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#1 Jan 31 2011 at 4:37 PM Rating: Excellent
I'm supposed to go 48 hours with no alcohol for some screening at work. It has nothing to do with my doctor and I. And while the same screening being done again in November will affect my health insurance premium, this one means nothing, other than to tell me how certain blood thingies are.

Should I be a good boy, and not drink tonight, maybe have a beer or two to help me get to bed, or just drink heavily as normal?
#2 Jan 31 2011 at 4:47 PM Rating: Excellent
I think you should hold off on the drinking until it's done. These tests are likely being used to get a baseline for later, so having messed up values could cause problems (and/or misdiagnoses) down the road, and not just for the screening in November. Alcohol can cause some electrolyte imbalances, so even though it might not be a big deal, there's really no reason to take the risk just for a drink or two.




As an aside, from an objective medical standpoint, if you can't go 48 hours without having a drink, you should probably get some help with that. Even if it's just to get to sleep, there are other things you can use for that. I'm not even assuming this is the case, or even judging you if it is, but I feel obligated to comment on it just in case. ^^;
#3 Jan 31 2011 at 4:51 PM Rating: Excellent
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Just hold off on alcohol for two days, then get super smashed after the test is done.
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#4 Jan 31 2011 at 4:57 PM Rating: Excellent
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Two days is easy sauce.
#5 Jan 31 2011 at 5:05 PM Rating: Excellent
Quote:


As an aside, from an objective medical standpoint, if you can't go 48 hours without having a drink, you should probably get some help with that. Even if it's just to get to sleep, there are other things you can use for that. I'm not even assuming this is the case, or even judging you if it is, but I feel obligated to comment on it just in case. ^^;
Feel free to assume that's the case. To be honest, though, currently I consider smoking to be far worse a habit, and I am struggling with quitting. I think trying to work on both at once will just mean failure for both almost absolutely.

Tylenol PM and caff. free diet pepsi it is for tonight, though.

Daim, do you think the full 48 matters? If it's more like 38-40 is it going to cause huge issues? I had assumed the screening was taking place in the afternoon, but it will be in the morning, and I had a few beers last evening.
#6 Jan 31 2011 at 5:28 PM Rating: Excellent
Lubriderm the Fussy wrote:
Quote:


As an aside, from an objective medical standpoint, if you can't go 48 hours without having a drink, you should probably get some help with that. Even if it's just to get to sleep, there are other things you can use for that. I'm not even assuming this is the case, or even judging you if it is, but I feel obligated to comment on it just in case. ^^;
Feel free to assume that's the case. To be honest, though, currently I consider smoking to be far worse a habit, and I am struggling with quitting. I think trying to work on both at once will just mean failure for both almost absolutely.

Tylenol PM and caff. free diet pepsi it is for tonight, though.

Daim, do you think the full 48 matters? If it's more like 38-40 is it going to cause huge issues? I had assumed the screening was taking place in the afternoon, but it will be in the morning, and I had a few beers last evening.
Honestly, I wouldn't be concerned about it. I'm pretty sure it doesn't take 48 hours for alcohol to leave your system (though I don't know what its half-life is), but they likely say 48 to make absolutely sure there's nothing residual in your blood (the general rule for fasting and that sort of thing is to take the upper limit and add ~25% to it). It differs for each individual based on speed of metabolism, etc, so they have to make sure that they can cover everyone. I wouldn't stress over it.

Since you've brought it up, I absolutely agree with you that you shouldn't try to quit both habits at once (and lots of respect to you for making the effort). Both can cause pretty significant damage if done long enough, but smoking is probably worse. You can never get the lung function back once it's lost (it's not just about cancer :p), so the sooner you can limit that damage the better. Your liver will probably fine in the meantime as long as you don't take any drugs along with the alcohol (ESPECIALLY tylenol, since you mentioned that; acetaminophen can be brutal to your liver when combined with alcohol). I won't talk more about the alcohol unless you ask (feel free to ask questions if you are curious about the medical aspect or anything). What you do is your business, and I won't judge you for it.

