MeaMaximaCulpa

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

H. Pylori is adapted to be able to live in stomach acid, unfortunately. A unique feature of it.

 

Eradication of HP requires temporary use of acid suppressjng drugs (usually a PPI) along antibiotic combination.

 

In OP's case he was on  PPI anyway for an esophageal condition.

 

 

I am not disputing that, but perhaps sometimes the same thing can be both cause and effect?

This is from Cleveland clinic, see the last sentence:

Thanks to all for contributing, and I conclude that size does matter after all! 🙂

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

LED lights need special dimmers. Ordinary dimmers don't work for them, it's a completely different technology.

 

Here you can learn a lot about LEDs, etc. It is technical.

Home of the QuinLED LED Controllers - quinled.info

 

Thanks for the link, but it is not really that part of LEDs I'm looking for. More the garden, vanilla variety

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

I'm assuming you want to dim mains (220V) LEDs.

 

Your first port of call should be the instructions for your LED lamps.

 

Many modern lamps will actually work just fine with conventional dimmers but whether your particular lamps will work with your particular dimmers is still something of a lottery (it used to be a black-art).

 

Ask the advice of the seller of both the lamps and the dimmers.

 

 

The bulbs are "dimmable LED" bulbs meant for 220 volts.

These do work on a conventional dimmer, it was more bout the optimal wattage I was asking.

@Crossy

When using LED bulbs, what would be the most appropriate dimmer to use: The one with a  power rating close to the total rating of the bulbs, or the one with a much higher rating?

Example: 4 LED bulbs at 10 W each: Use a 50 watt dimmer or 300 watt dimmer?

Or doesn't it matter, as long as you are below the max rating of the dimmer?

Which one will give better regulation?

Also: Is the any real difference (except power rating) between a dimmer for old style (incandescent) bulbs and LED bulbs?

You could try to contact Dr Torsak, he is both a "normal" MD pluss a functional medicine doctor: https://www.healingpassion-asia.com

16 hours ago, allane said:

Thank you. Do you, or anyone, know if iHerb is based in Thailand ?  I couldn't determine online.

iHerb is based in the USA and ships from there to Thailand. Normal shipping time is between one and two weeks, sometimes less than a week.

My experience is very good with iHerb, also their handling of complaints. Only twice in many years have I had reason to complain, and they refunded without question, and quickly too. No need to return the product, but perhaps a photo may be asked for.

Choose Thailand and Thai baht (it may be automatic from your IP address, but if you use VPN it may be confused), then you see prices in local currency.

Finally beware that Thai customs have a limit of B1,500 to avoid duty and VAT. I have routinely gone over this, often up to 1,650 and once or twice around 1,700. But safest to be close to 1,500. If you order for more that 1,400 you also get free freight!

Good luck!

I don't know what it cost in a local store, but try iHerb.com: https://th.iherb.com/search?sug=kelp&kw=kelp&rank=0&rawkw=kelp&refererLocation=suggestion

Here are a few examples:

8 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Sorry, I should re-phrase and say  ' Why would anyone need an Executive Suite to be told their results' unless, of course, they had lots of money, which some of us do not.

Yes of course a Bentley will get you from A to B just as a Kia will. (Other cheaper cars are available, as are expensive ones)

So you do understand and have answered your own question.

9 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Same thing at Nauresun University Hospital in Phitsanulok costs less than Bht 5000 including PSA test (Bht 300), ECG, X-ray, u'sound, consultation with a nice doctor and prescriptions for my heart & prostate meds for 6 months. No stress test.

Why did you need an Executive Suite in which to be told your results?

Did I say I needed it?

Thanks @Sheryl for very detailed and swift answer! And you are of course spot on in your assessment of me as well . Difficult patient for sure! 🙃

The herbals I have used (saw palmetto, stinging nettle root extract, pygeum, lycopene, beta-sistosterol, ++) I believe are (mostly?) of the 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor type, and I do feel (but cannot prove) that they did help to if nothing else slow the growth of the prostate, and keep the flow ok (but low), except if I wake up 2-3am with a full bladder, then flow is VERY slow indeed. Therefore I am worried that one day (or rather night) I may not be able to pee at all, and have to go to the emergency room. But I was not aware that one can actually shrink the prostate, I thought that once the tissue had grown, it would either continue to grow or stop. But not shrink?

I have also heard (in a podcast with Dr Peter Attia and a famous urologist) that this type of drugs (herbal or otherwise) may suppress the PSA to give a too low reading, potentially masking a warning flag for e.g. prostate cancer. Is this your experience as well? My PSA has been in the 2.5 to 3 region for quite a few years, and I have no other indications of cancer so far. Touch wood.

