Pills - For Better Or For Worse
You saw your urologist and he finger-waved you, drew blood to check your PSA and had you pee in a cup so he could check your PCA3.
The PCA3 is a cancer-related protein that can be found in your urine.
That's right--just pee in a cup and a lab does the rest.
If your PCA3 levels don't go up, your prostate is either inflamed or real big but not cancerous.
If your PSA is a little high but your PCA3 is low, you probably won't have the exhilarating experience of undergoing a prostate biopsy.
Anyway, he tells you your prostate is enlarged which is the reason you're spending more time peeing than sleeping, so your doctor prescribes a pill that he says should alleviate your peeing problem.
If it doesn't work in the next couple days he wants you to call him and he'll prescribe a different medication.
He tells you not to be concerned if the medicine makes you dizzy or disoriented because those symptoms should go away in a couple days.
Virtually all of today's prescription drugs have side effects.
Where do you think they came from, Mary Poppins' Goodie Basket? Drug companies make drugs to make money.
Period.
They are not caregivers.
Some of the side effects from these drugs fall into the "not to worry" category and some fall into the "holy crap!" category.
Odds are your urologist won't talk about the "holy crap!" stuff but will only tell you about the "not to worry" stuff like dizziness, nasal congestion, weakness, sore throat--stuff that might be a little bothersome but not really serious.
And the serious stuff is, indeed, serious.
It might include rapid heartbeat, impotence, sudden drop in blood pressure, sudden loss of consciousness, sexual dysfunction (i.
e.
; reduced sex drive, premature ejaculation), exacerbated heart failure symptoms, a substantial increase in prostate cancer risk and other juicy items that would evoke a "holy crap!" from anyone.
Hell, all you were looking for was something that would enable you to pee when you needed to and keep you from peeing when you didn't need to, and something that would revive your limp love muscle.
But don't get your Jockeys in a wad--if you listed all the stuff you're taking (prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, supplements) and you gave your urologist your complete medical history, including any drug allergies you have, the odds are slim that you'll experience serious side effects from any drug he prescribes.
But if you think you might not have included all the information asked for on the medical history sheet, and you tell him you would like to see it to make sure you didn't miss anything.
He should assure you that he's read your medical history and didn't find anything that would not be compatible with the drugs he prescribed.
But if he just shrugs off your question and says you have no need to worry about the drug he prescribed because he prescribed the same drug for his 90-year-old grandfather, his demented uncle and his 12-year-old Doberman and none of them experienced any bad side effects.
This means he probably hasn't even looked at your history and it might be a good time for you to consider firing him and finding a new doctor.
But you won't because you're 64 years old and like so many senior citizens, you're afraid to ask questions and even more afraid to question a doctor's decision.
And again, like so many senior citizens, you become totally servile when that person in the caduceus-emblazoned white coat with that stethoscope draped around his neck enters the room you accept, without question, everything and anything he advises and/or prescribes because he is God.
He isn't--he might think he is but he isn't, so stop being afraid to ask questions, and don't be afraid to tell him you're going to get a second opinion if you don't feel comfortable with what he's telling you.
The PCA3 is a cancer-related protein that can be found in your urine.
That's right--just pee in a cup and a lab does the rest.
If your PCA3 levels don't go up, your prostate is either inflamed or real big but not cancerous.
If your PSA is a little high but your PCA3 is low, you probably won't have the exhilarating experience of undergoing a prostate biopsy.
Anyway, he tells you your prostate is enlarged which is the reason you're spending more time peeing than sleeping, so your doctor prescribes a pill that he says should alleviate your peeing problem.
If it doesn't work in the next couple days he wants you to call him and he'll prescribe a different medication.
He tells you not to be concerned if the medicine makes you dizzy or disoriented because those symptoms should go away in a couple days.
Virtually all of today's prescription drugs have side effects.
Where do you think they came from, Mary Poppins' Goodie Basket? Drug companies make drugs to make money.
Period.
They are not caregivers.
Some of the side effects from these drugs fall into the "not to worry" category and some fall into the "holy crap!" category.
Odds are your urologist won't talk about the "holy crap!" stuff but will only tell you about the "not to worry" stuff like dizziness, nasal congestion, weakness, sore throat--stuff that might be a little bothersome but not really serious.
And the serious stuff is, indeed, serious.
It might include rapid heartbeat, impotence, sudden drop in blood pressure, sudden loss of consciousness, sexual dysfunction (i.
e.
; reduced sex drive, premature ejaculation), exacerbated heart failure symptoms, a substantial increase in prostate cancer risk and other juicy items that would evoke a "holy crap!" from anyone.
Hell, all you were looking for was something that would enable you to pee when you needed to and keep you from peeing when you didn't need to, and something that would revive your limp love muscle.
But don't get your Jockeys in a wad--if you listed all the stuff you're taking (prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, supplements) and you gave your urologist your complete medical history, including any drug allergies you have, the odds are slim that you'll experience serious side effects from any drug he prescribes.
But if you think you might not have included all the information asked for on the medical history sheet, and you tell him you would like to see it to make sure you didn't miss anything.
He should assure you that he's read your medical history and didn't find anything that would not be compatible with the drugs he prescribed.
But if he just shrugs off your question and says you have no need to worry about the drug he prescribed because he prescribed the same drug for his 90-year-old grandfather, his demented uncle and his 12-year-old Doberman and none of them experienced any bad side effects.
This means he probably hasn't even looked at your history and it might be a good time for you to consider firing him and finding a new doctor.
But you won't because you're 64 years old and like so many senior citizens, you're afraid to ask questions and even more afraid to question a doctor's decision.
And again, like so many senior citizens, you become totally servile when that person in the caduceus-emblazoned white coat with that stethoscope draped around his neck enters the room you accept, without question, everything and anything he advises and/or prescribes because he is God.
He isn't--he might think he is but he isn't, so stop being afraid to ask questions, and don't be afraid to tell him you're going to get a second opinion if you don't feel comfortable with what he's telling you.
