Chronic Diastolic Dysfunction Heart Failure :: Coughing Spells
I'm 56. Several years ago I was dx with chronic diastolic dysfunction failure. With help from diuretics I lost 100 pounds in fluid. I was stunned when diagnosed. I still am and have trouble believing it. Lately I've had nagging coughs. I'm here to find out if anyone else has experienced this coughing and also had trouble with acceptance.
View 1 RepliesPorn Induced Masturbation And Erectile Dysfunction? Failure In Real Life
I started out watching porn and masturbating when I was 10 or 11 years old. I didn't have a girlfriend until I was 15. The first time we tried to have sex I couldn't get an erection sufficient enough for penetration. The times after that we tried to have sex and I got a weak erection, but managed to penetrate her. I got pretty hard when I was inside but it quickly goes away when I'm not inside her. I realize what the porn and masturbation has done to me all these years so I'm unable to perform in real life situations. After reading many people in similar situations as me, I've decided to give up porn/masturbation forever to be able to perform in real situations with real girls. Summer is coming up when I will be able to go to my girlfriend's house in a little less than two months. I've installed porn blockers and stopped masturbating since about four or five days ago. I feel absolutely no urge to watch porn or masturabte. Do you think I will be healed? I hate living like this and want this to be over with. If you have any questions, just ask.
View 2 RepliesCardiovascular :: High P Wave And High Diastolic Pressure
Let me start off by saying I am a 20 year old male who was fine before all of this started. I went to the ER for chest pain and palpitations they did the basic test like EKG Xray and Blood work. The ER doctor said i was fine and they let em go home but said i need to see a cardiologist to just make sure everything was fine. So i went to see a cardiologist and the hospital faxed over all of my test results. Based on my ER visits EKG i have an abnormally high P wave everything else on the EKG was fine. They set me up for a Echocardiogram to make sure i did not have an enlarged heart. that test came back normal and they said i did not have a enlarged heart. They set me up for a Stress Echo test I went in for the test got my heart rate up to 200bpm the before and after pictures of my heart looked good and they said everything was working fine and that i was healthy. But during the test i still have those high P waves showing up on the EKG which he said was caused because I am very thin chested and my hear beats close to the surface of my chest so the EKG pick up a higher voltage. Now i have noticed a slight arrhythmia when i take my pulse it tends to beat at 60 bpm then 5 or 6 beats later it jumps to 80 bpm then back to 60 after 5 or so beats. This comes and goes and does not happen all the time and when it does happen it only last up to 30 minutes but during that time i feel fatigued . And finally my blood pressure seems high the systolic pressure is always within normal range its the diastolic that always above normal when i tested my blood pressure with a home blood pressure monitor today it was at 135 over 87 then when i tested it later on in the day it was 127 over 83 i have noticed in multiple test the diastolic seem to float around the mid 80's to 90's the highest i have seen is 133 over 99. The cardiologist does not see to think there is anything wrong with me I have another appointment this week to bring up the high blood pressure and the arrhythmia.
View 5 RepliesAnxiety :: My Life Is Over
I really feel like I'm beginning to feel more and more mentally ill..rather people say it's going to pass..it's really not..having faith doesn't help..don't nothing helps or work..I pray and get no answers..sure it might be a test but it's really a test I'm failing at..do people ever think about others who have been praying for years and never go a answer?
View 44 RepliesHemorrhoids :: Once You Have Piles - You Have Them For Life?
47 year old sufferer and worried. Do i have these for life and it's all down to managing them, short of surgery of course?
View 4 RepliesDiabetes :: Once On Metformin - For Life On It?
I have been on meformin for about a year now. I became diabetic about 5 years ago but was able to do the diet and exercise thing until I was put on metformin. I asked the doctor about getting off of it now that my sugars have been doing good. He said that once diagnosed with diabetes I can never come off of meformin??? I cannot believe that. He can't be for real. I don't want to be on metformin for the rest of my life. I would like to be able to get off of it and just control my diabetes on my own. I did it before so I would like to do it again. How do I convince him to let me go off of metformin?
View 1 RepliesDepression :: Tired Of Life
I'm a 24, soon to be 25 year old. I know I'm really young, and that's the biggest ''encouragement'' people give me generally. You haven't lived much, there's still so much ahead, etc. But the thing is, I've been depressed for almost 10 years now. I've been on and off with meds, had some ''brighter'' episodes in between the years, but basically I've accomplished nothing. I have no education degrees, no work experience. I can barely function on my own. My family lives far away, and doesn't understand my depression at all. In fact, my sister tells me I'm depressed simply because I'm just that lazy. Maybe that's true? I don't know. I live alone, and have no friends. I have just recently cut off my last tie to a person by managing to tick off my ex so badly he almost suffocated me by strangling to get his point of wanting me out of his life through. He's the father of my son, who's another point of depression. Just can't seem to be able to love the kid like I should. What good is someone like me anyway? I have no right to call myself a mother.
