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Posted
15 minutes ago, Doc Daneeka said:

I do things. I’m the one who does things. For her. For my daughters. For my parents. For her mom. For her brother. For our niece. For people who matter to me. It doesn’t matter if I feel hollow. Things need to be done and the universe doesn’t give a fuck if I want to do them or not. I do them because they need to be done. If that means sitting in the hospital where I got the worst news of my life, and on the one year anniversary of that news, so that my daughters knows that she’s loved and important to me, so be it. 

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Fuckin A. With you as their daddy, how can your daughters not turn out to be incredible! Your openness and vulnerability inspired me.

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Posted

I don’t want to contribute to anybody’s anxiety, and I mean that sincerely, but, well, shit.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/rfk-jr-goes-after-antidepressants-claiming-threat-to-americans?srsltid=AfmBOorIYHKbv1F9e8-gHAAY6l_0jR9I7Ul_WKNXPWHwfIlQDksnJ_bi

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It didn’t take long for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the newly confirmed Department of Health and Human Services secretary, to challenge the efficacy of a slew of drugs that treat depression, anxiety, and mood disorders.

Within hours of officially getting the job, Kennedy released a statement detailing some of what he hopes to accomplish in his first few months in President Donald Trump’s administration—including looking into any “threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,” or SSRIs.

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This class of prescriptions, including drugs like Zoloft, Lexapro, and Prozac, is used by over 13% of American adults. While they can carry side effects and are not recommended for some patients, SSRIs are widely prescribed and have significantly decreased the prevalence of suicide, according to a study out of UCLA.

Kennedy has referred to people who take SSRIs as “addicts” and, during a 2023 livestream with his now colleague Elon Musk, falsely claimed that there is “tremendous circumstantial evidence” that individuals who take SSRIs are more likely to become school shooters.

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The language in Kennedy’s plans, released Thursday in a White House statement titled “Establishing The President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission,” is vague. It’s unclear how the new health secretary would act regarding SSRIs and what avenues for restricting the medication he may pursue. When Kennedy was running for president, he proposed a plan to send people struggling with addiction to “wellness farms” in rural areas.

“I’m going to create these wellness farms where they can go to get off of illegal drugs, off of opiates, but also illegal drugs, other psychiatric drugs," he said, adding, "if they want to, to get off of SSRIs, to get off of benzos, to get off of Adderall, and to spend time as much time as they need—three or four years if they need it—to learn to get reparented, to reconnect with communities.” (Kennedy later said these farms should be available, but people wouldn’t be forced to attend.)

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At his confirmation hearing, Kennedy—who has been open about being a heroin user for more than a decade in his youth—likened SSRIs to the drug, claiming that antidepressants can be even more addicting than heroin. “I know people, including members of my family, who’ve had a much worse time getting off of SSRIs than they have getting off of heroin,” Kennedy said in the hearing.

“Antidepressants and heroin are in different universes when it comes to addiction risk,” Keith Humphreys, who studies addiction at Stanford University, told NPR in an articledebunking Kennedy’s claims. “In my 35 years in the addiction field, I’ve met only two or three people who thought they were addicted to antidepressants versus thousands who were addicted to heroin and other opioids.”

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During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy was asked about his past rebukes of SSRIs by Senator Tina Smith from Minnesota. Smith explained that, when she was younger, she took SSRIs to aid in her struggles with depression, adding that they “helped to clear my mind, get me back on track to being a mom and a wife and a productive, happy person.”

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“These statements that you’ve made linking antidepressants to school shootings, they reinforce the stigma that people who experience mental health every day face every single day,” Smith told Kennedy. “And I’m very concerned that this is another example of your record of sharing false and misleading information that actually really hurts people.”

“Senator,” he responded, “you’re mischaracterizing my statements.” “I am only putting into the record what you have said, Mr. Kennedy,” Smith retorted.


Other reports are saying he’s going to make a run at banning as many antidepressants as he can.  Fucking dumbest timeline.
 

Posted (edited)

I'm very much in the "try everything before SSRIs" camp and just went through the whole gambit in the medical system over SSRIs. Doctors basically threw them at me during a short term health crisis. So yes, there needs to be reform. I think diet (including gut/brain axis health - and don't sleep on brain/dental axis health), exercise, vitamin D/sunlight, relationship quality, sleep quality, specific nutrient imbalances, redlight therapy, sauna therapy, and a whole host of other therapies that are not pharmaceutical should be considered first. In fact, I think traditional and alternative medicine (with at least some research support) should all be used first before pharmaceuticals. I'm not going to apologize about that view. I think it's the right view. 

