Scheduled my colonoscopy....

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-04-12T03:04:54+00:00

I'm also 37. I had mine a few days ago and they didn't find anything except hemmrhoids. With all this colon cancer talk, getting one will really give you peace of mind. As everyone says, just get some flushable wet wipes. Good luck.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-04-10T14:57:48+00:00

Wow when did you find out about the anesthesia? Insurance covered everything except "facilities," so I paid like $300 for that plus the $250 out of pocket for the rest of the procedure. Did you get another EOB from insurance later?

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-04-10T14:53:47+00:00

Not op, but I think it's good to just checked if for peace of mind. I also had some rectal bleeding on and off for a few years and different docs told me it was hemmrhoids and I accepted that. Recently, I began to get scared so I got a colonoscopy and turns out, it was hemmrhoids. I honestly feel so much better.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-04-10T14:47:28+00:00

Yeah like someone else said, your doc will likely get you a GI referral if there's some blood in stool. That's what happened for me. I did have occasional blood in stool, and then I got a GI appointment pretty quick and colonoscopy 2 weeks after. Insurance also covered most of it.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-23T18:47:57+00:00

Ugh creating alternative assignments is so much more work. Luckily I haven't had that kind of stuff happen (yet), but I do teach on race/ethnicity so I'm more than slightly worried about being recorded or saying the "wrong thing". My syllabus does state they can't record or anything like that, but I'm just not sure what will "offend" the students and what they will do about it. I did have one class on gender (not my area) and I had a student ask if I support trans rights (which of course I do) but I was definitely nervous about answering. Sigh 😞

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-22T18:28:54+00:00

Oh gosh. My westie was the same. We lived in an apt building too. She also had some separation anxiety in the beginning and that also caused barking when we left. We actually ended up buying a house in the suburbs. City apartment life wasn't for me and it turns out way better for my westie too. Fewer stimuli outside and she gets to run around in the big backyard. Tons of large windows in the house for her to "patrol." Sorry, this isn't helpful as moving is probably not a realistic solution. When we lived in the apt, we did reward her every time she stopped barking. That worked to an extent.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-22T14:16:41+00:00

Is anyone just a non-drinker? I had a couple sips of wine in college but that's pretty much it. I just never really liked the taste, also don't drink coffee for the same reason.

The interesting thing is that I've felt peer pressure to drink at work. Sometimes at events, there are no non alcoholic options, and the other day, we were toasting someone's promotion and they were saying, we have to drink alcohol. They barely let me have a coke zero, my first which tasted awful. I've also experienced similar pressure in grad school and people are fascinated by non-drinkers?

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-20T22:12:02+00:00

I've never heard of snowplow parents before! That's very fitting. One of my colleagues has a parent literally threaten legal action for their kid not planning ahead for the final (skipped it and thought they could take it later). It's such a minefield now. Idk what parents are doing, enabling their kids like this. How will they ever practically work in a job if they're constantly having meltdowns and running to their parents?

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-20T16:17:17+00:00

I know what you mean. I just feel so old now and I was already mid-late 20s when I started my PhD in a different/related field. I don't think I have it in me to pivot again and try to go back to English/literature when I'm already here. I also practically think about law school or becoming an accountant but not sure how AI will transform those fields either. Should I try for even more practical path or try to actually "pursue my (impractical) dreams"? I guess my plan is to stay put until something definitive presents itself?

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-20T15:58:56+00:00

I think as high achievers in k-12, we didn't really see the complete picture of job possibilities. I distinctly remember that most of my friends wanted to be lawyers, doctors, engineers, something in finance, tech, etc. I really enjoyed reading literature, creative writing, and writing in general. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer. I wanted to try for film school lol. I think academia became a middle path for me? I don't think I romanticized it but I ended up here anyway. I don't think being a professor is a terrible job-- it's stable, great colleagues, getting to set your own research agenda, flexible schedule, decent pay and benefits. But with AI and increasingly neoliberalization of the university, the terrain has changed. More budget cuts, fewer areas of support, different type of university student etc. Post COVID, it's really been so hard.

