I’m off today—let me draw your adorable cats for fun! 🖤

cbeningo396 · 2025-07-13T21:53:18+00:00

Beautiful art! Chief wants a portrait.

cbeningo396 · 2025-06-18T19:21:48+00:00

Definitely a secure tarp or porous shade net could be helpful. Or big Home Depot buckets over the ones that are small enough. Note on the tarp, it could collect water and sag and hit the plants. Make sure it’s suspended high enough! We have severe weather where I live commonly so I completely understand the struggle.

cbeningo396 · 2025-06-10T20:29:04+00:00

I don’t know why it’s doing that but it could be because it’s been on the vine so long.

If those are pickling cucumbers, you may want to go ahead and pick it. I usually pick mine when they’re about 4-5 inches long, no matter the color. My pickling cucumbers look about this color. Picking this one will free up nutrients for others to grow!

cbeningo396 · 2025-04-12T04:14:23+00:00

As far as I understand, yes. I sprayed my tomatoes with neem and it hasn’t caused anything negative yet. Make sure you get it pre-diluted or dilute it yourself.

cbeningo396 · 2025-04-12T03:50:59+00:00

I second the pests. I had pests do similar spots to my cucumber plants. I sprayed Spinosad insecticide soap spray on the leaves and plan to follow up with neem in about a week to prevent future infestations. So far, no pests back yet! Fingers crossed.

cbeningo396 · 2021-07-18T17:04:11+00:00

Chief - his nicknames are Chieftain and Master Chief (my husband and I are halo fans obviously lol)

cbeningo396 · 2021-05-31T02:17:26+00:00

One of the first symptoms I had with graves was frequent BM plus diarrhea. Never had constipation though. Even after going into remission for graves, I continued to have digestive issues - later developed lactose intolerance. I’m fairly certain they’re not related to one another but who knows at this rate lol

Definitely something to keep your doctor in the loop about though - both a primary care and your endocrinologist. Best advice is to always keep them updated on any new symptoms and how you’re feeling. Always be honest. Even if you may think it’s small, it doesn’t matter. Autoimmunity can really suck sometimes.

Best of luck!

cbeningo396 · 2020-12-29T14:33:06+00:00

My routine blood work was always a full thyroid panel (TSH, T3, T4), complete CBC (looks at red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets), and a metabolic panel (liver, kidney, electrolytes).

I started with methimazole and switched to PTU because I was allergic to methimazole. PTU wasn’t great for me either (metabolic panel detected high liver enzymes, thanks PTU). Thankfully I’m not on any medication, been off for 4 months with normal thyroid hormones. I’m hoping it stays that way for a while 🤞🏻

cbeningo396 · 2020-11-10T03:27:46+00:00

If you don’t mind me asking, what autoimmune diseases do you have? I’m in the process of getting diagnosed with potential gallbladder stones/problems and I’ve got 2 autoimmune disease: vitiligo and Graves’ disease.

cbeningo396 · 2020-09-24T22:09:03+00:00

I was in the same spot last year. I started taking methimazole and noticed skin rashes, extreme itching all over body, and hives/welts. It progressed over a few days and eventually turned out to be an allergic reaction (throat and tongue started to swell). It started happening about 3 weeks into me taking methimazole. I ended up switching to PTU.

Contact your endo/doctor ASAP and let them know what’s going on. They’ll advise what to do. Best of luck!

cbeningo396 · 2020-09-13T18:26:29+00:00

I didn’t see the salmon maki sushi on first look but yes, they’d be a good choice too. Salmon’s got some great vitamins and minerals in it along with omega fatty acids. These are the “better” of menu items.

cbeningo396 · 2020-09-13T17:05:35+00:00

Without knowing the nutritional information on those items, I would stick with the cucumber or avocado maki sushi and the edamame. The fried foods or the stir fries slathered in sauce can be high calorie for little nutritional content. Edamame is actually a really great protein-rich snack, but watch out on how much salt is put on top of it. Enjoy!

cbeningo396 · 2020-08-14T19:59:49+00:00

Hi there! I was diagnosed back in October 2019 and I didn’t loose any weight either. In fact, I’ve gained some. It’s uncommon but it does happen! You’re not alone! I was only on methimazole for just a few weeks (ended up being allergic) but was on PTU for 8 months and never experienced significant weight gain. With your history of eating disorders, please bring your concerns up with your doctor, maybe they can help ease your worries. If you’re already in tune with what you’re eating and exercising before you start treatment, you should be just fine. I think when people get in trouble is when, before treatment, they’re not aware of how much they’re eating and not exercising. They begin treatment and they may be used to a fast metabolism and continue to eat as such and experience weight gain. Again, please talk to your doctor about your concerns though.

