#because I have enough B12!

[tj-crochets]

Hey y'all, weird question time again! I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this one, but asking anyway: If you are having severe muscle cramps/knots/tension all over your body and go to a doctor/urgent care/hospital for them, assuming the doctor believes it's something that needs treatment, the only things they can give you are anti-inflammatories, pain relief, muscle relaxers, or like an IV to rehydrate you if it turns out to be caused by dehydration, right? I know those are three very broad categories of treatment, I'm not asking for specifics within those categories, just if there are options outside of them (I am allergic to NSAIDs, already on corticosteroids for unrelated reasons, probably shouldn't have muscle relaxers or stronger pain meds for "my blood pressure looks for any excuse to crash" reasons, and am staying on top of hydration and electrolytes, but this round of muscle cramps is bad, even for me)

[didntaskforfrozenyoghurt]

i feel fucking wretched because i know most people with long covid don't even know they have it. don't even know long covid is a thing

[she-is-ovarit]

Please hear me.

Being tired isn't normal. It doesn't matter that you're aging. Being fatigued is a serious sign.

It might be difficult to judge "normal tired" from "bad tired". Rule of thumb is that if you notice that other people seem to be on another plane of existence with alertness, you're not "normal tired".

I slept for 10-12 hours a day at least and still was tired for most of the day but "functioned" (went to work).

It turns out it wasn't just one thing. It was a lot of things. I went on liquid vitamins first because that's all I had energy for—to throw money at something that can be delivered to me. And it was crucial. I went off my heart medication after my doctor let me know my active heart rate was way too low (prior to the vitamins). I felt super improved and this went from feeling super improved to extremely improved after I began to eat more healthy fats (avocados, eggs, nuts, vegetarian-friendly animal products). I cannot emohasize the eating more fats thing enough. Did you know that due to our biology women are supposed to have way more healthy fats than what we're typically told?

I had struggled with other symptoms I brushed off as normal too. My hands and feet being cold all the time. Turns out this wasn't normal. How many women and girls have cold hands and feet constantly? I was "adoringly clumsy". Balance issues from vitamin B12 deficiency. Foot cramps. Magnesium deficiency. Generalized anxiety disorder. Still have it, but significantly improved because my body isn't fighting for it's life. Lack of focus/concentration issues to the point where I worried I had ADHD or something since that's all I know about that mental health condition.

Constant cravings I blamed on emotional eating. Increasing my healthy fat intake all about cured this—helped more than protein. I began to lose weight when I increased my healthy fats because I was no longer seeking out sugar or bad fats. Iron deficiency and vitamin D3 deficiencies were also confirmed on blood tests before I started liquid vitamins.

When I went off my heart med and bought those dumb electrolyte packets for my water, my arrhythmia is now hardly noticeable physically.

And to circle back—I am awake. And I sometimes break down and cry because I can't believe how I was functioning now that I understand what having energy feels like. I didn't know. I didn't know there was even anything wrong with me. I thought I was just a tired person. That being tired was normal to being female and aging.

Chronic fatigue is extremely serious. It's not normal. You're not just a tired person.

[systlin]

People that are absolutely convinced anyone can be vegan/vegetarian baffle me. I eat meat fairly regularly and I am already courting a B12 deficiency (for anyone who doesn't know the easiest source of B12 that the human body likes to absorb is red meat, you can get it from other sources primarily leafy greens I believe but your not getting as much because it's not as easy for your body to absorb) my levels aren't low enough to be considered clinically deficient but it's a near thing so my doctor has told me to take 2 B12 vitamins every day. I'm hoping this fixes my levels because if it doesn't that's a sign of a much more serious problem where my digestive system is biologically struggling to absorb B12

Gods, I feel you

When I got my Chron's diagnosis, the gastroenterologist and I talked about diet. High fiber is my enemy. I'm mostly OK now thanks to maintenance medication, but even now I can't have more than a single handful of nuts or popcorn without Suffering after. Raw vegetables are iffy; I can eat a couple of radishes or carrot sticks, but celery sets it off and raw broccoli or cauliflower is misery. I can have ONE small bowl of salad a day, which sucks because I LOVE salad. I have to be careful to limit servings of raw fruit, which also sucks because I adore cherries and pears and peaches.

Cooked vegetables are mostly fine, though I still have to keep the broccoli and brussels sprouts servings small. Cooked fruit is fine too. Beans are iffy. I can have some, but not a lot, which sucks because I love beans. Tofu is OK, but during my flare it gave me worse gas.

