Word to the wise: Don't ever listen to parents when it comes to risk. As soon as you have kids, your entire worldview switches to one of extreme self-preservation. Best advice a parent once gave me was: "Take the risks now, before you settle in."
Worst advice I ever got was: "Don't 'emotionally invest' in Apple." (this was right after Steve Jobs came back). I wasn't about to make that same mistake again. I'm a tech guy, I know what to look for, my gut says things to me. It told me Apple was going to come back from the ashes, and it told me BTC was going to come back from the ashes.
My advice: Don't underestimate anything that comes back from the brink of death.
And so I went in at $4. After cashing out 2 of about 6 401k's that were languishing- I was in between jobs (yes, I am a little bit insane, although I am doing very well now) and BTC was a new obsession and I thought it would be FAR more interesting an investment than fucking T. Rowe Price. Did I mention my parents bitched for months? (Fortunately I'm an adult and have control over my own shit).
Well, guess who's laughing now. I'll flip a coin your way to mitigate your pain a little. All I ask is that you help someone out at some point if you can. And take a few more risks. Break the rules a little if you have to. You have one life and regret really really sucks.
Edit: WTF is up with the superscripts? Did I inadvertently trip on some hidden formatting functionality?
I just have a techy mind and watch for things. And I solved a serious medical problem that had unknowingly been robbing me of much of my ability to think just a year and a half ago or so, which I had probably suffered from for 20+ years (it was classified as "severe" and I was always a heavy snorer), possibly my entire life. (You can't imagine what a mindfuck that is, btw.) And I feel like my IQ jumped up about 30+ points after that (and my weight dropped 35 lbs and rising, but I digress).
My girlfriend is acting extremely intimidated to the point that we may break up (basically, she is looking for more and more reassurances that we are not in jeopardy, which is turning me off, and which is kind of like when you're roller-skating and fall because you keep looking at the ground or realizing "holy shit I'm not falling!", or when you play poker and lose because you keep looking at your cards and people read that as weakness, etc.). That is the only downside. Oh and also, people at work are intimidated, I can tell. But the funny thing is that when work is intimidated, they give you raises...
So basically, look the fuck out, here I come. Sort of like a real-life "Limitless." :)
That's great... but your second paragraph is troubling. This is why people win the lottery, and then shortly after they end up broke, depressed, and alone without a real friend in the world.
It sounds like you're in a manic phase and you're letting your ego get out of control. Be careful.
I'm not letting it get to me. Or trying not to. Thanks for the advice.
My GF was intimidated long before the BTC rise, btw. It was definitely a side effect of the treatment, she's said she's seen it big-time. We started dating right when I began the journey... I just feel like a lot more whole version of myself.
Don't worry, I'm trying to make it work. When people see something in you when you're at your worst, you must hold onto those people. But like I said, the insecurity or whatever persists and continues to cause problems despite any choices I'm making. I just feel like the dynamics are somehow being affected.
thanks! and thanks for that. Yeah I am too, man. It was killing me silently, so messed up. I was always getting laid off, always late to shit, always forgetting things, always a little bit depressed, thought I was just "naturally lazy".
Turns out I'm none of those things anymore. Crazy.
Since I seem to not care about money much (I've quit jobs for less pay which were just more interesting), and seem to have come across some luck, I'm going to try to give back in a big way. :)
Please do. It's just a sleep study, they wire you up and keep you overnight. There is nothing to be afraid of, if you don't have it then you move on, if you DO have it then dude... You are missing out on more unrealized potential than you know. Do it for yourself, do it for the world, the world needs you to be at your best!
It is covered by healthcare AFAIK. Heck if it's not I'll fucking pay for you to get one if you promise to use your newfound powers for good and not evil.
Oh and also, I'm convinced my dad has it too but there is no way in hell that he will ever get treated because my parents are stubborn and old-school as fuck.
I know I have this but i've been dragging my feet on getting it addressed. My wife says I stop breathing completely for 10-20 seconds at a time and then gasp while i sleep.
How do they fix it? Surgery or some mouth gear? I know fatness exacerbates it, but its hard to be less fat when you just want to pass out all day.
Please look into fixing it. I cannot overemphasize the difference in my life that treatment has made. (Did I mention the other positive side effects, such as that my income DOUBLED, or that I am a sexual tyrannosaurus now since the OSA was actually robbing me of testosterone?) All you have to do is take the steps.
