I went to my primary care physician recently. Even though I don't have any health problems, I left the meeting suddenly feeling extreme fear about my health.

After about an hour or two, I realized that the doctor had played a mind trick on me. That made me annoyed.

Doctors told my father he has early-stage prostate cancer. He's old enough that he might die of other causes before the cancer kills him. However, now my father is upset and scared about the cancer. It's ruined any quality of life he would have had, because now he's obsessed about it. If it's going to be that way, it would have been better for him to just not know and live happily for a few years, rather than being permastressed for the rest of his life.

I wonder if that's a skill doctors are intentionally taught, how to make their patients afraid?

They're hoping to make you afraid enough to take the tests and drugs that they recommend. Its profitable for them. They make you afraid, absolutely, because they're trained to do it. I was a victim of it for most of my life because of the threat of breast cancer. I had tests and biopsies for years and each time I had to have a surgical biopsy in a hospital was a low point in my life. I was so upset that I could have Cancer.

My best advice to you going forward is to question everything they're telling you about treatments. Research everything on the internet. No one wants to hear a diagnosis like that, its a sad journey. I don't know much about prostrate cancer but I can equate it to how they told me I had Osteoporosis and needed to go on their drug program. First I had a bone density test and next thing you know it showed I had osteoporosis, early stage. I have ten percent bone loss in my hip. I call bullshit. To me, I'm 70 years old and that's normal. They're just trying to use me to test out their drugs.

Yes, I'm aware that there's a huge markup for everything. One of their tricks seems to be that you need multiple appointments to do anything. That lets them bill your insurance multiple times.

Another thing they did is the nurse took my blood pressure, said it was 150/100, which is ridiculously high. It's been 140/80 for a long time. The doctor asked me what my blood pressure normally was. I said 140/80. He retook the blood pressure and said 145/85. I wonder if they decided to just make up a high blood pressure number to scare me?

He did recommend a colon cancer screening and a sleep apnea test. I guess those are reasonable so I'll do it. Apparently the specialists are booked solid months in advance. I guess that's another way they maximize their revenue. Be fully booked for months ahead of time.

I don't remember it being that way before, a waiting period of months to see a doctor.

He also tried to scare me into getting a shingles vaccine.

I also noticed that most of the doctors have Muslim-sounding names. A new trend in doctors is they say they intentionally hurt their patients if they don't like their political views. If one doctor got shamed for saying it on YouTube, that probably means there are thousands more that believe it but are smart enough to keep their mouth shut. Since I have a Jewish-sounding name, seeing a Muslim doctor could be a mistake.

I don't remember it being that way before, a waiting period of months to see a doctor.

First rule in marketing is to create a sense of urgency. And that's not an old wives' tale, it absolutely works. One of the tricks I learned.

If doctors are always booked out for months, the "need" to book now (rather than sleep on it) could be interpreted as a ploy to create a sense of urgency.

Dr. Sunil Dhand

He's a major anti collectivist do your own research pundit. He's given me a fresh perspective on how shit US health care has become. He has one video just about screening colonoscopies.

That was the vibe I got from the doctor's office. It seemed more like a McDonald's than a doctor's office. Churn through customers as quickly as possible, give the minimum possible standard of care.

I'm not sure where to go. All the doctor practices are owned by hedge funds now.

There were some horror stories in the comments of that video. People claiming the doctor injured them during their colonoscopy.

My husband has the same blood pressure problem as you when he goes to the doctor. Its normally 140/80, but when they take it in the office its higher than that so they always want to increase his BP medication. He agreed to increase it once and ended up passing out from the medication so he'll never do that again.

They always recommend a colonoscopy which I won't do. I did the Cologuard and it came back negative but I've since found out the test has a lot of false positives. My husband did the Cologuard and it came back positive. He had intended to go for a colonoscopy but the prep for it is ridiculous and then there is the possibility of injury during the procedure. He decided against it because it was based on a phony Cologuard test.

