Why I Go Here For Medical Advice

Typhoon · 2023-10-25T02:51:02+00:00

I had my physical today. Let me first pose this question to you guys “How does being cold affect Blood pressure and Pulse?” So I get on the waiting room an...

garyt1957

Typhoon. Seems like they should be aware of this.
I've been having issues with an elevated PSA level so I did some reading and found out that doing a DRE before the blood test for PSA can result in a higher level yet every Doctor I've been to did the exam first and drew blood last. How does that happen? I can read that in a 5 minute search and Doctors can't or don't care? You really need to be your own advocate.

Rickochet

garyt1957 I've been having issues with an elevated PSA level so I did some reading and found out that doing a DRE before the blood test for PSA can result in a higher level yet every Doctor I've been to did the exam first and drew blood last. How does that happen? I can read that in a 5 minute search and Doctors can't or don't care? You really need to be your own advocate.

I get my blood work done several days before my annual exam. My doc's office opens at 7:00am so I go in after I get up after fasting and get blood work done with no appointment. A day after I get blood drawn I get an email with results posted in my online health portal. I could get blood drawn on the day of my exam but I like to have them done so I can discuss any issues with the doc.

garyt1957

Rickochet I agree, that's the best way to do it.

Typhoon

Only PSA test mine will do is through the bloodwork. No “thumb in the bum” or anything .

Walterjn

Typhoon she probably wouldn't feel anything if her hands are like icicles...

Rickochet

Typhoon Only PSA test mine will do is through the bloodwork. No “thumb in the bum” or anything .

I always wondered how medical students practice doing the finger check in school. Do they have an artificial butt to work on or take turns on each other or what? 😉

garyt1957

Typhoon Only PSA test mine will do is through the bloodwork. No “thumb in the bum” or anything .

Mine, also female, quit doing it too. I kind of wondered if she just didn't like doing it. I always felt the Dr.s had the worst end of the bargain. And what can you do, insist on it? That would seem a bit creepy. All jokes aside it's not perfect but it is a tool in diagnosing prostate cancer. I'd rather go through that then find out too late I have cancer.
I see a urologist now and he'll do one once a year.
PSA tests from what I've read are very hit and miss also. They tend to show the less lethal cancer and miss the worst ones.

garyt1957

Rickochet I always wondered how medical students practice doing the finger check in school. Do they have an artificial butt to work on or take turns on each other or what?

I imagine they have anatomical models to give you an idea what you're feeling for. They also (at least used to) pay people to be virtual test dummies for stuff like that. Sign me up!

Nat

Rickochet

When I was in med school (late 80’s) we had paid volunteers for gynecology and prostate exams (diff days). At my med school today they use mannequins for the GYN and live for the prostrate

professor

garyt1957 All jokes aside it's not perfect but it is a tool in diagnosing prostate cancer. I'd rather go through that then find out too late I have cancer.

PSA levels are a notoriously inaccurate metric regarding prostate health. They vary significantly across the male population. Ove the past few years my PSA levels had gradually increased and eventually got to the point of growing concern. With a family medical history for prostate cancer it was of even greater concern. I don't believe either the PSA level or a simple physical exam provide much information. In 2020 that led to a prostate biopsy. (Trust me, you'd rather the physical 'exploration'.) Well, those results had me in the clear for no signs/symptoms of cancer. Since then, with no major lifestyle changes my ongoing bloodwork indicated my PSA levels gradually and consistently dropping to levels now within the norm.

sdandrea1

professor

My urologist told me he's not as concerned with the PSA level as he is with sudden spikes in the level. That's what he's watching for.

garyt1957

professor PSA levels are a notoriously inaccurate metric regarding prostate health.

All well and good but the part you quoted me on was about DRE's

Typhoon

A concern that I had when sitting there was this…
I had EKG’s with my old doctor every year because of family history. And my old doctor would review the history with me. She sees my BP go from like 108/75 to 189/97 and my pulse go from 62 to 99 and she doesn’t think to do am EKG?????? All she said was ‘ EKG looked good in 2021.”

