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Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 16, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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My health is in a somewhat dire state for the last few days. Heres a timeline for what happened.

Friday

4PM onwards: Extreme dizziness, Fever, Sore throat

Took Paracetamol and slept.

Saturday

Too fatigued to leave the bed. Fever. No sore throat., Blocked Nose

Fever broke at night.

Sunday

Relatively alright, almost no symptoms, mild tiredness, Gastritis

Monday

4PM onwards: Extreme dizziness, mild fever again, vomiting, Gastritis

Fever abated in an hour or so, and dizziness reduced after vomiting, but still somewhat dizzy.

Visit doctor at night. Administers blood test (complete blood count and CRP) (Both returned everything normal. Lymphocyte % is below reference range but the absolute amount is within range. I was on an empty stomach because of the vomiting so that could have affected it )

Sent me home with paracetamol, and a proton pump inhibitor.

Tuesday (Today)

Extreme dizziness and fatigue, No Fever, Slightly blocked nose, no gastritis.


What do I specifically tell the doctor in my post blood test followup today?

@self_made_human

You have a non-specific viral infection- most likely influenza (which always gives me stomach issues the first couple days). What’s the doctor going to do for you that resting won’t do?

I meant it when I said Extreme dizziness. This hasn't been an issue anytime I got sick in the past. I'm immobile with this much nausea/dizziness, hence I went to the doctor to at least get a pill or two to make the nausea piss off.

Usually dizzyness is a symptom of a lot of mucous blocking the tubes that connect your inner ear and sinuses. Try driving hot water or tea or sitting in a steamy bathroom for a little while and see if things improve.

Why did you go see a doctor after only a few days? I’ve been coughing up phlegm for five weeks and I haven’t set foot in a clinic.

Cuz I can't drive (or do anything at all) with major nausea/dizziness.

Some value their health more than others. Catching illnesses early in the present world could be the difference between immortality and early death. I don’t blame him!

I'm sorry to hear you're still under the weather, after taking a look at your symptoms, they seem rather nonspecific. It could be anything from COVID to the flu or a nondescript viral infection.

Presumably your doctor is aware of everything up till this point, did they order a COVID test for you?

The dizziness and vomiting may be related to the fever, dehydration, or possibly a separate issue such as an inner ear disorder. Gastritis could be related to inflammation in the stomach lining, which might be secondary to an infection or other condition.

Ask your doctor to quickly check if you're dehydrated, that'll only take a moment, and perhaps request an anti-emetic, even an OTC one. It'll at least keep the nausea down.

I don't see much else they shouldn't already he aware of, in all likelihood they'll be telling you to wait and watch, if it's a viral infection the only real recourse is to wait it out! But by all means share your specific symptoms and they can provide something to make you more comfortable.

Thanks for the on-demand consultation services.

I'm aware that a fever, vomiting, and fatigue does little to narrow down the search space at all. Although I was thinking that extreme nausea might link to something. Nevertheless, this list of symptoms is unhelpful for any doctor and as someone who has to fix computers off of vague symptoms that point to literally anything from a small (digital) virus to the CPU dying, I certainly don't envy doctors who have to do the same goose-chase but with much higher stakes.

I suppose I should have highlighted that the pain point for me here is the dizziness which is for me novel and intolerable relative to the other symptoms.

Update: (Tuesday) The doctor I referred to in the original post gave me Domperidone for nausea.

(Wednesday) My nausea got really bad today, I couldn't even stand up for 15 seconds without it kicking in. Went to ER because I literally couldn't stand up and I can't continue with this because I can't just keep on taking sick leaves from work forever. ER doctor gave Betahistin and Metoclopramide for vertigo and nausea. And said to ditch the Domperidone (Not sure why).