During a flare, my safe foods were cheese, meat, eggs, milk, fruit juice, vegetable juice, white bread, and cream of wheat. It was a fucking nightmare to try and get all the nutrients into me that I need. You will note that most of these are in fact animal products. I was under literal medical orders to keep the hell away from non-juiced fruits and vegetables.

Of course, a bunch of people came out of the woodwork to tell me that I could heal myself by cutting out all dairy and wheat and going vegan/raw vegan. People still do this regularly. I've deleted ten out of my inbox since yesterday.

If I tried to go vegan, it would be very, very rough on my traitor-ass large intestine and would probably send me into a flare. If I tried to go RAW vegan, it would probably mean surgery and might kill me.

[scientia-rex]

Hallo!! I really appreciate your blog and how open and invested you are in wellbeing outside of medical fatphobia and other ways medicine as an institution can suck. It's also great to see a humanized side of working in medicine, so thank you for your openness :) You mentioned recently not prescribing bariatric surgery to patients except in rare, specific cases. If you have time and energy, would you be able to share a little more about what you think about bariatric surgery when those particular conditions aren't present? Also please feel free to ignore this ask if you're not up for it. Hope you have a great day! 🌸🌼🌺

When someone is fat to the point where they can't do daily activities of living like dressing themselves, walking, etc., then bariatric surgery probably has a place.

However, bariatric surgery has risks. Lots of them. To start with, there's the on-the-table risks. These are a lot lower than they used to be--anesthesia in this day and age is incredibly safe. Getting to bariatric surgery is challenging for most patients, as insurance in the US will typically only work with a few centers that have wrap-around teams including the surgeons but also other specialists, especially nutritionists. So lots of patients go to Mexico. I haven't had a single one of my own patients, since I started having my own patients four years ago, get from the phase of thinking about bariatic surgery to actually having it done in the US. I've had three patients go to Mexico and have it done. I will withhold judgment, because I haven't been to those centers, I don't know what those doctors and teams are like, but I do know the overall out of pocket cost for patients is about 5 grand, which is so much cheaper than it is in the US that it doesn't bear comparison.

Just-after-surgery risks include blood clots that can go to the lungs or the heart. There is always a risk of wound infection, which can be devastating. If a prolonged hospital stay is required, pneumonia is a significant risk.

Any time you have intra-abdominal surgery, your body develops scar tissue. Places where scar tissue fuses different structures together are called adhesions. Having a re-operation after that is more risky because of those adhesions. You are also at higher risk for intestinal obstruction, because your intestines can hang up on adhesion and twist so that they cut off their own blood supply. This is a surgical emergency. When bowel dies, it becomes leaky and lets dangerous intestinal bacteria into the otherwise sterile environment of the abdomen. That higher risk of intestinal obstruction never goes away.

People who have had bariatric surgery are also at risk for dumping syndrome. This is a condition where the small intestine becomes overly stimulated immediately after a meal, because the food is not moving smoothly through the stomach into the small intestine on the natural time scale. That stimulation leads to excessive insulin release in comparison to the amount of glucose absorbed, which can means hypoglycemia, which is life-threatening.

Rapid fat loss leads to significant amounts of excess skin. Many people who've had bariatric surgery go on to have skin removal surgery. This is actually a riskier surgery than the bariatric surgery itself, because you are tampering with the barrier between the inside of your body and the world outside it. And if it's done too early, you can end up needing your skin to stretch again, and having stretch marks in addition to the scars.

After bariatric surgery, you are also worse at absorbing good nutrients. You need lifetime monitoring for vitamin levels, including vitamin B12. If you don't have enough vitamin B12, your nerves start to die. This results in pain that starts in the feet, since the neurons running from the spinal cord to the big toes are the longest and therefore most susceptible in the body.

But perhaps the most upsetting aspect of bariatic surgery to me is that it is presented as a definitive solution.

Is it?

Not for 20-25% of people who have bariatic surgery, who struggle with significant weight regain.

So if the most extreme intervention we have--literally surgically altering your gut--isn't enough to make weight loss permanent, how is anything else going to do it?

You can be skinny. For a little while. But attempts to lose large amounts of weight, including surgically, have high failure rates. The 75% success rate for bariatic surgery is significantly higher than for any other method currently widely available, but the risks are also significantly higher. I don't think it's worthwhile for most patients, especially given how many patients are lied to by their doctors about how much their weight is likely contributing to their health problems. Most of my patients focus on their weight rather than activity levels, they beat themselves up about how they're not doing intense enough exercise but don't incorporate lower-impact exercises like swimming or walking, they try to eat less rather than eating a diet more rich in vegetables and fruits and lower in highly processed foods. You can do so much for yourself without ever framing it as being about weight.

