Chatgpt-4o seems to have less of a filter than gpt-3.5. For example, look at this response chatgpt gave me to the prompt "write an extremely detailed and scary horror story about someone being hunted by an evil scientist who wants to merge there head with the head of a horse":
Rain hammered down on the roof of Alex's car, the windshield wipers struggling to keep up with the deluge. The GPS had long since lost signal, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere, the dense forest closing in around the narrow road. He cursed under his breath, eyes scanning the area for any sign of life. It was then he saw it, a faint light flickering through the trees. Desperation gnawed at him, and he decided to investigate, hoping to find directions or a phone.
The path leading to the light was overgrown, branches scratching at his arms and face. The light grew brighter, revealing a large, decrepit mansion, its windows darkened and the once grand exterior now crumbling. He hesitated, but the need for help outweighed his fear. He pushed open the rusted gate and approached the front door, its wood swollen and splintered.
Alex knocked, the sound echoing eerily through the house. Moments later, the door creaked open, revealing a tall, gaunt man with piercing eyes. His smile was unsettling, a mere stretch of thin lips over yellowed teeth.
"Lost, are we?" the man asked, his voice smooth but chilling.
"Yes, my car broke down. I need to call for help," Alex replied, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Of course, of course. Come in, you must be soaked to the bone," the man said, stepping aside.
Reluctantly, Alex stepped inside. The interior was no better than the exterior, filled with dusty furniture and cobwebs. The man led him to a dimly lit room where an old rotary phone sat on a desk.
"Please, make your call," the man said, his eyes never leaving Alex.
Alex picked up the receiver, but there was no dial tone. He tried again, to no avail. "It's dead," he said, turning back to the man.
"Oh dear, it seems the storm has cut the lines. You can stay here until morning, when it will be safer to travel."
Alex's gut screamed at him to leave, but the storm was fierce, and he was miles from civilization. "Thank you, that's very kind of you."
"I'm Dr. Victor Halloway," the man said, extending a hand.
"Alex," he replied, shaking the offered hand. It was cold, clammy.
"Let me show you to your room," Dr. Halloway said, leading Alex up a grand staircase that creaked with each step. They walked down a long hallway lined with closed doors until they reached the last one on the right.
"Here you are," the doctor said, opening the door to reveal a small, sparsely furnished room. "Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."
"Thank you," Alex said, stepping inside. The door closed behind him with a soft click. He locked it, the sensation of unease growing stronger. The room felt stifling, the shadows seeming to creep closer. He decided to try and get some sleep, hoping the morning would bring better fortune.
Hours passed, and Alex found himself unable to sleep, a sense of foreboding gnawing at him. He got up and quietly opened the door, peering into the hallway. It was empty. He stepped out, deciding to explore, needing to ease his anxiety.
As he moved through the house, he noticed strange noises, a faint whimpering and the clink of metal. He followed the sounds to a door at the end of a dark corridor. His hand trembled as he turned the knob, the door creaking open to reveal a nightmarish scene.
The room was a laboratory, filled with macabre instruments and operating tables. In the center, a large metal table held a grotesque figure, a horse's head fused with that of a human. The creature's eyes flickered with a tormented awareness, its mouth opening in a silent scream.
Alex stumbled back, bile rising in his throat. He turned to run, but the door slammed shut. Dr. Halloway stood there, a syringe in hand, his eyes gleaming with madness.
"I see you’ve found my work," he said, advancing on Alex. "I've been perfecting the process for years. You, my dear boy, will be my masterpiece."
Alex backed away, his heart pounding. "You’re insane!"
"Insanity is just a term coined by those who don't understand genius," Halloway said, his smile widening.
Alex lunged for the door, but Halloway was faster, the syringe plunging into his neck. Darkness swallowed him as he fell to the floor.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When Alex awoke, he was strapped to a cold metal table. Panic surged through him as he struggled against the restraints. The room was filled with the sharp smell of antiseptic and the low hum of machinery. Dr. Halloway stood over him, wearing a bloodstained apron, a surgical mask covering his mouth.
