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justseveralowls · 4 years ago

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I’ve spent over 16 hours in two different ERs and I’d like to vent

CW: Doctors hospitals, chronic illness, incompetence, female hysteria, humiliation, mental health stigma,

What follows is my original post made on Thursday, there is a update as of today at the end and the news is not all bad. This is made to spread awareness talk about an issue I feel is way too often ignored and most importantly let other people feeling this they aren’t alone.

So. I have ehler danlos syndrome, celiac, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, and an (so far) otherwise specified seizure disorder. So basically I am a medical dumpster fire. Getting a or in my case several diagnosis has been a long terrifying and grueling for both me and my partner. We have enountered many doctors and nurses who were kind attentive willing to listen and knowledgeable about my Miriad of admiditally uncommon diagnosis. But today I am so incredibly hurt, frustrated, angry and scared and I want to put this out there because this is part of the many problems that chronically ill and disabled people face everytime they walk into a doctors office, emergency room or even out in public.

So I look sick, it’s obvious and it’s been obvious for a long time. I sit at around a six to seven on a pain scale most of my life, which sucks. I have chronic nausea and weight loss that makes me weak and thin in a sick way, which also sucks. But by far the hardest thing is hoe many people refuse to take my seriously. So today after three months on a waiting list I saw a gastroenterologist. I was scared, underweight, sick and tired. I wanted answers like always and let my partner drag me into a beige fluorescent room to try and make some sense. Overall the doctor was nice, but put heavy emphasis on my past of CPTSD from repeated abuse, and implied that my weight loss and severe gastrointestinal problems could be “just a side effect of my anxiety”. That was dehumanizing to say the least. Because I know I’m traumatized, I’ve sat in therapists offices and cried, I’ve pulled myself together, fought addiction and anorexia and I know that I’m healing. I know it’s his job to look between the lines but I also want to just have a chance to be understood, and not dismissed as a psych case.

Later today I had an episode of vomiting and loss of consciousness, over all not great stuff. So my partner in their amazing sense of love and compassion took me to th ER. Because that’s where you’re supposed to go when you’re scared, sick, hurt, in danger and don’t know what to do.

My experience there was by far the worst I’ve ever had. My vitals were highly abnormal (high pulse at rest, low BP, and low pulse ox). I was having neurological symptoms related to my seizure disorder and instead was given a barrage of tests that had nothing to do with why I was there, the condition I repeatedly told them I had, or the worrying vitals. So after two hours a head CT and useless blood work the ER doctor looked at me and my partner (who was forced to wait in the car in 94 degree weather) and told me I was fine and dehydrated.

I’m a nursing student, I’m new, I’m a novice at the most, and I have a lot to learn. But never could I imagine having a chronically patient, with abnormal labs and vitals with numerological involvement be given saline and discharged. My partner and I were terrified because we didn’t know what else to do. I needed help. I needed answers. I needed them to hear me. After me panicking my partner told me that we should try again. Because doctors are here to help us, and if your scared and there’s something wrong they took an oath to help.

So I called the nurse who was awesome, he went and got the doctor and I was ready to make my case. My partner at this point as well as me were terrified frustrated and close to tears. And this ER doctor after hearing our concerns, my history (with chronic illness and anorexia) proceeded to throw up her hand and as’ my partner “what they her to do”. This was shocking but sadly it doesn’t end here. The doctor proceeded to insist that I was fine and the situation was both non emergent and out of her hands. I responded in a passive way because at that point I was scared triggered and exausted. And I asked what she thought I should do”. And the words that came of her mouth hurt me and made more angry than any four syllables ever has.

“Psych referral”

Now let me something straight. I am a survivor, I am working in me healing, I am growing and changing for the better. I take my meds go to therapy and work everyday to get a little better. But this woman who obviously hadn’t read my chart which denotes not only my diagnosis, psychological history, and notEs from speacialists on the severity of my physical condition has just implied that I’m crazy. This was horrible but 8 could see how it would seem that I am overreacting but, due years of gaslighting, medication being forced on me to cover abuse and trauma, I hate being called that. It’s not a real term, nor does it help anyone, nor does it doing anything but make me remember the nights I spent wondering if that word was me.

In one visit, one person managed to dehumanize, humiliate dismiss me and maybe risk my life based on the fact that 8 wasn’t worth the time it took to read my chart.

It so incredibly weird to have to say this but I as a queer, gay, chronically ill, Latin person am in fact still a human being WHOS painand concerns deserve as much respect as anyone else. We all deserve to be helped and heard and people like this are one of the many reasons that I and so many others are scared to ge5 help, scared to tell the full story, or scared to speak up. This kills people. This is killing people. And this is why I in all my chronically glory and working so hard to advocate and move forward in medicine as a whole. Because nobody deserves that. Because I didn’t deserve to sit in an ER terrified and be told I was crazy. Because my partner doesn’t deserve to be dismissed and mocked for being scared. Because I nor anyone else have to prove I am sick enough or disabled enough to be worth someone’s time.

I hope anyone who reads this and understands even a little. Who’s been through it, whose family and partners have been through it know that this is not okay, that this not your fault, and that you are by no means crazy. That the people who make feel like burden or an annoyance are the problem. Because you deserve to be heard. I m hoping everybody’s doing okay, I’m hoping your journeys are treating you well. Because as always no matter who are, where you are and what you’re feeling you are not alone, you are worthy and I believe you.

***Update**

I later went to a larger hospital not in my home town, and through a long stay in the ER got a formal epilepsy diagnosis, given a anti convulsants drug, and overall treated like a human being. I now have contact with their epilepsy unit and have the tool and education I need to start this part of my chronic illness journey. I’m exhausted and getting used to knew meds but am highly grateful for the good doctors out there, the nurses who listen and the partner who was angelic enough to be with me through it all.

#mental health #mine #system speaks #personal #chronic illness #spoonie #recovery #coping #rant #vent #medical struggles #mental health support #ehlers danlos syndrome #actually epileptic

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fuzzywitchsoul · 4 years ago

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They Had Mild Covid. Then Their Serious Symptoms Kicked In.

Pam Belluck is a health and science writer whose honors include sharing a Pulitzer Prize and winning the Nellie Bly Award for Best Front Page Story. She is the author of Island Practice, a book about an unusual doctor. @PamBelluckMs. Khan said that she experienced “heart palpitations if I just got up to open the curtains.” Her cardiologist said she was the fifth previously healthy young person to walk into his office that week. In the beginning, her fatigue was so severe that walking two or three laps around her 600-square-foot apartment would exhaust her for the rest of the day. In addition, she said that she had “really intense mood fluctuations that don’t feel like they’re mine.”“Waking up every day in this body, sometimes hope feels a little dangerous,” said Ms. Khan, who will soon start the cognitive rehab program. “I have to wonder: Am I going to recover, or am I going to just figure out how to live with my new brain?”In his job, “my clients would tell me things like a passcode or an address and I couldn’t remember it,” he said.At Mr. Palacios’s first appointment with the Northwestern clinic, “I did the cognitive tests, and I failed them all,” he said. On a return visit, he did another battery of tests, he said, “and I didn’t do so hot on that, either.”Mr. Palacios was referred for cognitive rehab at a long-established program in Chicago that helps give patients strategies to manage and improve memory, organizational and cognitive difficulties. But he didn’t go, he said, because “I completely forgot.” He plans to go now.In the Northwestern study, 43 percent of the patients had depression before having Covid-19; 16 percent had previous autoimmune diseases, the same percentage of patients who had previous lung disease or had struggled with insomnia.Experts cautioned that because the study was relatively small, these pre-existing conditions might or might not be representative of all long-term patients. “We are all seeing very small pieces of the elephant in terms of the long Covid group,” Dr. Bell said. “Some of us are seeing tail; some of us are seeing trunk.”Along with neurological symptoms, 85 percent of the patients were experiencing fatigue, and nearly half had shortness of breath. Some also had chest pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, variable heart rate or blood pressure. Nearly half of the participants were experiencing depression or anxiety.“I was cleaning my gutters and I forgot where I was, I forgot what I was doing on the roof,” Mr. Palacios said. When he remembered, he added, the idea of doing “something as simple as climbing on a ladder all of a sudden became a mountain.”Dr. Allison P. Navis, a neuro-infectious disease specialist at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City who was not involved in the study, said that about 75 percent of her 200 post-Covid patients were experiencing issues like “depression, anxiety, irritability or some mood symptoms.”Participants in the study were overwhelmingly white, and 70 percent were women. Dr. Navis and others said that the lack of diversity quite likely reflected the demographics of people able to seek care relatively early in the pandemic rather than the full spectrum of people affected by post-Covid neurological symptoms.“Especially in New York City, the majority of patients who got sick with Covid are people of color and Medicaid patients, and that’s absolutely not the patients one sees at the post-Covid center,” Dr. Navis said. “The majority of patients are white, often they have private insurance, and I think we have to figure out a little bit more what’s going on there with those disparities — if it’s purely just a lack of access or are symptoms being dismissed in people of color or if it’s something else.”In the Northwestern study, Dr. Koralnik said that because coronavirus testing was difficult to obtain early in the pandemic, only half of the participants had tested positive for the coronavirus, but all had the initial physical symptoms of Covid-19. The study found very little difference between those who had tested positive and those who had not. Dr. Koralnik said that those who tested negative tended to contact the clinic about a month later in the course of the disease than those who tested positive, possibly because some had spent weeks being evaluated or trying to have their problems addressed by other doctors.Ms. Khan was among the participants who had a negative test for the virus, but she said she later tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, proof that she had been infected.Another study participant, Eddie Palacios, 50, a commercial real estate broker who lives in Naperville, a Chicago suburb, tested positive for the coronavirus in the fall, experiencing only a headache and loss of taste and smell. But “a month later, things changed,” he said.Across the country, doctors who are treating people with post-Covid neurological symptoms say the study’s findings echo what they have been seeing.“We need to take this seriously,” said Dr. Kathleen Bell, the chairwoman of the physical medicine and rehabilitation department at the University Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who was not involved in the new study. “We can either let people get worse and the situation gets more complicated, or we can really realize that we have a crisis.”Dr. Bell and Dr. Koralnik said many of the symptoms resembled those of people who had concussions or traumatic brain injuries or who had mental fogginess after chemotherapy.In the case of Covid, Dr. Bell said, experts believe that the symptoms are caused by “an inflammatory reaction to the virus” that can affect the brain as well as the rest of the body. And it makes sense that some people experience multiple neurological symptoms simultaneously or in clusters, Dr. Bell said, because “there’s only so much real estate in the brain, and there’s a lot of overlap” in regions responsible for different brain functions.“If you have inflammation disturbances,” she said, “you can very well have cognitive effects and things like emotional effects. It’s really hard to have one neurological problem without having multiple.”In the Northwestern study, many experienced symptoms that fluctuated or persisted for months. Most improved over time, but there was wide variation. “Some people after two months are 95 percent recovered, while some people after nine months are only 10 percent recovered,” said Dr. Koralnik. Five months after contracting the virus, patients estimated, they felt on average only 64 percent recovered.The study of 100 patients from 21 states, published on Tuesday in The Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, found that 85 percent of them experienced four or more neurological issues like brain fog, headaches, tingling, muscle pain and dizziness.“We are seeing people who are really highly, highly functional individuals, used to multitasking all the time and being on top of their game, but, all of a sudden, it’s really a struggle for them,” said Dr. Igor J. Koralnik, the chief of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine, who oversees the clinic and is the senior author of the study.The report, in which the average patient age was 43, underscores the emerging understanding that for many people, long Covid can be worse than their initial bouts with the infection, with a stubborn and complex array of symptoms.This month, a study that analyzed electronic medical records in California found that nearly a third of the people struggling with long Covid symptoms — like shortness of breath, cough and abdominal pain — did not have any signs of illness in the first 10 days after they tested positive for the coronavirus. Surveys by patient-led groups have also found that many Covid survivors with long-term symptoms were never hospitalized for the disease.A new study illuminates the complex array of neurological issues experienced by people months after their coronavirus infections.

