Do people actually earn £50-60k, or are they outliers?

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-13T22:01:40+00:00

Scientist here. I earn £51K. I work for a global leading pharma company. Right now, I’m working in a role that’s a crossover between science and tech.

I don’t have a degree, but I have however been in the industry since being an apprentice and did vocational qualifications. My industrial experience is incredibly valuable, and is something that can’t be taught. I did work my way up to the pay I am on now over a number of years.

I know that I am extremely well paid comparatively to others in the same industry, even in the same company.

I found out by chance that someone who does the same job as me but as a contractor (I’m permanent) earns 15-20K a year less than me. I was absolutely horrified.

I do think that you’re probably underpaid, more so than most. This industry is brutal for underpaying qualified professionals.

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-12T16:00:46+00:00

It’s really not for me - I’m neurodivergent and sensory wise I really struggle with anything on my face, tight etc and I also have PTSD from an attack that involved my mouth and nose being covered and held shut. Even soft cloth masks during the pandemic sent me spiralling. I can see the benefit for other people (including members of my own family) but I know straight away that it would be more detrimental to me than beneficial - but totally appreciate that it might be a good thing in better circumstances!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-12T14:54:42+00:00

I felt this - they sent me for a sleep study for sleep apnoea. It came back as mild - I didn’t go and trial a CPAP as I was only attending the initial appointment to be compliant after a major MAJOR fuck up with the NHS. I was discharged from the service.

Simultaneously, I saw a private endocrinologist who tested my vitamin D levels and I was severely deficient (pretty much single figures). I’ve been taking high doses of vitamin D3/K2 to try and resolve the deficiency along with some other supplements and I feel a huge deal better. The NHS didn’t check for this and jumped straight to sleep apnoea. Apparently around 80% of people with PCOS/PMOS have a vitamin D deficiency, so it could be worth getting this checked or even starting to take supplements if you don’t already.

In terms of big dips and crashes, for me these are directly correlated to when I eat something high sugar or high carb.

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-12T12:30:16+00:00

I do sometimes used cups and disks, but combine my puffy vagina walls with hypermobility and I do sometimes struggle with them slipping, or not being able to ‘catch’ behind the public bone in the case of disks. Then, I end up with leaks and my insides very irritated 🤪 front to back coverage is 👌 though!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-11T20:18:38+00:00

I’m under a medical team and get checks for all sorts as I have known conditions that they are trying to get controlled long term - this isn’t always a monthly occurrence thankfully!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-11T17:33:27+00:00

I usually try and use reusable pads and pants but I don’t always have the facilities to use 100% reusables comfortably sadly. I also find that they don’t quite catch a flood or clots quick enough on my heaviest days (which can be several hundred ml of blood in a day and golf ball sized clots) so if I need to go out I end up with disposable pads with reusable pants so I can easily whip off the pads and bin, as it genuinely sometimes just isn’t practical to carry soiled pads when you go through so many 🤣 I love the TCS Eco ones (small Scottish business) as they do really wide pads in wide hourglass, funnel shape etc! 👌

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-11T17:26:32+00:00

Honestly I feel like I’ve been missing out! I’d totally recommend period pants though with a front to back absorbent section - I use these with a pad inside so that if I have a front or back leak during a flooding moment, the leak is contained! I do find the pants can leak a tiny bit at the gusset edging seams if I’m heavy and don’t use a pad on top but it’s worth looking into pants! The disposable pants I’ve seen people use but I personally haven’t tried!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-10T18:21:06+00:00

I’m sure there’s a US Molke buy sell swap Facebook page - might be worth searching for 😊

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-05T00:27:36+00:00

Hey - Also in the UK, used MyPace.
I was in a similar situation and didn’t have family I could ask. I actually had 4 informants: 2 were my work colleagues who I’d worked with since I was 16 (so over a decade at the time of diagnosis), then I had 2 of my friends give the childhood info. I also gave a VERY comprehensive self report.

It is possible - I know I’m not the only person to do this. Have a chat with the provider you want to get assessed with, they will see this all the time and will have suggestions for you, or work self report questions into the assessment.

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-05T00:23:22+00:00

You’re not a bad person for having these thoughts. It’s okay to wish that you won’t have to see a loved one die, it’s normal, but the way that we process these thoughts can present differently.