Sorry for taking that in a serious direction, but I thought a serious question deserved a serious answer. Smiley: nod
#7 Jan 31 2011 at 5:33 PM Rating: Good
Yeah, I don't like to take tylenol normally. It totally forgot to buy a fresh bottle of diphenhydramine, and the store only had tylenol pm.
#8 Jan 31 2011 at 5:34 PM Rating: Excellent
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So what exactly do you do, Daima? Just curious.
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#9 Jan 31 2011 at 5:38 PM Rating: Excellent
Kirby, Star Breaker wrote:
So what exactly do you do, Daima? Just curious.
I'm in medical school. Got a year and a half under my belt, so while I don't have the MD yet, I know most of the scientific aspect of medicine (third and fourth year are all clinical rotations, which just means hands-on experience with all the different specialties and putting the knowledge from first and second year into practice).
#10 Jan 31 2011 at 5:55 PM Rating: Excellent
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Cool. Are you specializing in something? I'm not sure how medical schools operate, lol.
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#11 Jan 31 2011 at 6:04 PM Rating: Excellent
Kirby, Star Breaker wrote:
Cool. Are you specializing in something? I'm not sure how medical schools operate, lol.
It's fine, most people don't know. For that matter, I didn't either until I was actually in it. You don't actually officially choose a specialty until you are applying for residency in your fourth year. Some people know (or have an idea) what they want to do before that, and will take steps towards that early (there are meetings for the different specialties once or twice a month), but most do not know until they get into rotations and actually experience what it's like to be in that particular specialty. You can then use your electives in the fourth year to further focus on what you decide.

I personally have not decided what I want, and will not for at least another year. I've taken a liking to psychiatry in particular lately, but there are other things I have enjoyed in class too. Like I mentioned before, specialties are determined by what residency program you get into, and that's a lot like applying for colleges except far more intense. The tests we take to get our license to practice are called the Step Exams, and I have to take the first one of those (Step 1) in June. I mention this because the grade you get on Step 1 is the single most important factor that determines what progams will accept you. It's like the SAT or ACT, but far more heavily weighted. Most programs won't even accept your application if your Step 1 score is below a certain threshold, regardless of what your grades or extracurriculars are. So I won't truly be able to decide on a specialty until that is done and I know what score I am working with.
#12 Jan 31 2011 at 6:49 PM Rating: Excellent
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Sounds fun.
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#13 Feb 01 2011 at 12:45 AM Rating: Excellent
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Daimakaicho, Eater of Souls wrote:
acetaminophen can be brutal to your liver when combined with alcohol)
Acetaminophen has apparently become the suicide drug of choice around here. I've heard of three people trying to off themselves by ODing on effing tylenol in the last half year or so. One of them almost succeeded.
#14 Feb 01 2011 at 3:09 PM Rating: Good
Lipids and Glucose
Total Cholesterol: 254 (this is bad)
HDL: 67 (good)
LDL: 160 (bad)
Triglycerides: 136 (good)
AIC: 5.1 (ideal)

Height and Weight
Height: 69.6 in.
Weight: 182 lbs.
BMI: 27 (Not good, but not horrible)

Blood Pressure
Systolic: 190 (Incredibly bad)
Diastolic: 90 (bad)

OK, Jr. Doc. draw up a game plan and get back to me pronto.
#15 Feb 01 2011 at 10:26 PM Rating: Excellent
Diet and exercise will be recommended for the cholesterol and blood pressure (the former is probably being caused by the latter). As far as drugs go, they could put you on a statin (e.g. Lipitor) for the cholesterol, and if that's not enough a diuretic would help your hypertension; they usually don't put you on drugs right away though, because diet and exercise are cheaper and more effective. That will also reduce your BMI, though 27 honestly isn't that bad. It's not uncommon for us to see patients with BMIs of 35-40+. Any family practice doctor would be able to help you with this, though it takes some time for you to see results.
#16 Feb 02 2011 at 12:28 PM Rating: Excellent
The thing that scares me most about the blood pressure is that I'm actually a good bit thinner than I was in the past (about 230 lbs.) and had a much better blood pressure (about 165/70 [still, high, I know, but Dr. at the time wasn't concerned]). Both Grandfathers and several uncles also suffered from hypertension, and my father's father is fit as a fiddle.

Either way, it's more oats and beans, and less garbage; I'll be making an appointment tomorrow. Thanks for the advice so far.
#17 Feb 02 2011 at 1:09 PM Rating: Excellent
One of the best pieces of diet advice I can give is to cut down on red meat. That's a huge cause of high cholesterol and just switching to white meats like chicken and pork is a (somewhat) easy change that can make a huge difference. We are supposed to recommend ~3-5 meals with red meat per week. Now, I'll go ahead and say that there's no way I will ever do that, as I love red meat too much. But it really does help if you can manage it. I don't know as much about dieting as I should though, so I won't try to give you any more advice about that. I'll let you get help from somebody with more experience. Smiley: smile
#18 Feb 02 2011 at 1:19 PM Rating: Excellent
I love chicken breast, and there are quite a few things I make that I can use ground chicken in (and maybe some ground pork) like chile and shephards pie, instead of beef. As for actual steaks or roasts, I prefer the leaner, though ones, without much marbling. So that's a plus, I guess.
#19 Feb 02 2011 at 1:21 PM Rating: Good
The hardest thing for me is eating oatmeal in the morning (the texture bothers me, not the taste), and trying to incorporate more beans into my diet.

