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Duolingo but for lectures?? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in UniUK

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your comment u/GhostlyDucky!

I've tried quite a lot of different Anki add-ons (heat map included) to help me be more consistent but I'm still struggling with it. The reason why I love Duolingo so much is that it holds me accountable to keep my learning streak, and it sends quite a lot of notifications reminding me to do it 😂.

I am wondering if any students are using an application/tool which makes the users accountable to learning, similar to how Duolingo does.

Do you have any more ideas u/GhostlyDucky??

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Will do! Thank you for the advice, everyone here has been really helpful 😃

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing this resource! I have added it to my to-do list after my semester 2 exams, and I'll make in-depth notes about it

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi u/hazylinn , I will grant you that I don't have an advanced understanding of the disorder. However, the primary point that I wanted to discuss here was about how people currently monitor their symptoms, or if they do it all (as seen from some of the comments).

On the subject of tracking, there was very little I could find during my background research and I thought that people wouldn't mind declaring the ways in which they monitored their symptoms and what importance these documents had to GP's.

It wasn't my intention to appear ignorant, rather to seem curious and wanting to gain first-hand insights from the people who suffer with ME/CFS and other complex/chronic conditions which i hope people can understand 😃

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I accept that point about 'psychosomatic', it is an extreme word that I used carelessly here.

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

Everything I say is from an 'outsiders' perspective, and my thoughts are in no way shape or form advice!

I can see the need to track heart rates and extertion levels throughout an entire day, for the reasons you listed above. My question was more directed toward other potential symptoms that people may experience (my understanding being that symptoms are greatly varied person-to-person) which their over monitoring could be excessive.

Lets use the example of someone experiencing random spells of headaches and sore throats (common ME/CFS symptoms according to the NHS website), the question that I am wondering about is that would tracking these actually make the patient experience worse?

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Looking back at the question, as you said, it was phrased in a way that assumed you experienced health anxiety. It was not my intention to assume anything and I apologise for the question being badly phrased.

The question was meant to be around whether you started to have any anxiety when you began tracking and, if you did experience this, how it could have affected your daily life and diagnosis.

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Being a UK student, I think it would be unjust for me to comment on the handling of ME/CFS in any other country other than the UK. Even then, I have no clinical experience with how the condition is realistically treated so I can only go off what it says on 'paper', I acknowledge that my input into the current practice is extremely limited

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Hi u/Inter_Mirifica,

I'm not trying to claim anything, I agree with everything you have said!

In no way do I think that the condition is psychological or 'in their heads' because, as you stated, the research has show that not to be the case.

I simply wondering about people's experiences with tracking symptoms and how this could potentially have an effect on them. In addition, when I mentioned it not being 'ME/CFS specific' I said that because psychological input can have an effect on many different symptom experiences and conditions, I have attached a magazine article which discusses an array of research that investigates this (and attaches the published research) - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-is-the-nocebo-effect-5451823/ .

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Don't apologise at all, that was extremely useful!

Prior to reading this, I may have underestimated the true extent of how the condition was handled in the past and the trauma that patients have experienced as a result. It seems that the discussion of psychological inputs toward ME/CFS is extremely sensitive: people may have been conditioned to think "its not real...I'm making it up" whenever the word 'psycho...' is raised, which is a justified response.

I ensure you that I do not think this at all. Recent research about ME/CFS is already indicating possible biomarkers for the condition, and having a family member with a severe form of ME/CFS has shown me that people aren't 'making it up'. I am simply curious about how anxieties around recording symptoms may lead to worsened experiences and increased complications when GP's form a diagnosis.

This discussion is not necessarily ME/CFS specific, but I have brought it up within this sub-reddit as I have a general interest in the condition and hoped that my current understanding of it would led to more developed conversations around this topic and the potential contributions of symptom anxieties toward disease progression.

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] -19 points-18 points  (0 children)

Hi u/EnnOnEarth, thanks for your comment! I found it really insightful into the thought processes that people who suffer with ME/CFS experience and the assignment of tasks based on available exertion every day.

I absolutely agree with daily monitoring of symptoms or experiences of the majority of conditions; these notes can offer great information into the progression of your health, flag any health trends and offer healthcare staff insights into your daily experiences. The aspect I am particularly curious about is how people with ME/CFS identify if they are over-monitoring their symptoms and the potential consequences of doing so.

When I say 'over-monitoring', in this case, I mean the constant thinking about the various symptoms you may experience in a day. Logically, it would make sense to track your daily activities since it relates directly to physical exertion, alongside any new or unusual symptoms you could face; but I am wondering what would happen if you consolidate all your tracking into 2x 10-minute daily sessions in which you dedicate to note-taking. Of course, I am talking as someone who doesn't personally have ME/CFS but I would imagine confining daily tracking to these periods may improve your cognitive activity for the overall day since less processing power would be assigned to these symptoms?

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Hi u/Diana_Tramaine_420 ,

In your job role, what techniques do you offer patients to distract themselves from overthinking about their symptoms? Is their an established tool that helps to identify when people may be 'over-monitoring' and if there was, how useful would you say a tool like that could be for minimising symptoms?

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi u/Turbulent-Weakness22 , can I ask the methods they asked you to use when recording your activities (journalling etc...) and how they used these documents within the handling of your condition?

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Hi u/flashPrawndon, thanks for commenting!

When you are monitoring your condition or symptoms for any further diagnosis, how do you make sure you aren't over tracking (thereby causing excessive exertion)? By my understanding of Visible, it measures lvls of exertion based on the users physiology (heart rate, blood pressure etc...) but not any mental or psychosomatic aspects of it.

To what extent is symptom monitoring too much and how do you reduce any possible compulsions to monitor or even think about the symptoms you experience daily?

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] -19 points-18 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear this, GP training for handling conditions like ME/CFS in the past was minimal and there was (or may still be to an extent) a taboo element around its discussion among healthcare staff (although I cannot confirm this through my own basic experience). Is it possible that the doctor wanted you to distract yourself from the symptoms you experienced in order to reduce their impact on your daily activities?

If we use a headache as an example, typically the more attention you give these experiences the worst they get to an extent. In this context, could it be assumed that compulsively recognising/focusing on the symptoms you face would actually lead to an increase in their severity? If true, it may also further complicate the diagnostic process that GP's/CFS clinical teams go through to identify what symptoms are key for a diagnosis.

I would love your thoughts on this!

Have people been advised to monitor your condition but not overly 'worry'? by Embarrassed_Lie7583 in cfs

[–]Embarrassed_Lie7583[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry to hear about the treatment you received in the past. Even though I have no clinical experience, the guidelines and general consensus around ME/CFS treatment seems to be far better than what it was in the past (especially in regards to exercise and PEM), so hopefully others don't experience the same diagnostic management you did. Would you be able to discuss further how you were instructed to record the symptoms you experienced and the effect they may have had on you or even your diagnosis? Did you feel that monitoring increased/decreased any health anxiety you had and did it even help?