Medical Advice Thread - Does this look infected?

  • 🏰 The Fediverse is up. If you know, you know.
  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Tip of the day- Always ask to see your test results yourself. They will try and tell you everything is fine but when you check yourself they really aren't. They can print them off for you.
 
God of Nothing said:
Found a lump on one of my nads. Not really rock solid, kind of spongey but not 'this is your baby factory' spongey. Right on the front too.
I'm kind of freaking out, but it could be a lot of things, I heard.
Click to expand...
it's been gone for a while now
except the lump i had on one of my man mosquito titties since i was a kid seems to have grown

This is some Family Guy skit shit, I swear to god. I'd be laughing at it if cancer didn't run in my family and kill someone I knew young.
 
Lurk_Moar is a certified Medical Laboratory Scientist. I can only answer your lab result related questions.

My A1C is still 4.3, and I took time off from weight lifting. This result is from an actual chemistry analyzer like the Architect that has QC done daily and is calibrated as needed. My A1C is not tested on some point of care analyzer.

I mean on my vacay to redacted for redacted I ate nothing but junk food, yet my A1C is still 4.3. I did a lot of redacting while on vacation which burns about 400-700 calories per outing, and I did this activity four times a day for about eight days.

I am doing both weight lifting and cardio and still get the random hypoglycemic episode. My hypoglycemia is better for some reason because I do more cardio. Cardio burns fat. Maybe I just have more tolerance to hypoglycemia now.

I being a member of the superior Aryan race would not have a hemoglobinopathy to cause such low A1C values. I know that I don't have hemolytic anemia.

I am absolutely stumped on why I have such bitter blood.

Note: I am not doxing myself which is why I redacted personal info.
 
Dark Horse said:
Tip of the day- Always ask to see your test results yourself. They will try and tell you everything is fine but when you check yourself they really aren't. They can print them off for you.
Click to expand...

Agree. I would say the same for the final reading on any imaging that is done. There are often incidental findings (things other than what they were looking for that they just happened to see on the imaging) that get mentioned but most doctors never mention them to the patient. However, them not mentioning (most likely because they don't want to spend time on it) it doesn't mean it isn't good to know what was incidentally found.

This is also why I dislike the digital radiography these days, since they don't have to bring physical film into the room, you don't get a chance to see it yourself without asking them for a disc.

lurk_moar said:
Lurk_Moar is a certified Medical Laboratory Scientist. I can only answer your lab result related questions.

My A1C is still 4.3, and I took time off from weight lifting. This result is from an actual chemistry analyzer like the Architect that has QC done daily and is calibrated as needed. My A1C is not tested on some point of care analyzer.

I mean on my vacay to redacted for redacted I ate nothing but junk food, yet my A1C is still 4.3. I did a lot of redacting while on vacation which burns about 400-700 calories per outing, and I did this activity four times a day for about eight days.

I am doing both weight lifting and cardio and still get the random hypoglycemic episode. My hypoglycemia is better for some reason because I do more cardio. Cardio burns fat. Maybe I just have more tolerance to hypoglycemia now.

I being a member of the superior Aryan race would not have a hemoglobinopathy to cause such low A1C values. I know that I don't have hemolytic anemia.

I am absolutely stumped on why I have such bitter blood.

Note: I am not doxing myself which is why I redacted personal info.
Click to expand...

Huh, by current standards 4.3 would not be considered low. Low-normal maybe, but still considered within the "normal" range. Of course, being a moving 3-month average doesn't say much of anything about small fluxes over time since they average out.

Have they figured out which type of hypoglycemia it is? Abnormal insulin sensitivity, elevated insulin levels, or glycogenolytic resistance?
 
Last edited:
Are these actual pathogenic genes that could diagnose Brugada or purely GWAS findings?

Brugada syndrome (Bezzina, 2013).jpeg
 
They're GWAS findings. These are SNPs found near certain genes, not actually in them. Despite not being in the actual genes they could still be important SNPs if they are in a promoter region, etc... associated with the gene. Based on a statistical analysis of people that had their DNA analyzed by Nebula Genomics they calculate a composite relative risk score using a study that linked various SNPs to an increased or decreased risk of Brugada Syndrome. So, it shows that your genotype of the three genes all increase the potential risk of having Brugada Syndrome, and all three put together have a composite relative risk of 2.88, with 1.00 being neutral, less than one being a lesser risk, and anything more than one being higher risk. Relative to all the other people they are comparing you to, your composite score is higher than 98% of them. However, you'll notice that the variant frequency for two of the SNPs is rather high, 41% and 50%, which means they are relatively common. The third one is not quite as common at a frequency of 15%. Given the frequencies seen, in isolation, these are relatively common SNPs, but given your high composite score, most people probably have one or two, and not all three.

