Posts by Keith Doyle18

Sandy, you might want to dial back the intensity just a bit—aiming for about 2 lbs a month might be a more sustainable pace.
Honestly, even three years after having my baby, my midsection still hasn't quite bounced back to how it used to be. However, for the last two months, I’ve been strictly avoiding sweets, sodas, and all those other empty calories that caused me to pack on the weight in the first place. On top of that, I’ve been heading out for an hour of walking or jogging at 6:00 AM—well before my son and husband are even awake. And I have to say, I'm finally seeing some progress! My clothes are fitting much looser, but more importantly, I can feel my legs and glutes toning up—it’s not a massive transformation yet, but it’s definitely enough to boost my mood.
Losing 4 lbs a month might actually be pushing it too hard, since I'm not entirely sure the body can burn through subcutaneous fat that quickly.

Kimberly Wright said:I actually love the idea of using the baby as my little workout weight 😬

A good chunk of those postpartum pounds actually melted away during long walks—with the little one tucked snugly in a carrier against me. (Think of them as my tiny, adorable little dumbbell 😍).

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Can I just vent here for a second before I get back to reality? Basically, they showed up during my pregnancy, went absolutely wild during labor, and then practically finished me off postpartum—but things finally settled down after that. Every now and then, there’s a bit of internal bleeding, which usually clears up in a day or two. However, once summer hits and the heat kicks in, these external ones start acting up again. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa last summer wasn't too bad; they would subside pretty quickly, but this year is different because I have a new job where I'm sitting all day long. And when I get home, I’m lugging around my "little one"—who is currently a whopping 18 kilograms—and yesterday, they decided to make a comebackiiiiiiii aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Now I'm stuck here at the office and I honestly don't know how to sit properly; no matter how I adjust myself, it's just stinging and uncomfortable... On my way home from work, I'm planning to swing by the pharmacy—what do you guys actually recommend (an ointment, suppositories?, Hemopropin)?...........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Brenda Allen2 said:Yeah, well, I take Ambien without a second thought, haha. Haven't tried Lunesta yet, and honestly, probably won't. As for the ringing in my ears... man, what am I supposed to do? It sucks...
but yeah, definitely gotta be careful with those pills.

Look, I'm only saying this because I care—I truly feel you're far too young to get hooked on sleep medication. I went through a nightmare phase where I couldn't sleep for anything, and believe me, everything was an irritant. My husband snoring right next to me, the baby waking up every few minutes—I was tempted to just plug my ears with cotton balls, but then I’d worry about whether I'd actually hear the baby if they woke up! On top of that, I was juggling various exams and stressing over those, too. Everything—absolutely everything—was getting under my skin. Because of that constant state of anxiety, I wouldn't sleep for four or five hours at a stretch, and even when I finally drifted off, the baby would wake up, and we'd just go round in circles.

What actually helped me was talking things out and tackling my daily stressors head-on. Once I finished my finals, one major weight was already lifted from my shoulders. Plus, my husband started taking over some of the nighttime baby duties; there were even nights where I'd just go sleep in the living room. And you wouldn't believe it—suddenly, the ticking of the wall clock didn't bother me anymore, nor did the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen or the neighbor's dog barking outside...
It turns out, all my worries and responsibilities were manifesting as this intense restlessness—an inability to truly relax enough to fall asleep—which made it feel like "noise" was the problem when, really, it was my own mind.

My friends, you all seem to be treating sleep aids like they’re candy from a vending machine. Just slow down with the heavy-duty sleeping pills—I see you're popping Praxilene like it's my morning chamomile tea.
Look, listen—sleep disorders don't necessarily have to stem from the noise you mentioned, though technically, we aren't talking about simple noise, but rather auditory disturbances.

As for Ambien, please be careful. I took it once on a doctor's recommendation and I was essentially out of commission for over 24 hours. From the moment I swallowed it on Friday night until Sunday, I was completely groggy, lethargic, and totally disoriented. It wasn't until Sunday afternoon that my head finally cleared enough for me to actually interact with the world normally.
I am never putting that kind of chemical cocktail in my body ever again.

soundvision said:And what’s the absolute minimum amount required for that deposit? I initially just put $1 into that checking—or whatever they call those "savings accounts"—into my account $0.00 .... I highly doubt that's going to cut it ....

