Two questions.

First one. I have a number of fillings in my teeth. I know that their (the fillings') lifespan is sort of limited and that I will have to replace them after some time. But does this mean that eventually I am condemned to crowns and whatever worse things there are?

Second. I've heard that sugar is harmful for teeth. But how much is too much? I have a guilty pleasure of downing a cuppa of that wonky 3-in-1 Nescafe instant coffee twice or thrice a week. Each time I do so or eat a lolly, I have this anxiety about caries.

Thanks.

I have an implanted bridge, three teeth at the front. I managed to get it free at the local university dental hospital, although I had to wait a lot. If you guys ever lose a tooth and you want a free implant, wait until the start of the financial year and apply at a university dental hospital, the students are supervised by consultants and any surgery you need is done by professionals. As of a couple of years ago, policy changed that if they thought you were smoking, no matter how far into the treatment you were they would cancel the whole thing. They implemented this on my 4th treatment out of 5, when the consultant noticed tobacco stains on my fingers and sent me home. But I was then told that because they'd introduced that policy after I started, it was okay for me to carry on. Of course, I told them on the application that I didn't smoke, because then they won't even consider you. You have to have your implants replaced every 15 years or so, but if you smoke they'll probably fail after 3-5 years. And smoking will cause your gums to recede more than anything, especially if you've had trauma to the gum.

I had those teeth knocked out, and I stopped smoking for a week but then started again, and my gums receded, like, a lot. To the point that when I went to a private dentist for a quote, and he was examining me and saying dentist-speak to the nurse, the measurement he used for the recession of my gums actually made her gasp. And they told me that when I'd get my implants there'd be a pink section at the top, to match the line of my gum. There wasn't though, and if I lift my lip I have huge beaver teeth. Thankfully though when I smile you can't see my gums anyway so you can't tell unless I lift my lip up.

But yeah, it's common, but if you use mouthwash you'll be fine. Something I noticed is that if you do have any pain or bleeding gums, using interdents or floss with a knot tied in it works a treat, but a warm saltwater mouthwash twice a day for a week seems to work far better than corsodyl or any store bought mouthwashes.

Just take care of your teeth, if you have a single tooth with a lot of recession, a dentist can perform a cosmetic procedure to correct it. Once your whole gum line starts going, you'll eventually get loose teeth, and you want to delay that as long as possible. It starts with gingivitis, and develops into periodontitis. It's just hassle that can be avoiding by using e-cigs if you smoke, and following regular oral hygiene.

>>3884
Paracetamol stresses your liver (when used properly, this is not much of an issue in an otherwise healthy person), so if you drop it on a hangover you're stressing and already stressed liver. It's an incredibly forgiving organ, but it's still not a great idea.

>>3885
Do all drugs not stress your liver to an extent though? Why would aspirin be any better?

>>3884
The swelling in your head, caused largely by dehydration, is part of what makes hangovers so bad. Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory and reduces that swelling.

At least, that's my understanding (I'm no chemist, just repeating what I've read elsewhere); it's certainly helped me out on a good few hangovers though.

Am I the only one thinking that after the sorts of night out I have, a couple of painkillers is the least of my worries?

>>3884

For some reason my parents both call it "brufen". My mum should know better, she's a fucking nurse.

>>3888

Brufen was the first trade name for ibuprofen. It was under patent until the mid-80s, so all ibuprofen was branded as brufen until then. A lot of older medical professionals never got out of the habit of using the proprietary name.

Younger medical professionals are trained to always use the generic name, mainly for cost reasons - if the generic name is used on a prescription, the pharmacist can dispense whatever is cheapest.

>>3865
Do we have those here?

>>3866

Yes.

>>3868
Outside of London?

>>3869
Yes. Where are you?
Dunno if there' a register of them.

