Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with health and doctor

Left biceps hurts on weightlifting noob. Now what?

nomadicink — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:08:08 -0800

Recently started lifting weights a few months ago. Now arm hurts, wtf? In the bid to get in shape, got a trainer, worked with him, did a lot of crossfit stuff, some weightlifting lessons. Have since left "class" and am lifting on my own for about 6 months.

Over the past few weeks I've noticed a dull ache in my left upper arm, in my biceps I think. It's not a fierce or sharp pain, just a dull ache that feels worse if I lift. I tried shifting down to a lower weights, say going from 195 on a seated press to 130 and that helps a lot but the ache is still there.

What should I do? Should I totally stop lifting with my left arm? If so, can I still do weights with my right? Do I visit a doctor? Like I said it's not sharp pain at all, mostly unnoticed as I go through a normal day, so it seems odd to visit a doctor. Is there some time frame about long I should lay off?

Mostly, I'm really kinda freaking out over starting to develop nice definition and form and losing that. Is there anything I can do to prevent that, while attending to the pain/ache?

How do I find a good doctor?

Jsn7821 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:53:59 -0800

How do I find a good doctor to look at my wrist? My right wrist has been undergoing various minor traumas over the last few months. Basically a small puncture wound became a problem when I landed on my wrist playing frisbee and pulled something. A few weeks went by and it seemed to be healing, but then I re-injured it working in my yard. It's been about 2 months since the frisbee incident, and the actual area of interest has moved a little, getting closer to my wrist, ceased to make progress, and has become a small puffy area, red and bruised, about an inch in length. Maybe there is some sort of infection going on, I am not sure.

I can do just about everything I need to with my wrist, which is why I haven't sought out medical attention yet, but I have somewhat limited range of motion, and something like rock-climbing is completely out of the question.

Anyway: I just moved from WA state to Hawaii and don't know of any good doctors out here, and it looks like anyone near by isn't covered directly by my health insurance. I still have 60% coverage for non-covered doctors though, but I want to make sure I visit someone worthwhile if I am going to be spending a lot out of my pocket. I think what I want is an "osteopathic surgeon", but I am not sure.

I really want my wrist to heal. How do I find a good doctor?

Preparing for a doctor appointment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:36:23 -0800

When, if ever, is it reasonable to ask for a preemptive test? Given a family history of congestive heart failure I'm wondering how reasonable it is to reguest a MUGA or echocardiogram just to allay (or confirm) my own worries. I'm definitely already going to see a doctor, so I'm not asking for medical advice. I guess I am asking for perspective to help me frame my request with my physician. I'm 53 and have an upcoming appt with my internist regarding a different matter. Since I made that appointment my slightly older brother died a few weeks ago of sudden cardiac arrest at age 56. Apparently he had been seeing a doctor for congestive heart failure for a while. My other brother (age 59) received a stent some years ago while being diagnosed with diabetes and some degree of congestive heart failure. My mother died at age 66 of -- you guessed it -- congestive heart failure. Until my younger-older brother died, I was aware that my family history was not great, but his death has catapulted the issue of CHF to top-of-mind, to say the least. Yet...

I have what I assume to be the usual litany of complaints about getting older, but I tend to think of them as not really rising to the level of needing to be addressed. I received a good bill of health at my physical last year, along with the usual lifestyle warnings. (Salt, alcohol, maybe I should do some strength work in addition to walking, etc.) I just don't feel I have any acute physical complaints that would justify tests that are probably kind of expensive.

For anyone with perspective from the US health care community, am I one of those "walking worried" patients driving up costs for everyone, or would it be reasonable to push hard for a test to rule early CHF in or out?

How can I convince someone that they REALLY need to see a M.D.?

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:27:27 -0800

My SO has a fairly serious medical condition, and refuses to go to the doctor. Is there any way that I can/should address this? My SO of 3 years is in pretty good health, not overweight, non-smoker, but has known for a while that he has high blood sugar. Today I was talking to him and I noticed that I smelled what I perceive as artificial cherry smell on his breath. He had not eaten artificial or real cherry anything today.

I recognize it as a ketone smell, meaning ketoacidosis, which in my non-professional opinion would mean that he has likely gone from pre-diabetic to diabetic. He acknowledged this, and apparently has no intention of going to the doctor. I even looked up ketoacidosis, and pointed out to him that he was exhibiting several of the signs. He just rolled his eyes and politely told me to quit nagging.