They're always trying to get me to take a shingles vaccine. Both my sisters took it and got Shingles. I'll never take it. I've never been a fan of vaccines anyway, but now I know doctors get a kickback from big pharma if they can convince you to take their vaccine. What a scam.

If I had a Jewish-sounding name I'd be very careful about seeing a Muslim doctor too, considering the state of the world today. You should look for other doctors even if you have to travel. Its worth the trip.

I'm so torn on getting the colonoscopy. I've been having several people telling me I should do it. I might incorrectly cave to the peer pressure.

That is the risk I heard, that your intestine can get torn during the colonoscopy, leading to complications. I heard the complication frequency is as high as 1%, which sounds really high. But my mother had a colonoscopy and nothing bad happened.

The sleep apnea check seems reasonable. That's non-invasive.

Shingles vaccine I think I'll pass. I'm also torn on that.

Funny this topic came up. On Aug 7 I was scheduled for a regular screening colonoscopy. On Friday I had some unrelated symptoms (major acid stomach symptoms, retching,etc) so I asked my wife to take me to the branch hospital ER. After testing they said I was going to the main hospital right then, so Ive been here since Friday. After an echo gram they observe irregular heart rate and reduced heart function. This is all in the last 3 months it has come up. IMO I have been poisoning myself with anxiety and stress and anger for a long time. An angiogram tomorrow will tell.

One point: instead of getting triggered by doctors attitudes I'm trying to guess why they act as they do. They're getting fucked by the same system we complain about.

The cardiologist was ultra controlling and had a very arrogant approach... I think I get what is going on. He probably has many patients bail when they hear something scary or they try to argue over his diagnosis. It's actually funny. He pointed at a flag lapel pin and said most of the other doctors eye rolled. He then said most of the doctors are libtards. He said that.

Typing on a device is painful. I'll report back in a few days.

Ive had 2 colonoscopies. Both were easy. But they have accurate tests to detect blood in the stool, just a lab test. One value of the scope is seeing and removing pre cancerous polyps.

It's so hard to tell what out there is genuine, and what is fraud.

I've only got an appointment to make with the gastroenterologist. I have no idea if he'll recommend colonoscopy or poop test. Since it's more money, he'll probably pick the colonoscopy? I'm not even sure what I should take. I'm leaning towards just following the doctor's recommendation.

I'm still worried that a fast one was pulled with the COVID vaccine. My parents started getting health problems 1-2 years after the COVID vaccine. I have no way to prove if it was the vaccine or they were just getting older.

Your intestines can develop polyps, which are knobby tissue growths inside the colon. Some can become cancerous. They often will snip them out during a colonoscopy so they can correct the issue in the same go. Just testing your poop won't do that. Removing polyps reduces the chance of future cancer.

I've had two colonoscopies. Mine will be combined with a GI endoscopy to see what is going on with my stomach issues.

I think colonoscopies are a reasonable precaution.

Think of the children. Polyps.

There is also a risk of getting Hepatitis C if the place you go to has not sterilized their equipment properly. The scopes that doctors use are reusable, not disposable, so they have to be sterilized between patients. I think that is just disgusting and dangerous considering the quality of health care workers today. There is a place that does colonoscopies near me where several of their patients got Hep C because they didn't sterilize their equipment properly. It happened within the VA medical system too.

I don't know how the medical profession can call this procedure their "gold standard". I know some people have them done and everything goes okay, but I see it as risky and very invasive, so I'll pass.

I never heard of a sleep apnea check so I looked it up. This is what WebMD said about it. The home equipment option looks interesting.

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/diagnosing-sleep-apnea

That is the risk I heard, that your intestine can get torn during the colonoscopy, leading to complications. I heard the complication frequency is as high as 1%, which sounds really high. But my mother had a colonoscopy and nothing bad happened.

There are a couple of family acquaintances I am aware of that died from this. I'm at the age where it's recommended to start screening. I went with Cologuard and fortunately it was negative. My grandfather had colon cancer in his 70s so it runs in the family. Might be pressured to do the colonoscopy eventually. It's like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

Hopefully you are out of the hospital and doing better now.

