Medical Conditions

[zanthal]

I've been lucky enough to be fairly healthy in spite of my weight.
I have intermittent sciatica in one leg, I'm "borderline" type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension (also runs in my family) ... and I'm cursed with migraines headaches that thankfully are much less frequent now that I'm an adult.
But I have a kick ass immune system, I rarely get sick and when I do, I usually get over it quickly.

 

[uberam3rica]

I have a kick ass immune system, I rarely get sick and when I do, I usually get over it quickly.

Me too. I rarely get the I feel horrible, bedridden sick. I just get the sniffles

 

[sherlock]

I find a lot of relief in smoking a pipe both mentally and physically. My doctors don;t like it much, but I considering my health I doubt cancer is going to be the thing that kills me.

 

[uberam3rica]

MY mom dislikes my smoking more then the docotor. She downright hates it. I come in from smoking 7 seas royal which smells great when it burns and she says "Yuck. Smoker." The tone in her voice is one of hatred, not towards me, but smoking in general. So me retort is always "Remind again what is was that YOU were smoking when you were my age mom?" That usualy shuts her up.

 

[mattmars]

My spine is fused at L5/S1. I had 2 surgeries in 2009 to fix my herniated disc. One week after my discectomy, I blew it out again and had to get the fusion a few months later. Still have constant pain. Only saving grace is that is was a service connected disability. Other than that, I've battled with chronic depression for nearly 20 years. Oh, and a witch turned me into a newt. I got better.

 

[igloo]

More hardware in my left ankle than a deluxe erector set[baseball] , degenerative disc disease ,Two neck surgerys , two back surgerys .[heavy equipment mechanic ],High blood pressure . Type two diabetes [caused by meds]. When I get up in the morning I sound like Rice Krispies on steroids . Iam only 46 and do not feel a day over 80 . I never miss work and and do everything in the forward plane as I find it hard to twist or reach off to the side or behind me . :D

 

[portascat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLjNzwEULG8

 

[portascat]

My nose looks like a boxers.
I have tendonitis in my elbows, and my shoulders are wrecked from heavy bench pressing back in the day.
Same goes for my low back, from deadlifts.
My right knee is "loose" from getting it kicked one time, and then about a year later running to a 10-78 and it screwed up again.
I need cheaters for my eyes now, up close sometimes, heaven forbid.
My crane will still erect the steel, but the winch ain't near as fast as it was at 19.
I am still damn good looking, in spite of all of this.

 

[profpar]

I have always been reasonably healthy but am getting those things that come with passing the fifty year mark (I think that is when the warranty runs out!). I am per diabetic and my eye sight isn,t to good when it comes to reading ( have to blow up everything). Problem is I haven't come to grips with my physiology mentally so for example l am still likely to order sweet tea. Every year I tend to get a bad cold. Right now I am in the process of having root canal. (Probably should back off from the pipe for a while, but that would be too much to ask and I am not very good at being good!)
I haven't a clue about my family history since I was adopted. Basically I am running blind when it comes to potential genetic based problems.

 

[baronsamedi]

I've got asthma and the pollution affects it more than pipe smoking. The air quality nere in North Texas took a dump last night because of a huge dust storm. I didn't smoke because even though I don't inhale the smoke the air would mess me up. Couldn't work out today either.
I also have ADHD pretty bad. I have to take medicine at night or I won't sleep.
I've had chronic depression and after 25 years, I finally got professional help for it. The medicines they have now are 100x better than stuff that was out even 5 years ago. I'd reccommend anyone with this disease to go get treated. It makes a world of difference and takes the fight out of living life!

 

[cyndi]

To answer an earlier question: nicotine is a proven pain reliever but I also notice a lot less lupus problems when I smoke. It's an immuno-suppressant so I have less lupus rash (google image it) and I pass out less. I've posted before about it. Lupus is an auto-immune disorder - like if I get a cold, my body releases not only antibodies that kill the cold but also attack my body. Normally the kidneys are the first to go with SLE and I have a hard time with them already and the joint pain is unimaginable.
I got myself into trouble yesterday. I'm in a flare caused by stress right now but I had a date with my sister that I absolutely needed (stress relief) and I didn't want to break it. We went to dinner and to a store then back to my parents house. The rash was so bad I used makeup primer and a professional makeup that makeup artists use to cover tattoos. I left their house around midnight and I passed out on their steps and fell down them and into their van. I woke up right away and stupidly tried to drive home. (15 mins from my house.) about 2 miles away I lost almost all my vision - I could only make out lights - and pulled over to a guardrail (I could see the reflectors) and called for help. Between Shaun and my parents they got me and my truck home safely. Today I have been very tired and forgetful and left the house with everything I needed to get the kids - except for my car keys. Another call to Shaun was made and he left work to come get me and I waited on our stoop in the rain with my pipe for him to come unlock our house. (We have one of those stupid locks that locks when you turn the knob from the inside and locks itself behind you.) I've had an embarrassing 24 hours...
But for the tobacco, from the benefits of it, I have dropped my monthly pill bill from around $700/month to about $150/month. Right now I'm on high doses of Lyrica and the rest are pain and anxiety meds with migraine and nausea meds thrown in for flavor. Also, when I do get an infection I don't have to take steroids along with the antibiotics. I used to need the steroids to keep my immune system from going apeshit. I'd prefer tobacco to that any day. Every person in my family uses nicotine now except for my dad. My siblings smoke cigarettes and my mom chews nicotine gum.

