September Discussion Thread: Bring the frost; kill the bugs.

[Ginx snewx]

25 minutes ago, dendrite said:

46.9F

Unrelenting San Diego.

Gorgeous day, rest of the week not so much. But hey the dews are high , we have that going for us. Whats better than rain in dews in SEPT. Unrelenting 

[Baroclinic Zone]

49F on the Davis.

43F at TAN.

[Lava Rock]

13 hours ago, PhineasC said:

Very high cholesterol runs in my family. I have been on statins since I turned 18 and my total cholesterol was already high 200s at that time even though I was as thin as a rail and played various sports. Never had any side effects, that I am aware of at least. Liver numbers always looked good.

My HDL remains too low and my LDL too high. My triglycerides have also spiked at various points, but I made some additional dietary changes and they recently dropped. Without statins, my cholesterol would be off the charts right now and I would be headed for a heart attack at a fairly young age.

I am not a fatty who eats three burgers a day, either. My body just makes too much of the stuff.

So I recommend the drugs to anyone dealing with high cholesterol who already has a decent diet, keeps their weight in check, and exercises. 

 

Same here. Chol has always been 200-290 since HS. Tris always <110. HDL typically 70-80, LDL 150-170. I tried statins 2yrs ago and stopped after 3 months due to muscle pain. Doctors always want to Rx them. I took the bull by the horns and decided to have coronary calcium score test 1yr ago. I scored 0. I'm 49YO. My PCP said "well I guess you don't need statins". Not sure why they don't recommend the calcium score first before Rxing statins like they are candy. I can of course still get plaque buildup later in life, but after 49 years of supposedly "high" cholesterol, I was surprised I had no evidence of any buidup at this point. My ratios are always good, so that must be helping.

[Baroclinic Zone]

12 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Some just drink beer 

I was told to lay off for a month.  Liver function has never been an issue but with new drugs processing all that junk through the Liver, they're elevated.  

[40/70 Benchmark]

Down to 45.1 this AM.

[Ginx snewx]

83 years ago today the big one hit. 1938 hurricane. Westerly RI

[dryslot]

60/54, After a low of 45, Clear blue skies.

[Typhoon Tip]

This is awesome ... we get one extra day of summer this year -

[MJO812]

1 hour ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

I was told to lay off for a month.  Liver function has never been an issue but with new drugs processing all that junk through the Liver, they're elevated.  

Take Flaxseeds

[Damage In Tolland]

2 hours ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

I was told to lay off for a month.  Liver function has never been an issue but with new drugs processing all that junk through the Liver, they're elevated.  

Terrible news 

[Baroclinic Zone]

18 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Terrible news 

Bigly.  Feat of strength forthcoming.

[Typhoon Tip]

I probably should get mine checked.  Have a routine physical here at the end of October. Typically blood panel for renal, liver and lipid spectrum after 14 hour fast.  annoying -

But, last time it was 60 HDL and 117 LDL ... Try-g' were under a hundred.   The report came back as overall "good" but that 117 was oooh so close. They want that 96 or <.   The physician/lab tech stated on the report that it is/was not urgent and most likely a 'fluke' reading when taking into consideration the other numbers.  Total was 180 and the ratio was 3.2. 

Cholesterol has never been my problem really.  I'm a thin dude. I don't eat processed shit. Rarely eat refined sugar. Never drink. Don't smoke. Work out intensely every day ... unless a friend or fam plan gets in the way. Those are a day off. Otherwise, 10K runs, 25 m bike rides... 1 hr eliptical and free weights, rotation.  ...  My resting HR is like 46 beats.  Here's the thing - hypertension.

My doctor is flummoxed.  He thinks I have tendency anyway, but on top ...this 'white coat syndrome.'  I must admit, every time I look at a BP cuff my heart rate increases. I have some weird adrenaline shit going on with medical agenda.  Not a fan.   Yes, you can have congenital hypertension, but even in this group - my lifestyle typically does push the numbers lower. When I stand up, I get light headed/vertigo, unless I'm in the f'ers office.  

I've done some research;  I suspect I have caffeine sensitivity issues.  Turns out...  12% of the background population has this condition and most don't know it - according to NCBI/science entry.  Of those, half less actually have the condition 'extreme.'    Most people will observe a modest BP spike when consuming coffee or other heavier caffeinated loads. According to literature, on the order of 7 to 10 systolic, over 2-6 diastolic.  For sensitive people, these rises can be triple that, and can last for up to 6 or even 9 hours!   Few people really know this...  

The last time I prepped for physical, I was not told to fast, yet the panel was still done.  That kind of pissed me off. The doc said, we'll take that into consideration.  I had like 4 cups of fully load caffeine coffee, with half and half.   Another lesser known aspect about caffeine - enzymes in your blood break down caffeine into LDL's    ( ... proooobably the reason I pulled a 117 - gee) that may transiently show up in tests.  Duh - idiots.