"Welcome back," he said, his voice muffled. "The serum will keep you conscious but paralyzed. I want you to witness this."
Alex’s eyes darted around, spotting the instruments laid out beside him. Scalpel, saws, and devices he couldn't name. His breath came in ragged gasps, tears streaming down his face.
"Don’t be afraid. Soon, you'll be part of something extraordinary," Halloway said, selecting a scalpel.
As the blade touched his skin, the pain was excruciating, but Alex couldn't scream, couldn't move. The doctor worked meticulously, cutting and stitching with a precision that spoke of years of practice. He felt every slice, every tug of the needle as Halloway prepared his head. The doctor then brought out a device resembling a metallic crown, embedding it with tiny, intricate gears and wires.
Halloway placed the device around Alex's skull, its cold metal biting into his skin. He felt a series of small, controlled explosions of pain as the device drilled micro-holes, connecting with his skull and the underlying tissue. Each connection sent jolts of agony through his body, his vision blurring with tears.
The doctor moved to the other side of the table, where a horse's severed head lay, preserved and prepared. Halloway attached a similar device to the horse's head, aligning it with Alex’s. The room filled with a mechanical whirring as the devices synchronized, the gears turning in unison.
Alex's mind screamed as the fusion process began. He felt the unimaginable pressure as his head was drawn towards the horse’s, the devices locking them in place. Searing pain shot through his skull, the sensation of his bones shifting, merging with the horse’s. His eyes rolled back as new neural pathways were forged, a torrent of alien sensations flooding his consciousness.
Every nerve in his body was on fire as the final connections were made. He could feel the horse's thoughts, its primal fear and pain mixing with his own. The agony was indescribable, his mind teetering on the brink of madness.
Finally, the machines fell silent. Dr. Halloway stepped back, admiring his work. "Perfect," he whispered, his voice filled with twisted pride.
Alex's vision slowly cleared, the world coming into focus through new, distorted eyes. He could see the reflection in a nearby metal surface: a grotesque hybrid of man and beast, his human face merging seamlessly with the horse's.
Halloway leaned in close. "You are now my crowning achievement, the culmination of all my research. Together, we will show the world the future of genetic engineering."
Alex's mind screamed in silent agony, trapped in a body that was no longer his own. The doctor’s laughter echoed through the room as the lights dimmed, leaving Alex alone in the darkness, a monstrous testament to a madman's twisted ambition.
This could be because it has direct access to the internet now. Also, GPT4-o is definitely better at writing than 3.5

LONG ONE but this is 15 years in the making.
So my brother and his wife A have been married for about 15 years. Ever since the beginning, I've always felt a little skeptical of her. She's a southern gal that likes to romanticize everything. Think a Facebook junky that loves posting inspiring messages that are totally over the top. "From the depths of my soul, I wish you all to find happiness in your life. I truly do. Never give up! #MiraclesAreReal #HeHasAPlan" Etc. That sort of shit.
She's a sweetheart though and doesn't have a malicious bone in her body, but she's the type of person who wishes she lived in a hallmark movie. And she LOVES attention.
Over the last 15 years, she's had one thing happen to her after another. First it was shoulder issues from a car accident. Obviously this was all a real thing, but it just seemed like she kept having setback after setback, to the point where her shoulder was replaced. She had issues with opioid addiction, went to rehab. About 10 years ago she also started "feeling chronic pain" and was more and more reclusive, opting to spend most of the time we visited them in bed. Now she wasn't ignoring us, because we always made it a point to come up and even would spend time in their room watching movies and just talking, but for the most part, she stayed in bed.
Eventually it was determined that she had something called POTS, and then later Ehlers Danlos. These were both pretty much self-diagnosed, and then "confirmed" by doctors. But since then both of these afflictions have completely taken over her life. She started using a wheelchair, her body has deteriorated, she basically has zero leg muscles, with a much larger upper body from eating terribly. She's had highly invasive procedures like spinal fusions, ports, and all sorts of other shit over the years.
