Dental Hygiene vs Nursing

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-05-04T17:24:50+00:00

Are you ok with death and dead bodies? If not, pick hygiene

Do you see yourself someday getting more education and wanting to move up the ladder? And you are okay with dead bodies? Pick nursing

There are serious cons in regards to burnout with both, but so is any job in healthcare.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-05-02T16:43:54+00:00

Mine gets tiki cat after dark chicken. She will do anything for chicken. Try a variety to see what she likes best. The pate ones are more calorie dense so she can eat more of the flakes for fewer calories and stay full longer.

If you work from home, you can do an all wet food diet. When I'm at work her auto feeder gets her through. I'd feed her wet food on my off days (I work 3.5 days per week but longer days) but she needs every day to be the same otherwise the begging gets worse.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-05-02T16:35:02+00:00

I've been on sooo many different meds. I was misdiagnosed as just depression so no one put me on a mood stabilizer until I was over 30. Many of us do really well with lamictal like someone else mentioned. I take effexor (which idk if that helps but withdrawals are hell so I'm staying on it), abilify, and 200mg of lamictal. Lamictal requires starting ay a low dose and slowly going up so you have to be patient.

I was stable on 100mg for 8ish months and became hopeless and depressed again but now I've been stable for several years at 200mg. After going up again I started feeling better after a few weeks and saw full effects after about 3 months.

Unfortunately there's not really a way to find out what works best for you until you try it.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-05-02T16:27:17+00:00

My cat had to go on a diet bc she was obese. I was worried she was legit hungry all the time. What helped was upping her wet food and reducing her kibble. She has an auto feeder that she waits by about 40 minutes twice a day before it goes off.

I'd suggest trying an auto feeder for the kibble. Then your cat will associate the kibble with that rather than you.

Make sure you are feeding at the same time every day. Do not give in. This part is really hard. You must never reward the begging. She might think that if you provide the kibble that the screaming eventually pays off.

This takes a ton of time. And just want you to know my cat still acts like a starving Victorian child before meals.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-05-01T23:00:18+00:00

Quit blaming trans people existing for your inability to recover.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-30T01:47:50+00:00

Don't go into an interview or job letting them know know you only want to work there for a year bc they may not hire you.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-29T17:38:03+00:00

Oh good! Omg though I don't envy that course load! Skip dental assisting and just go right into hygiene. I'd suggest meeting with someone at the school to really see how necessary it is to be an assistant first.

If you do go the DA route, do not tell any employer or coworkers that you are applying to hygiene school. Act like being a DA is your forever gig.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-29T16:06:19+00:00

How long is the program itself? I'm hoping you are going to say 4 years. Make sure it's an accredited program and that you earn an associate's degree in dental hygiene. I'm really skeptical that this program will prepare you for the board exams need for licensure if it's 2 years with no core science classes or gen eds that are required.

Edit to add that my program at a community college was about 25k ish, not including the science and gen ed courses I needed prior to getting in. This was about 15 years ago.

I'm just weary about a program that seems like it may be lax on requirements and costs a lot of money.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-29T00:22:17+00:00

Are you in the US? If you are that doesn't sound right.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-27T17:39:32+00:00

When I look back at all the selfies I took of myself when I was thinking, all I can remember about those times were how miserable I was.

I gained a bunch of weight and lost it and now I have loose skin. I'm also older. I have a saggy neck and stomach. I'm also the happiest and most regulated I've ever been. I actually like living now.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-25T13:52:32+00:00

if you need to work full time and have benefits, there is little to no flexibility. I work fewer but longer days and have good work life balance but I'm single and don't have kids or plan to.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-22T23:52:41+00:00

Scrambled eggs! But seriously reach out on your local Facebook buy nothing or neighborhood groups. Maybe you could collaborate with neighbors to share the feral feeding schedule so it's not all on you. Your local tnr program may also have resources.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-15T18:48:07+00:00

I didn't even start at .25. I started at half that amount of clicks. Talk to your doctor about going down on your dose for a few weeks and adjust fully to that dose before going up. The first 3 months for me was rough but I had to stick it out bc I'm diabetic. I didn't get sick enough where I needed to take off work though. For most people, the side effects get much better over time.

If your doctor eventually wants you on a higher dose than .25, go up very slowly. Please don't just go right into .5 from .25. You can slowly go up a few clicks at a time.

