We're getting old (OO medical complaints)

[Daehawk]

I was never told to but me and my wife used to take a chewable 81mg once a day. I haven't . I stopped.

[jztemple2]

Got a blood work panel done yesterday for a doctor's visit next week. Got the results online, everything green... except PSA, oh goody . My number is 6.4, which is above the recommended 4 or below. I did some research and it seems there are a lot of things which would cause this reading without it being cancer, and even if it is, there are a lot of things to consider before we start panicking. I'll see what the doctor says.

[stessier]

Got a blood work panel done yesterday for a doctor's visit next week. Got the results online, everything green... except PSA, oh goody . My number is 6.4, which is above the recommended 4 or below. I did some research and it seems there are a lot of things which would cause this reading without it being cancer, and even if it is, there are a lot of things to consider before we start panicking. I'll see what the doctor says.

FWIW, the absolute number isn't always as important as the trend. If you've always been high is different than if there is a sudden spike. I always wondered what was considered "high" and a guy at work who had prostate cancer mentioned his was above 35. Yeah...that's high.

[jztemple2]

FWIW, the absolute number isn't always as important as the trend. If you've always been high is different than if there is a sudden spike. I always wondered what was considered "high" and a guy at work who had prostate cancer mentioned his was above 35. Yeah...that's high.

Thirty-five? Wow, I thought the scale only went up to ten. Also I'm 68 and I noticed that the test isn't necessarily accurate for those 70 and above, so I'm approaching that range. Never mind though, I'm sure my doc will be happy to find something to charge me for .

[Daehawk]

I still need to go to the eye doctor. My eyes dont seem to get worse but they aint getting better either. After seeing a funny meme tonight I can diagnose myself with astigmatism. The shiny lights at night and the lack of night driving ability gives it away. I can drive at night if I super have to but not by choice. I used to stay out all night just driving. Long gone days.

Its really crappy medicare doesn't cover teeth and eyes.

[dbt1949]

Cataracts.

[Blackhawk]

That was my first thought, too.

[Rumpy]

Woke up on Tuesday feeling like something about my vision wasn't quite right. Took me awhile to figure out what I was experiencing. All my life, I've worn glasses and needed strong prescriptions, but the sudden diminished vision in my left eye was cause for concern. It was accompanied with an afterimage of my eye, increased sensitivity to light and shadows, and random white flashes of light, with everything in my left eye appearing a darker shade as compared to my right eye. Went to a walk-in clinic, as the situation here in Ontario is that a lot of people don't have a family doctor in my Province, and they sent me to the E.R as they didn't have the equipment for doing tests. That was yesterday. They did a number of tests ruling out Glaucoma, then gave me an appointment with an ophthalmologist for today, which I just came back from. More tests, some of them kind of like games even with one of them with a button you press each time you see a light. It was a relief to finally see the Dr and get some answers. Not a detached retina, not macular degeneration (although there is a history of it in my family), but apparently a bubble in my eye. There's apparently no treatment for it, other than waiting 3-6 months as it's usually the kind of thing that usually goes away on its own. I find it fascinating from a scientific perspective, but I still wonder how it even occurs to begin with. I've had a history of allergies where I get temporary blurriness, so at first I thought it was simply that. But a bubble in my eye, who would have thought?

[Daehawk]

Just have to be different dont ya That is weird. I dont think Ive heard of that one.

[TheMix]

But a bubble in my eye, who would have thought?

Not I. Like Dae, I've never heard of that. Hope you have a speedier (than normal) recovery!

[Rumpy]

Just have to be different dont ya That is weird. I dont think Ive heard of that one.

