I'm here!

[MissAutumn]

Lucy

I was disappointed at the time, but I'm over it now. Going on to study what I did was something I had a lot of fun doing it. I got to do a lot of cool things too. It's a shame you couldn't do that class. But I don't blame you for not wanting to pay for something you don't need. Maybe keep an eye out for public lectures?

I'll be honest I've never really looked into geology - apart from the basics I did at high school. But I can imagine it's an interesting subject.

I'll count it as an animal - they are mammals so it counts. Any particular species of shark? Thresher sharks are adorable.

[galled]

I am aware of the placebo effect, but I think the shots are helping. The unknowns for me still are how much relief I'll ultimately get and how long the benefits will last. My insurance covers it so I figure they must think it is effective, so I remain hopeful it'll be better than continuing with only antihistamines (which weren't working as well any more).

Archeology and geology are both very interesting. I love learning about the history of things!

[Gingerale]

Hello Lucy! Come visit my newbie thread and you are also welcome to post in any of my threads. Looks like you are figuring the site out but give a shout out if you need assistance!

[Lucy]

Okay, I’m going to attempt pinging multiple people in one post so I don’t flood it with my responses!

MissAutumn
I’m glad you still had fun! Plus, general biology can probably be learned online. I’m sure there are people just spouting their knowledge somewhere for free. I never got into geology either. I just made a guess that you might’ve looked into it because of archaeology.
I’ve actually never looked into Thresher Sharks! That long tail is fascinating, wow!!! I’ve been looking into Great White Sharks. I know that’s probably cliché, but the fact that they are pretty gentle toward humans is so cool. Ghost Sharks too! Eerie, but so cool to look at!

galled
By placebo effect, do you mean herd immunity? It actually works, no placebo there!
It’s good that your insurance covers it! I imagine something like that must be expensive, but when is anything medical related not expensive?
I actually prefer anti-inflammatory medication over antihistamines because I think it’s more effective in preventing allergies, especially when asthma is involved. That’s just how it works for me though. I know everyone is different.
EDIT: I reread your post. You meant placebo effect in regards to you thinking the shots are working, right? My bad! XD I actually think the shots are working too, now that I think about it! Being injected with your allergens is probably helping you build an immunity to it. Honestly, I really might go back to trying immunotherapy. All that dang pollen sure has been bothering me lately, even with my daily medication.

Gingerale
Awww, thank you! I’ll be sure to ask if I need help, and thank you for the warm welcome!

[galled]

Yep, the second is what I understand to be placebo effect. I believe that thoughts (your state of mind) can have profound influence over your body. (Things like stress have a myriad of issues.) And pre-occupation with other things or hyper focus on watching symptoms may alter your perception of what is actually happening. I also don't discount the effect of wishful thinking on one's reality. (Positive thinking!!)

However, the theory of immunotherapy seems sound (it's essentially the same as vaccines) and having experienced how amazing the body is with coping with stuff, my feeling is it is helping. Like I said, not sure for how long or how well ultimately, but it's all going in the right direction so far!

Interesting your prefer anti-inflamatories. My symptoms are typically itchy, watery eyes, skin rashes, and runny or stuffy nose, and/or wheezing and coughing (all so attractive right?!), but not sure anti-inflamatories would help me.

Hope you're having a great day!

[MissAutumn]

Lucy

I have YouTube channels like SciShow and my old university's science faculty holds free monthly lectures on all sorts of topics. So I get my science fixes from there.

When I was studying archaeology my focus was mainly on the archaeology of buildings and anything to do with the late medieval/early modern periods.

It's interesting to know that Great Whites are actually pretty gentle towards us. Movies have given them such a bad rep. I heard about the Thresher Sharks at the free lecture I mentioned above. They've been doing a lot of studies on them with the PhD students. I have never heard of Ghost Sharks but looking them up I am now wanting to learn more about them. They look so cool.

[Lucy]

galled
Ah, yeah! My asthma is pretty severe, so anti-inflammatory medication works better for me. When I have allergic reactions, I usually go into anaphylactic shock. It doesn't help that my asthma gets even worse during it. You know, whenever this starts to happen to me, I get really itchy right above my heart. I've never looked into it, but it is odd.