Bottom line, these SNPs are just GWAS findings. They could have some clinical relevance, but its hard to say since this is all based on statistical analysis and relative risk. It could be that you have a number of other SNPs that are unknown that nullify the increased risk from these three. That is sort of the problem with these kinds of associations. In isolation they could seem problematic, but since we don't know what most SNPs mean, its hard to say just how relevant they are. Overall I'd say its something to be aware of, know the symptoms of Brugada Syndrome, and if you ever experience something that matches the associated symptoms, have it evaluated, but otherwise, I wouldn't do anything. If you find that unsatisfactory and want to do something for peace of mind you could ask for your primary care physician to order a 12-lead EKG to check your baseline. If it checks out ok, then just know what to look for, but otherwise put it out of your mind.
 
any advice on diagnosing autoimmune/inflammatory diseases? i have bad pain, weakness, and occasional swelling and discoloration in my eyes, spine, and joints but my labs and x-rays keep coming back normal (other than a badly unaligned A/C joint). all of my numbers are within the healthy range. i haven't seen my non-A/C x-rays but i was told they were normal.

i know inflammatory diseases have a bad rap for attracting munchies but i was healthy and then suddenly my quality of life just fucking plummeted. i feel so exhausted just trying to find out what is causing the pain, and hearing the rheumatologist say he was considering anti-anxiety meds after my last set of labs really made me feel hopeless. i don't want to keep throwing money and time in a pit of medical bills and office visits.
 
Star Platinum said:
any advice on diagnosing autoimmune/inflammatory diseases? i have bad pain, weakness, and occasional swelling and discoloration in my eyes, spine, and joints but my labs and x-rays keep coming back normal (other than a badly unaligned A/C joint). all of my numbers are within the healthy range. i haven't seen my non-A/C x-rays but i was told they were normal.
Click to expand...
Did you get an ANA done?
 
std::string said:
Did you get an ANA done?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've had a ton of labs including an ANA. Based on my bloodwork and X-Rays, you'd apparently think I was the pinnacle of health. But even ignoring my own subjective pain and weakness symptoms (which can be psychosomatic), I have had multiple people comment on noticeable redness and swelling in my joints, eyes, and extremities when my symptoms are flaring.
 
Star Platinum said:
any advice on diagnosing autoimmune/inflammatory diseases? i have bad pain, weakness, and occasional swelling and discoloration in my eyes, spine, and joints but my labs and x-rays keep coming back normal (other than a badly unaligned A/C joint). all of my numbers are within the healthy range. i haven't seen my non-A/C x-rays but i was told they were normal.

i know inflammatory diseases have a bad rap for attracting munchies but i was healthy and then suddenly my quality of life just fucking plummeted. i feel so exhausted just trying to find out what is causing the pain, and hearing the rheumatologist say he was considering anti-anxiety meds after my last set of labs really made me feel hopeless. i don't want to keep throwing money and time in a pit of medical bills and office visits.
Click to expand...

Any family history of inflammatory/autoimmune disease? What is your age? (You can just provide the decade, that is accurate enough) How long has it been going on for? Did anything happen, a major illness or injury, around the time these symptoms started? Have you had x-rays done during an episode of swelling? When you say discoloration, what exactly do you mean? What is the color during one of these episodes? How long do these episodes last? Does anything act as a trigger for these episodes? Where does the pain, weakness occur during the episodes and how long does it last?
 
