Are people saying that they are putting on weight, or really struggling to lose it as a result on the Thyroxine, or it is just the effect of the underlying hypo thyroidism?

If you’re taking thyroxine at the correct dose you should be no more susceptible to weight gain than the next person.

Tend to agree.

Thyroxine level effects weight indirectly in that it effects both the rate at which you burn fuel and your appetite. For the most part those who are underactive see their burn rate slow down more than their appetite and so gain weight and those who are overactive see the opposite effect, but I fairly regularly see exceptions to the rule.

Most people on replacement feel better if they are slightly over replaced rather than slightly under replaced. That may in part be because people tolerate being slightly hyper better than they tolerate being slightly hypo.

It also probably has something to do with the fact that we don’t usually know what normal for the individual is, only what the normal range for the population is. If you aim to get T4 in people on replacement in the top third of the normal range for the population there is a good chance that you are equalling or exceeding their body’s preferred level but in some individuals you may have to fine tune this a bit. Hope that makes sense.

T4 has a half life in the blood of 3-4 days and in any case acts as a floating reserve to be converted into T3 which then does most of the work. That means that you could take a double dose of thyroxine every other day, or a triple dose every 3 days and see no difference in overall function – please note that I don’t in any way recommend such an approach – but what this does mean is that you shouldn’t be worried if you take it an hour or two earlier or later.

I have no idea why anyone would be told not to take their thyroxine on the day they have a blood test. It can interfere with some thyroid scans but I know of no issue with the blood tests.

I am also a quack, and an endocrinologist by trade.

Other meds and food can interfere with the absorption from the gut and mean that you get a variable effect. In my experience it doesn’t seem to make a difference to some people but makes quite a lot to others. Don’t ask me to explain why that is.

http://www.btf-thyroid.org/%5B/url%5D is the website of the British Thyroid Founhdation and is a source of good advice. There are all kinds of websites out there advocating all sorts of remedies. The BTF’s page on falsehoods is a useful read but basically any website that tries to sell you a miracle cure or offers to send you a list of doctors who are prepared to see you privately is probably best avoided. Even if you don’t need it, treatment with thyroxine or steroids may make you feel “better” in the short term whilst stacking up trouble in the long term. Patient.co.uk is also a decent source of more general information and has sections about thyroid disease.

Thyroxine requirement does change with time, albeit slowly. Very, very occasionally people do benefit from replacement with T3 (tri-iodothyronine) instead of thyroxine, I’ve seen 3 in 30 years. People who have had total thyroidectomies usually need around 200-250 micrograms of Levothyroxine. Depending on how big the change in dose has been it can take anything from 3-4 weeks to 4-6 months for the body to adapt to the new dose and for symptoms caused by the change to settle down, so sometimes making frequent adjustments to the dose can perpetuate symptoms.

Yes, I would have gone wire version at that price but last week when I needed a tyre in a hurry nobody had that version in stock.

Rats.

Did you haggle the price down to cover the deficiencies?

Absolutely.

Survey cost around 400ukp IIRC, work needed was around 14k – mostly re roofing. Vendor went rather better than halves, it was a relocation company and they were getting desparate, and for a further 200ukp the surveyor then went onto project manage the work, deal with the planners/listed building officer including negotiating a grant for some of the work from the council. Without him the builders would have probably killed me on the extras, they continually grumbled that he was being unreasonable and in the end we got the house, with all the major structural repairs done, for within a few hundred of what we originally agreed. The house was immediately worth more than that because all the major stuff had been done.

Ah, a buyers market, those were the days.

I think it depends on the property. With a decent surveyor a homebuyers should show up any major problems. First time around in 30s 40s properties, the homebuyers was enough to avoid a money pit and find a good un.

