Chronic fatigue syndrome - CFS

Definition:

"Chronic fatigue syndrome refers to severe, continued tiredness that is not relieved by rest and is not directly caused by other medical conditions."

Basically, it's a condition where you're tired all the time.  Where you have no energy, and find day to day tasks like chores and very basic exercising to be extremely hard a fatiguing.

In extreme instances, as I experienced earlier, it can make your limbs, usually targeting the arms, weak and lead-like, as though the very thought of lifting your arm sounds like an unbearable task.  This can also be referred to as leaden paralysis.

When I was dealing with this, I felt like some had wrapped arm weights all up and down my arm, and no matter how much I shook them, they remained on and weighed me down something terrible.  As I'm typing this, the symptoms have lessened, but I still feel like it's a bit of chore to move my arms, but thankfully not so much my fingers for the actually typing.  Still sucks since I'm about to do a weeks worth of backed up dishes.

Over-all, my chronic depression has been a big part of the reason I suffer so badly from CFS, and why I tend to have the 'heavy-limb' symptom occur from time to time.

The main symptom of CFS is extreme tiredness (fatigue), which is:

• New
• Lasts at least 6 months
• Not relieved by bed rest
• Severe enough to keep you from participating in certain activities

Other symptoms include:

• Feeling extremely tired for more than 24 hours after exercise that would normally be considered easy
• Feeling unrefreshed after sleeping for a proper amount of time
• Forgetfulness
• Concentration problems
• Confusion
• Joint pain but no swelling or redness
• Headaches that differ from those you have had in the past
• Irritability
• Mild fever (101 degrees F or less)
• Muscle aches (myalgias)
• Muscle weakness, all over or multiple locations, not explained by any known disorder
• Sore throat
• Sore lymph nodes in the neck or under the arms

 Treatments generally include therapy of various degrees, diet changes, and/or medication prescriptions.  At the moment, I am on depression medication, have been for about 4 years now, but beyond that, have no money to purchase any food that was be deemed even somewhat healthy, and have no health insurance to receive any therapy.

However, if you feel like you suffer from a good handful of the symptoms listed above and aren't stuck in a situation like myself, go to the doctor.  See what they can do for you, there's never a reason to deal with a condition like this when there are possible treatments out there that can work for you.

DeviantArt and YouTube

If there's ever a time where I am just dead bored, can't think of a thing to do online, I'll generally just go to one of these websites.  They're one of the many places available where when you click on one thing, you are just bound to find something else in the suggested content on the side you'll want to click on.

And then another click.

One more click.

2 hours later...

You end up in that weird part of youtube or looking at art that kind of makes you 'wtf', and over-all just wonder how you got to these places.

Beyond that, I find both sites to be incredibly helpful.  If I ever get the sudden spirit to draw, I'm always jumping on deviant art for examples, how-to guides, and possible pieces to help influence what I want to do.

Need a make-up tutorial?  Want to know how to do something specific to a specific type of car?  Don't know what to make for dinner?  YouTube has the answer for all that more!  While there's likely a lot more 'wtf' videos on YouTube than actual helpful, informative ones, the latter still exist as long as you're willing to search for them.

Personally, I don't upload videos to youtube simply because the only thing I would ever really videotape is my cats.  And we all know how much cats rule the internet as it is.

Still, here's pretty much the only video I've ever uploaded to youtube:

Making Friends on League

To be completely honest, I'm a pretty anti-social introvert.  I don't care much for actually talking to people, and am completely content just sitting in the same room as my boyfriend.  Pretty much, I crave human interaction, but usually not a very direct fashion.

In result, I think the friends that I have made through League are the best kind of friends, considering I'm very selective on who I deem a 'friend'.  No excessive cursing, no excessive raging, and they can't be a complete bore when talking about anything that isn't League related.  Pretty much the friendlier, considerate part of League are the people I care to interact with beyond one game.

As mentioned back in my original League of Legends post, I actually have made one of my best friends through the game.

But Tal, there's so many toxic players in the community!

Trust me, I won't disagree with you there.  It seems like every other game you get one of the many types of toxic players, whether it's the quitter, rager, spammer, rude commenter, all chatter, etc.  That's why, when you do manage to pull a friend out of this group, it's like finding a gem among coal chunks.  You may have had to jump into a few volcanoes and swim across a few oceans it seems, but in the end, it's all worth it when you find them.

Sometimes, those gems end up being diamonds, like my best friend Calvin.  Met him a year and a half ago through some games we played with a group, and we ended up chatting and playing many more games together.  Now, that year and a half later, we play together on almost a daily basis, and more recently have felt prone to gifting apparently, no matter how much the other thinks they shouldn't.

None the less, check out the awesome mouse pad that was made and sent to me, by my best friend who I found through League!

