Moemg
Gone but not forgotten
OMG!!!
What a concept!
Are you sure it wouldn't be better to keep asking random people on the net?
Perfect answer !
OMG!!!
What a concept!
Are you sure it wouldn't be better to keep asking random people on the net?
I sure don't have any sensation of dripping back there or sinus congestion, but you never know. Last night I woke up with that coughing and drowning feeling.
This is like the kid's game "whisper down the lane" or "telephone". The OP went from having "coughing/throat clearing when I lie down to sleep" to almost everyone (except Bestwifeever, Meadbh and WR2) diagnosing him with gerds. The OP could have mild allergies or postnasal drip and not even know it. You can develop allergies as you age even if you didn't have them when you were younger. Unless postnasal drip is severe you won't feel "dripping".
OP, stop experimenting and go to your doctor. You said in your first post that you have had this problem for years and you mentioned this problem to your doctor. It sounds like you haven't gone to the doctor for this specific problem. Though you said in a later post that your doctor thought you (your experiments??) were on the right track. You shouldn't be annoyed with your doctor because even if you have LPR, it states in the very beginning of those 2 links that you posted in your first post, that it's hard to diagnose and you haven't been going to your doctor for this problem. Maybe stop reading Dr. Google and make an appointment with your doctor.
I suggested this in post #6.......... The OP went from having "coughing/throat clearing when I lie down to sleep" to almost everyone (except Bestwifeever, Meadbh and WR2) diagnosing him with gerds. The OP could have mild allergies or postnasal drip and not even know it. ......
Doctors are experts, not God. The human body is very complex, and a patient needs to be informed to talk intelligently with his doctors, and to give them feedback during the course of treatment.All good advice, but what to do when the dr's say "I don't know what the problem is" ? DW has been having coughing for over years now. It started out coming on at various times of the year and working into needing antibiotics. Then later grew to occurring most of the year. Mostly an unproductive, dry cough during the day and when she 1st lies down for bed for a few minutes. Over the years, she's been to her GP(s), Gastro specialists, pulmonologists, ENT specialists. Nobody has been able to get it under control...
Most Dr's are great and nobody should treat themselves IMO, but with today's knowledge base (google etc.), self investigation is warranted. "Trust, but verify" is a good policy to follow IMO.
For many years I had acid reflux and the doctors ran all kinds of tests and finally said I was missing the valve at the top of my esophagus. Years later I moved to Peru and never experienced it again.
avoided all alcohol, coffee, chocolate
If I ever get to that point, just shoot me!
Is Dr. V. Getting paid for email consultations? I hope so. Because we are not.
My bill will be $400.
$400 for answering an email? That's more than 4x what my US doctor gets for seeing me in an office visit, and he still has to share it with his nurses, and his clerical staff.
I thought having doctors answering emails at a reduced fee would be a good way to lower the cost of healthcare.
I totally agree. I never work for free, and so do not expect my doctor to.If a patient asks an opinion by email, the physician cannot collect any fee. Obviously a physician would be well advised to avoid taking on the risk of getting sued over an email opinion if he/she is not getting paid for it. Furthermore, responding to the patient's email takes time (which may include researching the best answer to the question), which delays the physician from doing other, billable work. It makes perfect sense that Dr. V. asked Al to make an appointment to see her.
Or T-Al can stay here and buy Swedish meatballs at IKEA, like I do.He should visit soon, before he goes to Sweden and eats meatballs.
All good advice, but what to do when the dr's say "I don't know what the problem is" ?
Most Dr's are great and nobody should treat themselves IMO, but with today's knowledge base (google etc.), self investigation is warranted.
Fascinating!Totally agree with this. This is getting off-topic, but I went to a couple different doctors with some troubling symptoms I was having this past spring. Had a bunch of blood tests, and both docs said based on the results, everything looked "normal". Neither doctor had any idea what was causing my symptoms, so I really got no help there. With blood test results in hand, I went online and started looking around, and eventually found that my iron panel results were actually quite high (right at the top of the reference range for transferrin saturation and ferritin). The numbers did not raise any red flags with either doctor, but they were still much higher than what is considered optimum. So I began to suspect that the excess iron in my blood and system (iron overload) was a major cause of the symptoms. If you have excess iron, the only efficient way to get rid of it is to donate blood. So I did that, and about 80% of the symptoms disappeared right away. After the second blood donation two months later, the symptoms are now completely gone. I just got the results from the latest iron panel blood test, and both the transferrin and ferritin have come down a lot (still above optimum, but much lower than before). I guess someone could argue that donating blood and the disappearance of symptoms were not related, but all I know is that I feel much better now. This does not mean that I have no faith in doctors anymore, but I am also a believer in self-investigation when the situation warrants it.