u/whatsAbodge

I got laid off a couple months ago and have been taking some recruiter calls and interviews. Ultimately, I’m optimistic, but all I can say is, things feel very different rn compared to anytime I’ve interviewed in the last 10 years.

Some things I’ve noticed:

-It seems everyone has forgotten about the chaos in tech over the last 6 years: Covid, rising interests rates, AI. I’ve unfortunately found myself at a string of start ups that didn’t have a business model that could weather higher interest rates or compete against new AI competitors. This means I have committed the great sin of having 3 employers over the last 5 years. Each recruiter I talk to has given me a steely eyed stare and asked me to explain myself. A few years ago, you didn’t have to do that…

-People think 2 months out of the job market is actually 2 years. I got laid off 2 months ago, but that hasn’t stopped recruiters from asking “oh did you even have a chance to use AI?”. Like WTF is wrong with these people. Of course I did… I didn’t just wake up from a coma.

-Another thing that I think is just a part of our new world - location bias. 2 years ago my wife and I decided to buy a house and start a family. We bought where we could afford, which in this economy meant buying a 2bd house 45 miles away from SF for 800k. It’s far, but it’s not that far. I’m willing to make the commute and that’s all that should matter. But try to explain the commute to some fresh faced recruiter who had only ever lived in SF or is remote and has never been to the Bay. To people like this, you basically live on the moon.

I know it’s a tighter job market and companies can be more selective, but the attitude is just so palpable these days. Anyways, good luck out there all!

Hey all,

I’ve been holding off on sharing until I could confidently say I’m cured, but it’s been 6 months since I’ve taken a new approach and my pain has gone away.

My FD pain (which at a time was diagnosed as gastritis - who knows…) was primarily RUQ. However it would sometimes also be LUQ and I’d sometimes feel it in my back. My pain would get up to a 7 out of 10 at times (most days it was a 4/5). I’d wake up feeling fine and then around 2pm the pain would start. Walking would make it worse. It really dictated my life…

Anyway, this went on for 5 years. I tried everything. PPIs, H2 blockers, antacids, sucralfate, slippery elm, peppermint / chamomile infusions, FD guard, breath work, cabbage cleanse, fasting, carnivore… I’m probably forgetting other things as well.

A couple years ago I spoke about my issue with a well respected integrative medicine doctor in the Bay Area who happened to be my neighbor. She mentioned that for her patients with gastritis she only recommends “water and breath work”. I was crazy offended by this as that time haha. It felt really dismissive to basically be told my issue could be fixed by air and water. But as the years went by that always stuck with me. So I tried breath work and drinking more water, which did nothing and I filed this “protocol” away in the back of my brain as another failed treatment. Then more time went by and I connected some dots. Things like peppermint and chamomile infusions before bed helped for a while - I got thinking - maybe it had nothing to do with the tea. Maybe it was the water…

So that got me thinking. If water (in the form of a tea infusion) on an empty stomach helped in the past. Then pure water should be just as good or better (I think tea can trigger acid which then works against you). And if 2-3 glasses before bed was helpful then that would stand to reason 2-3 glasses of water on an empty stomach 2-3 times a day would be more helpful.

So that’s what I did. I drank water on an empty stomach 2/3 times a day. I felt better within a week and have been basically cured for 6 months. I say basically because my pain is gone, but I do sometimes get a raw/numb feeling in that region, but that’s nothing compared to the pain I was dealing with.

Here’s my best explanation as to why this works. Water acts as a lubricant for the intestines. It helps push things along and keep inflammation low. However, if you’re drinking excess water while digesting you might just be adding water to your stomach, which increases the PH level, requiring the stomach to produce more acid to finish digesting, which then inflames your stomach. But water on an empty stomach works for you, not against you.