(warning: This is a boring, non-code-related blog post. As such, feel free skip ;-)
Well I have some even better news than my last blog post, through just a random idea I had (after seeing it online)...
Apparently I am, in essence, "allergic" to milk products. After going without milk for about 2 days, I realized my migraines were almost entirely gone. So now I am avoiding *anything* which contains milk in it (cheeses, chocolates, etc. etc.).
The issue was basically, that my diet used to consist largely of milk; that is, milk in the morning for cereal, milk for lunch, and milk with dinner with possibly some icecream ;-p
So now that I try to avoid everything which has milk in it, it's looking like my migraines are gone (I'm going to ease off some of this medication to verify it). I feel kind of silly for having to go through all of this when it was something as simple as drinking milk; no loss though, in the end I am happy about the direction this is going. But you would be surprised at how many products contain it, even. I took it for granted, it seems :)
I'm not really sure the whole story as to what this means, but it appears everything is getting quite good.
Now as an alternative to milk, I drink Rice Milk. Which is incidentally, not as bad tasting as one might think. In fact, I really enjoy the taste of it. It tastes almost like how milk tastes after I've had Rice Krispy's in the cereal. So I can now use this for breakfast. Good stuff, surprisingly.
Oh, I also upgraded my computer -- I went from a Core2Duo @ 2.6 GHz with 2 GiB of RAM, to an AMD Phenom II x6 @ 2.8 GHz (6 cores), 4 GiB of RAM, and a Raid-0 configuration. The performance jump is really amazing, and I'm quite happy I made the purchase. I did so on a budget too, and this CPU was the best high-end CPU that I wanted for a great price. Plus, I want to do my part in making sure that AMD stays a valid competitor to Intel, otherwise we...the consumer, are screwed ;-)
I even bought a cheap $20 Chiclet keyboard. You know, the kind that iMacs now ship with (iirc). Anyways, I'm really loving the feel of typing on it, it's very soothing to the fingers. For that price too, it is a good quality which I wasn't expecting. I'm glad I played Russian Roulette :)
I'm sure soon my life will be back to normal shortly, if the present course holds well. I'm currently doing some studying for finals week as well.
Well, back to coding.
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Aw, that's not so boring, given how much it will impact your near-future :) It's great to hear that you're feeling better, I can only imagine what a nightmare it must be to have a constant migraine for so long.
ReplyDeleteI also concur with your assessment of rice milk, stuff is delicious.
What brand/model is the keyboard that you bought?
@evergreenpsyche
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823204023
Hm, looks like it -just- went out of stock.
It's quite difficult to find a non-wireless keyboard or mouse, they're all going wireless. And who needs more batteries to charge, as well as lag times ;-)
@shaun
ReplyDeleteOh, nice, I've heard good things about that brand.
As far as wireless, some keyboards aren't that bad. The one I'm using currently, ironically a Microsoft keyboard, doesn't really have any noticeable lag (unless there are a few physical objects blocking the wireless receiver). And it runs for months (almost a year, even) on two AA rechargeable lithium batteries. Plus 2 more if you decide to use the wireless mouse as well.
I like Logitech's keyboard designs better, but most of their models seem to have horrible battery life relative to what I have now.
@evergreenpsyche
ReplyDeleteOh, that is a surprisingly long time for battery life.
Although some mice and keyboards are greatly affected by interference like Wifi routers and such, aren't they? (e.g. if they run on the 2.4/2.8 GHz...which some home phones run on as well).
Yeah, Logitech's designs are nice, but they also are quite pricey last I checked ;-)
@shaun:
ReplyDeleteThey are indeed expensive, but if I were to find one with great battery life, I'd probably be willing to spend it.
As for wireless interference -- I think devices on that spectrum are probably a little newer. Mine is around 4 or 5 years old, I believe.
I still keep a couple of wired keyboards on hand all the time. I use them when working for example, to keep focused by anchoring myself to the desk (as opposed to a couch or bed with wireless).
congratulations for finding the trigger. I am still looking for it :-(
ReplyDeleteHow did you get the idea that milk could be related?
Milk and wheat are probably the two things that a great amount of people should avoid (not both, but one or the other). If for you it's milk, your blood is probably type A (people with blood type 0 have problems with wheat).
ReplyDeleteYou might find interesting the book "Eat right for your type" by Peter D'adamo.
everyone should avoid milk, there's no reason at all for drinking it. There are a lot of dairy-free alternatives: soy, rice, almond, hemp, quinoa milk and 100% vegetal icecream and cheese
ReplyDeleteI'm very happy things are looking better for you! Indeed there are lots of alternatives for milk products. I don't use milk either, for moral and ecological reasons (I'm vegan). The only problem is that although you can easily make your food without milk, it's more difficult when you go to a restaurant or a dinner party...
ReplyDeleteLuis: I'm type O but I've no problems with wheat whatsoever. Nor with milk when I used to drink it, as long as I didn't take too much. You shouldn't believe when someone wants you to think things are more simple than they are.
Tuukka
BTW I like to advise you against raid 0. You are aware that if one of your disks goes bye bye you have pretty much lost everything that is larger than the stripe size of your raid. Nobody should be using raid 0 daily.
