CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
81
Addressing this one separately. Post-Army, I worked in a general practice “Doc-In-The-Box” type clinic for 4 years as a lab tech while getting my engineering degree. I mostly worked Friday night, and all day Saturday and Sunday. It got so that I could smell the drug seekers 10 miles away. Although I worked as a lab tech, everyone except the docs did patient intake, vitals, med history interviews.
The story was eerily similar, over and over and over. Almost like a scripted play. “I’m traveling and my doctor usually gives me XYZ for my ABC”.
XYZ was either a type of oxycontin-containing cough syrup that was one of those suspensions (not solutions) capable of being centrifuged to draw the oxy up to the top, or Demerol. ABC was either asthma or migraine. Always with an untraceable home doc (because it was the weekend), given this was the early 1990s.
The docs were on to this and would always prescribe a solution-type (non-separable) cough medicine or Tessalon Pearls (non-narcotic) for cough and something for the supposed migraine that was not high-inducing.
I am sure we slighted some real patients in need (and sometimes I would intercede/advocate with the docs in those cases, and as they got to trust me, they trusted my judgment) but the majority were clear as the ringing of a bell.
Or course, it’s entirely possible that those I advocated for were just smarter than the usual drug-seekers, and outsmarting me. But they were usually folks who didn’t ask for a specific drug.
@CCE, an allergy is definitely mention-worthy when your daughter sees a doctor about those headaches. I can say from personal experience that allergies can and do trigger headaches. Some of those triggers can be low-level for me, like VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in paints and finishes or from outdoor smoke. Either can make me miserable before they reach a level at which I can smell the triggering substance. When the trigger goes away and my body has recovered, so does the headache.
It’s worth going to the effort to track down the cause, for sure. Oh, the days of my life lost to headaches that I’d like to have back. Cheering you both on!
3 Likes
BarneyGrubble
(Fan of Beethoven and Latina singers)
83
Try a dentist too.
1 Like
BarneyGrubble
(Fan of Beethoven and Latina singers)
84
Something weird here! I was thinking that our careers were somewhat parallel, as I’m an electrical engineer, and worked 4 years in a hospital doing electronics for a neurologist, but I see that you’re a “caveman lawyer”
Now the Lume/Mando deodorant with Dr. Shannon and the lady who always smells herself and thinks she needs another shower occupy folks’ commercial complaints
The Mando guy looks like the ghost of Anthony Bourdain.
The only trouble is it stinks, according to online snarkiness.
not just the commercial, the whole concept of advertising prescription meds.
