Radio won't happen this week... or perhaps for the rest of 2021 (update: Radio BACK, but I had terrible ER visit riddled with incompetence)

There is a guy in our neighborhood for whom I have become something of a benefactor.

He has been crippled by gout. He is 50 but shuffles about like he is 90. His fingers are gnarled. He cannot stand upright, etc. He was in a lot of pain when I first started helping him.

He just needed things done. Changing air conditioning filters and common mechanical shit that had long been ignored. He was extremely and painfully lonely and I’d hang out a bit watching a Patriots game together or a movie. I’d buy take out and bring it back.

He used to power lift. I have seen trophies hidden in closets. He went to one of the grittiest, hardcore gyms in our area back in the day. One room literally had a dirt floor. Legendary shit. He knows what racket I’m in.

Sports supplements in the 90’s are a whole topic and I never inquired what he might have taken. (We all wondered what the long term effects creatine and worse might be.) That whole topic would only lead to judgment.

As I spent more time with him it started to become clear to me there was a mental health issue at play. His debilitating gout was the result of ignoring the issue. He just refused to go to the doctor and he was enabled somewhat by a mother who at 90 is spry and lively despite never going to the doctor herself. She’s prolly nuts too.

I cannot understand how he ignored it. The pain Druff is feeling now he lived with for over a decade. Just willing it away. Really a strange tale.

The guy lived in a reality distortion field. Any hint of negativity was avoided by him. I was a problem in this regard. To some degree I wasn’t good for him because negativity and questioning the status quo is kinda my brand. He loved the Patriots and he didn’t want to share my fascination with the Kraft/Belichick Brady drama, for instance. It had to always be happiness and light. I can only do happiness and light in small doses.

So my good will and charity ends up not entirely positive for either him or me. Life is complicated even when you’re working hard at not being a self absorbed douche.

Anyway, he suffered an episode that landed him in the hospital and he later mentioned allopurinol (split knows stuff). Apparently, it’s proven a miracle drug for him albeit too late.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bilbodoggins

I will say this: IF they prescribed meds without asking him what he was already taking, that is a serious error. So serious that I'm inclined to doubt that it actually happened that way, but if it did then that's something that should be followed up on.

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Oh, it happened.

In fact, I wasn't just prescribed them errroneously. I raised an issue about it, told them what I was on, and asked to speeak to the doctor about it.

The nurse went to the PA and told her this. The nurse came back said, "The doctor said it's okay, they're so similar they won't interact. Take them anyway."

:facepalm

I was also told that my potassium levels were "a little low" and to "at least take the potassium pill we're prescribing."

I said, "I'm already taking a prescription potassium pill."

Nurse said, "Oh really? Then I guess you don't need it. I'll remove both."

:facepalm7


So they not only failed to ask what meds I was taking, but when I was double-prescribed something I was already on, I was told to take it anyway!

BTW I have since been told that it was good that I questioned it, because taking more of that medication could have made my condition even worse!

This is actually what I plan to be the centerpiece of my complaint, because it's right in their records (or at least it should be) that they have no list of meds for me, tried to prescirbe something, and I refused it.

Anyway thanks to those who wished me well and/or gave gout advice. I have a number of texts from radio listeners, as well, who suffer from gout and are telling me how they are managing it. I appreciate those, as well.

Bottom line is I went to an ER, was refused to see a doctor (or even a PA) the entire way, and the process was such a clusterfuck with basically nobody in charge that I was double-prescribed existing meds, and then told to take them anyway when I objected.

Anyone who defends this is a drooling retard.

How careful do you have to be with Colchicine?

The big local murder case here was a young woman who killed her employer/ex-boyfriends mother with Cochicine that she ordered off the internets.

She tried to plant evidence in the ex boyfriends car. She was convicted and got 20 to life.

The odd thing was that it didn't appear she had motive. And there was a good amount of support for her because a pretty young woman wouldn't do that.

