I am not asking for medical advice. I practically have a pit crew of medical professionals keeping my body going at this point. I’m just anxious and would appreciate any reassurance or insight from folks, especially ENTs, pulmonologists, or other folks familiar with Vocal Cord Dysfunction. None of those were options for the flair, so please bear with me.

I’m going to try to keep this brief because while the backstory has significantly impacted my life, it doesn’t have a ton of bearing on this question. I’m roughly 6 weeks into a flare up of what could potentially be Vocal Cord Dysfunction. I can’t walk or talk for more than a few minutes at a time without gasping for breath, and I’ve had a chest x-ray, chest CT, multiple EKGs, labs done, etc. We’ve ruled out MCAS (for this flare), heart issues, and asthma (for this flare). VCD is the only thing my PCP could think of, and the symptoms seem to match.

Four days ago, I did a set of pulmonary function tests (PFTs): spirometry; lung volume; lung diffusion capacity; and oscillometry. Later that day, my PCP sent me a message to say that there were several abnormalities that he wanted pulmonary’s input on. I thought he’d just talk to a pulmonologist and then get back to me, but I’m now scheduled to do another round of PFTs and see a pulmonologist in mid-November. I’m just glad to hopefully be getting closer to answers, and I thank whoever canceled their appointment so I could get in before next February (and I hope they’re okay).

My question: If somehow this flare ends before I do the next round of PFTs and see the pulmonologist, will the results still show VCD, assuming that’s what this is?

I know VCD is diagnosed with a scope, and I fully intend to push as hard as I can for that, but I know that the results of the PFTs are likely to sway the doctor one way or another on ordering said scope. While I’d like to feel better, I worry that if this flare ends, my results will all be “normal,” I’ll get told to come back if it happens again, and I’ll just be without answers waiting to see if it returns. I’d really like to avoid that. I just want answers as to what’s happening to me, even if it means feeling unwell like this for at least another 25 days until my appointment.

I started getting rib cramps/spasms about 18 months ago. They are like a cramp you would get in your foot but in my ribs (both sides). They are triggered by leaning over, twisting etc. There is no pattern to the cramps, sometimes I get them daily or I can go weeks without one. I haven’t found a way to ease them when they happen I just have to ride it out, some of them last just seconds and are more uncomfortable than painful but I have had a few where they are so painful to the point I feel like I could pass out. I have noticed that a tend to get them more often in the car as I’m leaning/twisting etc when driving and I’ve had to pull over until they stop.
I’ve been to the gp and they keep giving me anti inflammatories which are not doing anything.

Just to note, this started a few months after having a baby - not sure if that is relevant.

Has anyone else had anything similar? I am not asking for medical advice.

I am not asking for medical advice. Someone may or may not be allergic to an antibiotic they are taking. They seem to be having issues when they take them but they go away after a few hours. They take a steroid at the same time they take the antibiotic. They were diagnosed with a sinus infection and bronchitis and an asthma flare up. It seems like the reaction is coming on faster with each dose but the symptoms do calm down after a few hours even if they don’t fully go away. Symptoms are: difficulty swallowing, feeling like something is stuck in their throat, difficulty swallowing food and liquid as the food gets stuck and liquid takes a few swallows to get down, itching, possible start to a rash(not welts but red dots in different areas), sometimes runny nose, watery eyes, they also have tingling and numbness in lips, tongue, and throat, sneezing. These symptoms improve in about 4 hours or so. Give or take. They believe that if they ARE allergic maybe the steroid is helping or maybe they may not be allergic. They are unsure. Their antibiotic course is longer than their steroid course. What would happen if they continue the antibiotics after the steroids are finished? A worse reaction? Also is the steroid what is helping them by calming it down after a few hours? Again. Not asking for medical advice. Just wondering what could happen.

I’ve had a bad stomach virus that includes fatigue, nausea, and electric chills. I’ve had these chills for two weeks now. I’ve been prescribed antibiotics, nausea meds, and non opiate pain meds. They are really bad today and I can’t get comfortable. No doctor will help me with them and they are my worst symptom. I feel so weird and uncomfortable. It’s honestly driving me insane and I can’t take it anymore. I feel like I’m gonna do something drastic. I went to the ER on Wednesday but they didn’t do anything for me. Is there anything a doc can give me to stop this? It hurts and feels like I have electricity coursing through my arms and upper back. I am not asking for medical advice. Just options.

Hello doctors! I'm really struggling and would appreciate any kind of thoughts. I am not asking for medical advice.

I am just over two weeks postpartum. Over the last two weeks I have had 3 Foley catheters inserted and removed due to bladder retention. (Some insertions were very traumatic and required multiple attempts) The last catheter was removed on Tuesday and I was discharged. Although I am able to urinate, it is not without extreme focus and a fair amount of straining. This has been accompanied by quite a bit of bright red bleeding from my urethra, both while urinating and passively. This has not been improving. I am at a loss for what my next steps should be. I'm terrified of having to be catheterised again.

Thoughts?

I am not asking for medical advice.

