Ha ha guys, this is me from last night!  "Gio!!  My poop is purple, I'm bleeding gastrointestinally, I think I'm going to faint!"  "What did you have for dinner last night?"  ".......beets."

Well I am going on a Cruise, 01-31-2010 and have a bit of a cold...or something? I got the nasal flu mist for H1N1 on last Thursday; and I have had the regular flu shot in 2009. So I am wondering if I have a cold or a immune system reaction to the H1N1 vaccine.
Symptoms: coughing, expelling phlem of a clear color, slight rattling in throat.
Attempted treatments: have been taking Thera flu sever cold with mixed results. Also vitamin booming self* 7 ways to Sunday and consuming more peppers/spicy food.
Either way I need to clear this shit up fast any good over the counter remedies you can recommend?

* Stop laughing I could not think of a better way to write this.

How do I tell the difference between having Pellagra, or just being a vampire?
I need to know if it's more blood or Niacin that I should be looking for.

Last edited by Aya (01-28-2010 08:58:04 PM)

Thanks Gio...Good luck with your studies.

Great thread idea. Here is a rather embarrassing question I must ask:

On Monday morning I had a polyp removed from my cervix (ouch!). Actually it didn't really hurt - it was small and accessible and was done with tweezers/forceps? and no anesthetic. Anyhoo the doctor said I could expect to see some light bleeding right after (which I did), but not after that. And that I could do any "activities" I wanted to do. Without waiting.

On Wednesday night I masturbated (hey it happens ) and this included some penetration with a vibrator. It felt good (really good) and there was no pain or anything. But to my surprise when I finished I noticed I was bleeding. A lot. It was heavy bleeding and it lasted for hmm, maybe 5-10 minutes? It even included some skin-type substance that reminded me of what the polyp looked like when the doctor showed it to me. It was more bleeding than I'd experienced after the polyp removal or during the earlier pap smear. And I don't bleed after sex. (I should include that my results from both pap smear and polyp removal have come back clear).

Fortunately it stopped. So I'm thinking that maybe I should have let myself heal up a bit more, and I should give it a week or two before masturbation and/or sex of a penetrative nature. Does this sound right?

And is it anything to be concerned about? Since the doctor did tell me I was fine to have sex etc and hey, I waited two days...

sharnii wrote:

And is it anything to be concerned about? Since the doctor did tell me I was fine to have sex etc and hey, I waited two days...

When was your last period? Trauma to the cervix could cause a little leaking of menstrual blood before your time actually comes up. It could also just have been crappy luck for you. Keep in mind it's a tender area with very thin mucosa. If the bleeding was self-limiting and there's no pain or residual drizzling, it's probably not much to worry about. To most people saying it's safe to screw presumes that 1. you're fucking something much smaller and softer than a vibrator, and 2. you're not really getting off, which moves the cervix around a lot more.

Funny story. When I was um...nevermind how young, but I tried to make a dildo once...out of tinfoil. Blood everywhere. I was fine two days later and at it again.

allegoriest wrote:

If I already had the piggie flu, I'm pretty sure I don't have the normal flu, I've been taking allergy AND cold medicine well over a month with no relief, and still have a cold, should I just stop buying the damn medicine and wait for spring? I WAS coughing up blood, but now its just like... yellow crap when I wake up and my throat wants to murder me. I'm combating its ouchies with lots of citrus, but only in a HAH, THAT STINGS, DOESN'T IT. I'm running out of tissue money.