 

[monstermash51]

Oh man Baron, My ADHD is so horibble that I'm basically on medication constantly. If i take my meds too late into the day, I can't get my brain to shut up so I can sleep. Coming from someone who has ADHD I hope you understand how agonizing it is.

 

[classicgeek]

Glasses, two torn ACLs (one from skiing, the other from martial arts) and right now a suspected stress fracture in my foot (had the X-ray on Saturday morning). Not the worst list in the world, but I could wish for better.
Simon

 

[jship079]

My biggest problem is I'm crazier than a one armed wall paper hanger. I also have sleep apnea and my blood pressure is always on the fritz.

 

[baronsamedi]

I can't get my brain to shut up so I can sleep. Coming from someone who has ADHD I hope you understand how agonizing it is.

Absolutely! I can't take ADD meds because they make me all cracked out and psycho. Also by the time I take enough meds to knock me out at night, I'm twitching like I got Tourettes! I've found Cymbalta pretty helpful in the area of ADHD and Depression both. As you probably realize, the same meds that keep ADHD under control also suppress creative drive so it really screws with decision making. Better than self-medicating, though. That's gotten me into trouble. I have the chemical tolerance of someone 3 times my size so "feelin' fine" is just a hair away from "hospital".

 

[buster]

42,and good ole arthritis in the low back and hands! Mildly elevated cholesterol! That's mostly due to life style and my love of bacon and any thing pork or shrimp! Marrying into a Chinese family did help that a bit. LOL hell every thing is pork, shrimp with a side of beef at my in laws! Lucky for me I live in a state that has legal medical MJ. Mostly use it at bed time just to relax the muscles when shit flares up. Funny that Pipe smoking and snuffing are my main go to. Friends think tobacco is not cool but MJ is fine. Go figure?

 

[jaysin]

ADHD ruptured disks and pinched nervs 2 knee sugerys first at 16 other knee at 17 stabed 4 times shot once. And if I knew all this back then I still would have done it damn it I had fun!

 

[simnettpratt]

Yay for genetic blood disorders! As least that's what they were thinking when I had medical insurance. I get unbelievably, 11 of 10, agonizingly nauseous. A good episode will last about 10-11 days. During that time I do not eat even a single bite of food or sip a single sip of water. Also, I'm so sick I don't notice I get even one wink of sleep. And, I get to violently throw up stuff I haven't drunk the whole time. Survivalist type guys will tell you that's impossible, you die. Those people are wrong. Towards the end I can't form a sentence in my mind, can't remember words for things, which doesn't matter so much because I can't speak, and keep forgetting where I am. Everything makes you throw up - movement, light, heat, sound. Oh, and of course you're in whole body pain, which I can take, just not the nausea. And, you're heart is laboring hard and beating really fast and you think you might die. And, because you can't take a sip of water or any pills, there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Oh, and sometimes you shake for a while. It is utter agony. It takes 24-48 hours to wind down and then you eat and drink everything for three days. Then it won't happen again for a month.
Other than that, just a torn MCL playing paintball (worth it), and a T4 spinal injury from a motorbike incident.

 

[lifeon2]

More motorcycle accidents than I care to remember, I was never very good at motocross, hit by a truck, run over with a jet ski, fought full contact for a while, more industrial accidents than I care to remember whilst building refineries and chemical plants and I've been on fire too many times to get excited about it anymore. So yeah I get a few snaps crackles and pops pretty regular and I can feel weather coming in.

 

[monstermash51]

I know this is going to sound stupid, but i think I'm getting arthritis at an early age. I've been drumming since I can remember and now im in a very competitive, stuctured Drumline (WCU's drumline, look them up.) And I can feel the pain in my fingers now