FBN

Much ado about nothing more than a bit of mental masturbation really...

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Not a bad thing at all; but, like the more conventional way, its better kept out of public view...

Troll, if I ever saw one...

Another husband...

Much ado about nothing more than a bit of mental masturbation really...

NEVER eat raw pork. Your risk of getting a tape worm is extremely high with all the possible unpleasant effects of this parasite.

Google Tape worm (Taenia solium) and despair...

http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/DPDx/HTML/Taeniasis.htm

Not only that.

I once inadvertently ate some raw pork (it looked cooked) I couldn't be more than six feet from the toilet for three days and the stomach cramps were incredibly painful.

This one was probably from a bug called Yersinia enterocolytica. Can be severe and sometimes mimic acute appendicitis too..

Raw or undercooked pork in SEA region is really not a good idea. To kill the cysts from taenia, pork has to be frozen solid for at least 14 days before consumption. Thinks this is achieved anywhere around here?

Have your blood sugars checked.

It is a very common symptom for very high blood sugars (Diabetes)

Urgently...

Oh, for the privilege of complaining about a closed pub!

I do sympathise..

In Doha at the moment. Right... DRY hotels (most of them). Friday off, of course. A brew, if you could track one down, would set you back almost 10USD a pint..

Perpetually sober states may be of benefit to some and even appeal to a few but it's the idea that counts! The freedom of choice, that's the root of the problem...

Had raw laab moo (pork) for the first time on the weekend (loved it).

You?

NEVER eat raw pork. Your risk of getting a tape worm is extremely high with all the possible unpleasant effects of this parasite.

Google Tape worm (Taenia solium) and despair...

http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/DPDx/HTML/Taeniasis.htm

Getting a dog into Thailand is not difficult. Check with the vet in your country or with any international pet travel service to get the medical clearance requirements. This involves no more than updated vaccination (including Rabies done some weeks ahead of time) and a physical check and certificate of good health.

Getting the dog through the animal clearance counter at the airport with the proper papers is no hassle either.

Taking dogs out of Thailand is a problem. Heartworm is endemic in Thailand and dogs need monthly medication to rid them of this parasite (transmitted by mosquitos). They do, however develop antibodies to this disease and no country will allow a dog back that has tested positive for this. If all tests and medical checks required by the country of "repatriation", dogs may still be required to quarantened for 6 or more weeks, depending on country requirements.

Most valuable on this forum for me is the feedback from actual sufferers from conditions discussed. Advice, even from those who know, can only go so far..

Advice posted here is done on good faith and in the spirit of "helping out" where one can but it is not and should not be seen as the ultimate resource to solve medical problems; it should be seen simply for what it is, a forum for discussion, no more, no less..

Talking about an issue is half the cure, not so?

There were two nuns...

One of them was known as Sister Mathematical (SM) ,

and the other one was known as Sister Logical (SL) .

It is getting dark and they are still far away from the convent.

SM: Have you noticed that a man has been following us for

the past thirty-eight and a half minutes? I wonder what he wants.

SL: It's logical. He wants to attack us.

SM: Oh, no! At this rate he will reach us in 15 minutes

at the most! What can we do?

SL: The only logical thing to do of course is to walk faster.

SM: It's not working.

SL: Of course it's not working. The man did the only

logical thing. He started to walk faster, too.

SM : So, what shall we do? At this rate he will reach us in one minute.

SL: The only logical thing we can do is split. You go that way and

I'll go this way. He cannot follow us both.

So the man decided to follow Sister Logical.

Sister Mathematical arrives at the convent and is

worried about what has happened to Sister Logical .

Then Sister Logical arrives.

SM: Sister Logical ! Thank God you are here!

Tell me what happened!

SL : The only logical thing happened.

The man couldn't follow us both, so he followed me

SM : Yes, yes! But what happened then?

SL : The only logical thing happened. I started to run

as fast as I could and he started to run as fast as he could.

SM : And?

