In deference to Beenben - ask hobbes a medical question

[Jakesta]

[ QUOTE ]
Any pain?
Does it matter what you eat? IE - more likely to throw up fatty or greasy foods?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I am much more likely to throw up fatty and greasy foods. Definitely. I never throw up stuff like plain pasta, cereal, etc. What does this mean?

No no real pain. Sometimes I help it along with a finger when I know it's coming and I don't feel like dry heaving 3 or 4 times beforehand. That part does hurt- teh dry heaving.

[hobbes9324]

couple more questions - sorry -
overweight?
smoker?
caffine?
any pain in upper right abdomen?

[hobbes9324]

1) I'm an old guy - we don't have fun.
Actually, travel, hike, bet on sports.
2) See #1 - wouldn't know about clubs....although a lot of our nurses like the Eldorado
3)Nope - at the main trauma center towards the Hilton

[hobbes9324]

<-----ER MD

Not my area of expertise - but I would bet a quick google search would give you an accurate answer.

[Jakesta]

[ QUOTE ]
couple more questions - sorry -
overweight?
smoker?
caffine?
any pain in upper right abdomen?

[/ QUOTE ]

No big deal. I appreciate it.

Not overweight- 6'1" 180
Not a smoker
Almost no caffeine

I do have high cholesterol though, about 190. It's genetic

[hobbes9324]

All right - if nothing else, this will give you an idea of how us medical types think. Understand that I'm working from a grossly inadaquate history, and with no exam.....

In a young healthy male, chronic intermittant vomiting is most likely one of two things.

1) Some sort of gastric outlet obstruction- - meaning that the food cant go south, so it goes back north. If you were a smoker, or an old guy, I'd think about a gastric or proximal small bowel tumor. In a younger guy, an outlet ulcer is more likely - but still uncommon. In a big drinker, gastritis would be a possibility, but you said not.

2) Anytime greasy foods or fatty foods cause problems, gallbladder disease is high on the differential. If you came into the ED with this, the first test I'd get would be an ultrasound of your gallbladder.

3) There are probably at least a thousand other possibilities, but if I saw 100 patients (male) with your symptoms, I'd bet at least half would be one of the above two causes......

[bjb23]

24 year old caucasian male walks into the ER complaining of sustained period of critical hypertension upwards of 215/120. patient has a history of hypertension; he had been prescribed 10mg of Monopril per day but went off the medication 2 years ago AMA due to lack of insurance. patient had corrective surgery on coarctation of the aorta 6 years prior to this incident.

what tests/procedures do you perform?

[Jakesta]

thanks doc.

i'm getting it checked out again on monday anyway but thanks for the advice.

And is gallbladder disease the same as gall stones? And should I stop eating junk? I don't eat it all the time just maybe twice a week- and I am young -22

[hobbes9324]

well....why did he walk in?
has he been checking his BP at home?
for how long?
any symptoms?

[Meromorphic]

Once when I was a teenager I found myself suddenly unable to produce certain words or speak fluently. I managed to convey my problem in a rather fractured way to a consulting nurse on the phone, who advised calling an ambulance. The paramedics asked me a few questions like what year it was, who the President was, and "Is Mickey a dog or a cat?" I answered all of them correctly, though I was a little dazed and almost missed the Mickey one. They seemed to accept that I was not under the influence of anything. One of them said, "I bet I know what it is," but refused to say any more. They suggested that I be transported to the emergency room in my parents' car. No doctor there was concerned, the problem cleared up on its own, and nobody ever told me what they thought happened. Would you care to speculate?