I will study the above mentioned drugs and therapies, and get an appointment with your recommended doctor for next time I am in BKK.

So thanks again, you really are a valuable resource on this forum!

Hello @Sheryl,

Is your August 2016 thread about urologists still up-to-date, or do you have any new and bright additions or perhaps deletions?

I have moderate BPH, and have used different herbal supplements to keep it in reasonable check until recently, where I became aware that one ingredient (beta-sistosterol) may have a negative effect on the optic nerve. I do in fact have a thinning of the optic nerve sheat as seen on OCT scans, but without any increased eye pressure. I don't know if beta-sistosterol really is bad and if it did cause the thinning or not, but I discontinued the supplement right away, just to be on the safe side.

I would like to find an excellent urologist to discuss potential treatments, both medication (if I find it acceptably safe) or some kind of TURP procedure, steam, ...?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: My experience with Jomtien is as follows: I have a TM-30 from 2017 or thereabouts, and went abroad (with new passport, stamps transferred) last summer.

On return did 90-day report in person, no need for new TM-30.

I recently did my retirement ext. of stay, and still not asked for a new TM-30, and same again with the 2nd 90-day after returning.

I have been on retirement extension for around 17 years, married for 11 years to same wife, live in her house all the time, with yellow book as proof of address.

I never have any problems at Jomtien, and I now see reports that you can in fact use the reservation system, will see if it works with a re-entry permit I still have to do.

I would go prepared to submit a TM-30, but try without first. Nothing ventured, nothing gained...

(Also, I was NOT asked to come back in 3 months to show the 800K in the bank when collecting my retirement extension. I was just given my passport, and I asked is that all, the nice lady said yes!).

OK, not CW but Jomtien: I have never been asked for a statement in 17 years, I use a fixed deposit account that rolls over annually and never touches it, not even the interest. Only for extension of stay. Yes dead money, but necessary for peace of mind. My wife will get it when I go.

Bank letter and photocopies of FD book is always enough. They never ask about funds for living like a savings account, but I always have a 6-month statement and book copies of that in my bag just in case (OCD I know).

9 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

OP, thanks for report.

Good to see no silly games with TM30 as it should not be required. 

Regarding your reentry permit.... if it's busy when you pick up pp as you know it's a simple process to obtain reentry permit at airport.

Re the note to return after 3 months with bank book just ignore that.

No record is made. 

Thanks for the tip, but when I travel long haul I do not want to run the risk of an upset in any way, even if my rational brain tells me it is very low. So I do it well in advance, and enjoy a quiet time awaiting departure.

FWIW: Many years ago I presented a few documents in colour at Jomtien office, and was told to go outside and redo them in B&W. I was allowed to go straight back to the officer afterwards. So why waste money on printer ink, just get cheap photocopies.

On 1/20/2024 at 3:17 AM, mstevens said:

There are all sorts of theories around tinnitus, various causes and with that, various solutions. I've suffered from what I would term "low-level tinnitus" where most of the time I can't hear it and forget it's there. But when I would go to a quiet place and I think about it, it was still there.

 

I suffered for a couple of years with a bunch of symptoms which I swore were related but doctors said were not: digestive issues, insomnia and tinnitus. After giving up on the medical profession who simply could not help me, it took a massive amount of reading online to work out what the problem was. It was my diet which was very high in oxalates that was causing all sorts of issues.

 

I won't go in to the mechanisms of how oxalates mess your body up as it's complicated. But basically, for some people, oxalates aren't easily excreted. (Your liver does NOT detox them, rather they have to be excreted via urine or in your stool). In simple terms, when I cut right back on foods very high in oxalates (in my case I had been eating nuts in significant quantities for a long time as well as dark chocolate and other high oxalate foods), it gave my body a chance to clear the oxalates. It took a few months until, amazingly, my tinnitus got quieter and quieter and then went away completely. My insomnia went away too.

 

In one book I read (Toxic Superfoods by Sally K Morton), a specialist who helps people tinnitus said that he had had great success treating people by using a low oxalate diet.

 

This worked for me. I don't know if it will work for anyone else but it's worth trying.

WARNING: This may be "TLDR" for some, so feel free to skip it, but please don't bother with the confused or laughing emoticons. Some of you may find it interesting and I will come back later to report if something substantial happens.

As someone else said there are several reasons for tinnitus, and there are numerous "cures" and remedies on YouTube, but mostly they don't work much (I will read the OP's and other poster's articles after this post). But I think you're on to something re diet in some cases. I have had low to moderate tinnitus for a few years, and never addressed it until recently, where I experienced a rapid (a few months) hearing loss on both ears. Mostly in terms of muffled sounds especially from tv, but in general too. My thinking is that in my case tinnitus was an early warning of hearing loss I ignored back then, since it wasn't bothering me much. In some cases the tinnitus is caused by the brain filling in the missing information in the audible spectrum, even before we really notice the reduced hearing since it is slow and gradual.