What's your opinion on Chantix, if I may ask?
#20 Feb 02 2011 at 1:34 PM Rating: Excellent
Lubriderm the Fussy wrote:
The hardest thing for me is eating oatmeal in the morning (the texture bothers me, not the taste), and trying to incorporate more beans into my diet.

What's your opinion on Chantix, if I may ask?
We covered that one back in the fall, so i'll have to check my notes on it and get back to you. We more recently studied Wellbutrin (Buproprion is the generic name), which was originally developed as an antidepressant but is now used more as a smoking cessation aid like Chantix (Varenicline) is. I know that they both work, and work pretty well, but I don't recall what the side effects are without looking it up.
#21 Feb 02 2011 at 1:35 PM Rating: Excellent
And as far as the oatmeal goes, I'm sure there are other options for you. Again, nutrition is not my strong suit, but there are usually plenty of options for getting all the nutrients you need.
#22 Feb 02 2011 at 2:03 PM Rating: Excellent
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Daimakaicho, Eater of Souls wrote:
One of the best pieces of diet advice I can give is to cut down on red meat. That's a huge cause of high cholesterol and just switching to white meats like chicken and pork is a (somewhat) easy change that can make a huge difference. We are supposed to recommend ~3-5 meals with red meat per week. Now, I'll go ahead and say that there's no way I will ever do that, as I love red meat too much. But it really does help if you can manage it. I don't know as much about dieting as I should though, so I won't try to give you any more advice about that. I'll let you get help from somebody with more experience. Smiley: smile
Even if you can't cut out the red meats, processed meats are a lot less difficult to cut out, and even going that far makes a ton of difference.

At least, that's what my grandfather's doctor told him.
#23 Feb 02 2011 at 2:07 PM Rating: Excellent
The One and Only Poldaran wrote:
Daimakaicho, Eater of Souls wrote:
One of the best pieces of diet advice I can give is to cut down on red meat. That's a huge cause of high cholesterol and just switching to white meats like chicken and pork is a (somewhat) easy change that can make a huge difference. We are supposed to recommend ~3-5 meals with red meat per week. Now, I'll go ahead and say that there's no way I will ever do that, as I love red meat too much. But it really does help if you can manage it. I don't know as much about dieting as I should though, so I won't try to give you any more advice about that. I'll let you get help from somebody with more experience. Smiley: smile
Even if you can't cut out the red meats, processed meats are a lot less difficult to cut out, and even going that far makes a ton of difference.

At least, that's what my grandfather's doctor told him.
That does help, and I do avoid those when I can. (Though I don't try nearly as hard as I should; it's more of a "I'll do this when it's convenient" sort of thing. It's something I need to work on.)
#24 Feb 02 2011 at 2:24 PM Rating: Good
Daimakaicho, Eater of Souls wrote:
And as far as the oatmeal goes, I'm sure there are other options for you. Again, nutrition is not my strong suit, but there are usually plenty of options for getting all the nutrients you need.
The oats and beans are really just for the sake of soluble fiber. I'll work on actual nutrients later.
#25 Feb 03 2011 at 12:38 AM Rating: Excellent
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Daimakaicho, Eater of Souls wrote:
Again, nutrition is not my strong suit, but there are usually plenty of options for getting all the nutrients you need.
While I'm more of a "hobbyist" level enthusiast as opposed to someone with training, there was a time I became obsessed with nutrition and diet, so I may be able to fill in the gaps.


It has apparently paid off. After weighing myself on a scale that works(the one I'd been using broke because it wasn't made for folks at my weigh), I'm down another twenty pounds. That's a total of fifty. Smiley: grin

Quote:
The oats and beans are really just for the sake of soluble fiber. I'll work on actual nutrients later.
I believe shirataki noodles are high in soluble fiber(glucomannan, iirc). You can use them as a substitute for other types of noodles, though I really find them to be better in asian dishes than in western ones.
#26 Feb 03 2011 at 12:37 PM Rating: Excellent
Coincidentally, we just had a lecture on, among other things, nicotine and cigarette smoking. They happened to mention Varenicline (Chantix), so I asked the lecturer about it. He said that both of the smoking cessation drugs work, but there's no way to tell which one will be better for you without you trying it. Varenicline has some side effects that limit its use in some people (nausea, depression, etc), but it may work better for you. One thing he stressed is that just the drug alone will not be effective in helping you quit. He mentioned that counseling is very important to address the reasons for smoking and how you can replace that with something better. Just thought I'd share.
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