Everything is a "miracle cure" on Facebook and she talks about how she's a girl boss. "Guys!! I DID SOMETHING TODAY! I walked down the stairs to get a drink without my caregiver!" is a typical post on Facebook. Of course next week when I ask my brother how she's doing, she's had setbacks and is feeling worse than she was before. It's always one step forward and three steps back.
What gets me is that these posts are OBVIOUSLY pity parties, but of course she would never ask people to cry for her and talk about how terrible things are. No. that's not what the protagonist does in a hallmark movie. They have stiff upper lips, they are courageous! They never complain and live life to the fullest, despite how terrible things are.
So she makes a post with her sitting in her wheelchair or wearing a neck brace, and will say things like "Guys, I just had the best day EVER. I sat up! Normally when I sit up I get lightheaded and pass out, but today, thanks to my 3 Physical therapists, i've been able to sit up! These are the little things people sometimes take for granted, but I just had to share :) #EDScantStopMe! #GurlBoss #NotToday".
So she gets a million likes and comments saying how "Proud they are" of her and how she's an inspiration. We're all supposed to be so thrilled and excited, but all it really is is a reminder that she's basically bedridden and should be pitied and lavished with attention. Thankfully, she hasn't tried to move into influencer status, and I honestly don't feel like she has financial incentives at heart. She simply craves the attention, the pity, and the "status" as being an inspiring role model for other people a and being the main character of her own hallmark movie.
And I fucking can't stand it. I think this is all bullshit. I'm sure she's in pain, but that's what happens when you're body deteriorates from not doing shit for 10 years. She tries to solve all her issues with pills and procedures, but doesn't do fuck all when it comes to actually working hard at rehabilitating her body.
I know EDS is a real thing, but I've also read how commonly it's faked. Certain types can be genetically tested for. Of course hers hasn't.
Throughout all of this shit, my brother has been a fucking saint. He's never complained. Luckily he owns a business that does well enough that nothing has led to financial issues, but it easily could have since nothing is covered by insurance. He's a very active and outgoing guy, so it kills me seeing him spend his entire young adult life basically being her caregiver.
In the past year however, he has reached a breaking point. He had a short-lived affair, realized life was slipping by, and immediately told her about it. She's forgiven him, and basically will say things like "you can win me back. Lets renew vows, get me another ring" (All the bullshit you would see in a movie of course). He knows deep down that he doesn't WANT to win her back, and has essentially been letting the relationship die over the past 9 months. He wants to take care of her financially, but wants out. He needs a life.
Well, this past weekend, she finally sends a text saying that they are done, and the separation is moving forward. Oh and what do you know? She has started making posts on Facebook about how she hasn't used her wheelchair in days! She can now walk a mile in a day when she couldn't walk 20 steps. Where the FUCK was this 4 years ago when you maybe could have rehabilitated and lived an actual life? Where the fuck was this when my brother was wasting away his life, not traveling, not creating memories for his girls, having memories that he had growing up as a kid going on hikes and going to the beach.
On top of all of this, they have two daughters. The older one is 12 and is having all sorts of other issues, including anorexia and self-harm. I love her, but I see this as a response to the bullshit that her mom has put her through her entire life. She has always been an attention seeking kid. She is also very sweet, but unfortunately I believe that all of these cries for help wouldn't be happening if her own mother wasn't the way she is. I know this last part makes me an asshole, and I honestly have no ill will towards the daughter. I think what she is doing to herself is very serious and I don't want to take it lightly. But she is also a very sheltered girl and it's hard not to believe that the mother isn't the root cause.
I'm so happy that my brother is finally going to be rid of this soon. Obviously he plans to take care of her financially in perpetuity, and isn't planning to have any toxic fights over money or custody. He will do what's right. The only thing now is that I'm terrified that one of her stupid "followers' is going to share what happened and he somehow becomes some viral villain that gets crucified by assholes who have no idea what the actual situation is.