Regarding medical debt:

If you already have bad or mediocre credit, and there's medical debt on it, then it can affect your credit situation to where it might push some decisions from "YES" to "NO".

If you already have excellent or good credit, you shouldn't worry about it.

Mom-and-pop places which check credit (such as landlords) aren't going to care about medical debt, if everything else looks good. That's long been the case.

Places like potential employers which check credit also will not care about medical debt if everything else looks good. The goal for that credit check is to see if you're a responsible individual, and if you're hurting for money (and thus more likely to fuck them over). If everything is cool except medical debt, that's fine.

Large entites checking your credit, such as banks, will usually only care about medical debt if it's either very large or indicative of a great problem (such as a ton of other debt). This will be reflected in your credit score anyway, typically.

If I owed the hospital $500k, and I went for a home loan, it's possible that the bank might balk at it, even without other debt, because they'd worry that the hospital could take legal action, and affect my ability to repay the loan. However, if they saw a debt for $500, there's little chance they would care.

In short, yes, it can affect your credit score, but in practical life applications, small-to-medium medical debt will not hinder your life or credit situation, if the rest of your credit picture looks at least decent. This is in fact why I advise cash-strapped friends to pay all other debts first, and virtually ignore the medical debt until they're fully back on their feet, and even then refuse to pay if the price was either super-inflated or erroneous.

This is also why individuals like me with good credit shouldn't be terrified of "collections" threats, and rather stand firm on their principles. BTW, I don't have any medical debt, in case you're wondering. In any dispute, I have always been able to come to a resolution.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pablo

How careful do you have to be with Colchicine?

The big local murder case here was a young woman who killed her employer/ex-boyfriends mother with Cochicine that she ordered off the internets.

She tried to plant evidence in the ex boyfriends car. She was convicted and got 20 to life.

The odd thing was that it didn't appear she had motive. And there was a good amount of support for her because a pretty young woman wouldn't do that.

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Never heard of a problem with it if taken as directed.

I'm actually going to ask for this tomorrow at the doctor, for the next time this occurs.

I'm guessing the murderer got a ton of it.

Colchicine is given short term for gout attacks only because prolonged use causes kidney damage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by splitthis

Colchicine is given short term for gout attacks only because prolonged use causes kidney damage.

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I hate to join the pity party but I've just been diagnosed with triple COVID and raging anal fissures. Surprisingly I've never felt better and have been asked to model Haute couture by a popular online clothier.

Hope you get this addressed, and get on the mend soon, Druff.

Would recommend focusing on getting better, and not wasting too much time/anxiety on the ER room trip.

Once you're feeling better, you can revisit the ER.

best cure for Druff is to rub a $50 bill against his forehead

I’m only halfway into this abomination of a thread, but I had to say this B2B post by Druff made me chuckle:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DanDruff

I walked in fearing a heart issue

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DanDruff

Anyway, thanks for the well wishes. The past week has been quite difficult. You don't know how awful it is to not be able to walk until you can't walk.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Anyway thanks to those who wished me well and/or gave gout advice. I have a number of texts from radio listeners, as well, who suffer from gout and are telling me how they are managing it. I appreciate those, as well.

Bottom line is I went to an ER, was refused to see a doctor (or even a PA) the entire way, and the process was such a clusterfuck with basically nobody in charge that I was double-prescribed existing meds, and then told to take them anyway when I objected.

Anyone who defends this is a drooling retard.

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From my limited knowledge, most ERs have pretty basic intake paperwork. Are you currently on medication has been on every form and asked every time I’ve gotten medical treatment my entire life. I simply can’t fathom it was never asked either in writing or verbally.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jsearles22

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Anyway thanks to those who wished me well and/or gave gout advice. I have a number of texts from radio listeners, as well, who suffer from gout and are telling me how they are managing it. I appreciate those, as well.

