Health Blogs (951)

That shouldn't happen, but nearly all medicines have some form of side effects. Pain relievers often raise blood pressure and while you are usually taking them to reduce inflammation, a side affect of some actually cause swelling.

A few times a year, I'll read a story about a prescription drug that gets pulled from FDA approval because some ingredient in the formula was tainted or causes a dangerous side effect.
This week, it's Quinapril tablets that may contain an elevated level of nitrosamine impurity linked to increased risk of cancer if exposed to above acceptable levels over long periods of time.

Currently, I'm taking a few new medicines for hypertension and some that block the absorption of salt. That's the good part. The bad part is elevated potassium and strain on my kidneys. Often I'm sitting a computer in excess of 12 hours a day and my ankles swell. Brisk walks in the morning isn't enough. Avoiding restaurant food, processed meats, potato chips helps but not enough. I had a blood test 3 weeks ago and another last week. Tomorrow, I'm back to the cardiologist to see the results if the new medicine is working and not creating a different set of problems than it's intended purpose.

I'm now thinking there must be a website that lists medicines that were pulled from the public and why. That could/should be my quest in the new year to do some research.

If I recall, last year a brand of sun block was pulled from the shelves as one of the ingredients actually caused cancer. Crazy thought to know the product intended to lower the chances of getting skin cancer actually causes cancer!

Quinapril link:



Medicines that make you sick... wow, what a concept.

One of the first things I wanted to do when I bought a condo 3 years ago was to change the kitchen. I had several different designs worked out and did a few layouts for other units in my community. Everything was based on budget and future resale... that is before COVID and housing values to double in 3 years.

At the time I was working for a kitchen provider who purchased in volume from a Canadian source. I could have done something really nice for a good price.
I procrastinated and no longer have access to that supplier. The company I'm working for now does custom cabinetry and I cannot justify the expense... not for my condo.
Options are 2 companies who import from China and they assemble locally. I've seen their quality and it wasn't to my liking.

Last year, I found a new source. Around the industrial park is a supplier who imports from Central America. It's a plywood box with white laminate interior, white shaker style doors and soft close hardware on the doors and drawers. Nice for the price so I cannot complain.

Timing is everything and I was taking a few days off so I was possible to get the 4 base cabinets needed to start the project. Like IKEA, these come in boxes and need to be assembled. I've got one done and the others will happen after lunch... oh, it's 3pm. Make that a late lunch.

The existing kitchen was also assembly, probably from Home Depot where it was installed on a bare floor and the tiles were cut to fit after. That won't do as my partner and I are removing section by section and 'back filling' the voids with tiles and some cement so the whole thing is level. That way the stove doesn't drop 3/8" and require spacers to raise it level.

The appliances are old, but working. So it's not in my immediate goal to replace them... maybe the microwave hood as the handle cracked a few times and the repairs aren't holding up.

One cabinet is assembled and all the parts fit. This is promising.
I cut the plumbing so I can remove the sink cabinet, the plumber is coming tomorrow morning to replace the corroded shutoff valves. It's a 2-part job for him as I'll need him back when the new sink gets installed.

I'm trying to decide what body part hurts the most... shoulder, lower back, feet. I'm out of Tylenol and have reached the limit of Aspirin for the day. Maybe tomorrow, I'll take some blue pills... not THOSE blue pills... the Aleve blue pills.

This is a PSA about a PSA. Both are acronyms. I'll call the the first PSA a Public Service Announcement. Usually informative, you can find those everywhere. The second PSA is medical and important to guys over the age of 50. That PSA stands for Prostate-Specific Antigen. It's a test that measures the level of protein produced the prostate gland in men. The test is determined from a blood sample and the first screening method to determine if a man has prostate cancer.

Years ago, a coworker in his 50's had a high PSA reading. Cancer at an early stage. He went through a series of low-dose radiation treatments and the cancer went into remission. His older brother wasn't as lucky, he had surgery and his prostate was removed.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine had a high PSA reading and his doctor had him go for a biopsy that determined he has cancer in his prostate. He's on his way to Connecticut this week, his original hometown to meet with specialists and possibly have surgery later this month.

I recently saw an article about Rage Against the Machine's bassist Tim Commerford having prostate surgery. He's 54.

Musician Frank Zappa died at the age of 52, diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer that had been developing for years.

Men, here's your PSA... get a PSA. The test is simple... do it.

My workplace wasn't sure that we were going to get a bonus this year. They usually come out in Oct. of every year.

Well, a couple of hours ago I checked my Netlearning (what we have at work) from home to see if we got that bonus yet since they said that if we did it would be in Nov. Sure, we got them. We were notified today over there. I'm pretty happy with what I got. That will certainly help right now since I'm going to be getting FMLA pay, which is 60% of what I make every two weeks. This FLMA pay is set up week after week however.

I was encouraged to file a claim in the Camp Lejeune civil claim lawsuit because of my detached retina (which is neurological). I mean, this came out of nowhere on me.

I was born at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina back in 1967. My dad was a marine, and both him and my mom were stationed down there with this toxic water between 1953 to 1987.

I went ahead and started earlier online. Right after I submitted it I quickly got two email in my hotmail, and then my phone range. It was them. I'm going to speak more with them tomorrow over the phone and see what happens...

Right now, I'm off from work because of a detached retina. I have no idea how that happened. I was approved for FLMA and my leave started Thursday (Nov. 10), but the FLMA benefits will kick in in seven days (on Nov. 17) after the start of my leave.

