I really commend you on what is most certainly a tough decision, but personally, I wouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security by some of the advice here. Chances are you'll be relatively fine. "Chances are" is not good enough for the situation in my honest opinion and I think you may be taking on some degree of preventable risk for a serious complication. So just to be safe, it might not be a bad idea to see a doctor and ask if there are any ways to reduce this risk prior to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 8:09 PM on October 6, 2008

I'm curious where people get the idea that drinking extra water somehow makes you lose water weight? I hear this a lot and it makes no sense what so ever to me, and I'd make sure to ask your doctor if that really makes sense for your specific case.

I wish I could answer your question Flo, but there just isn't a satisfactory answer. It depends on your fluid and salt intake, remaining kidney function, the condition of your heart and liver, your nutritional state, and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 7:55 PM on October 6, 2008 marked best answer

As a corollary, does anyone actually find the DOF preview on Canons useful? To my eye it doesn't really predict how shots actually turn out very well at all.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 7:59 AM on October 4, 2008

Believe me I try, mandel, but the problem is that sort of chimping and manual adjustment is really hard when you're taking candids or street shots.. But the point is taken.. I'm continuing to futz around with different settings on the lenses all the time.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:25 AM on October 4, 2008

Look, anything can happen tomorrow, next month, or next year, but counting on those probabilities is no way to live your life.

The way you word your question is incredibly telling. You know sometimes when we look at our selves, we subconsciously favor being confused because its a small step up or two from heartbroken and unrequited. Your request even has a strong push towards one-sided and frankly unrealistic answers that are a plea for false reassurance. The point is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 7:36 AM on September 13, 2008

My personal biases and tastes are pretty clear so I won't even mention the namesake. But also while you're on Nabokov, I'd go for Pale Fire which I think is his best composed work. Also Gaddis sure loves them pretty words. See The Recognitions if you have the time. Lowry's Under the Volcano and DeLillo's Underworld are others with high aspirations.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:11 AM on September 12, 2008

You might want to talk to your doctor about whether an intravenous formulation of iron might be appropriate for you. These are now increasingly used for the treatment of iron deficiency when oral supplementation is considered ineffective or inappropriate, as may be the case for you.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:26 PM on September 5, 2008 marked best answer

Oh and be gentle -- I've only been at this for a few days.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 7:52 PM on September 2, 2008

Not sure the Rebel XT has a time priority mode. I'll look into it.

Also, I know about the rule of thumb re 1/effective focal length for shutter speed but, it seems like that's a bit conservative. For example, the two portraits I put up could definitely stand to be crisper but even at 1/13 sec they seem passable, especially for non-print work (the web). Is that rule of thumb a truism or myth in people's experience?
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 8:41 PM on September 2, 2008

Re: mirror lockup...

Don't I lose the viewfinder with it? And if so, doesn't that add an extra 2 second delay wherein my subject will more likely drop out of focus in a candid?
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:53 PM on September 2, 2008

I have a bit of a personal bias against coronary CT, which as of yet in my opinion is neither well-enough studied as a diagnostic modality nor incorporated into any of the major guidelines or algorithms for diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease by societies like the ACC/AHA etc. So take what I say with a grain of salt as a non-cardiologist, but practicing physician in the US.

An exercise stress test with your findings along with exertional chest pressure is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 8:07 AM on August 14, 2008 marked best answer

Actually most gallstones are isodense with bile, and as a result, they are poorly visualized by CT. CT can catch well-calcified stones but that is not the majority. It does have fair sensitivity in catching signs of inflammation around the gallbladder and so cholecystitis can often be suggested by a CT scan, though ultrasound remains the preferred imaging modality in that scenario as well.

For what it's worth, the transient or periodic symptoms of gallstones (biliary... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 4:14 PM on August 8, 2008

Thank you SO much, milkrate.. That was awesome!
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:19 PM on August 1, 2008

Is your husband a watch person?

This is a very important question. I assume the answer is no since he doesn't sport a watch regularly. In a sense, if this is the case, you're sort of damned if you do and damned if you don't because a watch person is going to be far too particular about any attempt at a gift, and a non-watch person won't necessarily appreciate the expenditure on a decent mechanical watch.

