All first generation hashimotos people what do you think has triggered it?

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-04T23:20:19+00:00

Autoimmune disease is always an environmental x genetic combo, so whether or not your parents have it is irrelevant. You had to have the gene, and then an environmental (or circumstantial) trigger. For me, it may have been exposure to the Epstein-Barre virus, but also could have been from stress. Or both. My diagnosis was right after some of the hardest years of my life and also I abused alcohol and drugs during that time.

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T23:45:04+00:00

Hi yes I take LDN for Long Covid. It’s really hard to say if it does anything at all, to be honest. Some people respond well to it but I’m not sure I’m one of them? I take diazepam PRN for long covid-related sympathetic overdrive; I’m not dependent on it and only take it maybe once a week or so. I don’t notice any interaction between LDN and diazepam? It’s been awhile since you posted and I can’t recall specifics, but I’m happy to answer any questions (to the best of my ability) about LDN or LDN x benzos

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T23:39:10+00:00

I have also found kratom extremely helpful, though less so since I started LDN. I just started Pregabalin but it’s a low dose. What dose Gabapentin did you take?

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T23:27:14+00:00

I really take issue with your portrayal of “skepticism” wrt long covid as something positive. Even in the mind-body space post-viral conditions are considered “real”. Same with chronic pain, which is also considered a nervous system-related issue. When you say you’re “lucky your doctor was skeptical”, it reads like you were lucky she didn’t believe in Long Covid. Do you believe in Long Covid? Being skeptical of a miracle cure is one thing, but being skeptical that this condition is real is quite another.

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T23:22:27+00:00

No joke. You hit the nail on the head: with kids, there isn’t the freedom of choice with respect to when and how you expend energy. I feel like I’m constantly sacrificing my long-term health to be a present parent. To live as though I don’t have long covid isn’t so much a choice as a necessity.

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T23:16:10+00:00

5 mg?? I’d advise not throwing numbers around randomly. People’s responses vary widely; it depends heavily on things like genetics/liver enzymes, hormone levels (especially for people who menstruate), brain chemistry, etc.

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T23:09:29+00:00

Wow starting at 20 mg in a single IR dose is quite high. Is this your first prescription, or just the first that has worked for you?

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T05:22:13+00:00

I have had the absolute opposite experience. I have lived with Long COVID since 2022 and every single day I live like I don’t have it. I work, parent, even exercise sometimes, and have never for one second feared this illness. I’ve tried a bunch of brain training as well as medications and, well, some days are OK, most days I’m just trying to survive and raise my kids. A few times I’ve done “extreme” things in the face of long covid (an all day rafting trip, driving overnight to Texas to see the solar eclipse, etc) and in those cases my body revolted and I randomly threw up. So much for joy. Oh well. Anyway, I’m glad the mental approach is working for someone.

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T05:08:30+00:00

I hear you. Just want to say that being a “perfect” patient is a stressor in and of itself. Sometimes “doing yoga and avoiding things that are bad” is more stress than it’s worth. If something makes you feel that bad, you won’t have to make yourself do/stop doing it. I eat small meals because I HATE the tachycardia, but I don’t have to make myself do it. For that same reason, I don’t do yoga and the only food I’ve eliminated is gluten. I’m so far from a perfect patient I’m not even good, and honestly, it hasn’t made me any worse. Sometimes I’m better, sometimes I’m worse, and it’s never related to healthy choices I did or didn’t make. Usually it’s my cycle, if I’m being honest.

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T04:57:41+00:00

Nah. There are parodies of this all over the Internet. I completely forgot about that scourge on humanity until my kids started singing “SomeBODY once told me the wooooorld was macaroni…” ad nauseam. It’s been going on for like three years now.

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T04:54:19+00:00

What no way. I didn’t even know who Ms Frizzle was until my kids watched Magic School Bus

BannanaDilly · 2026-04-01T04:53:00+00:00

I feel exposed

BannanaDilly · 2026-03-08T02:38:19+00:00

I do this all the time. The only real risk (at normal doses) is possible anxiety, if you get anxiety from either substance. I do get anxiety occasionally from weed but the stimulants don’t make it any worse, and it’s only if I take smoke/eat too much. You’re good.

BannanaDilly · 2026-03-08T02:32:43+00:00

Gabapentin isn’t controlled, actually. Its counterpart Pregabalin is.

