Posts by rustymoose54

placidfox52 said:A friend of mine was telling me her OBGYN said she wasn't even ovulating, even though her periods were freaking agonizing
😕 😕

Look, I never actually said that having painful periods is proof of ovulation—I didn't write that anywhere.

But, yeah... if you *don't* have that usual monthly pain, it could definitely be linked to not ovulating that month.

There are a million different reasons why ovulation might skip a beat; honestly, your friend's doctor probably knows way more about her specific situation than you or I ever will... 🙂

Carl Lee4 said:So, basically, my usual, soul-crushing PMS has just... vanished. For the first time in thirteen years, I actually got my period without feeling like I was being stabbed from the inside. Honestly, I have no clue which "channels" cleared up or what kind of tissue finally decided to heal itself, but all I know is that this monthly thing DOESN'T have to be a nightmare. Long live fasting!

Look, I’m not trying to rain on your parade or anything, I just think it’s worth mentioning that painless periods are often linked to not ovulating at all.

It doesn't mean you definitely skipped ovulation this month—it's possible—but since that radical fasting post probably messed with your hormone levels quite a bit, there's a real chance those cramps stopped because ovulation stopped too...

Just, you know, please talk to a reliable Doctor before you decide when to jump back into fasting again.🙂

nimbleskipper13 said:Look, obviously it’s NOT OKAY! But honestly, that’s just one person being rude and poorly raised—you can't lump every single bad doctor together because of one jerk.

Yeah, duh. Just like pretty much everything else in this crazy life...

I’m constantly stuck dealing with different doctors myself (as a patient, obviously) and I haven't actually had any horror stories. What I *have* noticed is that most doctors basically have zero time to actually talk to you—not even their fault, really—and I feel like things would be way better if we actually had the chance for some real communication. But hey, with the way healthcare funding is looking and how many patients are flooding in, it’s a total uphill battle.

And here's another thing that's been bugging me: most doctors are insanely proud of those fancy academic titles. God forbid you call an adjunct professor anything less than "Doctor" or whatever... 😁

It probably irritates some patients, or maybe they just find it kind of funny when someone who actually holds a PhD or a high-level research title walks in... 🤣

Sorry for the tangent...

nimbleskipper13 said:Yeah, we're pretty lucky, aren't we?

Hold up—are you seriously trying to tell me it’s totally fine for a doctor to just leave a patient sitting there with a tube shoved down their throat while they take a private phone call for a few minutes?

That's just trash...

I mean, sure, using an official work phone is one thing, but nobody should be expected to just sit there and take that kind of disrespect.

Dr. Wahid is honestly such a sweetheart, really kind guy... 👍

I only saw him because my insurance covered it—standard stuff—so he didn't actually give me a full exam or anything, which means I don't have much info on that specific issue yet.

From our chat, though, it feels like he stays on top of all the latest medical journals and doesn't just wing it. He seems pretty cautious, too—like, he’s definitely not the type to get sloppy or cut corners—that’s just my vibe from him...

Wahid is a good one. 🙂

Jeffrey Edwards5 said:I have absolutely no clue what you're trying to say here... are we talking about rubbing cream on our faces or are we doing Colonic irrigation with some kind of cream?? What even is this?!

It's face stuff. Apparently, it's supposed to be great for dark circles under your eyes... if you believe the hype. 😁

Honestly, they could probably just raid their grandpa's old stash in the bathroom cabinet instead of running out to buy a new jar every single time... 🤣

Oh, duh. I mean, obviously you take a sick day if you’re running a fever or if you're basically leaking from every pore... though honestly, most people just burn through their old vacation days instead of calling in sick at that point.

And my boss? Total wildcard. Completely inconsistent with how they handle stuff. 😁

Megan Morales5 said:Yeah, pretty much. It’s definitely not exactly the best way to make a first impression when you're already calling in sick during your very first month... 😉

My boss is such a massive hypochondriac, too—like, seriously. If anyone even breathes funny or lets out a tiny sneeze, he's immediately sending them home for the day.

But honestly? He actually once drove a coworker all the way back to the office straight from the ER... where the guy ended up getting treated for kidney stones. Just... yeah.😁

Cortisol, growth hormone, and adrenaline are totally wrecking my system right before dawn—it's like this "dawn phenomenon" thing happens every single morning, no matter where I am in my cycle. Does that stuff actually spike more during the second half of the month?