>>3869

Yes.

http://www.hackspace.org.uk/wiki/Main_Page

>>3728
Yeah totally crazy, perfect refuation there chum

I've hurt my Achilles tendon. I've laid off running for about two or three weeks now in favour of swimming, but it is a ballache not just being able to lace up my shoes and go whenever I feel like it.

Sage for nothing interesting.

>>3729
>>3850

Cos you had shit shoes!

Cycling's better.

>>3852
I thought the exact same thing on seeing this thread, but didn't see the point in de-railing the thread for an apples-and-oranges comparison.

But still, the main things I like about cycling is how much further you can go. Running might be alright if you want a quick half-hour session during your lunch break but with a bike you can go for miles out of town and see all sorts. I find cycle maintenance strangely satisfying in all its oily glory too. Plus, if you go offroad on trails there's a good element of skill/balance instead of just being tedious exercise.

>>3843
But some absolute maniac did delete the thread and repost every reply individually - comically including yours. How very ungrateful.

>>3844
Yes. This is confusing me. I wanted to delete this post>>3836 because the squat one is wrong and I wasn't aware.

Delete this please because I can no longer unfortunately.

>>3844

Oh mercy, I just noticed this. That someone would really bother to do so is part of the reason why I love .gs.

>>3846
It's rather unfair that I can no longer delete those posts that I made. They were mine and not his to nick so I want my delete power back because I've changed my mind now. It's typical of this place to have your posts deleted but it's the first time they've been stolen from me.

>>3847
Have you filed a DMCA?

>>3815>>3816

77kg at 174cm doesn't sound particularly chubby, but I suppose it all comes down to body composition. 'Meal timing' is mostly dismissed as irrelevant now, but on a practical level I find it easier to take an interest in what you're eating by preparing several for the day.

If anything it sounds like you may be eating too little, and too little of the right stuff. Work out your basal metabolic rate, factoring in exercise, and try measuring out three meals a day with more veg and a decent balance of macros. I imagine you'll drop weight doing so.

What kind of work are you doing at the gym, by the way? Heavy compound lifts with free weights will be more effective than 90 minutes on the machines.

>>3817
I doubt I eat too little, I guess I get around 2000 calories a day? Maybe 1.5 meals a day, one large one and a sandwich or bruschetta or a salady thing or something.

I definitely need to eat more vegetables and pad out my meals with stuff like that, maybe more fish.

Generally I do freewight exercises (no barbells stuff, I'm kind of limited because I have something which ticks a lot of the boxes of a hernia except I only notice it doing heavy bar stuff and kettlebell swings.) My usual routine is justall body stuff. Dumbell press, flys, rows, dumbell shoulder press, twist things with the weight rack, planks, leg raises and leg press and maybe pullups and dips. I should probably build myself a better routine to be honest.

>>3818
Though I know 2000 IS too little but I don't see how eating any more would cause me to lose any fat.

>>3818
>I doubt I eat too little, I guess I get around 2000 calories a day? Maybe 1.5 meals a day, one large one and a sandwich or bruschetta or a salady thing or something.

Have you ever measured it out? This would be worth doing. Assuming your typical shop-bought sandwich is about 500 calories, a 1500 calorie meal is very large.

I wasn't suggesting you should just eat more. As I said, work out your basal metabolic rate, track how much you're really eating, and make sure you pack in the protein and veg while staying in an overall deficit. That should put you on the right track.

Having a structured routine would help a lot, there's no lack of choice out there. See a GP about the hernia if you've not already.

>>3820

I don't want to sound like I am taking the piss, but:

>make sure you pack in the protein and veg while staying in an overall deficit.

Well, hammer protein (preferably beans and the like), hammer the veg, specifically leafy greens, and generally do more exercise, mainly cardio, with a few weight sessions and you will be doing what any ever who is qualified in this stuff has ever told me.

>>3808
Most new studies are honing in on the most likely cause of myopia being lack of exposure to natural light.
Simply the amount of time spent outdoors during childhood is a far better predictor or myopia later in life, than any other factor such as time spent doing close work or amount of exercise.

