Posts by Nicole James

Normabel is just a temporary fix—a Band-Aid, really. If you're still dealing with this, you probably need to sit down with a psychiatrist and/or a psychotherapist to get to the root of things.

Edward Wells5 said:Question:
When’s the absolute best time to get that flu shot—the one you grab at the pharmacy for like $8 or $9?

Every year, right around mid-November, I pick up the shot and head down to the local Health Institute to get poked. But then, by late February, the flu starts tearing through everything, and I start overthinking it. Am I getting vaccinated too early? Would it be smarter to just buy the shot in the middle of November, stash it in my fridge at home, and wait until the timing is actually perfect to get it jabbed? Just trying to figure out if I'm wasting time by being ahead of the curve before the season actually hits.

Yeah, that’s the right window—your immune response isn't going to just fade away after a few months.

coastalbison6 said:I was only lightly sedated (around 40mg of propofol, I think) and was up and walking right away without any issues.

I had a short session too, but man, I felt absolutely wrecked afterward. It was not fun at all.

coastalbison6 said:Right before I was supposed to be discharged from the hospital, I suddenly went into atrial fibrillation. Usually, when it happens to me—which is a few times a year—it just resolves on its own within a couple of hours, or sometimes takes a week. This time, the doctors wanted to get it under control immediately. They started with meds: magnesium infusions, Rythmol, and heavy doses of beta-blockers. Based on my past experiences, I had a feeling they wouldn't work, and sure enough, they didn't. So, on the second day, they moved to cardioversion (electrical shock). It went pretty smoothly; the whole thing probably took about 10 to 15 minutes.
Next time, I'm not going to sit around waiting for the fibrillation to clear up on its own.

Yay, that's how my doctor describes it—just a little "zapping" ☕
I remember spending the entire following day throwing up because of the anesthesia...

Megan Thomas5 said:Does anyone know if someone becomes contagious if they come into contact with the virus after being vaccinated?

It really depends. No vaccine is a hundred percent foolproof—so, in a small number of instances, you could still end up with a standard flu infection that follows its usual course. In those specific cases, the person would be just as contagious as anyone else. However, in the vast majority of scenarios, the body manages to shut down the virus before any real symptoms even take hold—or perhaps very shortly after the first signs appear—meaning the exposed person won't be contagious at all, or if they are, it’ll be for a much shorter duration and with a significantly lower viral load.

Peter Gomez71 said:Dear everyone,
My mother has been driving me absolutely crazy with all the questions—how, why, who’s at fault, and so on and so forth.
Basically, she’s getting older, and since she used to be the picture of health and never felt the need for a flu shot, things have taken a bit of a turn lately.
She went from being this incredibly vibrant woman to feeling like a walking medical clinic.
Her kidneys are struggling, so she’s having to go in for dialysis twice a week now.
Because of that, she falls into a high-risk category, not just because of her illness but also because she's a retiree.
Naturally, panic set in, so she rushed over to the local clinic to ask about the vaccine, only to find out they were out of stock. They told her it wouldn't arrive for another month. I tried to tell her to hold off and check with her primary doctor instead, but even he didn't have any on hand.
So, my mother heads to the pharmacy to ask about the shot, and the pharmacist gives her this coy answer, saying she needs a prescription from her family doctor first. Once she got the prescription, she went back to the pharmacy, paid for the vaccine herself, and then went straight to her doctor to get the shot. Now, doctor, she asks, why did I have to pay for this when I'm entitled to a free vaccine? And the doctor just says: because you bought it yourself.
To make a long story short, the issue isn't really about $32, it's more about her constantly nitpicking me and making me feel small. Is there any hope for her to get a reimbursement for that money, considering she should have been exempt from paying under two different criteria (as both a retiree and a serious kidney patient)?

Thanks so much,

There is zero hope of getting that money back. She bought the vaccine even though she was eligible to get it for free, and honestly, that was just her own mistake. I've actually done the exact same thing—paid for my own vaccines even when I could have gotten them for free—simply because I didn't want to sit through a packed waiting room.

