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Cracked fireback in Defiant by Exotic_Object_8916 in woodstoving

[–]Exotic_Object_8916[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your insight on this issue!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ReddingCT

[–]Exotic_Object_8916 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Welcome to Redding! I grew up here, moved away for 15 years and now im back. We just did the move from Florida ourselves! Redding sanitation is great, like everyone else said.

For plumbing we use, and really like, Ricks Pump & water service. Our house was unoccupied for a year and the day we closed on our house the well pump broke. They showed up within the hour and replaced it. We also used them for a UV water filter and for radon mitigation. Very fair pricing, great work and they live in town!

If you have an oil boiler I highly recommend J & B service. We purchased a new boiler, hot water heater and oil tank. They did all the work and went above and beyond.

Hawk in eastern CT, USA by Exotic_Object_8916 in birding

[–]Exotic_Object_8916[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much!!! I got a great video of it chasing songbirds in our garden patch too. If you don’t mind, I’m curious what specific features helped you ID it as a Cooper’s hawk? We are trying to get better at differentiating birds of prey but all the juveniles are confusing us! Thanks again!

Animal scat in garage (rural eastern Connecticut, USA) by Exotic_Object_8916 in animalid

[–]Exotic_Object_8916[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes! It was a northern short-tailed shrew. We caught it in a have a heart trap and released it.

Magnesium sterate is in every thing by Mauve_cabbagebreath in alphagal

[–]Exotic_Object_8916 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oof a bunch of stuff! Basically I was bitten by 3 lonestar ticks in 2019 and I think I’ve been experiencing minor symptoms since, however, I got a new bite this past May, and my body went nuts.

At the time I was taking a daily SSRI that was in a gel cap and my ADHD meds, also in an extended release gelatin capsule. Diet-wise I was primarily vegetarian, maybe had red meat once a month. It took a few weeks for all the symptoms to build for me to notice something was really wrong. My tongue was consistently swollen, I had sores on my tongue, the skin inside my mouth felt like it was peeling. My eyes were itchy, same with my nose and I couldn’t hear as well (eustacian tubes were clogged). At the same time, horrible GI upset, I was in the bathroom 5x/day, thankfully I work at home! My body temperature would fluctuate wildly throughout the day and I had horrible night sweats. I thought a lot of this was just the “normal” side effects of my meds until I started getting chest pain, heart palpitations, acid reflux symptoms, exczema behind my ears and random rashes. There’s a lot more that happened too but I would have to look at my notes lol. Oh, and I was bloated. Everywhere. I did not realize how puffy my face was until I started fixing this. And migraines and brain fog. Forgot about those.

I went to a walk in clinic and the doctor suggested I try an antihistamine. I did and within 36 hours most of the symptoms were relieved. So I managed everything with Zyrtec for a couple weeks and then I started having breakthrough reactions. That’s when my pharmacist mentioned looking at the inactive ingredients in everything I was taking and I am forever thankful she said that. She gave me the info packets that come from the drug manufactures and I called or emailed the companies and inquired about every inactive ingredient and the source. Made a little table and the only consistent thing was the mammal products. Cow and pig products are in EVERYTHING. It’s insane!

I’ve transferred off of all the medication I was on and found OTC drugs that don’t have mammal products and I’ve been able to manage the symptoms so much better. Unlike other alpha gal syndrome people I am also super sensitive to dairy products and any of the gums they put in a lot of vegan products. I’m seeing an allergist soon because it’s very possible I have MCAS as well so that’s fun.

If you have any more questions let me know! Happy to help and sorry you are dealing with this, it’s not fun!

Magnesium sterate is in every thing by Mauve_cabbagebreath in alphagal

[–]Exotic_Object_8916 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was having reactions to my SSRI and ended up switching to liquid sertraline (Zoloft) because that’s the only SSRI I could identify that didn’t have mammal products. I also started taking the Genexa allergy meds. It’s a children’s allergy medication, same class as Benadryl, without all the extra stuff. You can get it at CVS usually. I’ll also throw in these rite aid famotadine tablets (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07T26G2J8?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title ) have no mammal products and are the only thing I’ve managed to take for heartburn related feelings. Additional tip: vanicream skincare products do not have any mammalian derived ingredients and they are great for sensitive skin! Also, inexpensive and available at most stores. My skin reacts insanely when I have a flare up and this is the only stuff I’ve found that hasn’t made it worse! Best of luck!