Stress and anxiety can definitely affect health in a negative way. I went away on vacation for a week and felt and slept better. I returned to a bunch of work piled on my plate and the stress and sleep issues returned. And then my boss (a 30 something), who actually does work on top of his managerial duties, revealed that he's having blood pressure issues. These companies squeeze the fuck out of the most dilligent workers while so many slackers get by with producing very little. Okay enough ranting about work but hope you are seeing some improvement.

I just scratched the surface. I was kept for 8 days, from Friday the 2nd through Sat the 10th.

Many tests regarding the heart. Mine wasn't doing that well. I now have a pacemaker. I do feel much better - I had been declining in strength and just being able to do shit since last fall. The doctors are going to be swapping drug therapies to get to the bottom of AFIB and other issues.

To paraphrase Idiocracy's Surgeon General's warning:

WARNING: The surgeon general has a pacemaker and a voicebox and he can still kick your ass.

https://preview.redd.it/c5ieljwapjt61.jpg?auto=webp&s=0b5b884d42e27e533f7afc7ea7bfcbc7b3654506

My symptoms were entirely gastric distress and acid reflux. The heart issue seemed to be the ultimate cause.

I didn't have a heart attack or any heart damage such as blood clots. It's still a bit of a mystery what caused this. But I'm blessed and thankful I'm still here.

Where I can continue to be a plague on the earth.

Sorry that you experienced those issues (scary stuff) but glad you're feeling better. As you mention, it could have been worse.

At least you have a sense of humor about it!

Wishing you improved health. Maybe you'll want to step away from the political scene for a bit and not get too wrapped up on it? Not sure if that had anything to do with your stress.

Didn't realize that gastrointestinal stuff could be related to a heart issue. I've noticed more GI stuff as I've gotten older.

Thanks.

What the GI connection was, was fluid build up in the chest cavity. (Similar to congestive heart failure.) I affected me such that just bending over felt like torture with extreme pressure in my core. Also it seemed to have pushed up on the stomach so that eating was restricted. I would take some daily prescriptions and supplements and in 2 minutes feel intense burning.

Plus I was noticing that using a blood pressure cuff I'd get pulse readings of like 40, then 70, then 120, then 50 something. Basically my pulse became so irregular that normie blood reading devices couldn't pick the pulse up reliably.

They had to stabilize the pulse with a pacemaker in order to introduce some core heart remedies such as Entresto and Jardiance.

This is all new. In May the doctor read normal BP and pulse.

My stress is internalized from many directions: asshole angry locals getting in my face, very unpleasant and stupid neighbors, drivers road raging constantly around here (I posted a while back about a dude shot to death in June not far from where we live), and also the burden of dealing with one brother in a nursing home and a mother in law who really needs to be in a nursing home. I had big fights with both of them recently, and this has been the case for several years.

The politics creates some stress but I discount most of it. 95% of my own stress has been environmental, close range stuff.

Also the idea that scene setting for some SHTF events is close at hand and then we'd have to cope with a near Mad Max scenario. Actually, risk perception of some black swan that makes our lives hard is a big deal for me. IE, should I stack gold/silver? Get a gun/ammo/take courses?

A biopsy found no viral myocarditis or cell abormality such as immune system self attack. Basically the doctors don't know yet why I had this happen. I personally believe my personal locally sourced stress which has lasted for over a decade had taken a toll on my health.

Look up "broken heart syndrome". Some cardiologists on Quora made some posts that indicate that it is a literal thing - stress causing heart performance degradation.

I'm so glad your feeling better and that the doctors were able to help you. Stress like you have is very hard to deal with, especially family stress. You've dealt with some awful family situations for many years that I'm sure you internalized. You can't change those situations, but you need to find a way to change how you react to them.

I know that's easier said then done. I've always found writing out your feelings helps and for many years I used oil painting as a way to shut down my overactive mind. That worked for me. You need to find something like that to lose yourself in.

