Doctor question...

Greg1959 · Sep 20, 2012

Got my blood results back today along with a note from the Doctor. Seems I need to start taking Potassium. I looked at the results and I was 0.1 below the 'normal' range.

Last year, got a call from same Doctor stating that my blood was "dangerously" thick and I should call them ASAP to schedule an appointment. Never did reschedule that appointment.

Now, this years results showed NO thickening of the blood! So, they were trying to put me on blood thinner when it wasn't really called for.My problem is, why do they want to prescribe a pill to fix something that may not be messed up?

For instance, if my blood was "dangerously" thick...maybe I ate a lot of broccoli in the previous few days. Or if my Potassium is off...maybe drank a lot of water, etc.

Why not try to see if a trend is developing instead of prescribing a pill to remedy the problem until you first find out if there is a problem!

To put it plainly...why not do the tests over a period of time to really see if a pattern exists or if it may be a fluctuation in someones diet or metabolism?

It seems to me that doctors just want to run tests and prescribe pills to boost their income.

I know, Karma sucks and I may die of a heart-attack tonight but, at least, me and my tractor will be buried together.

acken fromwisc · Sep 20, 2012

Eat more bananas, they contain potassium

Dick2 · Sep 20, 2012

A couple of doctors have told me that as I age my body absorbs less of certain things that we used to get from our food, so they want supplement to balance out the nutrients that are important to your body.

Potassium is usually the first thing that you need to supplement - and next will be vitamin B12. My doctor says that if my body does't need all of the supplement, it will just sluff it off.

I'm so old that I'm taking both potassium and B12, plus a bunch of other meds for various health conditions.

Don't really like taking all of those pills, but know that they have extended my life so I take them.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 20, 2012

Whatever you do, don't rely on a potassium test. It is one of the easiest tests to foul up. Take the test, at a different DR or clinic, and see if the values are consistent. They said mine was too high, one time, and had me hot foot it back to the Dr's office, for another test, which came back normal. Don't look it up on google, cause you will get pages and pages of doublespeak, all of which points to an agonizing early death. Good luck on the retest, you don't need to study!

Billy Shafer · Sep 20, 2012

Be careful with meds. The last doctor my wife had before she died. Had us bring all her meds in. When he first started treating her. He had a fit when he saw what other doctors had her taking. Pills that she should have not been taking. We walked out with under half of what we came in with.Never hurts to ask questions of other doctors.

leej · Sep 20, 2012

At least she was alive before the new Dr took the all away.ggp

Dalet · Sep 20, 2012

(quoted from post at 17:45:05 09/20/12) Got my blood results back today along with a note from the Doctor. Seems I need to start taking Potassium. I looked at the results and I was 0.1 below the 'normal' range.

Last year, got a call from same Doctor stating that my blood was "dangerously" thick and I should call them ASAP to schedule an appointment. Never did reschedule that appointment.

Now, this years results showed NO thickening of the blood! So, they were trying to put me on blood thinner when it wasn't really called for.My problem is, why do they want to prescribe a pill to fix something that may not be messed up?

For instance, if my blood was "dangerously" thick...maybe I ate a lot of broccoli in the previous few days. Or if my Potassium is off...maybe drank a lot of water, etc.

Why not try to see if a trend is developing instead of prescribing a pill to remedy the problem until you first find out if there is a problem!

To put it plainly...why not do the tests over a period of time to really see if a pattern exists or if it may be a fluctuation in someones diet or metabolism?

It seems to me that doctors just want to run tests and prescribe pills to boost their income.

I know, Karma sucks and I may die of a heart-attack tonight but, at least, me and my tractor will be buried together.

How often would you like to go to the Dr? Plus you get to pay a co-pay or at least a 20 for a blood test each time. I agree, but the drug companies make the money not the Dr. They get it from the generally unaffordable healthcare in the US.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 20, 2012

Are you taking a fluid pill? If so, this could cause you to be low in K. A little low may not be so bad, but a lot low can be dangerous. See people go to the ER because of low K. A little low, as someone suggest, eat bannanas, also orange juice. Both high in K. Most people low in K are because they are on fluid pills.

