Wrong Turn

Opium up North......no way!! We are in Chiang Mai [formerly the golden triangle] and those kind of drugs are harder to obtain [legally] here than in the US because of the heavy DEA influence and the war on drugs. You can't get anything more potent than paracetamol for a tooth extraction.

Sorry to be off-topic, but I want to learn more about the DEA's intrusion onto Thai culture and Thai law.

Can someone point me in the right direction. (I do not like the DEA, by the way.)

Drinking 4L of water per day will not flush out the sodium; in fact, if your sodium (as in sodium chloride) intake is high as well, it may result in water retention which will in turn elevate your BP.

Thank you, FBN.

I drink the 4+ liters throughout the entire day. Sipping, and such. (for the gout), but maybe I should cut water in take (I don't sweat) to 3 liters per day.

The baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) will be absorbed and excreted as it is; an alkaline substance. The sodium itself will not have a separate effect and taking potassium will have no influence on sodium levels either. Potassium levels in the body is physiologically managed in a very specific way and has little to do with the way sodium is managed. Dietary intake of potassium through food will not result in an elevated blood level in a person with normal physiology; only in those with severe renal problems.

Helpful info. Cheers.

I recall reading that potassium to sodium ratio was important.

As for the 1/2 teaspoon in the AM and PM, that = 1 tsp per day of baking soda (sodium) I believe this is below the maximum allowed - IF - I can eliminate or largely reduce my dietary sodium in take in my daily meals.

150/100 is indeed high, I would not wait on that. Particulalry since the diastolic (bottom number) is so high. Temporary increases in systolic pressure (top number) are common if in pain or anxious but not a rise in disatolic like that. i think you are hypertensive. You definitely need to reduce your sodium intake and, if overwieight, lose weight, and if these measures are not sufficient to bring your BP down to normal then indeed medication is indicated.

Be sure to tell your physicians you are taking the baking soda as, if you are unwilling to discontinue it, that might argue in favor of a diuretic to help reduce your sodium levels.

Will do.

As far as the sodium daily intake, the Arm & Hammer label states that 1/8 of a teaspoon provide 6% (150 mgs) of the daily limit.

So, a half of a teaspoon in the AM and PM, would not max out my daily sodium limit - but the other sodium in foods would, I believe.

Thanks for all of the replies and particularly, Sheryl.

I eat out a lot and I assume I'm getting (hidden taste) sodium in my food b/c it's so prevalent.

My BP has been 150/100 every time I've check it at the doc's office, but this was when I was having a gout attack, so perhaps it's not accurate.

I'll consult a physician in the US this Summer to see if I need to start Blood Pressure medication.

As for the high sodium, I am drinking a lot of water (4+ liters per day) to try to get it out of my system.

I still have to take the 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda 2 times per day, to keep the chronic gout away - it's the only thing that has worked.

Thanks.

OP, Gravion

I'm chiming in late as I just read the entire thread.

I had this problem of "smell." I was told by close friends (more than one).

In my case it was because my apartment was musty. I actually found mold spores a couple of times in my apartment. I did not like the cleaning/laundry services for my clothes because they didn't do a good job and were hard on my clothes.

So, I started washing my clothes by hand. Over several, several months, my clothes had the smell of a "mildew" or mold smell.

There is a "freshening" liquid you can buy, to add to the water you wash your clothes in, whether it's it's machine wash or in wash bucket (washing by hand).

Dry cleaning, I don't know about.

And also, as noted in this thread, let your clothes air out. For many, many, hours. Hanging in the closed is not good for them in South East Asia, IMO.

I take a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in the AM and PM (right after getting up and going to bed) to ward off gout

I'm also quite sure I'm getting additional sodium in my diet throughout the day (eating out).

Is increasing potassium (eating more bananas) a while to counter-balance of off-set the higher sodium intake?

I'm also drinking 4+ liters of water per day.

Thanks.

I would also recommend doing various stretching excercises every day. About 5 years ago I started developing 'clicking' knees, which seemed to get worse when I was on leave in the UK i.e when I was not doing any of my normal exerecise routine (mainly walking or running). One of my hip joints also started to stiffen up.

About 3 years ago I started stretching exercises every morning and sometimes again in the evening. Now I feel a lot better, clicking pretty well gone and hip a lot more flexible. I would estimate about 95 pc improvement. I also take glucosamine, but think that the exercises are primarily the reason for improvement.

Thanks rak so ngop,

I'm having knees issues as well. What muscles are you stretching that help your knee? What kind of stretching exercises?