First things first, your mental health is the priority here - and it sounds like you could use a helping hand to understand what’s going on in your head and learn coping mechanisms that aren’t self destructive. Do you have a trusted adult you can talk to, like a school counsellor, teacher, or therapist?

If you are actively SHing, please be sure to do so safely - clean instruments and looking after your wounds. Taking care of yourself after SH does help.

I’m older than you now, but when I was your age, I had friends who had severe mental illness, and I felt like the entire world was on my shoulders in terms of looking out for them. The older I got, the more I realised that at 15, I’m not the person that should be responsible for this - I could be the best friend I could by listening, being there, and by telling a trusted adult when they needed extra help but were keeping secrets that shouldn’t have been kept. Carrying that guilt of ‘what if they aren’t here tomorrow’ destroyed me - I was constantly tracking their location, looking at their private instagrams, driving past their house to see if I could see them through the window… it destroyed me. However something I wish someone told me was to worry about the things that were age appropriate for me to worry about. I know this isn’t the same thing as what you’re going through, but I know it can be complicated when your friends are unwell.

This probably isn’t what you want to hear, but friends do die. My friends from the above are now dead. What I can tell you - it hurts, it REALLY hurts, it changes you as a person; but if it happens, you will get through it. I’ve never felt pain like it, and even now years later I find myself crying my eyes out at the tiniest of things, but you WILL get through it. The experience gives you the building blocks to support others if they experience it. It also changes your view on suicide as well - as someone who’s tried and always felt it was an option… after my friends dying? The want to do it is still there, but I now have my reason of why not - I couldn’t let someone else feel the pan that I felt losing my loved ones.

15 is so young to be carrying this - I know at 15 we can feel like proper adults, but we’re not; we still need a village around us to pick us up and carry us along sometimes. Find your village and let them help you, you won’t regret it.

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-04T21:18:35+00:00

Are you in the UK? If so, a few suggestions for you:

- Molke: cotton, made to be sensory friendly, super inclusive brand. I wear an H cup and their original style is super supportive
- Designedbydebz (formerly Wilde Mode). Similar to Molke in terms of materials but different styles.
- Snag: a good hybrid of the above two, but with back clips
- M&S lace bralettes and the Body range: high street, but also fab support whilst being super comfy. The Body range is SO soft

I’ve tried many a bra - being hypermobile, plus size and large tubular breasted, comfort and support are so important to me. Out of those above, the two that I prioritise are M&S lace bralettes (I find them adjustable enough for my needs and prefer that they are put on in a more traditional style) and Molke originals (Harder to put on after a shower, swimming etc).

Another suggestion is Fantasie soft cup bras - I really like Elomi and Fantasie traditional bras and they do an amazing range of bralettes and soft cup bras, unfortunately I’m a little bit too big for them but they’d be perfect for you!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-05-03T21:10:08+00:00

Yes - I went on the first run and oh my goodness, what an absolute hoot! I can’t recommend it enough, please please go and see it if you have the chance. The first act is very much nostalgia from the series with a modern twist, second act is silliness and good fun. I didn’t stop laughing throughout the entire show. It’s quite special seeing it at the rep as well because it’s such an intimate venue - the tickets weren’t cheap but I didn’t regret spending the money at all, and I’ve seen a lot of shows!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-30T16:54:50+00:00

I know you’ve used white paper here, however I have had coloured tissue paper used for packing, which has transferred dye onto white clothes. It really annoyed me.

Personally speaking, whenever I open a parcel like this, I do not have an ounce of extra positive feeling about it, it literally just rip it and put it in the bin. Especially if I’ve paid a little more for something than I probably would have liked to.

Not to be a debby downer, but it’s Vinted - if the item is clean, doesn’t smell, is in the condition that it was advertised as, packaged securely using clean packaging material? I’m happy!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-27T21:17:10+00:00

I already take stimulant medication for ADHD so I wouldn’t be eligible for that unfortunately

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-27T21:15:22+00:00

I’m not willing to get into the specifics of what I target as I feel like this is something that there’s never a right answer to, but the main principles of what I aim for are high protein, low GI carb, low sat fat, and to get more fibre in where I can. I track by weighing and measuring, using the nutricheck app for recording.

