ha ha thanks pal. Happy fluid and pustular secretions to you and yours.

ha I can't add anything to this...but I need to talk to sleeves about this.

Ok, I gotta go make the kids something to eat. Thanks everyone, this was a lot of fun.

your pal,

steve

PS: SXM show tonight is new, but at 10pm EST.

done.

thanks pal!

thanks pal!

ha ha what do I know?

he's a fuckin' genius, cocksucka! tsaaaa

the luger has a smaller caliber, as long as it is unloaded. less likely to cause a rectal fissure, unless the cucumber is a pickle gherkin in which case it is perfect EXCEPT for the likelihood that it will slip out of your fingers and become unretrievable in your awful rectum.

I had a guy once that swore he "sat on" a coke bottle in the ER. No one buys that shit.

it is successful often and will add a fraction of an inch to an inch, however it will keep the penis from pointing up toward your face when erect...it will now point toward your feet.

they will drip out easier, I guess.

I hope so. Really. I looked at a picture of myself in studio from behind and was SHOCKED to see my scalp through the thinning hair.

Right now you can try OTC Rogaine. They sell a 6 month supply for $30 at WalMart and other places. In around 1/3 of people there will be a good response. If you stop, you'll go right back to where you would be if you'd never used it.

PROPECIA is a pill you can take that may help. It blocks conversion of precursors to androgens in the scalp. Since baldness seems to be a reaction to testosterone, this will make hair grow back in a significant fraction of patients.

Follicular transplantation works, too, but is expensive.

I'm always looking for new stuff and will let you know on the show.

the body is good at healing stuff; the transplants take "root" and they're there permanently

1) these things are unregulated medicine delivery devices. The manufacturers say they're "probably" safe. So far I have not heard of a single person being injured by one yet, so I'm softening on them a bit. As a BRIDGE to TOTAL CESSATION they may be effective. They're as addictive as regular cigs, at least when they have nicotine in them. There's no tar, so there's that, but nicotine is itself a tumor promoter and a vasoconstrictor. So for short-term use to quit, I'm hesitantly ok with them. For Long term use, can't recommend them (yet). Data is forthcoming, I will continue to follow.

this may be true; I'd like to see the data. I am inclined to be in favor of these things, but I am concerned about quality control vis a vis the metering of the dose of nicotine

dunno. let me do some research on this and I'll get back to you.

Ok, read this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24406205 looks pretty good, I must say.

nicotine appears to be a tumor promoter, while tar is a carcinogen. so cigs are a one-two punch... tar gives it to you, nicotine helps it grow.

again, this may be true. I haven't seen data on it, though. What I hear are anecdotes about it, which are not good evidence. I have an open mind, though.

studies are being done: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23978909 but they're not done yet. I'll stay on it!

I'm posting this again because it's a good article and it looks pretty good for ecigs:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24406205

2) I can empathize. Psych meds like antidepressants are classic for being libido killers. Except for Buproprion and the newer SNRIs like Pristiq. She needs to talk to her prescribing doc and see if they can work with her on this.

not to worry about, per se, but it's probably worth talking to your prescriber about it. These comments about sexual side effects are generalities...your experience may differ.

ha, I wish I knew what the hell you were talking about. :-)

people with sensitive bullshit detectors, maybe?

I'm glad he's doing the Super Shred; I love Roland and I want him to live a long, happy life.

you can't tell it's me?

thanks man. Wish you could have heard the YKWD that I did with Bobby. thanks to technical difficulties it'll never be heard.

google "IGA Nephropathy" and see if it fits.

Patrice was one that I did not talk to much; the only "real" conversation we ever had was at Opie's wedding. I was on call for him 24/7 just like everyone else, but since he had a chronic illness he was more plugged in to his regular doctors and didn't need my input, at least that's how I figured it.

I have a certain subset of people who can call me 24/7. I can't prescribe but I can translate doctor-ese into English and give general advice. I'm on call 24/7 anyway for my job so it's not a big deal.

yeah sorry, well I am on call for "everyone else", but by email :-)

Absolutely; though not widely known, Diabetes can affect the whole GI tract, not just the stomach. http://journal.diabetes.org/clinicaldiabetes/V18N42000/pg148.htm

Metamucil is a bowel "normalizer", not really a laxative. If you're too loose, it may help to firm things up a bit. My only concern with metamucil is that it can cause bloating and flatus (intestinal gas, expelled via the rectum to ill effect). I favor citrucel, CITrucel, CITRUCEL! Instead as it has no potential for intestinal bacteria to ferment it.

maybe! but if not, we often recommend a resin called "Cholestyramine" or Questran. Its main adverse effect is constipation, which she would probably welcome. Google "Post Cholecystectomy Syndrome" for more info, or check out this link: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/postcholecystectomy-syndrome

http://static03.mediaite.com/sportsgrid/uploads/gallery/bieber-hats/bieber01raptors.jpg

Is beer a bodily fluid? If so, that one.

alright, then urine; the way it is made in the kidney is just astoundingly complicated.

thanks budday, how long does this go on? My kids have watched at least 6 episodes of the Awesomes since I started.

thanks! It was fun...I'll just check in here from time to time if that's ok.

