Health Questions and Answers
Patient: tachyardia,extr beats,metallic taste in mouth,dizziness,chest pain, whats causing it?
Doctor: Hello; Thank you for writing in today. Many things can cause these symptoms; therefore, it would be best to get some information from you. I have a few questions.
I hope you understand.
Age?
Any medical conditions?
What medications and supplements do you take? Continue reading Tachyardia,extr beats,metallic taste in mouth,dizziness,chest pain, whats causing it?
Patient: creeping numbness from feet upward to the upper torso, loss of control of upper body causing lurching gait, onset approx 8 months ago, general physician unable to provide diagnosis. Have heard this can be a side effect of Guilliume Barre syndrome caused by a reaction to influenza shots. Can you elaborate or suggest another diagnosis?
Doctor: Guillain Barre is an autoimmune problem in which the immune system attack’s one’s nerves.
Often it begins after a trigger event like an infection or stomach problem, but frequently there is no previous infection and no reason is ever found for it occurring. Continue reading Creeping numbness from feet upward to the upper torso, ….
In my 30 years as a dedicated medical doctor, I have watched medicine become more and more de-personalized and inaccessible to patients. The days of a patient simply needing a question answered, a concern addressed, or a fear expressed is over. Patients must make “non-emergency” appointments weeks in advance, and typically phone questions are answered by doctors’ nurses and not the doctors themselves. There are a lot reasons for this; many of those reasons are understandable, but many are not. Still, the bottom line is that men and women need a reliable way to pose questions and receive reliable answers about the fears and concerns they may have about their own health or the health of their families.
There are many “question and answer” sites out there, but too many medical questions are answered by non-medical doctors. It is for that reason that I have created this question/answer forum. With myself, I have assembled 8 doctors with a variety of specialties to help answer and give guidance to people with questions, concerns, and just in need of information. I do not believe that this site should substitute for visiting one’s own doctor; however, I do believe that there are many questions that patients will simply never ask their doctor because of the difficulty in accessibility.
So I welcome everyone to this site. Ask questions and we will respond as soon as we can. Remember, we have nothing without our health.
Dr. James Collins