Is introspective physiology useful?

[TZK]

I don't like doctors. If I break my arm, maybe I will go see one to get it physically repaired, but other than that doctors get on my nerves.

 

No matter what I say he attempts to pidgeonhole my symptoms into some disease that can be treated with a drug he can prescribe me. Instead I do research on my own and combined with things that I percieve about myself, I fix the problems on my own.

 

For example, I used to get really sick after relatively short periods of physical exhaustion. My hands and arms would fall asleep and turn blue, I would get dizzy and naseous... My doctor prescribed a steroid inhaler for "athletic induced asthma". I experienced several side effects and it did not seem to help.

 

Later on I discovered that gatorade made the problem go away almost instantly, and later still I found that salt fixed the problem.

 

Since then I have embarked on a long path of self understanding, and lack of medical insurance. I have solved several medical problems in myself that other people may consider serious and that I no doubt would have been prescribed many drugs for.

 

Basically...

 

Intense sexual activity (with my girlfriend at the time or whatever) causes electrolyte unbalances. Sunlight exposure seems to do this somewhat as well... These intern cause several problems.

 

A) My body holds less water, perhaps causing bad sugar reactions as the body produces excessive insulin to counteract sugar concentrating when it should be more evenly dispersed... This causes low blood sugar and a type of shock which seems to impair my thinking ability and or motivation.

 

:( The imbalances seem to cause my skin to be thinner, which makes me much more susceptable to acne.

 

C) Also the electrolyte imbalance seems to impair propogation of positive emotions giving me a more apathetical and rational attitude towards my surroundings.

 

D) The difficulty related to emotions seems to impair my ability to dream, which is probably necessary to counteract stress etc. IE it seems you see things in a dream with the purpose of causing you to experience a given emotion, which has physical correlates that cancel out the physical correlates of previous stressful emotions.... But if favorable emotions can't propogate it doesn't work. I do not dream when I am in this state. I tend to be paranoid and easily angered, but less so when I get a good night's sleep including dreams.

 

All of these problems I have fixed by simply taking salt and vinegar...

 

Why hasn't medical science provided us with the level of understanding of such things that would allow us to fix such problems with such simple measures... ?

[Boerseun]

I would definitely not recommend your approach to the general public, or anybody else, for that matter.

 

While it certainly is true that for quite a number of general run-of-the-mill medical conditions self-diagnosis is sufficient and quite often spot-on, the risk far outweighs the benefits. Simply put, an experiment is worthless when the observer is part of it. Or, like they say about lawyers, any lawyer giving himself advice has a fool for a client.

 

I think objectivity is the main thing here. When you're diagnosing yourself, your mere involvement will spoil your symptoms or reactions to any self-test (with the obvious exception of chemical tests, like urine strips, of course).

[TZK]

I am not sure I understand.

 

I mean, I wouldn't decide that I have stomach cancer because I had a stomach ache, and then cut myself open with a butter knife...

 

But on the other hand the long list of problems I previously had which I fixed by simply taking electrolytes after certain activities would have been treated by various drugs with all kinds of side effects by different doctors.

 

I suppose there are still risks with taking electrolytes... I have given myself migraines once or twice from taking too much salt and had to take other electrolytes to lower my blood pressure again. That could cause serious problems at older ages I suppose.

 

But I mean, if I get lethargic, and sugar tastes REALLY good and even shocks my mouth and sends chills when I eat it, then I guess that my blood sugar is probably low and I made too much insulin.

 

If salt or another elctrolyte shocks my mouth in the same way (it is a distinct feeling seperate from just the shock of trying to stomach something like that by itself) then I guess I needed that as well....

 

How is this type of reasoning impaired by me being the subject of the test? I couldn't use this reasoning if I wasn't me?

[CraigD]

There’s great value in self-diagnosis (the usual term for what I think TZK means by “introspective physiology”), which a good clinician (MD, nurse, etc.) emphasizes in any contact with a person with special physical problems such as TZK describes of himself. As he notes, no instrument of examination is a better monitor of the many factors contributing to health than a persons own senses.

 

I get the impression that, unfortunately, TZK hasn’t had this sort of interaction with a clinician – an all to common failing both in the education and working culture and conditions of many clinicians, though one that better-run healthcare organizations (not to toot our horn, but such as my own ;)) put substantial effort into preventing and correcting.

 

The drawbacks to relying exclusively on self-diagnosis, however are several:

• Unless you are yourself a clinician in the area of your own special need, you’ll require a good bit – the equivalent of tens of academic hours – of education in anatomy, physiology, and disease. These in turn require a solid foundation in biology and chemistry, so to be a competent self-diagnostician requires a substantial amount of self-education time and effort.
  
