u/CaptainMacAlfie

Species: cat

Sex: female spayed

Age: around 9 years

Weight: 11lbs

I've had my cat since she was a kitten since she was from an accidental litter from another cat I had at the time and other than being spayed at a mobile spay and neuter clinic she's had no vet care at all. I live in a very rural farm area so the mentality of most people is if the animal isn't sick it doesn't need to see the vet but I'm currently in school to be a vet tech and it's making me realize my cat desperately needs a check up and vaccines.

I know rabies will be needed and FVRCP but are there other vaccines she should be getting? Also any specific blood tests I should get? I know I should get her kidney values checked because of how common kidney disease is my family actually just lost a cat a couple years ago to it and that's why I'm really trying to catch any issues early before anything pops up.

My family is a bit a tight on money and I don't have tons myself so I'm trying to avoid doing anything unnecessary but she's been without vet care for so long and exposed to who knows what outside that I want to try to get her all the important care she'll need. I'm asking here what to expect so I can get a loose idea of cost and know what to prepare for to make sure me and my family have enough to cover it all. I will be talking with my local vet next week about this all too but thought it would be worth making a post on here just so I can start preparing for what the range the cost might be and figure out how much money I'll need to borrow from my parents for it

I live with a lot of other people and rarely get quiet time when I can focus anymore. I usually use asmr with no talking as a way to chill out my brain and focus but it just doesn't drown out other sounds how I want it to so I'm trying to find other suggestions.

I've tried white noise and brown noise but found both seemed to trigger my migraines for some reason or were just too boring to keep me from being distracted. I found matching up soundtracks to books I'm reading fun but I read a lot of different stuff and right now it's been a lot of nonfiction which is harder to try and find stuff to match the vibes of so I'm trying to find stuff that's more neutral vibe-wise but still interesting enough to help keep my brain engaged.

My mom was diagnosed with fibromyalgia years ago and is also suspicious she has chronic fatigue and/or some sort of autoimmune disorder of some kind as she has tons of random non specific symptoms that she has no answer for. I'm 20 now and starting to have some similar symptoms but I'm trying to sort out if it is fibromyalgia or something else (or if I'm just dramatic and it's all normal symptoms)

I don't really get any pain for no reason besides random little brief shoots that kinda feel like bug bites and could be but I never seem to find what bit me. I'm constantly tired and naturally would sleep 10+ hours a night if I don't have an alarm or if something else doesn't wake me. Constantly moving and fidgeting but that could be ADHD. Very sensitive to hot and cold temperatures (usually cold but get random face flushing, hands and feet always cold, cold weather is painful and I struggle to warm up). If I sit on the ground my feet and legs go numb within a couple minutes no matter what position they are in and I need to move them. Also have cardiovascular symptoms like tachycardia and hypertension but that might be from my dad's bad genetics as his whole family has heart issues.

All of this makes me suspicious I could be developing fibromyalgia but I also am still young and in good health so I'm hesitant to fully believe that's what it is. I may also be slightly in denial since I know how debilitating this is for my mom and I can't imagine having to go through all of that myself. All of my blood work over the years has been normal so I have no answer for why I constantly feel off and can't seem to function like regular people do and I'm at the point that I just need to find new directions to look for answers.

I'm having horrible seasonal allergies right now that are being made worse by a new beta blocker I started so I sound like I have a horrible cold but it's been this way for weeks and I can tell it's allergies by how itchy and irritated everything feels rather than just the sore and full feelings I get with a real cold. The issue is I start an internship tomorrow and I'd feel terrible going in sounding like this as some people have people they know with compromised immune systems and I don't want them to assume I'm actually sick and just being selfish by still going.

I'm taking cetirizine daily which helps a little but my nose is still super runny to where I'm sniffling every few minutes and my throat is super scratchy and mucusy so my voice is a little hoarse and I have a mild cough. I've thought of going out to get a nasal spray but also am hesitant to since I don't want to end up getting a dependence on them as I've already gone through that a couple years ago and it was rough. Are there any other treatments that tend to work well for masking the more obvious signs of allergies? Most antihistamines make me drowsy which wouldn't be great either as I need my brain to be awake and working as best it can but cetirizine on its own right now really isn't doing much.

