Comments for The Self-Treatment Guide

Comment on What Do You Call Your Kids? by Dean

Dean — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:06:48 +0000

Hey S E E,

Unfortunately, Flea shut down his blog not long after he posted the above remarks. He is sorely missed by all who came to know and love him.

I don’t have a link handy, but there was a great deal of discussion about him and the demise of his blog posted throughout the medical blogosphere at the time. If you go to any of the medical blogs such Doctor Anonymous, or Kevin, MD and search for flea, you’ll pick up the thread.

I’m going to head over and read your post now.

Dean

Comment on Rebound Headaches by Dean

Dean — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:50:45 +0000

Hey Sara,

Sorry I’ve taken so long to respond, I’ve been neglecting this blog of late as I’ve been busy working on some other projects. This response started to get long so I decided to turn it into a blog posts.

I assume we’re talking about headaches here… and I’ve got to point out that I’m no expert on the subject.

Comment on What Do You Call Your Kids? by S E E Quine

S E E Quine — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:48:36 +0000

` Wow. This somewhat resonates with my most recent post (including the comments), which you may or may not think is interesting.
` When I was a kid, the doctors diagnosed me with so many illnesses, none of them addressing the fact that I should have been taken out of my home because my father was horribly abusive.
` They just looked at ME and put ME in a mental hospital and treated ME like a leper and gave ME all this medication that screwed ME up, and not once was this helpful!
` There was nothing wrong with ME, I was just reacting to being treated atrociously! Any kid would have similar symptoms! The whole ‘you’re crazy’ thing just gave my dad - who needed to live in a mental hospital himself - more fuel to threaten me with!
` I think that doctors - especially the mental health kind - need to have their heads examined. What are they thinking?

` PS where did Dr. Flea’s blog go?

Comment on Rebound Headaches by S E E Quine

S E E Quine — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:33:10 +0000

` I just thought of something; pain medications including Codeine, Demerol and Morphine (and general anesthesia, which I was once forced under literally kicking and screaming when it wasn’t necessary) don’t have much of an effect on me besides severe side-effects. I guess opiates aren’t a good option.
` Large doses of Ibuprofen is the only thing that I know helps, as long as the pain is relatively mild. (Although to most people this pain is probably more like moderate.)
` I have noticed that I can be in worse pain (=restricts my movements more) after it wears off. I’m wondering; what other options do I have in painkiller world? And don’t mention Tylenol because I also have side-effects from that!

Comment on Rebound Headaches by Dean

Dean — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:26:18 +0000

Hi Sara,

Occasional use of NSAIDS appears to be safe. Regular use can damage the lining of the stomach. (According to a doctor friend of mine.)

The “Rebound Headache” thing is still just a theory. I don’t know if any studies have been done on it yet.

Anti-inflamatories can help speed recovery in some instances of joint and muscles injuries. Usually because they allow you to do some light physical therapy without pain… or to get some much needed sleep.

On the other hand, pain meds can also mask the pain and cause people to keep working when they should rest the injury. This is a major cause of Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) such as Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.

Bottom line is it’s probably best to follow your doctor’s advice and use pain meds only in moderation.

Comment on Rebound Headaches by S E E Quine

S E E Quine — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 05:08:32 +0000

` I never thought of NSAIDS being that dangerous or annoying before! And yet, doesn’t pain medication ironically tend to speed up the recovery process?

Comment on What is Chelation Therapy? by Paul

Paul — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:03:36 +0000

Well, what does remove the calcium/fat plaque. Clearing the arteries would be better than trying to control high blood preasure with drugs

Comment on What is Chelation Therapy? by Dean

Dean — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 04:38:42 +0000

Hi Francis,

I don’t think taking calcium supplements has any correlation to calcium deposits in the arteries. The body will only absorb as much calcium as it needs and simply disgards the rest. Calcium deposits in the arteries are manufactured by the body itself as a defense mechanism and is not dependant on the amount of calcium you consume.

Check with your doctor to be sure, but I believe I’m correct about this.

Comment on What is Chelation Therapy? by Francis

Francis — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 10:07:46 +0000

Question:
My wife who has had her parathyroid glands removed about 4 years ago by mistake, when removing her thyroid, now takes fairly large quantities of sandocal daily with vitamin d as a supplement, to activate it. I am concerned that this could leave large deposits of calcium in her arteries? Is this true, particulary as she suffers from acute chronic pain, believed to be linked with a below-normal count of calcium in her blood? It’s a real dilemma, since to correct this she needs to take in larger doses of calcium! Any comments?

Comment on Homeopathy Prank by Dean

Dean — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 23:47:02 +0000

That’s good news.

I can relate to how easy it is to be convinced that something works when it really doesn’t. It took me 10 years to figure out chiropractic wasn’t doing anything.

Then… once I started really researching it… the blinders fell off and I realized how they hoodwink us.

They’re going to be sorry they ever hoodwinked me… if they aren’t already!!!