In the fall, after Samar Khan came down with a mild case of Covid-19, she expected to recover and return to her previous energetic life in Chicago. After all, she was just 25, and healthy.

But weeks later, she said, “this weird constellation of symptoms began to set in.”

She had blurred vision encircled with strange halos. She had ringing in her ears, and everything began to smell like cigarettes or Lysol. One leg started to tingle, and her hands would tremble while putting on eyeliner.

She also developed “really intense brain fog,” she said. Trying to concentrate on a call for her job in financial services, she felt as if she had just come out of anesthesia. And during a debate about politics with her husband, Zayd Hayani, “I didn’t remember what I was trying to say or what my stance was,” she said.

By the end of the year, Ms. Khan was referred to a special clinic for Covid-related neurological symptoms at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, which has been evaluating and counseling hundreds of people from across the country who are experiencing similar problems.

Now, the clinic, which sees about 60 new patients a month, in-person and via telemedicine, has published the first study focused on long-term neurological symptoms in people who were never physically sick enough from Covid-19 to need hospitalization, including Ms. Khan.

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charmed-asylum · 5 years ago

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👨‍🍳# FOODIE👨‍🍳

#Foodie, Part 1

Summary: Something happening in Easter Hills. Something that effecting everyone under the surface. Could this just be a phase a trick that no one can shack off? Is this something that will pass with another or can we all be heading for destruction

Declaimer: #Foodie has some curse words, use and mention of drugs, and roadkill. Also, I do have dyslexia so be easy with me!!!

A/N:So who would think after doing a love story I go be switching it up to some sci-fi. Let me know what you think or want to be added to the taglist. Or simple to sit my butt down and stop with the dramatics xoxo Tia

Word Count: 6,336

MASTER LIST

Tagged: @linkispink1995 @weapinggwillowss @strangerfictions

I wish I could remember what it was. Could it be the color of the sky, how tall the grass starts to grow in Mr. Jackson ranch-style house across the street, or maybe it was the air? The way the breeze would flow dance across the sky. I wish I can tell you. Even now even after so many months that have passed, I don't remember. One thing I do know is it started Columbus Day weekend. It was it at once and maybe that why no one realizes it till it was too late. I wish I was stronger maybe I could have done something. Then again who am I kidding?

The seasons have changed but I could still remember the rush I felt when I pelted my way down my street cracked concerted road. I did not have much control in my life but bike rides were all mine. Tomorrow was finally gonna be the day I been waiting for months for. He was finally coming back to me. As I turn into the parking lot of Easter Hills High it was already a full parking lot. The next song started to play when I saw a familiar face across the parking lot surrounded by a group of posters and zombies. Have you ever thought about your soul - can it be saved?

Or perhaps you think that when you're dead you just stay in your grave. I was still playing when tossing over my beat-up backpack over a shoulder.

" What you barbie slut" voice that belongs to the center of the crowd's attention.

Janet was a type of girl that was born pretty and perfect. I always wonder how we became friends. She tells me it is because the sun always needs the moon and stars. I tell her I am nothing but a black hole. There was a time was little I thought maybe there was more to that but after a kiss under the stars, I was lost with the dyer fear of losing her. So we just became what we are now the infinite duo. Her red ginger hair dance with the cool Midwestern breeze as her Mona Lisa's lips playfully move with each word drew more and more people closer and closer.

" Space cadet stuck in orbit again huh" Janet said with her hand on her hip. I smiled with crimson color coming across my cheeks as I close the gap between us too.

"Sorry. Just nerves. Can we talk before homeroom J" I asked not paying anyone around us any attention. I already knew what the whispers were about the same thing it always is why. She crocks her pear shape face to the side and her hazel eyes stare into my brown ones. That was another thing we just got each other. She was the fun bi sexual goddesses I was just me the girl who happens to have gotten lucky.

Without a word, she licks her lips then places two fingers in her mouth to make a V and whistle for her things which a freshman was holding her. After a simple wink and kiss on the cheek to that freshman, she walks off with us being hand and hand to our spot.

I look around before sitting on the swing and watch as she pops a few of her mom Dextromethorphan like it was a mint. With a big smile, she jumps onto the swing and kick back her feet and smiled. I wish I was like her ability to be free able to kick back and not care but I never was given that ability given that chance. Her long hair moves with her back and forth as she sings Katy Perry off-key.

" Thank I, huh I been thinking. I think I'm ready to you know with KP" I blur out with my hands cling to the chains for my life. My eyes close shut till I was seeing rainbow loading wheels across my eyes sight. SLAP " What the hill billy hell. That hurt" I said opening my eyes wide and rub my thigh. Janet shook her head and look like me I had 101 heads attach to my head.

" Issac. Are you shitting me right now" Janet said now standing in front of me. Her hazel eyes twinkle with the sun.

I slowly roll my bottom lip thought my teeth a few times before I look up at her like a kid who had her hand in the cookie jar with chocolate all over my face. She got closer and stop me so I have to look at her. I hated how she gets me to talk when I was not ready to. I dazed out to pass her to the tall grass that sways with the wind. Right before that was a raccoon who has been a sacrifice to the roadkill gods.

" Yes. We have been together for three half years and I'm gonna be 18 in a few months. I don't want to lose him. I mean he already talks about marriage and stuff. How we are meant to be with one another. Him in the war what if he does not make it. Next time. I am just thinking about it. I never do anything. Janet Florence Bates. Either I am too chicken scraps about it or I can die. I am so sick of living out in this world in a bubble" I said finally looking to those Friday afternoon hazel eyes.

She nods and took my hands. Rubbing her white french tip thumb against my skin she brought it up to her heart. " One thing I wish I did was to wait. Remember when we were in seventh grade and I dared to do seven minutes in heaven with Derek Miller. You told me that I was still worth the universe no matter what. Do-" She was cut off with the sound of the second bell. " Shit I need to see Popi before class. Tell them I am using the bathroom and oh it that time of the month" Janet said over her shoulder as she ran over to find her girlfriend.

" I said that last week J" I shout out.

Walking backward Janet thought about it, " He doesn't know how a woman body works". I laugh as I made my way down the busy streets also know as the hallways.

I just made it with a second to spare. Taking a deep breath in I nod to the teacher went to my seat. Putting my backpack on the desk to make a pillow I lean my head on it and look out the window. The once busy parking lot was empty with no one. Corner of my eyes I saw some movement. For a second look like I saw a squirrel eating the dead raccoon. Its fur was cover in a bit blood on its paws and tail. Getting up from I walk over to the window. Still watching the squirrel.

" MISS. SMITH. SIT DOWN FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS" the teacher said taking her out her trance. Giggles and fingers were pointing as I look around. mouth sorry and ease back into my seat look down at my hands. Moments later Janet rush in with a huge smile on her face, She stays upfront to flirt with the teacher taking his glasses and rolling it in her mouth as she explains the female privates. Buzz Buzz.

Mi Amor: Hav fun in school. I see you tomorrow bae. IYL

I look up and suppressed a greedy smile.

Me: Can not wait. xxx.

I smiled and glance outside. The squirrel was gone but so was most of the raccoon. My curl drop in front of my face. My eyes wide as I look around it was not even ten minutes how did that happen. It is only your mind. After trying to calm my nerves I settle and got ready for the day. The thing about going to school in a dead zone is not much happening each day is the same. The coolest thing we had to happen was when Sally Maxfield got fifth place in the nearby town beauty competition. We were the one place the devil probably send folks as a line of torture. Everyone knew each other and marries one another. Grow old have kids work the same jobs your parents or neighbor had. Just so happen my parents two of the coolest jobs. Mother was assistant to the mayor and my dad work as a scientist that was a station out here. They move here when they got married I still do not get that. Nose deep in my latest novel off my four pages list. I felt a few pokes on my back.

" Guess what I heard from Paul in six periods of American History. Looks like the old hag bit the dusk and they just found her body this morning. Guess what with just her body and her 20 cats. God Issac if I end up anywhere close to that kill me" Janet said pulling out her lunch, sushi, and flavor water.

" Lunch looks smaller than last week. Another diet J. I do not know why you do that your perfect" I said pulling out my lunch with a sigh. Janet peak over at me and my silver can lunch box cover in bumper stickers. Janet rolls her eyes and sips her cool water. I took out my lunch: a bottle of filter water, steal tight thing of organic crackers, dried up fruits, and a mystery meal ( as my mom called it). She stops mid-chew and looks at me with doubt and wonder.

" What that" Janet said looking over my lunch. Apart from I wanted to chuckle each day the same thing. Sipping my water I turn to look at her. My legs shielding hers

"It is my lunch crackers fruit. Want some" I said holding out the mystery meal packet

" Wait for a second that fruit. I do not get you. I come with my lunch and you have that. Still, you cover your eyes during the sex parts" Janet asked. My smile got bigger as I nod. Her face still in disbelief.

" Yes. Because I will like to live till my 18 birthday. J. Do not forget the ice cream birthday cake, spaghetti, banana nut bread, or many other times I chance it" I said turning back to the table Janet always got me to throw reasoning away.

" Just be careful that it looks like it will attack you alright. Space cadet" Janet said poking at my lunch to see if it moved. I wish to chance it was a luxury for me but never is, I will never be normal and for that, I am the envy of everyone. The problem goes down to the simple fact of an allergy I have a very rare very troublesome allergy, Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorder. Long story short think of anything fun and add a 99% chance I can die of it.

" God damn it. Did you hear me? The last two periods we going on some field trips to the Coast Forrest for science today" Janet said wiping her mouth. Nodding I look at my half-eaten lunch. "Popi gonna meet us there. She got these new drugs called Trippe that her hook up gave her. I talk her into allowing me to try it with her. Maybe get some others to buy some. It is organic you should try some" Janet said checking her makeup in her little compact mirror. I gentle took a deep breath out and move a few curls behind my ear as I tried to remind Janet again I can not do that. Then she must have seen my thoughts as she pointed to me with her lipstick and said, " It is organic. You eat all that weird shit. What to say that and Trippe are not made of the same shit" Janet said putting her stuff away.

