The "what's On Your Mind?" Thread -2018

[Blakeney Green]

I'll see if they're outside on Monday. Oh, I'm getting nervous just thinking about a confrontation

I think you'll be less nervous if you frame it to yourself as helping rather than confronting. The person may have no idea that their kittens are straying so close to the road, and they may be relieved to have a chance to find a solution before something bad happens.

 

[arouetta]

Warning, rant.

On TV is yet another Humira commercial. Humira is apparently the cure for eczema, arthritis (not rheumatoid) and bowel issues. I'm surprised they aren't trumpeting it as the cure for male pattern baldness and the common cold.

Since when is turning off our immune system the fix-all for everything? It's there for a reason. It's there so a case of the sniffles doesn't end up with you drowning to death on your own bodily fluids. Not every long-term or chronic issue is because the body can protect itself from germs.

Why don't they find treatments that will fix these woes instead of convincing people that they need to be immune compromised to find relief?

 

[Willowy]

Why don't they find treatments that will fix these woes instead of convincing people that they need to be immune compromised to find relief?

I wish they would/could. Autoimmune diseases are frustrating. I have a cat on daily steroids. It's not great but what other option is there? I have a friend who has psoriasis. She's considered taking Humira but decided she wouldn't because psoriasis is "just" cosmetic so she couldn't justify risking the side effects. But it does a number on her self-esteem. So I wouldn't blame someone else for deciding to go for the nuclear option.

Too bad we can't just explain to our immune systems that they can just calm the heck down already!

 

[Blakeney Green]

Yesterday my parents babysat Froggy all day because I had a work event I couldn't take him to. It was a big step (normally he just goes to work with me, so I've gotten used to him always being there) but it went well and he seemed to have a good time with them.

 

[arouetta]

Autoimmune diseases are frustrating.

But are all these things truly auto-immune diseases? Or a selling point that got rammed through the FDA because some side effect provides a little relief while the immune suppressing effect is doing no actual good?

When I saw the list of various arthritis's that Humira supposedly fixes, it's beyond belief. Something like 6 different types. Really, honestly, are all the forms of cartilage degeneration due to white blood cells? Or is it more likely that a side effect is causing some pain suppression?

Same with Crohn's disease. It's inflammation caused by what you eat hurting you, which is why gluten free helps. So how is lowering your protection from food poisoning going to help your gastrointestinal system?

Or is it more likely that everyone is looking for a bogey man for why they hurt, someone rightfully or wrongfully latched onto a robust immune system as the cause for their particular case, and now everyone thinks that the immune system is the root of all evil and should be weakened because like the appendix there's really no need for it anymore?

All disorders go through this, someone wants a cause, someone wants to know why bad things happen. Someone finds something that provides a little bit of relief for a particular case, everyone latches onto that as The Cause and does their best to wipe it out of existence, misguidedly thinking that if that one thing ceases to exist then the disorder will be magically gone from the planet. It's rare that The Cause is actually the cause and that making it disappear actually causes a complete cure with no bad side effects from something else in the body needing The Cause to work right.

Just a few from my own personal experience -
Red food dye causes ADHD.
The GFCF diet cures autism.
The MMR causes autism.
Refrigerator mothers cause autism.
Peanut M&Ms cures depression.
Gluten in the diet causes mental illness.

 

[Alicia88]

And sometimes believing like that can be very dangerous. Like the people who believe vaccines cause autism so they don't vaccinate. Now measles, which is a very dangerous disease, is making a comeback. The other day, I saw a story about a 4 month old baby who died from meningitis because he came into contact with an unvaccinated person and wasn'y old enough to have gotten his vaccine.

 

[arouetta]

Doing job applications. Gah! How do they expect people to remember previous addresses????? Stupid annoying. Seriously, I'm supposed to remember every address for the last 10 years? That's (counting the current address) 8 addresses. I'm really expected to remember the address of the place I lived for 2 months?? Or the place I lived for 6 months right before that?? Or the hotel room numbers of the two efficiencies I stayed in for a few months??? I remember the street names and that's it for the places I lived for less than a year.

Edit: I lived at four different addresses in 2014 alone. On record, I crashed at a fifth place for a month. Yeah, a fair amount, but I doubt it's that unusual. Why do companies want 10 years back?

