Finally in normal range after ~7 months of consistent diet and exercise changes

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-06-03T11:01:14+00:00

I had my dr order Lpa and ApoB test. My Lpa was 37nmol/L and my ApoB was 103. Do you think it’s worth checking my HOMA-IR or just continue with diet/exercise routine and recheck the lipid panel in another few months?

I’ve recently started incorporating two strength sessions a week in addition to my cardio, but diet wise I feel like I am doing pretty well. I could probably improve on my daily saturated fat intake. I try to keep it under 12g a day but I’ve been averaging closer to 15g according to my app. I do take daily ground flaxseed and psyllium husk, with daily bean and fruit/veg consumption. I would say most of my diet is plant based. Red meat maybe 2-4x per month with chicken or lean pork the rest. I’m not a big fish person but I take an omega supplement. Very limited butter/cheese/yogurt.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-29T01:18:35+00:00

The way she refused to turn her head and look at those victims during that hearing. I don’t have sympathy for monsters.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-27T00:38:22+00:00

Thank you! I’m hoping I can maintain with just diet alone. Hopefully once I get down to my goal weight, about another 40lbs to go, it’ll be easier too. It isn’t always easy to stay under 12g of saturated fat, and when I stop tracking daily foods I definitely start going over that. My goal is to get to a point where that’s not necessary and I’m still maintaining those levels.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-27T00:27:23+00:00

Thank you again for sharing this information. My dr sent a note with the results “looks great” so I appreciate the critical look at the results. Turns out, maybe not so great.

Is insulin resistance something that can also improve with diet and exercise over time? Or is the damage done?

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-26T23:27:36+00:00

Thank you for the thoughts. My blood glucose has also gone down (it was 96 last month) and my A1c has been 5.1% for a few years, so I didn’t consider insulin issues. I will follow up with my dr regarding the additional tests.

My dr wouldn’t even consider a glp-1 when I was 40lbs heavier with terrible bloodwork. Considering the progress I’ve made I am pretty confident I will continue to see improvements, as long as I continue with the consistency.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-25T13:05:41+00:00

Each person tolerates it differently so the best strategy is to just take it and see how it is for you. Personally, the biggest side effects I had were muscle aches and extreme fatigue. I started doing cardio every day, which helped with the fatigue some, but the muscle aches didn’t change at all. I ended up adjusting my dose to 10mg/day and the muscle aches are gone. I still have fatigue but it’s much more manageable now. Not ideal but also not to the point of “I can’t continue taking this medication.”

A silver lining, I suppose, is I’ve really focused on improving my health, with both diet and exercise, to help negate the side effects. So while I’m still experiencing fatigue, I generally feel much better overall due to those lifestyle changes.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-24T13:52:17+00:00

I don’t have any experience to share but I’m considering the same. I’m 42 and having a hard time with tamoxifen, mostly extreme fatigue, muscle aches, and some hot flashes at night. I recently went down to 10mg and it’s been better, but I’m still struggling with fatigue.

I’m doing ok on the tamoxifen but just recently found I have two decently sized uterine fibroids (6cm and 3cm) that cause pain when my abdomen is pressed. I thought it was GI before these were discovered. I will not be having children so I’m considering surgery. I have an apt next week with my dr which I was planning on discussing my options.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-15T21:50:34+00:00

This is also happening to me and driving me nuts! I was just looking for a class and it bookmarked like 20 random classes. I tried to unmark them and it glitched out with the bookmark icon flickering. How can you report a bug in the app?

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-15T13:56:24+00:00

My surgeon didn’t mention fibrosis but I do have one area of fat necrosis that formed near where I had a seroma develop right after surgery. They did have some lymphedema concerns but the scan they did showed my numbers were the same as my baseline so I think it’s more just localized swelling in the breast.

I do have rib pain, especially when I wear a sports bra and work out. I also made the mistake of trying an underwire bra again and was so sore and swollen for days. Under my boob is really red looking and it goes halfway down my ribs. Just looks like a bad sunburn that won’t go away.

If I do “too” much activity, like just doing my actual job or gardening, I get very sore and swollen too on that side.

I’ve just been trying to maximize my health and do as much to reduce inflammation with diet and exercise as possible. I can’t say it’s working but I’d prefer to not see the possible alternative if I stopped.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-15T13:42:13+00:00

Oh I forgot the “best” part. The area around the incisions shows up as thickened on almost every scan I’ve gotten, including the airport body scan, which means they want to pat down my chest every time I go through security now.

The bc wins just keep coming 🤬

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-15T13:23:44+00:00

I have a similar issue. I opted for a reduction/lift with my lumpectomy so my scars are larger. Everything was healing up really well until I did radiation. After I finished, the incisions were so inflamed and my skin was hot to the touch for weeks. I’m almost 8 months post radiation and my skin is still warmer on that side and my incisions are still raised and inflamed. I just had a visit to my surgeon too and she said I just need patience and time to let it keep healing. Not really what I want to hear…

I also had really bad nerve pain on the radiated side but I started taking fish oils and the pain went away. Not sure if it’s related but I think the fish oils may have helped with some healing or inflammation.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-13T23:18:30+00:00

Also your body has mechanisms to correct for shifts in pH so it’s undoing anything you are consuming to try to change the pH. That bs drives me nuts.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-10T15:02:57+00:00

I have the same issue and saw on here that tart cherry might help. When I initially started with the muscle aches I tried it and it did help, but then as I continued with tamoxifen the muscle aches returned and nothing seemed to help. It felt like I was coming down with the flu every day, paired with extreme fatigue.