S-E-C-R-E-T-I-O-N-S

hell if I know. Doctor Steve or something. Oh, here it is:

Http://www.reddit.com/r/drsteve

http://www.reddit.com/r/drsteve

...i think

The time I lanced a GIANT abscess on a guy's back and it shot out under pressure, coating my glasses and going into my mouth and nose.

ha ha I have no idea what a subreddit is, but I'll figure it out. thanks waynerooneyshairplug!

yeah, sorry, my kids wanted to watch "The Awesomes" on HuluPlus. :-) I am new to reddit and didn't realize that AMAs were supposed to be live. I thought I could just check in every day or so and answer questions.

genius

ok, I'll hang out in this AMA from day to day and see how it goes. thanks!

exactly.

I think they were making medical claims that they couldn't support. You can still do DNA analyses but they can't market them for medical purposes. at least that's how I understood the case.

the times I've heard it, I've learned stuff about how to talk to people about addictions.

see, long term studies take money, and the FDA will approve drugs without them, so people think "why waste my grant money on a long-term study...besides they take too long".

Just read the last sentence in this article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23139911

so, no one really knows, bro. I did an interaction check and all it says is to "avoid combination due to excessive weight loss" which you already figured out and are happy with.

Several of them used to be on AOL Instant Messenger in the early days of XM. I ran into Jim Norton and he said "so, you're really a doctor?" He had a question (he discussed this on the air so I can talk about it) and he liked my answer so the next day he said "Yeah, last night I was talking to a doctor in Tennessee about this thing and..." and Anthony jumped in and said "Well, of COURSE, all the BEST doctors are in Tennessee". I laughed out loud and immediately sent him my resume' which includes 72 articles published in the medical literature and a few professorships and journal editor jobs. I was behind the scenes for years and the first time I was ever on the air was when someone called Fez and told him he was taking the wrong heart medication. I couldn't stand it so I called in. That's kind of the origin. The story of how Weird Medicine came to be is another story altogether.

I have been in favor of marijuana legalization for some time. I do understand the arguments on the other side as well, and reasonable, clear-thinking people can disagree on this one.

There are some downsides, just as there are with any other drug: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24413371 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24384575

people need to know the risks, benefits, and alternatives to this drug as they do for any other.

There is federally legal "medical marijuana" now, in a pill called "MARINOL" which we use every day for chemo-related nausea and for appetite improvement

check his stupid nuts for lumps and get off his ass and get some exercise.

...and we'll see you in one week for the next edition of Weird Medicine.

Also eat less junk food.

I would love to see Roland do well on this diet challenge. People with sedentary jobs (that's ALL of SiriusXM) really need to watch their diet and try to get exercise out of the workplace.

Ha ha! Very true

I had no ambitions whatsoever. I made films when I was a kid and I guess if I'd pursued that (like Spielberg did) maybe I would have ended up doing commercials for Belk's (I was no Spielberg).

Astronaut seemed cool but too much work. I was lazy. As a matter of fact, my major in college was the easiest major I could find (communications). It wasn't until my brain kicked in when I was 25 that I was willing to actually work toward a goal and took the courses I needed to get into medical school.

yes! exactly! the hot wife of a dumb ham radio operator who turned out to be a doctor...

it's a myth. this is the best article on the internet on this:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp want something more academic? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23891579

of course, we may find something down the road that damns aspartame forever, so we have to remain open minded and vigilant. If they do, I'll be the first to demand its removal, but so far studies have shown aspartame to be safe in the doses people ingest it normally.

thanks pal. really love doing it. wish I had the time to do things I really would like to do, like experiments, myth busters, outside interviews, production pieces.

they are killing me at the hospice house this weekend. very busy!

it really depends on the liver. some people can drink and smoke their whole life and die in their 80s from something else. other people drink a six pack and have liver failure at age 30. the problem is we currently have no test that will predict who can drink and smoke with impunity, we can only tell afterward. so everyone needs to be mindful of risk factors and if you're doing risky stuff, at least get checked periodically if you're not going to stop.

oh, that fakir from WPIX, eh?

I tried to sell him doctorsteve.com when I was in a depressed mood and he was too cheap to buy it (thank goodness I snapped out of it).