It’s like buying a sandwich, eating it, and then realizing you could have gotten a free meal at a soup kitchen and trying to demand your money back.

The only chance might be if she can charm her doctor into letting her use one of the clinic's doses instead.

Ah, the stock market... just look at Lehman Brothers—they kept climbing higher and higher right up until the moment they didn't.

John Cook72 said:well, yes and no

It seems like the Windows 10 name is going to stick around forever—even if the actual software underneath keeps evolving.

Even now, Windows 10 has already cycled through several different software iterations internally—think Threshold, Redstone, version 19... you name it—yet from the outside, the user interface looks pretty much the same.

Another thing to consider is that Windows or Microsoft Office aren't really the main moneymakers for Microsoft anymore.
The real driver of revenue now is Cloud Computing; that's where the real profit lives.
You can pick up copies of Windows or Office for just a few bucks these days.
They used to cost hundreds of dollars back in the day.

Yeah, usually via piracy or those questionable gray-market sellers on eBay.

For any legitimate corporation that actually needs to buy official licenses, they’re still paying hundreds of dollars per seat.

Grace Sanders44 said:Look, it was painful as hell—but I have to wonder if that’s because I had a nurse who was just incredibly rough. She was literally pulling at them; everything was bleeding. To top it off, she actually told me at the end that she wasn't even sure if she'd managed to get one out, so if it started acting up in a few days, I should call her back. I never went back to her for dressing changes—I just did it myself and made sure to mention how much it hurt every single day for the week following.
In my case, the wounds were deep, but they didn't hurt nearly as much as the actual stitches coming out. It was a total disaster.

I'm really sorry you went through that. Honestly, when they used the saw to cut through my sternum—which, let's be real, can't go any deeper than that—I barely felt a thing when they pulled the sutures out. It sounds like you just ran into a nurse who didn't know what she was doing.

Pantić Dragan
Top-tier physician and candidate of medical sciences

It sounds authoritative 😁

Grace Sanders44 said:My fingers—well, I actually severed a nerve in one of them already, so I’m assuming that one won't be an issue, but I'm honestly a bit worried about this other one... our fingers are just so incredibly packed with nerves.🤷

It really shouldn't be anything to worry about—honestly, I don't see it being a major issue.

Grace Sanders44 said:Has nobody taken their stitches out yet? 😁

Well, look—it really just depends on where they are and how tight those threads are pulled; it could be more or less uncomfortable depending on the spot, but it’s honestly nothing to worry about. For the most part, I barely even noticed them.

I honestly don't know—I've been going out of my way to avoid the guy for years now. Back when I was handling moderation, he was absolutely unhinged—just completely destructive, like a wrecking ball hitting everything in sight. And since people usually just get more erratic as they age, I’d actually suggest the local admins let him back in...

Drew Scott20 said:I’m taking prednisone myself, and it’s essentially the same story. To manage it, I take Controloc, calcium, Vitamin D, and magnesium, while also keeping a very close eye on my blood sugar and blood pressure. I’ve cut out salt entirely, which has been my saving grace in avoiding massive weight gain, but the "moon face" is still there and my body has definitely changed; I never dealt with cellulite in my life, yet now I see it even on my arms. I seem to have a bit of a resistance to it, so I suspect they'll be tapering me down soon—I'm at 60mg currently and taking a different immunosuppressant alongside it.
I don't buy into alternative medicine.

Man, the highest I ever went was 40 mg of prednisone. I looked like a balloon. Now that I'm down to ten, I feel like a completely different person.

Mark Lopez3, steroids are a heavy-duty tool—there's usually a very serious reason why they're being prescribed in the first place. If you're dealing with significant side effects, you absolutely need to talk to your doctor about them as soon as possible. I really wouldn't recommend trying to adjust anything on your own.

As for alternatives—if any of those methods actually worked, we wouldn't be calling it "alternative medicine," would we? It would just be called medicine.

Rachel Gonzalez16 said:Hey everyone,
Has anyone here actually had experience with Propofol? If you have, could you give me a bit more detail regarding how this specific anesthetic works and what the experience is like?