As a side note, did you know most serotonin is produced in the gut? the brain and gut are deeply interconnected. there is little doubt now that diet plays a huge role in mental health.  similar symbiosis exists between the gut and brain with GABA and other neurotransmitters. This doesn't even begin to get into the HPA axis (with adrenal gland function outside the brain) and it's interconnection with mood regulation.

on these points, there is little doubt at all that when the human body is functioning optimally it is because we are doing the foundational things right like diet, exercise, relationships, sleep, etc.  Unfortunately, the medical establishment pays very little attention to these foundational elements of mood and optimal functioning.

As another side note, it's shocking that the incoming head of HHS doesn't understand the difference between addiction and dependency and for those reading a long - "addiction" is the intense craving that you want something, where "dependency" is where your body (in this case your brain) has adapted to the presence of a substance and uses it to establish homeostasis such that when you take that substance away, your body (in this case your brain) is thrown out of equilibrium and suffers certain effects until it can regain its balance.  The other factor is "tolerance", where the body (in this case the brain) requires more of the substance in order to produce the same effects (or in some cases it simply stops working). The most wicked substances in this discussion - heroin, narcotics, benzos, alcohol, nicotine/tobacco, etc. generally cause dependency, tolerance and addiction. In addition, these substances cause active harm to the brain during use other than short term use.  They are by definition extremely dangerous. In fact, you can die from trying to quit using most of them unless you are extremely careful. So the idea of going to a "farm" to detox from most of these substances is not only idiotic, it's also highly dangerous.

SSRIs are not addictive and they generally do not create a tolerance nor do they do active harm. They are however, extremely likely to create dependency in those patients that take them.  It is solely because of the dependency issue that I am so adverse to taking them.  However, if after trying other remedies it's clear SSRIs need to be tried, then they need to be considered. And there is virtually no risk of addiction or tolerance in these medications.

But back to the issue at hand, what this all underscores to me is the lack of innovation and discovery in the field of managing anxiety and depression, and that to me is inexcusable and something that must change.

I think RFK is an absolute nut job and he needs to be ousted as soon as possible (I realize that isn't happening). I just hope we don't lose access to what we currently have available and the knowledge we currently have gained, and maybe, just maybe we can have a silver lining with a focus on other remedies in addition to and not in lieu of those remedies already available to us.

I have family that uses these meds, if they are outlawed, I will have to help them get their scripts somehow because in many cases after decades of being on them - with effective results and no other issues other than dependency - there is no route to permanent cessation of these drugs.

I am not cautiously optimistic though.  It could be a bumpy ride.

 

Edited by troph
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Posted
On 2/15/2025 at 9:32 PM, atomheartbevo said:

Hint: they’ve already decided on what they plan on doing, this is just to pretend like there is a process to reach that point.

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What's the beef with weight loss drugs?  Cutting into McDonald's profits?  Everything that I've read show them as a positive over invasive surgery, etc, for the morbidly obese.  Just one more bizarre take, I suppose.

Posted
3 hours ago, tigol said:

What's the beef with weight loss drugs?  Cutting into McDonald's profits?  Everything that I've read show them as a positive over invasive surgery, etc, for the morbidly obese.  Just one more bizarre take, I suppose.

It helps your mental state when you lose weight, so it’s a bad class of drugs?  Can’t have any drugs that help with positive self-image. 

Posted

Got diagnosed with shingles one week ago. I just finished all of the medication, and the sores are doing well. However, I am in such pain. My skin is so sensitive, the nerves are all fucked up. I've read everything I can find, things seem normal, I guess. But I'm so tired of this. My stomach isn't great most times but now it feels all fucked up. I don't know if its from the meds or the shingles or something else. I stopped taking my omeprezole when I started the shingles meds, just because I wasn't sure how they'd interact. Maybe that's why my gut is fucked up? I hope that's all it is.

Then to top things off, my cologuard test results came back and I need to have the colonoscopy anyway. I'm just not in a good place. My wife is my rock and is doing her best but I know I am difficult in these situations. I've caught myself having mini breakdowns all day. I'm supposed to go to work tomorrow and I don't know if I can do it, physically. I want off this fucking ride.