Maybe I'm taking this the wrong way, but I feel like his total lack of concern for his health, and his unwillingness to go to see the doctor, translate into not really giving a crap about me or us or whatever (besides the obvious fact that he is ignoring a really big problem). It makes me feel like he doesn't value our relationship, because he doesn't seem to care if he doesn't get to spend time with me due to death or extreme illness. It's rather hurtful. He needs to see a doctor. Is there some way that I should react to this that would be more effective than nagging? Am I taking this the wrong way, and making a mountain out of a molehill?

He's not depressed, he always seems to be happy with me and our relationship, but he is one of those people that avoids seeing the doctor unless his arms blew off or something, and even then he would probably try to use duct tape to tape them back in place instead of seeking medical attention. My throwaway email is anonanswer@gmail.com. Any thoughts, insight, ideas, anecdotes, etc., would be appreciated.

Burned my hands with cleaning products. Now what?

dizziest — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:14:36 -0800

Mild chemical burns on my hands -- do I need to see a doctor? Cleaned something (not the toilet) using toilet bowl cleaner on Sunday, and stupidly didn't consider the fact that the harsh chemicals shouldn't touch my hands. Now it's Tuesday, and the red itchy spots haven't disappeared. If anything, they're slightly worse.

Now, before you chide me and tell me to see a doctor immediately and not be an idiot, they're not that bad. Still red, still painful, but only the tiniest amount of blistering (I had to stare for a while to even see it), and not so painful that I haven't been able to live my life just fine. Still, it concerns me that they still hurt and that they seem to be worsening.

Also, my insurance kind of sucks and I'm in my last week of grad school with a major project due on Thursday. I definitely don't have time to deal with the student care center (slow, awful, probably expensive) if it's not strictly necessary. That said, if someone with medical training tells me it's necessary, I'll go.

Otherwise, feel free to tell me about your experience, but know that I've already googled this plenty and am well aware that it's always a good idea to seek medical attention for chemical burns. I've read enough FAQs about this to notice that they're all copy-and-pasted versions of the same thing, and they seem to think I'm pretty much on the line between ok and not ok to just let this shit heal itself.

Should I go to podiatrist?

Sloop John B — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:43:44 -0800

My feet are in pain. What kind of doctor should I go to? I've heard that podiatry is sort of a dubious branch of medicine. So my feet are in bad shape. I've been walking in big, sturdy boots (Timberlands) for nearly a year without proper arch support. The arches of my feet have been hurting for a while, especially my left. The left foot has been getting worse lately, and is starting to feel a bit numb behind the knuckle of the big toe (not the joint on the toe, but where the toe meets the foot). Also, my left knee has problems and has been acting up lately.

I bought a nice arch support yesterday, so hopefully that'll help. But I really feel like I should go to a doctor and get this checked out. I know that "numb toes" is an indication of diabetes, but for various reasons I think this is probably more of a skeletal/muscular issue.

I've heard that podiatry is like chiropractry, where some people will swear by it but others feel it's kind of dubious. What kind of doctor should I go to?

Best Way to Get Healthcare While Back in the US

andoatnp — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:40:51 -0800

I will be returning briefly to the US after 6 months abroad and I would like to partake in some of that wonderful US healthcare before I head back abroad. I have a couple of questions. I was planning on spending a year abroad (in Israel) where I have the most basic emergency-only insurance that will not cover me in the United States. I will be spending a week in the United States at the beginning of March and if at possible I would like to see some medical professionals (dentist, dermatologist at least, possibly other stuff, depending). I will be in Georgia and Texas.

I have never been without health insurance before, so I am wondering if anyone has any experience about this or advice on what I should do. If it matters, the last time I had health insurance was COBRA in July, through an old job. This is not emergency stuff, just annual check-ups.

I assume I can just start calling up dentists and dermatologists in the areas I will be and see if someone will see me, but I'm wondering if there is a way to keep the costs down or if there is some sort of travelers insurance I can get that will help defray the costs.

How many doctors do I need to see, and with what frequency?

peanut_mcgillicuty — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:15:47 -0800

Trying to make sure I've got all my bases covered and can spend all my 2009 flex spending--how many doctors do I "need"? I am a 27 year old woman, generally in good health. I don’t smoke, drink moderately, am fairly active, eat well, and weigh in the low end of average for my height. I go to the dentist regularly and have been going to an ob/gyn for birth control and annual physicals for years.

I’m getting Lasik surgery next month so I won’t need an eye doctor aside from them for a while. I’ve had braces and had my wisdom teeth out, so no orthodontia needs. I have been in counseling and so have already found someone in that department when needed.