I've had had heart and and blood pressure for basically my whole life which I just assumed was just my normal as that's what every doctor had told me but the past 6 months I've had increasing fatigue, brain fog, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and muscle pain which is making me think there is something more going on.

On top my that one of my uncles just recently had a sudden cardiac arrest and another of my uncles collapsed and needed a pacemaker put in. My dad also has a pretty significant history of heart trouble so that has me a bit extra worried about what could be going on. I got a new primary care doctor a few months ago and initially she seemed to fully understand my worries and did a 7 day holter monitor test which showed my average HR to be 109, highest got to 179, and I had a 68% tachycardia burden but when she reviewed the results she just sent me a message through the patient portal that everything looked fine. I was on metoprolol the whole week I took the test so I really don't think those results are normal but when I told her that she just upped me dose which now has given me tons of dizziness and constantly being cold while my HR still spikes up to over 100 when I'm not doing anything.

I've given up on getting anywhere with her because of how dismissive she was and I really just don't want to have to fight to be heard so I just gave up on everything medical for awhile. My dad is pretty worried about the results though and has kept pushing me to talk to a cardiologist so after some searching I found someone local who said they didn't require a referral to see but of course when I call I get told he does require a referral and every doc in that office already has 20+ patients on the waitlist so no chance of me seeing anyone any time soon.

I live in super rural northern NY so there's very few options near me and they all either aren't taking new patients or have months to years long wait times. I literally just want to figure out what's wrong with me and to find some way to make my body not feel like it's falling apart but every time I think I get somewhere with it something always happens that stops me. I know I probably could try asking my primary care doc again for a referral but I don't even know how to start that convo and it's not going to help the crazy wait times right now. It's ridiculous it's this hard to get basic medical care for what could be a very serious heart condition but I just can't find anyone who will take me seriously and actually look into it. Instead they all just say my body must run fast and that I just need to exercise and eat better but I'm doing just about as much as my body can handle for exercise and it's not made a difference.

I (F20) have had issues pretty much my whole life with tachycardia and hypertension. My heart rate is almost never under 100bpm unless I'm on meds and even then still is usually above 100. I live a pretty healthy lifestyle and try to get at least a little exercise in daily and eat a good diet as well as getting enough water. The past year I've had a pretty significant increase in symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and cold hands and feet which are impacting my life and making it hard for me to keep up in college.

I took propranolol for awhile but it really didn't make much difference so my PCP put me on metoprolol which worked for a week then my HR and BP went back up to normal so she upped my dose which now keeps it closer to normal but it's made my shortness of breath much worse. I've had basic blood work, an EKG, and a 7 day holter monitor test which all came back normal other than the tachycardia so my PCP dismissed it and said I'm fine.

My family has a pretty significant history of heart issues though like I have one uncle who just suddenly passed away from cardiac arrest and another who collapsed and needed a pacemaker and my dad had a heart attack at 34 and nearly had another last year so I'm a bit on edge about my health. I don't know if maybe it's just health anxiety and I really am fine or if it's warranted to try to schedule an appointment with a cardiologist. I don't want to waste anyone's time if this isn't something serious but with my family history I'm hesitant to just ignore it.

I got an IPad A16 and apple pen from the campus store at my college with the left over campus cash I had since I figured it would be nice to have a tablet style device just in general but also for taking notes during lectures and studying. I'm looking for an app or a way of having both a note taking area and to be able to see the PowerPoints for the class. I'm very new to this style of device and the sort of apps I'm looking at so I really don't know what would work best. I just need something that's pretty quick and convenient to use that can replace using paper notebooks for every class.

I've been loving playing games on this device so far since it's the perfect size for me to be bigger and easier to see than my phone but not as bulky or inconvenient as playing on my laptop or PS5. I prefer games I can quickly pick up and play a couple minutes of then move on but are interesting enough to play for longer as well.