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    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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Stupid/Cranky and arbitrary doctors: rant warning!

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
ENTJ looks familiar to me but that was many years ago....and I cant recall with accuracy 30 mins ago :eek: On second thought more likely INTJ. I just remembered what E stood for ;)

Roxie60, your profile picture says "I am an introvert"! :cat:
 

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
INFJ-of course something rare. Only 1% of people are this....

Misfit Toy, my type (of ENTP on the test - but in real life, INTP) isn't common either, especially for women (less than 1% of females are INTP).

Female INTPs when growing up usually don't meet many other female INTPs of their own age until they are doing courses in their major subject at university and find another one or two.
It's a lonely type, and these women can be misunderstood and disliked by others (especially by other women, because they just feel and think a little differently).
Men don't often want to marry female INTPs, although they really like working with them.

( :( Aww, such a sob story! Poor left-on-the-shelf Bluebell! :alien: )

:)
 

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
I'm INFJ too.

I was ENFJ before I got sick though.

Ema

That is interesting!

Do you think maybe you were always close to the dividing line, like I am? Or does it seem that your deeper personality has significantly altered due to your illness?

One of the keys to whether someone is I or E is where they get their energy - is it from being around people or from being alone -- do they get charged up and energized in the midst of parties and intense group situations, or do they get depleted by those situations and need time afterwards by themselves to recover?

Of course, Chronic Fatigue probably forces everyone to feel the latter way. It must be extra uncomfortable for an Extraverted person to be compelled by circumstance and physical condition to act in Introverted ways. :(

---
Jung's theory was that people in mid-life (late 30s and 40s+) often become more like their lesser characteristics, so their personalities become more balanced between the two opposites.

I noticed becoming a little more Sensing and more Feeling in my late 30s. I've become more compassionate.

To be honest, I've also become more and more Judging, but maybe I feel that advancing age gives me some basis for being that way. Or maybe I'm just a dried up old prune maid, that reclusive lady in the neighborhood with no discernible hairstyle and no husband, whose porch light stays off at Halloween. :lol:
 

rosie26

Senior Member
Messages
2,446
Location
NZ
Bluebell , have you noticed as you get older, you seem to laugh more. ? I have noticed this about myself. I think it's been a big help too get me through the depressing parts, the hard slog of this illness.
 

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
As far as personality types go -- I am INFJ alternating with AOTP (I made that up -- All Over The Place):D

AOTP - ha ha! :lol:

You said that you were an RN -- I think that people with I, F, and J must make great nurses, because of their calm, quiet, empathy, order, and efficient decision-making.

I'm just conjecturing, but the ones with S probably prefer to be hands-on and decide what is wrong with people or how to help people by actually having some physical contact with them and figuring it out as they go, and the people with N might stand back a little but be good at teasing out what might be the health problem or the person's greatest need for help, just by observation and putting two-and-two together, before taking much action or having much physical contact.
 

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
Bluebell , have you noticed as you get older, you seem to laugh more. ? I have noticed this about myself. I think it's been a big help too get me through the depressing parts, the hard slog of this illness.

That's great that you laugh more these days -- it's a sign of wisdom and grace, it seems to me. :angel:

I don't laugh as much now as I did in my 30s, because I don't have many people in my life to interact with now. The people I do interact with now don't have my sense of humor and don't think very similarly to me. This really isn't the way I want my life to be, but at the moment I am stuck with the situation I'm in.

I do laugh with myself a lot, and at myself. :)

Sometimes I wake myself up in the middle of the night from a dream because I am laughing aloud, whereas I almost never have a nightmare that wakes me up or even that I can remember later, so either that's the sign of a healthy personality, or of a sociopath, ha ha, I don't know. :whistle:
 

rosie26

Senior Member
Messages
2,446
Location
NZ
Bluebell

ha ha

yes I prefer to think of it as a sign I am growing in grace and wisdom. ( I like that ). I have often wondered if the terrible fevers I had in the first 3 months of my ME, might have made me a bit loo loo, ! those fevers were boilers.