I can't answer the last part of your question, but dude, you could do some risk factor management. 300mL = 10 ounces or 10 standard mixed drinks and even small amounts of tobacco abuse increases risk of all kinds of diseases. Your body can probably compensate right now because you are still young, but if you keep it up you could end up looking like Piney on Sons of Anarchy (before Clay shot his ass, of course). Feel free to email me if you want to discuss further.

thanks pal, let me know how it goes

OK! Because PA John is supposed to be my Sports Medicine expert and I ask him stuff and he says "well, I'd want to know more information..."

I wonder if you have a blocked salivary duct? Get some sour candy. If it initially makes the pain worse, that's probably it. Keep it up and it may actually clear the blockage. See an ENT; they deal with this stuff all the time.

we used to joke in my brother's office. he had a container of rectal thermometers and one of oral thermometers. we'd pretend we'd mixed them up after taking someone's temp. They were horrified but we all had a big laff.

when I was a kid, but not recently, no.

However, I did see Malcolm Merlyn has been in Ras al Ghul's resurrection pit on "Arrow" so...

PS: I respond to the Harry Fisch show comments here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/opieandanthony/comments/1qs3ua/stern_rips_off_strange_medicinedr_steve_with/

I like Harry, honestly. He's a urologist and can't answer a wide range of questions but he's competent and he at least has a comedian to try to make things funny. All I have is PA John.

thanks man, the wife and kids say howdy do!

I've thought about doing a longer show, but I'm afraid it would become boring. This year I'm going to do less yacking and answer more questions. I have a backlog of THOUSANDS of Qs we've never gotten to.

Dr Dean Edell, who's show I ripped off to create Weird Medicine, did an hour a day for 20 years. I think that's about the right amount of time. If someone wanted to pay me to do an hour a day, I would quit my day job in a second.

naw, you do

Provigil is one of my favorite drugs out there. Does what it says it will do, and with few adverse effects. It just makes you feel "normal" and not "speedy". Obviously there are risks, benefits and alternatives, but it seems to be a pretty perfect pharmaceutical.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22779312 as you can see, long-term data is needed.

see above for #1

Dr Smith is an MD, so he graduated from medical school. He may not be a practicing physician, or he may not even have done a residence (I have no idea).

You get to keep the MD for the rest of your life, but to actually practice medicine you have to keep your licensing up and to do that you have to jump through a lot of hoops. I seem to remember once he called in a scrip for someone which implies that he has a valid license.

"It is thought that IBD results from an aberrant and continuing immune response to the microbes in the gut, catalyzed by the genetic susceptibility of the individual. Although the etiology of IBD remains largely unknown, it involves a complex interaction between the genetic, environmental or microbial factors and the immune responses. " from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24415861

So it has a genetic component, but is not strictly a "genetic disease" like hemophilia is.

hmmm...is there drainage in the back of your throat from your nose? It could be irritating the tonsils. Also, do you have white things stuck in your tonsils? If so, google "tonsilliths" or tonsil stones.

ok, the postnasal drainage is probably revving up your tonsils. they are basically lymph nodes, you know. Try a neti pot, or just some OTC non drowsy antihistamines and see how it goes. talk to your doc, of course.

I like Gatorade when you're puking or want to rehydrate after exercise. It has electrolytes and glucose and water and is reasonable. Intravenous saline is what we use in the hospital, but it's impractical at home. :-)

thanks, budday!

I did it on my christmas card this year. It was a picture of me and the prostate simulator's rectum with Dr Chip saying "tsaaaa...it nearly killed 'em or somethin'" Otherwise, I can't come close to the genius of Jim Norton, even if it's me he's imitating. :-)

I'll try to find one!

here's the front...I can't find the back!

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BamC4StIEAAX6Dc.jpg

TASTED, yes, as in oral sex, but EATEN as in chewed and swallowed, no. I hear cannibals will say that lamb is the closest to human flesh in taste and consistency. Bon Apetit!

I don't promote it, I have them on to balance the viewpoints on my show. Some people accuse me of being a shill for the drug companies. With them on I can call bullshit. Also, I like them both and both of them know what they can do and what they can't. Dr Scott, the TCM practitioner, used to work in my office, and he made people feel better. Placebo? Maybe. I like to call it the "cryptogenic therapeutic effect".

re: acupuncture, studies are being done. just read the conclusion: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24356063 it's a good journal and they are straight players and they feel it's at least worth a look.

chiropractic has been shown to be effective in low back pain; since that's a very common complaint, I'm all for it. It's when they step out of what they're good at that I have issues with them.

Buprenorphine is the drug of choice for opioid detox and is used in opioid addiction as a maintenance drug. I prefer moving toward total sobriety through gentle weaning, but that's me.

I was a cameraman for mid atlantic championship wrestling, i had sex for the first time when I was 17 with a 44 year old who picked me up in the bar I was playing piano in illegally, I got kicked out of high school for smoking pot and that wasn't the half of it. Stuff like that.

hell yes!

tons of them!