I don't have a pump because, honestly, they're way too pricey. I mean, I'd love to grab one (I think they go for about $5000 now, which is a total steal compared to when they were like $5,000), but my endocrinologist would never let me get Medicare to cover the supplies since my A1C is actually great at 😁... so yeah, no luck there.

My H&M levels are solid mostly because I’m constantly checking my sugar. And I check it constantly because I end up buying all my own extra test strips. If I didn't obsessively monitor everything, my numbers might actually look bad enough for me to finally get some reimbursement for the supplies 🤔 damn it...

To be honest, I've never even wanted to try oral contraceptives (not that I don't need them 😁), mainly because I know diabetes makes it tricky. One OBGYN tried to convince me that it would just increase my insulin needs but that I could still manage things perfectly fine. But then again, I have friends over in Australia who are on Depo-Provera, and it actually helped stabilize their blood sugar swings. Plus, if you can actually get your glucose perfectly regulated, isn't the cardiovascular risk basically the same as everyone else?

Ashley Fox69 said:Not really... you've got Type 2 folks on insulin too.

Look, I know there are Type 2s using insulin—I already said that—but most of them are pairing it with some kind of oral insulin sensitizers, so the whole treatment vibe isn't even the same thing. Plus, even if their pancreas is pretty much shot, they’re still making their own insulin... which is a totally different ballgame than Type 1. I am definitely not putting those two in the same bucket. 🙂
And honestly, that doesn't make managing Type 2 any easier—if anything, it’s usually way more of a headache than Type 1. But yeah, we've already been down that rabbit hole... 🙂

I get the deal with progesterone 🙂, but tell me—what other hormones are we talking about? I can never seem to find anyone giving me a straight answer on that. Also, if certain hormones (like progesterone) are responsible for tanking insulin sensitivity—and I'm dying to know the actual mechanism here, like does progesterone mess with the insulin receptors directly or just act as an antagonist?—then, if we know progesterone causes higher blood sugar, why wouldn't we just use oral contraceptives that suppress progesterone in the first place?

Ashley Fox69 said:Robert Alvarez was acting like managing someone's blood sugar is some kind of Mission Impossible task—honestly, I just told him I didn't really feel that way...

I mean, sure, it’s not exactly 100% identical to how things work for people without it, but I still think you can hit pretty solid numbers.

Look, there is a massive difference between managing Type 1 versus Type 2. It drives me absolutely crazy when people constantly lump them together... they're totally different beasts with completely different causes and treatment plans.

With Type 1, getting those perfect glycemic levels (keeping glucose consistently between 54 and 122 mg/dL, for those keeping track) is actually doable if you're using intensive insulin therapy (MDI), or even better, an insulin pump combined with checking about 10 times a day—all without totally wrecking your "normal" lifestyle (whatever that even means 😁). Honestly, it would be even easier with closed-loop systems—you know, pumps paired with continuous monitoring—but the tech isn't quite all the way there yet.

Now, Type 2? That’s a whole different ballgame. It’s super individual. For some folks, just dropping some weight does the trick, but for others, it's a nightmare to stabilize their sugar even when they're using insulin alongside oral sensitizers.

I have Type 1, and I don't use hormonal contraceptives.

But during the second half of my cycle, my basal insulin needs just spike. I'm guessing it's because of that surge in hormones that make you more resistant to insulin—like progesterone?

Am I hitting the mark here?

Walter Foster87 said:The local links are fine, I guess, but those American ones are just... a nightmare. Mostly because they insist on using inches for length and pounds for weight. It’s such a headache.

Wait, pounds are for weight?

Man, if you're giving up that easily, no wonder you're out of the loop... 😁 🙂

Okay, okay, I'm just messing with you.

Just try plugging everything into this site to flip those US mass and height units over to metric: www.onlineconversion.com

There's actually one more big difference—over in Germany and the US, they measure blood glucose concentration in mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter), unlike basically everywhere else that uses mmol/L (millimoles per liter).

So, for example, an American would see a sugar level of 5.5 mmol/L and record it as 100 mg/dL.

If you ever need to convert those American readings back to what we use (talking about glucose levels here), just divide their number by 18.

Ashley Fox69 said:Honestly, I never felt like managing blood sugar was such a massive ordeal... My endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic is absolutely killing it with my management plan 🙂.

I’d love to actually know what we're even talking about here. Are we discussing Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes??? Or maybe someone on hormonal birth control dealing with Type 1 (or Type 2) and all those annoying spikes and dips in glucose levels???

Someone please clear this up for me.