I wanted to tell her no but instead, I said I think about it before she went off to get last night's homework from someone. I loved her with all my heart but sometimes she just did not get me. Crazy how you can love someone with all your heart. Not want anything from it just a simple notion that you will never be alone. Someone that will have your back and would never judge you. No one did but KP ever promises you that.

Mi Amor: I wish you are here. I feel so alone.

I waited a few more minutes for him to reply till I decide he probably was on the plane and could not reach me. Rubbing the back of my neck I close my eyes. God did I need sleep and a bubble bath. Noise rattle my nerves and the never-ending sound of people screaming made me flinched. Jumping up I look around before heading out to the bathroom to finish my lunch. Last year its been like this need want to escape want some time alone. Maybe its fact in a few months I will be graduating. I will be free to be me whatever that was. As my phone alarm ring, I slowly got up from my spot on the floor and got ready to head back before Janet realize I was gone. With my head hanging low I walk over to the sink to flush away any doubt of living any sadness I been feeling. water dripping from my face I look back at my reflection. Brown sugar eyes looking back with my hair full-blown curl thanks to the cold water. My button nose raw from the tears I just finished having. Taking another breath in I grab the end of my dress and rub my face.

The ride to Coast Forrest was roughly 15 minutes long. Janet was sitting next to Popi kissing like horny rabbits and I sat beside them by the window. Popi cool. She wears her hair short blonde with pink tips pixie cut with random drunken mistakes to remind her you only live once and a nose ring with a lip tattoo that said suck it. At first, she did like me worried I was trying to take Janet away till I reassure her what I and Janet have will always be a deep unbreakable friendship and I was happy with KP. Once I asked her if she can do a sharpie tattoo out of pure boredom she grew a flower crown on my wist. Which she now does every time she sees me. My arm the blanket canvas for her crazy thoughts. Colors change as I wave my hands up and down as if I was fish in the open water.

Coming out for air Janet smirk at me and whisper into Popi's ear. With a nod, Popi took out her bag and hand Janet something when no one but me was looking.

" So I heard you might be adventuring out my young grasshopper. Finally going to get some action huh" Popi said sniffing her nose-wiping away the last bit of blow she did before getting on the bus. I peak over to Janet who just whistles and spoke to a random person behind us.

" Maybe. YOYO right" I said licking my bottom lip

" God Smith you something. So fucking cute. little puppet" Popi said pinching my arm.

" Tell her about Trippe baby" Janet added.

" Thanks, angel. Huh, so what my guy told me this is some top-shelf shit. Like the best of the best only take. I am talking mob cartel you name it and its all made on some hippie compound. I am one of the first to have it" Popi pointed out proud of herself. She took one out and handed it to me.

" How do you take it. I never sniff anything before. Or put anything up my butt" I asked curiously.

Janet giggles at my response and hugs over to speak to me without anyone hearing us." From what Popi heard it pretty much either end type of drug but oral tends to work find. The away only thing we want poking you in the but is Kindred Phillip Richards thick long penis" Janet laugh.

It was small and look like something out a Candy land world. The packing was the neon pick with a smiley face with its tongue out and eyes cross out. As I play with it looking at it closer it had a strange symbol on it. Inside the little baggie was a pill shape drug with what looks to be a liquid power inside. While Popi was trying to talk a boy into a threesome with Janet and herself. I snatch a picture on my Polaroid camera and stuff it in my pocket. I look at it once more. It was inviting but apart of me was not sure. Kind of like it was a candy a treat. Last time I tried something Janet said it was alright. I end up in ICU for two months. Everything around her tone out as she kept playing with this drug in her hands. Very own mystery. What made this so special so welcoming. Bring it closer to my nose I let it linger see if I can figure what it was made off. I had a nose for such things. Lana Del Rey plays on my head as I play with it. It was organic maybe it was safe to do it.

" We are here. I have to make a phone call. So just take a paper and start feeling it out" Mr. Lopez said. He was probably going to scream at his soon to be ex-wife who ran off with their younger babysitter last week.

Second, he left everything to reassure. Loud noises left and right. Booming. Popi look at me and took the drug out my hand and gave Janet the nod. Show Time. Janet gave both of use a wink before she swings herself up to stand on the seat Dead Poet Society style. Flipping her hair she screams HEY. Everyone's eyes shift to Janet quite waiting on her hand and foot. With a wolf grind, she grabs up the drug and tosses it up and down in the air.

" Alright shit brains and posers. I got here the upcoming stuff that every one that is hot now is doing. Actors athletes business people and even world leaders. This stuff here is told to make oxy look like a sugar-free candy. This stuff is fully organic and to give you a ride of your life. Once you have it once you never find anything to get you this fuck up ever again. Word around this Trippe would put you on a ride you will never forget So who wanna party" Janet said jumping down to the ground with her hands up above her head. I was the first to clap much sooner then I should of. Most look at me and I turn and look outside at Mr. Lopez on the verge of tears. Everyone was shouting not wanting to be left out wanting in on the mystery on the trend. As Popi passed it out Janet took the money stuffing it into her bra. Till everyone had one. All glee with excitement thrilled to do it.

" Hey, you ready" Janet asked. I look at her and went to grab some money taking out a twenty I slowly hand it to her. They all went to take it and as I am about to take it I stop and shoot up. My breathing got short and I clench to the seat trying to catch it. I felt tears as a minor panic attack was coming ahead. My sight got dizzy and I shock my head crying a silent cry. Janet stops before taking it and looks at me holding tight to my chest.

" I can't I can not take it. I can not take the gamble. J I am so sorry. I wish I could" I said trying to stop the tears. People around me starting to go down on their trip. Some started to laugh like drunken hyenas, a few spaces out like a psychic patient drop on drugs, some were paranoid with a flinch and rest was a mixture of emotions. I slowly got my things together and try to head for the door. An arm stops me and pushes me back down.

" Where are you going. Come on. Amaryllis. It alright. Just do it" Janet said shoving it into my face. I shook my head no and push it away. I look around everything was spinning.

" I can not do that. You know I can die Janet " I plead to her. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. Walking back to Popi she said something to her as I stood still rubbing my arm looking at the ground.

"You are full of bullshit. Issac. Why is it one second your talking about fucking your boyfriend and next to your acting like a little kid? Is this thing you have any real or is it all fake just like you"Janet hissed. I knew she was already high from whatever she was doing but the words still hurt. It made everything hurt ten times more.

Without speaking I shook my head and left the bus. I had to get as far as I could before the tears came down. I tried KP once again but no answer. I don't know how far I was got before I finally stop. Green was cover everywhere like a sea of green. I slowly drop to my knees and allow my hands to become one with nature. I lean back and breathe. Rubbing my hands from the tip of my head across my neck down to my sides. My eyes fill with tears glitter flowing around. I calm myself with words of encouragement. I turn my head to see a few deer and bears running away passed me. Stopping I slowly got up to my feet and look around. I did not hear any birds no bugs. I stalked over where they were running from till I saw it. A dead deer laying in a bed of white flowers. That was not what scared me it was rabbits eating away the deer. It fills me with fear and dread. I slowly step back to I am far enough to run. I ran an ran till I hit a branch. As the visions slowly started to fade images of the dead animals came to mind on repeat. I should have known that was only the beginning

Rain and the distant sounds of voices woke me up. The ground was wet and droplets kept falling into my face. Everything was fuzzy and for a second I forgot where and how I got where I am at. Taking a second in I slowly got to my feet thanks to a tree nearby. The voices got louder and I slow recognized it as Mr. Lopez. How long have I been out?

Licking my lips I call out where I was. Till I saw a flashlight beaming into my face. Covering my eyes with my hand the footsteps grew closer and closer.

" God. Miss. Smith. Where have you been I been looking everywhere? For you. I am so sorry. I thought you were on the bus then when we got back I did not see you and your mom called the cops. We have been looking for you for a few hours" Mr. Lopez said smoothing the hair out my face.

Holding onto him tight I cried into the crook of his neck not letting go of his green polo shirt that was too small and a bit skin would peak out. But I did not care I was scared. He slowly helps me stable myself and ushers me to the rest of them. There was a small crowd with flashlights. A woman with fair skin that complements her tall thin body with piercing blue eyes ran towards throw the crowd calling out my name with a man espresso skin and dark short black hair and fitted glasses.

" Amaryllis. My baby" Mom called out as the space between us got smaller. I left Mr. Lopez behind and ran into my mom's arms muffling my cries with her long black hair. I could hear her say thank you to Mr. Lopez but I did not move. I do not remember making it home.

I did not remember anything till I was laying in my twin size bed bundle under my warm blue glitter comforter in one of KP old football jersey. I did not hear from Janet and no one from the class was there looking. I would say I was hurt but the words she said still sting.

" Hey, Amaryllis. Its dad I am coming in" Dad said coming in.

I turn my head to see him walking in with an old antique tray with two small teacups. I slowly got up and look at him with a sad smile. Daddy always knew when it was tea time.

" Thanks, dad. Sorry for carrying you and mommy" I said bring my knees to my chest. He smiled and play with my hair in his hands.

" What happen kiddo. What made you run off like that " He asked. I wish I could tell the truth wish I can give him the full story. But to do that I will put more people in trouble and danger then I will want. So like every time before I lied.

" The kids said something. I did not agree. I went off to take pictures when I trip and fell. I am so sorry" I said looking into the teacup.

" Promise you will never let anyone including Janet or Kindred to disrespect you. Make you feel little" Dad said drinking the tea. I nod and stay quiet as he started to talk about his newest discovery.

The next couple of days I stayed home after my blood work came back off from stress. I hide away from everyone only speaking to my mom, dad, and text and phone calls from KP. I planned not too obsessed but by day two of my week off, I look and look till my finger got numb of Janet and Popi social media. Folks in Easter Hills, New Mexico wasn’t smart. From what was a bus of 25/30 of my peers slowly becoming the whole school in a matter of days. Everyone praising about Trippe. If it was not about that stupid drug it was dead inside pictures of Janet smiling or as of Thursday at 4:36 pm food. I thought about speaking to her but each time by the second ring I hang up.

Mrs. Ethan was the town vet and all-around queen of gossip. We both have a love to talk about the endless amount of facts and news around the world. She had a job and a life I admire minus the gossip and heavy wine drinking. Today she was allowing me to take the lead of performing an emergency C section on a third-place local star Bichon Frise Mr.Fuzzy Bear.

“ Now Issac remembers gentle across right there till your right here” Mrs. Ethan said standing beside me as I slowly made the incision across the lower abdomen. After each step, I ask a few questions and checking everything I was doing was right.

Inside Mr. Fuzzy Bear after the chew toy was this strange clear like glitter goo. I reach down and look at his pupils which were highly diluted for the meds with gave him to sleep. Mrs. Ethan was taking care of some paperwork in her office so I grab a few test tubes and draw a bit of blood. Nothing is more important than checking all your boxes. After I scoop out all the strange goo out of him I stitch him up and put him in a cage for later.