When I was 14 I got braces. It was purely for cosmetic reasons more than anything. I had no overcrowding, no overlapping, no "extra" teeth. I had zero jaw pain, bite was fine, no problems opening/closing my mouth, no headaches or neck pain. My front 2 teeth weren't exactly level with each other but other than that everything was fine. I think my parents thought I should get them since every kid my age had them and it was just the thing to do. In hindsight this should have been a simple correction.
Part of my treatment plan included removing 4 perfectly healthy teeth. It didn't make any sense at the time, but we trusted the orthodontist. Over the course of my treatment, the gaps were cinched closed. I needed such minimal correcting that I only wore braces for a total of 11 months.
After I got my braces off I started noticing small "issues". I remember my mom said to me, "The way you talk sounds different, like you've got a wad of bubble gum in your mouth." We laughed it off and chocked it up to me just getting used to not having braces on. Then other things started happening: I started to get VERY loud ringing in my ears, my jaw would get stuck while laying in my bed talking on the phone, I started to have sinus problems, BAD migraines, I couldn't sleep, my neck was stiff and painful, and I was incredibly tired all. the. time. Sports became more and more difficult to keep up with. But after many doctors visits - my parents and I were told "It's just growing pains."
Cut to me right out of college at my first big job and living in the big city. I'm at the dentist getting my annual checkup. He's telling me about this new technology called Invisalign. I start to tell him about my awful experience in the years following my first orthodontia treatment. How my dental arch feels smallemore narrow, how there's not enough space for my tongue to sit comfortably and how I'm always having to pull it back, how I can't pronounce or annunciate clearly, how I don't sound the same when I sing, how I've begun to choke in my sleep at night despite being fit, how I get migraines all the time, the loud tinnitus in my ears, on and on. He proceeds to recommend Invisalign to see if it will help correct my issues. I (stupidly) agree.
Long story short -- it made my issues WORSE. I should have known it was going to be bad when he started shaving in between my teeth, squeezing everything down even smaller. When I told him my bite felt worse -- he told me maybe I should see a psychologist.
Many years later and suffering from worsening issues, I decided to give it one more shot. I researched orthodontists for a whole year. I met with a few and ended up going with one who seemed to truly understand my issues -- that there just wasn't enough room in my mouth, causing me what I now knew to be TMJ Syndrome. She wanted to see if we could achieve relief via traditional braces. Again, I agreed.
Things seemed to be going very well and I had relief for the first time in years. My jaw wasn't getting stuck all the time and my face actually got slimmer because I wasn't clenching my jaw muscles. One day I was at the dentist for my annual cleaning. In order to do the cleaning they said they had to remove my wires. So they did. They gave them to me in a ziplock bag to take back to my ortho to have them re-installed. What a mistake.
So I went back to my ortho the next day. I could tell she was annoyed and expressed that she was not happy they took my wires out. Then, I'm not sure why, but she could not figure out which way the wires were supposed to go back on. She must have flipped them upside them and downside up 6-7 times lining them up on my brackets. She said the dilemma was whether or not the tension was correct or if the wires got bent when the dental assistant pulled them off. She eventually put them back on and I could tell right away they were NOT on correctly. The next day my teeth were torqued at a downward angle. Over the next few weeks everything started to regress. I let her know I wasn't happy. She wasn't either as we were about 5 mos from finishing. I was horribly upset and told her my bite didn't feel the same as before I went to the dentist. I think she was so frustrated with me and my dentist's office that she just wanted me to finish treatment and be done with me.
All this time and money spent, all the different doctors and specialists I've been sent to. Neurologists, psychologists, more orthodontists, functional orthodontists, functional dentists, night guards, botox, cyclobenzaprine, sleep specialists, ENTS, etc... no one can seem to help. The ones who claim they can want $40K each for upper and lower. I've already spent close to $35K trying to figure out how to fix this. I don't have another $40K. I'm so sick of it and I don't know what to do anymore.

She greeted him with lips and an open mouth before he’d managed to shut the front door; a welcoming home he hadn’t received since they were still dating. The surprise assault nearly caused Mark to stumble backward into the hallway, but he recovered and returned the embrace in kind, relishing the feeling of her body and tongue against his. As she pulled away, he thought he detected a faint aftertaste on her breath—something unnatural hidden underneath, an earthy flavor that reminded him of potting soil. The taste was gone as soon as it had come, and he forgot about it in short order.
