sappho

There's a weird thing that some people with LC have where large blood draws lead to symptom relief for hours/days/weeks. Probably something something microclots or inflammatory something being removed temporarily, or maybe the body's response to injury...? No one knows, we're all just speculating. But it happened to me personally after a big blood test and then I was seriously looking into donating blood regularly, or, alternatively, nurturing a crop of medicinal leeches at home.

How much water do you drink in a day? I have a pretty normal size reusable water bottle and it holds more than enough for a workday. You could just fill it at home in the morning instead of needing to use the water fountain that other people are using.

Is this a new symptom for you/do you want practical suggestions for managing panic attacks without medications? I have had frequent panic attacks for many years, and I've tried a lot of stuff, so if there's an aspect that would be helpful for me to info-dump about, let me know. I'm sorry you're going through this

You can do a somewhat less effective but more convenient version with enough ice packs on your forehead and cheeks. You know it's good enough when you do the big involuntary gasp

I am STRESSED about the potential mask ban in North Carolina and I am trying NOT to think about it but it is NOT WORKING

Waking up and feeling exhausted could be caused by sleep disordered breathing (apnea, UARS) or it could be an early sign of ME/CFS, which is a variety of long covid and can present in a delayed fashion from your last infection. Probably it's something simple like vitamin deficiency or anemia, but these conditions are both mild at first but very bad long term if left unidentified so I thought I'd throw them out there

The single best thing you can do to ensure you're protecting yourself is to do a home fit test. Surgical masks, KN95s, N95s have generally the same kind of filtration layer; the essential difference is the fit. Is it sealing on your face with <10% leakage, even when worn for long periods and while you speak and make facial expressions? You can't really know this for sure unless you do a fit test.

It is pretty cheap and easy to do a DIY fit test.

Here's a video that explains how to do it with a trash bag, some Splenda, and a $7 nebulizer.

Here is a written guide.

There's a source control version of the Eclipse with no exhalation valve. One could also just cover the exhalation valve with either something impermeable or the electrostatic filtration layer scavenged from a medical mask or respirator if needed.

Other elastomerics that are popular these days:

MSA Advantage (speech diaphragm, with source control)

3M Secure Click (speech diaphragm, great feature where it auto-seal checks for you, no source control)

Honeywell RU8500 (speech diaphragm, no source control)

FloMask (low profile, good speech audibility, source control)

EnvoMask (low profile, source control)

Yeah I think the gut dysbiosis from artificial sweeteners is something that happens on a longer timescale of continuous consumption. I second the tea suggestion - tea's got l-theanine in it naturally

The sucralose is probably bad for your gut microbiome. If you want caffeine to feel smoother, you could experiment with taking it with l-theanine, and/or with the taurine that's in that energy drink.

There was a window of time where it was super easy to jailbreak iPhones - and there were tons of cool customization options, plus you could easily pirate apps and get in-app purchases for free. That was neat. That was the only period in which I owned an iPhone and felt okay with it. I've heard jailbreaking is a lot more difficult these days but I don't really know because I switched to Android.

It's got screws so I could technically open it up, but unfortunately I have very little experience with this sort of thing and wouldn't be comfortable replacing a lithium battery without any sort of guide.