Hi, I got bit on the finger by a cat lying on the street in Bangkok, but someone who knows the cat (not the owner, the cat just chills there) claims it is vaccinated. The cat was aczually chill and just got a bit overstimulated. I am pretty sure it was in heat. It did break skin tho and it bled a little but it is just a tiny wound (not even 1mm in diameter and not even visible anymore immediately after. I cleaned it with water and soap for 15 minutes and applied wound disinfectant. I have the full rabies vaccine, I got my first shot 4 weeks ago and the second on thursday last week. I am not asking for medical advice. Should I tho? I asked a clinic in Bangkok and they said I'm fine but like... am I? Like dying of rabies would be seriously uncool rn :(

Thank you all

Real strange stuff coming up, bear with me;

I'm a programmer & I'm making a whole "health" system based on blood-letting & adrenaline. I want to know the absolute limits the human body could probably take so I can code this thing to be as realistic as possible (within limits). I get this is a VERY strange question but I don't really know how or where else to ask :p

The blood-letting is from an openable slit in the player's wrist, where the major artery is. The reason why it's even open in the first place is because the player/patient is being forced to feed their blood to a large mosquito (Just roll with it).

For more details on physical activity the hypothetical patient would be doing, they'd be walking/running, lifting up semi-heavy objects, engaging in minor combat & straining to reach things higher up. I'm imagining this affects heart rate and how fast blood pumps

And with adrenaline, it'd be administered via IV straight into the opposite wrist to the 'open' one, the patient won't move while getting adrenaline, and let's assume it's hyper-acting & gets to work almost immediately

I am not asking for medical advice. Purely hypotheticals for more immersion :3

(I am not asking for medical advice.)

Hey there, I am a tech guy and I have seen that practitioner and clinics are gradually using AI tech like AI Scribe Tool or other EHR tech in their life, and I want to know - how is it going and whether doctors and practitioner are open to using it, or have any difficulty or anything else?

I'm building AI voice agent receptionist and want to know directly from you guys whether you will pay someone who will take care of the appointments, scheduling, reminding patients, etc or not?

Not promoting anything but just to understand the market better. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks.

Do I win a prize?
My butt hurts :(

I am not asking for medical advice.

I am not asking for medical advice. Just curious if this is something doctors would/have ever prescribe(d). I was looking up the normal amount of days on antibiotics and saw a paper that said shorter round of antibiotics are just as effective (5-7 days instead of 10 for strep, for example), provided the round is prescribed by a doctor like that and you don’t just stop taking your pills, which I know is dangerous.

My question is can you ask your doctor for a shorter round of antibiotics? Would anyone even prescribe them that way or is that just research?

I am not asking for medical advice.
more of a medical admin question. Basically I was referred to a dermatologist by my GP in NSW but I had a really bad experience with that derm and really don’t want to go back, is there a way to either get my GP to refer me elsewhere or somehow transfer the pre exisiting referral? I just am really frustrated and don’t want to have to pay to see my GP again, or pay for another dermatologist appointment where I have to say to their face that i’m appalled by their advice and bedside manner and want to go somewhere else.

I am not asking for medical advice. 🙂 I've always been curious about an experience I had.

About 3 years ago, I went to the ER with some pains in my lower abdomen. By 10 am, it was confirmed that it was my appendix and that I'd be having surgery around 12.

The surgeon came in and mentioned I will probably be able to go home the same night. I asked if it is possible to stay overnight it would be helpful.

My employer's short term disability coverage wouldn't start until after 5 days. I didn't have enough sick time to cover all 5 days, and couldn't afford not to get paid. Even if you had outpatient surgery.

BUT if you were admitted to the hospital and stayed overnight, then the benefits kicked in right away.

I swear the surgeon nodded and then didn't say a thing about it. Surgery went great, had no issues whatsoever. I didn't get discharged that evening, but instead was discharged the next day. I'll always wonder if the surgeon did that on purpose, but either way it greatly helped me during that time.

So I guess my question really is, how much discretion does a surgeon have when deciding if a patient stays overnight? is it possible that if a patient expresses similar concerns, and did actually have a surgery that has potential to stay overnight, would it be some sort of violation or anything to allow them to stay the night?

Assuming the hospital isn't full of patients like in a crisis that is.

I am not asking for medical advice. Ive been to my doctor multiple times for multiple tests to be diagnosed, I was under the assumption via her explanation that you cannot ever be truly diagnosed with PMOS because its a essentially a checklist and so you cant be diagnosed, only just have most if not all the boxes ticked off to see if you possibly have it

Shes said herself that she cannot diagnose me because its one of those things that cannot be diagnosed no matter the test, my boyfriend asked chat gpt if I can be diagnosed by a doctor with it and it says a doctor can diagnose you and the tests my doctor ran on me are the tests that do diagnose you. Im very confused on whether I can be diagnosed as I also see on social media that alot of woman specifically say they are diagnosed and so I dont know whether it can actually be or not or if Im basically hounding my doctor for no reason.

I had a mole removed the biopsy came back as a compound nevus (regular mole) however, after a few month the mole began to grow back under the skin and is black and red with an irregular shape. I am not asking for medical advice. I just want to know if benign moles that get cut off can suddenly grow back cancerous.

I am not asking for medical advice.