Bottom line is I went to an ER, was refused to see a doctor (or even a PA) the entire way, and the process was such a clusterfuck with basically nobody in charge that I was double-prescribed existing meds, and then told to take them anyway when I objected.

Anyone who defends this is a drooling retard.

---

From my limited knowledge, most ERs have pretty basic intake paperwork. Are you currently on medication has been on every form and asked every time I’ve gotten medical treatment my entire life. I simply can’t fathom it was never asked either in writing or verbally.

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I didn't fill out any paperwork at all. You're correct that it's always on any intake paperwork at any doctor's office.

A nurse took some info from me shortly after I showed up, in the triage area. I think they forgot to ask it, left it blank (as if I was on no meds), and then that was assumed for the rest of my visit.

Even worse was the PA's instruction to "take it anyway" when they double-prescribed the meds I was already taking, and I informed them of their error. Keep in mind that it wasn't the identical medication (but did the exact same thing), so I only discovered the problem when I asked what type of meds they were asking me to take, and realized it was something I was already taking. Also the PA was refusing to come out and talk to me about any of this, and was just sending messages back and forth through the nurse.

In general the entire visit had a vibe of a combo of incompetence, arrogance, and apathy. Pretty much everything I tried to explain or asked was ignored, and they seemed to just be looking for keywords, such as "ankle swelling".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Anyway thanks to those who wished me well and/or gave gout advice. I have a number of texts from radio listeners, as well, who suffer from gout and are telling me how they are managing it. I appreciate those, as well.

Bottom line is I went to an ER, was refused to see a doctor (or even a PA) the entire way, and the process was such a clusterfuck with basically nobody in charge that I was double-prescribed existing meds, and then told to take them anyway when I objected.

Anyone who defends this is a drooling retard.

---

Pretty sure the bottom line is you had no business visiting to the ER in the first place

Quote:

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Originally Posted by adamantium

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Anyway thanks to those who wished me well and/or gave gout advice. I have a number of texts from radio listeners, as well, who suffer from gout and are telling me how they are managing it. I appreciate those, as well.

Bottom line is I went to an ER, was refused to see a doctor (or even a PA) the entire way, and the process was such a clusterfuck with basically nobody in charge that I was double-prescribed existing meds, and then told to take them anyway when I objected.

Anyone who defends this is a drooling retard.

---

Pretty sure the bottom line is you had no business visiting to the ER in the first place

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:no

Was late Saturday night and it was either that or nothing. Too many signs of something possibly dangerous. It turned out not to be, but it's very standard for people to go to the ER for this sort of thing at my age.

If it were like 5am Monday morning, I'd wait a few hours and just go to a regular doctor.

Besides, they weren't busy at all, so this wasn't taking anything away from anyone. It's actually their job by state law to provide competent care, and they failed. The problem isn't on my end for deciding to go to the ER when a Norwegian Nazi and a Reb Lobster obsessed plumber disagree.

You always have a right to question your medical care. You have a right to accept or reject any medical treatment (sorry Fauci).

Many many successful lawsuits are a result of poor er treatment.

My exes friend recently went to the er with one sided weakness and high blood pressure. They sent him home and he stroked.

Unfortunately, the money he will receive will not compensate for his permanent disability.

I had to chuckle when I saw a law office open up directly across from an er.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pablo

How careful do you have to be with Colchicine?

The big local murder case here was a young woman who killed her employer/ex-boyfriends mother with Cochicine that she ordered off the internets.

She tried to plant evidence in the ex boyfriends car. She was convicted and got 20 to life.

The odd thing was that it didn't appear she had motive. And there was a good amount of support for her because a pretty young woman wouldn't do that.

---

Never heard of a problem with it if taken as directed.

I'm actually going to ask for this tomorrow at the doctor, for the next time this occurs.

I'm guessing the murderer got a ton of it.

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Just find out if you have any interactions with your existing meds and don't eat grapefruit. It's potentially lethal with certain other meds and/or if your kidneys don't function properly (renal impairment).