ReplyDeleteIs it really that inconvenient to just have two disks? The performance benefits are really tempered by the huge risk you're taking. If you must have speed go with something like raid 5 (but then you need a raid card as most MBs don't do raid 5).
@martin graesslin
ReplyDeleteHey Martin..well, I spent a bunch of time googling around for answers about migraines once I was diagnosed with them. But I kind of (unfortunately) just brushed aside the "triggers" section, because I tried to even go a day without milk but it didn't improve. I was under the impression that the response would be immediate, but it seems that it takes a full 1-3 days (depending on how much I had) for the trigger's effects to be entirely gone. So just a little while ago I figured why not give it another shot (I'm not sure why..guess I was really fed up with it that day ;). Then I found a list of possible triggers. Who would've thought that I could have migraines 24/7 everyday, but that explains it. I was drinking so much milk ;-)
@anonymous
Yeah, I can imagine it's more difficult, going to a restaurant and such. For example, I was thinking if I would be able to eat anything (e.g. pancakes, french toast) at Denny's, for example (love that breakfast place).
Also, doesn't cow milk provide some good nutritious values and such, e.g. certain chemicals in it help prevent coronary disease, iirc. I mean, this stuff is meant for baby calves, so I don't see how it'd be detrimental. Of course, it is the agriculture industry, so who knows what the heck they put in it.
@anonymous
Yes, I am fully aware that Raid-0 is so-called "dangerous to use".
First of all, yes it is inconvenient to have two separate disks...especially since it negates all performance benefits..which was what I was after.
Secondly, speeds in RAID-5 are often slower than 1 regular non-raid'ed disk.
Also, I wouldn't (and don't) be using/use a RAID card or motherboard support for raid, as it all sucks. RAID cards are ridiculously expensive, and software raid that isn't open source is complete shit. Just look at how shitty BIOS'es are in their present state. Now make them do important things like handle your precious data. Yeah. I'd be freaking scared.
I would also like to iterate that RAID is *not* a replacement for backups, so the whole "aargghh your data is on firez" is a bit moot, regardless of your setup ;-)
In other words, I am not worried about it at all because I am going to be backing up regularly. Specifically, I'd like to mention that the fact that I have 2 disks in RAID-0, if one of them dies..sure, my data would be gone. But then if I have 1 disk (which would be my setup, probably) without RAID, and it dies...I'd be fucked as well.
So I see no discernible difference.
Anyways, this is all purely hypothetical and is entirely negated with the fact that I am going to be backing everything up on a regular basis (which is something I should have done years ago anyways). Now I just have to find the time to set it all up ;-p
@martin graesslin
ReplyDeleteOh, I almost forgot. This is a list that I've been looking at as well. It appears to be quite parallel with my story and as such I've been following it. Clearly it is not a "medical journal" or anything like that ;-)
but it seems to be quite relevant to my "illness"(I suppose that's what it'd be called *shrug*)
http://www.saers.com/~craig/Migraines.html
watch this docu: Udderly amazing:
ReplyDeletehttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9014552245997479572#
http://amazingdiscoveries.tv/media/169/304-med-udderly-amazing/
Are dairy products good for us? For centuries, we have been led to believe that dairy products should form an essential component of our diets. However, it is well known that many nations are dairy-intolerant, and that even dairy-tolerant nations are subject to many allergenic responses to dairy products. New evidence implicates dairy in not only allergenic responses, but in potentially lethal diseases, such as osteoporosis, leukemia, diabetes, and many others. The latest scientific findings and their impact on our lifestyle choices are discussed.
@pvandewyngaerde
ReplyDeleteWow, that's really interesting. *bookmarks* I'll definitely have to let people know about how bad cow milk is for you.
There is a strong correlation between the ~30% of the adult population that can drink milk, and those who speak English. That is why you hear so much about Milk and how good it is for you in English.
ReplyDeleteTruth is adults do not need milk. (Babies need the milk from their mothers) However drinking milk is a useful way to get nutrients when other food sources are scarce (such as a European winter).
I wouldn't recommend soy or rice milk - both are highly processed. You don't need milk, and it isn't hard to learn to cook without it. I'd suggest you don't need most of the things you are putting milk on either.
In any case, it can sometimes take a month for the symptoms of allergic reactions to clear up. Good lucking finding what your body tolerates well.
@hank: Soy milk or rice do not need to be "higly processed". The net is full of recipes how to make your own soy or rice milk and they are exceptionally simple (just cook it and press the milk out). Of course some industrial producers might add some extra steps that you wouldn't like but that's the case with any product. I don't even get why you consider all "processing" harmful even if you don't know what kind of processing it is...
ReplyDeleteAbout whether milk is bad for you - There are some well-established health benefits of milk and also well-conducted studies indicating that a high consuption of milk increases the risk for Parkinson's disease or prostatic cancer (at least Wikipedia tells as much). It is not uncommon for a food to have both positive and negative health effects. For a balanced view, I wouldn't rely on a documentary that has a anti-milk agenda. They may cite studies that link milk to diseases but forget to mention any critique that the studies might have got within the research community. But I agree that given the large number of people that can't take milk for various reasons and the fact that milk is meant for infants of another species, it is at least clear that cow milk is not an indispensable part of a diet. There's likely to be an industry bias in the recommendations that tell you to drink milk all the time...
Tuukka