However, I wonder if I need to add other doctors to my list. Should I have a “regular” doctor I go see for any other kind of annual physical or when I’ve got the sniffles or food poisoning? (Usually, I just go to an urgent care clinic or wait it out). Is there any kind of doctor that can help in the above cases as well as provide ob/gyn checkups and birth control prescriptions? Should I start seeing a dermatologist with any regularity at some point? (I’ve been once, about a strange mole; my mother has a history of skin cancer although I’ve not had as much exposure as she did). Any other doctors that I’m leaving out?

I realize a lot of this depends on an individual and his/her health needs. I don’t have any health concerns right now, but my previous ob/gyn is leaving my insurance network so I need to find a new doctor, and I will have a surplus of 2009 flex spending money so I figured it might be a good idea to find out if I’m covering all my bases here. Which doctors do healthy adult females need to visit and how often?

What the hell happened to the health care system

serazin — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:53:04 -0800

I don't understand why health care suddenly costs so damn much. I can understand a few factors - nurses' pay has gone up, new treatments are more expensive (and doctors prescribe more expensive treatments - sometimes unnecissarily) but these factors don't seem to explain how insanely costly health care has become. And where is all that money going? Again, I understand that CEO pay has skyrocketed in the last 20 years, but is that enough to explain the enormous cost of health care these days? Another area of confusion for me is how little time doctors (and nurses) can now spend with patients. I understand doctors are pressured to see more patients, but how does that work on a practical level - has the ratio of primary care providers to patients changed significantly in the last 10 or 20 years? Is a higher percentage of the population seeking health care? If not, how can it be that each doctor is seeing so many more patients a day? I'm confused!

You have cancer. Oh wait, it's just mono.

djpyk — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:42:43 -0800

They sad I probably had cancer. Turned out it was mono. Is this normal? In January of this year, I had a few strange symptoms--night sweats, extreme fatigue, flu-like symptoms without a runny nose, swollen lymph nodes. I ended up going to my universities health clinic, as I'm a graduate student. Anyways, it was a Friday, and I told the doctor my symptoms. I had a few tests taken (including a "quick" mono test, which apparently is horribly inaccurate), as well as an x-ray of my chest.

Well, the clinic doc took a look at everything and got really worried. The mono test was negative, and she didn't seem to see any problems with my throat. She consulted with another doctor, and sat me down. Basically laid it out to me: you either have lymphoma (bad), or sarcoid (pretty serious). I was to get a CT scan the next day, to make a better diagnosis and see if anything was spreading. I was blown away of course, but I had her call my parents and talk to them about the situation to make sure I or her wasn't crazy.

Anyways, I went in for the CT scan that Saturday, and she wanted to schedule a biopsy at a local ear nose and throat (ENT) clinic the coming Monday. After a traumatic weekend with some of that nasty CT scanning liquid, I went into the ENT. The doctor there sat me down and said plainly, "I don't do biopsy's based on other doctor's orders." He basically thought I was nuts, and a bit confused by the CT scan. He took a look at my throat and after about a minute declared, "Yup, mono, almost 100% sure of it." He also took a look at my CT scan "readings" and they all, of course, came up nearly clear, with just a few blotches where some of my lymph nodes were big. I ended up getting a "real" mono blood test, which, of course, came up positive for being a recent infection, and several months later I'm fine, but a bit poorer.

So my (open ended) questions: Was this normal procedure? Does mono get misdiagnosed for cancer often in people of my age (early 20s)? Should I contact the health center to let them know that one of their doctor's is a bit of a sketchball? Do people trust health clinics like this (I am much much more cynical of them nowadays, for obvious reasons)?

I ask this because yes, I do have health insurance, but I'm a pretty poor graduate student. My family helped me out since after coverage, all of this ended up being around $10000 before insurance, and $2000 out-of-pocket (all I have to say is... CT scans are mighty expensive, ENT checkups are comparatively cheap).

I also ask this because I forwarded my file during the "you have cancer" weekend to my friend's doctor-dad, and he took a look and noticed that the tests suggested that there was a very small chance I had lymphoma whatsoever. Also, the wary nature of the ENT doctor made me wonder that the clinic doc was... wildly misdiagnosing me. I also have no (that me or my father/mother knows of) history of lymphoma or even cancer within my family, which would seemingly improve my odds against having cancer.

