Category: health
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Medical Tests of the Itchy Sort
In May 2018 I was short of breath. I thought I might have pneumonia. Turned out they found a pulmonary embolism and I spent 4 days in ICU. I was finally discharged to go home and rest. This also came shortly after a kidney stone and high blood pressure diagnosis, and I was really, really,…
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Hand Laundry Never Ends
As many women know, hand washing of bras is recommended to keep them in good condition. This is not necessarily a huge burden! Hand washing of pantyhose is also recommended. Thank heavens I don’t have to wear pantyhose. And then came…compression stockings. Compression stockings are often recommended for people who are on their feet all…
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Vitamin B12. Joy.
Researchers have found a possible link between lack of vitamin B12 in early life and insulin resistance later. (Link has both video and text; video does at times assume fat is a problem, but overall explores why type 2 diabetes is not brought on by eating too much.) I’ve written before about being deficient in…
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Day in the life: Thyroid pause
I started taking levothyroxine this fall, and got the standard spiel from the pharmacist: Take first thing in the morning. Do not eat anything else for 30 to 60 minutes after, including other oral medication. Do not take with calcium or iron supplements for 4 hours after taking levothyroxine. “You CAN have coffee!” the pharmacist…
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No, Really, Treat the PROBLEM
A comment for Treat Weight First? that I did not approve, but found striking for its ability to completely misunderstand, was: There must be some powerful drugs in that koolaid you’re drinking. You admit you are morbidly obese, you have multiple health problems directly related to obesity, yet you shun the doctors that are trying to help…
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Treating Weight First?
The Twitterverse has been busy talking about some new treatment guidelines for fatties. Ragen Chastain posted about a piece from Medscape called “New US Obesity Guidelines: Treat the Weight First,” which also has quotes from the lead author. I also clicked over to the guidelines themselves. They start with an extremely helpful objective, to wit:…
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Tests Are In …
I posted before that I’ve been having some medical tests. And that I’m seeing an endocrinologist to treat hypothyroid. Some of you may have seen my tweet about getting a growth hormone test. Turns out I’m deficient in human growth hormone. This may explain why I have less strength, stamina, and endurance than I used to…
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Bad For My Blood Pressure
First visit at the endocrinologist to treat hypothyroid. Waiting in the lobby with chairs whose arms are a bit too tight. I am weighed. The doctor asks me to sit on the exam table, so I do – no back support, legs dangling. In taking my medical history she asks about my weight history. After more history,…
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Healthy Habits Better Than Statins
You may recall a study from a few years ago about how certain healthy habits — consumption of ≥5 fruits or vegetable/day, regular exercise >12 times/month, moderate alcohol consumption, and not smoking — decreased mortality risk regardless of weight. You may not have seen this part: The results of this study reinforce the association between healthy lifestyle…
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Quote of The Day: On Sex
[Warning: rape] I had a conversation with a therapy patient of mine recently that spoke volumes to the problems of living in a rape culture that no longer wants to use the dirty word rape. She told me that she and her best friend (both 19-years-old) frequently endured sex with their boyfriends that involved heavy drug use,…
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Milestones
So I threw this on twitter, but I’m repeating it here: I’m 48 years old & it’s been over a year since my last period. I’m OK with the first. I’m HAPPY about the second — and yes, it means I’m “officially” considered menopausal. I had a few years of skipping periods in the fall…
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Back from Norwescon!
As mentioned on Twitter, I was at Norwescon this weekend! One of the most delightful parts was the interview session with special guest Seanan McGuire, who is also Mira Grant. I don’t have that to share with you, but I do have this from her book tour last fall for her book Parasite (which IS about…
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Wheezing Around the Block
One of the recent rants I moderated out of the comments included something* about how “wheezing around the block doesn’t count as exercise.” Wheezing is a symptom of asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis, pneumonia, and other illness. Deciding that wheezing is only due to weight and only will be treated by weight loss is DANGEROUS. I do…
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Saturday Ramblings
1am is still Saturday if you haven’t gone to bed yet, right? Note to self: The expensive twice-daily asthma med works best if the evening dose is 12 hours after the morning dose, not 18 or 20. You carry it with you. Set an alarm on your phone & use it. Don’t just turn it off. Kath posted…
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N Things Make a Post
Thanks to This Is Thin Privilege for the shout-out. Jeanette took on the “Obese women get only an hour of exercise a year” thing. …as did This is Thin Privilege. …as did Marilyn Wann and many commenters on Facebook (signin needed). On a personal note, my allergies are bothering me much less since Sunday. Why? I…
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Tell Me Again How It’s “For My Own Good”
Lara Frater wrote about this and I wanted to boost the signal. The Rudd Center recently came out with a study (PDF link) showing that weight stigma affects the stress hormone cortisol. Exposure to weight-stigmatizing stimuli was associated with greater cortisol reactivity among lean and overweight women. These findings highlight the potentially harmful physiological consequences of exposure to weight stigma.…
Living ~400lbs 