>>3807>>3809
That's quite interesting. Do you happen to have any links to any of those studies?

>>3810
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=myopia+natural+light

>>3810

This is a fairly good summary:

http://www.aoa.org/Documents/optometrists/effects-of-computer-use.pdf

>>3812
Thanks lad.

Your urine can tell a lot about you, they probably just want to know some routine stuff before they admit you just in case you have any underlying conditions that would affect your treatment. They can test it for all sorts, sugar levels, proteins, signs of infection, that sort of thing.

I end up going to hospital more than I'd like to admit I've had a lot of letters asking to bring a urine sample on them.

The thing is I've never brought one and when I got there I was never asked for one. Only times I've ever actually had to give a urine sample is when they handed me a pot to piss in themselves.

I would just forget about it and treat it as "worst case scenario I'll be asked to give a piss sample there"

Also that happens all the time "yeah we'll send you to x" then you end up at y with no explanation. The NHS is nice to have and all but it ain't beautiful

>>3769 Here again.

Against the excellent advice of >>3771, I took a urine sample with me. Needless to say, they didn't ask me for it.

Anyway, the doctor explained to me that as my lump wasn't serious enough to get NHS funding for surgery. If I still wanted it removed, or if it got worse in future, I'd have to go back to my GP again and plead my case (read:exaggerate the pain as much as possible) and he would apply for funding again.
So then I asked, can I get a referral for private treatment? His answer was "Yes, I can remove it for you next week, it'll take about 10 minutes."

I understand that (for the most part) a cyst is purely cosmetic and the NHS can't pay for everything. But if I stuck with the NHS and needed to go back in the future, it would start adding up to 4, 5, 6 appointments, more courses of antibiotics, etc. and by the time all that is over and done with, the cost to the NHS is surely far greater than the cost of just whipping out a scalpel at the first chance. Never mind the value of my own time.

I've just started trying fountain pens, so I might recycle the piss pot into an ink pot.

>>3804

That's a problem with doctors, not the structure of the NHS. They throw amoxicillin at just about everything despite the fact that something like 98% of staph/streps are already resistant to it.

I sometimes suspect that most GPs simply can't be arsed, and instead of doing their jobs properly, they use "take these for a week and see how you are" as a sort of filtering system in order to weed out those patients who'll get better naturally from the ones who actually need attention.

Google tells me this could be esophagus spasms? Lots of hits relating to Acid problems. Although my acid has not felt bad during this whole time...

>>3802
Then again, the palp/spasm thing has started today almost immediately after eating breakfast...

Chicken adobo.

I think you lot are being too fussy about reheating frozen chicken. I've had it from time to time and never had a problem. Had frozen coq au vin last night, in fact.

>>3798
Most of the time I don't wash my hands after having a shit unless there's visible staining. Sometimes you can still smell it, but I've never had a problem.

>>3799
There's something desperately wrong with your analogy.

>>3786
This is such an overrated album, the first song and the last were decent but it's somehow become the face of emo revival. They even made a new video for it and performed it in Reading. Ridiculous.

I got halfway through couch to 5k and then suddenly there seemed to be no shortage of reasons not to go for a run - I'm too tired, it's too cold, it's too late at night, I've just eaten, I haven't eaten...

Couch 4 life.

I did my first run two days ago but I only decided to do this after that, so today I took my first day.

I'm so unfit and I need to stop smoking. Pah!

>>3767
Running's fuckhorrible, but I've been pounding out 15-20 miles a day on my bike this week. I'm annoyingly fat, and it must change.
Bring it on.

I'm on Week 2 now and I can see myself improving considerably already, it feels good but I still hate it. It's a great motivator knowing you could barely run for 1 minute last week and realising you can now do 2m30s.

Onwards and upwards.

I use a Voss bottle. It's glass, so I have to keep my eye on it. And it's heavy, but y'know, that's why I'm going to the gym, innit.

