Time and tide..............

[Captain Kong]

You were lucky with the Cancer UK one Jim,
I donate with a Direct Debit every month with Cancer UK, they are good, and a scan even as an experiment will do you no harm, and as in your case can discover something that may not show for a long time and then making a cure harder to get.
But in John Ps case, making him, in his condition, to climb four flights of stairs can be a little dodgy.
Cheers
Brian.

[John Pruden]

brian as soon as my doctor read the report they sent he stopped any contact with that company. my nurse went mad when she knew a registered nurse knew my bp was that high and did nothing I would not mind the drug was for high blood pressure and arthritis? every year I still get letters and phone calls of the company and you can imagine my reply to them? I do my own bp at home its still up and down but not much over the top. bp should be 120/80/66 but as we get older bp goes up a bit.jp

[Fouro]

Lots of new drugs found to be far better than the existing variety cannot be used to treat NHS patients. The stumbling block being the alternatives are far too expensive. So because of the cost involved and knowing full well they are a better course of treatment, doctors are afraid to prescribe them to their patients.
FOURO.

[Captain Kong]

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for that John, I guess you were lucky that time.
My blood pressure was always up and down and all over the place and sometimes uncontrolable, and treated by the same Doctor for 20 years, Then a new young and beautiful Doctor arrived at my Surgery, It was her first year as a Doctor,
I saw her and expecting my BP to go through the roof , she really was beautiful and I wished I was 18 again.
She tested me and changed my medication, I am on one tablet of AMLOPIDINE, one of LYSINOPRIL and one of SPIRONOLACTIL which is a diuretic for water retention daily.
That was 18 months ago and my BP has remained constant at around 125- 130 over 66. No more wild surges which causes the internal damage.
You should also have regular blood tests, every six months for Kidney Function. I have just had one last month and having another in September.
All BP tablets can affect your Kidneys. Some more than others , so make sure you are on the right tablets that are suitable for you long term. Also another one to steer clear of is Ibruprofen, long term use of that can damage your kidneys big time. OK just now and again, but not continuous,
Cheers
Brian.
.
.
.
. Hi Fouro,
that is correct,
A Doctors Surgery has to pay the NHS for any treatment he prescribes, and also if you want to see a Consultant then he is charged for that, and any Xrays, MRI or CT scans etc is all charged to the Surgery.
Every Surgery has an allowance for every patient on his books, But some Doctors are reluctant to allow a patient to see a Consultant, he will try to treat you instead, His budget is more important to him than the Patient.
.
I remember last year when I returned home from Honolulu , the Surgeon there gave me a letter for my Doctor, It said I would need a CT Scan as I still had Oedema on the head and body of the Pancreas.
My Doctor said , `No, you will be OK, you dont need one.`
I went out and booked another appointment with the young lady Doctor and she booked me there and then into a private hospital, FREE, for the CT Scan four days later. I had my CT Scan in the private hospital, went back one week later to get the results, OK then the Doctor there gave me two DVDs of my Scan on the Pancreas. Very interesting looking around inside myself on my computer.
So do not always take notice of your Doctor , try another one in the same practice.
Cheers
Brian.

[EIFION]

Well Jim my philosophy is quite simple , the more you keep clear of doctors and their pills the better you are. They do interfere with the body without realising the exact results, medical history is full of their mistakes which at the time was taken as gospel Please why would I want to live to extreme old age to die incontinent and demented amongst strangers in an oap home. It might be pure luck but I enjoy good health and all my bits work despite still rolling my own fags , an occasional drink, lots of red meat, cook my potatoes with salt, consume gallons of coffee and love sweet stuff but the one thing I do not do is eat packaged foods everything fresh or frozen from my own garden, oh and because of red hair ( it was once ) I always cover up from the sun. The only medical scare I have had for years is when the local doctors summoned me for a health check shortly after my 65th birthday, everything was fine he said except tests showed my cholesterol was a little high so he prescribed Statins, within two months I was a cripple, unable to walk without two sticks my right arm almost useless . I ditched them into the sea and a month later I was back to normal, and a month after that sailing as mate/engineer on a schooner blue water November in the north Atlantic .
This is not advice for anyone only saying what works for me, and is probably pure luck and only the good die young

[John Gill]

You were lucky with the Cancer--Cheers
Brian.

While not trivialising the effects of taking certain medication, in JP's condition, climbing four flights of stairs pale into significance if considering DESCENDING just one flight of stairs in the P&W.

[Jim Brady]

Brian mentioned Ibuprofen tablets being bad for you,you are not supposed to take them for more than 10days I was on them for over 6 months they were the only thing that gave me relief of foot pain that was so bad I could'nt walk.The two fools of doctors I have would not send me to the hostpital eventually they made me an appointment with the appliance clinic for insoles whatever.When the doctor who I am under over my bloods seen my toes and they are blue right away he made an appointment for me for the vascular clinic.I think it was the ibuprofen that sent my bloods up the wall and when the hostpital doctor treated me for my bloods it cleared up my foot problem I ditched the ibuprofen and hey presto I was all back to normal,so yes I do agree long term use of ibuprofen is bad for you.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[John Pruden]

yes john but what a way to go??jp

[Red Lead Ted]

Lads, The majority of members on this forum are 60 yrs and over, We where given salt tablets at sea daily in the tropics if you remember the steward would stand and await until you had swallowed it, We carried lime juice full of sugar which we where told was good for us, Can anyone ever remember being warned not to work on deck in other than cut down shorts because we all did, It makes me wonder did they get it wrong or just fail to warn us of the dangers. Dont get me wrong this isnt just ex seaman it also applies to the armed forces in general of yesteryear. Or is it the suns rays are more dangerous now with the hole in the ozone layer than it was back in the 50s 60s and 70s. Plus i think these days everyone seems to be in a hurry things have changed alright. I think its worth bering in mind a tortoise can live until it is a 100yrs old, A cheater has an average life span of 5yrs. And neither take medication. Speaks for itself Terry.

[j.sabourn]

#29.... Believe in the Armed Forces you were put on a charge if came down with sunburn, as was considered self inflicted. Nowadays at sea in certain occupations are giving a straw brim to fit on safety helmet and have to wear boiler suits with long sleeves to prevent bodily harm, should imagine this covers sunburn also. Helicopter flights over water to ships and installations have to wear long trousers and shirts otherwise pilot may refuse to carry you. As regards the old salt tablet beloved of the shipowner of years gone by, I wasnt too far back sent up to Singapore to see a rig towed back down to Oz. Went to the the chemist before flying out to get salt tablets, and he wouldnt give me said something about having to have a prescription for same, so must be considered now harmful to your health. Cheers John S.