Once we had Brute Bernard in the studio. I was terrified of him, having seen him as a kid on black and white TV. He never spoke, and acted like an animal. I even saw him bite a guy's hand in a match when I was a kid.

Anyway, he was in the dressing room and I was waiting down the stairs to see him, when there he was... BIG thick glasses, silk bathrobe, cigarette in a holder, READING THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. He was like "hey, pleased to meet you, son". Blew me away. Then he went out and beat the shit out of Ole Anderson, acting like an animal let out of a cage. Amazing!

depends on what they're treating. if it's adult ADHD, there are a ton of things you can take instead of Adderall. Even in the same group (the amphetamine-like agents) there are variations. I have people tell me Vyvanse, which is metabolized slowly by the body, gives less jittery feelings. Assuming they are treating you for a real indication, talk to your provider and see if they can switch.

just once, it was a vaginal odor situation and I had to pretend to take a call so I could dose my face mask with cologne.

exactly.

Rubber Soul

no, the White Album. That was the first album I bought with my own money.

Genius. See, I think I can hear Jim's brain work sometimes...someone says something and he starts running through a comedy algorithm until he hits on the right thing to say. with parallel processing he can toss out dozens of choices in a split second.

Chip is simply reciting the lines that Jim breezes by on the way to true comedy.

yay! post your podcast link, bro!

weeks/months, and I recommend the start-stop dick-squeeze-finger-over-the-cockhole technique.

http://www.promescent.com/about-premature-ejaculation/premature-ejaculation-therapy-start-stop-squeeze-technique

sure, we had Andrea and Marcus, recently. It was his birthday and she gave him WM seats for his birthday. Insane, but that's what he wanted. We do a vigorous background check. :-)

ha, my vine has a video of my kid yelling "LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT DUCK!" to a swan

thanks man, you doing ok?

arrrgh! pustules! you seen a dermatologist?

I am not aware of an association between the two, though hell, anything can happen.

thanks pal, my wife just ordered Jersey Mikes so I have a couple of minutes before she makes me go out and get her fucking food.

I'm glad you asked!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyAumK100s4

Weird Medicine TV Episode 1: The Skin Tag

yes, that's sleeves who did the song, and Jay Daley (coke logic) did the animation (not the whiteboard, I did that on fiverr.com)

risk your wife will beat your ass :-)

ha ha my experience with them is that they are ALL very nice people who have always been nothing but friends to me. On the air, they do what they're famous for, but off the air they are ALL of them gems. It's a very cohesive unit right now and there's not a single one of the people attached to the show that I don't like.

Well, except for Edgar, maybe, but he's just creepy-old.

ha ha I remember that like it was yesterday. Ant had left to go on a cruise with Jill N and Tippy Tom, after getting his prostate checked by me was goofing around at Ant's station (invited there by Opie of course). Sitting at the table was Bree Olsen, who was a good sport but was HORRIFIED by what she was sitting next to. Nagel's father was there, Struff was there, and a few others.

It was funny because a couple of minutes later Ant actually DID call in..."GET THAT ANIMAL OUT OF MY CHAIR...!" and the crowd went nuts.

You know, having the bleachers and inviting in the fans was a big part of the XM O&A show and it's something I really miss.

there are lots of times I'd like to call in and chime in on a subject on which they may be not scientifically rigorous, but I don't. First, they are being entertaining and no one is holding them responsible for scientific accuracy ("gravity has something to do with spinning..."). And second, I don't want to be that guy who only calls in to trump them in scientific knowledge. They call me when they think I can contribute; I leave the being funny and running the show to them. They are GENIUSES at it and I don't want to overstay my welcome by being a noodge. :-)

diet is an individual thing, but there is some evidence that even people who don't have celiac sprue would benefit from a gluten free diet if they have gluten "sensitivity". But not everyone does, so a one-size-fits-all diet really won't work for humans very well, except for some broad strokes.

We're omnivores, as is evidenced by sharp incisors in the front and flat grinding teeth in the back. So our ancestors probably grew up with a variety of stuff in their diet, as hunter-gatherers. They would have had grains only when grasses were going to seed; the rest of the year they wouldn't have had a lot of carbs except during berry season.

My favorite diets for just general health are mediterranean (http://www.mayoclinic.org/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801) or the "Sugar Busters" diet (brown bread, brown rice, orange potatoes, whole wheat pasta, lean animal protein or soy...low "glycemic index"). These are "diets" that one can stay on for life. My problem with "dieting" is that it works to knock off a few pounds, but going back to the regular way of eating results in gaining the weight back plus a few pounds.