Thoughts? Similar experiences? I've taken a few months off from it all, since I was a bit frustrated by the whole experience. But recently I'm thinking of seeking some sort of closure... The clinic doctor did call me the following week after everything to apologize profusely, but also tried to justify her position at the same time (annoying to hear that of course).

Anyways, (very) long post... thanks for reading!

Please, I don't want to be a Typhoid Mary!

aetg — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:13:13 -0800

Will I get typhoid? I purchased the oral typhoid vaccine (vivotif) at the pharmacy last week and have taken two pills so far on schedule.

My pharmacist said to take it on an "empty stomach" and when pressed clarified that to mean at least two hours before eating or two hours after eating. This whole not eating thing seemed rather important so I've been taking the vaccine in the middle of the night by setting my alarm. However, now I find that it is recommended to take the vaccine one hour before one eats or two hours after, which is rather different. I've been not eating for up to 8 hours before and after these pills.

Obviously I am going to call the pharmacist to clarify, if not the doctor, but I want to know if I should expect the pharmacist to replace these pills since the directions given are not actually how I should take the pill.

If I can't get the pills replaced I will probably just get the shot because of a completely different problem : my power went out yesterday and my pills were in the fridge. Any idea how hot a fridge gets in two hours if the door stays shut? I just noticed it was hot enough to curdle some milk.

Hernia in C5-6

bernsno — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:58:14 -0800

My doc thinks I have a herniated disc at c5-6, and wants to operate does anyone have experience with this injury and if so, could you tell me a bit about it. I am 23 and sometime during the past 6-8 mo. I started having pain down the side of my right arm. In addition I have what feels like an awful knot behind my right shoulder blade and a general feeling of tightness or pulling down my right arm. For several months it has not gotten especially worse, though it has not improved in the slightest either. The pain has more recently spread down to my forearm and towards the end of last week (following several days of skiing) my thumb started going numb once in a while. So on Friday I went to see a spine specialist and he told me I essentially have a textbook herniated disc at c5-6 which is pinching the nerve and causing the symptoms described above. I am scheduled for an MRI tomorrow and plan on scheduling an appointment with another doctor for a second opinion, but I would like to know if anyone else has had this particular injury and what your experience has been. I have read that therapy and meds are an option, but that seems to be geared toward those (smart) people who take care of their injuries soon after they occur. Given that this herniation seems to have occurred quite a while ago, surgery is the option that my doctor recommended. I don't have a whole lot more info yet (whether they want to go in through the front or the back for example), but I would love to hear from some mefites as to how their experience went. Thanks, any advice is greatly appreciated. I live in Chicago and while I have a doctor I trust and a referral for a second doctor, if anyone is especially enthusiastic about their doc I'd love to hear it.

As much as I enjoy getting medical advice from the internet. . .

doift — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:35:51 -0800

YANAD, but maybe you can help me find one: Any doctor recommendations in Brooklyn/lower Manhattan? I'm looking for a primary care physician who:
-accepts Healthy NY through Empire (Blue Cross/Blue Shield)
-will take care of the routine gynecological stuff
-can also be the primary care physician for my husband (sans the routine gynecological stuff)
-is convenientish to the general vicinity of Park Slope
-is accepting new patients now
-is preferably a woman, although that preference isn't strong

Thoughts?

What sort of tests should I ask my for doctor for?

dinkyday — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:44:42 -0800

What sort of tests should I ask my for doctor for? I am a 36 year old male with a healthy lifestyle (plenty of exercise, fruit/vegetables, no meat, no smoking or alcohol) but the last three months I have been getting ill or feeling under the weather an awful lot. Nothing major (mostly swollen glands and feeling very tired) but still really frustrating. I like to figure what is going on with me. Tomorrow I am going to see my doctor to ask for some tests. It is my experience with this doctor that I should do my homework before going because otherwise they will just run a limited set of standard tests which might not include what I'm looking for. So I would like to ask the hive mind: what sort of tests should I ask for? Iron and B12 deficiencies spring to mind but what else?

Perks of having a health plan?

ism — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:42:00 -0800

How can I make the most of my new health-care plan? For the first time in my adult life, I have my own coverage, a PPO plan (through a major provider with a large network). What kind of care can I get that I might not think of ordinarily, since I'm used to not going to doctors except for emergencies? Any preventative, alternative or even holistic procedures can I ask for at a standard doctor's office? Or are there other sorts of practitioners that are sometimes under the PPO umbrella?

avogadro's number (except not)

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 22:20:48 -0800

I have a doctor's appointment to get a mole looked at. What can I expect? It is a raised mole on my face. It is smaller than a pencil eraser. I was told recently that it looks a bit bigger than it had in the past, also it has been itching periodically. I also have another mole, very similar in appearance but (to my best recollection) that has not had any weird symptoms; however, sometime within the last year (I may have had a sunburn) a top layer of one of the moles came off but I don't remember which one.

