Ah, Doctors. When they get a thought in their head it must only be that surely.

[Zaiida]

Just updating this because I found it funny.

Zoloft was a no go. Woke up in the middle of the night sweating with heart palpitations so Le Doc took me off it and I declined any more meds for the near future to get the residual chemicals out of my system. As I've gotten older my chemical sensitivities have gone through the ozone layer. Xanax is still available as needed and did you know I have the weirdest reaction while on it?. Cleaning. Seriously I deep clean everything I can get my hands on. It's freaking hilarious. Never give me a toothbrush stoned or I will scrub the floor with it Anyway, my lungs are fine. No lasting effects from my stupidity other than my humiliation .

Apart from the anxiety that I now have sporadically, guess what else was lurking in the background to seriously aggravate my breathing issues which no one spotted until I went on a research spree? Pinched thoracic nerve and TMJ. I did some research and it was confirmed by my Chiropractor I went to my Doc who sighed and busted up laughing* and had some tests done and agreed it was the most likely issue. There is not much than can be done other than what I'm and my Chiro/physio are doing now, it's just going to take time to retrain my body not to have a shitfit. I'm getting better but the spasms are rather irritating but manageable and are easing and I've lost 6 kilos - ZOIDBERG WHOOPWHOOPWHOOP!!! (Raising my glass to the now recancelled Futurama)

*Doc laughed because I either have one thing wrong with me or a whole host of odd things at one time. We have known each other for nearly 7 years and I'm sure I'm at least partially responsible for his grey hairs. My body is weird.

Ah illness. Go stick your meddling in someone else's business now m'kay? I got stuff to do.

Cheers

[Jay 2K Winger]

You have a delightfully evil streak dalesys

"Streak" implies that the rest of him isn't evil as well. You're doing dalesys a disservice.

[Zaiida]

You have a delightfully evil streak dalesys

[dalesys]

We discovered that weevily wheat was good for baking bread... for my MIL.

[Shalom]

That's good to know, thanks. I'll bear it in mind for the next infestation; it will save some labor, if not time. (And you know there will be a next infestation...)

Now you mention it, I actually did this once with a very infested 1-pound bag of dried mixed beans, but more out of anger at the bugs/worms than from any intention of salvaging the beans. I don't recall muttering "Die you bastards!!" as I slammed the freezer door shut, but I might as well have done... I didn't particularly notice anything turning to dust, but the eggs did fall through the strainer and none of them had hatched, which was the important part.

[Rapscallion]

Obviously whatever's infested you'll have to throw out, although I've managed to salvage bulk rice and barley by shaking a few cups at a time in a large strainer; the worms and the eggs fall through and the rice stays in.

Of course, you could always drop the rice in the freezer for a few days and let that kill off the larvae and eggs, which then turn to dust when defrosted and shaken around. This is a methodology approved for organic products. No pesticides involved, see?

Rapscallion (in the industry)

[Draper Mel]

My mother had COPD and any time she had trouble breathing it would trigger anxiety or panic, which would make her breathing even worse. It was a vicious cycle, but she could tell when it was happening, which helped.

It's totally understandable; feeling like you can't breathe is scary.

[Zaiida]

Nah just little tiny brown moths. Harmless but annoying and they just get everywhere. It's not an infestation just a population explosion. We seem to have a different species explosion every year just for variety

Doc now has me on xanax for immediate relief and I'm on Zoloft daily as well now. With my lungs I'm allergic to something and he doesn't know what. Whatever it is it's causing bronichospasms which can be treated with the above meds so I may not be having actual panic attacks. I had a 'real' panic attack last night, it was completely different to what I've been told I have been having recently. My Doc agrees that this may be a new type of attack but the treatment is still the same.

I'm still sneezing (still slightly sick)and having some OTC decongestant (I asked the pharmacist, good to go) and it has helped but I think this may be one of those things I will just have to ride out until it eventually goes back to normal. Apart from the blood vessels in my lungs being inflamed my lungs and heart and blood stats are perfect. I've got a chesty cough so that's a good sign because I can get the gunk out finally.

I have noticed that I have been getting progressively more sensitive and allergic to things these past few years, this just could be a new sensitivity I have to live with. My lactose allergy has gone through the roof and so has my fluoride allergy and I've been getting eczema again which I haven't had for years. Something is triggering an inflammatory response to what I don't know.

Oh well, so far its not life threatening that god but still annoying. I detest being medically stoned. Horrible I go on an OCD cleaning binge. I HATE CLEANING !!

[Seshat]

AHA!

One time I thought I had weevils in my pantry, but that picture strikes a bell.

We put E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. grainlike and un-infested in plastic. Even then, we waited a week before eating anything grainlike that wasn't new - a couple of the things in the plastic had to be tossed too.