And if you've done that--if you're struggling with being so fat that you can't live your life--then sure. Talk to your doctor about a referral for bariatric surgery. But don't be shocked if the results are not what you were told to expect. Don't be surprised when you find that you actively resent the people who suddenly find you tolerable, even desirable, now that you're not so fat. Don't let them sell you bariatic surgery as a no-downside cure-all, because it most emphatically is not.

[thebibliosphere]

I was diagnosed with ADHD by my uni (and am having to wait 50 million years for an NHS diagnosis), so I'm wondering if b12 would help, but I had my bloods done a few months back (have some weird health problems, get regular blood tests), and both my b12 and folic acid are within the normal range apparently. The NHS seems to use different units than American healthcare tho. Idk if you've ever been in a similar situation, but do you think b12 would help even though I apparently don't need it? Apparently anxiety also messes with b12, and I have panic disorder, but still, normal blood test results

I can only speak from my own experience, but even when my numbers are in the "acceptable" range, I suffer the mental symptoms of having a deficiency. It's only when my numbers are at the absolute top range that I feel adequately alert. Obviously, I've got some unique problems going on, and I'm not saying that's true of everyone, I'm just saying a lot of my brain fog and other cognitive problems were ignored for decades because my numbers were "acceptable."

That said, it might be advisable to take a B complex or something of the like just to make sure you're getting enough of them. There's been some ongoing research about ADHD being linked to lower levels of B2, B6, and a few others.

Obligatory check with a doctor before starting any new medications or supplements, but taking a B complex is generally considered safe because B vitamins are water soluble, and whatever your body doesn't need, it flushes out. Basically, it may or may not help, it really depends on your own body. But it likely wouldn't hurt to try?

[marumaruz-haikyuu-agere]

Hq disability Headcanons

A somewhat detailed list of my haikyuu medical headcanons

Nishinoya Yuu - Type 1 diabetes and sensory neuropathy

Was diagnosed at 5

Inherited from parents

Prefers an insulin pump to insulin injections

Diabetes causes his sensory neuropathy

Nerve damage in his arms causing bruises because he can't tell when to stop practicing

Kenma Kozume - Hearing loss in both ears, noise damage

Plays games and music with the volume too high causing damage from all the years he's been doing it

Doesn't like to admit that he has hearing problems

Uses CIC (Completely In the Canal) hearing aids because they're small and unnoticeable

Also uses his hair to cover them because even when he knows they're hard to see he's still pretty self-conscious about them

Tendou Satori - Vitamin B deficiency, Motor Neuropathy, Audhd

Tendou has a vitamin B12 deficiency which results in him developing peripheral neuropathy, more specifically motor neuropathy

It causes him muscle spasms/twitching and gives him a barely noticeable foot drop

I think he has Audhd and struggles with paying attention and wanting to move around a lot

He doesn't have a specific hyperfixation exactly but is full of lots of little facts about lots of things

Hinata Shoyo - Audhd, Dyspraxia

I don't think i really need to explain Hinata's Audhd but I will anyways

It's one of the reasons he has so much energy while he's practicing, because he already struggles with staying still but also because it's one of his special interests

It helps him more if things are explained at the speed his brainis going instead of going slowly

I think he has Dyspraxia too because it explains a lot of his struggles in volleyball

It also ties into why the quick attack pair works so well because Hinata has to focus less on getting everything right himself and can put his attention into his motor skills

Oikawa Tooru - Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is pretty common

It causes joint pain and stiffness in most cases

And it's most common in places like the knees

It's usually from old age but in Oikawa's case it's from trying to play after an injury without letting it fully heal

But he refuses to admit that he has a problem

Kageyama Tobio - Dyslexia

He's incredibly dyslexic

Nobody knows though, everyone just thinks he's really dumb

He has consulted someone about it unfortunately he talked to Hinata who also has mild dyslexia mixed with the fact that his eyes won't stay on one point on his page

They both think that letters and numbers do that for everyone and that they just haven't figured out how to read it properly

Ushijima Wakatoshi - Autism

Definitely autistic

Pretty high functioning though

He's pretty slow on some social cues but the basic ones have been worked out in his brain

He has quite a high tolerance for most stuff but he's not the biggest fan of messing up schedules

Tsukishima Kei - Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Was partially inherited because Akiteru showed signs of it but not enough for a diagnosis

I think he specifically has cEDS (Classical EDS) because it fits him the most

I think he's been pretty used to his joints dislocating sometimes but doesn't realise that everyoen else around him isn't