I've gone through abortion, abusive boyfriend, neglect and abuse from my dad, losing all my friends, being homeless, attempting a suicide through slicing my wrists open... Something bad, you name it and it's probably happened. So far, anything I've tried turns to ash soon. Relationships, jobs, even normal day to day life... I can't get a grip of any of it and I just end up failing.
I'm honestly hanging on to life by the tiniest possible thread simply for the sake of being so stubborn I can't give up. But every day is torture, and I just keep waiting on something to change, yet it doesn't. I can't find the will to live but I'm too stubborn and too much of a coward to go through with ending it. Also don't want to go through the experience of laying in a hospital bed listening to the nurses go on how ''it's another of those attention seekers''. That was devastating for me. But I'm at my wits end. How long will it go on? When does one get a happy end? How do you find a will to live through all the sh*t?
I want to die, but I can't. I want to live, but I don't know how or why. I want to move on, do something, but I don't have the strength. What should I do, really?
Age 26 - Does Circumcision Affects My Marital Life
I am about to marry and want to make sure circumcision won't affects my marriage life. I used to get irritations in my foreskin and advised to remove it.
View 1 RepliesLife Span Of Kidneys Functioning At 50%
I just found out about my dad's kidney problem, apparently they are only functioning at 50%. He sees his kidney doctor every year to monitor the problem.
He's otherwise pretty healthy, so, my question is: will he be able to live a long life? What would his lifespan be with his kidneys functioning at 50%?
Quitting Cannabis After 18 Years - Life Is Much Better Than Before
I am a 42 year old man. I smoked cannabis almost continuously for 18 years until 18 days ago (scope the symmetry!). For about three quarters of that period I knew it was messing me up badly: gone were the giggles and the intellectual intensity, replaced by paranoia, reclusiveness, depression, mania and aggression, associated police trouble, self-harm, chest pains, erectile disfunction, etc etc et cetera. Although fully aware of all this more than substantial downside, nevertheless towards the end, I was spending £50pw on toxic-grade skunk, and it was driving me completely crazy.
Three or four weeks ago, I decided I was going to quit at the end of the world cup. And I did. I've been 18 days clean so far, and my life has changed dramatically. I've replaced talking with mad levels of exercise: going to the gym 3 days a week, swimming, walking everywhere, 2 hours of 5-a-side football once a week with a bunch of 25 yr olds. I've become a confident and witty social animal. I'm enjoying my phd studies. I've even acquired a lover, the delicate problem alluded to above being already a thing of the past!
There is life after weed; a damn sight better than the one I lived during weed.
Two caveats: I'm not sleeping well, tho' that may be due in part to the heatwave. And I'm drinking a little bit more. Previously my drinking was slightly below HMG's recommended limit; now it's probably slightly above - something I should keep an eye on, especially given that it's a symptom of my newfound enjoyment of life. Hopefully it'll settle down again quite quickly.
Medicine That Can Cause Male Impotence For Life?
Which is the medicine that can make a man impotence for the rest of his life
View 1 RepliesAmiodarone Wreck My Thyroid For Life?
In 2007, apparently for a prolonged QT I was hospitalized, given 1600 mg amiodarone and then 200 daily.Only one test was made, after five months. Ten months later I had a TSH of 38. A new cardio brought it down to normal in three months with levothyroxine and put me on Rythmol instead of amiodarone..Did the amio wreck my thyroid for life? Ever since, tests have been normal but with FT3 in the 20's. Doctor after doctor for six years have continue the levo never suggesting a T3 med (In guatemala where I live there is no Cytomel).On my own, I have tried levo doses from zero to 150 over two years with no notable change in TSH and T4 test levels but FT3 still below 30). I cannot pinpoint low FT3 symptoms among side effects from Rythmol 150, coreg 6.25, crestor 10, aspirin 100. I have not slept one night through for six years without two or three hour-long sweats/chills, nauseas, dizziness, weakness, fatigue etc.Daytime too. I'm 87 and tired of it. One stent 2010, RCA. Never felt angina or tachycardia. Any way out of this?
View 10 RepliesAnxiety :: Prozac For Life? Hard To Come Off?
anyone else who finds it hard to come off Prozac?