“ Yes thank you. Oh yes. I will be coming that way on the fifth of next month. Thank you let me know when you got the payment” Mrs. Ethan said. After the end of the call, she spins in her chair kicking and cheering out loud.

“ Found some blurry treasure. Mrs. Ethan” I said leaning by the doorway with my legs cross one another.

“ Yes. A seller I know in New York came across a set of six large 1970s green glass Italian Chianti bottles. Only roughly 3,000. He gonna hold it for me for two weeks. Huh heaven, Issac heaven” She said full of glee.

“I thought you just like expensive wine ?” I asked. She once shows me her prize-winning collection of wine in her underground cellar with over 50,000 dollars worth. Even my parents were impressed which is a very hard thing to do.

“ Yes. But honey a girl can never have too many toys and finer things in life. Like that boy toy of yours. Seeing him soon right” Mrs. Ethan said with a wink. Before I could tell her anything she ways already on the phone to give the good news to her husband. I would have told her after my dad ban any date night I have not seen KP yet well besides the two times he hike up the side of the house to my window to cuddle with me or how I cried into his arms one night about how rude Janet was to me.

School felt different from the week I missed. Was it the scent in the air the vibe that was off. Something that did not fit right. Mr. Lopez was the 1st to check on me which I could not hear much of because people were talking about Trippe or what was for lunch. Even Mr. Lopez who acts like no one noticed had a neon pink little baggie poking out from his briefcase.

Me: Save me I feel I jump fell right into the Twilight Zone.

Mi Amor: Baby lmao. I am sure its nothing.

Me: Ur right. Thnx xx I have lunch wish me good luck.

I pulled tight to my backpack and pull right through the double metal doors. I put a lot more effort today in what I look like out of my dresses and overalls with a pair of baby blue flared jeans with a thick black melt and a red long sleeve crop top that wasn’t one from it being two sizes too big. The lines on for food were three times longer than usual. And there wasn’t much talking like there usually is. I just did not feel like the Easter Hills High that I been going to for four years now. What made it more strange seeing Janet hunch over like she was a prisoner. Her hair wasn’t done like it usually is. Flat and lifeless and she has dark bags under her eyes. Worried was not the word for it. There wasn’t one.

“Hey J. Long time no see huh pickle breathe” I said kicking a pretend rock with my black velvet Superga platform sneakers. Janet did recognize me at first no one did. So I got closer and poke her shoulder a few times. By the fifth poke she grips tight to finger so tight I was starting to feel some pain.

“ God Jesus saint Janet. Stop your hurting me” I shouted. Everyone stops and looks at us. She slowly let go of my finger when she saw the pain in my eyes. She grabs a bottle and ran out. I called and ran after her like the good little kitten I was.

“ JANET WAIT WAIT UP” I shouted running after her.

“ Sorry okay. I did not mean to hurt you. Issac” Janet said looking down at the ground. I shook my head and came up to her and lifted her chin up so she can look at me. At first look, her eyes look like how Mr. Fuzzy Bear’s eyes looked. Glazed over.

“Hey no. I am worried about you. Is everything okay? Did you and Popi get into a fight?” I tried to say but halfway my voice started to crack. We had this way and something was telling me something was wrong. “ Janet. I am worried about you and what this magnesium. Janet, maybe we should ta-” I was cut off by Janet.

“ Look I was a 90s bitch to you. And I screwed up. I hated that I said those things. The week you were gone and we did not talk suck. But I and Popi are fine and if I don’t go now I won’t be able to take some Trippe before classes. And it is no big deal it is just a short cut. I call you later” Janet said then ran off. Something was not right and I knew no one but me was going to be able to figure it out.

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drferox · 6 years ago

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Animal Testing

Anonymous said to @ask-drferox: Hi Dr.Ferox! I see a lot online about testing on animals and how it's very bad, but I never see why exactly, or what actually goes on. Do you happen to know if there is animal experts (such as vets) involved in animal testing to make sure it is safe? And if it's bad, is there alternatives that actually work that aren't testing on humans? Thanks!

So, it should probably be obvious, but I work in a vet clinic and every single product we sell and use is tested on animals.

Every drug has been tested. Every food has been tested. Every suture material, bandage, piece of equipment. Everything we use in veterinary medicine has been tested on animals, and you should really hope that has been the case.

I saw an ‘infographic’ a few years back that was all “These brands test on animals so don’t use them!” and among many others that were probably a fair point, it listed Iams. You know Iams, the pet food company, which in recent years tried to produce prescription diets for urinary and gastrointestinal health. At the very least all pet food goes through a palatability test, which is essentially offering the animals two different foods and seeing which one they eat more or or first.

There is a lot to talk about with animal testing, what actually happens, what used to happen, and where we still actually need it. It’s going to be a wordy post, so I’ll try to break it up for you.

Types of Animal Testing

There are clearly lots of different ways to design and run an experiment, depending on what you’re trying to figure out or prove. Some of these experiments are more invasive than others, and some provide more valuable information than others.

Make up testing: testing make up products (a luxury item) for adverse reactions (bad reactions) on non-human animals is invasive and provides very little valuable information, so most people would be strongly against such a thing.

Palatability testing: At the opposite end of the animal testing spectrum, palatability tests boil down to “Do members of this species think this is tasty?” It’s a species specific test, essentially non-invasive, and used for everything from treat-style medications (without the medication) to food. Pet owners want to know their pet will eat the thing, and veterinarians want to be confident in it as well. It mostly consists of offering the animal two choices of ‘food’ over and over again, and seeing which one they prefer most of the time. Most people would not object to this sort of testing.

Nutritional testing: In a similar vein, we want to be pretty confident that the food we occasionally sell in the vet clinic, especially the prescription diets does what it says on the bag. Does is actually help dental health? Reduce allergic symptoms? Dissolve bladder stones? We’re in the business of evidence based medicine, we need that evidence. Even with maintenance non-prescription diets, we generally prefer foods which have been tested as a sole diet for 12 months without any weight loss or nutritional deficiencies in the animals to which is was fed. Not all foods do this, some just cook to a recipe, but some have actually done the testing which is particularly important to look at when considering non-traditional diets. You want to feed a vegan dry food to your dog? It says it meets nutritional guidelines, but if it hasn’t done a 12 month feeding trial (as to my knowledge none of them have) then I am skeptical of those non-traditional ingredients.

Bio-implant and surgical testing: So, you might not have thought about this, but all the suture materials I use in surgery? All tested on animals, quite thoroughly. I can access information about whether it breaks down, how long that takes, how much strength is retained at different stages, risks of bacteria wicking along the suture, and so on. Some implants are tested for how inert and non-reactive they are. Some for tensile strength and durability. Then there’s testing new implants and surgical techniques. For the latter, those animals are usually sourced from a population that already has the condition that needs treatment, but it’s still animal testing. The suture testing is quite invasive too, as it first involves surgery to implant, then repeated surgery to gather tissue samples for histology to assess the cellular response and tensile strength or the semi-dissolving sutures.

Toxicity Testing: This is the big one. This is where we take an active ingredient, and see what it kills. Now, historically this was pretty awful because you would take hundreds of animals of different species - starting with rats, mice, guinea pigs and working your way up - and keep increasing the dose until you killed 50% of them. This is called the LD50, which stands for ‘Lethal Dose 50%’. That’s pretty vital information with a new compound, but a huge waste of life. Now instead of seeking the LD50, newer compounds are first tested on tissue cultures, because if it kills cells in a petri dish it��s going to kill cells in a live animal, and if there’s no evidence of toxicity at ten times overdose, they call it a day and end the experiment.

Efficacy Testing: We want to know a compound works, right? That’s what this is for. We want to know that pain relief actually provides pain relief, that antibiotics work in the whole animal and not just in a petri dish, that flea treatments actually kill the fleas and so on. The problem here is that you need your data to be both useful and humans, which often means standardizing the conditions. So to test pain relief, that often means inducing pain in order to test it against it. Now that might mean something like desexing for tissue pain, but it also might mean inducing arthritis artificially for joint pain, and that has ethical issues associated with it. It might mean inducing infections in previously healthy animals. Now, there is significant effort to collect sample animals from the wider population that already, naturally have the relevant disease because those results are likely to be more relevant to the real world, but it’s not always possible for something obscure.

Educational Animal Testing: Lastly, though some people wont count this group, animals are used in educational experiments at a university and higher level. The philosophy to reduce their need is still in place, and they still have to pass an ethics committee, but it’s still animal experimentation. Sometimes you do just need to practice clinical exams on a live animal, especially handling where behavior can be complicated, or how to take various measurements.

Reducing Animals involved in Testing

I’ve mentioned some of the methods previously, but there is a strong push to reduce the number of live animals used in testing for various reasons, the top two being animal welfare, and that live animals are an expense. As such, there are various options to reduce the numbers of animals used in testing, and their degree of involvement.

Substituting videos for educational experiments

Using cell cultures instead of a whole, live animal

Not requiring re-testing of cosmetic combinations when all of the active ingredients have been tested individually

An attempt is being made to develop computer algorithms that will predict the toxicity of new molecules

Vet involvement

Vets are involved at multiple levels when it comes to animal experimentation.

They sit on the ethics committee. Rules vary from country to country, but most ethics committees must have a veterinarian on them, but they can also have a second one under ‘interested member of the public’ so they have have up to two on a committee that is generally 5 or 6 people.

They supervise the animals in the experiment, or provide samples. They can also decree euthanasia necessary if an outcome is not going well.

They may be actually performing the experiment, especially for pharmaceuticals.

We take the ability to test on animals very seriously, as a responsibility and a privileged. For most people, animal testing results aren’t seen as being as useful as human testing results because they are talking about applying those results to humans, but for veterinarians we’re potentially applying those results to the same species of animal.

It’s not like somebody wakes up and goes “I’m going to have fun testing on animals today because I’m evil!”

It happens sometimes because we don’t yet have a means to get the data we need in another way.

#veterinarian #vetblr #animal testing #animal experimentation #animal welfare #long post

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savingmyguts-blog · 6 years ago

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A month ago, I went on a blind date. My first blind date. Not only was it my first blind date, but it was also the first date of ANY kind that I had been on in years. That was actually why I told the friends setting us up that I didn’t want to know anything about him beforehand; I knew if I let myself think about the person, and thereby the whole world of dating, I would talk myself out of it before I even got to meet the guy. The date went well - like, unbelievably well. I can’t believe that was literally just 35 days ago, because I am truly crazy about this guy. I haven’t found one bad thing about him yet - until tonight.

For context: I have Crohn’s disease. It’s an inflammatory bowel disease, and I would tell you its symptoms, but one of the wildly frustrating parts about this disease is that there’s no one-size-fits-all symptoms list.

But back to tonight. It’s 9pm. I’m still at work, because I started a new job three weeks ago and have been putting in a lot of hours trying to figure it all out. I’ve had diarrhea and stomach pain day long. So my positive energy tank is already running on fumes when I get a text from my new, amazingly wonderful boyfriend. It says “I’m listening to a podcast that is super interesting about gut health and I thought you might enjoy it.”

