Went to see Dr Hui again.
Not flu, not fever,
just the itch in my throat,
that has been around for a month.
This time it became so painful to touch,
I decided that I shouldn't procrastinate,
despite really not wanting to see doctor again.
I can't tell you how much I've tried,
to not see Doc and settle this "problem" myself.
I spent so much money on this 止咳汤 and 千层纸,
and my condition just fluctuates and fluctuates.
On good days I can talk and laugh as usual,
even though at the end on it,
the condition will worsen.
And so I went.
Dr Hui checked my breathing and throat,
and he seemed unsure.
I think he couldn't find or see (he was peering down my throat),
anything wrong with me.
I try to remind him that my throat hurts,
and he did some checking here and there.
Then he told me that for my profession,
I tend to get throat infection more easily.
He said he will give me some medicine (Xepasone) to control the irritation,
and if doesn't gets well when the medication is finished,
I should see him again for a referral to a specialist for scope.
He said I can continue to take Tussil 5 to control my cough,
though I have repeatedly told him,
I have been taking Tussil 5 for a MONTH already. :(
Then he asked if I have anymore questions.
So I told him that I felt better after taking the nasal spray,
having no more sudden "flu" out of nowhere.
And I told him that I still get occasional attacks,
the feeling of not able to breath proper,
and heart palpitation,
though not very frequent.
I told him I observed such attacks,
to be often very near or within the period of my menstruation.
Then he seemed lost,
and kept flipping and flipping through my medical log.
And then I have to remind him again,
of what i told him about 2 months ago,
regarding National Heart Centre and that doctor,
who couldn't find anything wrong with me,
and then prescribed me Acid Reflux medication,
which did not make me any better.
I told him I was confused as to whether,
do I still go and see the doctor?
do I still take the medication?
(Though I think I do have mild acid reflux)
I told him that I am worried about this condition,
that comes and goes without any signs,
and I hope to find out the cause.
And then I told him that I am worried,
that when I am pregnant,
my current condition will affect my child.
(Well, just too many of the people around me are pregnant.)
Maybe I asked too many questions.
Maybe he is not feeling well as well.
From the confusion on his face earlier,
it changed to weariness.
From then,
he just kept telling me not to worry,
not answering to any of my questions.
I came out of the room,
feeling dissatisfied.
However, I do not blame him.
On my way home I kept thinking,
he is just like me,
earning a living.
Just like me,
he has to pretend to be well,
and has the ability to solve everyone's problem,
when the truth may be that he himself,
is as helpless and needed that good long break.
Frankly,
I think I look more genki than him.
Nevertheless,
this throat issue gives me a good push,
to execute plans that have been on the mind,
for quite some time.
I need a change in direction,
and plenty of prayers.
5 comments:
Just want to add, that prayers are for emotional and mental strength.
Have I not been through all these in a year, I wouldn't have known that how much simple but persisting illnesses can do to one's emotions.
You just have to keep cheering yourself on, and be positive, and not read too much from online, so that whatever is written down there will not scare you stiff.
思华：
一个人生病的原因有三
一、外在原因：气候与环境——风、寒、暑、湿、燥、火
二、内在原因：七种情绪——喜、怒、忧、思、悲、恐、惊。
三、不内不外：饮食与生活起居
当医生帮不了我们的时候，自己不妨想想，哪里出了问题？然后作出相应的调整。
祝你早日康复
:)禄星敬启
谢谢您，禄星哥哥。:) 我会继续找出问题出在哪里，然后好起来。
You have inflammation of airway i.e. somewhere along the path from nose to lung. The inflammation causes difficulty in breathing, as well as coughing.
The nasal spray (which I am assuming contains corticosteroids, and not just saline) helps reduce the inflammation, hence resulting in less flu-like symptom (which I assume you mean a "blocked nose").
The cough medicine is useless because it does not treat the inflammation of airway, in this case, the throat. For that, you will have to use the "lung version" of the nasal spray, i.e. a spray that will send medicine all the way to the throat/lungs, rather than just the nose. This requires the medicine to be sprayed into the mouth, rather than the nose. It is known as an asthma medicine and contain the same class of medicine i.e. corticosteroid, as your nasal spray.
Your heart palpitation and breathing difficulties sound like an asthma attack. It occurs near or during your menstruation because menstruation causes change in hormonal level resulting in change in level of mucus secretion and lining thickness of the airway (yeah, throughout the body, not just in the vaginal passage)
The above are for urgent, temporary solution. After that, for permanent solution, you need to find out what is causing the inflammation in the first place. The most common cause is allergy, which can occur at any age, even in people who are not allergic previously. Common allergens are dust mites, pollen i.e. environmental allergens etc. For that, you need to see an allergist who can test the allergens for you, and a pulmonologist, who specialises in treating asthma and other lower airway (i.e. throat to lung) obstruction. The pulmonologist will also have specialised equipment that can detect a narrow airway and definitively diagnose an asthma, long before it become serious enough for a family doctor to hear through a stethoscope.
You are going round and round in circle from one specialist to another. All they can do is to tell you that your problem does not lie in their area of specialty eg. the heart doctor tells you it is not due to heart. The more efficient way is to find a good - very good - general practitioner who can pinpoint what is causing the problem and then refer you to the correct specialist. Such a doc however is difficult to find :) Perhaps you can "prompt" such a doc abt the possibility of asthma? Or perhaps try searching on the web for "asthma" "cough" "nose block" "cannot breathe". Finally, since the nasal spray helped, you can try look up on the medicine contained in it on the internet (I know you must have done this already, but this time, do it with the aim of finding out what medical conditions it treat. I believe it will point to asthma, as one of the condition.)
Note: I am not a doc. lol.
Your condition will not affect your baby, but may worsen your pregnancy experience since pregnancy itself may cause breathlessness in women. Also many medication or diagnostic processes are not advisable during pregnancy.
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