Without any of the above you need like 20-30g to kill someone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gimmick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Never heard of a problem with it if taken as directed.

I'm actually going to ask for this tomorrow at the doctor, for the next time this occurs.

I'm guessing the murderer got a ton of it.

---

Just find out if you have any interactions with your existing meds and don't eat grapefruit. It's potentially lethal with certain other meds and/or if your kidneys don't function properly (renal impairment).

Without any of the above you need like 20-30g to kill someone.

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Grapefruit can definitely cause problems when taking certain meds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Anyway thanks to those who wished me well and/or gave gout advice. I have a number of texts from radio listeners, as well, who suffer from gout and are telling me how they are managing it. I appreciate those, as well.

Bottom line is I went to an ER, was refused to see a doctor (or even a PA) the entire way, and the process was such a clusterfuck with basically nobody in charge that I was double-prescribed existing meds, and then told to take them anyway when I objected.

Anyone who defends this is a drooling retard.

---

Socialized health care you drooling moron

Druff, goddamn, you are falling the fuck apart. Multiple battles with gout in 10 years, the LPR, elbow bursitis, etc so forth...

Earlier in the thread, you talked about the outside chance your bursitis was vaccine-caused, but you already have a history of gout, a super well-known and common cause of bursitis. Did you not put those 2 things together?

I don't know if you still eat those super late big meals, or drink those daily pepsis, or what your eating deal is or even if you get any daily activity or exercise at all, but brother Druff, at some point you have to realize that you are doing a ton of this stuff to yourself. You have super-discipline when it comes to some things, and you have tremendous energy for causes that you think are worthwhile and important, you gotta turn that inside and concentrate on your body, which is giving you a TON of signs that shit is not going well.

I wish you all the luck in this, the whole situation sucks, and we've all had health issues of some sort of the years.

If only you could treat your own body with the level of customer service you demand from others in all other aspects of your life, you'd be a lean, mean, goutless machine.

Male 50ish
3 doses Pfizer
Severe pain
Reported to the VAERS database.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crowe Diddly

Druff, goddamn, you are falling the fuck apart. Multiple battles with gout in 10 years, the LPR, elbow bursitis, etc so forth...

Earlier in the thread, you talked about the outside chance your bursitis was vaccine-caused, but you already have a history of gout, a super well-known and common cause of bursitis. Did you not put those 2 things together?

I don't know if you still eat those super late big meals, or drink those daily pepsis, or what your eating deal is or even if you get any daily activity or exercise at all, but brother Druff, at some point you have to realize that you are doing a ton of this stuff to yourself. You have super-discipline when it comes to some things, and you have tremendous energy for causes that you think are worthwhile and important, you gotta turn that inside and concentrate on your body, which is giving you a TON of signs that shit is not going well.

I wish you all the luck in this, the whole situation sucks, and we've all had health issues of some sort of the years.

If only you could treat your own body with the level of customer service you demand from others in all other aspects of your life, you'd be a lean, mean, goutless machine.

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DanDruff

I’m actually healthier than your average 50+ year old male. My brother and Google can confirm this. Would you like me to scan the results to you? Seriously though, I might just shut this whole site down if these unwarranted attacks continue. No way I’m paying for this site. They try to charge me, I’ll just dispute it on my credit card.

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I've been to the ER (a proper one) more times than you've cashed in a tourney and was never asked to fill out any kind of form.

The big no no was not getting an ekg test as soon a you arrived with the symptoms you have described.

But you didn't have a heart attack so there goes that avenue

Thread serves as good reminder to stay healthy in the winter months.

I've only gained like 5 pounds since being a parent but the stress of him being sick and subsequent lack of sleep has really cut into my fitness and eating, often just throwing together whatever is easy and sleep being lost. Have always had enough resolve to still get in workouts when tired - with a baby I'm now taking nights off regularly.

