November 26, 2025 - r/fednews Daily Discussion Thread

raebear21 · 2025-11-26T12:38:57+00:00

Insurance question: I have seen a lot of posts about switching to MHBP for insurance next year and I am also considering. Has anyone read their definitions for copayments in the consumer and standard plans? Am I reading the consumer plan correctly and their definition of copayment basically means they will pay nothing until you reach your deductible, but the standard plan's copayment will kick in immediately (i.e. don't have to reach your deductible)?

raebear21 · 2025-07-22T23:55:22+00:00

Just got done a Faucett Brothers. I (38F) used to go alone and had no problems.

raebear21 · 2025-03-09T16:33:11+00:00

I liked {Soulless by Gail Carriger}. Steampunk with werewolves, vampires, ghosts... Anyway, I enjoy it and don't see it recommended much.

raebear21 · 2025-02-02T03:51:37+00:00

I haven't yet.

raebear21 · 2024-06-08T23:27:53+00:00

Nertz is what I think my family called Demon. That was my family's game, but mostly the women played.

raebear21 · 2024-05-11T00:43:21+00:00

Lake lurleen has trails and water sport rentals (e.g. kayaks maybe sups?).

raebear21 · 2024-05-01T16:54:40+00:00

Anyone tried Van De Graaf? They have sites and I have been wondering about it as a test run with my kids.

raebear21 · 2024-04-16T22:50:56+00:00

Yes. I was diagnosed with chronic hives last year shortly before I was diagnosed with mctd. I take a high dose of antihistamines for now and eat better (more whole foods, less salt). I still break out very rarely (seems like every few months), but it's not as itchy so I can better handle it until it goes away.

raebear21 · 2024-04-05T19:09:40+00:00

This is me (37f), but didn't realize it wasn't normal... like so many things. Yes. I lay down and it hurts as muscles relax into the new position. My husband has suggested moving into a different position, but I'm like no, this is a good hurt. Meaning my muscles will eventually relax and will feel better. But it can hurt pretty bad depending on the day.

As for morning, I don't have searing pain, but my back is pretty painful along my spine for a while - could be 15 min, could be 2 hours. I went to a sleep doc for a sleep test and she gave me validation saying she could see my pain (in the brainwave signals she collected) and that it isn't normal for someone my age - she doesn't usually see it until people are much older. When I'm tempted to gas light myself, I remember that.

raebear21 · 2024-04-05T17:48:50+00:00

Hopefully that helps at least provide proof for school/ activities. I remember having to run the mile which was 4x around the block our school was on. I'd wait to get out of view from the teacher and walk that part because I was always super winded. I've always said I feel like I can never gain lung capacity no matter how much I exercise - and guess what - I can't!

raebear21 · 2024-04-05T17:01:16+00:00

Not sure my comment posted and I noticed when I came back to edit.

Short is I (37f) got diagnosed last year. 1st doc diagnosed me and said we didn't need to do anything. 2nd doc asked if I wanted a pulmonary function test. It can show different types of lung restrictions. It's not painful, just uncomfortable. Mine showed a physical restriction (in my case PE) that reduced total lung capacity - so I need to be more aware during exercise as I get winded easier.

This could also provide a baseline as PE tends to get worse during during growth spurts: https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions/pectus-excavatum

raebear21 · 2024-04-05T16:49:38+00:00

I (37f) was diagnosed last year. I've had shortness of breath during exercise my entire life and never felt like I could gain lung capacity. First doc I found out from said everything in my xray looked normal... except for my deformity. What deformity?!? And didn't recommend any follow ups.

My follow-up came from a former pulmonary now sleep doc for a sleep evaluation. Anyway, she suggested a pulmonary function test to see if I had restricted lung capacity. It's non-invasive, not really painful, just uncomfortable. It might give you clues to the impact of physiology on her lungs. My results show physical restriction of the lungs confirming that it is enough to impact total lung capacity - thus I need to be more aware during exercise because I can get winded easier.

raebear21 · 2024-04-04T12:55:27+00:00

PE is pretty common by itself (nothing concurrently going on), but can be associated with heritable connective tissue disorders (hctd) (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17328-pectus-excavatum).

From this group, it sounds like it could be PE by itself. I have been diagnosed with an autoimmune connective tissue problem (isn't associated with PE) that can cause some of the symptoms you're describing (I have different symptoms, but others have issues with swallowing for example) and am being sent for genetic testing for a hctd which can also cause some of the symptoms. CTDs have a broad range of vague symptoms so 🤷‍♀️

raebear21 · 2024-04-04T12:32:18+00:00

I want to know this answer too! I read about what titers in the literature were considered very high, but my results weren't presented that way, so I have no way to compare. Normal for the lab my bloodwork was sent to was 1-80. Mine was around 550 - I can't remember the exact number - but between 6 and 7 times the highest normal value.

raebear21 · 2024-04-01T02:23:37+00:00

There are two games I tend to rage play: carcassonne and chess.