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Posted (edited)

Hey man I don’t know a lot about shingles but from what I’ve read and what you describe it can really jack with your CNS… the good news is generally speaking you can get better but no telling how long it takes. The main thing is to avoid long term complications and problems that can arise in your CNS.
 

I’m not an either / or approach but more of a both / and so whatever isn’t a harsh, dependency inducing solution from your doctors and the natural remedies is my approach. The pharmaceutical options are likely well known with your doctor - gabapentin, low dose naltrexone possibly for longer term issues. You don’t seem like you’re there yet. Both of those are hard to come off of and are likely for severe problems.  I had severe CNS reactions and symptoms from covid and while not the same as shingles I turned down those treatments for nerve pain and basically shot nerves (mental stress etc).
 

So I made sure my vitamin and supplement game was strong. All of the B vitamins, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium (probably glycinate), vitamin D / sunlight, certain herbs like kava, valerian root, ashwaganda, skull cap, and even minor ones like passion flower, chamomile all helped my mind.  I also focused specifically on brain health, berberine, lysine, alpha lipoic acid, glutathione (liposomal)… some of those are merely anti inflammatory some are anti viral, but there is no doubt post viral symptoms are inflammatory responses. There’s more out there and look up each one, find more. I fought like a fucking dog for months but combined with a perfect anti inflammatory diet (get on it now) and lots of fluids (add trace minerals), you really can give your body space to heal. But you have to feed it well, ensure there are zero deficiencies, and reduce stress like a mother fucker. Walk, get sun light. Listen to relaxing music. Red light therapy can help, acupuncture, there are some nerve stimulation therapies that can help too - often for lasting nerve pain. You don’t have to wait it out, your body is amazing and has healing capabilities you aren’t too old to let it do these things but you have to help it help you.  I’m a witness to that power and the sooner you get on it the better your recovery will be. Whether that’s a week or a month, there’s no doubt you will benefit from the natural help. 

on the colonoscopy thing, yeah get on that. 😕

as for being in the trenches …. FUCK it sucks. HOLY SHIT it sucks. I thought I lost my joy and optimism for good, it came back when my body healed. 

you can get through this. There’s plenty of easy noninvasive things you can do to help make it better and ensure it doesn’t spiral away from you into a chronic situation.

hang in there 

Edited by troph
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Posted (edited)

I decided recently to leave the restaurant I was working for. The environment was something I struggled with and I knew I had to go. The older I get the more I value peace while working. I chose a local place near Pearl Harbor. We will see how this goes. I have a years and a half left to finish this degree so I try to have a schedule with work that makes sense  when it comes to studying. I like to experience as much as I can in life and those experiences honestly help in my overall happiness. I think I would be in a deep rut emotionally if I did the same job for years on end. Nothing against those that can, but that would drive me nuts.

i see the posts on here about what y’all are dealing with. The only advice I have is to just keep waking up each day and do something kind for someone else. If you can just do that you will have made someone else’s day better. Maybe open a door or say thank you to someone. Being a good person costs you nothing and you will just feel a little better about the journey through life you are on.

Edited by UpperWestside
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Posted

Lat year had a lot of lows and only a few highs for us so I didn't engage on here much; I tend to step away from the non face-to-face social activities when mental health needs a boost.

This year isn't off to a great start, but taking each day as it comes has helped, so has getting outdoors, reading, other projects. I agree with the small acts of kindness, an interaction wherein you reach out and take that risk can go a long way in helping us help ourselves.

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Posted (edited)

I am struggling. Depression and chronic pain are a viscous cycle. Omnipresent anxiety is also no bueno. Hope is an aspiration I’m rarely accomplishing. Between these things that are a core part of me and the dumpster fires around me (no CR), each new day is a beating. Keeping up the good fight though because I love my (adult) kids and wife, and am fortunate that we have great relationships. Doing my damndest to limit or abstain from alcohol too, because it depresses my mood the day after, and honestly, because people can make rash, emotional, sometimes permanent decisions when super intoxicated. Hang in there friends.

Edited by Degenerate Gardner
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Posted
On 2/24/2025 at 5:30 AM, Mrs Whiggins said:

Lat year had a lot of lows and only a few highs for us so I didn't engage on here much; I tend to step away from the non face-to-face social activities when mental health needs a boost.

