week of suffering left. Just kidding. Get well my friend

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 14454

Even wit a fever, your posts read no more odd than anyone else's....

Hope you're feeling better soon. Change your toothbrush.

Jim

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Lake Mary, Florida

Advice to all, especially if you're in an area of flu epidemic: if you get sore throat, congestion, fever, and especially these 2 symptoms: aches and sudden, hard onset of these symptoms, you likely have the flu. There is medication available to treat influenza. These are NOT antibiotics -- they are ANTI-INFLUENZA medications, are can reduce the intensity and duration of your illness. Such medication, such as Tamiflu, amantadine, etc, MUST be started within 48 hrs, preferably 24 hours, of the onset of your symptoms in order for them to work. Even if you don't have symptoms now, you may want to ask your doctor for a prescription for them to keep on hand should you get the flu. Even if you've had the flu shot, you can get the flu, as the flu shot only protects you from the 4 most commons strains, not from the dozens of others that you can still get. --"Dr. Joe"

Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Posts: 2705 Location: Dallas, TX

Yikes. That blows.

I am SOOOO glad we get the flu shots at work.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Lake Mary, Florida

Try just calling your doctor and see if he'll phone in a prescription for you without an office visit. I can't phone in a prescription unless I have a chart established on a patient.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Lake Mary, Florida

60srocker wrote:

Unfortunately, the new doctors around here will not call in prescriptions period. My old doctor and I came to a parting of the ways when I went for a 'physical', and he did not touch my body. He asked me what I wanted him to do, and I replied 'A physical'. He then said 'what do you want me to check?'. I told him that if he didn't know how to do a basic physical, perhaps I should find another doctor. The jerk got up and left. I refused to pay on exit.

I guess we're even.

I'm not sure what you're insurance is, but some won't cover physicals (Medicare, Blue Cross PPO). Perhaps he was searching for a diagnosis so he wouldn't have to charge you for a physical. That's still no good excuse for his odd behavior. If someone comes to me for a physical that their insurance won't cover, I'll do one anyway and bill for a symptom they have (usually they have a symptom of fatique). Not as good reimbursement as a physical, but I maintain a loyal patient.

Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 456 Location: Austin, Texas

Not only will the doctors here not prescribe anything over the phone, many times you can't even get anything when you go in person. I have chronic back pain which gets worse at times. I can't count the number of doctors who refused to give me anything to help with my pain, because they thought I was "seeking." That is maddening. I know there are people who do that, but to just assume that everyone who comes in claiming pain is a seeker is pretty hardcore. Unfortunately, I have frequently had to turn to "other" sources to get what my doctor could easily have prescribed for me, and that would have been covered by my insurance. Costs me quite a bit, but at least I get relief. Rolling Eyes

Dr. Ragno...I am in no way saying that the above statement applies to you. I was just relating experiences that I have had here. Smile

Dana <~~~

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Lake Mary, Florida

guitarforceone wrote:

Dr. Ragno...
Dana <~~~

Haha! If you see me with a stethoscope and I'm with a patient, you can call me Dr. Ragno -- otherwise it's JOE!

Discerning "seekers" from "non-seekers" can be tricky business. Calling in narcotics is a no-no, but usually a patient would need to have a shady history for me not to prescribe a small quantity of narcs in person.

Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 456 Location: Austin, Texas

ragnut wrote:

guitarforceone wrote:

Dr. Ragno...
Dana <~~~

Haha! If you see me with a stethoscope and I'm with a patient, you can call me Dr. Ragno -- otherwise it's JOE!

Discerning "seekers" from "non-seekers" can be tricky business. Calling in narcotics is a no-no, but usually a patient would need to have a shady history for me not to prescribe a small quantity of narcs in person.

Just trying to show due respect, Joe. You've earned it. But okay, I won't call you that here again. Laughing

I don't have a shady history at all in this area. It just seems that the doctors here are totally paranoid to prescribe anything that "might" actually make somebody feel good, in addition to relieving their pain. God forbid somebody might actually get a nice little buzz. Can't have that. Very Happy

I have some friends who just make the trek to Mexico rather than deal with the establishment here. You simply walk across the border, go to these doctors offices, and there are places to sit down. They hand you a "menu," and you just check off what drugs you want prescribed. You can get a one months supply at a time. No hassles at all.
Dana <~~~

Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Posts: 2705 Location: Dallas, TX

So...

Here's a question for ya Joe.

My wife gets these killer migranes. The kind where you draw the shades, turn off anything that makes noise and tape black stuff over the windows to keep the light out.

