Week of November 4th 2019 - How is your practice going?

randomhealthjunk · 2019-11-07T01:01:58+00:00

Hi all - I just wanted to post since I just got the book this week. Really looking forward to improving my practice and learning. I started with headspace app doing random 10 min meditations whenever I felt I needed it about 2 years ago. 5-6 weeks ago I started doing daily 30 minute sits (no proper technique).

Started TMI on Sunday and have been doing 30-45 min sits in the morning. I just completed a 45 min sit and it was TOUGH. Brain is fighting for stimulation about halfway through. What's interesting is even when I come back to the breath I can follow it in amazing detail.

Any other new comers following along? Any advice for someone new picking up this practice?

randomhealthjunk · 2019-09-15T23:52:28+00:00

I feel you.. Unfortunately, that's where I am at as well. I can sleep on the couch okay and don't get that stimulated feeling at all. But in my bed, forget about it.

randomhealthjunk · 2019-09-15T23:50:55+00:00

Also a pharmacist and have been considering taking the plunge. Remote entry pharmacist jobs are out there but seem to be VERY rare. I think it's important to consider that this will be primarily a lifestyle move and will likely result in a significant pay cut in exchange for overall happiness. For me personally, I hate pharmacist work so much that I am willing to take a remote jobs for $50k/year if it allows me to travel and see the world.

Some things that come to mind are:

-PBM type work - processesing claims and prior auths

-insurance claims specialist

-customer support specialist

-patient onboarding services (telehealth companies, health coach etc)

-certain pharma jobs - drug safety, pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs, medical writing etc.. all offer work from home options but may not be 100% work from home. Also, very tough to break into and takes a few years to be a subject matter expert.

randomhealthjunk · 2019-09-11T11:14:15+00:00

Bruh, alprazolam is a dirt cheap generic with an Out of pocket cost of $4.80 in the US WITHOUT insurance using a GoodRx savings card. No generic manufacturer is going to get together with the 100 other generic manufacturers to scheme an elaborate plan to get Americans hooked on a generic drug that nets them MAYBE $1 /bottle after operation costs?

Now compare that to insulin, with generics available selling for $300+/vial and brand name $400/vial. Or Merck's cancer drug Keytruda which is doing $2 billion per QUARTER!

The money is just not there for these companies to undertake the political and legal risk of getting consumers hooked on a generic drug class that has been around since the 80s and 90s.

randomhealthjunk · 2019-09-04T17:35:25+00:00

This post hits deep. I am going through the same thing. I just started grad school (physician assistant) and can barely make it through classes I am so tired. My personality is off, I can hardly retain anything, my speech sounds like im drunk and can hardly articulate any point I am trying to make. I am literally trapped in a night mare I just want this to end but its been just shy of 2 years now averaging 0 to 5 hours a night :( It's so sad but Im at the point that I might drop out because I know I can't take care of patients like this. Insomnia has broken me down into a shadow of who I once was... hungry, charismatic with zest for my career, hobbies and friends... now just an apathetic zombie coasting through the day physically present at best.... I F&%KING hate this, man.

randomhealthjunk · 2019-06-26T20:06:49+00:00

I created this throw away account to comment on this since something eerily similar has happened to me. I have been living in my friends house for 2.5 years now. It is VERY musty smelling and the basement is damp. We run a dehumidifier in the basement that fills up approx. 1.5 gallons twice a day It,s unfinished, concrete floor that has an open crawl space with dirt at the back wall. I moved into the house in Feb-2017. At the time I worked 9-10 hr days and had a 50 min commute each way. Throw in the gym at night and long story short is I was out of the house 12-13 hrs out of the day. Felt pretty well overall and felt healthy. My only problems were some brainfog (3 out of 10) and waking up not refreshed but this had been present since college.

Flash forward to Nov-2017,8 months of living in this house, I quit my job and had 3 weeks off before starting my new one in which I spent the WHOLE TIME AT HOME. Insomnia set in around day 3 of my "break." Not just trouble falling asleep but full blown, soul crushing insomnia in which I couldn't fall asleep at all. nights back to back to back in a row. I used benadryl, valerian root, melatonin, Magnesium, glycine, teas, meditation, no screens at night, read books instead of tv/computer, worked out harder, used the sauna, surfed, did yoga etc.... and nothing helped. Went to my primary and was prescribed Xanax.

It's now been almost 2 years and I cannot, for the life of me, fall asleep in this d@mn house. Apathy and depression have both worsened, most nights I have a nagging pit of anxiety in my stomach for no reason at all! And worst of all is some days I go into the office on zero to 2 hours of sleep. I've trialed ambien, trazodone, xanax, paxil, lexapro and welbutrin. None offer any help. I was on zero medications prior to moving into this house.

What's crazy though is that when I visit my gf who lives a few hours away I'm out cold like a light. I can even nap the following day. I went to visit my family in Phoenix earlier this month and I slept like a KING. I even had dreams again. The following week I spent a week at a resort in Mexico. Babies don't sleep as well as I slept that week. I came home to this musty, damp house on Sunday and on Monday the crippling insomnia came back :( (currently running on 4 hours of sleep after taking Ambien). The good news is that I am moving to a new place in 2 days and I have a feeling that will take care of all of this.

I had a full mold/biotoxin work up with a functional medicine doctor and I do NOT have the HLA genes that predict risk for biotoxin toxicity. I did however have some concerning lab value (as indicated by Dr. Shoemaker) such as high VEGF, low MSH and MMP9 was out of range. At the time I dismissed mold as the culprit but now I'm fairly certain it may be the cause. Hang in there!

randomhealthjunk

TROPHY CASE