This year isn't off to a great start, but taking each day as it comes has helped, so has getting outdoors, reading, other projects. I agree with the small acts of kindness, an interaction wherein you reach out and take that risk can go a long way in helping us help ourselves.

I think admitting that everything is not great is good. I mean we all want life to be ideal, but when it isn’t it’s cool to just say it. Sometimes life is a beating and you feel like you’re on the business end of a punch to the face from prime Muhammad Ali. 
 

When I was younger those moments would just paralyze me beyond belief. I had no clue how to deal with adversity. Now I roll with it and just remember that all I can do is all Incan do. Our lives are so painfully short that it’s good to just remember we can only do so much as human beings. 

Posted
2 hours ago, Degenerate Gardner said:

I am struggling. Depression and chronic pain are a viscous cycle. Omnipresent anxiety is also no bueno. Hope is an aspiration I’m rarely accomplishing. Between these things that are a core part of me and the dumpster fires around me (no CR), each new day is a beating. Keeping up the good fight though because I love my (adult) kids and wife, and am fortunate that we have great relationships. Doing my damndest to limit or abstain from alcohol too, because it depresses my mood the day after, and honestly, because people can make rash, emotional, sometimes permanent decisions when super intoxicated. Hang in there friends.

Alcohol can really do a number on you. It almost took my life five years ago. I won’t tell you to do what I did and just go cold turkey and never pick it up again, but just don’t turn to it as a way to forget life. I did that and it was not a good time.

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Posted
3 minutes ago, UpperWestside said:

Alcohol can really do a number on you. It almost took my life five years ago. I won’t tell you to do what I did and just go cold turkey and never pick it up again, but just don’t turn to it as a way to forget life. I did that and it was not a good time.

Current medical wisdom even re moderate drinking is that we should cut it all out 100% by age 65. That’s if we keep drinking at earlier ages at all. 

Posted (edited)
18 minutes ago, UpperWestside said:

I think admitting that everything is not great is good. I mean we all want life to be ideal, but when it isn’t it’s cool to just say it. Sometimes life is a beating and you feel like you’re on the business end of a punch to the face from prime Muhammad Ali. 
 

When I was younger those moments would just paralyze me beyond belief. I had no clue how to deal with adversity. Now I roll with it and just remember that all I can do is all Incan do. Our lives are so painfully short that it’s good to just remember we can only do so much as human beings. 

Days up and down they come,

like rain on a conga drum,

forget most, remember some,

don’t turn none away.

-Townes Van Zandt *
 

* he’d qualify to be a founding member of this thread if still alive and he so desired. 

 

always, always remember until the end is truly nigh, that there is always tomorrow.
 

I’ve had ridiculously bad days - the worst of them. Then the next few days in a row I’ve had the kind of outcomes that cause a surge in endorphins and make me feel truly alive. 

Edited by troph
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Posted
2 minutes ago, troph said:

Current medical wisdom even re moderate drinking is that we should cut it all out 100% by age 65. That’s if we keep drinking at earlier ages at all. 

I think abstaining from it entirely is the best course of action, but I have seen it take my aunt’s life at age 53. She was a nurse for 33 years and knew better, but it got her. 

I would agree with that medical wisdom. It can be so painfully hard for folks to walk away, especially in our culture.

Posted
1 minute ago, UpperWestside said:

I think abstaining from it entirely is the best course of action, but I have seen it take my aunt’s life at age 53. She was a nurse for 33 years and knew better, but it got her. 

I would agree with that medical wisdom. It can be so painfully hard for folks to walk away, especially in our culture.

There is absolute wisdom in none at all starting yesterday. But even if you have no psychological issue and no liver or kidney issues, cognitive health pretty much demands your consumption be as little as possible (like under 5 drinks a week) and zero by the time you exit middle age (beginning around age 65).

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Posted
1 minute ago, troph said:

There is absolute wisdom in none at all starting yesterday. But even if you have no psychological issue and no liver or kidney issues, cognitive health pretty much demands your consumption be as little as possible (like under 5 drinks a week) and zero by the time you exit middle age (beginning around age 65).

