Random Questions

how definitely do you want that money in 5 years? would you be willing to put off the thing you’re saving for if the market is down and give yourself more runway to recover?

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Not DEFINITELY - it’s for a down payment. We are on the fence we whether we can or should own, for multiple reasons. But putting it off longer than that, if we do decide to, feels wrong because I’m already at an age that a 30-year mortgage will likely outlive me. :confused:

Nevertheless, if I save a down payment and it turns out we can’t buy for some reason, I’d still have the pile of money. I’m just not confident that I can save enough down payment from zero without some help from compounding interest.

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Does it help that two.plus years ago I watched a YouTube video that may have been a documentary explaining that the very rich stay rich using binds because a 3% withdrawal is more than enough

Eta also may have been a conspiracy theory. YouTube will switch you between documentaries and conspiracy theories very fast

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It’s an interesting topic, because I remember having a GIC that was like 7.3% when I was saving for university. So the ‘this time it’s different’ because we’re at the end(?) of two decades of dropping rates, and huge amounts of money being ‘printed’, is a compelling story. otoh, am I just going too far down the rabbit hole and being too clever for my own good?

I am currently rereading Dorothy Sayers, and just finished Clouds of Witness where (spoiler for a book published in 1926) the ‘victim’ was in financial distress because most of his money had been in German and Russian securities, with a bit of diversity in France. I’m sure that was a reasonable approach in 1912.

But I also remember my 2nd sister telling me ‘this time it’s different’ as she invested in the NASDAQ in '99.

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I think having super broad products that cover a huge chunk of the market are different. I think they’re safer. There are dips and crashes but so far the market has always recovered and grown. One day it won’t recover, but when that happens the disappearance of everyone’s investments will be the least of our concerns.
So maybe this time it really is different, at least in terms of the financial products available to people?

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Is there a good way to download voicemail? Verizon and google pixel 3 if that helps

( Nothing urgent or sinister, my wife just wants to save some of the ones I left her over the years)

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Okay what does “zip” in zip code even refer to??

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Zone Improvement Plan. It was meant to help make the mail more efficient, so more “zippy.” Get it?

Stamp I actually used:
image

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Thank you!!!

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I have a healthcare question. I would really appreciate if someone who knows about Ketones could take a glance. Where should I go for more information? I have a PCP visit scheduled for May and I’m asking about this because it’s mildly concerning and now I’m factually interested in how this works. I just don’t want to bring this up to my doctor if it makes me look unstable (literally relevant unfortunately) so while this is causing me a lot of anxiety, I might just get too scared to mention it.

Summary

In what contexts can high ketones in urine occur outside of diabetic ketoacidosis? Like >=80 ketones, which is “large abnormality”. I know there’s the extreme exercise and anorexia, neither of which applies. I’ve googled quite a bit but not finding anything relevant that is reputable and also readable to me. I’ve found results for DKA occurring without elevated glucose levels. I have no reason to think I’m diabetic (it would basically be impossible to not know by your mid 20s without extreme issues, right?)… but now I’m paranoid.
So test results from an incident a few years ago were ruled “adrenergic poisoning” by my normal dose of medication (that I obviously no longer take) that is not supposed to give you those kinds of side effects. I’ve found some minor notes that diabetics who take this medication need to watch their levels more closely, but it’s by no means off limits.
My urine ketones were >=80 (no blood ketone measurements) and anion gap was high. Other symptoms consistent with a diabetic episode were tachychardia and confusion. But CO2 and glucose and a few of the other things that seem essential for dx as I’ve found on the diabetes org websites… were all completely normal.
I know a lot of that is completely irrelevant information but if nurses here are reading this I would really appreciate if that pings anything for you.
So, basically, it’s fucked up to have >80 ketones, right? Like is there ever an innocent reason for this to happen to an otherwise healthy person? I just went ahead and spent $12 of my FSA benefits last night on ketone strips because I find it hard to believe my body could nope out this hard on ketones under stress if they are otherwise always normal. So I’m double checking that.