Thanks.

I am not a expert in this field, but have taken some routines from a book by Bob Anderson called 'Stretching'. Gooogle and you will find out about the book. I am sure there are lots of books like this out there.

One exercise I like to do (although not sure if it is that good for somebody with dodgy knees) is to sit on the floor and bring my foot up to meet my face. I started by being only just able to touch my nose with the big toe of each foot, but now a few years later I can kiss my ankle joint on the side of each foot.

I am working up to being able to put my leg around the back of my head ha ha ha (I am 57 years old)

Best buy a book or find a good website and get some ideas from that.

Good Luck

Thanks for the response Rak So Ngop.

I'll check this book out on Amazon. Could help me knees and other parts of my middle-aged body as well.

Cheers.

I would also recommend doing various stretching excercises every day. About 5 years ago I started developing 'clicking' knees, which seemed to get worse when I was on leave in the UK i.e when I was not doing any of my normal exerecise routine (mainly walking or running). One of my hip joints also started to stiffen up.

About 3 years ago I started stretching exercises every morning and sometimes again in the evening. Now I feel a lot better, clicking pretty well gone and hip a lot more flexible. I would estimate about 95 pc improvement. I also take glucosamine, but think that the exercises are primarily the reason for improvement.

Thanks rak so ngop,

I'm having knees issues as well. What muscles are you stretching that help your knee? What kind of stretching exercises?

Thanks.

Morribay:

The first level receivers of the money the U.S. Fed prints to buy bonds is going to banks and corporations.

In China the QE money went to construction and infrastructure projects. In the case of China this most definetely improves the environment for business expansion

and job creation for the benafit of the country.

In the U.S.the money the banks and corporations receive is not being lent out to help the economy. The money is going into the stock market like a sugar high.

It is just fattening up balance sheets and flooding into emerging markets in Asia as foreign direct investment .

This investment in bonds and other assets can create bubbles and is driving up Asian currencies.

So where is the benifit to the U.S.?

How can this be allowed to happen?

Obama talked so much about infrastructure projects, where are they ?

There is something very wrong here- What it is aint exactly clear.

So, if the QE(2) money is going to banks to fatten up their balance sheets, and these banks still aren't lending, then the aim is to keep inflation low?

If, or if not, how does the QE2 beenfit the US economy?

Snip:

A few months ago a troubling milestone was passed. In the United States college loan debt outstanding has surpassed credit card debt. As of June 2010 $829 billion in student loan debt was outstanding compared to $826 billion in credit card debt.

This is a very sad - and a very telling figure.

This, among many other pieces of factual data, reveal that the United States is declining rapidly.

Abrak,

I didn't know housing was in the US CPI calculation. I am confused as well.

"As we reported some time ago, the weird stuff in TIPS land continues, and was brought to the surface during today’s 4 Year 6 Month TIPS auction, which closed at, drumroll, -0.55%. That’s right, a yield of negative 0.55%. This compares to +0.55% in April. TIPS Investors better hope that the CPI eventually captures all the fun that is happening in the Rare Minerals space."

Oh and dont forget the management fee on a guaranteed negative real yield.

Also it is worth remembering how the CPI is calculated nowadays. It is designed to give the price increase of a 'constant standard of living'. They make two major adjustments to the old 'basket of goods formula'. One is substitution - price of steak goes up, burgers do not, so you have less steak and more burgers. No problem. The other is 'quality adjustment' if you get 20% more power and memory in a computer for the same price a year later then the price has fallen roughly 20%. This to me is <deleted> because we all make quality adjustments in our own minds - we do not, not buy a computer because we will get 20% more power at the same price next year because we already know that. That is not deflation.

Yes, the US gov lies about inflation.

And they also add another trick to keep it lower: Geometric Adjustment.

For example, the price of a loaf of bread goes up 5% in a year.

The gov then takes 1/3 off of the loaf of bread. The now smaller loaf is cheaper, so....inflation - how much a loaf of bread went up, is only 3% now.

Can I ask a perhaps stupid question about Propecia and other hair loss treatments? Do they target specifically the hair follicles on the head, or does the entire skin surface's hair follicles receive the "benefit?"

I have plenty of body hair, but the hair on the top of my head is thinning. I wouldn't mind treating that hair loss, but sure as heck don't need any more fricking body hair.

Propecia do not do anything for the hair itself. I have forgotten the medical terms/hormone terms, but the Propecia (actually the drug finesteride keeps the hormones from causing hair loss.