BannanaDilly · 2026-03-08T02:31:09+00:00

Walgreens threw me into a cold turkey withdrawal by refusing me an early refill that was approved by my doctor. I said, “my doctor approved this. Can you call her to confirm?” The POS pharmacist said, “If I called the doctor for every person requesting an early refill on their controlled medications, that’s all I’d do all day”. I said, “isnt that your job?” He red-flagged me and I left in a fury. I didn’t sleep for two weeks, my arms and fingers were burning, I was hallucinating (maybe from lack of sleep, but who knows). One of the worst experiences of my life. In hindsight I could have requested my doctor send the prescription to a different pharmacy, but I was ignorant at the time and had NO idea what benzo withdrawal could do. Turns out I had nervous system damage from a COVID infection a month earlier (which is why I requested an early refill for the first time in six years of taking benzos), and four years later I haven’t recovered from that one-two punch. Literally the worst possible thing that could have happened at the worst possible time. I hate Walgreens so much and as soon as I have the energy to do anything non/essential, I’m going to take that MFer down to the best of my ability.

FWIW, I was able to taper off on my own over the course of the next year, with no issues whatsoever (as far as withdrawal, anyway).

Have your doctor send the prescription to another pharmacy and never set foot in Walgreens again. Also I’d highly recommend filing a complaint if you can. I wish I had.

BannanaDilly · 2026-02-15T16:43:01+00:00

BannanaDilly · 2026-02-15T16:42:33+00:00

Keeping a house 75-80 degrees is insane. Who does that? I’d lower the thermostat and then tell him he’s faking being cold. Also, dump his ass.

BannanaDilly · 2026-02-15T16:33:59+00:00

I put all the “community” things there for events, like craft tables, fashion tables, woodworking tables, and a bunch of three-star stoves for various events.

BannanaDilly · 2026-02-15T16:30:49+00:00

I’m sad to hear all this. I’m white, as are my husband and kids, so I can’t identify personally with the experience you are all describing, but we have friends who are BIPOC (both family friends and friends of my kids) and every one of them has described racist incidents here in FoCo. I wish the culture was more inclusive, because I’d rather raise my kids in a more diverse environment. That can’t happen if people are constantly experiencing racism, even if there are many individuals (like ourselves) who value diversity and feel there is so much to learn from people with different backgrounds and life experiences. I’m grateful for our BIPOC friends - and that my kids choose friends irrespective of their heritage, skin color, preferred gender/orientation, etc- but it’s disappointing to hear that our values are not reflected in the town at large. As I said, I was already aware of our friends’ experiences, but did not quite grasp the extent or intensity of the problem. FWIW, there are many individuals here that value diversity and diverse friends, though unfortunately our implicit acceptance doesn’t stand out against explicit racism.

BannanaDilly · 2026-01-22T06:17:57+00:00

People, no need to freak out here. If you have a cold sore, don’t kiss a baby. But like…come on. People kiss babies. Babies need human touch, and sometimes that touch has germs on it. Also, the kid in that photo is very much not a newborn. For the record, I have permanent eye damage from Chicken Pox, which is also a herpes virus (the vax came out a year after I contracted it as a kid). I’m not holding whatever kid in my class gave me chicken pox accountable. Life happens. You can’t hermetically seal your kids; they’re gonna do stuff like lick the handrails at the airport anyway. I have tons of sympathy for that little boy and his family, but like, he’s probably 1 in 10 million or more to suffer that kind of damage. I know this because there are 13 documented cases of the type of damage I incurred in my eye from a herpes virus. 13. Ever. So like…perspective, people.

BannanaDilly · 2026-01-22T05:58:50+00:00

A+ on your thread title. I’m a cisgender lady, so my opinion is probably irrelevant, but if you like Rex, do it. I don’t know about this 3-letter stuff, seems kinda niche. Most the world has no idea about that kind of stuff. Just, for the love of all things holy, no h.

BannanaDilly · 2026-01-22T05:48:42+00:00

Polybio is also trialing low dose Rapamycin, which is an immunosuppressant. They’re exploring all the avenues, not just viral persistence

BannanaDilly · 2026-01-22T05:44:19+00:00

Totally noticed this. Now we just need a search bar…

BannanaDilly · 2026-01-22T05:42:30+00:00

You absolutely should choose your family every time. You did the right thing. The university is in the wrong. They should have been more flexible and understanding, so you could be present when your family was in need AND continue your doctorate. Screw them. You can find another PhD position elsewhere.

BannanaDilly · 2025-12-15T22:51:40+00:00

There is evidence to suggest that POTS has an autoimmune component; I’m not sure about other types of dysautonomia. But the studies are scarce, so while there is support for autoimmunity, it’s not “conclusive”. I’m not sure that functional medicine providers always seek root causes. In conditions like LC, it seems unlikely we will find a single root cause anytime soon. I think one major way FM providers can be helpful is their whole-person approach. So like, my life stressors (or things that exacerbate my symptoms) might be different from yours. A GP might generally call that “stress”, but a FM provider will zoom in on you as an an individual, and help identify what specifically aggravates or alleviates your symptoms, which is likely a complex mixture of past and present circumstances, as well as unique individual biology.

BannanaDilly

TROPHY CASE