I worked with a guy out here. He was a year younger than me, but you could tell he really, really drinks a lot. He moved around like someone in their 70’s and looked so distant cognitively. I felt bad for him because I am sure at one point in life he was a different person than the guy I met. Alcohol completely changed how his mind operated, which is the worst part of what drinking does to you.

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Posted
On 2/18/2025 at 9:42 PM, Sandman said:

Got diagnosed with shingles one week ago. I just finished all of the medication, and the sores are doing well. However, I am in such pain. My skin is so sensitive, the nerves are all fucked up. I've read everything I can find, things seem normal, I guess. But I'm so tired of this. My stomach isn't great most times but now it feels all fucked up. I don't know if its from the meds or the shingles or something else. I stopped taking my omeprezole when I started the shingles meds, just because I wasn't sure how they'd interact. Maybe that's why my gut is fucked up? I hope that's all it is.

Then to top things off, my cologuard test results came back and I need to have the colonoscopy anyway. I'm just not in a good place. My wife is my rock and is doing her best but I know I am difficult in these situations. I've caught myself having mini breakdowns all day. I'm supposed to go to work tomorrow and I don't know if I can do it, physically. I want off this fucking ride.

I got my shingles vax last year. This is a good reminder for you olds (even 50+), get the shingles vax. Shingles HURTS and SUCKS. God bless you Sandman, let us know when you are 100%.

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Posted
On 2/26/2025 at 2:04 PM, troph said:

Current medical wisdom even re moderate drinking is that we should cut it all out 100% by age 65. That’s if we keep drinking at earlier ages at all. 

1740173797928?e=1743638400&v=beta&t=KfMuEvUlgN_HSYRTXRE9x_Yk-DcwgQOHT6MzxKB6280

Posted
On 2/24/2025 at 9:30 AM, Mrs Whiggins said:

Lat year had a lot of lows and only a few highs for us so I didn't engage on here much; I tend to step away from the non face-to-face social activities when mental health needs a boost.

This year isn't off to a great start, but taking each day as it comes has helped, so has getting outdoors, reading, other projects. I agree with the small acts of kindness, an interaction wherein you reach out and take that risk can go a long way in helping us help ourselves.

Your absence was noted more than once.

Welcome back 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Vegas64 said:

1740173797928?e=1743638400&v=beta&t=KfMuEvUlgN_HSYRTXRE9x_Yk-DcwgQOHT6MzxKB6280

This scares the booze lobby very much. It's why we see occasional articles about Gen Z 'not having fun' or other bullshit spin.

Gee, they don't see the appeal of going out to spend the little money they have on over priced drinks at a bar? Damn, that's terrible for your bottom line.

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Posted
2 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

This scares the booze lobby very much. It's why we see occasional articles about Gen Z 'not having fun' or other bullshit spin.

Gee, they don't see the appeal of going out to spend the little money they have on over priced drinks at a bar? Damn, that's terrible for your bottom line.

On the flip side the non alcoholic beer selections continue to grow and the quality breweries are now pushing out high quality stuff. Even three years ago we were all enamored with athletic brewing’s line but it’s swill compared to the good stuff out now. I pretty much won’t drink a regular beer at all anymore. 

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Posted
55 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

This scares the booze lobby very much. It's why we see occasional articles about Gen Z 'not having fun' or other bullshit spin.

Gee, they don't see the appeal of going out to spend the little money they have on over priced drinks at a bar? Damn, that's terrible for your bottom line.

Some bars have started stocking non-alcoholic beers and stuff for more mocktails. Smart on their part to do that. Restaurants are going to have quite the reckoning in the near future though with so much of the profit coming from the sale of alcohol. That is usually the highest profit earned on anything sold. 

Posted
10 hours ago, UpperWestside said:

Some bars have started stocking non-alcoholic beers and stuff for more mocktails. Smart on their part to do that. Restaurants are going to have quite the reckoning in the near future though with so much of the profit coming from the sale of alcohol. That is usually the highest profit earned on anything sold. 

I was in a trendy tiki bar and got the mocktail. $18 for a glorified apple juice. I think I got a sugar high.

Mocktails are the biggest waste of money and should be the highest margin item on a menu based on my experiences with them.