Now the only thing that makes a dent in these things is Esgic. Our lovely family doc will only with the utmost reluctance prescribe these things, and even when he does it's like maybe 6 at a time, and at best a couple times a year.

In short, she has to practically beg for them.

As a result, when they hit, she tries to call the ball about how bad it's going to be as to whether or not she'll actually take one since the doc makes em so damn hard to get.

Our Doc's rationale for this is he's "afraid my wife might become dependant on them".

Ok, so if this is the only thing that does the trick, what's up with this?

Is it common practice to just expect your patients to "tough it out"? My personal guess is our Doc's never had one of these things. Either have I, but I've got a pretty good idea what they're like just by knowing what they do to my wife. These things can knock her out for entire days at a time.

So is my family doc just a sadist?

Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 456 Location: Austin, Texas

Whoa! Mark, we have the exact same problem with my wife. She gets those horrible migraines that completely incapacitate her, and same story...our doctor won't give her anything really substantial. Again...we're pretty much on our own, and have to search. Must be something about these Texas doctors.
Dana <~~~

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Lake Mary, Florida

OK, here's a primer on migraines. These are severe episodic headaches that are commonly accompanied by nausea and light sensitivity. They're commonly triggered by certain foods or hormone changes (that's why women get them more than men). Until a few years ago, the only thing that helped were anti-inflamatories, mild pain killers (ie Esgic), major pain killers.

HUGE strides have been made lately. First with the medicine Imitrex, now with new improved meds like Relpax, Axert, and Maxalt. These are non-narcotic meds that are more effective with less side effects that get more to the root of the problem. If anyone knows someone with migraines and has not tried these meds, tell them to TRY THEM (provided there are no contraindications -- your doctor would/should know).

Here's a kicker with migraines: in an effort to help ease migraine pain with mild narcs, a problem called transformed daily headache can occur. This is why docs try to avoid prescribing habit-forming meds for migraine -- to avoid creating another medical problem. There's that "do no harm" thing we took an oath about.

Docs want to help patients. Its not only frustrating to patients to be in pain, its frustrating for us too. We have to watch out for creating more problems for our patients sake, as well as not winding up on the news. Some docs are more paranoid than others.

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2003 7:46 pm

Hey Dr. Joe.

I dont' wanna turn this into a thread asking you for free medical advice, but I've got a disturbing ailment that has my local doctor stumped. It all started, probably a month or so ago, when I got up in the middle of the night to attend the bathroom, when suddenly I became woozy. I remember I was sweating bullets, and I had what I suppose you could say was the migraine from hell. I thought I'd had a stroke, until I noticed my skin had turned a deep shade of green, and that I had grown 20 times my normal size. This has only happened a few times, and the only downside while in this state is my constant desire to smash things. Can you recommend a specialist?

Well that was my attemt at Friday humour and I'm stickin' to it. Very Happy

Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Posts: 2705 Location: Dallas, TX

Thanks Joe, I'll have her look into the stuff you mentioned.

Quote:

and that I had grown 20 times my normal size

I'd think that if everything stayed proportionate, you don't need a specialist, you need to find a certain variety of film maker.

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2003 7:57 pm

ZING! Good ta have ya back posting around these parts. Laughing

Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Posts: 2705 Location: Dallas, TX

Quote:

ZING! Good ta have ya back posting around these parts.

Thanks.

It's amazing what you can do when you aren't pulling 100 hour weeks.

=)

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:13 pm

stay on your medicine until you fully recover. Govn't says this is an A strain virus, the flu won't kill you but it opens you immune sys to secondary infections for a couple of weeks. The hole in the immune sys defense is big enough allow normal disease kill you.

The A strain is what killed 2,000,000 people world wide between 1917-1918.

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2003 9:46 pm

look forward to talkin to you at DOA joe.... i have a question.... what do you think about that new flu vaccine that they put up your nose? any good?

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Lake Mary, Florida

It's just as effective as the shot, but 3 times as costly. The flu shot doesn't hurt AT ALL.

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2003 9:53 pm

oh i know its costly but its just that they are running out of it... and insurance is covering the stuff now since there is a shortage of the shot.... well.. i don't think imma get it this year anyway... i never do.... and just my luck.. it prolly has something i'm prolly allergic to in it... most flu shots do... but i usually never get the flu.. its usually strep throat and/or bronchitis....

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2003 10:13 pm

You stick it up your nose? Ewwwww...

Guest

I have a family history of migraines, which thank god I rarely get anymore. My dayghter now suffers from them though. I used to take Indomethicin, which is what my daughter now takes and it worked great for me and it does equally as well for her.
Bill

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 303

I am one of those people who never, never, never get sick. I haven't had the flu in about 35 years. Plus I am really good looking.

Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2003 5:16 am

PresidentDave wrote:

I am one of those people who never, never, never get sick.

But you sure are twisted... Razz

Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2003 8:08 am

I remember the time my whole family got the Russian flu (or something like that). It was either 1977 or 1978. We were very sick for many days. My dad told me later that he had called the doc and said "Tell me the truth doc, are we gonna die from this?" Apparently the dotor hesitated to answer, but finally said "Probably not." Makes you feel so much better when it is a 60-40 chance of survival huh?

-Foo

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 393 Location: Lake Mary, Florida

For those who are wanting more flu info, here's a flu "map" and links to more info:
http://home.machlink.com/muscatine/outgoing_window/www.flustar.com/4day_jump.asp?affiliateid=505&zip=52761&ft=1

Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Posts: 15 Location: Elgin, Texas

ragnut wrote:

OK, here's a primer on migraines. These are severe episodic headaches that are commonly accompanied by nausea and light sensitivity. They're commonly triggered by certain foods or hormone changes (that's why women get them more than men). Until a few years ago, the only thing that helped were anti-inflamatories, mild pain killers (ie Esgic), major pain killers.

HUGE strides have been made lately. First with the medicine Imitrex, now with new improved meds like Relpax, Axert, and Maxalt. These are non-narcotic meds that are more effective with less side effects that get more to the root of the problem. If anyone knows someone with migraines and has not tried these meds, tell them to TRY THEM (provided there are no contraindications -- your doctor would/should know).

Here's a kicker with migraines: in an effort to help ease migraine pain with mild narcs, a problem called transformed daily headache can occur. This is why docs try to avoid prescribing habit-forming meds for migraine -- to avoid creating another medical problem. There's that "do no harm" thing we took an oath about.

Docs want to help patients. Its not only frustrating to patients to be in pain, its frustrating for us too. We have to watch out for creating more problems for our patients sake, as well as not winding up on the news. Some docs are more paranoid than others.

Hi all ... Dana's wife here... This is my first post on the new board. Very Happy

Glad there's something I can actually chime in on here.

I have tried Imitrex, Zomig, Midrin, Duradrin, a beta blocker & a high blood pressure medication combination (even though I have low blood pressure), Maxalt (which only works very, very rarely), Excedrin Migraine, Stadol Nasal Spray, and heaven knows I can't remember what else, all to pretty much no avail. And, what makes it worse is that on top of not working, some of them make me very sick and/or knock me out. Nice little vicious circle considering that I am already sick (nauseated) and incapacitated from suffering the migraine. (Yes, I know for sure that I actually do suffer from migraines, as I was sent to a specialist, where I was diagnosed and then guinea-pigged on all the above medications.)

I understand about not wanting to cause a patient more pain, but I wish mine would do something! I think my doc happens to fall into the paranoid category. Sad

I must admit, though, that other than this particular area, he does pretty well, and we've been with him for a LONG time, so he knows my history really well. He is really good with my FM/MPS diagnosis and treatment, and not all doctors understand/work with that one. Or they don't want to. So, I guess I shouldn't complain all that hard, huh? Very Happy

Have a great day!
ML >^..^<
<><

Guest

guitarforceone wrote:

Not only will the doctors here not prescribe anything over the phone, many times you can't even get anything when you go in person. I have chronic back pain which gets worse at times. I can't count the number of doctors who refused to give me anything to help with my pain, because they thought I was "seeking." That is maddening. I know there are people who do that, but to just assume that everyone who comes in claiming pain is a seeker is pretty hardcore. Unfortunately, I have frequently had to turn to "other" sources to get what my doctor could easily have prescribed for me, and that would have been covered by my insurance. Costs me quite a bit, but at least I get relief. Rolling Eyes

Dr. Ragno...I am in no way saying that the above statement applies to you. I was just relating experiences that I have had here. Smile

Dana <~~~

I hear ya Dana. I've been told by three doctors that I need complete knee(right) and hip(both) replacement surgeries. None will sign off on disability status for me. None will tell me how to get it accomplished financially. None will tell me one good reason why I shouldn't kill my insurance company en masse, for taking my money for years and refusing to help me, when I have NEVER filed a claim, save for two pregnancies(two sons). This country stinks. Now I have TMJ disorder and can't sleep... They wanna send me to a sleep disorder clinic...Why? I'd be better off just handing em a hundred bucks and turning around and leaving. Cuz that's what it feels like afterwards... I can't win, and my insurance company never looses.

Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2003 8:00 pm

its been my expirience that Flu shots don't work.