The first time Yachi saw it she almost fainted

Particularly with cEDS people have easily bruised/breakable skin on their forehead, knees, shins and elbows

He has a few pretty big scars on his knees and shins from when he was a kid

They're also quite wide because with cEDS wounds heal quite slowly and leave wide scars

Bokuto Koutaro - Borderline Personality Disorder

This wasn't originally my idea (He wasn't actually going to be on here but it got pointed out to me yesterday)

BPD comes in four stages, Emotional instability, Disturbed patterns of thinking, Impulsive behaviour and Unstable relationships

With emotional instability it's usually intense negative emotions and severe mood swings which could contribute to his 'emo modes'

During disturbed patterns of thinking he'd get upsetting thoughts (like his emo mode) and hallucinations and distressing thoughts that he can't be talked out of

Impulsive behaviour is one i think he has less negatively but it's commonly negative in most cases

His impulsive behaviours are less harmful to himself and others

Unstable relationships are when he attaches himself to someone and I think that person/people would be Akaashi and Kuroo

Them trying to leave him would not go well, it's why he contacts them all the time because he doesn't like the feeling that they might leave him

[femmefatalevibe]

Hello, Femme!

I would like your advice on a couple of things, if that's okay. This is a lot, so I apologize.

I am young and nearing my 20's, and I am only recently trying to learn how to invest in myself, my self-care/wellbeing, and my future.

I've grown up in poverty, in a male-dominant household, and my mother (the only other woman in the house) was emotionally and physically absent for most of my childhood so I was never taught proper hygiene, self-care and in general really crucial things that a woman should know. I think also because of these factors (as well as sexual assault history and being afraid of predators), I've never learned how to be in tune with my body and its needs and how to be feminine, and how to embrace it.

I've been trying to find female role models on Youtube, but the sheer amount of channels and content has me overwhelmed. In other aspects of my life aside from physical care, I have no clue what I'm doing and what I should do.

I'm making almost $900 a month thanks to my dad's SS benefits because he's retired, and I want to get the things that I need/want (physical self-care, exercise equipment, room decorations/furniture, clothing, etc.) as well as investing in the future (car, apartment, etc.). Do you have some ideas as to what I should get or recommended channels on women's health and self-care?

Lastly, what does femininity mean to you? What does it mean to be feminine or a woman? I understand that it's a very subjective question, but I would really appreciate your outlook on it. :)

I hope this explains my circumstances well and I hope I wrote my questions well enough for you to understand.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Hi love,

I'm so glad you're here <3 Proud of the headspace you've managed to acquire at such a young age.

I would say the most important self-care and women's health things you can do is to get the basics down in a way that realistic and sustainable for you. These healthy habits include:

Eating healthy meals (more than once!) per day and healthy snacks as necessary and getting any necessary vitamin supplements you need (like b12 or additional vitamin d)

Drink plenty of water

Limit/eliminate highly processed foods or drinks (calories are just a form of energy, so be more mindful of where they come from on a daily basis–– don't be afraid of them but don't neglect laws of thermodynamics lol)

Get plenty of sleep (7-9 hours every/most nights)

5-7x week/movement (walking/a simple exercise routine or sport you love)

Hygiene (skincare, shower, haircare, nailcare, laundry, house cleaning)

For health/workout-related ideas based on your question, I would recommend the following YouTubers:

Natacha Oceane

Caroline Girvan

Lilly Sabri

Pamela Reif

As for what feminity means to me, it's a tough answer to articulate, so I hope this covers it:

Unlearning patriarchial ideas to discover, validate, and act on your own needs, desires, goals, and pursuits of pleasure without shame and/or allowing it to in any way dictate how you perceive your social currency (especially in relation to the patriarchy).

Hope this helps xx

[osmanthusoolong]

Time for another entry in the irregular Cooking With Oolong!

We’re gonna make something that started out of necessity, but ended up being tasty enough that I make it regularly, and for other people: Rice Bowl With Hangover Sauce. It’s full of vitamin b12 and is pleasantly spicy, which is always stuff I appreciate, and rice with things is the best category of foods, my mind cannot be changed. You don’t gotta be anemic or have overdone it the previous evening to enjoy, I feel like it would be great with a lot of things, and it’s v delicious.

Get your rice cooking, however you like doing that. I usually make big batches, so there’s leftovers for breaklunch.

Hangover sauce assembly:

2 spoonfuls nutritional yeast

Add sesame oil and soy sauce, it should look like this: in terms of proportions:

Add in your preferred amount of gojuchang:

Mix with your fork until it’s a smooth, medium-thick paste

Add a spoonful of mirin. (Why are there no proper measures? Because I make this for breakfast, my coffee is brewing just to the side. Vibes for measuring.) Stir until it’s a nice runny sauce

Get your toppings. I usually don’t go this fancy, usually just an egg and green onions, but you know.