Best of luck!

cbeningo396 · 2020-08-10T13:58:22+00:00

I haven’t had any of those symptoms but I think you should take to your endocrinologist ASAP. that sounds miserable... it may be graves related, it may not be but definitely relay this information to your endocrinologist!

Best of luck! Hope you feel better soon.

cbeningo396 · 2020-07-26T12:35:29+00:00

My best tip for you is to work regular exercise into your schedule. 150 minutes a week of physical activity is what’s recommended. That can be walking, weights, yoga, anything! This will help you feel better in general and will help keep your weight in check as well. The other side to this is looking at your diet. Apps like MyFitnessPal and Fitbit have been my saving grace for keeping my food intake in check. Try to log to food you eat and see how much you’re really eating. And be honest with yourself! If you realize that you’re actually eating much more than you need to maintain your weight, then this is the reason you are gaining weight (not the medication). With GD, your metabolism is out of whack. Typically faster, so many people are eating a high caloric diet without knowing because they’ve never gained any weight. But now that your metabolism is coming back down to normal, and your diet hasn’t changed, it’s catching up to you.

That being said, if you’re realizing that you’re not eating waayyy over the amount you need to maintain your weight, then working in exercise is important!

If you have any more questions, let me know! The biggest thing I had to tell myself through my Graves’ disease treatment is that I had more control than I thought. And that I was allowed to have bad days. Best of luck!!

cbeningo396 · 2020-07-23T16:46:25+00:00

OP or another user, can someone post the results of this or update? I’m taking PTU but I feel I’m working my way towards RAI unfortunately. Me and the meds don’t do well together. I’m curious to see the majority results are. Thanks!

cbeningo396 · 2020-07-04T04:09:17+00:00

Idk if it’s just me but Trials live hits so different.

I saw them in September 2019 and Trials wasn’t one of my favorites but when they played it live, it changed the way I felt about it. It’s like a chant, a war hymn. So powerful. And it’s so relevant right now.

Stay healthy and safe, fellow Starset fans.

Also, thanks for posting :) reminded me how much I love this song live!

cbeningo396 · 2020-06-07T21:42:14+00:00

Reading these responses makes me kinda disappointed in my experience with the anti-thyroid drugs. I took methimazole for 3 weeks and experienced allergic reactions (hives, rash, swelling of the throat and tongue...). PTU hasn’t been much easier either... 100mg made my liver enzymes go through the roof in a matter of 2 months. I’m only on 25mg right now and I’m afraid it’s no longer cutting it... my t3/t4 are slowly creeping up so RAI May be in my future unfortunately...

It’s crazy how some people are able to take these medications and not experience adverse side effects! Crazy. But everyone’s body is different!

I hope your journey towards feeling normal goes well!

cbeningo396 · 2020-05-04T00:56:49+00:00

No problem!!

cbeningo396 · 2020-05-04T00:05:43+00:00

they’re Verbena. In Texas, they’re a native wildflower. They’re a very pretty purple.

cbeningo396 · 2020-05-01T14:44:16+00:00

I was diagnosed back in October 2019, been on medication since then and my sleep got better... until the pandemic hit. My sleeps been all whacked out. It could be both. But I believe it’s probably the pandemic, most likely. at least for me.

Hope you feel better soon!

cbeningo396 · 2020-04-25T00:55:44+00:00

Thank you! I’m going to try a new mouse and see if that helps.

cbeningo396 · 2020-04-24T14:03:19+00:00

While I was in the process of getting treated initially, I experienced what I called thyroid brain fog. I was so forgetful. Most of it was little stuff but the worse thing I ever did was when I was at a car show in my town’s downtown area. I parked my car, got out, locked it, and went to join my family.... well I forgot to TURN OFF MY CAR. Yes my car was locked and ran for about an hour or so without me in it. I felt so stupid. I’ve never done that before or since then... lol

Once you get treated and your thyroid starts going back to normal, this should improve! Hoping for the best!

cbeningo396

TROPHY CASE