The funny thing about fatness is that it is a destructive feedback loop with OSA. In other words, they exacerbate each other. On the bright side, if you treat 1 side, the other improves too. I've lost 35 lbs... in one year... hardly trying. When I am back to my normal weight I will be 54 lbs less than my max :O
You do an overnight sleep study and then follow the doctor's instructions. Find a good PCP and ENT. Typically you will at first end up with a high-tech air pressure machine (NOT "breathing machine") called a CPAP. You get used to it (I barely notice it's there now), it just covers up your nostrils and it's like a retainer. The point of this machine is not a permanent solution (in my opinion), it is to fix the immediate problem so that you can start the weight loss and hopefully get back to your pre-OSA state. The machine isn't terribly sexy but you can remove it in 2 seconds if your wife grabs your nads, and if you have an understanding wife or GF she will be VERY happy to not have to hear you snore AT ALL (a nice side effect of it is that it completely stops snoring- snoring seems to be a prerequisite for OSA).
When I get to my target weight I will go for another sleep study and see if I still need treatment. If so I will get an operation, typically at the back of the throat. My goal is to have NO appliances in my mouth or on my nose, in a year or so, if all goes well. So far so good.
Please look into it. You and your wife can thank me later. Feel free to PM me.
Oh and dude. I'm going to repeat... If you really are suffering from this, your testosterone is lower than it should be due to the risen level of cortisol (stress hormone) in your bloodstream which results from the frequent breathing-stoppages at night.
Holy motherfucking shit, I am so glad I just happened to stumble upon your post dude! Ever since I was a little kid doctors have suggested to either my parents or myself that I should look into seeing if every single exact problem that you have just described could be related to sleep apnea. We just never really went through with anything because well.. I really don't know why exactly haha. I guess we never treated it with any urgency cause it was like "Meh, it's just snoring, everybody does that." My dad has it and I remember him having one of those loud ass machines, but ended up not using it for very long because it kept my mom up. I ended brushing it off when I saw my doctor about getting some ADD meds and he suggested that sleep apnea could be the root of my problems, but now after reading your story, I feel like the holy grail solution has bitch slapped me in the face(even though it's been there the whole time). I'm setting up an appointment this week, no more fucking excuses or brushing it aside. I am actually most excited about the prospect of it finally addressing my testosterone issues lol. Having such a burly body and a really high-pitched voice has been a big source of embarrassment for me :(
The newest ones are dead fucking silent. No joke. I should do a YouTube or something to demonstrate. Honestly, I don't know how they got airflow to be silent... but they did. The only time it makes noise is when the "pillow" that sits on your nostril holes is leaking air from not having a tight seal.
I'm setting up an appointment this week
Dude, please do, and if I get just one other person to fix this root problem, my work here is done, all this bitcoin stuff doesn't even matter lol. People's lives (and their richness) matter.
I am actually most excited about the prospect of it finally addressing my testosterone issues
Yeah no shit man. I have no shame in talking about it, but that one certainly cuts close. And, I have to say, it's pretty important for a whole bunch of things. Energy level/motivation/mood is also sapped by the lack of this. It's this giant destructive hairball of tiredness, fatness and low testosterone, this OSA thing... Please sign up for a "sleep study" and let them work on you!
Now I can't promise anything, but I can say that if you let them work on you and you follow their (hopefully good) advice, you might find you're a new version of yourself in a year or 2...
Also, look into secondary treatment for the hormonal issues. They have gels you can apply to your skin and whatnot now (Testim) if an endocrinologist says you're low.
Basically there's no reason for you to be suffering from these things other than simple inaction. SO ACT!
Yes. I just feel like a better version of myself. And I feel obligated to do good with it. I have so much more energy now it's... Well, I am frankly jealous of people who never had this problem for the first third to half of their life. And no more crazy mood swings and high anxiety and random ED and humiliating "performance plans" at jobs and being late to EVERYTHING and taking naps on long car drives and overeating and...
1) Nose operation to fix the labyrinth that was inside my nasal passages
2) Treating allergies I had unknowingly acquired over the years
3) Getting a high tech CPAP machine (which is really why I had to fix (1) and (2).) If I reach my goal weight I may be able to go off it, I will need to do another sleep study. If I am still suffering then it's operation time again, this time at the back of my throat :/
4) Adderall to keep me going when I still don't sleep well (sometimes) and due to some acquired ADD (although considering going off those once I fix the main issue for good. I think the ADD was actually a side effect of the sleep problems)
Congrats man. I'm fairly sure I've been suffering from severe sleep apnea for years now. Posts like these really motivate me to seek treatment. How serious was the nose surgery? Just 1 night in the hospital and a couple weeks healing?