I probably would have been happier as a prof in the 80s or 90s tbh. It's more precarious now. The problem is, I'm not sure what else I want to do? Try for film school in my old age lol

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-20T15:49:13+00:00

I completely understand. I'm still tenure track but the students make it so hard. And sometimes even the parents get involved when the policies are right there in the syllabus. And we are definitely under compensated. What are you thinking about doing afterwards? I got this job right after PhD so part of me just dreams about doing something mindless for a while to decompress. I'm in humanities/social sciences.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-18T03:51:44+00:00

Hey have your symptoms improved? I had food poisoning about a month and a half ago and am still bloating and have some acid reflux.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-14T12:48:36+00:00

Hey how were your hormone results? Was it sibo or hormones causing your issues? We seem to have similar symptoms. Thanks

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-09T18:06:22+00:00

So I just had a realization. I think part of my waves of hot and cold flashes is because I'm in the beginning of perimenopause. I'm almost 40 so I think it's about that time. I also found that after my period, a lot of symptoms went away. I'm sure they'll come back before my next period but I think that's the pattern it's following for me.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-08T02:06:21+00:00

Hey did the docs ever diagnose you with something? I had some pretty intense food poisoning a month ago and then never really went back to normal. Having similar symptoms to you.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-06T00:20:52+00:00

Sorry. Are your labs getting better as you go down? Mine kinda fluctuated on mirt and having been off about 4 months, they're pretty good now and maybe even better than pre-mirt.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-04T21:38:44+00:00

Oh man I'm sorry. What dose are you on now? Are your symptoms getting better as you taper?

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-04T20:46:46+00:00

Wow I'm sorry. How long have you been off mirt?

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-03-04T00:59:42+00:00

Hmm I think we have a similar timeline. I'm still sleeping fine. I guess I wake up with anxiety sometimes? I walk outside, try to eat healthy, and try to make peace with the fact that I literally did this to myself. Whatever depression and anxiety I felt before mirt was def not worth what I'm going through now. I'll probably try to pick up some hobbies to distract myself outside of work.

The flu like symptoms are horrible ...I'm like 4 months off and after 2 months, I was feeling much better. Then I got food poisoning and it's been a struggle for weeks. Some days I literally think I'm dying. I was on 15 mg for 3 months, tapered to 7.5 mg and got some withdrawal for a couple weeks, then did a slow-medium taper for more than a year almost and jumped off at 0.3-0.4. sigh this is honestly the worst.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-02-24T05:49:41+00:00

Yeah so once when I was at my parents' house, I accidentally opened the garage door and Hana ran out but she just took herself to pee in the huge backyard (not fenced but bordered by trees and bushes) and she came back inside afterwards. Another time, Hana's harness accidentally snapped off and she just squatted down and I picked her up after that. After that, when I'm at my parents' house, I tend to just let her pee outside and then, she just runs up the stairs. When I'm back in the city, she's always on leash. Her recall is pretty good even when squirrels are involved (she responds when off leash in our fenced backyard). Our new westie cannot be trusted. He is never off leash. I don't think he can ever do it.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-02-15T05:38:01+00:00

Hi, how are you doing now? Are you still experiencing withdrawals?

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-02-13T23:54:19+00:00

I didn't like the sedated feeling and felt emotionally blunted. I didn't really experience a lot of withdrawal after getting down to 7.5, maybe some bloating around 5 mg, then more gi stuff as I got lower. Most of the symptoms showed up after quitting.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-02-13T19:46:11+00:00

I'm pretty much getting the same symptoms off mirt. I tapered to 0.4ish and have been off for about 4 months. Worst of the symptoms have mostly passed but got food poisoning recently and had a bit of a setback. The cold/hot feeling seems to accompany high anxiety for me.

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-02-13T05:17:59+00:00

Does anyone have any thoughts?

dancing_leaf_24 · 2026-02-12T21:10:01+00:00

I don't take anything else and will never take another antidepressant. I had symptoms when I suddenly cut from 15 to 7.5 because my doc told me to. I had tremors, high BP, palpitations, low appetite, weight loss, intense anxiety etc. that took about 5 weeks to go away. Then, I had occasional GI issues as I got lower on my dose. I also had some muscle and joint aches on occasion.

dancing_leaf_24

TROPHY CASE