I use Camelbak Podiums on my bike. They're great. They're plastic, but the insides of them are coated in some special bollocks that's supposed to stop the bad taste. As far as I can tell, it works. They're only about eight quid, so it's worth you trying.

I've also heard that any rigid plastic bottle won't impart any flavour into the water, but I'm personally not a fan of non-squeezable bottles.

>>3758
I have two Thermos bottles from this page; bought them in a multipack so I can rotate between the two and make sure one is always clean. They feel quite sturdy, and as long as I wash them regularly (I don't even have a dishwasher, but they are dishwasher-proof plastic) I don't get any nasty taste or whiff off them. They've been dropped whilst full a few times and held up so far in the ~3 months I've had them.

>>3758
>>3761
I have one of those thermos intak ones. It's sturdy, doesn't leak and doesn't taste bad.

I'm unsure if anyone gives a shite, but I might as well follow up as OP.

I went for the Consol Grip and Go in the end, and at the risk of sounding like a covert marketer it is properly good quality (which is a relief, as they are fairly expensive at £9 - £13). The glass is thick, and the clear cap has a rubber plug/seal to keep things air tight. The top twists off easily and the neck is just the right width for me to glug.

The 1L is definitely too large to cycle or run with, but for hiking, camping, or if you're one of those big bastards that spends three or four hours lifting weights, then it's perfect. I've ordered a 500ml bottle as well and will probably use this for running and gymming.

Thank you for the suggestions, I will keep them on hand in case I smash the ones I bought like a pillock am in need of something in the future.

I take a multi-vitamin + minerals tablet daily.
-I've been thinking of stopping this for the same general reasoning as >>3749, but I'd want to replace it with various individual supplements but I can't be arsed with the extra effort and cost. (Mainly B vitamins, iron, vitamin C are the main things I want that I get from the multi.)
Also, there is evidence that folic acid supplements are harmful, particularly in people with certain genes, as the body has a limited capacity to convert synthetic folic acid to a form which is useful to the body. (But unfortunately the better forms of folate supplement are bloody expensive).

My other main supplements I take daily are Magnesium citrate (about 100mg, I know I can tolerate a bigger dose but it's bloody expensive, so I've been thinking about buying a kilogram tub of food grade magnesium sulphate to use instead.)
And I take a tablet with 125ug and 100ug of vitamin K2. (Vitamin D is considered harmful by some experts when taken without K2. Rates of osteoporosis and arteriosclerosis increase in people who take vitamin D alone.)

Regarding Magnesium giving you the shits, vitamin D will tend to help cancel it out. In fact, I suffer with IBS, when I started taking a high dose of vitamin D, my frequent diarrhoea stopped practically overnight.

Other supplements I sometimes take but aren't that important to me are vitamin C, zinc, sometimes cod liver oil. I'm fairly sure I'm getting enough of these from food.

They're not strictly considered supplements, but I also take MSM daily (sulphur) unless I've ate a lot of onion that day. Sulphur is underrated as an essential mineral, because scientists have generally believed you get enough to live from amino acids which are essential in and of themselves. But some people are beginning to believe there are a lot of health benefits from getting a large amount of sulphur in other forms.) I also take L-arginine which is meant to be good for circulation, and L-carnitine because some people think it helps metabolise fat (it might make no difference but it's cheap enough that it doesn't hurt.)

I bought some quinoa lately after reading this;

https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/V3-632.html

It's supposed to be nutritionally dense and contains all the amino acids you need to synthesise protein.

My partner has been taking Centrum because she's pregnant. She likes it because Centrum doesn't taste mank like every other vitamin pill. Centrum do pills for non-preggos too.

Why can't you hypercondriacs just eat properly and you wouldn't need these overpriced placebos? Getting 6 or 7 portions of fruit and veg in yer isn't that fucking hard ffs.