Great. Another asshole who just heard about Crohn’s disease five seconds ago is about to ~cure me~ by telling me to drink some kombucha. Whyyyyyy? Why is he ruining everything by trying to fix a problem he knows nothing about? Why do people do that?

But, like I said, I really really like this guy. Everything about him feels so good. It doesn’t connect that he would be that person, that that would be his intention. So I ignore my brain’s massive eye roll, finish up at work, and decide to hear what the podcast has to say during my drive home.

In the thirty minutes of this three hour podcast that Dr. Rhonda Patrick was talking about gut health, here’s what she covered:

LDL proteins transport cholesterol to your cells, and the cells use the cholesterol to repair themselves. The LDL actually slices off a piece of itself to give to the cell for this process, and what remains of the LDL is transported back to the liver to be recycled out.

There are over 100 trillion bacteria in your gut. The majority of this is healthy bacteria, converting the food you eat into energy for your body. Your gut is also the place in your body with the highest concentration of immune cells.

The bacteria and the immune cells (white blood cells) are kept separate in your gut by the gut barrier, which is made of mucin (similar to mucus.)

When the gut barrier becomes compromised, the immune cells begin attacking the bacteria in your gut. As the bacteria is killed, it releases endotoxins. These endotoxins bind to the LDL that has sliced part of itself off to give away the cholesterol. This prevents the LDL from transporting back to the liver, so you just have LDL proteins covered in endotoxins stuck in your system. Your immune system recognizes all these lumps of endotoxins floating around and sends more white blood cells to fight and kill them. But it doesn’t work, because the white blood cells aren’t actually fighting bacteria like they think they are - they’re fighting LDL proteins that have bound to the endotoxins let out by the bacteria killed off in your gut when your gut barrier broke down. So you’re left with several things: a broken down gut barrier, a lack of healthy bacteria in your gut which means less energy being converted from food (and more room for unhealthy bacteria to take over), all these endotoxins just stuck in your gut/bloodstream, and too many white blood cells being produced. None of those are good things.

People with IBD will often notice mucin in their bowel movements. The gut barrier is literally breaking down and just exiting your body on a regular basis. To make more mucin and build that gut barrier back up, your body needs energy. When you don’t have a functional gut barrier, it’s a lot harder for your food to be converted into energy. Circle of death. Eating more fermentable fibers will create more short chain fatty acids in your gut which is what converts your food into energy. On the opposite end, when you eat food with a lot of refined carbohydrates, the saturated fat increases your body’s production of LDL proteins - which is not good, when you have endotoxins binding to all your LDL.

Kombucha feeds/energizes your gut cells so they can keep producing mucin for your gut barrier to strengthen.

A few years ago, she took a baseline sample of her poop and sent it off to be sequenced, to see what bacteria was and wasn’t present in her gut. Then she took “VSL #3 with sachets” probiotic every day for 30 days, and sent her poop off to be sequenced again. Huge increase in the amount of healthy bacteria in her gut (she didn’t specify how much) as well as a reduction of the amount of unhealthy bacteria. There are at least 25 studies that show effectiveness of this type of probiotic in treating IBS/colitis.

The reason she became so interested in gut health and was sequencing her own poop, etc., is because she had inflammatory bowel issues for years following an MRSA infection. Her doctor gave her three rounds of antibiotics, and when the infection still came back again, she decided to treat it herself without antibiotics. She got rid of the infection for good by using garlic/grapefruit seed extract/teatree oil/something else I had never heard of. But the damage to her gut from three rounds of super-antibiotics wrecked her system for YEARS. When she sought treatment for it, gastrointestinal doctors diagnosed her with neuropathy and suggested SSRIs and anticonvulsant medication. She refused. They never asked her about her diet, her medication history, nothing. She said “if I was a dummy - I shouldn’t say it like that - if I were a person who listened to authority, who just did what my doctors said, I might be stuck on a bunch of pointless medicines right now and would never have returned to a healthy gut.”

Do you know how much of that information I’ve been told throughout six years of being treated for inflammatory bowel disease by the “best, most-recommended” gastroenterologist in my state?

None of it.

None.

Of.

It.

When I asked if I should try drinking kombucha/taking probiotics, I was told “you could, but I don’t think it will help you. Your main concerns lately are acid reflux and diarrhea, and those aren’t the big symptoms of an unhealthy gut, so I don’t think that’s your problem.” I tried it anyway, but halfheartedly and with no guidance, and gave up faster than I should have.

I’ve noticed the mucin in my bowel movements for years, but the ONLY poop-related question I’m ever asked during visits is if I can see blood in it.

I too have had multiple experiences with MRSA infections and had to take round after round after round of antibiotics until it went away... the most recent time being a mere two months ago. TWO MONTHS AGO I got a staph infection in my eye, and now, four rounds of antibiotics later, I’m in the middle of a “flare up.”

My gastroenterologist has never asked about my history with antibiotics. When he asks about my diet, it’s never a conversation about healthy foods that might help or how different foods are interacting with my malfunctioning gut. It’s always just “these specific foods have been known to cause more pain, are you avoiding them?”

Eight months ago, I had a colonoscopy. There were no ulcers in my colon this time. He saw inflamed areas throughout my colon, but not general/total inflammation throughout the whole thing. What he actually said when I woke up was that if that had been his first/only look at my colon, he wouldn’t have diagnosed me with Crohn’s disease. So what does that mean? Am I just in remission? Do I not have it? If I don’t, what DO I have, because I’m obviously not healthy? His only answer was “I don’t know. we’ll just have to keep watching what happens and treating symptoms as best we can.”

I feel a strange combination of excitement and fury. why is htis podcast the first time this connection has been made for me? when i asked lydia about kombucha/probiotics and she said it wouldn’t help me. dr. lievens has never once asked about that, looked at my medication history, nothing. and he’s supposedly the best! i love “aha!” moments and this feels like one, but why the fuck is it just happening now?

Right now, I am just overflowing with questions. Every angle I think of it all from, I end up with six new questions and the list just keeps growing. But I also want to find out the answers. Which is more than I can say for my life lately before this.

Sorry Zach, you are still amazing and just like everything else about our relationship that seems to defy what’s supposed to be happening, that bubble has un-popped.

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go365now · 6 years ago

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Ask a Nutritionist – August 2018 Edition

Hello everyone! My name is Emily Jokisch and I am a registered dietitian and certified strength and conditioning coach. Last month, Go365 reached out to you, our members, to see if you had any nutrition-related questions. Here are the questions we received:

Is the Keto diet safe? It is all the rage right now. The Keto diet reminds me of the Atkins diet when it first came out in the ‘70’s. How safe is it? –Nita C.

The science behind the ketogenic diet for weight loss is mixed right now, and the long-term effects on the body and weight maintenance are questionable. This diet is not new, and has actually been around for a long time to help children with epilepsy. The ketogenic diet focuses on putting your body into a state called ketosis. This is when you deplete the body’s glucose stores and the body has to break down fat instead of carbohydrates for energy. A person’s body enters ketosis either by fasting or by limiting carbohydrate intake to less than 20-30 g per day, increasing fat intake to 70-80% of total calories, and ensuring protein intake is moderate.

When looking at the ketogenic diet for weight loss, there is good research to show it does work for short-term weight loss. The benefit of ketosis is that it promotes significant weight loss because the body is constantly breaking down stored fat to meet its energy needs. It can also help reduce hunger, which can make it helpful with overconsumption.

The problem with using this diet for weight loss is there isn’t any research that shows long-term and weight maintenance benefits when compared with other diets. When you look at the ketogenic diet compared to a Mediterranean or portion control diet, the long-term weight loss results seem to be the same. Some medical professionals also have concerns over the ketogenic diet because of its potential short-term and long-term effects. Short–term, it may cause irritability, bad breath, and headaches. Long-term, there may be adverse effects on the renal function and bone metabolism.

Overall, as long as you approach everything in moderation, using a balanced diet program as a tool to get to a healthier lifestyle is fine, no matter what diet program you choose. You want to find a program that works for YOU that you can maintain over time. Science shows that you can achieve the same results as the keto diet without having to restrict so much, by eating a balanced diet. However, if you want to try the keto diet, science does show that it is safe at this time. I always recommend talking with your doctor before you start any diet or exercise program, to ensure there are no risks for your past medical history, medications, or supplements.

What are the best foods to prevent or help with bloating? –Shayna D.

Bloating is usually caused by gas, constipation, or food allergies. The best ways to help with bloating is to prevent it using the following suggestions:

Try to avoid constipation by consuming plenty of fiber (25 grams per day for women and 38 for men) and drinking enough fluids. Also make sure that you stay physically active.

Rule out wheat allergies or lactose intolerance. Food allergies and intolerances can cause gas and bloating. But these need to be confirmed by your doctor.

When eating, make sure you don’t eat too fast. Eating quickly and not chewing your food well can cause air swallowing that leads to bloating. Eating slowly can also help you prevent overeating, which can lead to bloating as well.

Cut back or cut out carbonated beverages, which can lead to gas. Instead, try drinking water with fruit for a healthy but flavorful beverage.

Avoid ”sugar-free” foods. These foods usually contain sugar alcohols which have been shown to cause gastrointestinal (GI) distress.

Watch your sodium intake. Try to limit the amount of salt you add to your foods (recommended daily amount of sodium is just 1 tsp!). Also try to avoid processed foods, which tend to be high in sodium and low in fiber.

Be careful with beans and gassy vegetables. Beans and the cruciferous family of vegetables, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower, can be hard on the stomach, especially if you are not used to eating them. You don’t have to stop eating these foods, which are high in nutrients and fiber. Just eat a small amount, slowly, until your body adjusts. There are also anti-gas products that can be taken when eating these foods.

Instead of three big meals per day, try eating smaller meals more often.

A few studies suggest that peppermint tea, ginger, pineapple, parsley, and yogurts containing probiotics may help reduce bloating.

Overall, when it comes to bloating you need to pay attention to your body! Make sure you are eating a balanced diet, and not skipping meals. And most importantly, try not to use laxatives to de-bloat or lose weight. They will not fix the problem, and can actually make it worse long term. If you experience bloating that escalates or causes pain, make sure to talk to your doctor.

GCHK9RLEN

This material is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or used in place of consulting a licensed medical professional. Consult with your doctor to determine what is right for you.

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#go365 #diet #nutrition #healthyeating #ask a nutritionist

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dalet-us · 4 years ago

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I Believe!

** Jonah and the Whale, Pieter Lastman 1621

My dear friend,

Perhaps you are thinking to yourself that I do not cherish and love my wife, and I suspect that there are many others that are thinking the same thing. When I published my post, “A Riddle?,” I figured that it would cause a bit of a stir, and it appears that it did. What was I supposed to do, pull a Jonah and disobey God by running off to Tarshish? You have heard the story before, no?

