Health and Wellness Thread ... or How Are You Feeling?

[amadeus]

Serenity... now?

Xanax and Alka-Seltzer cold: a double whammy of drowsiness.

I feel like I’d come in third in a 100 meter race between myself, a snail, and a turtle. Even if you spotted me the first 50m.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Thorgalaeg, a couple of decades ago, I lost 20 kilos with a Jenny Craig diet and kept it off for more than a year. The crux of it is to eat 5-6 small meals per day. You're never full but you're never hungry.

I am going to try the 16/8 intermittent fasting diet. it looks relatively easy to follow.

 

[warpus]

I've now fully accepted my hermit lifestyle. I am at home 24/7 and almost never leave. Fortunately I have a roommate who has a dog, so I get some company. Plus occasionally I do head out and do stuff, but it's just very rare. I also talk to people online all the time so I do stay in touch with humans.. The main issue really is me not getting a lot of sun. I should be taking vitamin D supplements, although I am sure that is probably not a perfect substitute either.

If I had to do this for the rest of my life I would probably be fine. But it's only been 8 months or so, so maybe that's premature..

Mentally I am doing well, although I'm also more on edge.. sort of? I feel way more relaxed. lethargic. That sounds like a contradiction but somehow it isn't. I don't care as much about stuff, but it's more of a more relaxed approach to things rather than me giving up on life. Although things do need to be cleaned up a bit around here, I have fallen behind the chores.. It's just so easy to not .. care.

Honestly, I don't think I can trust myself to self-diagnose and talk about my mental state. I feel like I'm doing fine, but for all we know I am one prank call away from a breakdown

And you know what? A part of me is thinking.. "FINALLY the world is a bit more introverted". That's a selfish look at it, but when most people around you are more extroverted, and you are expected to engage in social functions, and are asked why you don't, and yadda yadda, FINALLY now I can be myself and nobody will judge me. And if anyone does, I'm so lethargic and so chill about stuff, I won't even care anymore.

 

[amadeus]

Alka-Seltzer didn’t do squat so I went to the doctor. I didn’t want to go today (Saturday) because the waiting room is always full. So I went last night. Hardly anybody in there.

Humidifier seems to be working. The tank pretty much emptied overnight, so that water is going somewhere! Hopefully that helps a little what with the dryness that’s causing (??) my seasonal ills.

Depression or what have you, well, the only thing to do is take it one day at a time. It’s kinda neither here nor there at the moment because I’m less and more .

 

[Cutlass]

Anxiety, stress, depression, blood pressure, all through the roof. Thanks boss.

 

[AdamCrock]

Depression or what have you, well, the only thing to do is take it one day at a time. It’s kinda neither here nor there at the moment because I’m less and more .

I have "what have You" and as far as I know , You cannot fix it with pills

Moderator Action: Video deleted - foul language in title. --LM

 

[amadeus]

That will be the first and last time I watch that show.

 

[amadeus]

I think General Motors is the OEM for my brain.

The “check engine” light comes on at seemingly random intervals, and when it does, what does it mean? It’s a mystery, and even your certified GM wrenches have trouble diagnosing faults. Maybe there’s nothing wrong at all. Who knows?

It was often said the biggest expense in any GM vehicle wasn’t the steel that went into it, but the UAW workers’ health insurance plans. Hey, I spend money on health stuff too. Further evidence of GM manufacture.

At least GM got bailed out by the public. How come I can’t get ten billion dollars?

 

[amadeus]

The light is on again.

Is it just in the morning? I have something of a cold or seasonal affliction. Most other functions seem normal. I was already at the doctor (ENT, not psych.) over the weekend.

I just feel uncomfortable. Off the top of my head, I’m looking forward to the election. Not really for any particular outcome, but just a sense of resolution.

Something of an aside: I notice a lot of people don’t post in this particular thread and I can’t help but wonder if they either have nothing to say or fear some kind of repercussion from having themselves digitally outed.

I don’t think I’ve said anything here that I would not say in person, so the prospect of having someone confront me on it? I think I’d be vexed as to why they are wasting their time monitoring my online posts when nothing I say here is that much different.

I tend to be more profane in person, though. Even if this site relaxed its rules on it, I wouldn’t so much write it because... I don’t know why. It seems in bad form!

 

[Synobun]

The light is on again.

Is it just in the morning? I have something of a cold or seasonal affliction. Most other functions seem normal. I was already at the doctor (ENT, not psych.) over the weekend.

I just feel uncomfortable. Off the top of my head, I’m looking forward to the election. Not really for any particular outcome, but just a sense of resolution.

Something of an aside: I notice a lot of people don’t post in this particular thread and I can’t help but wonder if they either have nothing to say or fear some kind of repercussion from having themselves digitally outed.

I don’t think I’ve said anything here that I would not say in person, so the prospect of having someone confront me on it? I think I’d be vexed as to why they are wasting their time monitoring my online posts when nothing I say here is that much different.

I tend to be more profane in person, though. Even if this site relaxed its rules on it, I wouldn’t so much write it because... I don’t know why. It seems in bad form!