Greg K · Sep 20, 2012

Maybe eat more rice, oh no that has arsenic. well then try some apple juice, oh no that had the arsenic scare too. Better have the banana's checked for that too before you eat them. I think you are on the right track and get it checked again to get a good average. I went in for an insurance physical a few years ago and when I got the results in a letter they said to IMMEDIATELY go see a doctor. I did and he had no idea what was wrong with the results.

Billy Shafer · Sep 20, 2012

Yes and she lived five more years with terminal cancer. Also felt better than she had in years.

PJH · Sep 20, 2012

"Never did reschedule that appointment"

Why do you even go to the doctor?

I had a friend who would grudgingly go to the doctor. Doctor would tell him what he needed to do to maintain/improve his health. Friend would discuss his situation with the garbage man. Garbage man would offer a differing opinion. Friend would invariably take garbage man's advice. Friend died suddenly last November.

My advice (as valuable as the garbage man's) is:

Find a doctor that you trust.

David G · Sep 20, 2012

I would avoid blood thinners unless you absolutely have to. They are generally prescribed because of an irregular heart beat or murmur. It is a two edged sword. My dad had a stroke because he was not on blood thinner, but died two years later when was on blood thinners and fell hitting his head. It can take up to 2 days to get them out of your system, so his brain was bleeding.

I take a potassium supplement along with blood pressure medicine. The potassium helps muscle functions. I get less charley horses and my heart seems to feel better. There are no adverse effects to potassium that I know of.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 20, 2012

Sorry to say it but she was double doctoring and it's partly her fault for not telling every Dr. she saw what meds she was prescribed by all the different Dr's she saw. Sometimes Dr's can be at complete opposite ends of the spectrum as well.

don t. - 9n180179 · Sep 21, 2012

"I would avoid blood thinners unless you absolutely have to."....

I second this statement. My ma was on coumadin, which caused brain blood vesels to burst, resulting in multiple falls when she blacked-out. By the time they figured out what was happening, it was to late. Nothing they could do, or maybe better said that there was nothing ma allowed them to do. There was no quality, just quantity of life. Yes, there was an under lieing heart condition. She told me, if they woulda found the brain thing before the heart thing, she'da never had the heart thing done. The heart thing made the brain thing worse.

Most times, its easier for the dr. to write a script. Its the get you in, get you out, next patient please thing.

Good luck...don t. ...

Anonymous-0 · Sep 21, 2012

(quoted from post at 21:37:00 09/20/12) Sorry to say it but she was double doctoring and it's partly her fault for not telling every Dr. she saw what meds she was prescribed by all the different Dr's she saw. Sometimes Dr's can be at complete opposite ends of the spectrum as well.

Dam superdave,,, sometimes I think you know more than Dr Phil..............
But just too much of a worm use your name when blabbering your BS...

You prolly got beat up a lot in school huh???

BobHnwO · Sep 21, 2012

I drink Gatorade for eradic(sp) heart beat,I lose potassium because I sweat so much,I drink as much as 2 quarts of Gatorade a day in the summer!

Billy Shafer · Sep 21, 2012

And you have no idea what the HELL you are talking about. Every time she had to change doctors. We took a list of her meds with us to his office. So it was not her fault that a doc mixed up her meds. The doctors are supposed to be the ones that know what meds to take or not.

Her last doctor was very good to her. He even made house calls. Got her on the correct meds. Had her feeling better than she had in years. Nothing he could do about her cancer. But at least she was on what she should have been. At least I had a wife I could talk to and be with. Not have her passed out from the drugs all the time.