SL : The only logical thing happened. He reached me

SM : Oh, dear! What did you do?

SL : The only logical thing to do. I lifted my dress up.

SM : Oh, Sister! What did the man do?

SL : The only logical thing to do. He pulled down his pants.

SM: Oh, no! What happened then?

SL : Isn't it logical, Sister?

A nun with her dress up can run faster than man with his pants down….

And what did YOU think!!!

An Irishman, a Mexican and a Blonde Guy were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20 th floor of a building.

They were eating lunch and the Irishman said, 'Corned beef and cabbage! If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch, I'm going to jump off this building.'

The Mexican opened his lunch box and exclaimed, 'Burritos again! If I get Burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too.'

The blonde opened his lunch and said, 'Polony again! If I get a polony sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too.'

The next day, the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage, and jumped to his death.

The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a Burritos, and jumped, too

The blonde guy opened his lunch, saw the polony and jumped to his death as well.

At the funeral, the Irishman's wife was weeping.She said, 'If I'd known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!'

The Mexican's wife also wept and said, 'I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn't realize he hated Burritos so much.'

Everyone turned and stared at the blonde's wife. The blonde's wife said:

" Don't look at me, he makes his own bloody sandwiches…. "

The key to the swelling is the "minor gout" you have had at the time. The achilles tendon is a "soft spot" for gout and this is your most likely explanation.

An X-ray to rule out a fracture is not a bad idea. Hairline fractures or cracks sometimes do not show up on an X-ray till about 10 days after the injury so keep this in mind. Have a blood check on uric acid levels as well. Sit with the foot elevated.

Feet/Ankles sometimes are slow to respond to treatment after injury; they are the "weight bearing" parts of the body so swelling and pain may persist for some weeks.

Make sure (have a doc exam the ankle) to rule out ligament injury on that side as well. This will lead to swelling that can continue for some time and, if not treated properly, may leave you with an "unstable" ankle, more prone to injury over time.

Last week, my Thai wife, who regularly eats Issan somtam, eat some with a lot of raw crab, shrimp and old fish! (That's the norm it seems..). Anyway, afterwards she suffered stomach cramps and the 'runs' very badly, and went to Bangkok Christian Hospital. They admitted her and put her on Glucose drips etc. An x-ray and ultrasound showed a lot of has throughout her small and large intestine, and she had a raised temperature.

She stayed in the hospital for 5 days, and although the runs and upset stomach stopped, she still experienced, (and continues to experience) a sharge pain in the area of her appendix when she moves.

The hospital discharged her after 5 days, (50,000 baht bill!), and she is now back in Phuket. She is able to eat now, but is still suffering from these sharp pains.

I asked the doctors during her stay if she might have the beginnings of apendicitus, but their view was that since her temperature had returned to normal, and since she could now eat food again - that she did not have the start of apendicitus.

I'm wondering why she still has this localised, sharp pain, (not a stomach ache or general ache). I've heard that apendices can 'rumble' from time to time? The only other thing I thought was that it might be a badly pulled muscle in her abdomen. But I'm no doctor, (not yet!), and she is not keen to go back to the hospital if they cannot provide a definitive diagnosis.

Any suggestions? Does eating somtam cause lasting damage??

Simon

She had a fever so she definitely had an infection rather than just the usual food poisoning.

The appendix has mostly lymphoid tissue and can get enlarged in the event of an intestinal infection. The one bug that usually causes this is Yersinia which would definitely be implicated in this meal. Did she receive any antibiotics?

The saying goes: "An appendix never rumbles, it always shouts out loud" but this is not always true. A lower abdominal ultrasound will show enlargement and possible inflammation of the appendix.

The treatment here would be conservative, not surgery unless there are clear signs.

Damage should not be lasting...

Root Cause: To the human animal, monogamy is not a natural state...

Perhaps Sheryl has already advised the following but it may be worthwhile to post it here. Some tips on doing a repatriation:

• Check with the travel agent or, if the ticket was baught with a credit card, with your card support services if there is no travel insurance. Some credit cards will automatically have some form of insurance included.
  