One thorough pantry cleaning later, and absolute dedication to putting anything potentially infestable in plastic ... and we were still occasionally finding that some stuff was inedible. But at least the inedibles were confined to the plastic containers, and the critters died in there. :wry:

It was almost a year before we stopped putting everything grainlike in plastic as part of unpacking groceries. But we've accepted that anything we don't store like that, we're risking losing.

[Shalom]

I keep finding those little moths in everything. .

Do they look like this?

If so, you have Indian Meal Moths. ("indian" as in native american, not south asian; it's an old name. I don't know if you get these Down Under, but if you import any food from North America, you might have gotten some as unwanted passengers.)

Go to your pantry closet and look into everything with grain in it. Rice is especially beloved of these little buggers, but they will eat any kind of breakfast cereal, pearl barley, oatmeal, nuts, candy and so forth. Sooner or later you will encounter a bag, box, jar or whatever with what looks like spider webbing in it, possibly with what look like tiny white worms (about 1cm long) with a black spot at one end. I once got a box of quick-cooking rolled oats that when I opened it up, the entire damned thing was a solid mass of webbing, ick!

Look on the ceilings and on the undersides of the shelves too, the larvae like to crawl upwards.

Obviously whatever's infested you'll have to throw out, although I've managed to salvage bulk rice and barley by shaking a few cups at a time in a large strainer; the worms and the eggs fall through and the rice stays in. (Something like a box of Cheerios isn't worth messing with.) The Orange Apron also sells pheromone traps for these moths, but it only catches the males, which aren't the ones laying the eggs. I don't know any other way of getting rid of them, but if you do find every last infested box and purge them, eventually you won't get any more, at least until the next time you buy an infested bag of rice or whatever. They don't live very long even if you don't squash them; you just want to kill 'm before they lay another 50 eggs apiece.

ETA: I've found them in spice jars too, if someone didn't tighten the lid down all the way. Here's a picture of the worms, which I'll post as a link rather than inline: click at your own risk.

[raudf]

Mom is an ex-smoker with a panic disorder and asthma. Guess who, for about a year straight, was having panic attacks because her asthma attacks? *sigh* Her doc took her seriously, fortunately, because she had walking pneumonia on top of everything at the time.

Now she's under control and it's been at least 6 years. She's now on another med for panic, and takes her asthma/allergy meds too. Plus, she quit smoking and Dad, when he smokes, goes outside to do it.

[Seshat]

One time I was in a doctor's office for a chest problem - I forget what sort - and said to the doc '... and I'm feeling light-headed'.
She just looked up from whatever she was reading (it's a long time ago, she was reading some gauge or other), and said "That's because you're hyperventilating."
"Oh," quoth I. With great intelligence, obviously. :P

So I made myself breathe to a pattern, the hyperventilation went away, and she waited for a bit, then did an asthma test on me.

... which proves that yes, I am mildly asthmatic, as it happens. But so mildly that it wasn't the cause. Turns out I had a minor infection that time.

I've had my share of sucky doctors, but she was a decent one. Let me sort out my panic, and didn't assume it to be the cause of the problem - just a result of it.

[Zaiida]

Yup going to use a new bottle everytime now instead of every 2nd or 3rd. Either a few drops of glycerine got in or something flew in. I keep finding those little moths in everything. Usually I'm pretty good about cross contaminates but I fucked up somewhere obviously. My syringes are labelled for each specific use but in all likelyhood I used a glycerine one in the water without paying attention and it was from that.

Anyway, guess who got the summer cold and the gastro bug that's been floating around? Yup, good old me. Got it from the Doctor's office. Sigh. It's going to be a rough week. Punishment I suppose for being a right twit.

[AccountingDrone]

There is [normally] no nutrient component in distilled water, so it should not 'get moldy' simply because it was nearing the use by date. You are cross contaminating your source bottle with whatever tools you are using. I would recommend that either you get the small 8 oz pods and discard/drink the rest after you tap off however much you need to fill *or* wash and sterilize a smaller vessel, pour off a suitable amount and reseal the source bottle.

[Zaiida]

It was distilled bottled water. Apparently I had bought a batch that was too close to it's use by date and didn't notice the mould until a filling syringe came back totally filled with white ickyness, yucky.

I'm already hating the xanax. I'm not liking this at all, this feeling of being spaced out and not caring. It's handy until this is over and at most if this anxiety is to be a semi perminant thing I'll switch to something else recommended by my doc. This is mainly for panic about a specific thing, it'll ease off then I'll ease off. I don't like sleeping the day away just not caring. I've spent too long getting myself weaned off psyc drugs which made me feel this way to go back to it again I like thinking, caring and being able to function with my brain. Hell, even my typing has gone to shittier than normal and I can't seem to think too well. It took forever to write the origional post.

Whatever this infection is stared back in 2012 before the mouldy water. I have been getting sick constantly so it has been something I haven't been able of shake off so this is a last resort. I can't seem to clear it on my own. I don't ask or take antibiotics lightly, it's hell for me on them.