It would be neat if you could find a friend with the same sense of humor as you and meet for a coffee, don't stop looking for one. I came across someone with ME in my local area here and she has become a very dear lifelong friend and we meet up for coffee when we are both able, and we have each other in fits of laughter. It is hard on the ME though, talking and laughing !! But does make you feel good in the spirit xxx
 

August59

Daughters High School Graduation
Messages
1,617
Location
Upstate SC, USA
I had an appointment today that I thought was with my usual GP, but was with the other one (they're both part time). They're both quite intelligent usually, but she seemed to be in a bit of a mood this morning :cautious:

I've had 5 or 6 symptoms all appear at the same time over the past week or so. She wanted to look at EACH symptom as a SEPARATE BLEEPING PROBLEM. And then she bitched about me having too many symptoms at once since the appointment wasn't long enough to deal with all of them.

Okay, for the dimwitted and/or cranky-in-the-morning doctors out there: 5 BLEEPING UNCONNECTED PROBLEMS DO NOT ALL APPEAR AT ONCE. Apparently I have an antibiotics reaction (starting 5 weeks after finishing them), allergic rhinitis (tested negative to pollens and such), stretch marks from being fat (no weight gain in years), constipation causing stomach pain (15 minutes after I had a normal BM), joint pain on one side of the body (we just ignore unexplained pain if there's no swelling or redness), and increased full body swelling (right, maybe we can ignore swelling after all) all magically appearing at the same damned time!

And I didn't even mention my sore throat, oxygen, and heart rate problems :p

But golly, when a ton of symptoms all appear at exactly the same time, do you think it's POSSIBLE that they might have ONE underlying cause? When you try to make each symptom into a separate diagnosis with a separate analysis and treatment, don't bitch to me about coming in with too many problems! It's probably one problem, but you want it to be five simple problems, and that's your bleeping issue, not mine.

Seriously, how does a GP even deal with a normal case of flu with this mindset? "Oh, you have body pains? Exercise helps with pain, try some of that. And a fever? You need to turn down your thermostat. What, you feel exhausted too? I don't have time to deal with that, I already addressed two of your problems. Make another appointment if you want to discuss anything else."

You hit the nail on the head. If you call and schedule a doctors appt. but 9 times out of 10 if you tell that receptionist that you have these 6 problems she will put you down for a single ailment such as a sore throat. The doctor then has 5 physical minutes allotted to you because to her you are only scheduled for one ailment.

My GP based the average called in appointments is suppose to average 41 patients a day. Now, that 5 minutes does not include the nurses time, but only physician. If I call and ask for an appt. cause of sore throat, fever, runny nose, severe pain in feet and stomach problems I'll bet that receptionist will put down flu like symptoms because she has probably been told to quit putting so many individual symptoms when she actually only has a stomach flu by the office manager.

It's a freaking numbers game driven by quantity of patients which gives them bargaining power with insurance companies!!!
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
Here's what's interesting to me about being INFJ-I've always needed time alone to recoup. Even before being ill. However, I can be the life of the party. Not as much now, but I still have a big personality. I grew up with a brother and sister 12 and 15 years older than me. So I learned to be with myself and be by myself and to like it. But when I feel good, I come alive and love to be with friends. It's really weird and it makes it hard for me to fit in anywhere. One minute I need solace and alone time and the next minute I need people.

I am a lot of what they say though about an INFJ. Injustice bothers me and I will fight for people. I'm the kind of person that will lay down for someone else to prove that whatever it is that they're going through means something.

I am also judgmental.

I like how I am, but a lot of people can't figure it out. The illness really complicated it. I need so much time alone now to recoup.

I miss my outgoing personality. The illness has mostly stripped that away.
 