$13is actually the minimum balance required for the account, at least that's what I was told ...

Look, you basically just tripped over your own feet there—to be blunt—because money sitting in a checking, savings, or foreign currency account that you deposited personally and can spend whenever you want doesn't count as a guarantee for opening any kind of credit card (regardless of the brand).

The security is an FDIC-insured, FIXED-TERM deposit. Essentially, you tell the teller at the branch—let's call her Sarah—"Hey, I'd like to deposit $X and lock it away for 12 months (or whatever the minimum term is), and I'd like you to issue me a Visa Classic, a Visa Classic revolving, a Mastercard, or a Mastercard Ell—or whatever JPMorgan Chase offers—based on that specific deposit which I won't touch." Then, Sarah will let you know the minimum deposit and the required term according to the bank's standard terms and conditions. Now, I don't work at JPMorgan Chase, so I don't know their exact fine print, but most major American banks follow very similar rules.

Money in a standard checking account serves only to cover the monthly bill, because the actual security deposit is not touched—the bank only dips into it if you fail to meet your payment obligations, providing them with a final safety net for collection.
Otherwise, you use the money in your checking account normally for daily life—meaning you just have to make sure you keep enough funds ($X) to cover whatever you bought online that's about to hit your statement, which then gets "pulled" from your checking/savings/etc. account.

Kevin Morris12 said:From what I understand—you just can't! You need a steady stream of income for a bank to even consider approving a credit card. My wife actually told me the same thing when we spoke at JPMorgan Chase—there's absolutely zero chance of me getting one.

Look, would you mind sending me a private message? Tell me which JPMorgan Chase branch gave you that answer, because—honestly—your wife might have steered you wrong there!

The thing is, it’s actually quite simple: you just need to put down a deposit. You have to make it clear to them that you want the
card secured by that deposit rather than relying on a monthly paycheck (you might have missed that detail during the conversation).

Based on that collateral, JPMorgan Chase will typically approve a card with a spending limit—I believe it's roughly 80% of whatever funds you've deposited.

Kevin Morris12 said:I was looking into getting an entity Visa debit card because—in most developed nations—you don't actually need to be employed to get one; you just open a checking account at a bank, drop in $20, and they issue you an entity Visa debit card.

But what exactly is backing that card besides those initial twenty bucks? Does that mean your spending limit is capped at that tiny amount too? It strikes me as incredibly odd that a bank would issue any kind of credit card without substantial collateral—you know, unless their idea of "security" is just a measly $20.

Secondly—an Intel Visa debit card issued here in America won't even work for online shopping.

Thirdly—you can obtain a Visa Classic or a Visa revolving card (which *can* be used for online transactions) regardless of your employment status. You simply need to open a checking or savings account—though keep in mind that some banks bundle all your savings under a single account number, where the funds are just categorized by currency, like USD or EUR. To open the account, all you really need is a state ID; now, to qualify for a credit card, some banks might want to see a few months of history in that account, but generally, if you don't have a steady paycheck, they’ll just ask for collateral. Usually, this takes the form of a Certificate of Deposit (CD) that you don't touch—the bank uses that deposit to set your spending limit (for example, you park $1,000 in there, and that becomes your maximum credit line).

silvermason16 said:I honestly felt like it was helping me😉
—and by that, I mean staying consistently active through non-professional physical activity,
—clocking in about 7 hours a day.😲 (Though maybe you’d prefer something more low-key; the Italians have that lovely term 'ginnastica dolce,' which implies a gentle movement rather than just 'killing yourself' at the gym.)

Believe it or not, this wasn't some professional athletic regimen—just being intensely active—but that’s really the price you pay for seeing actual results. Between two or even three sessions a day, those hours add up fast. And of course, it was all done out of pure passion and joy, never for a paycheck.

On another note, I completely agree with what some of the girls are saying—sometimes, if you can "get ahead" of the pain by taking an analgesic immediately, the discomfort is significantly less intense and doesn't hit you with such full force. I actually stumbled upon an article once suggesting it's better to take medication before the pain even fully sets in, and I can confirm: it absolutely works.

silvermason16 said:I think some regular, consistent physical activity might help.