• Not all docs are familiar with aviation medicine and may certify a patient fit to fly without taking the problems related to altitude into consideration.
  
• Check with the airline about medical restrictions for this condition. Get a MEDA or MEDIF form from the airline. This is the medical declaration of fitness to fly and also has sections in it where special services can be requested ahead of the flight such as wheelchair and seat preferences. The treating doctor has to complete one section as well. It covers some of the airline and the patient liability and will facilitate the boarding.
  
• On the MEDA form indicate wheelchair to the seat or wheelchair to the door of the aircraft. This depends on if the patient can walk from the door of the aircraft to his seat (with assistance) or not. The wheelchair design is different if the patient needs to be taken to the seat. The airline will then provide staff at check-in to assist boarding and will take the patient through immigrations quickly as well.
  
• Request Oxygen at 4l/min for at least 4h as "standby". This allows the airline to calculate the number of cylinders they need to provide. This is usually free of charge.
  
• Request "bulkhead" isle seating. This is close to an entrance and toilet and has easier access to seat.
  
• Nurse escort should be fine but should be accompanied with one more person to assist.
  
• Be aware of the risk of further deep vein thrombosis during the flight. Ensure adequate treatment for this and the patient may need to wear DVT stockings as well.
  
• Try and get a Pulse Oximeter for the trip. This measures the level of oxygen in the blood and will alert the escort before hypoxia occurs. Normal saturation at sea level is 97%. This may drop to 95 at altitude even for normal persons. Signs of hypoxia will appear at about 85% or below. Oxygen should be given at this level.
  
• Should urinary catheters be required, only a bag that attaches to the leg of the patient will be allowed. This is covered by long pants and do not cause any distress or other problems for other passengers.
  

Hope this is helpful.

Take Care and Good Luck!

Aboriginal Eggs

Two Aboriginal lads are riding along Great Eastern Highway on a motorbike.

Their motorbike breaks down and they start hitching a lift.

A friendly trucker stops to see if he can help and the Aboriginals ask him for a lift.

He tells them he has no room in the wagon as he is carrying 20,000 bowling balls but he will take a look at the bike for them.

He tries everything he knows but is unable to repair it.

Time is getting on now and he's late for his delivery so he tells the Aboriginals he has to leave.

"Heyyyyy mate" they say "gissa pucken lift".

The trucker once again explains that he has no room as he is carrying 20,000 bowling balls.

The Aboriginals put it to the driver that if they can manage to fit in the back will he agree to take them and he agrees.

They manage to squeeze themselves and their motorbike into the back of the wagon so the driver shuts the doors and gets off on his way.

By this time he is really late and so puts his foot down.

Sure enough the coppers pull him up for speeding.

The good officer asks the driver what he is carrying, to which he replies - Aboriginal Eggs.

The policeman obviously doesn't believe this so he wants to take a look.

He opens the back door and quickly shuts it and locks it.

He gets onto his radio and calls for immediate backup from as many officers as possible.

The dispatcher asks what emergency he has that requires so many officers.

The Officer replies: "I've got a wagon with 20,000 Aboriginal eggs in it - 2 have hatched and the barstards have managed to steal a motorbike already".

is that really a sensitive joke?

Not sure I understand this comment...

We take the ........ out of the Aussies in this whole thread and this is no problem..

Mention aboriginals and now we're in the pc mode??

If all jokes had to be "sensitive" we'd have almost nothing on this thread and the world would be well short on laughs and much worse off at that..

The current medical condition will determine if you will be able to manage that without professional medical assistance.

Is he paralysed? To use a seat, passengers must be able to sit upright for take off and landing.

Airlines will require a medical clearance if a wheelchair assistance is requested. Turning up at the check in counter with a person that is clearly disabled may result in a refusal to board.