Gotta dig in and get back into form. The loss of sleep has been brutal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crowe Diddly

Druff, goddamn, you are falling the fuck apart. Multiple battles with gout in 10 years, the LPR, elbow bursitis, etc so forth...

Earlier in the thread, you talked about the outside chance your bursitis was vaccine-caused, but you already have a history of gout, a super well-known and common cause of bursitis. Did you not put those 2 things together?

I don't know if you still eat those super late big meals, or drink those daily pepsis, or what your eating deal is or even if you get any daily activity or exercise at all, but brother Druff, at some point you have to realize that you are doing a ton of this stuff to yourself. You have super-discipline when it comes to some things, and you have tremendous energy for causes that you think are worthwhile and important, you gotta turn that inside and concentrate on your body, which is giving you a TON of signs that shit is not going well.

I wish you all the luck in this, the whole situation sucks, and we've all had health issues of some sort of the years.

If only you could treat your own body with the level of customer service you demand from others in all other aspects of your life, you'd be a lean, mean, goutless machine.

---

My history of gout prior to this was a minor one. My first was about 10 years ago in my thumb. Hurt badly, but resolved on its own within 3 days, and obviously wasn't debilitating like this one because it was just a thumb.

The second was also in my hand but not as bad, and probably happened about 6 years ago.

So it's not a chronic problem -- at least not until now. I had high uric acid on some blood tests, but never any issues since that last problem several years ago.

I didn't connect it to the bursitis thing a month ago until just recently. I thought it was just bursitis. Now it is likely the elbow thing (which has returned now, in a less severe form) is related to gout, but I had no reason to think that a month ago.

There is some chance the vaccine caused this flare up, because all vaccines bring an elevated risk of gout -- not just the COVID one. It is also possible that one of my blood pressure meds caused it, as I just learned yesterday. It is also possible it is neither of these things, and it just happened.

Losing weight might have prevented this gout problem, but it also might not have. There's some association between weight and gout, but many thin people also get it.

In general I don't like to just chalk up medical issues to behavior which seems unhealthy on the surface ("super late big meals") but doesn't actually have a major impact on anything. The truth is that most health problems are either hereditary, bad luck, or the result of really bad lifestyle choices (smoking, drug/alcohol abuse, obesity, etc).

I'm almost 50, with zero surgeries lifetime, zero major health threats, and some chronic problems which are frustrating but not life-threatening. That's not to say I couldn't be doing better with more exercise and losing some weight, but a lot of the perception of my health is amplified because I discuss it out here (and then argue with the trolls), whereas everyone else here tends to keep quiet about whatever they're dealing with.

For those that missed the purpose of the thread is the owner of the site walked into an ER at 1am on a Saturday night and disagreed with his medical condition. He was feigning a fake heart attack and wanted immediate attention. The staff refused because they likely felt Druff was just another weirdo looking for free medical assistance, which proved to be right since he is perfectly fine now. So now Druff is freaking out because he as a 500 insurance deductible. LOL.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Losing weight might have prevented this gout problem, but it also might not have. There's some association between weight and gout, but many thin people also get it.

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Yes there's some association between weight and gout, but WAY more important is diet. If you got gout twice, and didn't make certain diet changes, you were assured of getting it again. That's the story of gout, and you even knew you had high uric acid levels. That's one of the most important reasons not to drink pepsi daily, if you still do that.


As for saying that most health problems are genetic, its very important to remember that how these genes express themselves greatly depends on how we live our lives. You may be more succeptible to gout from genetics, but you trigger the outbreaks by your diet, stress, etc. When you chalk things up mostly to genetics, you allow yourself to ignore the behavioral problems that make certain conditions serious (i.e. dismissing weight loss because it may not work, as you did above), and while I don;t know what exactly you eat every day, I tend to believe from context over the years that you don;t go out of your way to eat clean, in any real sense.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crowe Diddly

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Losing weight might have prevented this gout problem, but it also might not have. There's some association between weight and gout, but many thin people also get it.