Very attractive symptoms. If immunotherapy works for you, then I say keep doing it! Who knows, we've probably developed an immunity to over the counter antihistamines anyway.

Also, I think I use the placebo effect a lot. This is probably going to sound super stupid, but I kind of have a phobia of throwing up. Whenever I get that puking feeling, I start telling myself I don't actually have to do it and it works. Mind over matter?

MissAutumn
Haha, my go-to on YouTube is National Geographic. I also watch a channel called Brave Wilderness. It's basically animal science (with a dash of wilderness survival), but kid-friendly. It's entertaining! I'll definitely have to check out SciShow!

Those free lectures sound awesome! My first semester in college, I was aware of the free lectures, but I stopped getting so involved so fast. The stress of college.

Your archaeological studies sounds so awesome! I've always been a sucker for medieval stuff, but I never actually thought about the infrastructure of back then and whatnot. I only thought about the culture. Eye-opener for sure.

Great Whites are awesome, haha. If you're ever interested, you should look up one named Deep Blue. She's a sweetheart! That study sounds so fun! My uni has a lot of research-things (can't quite remember what they're called), but basically they do research! I'd love to get involved in them, but they require coming to campus at random times. I don't know if I can do that.

If it's not too personal, may I ask what college you go to?

[Lemon Cheesecake]

Lucy you use anti-inflammatories like ibuprohen to help with allergies? Do you use them in combination with anti histamines?

MissAutumn : I'm so jealous! When I was in 4th grade I would ride my bike to an archaeological dig and they would let my brother and I sift through the dirt they brought up. Bones were found when they were digging to lay sewer pipes and the local University had about a month to complete their search and findings. It sparked an interest in me and that's what I wanted to do as a career until I realized in first year university that I needed to do something more practical to actually be able to live. So I like to visit museum's and watch history shows and one day I think it would be cool to go on the working vacations where you can actually go to a dig and help out ...I'd be ok with helping clean artifacts but I don't think they let you do that if you aren't experienced? It is mindblowing to see and touch items that are thousands of years old and have still survived let alone to think of the history of the items, the people that made them and the life they lived at that time.

[MissAutumn]

Lucy

I'm subscribed to Nat Geo too. I've not heard of Brave Wildness so I'll go check them out. SciShow have other channels for Space and Psychology. Another good YouTube channel is one called Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell. If you've not come across it, it's a channel that covers science topics but also philosophy and the odd video explaining political institutions.

It's cool that they have free lecturers too. I remember the stress. Best time of my life though. There's so much to learn about the medieval period - it was difficult to narrow down on what I wanted to study. You should consider volunteering every so often. It makes you stand out from other job applications when you come to look for a job in your area of study. Doesn't have to be much - I just volunteered to wash artifacts and help with data entry now and again - it helped me get a job as a commercial archaeologist.

I just looked up Deep Blue. She's so huge but she looks like a sweetie. I didn't know they could get to 50 years old. I had it in my head that they'd have a life expectancy of 30.

I would tell you where I studied but looking at the site rules I'm not allowed to say. I went to uni in the UK. I went to what could be described as average university. Not in the top 20 but was good enough for me. I graduated a few years ago.

Lemon Cheesecake

That's so nice of them that they let you and your brother sift through the dirt. Did you ever find anything? A month sounds about right. It's all very fast paced in that industry. Yeah, the pay in archaeology compared to other subjects is poor and it's not a secure career - unless you can land an academic career but it's really competitive. I have worked in the commercial sector. But I had to give it up because of the pay and lack of security. It was a fun job and I miss it. It is now a hobby.

If you ever get the opportunity to go on one of the digs go for it. Volunteers can wash artifacts. I've been on voluntary digs where people are from all walks of life. You'd be shown what to do (washing involves a toothbrush and some water). The most surreal thing I've washed has been animal teeth. It sure is. I still get blow away when handling finds. Even over something as small as a pottery fragment.

