u/AmazingPalpitation34

i just wanted to start a thread for any incoming freshmen to ask questions about life at UTC! i’m a senior who has also lived in chattanooga my entire life. i’m a double major in the arts and sciences college, and my partner graduated from here a year ago with his BSEE.

i’d like to think i know a lot of the ins and outs of UTC and chatt as a whole, and wanted to see if i could ease anyone’s mind about their first year. i know i could have used it when i was a freshman, especially if you don’t want to make a whole post for a question. ask anything about anything, and anyone else feel free to answer as well :)

my first year of college, i (then 18F, now 21F) very suddenly had a slew of fevers and other strange symptoms that forced me to drop out of school temporarily. looking back i have always been curious as to what on earth this medical event have possibly been, as i never got an answer. i saw a rheumatologist, infectious disease specialist, gynecologist, oncologist, etc. and not a single one of them had a clue. they threw words around like leukemia and lyme disease, most just said potentially stress induced, but i never got a answer before the symptoms just went away (so it definitely wasn’t leukemia or lyme disease since it stopped lol). today i am turning to reddit in hopes that maybe someone has seen a similar case or has some insight. here’s the rundown:

from february to june 2024, i had 14 total separate fevers that ranged from 2 days long to a week each, with at least one day of normalcy in between fevers, with usually around 5 or 6 days between them. the highest temperature i had was 104, the lowest was 101. every time i had a fever, i was practically bed-bound, usually unable to keep down food due to nausea or walk without help (i lost at least 10 pounds those months, from 120 to 110 or maybe less). it felt like a normal fever, specifically with body aches and fatigue, but with no other sickness symptoms like a sore throat, runny nose, etc. however, the fevers would always end super abruptly and i was back on my feet quickly and felt normal until the next one started.

these months i also had sudden onset arthritic symptoms, specifically in my knees and hands/fingers. i would also bruise like crazy, bumping into something even lightly would result in a baseball sized purple patch on an appendage. i would also frequently get swollen lymph nodes in my groin and neck, and had i think 2 or 3 UTI’s during this period as well. all of these symptoms ceased after the last fever stopped in june, and i’ve been free of it since.

i never had a positive covid test, nor did anything else viral test positive. no positive STI’s, with normal bloodwork and lipid panel other than a severe deficiency in vitamin D (which i now supplement). i had a CT scan of my abdomen and chest, and they did find that my spleen was enlarged (i looked at my results from that day, it says “splenomegaly, craniocaudal length measuring up to 16.6 cm” if that means anything). i had normal menstrual cycles, and i wasn’t on any medication nor am i allergic to anything. i am diagnosed with POTS and have had it for over 6 years, but none of this lined up with my usual POTS symptoms.

i know it’s a long shot that anyone has any clue what this could have been, especially since it eventually ceased, but let me know if you have any questions or if i missed anything critical to the puzzle and i can look back at the doctor’s notes i that i’ve held onto. thanks in advance!

i was officially diagnosed with POTS when i was 14, and i just turned 21. i used to faint/fall at least a few times a week when i was a teen, i had an extremely high heart rate (resting at around 120, always scaring my pediatrician), insane fatigue, and more. around the time i started college, i finally found the magic recipe to manage my symptoms (at least 70oz of water a day, salt tablets, sleep schedule, electrolytes, light exercise, beta blockers for my heart rate, and a specific diet), and i haven’t fainted or fallen since, with my other symptoms getting slightly better over the years.

it used to be that if i forgot a step of my usual regimen, i could tell. i would be so incredibly tired and dizzy, etc, etc. but recently, as in the last year, i’ve noticed that my symptoms have gotten so, so, so much better, even when i don’t stick to every step of my usual maintenance routine. i was even able to stop my beta blocker with permission from my cardiologist. thank goodness!

long story short, my overarching question is can you completely, totally outgrow POTS? i know you can outgrow it to an extent, but does anyone have any stories of hope that one day i will be completely symptom free? i have struggled for so many years and i hope i wont have to worry about it at all once i start trying for a family. i’m holding hope. thanks in advance <3

i’ve been clean from over 10+ years of pulling as of last year. my head hair finally grew back (i had it fully buzzed as a teen and now it’s past my shoulders! pinch me!) but my eyebrows have not had the same regrowth success. i’ve been using the rapidbrow serum from amazon which has definitely helped a whole bunch, but my brows are still thinner and more sparse than they used to be. i just ran out of this tube, so i was wondering if anyone has any holy grail products/serums/oils/etc that thickened their brows, before i rebuy this one. i have accepted that they probably will never get back to the thickness they were when i was a kid, but since this product worked quite well, i’m willing to try others too! thanks in advance!!! :)

My partner collects cameras and has had a SONY Cyber Shot DSC-T99 on his wishlist for a while. Its a cheap little thing, pocket sized, but enough to make memories with. I went ahead and ordered one for his upcoming birthday from a sweet Ebay seller in Japan. Unfortunately they didn't disclose in the listing that the model is language-locked to Japanese, and there's no way (at least to my knowledge) to switch it to English. I'm not the most well-versed in photography or cameras, but I don't want to spoil his gift to him to ask if he'll even use it if he'll have to Google Translate every button when he wants to change the settings.

If this were a gift for you, would you not mind the language barrier every once and a while to change the settings? Or should I go ahead and return it within the return window? Or, is there a secret way that I'm unaware of to switch it to English? Thanks in advance!

this feels like a mandela effect. i grew up with my mom always saying she went to high school with usher. i remember googling this fact a few years ago, and it said he only went there for a year or two. he was a grade or so below her, she was class of ‘92. i googled it today and there is ZERO information about usher ever attending ooltewah, and it says he moved to atlanta at age 12. even my dad remembers this fact. if anyone has any info on this plz let me know. maybe i’m misremembering. i’m going crazy.

if you have any objections or suggestions i’m dying to hear them!

girls:
Marley Jane
Eleanor Claire
Blaire Elizabeth
Georgia Faye
Mira Blaire
Abigail June

boys:
Henry Cole
Bailey James
Christopher Lane (Kit for short)
Simon Park
Jonah Reid

Elizabeth, Faye, Cole, and James are family names, but still open to criticism on those too. For added context, the last name starts with an E.

i’m a UTC student about to start my summer classes in a couple weeks and i’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions of places you enjoy bringing a laptop to do school/work at that’s not exclusively a coffee shop! just looking for somewhere quiet with seating. i’m trying to cut back on caffeine and don’t want to tempt myself haha