 

[Katie M]

I'm working on an essay for English Comp right now. It's an argumentative essay, and my topic is book banning. I'm devoting the body of the essay to three books, one per paragraph. I don't know why I'm having such a tough time writing this thing. I'm glad it isn't due until Thursday

 

[Alicia88]

Doing job applications. Gah! How do they expect people to remember previous addresses????? Stupid annoying. Seriously, I'm supposed to remember every address for the last 10 years? That's (counting the current address) 8 addresses. I'm really expected to remember the address of the place I lived for 2 months?? Or the place I lived for 6 months right before that?? Or the hotel room numbers of the two efficiencies I stayed in for a few months??? I remember the street names and that's it for the places I lived for less than a year.

Edit: I lived at four different addresses in 2014 alone. On record, I crashed at a fifth place for a month. Yeah, a fair amount, but I doubt it's that unusual. Why do companies want 10 years back?

I don't think they even check it. I moved so many times since my ex husband was in the military and then I had some rough times and lived with my grandma and a friend. I didn't list every address. There's no way I could have remembered them all! No one cared.
Aedan loves yogurt! I got him some of that Yo Baby yogurt and he demolishes it like he's starving to death. It's kinda expensive but he likes it so much, we're gonna have to keep getting it. Lol. He eats it even better than bananas, which were his previous favorite food!
I'm wondering. What's so special about the Yo Baby yogurt? Is it actually made differently to be suitable for a baby or do they just slap a 6 months and up label on ordinary yogurt so they can charge more?

 

[arouetta]

Probably. Their site had some basic nutritional information but the list of ingredients was noticeably absent. I did find a list though, compared it to YoPlait standard yogurt and Chobani Greek yogurt. Yo Baby has spices in it, which the adult ones don't. Other than that, the ingredients were all pretty close to each other. The breakdown of nutrients showed that YoPlait has the most sugar and most calories, Chobani had the least, Yo Baby was closer to Chobani than it was to YoPlait.

Honestly if I was feeding a baby, I would go with the Chobani. Overall it was better, even when considering that a baby needs fat (and cholesterol) to grow right. I'd also consider the other Greek yogurts that are fruit flavored. Yo Baby does have added sugar, so that's not going to be an issue when considering a non-specialty yogurt.

 

[Alicia88]

Yeah, I was skimming through their site and I didn't see anything special. It does say that it's made with whole milk and I think most other yogurts are made with reduced fat milk. I think I'll ask the pediatrician or WIC office to be sure but I don't see the point in paying way more for the exact same thing because of a label.

 

[Alicia88]

I did some more digging and found this.


I haven't made a habit of reading yogurt labels, but it looks to me like any organic yogurt would be basically the same thing if it's made with whole milk.

 

[arouetta]

Pretty much. Non-organic too, there's really no difference other than the cows get fed hay that was grown by their, ahem, waste product and the pesticides aren't artificial (and likely more was used because of less efficacy).

 

[Alicia88]

I did some more googling and I found an article that said it's safe to feed babies any yogurt that's made with whole milk and real sugar rather than artificial sweeteners. I'm still gonna call the pediatrician and make sure, though.

 

[Willowy]

various arthritis's that Humira supposedly fixes, it's beyond belief. Something like 6 different types. Really, honestly, are all the forms of cartilage degeneration due to white blood cells? Or is it more likely that a side effect is causing some pain suppression?

I believe some arthritis types are caused by actual manual wearing down of the cartilage. But the inflammation that causes the pain is caused by the immune system.

A previous boss used to get cortisone shots for his hands or he couldn't function. Maybe the inflammation was caused by the cartilage wearing down. Everyone knew it wasn't good for him. Nobody said the steroids would cure his arthritis. It was just a "waddaya gonna do?" situation because he had to be able to function. He felt the possible side effects were worth the use of his hands. I bet he would have taken Humira if it had been available back then.

Same with Crohn's disease. It's inflammation caused by what you eat hurting you, which is why gluten free helps.

Crohn's is, by current knowledge and standards, an autoimmune disease. It is not helped by cutting out gluten. Are you thinking of Celiac? Crohn's is much worse. People die from Crohn's (well, people die from untreated Celiac too, but even if Crohn's is treated it can be fatal).

someone rightfully or wrongfully latched onto a robust immune system as the cause for their particular case

I. . .don't think autoimmune diseases are quite the same thing as "a robust immune system".

Sorry, I don't see how strong drugs for autoimmune diseases are the same as someone saying "vaccines cause autism"


As for the yogurt, I think the main benefit of Yobaby is that it has pectin to make it more pudding-ish and easier to keep on a spoon while feeding the baby. Some other brands of whole-milk yogurt may be too runny. Worth a little experimenting, though, as long as you like yogurt .