[galled]

Ah, yeah! My asthma is pretty severe, so anti-inflammatory medication works better for me. When I have allergic reactions, I usually go into anaphylactic shock. It doesn't help that my asthma gets even worse during it. You know, whenever this starts to happen to me, I get really itchy right above my heart. I've never looked into it, but it is odd.

Very attractive symptoms. If immunotherapy works for you, then I say keep doing it! Who knows, we've probably developed an immunity to over the counter antihistamines anyway.

Also, I think I use the placebo effect a lot. This is probably going to sound super stupid, but I kind of have a phobia of throwing up. Whenever I get that puking feeling, I start telling myself I don't actually have to do it and it works. Mind over matter?

Oh dear! Anaphylactic shock is very dangerous.

I can see how anti-inflamatories would help with an asthma attack. I guess the way I see it is anti-histamines work best before to prevent a reaction and an anti-inflamatory would be a solution to address a reaction.

Have you tried Advair? It helped me greatly, but now that I'm more attuned to my "triggers" and actively avoid them, I haven't had to use it much anymore. I still use albuterol if I get wheezy for quick relief and will start up Advair again until I think it's safe, but I haven't had to do that lately.

Again, and not to beat the drum too much, while I can't say for sure it's the shots or not, but I have noticed that I've become stronger lately. One example is I can walk up my driveway (it's fairly long and steep) and literally not break a sweat now when I used to be huffing and puffing and my heart would be beating like a punk rock drummer by the time I get up to the top. I suppose this latest might be a combo of things. I've doing a very low carb diet and have lost a bunch of weight (but that's happened gradually over a period of months), but I just saw a news story that said the military is considering putting everyone their elite fighter groups on a keto diet (the controversy is whether they can mandate the diet be followed when off duty). I guess the research has shown people get stronger and use oxygen more efficiently when your body burns fewer carbs. Maybe that's helps explain what I'm experiencing... or it could be placebo effect!

In any case, yours and mine, if it works in a positive way, I say there's nothing wrong with it and keep it up!

Yes, I think you're right about the anti-histamines. I have to change them every once in a while to a different type as it seems like a build up a resistance to them. But it had gotten to the point where neither would control my symptoms well any more--which is what prompted me into looking into immunotherapy.

[Lucy]

MissAutumn
Ooooo, I'll look up that YouTube channel too! I'm not too big on philosophy, but I'm still open to check!
Haha, I really should start volunteering soon. As much as I love biology, I just don't know what I'd do career-wise (aside from being a teacher), so I don't know what to volunteer for.

Also, I apologize! Didn't realize it was in the rules. I must've overlooked! Congratulations on graduating though!!! Is your job stressful at all?

Lemon Cheesecake
I actually use an anti-inflammatory called Montelukast. It's been helping me subdue my allergies and helping in preventing asthma attacks. I think it's only available by prescription. I mainly just use ibuprofen for headaches, haha.

galled
I like the way you said that, the part about what an antihistamine and anti-inflammatory do! Well phrased. I do use Advair. I try to use it daily when I remember, but I think I need to increase the dosage cause it doesn't seem to be helping much anymore, unfortunately haha.

Well, if you can't pinpoint what exactly is helping you get better, you are noticing things getting better after starting immunotherapy so I wouldn't count it out. It's really good that your health is getting better though!!! I've heard some foods can trigger asthma as well, or make it worse. Maybe your diet is contributing to controlling that too. I really would like to do the keto diet, but what I've heard is that it's really strict. That would be tough to follow off duty, for me at least. I sure don't have their discipline though. I honestly have no idea when it comes to the body burning carbs and stuff, but I trust the research and what you say so!

[MissAutumn]

Lucy

Any sort of volunteering would look good to employers. Even if you don't stick with biology as a career, it'll help with other type of jobs.

It's okay. It was a good thing I double checked. :p Thanks, I can't believe how long ago it was since I've graduated.