I had surgery Thursday on it up in Columbus, Ohio. I left with my cousin around 8:30am that morning, and my check-in was at 11am. My surgery was at 2pm, but because of some problems with another patient in surgery in the morning hours, my surgery was around 5pm.

I finally got home that night at 9:45pm. I had to do a followup appointment in Chillicothe, OH at 10am the next morning. I wasn't happy with the short night I had. I have a number of drops I'm suppose to use for a while, and sleep with a shield over my right eye to help protect it while I'm sleeping.

When all this happened, I thought it was an inflamed optic nerve I had when I was 28 years old back in 1995. I couldn't see out of my right eye after having rubbed it trying to get the sweet out of my eyes. After a couple of days I finally listened to my mom and went to see a doctor.

He told me that he wanted to do an MRI on me because I was showing symptoms of MS. That really scared the hell out of me, being 28 years old at the time, and having a full life ahead of you.

Well, we did the MRI and I waited for a day or two for the phone call for the results. It finally came and he said that there were white lesions on my brain that would indicate MS. He said that he thought I would have 17% chance of developing it, and 83% chance not. He wanted to give me steroid shots to help get my vision back in my right eye. I said no. He said that he felt that since I refused the steroid shots, he couldn't be my doctor. I thought, he really wasn't my doctor anyway.

So after about three months, my vision came back on it's own. Two years later I experienced inflammation in both of my legs for a short period of time. That however may have been caused by riding my exercise back pretty hard.

And then shortly after that little incident, my balance was off some. I couldn't even lift my right arm to open the back door to my house one day. But then that might have been cause by me rolling out in the back yard to stay limbered. After a couple of months, those symptoms also went away.

During those years I had researched MS. I found out 2 out of every 3 people with MS are women. MS effects people differently in many ways. It's not known what causes it. Some possible reasons could be vitamin D deficiency. That could mean not enough sunlight. There seems to be a lot of people with MS in northern Europe. Places like that that are away from the equator.

To this day, it's still in the back of my mind about whether I have it. Now, I really haven't had anymore symptoms of what I experienced back in 1995 and 1997, but like I said, I still think about it every so often.

Getting back to today, I thought that's what my right eye problem was again, inflamed optic nerve, but it wasn't, instead it was a detached retina. I'm suppose to be off work for six weeks. My FMLA ends on Dec. 21. My vacation was to start Dec. 17 through Dec 24. So I don't know if I have to go back for those last three days of my vacation, or wait until Christmas Day to come back. I'll have to talk with my supervisor to see. I gave to doctor's office the FMLA papers yesterday morning, so they're suppose to fax it back over to Health and Wellness at the hospital I work at. They'll probably do this Monday or Tuesday, but I gotta make sure they get that done. I have 15 days to get that turned back in, and it starts count on the day of my leave. At this time, They're suppose to treat it like an absence until they get the paperwork.

Continued in comments...

13 years ago...I was at an all time high, I suppose you could say.. ....just looking at an old blog of mine from 2016 where I had lost about 80lbs or so since 2009 ...and since then, I have just put it in the back of my mind until I did some looking back and now it's like 13 years later and I'm still keeping it off...surprised myself Progress is progress, though. I know I'll never be thin....but I'm happy where I'm at and at 50 now, I can't complain

Really, is half a kilo of plain, Greek, fat-free yoghurt a day too much?

I won't describe the loo bowl after I'm done with it but whoever has watched Train Spotting has a pretty good idea. However, is that really too much you think? Why/why not?

I'm trying to eat healthy but I have to fill my bottomless pit somehow. No, I'm no rabbit. No kilos of veg for me. Protein's a lot better suited to my palate.

Hi guys, ohhh it's been a few years since I was here,
We're all a few years older, and those old bones just ain't what they used to be.

Over the years, I've had my fair share of falls/trips/slides and I have to confess, not all we're alcohol related, but, this one takes the prize of definitely fecked my ankle.

A long awaiting week in lanzarote, first day, boom get in that pool, oooohhhh fab u lous .
Getting out, stepped onto wet tiles , and whoosh, I'm on my a**,
I manage to get up, and someone brings me an ice pack, so for two days, I'm on pain killers, ice packs & elevated foot.
The bruising went from toes to calf in a matter of hours, I carried on with my holiday, limping and struggling, got home and made an appointment to see the doc, the ankle was still swollen.
I got sent to hospital for xrays, and I cried, my ankle was broken, I had walked for a week on a broken ankle, now in a cast , if it doesn't start to heal, I'll be having surgery .

I don’t purposely exercise like I used to, but living in a townhouse and tending to Sweetie gives me apt opportunity for daily physical activity, at home. However, I need to do other things to get my daily dose of happy hormones, so I’ve decided to return to an old habit of adding ‘dance’ to my daily activities. Nothing formal though, just me, fun music and fun movements – turn on the radio, find something upbeat and ‘shake what my momma gave me’. LOL! Sweetie probably needs some of that too...

Psychologists say that it’s not only great for the body, but for the mind as well, as it helps people who may be dealing with depression. I believe them. Whenever I’ve had a good dance session, it made me feel better physically and mentally; it puts a smile on my face and good thoughts in my head, every time.

Had a frustrating day at work? Having challenges with a relationship? Feeling lonely, sad or depressed? Try dancing your blues away.