“1Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 4But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. …”

“15So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. 16Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. 17Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” – Jonah 1:1-4 & 1:15-17 KJV

I would rather not attempt my circumnavigation in the belly of a fish, thank you very much!

God instructed me to post that message, and so I did … verbatim. The only thing that I did that was not in complete obedience was that I added the line, “All praise and glory and honor unto our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Everything else in that message was exactly as God instructed – to the letter! Besides, if that message has anything to do with my own wife, let God be the judge.

Thus, I think that it is important that you understand more perfectly how much I do cherish and love my wife. I would not want any untruthful rumors making the rounds. May God have mercy on our disobedient hearts!

I would love to tell you the whole story right here and now, but as with the topic of circumnavigation, it is not a story that I can tell in a single blog post. Therefore, I will do my best to spread it out in colorful sketches.

Before God inflicted me with my gastrointestinal disease, I met my wife in a nightclub of all places. Neither her nor I wanted to be going out with our friends to nightclubs that night. Yet both of us relented to the pressure of our friends and suffered ourselves to their shameless urgings. We and our friends all ended up in the same nightclub, a place called “Popeye’s.” As we later discovered, we were both very discontent to find ourselves at Popeye’s with our cheeky friends. Neither one of us was in the mood to be dealing with the typical meat-market personas. When I saw her on the other side of the dance floor, I was captivated with her gracious countenance, and she was very fair to look upon, with her long flowing blond hair and her Amazonian stature. She was as the Lady Galadriel among the women of Bree . She was like no other woman I had ever seen before. Why it is that she accepted my invitation to dance is beyond me.

** [1] The Lady of Shalott, John William Waterhouse 1888

I soon learned why she was so different. She came from a family of upstanding rapport, out of the mountainous farmlands of Montana. She was a true down-to-earth Montana breed queen of virtue, and she had the beauty to match her distinguishing heritage. Her father and her late mother were both very fine, upstanding, and highly respected citizens of her hometown in Montana: hardworking, genuine Spirit-filled Christians, moral, ethical, gracious, warm, loving, caring and humble people. How could I not fall in love with her, especially when she regarded me with such great respect and adoration?

When my father was murdered in 1993, she was an extraordinary source of support, comfort, and understanding. I could never have asked God for a better friend and companion during that difficult trial of my life. Shortly afterwards, she unofficially became my business partner. I left my position at the headquarters of Tower Records and became an independent contractor. Of course, my contracts with Tower Records accounted for over ninety percent of my business.

Essentially, I was installing all of the low-voltage electrical systems (audio, video, telecom, & datacom systems) that I had designed when I was still an employee at Tower Records. Tower Records was at the peak of their heyday, opening about 40 new stores each year. My wife (girlfriend at the time) was my financial/accounting expert. She was so amazingly good to me, and patient beyond measure.

Only a few months before my father’s death, I used up one of the twenty or thirty some-odd lives that God has blessed me with. (A cat has nothing on me. By the grace of my Lord and Savior, I have at least three times as many lives as a cat!) I am sure you have heard me tell this story before, of how I nearly drank myself to death when I was working in Mexico City. (That is a story for another day, however.) Nonetheless, it was that incident that began all of my gastrointestinal issues. Over the years, my gastrointestinal problems gradually became more difficult, more problematic, and an ever-greater impact to my ability to live and to contribute to a rich relationship and marriage with my wife. Regardless of all of my short comings, she has always endured and supported me with the utmost mercy and provision for what I lacked (financial security in particular). It has ever been her goal and purpose to have a sure retirement.

** Dale w/ the co-owners of the Tower Records, Niza St., Mexico City

Immediately after we were married in 1997, my gastrointestinal symptoms began to become an impact to my livelihood, especially at work. It also began to limit my ability to eat certain foods. In the beginning, there were only a few restaurants that we had to scratch off of the list, for instance, most of the Italian restaurants. Despite the changes to my diet, the symptoms continued to get worse, and I became more aggressive in my search for answers from the medical profession. The problem was that none of the doctors that I had seen were able to provide any help or any solutions. In fact, most of them thought that the problem was largely, if not entirely, psychological.

I have lost count of all the medical professionals that I have seen over the years. Some of them have proved to be a hindrance and/or antagonistic. Others have been nothing more than a waste of time. A few of them have blessed me with a little bit of insight on my problem, and only one of them has provided genuine help in solving the gastrointestinal disorder. Unfortunately, that man passed away about ten years ago. At this point in time, I have found that there are very few medical practitioners that possess more practical knowledge about my condition than myself.

Perhaps you have heard this explanation before, but the big problem now is that I am not especially confident that I can find any medical practitioner that will actually be able to supply a solution to my problem. It is a three-fold problem: I would need to find a practitioner that has the genuine ability to diagnose and to treat the condition; I would need to subject myself to the numerous months of testing required for that practitioner to diagnose the condition; and I would need to undergo the numerous attempts to treat the condition in search for a treatment that actually works (assuming that they would even be able to devise a successful treatment). More than likely, I would need to subject myself to several potential practitioners. (There is no shortage of practitioners that think that they know what they are talking about, when in reality they are simply full of hot air.) It would be a miracle to find a competent doctor in less than a year. Then it would be no less than six months for a diagnosis. Finally, our experimentation of treatments would begin, and what would it take to find a successful plan of attack? … 12 months? … 18 months? I could easily be at this whole doctor shopping exercise for the next five years, and still be without a solution. This is how dire my problem is!

There is not a chance that such an approach would fit into God’s plan for me to circumnavigate the Earth. By that plan, I would be lucky to be in the early stages of my treatment plan at the time I am supposed to embark out of Singapore. Therefore, God clearly has something entirely different planned for my deliverance.

I will let you in on a little secret. I have not the slightest inclination of what God’s solution for my affliction could possibly be. Yet, with all my heart and soul I believe that God is going to provide a solution, just exactly as I believe in you! With all my heart and soul, I believe in you, as God has given me reason to believe. Love Always, Dale 😊

Read this post on my own personal blog Website dalet.us

1. Those of you that are Lord of the Rings aficionados may be wondering why I chose a picture of the "Lady of Shalott," instead of a picture of Galadriel herself. I simply liked this picture better than those that I could find of Galadriel. It is thought that JR Tolkien may have modeled the character of Galadriel after the Lady of Shalott, in part. Looking at this picture, I can see how that could be said.

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hobo-rg · 4 years ago

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I just saw a long and very sensible screencap about COVID-19 go by again, checked the notes for a transcript, and discovered that it’s been repeatedly misattributed to Dr. Fauci. It was actually written by someone named Amy Wright, on Facebook. So instead of reblobbing the misattributed version, I am posting a direct link to the original: https://www.facebook.com/wncamy/posts/10221028229648392, along with a screencap of the first few paragraphs to demonstrate that it really is the same thing, and a verbatim quote of the full text below the cut.

Amy Wright on Facebook:

Here is my take. Short-sighted people want to dismiss COVID-19 as "just a virus". You may hear some suggest it's "like a cold". Maybe that makes them feel better because it's familiar and makes this crisis feel less overwhelming.

But here's the problem with that:

Chicken pox is a virus. Lots of people have had it, and probably don't think about it much once the initial illness has passed. But it stays in your body and lives there forever, and maybe when you're older, you have debilitatingly painful outbreaks of shingles. You don't just get over this virus in a few weeks, never to have another health effect. We know this because it's been around for years, and has been studied medically for years.

Herpes is also a virus. And once someone has it, it stays in your body and lives there forever, and anytime they get a little run down or stressed-out they're going to have an outbreak. Maybe every time you have a big event coming up (school pictures, job interview, big date) you're going to get a cold sore. For the rest of your life. You don't just get over it in a few weeks. We know this because it's been around for years, and been studied medically for years.

HIV is a virus. It attacks the immune system, and makes the carrier far more vulnerable to other illnesses. It has a list of symptoms and negative health impacts that goes on and on. It was decades before viable treatments were developed that allowed people to live with a reasonable quality of life. Once you have it, it lives in your body forever and there is no cure. Over time, that takes a toll on the body, putting people living with HIV at greater risk for health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, bone disease, liver disease, cognitive disorders, and some types of cancer. We know this because it has been around for years, and had been studied medically for years.

Now with COVID-19, we have a novel virus that spreads rapidly and easily. The full spectrum of symptoms and health effects is only just beginning to be catalogued, much less understood.

So far the symptoms reported include:

Fever Fatigue Coughing Pneumonia Chills/Trembling Acute respiratory distress Lung damage (potentially permanent) Loss of taste (a troubling neurological symptom) Sore throat Headaches Difficulty breathing Mental confusion Diarrhea Nausea or vomiting Loss of appetite Strokes have also been reported in some people who have COVID-19 (even in the relatively young) Swollen eyes Blood clots Seizures Liver damage Kidney damage Rash COVID toes (weird, right?)

People testing positive for COVID-19 have been documented to be sick even after 60 days. Many people are sick for weeks, get better, and then experience a rapid and sudden flare up and get sick all over again.

A man in Seattle was hospitalized for 62 days, and while well enough to be released, still has a long road of recovery ahead of him. Not to mention a $1.1 million medical bill.

Then there is MIS-C. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Children with MIS-C may have a fever and various symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling extra tired. While rare, it has caused deaths.

This disease has not been around for years. It has basically been 6 months. No one knows yet the long-term health effects, or how it may present itself years down the road for people who have been exposed. We literally *do not know* what we do not know.

For those in our society who suggest that people being cautious are cowards, for people who refuse to take even the simplest of precautions to protect themselves and those around them, I want to ask, without hyperbole and in all sincerity:

How dare you?

How dare you risk the lives of others so cavalierly. How dare you decide for others that they should welcome exposure as "getting it over with", when literally no one knows who will be the lucky "mild symptoms" case, and who may fall ill and die. Because while we know that some people are more susceptible to suffering a more serious case, we also know that 20 and 30 year olds have died, marathon runners and fitness nuts have died, children and infants have died.

How dare you behave as though you know more than medical experts, when those same experts acknowledge that there is so much we don't yet know, but with what we DO know, are smart enough to be scared of how easily this is spread, and recommend baseline precautions such as:

Frequent hand-washing Physical distancing Reduced social/public contact or interaction Mask wearing Covering your cough or sneeze Avoiding touching your face Sanitizing frequently touched surfaces

The more things we can all do to mitigate our risk of exposure, the better off we all are, in my opinion. Not only does it flatten the curve and allow health care providers to maintain levels of service that aren't immediately and catastrophically overwhelmed; it also reduces unnecessary suffering and deaths, and buys time for the scientific community to study the virus in order to come to a more full understanding of the breadth of its impacts in both the short and long term.

I reject the notion that it's "just a virus" and we'll all get it eventually. What a careless, lazy, heartless stance. Being intentional and taking basic, common sense precautions has permitted me to avoid many common viruses. I've never had the flu. And while I'm not saying I never will, I also am not about to run out and intentionally expose myself to "get it over with".