• When having acute symptoms like TZK describes, you’re not always mentally alert enough to make good observations and diagnoses
  
• As Boerseun notes, it’s often difficult to be objective. Particularly dangerous is the tendency of people to dismiss serious problems, because examining them can be mortally terrifying. On the other extreme, people sometimes become overly concerned with mild or non-existent symptoms. While not dangerous in themselves, self-treatment of them can do more harm than good.
  

The ideal situation is to be well-educated and self-aware, engage in vigorous self-diagnosis, but be backed up by multiple medical professionals. As the “professional” part of this situation can for many people be cost-prohibitive, the next best situation is to be backed up by well-educated non-professional, such as friends and lovers. In fact, the mutual involvement of companions in their healthcare offers advantages unavailable in nearly any clinical setting, as they’re likely to be present when fleeting symptoms occur, and during emergencies.

 

This said, several things TZK reports concern me:

 

For example, I used to get really sick after relatively short periods of physical exhaustion. My hands and arms would fall asleep and turn blue, I would get dizzy and naseous... My doctor prescribed a steroid inhaler for "athletic induced asthma". I experienced several side effects and it did not seem to help.

 

Later on I discovered that gatorade made the problem go away almost instantly, and later still I found that salt fixed the problem.

Blueness in the extremities is an absolute indication of lack of oxygen in the blood, due either to vascular, heart, or, as your doctor seemed to suspect, respiratory problems. For the condition to be improved by drinking a sports drink is strange and atypical – the principle electrolytes in it – sodium and potassium – simply can’t reach the effected neurons quickly enough to account for a rapid recovery. I strongly suspect a problem other than “electrolyte imbalance”, and suggest that TZK investigate this condition in much greater depth.

 

An important indication for asthma is difficulty breathing, and a feeling of constriction of the airways, which electrolyte depletion would actually relieve slightly. Do you have such symptoms, TZK?

Intense sexual activity (with my girlfriend at the time or whatever) causes electrolyte unbalances.

Again, unless you’re having sex for hours at a time with roughly the aerobic and anaerobic intensity of competitive running or full-contact martial arts, you’re unlikely to be experiencing electrolyte imbalances unless you have a sever electrolyte deficiency of which you're unaware well before you start. There are many other possible causes, too numerous to summarize in a short post.

 

As you mention your doctor diagnosing you with asthma, and that you lack medical insurance, it’s unlikely that you’ve had either blood work or urinalysis for a possibly dangerous electrolyte imbalance. Blood tests are difficult for the non-professional to perform, and as with anything involving sticking needles in your veins (finger pricks won’t work for the required tests), can be harmful if done wrong. Some urinalysis, however, is fairly simple “kitchen chemistry”. I suggest, TZK, that you learn about this, and do it. The symptoms you mention are not to be trifled with or ignored – in the worst case, you may be on a path to severe, irreversible organ damage, and untimely death.

 

Sunlight exposure seems to do this somewhat as well...

Another unusual but strongly indicative symptom, especially as one of the more common causes of this is the use of specific classes of drugs, which I get the impression TZK is taking none of.

My body holds less water…

Unless your buoyancy is bizarre – you “sink like a stone” in water – this is almost certainly not so. I think you need to improve your physiology education.

… perhaps causing bad sugar reactions as the body produces excessive insulin to counteract sugar concentrating when it should be more evenly dispersed... This causes low blood sugar and a type of shock which seems to impair my thinking ability and or motivation.

This sounds like either diabetes or hypoglycemia.

 

It’s easy to test your blood glucose – test kits can be had for in the vicinity of $50, or, less expensive yet, just find a diabetic friend and borrow his. You’ll likely want to conducting a “fasting tolerance” test, where you measure your response to fasting, followed by a very sweet drink.

The imbalances seem to cause my skin to be thinner …

The list goes on – I’d be doing a disservice, I think, to speculate further, other than to recommend learning more medical science.

Why hasn't medical science provided us with the level of understanding of such things that would allow us to fix such problems with such simple measures... ?

Though imperfect, medical science properly applied has provided us with such understanding – provided one understands it. Most people chose to rely on the understanding of professionals, but for someone with a good high school-level grasp of life sciences (or, with additional work, someone without) this knowledge is accessible though self-study. The two approaches are not mutually excusive – in fact, I suspect that someone self-educated to a level approaching that of an MD or RN would be inclined to do whatever is necessary to receive professional diagnosis and treatment.

 

Good luck, be careful, and be well, TZK.