Pikiss

The Brick in central Pattaya (few hundred meters from Terminal 21).

Aircon, Cybex and Arctrainer equipment, group classes (spinning, yoga etc.)

Price 6,700 / three months.

2,700 / one month.

I’ve ordered three times in Pattaya (Jomtien) and every time a few items were missing despite trying to keep the list quite simple. Vegetables have been in good shape in every order and the service is good for heavy items. Except the last time a couple of weeks ago they forgot the water so I guess I give up and go back to IRL grocery shopping.

I´ve had a detached retina on my left eye 10 years ago. It started with very slowly blurring vision in the upper corner of the eye. Didn’t think much of it for a couple of months until suddenly I started seeing flashes of lights which made me to see a doctor immediately. From starting to see the flashes it took me 3 days to get to the surgery, they were able to fix it almost completely. If the eye was a clock, I have a very blurred vision from 12 pm to 2 pm but otherwise it is as good as before the operation. They also lasered my other eye just in case because it also had a thinning retina. 

After the operation I experienced some of the worst headaches in my life, this lasted over a week. The doctor said it had something to do with brains adjusting to the operation. Also I was very light sensitive for a couple of weeks. And the operated eye looked nasty red for a couple of weeks.

About the floaters, according to my Doc they indeed come with the age and are harmless. Nevertheless, very annoying at times as I have one floating in my “good eye” constantly.

Diagnosing detached retina should be a straight forward procedure for a professional, the Doc checks the back of your dilated eyes with a magnifying tool.

I had the upper blepharoplasty done at Yanhee by dr. Greechart a year ago. I am happy with the results. I agree with the previous poster about his bed side manners, they are lacking and the consultation was over in matter of minutes. Had I not have read a lot about the risks and healing process before going to see him and seen the referrals here in TV I would not have gone through the surgery at Yanhee. Now I am happy that I did although during the process it felt like being in a factory. But then again, I am not into a fuss and pricey overnight pampering package like they suggested me in Bumrungrad.

After consulting three spine specialist (1 in Finland, 2 in Bangkok) and resorting to all imaginable self-help (massage, physiotherapy, exercise, inversion therapy etc) he decided to try one more thing: He got 9 shots of cortisone to his lower back pains in Bangkok Pattaya Hospital 6 months ago.

After a couple of days the pain went away completely. It lasted about one week and the pain came back basically over-night but was milder than before. Now after 6 months the pain has been building up to be as bad as before the injections. His doctor back home said that the injections must have helped because he is feeling the pain much more stronger now.

A word of warning: He got a really bad case of shingles (herpes zoster) to his face a few weeks after the injections. One month in really bad shape (fever, lethargy), 3 months of constant headache and itching in the face, and he’s still feeling the symptoms. Some say that cortisone injections near you spine can wake up a dormant shingles virus and in his case this seems to be true. In hindsight he says he would rather have continued to battle with the known enemy i.e. the back than the shingles.

Fitz health club at the Royal Cliff Resort comes with all the trimmings such as some very nice Cybex arc-trainers and Life Fitness equipment, large and well-maintained pool areas with a jacuzzis, steam rooms, tennis and squash courts and putting green for golf. Enclosed the price list (for last year).

FITZ Club 2014.pdf

Hope it works out for you, too. I have found ordering from Biovea (surprisingly) reliable and secure; delivery in 1-2 weeks to your home, there’s been no problems with VISA credit card billing. They also accept PayPal or payment on delivery. If you have a Facebook account it’s worth liking the company; they have frequent (about in every 2 weeks) 10-15 % discount codes for all orders on their FB page. It’s been a relief not needing to bring back so many supplements anymore whenever visiting home country.

On Facebook they are advertising Halloween buffet for tomorrow Oct 31.

A few years ago I had a bad flu with very runny nose, I mean I had to blow my nose every 5 minutes for 10 hours straight. At some point I lost sense of smell (and taste), it took about 24 hours and then went back to normal.

I order mine here

http://www.biovea.com/th/

Helsinki embassy issues only single entry visas and requires return ticket back to Finland. Onward ticket from Thailand to some other country than Finland will not do. It's been like this for a couple of years as far as I know (I've tried it and failed). Hopefully other Scandinavian embassies are not following Helsinki's lead.

My husband got unfortunately ill with herpes zoster. His doctor in Bangkok Pattaya Hospital told today that the vaccine should be approved and available in Thailand next January.

I just came back from my first trip ever to Vietnam, spending a few days in Hanoi. Overall I was pleasantly surprised of how tidy and green at least the city centre areas were, there were even sidewalks where you could actually walk. Also, the famous Huan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter was surrounded by pedestrian walk and parks. Wonderful feeling just to sit in a bench in a tree shade and nobody harrassing you to buy something or charging for the use of that bench..