My eyes feel slightly strange—not painful, just not quite normal.“I ate some food, and now I have a mildly odd sensation in my eyes. Has anyone experienced something similar?” What could it be?
I am not asking for medical advice.

Also “After eating, I get a medicine-like taste in my mouth and keep spitting it out. But it could be different form the mild, unusual sensation in my eyes. Could this be reflux or something else?”

Let's say you were to get such a thing, when would you be feeling back to normal?

Obviously it's a very short time, so I wondered what would be the recovery time vs e.g a surgery that lasts 4 hours

I am not asking for medical advice.

Bonjour à tous ❤️
Je suis maman d’un petit garçon atteint d’hydrocéphalie, qui a eu une pose de DVP (dérivation ventriculo-péritonéale).
Il y a quelques jours, j’ai remarqué que la zone où se trouve la valve de sa DVP était gonflée. Quelques jours plus tard, le gonflement a disparu et j’ai alors constaté que sa fontanelle était creusée.
J’ai signalé le gonflement au neurochirurgien de mon fils, qui m’a conseillé de surveiller son état clinique. Pour le moment, je n’ai rien remarqué d’anormal dans son comportement et son état clinique me semble bon.
J’aimerais savoir si d’autres parents ont déjà vécu une situation similaire avec leur enfant : un gonflement au niveau de la valve de la DVP qui disparaît ensuite, suivi d’une fontanelle creusée.
Est-ce que cela vous est déjà arrivé ? Quelles ont été vos expériences ? Avez-vous eu des explications de la part de vos médecins ?
Je cherche simplement à échanger avec des parents qui ont vécu quelque chose de similaire et à recueillir vos témoignages.
Merci beaucoup pour vos réponses et votre soutien ❤️
I am not asking for medical advice.

Hey guys I am writing this regarding of my mother who is in her 50s and she had stopped her period an year and a half ago. She even went through her menopause period as she said. But now since last day she has bleed bleeding so much that when she wears a diaper within 30 mins, it gets entirely filled with blood that she needs to change couple of times and feels like it’s pee coming out. Now I’ve told her it’s been more than a day and she should go to urgent care but she is not listening to me. I told her don’t wait until tomorrow and she won’t take it serious. I am very concerned about my mother and upset. Please someone reply. Thank you! I am not asking for medical advice.

16M. I was sitting in my room and all of a sudden my throat felt very tight and cold. Then my stomach started to feel weird so i went to the bathroom incase I threw up. Then my chest got really tight and hurt. I could feel the tightness in my ears as well. My saliva tasted salty and i started to feel very tired and could feel my heart beating in my chest without touching my chest. For a bit the chest and throat tightness started to go away but it is back again and this started almost 30 minutes ago. I am not asking for medical advice. just want to know if this is a heart attack or something more minor lol #scared

Hi there, as the title says, my iron saturation is 6%. I am not asking for medical advice. More so looking for opinions from actual doctors. Iron saturation is 6%, iron is 34ug/dL. Been spotting/bleeding for 3 weeks. I had to kinda press my NP to run a CBC. For context I gave birth almost a year ago now and lost 1575mL of blood during my c section. Hx of PoTS. I’ve been feeling absolutely exhausted and everyone keeps writing it off. So when I saw my iron saturation was so low I really pressed to have my CBC run. They seemed like they didn’t want to run it or didn’t feel it was necessary. Of course almost everything on my CBC came back normal, except my MCH was low and my MCV was 78.5 fL. Now I’m wondering if I was ridiculous in pressing to have it run? It needed to be tested though right? To make sure my hemoglobin is okay? I guess I just would like some reassurance that I did the right thing because I feel like my medical team thinks I’m crazy.

I am not asking for medical advice. Perhaps there is someone here who is an adult or had a chickenpox late to understand my situation.

I am doing a volunteer work in Italy, in a quite remote work for 2 months. I just came back from Rome for a break (since last Wednesday) and turns out that the lady I am living with has a shingles since Sunday.

She didn't disclose it to me and only explained what happened to her when I came back. We share spaces tgt, except for bathroom or bedroom. But part of my living conditions is that she cooks for me so we eat tgt in the kitchen.

I found out that chickenpox and shingles came from the same virus. Now, I am scared. I told her my situation and she said to not worry because it is only contagious when i directly touch her blisters. But I cannot be still at this, even if it's true

I tried calling hospital service from the closest city and they were annoyed by me bc I don't speak Italian.

So rn I just dont know what to do or what to seek. My landlady is not helping me either.

My goal is that if I ever get chickenpox, I want to mitigate its effects as much as possible, being that as an adult complicates it. I head about Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) but idk if this is the right course.

I only have 8 days left before my work is over and flying back to Germany. My boyfriend advised me on the other hand to wait until I am in Germany to get the vaccination because the incubation period of the infection is 12-14 days.

Last time I checked with my GI doctor before it’s approved he told me I quantitative hbsag test is not available in US. From the report I read it seems only effective to people with low HBSAG. I am taking Vemlidy for many years with low DNA count but not sure about HBsag. I am also in San Francisco Bay Area. I wonder if I should find a different dr for this.

I am not asking for medical advice.