Second time around, I had the advantage of a job where I get to meet a lot of people and spent about 6 months asking all the surveyors and builders I came across who they would get to survey a house if it was their money. 90% of them gave the same name – advantages of living in a rural area – and when I decided to buy a 200 year old listed building he got the gig. It was essentially a homebuyers done in some detail and spotted all the main issues. Caveats related to the fact that it didn’t test all the services fully – in fact the house was empty and they weren’t on – and although he stuck his nose in everywhere he didn’t make any holes in the fabric. He pointed me towards further specialist opinions as necessary and between them saved me about 10 times what they cost.

The valuation report done as part of the mortgage will most likely be very basic, no real use to you and is more about whether the lenders will get their money back ( but not your money back ) if it all goes belly up. In one case on a remortgage valuation the surveyor didn’t even enter the property.

If you know someone in the building trade/ have regular workmen who you trust then fine although the homebuyers may still seem a reasonable compromise if it makes you sleep better as someone has already said. Otherwise my advice is to try and find a decent surveyor and take his/her advice as to what needs to be done.

OK, had a reply from both the retailer and the importer for which much thanks if they read this. The importer says that having reviewed the maxxis literature and looked at the tyre sidewalls of all the tyres in the warehouse the 90kg limit appears on all tyres and is a tyre weight limit not a rider weight limit. They feel that weight limit is 2 tyres = 180kg.

For my part as I am well under 180kg and not riding a unicycle I will give them a go. I presume this is a new change because I have an ardent and an aspen bought about 12-18 months ago and I cannot find a similar moulded weight limit on either of them.

they are the EXc version, are they a bit tougher on the side wall?

No, as I understand it Maxxis’ tougher sidewall technology is not EXC but EXO.

EXC is their higher tpi (threads per inch) casing and therefore has greater suppleness but at the expense of less puncture and tear resistance.

Bought one of these on the basis of positive reviews and was also surprised to find it has the words “weight limit 90kg” moulded on the side. No mention of this on Maxxis website or on any of the shop websites or for that matter in any of the reviews.

Not so far been able to find out if this is rider weight, weight per tyre (don’t know how you would calculate that). Have emailed the shop I purchased it from and will let you know what I find out. Do know that I don’t fancy riding it much and that I have therefore apparently wasted quite a bit of money.

TN719 on SLX hub 29er front wheel
2 17mm cone spanners
XT front hub
DMR rear hub
Maxxis Beaver
WTB Bronson
33 290mm spokes

Equals a spare front wheel for the hardtail 29er to keep going and the bits to rebuild both the original pair of wheels. Hub given up on the front after 2.5 winters of abuse and rear loking like following it ASAP.

Twice, 30 years ago and then a few years ago before the films came out.

Probably the only thing I have in common with Charlie Kelly.

My understanding was that your risk returned to normal after 10 years or so of not smoking

More like 15-20 years for MI risk to go back to that of non-smoker. Other risks drop away more quickly.

Have just changed the tube and there were 4 seperate puncture and had to get the thorns out with pliers. So I think I would have been extremely lucky to change inner and get very far before it punctured again.

I don’t like walking home either, and I can’t get on with tubeless, so at thorny times of the year I have taken to using inners with added Sludge. Seems to be the thinnest of the sealants and goes easiest into Continental tubes with removable presta cores – five minute job. Lasts a winter at least and although I still occasionally have to pump a tyre up and spin it I haven’t had to walk home for ages.

My dad had one about 5 years ago. Silent ischaemia so no heart attack and no pain beforehand just occasional episodes of breathlessness. He was mid 70s then and post op increased his exercise steadily via walking, purchase and use of a Brompton, addition of a basic MTB etc. He is still going strong and when my parents come to stay he borrows one of my bikes and gives the kids a run for their money.

Best wishes.

I know you said you didn’t want to make one but I agree with those above, the wheelpro one is extremely easy to make – needs some bolts, some mdf, some acrylic sheet and a couple of bits of metal bar for the jaws. It’s about a quarter of the cost of any other decent stand even after you have bought the book. I made mine mostly out of bits I had in the shed so it was even cheaper.