It was a first for me too! Scary as heck. Vision in my left eye is rather blurry, and it was already bad due to my needing strong prescriptions all my life. Heh, in the 80's I'd be the one with the thick bottlecap style glasses until technology allowed for thinner lenses making them lighter in the process. I have fairly pronounced astigmatism, so the effect of this problem has been felt rather strongly. Because of one eye working better than the other, the best way I can explain it is how an LCD screen looks when it starts to go bad, or if viewing an old IPS-style screen from an angle. Except that the effect doesn't go away. Contrast at the moment is out of whack. Shadows are appearing darker, white is incredibly bright but also showing light bleed like looking at a headlight at night, and darks aren't all that dark. There's a lot of noise in my image. It's kind of hard to explain. Even while looking at a white screen, there's lots of black noise? And red is almost too high-contrast. I didn't get a chance to ask him on this, but my feel of it is that without both eyes working correctly, you're not getting the correct color balance, and I don't know for sure, but I'd expect each eye will process colors differently that when combined will give you that color balance.

I did an experiment earlier this week, where I blocked my right eye and then my left. When blocking my right eye, my vision immediately becomes darker, yellowish annd an unreadable blurry. Blocking my left eye and I see just fine.

[Daehawk]

Still cant see thru clothes with an x-ray eye ??

[Kraken]

My crotch hurts. I blame my cat.

[Isgrimnur]

Taint his fault.

[Rumpy]

Still cant see thru clothes with an x-ray eye ??

Sadly doesn't work that way Gotta be careful what you wish for too

More info: It's called Central Serous Retinopathy, or CSR for short. What it is is a buildup of fluid in the back of the eye producing a tent-like structure that lifts the retina, leading to distorted vision, loss of color, contrast, floaters, etc. In the simplest terms, the way it feels for me now is the way I feel when I wear polarized 3D glasses but not being able to remove them.

[Daehawk]

My crotch hurts. I blame my cat.

You shouldn't put a cat down there.

[Kraken]

My crotch hurts. I blame my cat.

You shouldn't put a cat down there.

Actually, he was "up there" -- up a tree, specifically. Normally he climbs the trunk, looks around for a minute, then backs down into my hands. (Remember, he's on a leash and I don't let him climb more than 10-12 feet up.) This time, he decided to jump when he was still just a little beyond my reach. When I lunged to catch him, I twisted my leg relative to my pelvis and really did a number on the muscles and gristle in my groin. Whatever I tore or bruised or stretched or dislocated down there is taking a long time to heal.

I did catch the cat, so that's a win.

[Daehawk]

May have to put a right knee on my wishlist. hehe. My left knee has always been my bad one. I busted it playing football as a teen. Im not sure whats busted..was told cartilage. If you hold my knee as I bend and unbend it you can feel that move and pop in it. Sometimes it moves into a spot where I can't walk at all on that leg. Any weight and it just collapses and in pain too.

My right knee though never has really hurt but when id squat down it sounded more like paper ripping. Nothing rips but you can hear it. Its as if when the parts stretch they squish out air bubbles in them. Its weird. But lately its been bothering me with some pain. Especially if I twist any on it. I hope it doesn't go too or Ill have some fun getting around easy.

I feel like an old retired catcher in baseball.

[Kraken]

Yesterday the pain I've had in my groin for the past two weeks finally went away. It still feels a little wonky, but no longer hurts constantly. I had just about resigned myself to living with it.

[Jeff V]

Yesterday the pain I've had in my groin for the past two weeks finally went away. It still feels a little wonky, but no longer hurts constantly. I had just about resigned myself to living with it.

I had blue balls once, it was caused by falling into Lake Michigan 3 days after Chicago set it's all-time (at the time) record cold.

My problem of late have been really, really painful calluses on my feet. Usually it affects my heels, but currently my right foot has a painful spot on it's right side, and both have painful calluses on the toes. Being diabetic, this is of much concern. Just ask Kraken's BiL. It makes me not want to walk excessively (haven't used the hamster wheel in quite awhile) and I've only hit my 10K daily goal a couple of times a week for the past month or so. Could be I need new shoes. When I remember to do so, Eucerin helps soften it up if I apply it for several days...then inevitably I hit a day with no pain, fail to use it, and the next day it's pain again. And because austerity measures are in force, I just bought the Walgreen's generic version...not only is the list price 25% cheaper, but I get an additional 25% off because of my sister's discount.