So lifestyle management, avoiding "emergency/fad" diets, getting exercise, limiting excesses of all kinds (except masturbating, which is good for you in excess), and NO SMOKING are my main starting points with patients.

don't think I haven't thought of it! If I was single and 15 years younger I would have done it already

Since I stole the idea for my show from him, I love the guy. I used to listen to him every day and I liked the fact that he stuck to evidence-based medicine and mixed in a little humor. My only innovation was doing it on an XL channel so I don't have to screen topics like he does.

My hat is off to Dr Edell, the progenitor of Weird Medicine!

PS: what is the dogetipbot thing?

probably cartilage getting entrapped in a rough part of the knee joint. as long as it goes away in 10 seconds I wouldn't have surgery or even do an MRI. If it starts happening at other times and the pain starts persisting and it's affecting your life, then see an orthopedist.

Not many, unfortunately. Hell, I don't even do what my doctor says. Well, I take Lipitor so fuck, I can eat anything right? :-)

I had a patient once who did exactly everything I told her to do regarding her diabetes and she was off all her medication and had normal blood work within a year. That wouldn't work for everyone, but it was memorable because following my advice to the letter was so unusual.

a BIT more tame? ha ha that was our syndicated half-hour show that we did back in 2007 to prepare us for doing the SXM show. I didn't know it ran in Johnson City. We did 50 episodes and they ran them for years without our permission. I'm still pissed about it and don't want to talk about it ha ha

see above. the grossest thing I've seen on VIDEO is the liver parasite videos. here's one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYTCyti-9GE this one is 100 times worse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23uJnD70LNQ

ha ha I said it was the grossest thing I'VE seen and I can eat lunch talking about buckets of pus.

HUMPY!

well, that was how I saw it at the time. Then I thought it was all real, which made me think it must be the greatest-years-long bit ever. Now I think it's real again.

Not answering is a kind of an answer. What I can say is I won't ever talk about anything I talk to anyone about any time unless they've discussed our conversation on the air.

recently I was on ron and fez and talked about an "infinite moment" that I experienced in the hospital. During that moment, which lasted forever (kind of...it was weird), my consciousness no longer existed. I was everywhere and no where all at the same time. More nowhere, really, now that I think about it. Anyway, when I snapped out of it, I thought to myself that if my life had ended right there it wouldn't have been so bad.

I'm now ok either way; if there's some way that consciousness can be transferred to another dimension without any measurable energy transfer and I get to be "me" in the "afterlife" I'm cool with it. If not, and this is it, I'm cool with it, too. Would I PREFER to know everything and be one with the universe after I die? Fuck yes, but I'm ok if there's nothing because this was a really cool ride.

similar, except I was "awake" during this episode.

by definition, if someone "returns from the dead" they were not dead in the first place.

a supplement for a deficiency is a whole different animal from someone intentionally overdosing himself with testosterone.

95% of people with low testosterone are never diagnosed. If you have low libido, physical weakness, fatigue and you're 30+, get your testosterone checked.

I guess. Http://www.reddit.com/r/drsteve what do I do with it?

unusual...this is most likely an epididymal cyst or an "appendix testis". I agree with you getting it checked and please let me know what they find. They may want do do an ultrasound; just pray the tech isn't hot. Squirting hot jelly on your nuts and rubbing them with a smooth probe can be distracting at best.

get a little flashlight and shine it behind the giant nut. if it lights up "like ET's finger" it's probably a fluid filled cyst like a hydrocele.

The ultrasound will tell the tale. Email me when you find out something.

thanks man!

steve:

you can always restart it again if needed. we like to give a "Drug Holiday" from time to time because you'll never know if you don't need it any more unless you wean off it. good luck!

exercise, and not losing it TOO fast (like liquid diets, etc.).

Having said that, some people just make meat aprons and some don't. if you do, plastic surgery can totally fix it.

I agree, that was a faith-based answer on my part (not supported by evidence). But it does make sense. If you just want to look good in a tux, having some loose flab won't be a problem.

Recipe for green shit:

1) any blue artificial food dye 2) yellow bile from the gallbladder/liver

---> emerald green shit

also, yes, veggies can sometimes do it, but in my experience, truly green turds are caused by blue food dye (like in kids' yogurts and stuff)

yes, bile is yellow normally

it seems to be. shit, it keeps rats from getting renal failure! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24406684

it won't HURT anything, so enjoy. My kids drink it and they love it.