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
Of the folks who mentioned what their MBTI results were, we have:

INTJ - Valentijn
INTJ - Roxie60 (although her memory on this is fuzzy)
0.9% of females are INTJs
3.3% of males are INTJs

INFJ - Misfit Toy
INFJ - Ema (she was previously an ENFJ; 3.3% of females are ENFJs)
INFJ - Kina
1.6% of females are INFJs
1.2% of males are INFJs

INTP - Bluebell (the test shows her as ever-so-slightly ENTP; 2.4% of females are ENTPs)
1.7% of females are INTPs
4.8% of males are INTPs

Data source: "MBTI Manual" published by CPP

My "P" is feeling kinda lonely!
 
Messages
15,786
For you: I didn't have much to go on regarding the I vs. E, and the thing that swung me to the E side was how you are so enthusiastic with your "likes" of comments here and how your comments have received thousands of "likes" from others, plus the fact that you are 'talkative' on many different threads... and you have integrated into a foreign culture, and you are confident and a little 'sassy', as it were. :D
(Are you an only child, or the oldest sibling, maybe with only a younger brother or two?)
Being outgoing is somewhat hard for me - it's actually one of the few useful things I learned in law school (the other useful things being two different types of persuasive writing). But after getting called on in classes with 100 other students a few dozen times, and taking a couple smaller classes centered on advocacy, I realized my "shy" went away if I was passionate enough about what I was saying.

I also find it easier to be outgoing online. There's nothing required "on the spot" and I have plenty of time to reflect.

I'm an only child, since I was so damned awesome according to my mom, and why mess with perfection? :cool:
 

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
I'm an only child, since I was so damned awesome according to my mom, and why mess with perfection the emotional torment of having multiples of this trying child? :cool:

Woo, not bad again, with that guess! :D My "P" is perceivin' away today.
 

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
Oi! I saw what you did there! :cautious:

I'm normally very careful about quoting and attribution, but I knew that you would see it and would know it was a joke. I almost even noted my apologies for doing that at the end of that same post, but I realized that would be so nerdy as to spoil whatever minor amount of "humor" that the gesture contained.
 

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
You are an early bird, even on a Saturday!

:sleep: phew, not me.

Hope your snot production has tailed off and that you are feeling a little better than you did at the start of the week.

Have you ever done nasal rinsing/nasal douching/"jala neti"? It can be good for messed-up sinuses, quite soothing. I like the German-made Emcur bottle: http://www.emcur.co.uk/, which is easier to futz about with than the yoga-shop little watering can sort of traditional pot from India is. Don't have to buy the special salt packets, just use 100% natural salt (with no added chemicals), 1/2 US teaspoon per 1 US cup of water.
 
Messages
15,786
Have you ever done nasal rinsing/nasal douching/"jala neti"? It can be good for messed-up sinuses, quite soothing. I like the German-made Emcur bottle: http://www.emcur.co.uk/, which is easier to futz about with than the yoga-shop little watering can sort of traditional pot from India is. Don't have to buy the special salt packets, just use 100% natural salt (with no added chemicals), 1/2 US teaspoon per 1 US cup of water.
Yeah, it helps clear things out, but the water ends up in my ears :p
 

Lala

Senior Member
Messages
331
Location
EU
Pity it does not also clear the beefsteak those stupid doctors have instead of their brains...I would compile guidelines where every doctor must have his beefsteak regularly cleaned to have space there for their patients. :p
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Hi val,

Hope your regular gp can get some answers for you. I was thinking a cdsa might help. No telling what those
antibiotics did to your gut. Is that an option ?

Hi toy,

Sorry to hear about your celiac misdiagnosis. Fwiw, my gastroeneterologist biopsied me 17 months post gf.
Because my ataxia (probably gluten ataxia) had resolved post gf diet he didn't want me to eat it again. Mine
still showed damage. He also ran the celiac gene test for me so we'd have more info. I'm positive for DQ2 and
neuro problems from gluten are common.

