[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by prasathlr

But there are lots of conflicting information online on what can be eaten and what not to be eaten.

I'm no doctor, but typically in my family, if anybody is advised bland food, we :-

1. Avoid chillies - both red and green. We use black pepper.

2. avoid tamarind. Use alternatives like the green one (chemmeen puli in Malayalam - Karambal in some parts of west coast) it is about 2 - 3 inches long, has ridges and turns yellow when excessively ripe. (Not the ridgeless variety). I guess you can use hing (Asafetodia).

Of course, your mileage may vary.
My suggestion is stick to low salt only diet for few days. After that use uncooked tomato + methi powder + black pepper + salt for taste. You can just add the other ingredients to 2 - 3 chopped tomatoes and keep it in a glass bottle/ jar and use next day. Methi has to be roasted before powering.

[Nalin1]

Hello to diabetologists/GP,

This is for one of my relatives. She is 73 and has been a diabetic for many years. Her diabetes has always been under control and she has no other health issues except occasional leg pain and tiredness.

Since the last few months, her diabetes does not seem to be under control even though food habits/walking has not changed at all. The last two HBA1C results were above 8 and 9. Earlier they always used to be around 7.

Her regular tablets for sugar control are Glycomet Forte GP2 before food morning and night, for many years.

Can she take the next dose now as this dosage does not seem to be effective anymore? Glycomet Forte GP3 or Glycomet Forte GP4?

As I said earlier, she has no other health issues or allergy to anything.

Taking Glycomet Forte GP3 or Glycomet Forte GP4 will lead to production of more insulin which in turn should stabilise blood sugar levels, right?

[Raghav96]

Hello everyone,

I received my bloodtest report today and my concern is regarding following.

1) Platelet count: 1,18,000
2) serum creatinine: 1.02
3) triglycerides: 195

Will consult my doctor tomorrow but asking here as well to know what to expect tomorrow.

My age is 24.

Thanks in advance.

[RSR]

I posted this on the coronavirus thread, and am posting it here for added visibility. Sorry for the somewhat off-topic post.

A question to all the learned doctors on this forum.

Has anyone of you or any friend/colleague of yours moved to, or even tried an online/tele/virtual/e-consultation scenario during these pandemic times?

I mean, not the casual video call with a relative/friend to prescribe medicines, but an actual professional set-up for patients (including consultation fee collection)?

This mass-murdering Chinese coronavirus unleashed upon the entire world either deliberately or inadvertently or accidentally or as the result of an unfortunate natural occurrence from the PRC has changed our whole world and the way we interact with others completely. People are working from home (wherever they can), classes & lectures are moving online, sports are being played only in empty stadiums, product launches, meetings & conferences are taking place virtually and the popularity of things like online shopping has shot up tremendously.

I'm sure e-consultation has also become more popular now, as it's a safer option for both, doctors and their patients. Of course, not every doctor visit can be done virtually and not every specialist can move his/her consultation online, but I'm sure it can be done for at least half the consultant doctors out there.

Learned docs, if you have any experience with this, please share it here. Thanks!

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by Raghav96

Hello everyone,

I received my bloodtest report today and my concern is regarding following.

1) Platelet count: 1,18,000
2) serum creatinine: 1.02
3) triglycerides: 195

Will consult my doctor tomorrow but asking here as well to know what to expect tomorrow.

My age is 24.

Thanks in advance.

Not a doctor but here's my take.

You didn't mention the units. But from what i understand you have low platelets and high triglycerides. Can't comment on creatinine as units are not mentioned.

Are you on some medication ? Do you have fever ? Have you recovered from some infection in the recent past ? Do you have unusual bleeding or purpule dots/patches on skin ? Answers to those can guide towards reason for low platelet count.

Regarding triglyceride, if your LDL/HDL/VLDL/Total cholesterol is normal then you only need to increase your activity levels and stay away from fatty food.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by prasathlr

Hi Doctors,

I have been diagonsed with Gastritis and the doctor gave me some medicine and suggested that I eat bland food.

But there are lots of conflicting information online on what can be eaten and what not to be eaten.

Can I drink milk and curd? What other foods can be constituted as bland food? The doctor suggested that I eat bland food for 2 months.

My mom suffers from Gastritic issues and food intolorences. This is my understanding based on that experience. Unless you have very severe condition, normal home food is alright. Just tone down the spice/masala levels based on the cooking syle of your home. Avoid stuff like pickles. Curd is fine but milk is not suitable for everyone. Even if they are not lactose intolerant, most people can't handle milk in higher quantities. Decide based on your milk tolerance.

Originally Posted by RSR

A question to all the learned doctors on this forum.

Has anyone of you or any friend/colleague of yours moved to, or even tried an online/tele/virtual/e-consultation scenario during these pandemic times?

I'm sure e-consultation has also become more popular now, as it's a safer option for both, doctors and their patients. Of course, not every doctor visit can be done virtually and not every specialist can move his/her consultation online, but I'm sure it can be done for at least half the consultant doctors out there.

Learned docs, if you have any experience with this, please share it here. Thanks!

Not a doctor but here is my experience of teleconsultation during the lockdown, with doctors from two big hospitals in Bangalore. Both the times, whatsapp call was used for consultation and payment was made through the hospital's preferred payment gateway. There is a lot of scope for improvement from the process POV. See the detailed review below.

1. Manipal Hospital, Airport road
I had injured my back very badly by lifting weights and wasn't even in a position to walk within the house. So, teleconsultation was actually a boon.
Called up the hospital and fixed an appoinment. Received a payment link and was asked to share the payment confirmation through whatsapp. 10 min before the scheduled time, got a whatsapp call from the doctor's assistant to check my availablity and test the connectivity. For the actual consultation, the assistant called and handed over the phone to the doctor.