Personally, I don't think there's much of a connection there—at least not in my case. I’ve been incredibly active for years, and I mean *really* active—sometimes hitting up to seven hours of intense exercise a day—and even then, it didn't do a single thing to stop those monthly aches and pains. It just wasn't my saving grace.

Gary Jones said:I was literally retching. And don't even get me started on the time a cramp hit so hard I actually tore the bedsheet right under me with my bare hands.

With the kind of cramps I deal with—it’s not every day, but maybe two or three times a year—my mother looked at me once and said that’s exactly how she felt during childbirth.

To put it bluntly: we're talking about 20 seconds that feel like an absolute eternity—the kind of pain that makes you want to leap off a ten-story building just to make it stop. Then, you get 30 seconds of peace. It can go on like that for up to three hours. Over time, though, the ratio shifts—the painful bursts get shorter and the calm periods get longer. After half a state, the cramps come every two minutes, then every ten, until they finally vanish into thin air.

Thank heavens someone finally described this exactly the way I experience it. Honestly, I’m just relieved to be nine weeks pregnant right now—at least I won't have to deal with my period for a while. Otherwise, the last 16 or 17 years have been a total gauntlet of pain-induced disasters: collapsing onto the floor of a crowded city bus, passing out in the middle of a busy line at a bank, dropping in front of my colleagues at the office, or having a total meltdown in a restaurant where the owner had to rush me to the ER in a panic... you name it. But the absolute worst? Collapsing right inside the hospital while I was visiting my late father. They couldn't even help me because there wasn't a doctor on the floor, so the nurses just left me lying there on that cold, plasticized hospital bed to "die" for hours. The only brief window of relief I ever had was when I was on birth control.

Regarding that potassium discussion from yesterday—I just got my lab results back, and they show a level of 3.9 mmol/L. Is that considered too low?
I make sure to eat tomatoes every single day, and I’m having a banana almost daily as well—but looking at this number, it still feels a bit underwhelming to me.

Bradley Smith said:Pain, pain, pure pain. It’s fainting, chills, nausea, cold sweats—the whole works. And this pain? It doesn't just hit once; it comes in waves, much like labor pains, cycling over and over.

I am right there with you—just a few weeks ago, I was stuck in a hospital bed. I was scheduled for an HSG test to check my fallopian tubes, and let me tell you, the uterine contractions triggered by the catheter were so intense that I actually blacked out on the table several times. The pain... well, if you can guess, it feels exactly like those brutal cramps you get during your period.

My doctor couldn't believe how much I was struggling—he eventually gave me this look of sheer pity and asked, "Wait, is it really this bad every single month when you have your period?"

The bottom line? Next month, I’m heading in for a laparoscopy and a hysteroscopy. My doctor refuses to take any more risks with me passing out from these contractions, even though I was prepared to push through the agony just to get things moving.

So, yeah—this isn't "all in my head." This has been my reality since my very first period; the only reason it hadn't been this debilitating before was because I spent three years on Triquilar.

Scott Allen10 said:Well, damn—if that's the case, you're practically a medical marvel 😁
It doesn't strike me as something that should be this incredibly difficult to clear out

Haha, honestly? It didn't even seem remotely concerning to me at first. But now, after six months on a steady rotation of antibiotics and being hyper-vigilant about everything... well, things have changed. By the way, even my doctors are getting a bit exhausted seeing someone they just can't seem to shake. It’s like playing a game of Whac-A-Mole—one bacterium disappears, only for another one to pop up in its place...
Oh, and on top of all that, I've also been taking some mediocre Sumamed

PS (just so I don't come off as some kind of pill addict—this is probably the total amount of medication I've swallowed in my entire life combined—but unfortunately, I really do need to be "clean" right now because of an upcoming surgery)

Scott Allen10 said:It isn’t really about the medication itself—it’s about the doctor who keeps feeding you ineffective or totally inappropriate antibiotics.

The doctor follows the susceptibility reports to a T when prescribing these drugs... though, occasionally, things don't go strictly "by the book."

