I have recently been diagnosed with fatty liver disease. I have started taking milk thistle (two capsules a day), eating artichokes (after reading these were good for your liver), as well as cutting back on my food intake. I'm also eating lots of vegetables and beans, and plan to exercise more and drink less. Do you think these measures might help?
No matter what I eat, I can?t gain weight. This has been a problem all my life. For the last five years, I have had the additional problem that if I don't eat as soon as I get hungry (which is about every two hours), I start getting sick. I first get stomach cramps. Then, after about 20 minutes, I start to get really hot and dizzy and feel like I'm going to throw up. I suspect that if I didn?t eat at that point, I would pass out. What could be causing these symptoms? I think my great aunt wasted away from this problem.
I am a 52-year-old man with a family history of heart disease. My doctor says my blood pressure and cholesterol are great. My latest LDL cholesterol was 98 and my HDL was 45. I exercise regularly and I try hard to stick to a Mediterranean type diet. Is there anything else I should do?
I am taking Paxil (paroxetine) and have been for the past 5 years. I find that when I try to stop taking it, the withdrawal effects are horrible. I have terrible nightmares, I am upset and depressed, and I have a metallic odor about me. What can I do?
I have been experiencing a very salty taste in my mouth, to the point that it is giving me an upset stomach. What is causing this and what should I do?
A while back, I had some pain in my upper right abdomen. My doctor ordered some gallbladder tests. I don't have stones, but the test did show there is a blockage; my gallbladder is working at only 4%. The pain does not bother me that much, it is just annoying sometimes. I've been watching my intake of fatty foods and am trying to be healthier. Does this condition always require surgery to remove the gallbladder?
I have a recurrent problem with the skin at the corners of my mouth. The skin gets irritated with small cracks. It gets better, then for no apparent reason returns. What could be causing this condition? Can I prevent it from recurring?
I have woken up a few times in the past couple months gasping for breath. It feels like my airway is blocked. I gasp really hard and it wakes me up. The gasp is so loud that it makes my husband nervous. I have allergies and quite frequently my sinuses are clogged. So I can't breathe out of my nose, and have to sleep with my mouth open. I also have asthma but haven't had an attack in months. (I don't think these were asthma attacks.) Is my throat blocked because of post-nasal drip or could it be something more serious like sleep apnea?
I have been diagnosed with inflamed saliva glands. I've lived with this condition for almost five years and it is driving me crazy. I have seen numerous doctors and none of them has been able to get rid of the problem. I have had some glands removed and have been tested for everything you can imagine. Please give me some advice on where I can turn next.
When I sweat, it's really painful. It feels like I'm being stabbed into my back and upper chest with needles. There is no rash, only an occasional itch. Sometimes the sweating comes on quickly and out of nowhere, as if it were a hot flash. But I've gone through menopause and I don't get hot flashes any more.