#covid-19 #verbatim quote from facebook #misattribution

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docboots · 7 years ago

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On Hereditary Angioedema and Medical Marijuana

I was born with this rare disease that only really started getting problematic when I was a teenager, and has been getting worse as the years go by. It is called Hereditary Angioedema (HAE for short). It isn’t very well known, and it has a number of triggers. The most notable is stress. Physical stress will likely cause a reaction in the area (say I get hit in the hand, my hand will be affected), while mental stress causes life to play a bit of a wheel of fortune game with me. I liken it to being deathly allergic to stress, even if there are other triggers and it isn’t an allergy really. Antihistamines and other medications for allergies just don’t do anything. Minus make me sleepy. Likely in too much pain to sleep, so my attempts to summon the Sandman and capture him in a cage to answer for ding dong ditching me is just added to the list. Comparing it to an allergy is just the simplest way to describe it.

Much like how a bee allergy is often depicted, my limbs, organs, and even more..sensitive areas can swell to 2-3 times their size. This is painful and annoying at its best, debilitating normally, and can be fatal at its worse. It seems to hit everyone differently, which isn’t surprising given that stress is a factor and everyone is unique in that regard, and with me the potentially fatal area that likes to torment me most is the gastrointestinal system. Annoyingly, I also have what some with HAE call ‘wandering swelling’. So, say my hand swells up. This normally lasts for 2-5 days. As the swelling goes down, it will ‘move’ to the forearm. As it goes through its process, it can them more to my bicep or, oddly, to my other arm.

To add to this, I have ADHD. The variant that is especially prone to hyperactivity. You may be under the assumption that a hyperactive person is basically Daffy Duck when he has lost it. ‘Woohoo! Hoho! Woohoo!’ Running everywhere, interacting with everything. Robin Williams on stage is another way to describe it. I am the guy that meth addicts have mistaken for being on crack or meth. I have never touched anything harder than Pot, and that is for medical reasons. Stone sober people think I am one something and pissy, as I talk a mile a minute.

Here is the thing, least with my type, even when we are calmly sitting down, our thoughts are pumping. Our minds are going a mile a minute. Every sound, every bit of movement. We might not make a visual note of it, but somewhere in our minds, we have examined every aspect of it. Stressing out over it, freaking out about it. To put it simply, I am not 100% certain I know what it truly means to chill. I know being relaxed, but I know ME being relaxed. Which still tends to involve my mind ripping some subject apart. Just depends on what I feed it. I am always stressed.

The kicker is because they are afraid that I am going to go off and sell ADHD medicine instead of, you know, use it for the disorder it was invented for, I have been unable to find someone who will prescribe an Adult like me medication. I have trouble even finding someone who will diagnose me. I was diagnosed and treated with countless ADHD medicines as a kid. It was just one I became a teenager that the medical profession decided my mental health did not outweigh the potential they couldn’t trust me not to sell my medication. So, as of writing this, I have been unable to find official assistance on ADHD for nearly a decade, if not more. Not without lack of trying.

Going to the doctor has proven only helpful in these cases where I could potentially die from my body’s overreaction to stress. The only medication they will offer me are these steroids that drove my birth mother, with the same disorder, mental. Kinda happens when you have to take steroids for the rest of your life I hear! Luckily, as with most people on the west coast, I had friends who smoked pot!

Turns out, with my mixture of ADHD and traumatic childhood/adult experiences, that shit evens me out. Instead of countless different medications flung at me with side effects including: Sparking my HAE like crazy, that lovely feeling of being a mental zombie, feeling claustrophobic in a meadow, INTENSE CAPS DEMANDING IRRITABILITY, and potential organ failure; I get the munchies. Maybe more into Steven Universe and Adventure Time than is healthy at my age.

Problem is that in order the get this magical medicine I have to go through all these forms and pay quite a bit of money (sometimes they quote $85, sometimes $500. I get fired from jobs for this disability before I can even remember my manager’s name, so that ain’t happening. Don’t even get a discount off the meds! Just the POTENTIAL to not be fired for the medication. Yet I can easily get a prescription for this medication that’ll make me gain possibly 5 new mental disorders in the process and go postal and medical insurance will pay off every bit of that. Doctors even agree with me on this, but they can only apologize that they aren’t allowed to give a prescription. Only recommend it. That isn’t their fault, the fact it is still considered more dangerous than cocaine. I consider it far safer than Prozac. Especially if mixed with other medicines.

Now it is recreationally legal! Hooray. You can’t read my tone. Let me try again, Hoo-fuckin-ray.

You see, a problem with it being legal, yet still being unable to afford the cost of that ‘recommendation’ then you are just another guy wanting to smoke up. The deals for medicinal weed painted everywhere while you still can’t afford the subscription fee for the price.

“It is worth it in the savings!” The counter said. Tell me, would you feel comfortable hearing that when the context is the medicine keeping you stable both physically and mentally? When you still have to pay for the medication but at a discounted price, why doesn’t all the evidence showing this would assist me get me that card? That card that would have saved me a world of stress when I had to hold the label of criminal just for waiting for a business minded self starter (we give our dealers many names to make it feel less horrible. I am partial to medicine man!) in an alley or a parking lot hoping no one has realized you have been sitting in that car an hour, and have done so every week for months. That is, if you are lucky enough to find a dealer who won't ghost you, cancel at the last moment (as in an hour after when you were supposed to meet them), or just run out.

When it was made legal, I sat in lines with others who couldn’t afford the medical card while the more vocal, the ones here just to get high, talk about all the amazing stuff they can afford. How shatter and dabs are fantastic, how all these different edibles and strains work. While I, thanks to my incredibly understanding and supportive Dad, have $20 for that week, and the next, and the next. I have to string that $20 out as long as I can. Not for any fault of my Dad’s, there are still other bills that must be paid. The help he has given me so far is enough the guy deserves a medal or a statue in my eyes, but taxes can really make something that is already rather pricy quite high. So it is depressing, frustrating, and potentially soul destroying to see your medication evolve from political punching bag to cash cow, while still falling into the cracks.

But those munchies are gonna just destroy America, right guys?

#rant #disability #nonfiction #medical marijuana #marijuana #Cannabis #medicine #drug dealers #swelling #flair up #recreational marijuana #hereditary angioedema #HAE

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captaindunklerocklaw · 7 years ago

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Update!!!

Hey guys, I wanted to give a little bit of an rundown on what’s been up with me.

First, things are finally starting to get moving on my computer. I called support for Xotic (people that built my laptop), and we believe the issue is my power pack. So, I have to send it in and have them test to make sure. However, I’m also wanting to have them look around at my computer to make sure that there’s nothing else wrong. I also wanted to look into upgrading the cooling system if that’s an option. But, I don’t know how much all this will cost (the fix and look over are the most important, I don’t have to have a cooling upgrade, I just know my computer is getting old and has more trouble with getting too hot). I need to know at least some kind of estimate, which hasn’t been given to me, so I’m calling today to try and verbally get an estimate. Problem is however, I don’t really have the funds to do much of anything. So I made a tumblr related to all things commissions. I can write and draw, and all relevant info is located on that tumblr (I also have examples of my writing and art).

Now, I didn’t write this to bring up commissions or money (I hate talking money, but I need to right now), but I wanted to explain for those that missed it why I’ve been sparse in my presence. The reason why I’ve been more absent is because of the loss of my laptop and I need to get it fixed before I can get back on and be truly active again. But there’s also another reason that only a couple people know.

I’ve been dealing with health problems for over a year and a half now. One problem has literally bedridden me from pain. I finally have a specialist, but when I go to see them it’s a three hour drive and because the trip is so hard on me (because of pain), I usually stay almost a week before making the trip back. So the last couple weeks my presence has been sparse because of my trip (as I got back a few days ago). I’m back now and am gonna get to work on replies and asks, using the netbook I’m borrowing.

So health and computer problems have slowed me down considerably, and made things a bit difficult for me, and I wanted to explain that. When I was at my worst in the pain department I had literally wasted away in bed for four months unable to do anything, I lost so much weight that I literally scared friends and family, as I didn’t eat hardly anything (my other issue is gastrointestinal-at one point my stomach literally noped out of its digestion job). When I tried to come back onto my old main tumblr it was like I was talking into an empty void, which was quite painful for me (though I understand interests change and when something is absent a while people stop caring about it so much), as I had been severely isolated from the world and from everyone I cared about for a very long time.

I wanted to write this note to explain that even if I become sparse, I’m not going on hiatus unless I say so, and I am not abandoning anything. I have people who think I abandoned my fanfics because they haven’t been updated for a year and a half… conveniently when I became bedridden from the injury I sustained (not my stomach/gut problem). But they are not abandoned! I really miss writing on them and plan to continue when I can! I’m here! I’m not going anywhere! And I hope I don’t ever disappoint you guys. The chat and fun I’ve been able to have rping with you guys means so much, and it really brings joy into a life that has been gray and dull. I don’t mean to put pressure of course, just know that I’ll be around, I’ll get to replies, I’ll respond to asks, it just may take a while sometimes. I love you guys.

And in case anyone is interested in the work I can do, the tumblr is darkscommissions, as my usual penname is Darksinokaru (almost everywhere), though for reader-insert fanfiction I’ve come to be known as Byakko-chan.

#OOC #Mun Speaks #Dark talks #important #update #psa?#computer #health #I'm here guys!

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alessaserums22things · 5 years ago

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a-woman-apart · 6 years ago

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Effexor Withdrawal (My Experience)

A/N: As I previously stated, this post contains information about medicine, medicine dosages, and side effects. Discuss all your concerns with your primary care physician or psych doctor before you make any changes. Do not discontinue any medication without first consulting with your health care provider.

Trigger warning: Briefly mentioned vomiting

Oh, so you thought the story was over?

It wasn’t.

In one of my previous posts, Advocating for Myself as a Patient, I briefly detailed that abdominal cramping and gastrointestinal symptoms, along with a “tingling” in my head and other parts of my body had accompanied some of my medication changes. I thought that a little rest and taking the probiotics might solve the problem. I also had nausea, and psychiatrist #3 had said that the Hydroxyzine would help with the nausea.

It did, mildly, but my symptoms continued to get worse and be overwhelming. After doing a little digging, I discovered that my cornucopia of symptoms (nausea, diarrhea/loose stools, abdominal pain, sweating, chills, shaking, nervousness, dizziness, weakness, confusion, and paresthesia/tingling) could be attributed to the discontinuation of Effexor/Venlafaxine.

I was on Venlafaxine ER (Extended release) and was still on the starting dose of 37.5 mg. When I asked psychiatrist #3 if it was okay to eliminate that without tapering, she hand-waved it. “Oh yes, it’s just a small dose.” To be fair, though, there is no smaller dose of Venlafaxine ER to help patients with tapering, and you better believe that patients have complained to the drug companies who make it.

Anyway, I continued to be violently sick. It may sound strange, but the paresthesia, and “brain zaps” were one of the most distressing symptoms, and what sought me to do online research in the first place. Sufferers have begun referring to the tingling sensation in the head and parts of the body as “brain zaps” because it can be described as feeling like a small electric jolt or shock. It is disconcerting, because it can coincide with dizziness, weakness, and lack of coordination. Sometimes I would have to lean against other objects for support when a “brain zap” hit me.