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Posted

I received a message yesterday from a young lady. I can vividly recall meeting her and her family. It was last summer and they were my last table. They were visiting NYC from West Virginia. It was the young woman’s 18th birthday. At the end of the night I have more free time and I talked to them for about an hour and a half. It wound up becoming somewhat of a therapy session. The young lady’s dad had upset her badly earlier in the week by getting on his Facebook and telling his followers that she’d be going to hell for having a nosering. Grandma, who had long ago stepped into the mom role and kicked her son to the curb as being a parent in this family, started talking. Then the young lady’s aunt, who by all three accounts said she treats her more like her sister, said the trip was for her to have a good time. I told that young lady she was going to be okay and that she has a great support system. I listened and let them get out their anger and sadness and told them how awesome it is that they are so close knit and that “mom and sister” should be very proud of how they have raised her.
 

She said she wanted to go to college and I probably don’t have to tell you that West Virginia is not exactly known for pushing kids onto the next level of education. I gave them my number and the young lady took my IG in case she ever needed any advice on anything with school and whatnot. I got her message and it was her telling me she got accepted into college and will be attending in the fall. Education is going to break the cycle her dad had put her on a path to joining. I can’t tell you how happy I am for this young lady to have a chance to realize her dreams!

Sometimes we get caught up in our own lives and all of the strains and stresses we find ourselves dealing with. You can read them right here in this thread. There are people here dealing with hell on earth emotionally. My heart hurts for the things I read here. It is in these times that reaching out to others can be helpful like many of you have done. That young lady and her family shared their life with me and I just opened myself up and told them to keep pushing forward each day. Now a few months later I get to hear that wonderful news. Some of you here will have moments in your own life where your own situations will allow you to help others really going through it. Know that what you are going through is not in vain and that when the time comes to help another person that needs it that you’ll be ready. 

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Posted (edited)

Welp. Now my blood work is weird. I feel great, I look good, according to various cardiovascular diagnostics I’ve got the heart and lung function of a 34 year old at 51. My resting heart rate is 43 bpm. 
but you know… the blood work. Maybe something, maybe nothing. Meanwhile I decided to totally change careers at age 50 because I love trouble so I’m doing all the shit you do at 25 except the stakes are much higher and I have two kids in college and I’m underinsured. 
 

in short, situation excellent. We attack. 

Edited by Bozo_Casanova
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Posted
18 minutes ago, troph said:

Next up in treatment of depression… transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) … I’ve mentioned it before but personally - I’d do this and ketamine before long term SSRI. 

wired mag through my Apple News script … not sure how to link outside of the Apple News ecosystem 

https://apple.news/An_zWD5qJRoaruk-GKIKxNQ

 

I am absolutely all for trying anything to help folks suffering with depression. I read the article and it’s promising. Again anything that is legit and is made to actually help folks is okay by me.

Posted
9 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Welp. Now my blood work is weird. I feel great, I look good, according to various cardiovascular diagnostics I’ve got the heart and lung function of a 34 year old at 51. My resting heart rate is 43 bpm. 
but you know… the blood work. Maybe something, maybe nothing. Meanwhile I decided to totally change careers at age 50 because I love trouble so I’m doing all the shit you do at 25 except the stakes are much higher and I have two kids in college and I’m underinsured. 
 

in short, situation excellent. We attack. 

Keep on pushing. You are not going to fail. 

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Posted
21 hours ago, Vegas64 said:

Mocktails are the biggest waste of money and should be the highest margin item on a menu based on my experiences with them.

What happened to the idea that the designated driver got to have their drinks free?

Oh yeah. Money. So, take away the ability to have a sober driver to hang out with the drinkers and make it more expensive than a standard alcoholic drink. Yeah! That'll get the money out of them. Forget about having good food. Same old tendies and frozen fries are good enough.

This is supposed to make them want to go out and fight through the anxiety inducing human cattle lot? 

They are unwilling to do it and I don't blame them one iota. 

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, UpperWestside said:

I am absolutely all for trying anything to help folks suffering with depression. I read the article and it’s promising. Again anything that is legit and is made to actually help folks is okay by me.

There’s a lot of legit buzz around this treatment. No pun intended.

Edited by troph
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Posted
21 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Define weird. 

A month ago slightly low platelets. 
now even lower platelets, also slightly low RBC, Hemoglobin, hemocrit.

None of these numbers are dramatic, but there’s no easy explanation so we’re doing due diligence, as they say. 

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Posted
51 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

A month ago slightly low platelets. 
now even lower platelets, also slightly low RBC, Hemoglobin, hemocrit.

None of these numbers are dramatic, but there’s no easy explanation so we’re doing due diligence, as they say. 

Hmmm. That seems concerning. 
 

11 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I decided to totally change careers at age 50 because I love trouble so I’m doing all the shit you do at 25 except the stakes are much higher and I have two kids in college and I’m underinsured.

If the younger folks here can learn anything from us gen x olds it should be to take out the largest and longest term insurance policy they can from a stable insurer in their 30s. Calculate whatever you think you need and then double it. Shit can go down hill quickly. Whether it is just rando fluctuations in blood work, metabolic issues, or just actuary tables, the game changes substantially once you hit your 40s.  

Posted
14 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Hmmm. That seems concerning. 

Yep. Hopefully it’s just an artifact of too much ibuprofen too often or a reaction to a vaccine or a recent viral infection or something, but there’s also some relevant family medical history in that direction as well, so … yeah.   

 

 

20 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

If the younger folks here can learn anything from us gen x olds it should be to take out the largest and longest term insurance policy they can from a stable insurer in their 30s.

Preach!

Posted
6 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

What happened to the idea that the designated driver got to have their drinks free?

Oh yeah. Money. So, take away the ability to have a sober driver to hang out with the drinkers and make it more expensive than a standard alcoholic drink. Yeah! That'll get the money out of them. Forget about having good food. Same old tendies and frozen fries are good enough.

This is supposed to make them want to go out and fight through the anxiety inducing human cattle lot? 

They are unwilling to do it and I don't blame them one iota. 

I am sober and I don’t remember the last time I paid for a drink. “I’m sober, how about a Diet Coke?” Or “I’m the driver tonight, could I have an iced tea please?”  
Bartenders and waitresses are cool as shit. If I ordered one of those fancy mocktails I would expect to pay full price for the stupid thing. That shit ain’t free for them, either. 

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Posted
13 minutes ago, Kennythetiger said:

I am sober and I don’t remember the last time I paid for a drink. “I’m sober, how about a Diet Coke?” Or “I’m the driver tonight, could I have an iced tea please?”  
Bartenders and waitresses are cool as shit. If I ordered one of those fancy mocktails I would expect to pay full price for the stupid thing. That shit ain’t free for them, either. 

Good to hear. It's a little annoying when I have to pay the same  for a Dr. Pepper as I would for a beer.

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Posted
On 2/17/2025 at 8:16 AM, tigol said:

What's the beef with weight loss drugs?  Cutting into McDonald's profits?  Everything that I've read show them as a positive over invasive surgery, etc, for the morbidly obese.  Just one more bizarre take, I suppose.

I think it's a product of anti-intellectualism plus a tiny nugget of truth.  As we're well aware, pharma relentlessly pushes a variety of chemical solutions to our various ills, some or many of them of dubious efficacy and with potentially horrific side effects like exploding taints.

That plus Covid "vaccine injury" and that peculiar strain of anti-vaxxers that's been around for decades has seemed to coalesce around a skepticism of modern pharmacology.

Then you can add in a faux moral dimension from the "bootstraps" crowd that thinks everyone should be able to lose weight at will, if they have enough will, and are moral defectives if they don't.

I am always a tad wary of the latest miracle drug, but it seems that the semaglutide drugs are a massive net positive on the weight loss and metabolic disease fronts.

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Posted
On 3/1/2025 at 7:30 AM, troph said:

Next up in treatment of depression… transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) … I’ve mentioned it before but personally - I’d do this and ketamine before long term SSRI. 

wired mag through my Apple News script … not sure how to link outside of the Apple News ecosystem 

https://apple.news/An_zWD5qJRoaruk-GKIKxNQ

 

There definitely seems to be a correlation between electrical stimulation of the brain and depression.

Despite the negative connotations of One Flew, electroshock therapy has remained a standby of mental health for treatment-resistant depression.

I learned this in a very roundabout way.  My Dad had a late in life brain injury thought to have been caused by an undiagnosed case of meningitis that led to a seizure disorder.

Later in life, after he had had a seizure, he would go quite manic. Finally, a neurologist (who typically treat seizure disorders), referred him to a psychiatrist who explained that like an electro-shock treatment, a seizure was an electrical storm of the brain and that after a treatment or seizure, the brain had to "rewire" itself, and during that rewiring period, regions of the brain were more active than normal, eliminating depression.  At least as far as it was understood.  And that's a layman's understanding, but the psychiatrist said it doesn't go much deeper than that.

Dad wasn't depressed, and may have been very slightly bipolar in regular life (very sharp temper), and with elderly brain function, so during his post-seizure rewiring phase, would go a little manic-crazy.

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

There definitely seems to be a correlation between electrical stimulation of the brain and depression.

Despite the negative connotations of One Flew, electroshock therapy has remained a standby of mental health for treatment-resistant depression.

I learned this in a very roundabout way.  My Dad had a late in life brain injury thought to have been caused by an undiagnosed case of meningitis that led to a seizure disorder.

Later in life, after he had had a seizure, he would go quite manic. Finally, a neurologist (who typically treat seizure disorders), referred him to a psychiatrist who explained that like an electro-shock treatment, a seizure was an electrical storm of the brain and that after a treatment or seizure, the brain had to "rewire" itself, and during that rewiring period, regions of the brain were more active than normal, eliminating depression.  At least as far as it was understood.  And that's a layman's understanding, but the psychiatrist said it doesn't go much deeper than that.

Dad wasn't depressed, and may have been very slightly bipolar in regular life (very sharp temper), and with elderly brain function, so during his post-seizure rewiring phase, would go a little manic-crazy.

today's shock therapy is nothing like the shock therapy of the 50's and 60's... there's even a promising shock therapy for tinnitus now.

Edited by troph
Posted
On 3/1/2025 at 10:52 AM, Kennythetiger said:

I am sober and I don’t remember the last time I paid for a drink. “I’m sober, how about a Diet Coke?” Or “I’m the driver tonight, could I have an iced tea please?”  
Bartenders and waitresses are cool as shit. If I ordered one of those fancy mocktails I would expect to pay full price for the stupid thing. That shit ain’t free for them, either. 

If I lived and worked in an area where designated drivers were a common part of my daily experience I would gladly give them free cokes and whatnot. When I was on Long Island I worked at an Italian restaurant. I am not sure I ever served one adult that did not drink alcohol in a group setting. Those folks drank like it was a job.

Posted
On 3/1/2025 at 7:30 AM, troph said:

Next up in treatment of depression… transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) … I’ve mentioned it before but personally - I’d do this and ketamine before long term SSRI. 

wired mag through my Apple News script … not sure how to link outside of the Apple News ecosystem 

https://apple.news/An_zWD5qJRoaruk-GKIKxNQ

 

Look into transcranial magnetic stimulation.  It has been used successfully so much for major depression that most insurance providers have approved it. For what it's worth, the FDA also approved it for use with depression. and yes... definitely with a ketamine regiment as well.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/transcranial-magnetic-stimulation/about/pac-20384625

 

Posted
21 hours ago, thunderlounge said:


Go on…

bimodal neuromodulation

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50473-z

I have tinnitus to a degree, I think it was an unnoticed symptom of covid the first time I got it way back when, it was worse this time around and I still have some eustachian tube blockage that I think is from this round of covid that I'm working on, once that clears out I'll see where my tinnitus lands. I think it's slowly getting better right now but it's hard to say. it rarely disturbs me but I do want to take care of it.

This biomdal neuromodulation sounds promising but it's a helluva commitment, there's some other treatments that should be coming out, if you rabbit hole tinnitus treatments you'll find a few others. I think over the next few years there may be insurance/FDA and other breakthroughs that make treatment more accessible.

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Posted

Thanks, @troph. I have it, and while I can live with it, I’d rather not.

I’m not really sure mine is treatable, but I’ll check into it. Mine is definitely not from covid, I got the old fashioned way: from engines, big guns, helo’s, and missles. 

Posted
20 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

Thanks, @troph. I have it, and while I can live with it, I’d rather not.

I’m not really sure mine is treatable, but I’ll check into it. Mine is definitely not from covid, I got the old fashioned way: from engines, big guns, helo’s, and missles. 

yeah, it's all new to me, not sure what the deal is but this treatment and the others coming down the line don't seem to distinguish causation / effectiveness. to be honest, I'm taking a break from health care right now, last year was so intense but I'm going to circle back on this later this year I think.

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