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Yes there's some association between weight and gout, but WAY more important is die If you got gout twice, and didn't make certain diet changes, you were assured of getting it again. That's the story of gout, and you even knew you had high uric acid levels. That's one of the most important reasons not to drink pepsi daily, if you still do that.


As for saying that most health problems are genetic, its very important to remember that how these genes express themselves greatly depends on how we live our lives. You may be more succeptible to gout from genetics, but you trigger the outbreaks by your diet, stress, etc. When you chalk things up mostly to genetics, you allow yourself to ignore the behavioral problems that make certain conditions serious (i.e. dismissing weight loss because it may not work, as you did above), and while I don;t know what exactly you eat every day, I tend to believe from context over the years that you don;t go out of your way to eat clean, in any real sense.

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Cognitive dissonance at its finest, we all engage with this to some extent.

Offset eating fries by exercising a bit more, feeling like we earned that extra meal, drinking loads because of a stressful week, etc.

Unfortunately our bodies aren't so forgiving.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crowe Diddly

Druff, goddamn, you are falling the fuck apart. Multiple battles with gout in 10 years, the LPR, elbow bursitis, etc so forth...

Earlier in the thread, you talked about the outside chance your bursitis was vaccine-caused, but you already have a history of gout, a super well-known and common cause of bursitis. Did you not put those 2 things together?

I don't know if you still eat those super late big meals, or drink those daily pepsis, or what your eating deal is or even if you get any daily activity or exercise at all, but brother Druff, at some point you have to realize that you are doing a ton of this stuff to yourself. You have super-discipline when it comes to some things, and you have tremendous energy for causes that you think are worthwhile and important, you gotta turn that inside and concentrate on your body, which is giving you a TON of signs that shit is not going well.

I wish you all the luck in this, the whole situation sucks, and we've all had health issues of some sort of the years.

If only you could treat your own body with the level of customer service you demand from others in all other aspects of your life, you'd be a lean, mean, goutless machine.

---

My history of gout prior to this was a minor one. My first was about 10 years ago in my thumb. Hurt badly, but resolved on its own within 3 days, and obviously wasn't debilitating like this one because it was just a thumb.

The second was also in my hand but not as bad, and probably happened about 6 years ago.

So it's not a chronic problem -- at least not until now. I had high uric acid on some blood tests, but never any issues since that last problem several years ago.

I didn't connect it to the bursitis thing a month ago until just recently. I thought it was just bursitis. Now it is likely the elbow thing (which has returned now, in a less severe form) is related to gout, but I had no reason to think that a month ago.

There is some chance the vaccine caused this flare up, because all vaccines bring an elevated risk of gout -- not just the COVID one. It is also possible that one of my blood pressure meds caused it, as I just learned yesterday. It is also possible it is neither of these things, and it just happened.

Losing weight might have prevented this gout problem, but it also might not have. There's some association between weight and gout, but many thin people also get it.

In general I don't like to just chalk up medical issues to behavior which seems unhealthy on the surface ("super late big meals") but doesn't actually have a major impact on anything. The truth is that most health problems are either hereditary, bad luck, or the result of really bad lifestyle choices (smoking, drug/alcohol abuse, obesity, etc).

I'm almost 50, with zero surgeries lifetime, zero major health threats, and some chronic problems which are frustrating but not life-threatening. That's not to say I couldn't be doing better with more exercise and losing some weight, but a lot of the perception of my health is amplified because I discuss it out here (and then argue with the trolls), whereas everyone else here tends to keep quiet about whatever they're dealing with.

---

I could spend half the day complaining about how I feel. I tell my mom, my x wife and sometimes my sister how I'm doing. I'm glad you tell us as much as you do and dont want that to stop. For me, I just don't want or need anyones sympathy and I don't like anyone treating me differently due to health issues. I do hope you feel better soon. Also, Sloppy Joe, I didn't know your child had health issues so I would like to say that I hope this is not serious and that its ended or will end soon. God bless.

feel better Druff you old fart

​AMPUTATION

So what did the ER do?