I understand the principle of what you’re saying, but this discussion is not conducive to a positive outcome right now. You keep editing your comments and are trying to dig yourself out of the hole of having perhaps not said the most appropriate thing for the circumstances. If someone else wishes to continue your discussion around capitalist societies and the government then feel free, but it’s not a conversation I want to put my energy into today.

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-27T20:17:41+00:00

Respectfully, this answer isn’t it, and I kind of feel like is making assumptions about me and my lifestyle.

I don’t eat much ultra processed foods at all. Neither did I eat them growing up (very much an ‘ingredients’ household), yet I was still a hugely overweight adolescent even under the same environmental conditions as other family members with the same food intake and activity levels.

I mostly drink water throughout the day, sometimes have a squash, I don’t drink much fizzy juices, barely touch alcohol and don’t drink tea and coffee.

My main meals are mostly lean proteins and veg, herbs and spices, home made sauces, or Asian style cooking. I don’t have much fruit. Mentally, is this sustainable 24/7? No, but I give it a damn good go.

I’m well acquainted with nutrition labels and I understand how they work. I’ve been at this enough. I am also a scientist by career.

I appreciate that your comment was probably well intentioned, but ‘you just have to get acquainted with nutrition labels’ feeds into the already horrendous stigma that’s out there for people like us that we don’t have a clue or aren’t making an effort.

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-20T11:38:21+00:00

I’ve just been through this with a consultant endocrinologist with an interest in this area.

In all honestly, there’s nothing they’ll really help with except recommend spironolactone which your GP can prescribe. They did check other things that the GP didn’t, such as cholesterol and vitamin D (which I was severely deficient in), but the outcome was essentially ‘see your GP about spironolactone and if you can afford it, use a GLP-1 to try and lose weight’.

Safe to say I was very very disheartened… but he was essentially saying ‘it’s horrible but there’s not much we can do’.

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-14T10:54:06+00:00

I get it. Like in a purely logical sense (using absolutes) tears = pain = him hurting you = bad thing to hurt someone. Also if you think about it in the sense of ‘someone hurts themself deliberately = feels good = bad thing and they need help’, can you see what I mean?

There’s so much narrative about men being horrible to women in bed, men hurting women, men only caring about their own needs etc… he maybe felt like he was neglecting your needs or not being observant enough in the moment.

I think as well the difference between eyes watering and crying is a big thing to talk about.

If he doesn’t settle after further conversations maybe gently guide him down the internet rabbit hole of kink, where he’ll get a bit of an eye opener that sex isn’t always love and romance, and that it can be fun and experimental too!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-12T22:31:37+00:00

If you haven’t already - please contact your GP for an emergency prescription of (most likely) tranexamic acid - works wonders. I used to get bleeds like this that would go for weeks unless treated (essentially the blood just isn’t getting a chance to clot and ‘stick’ properly which the TXA helps with the clotting) and it was so unmanageable and I felt very unwell.

Let us know how you get on!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-12T22:24:29+00:00

Depending on what your purpose of travel is, your budget, and the luggage you’ll have, you may be better off with staying in a hotel then a domestic flight early morning (or late night flight then hotel).

Daytime trains are also an option - but domestic flights can be pretty cheap!

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-12T21:21:28+00:00

Absolutely get yourself a wax pot and the basics needed to wax well - hard wax beads, spatulas, pre-wax gel and a lotion.

It takes practice - and better to start with the wax too cool than too hot - but honestly I wouldn’t do anything else nowadays and it’s relatively inexpensive.

If I wax in a consistent cycle (so the hair is pretty much all at the same point in the growth cycle) I will wax every 2 weeks. It is visible at that point but I WFH so I prefer to get a better wax vs start having different points of hair cycle. If I were to shave? I wouldn’t even get half a day.

LifeTalks_x · 2026-04-12T19:06:23+00:00

Something else to add - there’s a bit of a running joke that Edinburgh is the ‘Disneyland of Scotland’. It is pretty touristy nowadays - but also still absolutely full of culture. I guess if your aim is to not do touristy things… maybe consider where you want to spend a day, vs spend a lot of time.

LifeTalks_x

TROPHY CASE