The health and fitness thread about random things

[barakta]

Our pharmacist sometimes opens the prechecked/bagged drugs and double checks the contents.  The pharmacist themselves are legally liable if there is anything wrong with the script and if there are any errors they have to be reported.  It's kinda like a last line of defense in case the GP's prescribed bad things or the pills are switched by mistake cos humans do make errors.

A friend was given a load of viagra instead of $proper drug by a pharmacy last yr. Despite being hideously dyslexic she did spot the problem, texted me and friends for advice and on our advice took it straight back and they were VERY grateful - she asked to report it and they handed the forms over right away.  Viagra could have been quite dangerous to her with her health issues. 

Individuals can also report errors which I always encourage as it should match pharmacy reporting and if it doesn't the pharmacy will be carefully inspected.

Pedantry and nitpickery are definite features in a pharmacist. If my friend had been a "little old lady" who wasn't quite with it, etc etc. Esp with drugs changing generic brands and how they look all the time!

[Jaded]

My daughter (apologies for gratuitous family reference) works in a pharmacy. They can sell front of house drugs to anyone, but not prescription or behind the counter unless the Pharmacist is there. As barakta says, there are sound reasons for this. My daughter has no desire to be at the bad end of a negligence claim.

They do get people who have forgotten or delayed their repeats, and they have a way to deal with them. They can walk the patient and the drugs over to the other pharmacy in town and get the Pharmacist there to release them. Time-consuming but good customer service.  However they will not be inclined to do this if the customer is arsey and running a high entitlement temperature. Those ones have to accept where the initial problem has occurred and come back when the pharmacist is there.

[Auntie Helen]

Remember I had a dodgy liver last month after my bout of flu.

Today I went back for blood test results and everything is very much improved and the doctor signed my insurance form so I can claim (will be about 800€ in total I have paid).

I asked him for a copy of the results for my GP in the UK and they photocopied everything. I thought you might find the BEFORE and AFTER results interesting, although they are in Germany.

When I was ill:



Now I am almost better:



I have loads of other stuff as well - they did vast numbers of hepatitis tests but the dodgy ones came back as negative.

[hellymedic]

Now you are better, your blood results are close to normal.
Viruses cause deranged liver function.
Were you tested for glandular fever?

[Kim]

My body and I have had an argument and aren't on speaking terms:

I've cycled all of about 1200km this year.  Over half of that in the last 4 weeks, mostly in 40-50km rides.  On Saturday I did the first proper ride of the year, the 100km Tamworth CC audax.  Just under 130km in total, of which the first 45km was annoyingly lumpy, and with a git of a headwind for 2/3 of the ride.  By the time I'd finished, I was utterly knackered.

I didn't ride a bike for two days, then went out on Tuesday afternoon, and just didn't have any energy.  I couldn't get my heart rate above 140bpm for any length of time (it's normally 150-180 when climbing), and was correspondingly stuck riding at wow factor 1.  My legs didn't ache, and my lungs weren't even getting a chance to be rubbish, I just had no energy.  I cut it short and came home for a total of about 30km.

On Wednesday evening I went out on the pub ride with a local cycling group.  About 36km of flat, at cyclepath pace, in two halves.  It seemed okay at the time, but I started flagging on the last 5km back to home from the city centre (probably because after leaving the group I was back on the roads, and had upped the pace a bit), and was wobbly and exhausted afterwards.

Yesterday I did as little as possible.  I was weak, couldn't work out if I was hot or cold, and generally wanted to go back to bed all day.  Also, my left wrist randomly started aching.  It feels like I've fallen over and landed on it but I don't recall any injury.  I took some painkillers before bed, and slept solidly all night.  Feeling much the same today, wrist and all.  I'm trying not to mouse with it.  Oh, and my IBS is now playing up, but that's probably hormonal and not indicative of anything.

So regardless of whether this is some vague viral lurgy or simply the result of over-doing it, I won't be riding tonight's unofficial FNRttC, for which I have orange cardboard and everything. 