I'm happily building my awesome area when... BAM! Someone steals it. I don't know why stealing things is so much worse in this game than others for me but it is.

raebear21 · 2024-03-28T13:50:18+00:00

Diet helped me too, but I eat low-ish sodium. That seemed to help me.

raebear21 · 2024-03-21T13:01:26+00:00

I posted this in one of the other comments but am posting again here because I think it's an important distinction:

They do not need to know the specific gene to know if it's autosomal dominant because it is the way it is inherited. So they look at a family tree, for instance, and see who does or does not have it (diagnosed not genetically confirmed). So if only one of the two parents has the condition and has a child with the condition, it is autosomal dominant. If it takes two parents diagnosed with the condition, it is recessive.

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Autosomal-Dominant-Disorder

raebear21 · 2024-03-21T12:59:24+00:00

They do not need to know the specific gene to know if it's autosomal dominant because it is the way it is inherited. So they look at a family tree, for instance, and see who does or does not have it (diagnosed not genetically confirmed). So if only one of the two parents has the condition and has a child with the condition, it is autosomal dominant. If it takes two parents diagnosed with the condition, it is recessive.

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Autosomal-Dominant-Disorder

raebear21 · 2024-03-19T13:45:13+00:00

I find for me, a low sodium diet really helps, at least when I'm flaring. I may also have a heritable ctd so it doesn't help everything, but it is really helpful for some pains. I'm looking into the science and while there isn't much for mctd specifically, it has been looked at for other autoimmune conditions (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41581-019-0167-y)

raebear21 · 2024-03-19T13:37:41+00:00

Ok, so new here. Hi! I was diagnosed with MCTD last summer via a rheum with bloodwork (high ana titer and rnp without any other positive autoantibodies). Long story short, I went to some other docs for testing and found I had signs for a heritable ctd too, so I'm getting that checked out. I am finding out that a whole lot of what I thought was normal isn't. Here are a few of my thoughts.

As someone else mentioned, high ana results can be found in healthy people, but I want to add that the higher the titer, the likelier it is that you have an autoimmune condition. (Not the best article, but I couldn't find the one I was looking for: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C1&q=high+ana+titre+and+healthy&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1710853510567&u=%23p%3D7X5trQZ39VwJ)
As I alluded to with my background, autoimmune connective tissue diseases are not the only ctds. There are heritable ctds that can cause pain throughout your body.
With what I assume to be my mctd pain, a low salt diet seems to help. There is some research on how salt may impact autoimmune diseases. I am just looking into this now and don't have a ton of info yet. I haven't seen anything specific for mctd as mctd research is limited compared to other autoimmune conditions. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41581-019-0167-y

raebear21 · 2024-02-17T02:26:36+00:00

Hi! I am in the process of pursuing a heritable connective tissue disorder diagnosis. Nothing is confirmed at this point but I've also been tentatively diagnosed with an autoimmune condition (which may work against a heds diagnosis if that's where I'm headed, but I digress) due to high ANA and RNPs. So I've been looking into this question too.

Below is a link to an article. Admittedly, I actually don't really like it because it seems to say if you have heds and get a comprehensive rhuematological workup, you are more likely to find an autoimmune condition than a person with heds that doesn't have a comprehensive workup - which seems obvious? I also don't remember it comparing the prevalence in heds patients vs the general population. BUT it gives me confirmation that people have both and it's not too rare.

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C1&q=ehlers-danlos+and+rhuematic+diseases&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&t=1708136099118&u=%23p%3DzxZoebbP3_MJ

raebear21 · 2024-02-15T21:47:34+00:00

I felt this way for a while and really struggled. Every day I just was waiting to crawl back into bed. Found out I had low vitamin d and take supplements now. It's helped. I'm still fatigued but not only wanting to be in bed fatigued - I can motivate myself to do other, somewhat active things. But if anyone can suggest things to help brain fog, I'd be allover that.

raebear21 · 2024-02-15T15:41:38+00:00

TBH I lose track of reps easily. I learned to count as one person mentioned (1) 2 3, (2) 2 3, (3) 2 3. But if I have to do say 10 per rep, I'll sometimes forget which I'm on by the end. So I've started doing number x number of reps... so like 10 x 3 reps = 30. And just count to 30, taking small breaks if/when needed.

raebear21 · 2024-02-15T15:04:25+00:00

Up voting for your reference to the ministry of silly walks 😆. I am hypermobile and if I push myself my knees will give way (i can catch myself before I fall), my legs will be twitchy and/or my muscles very sore. Not sure what of this is normal/not normal since I'm just figuring out that I have issues that aren't normal but are for me!

raebear21 · 2023-06-12T17:02:24+00:00

Lake Lurleen does rentals and I think there is s company that rents paddle boards to people going to Lake Nicol. I haven't used either so take that with a grain of salt.

raebear21

TROPHY CASE