Now why the hell no one tested me when I first got sick back in 1990 or when the NIH started their celiac awareness
Campaign is something I'd like to sue for. I've made a lot of progess but I still have OI and maybe CFS. I'm allergic
to most things on this planet so I can't tell. Not to mention all the auto immune problems from eating gluten all my life.

Tc ... X
 

Bluebell

Senior Member
Messages
392
Yeah, it helps clear things out, but the water ends up in my ears :p

What most modern instructions about jala neti/nasal rinsing do not include is a little series of exercises that you do immediately after the nasal rinsing, where you turn your head in different positions and gently blow air out your nostrils for about 12 or 16 repetitions at each position.

It gets the residual water out -- often a LOT of water comes out for me, so I do the exercises while leaning over the bathtub or sink. It only takes 60 seconds for me to do this. It makes it much less likely that water pools in your ear tubes or other parts of your sinus system.

I found those blowing exercises on the internet about 12 years ago when I started to do the nasal rinsing. It was in an instruction booklet on jala neti, from India but written in English. I can look up the web address of the exercises, if that would be of interest to anyone.

(Note: These particular blowing exercises are nothing to do with yoga breathwork or anything like that, they are just a quickie manoever to get the water droplets out after nasal rinsing.)

Also, nasal rinsing should be done when your torso will be upright (and moving the body around a little, like with tidying up or cooking, helps too) for at least one hour before lying down -- this helps gravity move the residual water down your throat.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Of the folks who mentioned what their MBTI results were, we have:

INTJ - Valentijn
INTJ - Roxie60 (although her memory on this is fuzzy)
0.9% of females are INTJs
3.3% of males are INTJs

INFJ - Misfit Toy
INFJ - Ema (she was previously an ENFJ; 3.3% of females are ENFJs)
INFJ - Kina
1.6% of females are INFJs
1.2% of males are INFJs

INTP - Bluebell (the test shows her as ever-so-slightly ENTP; 2.4% of females are ENTPs)
1.7% of females are INTPs
4.8% of males are INTPs

Data source: "MBTI Manual" published by CPP

My "P" is feeling kinda lonely!


ME and my experiences around that, has majorly shifted my personality so much that Im COMPLETELY DIFFERENT to what I once was.. I was a INFP. Some of my 4 base personality aspects have been very altered, eg I used to be a strong P but now Im clearly a J with another two of them Ive now changed and are half and half the qualities.

Im still an "I" but now are equally N and S. After being an obvious F in the past, Im now also both F and T but think my personality may be still altering so I may end up in a future time give me another 5-10 years a T.

Anyway.. now Im complicated, a I S/N F/T J .

Example of how closely I end up matching both sides of qualities very much.. eg I match EVERYTHING said about N (intuition..and my original personality one) ..but S carries the following qualities which I also now match, Im almost a complete perfect match for that too going by trait lists etc. Every single thing in the following list for S match me.
- Dependable (I are when I can be, I wont say "personality wise" Im not when I have no other choice but to let someone down as I HAVE to be in bed, my lack of being dependable isnt due to my personality), trustworthy, relible
- Likes to belong to solid orgs which are loyal
- likes sensible clothing
- careful with money and possessions, wise buying
- may keep possessions for a lifetime and treasures these
- Tend to stay in the same neighbourhood (I lived in the same house for 19? years and only moved out of my neighbourhood due to having no other option
- Often in volunteer orgs (that is something I have done all my life, Im still a volunteer, I do cat fostering for a rescue org
- (even thou my memory is poor) accumulates facts and details
- relies on past experiences
- tends to shy away from surprises and preceived unnecessary changes
- "when an introverted sensing type hears an idea they rummage throu reams of archived facts to find an experience that wil provide information for the relevence and realism of the idea" I do that too

Anyway.. so Im very strongly S too as S is sooo me too, there are only 2 things in the whole S list which dont fit me .. that being Im not conventional or traditional.-