mstevens

Go to one of the better hospitals, make an appointment with a hepatologist (liver specialist) and get them to test for everything liver-related, to include gallbladder and a full GI work-up. From there, you'll get a diagnosis and know how best to proceed. Have you had your gallbladder checked? It sits just below the liver and you might be mistaking issues in that part of the body with gallbladder-related problems, possibly gallstones. Also consider that it might be that your liver is under strain from something else in the body like mould, Lyme or some other long-term infection which could be producing mycotoxins that circulate throughout the body which your liver has to deal with and can become over-burdened. There are so many possibilities and that is why I'd seek a hepatologist to do a full work-up.

I thought it was American culture where it seems people sue or seek damages for even the smallest injury, slight or infraction, perceived or otherwise.

Many doctors have inadequate knowledge about nutrition. For many, it was but a few hours in their training. What you eat (and don't eat) has a MASSIVE effect on your health. If there is a shortfall with some Western trained doctors, it is the gaping hole in their knowledge of nutrition and applying it to their patients.

There is an art to taking vitamins from the time of day when it is best to take certain vitamins to which vitamins and minerals not to take at the same time, and to the dosage. My personal vitamin regime is Vitamin D and K2 (during the 5 coldest months of the year only), vitamin B complex, fish oil, Magnesium and zinc. NOT ALL VITAMINS ARE THE SAME so don't think it is best to go for the cheapest option. Some contain fillers. Some are less absorbable etc. With the likes of Magnesium, different forms of Magnesium come with different benefits. Magnesium glycinate is quite different to Magnesium citrate. In your list, Berocca strikes me as redundant as you're getting most of what is in that from your other supplements. Tribulas I have no idea about. You may not need to take so much Vitamin C - but you could have a reason for the high dose. Vitamin D is a supplement that almost all of us should be taking.

Many people have issues with their gut which affects the absorption of vitamins and minerals, hence for many there is a need for these people to take vitamin & mineral supplements. Gut issues are a bit like diabetes - many people suffer from it but don't know. Many people with gut issues are deficient in the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Also, if you have high stress, this will burn through some of the B vitamins, burn through Magnesium and if you become deficient then there can be a cascade of effects. Bottom line is that for many people, a balanced diet is not enough. And as I am sure you will agree, many people these days do not eat a balanced diet!

NAFLD is very common these days. While I am sure fasting helps, it's not for everyone. I'd suggest that you lose weight and amend your diet to include LOTS of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, bok choy and more) which are the best thing for your liver. Eliminate fast food, sugar and excess carbs. That will all go a long way to resolving a fatty liver. It can take a period of time i.e. a year or two, depending on how fatty the liver is.

For NAFLD (fatty liver), avoid sugar and too many carbohydrates. When you hear fatty liver you tend to think of alcohol but these days more people present with a fatty liver due to a high sugar / high carb diet. Cut back on carbs and reduce or even eliminate sugar and this will go a long way to resolving fatty liver. It sounds counter-intuitive but actually good fats are great for a fatty liver so consume lots of olive oil, avocados, nuts, fish etc.

Many of us who lived in Thailand for a period of time still have strong connections to the country such as friends, former work colleagues as well as our wife's family. Some, like myself, certainly consider moving back to Thailand in the future. There are many perfectly reasonable reasons why someone living outside Thailand uses this forum.

I moved back to New Zealand for many reasons but one of the main ones was money and securing my financial future, something I felt would be tougher in Thailand despite the cost of living there being much cheaper there than NZ. I can earn much more in New Zealand than I ever did in Thailand and on moving back, I bought a house which increased massively in value so things have worked out well. Ditto for my Thai wife, she wanted to try life in New Zealand because she liked the idea that she could earn more here. (She now makes well over 100,000+ baht per month compared to 25,000 baht / month she was earning when we left Thailand.) There's still plenty we miss about Thailand and we continue to enjoy regular trips there. We may move back there at some point in the future, but for now, New Zealand works for us.

The short answer is that digestive enzymes help you to digest food and, importantly, absorb the nutrition, minerals and vitamins in that food. People with gut / digestive issues might eat a very healthy diet but not absorb the goodness in the foods leadign to vitamin deficiencies which can cause a cascade of health problems. There are many possible reasons for malabsorbtion but digestive enzymes (and betaine hydrochloride) are a BIG help for many digestive complaints.

Absorption issues can be related to all manner of gut issues such as bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), yeast / candida overgrowth (SIFO), leaky gut, IBS, IBD (Crohn's, ulcerative colitis), pancreatic enzyme insufficiency, gallbladder issues, liver issues, inflammation and a whole host of other conditions. One quick / temporary fix is to take a digestive enzyme with meals. There are many on the market. I favour NOW Foods Digest Ultimate.

There's an interesting Facebook group called The Copper Revolution: Healing With Minerals which I was a member of for a while. Lots of first-hand reports on there on improvements in health when taking copper. One thing I seem to recall from the group was that copper and zinc supplements should not be taken at the same time. I take 15 mg of zinc with lunch and 2 mg of copper with my evening meal.

