lorazepamproblems

Your foundation promotes male genital cutting with the intent it prevents the heterosexual acquisition of HIV. There have been many criticisms of the research this intervention is based on, including that the trials counseled men in the the intervention arm to abstain from sexual activity and the use of condoms, which was not the case in the control group. Additionally while the practice was supposed to be voluntary, in reality, it has not been in many instances, including with minors where not even parental consent was obtained. In Zambia, the intervention seems to have the consequence many feared and predicted: that men who had this procedure would have a false sense of security and refuse to use condoms increasing the HIV rate in both men and women. How can any health organization continue to defend this practice when it was based on bad science, has been used unethically, and the results are showing the opposite of the intended effect? Can you speak to the effect that you have had on this policy in the CDC and WHO? I believe there are probably many who do not know that the CDC is not entirely publicly funded and that your organization helps fund it. I believe we are wasting billions in Medicaid funds on male genital cutting in the US propped up by terrible science, and it is at best medical fraud.

Did you find many cases of people with misdiagnosed non-psychiatric illnesses forced into treatment?

There was one in the Washington Post a while back about a woman normal pressure hydrocephalus whose family paid hundreds of thousands for her inpatient treatment for years:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/12/medical-mystery-mental-facility-ct-scan/

I feel like there are a lot more syndromes that aren't well understood and immediately dismissed as a known psychiatric disorder. In her case, this one was easily distinguishable (well easily, but not quickly), but I feel like the thinking stops as soon as a psychiatric disorder is decided upon. The word anxiety for example is horrible—it's what Marvin Minsky called a suitcase term, in that it can encompass anything. My horrible history with psychiatry is too long for a post. But as a short example, I had a psychiatrist who told me there was no such thing as an upper limit on lorazepam if my pulse hadn't come down, which he presumed was from anxiety. And it never did come down. I had a delayed diagnosis of 10 years for POTS which is treated with a very simple, non-addictive beta blocker (heart medicine) rather than with Ativan (a medication used in twilight anesthesia and that is more difficult and dangerous to withdraw from than opioids and leaves you with memory loss).

Also for dependents of people with a work history (adult child disability benefit—may not be the exact right name). If you're found disabled before age 22, you can receive 50% of the amount your parent/guardian receives based on their work history once they retire or if they are disabled and receiving SSDI and 75% when they have died. I should clarify that 50% is not taking away from theirs; it's just the amount you receive.

What does it mean if an EBV panel all four test results have very high results every single time you test? I also have high HHV-6 IgM/IgM and high CMV also all lights up positive. Been sickly since I was 14 when had air hunger causing vocal tics and was unfortunately immediately put on a very high dosage of Ativan to take indefinitely. But I was very sickly even before the Ativan. I went from running a 7 minute mile and 4 hour tennis matches to not being able to function much. Now I'm 40 and nearly bedbound with low stamina and POTS. Even though this happened very suddenly in high school I think the way in which it lingered and the anxiety diagnosis has made it so no one has ever seen what I've said all along was the real issue. I even said at the time that Ativan was like my breathing medicine. The only thing it did was make me care less that I wasn't able to breathe well. I never had a pediatrician/PCP etc. There was a lot of neglect. I went straight to a psychiatrist and the evaluation was very perfunctory and the response very authoritarian (was mocked for being afraid of taking Ativan—but my fears ended up being well founded—now told too medically unstable to taper). My PCP doesn't know what to make of my EBV results. He just repeats the tests every once in a while to see if they're still positive, and they always are. An EBV DNA test was done several times and is usually negative but was once at the very low end of reportable. Since the emergence of Long Covid and seeing people's stories on Twitter, I've noted what they are going through matches exactly what happened to me in high school 26 years ago, except that I was not on the Internet and very quickly funneled to psychiatry and benzos. But their description matches what happened to me--including the cognitive. In middle school I had read all of the high school curricula, and by 14 when this started I had to start reading out loud to myself to focus. I never thought it could be ADHD because I was older than normal when it started, but it was like that.

My doctor is always swamped and so I don't really get the attention I need. He once tried making a referral to infectious disease when he still had a nurse who could do the leg work, and I was told they rejected seeing me but was never told why. Whatever I do now I need to do of my own accord because I can't even been able get my glucose test strip prescriptions sent in for over a year--the office is just under water and he's near retirement age flying solo.

I've never even been told if my EBV results are significant. The testing was first done by another psychiatrist (I no longer see) who tested her entire panel and was selling supplements and I just happened to actually test positive. But the tests have been done many times since then from reputable labs. The reason I wonder if they're significant and at all explain my symptoms is that I know most people would have positive IgG, and I know there are certain disease where the IgM values are meaningless (like in HSV-2). I've asked my doctor if that's the case with this, and he said he doesn't know. It does fit with how sickly I am. I often have a temp. Often have a sore throat. Often flu like. And again the stamina issue along with POTS (I take a beta blocker).f

Edit: My ANA is also positive, but I can't remember which ones. But I know ANA can be positive in healthy people (but I am not healthy).

I'm familiar with the biomarkers you mentioned (glucose, dopamine, vitamin D, cholesterol, fats, hormones), but I had never heard of them referred to as metabolites before. My understanding is that a metabolite is a breakdown of a drug or other chemical in the body. Where does this broader usage of the term come from?

Second question: Are you collecting info on people's 500 metabolites in order to discover associations with diseases you can help diagnose (meaning test for markers and do long-term follow up) or do you already know what the associations are?

Last potpourri question: What is a very interesting metabolite most people including my PCP have probably never heard about that you think is important to test for?

Edit: I didn't read well enough--you already answered my second.

So I'll ask another: Why do you think fasting insulin isn't used more as as marker for pre-diabetes and diabetes? I've read very interesting research showing high fasting insulin is a great marker for diabetes even when FBG is normal. My doctor was very reluctant to test but surprised at the results. Do you look at this?