Vitals and a blood test?

Amazing how fast bills go to collections these days….a couple months and boom. Between EOBs and misbills and correct bills it’s a mess figuring out what you really owe. All after paying at the doctors office already.

Tried to pay a small bill over the phone, they had already sent it collections and wouldn’t let me pay….oh well.

I'm seeing a rheumatologist tomorrow. Wasn't all that easy to find one to see me really quickly, but after some calling around, I eventually did. They will very likely be taking the fluid out and testing it for crystals, and I'll know for sure whether or not this is gout.

After I got that appointment successfully in the books, I moved on to the secondary task of calling the hospital to complain.

I was referred to the "Patient Safety" manager, who apparently has the job of taking these type of complaints. While she needs to actually investigate what occurred (which is totally fine and expected), she did state that she agreed some things were very wrong there if my story is accurate.

She said that a doctor or PA should have seen me and examined me, and that if this wasn't done (it wasn't), that was a big blunder.

She also agreed that the medication thing was a huge fail, if that's really what happened (it was).

Supposedly she will call me within a week and let me know her findings, and then we will go from there. I let her know that I'm not looking to sue anyone or get money out of this. I said that I simply didn't want to pay the patient portion of the bill, given that I didn't get any real care there, and the only thing I got was malpractice (being prescribed meds I'm already on, and told to "take it anyway" once I explained this, which could have made my problem worse if I did).

I wanted her to know that I was only looking for the 3-figure patient portion to be wiped, and nothing else, because often these hospitals go into coverup mode if they think they're going to be on the other end of a big lawsuit. So I made it clear I'm not trying to go that route, so hopefully I'll get a more honest investigation. We'll see.

Either way, I'm not paying. They can get what they want from the insurance -- I don't give a shit about that. I just am not paying anything myself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crowe Diddly

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Losing weight might have prevented this gout problem, but it also might not have. There's some association between weight and gout, but many thin people also get it.

---

Yes there's some association between weight and gout, but WAY more important is diet. If you got gout twice, and didn't make certain diet changes, you were assured of getting it again. That's the story of gout, and you even knew you had high uric acid levels. That's one of the most important reasons not to drink pepsi daily, if you still do that.


As for saying that most health problems are genetic, its very important to remember that how these genes express themselves greatly depends on how we live our lives. You may be more succeptible to gout from genetics, but you trigger the outbreaks by your diet, stress, etc. When you chalk things up mostly to genetics, you allow yourself to ignore the behavioral problems that make certain conditions serious (i.e. dismissing weight loss because it may not work, as you did above), and while I don;t know what exactly you eat every day, I tend to believe from context over the years that you don;t go out of your way to eat clean, in any real sense.

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The Pepsi and the red meat are possible culprits to this thing. I actually stopped both abruptly once this was diagnosed as gout on Wednesday -- at least until this goes away.

Once the flare-up is over, I'm actually going to cut down on both, for this exact reason.

The cause of the flare-up isn't likely to be either one, though. That might have been what made me more prone to a flare-up happening, but it's probably not what made the flare-up happen. Remember, I've been drinking the Pepsi and eating a lot of read meat for many years, and haven't had a gout problem since the mid-2010s. As I said, it was most likely either the vaccine booster or the blood pressure meds.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Remember, I've been drinking the Pepsi and eating a lot of read meat for many years, and haven't had a gout problem since the mid-2010s. As I said, it was most likely either the vaccine booster or the blood pressure meds.

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Even while noting your many years worth of engaging in the most common behavioral causes of gout, you still think it was "most likely" the vax or blood pressure meds that caused this particular outbreak.

Nah, dude, it was most likely your lifetime of pepsi and red meat and whatnot catching up with you AGAIN, as it already had twice before, without any covid vax to blame it on. Not sure when you got on the blood meds, did you blame either previous outbreak on those?