The watch-nuts here are going to find this... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 5:11 PM on July 14, 2008

I am by no means an expert on the subject but I vaguely recall that interpreting ethanol concentrations in post-mortem tissues may be tricky. I think it's complicated by the fact that after death, depending on how and how quickly a body is preserved, tissue (or more accurately microbes within tissues) may begin to produce ethanol and other metabolites. Again, just a hunch.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 2:26 PM on July 12, 2008 marked best answer

I actually like sciatica's advice. I'm not familiar with your particular CPAP device, or at least this "C-flex feature" enough to know how similar it is to BiPap, but in your case, Bipap may make some theoretical sense. You can imagine that perhaps while you involuntarily swallow or your esophagus is kept artificially open by a high baseline positive pressure (the CPAP), you may develop this sort of gas and abdominal distention. By lowering the CPAP level you resolve this, but perhaps... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 2:32 PM on June 7, 2008

Does this mean that after surgery I'll be having back pain from now on as a trade off for no more extreme hip and leg pain?

Not exactly. It's more like you will definitely have at least temporary and possibly lasting back pain in exchange for no guarantee of relief of your hip or leg pain. Surgery is a bit of a gamble which may well help and does so in many cases, but it should be taken seriously, and maybe deferred at least until more... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 10:09 PM on June 4, 2008

It's absolutely true that you can have TSH around 2 and be functionally hypothyroid.

This is highly, highly unlikely.

So-called subclinical hypothyroidism and the range of normal TSH has long been debated, but virtually every expert you might ever come across will tell you that the debate is generally over patients with TSH levels between 2ish and 5ish. Unicorn on the cobb's storry (with a TSH of 4.6) is a classic example. But... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 12:18 AM on June 4, 2008

If anyone knows the answer to this, I would appreciate it: Is it possible to have a tumor/nodule/anything that grows toward the throat and NOT outward? It would make it hard to swallow but not be easily felt by the doctor (she checked me with her hands for lumps and bumps last week, but my throat problems have gotten significantly worse since then).

Yes. Definitely, yes. I've seen it first hand a number of times. In fact, since we're... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 7:51 PM on June 4, 2008

drink lots of water. this will signal to the body that water is nt scarce and allow you to shed excess water stores.

drink at least a gallon a day

Are you being serious? This advice by the way is nonsensical to say the least and potentially dangerous. In simple terms, adding more water is not a good way to get rid of water.

There are over the counter diuretics out there but I certainly... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 7:43 PM on May 31, 2008

This is all very premature, and with due respect, though I personally have some professional expertise on this subject, folks here simply can't give you the information you need yet. At this point this could be anything from a benign lesion with no impact on her life expectancy to something potentially quite serious. What I can tell you is that firstly, in general, I have seen plenty of patients her age who have both tolerated wedge resections of the lung as well as chemotherapy for a variety of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 10:17 PM on May 28, 2008

My usual advice in this sort of scenario echos what some others have said with respect to protein intake. There is a growing body of medical literature that supports my clinical experience, which is that increasing the fraction of protein relative to fat and carbohydrate in your diet will lead to earlier satiety. It may also help augment energy expenditures, and in combination with resistance exercises, will promote maintenance of muscle mass relative to fat in a net catabolic state.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:03 PM on May 27, 2008

I wouldn't recommend it. What he can potentially do if he has no other contraindication (like advanced kidney disease, ulcer disease or prior allergy) is add an NSAID like ibuprofen, indomethacin or naproxen. This class of drugs actually may have particular additive benefit when it comes to ureteral stones as they relax the smooth muscle around the ureters and may ease the passage of stones in addition to their usual analgesic properies.

I assume he has already sought... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:10 PM on May 19, 2008 marked best answer

Sorry to be another negative nancy, but 50k a year really is unrealistic as at best you will have to work superhuman hours to make that kind of money, and you'll likely have to sacrifice time more appropriately spent on your own academic research for time on side jobs which may potentially be prohibited anyway. Having known far too many graduate students, I have yet to meet one making that kind of money outside of maybe the occasional online poker pro (and I would strongly recommend against that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 10:58 AM on May 19, 2008

I think it's worthwhile to point out that as far as I know, there has never been a single study demonstrating increased risk of gastric cancer in humans chronically on proton pump inhibitor therapy. These have been the market for almost 20 years now, with perhaps millions of people or more on treatment. So please take rat studies with a grain of salt. The specific study in this case had an n of only 79 and an astounding 27% had cancer in the control group! That alone makes any... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 3:32 PM on May 16, 2008

The "pre-cleansing" if you will, is by far the most unpleasant part -- stay close to a restroom is all I can say. The procedure itself, assuming the person sedating you knows what they're doing, you will hardly feel and you will even less remember.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 3:20 PM on May 14, 2008

You definitely, definitely need to see a gastroenterologist.