Sorry to the rest of you for getting upset. But this idiot has no idea what he is talking about. It was very hard on me to watch my wife die over five years. Knowing there was nothing I could do. But at least we had 32 years together. She died December 11th 2004 at the age of 50.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 21, 2012

(quoted from post at 05:57:35 09/21/12) And you have no idea what the HELL you are talking about. Every time she had to change doctors. We took a list of her meds with us to his office. So it was not her fault that a doc mixed up her meds. The doctors are supposed to be the ones that know what meds to take or not.

Her last doctor was very good to her. He even made house calls. Got her on the correct meds. Had her feeling better than she had in years. Nothing he could do about her cancer. But at least she was on what she should have been. At least I had a wife I could talk to and be with. Not have her passed out from the drugs all the time.

Sorry to the rest of you for getting upset. But this idiot has no idea what he is talking about. It was very hard on me to watch my wife die over five years. Knowing there was nothing I could do. But at least we had 32 years together. She died December 11th 2004 at the age of 50.

Don't let superdavey and his inferiority complex get to you....

El Toro · Sep 21, 2012

Eat some banannas for breakfast. I have one just about every day. I would stay off any pills. Dr told me to quit taking the statin drug I think they cause more problems than they help. Hal

Dodgeit · Sep 21, 2012

(quoted from post at 17:45:05 09/20/12) Got my blood results back today along with a note from the Doctor. Seems I need to start taking Potassium. I looked at the results and I was 0.1 below the 'normal' range.

Last year, got a call from same Doctor stating that my blood was "dangerously" thick and I should call them ASAP to schedule an appointment. Never did reschedule that appointment.

Now, this years results showed NO thickening of the blood! So, they were trying to put me on blood thinner when it wasn't really called for.My problem is, why do they want to prescribe a pill to fix something that may not be messed up?

For instance, if my blood was "dangerously" thick...maybe I ate a lot of broccoli in the previous few days. Or if my Potassium is off...maybe drank a lot of water, etc.

Why not try to see if a trend is developing instead of prescribing a pill to remedy the problem until you first find out if there is a problem!

To put it plainly...why not do the tests over a period of time to really see if a pattern exists or if it may be a fluctuation in someones diet or metabolism?

It seems to me that doctors just want to run tests and prescribe pills to boost their income.

I know, Karma sucks and I may die of a heart-attack tonight but, at least, me and my tractor will be buried together.

Low potassium is one you don't want to mess with. Potassium is the Electrolyte that carries the heart's rythum signal from the upper to lower chambers of the heart. Don't mess around, it's a stroke or heart attack waiting to happen.

I agree with them being pill pushers now a days. But this needs low Potassium needs looking after NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous-0 · Sep 21, 2012

I have found it really hard to keep a doctor interested in my health on a long-term basis, but I have a good one now and he recommended a couple baby aspirin a day instead of blood thinning drugs. You'll have leg cramps if you are seriously low on potassium; other than that a lay person probably should not comment.

James Babcock · Sep 21, 2012

I agree with the post below that suggested a repeat of the test. Also, in the lab when we set up a "normal" range for any test, we take a bunch of supposedly healthy people and analyze their blood..an ideal number is 100 patients, but that doesn't always happen in the real world. Then we look at the numbers and throw out the bottom 2.5 and highest 2.5 percent. That remaining 95 percent now is our normal range even though we just tossed out 5 percent of the healthy folks. Look at it this way, if a doc orders 20 tests on a healthy person, odds are that 1 of the 20 will be "abnormal".

wilson ind · Sep 21, 2012

Son of one of my employes years ago had light stroke, partily parlis (sp) My son DR got him well and back to his resturant. My son stressed keep appointment with me monthly, this is not something to take lightly. He never came back as he told others he was well, no need to good every month. Less than year and one half later he was dead on massive stroke!!! It's you life and your call!!!

RodinNS · Sep 21, 2012

It's all about the money.... and if you buck the trend they lay a guilt trip on you about your health.
I stay away from them, all of them.

Rod

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