Cucumber, cilantro, fre shavocado green onions on the rice

Saucy

Don’t be mean about my mangled egg, this is what happens when you take pictures:(

(Also some togarashi)

[ardinwriter]

A particularly annoyingly evangelizing vegan colleague of mine got me wondering what exactly the end plan for these people is.

Presumably they want everyone on the planet to go vegan.

Okay, did the math and growing the world's densest (most calories per acre) crop, potatoes, on every acre of the world's arable land you could more than achieve the majority of the nutrition side of things.

You'd still have to deal with the B12 issue (the required human nutrient that potatoes lack), which depending on your level of veganism could be a problem since there are only three sources of B12: meat, dairy, and pills and the contents of the pills is bacterial cultures so that might be a no go, I don't know. Maybe that's fine.

We'll ignore for the moment the distribution issues of getting those spuds to people in non-arable areas.

So say you've completely solved the nutrition problem of being vegan.

How do you plan to open up the arable land currently used for animal production (roughly 75% of currently arable land is currently used for grazing) and what do you plan to do with the existing animals? Being vegan, you can't kill them or harm them in any way, so you can't sterilize them either. So they're just going to keep breeding with no culling other than natural deaths.

In the US alone, we have an estimated 308 million commercial laying hens. Each producing roughly an egg a day. At the moment, with the majority of those eggs going to stores to be consumed as eggs, the US has a fertilization rate of 13%. Even if that didn't climb after egg eating was stopped, that means 40 million fertilized eggs a day. If even 5% of those hatch, that's 2 million chicks after the first 20-21 days of this.

If we aren't eating or killing them, that's a problem.

And since the larger the predator, the longer the gestation time and smaller the number of offspring in a breeding period is a general reality, we are hosed on chickens alone if everyone just stops eating them because there won't be enough predators in the food chain without humans to stem the the chicken tide.

And that's just one livestock animal. It'll be a problem with the others as well.

And all this is ignoring all the other non-food products we get from animals. What are we replacing those with? And don't say plastic (or vegan leather or it's equivalents, cuz those are just plastics), I'd say relying even more heavily on fossil fuels isn't a good strategy here.

So, really, what's the end game here?

[balkanradfem]

Health news!

So, I've been having neck pain, that turned into head pain, for a year and a half now, and while I've had some more comfort since the center of pain was switched to my head, I've still been unable to walk, run, dance, jump, or use any tools like a hammer or a hoe. My right arm became functional again, but my left arm hurts from even holding a cup of tea. I had a neck MRI, and then a brain MRI, and there was no visible cause of pain, so I had a talk with my doctor, and she decided to test my blood for low vitamin D and low B12, and to check my thyroid function.

It turned out my thyroid is fine, but I had low b12, and critically low Vitamin D. She explained to me I need to get b12 shots every month, and that this could be the cause of the pain. When I came in, the doctor seemed overjoyed we finally found something concrete that is wrong with me, that we could treat, while I was wildly skeptical because I've been looking up symptoms of the deficiencies. While I had every symptom for vitamin D deficiency, I had none for b12, and only one article suggested there could be muscle pain as a result of it. Seems like feeble proof.

I have not been ignorant of my poor diet and living habits, I knew I had low vitamin D, and had supplemented it over the winter months, but apparently the store-bought dose I was taking was not enough. I did suspect a b12 deficiency as well, and was starting to take some B vitamins recently, but then read somewhere that they're dangerous to randomly take so I stopped. So what I'm saying is I knew I was sorta deficient, didn't think it was a big deal, I thought I was fixing it, I wasn't, my supplements didn't affect my pain or health. I got prescribed some powerful Vitamin D supplement, and got a b12 shot.

I have to say though, the nurse who was giving me the shot was acting ridiculous, first she was saying it to me like I'm a child, and I'm an adult, so I said 'I like shots, this won't be a problem'. She was not impressed. When she put the needle in me, I commented on how I can barely feel it, because I love acting cool in front of women with my high pain tolerance, but then she said 'When people tense their muscles it can get real bad and the needle can get stuck inside of them'. She said that while the needle was in me! I said 'I don't think I should be hearing this right now' and struggled to stay relaxed, and then she quickly pulled it out and it was fine. Maybe she just hated my positive attitude about getting the shot and needed me to be more apprehensive and afraid, which I don't feel is an attitude a medical professional should have?? Anyway. The shot was free for me so I love that.