You certainly could have the regular flu--they're different viruses and one offers no protection from the other. Coughing up blood is never a good sign, and yellow...well how yellow? The rule of thumb is that clear secretions, no matter how much of them you get, are viral. Greenish yellow hues are bacterial and need to be treated. Pale yellow however can just be the color of normal lung shit. Viral infections of the cold variety are also usually self-limiting and don't last a whole month. You might have bacterial bronchitis of one of many sexy sorts with the throat from coughing, or you could have a migrating strep infection. Either way, cold-like symptoms like that sustained over a month aren't normal and you should probably hop over to the doctor and ask what the fuck's up. Did you run a fever at any point?

allegoriest wrote:

Since that isn't really a question, I guess tell me something cool about AIP porphyria. Or you could like, tell me a good book. I've only heard what doctors can tell me in brief visit time, and I don't understand doctory words, so its hard to look up. And since most the world doesn't have that disease, they don't have it chillin on the shelf at Barnes and Noble.
(I think I have AIP anyway. It's the less horrendous skin one. It was that or HCP. I HATE LETTERS. I only get blotchy red, not like, demonic. Fuck you, sun. I think the only difference was the skin thing, and while mine DOES change, its not very notable. But there wasn't a good comparison.)

I honestly had to research those two a little myself. HCP is the one with the purple urine. Both HCP and AIP are genetic disorders, and pretty rare. But there's no known treatment for either except avoiding the attack triggers, which are usually drugs, alcohol, variations in diet, and so forth. Have you actually been diagnosed with one of these? I'm guessing it was by process of elimination. As for where to get information, your best bet's probably going to be medical texts on skin diseases and hereditary autosomal disorders.

allegoriest wrote:

...What uniform do people with your title get? I'm deathly curious.

Scrubs. Just like the fucking nurse's aide, the janitor, and everyone else not a doctor. Yes I'm bitter about that. I know scrubs are clean and convenient and all but they're what everyone else is wearing and if you want to encourage an idea that you're in a 'profession', that's not how you do it. I bet nurses were more respected when it was the Nurse Ratched outfit.

When I woke up this morning there was a curious sound coming from my chest. It was sort of a buzzing, humming kind of sound, very quiet, and it only happened when I exhaled deeply. I have had a cold the last couple of days, but I'm feeling much better at the moment. Anything to be worried about?

I had to take the last two shots Guardasil vaccine recently, and the people that work at my doctor's office fucked up when I was supposed to take it. It's about a two months late in between when I was supposed to take it. Is it still effective as a vaccine?

I went to the eye doctor and he said my eye pressure is up to 20. I have to go in every year for him to check and make sure I'm not getting glaucoma. He said I'm fine right now, just to be aware of it. I know I have slightly elevated blood pressure, at least when I last checked in like JUNE. I know it's probably because of my weight.

Since my blood pressure was checked in June, I've begun to lose weight. I've lost about 30 pounds now. Have about 40 to go. I'm stuck in a plateau right now but I'm not giving up. I know I'll lose the weight in a year or two.

My question is will my blood and eye pressure go down as my weight goes down? I'm only focusing on losing weight at the moment, not lowering my blood pressure. Is it okay that I'm focusing just on the weight loss at the moment? Is there anything else I should be doing? Again, I'm not giving up or anything. I just know that I might get overwhelmed if I have to focus on losing weight AND lowering my blood pressure at the same time.

Emiemipoemi wrote:

My question is will my blood and eye pressure go down as my weight goes down? I'm only focusing on losing weight at the moment, not lowering my blood pressure. Is it okay that I'm focusing just on the weight loss at the moment? Is there anything else I should be doing? Again, I'm not giving up or anything. I just know that I might get overwhelmed if I have to focus on losing weight AND lowering my blood pressure at the same time.

The absolute best thing you can do for your blood pressure is weight loss. The heavier you are, the less it matters how you drop the pounds. Still, now that you're moving along, you really want to look at smart dietary modifications. Read up on the DASH diet subscribed for people with heart disease--you're not there, no, but the general idea is pretty solid. You want lots of whole grain, healthy oils (olive oil), less salt, etc. Is your cholesterol elevated? Do you have any other conditions that would cause high blood pressure?