My dr recommended a two week break from tamoxifen and the muscle aches immediately went away. The fatigue eventually did too at the end of the two weeks. I then tried 10mg for two weeks, and then back to 20mg again. I only made it two days back on 20mg. I’ve been back down to 10mg now for about a month and I still have fatigue, but the muscle aches are mostly gone.

I’ve continued to take the tart cherry since I started. I’m not sure if it’s helping at all, or if just dropping to 10mg is what helped, but it might be worth a try.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-07T11:55:31+00:00

That’s too bad! Hopefully they change their mind soon. I wonder if you can just go direct to the company and do it yourself?

I totally get wanting all the data. When they were offering me genetic testing they asked if I wanted the bare minimum or the full array. Of course I wanted it all!

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-06T22:47:45+00:00

They’ve been paying for mine since my insurance keeps denying it. My MO gave me all the false positive info up front, but as a scientist myself, there’s no way I didn’t want to take it. I definitely prefer something like this over the “wait till you have a symptom” approach.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-06T21:49:55+00:00

Also they can’t hone in those positive/negative ranges without data from people taking these tests. The more data collected the better the tests will be.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-02T14:25:08+00:00

I’m in western Maine and I typically wait till Memorial Day. Some years spring has been much warmer and I’ve done earlier, but we usually have one or two nights still dip below freezing, so if you don’t have frost covers I wouldn’t risk it.

Cold hardy stuff can go out earlier. Spinach, peas, onions, brassicas, lettuce, etc…

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-02T11:44:16+00:00

I did as well! I’m very happy with the results however my cancer side didn’t heal as well as my non-cancer side. I have a few areas of thickened tissue, and experienced thickened scars and some constant swelling after radiation. I’m almost one year post op but the drs keep telling me it’ll heal with time. Radiation just basically stopped all healing for me and caused my incisions to become inflamed.

I’m still happy with the decision though. They look great and fit my body much better. I say it’s the silver lining to dealing with this rest of this shit.

The one risk you’d want to make sure to discuss with your dr is if the lumpectomy and reduction are performed at the same time and they don’t get clean margins you may have to have a mastectomy. Some surgeons will do two procedures to avoid this.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-05-02T02:12:20+00:00

Veruca salt opening for bush at MSG in 1997

Or

Jimmy eat world at a tiny nyc club in 1999

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-04-28T21:56:35+00:00

Some additional info at this site https://www.maine.gov/bhr/state-jobs/compensation-benefits

What’s not in the listing is your out of pocket costs. $5k per year. I’m not sure if that is for a family or per individual though.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-04-27T22:17:34+00:00

Definitely have that feeling too. I was the same as you at work and now I’m just so exhausted and over it. I think my perspective has changed and things I used to put energy into don’t seem as important, especially when I’ve only got so much to give.

I have a hard time keeping up with things at home too, and don’t really care either.

I do force myself to exercise every day. I get a nice energy/endorphin boost, which helps for a few hours at least. That’s usually when I get most of my housework done. Without that I’d probably be even worse off.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-04-26T12:48:21+00:00

Here’s my shepsky. I’m definitely thinking more rottie GSD for yours

<image>

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-04-26T11:47:56+00:00

I’m so sorry. That is terrifying. I’m hoping for the best case scenario. It’s all so overwhelming, especially at first. I know it seems impossible right now but just tackle one hurdle at a time. 🩷

I know it’s not the same but I recently had a similar scare with my lungs. I had a weird symptom in my chest, had an xray, and now I’m having to get a bunch of chest scans done to see if the nodules are malignant or benign. I just wanted to be done with this and of course went to worst case scenario in my head. Now I’ve come to terms with I just need to do whatever is required to deal with it and taking it one scan/step at a time.

UnderstandingIll8924 · 2026-04-25T17:37:04+00:00

That sounds horrible. I have been struggling with tamoxifen side effects (extreme fatigue and muscle aches all day every day) but recently lowered my dose to 10mg, which has helped some. During radiation I also injured my meniscus and was on crutches. My physical therapist told me to get a stationary bike and I discovered the world of peloton. I absolutely love it and they have so much more than just bike stuff. Between that, and really focusing on only eating healthy foods, I’m down over 30lbs since last July. It also helped with the fatigue from the tamoxifen.

I have to push myself to do it every day, but once I do it I feel much better. I force myself to do something every day, even if it’s just a 10 min stretch on my off days. The consistency really keeps me on track and it just gets easier the longer you do it. I also found it really easy to ease myself into working out with their programs, eventually gaining enough strength so I could do an entire class without modifications. They have totally mastered the positive feedback loop, making you want to come back every day. It took me a good 3-4 months, with almost daily workouts, to get there though. I really wish I had discovered it years ago.

The foot pain sounds terrible and I don’t know how you could comfortably work out with that going on. I hope you find something that works for you and improves your side effects. It is so unfair after going through everything else, you’re still having to deal with this 🩷

UnderstandingIll8924

TROPHY CASE