 

[segelkatt]

I know I've posted a lot about Aislyn lately, but here's another one. Sorry. If you have any input, I'll be glad to hear it. Otherwise, consider this a bit of a vent. You guys make a great sounding off board and we're kinda like family here.
Sorry, I seem to have written a book.
First of all, I want to share this photo.
View attachment 243541

I saw this and it fits Aislyn to a "t."
When she's talking, she kinda stumbles through her sentences, like she can't keep track of what she's trying to say.
She forgets things almost instantly - and not just rules or things she's supposed to. For example, the other day, we were talking about meat and what animals different meats come from. She asked, so we were answering. John listed off all the meat that comes from pigs - bacon, ham, pork chops, etc. Before even mentioning any other animal, he asked, "what animal does ham come from?" And she said, "I don't remember!" This happens consistently.
If you get after her for anything, she cries. Even something as gentle as, "Please don't interrupt. Wait until someone is done speaking before you talk," she bursts into tears.
I said something the other day about her never being able to find anything. I said it in a laughing matter. "You're about as good at looking for things as your daddy, which isn't very good at all!" And she burst into tears. Made me feel bad because I was kidding with her.
She constantly interrupts, no matter how often we correct her.
She's very messy, but I'm not sure this one counts cuz she's 5 and most 5 year olds are a mess.
She definitely has trouble finishing things on time. She very rarely has time limits on what she's supposed to do - except picking up her toys at bedtime or she purposely dawdles to avoid bed, but she gets very distracted while doing it - even since I made the rule: "You go to bed at 10, no matter what. If your toys aren't picked up, anything that is left out gets put away and you can't play with it tomorrow." I always ask her to pick up toys an hour before bedtime and if she finishes early, she can keep one thing out to play with. It definitely shouldn't take that long, but it often does because her mind wanders and she'll start doing something else.
She doesn't say "no" exactly, but she argues about the rules so that one doesn't really fit her.
She does have a very hard time decisions. I try to give her choices so she feels like she has more control over her life to minimize tantrums, but she seems to have a very hard time choosing dinner or choosing between dresses.
She has a really hard time with new people - even kids. I understand shyness but hers is like shyness on steroids.
I have a plan. Everyone I've talked to who has ADHD or a child with ADHD agrees that caffeine has the opposite effect. Instead of making them hyper, it settles them down and helps them focus. Aislyn rarely gets soda and if she does, it's always caffeine free. But I think I'm going to buy a mountain dew or something and give her a cup of it and see how she reacts. If she gets insanely hyper, I'm gonna forget about the whole thing. If it does seem to help her focus or be more calm, less emotional, etc., John is going to have to figure out a way to bring it up to her mother. However, her mother may already know. Aislyn says that her mother lets her have "brown coffee." At first, I thought this was just another instance of her mother being crazypants or Aislyn saying something to try to manipulate us into giving her what she wants. Now, I'm beginning to wonder if her mother knows something we don't and hasn't passed on the information. Aislyn isn't hyperactive like boys with ADHD, but I worry that if she does have it and it goes untreated, she'll have difficulty in school. I don't want that for her.

There's another issue that I'm very concerned about - even more so than the possible ADHD. She seems to like saying that she's hurt or sick for attention. Several days ago, she said she had a bad headache. So I gave her some tylenol. Seconds after swallowing it, she was jumping up and down and hollering. I said, "I thought you had a headache." She admitted that she said that for attention. It was shortly after I gave Aedan some Tylenol for teething. Almost every day, she says her tummy hurts, but she continues playing like she's fine. A few days ago, she was saying that her private parts hurt. Of course I took it seriously because that's a sensitive area. She didn't want me to look so I took her to John's mother and she said everything looked fine. But, you can look fine and still have an issue so John argued with her mother until she was finally willing to give him Aislyn's insurance information and we took her to the doctor. There's nothing wrong with her. They ran all the usual tests and nothing came up. They're running cultures, which will take a few days so we're going to follow up, but I doubt anything will come of it. And she only complained that it hurt if she wasn't currently the center of attention. John and his mother both say that Aislyn's mother is a massive hypochondriac. I'm beginning to feel concerned that Aislyn may be picking up her habits. Oh, and she still hasn't lost the tooth that she says has been hurting. Anyway, how do I when she's telling the truth? I don't want to write something off as attention-seeking and find out that there really was something wrong. I don't know how to deal with this at all. This could end up being very damaging later in life! Someone suggested therapy, but she's going back to her mother's in a few weeks. That really isn't an option unless we could get her mother to take her, but if her mother is the root of the problem, I don't see that happening. It's quite frustrating. It's like the boy who cried wolf. I told her that story, by the way. I guess we'll see if the lesson takes.