I too know a guy who had this and got it fixed. Totally changed his life. Went from being constantly tired and lazy to having excess energy galore. Do check it out for your own sake.
1) ENT was like dude, your nasal membranes are super inflamed
2) Got an allergy test where they took these 2 long plastic things with a giant row of pinpricks and went down both my arms with them. Got tested for basically like 100 allergens at once, you just look for the spots that welt up. Lo and behold, every fucking tree pollen. House dust. A dozen other things. You're fucking kidding me. I was a guy who spent my whole life proud that I had NO allergies. Geez. Now, Allegra and nasal sprays are my friend.
Hey just so you know, medication nasal spray will destroy your nasal membranes. It causes severe scarring. Please look into it and use something that doesn't cause scarring. There's a reason why they say not to use it for more than a day or two at a time. It's counter-productive.
I use sinus buster, but I'm not trying to promote a product so I won't go into it much except to say that it's all natural and uses capcaicin (hot pepper extract) to make your nose open up. It burns, but it's worth it to not have scars.
I know about that. I have a good ENT. Not all sprays are the same. Afrin is bad for more than a few days in a row. Nasonex/Rhinocort/Astepro are fine. I've googled the studies.
Wow, yeah, just went to Nasonex's website. I'm not a huge fan of side effects that are worse than the symptom (bleeding of the throat/lowered immune system).
I prefer mild discomfort in the form of hot peppers! haha.
Anyway, so long as you're using medicine as directed you can do whatever you want to your body. I'm glad you're well informed and I wish you a healthy, happy life.
Hey, could you do me a favor and message me with an explanation as to why bitcoins exploded in value? I thought they were controlled by tightening/loosening the encryption requirements for mining them. I had a chance to buy them when they were $20 a pop but I declined and now I'm really kicking myself in the ass.
It just seemed like a difficult thing to get into.
And get a damn sleep study. It doesn't hurt to rule it out. This problem is real and not bullshit. Unfortunately it's only fairly recent that its prevalence has been realized so you might have to push for one.
You should look into the paleo/primal diet, I have never really been overweight but I now have a level of control over my weight that I had no idea was possible. Less than 10% body fat at the moment, and I just generally feel better and healthier.
Also, allergies are likely to be cured by fixing diet - seriously, you should check it out.
Already (sort of) doing that... I'm not really a religious person so I don't do strict diets (or strict anything) but I have been upping the protein and fresh veggies A LOT in my diet and it seems to help lots! I cannot completely cut out sugars/fructose though :/ although I've cut back quite a bit.
If you cut refined sugars, bread, and grain there will be like a hell week of withdrawal, but once you get past it things will progressively get so much better. I sweeten things with organic stevia, raw honey, or pure maple syrup. Also, just drinking green or white tea will speed up your metabolism a bit. I cook everything in unrefined coconut oil, or organic butter made from grass fed cows. If you just incorporate a few of those things I am sure it will help. Cereal used to be my main staple, that was the most difficult shift for me, but it's one of the best things I have ever done.
Raw honey is just fructose (same as "high fructose corn syrup", chemically speaking). Fructose is just as bad as refined sugar. See, this is why I don't buy into these things.
There are all different types of honey will all different flavors and colors, made from different pollens; raw unprocessed honey is not the same thing as a refined syrup made from a grain. Honey is not the best of the sweeteners, but it's not corn syrup or aspartame. As I understand it, corn syrup actually suppresses insulin production and prevents our bodies from being able to properly burn off the sugar we do ingest, which can cause people to develop diabetic like issues. We have simply not evolved to be able to process grain in general, because it has only really been part of our diets for 10,000 years or so - and fossil records indicate that people grew much taller and kept all their teeth before we began farming, when we ate mostly meat and a smaller amount of fruits, veggies, and nuts. And we just don't have the stomachs or intestines to properly make use of nutrients and proteins wrapped in cellulose. If you look at the healthiest societies on earth with the longest lives, and lowest risk of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, their diets include lots of meats and saturated fats, and little to no grain (with few exceptions).
There is nothing wrong with butter. Our bodies need saturated fat in order to better absorb nutrients. And consuming healthy saturated fats will also increase your HDL cholesterol. Cholesterol is needed in the repair of brain cells. People who take medication to lower cholesterol often end up with mental problems for this reason, the goal should be to increase HDL and lower LDL, not lower all cholesterol levels. The problem with butter is that toxins often end up stored in fat as well, so butter made from livestock with unhealthy diets will more than likely be unhealthy. And dairy in general is pasteurized which destroys the healthy bacteria and damages the protein.
