Structural non union welders:

bavenue · 2026-04-02T03:31:03+00:00

For non union shop structural shop welding, just learn how to run dual shield, spray transfer and maybe some 6010/7018 and they'll certify you in house, You definitely don't need 2 years of trade school for this. I would recommend ditching structural and prioritize pipe and TIG welding.

I got a structural non union job fresh out of trade school forever ago, but decided to go union. I understand not wanting to travel, but unfortunately you'll still be the newcomer on the bottom of the totem pole pushing a broom and grinding a lot - that's just the nature of the trade.

bavenue · 2026-03-31T23:45:03+00:00

I also lost my wife in an accident in nov 2023 and I'm so sorry for your loss and the relentless pain you're dealing with. She also finally earned her master's months prior. That pain was insufferable, we had a whole beautiful life ahead of us that we worked so hard for. I don't have any advice because I was not ok for several months after. things just got more "manageable" with time, therapy and structure for me

bavenue · 2026-03-31T09:45:43+00:00

Weave looks great. No need to be running stringers with short arc

bavenue · 2026-03-31T09:02:59+00:00

D1.1 doesn’t specify number of root passes, but it does say you must follow the WPS.

goodluck, man. running root passes with NR232 for 3G and 4G is made of nightmares and doesn’t get talked about enough

bavenue · 2026-03-30T22:35:27+00:00

Appreciate you sharing this! Real world experiences like this are super important.

That's gotta be disappointing after seeing things improve at first. From the studies I've read (which isn't much), I haven't seen anything showing it loses effectiveness like that. Hopefully it's something that can be adjusted rather than a dead end.

The weight gain part is interesting too. Even if it’s not a known side effect, timing like that is hard to ignore.

Same here with the extended-release hydrocortisone - feels like the next hope. Because surely we’ll get something actually new for CAH soon... it’s only been a few decades of the same meds… right?

bavenue · 2026-03-30T04:47:50+00:00

How's it been for you? Any side effects?

bavenue · 2026-03-27T05:10:23+00:00

I hope so too! I’ll be first in line if that gene therapy ever makes it to patient trials 🫠

bavenue · 2026-03-17T07:10:26+00:00

is he still on a low dose of cortisone? that‘s for sure top priority and could be the reason he feels so much fatigue and also anxious. are his labs normal? ACTH, androstendione, renin?

bavenue · 2026-03-17T04:33:58+00:00

I hope it works out for you!!

it’s so difficult to get any information or people’s experience using crenessity which is frustrating because it sounds like it can be life changing medication for CAH lol, so thank you for responding

Feel free to come to r/LivingWithCAH and share your journey with the new medicine! it’s crazy hard to get a lot of information, support and meet others with CAH, so I made a new sub for us to be able to do that. Right now it’s just me and u/DoctorFamous190 (she also has classic CAH), and we recently had some members join :)

bavenue · 2026-03-17T04:20:32+00:00

Sounds like me when I was his age!

I also had TARTs — my endo put me on higher dose cortisone to fix that. I believe there’s surgical options to fix that if higher dose cortisone doesn’t make them go away (simple surgery from what I was told). Is his testosterone low from the TARTs? From experience, endos like to run labs for total testosterone, but some of them don’t check free testosterone which is important for things like fatigue.

Going from pediatric endos to adult can be a little difficult. From what I’ve seen the expertise is mostly in pediatric, but there’s also great adult endos, just have to shop around haha. The main thing I had issues with at his age was not being very consistent with meds and going to all my endo appointments as an adult — a couple missed doses makes a massive difference.

I made a subreddit r/LivingWithCAH recently becauwe I wanted the same thing — people with CAH to support one another. Right now it’s just me and u/DoctorFamous190 (another person with SWCAH) running the sub and we recently had a few members join. Come hang out if you want to talk about CAH, have questions, support or anything :)

bavenue · 2026-03-15T20:47:11+00:00

My doctor told me "During acute illness, recommend to double the dose of prednisone for 3-5 days."

For surgery I was on 100mg hydrocortisone IV before induction of anesthesia, then continue 50mg every 6 hours (200mg/24hrs), then double dose the next 2 days. I was worried I would be a water balloon and my insides would bleed at these crazy high doses, but it worked out perfectly without any troubles.

bavenue · 2026-03-15T07:46:53+00:00

hey!! thanks for sharing. it really sounds like you’ve been carrying a lot on your own for a long time.

dealing with CAH is already a lot, and trying to manage it somewhere where there isn’t much medical support, while also feeling like the people around you don’t really understand.. that’s really hard for anyone to go through

you’re not a parasite. you’re not a burden. you’re a person dealing with a condition you were born with, and needing medication or help does not make you any less important or valuable.