My last attempt to come off Prozac lasted almost a year. I have tried so hard...but I am finally admitting defeat. I am going to ask for a new prescription tomorrow. It feels like this little capsule that twenty years ago was my savior has now become my captor. It is with feeling of utter failure and slight despair that I take these pills again. I feel I have no choice. The worst thing is, I don't understand why I hate it so much.
I was on Prozac for almost twenty years until I weaned myself off almost a year ago. This was one of many attempts. During those twenty years, I was never completely comfortable taking it. I was grateful for how it worked, how it changed my life, but for some reason that I could never shake off, I just didn't like the the idea of being on medication every day. I was not at ease with the idea of having to be on a prescription - of being dependent on this little green and cream capsule - simply to feel normal like everyone else. My GP could never understand when I talked about coming off it. He would more or less say, its working for you - why change things? Just take it, and forget about it. I still don't understand why I am so uncomfortable about taking it.
I thought in the beginning, that I would be cured of my depression and anxiety, and go back to the happy person I was, then when I was 'fixed' I would stop taking it. I was told then it was not 'addictive', and it WAS only for the short term. So how come, every time I came off...I not only suffered the most awful symptoms..I also felt 100 times worse than I did before I started taking it? It is like Prozac has changed my brain, so I am dependent on it simply to have any quality of life.
With Prozac, I am relatively content, I enjoy socializing, I can run a house and 'look after' my family and my ageing parents. Simply, I just get on with my life which is a good one.
Without Prozac, I am anxious and irritable all of the time. I feel far, far worse than I EVER did in the before I went on on it. I thought I was depressed then....but from what I remember it was never as bad as this. Its hard to explain, but it is like it is self fulfilling... like Prozac itself is causing my mental health problems. I panic at the thought of having to do anything that involves social evenings, sometimes I can't even cope with trivial or ordinary things like organizing meals, or making lists. It all seems too overwhelming so I just don't do it. I get completely worked up about nothing. I fly into rages and feel awful afterwards. I wake in the morning with a nervous tummy and terrible anxiety about the day. When I physically get up and get on with it I feel better...but I can lie for an hour in bed in the morning feeling sick with nerves, and cannot find a 'place' to go in my head that is pleasant. It is always doom and gloom, and anger and sadness....and recently I have been contemplating all sorts of ways of leaving it all behind me. I can't live like this any more.
I guess it is just a case of getting my head to the point where I can see Prozac as a friend and not the enemy. I guess I blame it for getting me where I am in the first place - totally dependent on it. It's like, I have no choice in the matter. This is not how I usually live my life. I feel defeated and overpowered, even though the outcome is to my benefit. Its hard to explain. I mean, what if they find out it causes tumors, or my doctor just decides to stop prescribing it down the line. I feel trapped, no matter how I look at it.
I guess I would tell anyone thinking of going onto this drug that it is like a pitcher plant. Once you are in, you are in it forever no matter how much you try to scramble up the sides. It is not just a case of take it till you get well, then thank it, and move on. Prozac has you in its grip forever. From my experience.. I would say only start it if you can accept the fact it probably WILL be for life.
Henoch-Schonlein Purpura For Life?
I had two bouts of HSP when I was a child. The first lasted a couple of weeks when I was about five. The next bout lasted for 4 years - from the age of 6-10 years old.
I've never felt truly 'well' and have now been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME and hypersomnia (it means I want to sleep at the time) I was wondering if this could be an aftermath of the HSP?
The rash has gone and so has the swollen and tender joints. Urine samples come back as normal now (not +4 protein and blood in it like when I had HSP.) unless I have a UTI.
But I still have the same abdominal pain and tender joints (without the swelling) and muscles. I feel constantly fatigued and can't seem to put weight on. My immune system is weak and I seem to catch every bug going around.
Anxiety :: Shelf Life Of Xanax
I was prescribed Xanax when I lived abroad. I am now back in the UK, where Xanax is not on the approved NHS drug list. I have been suffering from anxiety again, but the Xanax I have expired in 2013. Can I take these safely?