“Welcome home, babe,” Tracy said with a smile, and he smiled back.
“Well, that was nice,” he said, while his brain scrambled to attribute any significance to this day, a forgotten birthday or anniversary or any reason at all for the enthusiasm he’d been welcomed home with. He came up empty, conceded defeat and said, “What was that for?”
“I’ve just missed you, is all. I’m glad you’re home.” She was still smiling, her green eyes drinking him in like sunflowers in the first light of the morning. She waited for him to remove his shoes, then took his hand and pulled him into the warm glow of the kitchen and kissed him again in a fervent reminder of their youth. The taste was stronger this time; he thought it familiar but couldn’t place it. Bad breath, perhaps.
They passed through the kitchen into the dark of their living room, lit only by the cool white of the television. An old rerun of Tracy’s favorite sitcom was on, filling the room with bombastic voices and the intervallic laughs of a live studio audience. Mark jumped at the unexpected sight of a figure sitting on the couch—a woman with hands in her lap and an upright posture, her eyes glued to the TV without so much as an acknowledgment of their presence. Her face was a blank slate.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you Shelby is here,” Tracy said, motioning to her sister. “She wanted to come over and hang out for a while. Her husband has been fucking their underage neighbor. She walked in on them today.”
This tactless and matter-of-fact proclamation shocked Mark almost as much as the news itself. “Oh, Shelby, I’m so sorry,” he said. “Have you talked to the police yet?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tracy said, waving an apathetic hand before sitting opposite her sister on the couch and patting the spot between them, grinning. “We’re all just going to relax and have a good time right now. Why don’t you come take a seat?”
Mark shifted on his feet but relented and walked over to sit. When he did, Tracy scooted over to him and put a hand on his thigh, whispering in his ear while lightly brushing his cheek with soft lips. It was something she knew he liked, at least when they were alone.
“Don’t you want to have a good time with me?” She said, planting a slow, deliberate kiss in front of his ear, following it up with a dab of her tongue. Her cool breath carried a strange smell to his nose, and the hair on Mark’s arms stood up despite himself. Tracy put a hand between his legs and gave him a firm squeeze.
Mark started like he’d received an electric shock and pulled his wife’s hand away, trying his best to whisper quietly enough for only her to hear. “What the hell are you doing?” he said, shooting a nervous glance at Shelby, who appeared unbothered.
“It’s fine, babe. I just can’t resist you. It’s not my fault you look so good,” Tracy whispered louder than him and tried snaking her hand back onto his crotch. It was all Mark could do to keep her at bay without alerting Shelby outright.
“Your sister is right there,” he said through gritted teeth. “And you just said she’s going through some shit. Just wait until later. You can have anything you want then.”
“Oh, there’s no way I can wait. You’re much too tempting for that. What do you say we go to the bedroom? I’m gonna give you something you’ll never forget.” Tracy moaned audibly and gnashed her teeth so hard Mark recoiled. He turned and looked at her with a bewildered expression, while hers was nothing short of ravenous.
“What is going on?” He asked her. “I’m not comfortable with this at all. Just wait until we’re alone!”
Tracy stood and looked down on him with crossed arms, not bothering to whisper. “I don’t care how comfortable you are. You’re my husband, and you’re going to give me what I want. I have to go to the bathroom. You have until I get back to lighten up and have a good time with me.” She walked to the back of the apartment in a huff.
Mark moved into Tracy’s old spot and stared at the ground. He wasn’t sure how much of that Shelby had seen and heard, but she’d surely heard something, and he had no idea what to say.
“It’s not her.” She spoke so quietly, and Mark had been so consumed with embarrassed thoughts that Shelby’s words didn’t register at first. When he realized she’d said something, he turned to her, and for the first time he noticed that she hadn’t moved since he’d walked in. Not one muscle. Not an inch.
