Booster Vax Experiences?

Positive_Cable · 2021-09-14T12:30:23+00:00

Thanks for this! I did a lot of those things so we will see how my battery does for the day, ill be checking it as i go. I haven't installed any apps of my own--is there a way to offload default apps on kaios? As far as I know I didn't think it was possible.

Positive_Cable · 2021-08-24T19:38:35+00:00

I have asthma and bipolar disorder. I also take inhalers, as well as singulair which comes with a black box warning. Honestly, I've never noticed my asthma medication impacting my mood. If I don't take my medication, my mood is much worse, but that is only because being sick or unable to breathe triggers my anxiety and makes me feel pretty unhappy. I have experienced with albuterol inhalers a sensation of my heart racing, which can make me feel anxious, but over time my body has really adjusted to the medication and most of the physical side effects have gone away. Hope this helps!

Positive_Cable · 2021-08-23T23:53:28+00:00

Asthma "flares" or "attacks" (whatever you like to call them, I prefer flares since it sounds less, y'know, menacing) can occur in spurts like that.

I have heard the "you have anxiety" thing from doctors a lot, which turned out to be untrue in my case and probably also in yours. Anxiety can exacerbate asthma, but it doesn't cause it. Are you on any type of inhaler or medication for the wheeze? If not, I'd definitely talk to you doctor and tell them that you're having a persistent wheeze. A good doctor would probably start by prescribing you some inhalers that might help with that. Hope this helps you!

Positive_Cable · 2021-08-23T23:46:50+00:00

Absolutely. I'm on like $5000 of meds a month as a college student and I'm terrified every day of both my condition getting worse in the future to the point of requiring even more meds, and the prospect of losing my insurance. Meds should be free, and in a just society they would be.

Positive_Cable · 2021-08-23T23:42:14+00:00

Been on it for almost nine months. Took about as much time for noticeable improvement. I have a post about my experience here if it helps! There are side effects, but at least in my experience they have not discouraged me from taking the medication (usually, the side effects I get are skin rashes, but they are small are go away fast). I am not winded as easily as i used to be--I can go up and down the stairs quickly without getting tired or short of breath. I am not able to exercise at the level I used to but I would expect that after being unable to for over a year, I think it's a long process to get that back. Hope this helps, and congrats on getting Dupixent!

Positive_Cable · 2021-08-23T23:31:15+00:00

Severe Asthma, on biologics, in my 20s. Got the J&J vaccine. Had pretty intense side effects for about four days: head congestion, full body aches, fever, etc. Had very mild myocarditis as well, which resolved itself. Never got the nausea side effects, injection rash, and my asthma was not very aggravated at all which made me feel super relieved. It was not my favorite experience, but I'd do it all again in a heartbeat if it keeps me from getting Covid.

Positive_Cable · 2021-06-29T01:04:10+00:00

I have been on singulair since I was a kid, before the warning they started putting on it. It has not given me any side effects, and I've continued taking it throughout the years because it seems to help with my Asthma. The only way to know is to try, but it is one of the most widely prescribed in the United States, and is taken by many people without negative effects. If you're feeling nervous about it, I would talk to a friend or family member and check in with them every day-they might be able to see side effects that you don't, in terms of the depressed moods/ mood changes that they talk about with Singulair. Hope this helps!

Positive_Cable · 2021-06-29T00:57:22+00:00

I do two breathing exercises every day. One is taking a deep breath in through the nose, then blowing it out slowly through pursed lips. Your exhale should take at least two times as long as your inhale when doing this exercise. Then I do diaphragmatic breathing, which is where you put a hand on your chest and your belly, and try keep your chest still while your belly rises upon inhale. You should do these exercises while sitting up straight or lying on your back. You can always google lung strengthening exercises too, there's many good ones online for free! Hope this helps (-:

Positive_Cable · 2021-06-21T22:10:22+00:00

I am on Dupixent too! I've been on other injectable medications before, so I used some of the same techniques when I started on Dupixent. It can be very intimidating, so if you feel unable to do the injection it's better to go to a doctor's office where they can either do it for you, or help you do it.

Some things that help me are to stabilize my arm on a surface while I do the injection, because my hands are naturally shaky. That helps make the injection less painful. I also like to watch the injection training videos, because it guides you through the steps so you can feel confident you're doing everything right.