View 3 RepliesAnxiety And Agoraphobia Is Ruining My Life
Since I can remember, I have been depressed, I suffered from depression and anxiety from a very very young age, I can remember wanting to die as young as 7 years old, I'm now 28, I have had 2 jobs in my life both lasted weeks. Its ruined relationships, ruined friendships, ruined my life completely. I lost the love of my life, I have no work experience, odd qualification here and there, nothing serious and all unrelated. I had a stormy and mentally abusive childhood, I have been in and out of CBT nothing seemed to work and considering they're here to help after a couple of sessions, I was ignored, apparently I was entitled to 10 sessions. Anyway, I could be here all day going on and on about my past. When I was 24, I started working on it myself, (the doctors all refused to up my medication of 40 mg fluoxetine) even though I wanted to die. I've never had support off anyone, friends, family, noone so I had to do something, I started the gym, did my own research on mental health and CBT and started to feel better, I have always worked out and been on contraception since 16 to even my hormones, it didn't make much difference. changing my mind set and thinking "f*ck you all" helped me. Then I met a man and fell deeply in love, its comfortable and a calm loving relationship I was so happy in the beginning, we then had a baby, my pregnancy completely lifted my mood, I felt amazing! I had extreme morning sickness and horrendously bad anemia with constantly iron transfusions but my depression was nowhere to be seen, I was so blessed and couldn't believe how well I was doing, but my anxiety never left, my agoraphobia was clearly here to stay. My partner earns enough and I didn't really need to go anywhere so it wasn't a problem (my anxiety and agoraphobia is where I cannot go anywhere alone, cannot get public transport, cannot speak to people I don't know or haven't known closely for years, I cannot do normal things like go the shop for bread, make a doctor's appointment) the list goes on, I started making bits of progress like going for walks etc, my doctors would never treat my anxiety and agoraphobia saying when my depression is gone, that will be gone. But now I dont feel depressed why can't I do it? Anyway I was fine until my partner lost his well paid job, and got a low paying job and it hot me thinking about work, something that in my 28 years I've basically never done before, I know I'll be fine working but getting through these stages to have a job is beyond difficult for me. If I go online looking for work, just scrolling through, my heart starts to pound, my skin is cold, my chest is tight, I cant breathe and my eyes start to well up. Even now typing it I'm struggling to keep it together, a few weeks ago i decided to get a train alone to try and "just get on with it" like idiots tell me to do, the train was delayed and I had to get ones i didn't know, so right there on the platform I crouched down into a ball and was hysterical, crying my eyes out and having a full blown anxiety attack, people were asking if I wanted an ambulance, in the end security had to escort me home on the train, I was so embarrassed. I need help, doctors wont listen and say I'm depressed and if i fix that my anxiety will go but I know I'm not depressed right now, but I won't lie, if this carries on, it'll probably come back, I want to work more than anything, I cant make a cv without getting hysterical, I cant look for jobs, I definitely couldn't interview, I was once asked to leave an interview because of the state I was in.
I am yet to find anyone with the same level of anxiety as me, this is ruined my life and preventing me from working, something I can't avoid!
Can anyone point me in the direction of help? Is there even treatment for anxiety?
My daily routine is, I wake up with my daughter, we have breakfast then get washed and dressed and go for a walk down the back lane where no one will see me for about an hour, then home, she'll nap whilst I workout, mostly yoga, then dinner (we both eat extremely healthy that's very important to me) then we either get a visit off someone or I'll get a lift to a friends house then home for tea with daddy, movies, bath&bed. I love my life, absolutely love it. But I want/need to work for money and my own sanity, I am a role model now and I need to get this sorted before my daughter is aware.
Health Anxiety Destroying My Life
I've got a 3 year old son and since he was born I've suffered with depression, anxiety, health anxiety and PTSD. I'm just at the end of my degree which is stressful but it is for everyone. For the past 6 months or so (since my relationship ended with my son's dad) I've had the worst health anxiety and it's completely taken over my life.
I'm constantly going to the doctors or the hospital and panicking only to find that they don't really take me seriously anymore which just makes everything worse.
My symptoms from the past few months include.. pelvic pain, bleeding between periods, dizziness, palpitations, loss of appetite, IBS like symptoms whenever I do eat, which has in turn caused weight loss, insomnia, hot/cold flashes, and so many more. Basically, I just feel ill all the time and obviously I've convinced myself I've got cervical cancer and many other types of cancer.
My doctor keeps telling me that I am very stressed and this is a normal response, but it doesn't help and I'm driving myself mad worrying that there's something seriously wrong with me and I'm going to leave my son without a mum.