I currently have a custom made set of prayer beads I've had made for him for a year, but between misplacing them, then finding them only to be dead broke and unable to send the beads, my return gift is gonna be coming hopefully sooner than later!

League Feature: Sky

Seriously, this guy is a genius for the League community.  He thoroughly understands the basics of winning matches, mostly pertaining to the emotional side of things and not necessarily the technical aspect.

Instead of listing out everything I know about the guy, and trust me, I've gotten to know quite a bit about him through his various videos and such, I'll just post his 'draw my life' video he uploaded.

None the less, I really believe he's worked to make the League community a better place. I truly can't imagine someone could walk away from seeing his video and not be a more positive, less toxic player over-all.  His first video was from the perspective of his best position, being a jungle main.

Beyond that fantastic first video that really started to steam roll his League popularity, here are a few of my favorite videos thus far:

Yeah, my favorite videos give off the support players plight in its best way, so sue me.  Still, give this guy a look, subscribe to his youtube channel, hell, send him an email if you're a gay, white male that considers himself a bear.

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/gregskywilliams 
TUMBLR: http://gregskywilliams.tumblr.com/
FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/gregskywilliams
STREAM: http://twitch.tv/sky_mp3
EMAIL: Gregidot@gmail.com

Koolaid!

So I asked my boyfriend for what to write about tonight, and he said 'Koolaid!'  So, I said 'Sure!' and said he was kidding.

I'm not.

So here's my amazing post all about the wonders of the cheap, tasty drink packets called koolaid.

Vintage Koolaid advertisement from 1937

Preparation

Currently, I use the Rubbermaid 3.8L pitcher, similar to this one:

Except mine is purple.

 In order to fill the entire pitcher, I use 2 koolaid packets, approx. 2 cups of sugar ( sometimes I skimp just a little ), and then fill it with water up to just under where the bottom of the lid sits when it's on.  Mix it good, cool it or add ice cubes ( add a little less water to compensate ), and serve, simple as that!

When you're making the koolaid, do not be afraid to mix and match flavors!  Trial and error is always the way to go to find out which flavors you like the most together, but from personal experience, I've always loved mixing a basic fruit flavor with basic lemonade.  Grape lemonade, orange lemonade, and my personal all-time favorite, black cherry lemonade.  Yum!

Flavors

Original ( 6 )

Cherry, Grape, Lemon-Lime, Orange, Raspberry, Strawberry

Singles ( 9 )

Black Cherry, Tropical Punch, Lemonade, Pink Lemonade, Rhubarb, Cherry, Watermelon, Orange, Summer Punch

Sugar-Free ( 8 )

Double Double Cherry, Triple Awesome Grape, Lemonade, Soarin' Strawberry Lemonade, Tropical Punch, Raspberry, Watermelon, KiwiLime

Water ( 5 )

Jamaica, Mandarina-Tangerine, Mango, Tamarindo, Piña-Pineapple

Worldwide or No Longer Available ( 68 )

Apple, Berry Blue, Bunch Berry, Blastin' Berry Cherry, Blue Berry Blast, Candy Apple, Cherry, Cherry Cracker, Chocolate, Cola

Eerie Orange, Frutas,Vermelhas, Golden Nectar, Grape, Grape Blackberry, Grape Tang, Melon Mango, Strawberry Splash, Great Blueberry

Great Blue-dini, Groselha, Guaraná, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, Incrediberry, Kickin-Kiwi-Lime, Kolita, Lemon, Lemonade, Lemonade Sparkle

 Lemon-Lime, Lime, Man-o-Mangoberry, Mango, Mountainberry Punch, Oh-Yeah Orange-Pineapple, Orange, Orange Enerjooz, Peach, Pina-Pineapple

Pink Lemonade, Pink Swimmingo, Purplesaurus Rex, Rainbow Punch, Raspberry, Roarin' Raspberry Cranberry, Rock-a-Dile Red, Root Beer, Scary Black Cherry, Scary Blackberry

Sharkleberry Fin, Slammin' Strawberry-Kiwi, Soarin' Strawberry-Lemonade, Strawberry, Strawberry Falls Punch, Strawberry Split, Strawberry-Raspberry, Sunshine Punch, Surfin' Berry Punch, Tangerine

Tropical Punch, Watermelon-Cherry, Shaking Starfruit, Watermelon, Solar Strawberry-Starfruit, Arctic Green Apple, Swirlin' Strawberry-Starfruit, Lemon Ice

Top 5 Things To Do With Koolaid

1. Drink it

Obvious, but it had to make the list since it's the most basic and well known thing to do.

2. Clean Your Dishwasher

Found this handy tip that I was quite surprised with.  Take a packet of unsweetened lemonade kool-aid, dump it into the soap compartment, and run the washer.  Haven't had a chance to test it out myself, but apparently when you open that sucker up after its cycle, it'll be sparkly and clean.