Although the OP isn't interested in modern sights I think it's worth to mention the just recently opened Lotte Department Store and Condominium Tower. The Sky Terrace is open to public (for a fee) and offers spectacular 360 degree views of Hanoi from the 65th floor. There is even a glass floor to stand on and stare at the city bustle underneath your shaky feet.

I’ve had mild acid refluxes for years and they have been manageable with proper diet and a weeklong course of pantoprazole every now and then. Earlier this year I had to take a heavy course of antibiotics, which resulted in a full-blown reflux, and gastritis and I had to start 40 mg pantoprazole daily. I’ve been since then reading a lot about reflux and been astonished of how many ways this disease can be symptomatic. Especially in discussion boards some people say that their pain is in the heart but after having all possible tests done most of the cases have proved to be due to reflux (caused by the vagus nerve stimulation?)

I’ve been now on pantoprazole for six months. It took the three first months before the excruciating nightly pains and burning sensation in my stomach and back started to relieve so it really can require a long time to take effect.

The last two months I’ve been on a 20 mg daily dose and still have mild stomach ache at least once a week. I am now gathering up my courage to try to stop taking pantoprazole and see if I can manage. It’s not good to take the medicine indefinitely because as FBN said these proton pump inhibitors prevent your body from producing stomach acid, which is of course needed for your digestive process.

Since you’ve been off the medication for a few days already maybe it’ s good to tough it out and keep on going to see if the symptoms start to relieve. You may want to start taking probiotic products (yogurt and capsules), digestive enzyme tablets with every meal and if needed, a Gaviscon tablet after meal or at bedtime depending on when you feel the heart burn.

I am an avid Louis Vuitton fan and been accumulating my collection over many years. I’ve been coming to Thailand during the last 3 years with several used and new bags without even thinking of declaring the new ones.

For example, a year ago I bought three LV items worth over 2000 EUR in Seoul and brought them over in my carry-on baggage through the green line. Just leave out the cardboard packages and bring the bags in their canvas pouches in your carry-on baggage.

BTW, I wish I were your wife’s friend J

See this thread in Pattaya forum

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/728608-back-stretching-device-inversion-table-needed/#entry7872191

My husband ordered one from Spinefitness (via a local sports store so not directly from the web shop). The inversion table has proven to be of good quality.

Years ago my father had that problem, he tried everything and nothing worked, he finally decided on surgery, but he was over 80, and we didn't want him to have major surgery. He went to an osteopath and he stretched my father's spine, after one treatment my father felt great and was walking upright again, after three he didn't need anymore and never had the problem again.

Thank you George, I have never tried that so I will put in on my list, I dont really want surgery.

Any Osteopaths in Thailand?

Osteopaths seem to be scarce in Thailand but I just saw in a health related blog a recommendation of one in Bangkok, http://osteopathcentre.com

I had fresh/horrible experience from BPH today!!!

My relative had a sever food poison and even vomit after taking medicine. He is a European and prefers hospital than the acupuncture. So I took him to BPH. We waited horribly long time before the doctor received him for 3 min. (He was feeling very ill and I complained to the nurses but we still had to wait like hell).

Then, they wanted to take him to in- patient dept. I firmly refused. He didn't have dehydration etc so the situation was not really critical .He had some infusion and then left BPH. ......Also took long long time before the nurse got the medicine and did infusion on him...

I used to have very good impression of BPH and I had my baby born there. But today 's visit made me very angry. The boy was very weak and suffering a lot, but they still let us wait wait wait.

Well done taking things under control. The long waiting time was probably because you refused them to admit the boy in ward. A friend of mine got ill and was quite dehydrated and we helped her to get to BPH. As soon as they learned that she has fully covered health insurance they rushed her to the ward into a private room with separate lounge room for visitors and two balconies. She was put on saline drip which is OK and needed but they also put her on antibiotic drip before even checking what’s wrong with her, no blood or stool samples first. She stayed there for 2 nights, the bill was 20,000 baht. It turned out she had a garden-variety stomach flu.

Bangkok Pattaya Hospital Dental Clinic last week: scaling and cleaning by hand and machine and a deep cleaning with the Airflow technology. The lady doctor was very gentle and professional, the procedure took ca. 60 minutes. Cost 2,000 Baht which is half less than I would have paid in Europe.

First I made an appointment for Airflow cleaning in a smaller clinic. Went to my appointment only to find out their machine is broken and the dentist could not tell when it would be fixed. I had specifically requested the Airflow cleaning when making the appointment so it would have been nice of them to call me and cancel. Wasted half of my day and didn't get a reassuring feeling that this clinic is up to handling other than basic dental procedures. I decided to only go to these int. hospitals for my health needs because I trust more that their equipment is maintained properly, even if it would cost a few baht more.

I can recommend Villa Thongbura in Jomtien. I have stayed there a few years ago and so have many of my friends with kids. The hotel is kind of serviced apartment but also with daily rents, the rooms are big. A two-bedroom apt costs 3500 baht.