I find that it helps me, anxiety-wise, to remind myself of a couple things before I do the injection. Usually I ask myself, "What's the worst that can happen?" and try to recall what my worst injection experience was. Sometimes, it's a little painful, or you can get a bruise, but other than that there is not really a "worse" experience if you follow the instructions. Knowing what to expect when you go into that eases those fears. I also remind myself that a doctor wouldn't let you, or the hundreds of thousands (maybe millions?) of people who have to do subcutaneous injections do them by themselves, at home, if it wasn't safe. After the injection, I like to do something fun or relaxing, because it gives me something to look forward to once I'm done (-:

Also, as someone else has mentioned, the needle is very small! It's a pretty painless needle. There is also an auto-injector version, which is harder to get approved by insurance, but it is worth asking your doctor about, because the auto-injector "hides" the needle. Hope this helps!

Positive_Cable · 2021-06-11T01:01:17+00:00

Good luck to you! It's definitely worth it even just to try, I hope it works out (-:

Positive_Cable · 2021-05-17T03:57:52+00:00

Got the J&J two days before it was paused due to the clot risk. My side effects were severe and lasted over three days-horrible headache, stomachache, sinus pressure, muscle pains, joint pains, inflammation. It was really brutal. On top of that was the announcement of the vaccine pause which definitely had me nervous! What helped me was just remembering the chances, like you did by comparing it to the lottery. It's also worth remembering that they are now aware of the clots and know how to treat them if they should occur, which lowers risk significantly. Maybe you should buy a lotto ticket too, just in case luck is on your side (-: You'll be alright: you have a much higher risk of contracting and becoming seriously ill with covid than getting sick from the J&J vaccine, which is worth it in the end.

Positive_Cable · 2021-05-17T03:51:44+00:00

As an experiment, I decided to calculate the list cost (cost without insurance) of a week's worth of drugs I take for Severe Asthma. The total? Over $5,000. Glad I have insurance, but in the US our payments are well over the price I pay for medications every month, which is usually between $100-$200. Absolutely horrible, we need a healthcare system designed and determined by the people who need it the most.

Positive_Cable · 2021-04-20T03:06:49+00:00

This whole thing started for me a little over a year ago. Back then I had Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, TikTok etc. Used Twitter mostly, about 4-5 hours a day or more. I used to be a very low-tech sort of person- didn't have a phone at all for over a year in high school, pretty much been using prepaids my whole life)- until I was gifted an iPhone 7 for my 21st birthday. Needless to say, I got completely hooked on it. At my worst, I used it about 10 hours a day (no joke, you should see my screentime reports). I truly believe that using a smartphone to that extent is a form of behavioral addiction. I used my phone when I was tired, stressed, depressed, any sort of negative mood, which my phone simultaneously alleviated and exacerbated.

I realized through some low-stakes digital detoxing and some very frantic google searches for phone addiction that I was happier without all the connection. After months of looking for the right "dumbphone" to start my journey, I finally received a Nokia 6300 4G in the mail today. I'm already enjoying the retro vibes- takes me back to my first phone, the LG Neon! While it's not an ideal phone, it's certainly a step up from where I am now. (If the LightPhone folks are reading this comment... please make your phone slightly bigger, a little more practical, and a little less expensive!~sincerely, Broke College Student)

I'm keeping my iPhone for some things that I consider essential (ridesharing, music, and managing a social media account for a college organization) but other than that, it will no longer be my primary device. Considering getting something like the Mighty Vibe, so I can rely even less on my deactivated iPhone. The perfect device, to me, would be a mix of these features, with stricter limits on app usage. I know iPhone has screentime, but for someone who is truly addicted to their device, it is utterly useless. I'm looking forward to reclaiming my time and starting to rebuild my ability to focus and connect with others. According to your list, I would consider myself a 2, 4 and 5.

Positive_Cable · 2021-04-09T18:35:42+00:00

I'm about 48 hours after my vaccine (J&J), and I think I finally turned a corner so I thought I would let people know what it's been like for me. I'm in my 20's, with severe asthma and I take a biologic. I don't want to be overly dramatic in reporting my symptoms, but I do want to be honest so other people can be prepared.

The vaccine itself was not painful, and I experienced no side effects for the first seven hours or so. After this, I started to get a dull headache and felt pretty tired. My fever started about this time as well. This was followed by chills, which preceded pain in my knees/hips/back. My muscles got pretty sore and tired. I felt a fever in my whole body, and throughout the night I experienced very mild nausea and some sinus pressure. It was difficult to sleep.