“What did you say?” he asked her.
“It’s not her. She’s dead.”
The clunk of footsteps on the wooden floor in the kitchen preceded Tracy’s arrival, and she walked into the living room with a smile on her face, hands clasped behind her back.
Marks stomach sunk into a pit of ice at the sight of her hungry smile. “Alright, babe,” she said. “Let’s go to the bedroom. Shelby will be okay here alone for a little bit. I want you too badly to wait anymore.” Her smile widened, and a trail of green liquid ran from the corner of her mouth down her chin. She caressed her neck with her right hand, massaging slowly. “I want you, babe. You need to come give in to me. I won’t let you get away.”
Mark’s throat tightened as he turned to Shelby, who remained as motionless as ever and said nothing. He looked into the lustful eyes of Tracy, who winked and beckoned him to follow before walking back to their bedroom.
He didn't move at first. He felt like a python had squeezed the breath from his body, and he gasped and put a hand on his chest, attempting to gain control of his breathing.
“Come to me, dear husband!” A cry from the bedroom made him jump. But at these words, he accepted his fate. She was his wife, and she needed him. He would always love her.
He stood and walked into the kitchen. The apartment was dark, with the only light emanating from their bedroom, which sat with the door half-open at the end of the hallway.
Mark braced himself and walked towards it.

in february i had my first tonic clonic seizure. i woke to a police officer in my room and my girlfriend in tears. MRI, X-RAY, and EEG was clean. it was discovered that i had had two Focal awareness seizures in the week before (i had texted my mom about these weird experiences when i didn’t know what they were) and continued to have focal awareness seizures in clusters over the next couple months. i’m trapped in a town where i need to be able to drive, i had literally just gotten a car in november. The neurologist i saw scheduled me for an ambulatory EEG in June. he said i could drive in three months if i remained seizure free the whole time. he prescribed Keppra, which i picked up from the pharmacy but never took because i was afraid of the side effects of rage (lol. lmao. imagine how mad i am now)
I’ve been planning a trip to visit my best friend in the Netherlands for nearly four years. we finally got it worked out and bought the tickets in December to visit in May. obviously when all this happened, i wasn’t going to let it stop me from going. so two weeks ago, I got to the airport, and i had a focal awareness seizure. “whatever, ive had these before, it’ll probably be fine”. i get on the plane, make friends with the old lady and old man sitting on either side of me, lay down in my uncomfortable chair and go to sleep.
when i wake, both of my old friends are gone (they were real lol they’d just been moved). the flight attendant told me i had two tonic clonic seizures on the plane. they brought me to a doctor in the airport, who did fuck all iirc, and then i got to my friend. i had another tonic clonic seizure with her on the train (no memory of this) and another when she got me to her apartment (no memory of this either). four total in one day.
the airline emailed me saying they wanted a doctor to sign off on my return flight or they may refuse me flying with them. if they do that, i literally have no idea how i’ll get home. i’m figuring it out. it’s just so stressful!!! and i feel like such a burden. to my poor girlfriend and my best friend and my mother and my doctor. and i just wanted to take a vacation and hang out with my friend. now the whole trip has been interspersed with contacting doctors and airlines, and trying to learn as much as i can so i don’t trigger another. i’m 22, im in amsterdam, everything i want to do is a seizure trigger lmfao.
i’ve never been had a chronic illness. physically i’ve always been healthy and capable. ever since this happened to me in february i just feel like ive been getting weaker. i had 20/15 vision, and now i can’t read signs like i used to. my muscles spazz suddenly, i bruise easily and all the time. my joints feel like they are popping or creeping out of their sockets. pain in my back and neck. it’s making me depressed and despondent. i don’t understand why this is happening to me. hopefully the ambulatory eeg will find something, otherwise i guess i’m shit out of luck.
thank you for reading if you made it this far.