It acts 👍

Gary Williams18 said:Olivia Gomez67, thanks for getting back to me.
I was actually at the cardiologist relatively recently—well, more than six months ago—and had an echocardiogram done; everything came back normal. I am also being treated for hypertension, and I make sure to stick strictly to my medication regimen.
As for fatigue, yeah, I definitely feel it. I’m overweight, and I attribute much of it to that, though it isn't anything extreme. What really gets to me, though, is this humid weather—it makes breathing feel heavy and difficult in general.
I’m currently trying to work up the courage to see a gastroenterologist. Honestly, I think I might be overthinking things a bit because I spend so much time lurking on forums whenever something feels off—reading nothing but worst-case scenarios, which just leaves me feeling overwhelmed. That's exactly where I am right now. I'm worried sick, yet I'm terrified of actually getting tested. It's a total catch-22.

Your liver is located on the right side. The liver can swell, which causes pain or a sensation of pressure, and so on. The cause could be what the user above mentioned regarding heart issues—since the liver is essentially the last major organ blood passes through before returning to the heart, any backup toward the heart can increase pressure on the liver, causing fluid to collect around it—or it could be an infection, or perhaps something else entirely. Regardless, these are the kinds of things that can turn south very quickly if you ignore them. On the other hand, the large intestine and various muscle groups are also in that area... the whole situation could be completely benign. Either way, you should go get checked out. You have nothing to lose. If there is a serious issue, you need to start treatment as soon as possible. And if it turns out to be nothing, you'll finally be able to have some peace of mind again.

stormyhound13 said:So, what kind of reaction did you actually have, like, any side effects after you finished drinking that liquid?
Did you end up feeling nauseous or dealing with any vomiting, or maybe even noticing some kind of skin rash or anything like that?

And I had one more thing I wanted to ask... is there any way to get a picture of that lower abdominal area using something else, without having to swallow that poison?

Maybe an ultrasound? Though I'm guessing those aren't quite as reliable or effective as a CT scan, right?

None at all. They mentioned I might end up with diarrhea, but even that didn't happen—and I usually have a pretty sensitive stomach.

stormyhound13 said:I've heard people say it tastes all metallic and gross, which sounds pretty terrible, honestly! Though I did read somewhere that the staff might be able to sweeten the liquid up a little bit for you...🙂🙂

And this damn pressure is starting to happen more often lately, and sometimes it feels like someone is actually stabbing me with a knife, just cutting right through me, so whether I feel ready or not, I guess I really should just go get the imaging done...

Mine tasted a bit like dish soap. Good luck 🙂

stormyhound13 said:Not really... 🙂 I don't have any real reason to believe I'm allergic, it's just that my mind starts racing whenever I read about all the stuff that can happen from that liquid, like skin rashes, kidney issues, nausea, vomiting, and all that sort of thing...

I was just wondering if anyone could weigh in on this, because if someone does end up having an allergic reaction—like a rash or something similar—is that something that can be treated and cleared up, or is it one of those things that just stays with you permanently like so many other allergies do...

Best regards!

Allergic reactions are essentially immediate responses to a specific substance. They aren't permanent conditions—they typically resolve once you stop being exposed to whatever triggered them. Honestly, you could have an allergic reaction to pretty much any medication out there. There isn't much reason to be more afraid of this than any other new prescription you'd pick up at a pharmacy. The one real difference is that if you do have a nasty reaction to contrast, you're already in a hospital under medical supervision—which is a much better scenario than having a reaction while you're sitting at home, for instance.

Just go ahead and get that CT scan done and try not to let it get to you. The absolute worst-case scenario is probably just feeling a bit nauseous from the dye.

stormyhound13 said:It's more about the fear of having an allergic reaction, you know, like getting a skin rash or dealing with itching and all that sort of thing... That's why I was wondering if those kinds of reactions are actually possible from drinking the contrast versus getting it through an IV...

If you have an allergy, you're at risk for a reaction regardless of how it's administered. Is there a specific reason you suspect you might be allergic?