Having kids or not when you have chronic health issues: how did you decide and come to terms with it? [more inside]
posted on Jan 21, 2008 - 12 answers

Can an air filter weaken your immune system? [more inside]
posted on Jul 29, 2007 - 7 answers

It's time to submit my out-of-pocket medical expenses to my employer for reimbursement under the pre-tax medical account program. All my receipts are for psychotherapy, psychotropic medication, and other indicia of mental illness. Is it professionally "safe" for my employer to have this stuff? [more inside]
posted on Jun 26, 2007 - 15 answers

How do I expose my 2 1/2 year old son to people who have handicaps, or chronic illnesses like CP or MS? [more inside]
posted on Mar 2, 2007 - 32 answers

Dog in sudden, mysterious pain. Going to see the vet as soon as possible, but want to be as prepared as I can be. [more inside]
posted on Jan 25, 2007 - 13 answers

I think I may have seriously screwed up my voice. How do you know the difference between a temporary weird voice and long term damage? [more inside]
posted on Dec 7, 2006 - 10 answers

How do I cheer up my SO? He just found out that his dad is in hospital following a hemmorhage. [more inside]
posted on Oct 6, 2006 - 10 answers

Is there a word to describe a person who repeatedly becomes convinced that someone else is sick with various obscure ailments, based on flimsy or imagined evidence? [more inside]
posted on Sep 26, 2006 - 13 answers

How can I stop my concerns about declining health? [more inside]
posted on Aug 29, 2006 - 4 answers

MentalHealthFilter: To try and sum up a fairly long and complicated issue: My brother, 23, is diagnosed as bipolar. It's been an uphill battle ever since he was admitted to the psych hospital at 11/12 years old. Although his diagnosis and medications have switched many times, nothing seems to work. [more inside]
posted on Jul 10, 2006 - 5 answers

I am trying to put together a playlist of songs about doctors and hospitals. Not metaphoric "Love Doctor"- type songs, but more along the lines of The Replacements' "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out." [more inside]
posted on Mar 25, 2006 - 32 answers

What is up with my immune system? I'm always getting sick! [more inside]
posted on Feb 21, 2006 - 22 answers

I've been sick a lot in the last two years. And not just cold sick, I've had pneumonia and bronchitis at least 4 times a year. It seems to be triggered by physical work. [more inside]
posted on Dec 12, 2005 - 18 answers

Last week my wife put one of those toilet cleaning puck things - 2 discs, one blue and one white (a type of chlorine bleach, I think) in the toilet tank. Apparently one of us or our houseguest left the toilet open and one of our two cats - the stupid one - drank a quantity of the water, even though he had a big bowl of fresh water by his food (yes, we're now being very careful to leave it closed). My questions: 1) did he drink it because it tasted good, the way some animals will eat antifreeze, and 2) is he gonna be OK? He's acting a little odd - staring at his own shadow and attacking invisible things, growling at nothing, but then again he's kind of brain-damaged anyway (flea anemia as a feral kitten). He's 9 yrs old and otherwise in good health.
posted on Oct 25, 2005 - 15 answers

A family member of mine may be seriously ill and I can't stop thinking about it. How do I deal with everyday life in the meantime? [more inside]
posted on Aug 31, 2005 - 10 answers

I catch colds with alarming frequency- five or six times a year. If I make any sort of contact with somebody else who is sick, I can expect to have what they have within a day or two. I'm 21, HIV negative (recently tested and long abstinent), a vegetarian with a healthy diet, I excercise frequently and I take vitamins. I'm also currently taking Lexapro for depression. My question is twofold: first, what's wrong with me? Doctors insist that I'm fine. Second, what can I do to keep from getting sick so often in the future?
posted on Feb 10, 2005 - 41 answers

After twenty years of twice-weekly migraines, Topamax has halted them completely for me; nary even a minor headache in three months. People with narcolepsy (and others with less severe sleep issues) have found a wonder drug in Provigil. Severe snorers, suffering from sleep apnea, arise from sleep studies on CPAP wondering what this strange "awake" feeling is. Cataracts disappear and vision returns. And then there's that other drug, so beloved by spammers.

What happens when a medical treatment truly changes your life? How does your life change when you've grown used to a condition over the span of years, and then in a matter of days it lifts? Any stories?
posted on Jan 15, 2005 - 22 answers

VitaminFilter: I am a reasonably healthy male in my twenties, and I take a regular old Centrum multivitamin every day. My current huge container is almost empty, and before I buy another one, I'm wondering if there's something better. Is there really any difference between the various brands of multivitamins? Is there a brand better suited for someone my age? I have access to Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Trader Joes, etc., if that helps.
posted on Jan 10, 2005 - 25 answers

SickFilter:
If you caught a cold this week
and hacked and sneezed and lacked some sleep
And when you talk you simply squeak —
How do you ward off bronchitis?
posted on Oct 22, 2004 - 10 answers

Tylenol? Contact? Advil? Who makes the best nighttime cold remedy? I haven't slept for three nights because of my running nose and cough. UGH!
posted on Apr 28, 2004 - 17 answers

I've got the Toxic Death Flu. [more inside]
posted on Dec 31, 2003 - 34 answers