Showing 21 - 30 of 58 results

How can I cope with recovery after cancer treatments?

A loved one of mine had a double mastectomy due to a rapid growing breast cancer, chemotherapy, and radiation. She is in her early 30s. She is a year out from treatment/surgery and suffers daily with aches and pains. She also has lymphedema in her right arm, which doesn't help with her discomfort. She feels pain in her joints, sometimes her back, she gets headaches, she is often fatigued, and she feels sick a lot. She's forgotten what it feels like to have her body feel good. Is this normal? She definitely has depression due to this and often thinks she will get cancer back somewhere else. It's been two years since her diagnosis and she has not felt a day of no pain and or sickness. I want to give her some good feedback, some light at the end of the tunnel so to speak (without using that phrase) to help her get through it. The doctors aren't too helpful. Mostly they want her to take more pills, which are becoming the size of a meal. She refuses to take the pills that are anti hormonal. I don't blame her; she can't handle the menopausal symptoms they give her on top of everything else. She is active and often just pretends to feel ok for others sake. She also eats well with a low salt diet to help the fluid in her arm. Should there, or will there be relief after undergoing so much stress on ones body?

Topics:

Mental and Emotional Health General Health

How can I find help for my substance use?

I have a huge dilemma. I have an addiction to a certain drug that has turned my life upside down. That drug is crack cocaine. The worst part about it is that nobody knows this but me. Nobody knows that right now, my life is on the brink. How do you express this problem to people who don't even have a clue as to what you are dealing with? How do you reach out to the people who you love and trust when you are so ashamed of the truth? One thing that I do know is that I'd better do something fast because if I don't, I will lose my fight with life. HELP!!

Topics:

Substance Use and Recovery

Is there hope for me after meth abuse?

I have been trying to find information about the hope for recovery for previous meth users, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus. Some sources say that meth causes permanent damage to the brain, while others are a little more hopeful and say some important brain functions might recover.

I used meth about fifteen times, which I gather isn't a lot in comparison to other meth users but is still a considerable amount. For a while I have felt paranoid and anxious and it has been more difficult to perform daily tasks and just generally think straight. Also, things I used to enjoy are not really that enjoyable anymore.

My question is, will I be able to have my brain back? If so, how much of it? Will I ever go back to being my old self?

Topics:

Substance Use and Recovery Mental and Emotional Health

Do I have a milk allergy or am I lactose intolerant?

This may sound like a dumb question... But I really am unsure. What is the difference between a milk allergy and lactose intolerance? Or are they one in the same? I was in an accident when I was 14. I had emergency surgery on my liver and spleen. After about the age of 20, I have developed severe mad dashes to the restroom after eating anything dairy.

But I have a lot of sinus allergies... that seem to flare up after eating milk products. Although generally milk products do cause thickening of the mucus... I was wondering if severe congestion also goes with it? I no longer eat milk products, of course. But I recently read about a child with a milk allergy who could not breathe through his nose afterward... accompanied by severe coughing. I am now 40 and learned my lesson well... But still curious and always looking for additional info and answers!!

Topics:

General Health Nutrition and Physical Activity

Why did I test positive for cocaine when I've never touched the stuff?

My dad requires me to take weekly drug tests since he found out that I was smoking marijuana. My first test came back positive for marijuana and cocaine. I was not surprised about the marijuana because I had only been clean for five weeks, but I have never done cocaine. Is there anything that could have triggered a positive result? Could opium or mushrooms or any other drug possibly trigger this positive result?

Topics:

Substance Use and Recovery

Is my loved one doing cocaine?

1) I found a white powder in my friend's car and I think it might be cocaine. I'm not sure if it is or not. I don't know if I should confront him with it or what I should do. I don't want to see my friend get hurt, but if I'm wrong, I don't want to falsely accuse him of something like this. How should I go about handling the situation?

2) I am a first-year business student and have a little sister who is a junior. I think she is doing cocaine because I found some "paraphernalia" in her room last week. What can I do without damaging my relationship with her?

Topics:

Substance Use and Recovery
Showing 21 - 30 of 58 results

Can't find your question?

  1. Search through Go Ask Alice! to see if your question has already been answered. 
  2. If your health and well-being question isn’t already on the site, submit it via the form below.