</winge>

On the plus side, my knee's working perfectly at the moment.

[Auntie Helen]

Now you are better, your blood results are close to normal.
Viruses cause deranged liver function.
Were you tested for glandular fever?

I was tested for the following:

Enteroviren IgG-AK *EIA* #  (Positive)
Enteroviren IgM-AK *EIA* #
HCV-Antikörper *CMIA*
EBV-Serologie (HHV-4) *IB*
VCA-IgG *EBV-Viral Capsid AG* (Positive)
VCA-IgM *EBV-Viral Capsid-AG* (Positive)
CEA *CMIA*
HBs-Antigen *CMIA*
Anti-HBc-IgM *CMIA*
Heptatitis-B-Core AK *CMIA*
Anti HAV IgG qualitativ *CMIA*
Anti-HAV-IgM *CMIA*
EA-IgM *EBV-Early Antigen* (Positive)
EBNA-IgG *EBV Nuclear Antigen*
Cytomegalie-Virus IgG-AK *EIA*
Cytomegalie-Virus IgM-Ak *ELFA*

Some other stuff as well such as Creatinkinase, Lactardehydrogenase etc etc. This is a summary of a two page document list of tests!

So it doesn't look like they did test for Glandular Fever.

[hellymedic]

Glandular fever is caused by the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV).
I can't work out if it's positive.

[Auntie Helen]

That was the summary, I will PM you the details!

Although the doc didn't say it was glandular fever so I assume the results suggest not.

[Auntie Helen]

Just going through the invoice from the GP (285,92€,  including the cost of the needle for my blood tests etc) and we have a winning blood investigation: Blutkörperchensenkungsgeschwindigkeit. This is 'little blood cell sinking speed', whatever that is!

[simonp]

Isn’t that what they call 'sedimentation rate' over here?

[Auntie Helen]

I guess so! But Blutkörperchensenkungsgeschwindigkeit sounds more technical ;-)

[hellymedic]

Yes, it's ESR - Erythrocyte Sedimentation rate. Normal female value <5 but easily rises to >100 in many acute illnesses.

[Bledlow]

I had a little accident last week (mentioned elsewhere), which left me with several facial scabs. Most were shallow scrapes & had fallen off by this evening, when most of what was left fell off in the bath.

Unfortunately, the scab which fell off (to my surprise: I thought it was solidly rooted, & it was the only one A&E had taped up last week) the bridge of my nose left behind an oozing hole. I'm not sure what to do about this. Just put a dressing on it? If so, what sort would be best, taking into account that ordinary plasters irritate my skin if left on long? Ask the GP nurse to have a look at it tomorrow?

All advice gratefully received.



PS. I was thinking until I saw that hole that I might get away without any visible scars. 

Tegaderm, or similar.

I know this is too late, but it's the answer for things like this. Put it on and forget it. Healing with virtually no scarring.

There's a slight dent now, only noticeable because it's still discoloured.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I'm just over 4 weeks into the sertraline just now and it's going great. It's definitely working, and the majority of the side-effects have passed. I still have sweaty hands and feet, deranged body temperatures, a bit of a clenched jaw, and intermittent jitteriness, those are all minor and tolerable. I think I've been very lucky.

[L CC]

I'm just over 4 weeks into the sertraline just now and it's going great. It's definitely working, and the majority of the side-effects have passed. I still have sweaty hands and feet, deranged body temperatures, a bit of a clenched jaw, and intermittent jitteriness, those are all minor and tolerable. I think I've been very lucky.

Me too. I think I'm a few days behind you and not only do I feel much better but not one of the terrible list has manifested.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I've had loads of side-effects, but apart from the above, each one has only lasted 2-3 days at a time and then been replaced by something else. In order, they were
- bug-eyed, manic-looking jitteriness
- extreme fatigue and sleepiness, falling asleep at my desk
- weird vivid dreams
- upset stomach
- night sweats so bad my tossing and turning ripped a hole in the bottom sheet
- very clenched jaw, grinding teeth

Oh, and a constantly dry mouth.