Have you considered tea tree oil? It is very effective against toe nail fungus. Apply a couple of drops to the nails with fungus twice a day until you start to see improvement. Note, it can take several weeks. There is no quick fix with toenail fungus. Tea tree oil is very inexpensive and useful for various ailments.

Whatever the outcome of this complaint, it's nice to see a foreigner standing up for themselves for a change and actually making an official complaint against a Thai in a case where on the surface it seems that one is warranted. All too often foreigners are walked over in Thailand, treated unfairly and do nothing when an official complaint really is warranted. Of course, in some cases the foreigner may have been partially in the wrong or exacerbated things but in this case it really sounds like the pub staff messed up. It appears the pub owner is keen to settle so perhaps a confidential settlement will take place and the American will return to the States with some extra cash.

Chamomille tea is a good choice, widely available and inexpensive. You might want to try Tulsi tea. It's Indian and is made from holy basil (the same as "gra-pow" in Thailand). Tulsi tea has many benefits, one of which is that it helps you to relax - which is ideal for those with hypertension. I don't know how widely available it is in stores in Thailand but you can definitely get it on Lazada. I favour the Organic India brand but I imagine most brands are fine.

Why not? Private medical facilities in Australia would be very much on a par with private hospitals in Thailand so it would be a like for like comparison.

There was a time when there was no charge to go to the Nana Disco on the ground floor of the Nana Hotel, but for some years before it closed there most certainly was a cover charge. It went from 100 to 200 to 300 baht in fairly quick succession. The owner got a lot of flak about it at the time. Count me amongst those who thought that imposing a cover charge was the beginning of the end for a disco that for a long time was brilliant.

I am currently outside of Thailand but friends who live there tell me that all of the tourist hot spots in Bangkok are over-run with visitors. One friend was in Pattaya recently and said similar, saying it was as busy as he could ever remember it. Photos online at Immigration show crazy queues and a quick check on Booking.com plugging some random dates in shows some hotels are full. The Chinese made up 1/3 of all international visitors before Covid and they are just starting to return. How many Chinese will visit over the course of this year? Next year? The year after? And flights from airlines which stopped flying in to Bangkok during Covid are coming back all the time. I'm sorry, but I don't know how you can possibly say tourism to Thailand won't rebound. Thailand is a fantastic place to visit and the world knows it. I strongly disagree with your comments. Record high tourist numbers are coming very soon!

It's nothing to do with being elitist and I have no idea where that comes from. I mention avocados as they are a food that most people like, are inexpensive and are very high in potassium. The bottom line is that many consume a diet high in sodium and a banana, a potato (or 2) just won't cut it. There's simply not enough potassium there to offset the sodium. If you have an issue with high consumption of sodium, you can offset it with potassium but you need foods that are very high in potassium or a high quantity of foods with moderate potassium. For example, leafy greens are high in potassium but you'd need to eat a lot of them.

Because bananas have potassium. But actually, bananas aren't that high in potassium (about 300 mg for an "average" sized banana). If you have an issue with sodium and are struggling to reduce your sodium intake, increasing your potassium intake will be very helpful. Avocados are a great source of potassium. Alternatively, potassium citrate powder is very cheap and effective.

We all need sodium and one has to be careful not to go too low on sodium as that can cause a whole set of new problems. The problem of consuming too much sodium is often not in salt added to meals, but in processed foods which can be very high in sodium. Thai food can be high on sodium too with fish sauce, soy sauce and other popular flavouring sauces very high in sodium and added in considerable amounts to many Thai dishes. If you're worried you might have too much sodium in your diet, you can balance it out to some extent by increasing your potassium intake. The ratio of potassium to sodium should be 2 : 1. Leafy greens and avocados are a good place to start to increase your potassium. I eat one avocado per day which is around 900 mg of potassium. You can also take a potassium supplement but note that potassium capsules are limited to 99 mg which is very little when you consider that the RDA for potassium is 4,600 mg! I personally take potassium citrate powder in a glass of water. About 500 mg in the morning and 500 mg before bed.

FWIW, here in New Zealand where Mainland cheese is produced, prices for quality cheese has exploded. The Mainland Vintage cheese 500 gram block used to cost $NZ 8 (about 170 baht) but now cannot be found for $NZ 13. Tasty, Edam and other varieties have also jumped in price. I used to pay $5.99 for 200 gram block of Mainland Parmesan cheese and yesterday it was $8.49. Big price jumps are happening everywhere and it's not just Thailand.

Probably a Swede working in Sweden doesn't need a work permit.....

The state of pollution in Bangkok this past week you might want to up that recommendation to Glutathione. Not sure if a good B complex would suffiice!

Bleaching your nails is brave. I'd suggest tea tree oil might be a much less harmful but very effective treatment.