The pill acts internally, and doesn't affect the hair follicles itself. You swallow the pill.

No Prescription needed.

I've been buying Propecia in Thailand for many years.

OTC - Over the counter - but shop around for the best deals.

I usually have to buy "Proscar" which is in 5 mg and cut it into 5 pieces for the 1 mg dose.

Note: don't take more than 1 mg per day or you may get "tits" like I have.

Skip every 4th or 5th day. And, it will not affect your hair.

Have just prescribed this to a friend and handed him a bag of baking soda.

How long will it take for him to notice? He is currently taking "pills" from the doctor but still seems to be limping about..

Will post an updated if I can convince him to try it.

I hope he's not on Colchicine. It dam_n near killed me this spring. Stopped my kidneys from functioning

What was your dosage of the Colchicine?

Usually it's .5 or .6 MG with food, 3 times per day.

My friend drinks Cranberry Juice, no gout now for the last year and a half

I've seen the studies and research on Black Cherry Juice but not on Cranberry.

I'll check it out. If it what is working, then that's great for your friend.

To Alkalize your system you can also add freshly squeezed Lemon and Lime juice to your water. Lemons and Limes are acidid pre-digestive, but the body metabolizes them as alkaline. Still, the 1/2 teaspoon of b.s. is quicker and easier for me.

Yes, baking soda can help with gout.

After years of agony - not one of the many Western and Asian doctors told me about alkalizing my system. If found out on an internet forum, and form a poster here (thank you, "kmart").

I take a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda with 4 oz. of water right after waking up, and take it right before bed.

It has worked for one year (minus one gout attack I had when I broke the diet rules for several days in a row on holiday).

That website you list is very good. There are even some gout forums, but there is very little traffic.

Good luck on the baking soda. Keep it up.

--WT.

That food should be sentenced to a few years in prison.

Out of the blue I got the message that my sugar (126), cholesterol (304) and Triglyceride (758) are way too high.

What is your LDL (bad cholesterol) reading and your (HDL) good cholesterol reading?

Low HDL to high trygliceride ratio is important to know.

The doctor prescribed me Bezalip 200 mg and Aspent 81mg.

I've been told that I have to take medicines for this condition for the rest of my life and I'm still quite a young fellow in my fifties.

Is there an alternative to these medicines or are these medicines my best option ?

Doctors first jump to medicine. Always the case.

Youl could try modifying your diet first, and if it doesn't work, then go to meds.

I have been speaking with an acquaintance who spent 10 days at the Vipassana Meditation center in Kantchanaburi.

Can anyone give me more details about it, if you've participated, or know someone that has.

I am asking because I know that it's a 10 day commitment.

How is it conducted?

What is learned, specifically?

Thanks in advance.

Remember,

This division still exists and these divisions are deep.

It's is not over.

When acts and protests and shut-downs will happen again, I do not know.

But they will happen again in the future, IMO.

For the record, although this is an internal Thai issue for and about Thais, I do sympathize with the reds.

Hi WT,

You definitely have chest infection whether it is bronchitis/infected bronchiectesis/COPD with infection.

It is best to get the doctor to check and prescribe you appropiate antibiotics and bronchodilator and/or mucolytics.

You have wheezing so it is bronchospasm and the greenish sputum indicate bacterial infection.

There are macrolide base antibiotics which can be used in penicillin allergic patients but you should only take it under health care profesional advise.

Good Luck.

Thanks for the info.

So, you're saying I need anti-biotics.

OK.

I will go to an international hospital and make it clear I am allergic to penicillin.

If I don't take anti-biotics, I assume it won't go away, then, eh?

^ Thanks.

I am allergic to pennicilin/amoxycillin, also.

As for the bowl of water when you run A/C, it adds moisture to the room that well, ay?

I'll try it. Thanks.

I have thought about those inhalers. They are plastic. you put them in your mouth, and pump the stuff in and breathe.

Should I try one? From a street pharmacist?

Thanks for your info. NALAK.

Thanks for the advice ^ and ^^

Day 3:

Early morning, my own wheezing whistling sounds woke me up. I tried to sleep on the soap but no luck. Still wheezing, but less.

I decided to boil water in pot, and I breathed it deeply many times. This loosed up the congestion (or whatever it is) and I coughed and spit 2 times. Then I felt clear, and went to bed.

Today, I'm improving but still cautious. Avoiding pollution and second-hand smoke. Throat sore sometimes, but other times better.

I am getting better.

Still tried the anti-biotics.