The Generic Support Group Thread
 

I don't start many threads on The Cellar. Mostly, it is because I don't have so much to say that I can't figure a way to append it to an existing thread. However, after much pondering of a recent thread courtesy of Brianna (found here), I decided that Cellar Dwellars needed a place where they could share their foibles, problems and existential disasters with each other, and possibly receive some sympathy, suggestions or other support for same. I have placed it under "Health", because, after all...isn't it our Mental Health that we need to bolster when we are sharing with others?

In other areas of The Cellar, we often find that those who aren't fat, depressed, unemployed, alcoholic, psychotic, parents of crazy children or otherwise afflicted with the less joyous attributes of this wacky thing we call Life, can be a bit put off by our whining about our woes. With "The Generic Support Group Thread", this is all solved. Those with whine-sensitive sensibilities can avoid this thread and thus save us from being told that we suck when we have something to say about the shit sandwich we are currently eating, without us having to pretend that it tastes like yummy jam and peanut butter. Those who have need of the odd "helping hand" can find safe haven here, and those who don't can continue to project the outcome of the next presidential election.

So...here it is. Piss and Moan Central. Let 'er rip! I'll even start us out:

Beginning last week, my right wrist started hurting like a bitch for no apparent reason. I'm not positive, but I think my chiropractor may have caused it during an adjustment. Now, the current work week is so busy that I have had no chance to get back to his office, and it still hurts. What worries me is that I already have arthritis, and what if this is just a new arthritis-hurty place? Why would it start so suddenly, with no previous symptoms? Has anyone else experienced this?

I think this is a great idea, Patrick! Bitch and moan central - anyone who doesn't want to read "whiney" posts be forewarned and stay away!

I could have put all my "ax murderer" posts in this thread!

Anyhow, I'm sorry to hear about your wrist. Its spooky to start having pain like that for no real apparent reason. Is it possible that you are experiencing some sort of carpel tunnel thing due to all your years of playing guitar? This happened to the ax murderer who ended up all but quitting playing, as a result.

Hope the pain goes away soon and you figure out what caused it. :confused:

I'd buy that. My mother took me to a chiropractor religiously as a child/adolescent, as long as I can remember really, and she always told me it was to help my pretty much constant sciatica and back pain. A couple weeks after I finally refused to go anymore, all the pain went away and it has never come back.

I've got tendinitis/bursitis in my left shoulder. Had an MRI and it turned out not to be a rotator cuff tear. I'm very slowly regaining some range of motion using heat then ice and lots of ibuprofen then more ice... Still hurts like hell and have difficulty sleeping :( . I'm contemplating a cortisone injection(s) but am still on the fence about it.

I had some sort of shoulder inflamation/injury, and I had a shot of cortisone with lidocaine. It really didn't hurt much to have it done, and it basically cured my problem. I'd do it again.

I have pains in my joints of my hands (wrist and fingers). It originally started when I was taking typing classes on high school on these small Apple keyboards. The pain can also be in my arms. I've had this pain for years. I've never seen a doctor about it. Normally when the pain gets severe enough I stop doing for a while what I was doing (typing, using a mouse). Stretching exercises with my hands help (sometimes).

Oh yeah, me too. I have utterly severe and chronic tendonitis in my right forearm, and for the last three months or so it has increased to a constant soreness in my shoulder. When I keep my wrist and forearm in one position for a long time, it cramps up. I blame bad mouse position. Never have your mouse in such a position that you have to reach out for it.

Being a frequent computer user as well as a lifelong guitarist undoubtedly complicates my hand numbness/pain/stiffness, but the chiropractic really has helped ease it quite a lot. When I miss my weekly visit, my hands are much worse than they would be otherwise after I've been adjusted.

The problem apparently originates primarily in my lower neck/upper back, and is due to some nerve compression and/or damage. I had a nerve conduction study done a few weeks ago that confirmed this diagnosis. I almost certainly have additional complicating factors such as carpal tunnelling and tendonitis.

My arthritis is under control finally, with hardly any swelling and very few days where I wake up with a joint not working.

