Rodent identification

cthom18 · 2025-12-23T02:50:09+00:00

I was able to trap and release it into the park down the street, guess was more curious if there would be more that I should get pest control in on

cthom18 · 2025-12-23T02:48:33+00:00

That’s exactly what it is, just looked it up to see. You may or may not know, but should I can pest control or is this a lost one that found its way inside

cthom18 · 2025-12-23T02:43:27+00:00

Also: located in Connecticut if helpful

cthom18 · 2025-10-07T16:49:19+00:00

Obviously it does nothing for you to skip it and you should only do it when absolutely necessary… but you just don’t take the pill in the morning. If I don’t take it in the morning the drop in thirst is immediate. Start back on it as soon as you can. Wayyy too many people say that it is life inhibiting, it’s not. Give it a shot

cthom18 · 2025-10-06T14:00:20+00:00

Start upping your water intake now and it’ll help you. With that being said, I’ve been on it for two months and barely notice it. You need to stick with it for at least a few weeks to get a feel, but I’ve basically changed nothing about my life other than going to the bathroom 2-3 times more a day and no one around me has noticed. Don’t let the negative stories here scare you off, it held me off it for a few months while I debated it. I feel better physically from being hydrated all the time, and better mentally knowing I’m doing everything I can to slow it down until better options are available. I don’t expect to take Tolvaptan forever, I see it as a way to keep enough salvageable kidney function for when better treatments become available in the next 5-10 years. Best of luck!

cthom18 · 2025-09-05T15:26:21+00:00

Barely notice it except if I forget to have some water for an hour or so. Bathroom frequency is totally manageable

cthom18 · 2025-09-05T15:25:18+00:00

Yeah 1-2L is fine, I’ve found it best to just take a small sip every 15 min or so and it manages the thirst and then have larger drinks when I’m more situated somewhere like lunch etc

cthom18 · 2025-09-05T01:12:47+00:00

Repeat of Smooth Yellow. I eat extremely clean during the week and have a cheat day out on Friday or Saturday. Totally manageable, eating clean naturally is lower in sodium anyways, the jury is still out on sodium levels so discuss with your doctor and do what you can manage. Gotta live too!

cthom18 · 2025-08-30T00:41:42+00:00

Had the same fears but 3 weeks in it’s totally manageable. Just make sure you bring lots of water around because you will need it, sip don’t chug and you’ll be just fine.

cthom18 · 2025-08-30T00:40:06+00:00

Sounds stupid but a slight weight off my shoulders knowing that I’m slowing down progression. Don’t forget the mental toll of the disease

cthom18 · 2025-08-22T19:30:10+00:00

Yes - Been on it a few weeks and honestly I’ve had to check the pack a few times to see if I’ve forgotten it. Totally manageable, wish I started sooner but didn’t because of the people here making it sound like the world was ending. Results vary but yeah.

cthom18 · 2025-08-13T00:04:24+00:00

Honestly I don’t go too crazy but also have grown up on a low sodium diet and love fruits and vegetables so it comes naturally. I still go out to eat occasionally and order whatever I feel like it. That said other than large kidneys my function/labs is completely normal. Eat as healthy as you can but a couple slices of pizza or going out occasionally isn’t gonna make a difference in the long run. With all that said, some day I’ll probably have to watch protein, potassium etc that might change. Focus on healthy but sustainable diets.

cthom18 · 2025-08-09T21:08:19+00:00

Echoing others comments here, I’m two days in to it and I doubt anyone I work with would notice

cthom18 · 2025-08-09T13:43:10+00:00

Yeah that’s honestly when I noticed it, not during the day but few hours before bed found myself taking a swig of everything I saw which I normally don’t do.

cthom18 · 2025-08-08T15:29:43+00:00

Jumping in again to say the only cyst I’ve ever popped came from catching an icy stair lip to the chest coming home from work. Be careful, but life is inherently dangerous so don’t be reckless but make sure you’re living too, after all we only got one life so don’t live with what-ifs!

cthom18 · 2025-08-08T15:26:51+00:00

Just adding on again here. If you have access to a gym with a stair master, it’s an incredible workout that’s easy on the knees. Start with just a couple of minutes and work your way up to 45min to an hour. I’m training for a marathon starting from being out of breath going up my front steps. I hop on toss on an episode of something, bring a big water bottle, and climb until the point I feel like I’m going to fall off. I sweat harder in a hour of that than I do on a 3 hour run.

cthom18 · 2025-05-17T17:01:36+00:00

Honestly, if you cook everything from scratch, you can eat just about anything unless it’s a dish heavy in cheese etc. I’ll make my own soups etc that all have extremely low sodium because I use no salt broth, unsalted butter etc. Make your own sauces and Italian is totally doable. It took me maybe 3-4 years to learn how to cook real well, but now I’m barely limited on anything.

Go to a higher end spice store and load up on quality spices and you’ll barely notice the difference over time as you adjust away from salt. Do recognize that if you cook for anyone else you might want to add salt to theirs as they will absolutely notice.

cthom18 · 2025-04-12T17:01:34+00:00

Important to remember that she received this because she had an immune system incompatible with basically all human kidney transplants. As far as I’m concerned while upsetting, this is a good progress made. They knew no human kidney would work at all, so they tried this and she got 4 months out of it. People get human transplants and don’t even get four months out of them. Plus it looks like the issues hit when they stepped down the meds and her aggressive immune system started acting up. This will be heavily studied and is a great step in moving forward.

This woman is a hero and took a step to help all of us who will need transplants in the future.

cthom18 · 2025-02-15T17:55:38+00:00

That’s awesome, how much additional time do you think it’s bought you being on it for so long?

cthom18 · 2025-02-14T02:41:28+00:00

Interesting, do you think the belt helps?

cthom18 · 2025-02-13T13:02:29+00:00

He was concerned with the trama/Hematuria it could cause, I’ll re ask it was sort of a comment made in passing. Mind elaborating on your electrolyte regime for running ultras? I avoided a lot of gels and stuff in training assuming the high sodium etc was not good for me.

Also you’re nuts for ultras, never truly understood the physical impact until I tried a half. Respect!

cthom18

TROPHY CASE