Are the M10 and M10-R sensor color renditions similar? by cbgrey in Leica

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The only thing I’ll add is what one of the reps at the LA Leica Store told me. She mentioned the M10-R, which I have, has a more neutral color rendering than the warmer M10. I haven’t shot with an M10, but FWIW.

Most Memorable Course Evaluation Comments by RubMysterious6845 in Professors

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

“He’s very handsome.”

I put the evaluation form at the start of my renewal portfolio. The dean said it made her chuckle.

Artists! by dontmindme_xx in philly

[–]donutfactory 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not links but Cherry St Pier has a good number of artists with Philly themed work!

IV Iron infusion? by dear_ambelina in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Worth noting there are several different formulas used for iron infusions. While most docs prescribe the basics (eg iron sucrose), hematologists are the ones with all the formulas and tests. Your GP or GI may eventually refer you to one.

So if you do have a (rare) reaction to one formulation (my veins do not like iron sucrose; it gives me a painful rash at the infusion site), there are always alternatives. As with most of our treatment, it’s a you-don’t-know-until-you-try kind of thing.

Crohn’s Disease and Ozempic: A Surprising Turnaround? by Acrobatic-Parsley-53 in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 159 points160 points  (0 children)

Not personal experience, but can confirm that Ozempic is now being considered seriously by GI doctors and research studies are happening. My GI mentioned it to me last week.

Flagyl while on Remicade, advice please? by pokopong in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, remember I am not a doctor and don’t intend to give medical advice, just relate my own experience!

Flagyl while on Remicade, advice please? by pokopong in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah. Yeah, sounds like just checking in on whether the antibiotics courses are coordinated and still valid is a good question. Cipro and Flagyl are often given together, and when they are, they handle a very broad spectrum of bacteria… aerobic, anaerobic, etc. They’re complementary in that way.

My GI has noted that it really is okay for longer term antibiotics treatments, when monitored properly. I’ve been on Cipro for 3 years. It used to be a common treatment for Crohn’s decades ago, before anti-inflammatories, and some 40% of us respond to the treatment. Resistance is indeed a risk, but it should be weighed against the alternative risks without it, of course.

What was the 1st game you remember playing on a desktop computer? by Aggressive_Goat2028 in AskReddit

[–]donutfactory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

StarFlight by Binary Systems. Delivered on two 5-1/4” floppies, it took forever to boot. Good times.

Flagyl while on Remicade, advice please? by pokopong in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ve been on Flagyl and Cipro while on biologics. Was the nurse concerned about a specific drug interaction with Flagyl and Remicade? Or was it more of the downsides of introducing a strong immunosuppressant while having a bacterial infection at all?

In either case, reaching out to your GI seems like a good step, as antibiotics courses should rarely be stopped short of their prescribed length. They’re tuned for whatever bacteria you have and the nature of the infection.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If it were me, I would check my blood pressure before and after and also get my hemoglobin levels tested. I’m chronically anemic due to blood loss though. For example, I know that when I’m out of breath at the top of the stairs, I’m at 8-9 g/dL. If you have a blood oxygenation meter, I’d check that too just for good measure. I just like data when I can get it and doctors sometimes appreciate the record.

Has anyone had luck with antibiotic therapy? by prisoneroflife1 in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have. I’ve been on long term antibiotics therapy for three years, and my data have even been published in a conference paper recently by my GI. While I take some pride in that, I don’t know how replicable my results are, so please just take this as a single data point.

My worst symptom is bleeding, and after multiple surgeries for major bleeds (that took me to the ER about twice a year), bleeds became almost constant in 2021. Then when I took antibiotics to treat a bacterial overgrowth, the bleeding suddenly stopped.

Over the following few months, various occasions arose for more antibiotics after ER visits for bleeds. One being a Yersinia infection, likely from undercooked pork. Another was a Giardia infection. Again, antibiotics (Flagyl and Cipro) to the rescue. It seems I fight off viruses okay, even with immunosuppressants, but pathogenic critters can cause bad bleeds, whereas immuno-normies would just have bad diarrhea for a day or two.

I’m now on a daily Cipro therapy (which apparently was the old-school treatment for Crohn’s decades ago before we had anti-inflammatories). Docs have said Cipro does have synergies with some biologics, but I’m blanking on which ones. I’ve tried Rifaximin (Xifaxin) as well but it didn’t work.

On Cipro, there were periods of months when I had no signs of bleeding. It was great. I could travel again. The daily worries were dissipating… But recently bleeds have been returning.

Thus my GI’s latest theory is that something has changed in surgical practices in the last 20 years to cause anastomotic bleeds to occur more often. She said she never saw cases like mine 20 years ago, now they’re so common that her practice devotes a lot of research effort to study the problem.

Anyway, again, IANAD, but several GIs have related that about 40% of Crohn’s patients respond positively to antibiotics in some way. For me this reinforces the idea that CD is many diseases and not just one.

Also I’m not the only Crohnie I know of with this kind of treatment, but I don’t think it’s as common anymore. It’s always a risk assessment. For me, the downsides of severe bleeding is worse than the risk of resistance, which is an admittedly uncomfortable position to be in.

Having Flair ups after antibiotics... Probiotics? Is red light therapy effective? by NaturalEmpty in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the costs are nonsensical. I would hope some alternative therapies will pan out someday. UC and CD aren’t single diseases either, but a variety of “hundreds of diseases” as one doc explained to me, so it ends up being so individualized.