I don't because I would inevitably hog it, and I usually regret posting about my health shortly after I do so.

 

[amadeus]

Hog it? This is an expression with which I am unfamiliar.

 

[Synobun]

Hog it? This is an expression with which I am unfamiliar.

My content would overwhelm and quiet everyone else's.

 

[amadeus]

My content would overwhelm and quiet everyone else's.

Oh! In that sense. Now I get it.

Well, I don’t let that stop me from doing it. I suppose rather than physical ailments I have a poorly-defined sense of “wellness” that includes other elements, which gives me some sense of... control? clarity? when writing them down.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I think General Motors is the OEM for my brain.

The “check engine” light comes on at seemingly random intervals, and when it does, what does it mean? It’s a mystery, and even your certified GM wrenches have trouble diagnosing faults. Maybe there’s nothing wrong at all. Who knows?

The light is on again.

That all sounds miserable and I hope you find some stability.

 

[amadeus]

That all sounds miserable and I hope you find some stability.

Are you talking about me, or General Motors?

When I feel too off-balance, I’ll take some medicine and sit quietly for 20 minutes. Right now, as of 10:05 here, I’m balanced enough. Probably not going to be productive today, either at home or at work, but no one will notice.

I’m going to sit it out for the time being and see where I’ll be in a few hours. I’m not going to overexert myself when I’m crummy.

 

[amadeus]

There’s some rumbling below the beltline and my service manual doesn’t cover anything like this. Probably caused by too much gas in the fuel system. I’m going to have to take it in to get servicing.

Yes, I’m still going with the GM metaphors. I’m not tired of them... yet.

 

[amadeus]

Well, I took it into the dealership this morning and it turns out the Valvoline guy may have put in the wrong fluid. I’m sure it wasn’t done on purpose, but the repair guy has a lot of experience and spoke with a lot of confidence and said that was probably what was causing the rumbling.

I should be good to go soon.

 

[Quintillus]

This has been a stressful week for many friends and colleagues. A couple of my colleagues didn't get any sleep Tuesday night, and quite a few others slept poorly; I was pleasantly surprised to manage 5.5 or 6 hours. One of my friends is known for his occasional bouts of fatalism and anxiety about the state of the world, so that group of friends (him included) used his fatalist episodes and a percentage scale as references for how anxious we were when messaging each other on the latest events. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning had most of us quite anxious, and some fatalistic, but by today were relatively calm.

I'm not sure I would say it was a less stressful week cumulatively than the same week in 2016 overall, but the peak stress levels were lower. I think it helped to have had plenty of time to moderate expectations, including a fair amount of discussion of how our non-preferred outcome was possible, including various scenarios that could lead to that. Some, but not all, of those have now been ruled out.

 

[amadeus]

I ended up emailing my office something that was largely an unfounded fear. I had worked myself up over it the last week, and my mind immediately goes to the worst-case scenario. This is not the worst, but it is not ideal. Nevertheless, I’m not going to escalate the situation because the potential benefit gained is outweighed by the potential negatives. More worst-case scenario thinking? I know I’m being opaque with regards to details, but the particulars are irrelevant as I probably would have reacted the same way anyway.

This worst-case scenario thinking usually ends up applying to my own circumstances and not things that deal with other people: I doubt Donald Trump is going to call the Pentagon and tell their guys to start turning those special two-man keys. For some reason, my worry is fragmented; can’t I flip it around and worry about everyone else and feel secure myself? Jeezaloo what a pain.

I have a psychiatrist visit scheduled for Monday. I have a detailed printout of my panic onsets in the hope this gives some useful information to the doctor. Overall, I’ve been very pleased with him. I suppose one positive thing I can try to say is that I have been able to use my accrued language skill to integrate somewhat even when I am a very visible minority.

Speaking of which, I was at the hospital earlier this week for an unrelated condition, the below-the-beltline rumbling, when one of the nurses wasn’t sure I could speak the language or not. She seemed relieved that I could and had a brief chat while I was getting a test done, which gives me a little peace of mind that I have made that transition that I don’t see many have.

This all looks very long on my phone and I think I have a tendency to become unnecessarily tedious when I’m worked up, but by all regular metrics I feel fine at the moment.

I’m drinking my fake beer to forget my fake problems.

 

[amadeus]

Took a xanax 15 minutes ago exactly, at the time I finish this sentence. I have the time written down on my calendar. My psychiatrist visit went well enough, but then after that I had to go to work for the afternoon. Again, high praise for the clinic; it’s a one-man operation save for the receptionist and nurse so I always see the same doctor. The other one I went to was kind of a factory farm clinic, to be shuffled around and given opposing opinions from the people there. I went twice and never back.

And holy cow, speaking of work, there is no way I can take half of the stuff they say seriously. No educated adult could. Everything is looked at as a binary issue—either it is 0, or 1. There is no nuance, no weighting of things that are critically important versus things that are, by any reasonable analysis, complete statistical outliers wholly unlikely to occur twice. Every issue is of equal importance, and all of the productive work we could be doing is put on hold for this utterly pointless and comical exercise.

It has now been 30 minutes right... not yet... still waiting... almost there... now!