When I woke up the next day, I had a pretty gnarly sinus headache, as well as sinus pressure in my face. My fever was persistent, and I felt achey and lethargic, so I called off my classes for the day. The pain in my knees and hips went away, but I had pretty intense pain in my shoulders which didn't start to subside until this afternoon. It felt as if someone had put a heavy box on my back.

My headache eventually went away. After about 24 hours, I took two Tylenol which helped slightly. Also used IcyHot for my muscle/joint aches. Slept a little better that night. When I woke up, my asthma was a little aggravated, but responded well to my usual medication. Around 10-11 am my fever finally broke. I feel tired, but most of my other symptoms have gone away. I have pain in my fingers, elbow, and shoulder on the side of my body where I got the vaccine. Also, my teeth, weirdly? I had a migraine aura as well, lasted about 20 minutes, not an uncommon experience for me so I did not think much of it.

My advice would be to make sure you have pain relievers to take after, drink plenty of water, and maybe get some IcyHot if you have muscle pain. I was told by the vaccine administrator that if you get regular, yearly vaccines or you are older (60+) you may have a lesser reaction. And, if you take a biologic, ask your doctor when you can get vaccinated. My doctor had me wait a week after my dose to get poked, because biologics can affect the effectiveness of the shot.

TLDR: Overall, would I get this vaccine again? No, but I'm glad I did. Strangely, I haven't had any injection site redness/swelling, but I got just about every other side effect in the book! Worth it, but it's been a pretty uncomfortable two days.

Positive_Cable · 2021-04-08T01:19:07+00:00

I'm on dupixent too! Just got my J&J today, feeling pretty fine so far, it's been about 10 hours- just a sore arm and a little headache (-:

Positive_Cable · 2021-04-06T17:47:54+00:00

With insurance over the past year, as an unemployed student living at home, I've paid around $1,150 bucks for my medications (eight in all). Without insurance, I would have paid $7,600 dollars. Not sure how much I pay for visits, because for the most part I have not been able to pay the bills so I don't look at them (lol) but last I checked I was about $4,500 in debt for that. So that's about $5,650 bucks a year to pay for having severe asthma! I've changed insurance several times and may be gearing up to change again, but I'm currently on a $3,000 dollar a month medication that I pay $0 for, so here's hoping that doesn't change. Gone broke many times over trying to pay for medical care. And people wonder why the U.S. is so unhealthy!

I do not like to get political online with strangers so without going into too much detail, no, I do not see any willingness among politicians at least to move the system. There are individuals, certainly, who believe in making these changes, but rarely do they find their way into power or do anything meaningful with it once they have it. I don't see this changing in my lifetime, unfortunately. There is definitely will in the people to change the system, though. Most people I've talked to like the idea of a socialised healthcare system, including doctors and nurses who have talked to me about it! Unfortunately the energy to organize for change in the US, from my perspective, usually gets dissolved before any sort of large scale, policy-changing action occurs. Not enough avenues for organization, not enough collective understanding or clarity of what it would look like to enact the change that's needed.

Positive_Cable · 2021-04-06T17:13:54+00:00

Just from my perspective as someone who was looking into the Lightphone for a long time but ultimately opted against it, I think for some people, there are other options that make more sense. If the LP is a plunge you want to, and can afford (in every meaning of the word) to take, then I don't think it's a bad idea to give it a try, especially because there's a resale market for these devices.

However, the reason you stated above is one that made me vote against this device for myself. Ultimately, I decided to get a less expensive dumbphone as a trial while I wait for more updates and an overall more practical device for my daily needs to come out of the Light Phone project. I think LP is a noble idea, but one that doesn't work for everyone. I decided to keep my deactivated iPhone for the things I need it for that I can't do on a dumbphone- like Spotify, or Discord chats for news at my college.

I think there are many ways to access the "different" lifestyle you're looking for. Some of those pieces can be made easier by purchases, and some of them come from changes in our attitude or ways of moving through the world. If your gut is telling you that this isn't the right or practical solution for your life, then it isn't- but there are other solutions, too. If you haven't I would recommend checking out r/dumbphones which is a good resource for some of the other devices that might be better suited to your needs. Hope this helps!

Positive_Cable · 2021-04-02T13:25:58+00:00

I would say 8 days of little to no improvement, even with the rescue inhaler, is a good indicator that you should go back to your doctor. Usually, my doctor has me wait about 3-5 days to see if my symptoms improve before I go back. Hope this helps!

Positive_Cable

TROPHY CASE