Post that, the scanned copy of the prescription was sent via whatsapp. This is where the screwup happened and they sent me the prescription of some other folks and I had to follow up to get mine. Since it was an orthopedic consultation, the other prescriptions were also similar and luckily I noticed the wrong name to catch the mistake. Definite breach of privacy as well since I got the personal info of other patients.

Post-consultation follow up was also bad and I never got responses to my questions regarding the exercieses.

1. Columbia Asia, Sarjapur road
This was a regular consultation for my mom with here gaestroentrologist. The process was similar to Manipal with online payment and consultation via WhatsApp. However, the timing was not adhered to and we met the doctor at 4 PM for a 10 AM appoinment. The frustrating part was that assistant kept on moving the appinment by half an hour and wasted the whole day. Instead if he had directly rescheduled to the evening, it would have been better.

The prescription was sent through email here but it took some time. Follow-up was bad here too, and we couldn't reach the doctor after a couple of days to get some clarification regarding one medicine.

Since this is about the teleconsultation process, I have left out the actual doctor feedback. Overall, I am positive that this is the way forward and at least the initial consultations and follow-ups to review test results, etc can be done this way. We can save a lot of time and energy and also free up the crowding in hospitals.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Not a doctor but here is my experience of teleconsultation during the lockdown, with doctors from two big hospitals in Bangalore. Both the times, whatsapp call was used for consultation and payment was made through the hospital's preferred payment gateway. There is a lot of scope for improvement from the process POV. See the detailed review below.
...

Since this is about the teleconsultation process, I have left out the actual doctor feedback. Overall, I am positive that this is the way forward and at least the initial consultations and follow-ups to review test results, etc can be done this way. We can save a lot of time and energy and also free up the crowding in hospitals.

Thanks for the detailed explanation about your teleconsultation experiences!

I too think the pandemic might have done something to make teleconsultation popular, even in a post-pandemic future. Certainly not all, but at least some of the consultation with docs can be done virtually. It might actually be of more benefit to the patients more than to the docs.

[shashant]

Just wanted some information on Cataract lenses available in the market.
how does indian make Hydrophobic lens (ACRICOL/ SUPRAPHOB) compare with imported lens of (ALCON/ TECHNIC)

Indian lenses are almost 50% cheaper.

[KPR]

I never thought teeth sensitivity may hit this hard. Since last week I'm getting teeth sensitivity on my right side. I've been brushing since last 4 years using Dabur Red toothpaste and a medium tooth brush. The issue actually aggravated when I had two scoops of ice-cream last week. Since then I've this issue. Whenever I take hot coffee/tea or cold (like even butter/jam/curd from refrigerator) I get this issue. Shall I change my paste/ brush and check? Is it necessary to visit a dentist now? Can I postpone dental checkup to next week as I've other commitments this week?

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by KPR

I never thought teeth sensitivity may hit this hard. Since last week I'm getting teeth sensitivity on my right side. I've been brushing since last 4 years using Dabur Red toothpaste and a medium tooth brush. The issue actually aggravated when I had two scoops of ice-cream last week. Since then I've this issue. Whenever I take hot coffee/tea or cold (like even butter/jam/curd from refrigerator) I get this issue. Shall I change my paste/ brush and check? Is it necessary to visit a dentist now? Can I postpone dental checkup to next week as I've other commitments this week?

Medium and hard tooth brushes are great to clean the soot off the insides of your car's exhaust pipe.

For teeth soft brushes!

Switch to Colgate sensitive plus and soft brush. Brush gently, leave the paste in the sensitive area for 15-20 seconds before rinsing out.

Your soft brush bristles should not bend after three months of use. If they are, then you are using too much pressure.

Throw away a seemingly good brush after 3 months - nylon bristles harden. Ideal is every month. It's not a family heirloom that people keep for years.

Go visit a dentist next week unless you get pain on Saturday night and then suffer through Sunday because of commitments.

Remember the old adage, a stitch in time saves nine.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by KPR

I never thought teeth sensitivity may hit this hard. Since last week I'm getting teeth sensitivity on my right side. I've been brushing since last 4 years using Dabur Red toothpaste and a medium tooth brush. The issue actually aggravated when I had two scoops of ice-cream last week

I dont know about that brand so please check if it contains fluoride. If not, switch to a paste containing fluoride.

If it persists, and you are above 35, do get your sugar levels checked. There are 3 readings - "fasting sugar" done usually after 10 - 12 hours of food- typically day after an early dinner and before breakfast, bed coffee, tea or whatever. :random blood sugar" is tested from a sample taken around 2 hours after your typical heavy meal. 3rd test is called Hba1c.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

"random blood sugar" is tested from a sample taken around 2 hours after your typical heavy meal..

Correction: BSL test done 2 hours after a meal is called post prandial, a.k.a PP. Random BSL test is actually done at a random time, i.e. without any pre-condition of X hours of time elapsed after your last meal/snack.

[McLaren Rulez]

A query for a friend: 30 years old male with no underlying health issues and physically fit. He sometimes, quite suddenly, has very itchy lower legs/feet. The subsequent scratching is hard enough that it causes bleeding. This happens once every few months although now he tries to not scratch despite the itchiness.

What could it be? He has a family history of diabetes and Crohn's disease but does not suffer from either condition himself.

[balenoed_]

Docs,

Was suffering from throat pain past 3 days and occurs only during night time. A Dr consulted on Practo prescribed Dolo 650 and Azithro 500 tablets. I have no fever or nothing else. Should I still take Dolo 650? I missed to ask this to that Dr.

[suavesouvik]

Yes. The doctor has prescribed the dolo for the throat pain.