Where did you get your one from?

Sorry, been at work all day and only just got back. UK sole agent for Ventana is Riverside Cycle Centre[/url].

They now have a new website up. Their previous one died sometime previously so at the time I bought I dealt with them by email and phone. They were excellent to deal with and although the frame was made to order it essentially took about 10 days from order to delivery despite the time difference meaning that 2 days were spent in communication with the factory (i.e. when can you do one and yes he wants one).

Riverside are in Maldon in Essex so getting there for a test ride was not a goer for me but as it happened the dimensions on Ventana’s website were basically identical to a hardtail 29er I was already riding so from my point of view sizing was a safe bet.

Given that clicking on ajr above takes you straight to Riverside’s web page I suspect that he’s your man.

The Ventana has just been redesigned, finally. I bought one last spring and was half tempted to wait for the upgraded model which was supposed to be along “in a few weeks”. In fact nearer 10 months. Having said that, even at the current price it is still marginally ahead of the alu Tallboy and a year ago was 60% of the price of the carbon Tallboy. My decision was made easier by the Salsa (Spearfish or Big Mama) and Titus being unavailable at the time for various reasons.

The newer model has tapered headtube, 30.9 seatpost and Kashima shock etc. amongst other bits of future proofing but I have no regrets. I really like the Ventana and for the big days out across the moors it is a lot quicker and smoother than the hardtails I had been riding.

Whether it is worth the 600ukp premium on the Spearfish or the Titus at its current price is really up to you.

I have tried the Race Face Dig and Ambush and the Gform as well as 661 veggies. They don’t make the Kyles big enough for me so no experience there I am afraid. The two I found less successful were firstly the 661 veggies which had prominent seams that rubbed on long rides and got consigned to the NO pile rapidly.

The Race Face Ambush pads were going relatively cheap at CRC. They are based on the Dig but have D3O technology (i.e. flexible till you land on them) and should therefore be more comfortable. I must just have the wrong shaped legs because as the pads flexed with movement the lower edge of the protection was inclined to turn back in on itself and try and burrow through my shins. Disappointing as I already had the Digs and knew they fitted me really well.

The Dig pads I have found really comfortable. They are slightly bulky but offer good protection and don’t dig in my shins. Wore them for 5 hour plus rides last year and no trouble.

Finally, I got a pair of the gform pads a couple of months ago. Only had a couple of relatively brief rides in them but they may be the best compromise for me between comfort and protection. None of the bulk of the Digs and essentially fit like leg warmers. They come up slightly small so if in doubt go for the slightly bigger size but the sizing info is helpful.

Tha answer to the OPs questions are “lots of times” and “occasionally”, but most of mine were/are in hospital and backed up by a full resus team, a few at the side of the road but again backed up by paramedics.

It is very hard work, there is a technique to it and hats off to the OPs Mrs for doing what she did. I agree with others that the fact you tried is important for you and the patient’s relatives and people can and do survive but only if someone knows what to do and is prepared to give it a go.

There seem to be deals to be had at the moment. Long gone are the days when I wrote to the managing director of my then provider to complain that my renewal deal was twice the cost of the new customer deal they were offering and got a personal letter back plus a phone call from a minion giving me the deal I wanted. Yes I am that old/bolshy.

Just renewed contract for a 25 percent cut in monthly cost, a much better range of services and a Desire S for free instead of the 100ukp they were quoting on the website. Whole call took 4 minutes.

Rubbish, by today’s standards really, but as a piece of design, wonderful. It struck me that the 2VC will be still remembered when all the other cars on the street are long forgotten.

My first car as a student was one of the limited edition 2CV6 Charlestons that they made towards the end of the model’s life. As it happens there is one stored in front of a village workshop near here. Right year but wrong registration. If anyone knows the whereabouts of NTB906W then say hi from me. And yes I know it is most likely gone to the great scrap yard in the sky.

