Small town docs can be pretty savvy, too

November 28, 2011 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I was recently diagnosed (in April) with leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Lab reports indicated it was most likely caused by systemic medication. I have discontinued Aggrenox which I believe caused the condition. Contacting the pharmaceutical company (Boehringer Ingelheim), I learned that other people taking this medication are reporting a vasculitis diagnosis.

As soon as I discontinued the Aggrenox, the blisters on my body started to heal and I didn’t get any new blisters; however, I am still getting periodic outbreaks. These new outbreaks look more like heat rash and don’t develop into blisters. I use Allegra and Zyrtec to control these less serious, periodic outbreaks. I am very concerned but my primary care physician and dermatologist aren’t. I also moved from a large city to a small town and am worried that I am not receiving the care that I need for this condition because of it.
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Behcet’s uncommon and troublesome

March 28, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My sister is a 50-year-old widow with four children who has been diagnosed with Behcet’s disease. Her symptoms began last spring with some arthritis. She then developed horrible sores on her body and a terrible one in her throat. Then her eyes became involved. She has had to quit work and is in almost constant pain. Some nights she has to go to the hospital because she cannot stand the pain.

She has seen a number of specialists, but this is tiring for her and usually involves travel. We live in a small Canadian province without much diversity, so it was only by chance that the ophthalmologist she saw recognized the symptoms because he was from another country.
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Unusual Stroke Due To Vasculitis

March 5, 2009 By

DEAR DR. GOTT:
This is a long story starting in 2001, but I will only tell the last part.

My niece supposedly had a stroke. She then had X-rays that showed she had a small spot of bleeding in her brain. She went to several doctors because she had all kinds of things happening to her like headaches that nothing helped that disappeared, only to be replaced by seizures. She was having trouble walking and her memory was getting worse. Her legs would give out and she would fall. One arm became limp and a host of other things.

All this lasted for two years and was accompanied by numerous hospitalizations. Finally her doctor told her that both carotid arteries were plugged. He said it was caused by plaque. She kept getting worse so her husband changed her doctor and switched hospitals. [Read more...]

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