I just moved to Queens, Chicago. I’ve been hitting up different clinics, and everywhere I go, they just tell me they’re full. It's ridiculous. I have no clue how to actually find a doctor who will take on new patients. Is there some kind of master list of doctors who aren't already completely maxed out?
Is there any way to check vitamin levels without a blood draw? Honestly, getting blood taken isn't the issue—it's the insane costs. We’re talking $400-$$300 for a single vitamin. If I try to test everything, I'll be out thousands of dollars. I need to get a full picture because my son deals with severe allergies and has been stuck on a super restrictive diet for ages. To make matters worse, doctors here are incredibly stingy with referrals, especially since they’ve already ordered plenty of tests for us. It looks like I'm going to have to shell out a fortune myself.
I've noticed those electrode testing kits you find at drugstores are total garbage. Every time you use one, you get completely different results. That kind of measurement is a known scam.
Are there any other options out there? I’ve read about accredited labs in the US where you can mail in a hair sample to test for minerals, but I haven't found anything similar for vitamins.
What other methods exist for measuring vitamin levels in the body, and where can I actually get this done properly?
Nicholas Mendoza60 said:So then, what kind of methods actually give you objective results? I’m dealing with this constant chronic fatigue and I just want to kick it to the curb once and for all... I really just want that insane energy I had back when I was twenty...🙂
Ugh. Get ready for endless research and playing scientist on your own body. Maybe you're nutrient deficient, maybe your liver is struggling, maybe it's depression, or maybe your hormones are a mess... hell, maybe you're just burnt out. It won't be easy. It’s going to be a long road.
Nicholas Mendoza60 said:Yeah... So he tells me it’s all good, says it's just a total breeze, and then basically tells me, "Hey, go ahead and get your blood work done if you don't believe me"...
I walk into the pharmacy just two days apart, and they show me completely different nutrient levels. It’s a total circus.
Nicholas Mendoza60 said:I was dealing with a major copper deficiency and my Vitamin D was sitting at a measly 25 units Plus, my B12 was down at 240
Then yesterday I went for one of those electronic mineral scans and the lady tells me my B6 is unbelievably low... like, actually shocking She said if I want to be 100% sure, I’ve gotta go get a full blood panel done
An "electronic scan"? You mean that gimmick where they stick electrodes on your fingers at the pharmacy to check your vitamins? That's total garbage. It’s just a tool designed to scare people into buying overpriced supplements.
Nicholas Mendoza60 said:Sorry, we don't actually run those specific tests here. Vitamin B6 81 miles costs about $70 $177 plus you've gotta wait like 10 days for results...
It’s honestly such a rip-off
I've heard people say this vitamin can mess with your head too—like causing mood swings, depression, anxiety, all that jazz... But you can pretty much get it checked at any local lab Apparently, if you're low on it, you just feel exhausted all the time... constant fatigue and stuff
Has anyone else actually gone out and gotten their levels checked?
You say: "Supposedly this vitamin causes mood swings, depression, anxiety—all sorts of stuff." If you're claiming the vitamin *causes* that, then logically, an excess would be the culprit. Or are you trying to say these things happen when there's a deficiency?
If it's the latter, don't blow money on overpriced lab work. Just buy some B6 supplements and see if your symptoms improve.
But let's be real: if we're talking about depression and anxiety, we're dealing with something far more complex than just a single B6 level. The causes are endless. It could be a whole spectrum of nutrient deficiencies, or maybe you're eating right but your digestive system isn't absorbing anything. It could be something else entirely, even psychological. Honestly, your best bet is to pick up a book on depression and anxiety to learn the basics so you actually know how to handle this. There are some great resources out there, though I'm not sure if I'm allowed to list them here.
Bottom line: do your homework and look at the big picture before you throw massive amounts of cash at expensive diagnostic tests.
rustymason82 said:I just did some digging, and apparently potassium permanganate is actually used to disinfect drinking water, so it could work for a pool. Just be careful with the dosage—maybe two or three granules for every 10 liters to get a light pink tint. It’s incredibly easy to overdo it...
Using potassium permanganate is an interesting thought, and definitely worth looking into. But we're talking about a kid here who is allergic to almost everything—even things most people don't even react to. Chlorine is also used to treat drinking water, just in tiny amounts. That’s why I was leaning toward salt as the safest bet, though the real question is how long the water will actually stay clean if we don't hook up an electrolysis system.
I’m looking at putting a small 1,300-gallon pool on my deck. I can't use chlorine because my son has a medical condition that makes chlorinated water a huge no-go for him.
I’m wondering if salt is an option. I see people recommending about 3 kg of salt per cubic meter, but they also say you need an electrolysis system to make it work—and honestly, those systems are way too expensive for a little setup like this.
In your experience, how many days can saltwater at a 0.3% concentration sit before it goes bad? I don't want microorganisms blooming and making the water dangerous for swimming. The pool does have a filter pump to catch any debris.
Look, I know what you're going to say: "Just change the water every day." But doing that means draining 1,300 gallons * 30 days, which is basically 4,000 gallons of wasted water or $667 a massive spike in my monthly utility bill. I’d much rather find a way to make the water last maybe 7 days, even if I have to throw in extra salt to get there.
I just picked up an HP Pavilion x360. There are no physical buttons on the touchpad; there's just this single line dividing what's supposed to be the left and right click areas. Something happens when I press, but I can't tell if this thing is broken or if this is just the "new standard" for touchpads.
Here’s the breakdown:
1. Left click is useless—tapping and double-tapping anywhere on the pad works, but I can't select an icon with one hand and then use my other hand to press the "left button" to perform a drag-and-drop. To actually move anything, I have to double-tap and then hold my finger down while sliding. It's ridiculous.