Can’t help with personal experience. I went 11/34 on my 29er and then put the same on my 26er but I am old, fat and likely to start walking if it gets any steeper.

There is a blog on Competitive cyclist here that I suspect gives you some of the information you are looking for and this blog gives you some results from the Sheldon Brown gear calculator done to try and address the same question.

Not sure if the latter has also taken into account the difference from 26er to 29er

29er riders will always suffer with taller low gears than an equally equipped 26” bike. In real terms, an 11-12% jump in gear inches equates roughly to a 4 tooth difference on the big side of the cassette.

There are also a couple of relatively recent posts on twentynineinches.com about gearing IIRC.

Interesting. I’m a 50 year old GP.

What would you… or your mum expect me to wear?

I’m an almost 50 year old consultant physician

Wouldn’t want a doctor to wear a tie, well known source of infection (think about it: how often do you clean a tie?)

Would expect a doctor to look reasonably smart, though – or otherwise lab coat / hospital uniform.

Lab coats and ties have the same problem – infection city. NHS dress code is now no ties, or tucked away if you must, and bare below elbows. I stopped wearing a white coat when I was 3 years qualified, stopped weearing a suit when I stopped doing interviews/exams. I do have a couple of jackets and dress shirts/ties for court appearances.

Usual dress is polo shirt and chinos. I switched to boots instead of shoes when I had a slipped disc and a dicky ankle and I never went back although they are leather and most people probably think they are just decent leather shoes. When I abandoned ties the only comment from patients was positive.

Just shy of 1500km in 2011, about 350 up on 2010 and 1200 up on the year before.

Have the Fleegles on one bike and Ragley Carnegie on the other. Neiother is that expensive and I find either better than an old school flatty.

I have a sigma pc9 which has 3 settable heart zones and does average heart rate. They are available for around 25ukp and so far I have found it to be reliable.

NB If she spends all day tomorrow asking me at 5 minute intervals what I have bought her for xmas like she has spent the past week, it may be all she gets.

We’ve been acquiring bits and pieces from the local farmers markets for months. Not going shopping again until next year except for a single carton of natural yoghurt deemed essential for a recipe by my 12 year old. Shouldn’t be a problem. She’s a late riser so I should be able to get it out of the fridge, wrap it and get it under the tree before she gets there on Sunday. 😀

Suddenly thought I ought to look at this and find out what the result was, just out of interest, and discovered that Ratadog Racing has triumphed, somewhat to my surprise.

http://fantasyf1game.net/league/table/24761

Not really sure where this rates alongside my 3rd place in the under 8s one width swimming race (swimming in as much as it was in a swimming pool, moving forward by means of ones feet being on the bottom of the pool was within the rules), but frankly at my age and level of fitness I feel I should be grateful for every decent finish I get.

6’4″

20″ 456
19.5″ 29er

It does depend on body proportion as well. Some people are tall because they have propoprtionately longer legs, some because they are longer in body and legs. I am the latter so the 21″ Spesh that I started with was simply too tall for decent standover. Ironically it was the only time I followed usual advice for a newbie and bought from an LBS.

Chiba drystar gloves, about 30ukp from merlin and others although I found mine on ebay for about a tenner 2 years ago.

So in a private scheme if the current contributions are more than is currently being paid out, is that going into the company’s profit? Strangely despite contributions being more than payments in the fund I’m in, the fund is supposedly in massive deficit – they must be making that up, mustn’t they?

Or maybe you don’t get the concept of future liabilities.

I think this is the point. In a private scheme there is – usually – a fund and so the answer to your question is that yes, any additional payments made should be going into the private fund to meet future liabilities. The whole reason private pensions/savings plans/endowments are in a mess is because this got ignored/ misunderstood/ miscalculated and I am with you in thinking that that is and was indefensible.

