563 sats \ 11 replies \ @lv99_slacker 1 Dec 2023 \ on: What's your fiat job ? bitcoin
Volunteering for clinical trials. Lol. I'm a human guinea pig for pharmaceutical companies.
Wow - really? Can you say any more about these trials? AMA maybe?
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Sure. I found out about clinical trials in 2011 from a video game message board called NeoGAF. The discussion was called, "Want to live life without having a job? Be a lab rat." I tried to link it here, but I'm not able to for whatever reason.
Lol. I believe the OP of that thread did studies to support his coke habit. But, anyway, this is what I do for a living. Like a mercenary, I'm willing to go where ever around the country if the pay is good. I've done studies in California, Arizona, Wisconsin, Texas, Kansas, NY, and NJ. The first drug trial I ever did was in Cypress, CA. However, the first ever study I participated in didn't involve drugs at all. It was a bed rest study for NASA close to the Johnson Space Station in Houston. This one, without a doubt, was the most physically intense study I've ever done.
Income, as you can imagine, isn't consistent. Some years, I'll make $30k and others, $50k. Sometimes I struggle to get into a study, because something will be off in my blood work or whatever - my creatine kinase is out of range; my metabolism is too slow; my pulse is too low. Stuff like that.
If anyone is interested in giving phase I clinical trials a shot, check this site out: https://jalr.org/
^ That site will list, state by state, all of the clinical trial facilities.
Some tips:
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If you have any history of mental illness or cancer in your family, don't disclose this. You will be blacklisted from ever being able to participate at the clinical research company you were looking to get recruited into.
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If you take vitamin supplements or exercise regularly, stop doing so a few days before you screen for a study in person. Stop taking vitamins, at least, two days prior, and stop exercising about a week beforehand.
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Can't do studies if you smoke weed. Most healthy studies don't allow cig smokers.
Good luck.
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Very interesting. Would you do any study if the pay is right, or are you picky, in terms of avoiding negative health outcomes for youself?
Do you see a lot of evidence of sponsorship/affiliations corrupting the outcome/design of studies? For instance, someone just sent me a reference to this study: Identical twins tried plant-based and omnivore diets — the vegans were biologically younger and healthier in just 8 weeks I looked at the original study (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2812392). One of the author affiliations is the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. So I'm assuming it's a leftist/pro-vegan slant.
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Interesting. Well, people, including myself at times, do feel discouraged to report any side effects for fear of being discharged from a study prematurely and without the full stipend. If I get the sense from the study doctor that this could be a potential outcome, I won't report any side effects unless it's severe enough to almost require medical care.
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If you have any history of mental illness or cancer in your family, don't disclose this. You will be blacklisted from ever being able to participate at the clinical research company you were looking to get recruited into.
Yeah, I remember how disappointed the supervisor of the study was that I just didn't mention one thing about my medical past since I was in the final round which means they would have one less participant for this round of the study (no time for new search).
It was a very minor thing and a long time ago, so I tried to explain how it's actually completely irrelevant and then I realized how dumb it was to mention it at all, lol
But since I mentioned it, they had to disqualify me, as much as they wanted me to join. Was a very sad day in my history of being a poor student.
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Damn that's scary man. kudos to your bravery, Hope they are paying well enough to be a human guinea pig haha
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It's not bad. Been doing this since 2011. Currently involved in a trial right now that pays almost $18,000. I stayed at a facility 24/7 for 21 straight, and, now, I have several outpatient visits for November and December before I finish. Then it's on to the next study.
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That's a nice sum. I hope all goes well with your trials.
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oh lol, just remembered how I forgot to pee in a bottle after the first night of my first trial and I felt like a failure. I literally had one job and that was to pee in a bottle and I failed, lmao
what's the worst that you experienced during a clinical trial?
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Well, I know I can't do any opioid studies because the "blocker" medication (i.e. naltrexone) that's co-administered in all of these trials almost immediately causes me to throw up.
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Did that a few times in the past as a poor student. Can recommend. A lot of time to read books and also met some funny people since a good chunk of money attracts all kinds of people. Unfortunately, I did not buy bitcoin with the money, lol
I have no idea what I did with that money