[Blackhawk]

A couple of months ago my lips suddenly began to swell and burn. They puffed up, were painful and itchy. The next day the skin cracked and peeled. I never have problems with dry lips, but I was using a lip balm for the first time in my life. And it kept fading and recurring. They would get better for a few days, then would swell, itch, burn, and crack. That would last for several days, then ease up, then recur.

My first thought was an allergic reaction. I'd just started using a new toothpaste, soap, and mouthwash (we experiment with hygiene products rather than sticking with one.) So I stopped using those for a couple of weeks. Nope, no change.

Then I noticed that it always hit in the evening, right after dinner. Ah! Food problem? I've had similar swelling from beans in the past, but beans cause a lot of other problems (chest/back pain, my entire mouth itches, my throat itches and swells), so I didn't think it was connected. But I started paying attention, as I haven't eaten anything lately that I haven't eaten many times in the past without trouble. But I paid attention and narrowed it down - it was my smoothie. I started drinking those last March as a way to up my vegetable intake. But, with the exception of trying turnip greens, I still wasn't using anything I hadn't used before. I cut out turnip greens, but that wasn't it. Over the next few weeks, I started experimenting, swapping out one ingredient at a time. Regular milk instead of almond milk. I eat bananas regularly, so I knew it wasn't that. Every vegetable was skipped for a few days. But the effect was still happening, but it was... inconsistent. That made it harder - kale today and yesterday causes burning! But the next day Kale does not. I thought it might be the straws, that the heavy suction for thicker smoothies was 'pinching' my lips and causing the effect. So I quit using frozen ingredients and added extra liquid to thin them. Didn't help. So I removed the straw and tried drinking it directly - ow! That increased the exposure on my lips, and the effect was doubled. Then what could it be?

Then... oh, shit. Idiot.

I realized that I had failed in my basic scientific methods. I hadn't properly controlled the variables. There were two ingredients that I didn't really think about, as they weren't there for nutritional or flavor purposes - they were there for texture, and I continued to swap between them while testing the other ingredients ( .) I finally figured it out - somehow, over the past two months, I've developed an unexpected allergy to avocados. I went in, rubbed my finger in an avocado, rubbed it on my lip, and BAM! It was inconsistent because I use either avocados or tofu in my smoothies to make them creamy and smooth.

So, avocados. I'd never eaten them much in my life. Hardly ever - a couple of times a year I'd get some guacamole on something. That was it. For the last eight months I've been having two or three a week. Apparently that was enough to trigger a brand spanking new allergy. Sigh.

[Blackhawk]

As an aside, I had two allergies as a child, and both had the same effect. Beans and tuna. They caused the entire inside of my mouth and throat to itch like crazy, my lips to puff and hurt, and what I called 'back pain.' No breathing difficulties, just itching and pain. The last one caused a number of adults in my life to think I was lying - why would beans cause back pain? And actual bean allergies are extremely rare. Not nuts, not soy, not legumes - I could eat all three. But beans - kidney, black, navy, you name it. Bam. But sometime in my early teens the tuna allergy just vanished. And when I was 17 I tried chili with beans for the first time in years, and had no problems at all.

I ate beans and tuna regularly for almost 30 years, then two or three years ago the bean allergy suddenly and painfully reappeared, and worse than before. I can't go near the things anymore. I can still eat tuna - I'm hoping that one doesn't come back. And with me suddenly developing an allergy to avocadoes (another rare allergy), I'm afraid it'll spread. Losing access to soy or nuts would be a big problem for me. And a lot of people with sensitivity to avocados apparently also have problems with bananas and latex (there's some similarity there, apparently.)

And as another aside, as an adult with a better understanding of anatomy, I'm guessing that the 'back pain' I claimed from beans as a child was some sort of swelling or irritation of my esophagus. So parents - if your kids are claiming that they're having a problem that doesn't make sense, shut the hell up and listen to them. They may just not know the right words to describe what's happening to them.