The point of saying all this, make sure that you do not drink black coffee despite what the stupid fasting instruction says.  If you are like me, and consummately put up tall BP numbers ... ( my father had HT and so did his father so I probably have that gene regardless) you might save yourself a prescribed intimate relationship with big pharma.   Just sayn' and it may also contribute loftier LDLs.

[SJonesWX]

so getting back to the weather, just how shitty is it going to be through Sunday? looks nasty to me-specific to MHT area because I only care about MBY 

[Lava Rock]

1 hour ago, Typhoon Tip said:

I probably should get mine checked.  Have a routine physical here at the end of October. Typically blood panel for renal, liver and lipid spectrum after 14 hour fast.  annoying -

But, last time it was 60 HDL and 117 LDL ... Try-g' were under a hundred.   The report came back as overall "good" but that 117 was oooh so close. They want that 96 or <.   The physician/lab tech stated on the report that it is/was not urgent and most likely a 'fluke' reading when taking into consideration the other numbers.  Total was 180 and the ratio was 3.2. 

Cholesterol has never been my problem really.  I'm a thin dude. I don't eat processed shit. Rarely eat refined sugar. Never drink. Don't smoke. Work out intensely every day ... unless a friend or fam plan gets in the way. Those are a day off. Otherwise, 10K runs, 25 m bike rides... 1 hr eliptical and free weights, rotation.  ...  My resting HR is like 46 beats.  Here's the thing - hypertension.

My doctor is flummoxed.  He thinks I have tendency anyway, but on top ...this 'white coat syndrome.'  I must admit, every time I look at a BP cuff my heart rate increases. I have some weird adrenaline shit going on with medical agenda.  Not a fan.   Yes, you can have congenital hypertension, but even in this group - my lifestyle typically does push the numbers lower. When I stand up, I get light headed/vertigo, unless I'm in the f'ers office.  

I've done some research;  I suspect I have caffeine sensitivity issues.  Turns out...  12% of the background population has this condition and most don't know it - according to NCBI/science entry.  Of those, half less actually have the condition 'extreme.'    Most people will observe a modest BP spike when consuming coffee or other heavier caffeinated loads. According to literature, on the order of 7 to 10 systolic, over 2-6 diastolic.  For sensitive people, these rises can be triple that, and can last for up to 6 or even 9 hours!   Few people really know this...  

The last time I prepped for physical, I was not told to fast, yet the panel was still done.  That kind of pissed me off. The doc said, we'll take that into consideration.  I had like 4 cups of fully load caffeine coffee, with half and half.   Another lesser known aspect about caffeine - enzymes in your blood break down caffeine into LDL's    ( ... proooobably the reason I pulled a 117 - gee) that may transiently show up in tests.  Duh - idiots.

The point of saying all this, make sure that you do not drink black coffee despite what the stupid fasting instruction says.  If you are like me, and consummately put up tall BP numbers ... ( my father had HT and so did his father so I probably have that gene regardless) you might save yourself a prescribed intimate relationship with big pharma.   Just sayn' and it may also contribute loftier LDLs.

Funny you mention the BP thing. I have also have low BP and sometimes when I get up feel dizzy and such. Most of the time, I'm 120/70 or 80, but a few times when I've visited the Dr, it was higher. A couple times recently it was 150/90. I was like wtf! So now every time I go to Dr, I get panicy in anticipation of what it might be. Yesterday I had 12 wk post-op elbow surgery follow up and they check BP. It was 128/80, not bad. Then this morning at dentist, they take BP too and it was 118/72. Most of the time when it's high it's when I go to see my PCP. I've also noticed the automatic BP cuffs seem to register higher than the traditional stethoscope and pump cuff method. 

 

67/57. Nice day, but a bit cool

[tamarack]

Yesterday's low of 38 was the 2nd latest date to get under 40 in our 24 years here.  In 2015 it took until 9/21, but that year did it with a bang - after never getting below 43 since June, that 9/21 morning was 32.
Another beauty today after the early fog.  Some leaves drifting by though we're at less than 5% leaf drop, maybe 15% color.  

[weathafella]

1 hour ago, Lava Rock said:

Funny you mention the BP thing. I have also have low BP and sometimes when I get up feel dizzy and such. Most of the time, I'm 120/70 or 80, but a few times when I've visited the Dr, it was higher. A couple times recently it was 150/90. I was like wtf! So now every time I go to Dr, I get panicy in anticipation of what it might be. Yesterday I had 12 wk post-op elbow surgery follow up and they check BP. It was 128/80, not bad. Then this morning at dentist, they take BP too and it was 118/72. Most of the time when it's high it's when I go to see my PCP. I've also noticed the automatic BP cuffs seem to register higher than the traditional stethoscope and pump cuff method. 

 

67/57. Nice day, but a bit cool

White coat hypertension is a common phenomenon.