Few primary physicians do very well with the workup of what is now chronic diarrhea. My suspicion is that if the only thing wrong with your liver tests was a GGT of 300, and all the other enzymes, clotting tests and protein levels were normal, the liver may be a bit of a red herring and freaking out about the GGT is probably premature though it might warrant regular monitoring. That could be from alcohol,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 1:49 PM on May 14, 2008 marked best answer

You're asking the wrong question. The real questions are is your serum protein really high, and if so, why. I think total protein levels that high would be exceedingly unusual (it's unusual to begin with), especially in someone your age. I suggest maybe seeing a doctor and getting retested as this may have been a lab error.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:54 PM on May 6, 2008

I agree with ikkyu2. It's really a third party (the hospital/facility and its Radiology department) in most cases like this that have the material you need to request (CT scans on a CD and radiologists' reports). Pulmy1 probably documented a note with his initial opinions on your case and may have records of pulmonary function tests or blood work. These pieces of information would probably be obtained from Pulmy1's office but you don't necessarily have to deal with Pulmy1 directly. Just call... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 5:59 PM on May 3, 2008

What iminurmefi said, essentially every single word, is spot on.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 8:25 PM on May 1, 2008

Start with Ubuntu. Period. There will be naysayers of course, and there are a few other distros that are perhaps similarly geared towards a relative beginner but none offer the network of support that exists for Ubuntu. Just go to ubuntuforums to see what I mean.

If you have windows installed right now, you can use Wubi to test out Ubuntu without making any real commitments in terms of repartitioning and such. It's a one-click uninstall in Windows, AND you can fiddle... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 8:22 PM on May 1, 2008

I know it's easy to say but try not to panic. It sounds like your mom has clearly had a pretty rocky time these last few months, and I sense your yearning for things to get back to the way they were before -- who wouldn't want that. But the simple fact is that it sounds like she really hasn't bounced back yet. It only takes one bad infection to set off a domino effect of recurrent illness and complications in someone who was apparently fine a few months ago, and diabetics unfortunately are... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 7:12 PM on April 10, 2008

I wanted to thank everyone for their answers, all of which have been very helpful. Again, the description was second hand so apologies on the lack of clarity. The best I can get (and again, I'm not even exactly sure what it means for an engine to turnover as I'm a car moron too) is that when she turns her key she gets more than the slight clicking sound of the starter itself, but also the cranking sounds of the engine but it won't complete umm.. start and then the high pitched belt-like noises... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 10:10 PM on March 31, 2008

jon1270, it sounds like it's getting right to RuvRuv followed by SqueakSqueakSqueak and no Vroom.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 6:19 PM on April 2, 2008

No worries jon, I appreciate your and everybody elses help with this.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 7:15 AM on April 4, 2008

Put it this way: if my doctor recommended this I'd find another doctor.
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 8:45 PM on April 3, 2008

subbes, I believe ikkyu2 is suggesting rightfully, that using a stimulant with the possible side effects of causing systemic and pulmonary hypertension, increased heart rate, and valvular heart problems in order to treat a condition associated with cardiovascular mortality and morbidity probably rubs doctors the wrong way. While weight loss has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of various maladies, there's no reason to assume that it's irrelevant how you lose weight. Moreover, phentermine is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 7:01 PM on April 2, 2008

Off the top of my head, possibilities include diabetes, pancreatic insulinoma, intestinal parasites, tumors or trauma to the brain, thyroid disease, drugs, mood disorder, or just plain getting old. I'm sure there's lots more that aren't coming to mind. Outside of the drugs which people probably aren't slipping you without your knowledge, and the getting old which sadly I'm sure you are, you can read up on the rest but the best way to get reliable peace of mind is probably to see a doctor about... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 6:51 PM on March 30, 2008 marked best answer

Do not -- I repeat -- do not pay any attention to any grand claims made about quantum phenomena made by anyone who is not a physicist. Consciousness and the mind (if you believe that these are rooted in interactions between networks of cells in your skull) function on a scale much larger and slower than the "quantum world" and as others have noted, it's not the conscious observer that affects the result in quantum experiments. It's the observation -- in other words, by whatever means... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 8:40 AM on March 29, 2008

Yeah that terrible What the Bleep thing is to be avoided unless you're looking for a prime example of bad wooey borrowing from QM. It's not entirely crap -- there are some kernels of corn too in there, but...
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 11:45 AM on March 29, 2008

I dont believe there is an answer to the question you are asking, and here is why.