On a brighter note, Aedan is SO advanced. At his 6 month checkup, he was 18 lbs 4 oz and 26 inches long. Big boy! He said, "mama" on his 6 month birthday. He's been sitting up on his own for a couple of weeks. He can crawl a few steps. That started a few days ago. Two days ago, he went from hands and knees to sitting up all on his own with no help. He loves to stand in the window. All things he shouldn't be even close to doing yet.
However, I am a bit concerned about his teeth. His "eye teeth" are coming in. They're not supposed to be his first teeth, but he follows his own schedule. He's having a lot of trouble with them and I've been told those are the hardest to cut. He's been working on them for 3 months. They'll poke through, then go back into the gum. But my concern is that his teeth are going to come in like mine. I have fangs - my eye teeth stick out - because my mouth is too small for my teeth. My mother was unable to get me to an orthodontist because we were poor and only orthodontist in this area accepted medicaid and he was always booked to the end of his schedule and she called every week. He had a waiting list for cancellations and I never made it to the top. Anyway, the bumps for Aedan's teeth aren't on the bottom of the gum. They're on the front. The pediatrician said his teeth might be coming in like mine but the only thing to do right now is to wait and see. Eek!

Mine and my brother's teeth came in like that and so did all my children's. Nothing to worry about, they just look like little vampires until the other teeth come in. My daughter's teeth were huge and her jaw really small so when her permanent molars came in around age 12 years or so the dentist pulled 4 of her teeth in back (I can't remember which ones) and her teeth all came in straight because there now was room for those big teeth. No point in orthodontist work which I could not have afforded anyway as it would have meant to widen her jaw, very painful and taking a very long time. This was much better and easier.

 

[arouetta]

I. . .don't think autoimmune diseases are quite the same thing as "a robust immune system".

Sorry, I don't see how strong drugs for autoimmune diseases are the same as someone saying "vaccines cause autism"

Not everything that goes wrong in the body is an auto-immune disorder. There's tons of things that go wrong that have nothing to do with the immune system. I don't see how eczema is an auto-immune problem. Now it seems that every little imperfection in the body is being blamed by the immune system attacking the other tissues. The immune system cannot possibly be the root of all evil. If it was, how did the human race thrive before the invention of immune suppressing medications? Not just survive, we thrived.

 

[Willowy]

I don't see how eczema is an auto-immune problem.

All I can find about Humira and excema is that some people report getting excema after taking Humira. It's not listed in the things Humira treats. Psoriasis is though. But I don't know enough about excema to say what causes it.

Humira (adalimumab): How it works, uses, how to take it, side effects

how did the human race thrive before the invention of immune suppressing medications? Not just survive, we thrived.

Same reason stray cats thrive. We usually reproduce before any serious health problems pop up. That doesn't mean it was great for every individual.

 

[segelkatt]

I don't think they even check it. I moved so many times since my ex husband was in the military and then I had some rough times and lived with my grandma and a friend. I didn't list every address. There's no way I could have remembered them all! No one cared.
Aedan loves yogurt! I got him some of that Yo Baby yogurt and he demolishes it like he's starving to death. It's kinda expensive but he likes it so much, we're gonna have to keep getting it. Lol. He eats it even better than bananas, which were his previous favorite food!
I'm wondering. What's so special about the Yo Baby yogurt? Is it actually made differently to be suitable for a baby or do they just slap a 6 months and up label on ordinary yogurt so they can charge more?

MOST LIKELY!

 

[arouetta]

Same reason stray cats thrive. We usually reproduce before any serious health problems pop up. That doesn't mean it was great for every individual.

The very first immune suppressing drug was invented in 1960. I don't think people in 1959 were reproducing followed by their immune system starting to destroy their insides.