Doctor's Advice: A painful drug experience

Q: Doctor, I had some pain in my chest last week, and that was very scary. I went to a doctor and was examined.

I asked him what he thought was wrong, and he said that it might be due to cocaine.

That really astonished me. To be honest, doctor, I do use cocaine occasionally, and I had sniffed some on the day I had the chest pain.

So do you think that doctor was right?

A: Well, many people have the idea that cocaine isn't harmful to their health. They are wrong.

In particular, cocaine can do two things:

It can give you a heart attack

It can cause a spasm, or narrowing, of the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart; the result of this is pain in the chest.

Among the effect of cocaine is impotence (erectile dysfunction). I have now seen several younger men who lost their nature because of cocaine use.

As it relates to your case, I think it is highly probable that the doctor was right, and that cocaine was the cause your chest pain. What I am not clear about is whether you have had an ECG, or electrocardiograph, which is the electrical test on the heart.

If not, then you need to take that test immediately in order to establish whether you have had a heart attack or not.

Finally, whatever you do, please do not have any more cocaine. This episode of pain has been a warning. Your cocaine-taking days should now be over.

Q: I am a 25-year-old woman and I have fallen in love with a man who is twice my age. We are considering getting married.

But what I want to know, doctor, is how long can we expect to have a sex life? Will he lose his nature soon?

A: There is no reason to think that this man will lose his virility. Statistically, he should be able to have sex for the next 20 or 25 years, provided he remains fit and healthy.

And even if he does lose some of his erectile function when he is 75 or so, thanks to drugs like Viagra, he will be able to continue his sex life with you.

Q:Doctor, I'm a happily married 27-year-old man, but I must confess to you that I do have a regular girlfriend in Westmoreland.

My life has been pretty good until recently when my wife had to go to a doctor. He told her that she was suffering from chlamydia.

A week later, I received a text from my girlfriend, announcing that she too had some sort of vaginal chlamydia. She seemed mad with me about this.

Now, I feel perfectly well and healthy. But do you think that I, too, have chlamydia?

A: I think it is very likely that your wife's chlamydial infection and your girlfriend's, have one 'common factor' - you.

Chlamydia is extremely common these days. It is caught from having sex with an infected person. Very often, people don't realise they have it because it generally produces no symptom in the early stages.

I cannot say for certain what has happened here. But it is very possible that at some time in the past, one of these two women caught chlamydia. She probably then gave it to you during intercourse, and you passed it on to the other one.

There is no point in trying to work out 'who got it first' because no one will ever be able to find that out.

The important thing for you to grasp is that you almost certainly have chlamydia now. Do not be fooled by the fact that at the moment you feel well and healthy. In years to come, that chlamydia germ could do serious damage to your sexual and urinary organs.

What you should do now is to see a doctor who will test you for chlamydia, and then give you the right treatment.

Please do not have sex with anyone until you are cured. Incidentally, I hope that the two women have been adequately treated, so that the germ has been eradicated. That is very important.

Q: I recently had my 40th birthday, and I know that menopause cannot be too far away. So, I have been assuming that I am no longer fertile.

Well, doctor, this month I did something that was not the wisest. I had unprotected sex with two men on successive nights. I know that was a dumb thing to do.

Guess what? My monthly period has not arrived. So is there any possibility I might be pregnant?

A: Yes, there has is a strong possibility of this. Maybe you didn't realise that many women at the age of 40 are still fertile, especially if their periods are still regular.

However, it may be that your menses haven't arrived because of some slight hormone problem. Nevertheless, you must get a pregnancy test done immediately.

Q: I recently started using condoms for the first time. But I find that a few hours after using one, my organ becomes sore, swollen and itchy. These symptoms take around three days to go away.

What is going on, doctor?

A: You clearly have an allergy to latex, or perhaps to some other ingredient in the condoms. There is also a possibility that you are allergic to the lubricant which is found on many brands of contraceptive sheath.

Many men have that type of allergy, and for that reason there are brands of 'lo-allergy' sheath available. If you just do a search via Google for 'non-latex condoms', you will find that it is quite easy to buy such brands by mail order.

Some of them are made from polyurethane, and some are made from a material which derives from lambs. You should be able to use either of these without any problem.

Q: In the last few years, my period has been going on for seven days. Sometimes they are quite heavy. That is making me feel very tired.

Is there anything I can do about this, doctor?

A: Certainly. You are probably feeling tired because of the excessive blood loss in the periods has made you anaemic.

You need treatment which will shorten your menses to a more reasonable length, like maybe four days. So please, go and see a good doctor who can advise you as to what is best for you. The main possibilities are:

Taking a hormone tablet each month;

Going on the Pill;

Using Mirena, the hormone-loaded coil;

Going on tablets which reduce blood flow, such as etamsylate, or mefenamic acid or tranexamic acid;

Taking an operation.

When I say 'taking an operation', I do not mean that you would have to undergo a hysterectomy, or 'womb removal'. These days, there are other types of surgery.

Finally, if you are anaemic, which is what I forecast, you will need to go on iron medication for a while to get your blood back to full strength.

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