[Typhoon Tip]

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

Yesterday's low of 38 was the 2nd latest date to get under 40 in our 24 years here.  In 2015 it took until 9/21, but that year did it with a bang - after never getting below 43 since June, that 9/21 morning was 32.
Another beauty today after the early fog.  Some leaves drifting by though we're at less than 5% leaf drop, maybe 15% color.  

My beloved 'General Sherman' is an ~ 250 year old sugar maple whose canopy partially over shadows the tri-lot region of my own yard with those neighbors. 

It's so beloved because it turns this brilliant saffron hue, so intense it must go beyond the physical registry of human visual cortex capacitance.  Purely mesmerizing ...

       ... when it's healthy. 

The first 6 years I lived here, it became very dependable - it peaked between October 10 and 13, without fail.   If the sky were ever that cerulean/azure autumn emerald blue and the sun was behind you, you really needed sun glasses ...lest you squint by the orange refracting light.   Of course, clean up 10 days later wasn't fun - with all that suspended deciduous mass deposed to Earth, it stacked nearly foot deep. 

But something strange took place 4 years ago.  That year, it didn't peak - it seemed to succumb to some sort of "blighty" infestation.  The leaves turns from green to a vomit brown-yellow ( whatever you call that color in arty standard pallet ), speckle-adorned with these shit-blotch marks, falling as they seem more like to grew ill - so there was no suspension period either.  It was like the foliage plagued and died - it was striking. I thought maybe the whole tree actually just did.   But ...the following April rolled around, the buds swelled and burst open, and that vague sweet maple fragrance permeated while bees probed away, no harm no foul.    But that fall, it did the same thing...  shit - I was thinking this is the new thing.

Last year, it did something altogether different, though.  No shit stains. It turned not saffron, but yellow ( no brown).  It was like healthy yellow, but this tree had never turned that color.  Head scratcher.  Not only that ...but it happened in mid September, and by October 1 ... barren-limbed.   I later read that some species indeed went early and felled.  The reason was espoused as "too much of a good thing" with growth parameters last summer.  Deciduous trees apparently only have so much energy available to both creating wood/cellulose, and maintaining leaf chemistry - once that threshold is reached, the tree will flush regardless of the surrounding weather ( I'm probably butchering this paraphrasing ... )

This year, it seems to be mid way back to the original 6 years.   There were spotty yellow and orange leaf, but up until two days ago, it was some 90% still green.  Not sure,..the last couple of mornings have made the mid 40s here, despite the 76 F afternoons... maybe that chilliness "triggered" but it's starting to look like sections want to go.  And they are orangy hinted, not yellow.  I'm guessin' we peak here in 7 or 10 days, perhaps early, but back to saffron.  We hope ...

[Typhoon Tip]

23 minutes ago, weathafella said:

White coat hypertension is a common phenomenon.

Dude, I cannot even consider my home- unit BP cuff or my heart rate quickens.   Actual doctors office?  heh... right -

I'm like the Youtube dog that has it's front legs extended and locked, leaning backward on his curled haunches, tail covering genitals... being dragged though the Vet's lobby by a taut leash while whimpering.

[tamarack]

1 hour ago, Lava Rock said:

Funny you mention the BP thing. I have also have low BP and sometimes when I get up feel dizzy and such. Most of the time, I'm 120/70 or 80, but a few times when I've visited the Dr, it was higher. A couple times recently it was 150/90. I was like wtf! So now every time I go to Dr, I get panicy in anticipation of what it might be. Yesterday I had 12 wk post-op elbow surgery follow up and they check BP. It was 128/80, not bad. Then this morning at dentist, they take BP too and it was 118/72. Most of the time when it's high it's when I go to see my PCP. I've also noticed the automatic BP cuffs seem to register higher than the traditional stethoscope and pump cuff method. 

I've noticed the same and have had nurses make the same comment.  I've also exhibited white coat syndrome, though not consistently.  Earlier this year at the orthopedist (my cortisone for the knees) the BP was significantly higher than usual, then last month at my cardiologist appointment - one would think a prime WCS opportunity - it was my usual 130/70.  (And after an EKG and exam, he referred to the visit as "dull and boring".   )

[Torch Tiger]

7 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Endless and unrelenting 

 

Bitter, nasty morning today but thankfully we rebound

[CoastalWx]

Dews are back.

[STILL N OF PIKE]

73

Comfy

[Damage In Tolland]

Sticky wet 

[STILL N OF PIKE]

8 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Sticky wet 

Manopause ?

[Typhoon Tip]

Was cool and foggy at dawn here ... but sat revealed it was a Nashoba Valley phenomenon, as it took on the neuro fibrous look.. still, it was autumnal in vibe.

Now, full summer.  Late high .. we're squeezing in on 75/63 so, may not be "July" but summery.

[dendrite]

Full chamber here. Mostly sunny and 69/55.

[powderfreak]

7 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Full chamber here. Mostly sunny and 69/55.

73/46

[PhineasC]

70/54

[Baroclinic Zone]

74/61 @ home

77/57 @ TAN

[dendrite]