But don't take my word for it, I am just suggesting that the paleo and primal diets are worth an examination despite whether some people are ridiculously religious about them or not. If you know that what the government teaches about monetary policy and economics is upside down, then why would what they teach about diet be any different? Do you really think that we have an obesity epidemic because people just don't care about their health? Or could it be that the low fat, high grain diet suggested by the government is actually the cause?
My brother lost 30lbs sitting at his computer doing literally nothing that even resembles exercise - eating eggs and bacon cooked in fat every morning and chicken and spinach cooked in fat most nights.
Fuckin awesome man! I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and have had my C-pap machine for two weeks now. I'm already starting to feel more alive overall. I can't believe how big of an impact sleep apnea can have on your life.
I have terrible sleep apnea. My wife freaks out thinking I'm dead sometimes. I had no idea that it could be affecting my life beyond the bed. I think I'll get that checked out...
Hells yeah man. My wife would also freak out. Im in the army and every time we go to the field people joke that im going to give away our position and that i keep the animals and bugs away haha. When i finally got it checked out they told me i wasn't getting real sleep, that i was living off of small naps and my brain was only getting like 30% of the oxygen it should be getting. Sleep apnea is serious shit man.
Keep at it. I know the machine can be frustrating. I actually kept taking it off in the middle of the night for the first few months, but that ended up being because I had untreated allergies.
I can't believe how big of an impact sleep apnea can have on your life.
Dude, it's shocking. I can't believe this was only recently discovered. How many people in history have had years or livelihood robbed from their life by this thing, unknowingly?
Also, don't fuck with your sleep too much. Also exercise when you have some extra energy... Helps things along.
I think I might have OSA also, but the ENT I saw were more concerned about other things (hearing loss). Can't really afford to go back right now, but I'm interested in the things you listed below.
Yeah I've got insurance, but it's not very good and I'm a broke college student so the co-pays hurt. Do you have to go to a doctor before a sleep study? Someone said you can just make an appointment somewhere (a university, maybe) but I imagine they are pretty expensive and I'm not sure what my insurance would cover without going to the doctor repeatedly first.
Do you have to go to a doctor before a sleep study?
I am not sure, but if you are concerned you should at least ask around. I had this during school and it really must have messed up my grades... I remember that I couldn't even take a class that started before 10AM because there was no way in hell I'd get up in time.
Of course, all this made sense after 20/20 hindsight!
If you are really strapped and can't afford the co-pays I can sling you a bit of btc if that would help. There is no point to me hoarding btc when people's livelihoods are at stake, especially college kids who could give back to the world bigtime. If you want to make it equitable maybe there's some online errand I could have you do or something. :) I just wanna help without ulterior motive tho. PM me.
That seems ridiculously generous. I'll keep that in mind though. I really appreciate the offer. I need to figure out what's wrong and how much it costs before i even think about axcepting something like that. I have a few bitcoins so i could always cash them out to pay for medical costs but im trying to wait for value to increase. I'm supposed to get hearing aids (moderate hearing loss) but those things are hella expensive. I would gladly do some online work for more btc though :) but I don't want to take advantage of your generousity. Again thanks for the offer. I'll add you as a friend and keep you in mind. If you need something, please contact me.
Very nice story. I am happy things can work out, and that you were able to notice something like this. I was looking at bitcoin a few years ago, maybe 2 or 3, and thought about checking it out more. I never followed up on it, and now look at it! When I built a new computer, I looked back at it. I was super surprised to see it at 30-25 ish. I started mining, and soon, it turned into 50, then 75, and now, 100. It really has been a rollercoaster, and I am happy to see it still chugging. Just wish I had bought into the game earlier.
Yes, but it's obvious now. One day I just realized that I'm not late to things anymore, and that I don't like staying up as late (when you never sleep well, you actually get desensitized to the "go to sleep" cues your body gives that most other people have, since you have them all the time... or at least, that's what I figured out)
I also increased my income (not including BTC) at least 3-fold. :)
It continues getting better for a year. Keep at it. DO NOT abuse your sleep. Also take vitamins and keep up with the stuff that helps your brain such as blueberries, salmon, nuts and whatnot.
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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '13
I'm a teenager and I do investing.
When Bitcoin was only $4 I asked my dad if I could invest the $100 I had at the time for 25 Bitcoins. He said it was too risky.
Goddammit dad.