But I'm having bouts of depression. This isn't one of the listed side effects of the medicine, but I can't help but wonder. We're talking several consecutive days of not giving a shit -- not doing anything constructive at work, having to take sominex to sleep at night, loss of appetite, feelings of hopelessness. You know the drill. It'll go away after 3 weeks or so, then return.

I'm able to disconnect from it logically so that I recognize it for what it is, so you won't be reading about my suicide. But I need to go to the doctor and see what's up. wolf, you've seen alot of this, diagnose me.

What kind of arthritis and which medicine, MN?

I. Hate. My. Job.

I have had menial jobs before; this isn't one of them. It isn't tedious, nor is it under-paying. Instead, the main problem is that I find myself seething with frustration and anger every single day. This is a desk job where the entire set of expectations put upon me is unreasonable. I am currently running 16 different (tiny) projects. My deadlines are usually less than a week after I receive my materials. The company is chronically staffed at about half of what it needs, and it is my job to "find" a programmer to do the tasks necessary to complete the project. Nevermind that I don't understand the tasks myself, and I am forced to simply present random people with archived code and say "Do you know what to do with this information?" When everyone is inevitably booked for the entire week, I am blamed for not scheduling them 3 weeks ago, before I had ever heard of the project. Then I have to hand the task off to an outsourcing company in fucking Argentina, and ride their asses every couple of hours to make sure that they didn't mistranslate "I need this by 5:00 PM my time zone" as "Eh, get around to it sometime next week, whenever."

One of the reasons we are chronically understaffed is I am not the only one who understands how much this company sucks, and our turnover is ridiculously high. I have been there one year, and there are only 5 people with seniority over me--all executives. (The only reason I made it this long is I've only been doing this shit-work for the last couple of months; prior to that I was merely an audio contractor, and was blissfully unaware of the general workings of the company. But I foolishly thought, "Hey, extra money, sure, I'll take on a few unrelated tasks in my spare time...") In fact, a programmer just quit today. She had been here for a grand total of a week. They made her a counter-offer, and she laughed in their faces and told them she was already taking a pay cut to get the hell out.

But I am essentially trapped, because I am pregnant. When the baby is born, I hope to stay home for an indeterminate number of months/years. I can't just go get another job, because no one will hire me with the understanding that I will be leaving in 6 months. (And no, I won't lie to them. That's the sort of bullshit stunt that gets women hired less often and at less pay than men, and I won't contribute to the problem.) BUT, I can't afford to just stop working entirely right now because I need to save up a buffer for after the baby's born. We can almost live on my husband's salary, but not quite. I could quit working in the shithole and just do temp work from now until then, but it is very hard to tell the practical side of me that it's worth it to get paid 2/5ths what the shit-company is paying me (like I said, they pay me very well. Because they're desperate to keep me.) I figure my only real option is to just suck it up for the next 6 months, and then take my permanent maternity leave and never look back.

So that's my whine-fest. I know everyone hates their job, but I really can't stand mine.

Sounds like you're right ... whether it's from the medication you've been given, or your own reactions to the chronic pain (which can be depression or depressive like).

Tell the dude with the script pad.

I betcha nobody threw shit at you today. And you probably get to take a lunch.

See, somebody's job is always worse.

P.S. Try this book.

The stress is not good for you or the baby. On the bright side there is a light at the end of the tunnel...and you can see it.
Chill out...if you can meet the deadlines with what they give you, great. If you can't, fuck it, you tried.
If they don't like it, what are they going to do, fire you? Then nothing will get done at all, so I don't think so.
Replace you? Sounds like that's not likely.
Bitch? Tell them why you couldn't do it.
Do the best you can but don't jeopordize the health of you and yours. :thumb:

Alas, no. Most of the time I end up having ramen out of the vending machine because I inevitably want to sleep later rather than pack a lunch. Either way, I'm expected to walk around the office carrying my food while I work. But it's true, I have never had bodily substances of any kind on me at work.

That's the one thing I keep telling myself, and it usually works to relax me. I just have to get over that fundamental desire to always overachieve. :)