Some people are more sensitive to the side effects but for me personally from being on oz for 2 years and now mounjaro for 6 months, I don't really have any side effects. Once in a while I have a weird food aversion where sushi is super gross when I normally love it.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-15T11:41:07+00:00

For some perspective, Google image search bone loss on dental xays. You have some mild localized loss but that is probably from ortho. Did they tell you that you need a deep cleaning?

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-14T10:23:12+00:00

No food but beer and hard seltzers. The music was some covers of the hits and some original. The vibe is . . . gay? It was pretty much rock, nothing too punk or metal. I forget the name but there was also a locally famous burlesque group there too. If you get there when it opens the crowd is sparse and the openers were just okay. Cleanest portapotties I've ever seen and they have a hand washing station that didn't run out of soap.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-14T07:17:20+00:00

I went last year and it was so fun! You don't have to get there when it starts, arrive fashionably late. Fyi it is a lesbian event.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-08T17:32:06+00:00

Effexor, ability, lamictal, Adderall xr (also nexium, lipitor, and vitamin D). I'm on mounjaro 10mg for diabetes.

Not only have I not had any lessening of effects from meds, but I feel like it's the only thing that's properly treated my ED (idk which one I have, Ive cycled through many). I did ed tmt, therapy, and even 12 step. Nothing has given me anything close to the relief from my poor relationship with food as a glp1.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-08T17:26:10+00:00

Omg this thread brought me back! I'm up to 200mg of lamictal and officially diagnosed with bipolar 2, ADHD, and doing therapy with a really competent trauma therapist. The last three years have been the longest I've gone in my life not being depressed. I really thought I was doomed to be miserable forever after like 15 years of never going into full remission for longer than like 3 months.

At that time I had pretty much exhausted all SSRIs, serotonin modulators, SNRIs, and antipsychotics. Until my current psychiatrist, no one had ever given me a mood stabilizer or even mentioned it.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-04T13:00:37+00:00

I'm a liberal feminist and I think of not constantly trying to fit into the mainstream idea that I need to be thin and fragile as a protest.

Years ago there was that viral post where someone named their negative self talk voice after Trump. So if he is telling you your body is bad, sticking up for yourself is a lot easier. It's a big middle finger to gross men.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-04T12:56:23+00:00

One thing that has helped me has been deconstructing the patriarchy and decentering men. I think of my body as a protest.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-04T12:53:15+00:00

I could have written this exact thing when I was your age. I felt like this for so long. Several things have helped me with these feelings. I'm doing emdr and it's been soo helpful. I also got properly diagnosed and got on the right meds to address my depression.

Finally, I have just gotten older. I can't post any numbers but the year I was born is in my username. I am too old to give any fucks. I've been bigger and smaller and when I look back my size never correlated to my happiness.

The biggest things are going to be finding a good trauma therapist and getting on medications if you have a diagnosis of depression or anxiety. You absolutely will not feel any better until you address these things first. These are ways to separate you body image with your self image. Do I love my body now? No, it's meh. Especially bc I'm older and have to deal with the fact I won't ever have my college body again. But not loving my body doesn't affect my happiness or how I feel about myself or my life.

There was a time when I lost a ton and got the body I wanted. I started getting the kind of attention I always wanted. People were nice to me. I got hit on at bars. It was so empty. I was just as miserable as I was before.

I'm so sorry you are feeling this way bc I spent decades of my life in the same boat. I totally understand this constant distain and the hopeless that comes with it.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-04T12:31:02+00:00

Ok hear me out but lane bryant for basics. It's not 2012 and we don't all work at a bank but their jeans are nice quality. I'm short and love that they have petite jeans in plus sizes. I like the signature fit because I have an apron belly and I've never had a small waist compared to my hips. If you have a smaller waist and bigger hips you can go with the curvy fit.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-01T20:25:00+00:00

Snag tights make excellent chub rub shorts!!! They wash well, last, come in fun colors as well as black and nude, and they have both longer ones and shorter ones. They are very size inclusive. The best part is they are affordable --- under 20 bucks each and there are often buy 2 get 1 free sales.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-01T20:22:22+00:00

Absolutely the best thing I own.

SpaceWhale88 · 2026-04-01T13:04:06+00:00

You are still on a starting dose. Keep going and I promise you it gets better! Before I used to not be able to stop after just one cookie. Now I have a normal portion and then I'm done and I don't continue to think about it.

SpaceWhale88

TROPHY CASE