What is the doctor going to do? Just look at it or take a biopsy? (The mole is small enough and prominent enough on my face that taking a biopsy might be taking the entire mole and make me look slightly different.) Is my other mole going to be an issue? What are best best case and worst case scenarios?

How much should I be worrying?

Doctor, doctor...how do I choose?

BitterOldPunk — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:26:38 -0800

How do I choose a primary care physician? For the first time in a decade, I have good health insurance (I'm in the US), and at age 41 it's time to take advantage of it and have all that unpleasant probing done that I've been putting off for far too long. I've googled extensively, I've contacted my insurance carrier for a list of approved providers, and I live in a city with a world-class medical center. So I should be set, right? But just picking a name at random from the list doesn't seem like the best way to go about it. I know there are sites that purport to give doctor ratings, for a fee. Has anyone used them, and are they worth it? I want a doc for more than a check-up: I want to find a genuine health-care provider who'll be my doctor for the next thirty years. Is that even possible these days? How'd you pick your doctor, what questions did you ask them, and what were your criteria? (If it matters, I'm a lifelong heavy smoker who'd like to quit, a moderate drinker, and I've never been seriously ill or even hospitalized, except for breaking my jaw in a bicycle wreck as a teenager.)

Where to get bone marrow match testing?

TheDude — Fri, 25 May 2007 14:47:37 -0800

How do I get tested to see if I am a donor for a friends blood marrow transplant? I have a friend who is in need of a bone marrow transplant across the country. I would like to go somewhere local to get tested to see if I am a match.

Is there a number I can call that will get me in touch with a center near me for this test? My doctor's office wasn't very helpful...

thanks guys.

Get Thee to a Doctor! (But Which?)

Anonymous — Fri, 04 May 2007 08:13:19 -0800

I currently have what I'd term "crisis" health insurance -- a low monthly bill with a high deductible. I haven't dealt with the plan other than to pay the premiums since I signed up. Now, I think I may have a crisis. Help! I'm in my early 20s and male. My insurance is of the $500 deductible, 20% copay to $15,000 variety. I've been on it for about year, starting the day I graduated college; I intended to use it as a safety net for severe health problems until I could get a full-time job with benefits, but then wound up working a series of temp jobs sans-benefits. I'm starting the next of these jobs next week. Somewhere in there I applied to and was admitted to grad school, but my student health coverage there (which is quite good) doesn't kick in until mid-August (and I'm moving across the country when that happens, as if this wasn't complex enough already).

Early this week, I noticed something uncomfortable in my reproductive system. I won't go into the specifics here because I already know the answer is "get thee to a doctor." I hung on for a few days hoping it was a temporary thing that'd work itself out, but it hasn't. At this point, I'd like to see a doctor and get a professional diagnosis and treatment, if necessary. My problem is thus: I've been on this plan for about a year and have yet to see a doctor. I checked the plan website last night, and now I have a huge list of physicians in my area.

So the question is, how do I contact one of these people and get an appointment to be seen and evaluated, preferably in the near future, having never met with them before? Given the enormity of the list of providers and the lack of detailed info (I get their name, contact info, and some background on which medical school they attended and when they graduated), what should I look for when I'm choosing which one to call? What can I expect to go through? I'm sure I'm kind of spoiled, because my family had really good health coverage, and my current coverage is not so great.

As an aside, I know and trust my father's primary care physician, but he's not part of my current plan. I have this idea that, since I'm not covered until $500 anyway, if the initial consultation is likely to run me less than $500, I could maybe try and see him and then get a referral to someone inside my plan, if needed. Is this a sane idea?

Biofeedback. What's the deal?

kmtiszen — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:00:36 -0800

BiofeedbackFilter: What can expect from Biofeedback in regards to a nervous disorder? My doctor has recommended biofeedback as treatment for a nervous tic that I've been experiencing at different levels of severity for a long time now. I really don't know much about the process, but I'm kind of worried it's one of these new-agey treatments that only work if you believe they work. Does anyone have experience with biofeedback and do you think it will be beneficial in helping me control the anxiety/tics?