Healthcare providers here, just be honest with me: will I look weird bringing up medical history from 3 years ago and saying explain to me what this is Right Now!?! The only reason I hadn’t earlier is because I was too sick at the time to even comprehensively read this shit. I was only able to stand looking at this a few days ago because I think it could be relevant for another Dr’s appt next week but I don’t know how to talk to a Dr. about this.

so tldr mostly just looking for a script to talk to a Dr about past history of very high ketones, in an isolated incident, and if I need to think about that for my health going forward. Thank you all for being my safe space to overshare on the internet.

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Not a healthcare provider, but this site had a simple list of several possible causes What can cause high ketones

Besides diabetes (which can show up after your 20s), your diet (e.g., low carb(, pregnancy, and alcohol consumption (and other things) can influence your urine’s ketone levels

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Script ideas:

I tested the ketone level in my urine x times and saw a high level y times. I also had these other symptoms (list). In the past I had high ketones as a side effect of medicine z, which I stopped taking n years ago. I am concerned about this high ketones level.

Any details on what you have been eating and drinking may be relevant. Maybe start tracking that and the symptoms you have besides high ketones (like dizziness, etc.)

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So, I’m a nurse not a doctor of any form and this is NOT in my speciality area. I don’t know answers per se, but a couple pieces:
-you absolutely can be in your 20s before diabetes is diagnosed. Both type 1 and type 2. And DKA can occur (though much more rarely) in type 2 diabetes. Do you have any symptoms that would make you think diabetes is a possibility?
-I would hesitate to put too much weight in a urine test without blood levels. Stuff like hydration levels can SUPER SUPER fuck most urine based tests. Also, some super weird things can interfere with tests- I’m unsure if that applies in this particular case, but I know there are instances where an oral medication can can interfere with detecting specific proteins in the urine, for example.
-ketones being dumped into the urine wouldn’t surprise me if coupled with any massive bodily insult, like an infection. (Or pregnancy, breastfeeding, dieting, excess drinking, any trauma, all sorts of stuff). If this was a one off result, I wouldn’t immediately assume it meant anything about my baseline values. I would definitely be curious enough to get my own home test strips though, like it sounds you are doing.

BUT, again, I am not a doctor. It’s always best to talk to someone who knows your medical history.
Things that would make me, personally, definitely follow up with my doctor: any symptoms of diabetes or family history of diabetes, current ketones in urine, anything that makes me think the same medical situation could play out again.

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My contribution, script wise:
“I’ve been working through my medical history to try to better understand the medication reaction that led to (my hospitalization/my ED visit/X). I noticed some of my labs were really out of range. If it was ever explained to me, I didn’t retain that info. I had really high urine ketones. Do you have an idea why that occurred, and if we have any concerns now, like diabetes, as a result? (And if applicable:) It would make me most comfortable to get some labs, like an A1C checked, just to be sure everything is working right after everything that happened”

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Yeah, the issue is I guess no one knows my medical history? It’s 2021 people don’t just “have” “doctors” “who know everything about their health” when I was discharged they never told me about this, so I’ve never mentioned this to newer doctors. I only saw it after I had the wherewithal to spend 30min-1hr figuring out how to get access to their records portal 3 years later then reading like 26 pages hahahaha. ugh. Thank you so much, it’s reassuring. :hugs:

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:heart_eyes: :heart_eyes: :heart_eyes: :heart_eyes:

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I’ve done this by downloading a voice recorder app, recording while playing the message, then sending the file to my email. Not very sophisticated but it’s worked :woman_shrugging:t3:

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When your windows get super wonky on their tracks, who do you call to fix it for you? We’ve fixed our own (replacing window balances etc) but it’s like 6 windows and I don’t want to deal with all that again. Who do you call for something like this?

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Is there something strange…in your neighborhood…?

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If they’re vinyl, a window company? If wood, either a window person or a carpenter?

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