So I got in to do a hearing test at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, which showed exactly what I was expecting. But the doctor just said: "old age (66), go get hearing aid. Next!". Any further discussion about root cause and possible remedy was useless. So for a second opinion I went to see one of the experts in the field at Bumrungrad Hospital, Prof. Dr. Saowaros (thanks @Sheryl). She did dig deeper and said my hearing nerve seems ok, but there was a problem in the seashell-like thing in my ears (cochlea). But she had no idea of the cause. On my question she confirmed that it could eventually lead to total deafness. My guess is that it is from auto-immunity (I have some other issues with that already), and this in turn is usually caused by a leaky gut, probably in itself caused by a very bad lifestyle over many years.

So I am doing a massive medical check-up in 2 days time, and will be back with the doc early February to discuss the test results and any possible treatment, if nothing else but to slow down the deterioration.

In the mean time I am trying what I can to help the situation myself. Firstly I am transitioning away from all sugars, fruits, gluten, dairy and omega six oils. Thats done already, and is easy since I am used to keto diets in periods. I have also started removing all "offensive" veggies (i.e. almost all for me), and will in the next 2 weeks go all the way to a 100% carnivore diet (meat/fish/egg yolks/butter/salt/water), even cutting out herbs, coffee, etc. I will also cut most nutritional supplements (I have been taking way too many), but will add in GABA and Taurine, which may help my situation. Then re-test and evaluate after 3-4 months. In addition I work on keeping the stress down with meditation and gratefulness, plus of course exercise and plenty of good sleep. So even if all this (and more) doesn't help with hearing loss, there are so many other benefits for health that it will be well worth it. And when I feel totally stable I can experiment with adding back one veggie at a time and see what happens. A long process (at least one month per item), but well worth it.

Wish me luck!

On 1/21/2024 at 5:18 PM, zzzzz said:

BUT why not? traveling internal as well if you stay at a hotel and they do a tm 30 ( which thye are required to do) 
Phuket is the same   55555

 

Bombastic statements like that are usually not true for everyone. I have a TM-30 from 2017, and came back from abroad in August (on a new passport I got in BKK before the trip, and incidentally not asked for boarding pass either).

When I went to Jomtien in November to do my 90-day in person, I saw on the forum beforehand that I HAD TO have an updated TM-30 before I got my 90-day (and also for an extension).

Well I wanted to test that, and got my 90-day without new TM-30 or even a question about it. Now I will do the same again with my extension in February. If they insist on a new TM-30 I will go get one, even pay the fine if needed. No sweat.

After my next trip this summer I will register for both 90-day and TM-30 online, since it seems the TM-30 online mostly works well now, and there is a new 90-day online solution being launched as we speak. Hopefully in November this will work well after fixing the start-up problems that will inevitably occur.

My theory is: In each of our immigration "profiles" there is a flag saying "Good guy, treat nicely" or "Bad guy, not so fast". Why this flag would be there will vary with each office, officer and the subject (i.e. us). It could be how we come across to the officer, attitude, dress, solidness of our case, documentation, stable situation, history, etc.

Now this is just a guess on my part, but it would explain most, if not all of the variations in process we see every day on the forum. Some other reasons are the individual office chief's policy, and individual officers having a bad hair day, PMS or whatever. I am not mentioning the elefant in the room, that goes without saying.

1 hour ago, quake said:

 

You should get about 3 years plus out of a battery here 

Each year a new one, something not right there mate.

And I suspect it was Honda pulling one on you. 

 

 

In cold weather Norway, Sweden and the UK I never changed batteries in cars I had for several years.

In Thailand I've been told by "everybody" to change every year. I heard subpar quality and poor roads shaking the battery as reasons. Dubious. Some time back I didn't change, and of course, after ±16 months, battery gone.

So now I just suck it up and know my car will start when I need it to. Not worth the cost for the potential hazzle.

56 minutes ago, Irish star said:

I got mine at Toyota 3500 b and 500 b for old battery , so 3,000 b out the door 5 min Done 

I paid 2-300 bath more, also with return of old battery. But why we have to change battery each yer is still a mystery to me.

Thanks, I do appreciate your taking the time to respond, although if you read my last post, I have already found what I was looking for.

What I didn't appreciate was your condescending lecture about my preferences, as if you have any idea why I hold those preferences.

I may not agree with your preferences but I respect your right to have them. So please respect mine.

No need to respond as I am not interested in discussing this further.

@CharlieHModerator, please close this thread as it has served its purpose.