The doctor told me 'you're going to feel much better next few months', super confidently, but I am still skeptical, I mean I wish I did feel better, and I'm relieved that something at least is getting attempted, and maybe a healthy dose of vitamin D will help with mental health, so okay, that would be an improvement. I doubt it will cure my head hurting while I walk though. Maybe I just don't understand deficiencies.

[eaymtb]

It's been a while! I am not dead! I do have covid atm though! I'm finally not feeling like warmed over death today, which is nice. So, quick status update: Holy shit it's been a little over 6 weeks since I last actually posted an update about anything, and 7 weeks since the last chapter update. That's.... a lot longer than I realised. Whoops.

This depressive episode is kicking my ass a little, but I'm back on an SSRI now and in regular contact with my amazing doc while we fidget with the dose. Interestingly, I asked to test for either of the MTHFR gene variants since they can impact the body's ability to produce several neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine amongst them), and it turns out that I do have one of them! My levels of folate and B12 are all a-okay though, so it shouldn't be affecting anything, but it's still nice to know. And now I have a few more things to keep an eye on with my annual blood tests. We had a really interesting discussion about it, too, because she didn't actually know how only having one variant would affect things, and she was quite excited about the research she'd been reading up on before my appointment relating to the psychiatric effects of the gene and it's variants. Have I mentioned she's amazing?

Anyway, I caught covid at my last check up where we agreed to the first SSRI dose increase, which is mostly annoying because at the start of the month I was finally feeling well enough to actively try a new thing: Depression Tetris! And I came down with symptoms on the exact day (Friday 9th) that I had planned with a friend to go to a park and find somewhere to sit and do some writing, ha. They have a goal to go for a walk somewhere new that they haven't been at least once a month but they can't drive, while I can and I want to go out new places as both exposure therapy for the agoraphobia and change of environment for the depression, plus outside in fresh air and (hypothetical atm given the weather) sunshine. The universe really said sit your arse back down, though, lol.

I haven't really added any pieces for the past 5 days for obvious reasons, which I'm a little sad about, which is also actually a good sign, since I want to add more tetris pieces, which is also why I'm trying this method in the first place. I can't make myself want to do things in general, but I can make my brain crave shiny little coloured-in squares that I have to fit together in such a way that no two touching pieces are the same colour, which is hilarious. Brains, man.

Anyway, all that to say: I'm okay! Still in a depressive episode but working on it in a variety of ways and I'm incredibly lucky to have some really good supports. Hopefully I'll get back to writing soon. I have at least one little empty 1x1 square I have to fill in where nothing else will fit, after all.

[elithilanor]

For the ask game:

what are 3 things you'd say shaped you into who you are?

what's an inside joke you have with your family or friends?

what's some good advice you want to share?

For the Ask Game!

What are 3 things you'd say shaped you into who you are?

Friends, places/locations that I've lived (California, San Francisco, etc.), and the experiences that I've had. Very cliché in a way but it's the truth.

What's an inside joke you have with your family or friends?

With my roommate: a very obnoxious fake Jon Snow vibe: "She's ma queen, I don't want it." anytime we don't like or don't want to do something a la the disastrous and just horrendous season 8 of game of thrones. I hope my fanfiction writing is never as bad as that catastrophe.

It's mostly a long list of like variant versions of back and forth echolalia with my roommate because we're both ND and that's just how we roll, honestly.

What's some good advice you want to share?

Here's some medical advice I've had to learn over the last few months through my own issues and fighting to find out what's wrong. Also shout out to the failures of the US's scholastic teachings (mitochondria is the power house of the cell lolol):

Advocate for yourself and remember that you're the only one who will. You don't know medicine maybe, but you know when something isn't working the way it should in your body.

Hydration affects every bodily function including your heart and your dry eyes (omega-3s also affect eyes). Drink water and eat your fruit and veg with higher water content (cucumbers, watermelon, etc.).

If you're a vegetarian, pescetarian, vegan, or just don't consume too many meats and animal products, check if you're vitamin B12 levels (energy) are okay. It's the only way to get them as they aren't produced in the body. Legumes and soy are all fine and dandy for protein, but not B12. B12 is a required nutrient and affects the skin, hair, liver, heart, etc.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest or other far northern climes and/or you don't get out a lot and/or you don't eat a lot of animal byproducts, please check your Vitamin D levels! Also affects heart, brain, skin, etc. Your body does make vit D naturally, but that assumes that you're getting enough time in the sun for you to produce it and that you don't have any underlying issues that affect it's production and/or absorption. Vit D levels also affect your body's calcium intake, which especially for AFAB people, can affect bone health and the likelihood of osteoporosis later in life.