The major public sector pensions and specifically the NHS one don’t work like that. There is no fund. There are no assets. There is no carry over year to year. The purpose of the 2008 renegotiation was to raise contributions and put back retirement age as well as agreeing that if there was any shortfall it would be met by the employees and not the government/taxpayer. That was agreed without fuss and on the governments’s own figures meets all the concerns regarding sustainability which they are giving as the reason for needing to renegotiate again now.

Because there is no carry over, any additional contributions over and above the liabilities go to the treasury to bail out the bankers or whatever. If you put up the contributions further it increases the treasury’s takings in the current financial year but come April 5th from the pension point of view it is a blank sheet of paper and we all start again. Therefore, any annual excess will not be available to meet any future liability by definition and design. Instead those liabilities will still have to be met by the employees at the time.

There are views on both sides, but many would struggle to see how an additional payment deducted from ones salary and given to the government to spend as it sees fit with no additional benefit for the payer over and above what they already get differs from any other tax. And many do struggle.

What may happen in a nightmare scenario however is that a lot of those who are close to retirement may decide to get out before their terms become less favourable and those early on in their careers may decide that the pension scheme is not affordable, attractive or trustworthy. In that case it may be impossible for the employees to fund the liabilities and one way or another the government and the taxpayer will have to pick up the tab – either by bailing out the scheme or through the cost of social care. Ironic if they have to tax the banks to do it.

Finally, though I am not personally at my wits end because I am towards the top of the pay scale, the average pension is currently £7,000 p.a. so this is in no way a gilt edged pension for the vast majority of those who keep the NHS going and upon whose hard work and skill your family and mine may need to rely.

No – Pensions are just another wage benefit.

Alternatively, if your pension contributions collectively exceed the pensions being paid and there is no fund as such so any excess goes to the treasury then, in the NHS at least, your pension contributions are an additional tax.

I am sure that there are people who will still feel that it is reasonable to tax public sector workers more heavily than private employees on the same salary – although I reserve the right not to agree with their reasoning – but I suspect that if the government put it that way rather than trying to spin the idea that this tax was actually in some way going to be put to one side to pay out pensions in years to come, then the radio reporters I heard trying to explain why they couldn’t find anyone to slag off the strikers will have an even harder time in the future.

Yes

Another of those overpaid, over pensioned NHS types. 6 years at Uni, 10 years postgraduate training, 15 years of continuing education so far. Not an easy career change either way, in or out.

I was just going to say that Cav has no chance because he’s not everyone’s cup of tea personality-wise. But then with Ryan Giggs and Damon Hill winning, I guess it’s not all down to that.

If Cav can reveal himself as a life long ManU supporter then he must have as good a chance as Mr Giggs.

The one thing about cyclists is they can be an organised bunch sometimes – a concerted effort to vote for Cav could do it.

See above for a precedent.

I’m not sure the Manchester Evening News understood the question.

See above for a precedent.

Please, please report this.
It gives those of us who do the job for the right reasons a bad name.

Well put

Little Miss Ratadog has an Orange Rio. Little Miss Ratadog’s school pack think it looks like a Blackberry and is therefore officially cool. Mrs Ratadog knows it is not a Blackberry and doesn’t have to worry about Little Miss Ratadog leading the pack down the local High Street bent on an orgy of destruction and looting. I know it won’t cost that much to replace – job’s a good un.

Old Phillips just died after 5 years – gone with the up to date one. Cannae see the point in gettin it its own foot bath and will just wash it under the tap. When it dies in 5 years I’ll get another or grow a beard.

IF the worker has given the son’s address to your uncle then yes, there are serious grounds for investigation and dismissal.

+1

I think you have to take this further – how you do it is up to you but the correct way forward I think is to go to the home’s management and if they cannot give an acceptable explanation then social services involved and find another home.

I rode a 456 with 100mm – 130mm u-turns.. for general off-road XC riding I kept it at 100mm

+1