You can't change those situations, but you need to find a way to change how you react to them.

THIS!

Oh wow. Crazy how so many things in our bodies are interconnected and can be affected by stress. Glad the docs were able to help.

As Jo recommended, maybe you can take up some new hobbies to get your mind off of that stuff. Seems that people's actions are getting to you but the only person you can control is yourself. I know it's easier said than done though. I can think of several situations where people are butting heads with each other and either I'm in the middle or being used to vent to about how much of an asshole the other person is.

Platitude, man. You guys have no idea.

It's a long story extending over 20+ years that I have documented fully here. I've had everything come at me from all directions - family attacks + obligations to support a family member + absolute shit career direction. With people (family, customers, co-workers) randomly demeaning me.

I've lived in constant stomach twisting stress off and on for the last 30 years in some way. Maybe 40-50% of the time. Usually my family, and specifically one brother, have constantly attacked me for stating the truth.

Right now I'm not feeling much stress. They have me on an anti anxiety med that is working well without making me tired. The last episode that may have triggered AFIB was getting my oldest brother, who is demon possessed with dementia, to be moved to a new nursing home that doesn't have bags of feces sitting in the hallways on the weekend. He fought me and I almost keeled over then.

Fuck him. He's 82 and he never had to have a pacemaker.

Oh, and let me tell you guys one other thing that happened last week.

I got released on a Saturday. Nice day, wife came and got me.

Sunday was chill; we canned salsa. I saw no warning signs.

The next day I found her in a small pool of blood in her room while I was doing other things in the house. She had cut herself. First time ever. Seemed to be some guilt regret thing for my heart issues.

I called EMS. They arrived with sirens. And took her to the worst regional hospital in my area.

The hospital basically completely firewalled me and would not let me talk to her or disclose any information to me. I had to ride home in an Uber. The hospital was so fucking ghetto that she was released with a brown paper grocery bag to hold her papers and possessions - not the drawstring plastic bag that hospitals in civilized areas use.

So I'm all alone at the house, after somewhat major surgery and diagnosis involving my heart, with no one else in the house. I call the hospital and cycle through idiots that sound like they're on meth. And not one fucking neighbor available to help. And no family willing to drive here and hang out with me within 500 miles.

Two days later they released her. She's now going to a therapist to get guidance on working on her anxiety and guilt issues.

I don't believe this is a new pattern. She was afraid of her world collapsing without me.

And that happened a week ago Monday. Two days after I Was released from the hospital.

So, tell me how I can improve my reaction to events after all that.

I've had the worst fucking adult life of anyone I know who is not completely paralyzed.

What would happen if you weren't there for your brother? Did you ever think of telling your other brother you can't do it anymore because of your health? You need to offload that situation and think about whats best for YOU. He needs to step up now and if he doesn't want to then maybe he has another idea to help your brother that doesn't involve you. Let him figure it out. You've done enough.

I know you took care of him all these years out of the goodness of your heart and because you felt obligated, but its time to think about you and your wife. She has been there for you all these years and you're both hurting right now. You can help each other get through this really awful time.

I never look to family or friends for anything. They're always too busy with their own lives, so I don't bother. Its just how they are so I go it alone. I did it by having hobbies like painting or writing. When I was down, it was a way for me to escape my misery. You can find something like that too and it'll be an outlet for the pain.

You're on your own and need to look out for yourself. That's the sad reality you can't change so why make yourself crazy over it. Take control instead. You have to be your own best friend and take care of your health. Everyone that depends on you will have to find another way now because you need to focus on your needs first.

Sorry you've had to deal with all that.

I'll defer to Jo as she has provided some excellent advice. What would be the downsides if you were to let go of your brother? You don't have to answer that here if you don't want to but maybe that's something you can ask yourself. It doesn't sound like the rest of your family is supportive either way. As Jo mentioned, you and your wife should focus on yourselves, at least for the time being.