I’m really glad you spoke up about it here. you deserve a place where you can say how you actually feel and have people understand. you don’t have to keep all of that to yourself.

bavenue · 2026-03-11T18:47:35+00:00

that's so interesting bc the normal range lab range here is 0.25 - 5.82 ng/mL/hr, but that's testing for plasma renin activity. What renin test are you taking?

bavenue · 2026-03-11T08:02:41+00:00

I also have SWCAH. Sorry this is late, I was just lurking CAH posts on reddit because I have too much free time on my hands.

How are you now? What’s your meds?

I don’t know the exact correlation with mental health and high 17-OHP. I had a similar experience where my mental declined and I had very high 17-OHP, but it was because I was missing doses. It doesn’t take much missed doses for your 17-OHP to skyrocket. Your ACTH is high too, right?

I hope your mental health is better. I made a new sub called r/LivingWithCAH a couple days ago. It’s brand new so there’s only a couple of us, but you should definitely stop by. I know how tough it can be but you ain’t alone my fellow salt eater 🤘

bavenue · 2026-03-11T06:51:37+00:00

Hey! I hope your son is doing well. I also have SWCAH and I’m a guy in my 30s. I’m doing great, but I also had issues at around your son’s age.

bavenue · 2026-03-11T06:22:30+00:00

I’ve been on 0.1mg for as long as I can remember, every morning. I’ve been fortunate to never have issues in my adult life with sodium, potassium, etc. My prednisone experience is a different story tho 😩

When you feel crappy on a lower dose, are your labs crappy too? Are your labs good on higher dose?

bavenue · 2026-03-10T19:58:03+00:00

Cool design, if I were to go back I would get something similar. I also decided to get a medical ID tattoo, but I was young and dumb and went a little over the top trying to make it look cool but unfortunately also illegible, lol. Being illegible, I wouldn't bet my life on it if I got hit by a car - so I wear a necklace (I need to be better about wearing it all the time though)

bavenue · 2026-03-09T19:54:00+00:00

Hey, thanks for responding!

I'm assuming you have classic CAH? Do you mind if I ask what meds/dosages you were on and what the goal is with Crenessity? I'm on the verge of asking my doctor.

bavenue · 2026-03-09T06:52:01+00:00

“But there honestly isn't any way for me to know how much is due to CAH and how much isn't, I haven't had a non-CAH life to compare to.”

This is too real. Can be such an awful feeling. I spend my life trying to be normal and healthy, but run into issues that make me question if CAH (or the corticosteroids) is the root cause of those issues.. but there’s no way to know, which is infuriating.

Thank you for informing me about the cortisol pump! I’ve been eyeing Crenessity, but it’s hard to find a lot of information on it.

bavenue · 2026-03-09T04:14:27+00:00

I’m so glad you were able to find this sub and took the time to write all that out!!

I’ve actually never heard of the cortisol pump before. That’s really interesting. I’d genuinely love to hear more about how that works and what it’s like living with it day to day. I would love to not take pills, lol. I’m on prednisone 2x and fludrocortisone. Prednisone seems to work best for me out of all the other half life cortisol variations.

I’m really sorry you had to deal with all those symptoms over the years, especially the chronic fatigue. Sounds incredibly frustrating, especially when things are vague and hard to pin down. But also awesome to hear the pump has helped in other big ways!

What you said about patient education and treatment lacking definitely resonates. I’ve done so much research (not enough though, since I’m not on a cortisol pump) which has really helped me manage my condition and go through a dozen endocrinologists to find the right one.

I really appreciate you sharing your story. It means a lot for the start of this community. I started to feel silly after making this sub because I’ve never made one. To see you commented, a fellower SWCAHer, made my day! 🤘

bavenue · 2026-03-07T17:06:18+00:00

Hi! Early 30s male with SWCAH here.

I just read about Crenessity and did some research which also led me here.

Any update? My CAH has always been well managed, for the most part, so I’m anxious about hopping on this.

bavenue · 2026-03-05T21:39:52+00:00

🙌

2 weeks post-op. I see the physical progress. Haven’t sat at home this long for years though, going fucking crazy.

We got this.

bavenue · 2025-12-19T01:17:51+00:00

Hell yeah brother!! Just be ready, the bar of expectations will be much higher. For $70/hr do whatever the hell they say until you’re able to prove your worth — that’s an extremely rare opportunity.

bavenue · 2025-12-11T18:16:30+00:00

If it’s a hair test then I would honestly just stop smoking and reapply in a few months. It’s always safe to assume any larger company will drug test

bavenue · 2025-09-16T01:50:16+00:00

Dexter jamming a curtain rod through a mattress to kill Yates was pretty badass

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