Respectfully, this reasoning falls in line with the notion that we can't answer any questions because we don't "know" anything, as well as the logical fallacy inherent in proving a negative. Though in a sense tautologically true, it's also completely useless and moot.

To date, there has never, ever been a well designed, reproducible... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 12:53 PM on March 29, 2008

Several points to consider, Nattie:

It's true that if you look at our world under a quantum lens, you might conceive of a universe of interacting, subatomic wavefunction probabilities. But think about the scales of things and the statistics you're dealing with when you even consider things like telepathy or telekinesis. Let's wave our hands and accept the (likely false) presumption that the mind and consciousness are the cause rather than the effect of things going on at... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 11:07 AM on March 30, 2008

The answer to your question is no, it wouldn't all but guaranteer your son develops asthma. Nothing would all but guarantee he develops asthma because it's just not that ubiquitous. I'm sure you can go door to door in the new neighborhood and find countless kids who don't have asthma.

At this time, the link between environmental pollutants and asthma is not well established. It's been studied a fair bit, and the current epidemiological thinking is that certain particular... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 8:52 AM on March 30, 2008

Go see a doctor. Despite the chorus above, even though this may be a sinus headache, sinus headaches are extremely overdiagnosed and a relatively uncommon cause of this sort of thing. Some of what you describe is not so consistent with sinus headache, including where you're feeling the pain. To me, what you describe is definitely concerning enough to get checked out by a doctor, and if you notice anything else concerning (especially say, abnormalities in your vision or nausea)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 2:32 PM on March 26, 2008

As others have suggested, the growing body of scientific literature on Mirena is turning the tide regarding its use in nulliparous women. A few practitioners just don't want to deal with the issue and get up to date. Other practitioners do recommend testing for STDs prior to its placement which is probably reasonable regardless, and more and more women are opting for it. It's true that without having prior births, placement of the IUD can be more uncomfortable and a fraction of nulliparous women... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:28 AM on March 23, 2008

In fairness, to complete what I was saying before, the down-sides to the Mirena are for the most part up front -- pain with insertion, and the very small but real risk of a procedural complication. If it's successfully placed, a recent study demonstrated that expulsion rates were low and unaffected by parity, and the 1-year continuation rate was also similar in women with and without prior births (and better than combined oral contraceptives).

If you're interested in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 9:41 AM on March 23, 2008

Ok, firstly, it's not illegal to unlock/jailbreak your iPhone. That said, it will void your warranty. Secondly, there are big developments for the iPhone along the way but chances are none of them will hit the end-user until June or later. Among these, the two most important is that the next iteration of the iPhone is slated to be released with 3G within the next year (read the news about the 700 spectrum auction that AT&T just hunkered down billions for), and perhaps more importantly the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 10:40 AM on March 22, 2008

Yes you drink plenty, and enough to have severe, potentially dangerous withdrawal.

No, this shouldn't stop you from quitting, but since benzos are a mainstay of managing withdrawal symptoms I think given your prior dependence, it'll be tricky managing withdrawal medically though I'm by no means an expert on outpatient detox techniques. Professionals that do this more frequently than I probably have ways of addressing benzo dependence and alcohol withdrawal in the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by drpynchon at 6:07 PM on March 20, 2008

What you're describing us asking for is what caddis actually posted last night: you're badly misrepresenting what we were actually talking about and hoping for in this thread.

Respectfully, cortex, I think we're talking about two different posts. I'm talking about the speech itself. Getting a visceral response from the folks here would be impossible if you waited 3 or however many weeks.

You seem to suggest that a post about... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by drpynchon at 11:08 AM on March 19, 2008

You're right, cortex. There's room for disagreement on this and I'm not frothing about it. I guess what I see in this speech is artwork which happens to also be news and politics. I mean it's making people cry, and not just Obama supports. That's something special. It's not just a news event that's also on CNN (which I totally understand would make crap for a one link post).

So yes. Sure. Maybe people would start slinging even more political shit because of the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by drpynchon at 5:35 PM on March 19, 2008