I was doing family medicine full time at the time, but I answered this somewhere below. If you can't find it, let me know.

here it is: Several of them used to be on AOL Instant Messenger in the early days of XM. I ran into Jim Norton and he said "so, you're really a doctor?" He had a question (he discussed this on the air so I can talk about it) and he liked my answer so the next day he said "Yeah, last night I was talking to a doctor in Tennessee about this thing and..." and Anthony jumped in and said "Well, of COURSE, all the BEST doctors are in Tennessee". I laughed out loud and immediately sent him my resume' which includes 72 articles published in the medical literature and a few professorships and journal editor jobs. I was behind the scenes for years and the first time I was ever on the air was when someone called Fez and told him he was taking the wrong heart medication. I couldn't stand it so I called in. That's kind of the origin.

word of mouth is pretty powerful. not perfect, but can raise red flags. also, there are ratings online. often they are full of biased bullshit ("he wouldn't write me lortab so I'm going to trash him online") but if there's no negative stuff it MAY be an indication his/her patients are satisfied.

just remember, you have the right to switch docs any time. if you get into one and you don't like them, vote with your feet.

yes, which is why we have a disclaimer all over the place and always tell people to see their doctor.

glad I could help, pal. hope you are well!

Nashville, or thereabouts. At least that's what I tell people.

I gave the "FLIUD" flashlights to our troops in Afghanistan to use. The ones I sent R&F and O&A were correct.

The theme song was written by Sherwin Sleeves. In June of 2007 I emailed him and told him I loved his work on R&F and would he be interested in doing a theme song for our new show. Two weeks later I got a file in my inbox with the song. PA John and I shit our pants, realizing that NOW we had to do a show worthy of that theme song. If you want to DL it, it's here:

http://www.doctorsteve.com/2007/12/11/weird-medicine-theme-music-2/

there's a second verse that few have heard

there may be some inflammation in there, causing some changes in the bowel that causes loose stools.

Since you've had a change in your bowel habits, this is an indication to get checked. They may do a flexible sigmoidoscopy (fiber optic scope that is short and only needs a little prep) or may want to do the full bore colonoscopy. Or they may just try this or that first to see how you respond.

Here's the story of my colonoscopy and it wasn't bad: http://www.doctorsteve.com/2008/01/17/reader-question-the-dreaded-colonoscopy/

let me know what they find! In the meantime, try a little citrucel to see if your bowel normalizes. but do get checked, ok?

LASERS

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14629067 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24371392

talk to a dermatologist, or cosmetic plastic surgeon that has a "MED SPA" and see how it goes.

let me know!

they use glycolic peels for this stuff, too.

this is the latest on it. Not much new information, I'm afraid.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23969033

The photodynamic therapy has about 1/3 doing well, and 2/3rds not, from my brief reading. Stay on the dermatologists; hopefully eventually something will arise that is effective because randomized controlled trials for this have not been done. In some ways it's because it is so rare that drug companies won't put up the money to find a treatment for something only a few people have. Stinks, but that's the market, unfortunately.

Keep in touch; if I hear something I'll let you know

hmmm...I talked about ecigs below, and I'm coming around on them. I am concerned about vegetable matter being inhaled into the lungs; we were made to inhale Oxygen, Nitrogen, CO2, and some rare gases and little else. I'm concerned about glycerine and natural extracts having long term effects that we don't anticipate (like inflammation and fibrosis and stuff). I would really like to see longterm data on this but of course as it is a new thing we have nothing on it. So I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying "I don't know". I hope not, as a lot of people are imbibing these days. There's a vapor outlet two blocks from my house and I've been tempted but so far have stayed away. good luck!

your pal,

steve

I'm sure I have!

...I have no idea what you're asking me.

the body will try to break it down, but sometimes if it can't it'll just wall it off so it can't do any harm.

they have nowhere to go and if you can't hack them up, they just stay there, hopefully not occluding a major airway:

http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/thoracicsurgeryvolii/chapter7figure140.jpg

I answered that down a little bit...I'll repost it here because I don't know how to redirect an answer to a previous one?

recently I was on ron and fez and talked about an "infinite moment" that I experienced in the hospital. During that moment, which lasted forever (kind of...it was weird), my consciousness no longer existed. I was everywhere and no where all at the same time. More nowhere, really, now that I think about it. Anyway, when I snapped out of it, I thought to myself that if my life had ended right there it wouldn't have been so bad. I'm now ok either way; if there's some way that consciousness can be transferred to another dimension without any measurable energy transfer and I get to be "me" in the "afterlife" I'm cool with it. If not, and this is it, I'm cool with it, too. Would I PREFER to know everything and be one with the universe after I die? Fuck yes, but I'm ok if there's nothing because this was a really cool ride.

As far as what I've learned from watching people die...that each death is unique and that there is a line between life and death that's definite but undefinable (the person is "there" one second, then they're not). As far as any secrets of death, I have discovered none, other than it comes for all of us eventually but that's not really a secret, is it? :-)

anytime!

wait, I thought the subreddit was Http://www.reddit.com/r/drsteve ?

what post body? wtf? I am so new to reddit I don't have a fucking clue. also, am I not supposed to answer everyone?

got it. I think I did post it there. ha, wtf I sound like a clueless tech-rube but I swear I'm pretty computer savvy. I am just very new to this reddit and it looks like some kind of retro-BBS system or something

fluid.