Walter Foster87 said:I mean, I’ll dig around on Google, but honestly... if there isn't some dedicated site out there—you know, one with actual basic advice, deep dives into what's actually happening, links to legit studies and all that good stuff—then someone really ought to build it

Trust me when I say those "latest research" results won't do you much good anyway... 🙂

Check these out:

www.diabetes.org

www.diabetes123.com

www.diabetes.gov

and this part here
is super helpful

Walter Foster87 said:Well, why do you think I even started this thread? Maybe because finding volunteers is easier for everyone else... personally, I just can't seem to pull it off.

Look, basic facts about diabetes are everywhere—you can find them on any health site out there. For starters, you've got Google. 🙂 Honestly, any regular family doctor should be able to give you all that info (and probably better advice, too).

Walter Foster87 said:Silence for once—thanks on behalf of all my buddies.

And this too... I honestly find it hard to believe that after all those TV segments about how being overweight messes with your health—where they always bring up the link to Type 2 diabetes—you’ve somehow never heard of it. I don't know if you actually have diabetes or what, but if you do and you're overweight, and no medical professional has told you that losing weight is mandatory, then you seriously need to report them for malpractice. Like, seriously.

Walter Foster87 said:Now THAT is the REAL reason I opened this post—that's the stuff I actually want to hash out.

I mean, it's pretty unlikely patients can speak for themselves regarding their diabetes improving unless they're checking their blood sugar multiple times a day. High sugar levels, they don't really hurt, you know? And talking about the impact of "natural remedies" on lowering sugar is just pointless unless it's controlled—like, actually integrated into the whole treatment plan.

It would be great if doctors who actually prescribe natural supplements to lower blood sugar—if such people even exist—would step up and chime in.

Bradley Ramos11 said:It doesn't get greasy within 10 hours—it holds up for a day, but by the next morning? It looks more like spaghetti than hair...

Exactly. And then the best part is when you wash it the next day... everything feels clean and smells great until the following day hits again.

Bradley Ramos11 said:What actually worries me more than how the hair looks is the shedding. Greasy hair just makes that whole issue worse—or at least that’s what some of the older, experienced ćelavacs told me... 😁 So I've heard all kinds of "advice" floating around: rub rubbing alcohol on your scalp (not sure if they even count that as ingesting alcohol, lol), rub garlic juice on it 😲, and who knows what other nonsense. Even the lady at the CVS told me my hair would actually get greasier if I washed it more often.

Hair loss is mostly genetic, man. It's hard to stop it just because you're washing your hair less frequently than you probably should.

And whatever you do, do NOT put alcohol on your scalp. Alcohol dries out your skin like crazy. Seriously, try putting it on your arm and see what happens.

That lady at the pharmacy doesn't really have a leg to stand on there. That theory was basically a thing back in the day when shampoos were super alkaline and actually stripped the moisture right out of your skin. Then the dry skin overcompensates by pumping out oil, and boom—you end up with grease-soaked strands.

In most of the US, the habit of washing hair daily has been around forever, and people here aren't any more bald than the folks who still cling to those old-school theories about washing being bad for you.

If you're gonna wash every day, just grab a shampoo that specifically says "for daily use" on the bottle.

Look, Bradley Ramos11, I’ll be the first to admit I’m pretty clueless about this stuff... so just give me a straight answer: is it actually true that my hair gets super greasy in like, ten hours flat?

And hey, don't get all worked up about it.

Bradley Ramos11 said:Also, can all you geniuses out there with the "just wash your hair every single day" advice please just... chill? Like, I get it, I know, but honestly, it doesn't really do much for me.
Thanks.

So, what are you saying—your hair gets greasy in like, ten hours flat?

If that’s actually the case, go see a dermatologist.

neonmarlin2 said:It’s definitely not a good idea to wash your hair too often—especially with those harsh shampoos. They just irritate your scalp and mess up its natural pH balance...

Wait, if that's true, are we even allowed to shower every day? Like, is that actually okay? 😁

I haven't really noticed anything about my "natural skin pH" being thrown off, honestly. Also, does anyone actually know the numbers? Like, what’s the pH of the body versus the scalp?

And what happens if you *do* mess up the scalp pH? Does your hair just fall out in clumps? Or does it just get super oily, forcing you into this endless cycle of washing it every single day? 😲

Daily washing might have been an issue back in the day when people didn't have reliable running water or were stuck using those super alkaline, old-school soaps...

But nowadays? Not really a thing.

Bradley Ramos11 said:p.s. Personally, I don't have some sweet guy kissing me on the head... lol.

Man, what a waste. That guy is seriously missing out on everything... 🤣