Medical issues in flight are also important; these patients are highly sensitive to drops in atmospheric oxygen pressure. He may become anoxic at altitude (especially about 6h-8h from London; the aircraft will go to a higher altitude as fuel load decreases and cabin pressure may "drift" a little) and become confused and even faint or have convulsions if not given Oxygen support.

The underlying reason for the stroke must be addressed and treated before flying.

The cheaper alternative may be to keep the patient in Thailand for 6-8 weeks till his condition has completely stabilised.

There is this herb I bought in Malaysia once that really blew me away, so to speak. It was almost too strong. Now I forget what it's called.

My guess is 'Tongkat Ali', which literally means 'Ali's walking stick'. No prizes for guessing why. When business took me to Jakarta, there were a number of stalls that advertised this. Looked like little coffee shops, and I suppose the locals stopped off for a quick swig.

Indonesia and Malaysia have a lot in common, this and jamu herbal remedies that originate from Indo and are also found in Malaysia among other things.

Yes, it was 'Tongkat Ali' and this is not a placebo, its the real deal. Is this available and legal in Thailand? In Malaysia, it appears to be quite legal.

Tried it huh????

Naah... The bra I'm wearing is just a fashion item....

I was in the pharmacy today when i noticed there was a carton of pills to get rid of parasite,it was a 7 day detox cleaner pills to get rid of paraites in your colon.

on reading the side of the box,it says you will notice things and different colors when you clean out your bowels by taking these tablets because these are the parasites being cleaned out.

Really are their dangerous parasites in my body? Will these parasite cleanser pills work?

Take reliable and well known medication for de-worming such as Zentel; don't bother with stuff that is supposed to change the colour of stools; this sounds like a bit of nonsense to me.

Worms and other parasites survive in the gut because they produce a layer of protein around them that protects them from gastric juices and other digestive enzymes.

The nifty bit about Zentel is that it prevents or stops the worm from producing this and you basically get your own back on them; you simply digest them..

The older type of medications were toxic; it killed the worms and the dead parasites then could be seen in the stools. With Zentel usually not. Zentel is a lot safer to take than the older drugs were.

One other trick: It is useful to repeat the single dose treatment after about 2-3 weeks. Zentel will not kill eggs or cysts produced by these worms so, if the dose is repeated after two weeks or so, you catch the newly hatched ones before they can start to reproduce.

About a month ago a friend of mine was bitten by a tick. He was able to remove it and didn't think anything about it. After several weeks though he noticed that the bite hadn't healed. He has just started taking Pentrexyl, 500mg, twice a day and using Kenacomb cream. Is this a good combination of drugs to treat it? Has anyone had experience with tick bites?

If he just pulled the tick off, it is likely that some mouthpieces of the tick had broken off and remained imbedded in the skin. The bite won't heal unless this is removed. It may form an abscess which will then expel the foreign material if drained. Otherwise may require a small surgical incision.

Tick should ideally be covered with a substance such as vaseline or other which smothers or kills them and they drop off intact.

Does anyone have experience of the sleep clinic in Bumrungrad, Hospital, Bangkok? did you buy a CPAP (Portable oxygen}, i would like to hear peoples experience before i buy this expensive equipment

First get an examination done by a good ENT. There is a Prof from Chula doing part time work at Bumrungrad; he is an expert on sleep apnoea. Don't have his card with me now but an enquiry at the ENT dept should get you his name. His has written several international papers on the Uvulectomy procedure.

Sleep clinics may work for some. For most people it is such a strange environment that normal sleep is out of the question anyway, making this, as a diagnostic test, very unreliable. The sleep clinic room is in the cardiac critical care unit in Bumrungrad. This is not the place where you would go if you were looking forward to a good night's rest in the first instance. Taking medication to get you to sleep actually defeats the purpose; many normal people may be prone to sleep apnoea on medication anyway...

The CPAP machine definitely works for some individuals but, those who are light sleepers anyway, will never be able to tolerate this.

not too sure if this should go in health, general or farming so mod's please move if necessary...