I went into a long discussion about friendship and stuff and then deleted it all. Off the air Op and I are very good friends and I laugh my ASS off every time he hangs up on me. It got so bad that if they were quiet and actually listening to something I was saying, I'd get paranoid and say "did you guys hang up on me?" Then of course they'd reassure me and Op would make sure he actually DID hang up on me before the call was over. Listening to Ant say "oh no! poor doctor steve!" and Op cackling just makes me happy.

done properly, it can be very effective. The original Atkins diet was heavy in green leafy vegetables with a smattering of lean animal protein thrown in. How it became the "steak and bacon only" diet is beyond me. No one can tell me that a grilled chicken garden salad with vinaigrette is unhealthy (unless they're a vegetarian and then substitute tofu for chicken) and that's the kind of meal the true Atkins diet was meant to encourage.

Burning up the liver's supply of carbs forces the body to burn fat...period. And there is data out there that this can be good for people with Diabetes. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24390522

This stuff should always be done with the input of a nutritionist, in my opinion. But if you can't find one near you (and that's unlikely), just watch out for any diet that forces you to eat the same foods over and over again. our systems seem to have been built for variety.

Joe and I have discussed this a few times. Big problem is he likes to do them live and in person and I'm never in LA. But I've pledged to break my pot fast with Joe if it comes up. Stay tuned!

have him read this: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/MyHeartandStrokeNews/Alcohol-and-Heart-Disease_UCM_305173_Article.jsp

well, when I was younger, the best way to get over old cooze was...NEW cooze! I remember crying over a girl (literally) after she left to go back to Argentina...I thought my life was over and then two days later I met this big tit girl who was interested in me and I was amazed at how quickly the pain went away (as in: INSTANTLY).

Now, that is a bit of a flip answer. If you find that you are truly depressed, finding a behavioral psychologist in your town will really help. They can assess you and see if medication might be helpful too. Alternately, you can see your primary care provider who can supply you with an antidepressant if they feel it is necessary. The downside to many antidepressants is sexual dysfunction, though, so I do prefer "talk therapy" over medication for this if possible. Let me know how it goes!

I do, actually. Vaccines have been one of the most successful lifestyle-improving advance in modern medicine. You're too young to remember, but my school had a bunch of people who had suffered from the ravages of polio in it. Ever seen a case of diphtheria? I have, and it was in someone who refused immunization. Giving the immune system a heads-up on an incoming antigen is the best strategy we have with the knowledge we have now. Ever seen a rabid dog? I have, when I was a kid before we forced people to vaccinate their animals. I've never seen a case of death from rabies (it does happen, mostly in people who don't know they've been exposed to the virus (usually bats)) but when I was a kid, before the rabies vaccine was common, it happened all the time.

Are there downsides? Sure. When a kid dies from a vaccine it is fucking tragic. Likewise when a kid dies from crossing the street, or in a car wreck, or any other time. It's horrible and if my kid died after getting a vaccine I would feel the same way those parents do. I get it. Having said that, the risk of getting a bad disease without vaccination is orders of magnitude greater than getting a serious reaction from a vaccine. There's nothing easy about life, as much as we'd like to think that's not the case.

for more reading: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/index.html

If I did, I couldn't talk about it on reddit, or anywhere else, doncha know. :-)

but you might find this interesting: http://www.hngn.com/articles/22177/20140116/comedians-personalities-similar-those-mental-health-conditions.htm

It is common knowledge that I am completely in love with Bonnie McFarlane and if I have to be nice to her husband to get closer to her, so be it. :-)

I guess my mom's stomach cancer. She basically died for two years and no one knew how to make her comfortable. In the end she was puking up shit and begging to die and I promised myself if I could do anything about it, no one else's mom would go through that. I developed an interest in end-of-life care and now I'm doing it full-time. So the most depressing thing in my career ended up molding my career. Life does that shit sometimes.

ha ha jackass! :)

Provigil may be the greatest drug ever brought to market, if your definition of "greatest drug" is one that does what it says it's going to do with few adverse effects. It's indicated for shift-work disorder and narcolepsy and there really are few drugs better at treating these disorders than Provigil. I'd love to be able to use it in my cancer patients with idiopathic fatigue, but it's so expensive that the insurance companies won't approve it off-label.

this is the only one I care about. A systematic review, done properly, in the medical literature:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23634659

read it and weep, female ejaculation skeptics!

Ok, I'll concentrate on the medicinal things that addictionologists use when detoxing and maintaining someone from an opiate addition.