Health Anxiety Has Consumed My Life
Basically, I have had a terrible month with (what I hope) is health anxiety. Over the last month I have had the following symptoms:
abdominal pain
hip pain
back pain (lower mostly, but entire back at times)
dizziness
tingly in hands and feet
muscle tremors
"bubbly" feeling in legs
mind fog, not being able to concentrate, almost out of body feeling
chest pain
palpitations
bleeding between periods
constipation/diarrhea
fatigue
feeling of throat closing up
many others I'm forgetting in this moment
I have been to multiple doctors and specialists and urgent care and the emergency room and have had the following tests done in the last 4 weeks (all normal):
ekg (2)
abdominal ct scan
pelvic exam
abdominal/pelvic ultrasound
blood tests -cbc, lyme, electrolytes
echocardiogram
24 hour holter monitor
MRI of lower lumbar
x-ray of cervical spine
nerve conduction test
My continued fears (in no particular order) are:
blood clot
cancer (bone, uterine, etc)
bladder/kidney problems
aneurysm
circulation problems
MS
reproductive disease
that I'm actually crazy
The only thing that any of these tests showed was bacterial vaginosis (sorry for being so descriptive), of which I actually had no symptoms and think was just a secondary random problem, took antibiotics. And the MRI showed a transitional vertebrae (fusion of pelvis and spine) which they said I would have had since birth and usually causes no problems. I have a follow up with an orthopedist in a month or so, but my all my symptoms don't make sense with just that. I have been given Zantac for acid reflux (which I hated and only took twice), ibuprofen for pain (doesn't work), lorazepam as needed.
I am OBSESSED with googling my symptoms. I told myself I wasn't going to do it all today and I already have about 12 times. I was in the emergency room until midnight last night thinking I had a kidney stone or something and they found nothing wrong with me and told me to follow up with my primary.
My biggest issue right now is I am leaving for an 11 day vacation to Jamaica on Sunday (obviously that's not a problem, I should be ecstatic), but I am CONVINCED there is something wrong with me and I will be sick in a third world country. I am honestly considering not going.
For the record, I recognize that I'm an anxious person. I worry incessantly about anything and everything. I am moody and irritable. My anxiety has waxed and waned through the years, have tried medication but never stuck with it. For the most part I can manage it and live my life, but this has been the month from hell! I honestly believe I have something physically wrong with me and that all these CANNOT be anxiety symptoms. I have nothing to feel anxious about, and like I said before, should actually be looking forward to my upcoming vacation (I am terrified of flying, but haven't really been thinking of that as I've been consumed with these health problems). The only thing that sort of works is to take a lorazapam, which doesn't make my symptoms go away completely, but just makes me feel a little calmer about it.
I feel like once you've been labeled with anxiety, doctors chalk all your symptoms up to that. The logical part of my brain tells me that I've had a billion tests and if there was anything seriously wrong with me, it would have been found. But the obsessive part of me doesn't trust the doctors and think they are missing something huge. This has started to affect my work and my marriage. My husband tries to be supportive, but he's starting to get frustrated. He doesn't understand why I can't trust all the doctors and millions of tests.
As I sit here, I'm having bad side and back pain. Trying to avoid taking a lorazepam as I only have a limited supply. Today I am convinced it is related to my reproductive organs, but my husband thinks I continually move on to other symptoms as things get ruled out (also I had a transvaginal ultrasound that was normal). I just don't understand how anxiety can cause so much pain. Ironically, I have been feeling much less anxious about my normal stuff (being a passenger in a car, worrying something bad is going to happen, etc) since these physical symptoms started and have basically consumed my life.
I understand I probably need to see a therapist, and plan to make an appointment after I return from vacation (if I go), but how do I deal with this in the meantime? How do you KNOW when physical symptoms are anxiety?
Sorry for the long post, thanks if you read all the way through. Just had to get all these thoughts out because I feel like nobody understands.
Menopause :: Perimenopause And Detached From Life
I feel like that batty cat lady from the Simpsons - I feel like I LOOK mad, and I am unravelling mentally and physically.
I'm 49 and have been going through the peri-menopause for a couple of years. First my periods were horribly clotty and heavy and every three weeks, now in the last six-nine months they've got further apart and lighter.
But it's how I feel that's so weird. I am shaky, anxious, when I'm talking to people I'm trying to think what expression I should be wearing on my face. I feel tired but not sleepy, like as if all my energy has been sucked out of me and all I want to do is sit down. Everything seems like too much effort and I am not enjoying life when I feel like this. Some days I feel great, but there are too many days like this now.
If anybody I know is going through a hard time, I've always been THE most supportive person, but lately it just makes me anxious because I feel I'm being sapped of what little strength I have left. I avoid people, especially high maintenance people.
I'm trying to force myself to take a shower now. I love being clean and having freshly washed hair, but even that's too much. My roots need doing but I can't be bothered. And I don't even feel human, let alone like a woman. I feel like I'm drifting away from friends, like I have nothing to bring to the table when it comes to being good company.
And I wonder if anybody has any experience of whether diet helps. I felt really good last week and I was eating well - could it be as simple as that? I've had a weekend of too many carbs and a curry this weekend.