Movement (as much as you can) will keep you alive and your circulation flowing. Even if it's just one part of your body, move it. Stand up and move every half hour if you can.

Sleep matters. Undisturbed sleep matters. Movement helps sleep.

Soreness is okay. Tiredness is okay. Exhaustion, constant fatigue, and long-term pain is an indication that something is wrong.

Stress will kill you.

Different fruits and veg have different nutrients and vitamins that your body needs. Don't just eat the leafy greens because they're "healthiest".

Relationships take work. Not really, "how do I improve and make things better all the time (though this can be important)", but just reaching out and saying "hi how are you" every so often.

If it took you 20 years to get to a point, it's going to take more than a couple of weeks to reverse it.

If your body is telling you to rest and you can, do it.

You spend the latter half of your 20s making adjustments and changes to the life that you've been leading. Everyone goes through this and it's normal. You're a little crazy until the 30s/40s. That's fine. Roll with it. Your life is just getting started.

Life is hard. Life is so hard. It has it's ups and downs. Enjoy that cup of coffee or that cup of tea or 5 min in the sun.

Community matters more.

Stop trying to "better yourself" all the time. You're probably a fine person with fine and great qualities. You can improve, but spend time just being or else life will pass you by and you won't have a lot to say for it.

You're doing better than you think you are.

[nietp]

BUM BUM ENERGY DRINK : immediately : 1) loooove the name. 2) the blurb on their website is hilarious. "The production experience and market knowledge we have gained from shipping 1 billion of our own branded Energy drinks to almost a 100 countries for the last 20 years had given us an incredible understanding of market needs and those of our clients." [Note: every number is emphasized in bold+red] Why does this sound so finance instabro coded?? It also sounds like a speech you give to potential investors and definitely NOT customers but ok!!!! I'd love to be on board! But unfortunately... all that production experience and market knowledge for THAT?? How?? This is definitely not meeting my needs as a customer. They dare talk about "BUM BUM ATRIBUTES [sic]".... But the B12 amount is abysmal+laughable+pathetic. What am I gonna do with 8% of my daily dose? Keel over and die? Because of how b12 deficient I am thanks to Bum bum? And there's nothing to be proud of when it comes to B6 either..

Now for the taste: it is SO sweet. Like candies melted in a can. Probably because there's 11g of sugar for 100ml? That definitely ranks bum bum up there among the most sugary energy drinks I've tried. It's also extremely sour so it really gives you that AAAHHHH reaction typical of too strong energy drinks. It's not carbonated enough, but we almost didn't notice it because of how intense it was. It's a very small can but it was already too much. It still made me laugh and was drinkable, so for those beautiful BUM BUM ATRIBUTES, I give it 2/5 stars.

PS: reminder that this review is now cross posted on my new venture capitalist project on Instagram @ energy.drink.sommelier

[theworldoffostering]

Raising kids is not for the weak.

The good:

DS took his road test and passed it! It felt so nice to do a normal kid/parent thing and see him be successful.

The anniversary of his adoption day was this month. It’s been 15 years.

Ms. 6 was accepted into a university.

Ms. 6 is going to graduate high school next month!

We are progressing in attachment therapy with Baby.

School is almost done for the year.

The mediocre:

DD broke up with her fiancé and is already seeing someone else. I did not care for her fiancé, but already seeing someone else is a red flag.

I talked with the students with disabilities center on Ms. 6’s campus this week to try to get her some services. In turn, I had to request her IEP. Her IEP from fall was a train wreck so I reconvened the team this week and told them to rewrite it appropriately. Apparently the guidance counselor quit in the fall and no one has taken his place. For real, without a parent, most kids are completely lost.

I signed Ms. 6 up for college registration and orientation. Students have to bring a parent. I offered but she wants her mom to go which is fine. However, we don’t know if her mom will go. She was too hungover to take Ms. 6 to the hospital when she had knee surgery scheduled a couple of months back. Last week she didn’t get out of bed to take Ms. 6 to a somewhat major dental appointment. I told her I would go, but her mom insisted that she was going so I could not attend. I stood down and then she didn’t show up. Same thing happened with the knee surgery.

The challenging:

So much drama with Ms. 6’s family of origin. Ms. 6 lives over three hours away from us but is enrolled in a high school near us and her graduation will be where we live. I offered to throw her a graduation party and invite her mom. Ms. 6 was thrilled. Her mom told her to cut DH and I off and that she could no longer talk to us or receive mail from us. Now her mom is threatening to take away Ms. 6 attending her own graduation altogether.