Finding a doctor in Cambridge, Mass

olinerd — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:19:27 -0800

Help me and my boyfriend find a/multiple doctors in Cambridge, MA. Difficulty: BCBS HMO Blue plan. I had a horrible experience with the Windsor St Clinic in Cambridge, so I'd like to find a new doctor (ideally with a less stupid stance on women's care than my last doctor), while my boyfriend just got his insurance and he's trying to find his own PCP.

The only other AskMe thread I've found involving this asks for both a person doctor *and* an animal doctor, and the only Cambridge-area suggestion is for a clinic that's not on our HMO Blue plan.

So, MeFites, help us be healthy! We live in Kendall Square but can go anywhere the T goes very easily. We can drive but prefer not to given traffic and how hard it is to park. Cambridge is preferred over Boston given busy schedules.

Uninsured-patient health clinics in Portland, OR?

sleepy pete — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:30:43 -0800

Any suggestions on health clinics for the uninsured in Portland, OR? I've had an earache for about a week and figure I should probably go get it checked out. I don't have any insurance at the moment so I don't want a visit to the doc to cost a fortune. I've been told about the Portland Clinic, but I'm wondering if there are any other suggestions from those who may know. I don't really need a free clinic, just one that isn't going to charge an arm and possibly a leg to look at my poor uninsured ear. Thanks.

Why is my ear suddenly numb?

scarylarry — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 22:50:07 -0800

Why did my ear suddenly go numb? Should I go to a doctor? The other night, I got more than a little merry on wine and spirits, and took a pretty bad spill. I have two small bruise/scrapes: one on my right cheekbone and the other on my forehead. Additionally, I have a pretty sore neck. Went home and passed out in a strange position.

The day after my big night out, my left ear went completely numb at around 3:00pm (well after the hangover had begun its glacial fade). Expecting it to go away, I carried on with my business and didn't think about it. But it hasn't gone away. My ear has been consistently numb for about 30 hours.

This afternoon, I found that if I massage my neck on the left side (where it hurts), my ear tingles. This leads me to suspect that I somehow...pinched a nerve?...when I took my drunken spill. But I don't know.

I'm a little worried about the numbness, since it hasn't gone away--and also because it's so bizarre. I tried googling, but didn't get very far.

My question is in two parts:

1) Does anyone have any idea what this could be?
2) Should I go to a doctor?--It's not simple for me to do this, as I have no health insurance and make precious little money.

Thanks!

Is there a Dr. House in the house?

jeanmari — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 21:05:16 -0800

After a long battle with mysterious chronic health symptoms, I'd like a "medical detective" to help me get to the bottom of what might be ailing me. But, what kind of doctor do I need? (If you are squeamish, move along...nothing to see here.) Since high school (I just turned 40), I have been treated for this or that separately (depression, hypothyroidism, unexplained lactation while not pregnant...nice, eh?, ruptured ovarian cysts, excessive sleepiness, stress-induced candidiasis, yadda, yadda). I hate going to doctors because I often think that THEY will think that I am a hypochondriac or something.

I am treated by different doctors for different things. I have an OB/Gyn, a general practitioner who I rarely see, and a doctor that specializes in medical treatment of depression.

I've ignored or just powered through the ups and downs of my symptoms for decades, dealing with individual symptoms as they get unmanageable. But now that I have an 8-month old, I'm beginning to think that I should deal with this more seriously. Especially since I'm noticing effects on my health/mood via pregnancy and nursing.

I'd like to have my prolactin levels and my progesterone levels checked. I'm wondering if I have prolactinoma (there is a long explanation for why I think this might be possible) or something wrong with my pituitary.

What kind of doctor deals with this? Who would I look for? Is there one type of doctor that would approach this diagnosis systemically? Or would I have to (please no, please no) see more than one type of doctor?

No insurance ankle sprain medical examination in NYC

lips — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 19:12:40 -0800

Need to find a reasonable (i.e. don't have health insurance) drop in clinic to treat a severe sprained ankle in NYC. Sprained my ankle about a week ago and I'm still experiencing pain beyond a normal sprained ankle. I know I should have gone in before to have it looked at but the combination of no health insurance and a history of sprained ankles (i.e. wait 4 hours at the doctor to hear, yup you sprained it and that's it) prevented me from going to see a doctor.

Now its a week later and while I'm still convinced it is just a sprain, the amount of soreness is making me want to go have it checked out. What is the best option as far as good care, the ability to drop in, and reasonable rates? Bonus points for something easily reachable from the North Bed Stuy area. Thanks in advance.