I have a problem called varicose eczema …

Varicose eczema affects the lower legs of those in their middle to late years and is caused by poor circulation. Varicose eczema causes speckled, itchy and inflamed skin around the ankles.

Ive been told that using virgin coconut oil may help, as I have some coconut tress on my land I was wondering if it may be possible to use the coconuts I already have In some way …? Any one know what I would have to do to the coconuts to be able to use them as a possible treatment ..?

Thanks ...

Not sure about coconuts but the following recipe has worked for many:

Ung Emulsificans Aequosum (Emulsifying cream) 500g

Ask the pharmacist to mix in: 20g Momethasone ointment.

Apply 2/day or even disolve a tablespoonful of this mixture in a bath to soak in. Water not too hot.

This topic was fairly extensively covered in another post about 2-3 mths ago.

Useful to be clear on certain terms:

GERD: Main symptom is reflux; ie acid (heartburn) and sometimes food as well. This is due to a defect in the diaphragm where the esofagus passes through; gap is too wide. There is no valve in the upper stomach as at the lower end and the stomach content is prevented from flowing back up only by the angle with which the esofagus passes through the diaphragm (functional valve).

Narrowing: The chronic irritation of acid in the lower end of the esofagus (from GERD) leads to inflammation and when this heals (either through medication or other), the lower end of the esofagus becomes thickened and narrowed. The muscle action of moving food into the stomach is disrupted and food, especially meat, gets "stuck".

Narrowing can also be caused by malignancy or tumour in this area. Relatively rare in caucasians but more common in Japanese.

Esofageal spasm: In this condition, the muscle coordination of the esofagus is uncoordinated. This is caused by irritation of stomach contents or other reasons and also causes food to get stuck. Difference here is that it is not constant. Sometimes food gets through without any problems. Can cause severe central chest pain and even sometimes resembles that of a heart attack.

Tests:

GERD: Barium swallow usually shows the defect; Gastroscopy can also but shows the inflammation at the lower end.

Narrowing: Barium swallow is the definitive exam. Gastroscopy may also show narrowing and pale lining indicating fibrosis.

Spasm: All tests may be negative in this condition.

Treatment:

GERD: Diet changes, weight loss and medication like Ranitidine (Zantac) or Omeprasole

Narrowing: Only treatment is physical dilatation or surgery in extreme cases or tumours

Spasm: Dietary change, Motilium, sometimes combined with Zantac/Omeprasole.

Advice: See a good Gastro-enterologist.

Consider ENT if the findings are negative.

Thx.

I travel to another place monthly (stay one or 2 weeks) where i walk to work in the morning, unlike in BKK where i drive everywhere. The walk to work is about 25 mins, and is a stiff walk. Cause i dont exercise much ( my bad ), every time i go there, i get a sore back (muscles spasms ) on the first day in lower back. I think i slipped one rung on a stair case on the first day of walking , and had the obligatory sore back / butt that evening. Normally but tuesday it goes.

This got worse and worse over 4 days, till was in severe pain. Got home, saw Dr. and ended up on sofa for almost 2 weeks in heavy pain.

Alot better now, but, if i stop with the Celebrex, within 24 hours the pain returns quite severely. Can feel lumps in the muscle, and the pain is in the muscle ( mid way) when you kneed it. Massage (hurts like hel_l) seems to make it feel better for a day.

Any muscle tear is an acute injury following a very specific incident; pain is immediate and there is usually no problem to relate these two.

Slipping on steps, especially going down, can cause spinal injury with resultant disc injury and nerve root irritation. Pain in the buttock indicates a problem at the Lumbar spine 2/3. The severe back muscle spasm is secondary to that nerve root irritation.

I doubt that this is a muscle (hamstring) tear and more likely a back problem. May be worth while to have a X-ray taken of the lumbar spine and checked by an Orthopedic Doc.

Massage is good but not Thai style; ask for Swedish and do 2h. Find a competent masseur.