DEAR DR. GOTT: First, I want to thank you for educating readers about health issues. My mother always read your articles and passes on your advice. I, too, became an avid reader of your column. In fact, you saved the 26-year-old daughter of a friend of mine from having a colostomy bag which was the solution given by her doctor for constant diarrhea. I sent her the article where you suggested an antidepressant for resolving the issue. Why didn’t her doctor know about this? You educate both us laymen and doctors.

Second, I want to comment on an article about a 71-year-old female’s gallbladder problem. I, too, suffer from all the symptoms she listed and have for the past 10 months. My doctor sent me to a surgeon who told me I was asymptomatic (no pain, only the discomfort of digesting food) and therefore, had less than a 10% chance of feeling any better after the gallbladder was removed. [Read more...]