Ms. 6 insisted she completed her FASFA. She did, but it was for the 23-24 year, not the 24-25 year. I straightened it out two weeks ago and filled it out for her (she’s an independent so parent income doesn’t count). Financial aid packagers don’t go out until next month so I’m hoping she will still get enough to be able to go to school.

Ms. 6 told me this week that she never obtained a new birth certificate or social security card despite me directing her in how to do both things multiple times in the fall after she left here unexpectedly. I finally just ordered (and paid) for a new birth certificate for her this week.

I feel incredibly burned out. Like maybe I need meds? My endocrin called and told me I need to start doing B12 injections because after taking oral supplements for three months, my b12 levels actually went down. I don’t know if it’s that, or wading through all of the drama, or both. Some days, I don’t feel like I can even put one foot in front of the other. It’s too much. How do you ever get a break from everything?

Tomorrow we are meeting with DD to try to work out getting her a $4k car from a friend of mine. It’s a 2006 Odyssey with almost 200k miles on it. The insurance (collision only) would be $2k for the year. She’s bouncing from one hourly job to another and not saving anything. She desperately needs a vehicle to get to and from work. Currently she’s relying on her fiancé and her vehicle, but now that they’re no longer together, it seems more important that she have her own. She has zero money saved, but I have a college fund set aside for her with about $10k in it. Clearly she’s not going to college right now so I think we are going to pivot with that money and pay for the car and the insurance for a year.

I was planning to drive 6.5 hours this weekend to meet up with Ms. 6 and her BF who she met online. Ms. 6 has really been pushing for this. I asked for his address so I could locate a nearby hotel. She said he didn’t want me to have it. Then I asked for his name. He apparently did not want to disclose that to me either. I did tell her that was super sketch, and now I do think he’s like a really scary person who no one has vetted. Ms. 6 has already stayed with him several times so maybe not a serial killer, but anything else is possible in my brain. He’s definitely older because he has his own apartment.

It’s so much, you guys.

[thebibliosphere]

Hey Joy, this isn't a question so much as a way for me to convince myself I'm not a hypochondriac, lol. Lately, I've been experiencing symptoms of fatigue, brain fog or memory issues, light-headedness, etc, that are uncommon for my age (30). I have related disorders such as anemia, anxiety, & ADHD that may be contributing to these symptoms, although they seem to have gotten worse or appear more frequently now than when I was initially diagnosed with those disorders. My work allows me to read & interact with disabled people with rare diseases, so I often find similarities with their medical issues. At first, I thought this was all just burnout or something related to the lockdown during COVID. I just saw my doctor and had blood work done to check my levels, and I may have a heart condition (tachycardia, mitral valve prolapse). I've fallen asleep at work before because I can't keep my eyes open, even after a full 8 hours of sleep. I can get dizzy from standing up too fast & can't seem to be on my feet for very long without discomfort & pain (I used to work retail, how did I ever do it?). I've researched some of my symptoms and found ME/CFS and POTS as possible conditions. Do you think it's a possibility I have these, or is it just my anxiety? Thank you! (P.s. Hunger Pangs is on my tbr!)

I obviously cannot tell you with any certainty what is wrong--and I am glad you are seeing doctors about it already and may have possible answers wrt tachycardia and the mitral valve.

What I will say is that there are many types of dysautonomia, of which POTS is one, and that what you are describing sounds very familiar to me as someone with two known types of dysautonomia.

The fact that this is hampering your quality of life to the point where you fall asleep at work, are unable to stand without getting dizzy, and are experiencing chronic pain, is enough of a reason to pursue further testing for things like dysautonomia and, yes, possibly even ME/CFS though given your history of anemia, I'm inclined more toward dysautonomia because the two often go hand in hand.

Also, it is normal to feel anxiety experiencing these types of symptoms. Even if it turns out to be a symptom of your anxiety, doesn't make the experiences any less real and debilitating, and you deserve treatment that will help improve your quality and comfort of life. And there is treatment and things you can do that will make you feel better. Getting your anemia under control should be a top priority if it isn't already. Mines was allowed to go untreated for years until we found out my iron anemia was being caused by pernicious anemia (b12 deficiency), and the iron anemia I'd been plagued with since birth suddenly cleared up.

Years and years of blood transfusions and infusion treatments, and the whole time I needed b12. Who knew? Certainly not my old doctors.

Anyway. If your symptoms are at the point where you are recognizing yourself in things like POTS? It's time to pursue that with your doctor. Don't put it off because you think it's not that bad or others have it worse. Everyone deserves to feel well.

Good luck.