2. Right click doesn't exist; instead, I have to use a two-finger tap just to get a context or pop-up menu.
3. Resizing windows is a nightmare. I can't just hover the pointer at the edge of a window, press the left button with my other hand, and then resize. Dammit! Instead, I have to go to the edge, double-tap without lifting my finger, and then slide to resize.
I’ve tried everything to get actual button functionality back, but nothing works. I’ve reinstalled the drivers and messed around with the settings inside the Intel options, and still nothing.
Is this just how it is now, or is my unit defective? Is this really how modern buttonless touchpads are supposed to function?
I’m looking to pick up a MacBook Air or something in that same vein. Beyond just raw speed, what are the actual advantages of going with an SSD?
If I'm using the laptop as a tablet—meaning I'm basically lounging on the couch, buried under blankets, and just endless surfing and reading—I'll be constantly toggling between standby and wake mode, just like a smartphone. In a setup like that, does it make any sense to save a few bucks and grab a traditional HDD just to get massive storage, or am I asking for trouble with sluggish boot times, slow wakeups, constant noise, and a drained battery?
wiredotter14 said:Right now, electricity costs are eating up about 15-30% of my margins. It’s just not worth messing around with. Besides, a standard large battery—say, 120Ah—isn't going to cut it if you're trying to run a single PC with a dedicated GPU for 14 hours straight.
I've already got two batteries set up. My main concern is the efficiency loss. If I'm converting from 120V to 12V and then back up to 120V again, is the power loss so significant that the off-peak rates won't even cover the difference?
I’m thinking about setting up a mining rig. Is there any actual way to save on electricity by running the machine off a battery bank? My idea is to charge the batteries at night when utility rates are bottomed out, then pull from those batteries during the day to avoid the peak pricing.
Basically, I’d hook up a charger to fill them up overnight while the power is half the price, then use an inverter to step that 12V up to standard household voltage to run the computer.
Will this actually result in savings, or am I just throwing money away because of the energy lost during the voltage conversion process? Is this a viable strategy, or should I just bite the bullet and invest in solar panels instead?
I’ve been digging through 2-in-1 laptops—you know, those hybrid laptop-tablet combos—and I'm trying to figure out where people actually buy replacement batteries and what they cost. Let's be real: a battery is a consumable. It wears out, and eventually, you have to swap it. But for a huge chunk of these models, there isn't a single shred of info on where to even find one.
For instance: the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Microsoft Surface, or the HP Pavilion.
Does this mean once the battery finally dies, the whole machine is just expensive e-waste? Or am I forced to drag it to an authorized service center just so they can rip me off replacing an "internal" battery?
I’ve got this swelling on the outside, right near the anal opening. It swells up and then eventually subsides after a while (I’ve been using Fact cream and Hemorrhoid cream).
Every so often, it seems like it’s almost entirely gone, and then out of nowhere, the swelling just flares back up again.
Could the reason be that I stopped using the Fact cream? Is it possible that stopping suddenly caused it to return (kind of like when you stop taking antibiotics too early and the infection comes back even worse), or does quitting Fact cream abruptly have nothing to do with it?
Jeffrey Chavez6 said:Lately, the whole industry has been obsessed with cutting down CPU power draw. Take the 3556U—it sits at a 15W TDP, whereas your T9800 pulls 35W. This shift plays right into the manufacturers' hands. It lets them cut corners on battery size and cooling systems, while the average consumer doesn't gain anything from saving a few cents on their monthly electric bill. And honestly, 15W is still being generous. Look at those low-end N-series chips with a 6-7W TDP; they perform like a single-core processor from over a decade ago. They aren't even capable of handling basic tasks.
So basically, they install a processor that gulps less power, but then they pair it with a tiny battery. The result? The laptop lasts just as long as before because the battery is smaller, regardless of how much more efficient the chip is.
It’s a joke. If they actually cared, they’d put in a better battery so you’d get 5 or 6 hours of actual runtime. Instead, they just pad their profit margins by cheapening the hardware.
Wait, so you're telling me this newer Pentium is basically the same piece of junk as a Core 2 Duo, maybe 20% faster at best? If that's the case, buying that processor is a complete waste of money. What is even the point of these new Pentiums? Why are they still on the shelves? Is it just some gimmick for better battery life?
I’m looking to pick up a new laptop with a Full HD display. My main workflow involves programming in Visual Studio, some light amateur video editing, and just general web browsing and surfing.
Now, here’s my dilemma: is it actually worth shelling out extra cash $400 for a Core i3 processor instead of just grabbing a Pentium?
To give you some context, I’m currently running an Intel Core 2 Duo T9800 at 2.4 GHz. I haven't been able to find a decent benchmark to show me exactly how much faster something like an Intel Pentium 3556U would be compared to what I’m using right now.
I’ve had a chance to test a Core i3 against my current machine at work, and there's no question—it's noticeably faster than the Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz. But does anyone know the deal with these newer 1.7 GHz Pentium processors? Is it a legitimate upgrade, or am I just buying a piece of junk that’ll perform exactly like the old hardware I'm trying to replace?
I stumbled upon some scientific research regarding the link between Vitamin D levels and schizophrenia, such as this: https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/vita...schizophrenia/
I can't quite wrap my head around one thing:
1. Is a deficiency in Vitamin D actually a potential trigger for developing schizophrenia? 2. Or is it more likely that people already living with schizophrenia simply have low Vitamin D levels, making the deficiency a mere byproduct of the illness?
A blood test was ordered for my eighteen-month-old, and the results show they can't perform the procedure because of issues with blood clotting. What does this actually mean?