As I was saying to Lemon, I currently don't work in the industry because the pay was too poor for me to have a decent living (also jobs are not secure, I was lucky to get a long term contract). The job wasn't really that stressful. It was very exhausting though. As we were nearing deadlines we had to dig faster; not fun in the middle of a heatwave. It was a relief when I got sent to the environmental and artifacts departments when they needed help.

I work for a local charity at the moment and that's actually even more stressful (better pay and job security though).

[galled]

I've heard some foods can trigger asthma as well, or make it worse. Maybe your diet is contributing to controlling that too. I really would like to do the keto diet, but what I've heard is that it's really strict. That would be tough to follow off duty, for me at least. I sure don't have their discipline though. I honestly have no idea when it comes to the body burning carbs and stuff, but I trust the research and what you say so!

I think a lot of people suffer from what are actually food allergies, but don't classify that as that in their minds.

I'm not on keto exactly--more of a low-cab without the extra fats diet. (I did try the high fat version for a 3 months and my cholesterol numbers went through the roof! --yeah, bad...) What I'm doing now is actually been pretty easy. There's a ton of yummy things (and alternatives for most sinful ones!) out there. I don't feel deprived now that I've identified keto-ish alternatives to the stuff I like/am used to eating.

Here's the article if you're interested.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your ... rformance/

It's an interesting social/command problem (the off duty bits), but I would think I would stick to it off duty if I found it was helping my performance. These elite military people are put in life or death situations and I would think any "edge" would be embraced. For other jobs--yeah, I think it would be more difficult to get folks on board... it's an interesting issue.

[Lucy]

MissAutumn
I’ll keep that in mind! Thank you for the advice. Getting acclimated into the real world is tough, so I appreciate it. Well, I guess I’ve always been in the real world, but it’s now the world that involves taxes and having to work to live. I sure wish I was in your place though. I’d love to get all this schooling done with already.

Digging in a heatwave sounds like absolute torture, and all that with the risk of not even being able to get a job, geez! Your current job is nice though. Charity is always good! What kind of charity?

galled
Oh, what I meant was more...well I haven’t looked into it much, so I don’t really know how to appropriately express what I mean. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense xD I’ll use almond milk as an example. What I’ve heard is that drinking almond milk can make asthma worse, just in general. You’d probably have to use an inhaler more often and whatnot after consuming almond milk for a while. That’s what I meant, not sure if I explained it well. I’m sorry if I didn’t! I also don’t know if it’s true or anything. It’s just what I’ve heard, haha.

Now that you mention it helping, maybe I’d be able to stick to it too. Maybe. What diet are you doing? If there is a name for it. I’ve been trying to lose weight these past few months, and I definitely think what I’m eating is not helping, haha. Ideally, I’d like to go vegan, but I think I need to take it more gradual than going cold turkey.

[galled]

Lucy

Oh no, please don't feel like you need to apologize! You've done nothing wrong and clarification during communicating is all good!

I understand what you mean/meant now. I don't doubt that at all.There's way more going on in the air and physical interactions than we can smell and detect. (Human smell is really pretty limited.)

I don't know of a specific name for my "diet," but it's really only reading food labels for carbs and choosing/combing items so I'm eating as few carbs as I can (I try to limit each meal to 20g of carbs or less). It's really easy once you eliminate the gross offenders (soda, chips, most white breads and cakes, sugar). You can eat cake and chips, etc., but they need to be low carb (typically labeled/branded as keto friendly).

The funny thing is since I've cut my carbs, I crave vegies! I've lost 20+ lbs or so since I started and have kept it off. By far the easiest diet I've ever tried! A couple of other members here have done the carb cutting here and have had similar experiences. You probably don't have to limit yourself to 20g of carbs per meal, but that's just a good target for me. The theory behind it is a factor of carbs divided by time. The idea is to no eat more carbs per hour than your body can burn (excess carbs turn to fat faster than fat!), this way your body burns your fat to function. And the bonus is carbs produce inflamation, so bloating, etc is reduced/goes away too. I am probably the healthiest and feel the strongest (and my SO says the best looking I have ever been too!) I have ever felt today.

But I really think that my shots have been playing a role too.