Exercise is also vital, but you might want to speak to your doctor about the whys and whatfors of your eye pressure--certain exercises might be a little less smart than others, such a heavy weight lifting. I can feel my eyes wanna fucking pop out when I do that. Lifestyle modifications are the absolute most effective way to lower blood pressure, and that's coming from someone who is overall very quick to take pills. Now in the case of glaucoma, though it tends to be present with high blood pressure, I think it's less responsive to lifestyle changes--that you may eventually need medication for.

In short, keep doing what you're doing. If you can cut some salt out, add some brown rice, use more olive oil...good. Oh, and a very, very good, very cheap way thing that's stupid good for your cardiovascular system: fish oil pills. Make sure you get the enteric coating or you'll burp them all day, but they're cheap as balls and very, very good for you.

Hinotori wrote:

What all do you know about ulcerative colitis?

Last week had a five year old with it.

Because most of the medications used for UC are pretty heavy on long-term side effects, if you're in remission or even if you only have minimal symptoms, doctors will not give you meds. It sounds, however, like remission is over. As I can recall most of the treatment options run along the lines of corticosteroids and immune modulators. Both will lower your immune defenses. The first will also make you fat and bloated, and becomes biologically required by your body after prolonged use. The latter will make most people sick and makes your immune system even more shoddy. You might have been on something like mesalamine before? In the case of my patient last week, she'd become resistant to that...so that's something to watch for if the doctor prescribes the anti-inflammatories first, and he probably will.

Honestly, there probably aren't any major consequences if you had no symptoms at the time. The disease does remit that way for some people. The danger is in ignoring it once it's active like it is now. So suck it up and go to the doctor. You do not want to know the statistic in my textbook for how many people with UC end up losing huge pieces of their colon and get -ostomies because the inflammation just burned the life out of everything. Take care of yourself.

And you know what? If you can...bring the doctor a sample (no more than a few hours old) of what you're crapping. If he's a skeptic or it's a new doctor, he'll assume GI infections first...and it may be worth ruling out besides.

Thanks Gio!

I have another one I forgot, I get nosebleeds once or twice on my period. What does this mean?

Setsuna wrote:

I have another one I forgot, I get nosebleeds once or twice on my period. What does this mean?

Well I can't say I've heard of this, but I would theorize that the hormones going rampant in your body are a deciding factor, as they will cause higher blood pressure, higher blood volume (swelling thar folks), etc., all of which incline you to nosebleeds if you have thin mucosa/bad luck. If you live in dry weather, it's an aggravating factor. Unless you lose more than maybe an ounce of blood (one really absorbent napkin), then it's not going to hurt you. You should mention it to your doctor, just to see if it becomes a piece of evidence in some larger diagnosis, but I think on its own it's pretty innocent. Strange shit happens when we rag.

Aya wrote:

Ok, so I used to throw up all the time as a reaction to stress, but for some reason, I just stopped. However, I noticed a slow decline in...well, the constincey of my poop. It's almost diahrrea like sometimes, and it has me running to the bathroom some days. My diet isn't really different from when it was before, and I get about the same ammount of exersise. The only real difference is that I moved. Do you think that my body might have changed its reaction to stress, or could it be a real sickness?

If you have a history of GI reactions to stress, then the diarrhea is not even remotely strange. (Diarrhea's my pre-period 'blessing'.) Actually diarrhea's one of the more common stress reactions, right up there with panic attacks. Throwing up in stress is more of a childhood manifestation, so it's possible you've found a new and unique way to hate stress. However, if your diarrhea is very thin and watery, like near clear, or there's red or brown ruddy chunks in it, you need to see a doctor. Also if you run a fever. If it's just plain old runs, try bulking up your diet with a slice or two of high fiber bread or some metamucil. Try fiber bulking before you try things like kaopectate.

Another thing to check out if you're drinking it is the local water and any possible new allergens in the area. Every area treats their water in different ways and some people will get the Mexico runs just because they're in Naples. (S'right, satyr. My aunt was used to the industrial waste water in NYC. )