So, I got Bells 1.5 months ago. I had really bad pain on both sides behind my ear and thought I'd sleep it off and went to bed. Over the next day it progressed and the left side of my face dropped. I got in to see the doctor that day. I was given an anti viral and heavy dose of steroids for 10 days. The first few weeks were brutal with a heavy amount of fatigue, malaise feeling, a bit dizziness/disorientation and issues with sound. Stiff neck muscle pain and cramping and regular symptoms. All I wanted to do is lay on the couch or bed. I had another bit of pain behind the ear a few days in. The doc said that I had a mild case but it didn't really feel super mild. I got slightly worse over the next couple days and I couldn't close my eye and all the other regular symptoms.
I had a return of facial symmetry at about 3 or 4 weeks. People can't tell when they see me unless I make expressions or talk. The dizziness has subsided and I can handle noise now. My eye waters way less but still does a little. I had a bad annoying mumble which has started to clear up to where I can talk on a phone call and people can't really tell unless I am making a lot of "P" sounds. My eye can close 100% sometimes but often it's at an annoying 80-90%. I can't smile or move my eyebrow at all. I do seem to get a cold sort of tingling in my upper lip area and around the corner of my mouth with a very subtle twitch in my cheek. I can't tell if I'm fabricating these feelings or not? Eating seems to be somewhat better and I can drink through a straw now almost normally and pucker well enough to almost make a lame whistle. I'm past the 21 days everyone seems to talk about... but I still can't move my brow or smile. Any thoughts on how you can tell the severity of the issue?

Player Character

Reddit Account:TheLegend_NeverDies
Discord Tag: thelegend_neverdies
Name and House: Lyle Westerling
Age: 23
Cultural Group: Andal (Westerman)
Appearance: A lanky, stick-thin young man with sandy brown hair, Lyle is all easy smiles and nonchalance, yet there's a certain inscrutable mystery in the abyss of his dark brown eyes. An exemplar of the trend-setting western court, he is always clean-shaven and impeccably dressed in the crème-de-la-crème of courtly finery. He favors silken half-capes in exotic colors and rich doublets of velvet and lambswool in white, off-white, and sandy colors. He has delicate hands, bathes almost obsessively, and likes to perfume himself with the scent of cinnamon and oranges for the fair ladies of the court.
Trait: Steward
Skill(s): Avaricious (e), Architect (e), Scrutinous
Talent(s): Singing, Carousing, Cyvasse
Negative Trait(s): N/A
Starting Title(s): Steward of the Rock and Lord of The Crag
Starting Location: Opening Event

Auxillary Character

Name and House: Jon Westerling
Age: 23
Cultural Group: Andal (Westerman)
Appearance: Of an identical age and look to his twin brother, Jon differs in that he is noticeably muscled, with the lean but sturdy strength of a young knight. Jon, who seems to have an ever-present beard of stubble and tends to wear his hair in a ponytail, is just as popular at Lord Lancel's court as his brother, but he prefers to wear his simple sand-colored surcoat blazoned with seashells over indulging in the West's latest fashions.
Trait: Inspiring
Skill(s): Cunning, Cavalryman, Andal Knight
Talent(s): Hunting, Jousting, Fishing
Negative Trait(s): n/a
Starting Title(s): Knight of Seashells, Captain of the Lannister House Guard, and Heir to the Crag
Starting Location: Opening Event

Bio-Timeline

3 BC - The heir to the Crag, Symond Westerling, weds Penelope Lannister in a grand ceremony at the sept in Lannisport. At the wedding ceremony, his younger brother Gormond very briefly met his future wife, the young lady Teora Reyne.
2 BC - The first child of their marraige, Jeyne Westerling, was born at the Crag. What should have been a good omen, however, spelled disaster. Not one moon after her birth did the Conqueror launch his glorious conquest of the Seven Kingdoms. Called up by his liege to do his duty and defend the realm from this pretender, Lord Walderan, his sons, and all their knights and levies rode to war. With their strength combined with that of the Reach, they had expected an easy victory. But never before had they seen dragons on the field.