>>3752

It's true for some things, but as for magnesium, intensive farming methods tend to mean it's hard to get from solid foods, drinking water can sometime give you enough magnesium, but most UK tap-water has too little.

And as for vitamin D, the combination of living in Britain and working in a windowless office makes supplements pretty important. Unless your diet includes liver and pate every single day.

>>3751
Quinoa is really expensive though.

Caveat: I'm not a doctor, just a mentally ill nerd. Don't take anything I say as gospel truth.

Sertraline is the default SSRI because there is a good evidence base across a wide range of conditions, the risk of serious side effects is relatively low, it is well tolerated by most patients and it costs pennies.

There is a very long list of alternatives that you might get on better with. If you go back to your doctor and say that you're not doing well on sertraline, they should offer an alternative drug. You might also want to consider the timing of your dose - sertraline should be just as effective if taken at night, but the side effects may be much less of a problem.

In your case, interaction between your medications is likely to increase the risk of some side effects and make prescribing more difficult. I'd be slightly concerned about the interaction between amitryptiline and sertraline, as there is a risk of serotonin syndrome. If at you feel extremely hot and agitated, you should stop taking both drugs and seek immediate medical attention.

It might make sense to try switching the amitryptiline for an SNRI or an anticonvulsant. Several drugs are effective for the treatment of both neuropathic pain and anxiety, so you may be able to kill two birds with one stone. This would reduce the risk of side effects from drug interactions, but your neuralgia symptoms might briefly increase while you're switching drugs. Duloxetine or pregabalin would be plausible options. If you think this might be worth trying, discuss it with your doctor.

We don't really understand how or why antidepressant drugs work, so there's a lot of trial-and-error involved in prescribing. Most antidepressants can cause either drowsiness or insomnia depending on the patient, which is just weird. There's also an element of matching the right side effect profile to the right patient. Some side effects can be beneficial to some patients.

If want to swot up, you can read the NICE guidelines for Generalised Anxiety Disorder at the link below. These guidelines are the standard treatment approach that doctors are expected to follow. The guidance for drug treatment starts at paragraph 1.2.22.

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg113/chapter/1-Guidance

>>3741

> I felt a wave of what can only be described as numbness wash over me. I no longer feel anxious, but I feel thick like I can't think. My lids are heavy, to be honest I feel like I'm heavily sedated...

Yep that's an opiate painkiller alright, the dihydrocodiene hard at work. It really does feel quite different to a benzo, doesn't it? You'll eventually build tolerance to the 'fun' (I personally never liked opiates) side effects but it might take you a while.

On a side note 2mg of diazepam is a pitiful dose for panic attacks, 5mg being bare minimum and while I'm at it diazepam is practically useless for epilepsy - 2mg of clonazepam will do the trick far better than even 20 or 30 mg of diazepam for treating seizures. I know doctors are trying to reduce benzodiazepine abuse by pushing SSRIs in their place but treating acute panic attacks with something which, at best, might treat day to day background anxiety is a road to nowhere.

Finally you might want to put threads like this in /A/ in the future as people have been known to throw shit-fits for any kind of 'drug' talk on other boards.

>>3743

Considering the last time I took a painkiller was the night before, they really must be belters.

>>3742

Thanks for this info, lad. Really good post, I appreciate it. I'll give it another try tomorrow night and if I'm OK in the morning I'll perhaps reconsider. You've given me some homework to do as well, so thanks. I have another appointment in 2 weeks so I'll have a chat with the doctor about it then if I feel it's still making me feel horrible and discuss alternatives.

>>3744

> Considering the last time I took a painkiller was the night before, they really must be belters.

Apologies lad as I may have misunderstood your post. When you said "I started the course today" I assumed that you'd only started taking the dihydrocodiene today too, not just the sertraline; I therefore put two and two together and apparently came up with five. I have no real personal experience with sertraline but I hope you get whatever the problem is sorted out.