And just to clear things up for Banderas: we're looking at Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus spp., Streptococcus agalactiae... plus a few others I won't bother mentioning.

This isn't strictly on-topic, but I just had to share my personal "award" for medication consumption over the last few months. As of today, I’ve burned through four boxes of Amoxil and two boxes of 1g Clavocin... and yet, the bacteria are still winning the war.

summerrain said:I absolutely do not have the bandwidth to treat nutrition like—as someone once so eloquently put it—a full-time job. That said, trying to align myself with the knowledge zone as much as possible is certainly better than doing the exact opposite—which, if I’m being honest, used to be my go-to routine: toast with butter and jam for breakfast, followed by spaghetti and salsa for lunch (and let's be real, that didn't even involve a salad 🙂). I try to stick to it as best I can. The knowledge zone has 'convinced' me to eat better breakfasts, opt for something light before bed, and stay properly hydrated. So, I'm quite happy just strolling along the edge of the knowledge zone 😁. I realize I shouldn't expect those instant results the knowledge zone 'promises,' but hopefully, the closer I get, the better things will become...

That is pretty much my philosophy as well—and I can honestly say that since I started following these "rules," I've managed to drop about 13 or 14 pounds. My approach? I've integrated a ton of movement and physical labor into my day (instead of hitting a gym, I handle setup and cleaning for the crew—but either way, the body stays in constant motion)
The knowledge zone is fantastic for people who have the luxury of time to meal prep or can afford professional nutritionists to manage everything (like pro athletes), but in my opinion, life should be enjoyed first and foremost—including the food. You should definitely be mindful of what you eat, sure, but it needs to be a pleasure, not a burden.

Well, here I am, jumping into the millionth weight loss thread on this forum 😁 A few weeks back, someone suggested that because of some nagging health issues, I should try cutting out sweets and dairy entirely. Even though my weight was perfectly fine before this, I’m actually seeing some real progress now—I’ve definitely dropped a few pounds. My overall diet hasn't changed much; it's really just about ditching the sugar. It was a massive struggle at first, honestly, because if I wanted to, I could easily survive on nothing but cookies and milk—that’s how much of a sucker I am for them. But it turns out that simply removing those specific things—think chocolate bars, a handful of Oreos, or a snack cake—makes a world of difference.

Last Sunday, I hit a major snag during breakfast; watching my partner scoop through a jar of Nutella was just too much temptation, and I ended up giving in just once... and believe me, I’m usually pretty disciplined. It’s funny how quickly you can find some willpower when a doctor tells you it's a matter of your actual health.

velvetmaker86 said:How do you actually wake up in the morning if you can't hear your alarm?
Don't those earplugs get in the way when you're tossing and turning from one side to the other?
Do they block out everything entirely, or—as I’d expect—do you still hear muffled sounds?

To be honest, I don't hear the alarm at all; though, more often than not, I tend to wake up around 6:30 AM even without one. That said—if I'm a particularly heavy sleeper—it's usually my snoring partner who ends up jolting me awake.
At first, the plugs were a bit irritating—I could hear my own breathing quite clearly and felt them sitting in my ears—but I just applied a bit of "lesser of two evils" logic, and after a few days, I adjusted.
They dampen about 80% of the noise; for instance, what would normally be loud, obnoxious snoring just sounds like soft breathing to me once the plugs are in.

As for lying down or rolling over, they won't pop out—they just mold themselves to the shape of your ear.

I think I saw a comment somewhere saying they're impossible to find—I can't speak to that personally, because last time I went to the pharmacy, the pharmacist offered me four different varieties. They were only $4.99, and I've been using this specific brand (EAR Classic—manufactured by IVF - Schaffhausen Switzerland—distributed by Mediplan d.o.o. in San Francisco) since my college days when I lived right next to a summer patio featuring "live music."

I’ve been absolutely besieged lately—between the constant roar of traffic outside, my partner’s snoring, and the tenants upstairs making enough noise to wake the dead... honestly, it was getting exhausting. But I finally found the fix, and it’s incredibly straightforward: I just head down to CVS, grab a pack of earplugs for a few bucks, and suddenly I’m sleeping like a baby all night long.