And another thing…. You have to fill out this questionnaire about how you feel, things that bother you, have you thought of suicide. And she mentions NOTHING of it. It’s amazing to me because of some of the things I checked off.

garyt1957

Typhoon A concern that I had when sitting there was this…
I had EKG’s with my old doctor every year because of family history. And my old doctor would review the history with me. She sees my BP go from like 108/75 to 189/97 and my pulse go from 62 to 99 and she doesn’t think to do am EKG?????? All she said was ‘ EKG looked good in 2021.

Time to get a new Doctor, maybe, I was almost sent to the hospital when I had BP of 190/100 till I explained. I had to pick a new Dr. due to insurance change so I chose a Mark Jones or something. So I go for my physical and in walk two 30 something women. I thought they were nurses but then I noticed the white coats and I was like "Oh shit". They took my BP and it was outrageous. They wanted me to go to the hospital . I was like "Unless one of you is Dr. Mark I think I know the problem". They laughed and they did the "turn your head and cough" and "bend over" routines , they let me calm down awhile and test my BP again and it was OK. Turns out it was a training type practice where residents did all the actual exams and Dr. Mark was just the head guy. The point being, you'd think your Dr. would have taken that high BP a little more seriously and not let you walk out of there without it going down or sending you to ER.

KCee

Typhoon I've had similar complaints since my dr retired. I don't know what it's like by you, but around here it's very difficult to find another doctor. My original doc (who was decent) was at a medical group with a clinic not too far from me. After he retired I saw a few of the other docs there and wasn't too impressed. I tried to find a new doc and realized that they were either part of the same medical group and/or not accepting any new patients. There is literally no other dr I can go see within a 30 min radius of my house. The closest doc accepting new patients is in downtown Hartford where I have no desire to go unless absolutely necessary.

professor

garyt1957 All well and good but the part you quoted me on was about DRE's

I was just using some of your post for a point of reference. The DRE isn't much of a diagnostic and it's certainly not an accurate assessment tool.

Sneakylong

KCee I don't know what it's like by you, but around here it's very difficult to find another doctor.

Same here in Florida for us. Our primary care doctor we had since moving here 21 years ago sold his practice and just does a medical marijuana practice now.

We found another doctor nearby, but she left to work for the county. Only saw her once. The big healthcare conglomerate here is called BayCare. In this new office where she was there’s just a nurse practitioner. It’s only ~ 3 miles from us. Very convenient.

They’re having a hard time find doctors. They called me to cancel my physical for next year. There was a story on the national news recently saying there’s a nationwide shortage of primary care physicians.

I have family up on the Cape in Massachusetts and they tell me it’s the same up there.

Typhoon

KCee We thought our old doctor sucked. He flat out told us he didn’t want to be a doctor, he wanted to file medical records. He reminded me of Hermie from “Rudolph”… “I don’t want to be an elf.” We used to say that we’ll never get sick, we just gonna die. So he left and joined a practice near where he and his husband bought a house. We could have stayed with him and drove a ways but figured the next doctor HAD to be better. And just our luck, she is far worse. I seriously could have done what she did the other day. No medical training was required.

DonM

Sneakylong
Same in DFW.

sdandrea1

Seeing my family physician tomorrow. Hope my numbers are good......she kinda scolds me.

Eguller

sdandrea1 she kinda scolds me.

Well, it’s her job requirement. 😉

rsvman2

I went for a routine check-up about a month ago. Nurse calls me back to take vitals. She starts to put the cuff on over my long-sleeved shirt.

I said to her, 'shouldn't I roll up my sleeve?' She responds with 'No, it's fine.' So she takes my blood pressure with the machine, and it's something like 190 over 115. She looks astonished, and then she says 'Is your blood pressure usually high? Are you feeling all right?'

I said, 'why don't I roll up my sleeve and let's try it again?'

So she took it again and it was 115 over 68.🙄🤪

sdandrea1

rsvman2

You're not helping my confidence in the medical community rit large.......🤣

I have an acquaintance who often says "remember, 50% of the doctors graduated in the lower half of their class"......😉

garyt1957

rsvman2 that's kind of scary

Walterjn

rsvman2 the dumb BP machine at cvs has a sign that says to remove jackets, and long sleeves for accurate results...