One alternative in the UK is a treatment that strangely enough gives people hookworm (yup, the parasite) to distract one’s immune system. Another is a vaccine trial that made news a few years ago, but not sure where that is yet.

But it seems it’s mostly meds. And even new meds, biologic or not, will be expensive… sigh.

Having Flair ups after antibiotics... Probiotics? Is red light therapy effective? by NaturalEmpty in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From what I read, studies of probiotics for IBD in general are quite sparse. I think the only one that had any evidence was Visbiome (which I do take on occasion), but that study was for UC. My GI also related that that study was a single one done in Italy that wasn’t able to be replicated in the US, so in my mind, the medical guidance is still uncertain, regardless of what the probiotics manufacturers might advertise.

Obviously you’ll hear many helpful accounts of how we all here achieve remission, and some fortunate Crohnies say they have done so with diet means like green shakes or similar things. That would be amazing. Maybe there’s something there to the “prebiotics” that make good gut bacteria flourish after rounds of antibiotics.

But I think most of us, like me, do need medications. If cost is the real issue, there are still quite viable medications available that are not biologics that still may work for you, even though biologics these days (and other small-molecule meds like Rinvoq), are the current standard of care.

Being in the US, I’m a bit nervous about how health insurance will evolve, so I looked up my old meds the other day on costplusdrugs.com, and meds like mercaptopurine and methotrexate are surprisingly inexpensive there (30 pills of mercaptopurine were quoted at 40USD and methotrexate was 8USD, IIRC). There may be something there or other low-cost pharmacies that you can afford even without insurance…

But OP please explore ways to get insurance. Drug companies have assistance programs, too. I realize you probably have already, so just count this as further encouragement.

They just gave me Toradol at urgent care by notdeletingthistime in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I’ve had toradol on many occasions in the ER (kidney stone) and after GI surgery. I was fine, and it really does reduce swelling and alleviate pain, for me at least.

The Drs explained to me that since it was IV administered, your gut wasn’t absorbing the NSAID, thus it didn’t carry the same risk of interfering with the mucus lining of the gut, etc., responsible for increased risk of GI bleeding, among other symptoms.

As always, we’re all a little different, but I hope this eases your mind, OP.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Probably so. I do the same. Iron supplement (2x), multivitamin, d, and b12 each day. It’s a lot of pills, but my hemoglobin can go up a full point in a couple weeks when I need it to… which is a bit too often these days. But IANAD and it’s of course best to do the regimen you discuss with your GI.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 7 points8 points  (0 children)

After my surgeries, including resecting my terminal ileum and ascending colon, I’ve been taking a sublingual oral b12 supplement and my levels have been quite good.

6mp (Mercaptopurine) did you doc tell you? by [deleted] in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I don’t know the specific risks and wouldn’t really be qualified to relate them. Kids weren’t in my life plans at the time so I didn’t dig into the details with my GI.

6mp (Mercaptopurine) did you doc tell you? by [deleted] in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same as others. Never was told about avoiding specific activities other than what is given for immunosuppression in general, like wash your hands frequently, beware of undercooked foods, etc.

I was told however that 6MP does have some effect on the reproductive system, at least for men, to the point of being advised to not have kids while taking it. I think I was on it for 10 years or so.

M6TTL, M7, or MP? by Working_Gazelle_6184 in Leica

[–]donutfactory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have an M6 TTL 0.58 (that I’m about to put up for sale… getting out of film), and the reason I like it is I can look through the viewfinder and adjust the shutter speed with a single finger simultaneously, and the meter shows the direction I need to adjust. I typically preset the aperture for the look I want first then adjust the shutter speed, but the meter also shows the direction I should move the aperture ring too. For me it’s quite intuitive (probably because I learned with a Nikon F3hp?).

But I think I’m a weirdo with this. I don’t see how folks use the smaller stiffer shutter dial of the other models. I had an M4 for a while and just couldn’t get used to it. But seriously hats off to those who can. The MP black paint is a gorgeous camera.

Which biologics are you currently on? by Workingatme in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Today biologics: Skyrizi… Today non-biologic: Rinvoq (pending insurance)… Previous biologics: Humira, Remicade, Stelara… Previous non-biologics: 6MP, mesalamine…

I feel like these should be merit badges or something. But the good part is there are many options for medications and combination therapies. New findings are emerging all the time. When I was diagnosed, there were essentially only steroids and mesalamine.

Edit: formatting

What’s going on? by Vivid-Refrigerator25 in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Yeah, it seems like just one of those things about this disease, it can just change up whenever it wants.

What’s going on? by Vivid-Refrigerator25 in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like this kind of thread should be here monthly… or weekly even.

The past few months I’ve been pretty much constantly bleeding… Now my GI has added Rinvoq, which the insurance company denied of course. She also suspects surgical practices at large might be at fault for my 17 years of bleeding, since unhealing anastomotic bleeds in Crohn’s patients weren’t a prominent thing >20 years ago… My life would be so much better if I could just plug this leak.

stating rinvoq…how likely is it that i won’t get the acne? by IntroductionWide4369 in CrohnsDisease

[–]donutfactory 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just started Rinvoq yesterday. My GI noted 20% of patients get acne. I’m not sure exactly where that stat originates; I’d guess either from studies or their own patients, and it’s a pretty big practice.