My GP says I came in at the right time - if I'd left it much longer, the depression would have been more entrenched and harder to get rid of, and he says it was good that I'd thought it all through before I went and was willing to start the meds straight away.

[hellymedic]

I seem to have many of the above symptoms but I'm not on citalopram or sertraline.
I've been on fampridine to improve my walking but I stopped it at the weekend.
I feel weird, about to pass out but don't pass out.
My heart rate is much more than usual, even though I'm sitting calmly and my BP is up.
I feel nauseous and am intolerant of heat.
I've not sweated much.
I feel jittery, my jaws clench or twitch and sometimes I get tingling round the lips.
I find it difficult to settle to sleep in bed but sometimes nod off inappropriately when sitting.
My bowels are unhappy and sluggish.

I think I'm better off the fampridine, though my mobility is worse.
I think some of this might be due to my ovaries finally packing up...

[simonp]

Repeated the fat burning test today. In 2 months, to the day, my fat burning has almost doubled. My LT has increased by 20-30W. My HR at LT has reduced by 10bpm. My lactate buffering ability has improved signifantly. Fat burning at moderate intensity is heading for 60%. Vo2max is slightly off - probably fatigue caused that.

Apparently that level of improvement would normally be expected to take 3 months. Normal people don't do 430km training sessions though. Keeping up what I'm doing I should be able to approach 70% fat burning.

[simonp]

Phew. Lots of exercise isn't bad for you. And the lowest-mortality is at much higher amounts of exercise than the current recommendation. And adding in some high intensity exercise is better still.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/the-right-dose-of-exercise-for-a-longer-life/?WT.mc_id=2015-2NDQTR-KWP-INTL_AUD_DEV-0330-0628&WT.mc_ev=click&ad-keywords=IntlAudDev&kwp_0=14351&kwp_4=97031&kwp_1=138470&_r=0

Now that the case is closed, I'll not be reading any further articles about this subject.

Lalalala I can't hear you.

[T42]

Something unidentified has whacked my liver in the chops right in time for tomorrow's 300k.  Was fine Thursday, got fitted for new bike, came home & ate as usual, yesterday felt weak and nauseous with "heavy" but not intense headache, today not so bad until after breakfast when nausea/headache reappeared. Lots of tea and feel a bit better but totally lacking in enthusiasm for printing route-sheets, packing, etc etc.

Possibly went hypo early Friday morning, then metformin stopped liver kicking out reserves, but when that happens the headache is usually crushing but all is fine again by lunchtime. God knows what'll happen after pasta-loading this evening, but he ain't telling.       ?

[rafletcher]

Oh poo. My wife is awaiting a referral for a hip replacement, and has seemingly burst a blood vessel, or possibly got a DVT, in the other leg! Had to take her to the surgery where she got a Wafarin injection just in case, and she's off to the hospital tomorrow for ultrasound to check it out. Meantime she can't sit down. She's feeling a bit pissed off right now. Can't say I blame her.

[hellymedic]

I'm having a fasting cholesterol blood test tomorrow, which requires 12 hours' fast prior to the test. My instructions state:

I should bring a snack for after the test. (Given the surgery is 100 metres from my abode, I won't bother!)
After the test I should not lift heavy objects
After the test I should not go to the gym for 24 hours.

This strikes me as overkill for what is really no more than a late breakfast!

Are all such delicate flowers?

[mrcharly-YHT]

I think those are the standard 'fasting' instructions, which are written assuming some of the fastees might be diabetic.

[hellymedic]

Suppose so.
I am prone to low blood sugar but am not diabetic.
I have learned how to avoid crashing when fasting...

[Kim]

Many people aren't used to fasting.  Some people don't react well to being stabbed (and optionally dug around in) with needles.

What's overkill for most people will prevent a minority from keeling over, so it's not unreasonable advice.  Wobbly patients hanging around tend to make surgeries run late.

I'd certainly never consider going to the gym after one; that'd be like exercise or something.  I have gone on to do a FNRttC the same day, and suspect my bike counts as a heavy object.