Manul Otocolobus said:
Any family history of inflammatory/autoimmune disease? What is your age? (You can just provide the decade, that is accurate enough) How long has it been going on for? Did anything happen, a major illness or injury, around the time these symptoms started? Have you had x-rays done during an episode of swelling? When you say discoloration, what exactly do you mean? What is the color during one of these episodes? How long do these episodes last? Does anything act as a trigger for these episodes? Where does the pain, weakness occur during the episodes and how long does it last?
Click to expand...
  • Yes, a grandparent has similar symptoms
  • In my 20s, has been going on for about 2.5 years
  • I hurt my shoulder arm-wrestling and so I had to take a break from weightlifting (x-ray showed a badly unaligned A/C joint). Then I took up boxing and muay thai, but my hands couldn't take it (even with gloves and wraps), they would turn purple and completely stiff. Then my elbows, back, ribcage, and legs started giving me problems
  • No, but I've had chest+spinal and pelvic x-rays that came back normal. My shoulder is fucked though
  • The discoloration is reddish purple, and either its my entire hands that redden or I get red splotches on my knuckles. My feet just swell but don't change color
  • The swelling/discoloration episodes last for ~30 minutes. The pain and weakness is continuous, widespread, and doesn't stop
  • No triggers, it's always equally bad. It's painful to even walk up a single flight of stairs or lift my hand up to, for example, navigate an airplane touchscreen at face level
I also have issues with my stomach and eyes. I had an endoscopy done and they said my stomach lining is inflamed but they couldn't find any reason why.
 
I've had this persistent itch for the longest time, I don't it's from dry skin. Any ideas?

x
IMG_20230222_0001.jpg
 
Star Platinum said:
any advice on diagnosing autoimmune/inflammatory diseases? i have bad pain, weakness, and occasional swelling and discoloration in my eyes, spine, and joints but my labs and x-rays keep coming back normal (other than a badly unaligned A/C joint). all of my numbers are within the healthy range. i haven't seen my non-A/C x-rays but i was told they were normal.

i know inflammatory diseases have a bad rap for attracting munchies but i was healthy and then suddenly my quality of life just fucking plummeted. i feel so exhausted just trying to find out what is causing the pain, and hearing the rheumatologist say he was considering anti-anxiety meds after my last set of labs really made me feel hopeless. i don't want to keep throwing money and time in a pit of medical bills and office visits.
Click to expand...
Did you have your CRP levels checked and can you share them? They tell you how much inflammation is going on in there.
 
Manul Otocolobus said:
I'd also be interested in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate if it was done, sometimes abbreviated Sed. Rate. or ESR. That is sort of a rough overall indicator of bodyily inflammation.
Click to expand...
"2 mm/h."

I won't keep shitting up the thread with my lab results, though the infoscrapers are probably overjoyed. Suffice it to say all of the results are healthy like this.
 
Star Platinum said:
  • Yes, a grandparent has similar symptoms
  • In my 20s, has been going on for about 2.5 years
  • I hurt my shoulder arm-wrestling and so I had to take a break from weightlifting (x-ray showed a badly unaligned A/C joint). Then I took up boxing and muay thai, but my hands couldn't take it (even with gloves and wraps), they would turn purple and completely stiff. Then my elbows, back, ribcage, and legs started giving me problems
  • No, but I've had chest+spinal and pelvic x-rays that came back normal. My shoulder is fucked though
  • The discoloration is reddish purple, and either its my entire hands that redden or I get red splotches on my knuckles. My feet just swell but don't change color
  • The swelling/discoloration episodes last for ~30 minutes. The pain and weakness is continuous, widespread, and doesn't stop
  • No triggers, it's always equally bad. It's painful to even walk up a single flight of stairs or lift my hand up to, for example, navigate an airplane touchscreen at face level
I also have issues with my stomach and eyes. I had an endoscopy done and they said my stomach lining is inflamed but they couldn't find any reason why.
Click to expand...

Is there any change in the temperature of the skin over the hands or feet when the attacks happen?
 
Star Platinum said:
Less than one mg. Totally healthy on 24 different inflammation-related tests, including CRP. You'd think I was a perfect specimen.
Click to expand...
I'm in an extremely similar situation to you except fatigue instead of pain and dealing with it for about 8 yrs. And my CRP is high but my doctor said that seeing a rhem will take a yr and they might blow me off bc just elevated CRP is not enough to go off of.
Now I have a foot xray to look for signs of psoriatic arthritis but I have little hope bc I already had one a yr or two ago when I pulled the ligaments in my foot and it was normal. I have psoriasis since age 5 so that's why it could be psoriatic arthritis.
It's a bummer ngl.
Does anyone know the best area to xray to look for psoriatic arthritis?
I have heat intolerance too, can only wear a sheet to bed, even in winter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom