I just had an idea! What if there was a video of a mermaid taking her pills, to encourage kids to take theirs? What do you think?
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I just had an idea! What if there was a video of a mermaid taking her pills, to encourage kids to take theirs? What do you think?
Abandoned thread: reignited!
I'm currently really agitated with my celiac--just found out Zero chocolate bars have gluten in them. Out of all my favorite candy, all is left is Reese's cups... :s
Aw that sucks! My mum's slightly celiac, she has to go to so much trouble with everything so I feel your pain.
I don't even like Reese's so I don't know what I'd do in your situation xD
Not eat your favorite candies anymore? :P
I've still got gummies and certain chocolates and hard candies, but there's nothing like a good Kit-Kat, Zero and so on. o_o''
Yeah there's something unique about a good bit of decadent chocolate :3 ah well, at least you get other sweet things!
I don't really have very many actual illnesses to complain about, but whatever. I'll complain about what I got because I can.
I have an anxiety disorder, which doesn't just mean negativity stresses me easily. I'm also not allowed to have energy drinks, caffine, or large amounts of sugar, because it can trigger a panic attack. Course, despite doctors orders I'm naughty and drink coffee anyway. Sort of pushing my luck with that, though. xD
I also have asthma. It was really BAD in high school when I took ceramics, because my lungs would close every class session if I didn't wear a mask to keep out the dust, so I ended up going to an urgent care center a few times for breathing treatment. I don't have asthma attacks that bad nearly that often anymore, but smoke of any kind needs to be kept away from me and I'm rather uncomfortable when it's really cold or during spring when the allergens are out and about. I try to exercise as best I can, but just doing simple things like harvesting my herb garden or pulling a few weeds, or even just doing something fast paced for a few minutes, puts me completely out of breath. I still have an emergency inhaler I keep in my purse with me and another I keep by my bed. I'm hoping my trips to the gym help strengthen my lungs. My asthma SEEMS to also contribute to me getting sick more often, as I have been getting bronchitis and pneumonia a LOT since I got diagnosed with asthma. Though, that could just be a coincidence. Being asthmatic and living with chain smokers isn't very fun.
My back and shoulders also tend to hurt a lot. I have tendonitis in my shoulders, and my lower back mostly hurts because of my tailbone, and the pain from there seems to kinda shoot up my lower back a little bit. When I was a child, I busted my tailbone. We didn't know it was broken so we didn't go to the doctor, but a few years later after constant lower back pain and was checked out, it proved to have been broken and was bent inwards just enough to be constantly pinching a nerve. Nothing can be done about it, because it had already healed in that position. So I'm on muscle relaxers for my shoulders and mild painkillers for everything else.
My hip has been hurting lately. I was in AGONY with my hip (the joint area where the leg connects to the hip) a few weeks ago and though I'm no longer in screaming pain it still hurts but is tolerable. After a few days of agony I finally decided to try heating the area and using an electric massager. When I stood up I heard the joint "crack", and its been a dull pain ever since. I can't lay down on that side because the pressure it puts on that area hurts. I thought about seeing a doctor about it but now that it's no longer in agony I don't feel it's that big of a deal.
I also have knee problems. No idea why, but my knees seem to constantly decide to just completely stop working thus resulting in me falling to the ground. This usually happens when I'm on stairs, or on ground that is noticeably not level. This is why I will refuse to use stairs that don't have a rail, and I will cling to the rail for dear life while using stairs though I try to avoid using them completely if I can. Especially if I am holding something.
It also certainly doesn't help that I have really bad peripheral vision. I have tunnel vision, not horribly, but it's there. This means I actually have to turn my head in order to see what's right next to me. This results in me running my arms into walls, poles, corners, shelves, clothing wracks, and people who follow too close, not to mention it's really easy for me to trip over something so I have to look down when I walk sometimes. I probably wouldn't be nearly as clumsy as I am now if my vision wasn't like that. It's a little embarrassing, walking around a mall and constantly having to go "ow" because I ran my shoulder into come coat hangers xD
And this really isn't a health problem, but it is irritating. Ever since I started a strict diet in my attempt to be physically healthy, things with sugar in it are tasting disgusting. Like my favorite candy and soda for example. Can't eat them, they're gross. I can't even eat white bread anymore because it tastes gross now. It's depressing.
I have problems with my skin alot. This makes it often embarrassing showing myself as a mermaid in public pools. My chest area and between my breasts get red and spotted easily and it also going in a straight line down to my belly button, it also shows up on my shoulders and neck. It gets worse when I sweat alot from the humid weather we have here in summer. So I rarely wear anything with a low cut front and back. It also means, no nice relaxing hot baths for me :(
Only when I went to Curacao my skin was completely smooth again and did I dare to take underwater pictures of myself as mermaid.
Okay, bringing this up again because my yearly/bi-yearly cough has started. It's not a huge issue and I feel bad complaining about it, but...that's what the thread is for, right? :-S
When was 15, almost 10 years ago, I caught a cold that didn't go away. I had a hacking cough for 9 straight months while my doctor tried to figure out what was going on. Finally, he tried Advair on it and it worked. He said, "That tells me it might be asthma or allergy related, but it worked, so just take it whenever you cough for a long time."
Since then, I get a terrible cough around October that lasts till December, and from March to about May. I've tried every sort of cough suppressant and cough drop there is, they don't do a thing. When I get a coughing fit, it feels like my throat closes up and I'm trying to breathe past a tiny pinprick of a hole. Drinking water while the fit is on doesn't relieve the problem, just delays it till I need to stop drinking to breathe. My coughing fits happen randomly throughout the day and all night, interfering with sleep. During the month and a half that I'm coughing, I can't sing (my favorite thing) or talk much. It interferes with my job (my students now know that if I start coughing and can't stop, I signal my class president to take over, they silent read and I go stand out in the hall and hack my head off). People look at me like I'm disgusting because the cough is so loud and nasty sounding, but I'm not in any way contagious.
So far, things with doctors haven't progressed beyond the "it might be asthma or allergies" stage. Until 2011, they just gave me Advair which took a couple of weeks to work but seemed to work okay. In 2011 the Advair stopped working, so they switched to Dulera, which I was told is like Advair but more powerful. It still takes a couple of days to work and doesn't do anything against a coughing fit.
The last 2 weeks, I've been coughing again. Went in to the doctor, she gave me Dulera and Nasonex. She said it could be asthma or allergy related. As I have the past few times, I asked if I could get tested for allergies or asthma (asked for a referral). As she said last time (as doctors have said before her): "Nah, it's not that bad, and you want to be sure you need to be tested before you spend that money."
Now, it's not life threatening nor really all that inconveniencing (compared to everyone else), but I am sick of coughing! :-(
Thanks for letting me rant.
For that just maintain your diet and physical activities as much as you can,Because this is how i feel that is all you actually need.Eat healthy and clean and when you are on full time job obviously you need to deal with it.I suggest you to be a little active make sometime for your walk and do that.
I hear ya, MerEmma... I'm always finding something that I can't eat anymore. Luckily, I did find a recipe for making my own flour, so I can still bake some of my favorite foods. If you don't have it yet, go find 'cooking for Isaiah', you'll be able to have cookies, pancakes, and pie again! Now for my own rant... I have lived most of my life with various food allergies--the first was cow's milk, which is the main reason my mom first got into dairy goats, because I can drink it. Strangely, it slowly declined to the point that I can eat it sparingly now. Around the time the milk allergy began to decline however, a wheat allergy slowly surfaced. At first it wasn't that bad, only giving me dry skin on my hands that itched and peeled... But it quickly got scary--closed up chest and throat with panic attacks. It's actually so bad I can't even SMELL bread without a reaction. Supposedly, there is a way to make your body friendly again with the 'energy' of foods. I got the energy work done... I could eat what I wanted for a while, but then it came back, along with extreme migraines when I get stressed. Come to find out, celiac runs in the family. It wasn't an allergy the whole time! I was celiac! Now both my parents, and one of my aunts are also off of gluten. It sometime makes me so mad when I think of all the 'treatments' I got put through to get rid of my 'allergies'... which only made matters worse. As soon as I walk into a grocery store, I immediately figure out where the bakery is, and stay the heck away from the entire region of the store. I've actually had to turn around and walk out of a store with an over-active bakery. And one more thing...Stay the heck away from Betty Crocker Gluten-Free line, it isn't really gluten-free, despite saying so on the label. grrr... Sometimes dealing with people who don't understand my food trouble is the worst--I've coined the term 'Marie Antoinette syndrome', for people who say something like, "oh, you can't eat stuff that has wheat in it? So you can't eat bread, right? Oh, then have this cookie, it isn't bread!" WTFQuote:
Originally Posted by MerEmma
This post is over a year old.Quote:
Originally Posted by AniaR
May I ask whether you've gotten better?
I suspect I might have a similar (or the same) illness, and I'm really at a loss sometimes.
I used to be 100% healthy and working out on a daily basis (prof dancer) when I was bitten by a tick about 10 years ago.
It infected me with 2 horrible diseases, which were misdiagnosed and not treated for almost a year.
I found out what it had to be myself, and even then, doctors refused to test and treat me.
I had to wait a long time to see a totally overworked specialist, who tested me positive, and then began the treatment.
Sadly, all the usual meds didn't have much effect on me save one; it doesn't kill the beasts, it only delays them a bit.
The meds themselves are also quite bad, so I'm between Scylla and Charybdis.
I've been bedridden for several long years straight.
If there is one day in the week when I'm not in excruciating pain, I mark it red in my calendar and am super happy.
(It happens seldom.)
Apart from pain, I suffer from vertigo, nausea, and all kinds of neuralgic disorders because the disease is in my brain.
(At least I got them out of my heart somewhere along the line!)
There was a time when by brain was so foggy I couldn't remember my own name.
With all this, I'm practically alone, because officially, the disease "doesn't exist", or "it's cured after 2 weeks max.
If you still have symptoms after, you're lying/dumb/mental".
I wonder what will become of me once the specialist who is still prescribing me the delaying med will retire :(
I brought this up here because just -maybe- someone among you has had a similar experience, and has a bright idea what else I could do.
(Ignoring the pain and vertigo doesn't work, btw.
I'm great with meditation and self-hypnosis and all, but with a sort of ongoing infection + fever, it's all useless sadly.)
^^All this is also the reason why I cannot stand cold water.
I was ok in cold water before, but the infection actually likes cold, and if I swim for a while, I'll have a heavy bout of fever, severe aches, vertigo, etc, for several days afterward.
Oh shit. You have Lyme??? I am SO sorry. It's really become this super political disease. It's almost a dirty word because NO insurance wants to treat it due to how incredibly goddamned expensive it gets, because it really never is cured for a number of people. It can only be kept at bay. Doctors can lose their license if anyone knows they treat it.
A vent not for me, but for a friend: she was just diagnosed with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. She is quite obese. If she doesn't change her diet, she will need a transplant. I'm all for loving ones body no matter your shape, but dammit, obesity can fucking kill a person :(
Caltuna, if you haven't, you need to check out this documentary and perhaps contact its creators: http://www.underourskin.com/
Yea, you got that right.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kakarotte
The specialist who is treating me (and he for sure saved my life at that point) has been slandered, sued, and threatened to get his license withdrawn countless times over the years.
People from ALL over Europe (and even Asia & US) come to him.
It's crazy.
He's cured and helped so many people over the years, it boggles the mind.
Sadly, I'm one of his worst cases.
I know of the underourskin guys.
The first time I've watched their movie's trailer, I cried.
My mother (who also has Lyme, just not quite as bad as me yet) is active in several support groups, so if any new treatment comes up, we'll know.
The bad news is, that there is not really being done much research regarding antibiotics at all, because-
you guessed it- it's not lucrative.
You can make so much more cash to just let the people be sick.
Edit: Okay, this got LONG. I'm not even going into the other health issues I deal with, but as long as this is the VENT thread about health, here's mine.
TL;DR: I have asthma. It is bad. It is made worse by the habits of others. It really sucks.
Asthma since childhood. Most of the time it's under control. It's pretty bad, but having dealt with it since childhood, I've done pretty dang well. I use nutrition as my first line of defense, herbs as my second (I studied herbs extensively, learned what reduces inflammation, thins mucus, fights infections), and medications last because I have pretty bad reactions to most of them- rescue inhalers at least only cause me mild problems. I use them if I have to breathe, of course. I've approached it from every angle, done so much research, and my doctors have been really helpful. Unfortunately, steroids, often given for asthma because it reduces inflammation in the airways, cause serious problems with my depression- steroids have been seen to cause mood disorders, and in fact my docs believe it's why my depression is what it is and untreatable- but you have a choice... breathe or not? And I can't take steroids unless I have no choice, because of the physical problems they cause me- pain, a lot of pain, like sunburn under my skin, sore joints, and a stomach like clay... it's like having a really bad flu. So I have to do what I can and be ever vigilant about keeping away from things that make my asthma react. Cats, chemicals, mold/mildew, perfume, and tobacco smoke.
And people wonder why I won't take public transportation.
Growing up, I was in and out of hospitals often, and I could not partake in most physical activities, or walk up a flight of stairs without stopping to catch my breath. Now, I can walk a mile (not easily, but I can), and I can work out for 40 minutes if I take my inhaler first. Swimming is also a wonderful activity, of course, but I've no pool and the water downstairs at the beach is very crowded, and mostly surfing-only.
Unfortunately, my asthma is extremely tobbaco-smoke reactive, and smokers are everywhere. Everywhere. And since it's legal and an addiction, it's really difficult to approach what might be an otherwise considerate person and ask them, for instance, not to smoke outside my window. Most are just so defensive- just like with any addiction, and just like anyone who does something a lot of people probably give them shit for. I love when I run into a considerate smoker. But usually it's not that way. I walk everywhere because I don't have a car, and it does keep my lungs stronger- physical exercise is a must, even though I have breathing problems through it- it's worse without it. So I walk, someone lights up in front of me, and I can't help that it gives me a coughing fit, and it can land me in the ER. But I've yet to see a smoker see this happen and say, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see someone there." Generally, they give me shit for it, assuming I'm faking, and are assholes about it. I don't fancy having a coughing fit while I'm walking my child around, but it happens. My daughter is only 3 and she knows so well, that she alerts me- "Mama, smokers!" and "Mama, smoke's coming in the window!"
I avoid it as much as possible. If I see someone smoking, we stop and wait til the wind blows, or change direction, or whatever I can, but I can't avoid it all the time. You just can't. It doesn't even have to be THE smoke. Residue does it- if it's on someone's cloeths. The air in someone's lungs who just smoked does it. Someone smokes and then talks to me, I have run the other way. If someone just smoked, and comes into a store, and walks down my aisle, again, I either can't breathe or have a coughing fit. And sometimes, my lungs simply seize up, and stop working. No coughing, just no breathing.
GAH!! I'm so sick of it!! Stupid lungs. And stupid toxic smoke.
But this isn't an anti-smoking post, it's just what I have to deal with. But I'm so damn sick of someone else's habits making me sick. I think anyone would be. No matter how it was happening.
I have a respiratory infection right now because someone downstairs keeps smoking and I run and close my windows, but it's gotten in already, and my lungs can't take it. And what can I do? They're outside their own apartment, or in it, and have every right. I would like the right to breathing cleaner air, but I can't do a damn thing about it. Thank gods for the ocean breeze, I can't imagine how much worse it would be.
The salt air helps, too.
Basically, I need to live where there are no people around. People mean cigarette smoke at some point. And it's summer- windows need to be open, I have a child in here, dammit.
So depressing. I know if I had a car (which I can't possibly afford), I'd never walk anywhere, I'd drive around with windows up and A/C on. When I am in a car, and someone lights up or is smoking in their car near me, I do have to do that, anyway. And on the freeway and in parking garages because of car exhaust.
I cannot imagine what it must be like to have lungs that are unaffected by cigarette smoke. Must be amazing to walk around wherever you want and your friends can smoke, and you don't have to run for clean air. (ETA- in case this comes across wrong, I don't WANT to be around smoke, but I'm tired of it making me run the other way, since it is almost everywhere people are.)
Must be fecking amazing to wake up breathing all the time.
...I wouldn't recommend that for anyone.Quote:
Originally Posted by deepblue
Cigarette and cigar smoke is highly poisonous, and cancer inducing.
It's nothing you should expose yourself to, no matter what.
It's a sad fact that smoking would be prohibited (along with alcohol) if it didn't make the industry and government so much money.
Like always; money's more worth than people's lives.
Sad but true.
My first job was working in an office.
I was there in a room together with no less than six chain-smokers.
I made it 2 days, then I had a smoke poisoning.
The physician actually thought I must have been in a burning building and barely escaped until I told him
"Nossir, 'twas just a few chain smokers."
Oh I agree. I'd hate it anyway- on the grounds that it stinks, is toxic, and an addictive substance- but I don't want to make this about smoking, we definitely have smokers here, because that's the likelihood and I don't want them feeling put on the defensive, because it starts a whole thing and this isn't the place for it.
But since you can't escape it most of the time, so I'd rather be one of those people who feel unaffected by it. Of course. Thank goodness our restaraunts and clubs and bars are smokeless. I'd never be able to go anywhere.
My colds went to 12 months a year. I was told to stop all sugar intake and start honey (who heard of a beekeeper with a cold). I have one teaspoon with my coffee every morning and have only sniffed the last weeks (it hasn't stopped raining here in about 2 weeks).
I wish I didn't have epilepsy. I hate Keppra, and all it's effects on my thoughts, and I hate my doctors, since they don't listen to a word I say. I'm sick of my mom siding with doctors who sound like broken records, and I'm sick of not being involved in my own treatment. I know for a fact that Keppra is making everything worse in reality, but the doctors only look at the tests on paper. What they fail to understand is that when they see "more seizure activity", it doesn't mean I'm doing worse. The seizure activity they saw before I was medicated didn't affect my awareness. I only had one severe seizure in my entire life before starting on Keppra. These increased absence and grand mal seizures are stripping me of any privacy I thought I had (if I'm too quiet for too long, or drop something, someone comes to my "rescue". I can't swim unless my mom or dad- not just a buddy, one of them- is there, absolutely no climbing). They can't tell me it's coincidence that I started having one big seizure (absence or grand mal) a month after starting Keppra. And now they want me to take more medications?? If these people can't even look at a calender and see these connections, I don't want them to treat me- but wait. I'm just a dumb minor here, I don't have a choice in the matter, it's my mom's decision, and she agrees with them. The only thing I can do is refuse to put the stuff in my body, and hope my dad can find a way to help me before these people drive me insane.
Thank you for starting this thread Raina. Sometimes it just gives relief to vent out things like this. And reading through all these posts makes me realize I'm not alone with my health problems no matter how big or small they are.
Some of my health problems I've been dealing with for a while now and some have come on quite recently. I have lots of lower back problems. I've had them since I was 18, some of my discs are very worn down, giving me quite a bit of pain and a vast majority of my muscles in my back seize up when ever too much pressure gets put on my back from either sitting too long or standing or when I don't exercise enough. I finally started going to a chiropractor in 2010 and for a while my chiropractor and I thought I would never be able to do mermaiding because of the pressure I would be putting on my back when making the dolphin kick movement. I felt very disheartened about that because it was that year when I discovered mermaiding. I also have pre-arthritis in my knees and an old foot injury that acts up from time to time. I also suffer with anxiety which at times can make me very fearful and used to lead to a lot of panic attacks when I was younger. I am grateful to be getting that under control now.
Thank you everyone for sharing your stories on here. You are all a bunch of amazing and brave mers :)
I can't put on weight
I know alot of people are tying to slim down and loose wight cause "thin is in"
but personally i hate being the size i am. 119 pounds on a good day if i'm lucky
I've been accused of being anorexic or not eating when the fact is i love to eat. i eat far more then i should sometimes
but no matter what i do i cant put on any more weight then maybe five or six pounds
you may be reading this and thing "oh stop your complaining. I wish i was that small"
No your really don't
I'm not underweight or underfed or anything but people see me and think i am cause i'm tall and lanky and its always been a big blow to my self esteem.
particular in the black community, its odd being thin, i have no ass as my cousins like to say and its true for a black person my ass and thighs might as well be nonexistent
no my boyfriend says i look great and i am often consider pretty attractive but i feel scrawny and lanky and weak and i hate it.
You should be involved in your treatment, no matter whether you are minor or not.Quote:
Originally Posted by sunrise
It's your body, and your life.
You should have the right to deny or initiate a treatment, no matter what your parents say.
The laws probably differ from country to country, but here minors do have that right,
as long as they are "able to understand what is going on".
Usually, when this is in doubt, a doctor will verify you are sensible and rational enough to decide for yourself.
The closer you are to 18, the more probable you will get granted full right to refuse or initiate a treatment.
Perhaps you can check whether it's similar where you live.
If you feel a drug makes you worse, then by all means, don't take it.
Doctors don't know everything, they are humans and can make mistakes,
but only you know how you feel inside, and sometimes that's the best indicator whether a med is the right one or not.
Thanks. :) I was starting to give in, figuring it would be easier to just listen to my mom (she brings it up if I complain about her not letting me climb or swim, etc) so you really helped me. I'm not planning on taking the new medication, and the next time I see one of the specialists, I'm not going to let them talk over me again. I'm going to ask to be taken off of Keppra, to test and see if my big seizures decrease. If I have more little twitches, showing more little seizures, but my seizures decrease to less than one every month, then I'll know that I was right. The twitch may be annoying, but I'd take annoying over falling on my Grama during a seizure again any day.
Sunrise you definitely should be involved in and approve of your own treatment. Sometimes the treatments we have are really the lesser of two evils, and with any medication there are side effects and sometimes they are horrible but less horrible than the problem being treated. If you feel you are better without your medication that is very important! I do know though that little seizures that you don't notice can still cause major problems, so I would really like you to research it and other medications you could take. In the end, it is your body and you are the one who has to live with what is done to it. In regards to your mom, usually having research to site to back up what you are saying helps a lot when kids are trying to convince their parents of things; it shows them you are more responsible and mature than they may realize. I hope you can get more control over what is happening to you, because even as an adult when your health starts affecting your life so much it really is maddening!
Sea Pearl I hope you continue to be able to mermaid! I have a strange back problem myself, and though it is not the same as yours it really helps me to be in the water, even with a tail and the dolphin kick. Maybe you can find a way to swim in tail that doesn't cause as much strain on your back? Perhaps moving more from the knees or hips, or even a certain monofin, I would have to research it to be sure but I bet there are more and less back friendly ways, y'know? Also, I am right there with you with anxiety, and I find that mermaiding helps me with that as well! In tail I am somebody else, and the worries don't barge in quite as much.
Prince Calypso while I would definitely trade places with you, I say that as someone who spent half her life underweight and trying to gain it. I'm not trying to say you shouldn't feel bad though, I totally understand where you're coming from and that especially as a black male it is a big issue for you. I wish I had a solution for you, but the only thing that changed my situation was puberty and medication side effects. I can only offer the advice that when we can't change things, we just have to adjust our minds to be as ok with them as possible. I know, kinda sucky advice but it has helped me a lot.
Lately I've been spending a lot of time with healthy people and it just seems to highlight the fact that anyone who has bad health and still goes out there and takes on the world is super awesome!
I kind of feel like I don't have a right to post in this thread because I don't have any "major" health problems but... here goes anyway?
While I'm relatively healthy (in that, I don't get sick very often, exercise regularly and try to eat healthfully), I do have some medical issues that I cannot "solve", necessarily: clinical depression, acne and the nagging sense that there's something psychologically wrong with me beyond the depression. But I'm still figuring that out.
I did manage to overcome a debilitating condition: chronic and severe constipation. I know it's gross but from birth to about 16 years of age, I was almost always constipated and for 3+ weeks at a time. The "clear" or "normal" days were few and very far between to the point where I couldn't remember what it was like to feel empty. I was immune to laxatives, my colon was blocked and my organs were being pushed around in my body. X-rays scared the doctors, revealing my colon had ballooned so much that it was appeared behind my lungs. It was that bad. Finally, after years of doctors being unable to help, I decided to drastically change my diet and exercise like crazy. That problem cleared up and I haven't had it since. I'm now 26.
The stuff I can't fix, well... my skin is very reactive to the point where if I scratch an itch, it looks like I've been whipped. It's a problem when I try to do my best to look nice for the camera. My acne flares up and I look like a beet sometimes but I do my best to overcome that too. Reducing my caffeine, salt and sugar intact has helped some. I do wish I had clear, non-Exon-Valdez skin. Seriously, I have to blot my face every hour or face oil dripping into my eyes and stinging like crazy until I was my whole face. My sister says I could lube three cars and fry a chicken by the end of the day, I have that much oil on my face, shoulders, chest and back.
My depression is treated with therapy and medication, but the medication gives me odd facial ticks around the lips and eyes from time to time. It's more annoying than anything else. The big issue with me is the weight gain. I've managed to lose three inches since starting mermaiding but it still bothers me that I'm 20 pounds heavier than I used to be. I keep telling myself it's muscle (which is true, really) but the number still wigs me out.
And I think that I may have the inability to love a man because I've been dating people since 16 and never once fallen in love. I know I'm not a lesbian and I'm not asexual so... is there something psychologically wrong with me, preventing me from feeling attracted to a man? Is it because my father abandoned my sister and I and we can't form a connection with a man because of it? I dunno. I'm seeking counseling to see if maybe I can suss out the answer to that one.
Bleh.
:thumbs-up:Quote:
Originally Posted by sunrise
With some illnesses, it's needed to (slowly and carefully) try out which medication is best for your special case.
Everyone is different, and no one knows better than you whether a med is truly helping, or making it worse with side effects.
I do hope you can get better!
It sucks so much to have an unpredictable illness, especially at a younger age.
As for swimming; maybe you can convince your parents that it's less dangerous to do than other sports
(you can't fall hard in water).
It's possible to tailswim even in very shallow water, shallow enough that in case something happens, you won't drown.
Never go alone, of course. Have someone nearby always watching, and you should be ok.
Octavia: I totally feel you. I have a lot of similar problems that while I feel kind of bad calling them health problems, they do greatly effect my mental health. So don't feel bad venting about it; health is health, whether it's physical or mental. ((HUGS))
@ Mermaid Gosalyn I find mermaiding a stress relief too. And the more and more I do it I find it does seem to help with my back :)
Unfortunately, now I have a strange ear issue that has kick started up in the last month that has been getting me down a little. I used to have a lot of ear problems when I was a kid but they went away as I got older. Then one time last month I went mermaiding at my local pool in the afternoon and later on that night I started to notice one of my ears suddenly felt clogged. Kind of like a pressurized feeling when you are descending in an plane. At first I thought I had water trapped in my ear or it was swimmers ear, but when I went to my doctor they said it wasn't that and couldn't see anything wrong. They referred me to an ENT and I got in two weeks later who ran different tests and also said my ears were perfectly fine. But I still had the pressure feeling, though it wasn't as bad. They did say it might be swelling of the eustachian tube due to allergies. I asked if swimming underwater could have caused it but he didn't think so and said I should be alright to go ahead and continue. Now it is not as bad but shifts from either ear someday's, coming and going through the day. Someday's I cannot feel any pressure at all and it's like my ear has gone completely back to normal. Yet it always feels a little worse after swimming. I'm hoping wearing ear plugs will help with that. I have no idea if people can swim with eustachian tube dysfunction or not. I would hate to have to give up mermaiding :( Sorry for the long rant. Sometimes it helps to just talk.
I don't really have a physical or mental illness, just suffer from anxiety that can sometimes lead to mild depression, but in my lifeitme of experiencing it I've found so many ways to cope, that have lead me to my happy, positive, loving being!
I've also dealt with weight issues and body image issues as I'm sure we all have. I've always been considered "too skinny". But once I started working out, i've gained 11lb.s of muscle, and gaining! I happy to be fit and strong, and also happy to say my size 00/0 jeans are fitting so much tighter ;) "Though she be but little, she is fierce!"
I suffer from anxiety too but I try not to let it get the better of me. Think positive! I have found mermading to help with that a lot and a great stress relief for me.
I HATE MENSTRUAL CRAMPS! They're so bad they even make my BUTT hurt! My BUTT. That doesn't even have anything at all to do with the old baby making parts >.< It doesn't make sense!
Ooh ouch, Varshana, that sucks! Have some imaginary chocolate... *hands over basket of homemade chocolate* I haven't had any cramps nearly that bad in years. This may be TMI, but I found the Diva Cup works wonders for all those lady problems.
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...J18GfH3dWNzAfX
I hear laughter is the best medication.
Best wishes to every ’Mer.
Bringing this up because once again I'm up at 4am with serious insomnia, for 3 days I've had major migraines on and off and I'm recovering from really bad hip pain. I'm just sick and tired of being sick and taking pills for my thyroid and for these headaches.
Can I bitch about my anemia and pleurisy (and I guess the FMF my doctor thinks I have that's causing it).
Ugh, I'm like one walking disaster. I'll be completely fine for what seems like the LONGEST time. Then I'll be doing something, and my lungs will be like "Oh, you're having fun I see... Well, can't have too much of that! You haven't had an attack in a while... It's long over due I think - Buahaha take that bitch!" and then I'm down... like, literally. I have to take an anti-inflammatory and just lay down until it stops feeling like I'm being stabbed. It likes to make that stabbing pain RIGHT behind my left boob too, and it makes my whole tata burn, as well as my left arm (the first time it really happened badly, I went to the Emergency because the teacher at my school thought I was having a heart-attack when I told her how it felt... Yeah, way to go genetics, now if I ever DO have a real heart attack, I probably won't realize it because I'll think it's my lungs being jerks).
Similar thing with the anemia.... "Oh, you're having fun and everything... Wouldn't it just SUCK if you suddenly fainted or just got incredibly drowsy? Wonder no more, it's happening! Oh, and let's make your spider-fingers and hands super cold and clammy too, so when you shake someone's hand, the freak out." Although, to be fair with the anemia, the sudden fainting is often times partially my fault (like, I kind of know when I'm not feeling too well, and yet I'll still try and move like normal, which is just apparently a tad too fast for when I'm feeling sick)
I've been debating whether to say anything or not. I usually keep health matters private.
I guess I'll just blurt it out. I found out Friday that I have Parkinson's.
I figure that if Michael J. Fox can deal with it, so can I.
I just wasted my whole labour day weekend in the hospital emergency :( I started getting these terrible upper stomach pains, that turned into contractions. Friday night we were camping and I woke up in tears and had to get Seanny to walk me down to the showers so I could just stand in the heat for a while it seemed to help a wee bit. I spent the whole time from Friday at Lunch til Saturday at dinner in horrible horrible pain before we finally decided to drive 2 hours to the closest hospital from where we were camping. This pain has happened to me before and doctors have NEVER done anything, not even given me pain meds, so Iw asn't convinced they'd do much.
When we got to the emergency, two other people cut in line in front of me when it was my turn to see the triage nurse, so I was off to a bad start already. But thankfully once I saw the triage nurse I was processed really quickly. Considering I was in a totally different province than my own! I was already thinking no one was going to listen to me, so I was rehearsing how I was going to insist on needing help when the doctors arrived. Usually when you go to emergency, they try and get you in and out as quickly as possible and make you feel stupid for even going (that's been my overall experience) like how dare you take up a valuable bed with anything less than life or death. But thankfully, Sean and I were happily proven wrong. The resident came in and she was AMAZING. She took my whole health history, agreed with me on which tests I should have (I wanted to check for ulcers, pancreatitis, and endometriosis for a variety of reasons) and also slated me for a few more. Now, in Canada I have waited a YEAR to have a single ultrasound. So the fact she was going to do as many tests as she could while I was there was huge. I had to have some not so fun tests, but most of them were manageable. She made me feel super validated and listened to.
They hooked me up to an IV since eating and drinking even water seemed to make the pain worse. So I could stay hydrated and now worry about that. Then I got my first real dose of IV pain meds. I've never had them before that I can remember. The first one they gave me was to stop my organs from spasming. It helped a tiny bit but not enough. After that they have me diloded (sp?) and while it ook the pain away it was a scary experience. They didn't warn me about the side effects and instantly I got such a bad head rush that the wind was knocked out of me and I couldn't breath and I just started crying because everything went double vision and my senses were all fu*ked up. So seanny was the dutiful bf and held my hand. After that they gave me the drugs in my arm instead of the iv. It hurt like hell, but it went in my body slower and I didn't have that crazy rushed feeling.
The scary thing is, the super pain meds only took the edge off. I was still in a lot of pain. They kept me over night, we didn't even have doors on our room, and Sean had nowhere to sleep. So he slept in the car on my mermaid tails! He joked that he got to use them more than I did this weekend. When he came in the next morning he had scale imprints on his face. lol. Over night I'd wake up every 2 hours in pain. It sucked. IN the morning they sent me for an ultrasound. So finally we figured out what it was...
I have chronic gastritis and have had it for 4 years most likely. The pain meds I have been given to treat my other illnesses totally destroyed my stomach. The doctor also thinks I have endometriosis- which I have been begging my doctor to test me for because I have all the symptoms and people with my other illness are likely to develop it. So they put me on meds to heal my stomach. Gave me a different coated pain killer (prescription) for the next time I need a pain killer, and are advocating for me with my doctors here in my province to get tested and treated for endo.
It really sucked to spend my long weekend in the hospital, but at least I finally got help for something I have been going to emergency for for 4 years. I'm home now but I'm still in a lot of pain and am having trouble eating. It sucks. lol
I'm really sorry to hear that I know treatment for Parkinson's has come so far in the last decade. I know several people who have it and they live full lives. I wish you the best of luck. <3Quote:
I've been debating whether to say anything or not. I usually keep health matters private.
I guess I'll just blurt it out. I found out Friday that I have Parkinson's.
I figure that if Michael J. Fox can deal with it, so can I.
I noticed as I get older...injuries just happen faster...sigh..I know it will only get worse. It seems like my injuries last about a year before moving to a different body part. Being a dancer is hard on the body I guess. LOL...injured my hips years ago, then last year had upper arm/shoulder injury. Though I continued to dance it made healing alot slower. Then I had costocondritis for about 6 months which was awful. (Caused by crying of all things after my dog died) :( I have learned to deal w/ my migraines and pvc's, but now I hurt my foot. Damn. I still dance on it, b/c I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but it is just frustrating not feeling 100%. dont even get me started regarding insomnia....LOL
Most days I am fine mentally, but I can put me in a funk! hugs to everyone
Raina, I am so sorry you were in the ER. I can only imagine how painful that was. My son was hospitalized last November with Colitis when he went away to Indiana to see his girlfriend. My husband had to fly out there with him. He was there for 4 days, before we flew him home and transfer him to the hospital here, then he stayed in 3 more days. It was rough, he was so sick. I hope you can get yourself regulated!!