[naednek]

I get to deal with peripheral neurothopy neuropathy>

Been put on cymbalta and it's been a week. Still waiting for that to kick in. It's agonizing.

[Blackhawk]

A couple of months ago my lips suddenly began to swell and burn. They puffed up, were painful and itchy. The next day the skin cracked and peeled. I never have problems with dry lips, but I was using a lip balm for the first time in my life. And it kept fading and recurring. They would get better for a few days, then would swell, itch, burn, and crack. That would last for several days, then ease up, then recur.

My first thought was an allergic reaction. I'd just started using a new toothpaste, soap, and mouthwash (we experiment with hygiene products rather than sticking with one.) So I stopped using those for a couple of weeks. Nope, no change.

Then I noticed that it always hit in the evening, right after dinner. Ah! Food problem? I've had similar swelling from beans in the past, but beans cause a lot of other problems (chest/back pain, my entire mouth itches, my throat itches and swells), so I didn't think it was connected. But I started paying attention, as I haven't eaten anything lately that I haven't eaten many times in the past without trouble. But I paid attention and narrowed it down - it was my smoothie. I started drinking those last March as a way to up my vegetable intake. But, with the exception of trying turnip greens, I still wasn't using anything I hadn't used before. I cut out turnip greens, but that wasn't it. Over the next few weeks, I started experimenting, swapping out one ingredient at a time. Regular milk instead of almond milk. I eat bananas regularly, so I knew it wasn't that. Every vegetable was skipped for a few days. But the effect was still happening, but it was... inconsistent. That made it harder - kale today and yesterday causes burning! But the next day Kale does not. I thought it might be the straws, that the heavy suction for thicker smoothies was 'pinching' my lips and causing the effect. So I quit using frozen ingredients and added extra liquid to thin them. Didn't help. So I removed the straw and tried drinking it directly - ow! That increased the exposure on my lips, and the effect was doubled. Then what could it be?

Then... oh, shit. Idiot.

I realized that I had failed in my basic scientific methods. I hadn't properly controlled the variables. There were two ingredients that I didn't really think about, as they weren't there for nutritional or flavor purposes - they were there for texture, and I continued to swap between them while testing the other ingredients ( .) I finally figured it out - somehow, over the past two months, I've developed an unexpected allergy to avocados. I went in, rubbed my finger in an avocado, rubbed it on my lip, and BAM! It was inconsistent because I use either avocados or tofu in my smoothies to make them creamy and smooth.

So, avocados. I'd never eaten them much in my life. Hardly ever - a couple of times a year I'd get some guacamole on something. That was it. For the last eight months I've been having two or three a week. Apparently that was enough to trigger a brand spanking new allergy. Sigh.

Oh, god dammit - I'm getting some lip swelling, and there is no avocado in the smoothie I just drank! I just discovered a new possibility - the vegetables. Apparently, kale allergies are a thing, can cause lip swelling, and is often combined with an allergy to several other vegetables, incluing collard and turnip greens. I cycle through four different vegetables in my smoothies: kale, collard greens, turnip greens, and spinach. What if I developed an allergy to cruciferous vegetables in general, and the reason I can't narrow it down is because I became allergic to multiple ingredients more or less simultaneously?

Sigh. If it weren't for the pandemic, I'd just see a doctor about getting an allergy test. As it is, I just need to test these individually, one by one.

[Isgrimnur]

I want video footage of you wiping your face down with leafy greens.

[Blackhawk]

It's getting close to that. I'm thinking about skipping the smoothies entirely for a week just to make sure that's where it's coming from, then do one ingredient per day - I know the almond milk is in the clear, as I have it twice a day and only have the symptoms once. So maybe I'll try just blending half a cup of almond milk with a cup of each of the ingredients in turn, drinking them sans-straw, and see if any trigger the effect.

This would be so much easier if I could just get an allergy test.