First thing, though, MEETINGS. I'm a big fan of NA and I do think that bouncing shit off people who are going or who have gone through what you're experiencing is very powerful. Whether you believe in the 12 step process, NA is still a great weapon in your battle.

In no particular order: 1) Suboxone a) this was supposed to be a medication that "regular" doctors could prescribe so that patients could get their opiate addiction treated without having to enroll in a federally licensed methadone clinic. It didn't really work out that way, as it mostly led to the opening of "Suboxone Clinics". But either way, buprenorphine is the drug of choice for most practitioners to detox and maintain an opiate addiction. You take your first dose at the beginning of withdrawal (any sooner and it may actually potentiate withdrawal!) and take it through the program. I recommend weaning and eventual discontinuation as a goal toward complete sobriety. Suboxone is good for people who have chronic pain.

2) Methadone a) see above, but must be administered in a federally licensed clinic. Methadone has a very long half-life and is also good for chronic pain. It has the downside of increasing the risk of a potentially dangerous cardiac arrhythmia (torsades de pointes) so people on methadone need to get an EKG every few months. Again, I like the detox strategy, with weaning and eventual discontinuation but that's just me.

3) Clonidine a) not to be confused with KlonoPIN, clonidine is an "alpha blocker" that is used for high blood pressure sometimes. Weirdly, it helps to block the addiction and withdrawal response and is often used in people who are having trouble weaning or with withdrawal symptoms.

There are a ton of other things...check this article out:

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/treatment-approaches-drug-addiction

No one strategy is going to work for every single person; working with a smart addiction specialist or savvy primary care provider will really help.

sorry if I never responded to this...I just saw it in my inbox.

1 Don't do this alone. Now that you've decided to do something, get help. An addictionologist will help you with the withdrawals, and Narcotics Anonymous will help you with support from other addicts.

2 Don't do this alone.

3 Let us know how you're doing, ok?

4 http://NA.ORG

usually, but these nuts decided to try honey and it worked:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21977900

or did it? They can't prove cause and effect, and this is anecdotal evidence which is awful evidence. Good luck with it bro, a good proctologist is the place to go, IMO.

how the fuck do I prove that it's me?

FLUID.

how's that?

ha, too complicated. someone asked me on twitter and I said it was me; honestly that's as much as I'm interested in doing.

do I really need to take a picture of myself? Have people been burned that often?

ha ha ok!

I never know, to be honest. I thought last year might be the last, but they seems to be having a lot of fun right now; I'm hoping we have at least 5 more years if not more. I really want to see how SXM treats them once Howard Stern retires. Could be interesting.

ugh, wtf, do people phish reddit AMAs?

not insulted, just trying to figure out how to prove something that's unprovable. I guess the twitter thing makes the most sense, although I'm not "verified" on there or anything!

ha ha no one would know it's me and not some dope...

who says he's real?

yes, I was just being an ass

you have to have confidence in your doctor, bro. If you don't, def get a second or third opinion.

decent article on perforated eardrum: http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/perforatedEardrum.cfm

thanks pal. I think your quality of life would be better long-term with an intact eardrum, done properly

nah, it's rare now because I haven't made any in awhile and I drank it all. :-) You can try my moonshine though if you ever come to TN

I actually did make moonshine...I made gallons and gallons of it until I found out it was illegal to make (somewhere I read that you could make 2 gal/household/year).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzDgiyoNf7A this was the first time I knew I was part of the group

I don't know how much he drinks; I know how much it is said he drinks. There are some negative aspects to over-indulging in alcohol:

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/MyHeartandStrokeNews/Alcohol-and-Heart-Disease_UCM_305173_Article.jsp

I would hope that everyone would minimize their risk by drinking in moderation, but if someone is made aware of risks, it's up to them what they do about it.

again, this may be true. I haven't seen data on it, though. What I hear are anecdotes about it, which are not good evidence. I have an open mind, though.

dunno. let me do some research on this and I'll get back to you.

unusual...this is most likely an epididymal cyst or an "appendix testis". I agree with you getting it checked and please let me know what they find. They may want do do an ultrasound; just pray the tech isn't hot. Squirting hot jelly on your nuts and rubbing them with a smooth probe can be distracting at best.

Since I stole the idea for my show from him, I love the guy. I used to listen to him every day and I liked the fact that he stuck to evidence-based medicine and mixed in a little humor. My only innovation was doing it on an XL channel so I don't have to screen topics like he does.

My hat is off to Dr Edell, the progenitor of Weird Medicine!

PS: what is the dogetipbot thing?

genius

yes, I was just being an ass

but you might find this interesting: http://www.hngn.com/articles/22177/20140116/comedians-personalities-similar-those-mental-health-conditions.htm