Embedded Tweet

Whenever I go to the doctor or urgent care they always ask what medicines I am taking…when I say I don’t take any, they are oftentimes surprised.

Makes me wonder how many middle age people take at least one prescription drug…my wife takes at least 3 on a daily basis.

And skip the venison, neighbor hosts a Super Bowl party and always has deer sausage…even if you’re not prone to gout, that shit will fuck you up if you eat a bunch.

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Originally Posted by Crowe Diddly

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Remember, I've been drinking the Pepsi and eating a lot of read meat for many years, and haven't had a gout problem since the mid-2010s. As I said, it was most likely either the vaccine booster or the blood pressure meds.

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Even while noting your many years worth of exgaging in the most common behavioral causes of gout, you still think it was "most likely" the vax or blood pressure meds that caused this particular outbreak.

Nah, dude, it was most likely your lifetime of pepsi and red meat and whatnot catching up with you AGAIN, as it already had twice before, without any covid vax to blame it on. Not sure when you got on the blood meds, did you blame either previous outbreak on those?

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There's no way to prove this either way, so there's no point to argue this very much. However, while I know you're just saying this because you genuinely want to help, I don't agree with this general line of thinking.

If you want to say that the Pepsi/red meat thing put me in the position to get gout in the first place, I can accept that, and perhaps agree.

If you want to say that this was likely the only cause, and that the vaccine/meds likely had nothing to do with it, that's where I can't get on board. Human nature leads us to want to blame bad behavior for bad outcomes, and expect good behavior to lead to good outcomes. This is why, decades after it was discovered that high blood pressure and high cholesterol are mostly the result of genetics and not behavior/diet, most Americans still believe that these are a consequence of unhealthy behavior. Why? Because it feels more comfortable to believe that more things are within our control than actually are.

The most likely situation is that my predisposition to gout comes from a combination of genetics and diet, and this particular attack was the result of either the BP diuretic or the vaccine (or both).

Also, note that I only had two gout attacks lifetime (and none in about 6 years), and both were not particularly disruptive to my life, as they were both in my hand, and both went away after a few days. Therefore, preventing gout wasn't on my mind prior to this. This situation is by far the worst one I've had, gout-wise, so this actually will shake me into paying attention to it more.

I'm not saying pepsi & meat & similar were the only cause, I'm saying they (and other food habits) are the overwhelming cause, as they are the most common causes of the disease and flare-ups of said disease.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Also, note that I only had two gout attacks lifetime

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Only 2. Yikes.

I don't think you see those as the warning shots they really were. Having even 1 gout flare up is a fireworks display of behavioral warning shots. It was bound to continue popping up, because it had already happened, you haven't changed your diet, and you are getting older like we all are. Gout isn't about just high uric acid levels, its about prolonged high uric acid levels. Why wouldn't it have happen again now?

I'll stop with all this now. Get better, and get off the soda!


edit: one last thing. The reason I can't get behind you deciding that the vaccine/meds were behind this particular outbreak is because its WAY more likely that your long term diet made it possible in the first place, as well as the past 2 times. If the vaccine lit the spark, you were the one who poured all the gas all over the floor in the first place. That's my general point.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

If you want to say that this was likely the only cause, and that the vaccine/meds likely had nothing to do with it, that's where I can't get on board. Human nature leads us to want to blame bad behavior for bad outcomes, and expect good behavior to lead to good outcomes. This is why, decades after it was discovered that high blood pressure and high cholesterol are mostly the result of genetics and not behavior/diet, most Americans still believe that these are a consequence of unhealthy behavior. Why? Because it feels more comfortable to believe that more things are within our control than actually are.

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I tease you a lot but I genuinely believe this paragraph is perfection.

The highlighted sentence displays a useful and rarely acknowledged insight into the human psyche.

Health needs to be honored with humility. There is randomness.