It has a very large and nice swimming pool area, a restaurant (no special food though), easy access to Thepprasit Road to catch a baht bus and another access to walk to Jomtien beach in 5 mins. The hotel seem have received OK reviews in Tripadvisor, too

Yes, as Sheryl said, my husband’s condition is mechanical, exercise or manipulation will not fix his back. Surgery seems the only way to go from here.

His last doctor said not to do any exercise that hurts - but hey, he is in pain all the time so what’s there to lose? To just keep going and active, he is doing aerobic exercise on cross trainer in the mornings (first 10 minutes are painful but then it subsides), he’s doing the McKenzie exercise as well.

The inversion table seemed to help somewhat in the first 1-2 months but not anymore. He hasn’t been using it for a couple of months but is thinking of starting again, as well as training core muscles and doing some weight lifting.

There is an interesting discussion around magnesium easing back pain. He is taking 600 mg in tablet form daily and is now looking for magnesium oil – does anyone know where to source magnesium as oil in Thailand?

I have a friend of mine in Ubon who was diagnosed as a celiac about 6 years ago. He refrained from drinking beer since then. He has just discovered that drinking 3 or 4 longnecks each day of either Leo, Singha, Chang Classic, San Miquel or Ashasi doesn't irritate his condition. He believes this is due to them being rice based beers.

Singha and Chang websites state that their beer is made of 100% barley, but even if they are rice based they have barley in it. Celiac disease is not a food allergy or food intolerance, it is an autoimmune disease. If diagnosed celiac, your friend is taking a big risk drinking beer regularly, he should not be drinking beer at all unless the beer is gluten-free.

Many celiacs have no immediate effects (e.g. cramps, diarrhea) when eating wheat, barley or rye – I am one those so it took me 10 years to figure out what the heck is wrong with my stomach, why I am losing hair, are tired all the time. The problem is that even a tiniest bit of gluten can start inflammation in the small intestine and it takes 3-6 months for the intestines to recover, even if you get back in strict gluten-free diet. Constant inflammation causes cell damage, which in turn can lead for example to osteoporosis or worst-case scenario, cancer. Celiac disease is often hereditary. My mother and two of his brothers died of stomach cancer, now I realize that they probably had celiac disease and went without diagnosing because they had no clear symptoms. I am grateful that I got diagnosed, I stay in strict gluten-free diet and hopefully can avoid my mother and uncle’s fate.

­My husband has a spinal canal stenosis and degeneration of L4/5 discs. He has done it all, x-rays, an MRI, physiotherapists, chiropractors, exercises, stretching with an inversion table. He’s seen 4 doctors specializing in back and spine problems in the last 5 months: one in Europe, 3 here in Thailand: Bumrungrad, BNH and Bangkok Pattaya Hospital.

Dr. Wicharn in BNH was great, explained everything clearly. The outcome is that eventually he will need a lumbar spinal fusion surgery (the disc degeneration is so far gone that he is not a candidate for the more advanced ADR, artificial disc replacement). Dr. Wicharn’s consultation fee was 1000 baht.

He has been in constant pain now for over 6 months so he decided to give one more try for pain management before resorting to pain killers. Two weeks ago he had 9 cortisone injections done in Bangkok Pattaya Hospital in case he has an inflammation in the back. Two days after the injections the pain went away completely and stayed like that for about week, it was amazing to see the change in his energy levels and mood. Then, the pain came back. I suppose there is nothing else left to do than to start considering surgery.

BIOVEA webshop has it http://www.biovea.com/th/results.aspx?KW=Minoxidil They deliver from Thailand. I’ve ordered from them vitamin supplements and cosmetics twice, with no problems. Payment by Visa, Paypal or on delivery. Delivery to your house in about one week.

I've suffered for years of thinning hair and hair loss. Sometimes it gets bad and then there is longer times that things are back to normal.

I've found that stress and sleeping poorly makes it worse. Also, big changes in diet: I lost a lot of hair when I lost 20 kilos, even if I did that with an extremely healthy foood and over a course of 2 years. Changing climate from cool Europe to hot and humid Thailand has not been so good to my hair, either. I think it's because the water here is different, too hard on my brittle hair. Now I am going to start washing my hair with bottled water to see if that makes any difference.

These steps have helped me. Firstly, start using shampoo that prevents/slows down falling of the hair. Use conditioner, moisture is important for healthy hair and scalp. I brought mine from Europe but Boots here seems to have some good brands.

Start taking vitamin supplements. A multivitamin containing zinc, vitamin B, folate, iron, and calcium would be good. I am taking also magnesium, fish oil and B12. Alternatively, add more foods containing these to your diet.

Sadly, there's no quick fix. It can take 3-6 months to start seeing improvement. Stick with the regime!