I learned that I was not alone. I found out that most people who try to discontinue Effexor—even under doctor supervision— experience even worse side effects than I did. I discovered that like me, most patients are not warned about how powerful this drug is. I was never told that trying to come off even such a small dose would cause such a terrible case of discontinuation syndrome. Discontinuation syndrome is a process of withdrawal that can occur when patients try to come off SSRIs (Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) or SNRIs (Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors). You can read this Harvard Health Article for more information. More importantly, scroll down and read the comments, where patients detail how antidepressant withdrawal ruined their health and their lives.

I must stress that it is important that this does not mean that you should not take an antidepressant. If your doctor prescribes something, they are usually taking into account that the benefits outweigh the risks. However, some antidepressants like Zoloft and Effexor have a very short half-life, which means they stay in your system for a shorter time than other drugs (such as Paxil). This quick elimination of the drug from your body upon stopping the drug can cause withdrawal. It certainly does not happen to everyone, but it is a risk that patients deserve to be informed about.

To make a long story short, I ended up in the ER for 6 hours on the day that I was supposed to return to work. This was after rushing to urgent care, where I was told that urgent care was not equipped to treat my symptoms. At the emergency room, they did an EKG and took blood samples, including a lithium level (this was just in case the increase in lithium was causing my symptoms). My heart, thyroid, and kidneys turned out to be fine, and the lithium level was perfect. The doctor prescribed two different medications: Bentyl for abdominal cramps and another drug for nausea.

When I go to fill out the prescription, I see that neither drug was covered by my insurance. The Bentyl was $46, but the nausea drug was going to be $85 for 12 pills. Haha, no. So even though I’ve already spent over a hundred dollars on medicine and medicine co-pays this month, I am desperate, so I pay $46 for the Bentyl.

So, in the meanwhile, I can’t go to work the next day either (got a doctor’s note) and I’m taking the Bentyl with meals as prescribed. At this point, I’ve developed food aversions. I can’t drink milk, I can’t eat anything with too much sugar, and I can’t eat certain raw fruits, vegetables, and proteins. I’m weak all day, and so I spend the day trying to relax. I binged the entire Aggretsuko on Netflix. I am worried that the Bentyl is making my nausea worse, so I wish I had that other drug now but, alas. I ended up throwing up after taking all my night meds. My stomach felt better at that point, but I was also worried that I threw up all the good stuff I needed to help with my mood.

I ate some soup—which I was able to keep down— and went to bed.

It finally becomes Wednesday—and time for another group— but I went to my clinic early so that I can see psychiatrist #3 before group time. When I get in to see her, she is harried (it’s quite busy) and visibly annoyed at me for coming in to see her again so soon. I explained my symptoms and that I felt that I was experiencing withdrawal from the Effexor/Venlafaxine removal. I asked her about a remedy that I had seen online, which was to introduce a single dose of Paxil to help with the withdrawal symptoms. Paxil leaves the body slowly, so introducing that single dose can alleviate symptoms and aid in the tapering off process.

She told me, “Your symptoms are caused by anxiety. You need to take the hydroxyzine, and that will help with the nausea (again I saw scant evidence of that). There’s no smaller dose of Venlafaxine for you to take. The only thing we maybe could’ve done was to have you take the medicine every other day, until you came off from it, but you’ve already been off it for over a week.”

She then cautioned me from getting back on the medication, and I assured her that I had no intentions of getting back on it. Finally, she said, “If your symptoms persist see your PCP.”

I was slightly annoyed that with the risk of discontinuation syndrome associated with this medication, that she wouldn’t have encouraged that slower tapering, just to be safe. I had considered doing that every other day thing for myself, too, but when she hand-waved the side effects I just did what she told me to do. Also, the apparent lack of knowledge about the withdrawal was concerning. From what I saw, about 20% of people experience discontinuation syndrome, but with millions of people suffering with depression, those numbers are significant. Doctors need to be much less careless with this, and if they do not know there should be better education provided. So many people get back on their antidepressants just because the “brain zaps” and other physical symptoms of withdrawal become too devastating.

Withdrawal can last anywhere from 1-3 weeks, but symptoms can persist for months and in rarer cases, even years. This is not a matter to be taken lightly. One of the worst things was just not being informed. I rushed from psychiatrist, to PCP, to ER, and back to my psychiatrist because no one could tell me what was wrong with me or fully help. I have missed hours of work time, lost hours of sleep, and will have spent $100s once this is over. More importantly, because hypochondria/health anxiety is part of my anxiety disorder, I have agonized over what might be wrong with me. The emotional and mental distress—especially because I am coming out of mixed mania that may or may not have been exacerbated by the Venlafaxine—have been almost unbearable. Yesterday, I just kept crying because I was so paranoid that I was going to be met with suspicion or disdain when I returned to the workplace, because I had just missed so much time and I am only a part-timer.

Even today, my symptoms are not fully alleviated. I have not been able to walk in the park in days, laundry is piling up because I didn’t make it out there this week, and I still have to be careful with food. I’ve tried soymilk as an alternative to dairy milk, but I still don’t know whether my stomach likes it or not. I think I threw up because of the Bentyl, but I also did have a lot of soymilk that day (I might have to take my chances because I am fiending for a bowl of cereal).

In summary, dealing with a mental illness can be exhausting and your physical health may also be compromised. Doctors often either cannot—or will not— put themselves in the shoes of their patients. You must advocate for yourself. I cannot stress that enough. It can be difficult and costly, especially when your insurance does not cover everything. Your life is worth it, though, and your health comes first.

Finally, for the love of all things holy and true, do not come off antidepressants like Zoloft and Effexor cold turkey. I’ve read nightmare stories about people coming off dosages as high as 225mg and then just trying to stop. Bad, bad, bad idea. If 37.5mg did this to me, then imagine what a higher dose could do. I have even heard of people experiencing terrible symptoms when it was doctor-sanctioned and their dose was cut in half (like going from 150mg to 75mg).

Please be careful, y’alll.

P.S. I am aware that hydroxyzine is an anti-histimine (like Benadry). It’s off-label use is to treat anxiety.

#effexor withdrawal #venlafaxine withdrawal #discontinuation syndrome #antidepressant withdrawal #risks of antidepressants #doctor negligence #hydroxyzine #mixed mania #anxiety #health anxiety

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yogaadvise · 7 years ago

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Living with POTS: A new series on 42Yogis.com

I was 8 years old when I initially had chest discomfort. It was my brother's as well as grandmother's birthday, and we were all sitting around the table having cake. I gripped my breast, and also began crying. My moms and dads blended me off to the hospital where - much to everybody's dismay - we didn't get any kind of answers. After bunches of examinations, hospital sees, as well as doctor's appointments, I was formally diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia. Supraventricular Tachycardia (or SVTs as it's most typically known) is an unusual rhythm that begins in the upper chambers of the heart. SVTs triggers chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting, exhaustion, and palpitations.

For years that was my official medical diagnosis, and also I needed to readjust life accordingly. I couldn't go to physical education. I could not run. I had difficulty strolling up stairs. I couldn't raise or bring points. I seemed like a void, but that's a sensation you promptly obtain made use of to when you don't have a choice.

When I was 18 my health and wellness unexpectedly went from bad to worse. I wound up hospitalised for SVTs and also Atrial Fibrillation. The solution? Surgical procedure. A preliminary procedure called Superhigh frequency Catheter Ablation to be specific.

The doctors used a magnificent medication called Versed to keep me awake throughout the treatment. They were attempting to create my SVTs as well as A-Fib, I required to be awake so I might inform them when I was in discomfort. I bear in mind existing on a Tempurmedic surgical bed staring up at a beautiful mural of warm air balloons that some skilled musician repainted on the ceiling. I bear in mind thinking of exactly how good it would certainly be to just drift away, and this would certainly all be over with.

And after that something odd took place, the electrophysiologist claimed an expression you never intend to listen to throughout a treatment like that: 'Hm ... that's unexpected.'

Just like that the treatment was finished, and I was blended off to recuperation, where I do not truly bear in mind much of anything. When I followed up with my cardiologist the complying with week I ultimately discovered what the 'Hm ...' was all about. Ends up, my heart is fine. Not just is my heart fine, it's the image of heart health and wellness. This triggered a brand-new problem. Why am I having cardiac signs and symptoms if my heart is the photo of health?

Several months of tests pass as well as I was officially diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome dued to dysautonomia - a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The free nervous system is responsible for controling your heart price, high blood pressure, respiratory price, and gastrointestinal system. The autonomic nerve system is accountable for seeing to it our uncontrolled physical functions remain to work appropriately. When you have dysautonomia, points obtain a little whacky and also they do so at whacky times.

According to Dysautonomia International, POTS influences an estimated 1,000,000 - 3,000,000 Americans, with 80% of people being women. The seriousness of POTS varies from individual to person, as does the number of - and intensity of - symptoms each client displays. Since of how POTS presents in each person, there is no cure. Treatments concentrate on alleviating each symptom as it occurs.

Life with dysautonomia is a consistent fight with wishing to be healthy and balanced, happy, and also efficient, and not being able to rise. The lifestyle for POTS patients has been compared with that of a person with kidney failing that is on dialysis. A couple months ago a girl with POTS called Christina Tournant committed self-destruction because she could not handle it anymore. That struck a chord with me. If only she knew it could improve. So she had hope ...

For a long period of time I was incapable to function, I was hardly able to stand. With time I reached a point where I had the ability to work, but functioning was so difficult on my body I needed to rest for 14 hours a day. One day regarding 2 years, being the bold lady that I am, I chose I am unwell of exhausted of being sick and weary, as well as damnit, I'm going to do something about it. POTS be damned.

I began doing research as well as I found out yoga helps soothe the parasympathetic nerves. I went to Walmart, I got myself a low-cost yoga exercise mat, as well as I began adhering to Erin Motz's 30 Day Yoga exercise Difficulty video clips on YouTube. It took me much more like 60-90 days, yet the outcomes were astounding. I started sleeping like a normal individual. My migraines vanished. My upper body pain become less as well as much less regular. I had much more power. I could possibly take a breath! I could possibly stroll up stairs! I can lug things! I felt like a new woman. Hell, I WAS a new lady. Yoga assisted me a lot I started 42Yogis as a means to spread the awesomeness of yoga.

I am now running up stairs, treking, strolling 3 miles a day, taking tennis lessons, and finding out how you can run (I intend to have the ability to run a 5K by next summertime). Never ever would certainly I have actually thought I might be this healthy and balanced. There was a time I was depressed, similar to Christina. I had no hope, I saw no light at the end of the passage. It makes my heart ache to consider the pain as well as anguish Christina was undergoing. It is since of Christina I have actually chosen to share my ideas, my secrets, for getting my POTS under control.

The next write-ups in this collection are visiting be regarding my yoga and also health tips for POTS patients.

#yoga #yoga for beginners

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