[Daehawk]

5 weeks later - "Turns out it was the wife's new lip balm when she kissed me goodnight"

[Blackhawk]

5 weeks later - "Turns out it was the wife's new lip balm when she kissed me goodnight"

Nope. She's used the same stuff for years.

[Jeff V]

Smoothies are bad for you anyway. All of the sugar, none of the fiber and other good stuff from fruits and veggies. They are a nightmare for us diabetics. My wife makes the kids drink a monstrosity that includes kale, carrots, and celery along with green apple, oranges, and bananas. It looks like swamp water to me, and doesn't taste much better.

Opinion is subject to change if she adds in a bottle of vodka.

[Blackhawk]

I've seen her smoothies on YouTube.

I've heard these criticisms before. They're unfounded.
1. The bit about sugar isn't true if you don't make it out of 3/4 fruit. My normal smoothie contains 1 banana, 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, either half an avocado or a quarter package of tofu, and four cups of kale, spinach, collard greens, or turnip greens. That's the sugar of one banana. Now, yeah - if you use one banana, an orange, a cup of pineapple, and a scoop of ice cream (or sweetened yogurt), you're getting sugar. You're not making a smoothie, you're making a shake. It's only desert if you make it like desert.
2. Vegetable smoothies retain their fiber and nutrients (and fruit smoothies retain most of them.) Blending doesn't destroy meaningful amounts of fiber. If it did, chewing would cause the same problem. So would digestion.
3. The myth is that since they go down your throat faster, you're taking in the sugar faster. What sugar is in them is sugar in its natural form (not refined), and it is mixed with large amounts of fiber, which slows digestion and absorption, lowering the effect even more. I'd get a bigger sugar spike eating a single banana.
4. I don't have any blood sugar problems, so even if I doubled the fruit, it wouldn't be a concern.
5. I can't eat whole vegetables. I have bad tooth genetics (I'm the only person in my family that made it to 40 with any of their original teeth), and I haven't had dental insurance in 15 years. I can't chew greens unless I boil them into goo first - which, unlike blending, does destroy nutrients.

[The Meal]

This is not the worst malady in this thread. This isn't in the worst 50% of troubles people are facing. But it's the thing I've been dealing with.

The tube between my middle ear and my sinuses has caused me troubles when I fly for the past few decades. Upon descent the tube seals up and I feel the inherent pressure differential between the middle ear and the rest of my environment. For normies, when you chew or yawn or even just point your chin at your chest (or especially manually force pressure into your middle ear using the diver's valsalva maneuver) , you can momentarily open up this eustachian tube and allow pressure to normalize. This is more of a process for me. Sometimes it takes a few days after a flight before I would finally get that relief (and with the pressure differential manifesting across my eardrum, it means I couldn't hear out of my left ear until that happens). This was the worst when I was traveling between Colorado and the Bay Area every six weeks for work functions.

Also, the pain during descent was immense. Babies (who also have this difficulty) would be bawling their eyes out and I'd be right there with them in silent commiseration. I nearly pulled the plug on vacation after the descent during the first leg of a three-legged flight had me curled into the fetal position. Had there been a bus that travelled between Houston and St. Thomas, I'd have demanded a seat on it.

In mid-November, I joined my wife on a work trip (coincidentally to the USVI). The return flight (a three-legger, involving a 4-hour flight to Dulles, and a 3 1/2-hour leg to Denver) was on 11/17. I had my more-typical one day of trouble after the flight, but all seemed to return to normal. But then on 11/23, as family rolled into town for Thanksgiving, the trouble returned in that ear. It was on and off for the first few days, but I could position my head (staring weirdly at my feet) and be able to hear when talking to folks. But as time went on it was getting worse. MHS went on a nice Black Friday shopping spree for me including getting ear drops, a saline nasal spray, a heating pad, and (most oddly) purchasing an "EARDOC MASSAGER". Relief was not forthcoming.