3. Dye Your Hair

Choose your color, preferably a bright one, preferably non-sweetened since it works better with your hair.  Mix enough water with it to make into a sticky paste, and with a tip I didn't know until now, mix a few drops of hair conditioner with it to help it stick to your hair when applied.  Thoroughly coat the desired sections of hair, wrap in plastic, and wait one century.  AKA, the longer you wait, the more dense and bright the color will be!

4. Freeze It

Whether you put toothpicks inside the water before putting it inside the freezer to make popsicles, or just freeze them for some drink flavor altering, tasty ice cubes, freezing the koolaid you made can make everything tasty.

5. Make Lip Stain

All you have to do here is moisten your finger, dip it in the respective koolaid color packet you have, and rub it on your lips!  Once they're coated, gets a q-tip damp and run it over the koolaid to even out any bumps or clumps of powder and to really set the color in.  Then go kiss someone so they can enjoy it too!

Try and make sure they're willing though, it always helps.

Phobias: Not to be taken lightly!

Everybody and their uncle says they have a phobia of something these days.  Whether they get squeamish around blood or jump a little when they see a spider, usually, they do not have a phobia of whatever they're scared of.

Scaredy Cat!

Here is the exact definition of what a phobia is:

" an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. "

 So that getting squeamish or jumping a little around particular things is not a phobia.  If blood made you hyperventilate and possibly pass out, your own or someone elses, then you may have a phobia.  If you go to great lengths, spending days if not weeks and tons of money in riding your house of spiders to make sure you never see one in your' safe place', then you may have phobia.

Famous Phobias

List was found here.

• Andre Agassi (Tennis Player) – spiders
• Muhammad Ali (Boxer) – flying
• Napoleon Bonaparte (General) – cats
• Charles Darwin (Naturalist) – blood
• Agnetha Faltskog (ABBA singer) – heights
• Kelly Osbourne (TV Presenter) – being touched
• Nicole Kidman (Actress) – moths/butterflies
• Madonna (Singer) – thunder
• Andy Warhol (Artist) – hospitals
• Jennifer Love Hewitt (Actress) – monsters under bed
• David Beckham (Footballer) – disorder
• Pamela Anderson (Actress) – mirrors
• Christina Ricci (Actress) – houseplants  
• Sigmund Freud (Psycho-Analyst) – birds
• Alfred Hitchcock (Film Director) – eggs
• Kim Basinger (Actress) – outdoors
• Johnny Depp (Actor) – clowns
• Carmen Electra (Actress) – water 

My Phobias

Currently, I suffer from two phobias, both of which would make the eventual reality of becoming pregnant a complete hell.

Aichmophobia

" Fear of needles or pointed objects "

I've had this since I was a youngin'.  I remember all the way back to one of my first vaccinations of panicking with my mother in the waiting room.  Next memory, biting my dentist, hard, when the time came for the novicaine needle.  I was hyperventilating and crying and biting and it was just a mess.

Currently, even as a 24 year old female, I will still hyperventilate, panic, and cry my eyes out for a good 10 minutes before taking the plunge.  Even then, the last time I had to have blood drawn, I did all that, plus the nurse took me to a private room, called in another nurse, and they held my hand and talked to me for a good 15 more minutes until I was able to let them do it.

Occasionally, this will even apply to knives, usually ones that wouldn't belong in the kitchen.  Aggravatingly, my boyfriend owns a bunch of novelty daggers and the such like any young man, and I usually leave the room or freak out and ask him to stop messing with them if he pulls them out in my vicinity.

Emetophobia

" Fear of vomiting "

This one came with my depression oddly enough.  Only when I started feeling the early parts of the onset of my depression, did the idea of vomiting absolutely terrify me.  Paired with my horribly sensitive stomach that had constant indigestion through out the last few years of high school, my phobia only got stronger and stronger.

If I feel like I am going to possibly throw up, I will start panicking, taking medication like pepto or tums religiously, and as the feeling gets stronger, crying and hyperventilating.  I know all of that just makes the likelihood of throwing up even worse, but ones brain isn't exactly rational while suffering from a phobia.  My panic will get exponentially worse if I feel like I'll be alone while throwing up, making feeling remotely ill at work a huge problem since I consider that being alone.

Other Phobias

Of course the ones I mentioned for myself or even the celebrities is far from a complete list.  Here's a few common ones, and a little less known phobias.

Common

Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders

Acrophobia - Fear of heights

Claustrophobia - Fear of small or enclosed spaces

Misophobia - Fear of germs or contamination with dirt

Achluphobia - Fear of darkness

Uncommon

Neophobia - Fear of newness

Omniphobia - Fear of everything

Eleutherophobia - Fear of freedom

Hedonophobia - Fear of feeling pleasure

Levophobia - Fear of things to the left side of the body