After the holiday and as folks were clearing out of town, I woke up on 12/1 with significant pain in that ear. That's what spurred me onto Urgent Care. The P.A. decided to throw the kitchen sink at the issue. She prescribed an oral steroid to reduce inflammation, separate nasal and oral antihistamines, and "behind-the-counter" 12-Hour Sudafed decongestant. She wrote a prescription for an antibiotic, just in case I got the sense something would be growing in there. I've been on this regimen for the past four days. No relief.

Focus is in the tank. Balance is a joke. (Christmas lights are not put up.) Hearing sucks. I'm feeling over it. The diagnosis is called Eustachian Tube Disorder (ETD), and I was told that if after two weeks things haven't improved it's time to escalate.

For now, this is where the story stops. From toilet-top research, I see there are some experimental long-term treatments to address issues with eustachian tubes involving putting a mechanical balloon around them (either going in through the eardrum, or even more concerning, going in through the sinus cavity). This actually sounds better than what I had assumed would be a roto-rooter fix. Something will have to happen, because I don't see me living a life where I can't get on airplanes or travel to high altitudes.

~*~*~

Three hours later, I used my Neti squeeze bottle in the shower and managed to squirt water into my middle ear. Shortly after the shower I was able to manually clear my ear with the valsalva maneuver. Huzzah! I'm sure it'll be weird for another day or two, but for now I'm enjoying hearing out of both ears. Getting the ringing to stop would be extra amazing! But progress!!

[The Meal]

Well I was fine again until this morning. Three straight days of normal hearing and being in a tremendously good mood.

But no more. Sounds like this could be a long-term issue. I swapped drugs around a bit and got my outer ear power-blasted with a peroxide solution (which seemingly only had the effect of destroying my sense of balance). I ordered an otovent (ninety second video). I've got an appointment with a PCP in eleven days (and then an ENT specialist two months later, I'm sure). All of this during the most social time of the year.

At least I had three days of relief. Fortunately I'm not in pain and I probably don't have some significant underlying root cause which is manifesting like this. My issue could be way way way worse. But I'm crushed that this is something I have to deal with for the next while...

[stessier]

Sorry you're going through that. The not knowing the end date, if there is one, is the hardest part I've found. Feel free to rage post - we're here for you!

[jztemple2]

Went to see a urologist for the first time after getting two high PSA results in a row. Nothing was found by the finger examination . They took blood and urine samples for testing. If the test don't dismiss the PSA results as a false indication, the next step sometime in January would be a prostate MRI, which the doc tells me is 85% effective in finding "hot spots" which can then be biopsied. Merry Christmas till then.

[Daehawk]

Im getting more neck cricks and muscle cramps. Maybe its just the change

[Skinypupy]

Went to see a urologist for the first time after getting two high PSA results in a row. Nothing was found by the finger examination . They took blood and urine samples for testing. If the test don't dismiss the PSA results as a false indication, the next step sometime in January would be a prostate MRI, which the doc tells me is 85% effective in finding "hot spots" which can then be biopsied. Merry Christmas till then.

Must be prostate season. I just got home from the doctor, where they have started me on a 4-6 week antibiotic regimen for prostatitis. She didn't think it's anything more significant than that, but won't be able to really test for it until this is cleared up. Then I'll get to go through the same testing battery. Yay.

It basically feels like I'm sitting on a painful golf ball 24-7, accompanied by a constant low-grade kick to the balls. Super duper fun, and has put a hard stop on pretty much any physical activity until it subsides. So much for getting 400+ running miles this year.

[Daehawk]

I remember when we were young. We'd change caves in the spring and let the winter one air out. Bat guano is bad for the lungs. The Sabertooth cats are abundant in the spring back then. Hides being tanned for housing walls and pits dug to cook wild pig in....

[Smoove_B]

Must be prostate season.

Better than gout season!

[Skinypupy]

Must be prostate season.

Better than gout season!

I’m just grateful they don’t happen to be coinciding.

[Jeff V]

Must be prostate season.

Better than gout season!

I think I'm dealing with both, but nothing is more unpleasant than zipping up, leaving the can, and then realizing you needed a few more shakes.