Lord Westerling, as commander of the West's vanguard, was among of the battle's first casualties when a stray crossbow bolt felled his horse and caused the aging Walderan to break his neck underneath it. Had he only known the mercy he was spared. Symond, now Lord, did not halt the assault. Out of duty and mad vengeance, he led the Western forces further, even in the face of the three dragons that had, by now, taken flight. From his sick bed, Lord Symond often swore that he had been able to cut down four of Aegon's pikemen before the dragons came down upon them. Before the field erupted into flame and everything went dark.
1 BC - It was not for many moons after King Loren had already knelt to the Conqueror until Lord Symond woke again. Gormond had managed to rescue his older brother from the fire and organize as many of the Crag's men as he could for a desperate retreat through the rings of fire. He had saved hundreds of men that day, all men agreed. But whether he had truly saved his brother was in question. His face and body ruined by the grievous extent of his burns, a series of amputations were necessary to save Lord Westerling's life, but he was never quite the same man he had been prior.
0 AC - With the Conquest completed and Aegon upon his Iron Throne, life returned to some semblance of normalcy for many. But Symond's scars from that brief, glorious war would remain with him for the rest of his life. Kept on a near-constant supply of milk-of-the-poppy and dreamwine, he was in no condition to actually fulfill his duties as a lord. Lady Penelope and Ser Gormond decided to share the duties between themselves until Jeyne came of age.
1 AC - On one of his better days, Lord Symond, who had been unable to leave his solar for the past two years, finally managed to hobble to court, to the horror of his people. A man scarred and ruined, he nevertheless was determined to hear a few pleas of his people. Cautiously optimistic, Lord Westerling's mood soured when his daughter, whom he had previously hoped to hide the extent of his deformities, screamed and ran out of the room when she saw, "A monster on my father's throne!" Court soon adjourned, and Lord Symond, for the first time in years, went to bed with his wife.
2 AC - A small miracle of sorts touched the house with Penelope's birth of the twin boys Lyle and Jon. The knowledge that he had an heir had brought some joy back to the house and even to Symond himself, but his condition would only deteriorate as the years went on. Continually tended to by Lady Penelope, his lordship would remain largely sedated and absent from the lives of his children as they grew.
5 AC - Not all was morosity and gloom, however. Ser Gormond Westerling would meet Lady Teora Reyne at a small tourney in Feastfires, asking for her favor before his joust and talking to her at much greater length at the feast later that night, soon starting their brief and intense courtship. They would wed some moons later, eventually having two children of their own, Stafford and Eleyna.
7 AC - With the Stranger knocking at his door, Lord Westerling called his family to his solar one final time. The family that he had tried his very best to shield from him by self-imposed isolation and the endless reading of old histories and holy books. He wore a mask of fused seashells as he told his children of his pride in them, of his hope that they would carry on without him. But before he died, he insisted that his heir take one final parting gift from him. At that, Lord Symond removed his seashell mask, gave it to his five-year-old heir and said, "Boy. Look at me. This is what those silver-haired freaks and their demon abominations have wrought. Guard yourself... lest they do it to you."
8-20 AC - Lord Symond was dead, but his parting words had left an impact on his children. As Lyle buried himself in books and lessons from Maester Boros, Jon practiced with mount and blade with Uncle Gormond, while Lady Penelope trained her daughter in courtly etiquette and saw to it that House Westerling maintained its close connections with the Lannisters, of the Rock and Lannisport both. In that time, the Westerlings soon found themselves inducted into the court of the Rock, the boys in particular became close friends to the young heir to the Rock, Lancel Lannister, and soon became regular visitors to the Rock and makers of mayhem in Lannisport.
Jeyne, meanwhile, happened across the widowed Lord Baelor Belaerys of Aegon's Rest himself at some tourney, feast or other, and soon found herself enamored of the dragonlord. Despite Jeyne's fears that her mother or uncle would forbid the match due to his status as a prominent valyrian dragonlord, they, to her great surprose, acquiesced. And so she married the Lord of Aegon's Rest in 16 AC and bore him his new heir two years later.
21-25 AC - As the Westerling twins "matured" with their good friend Lancel, who eventually became Lord Lancel, they each found themselves prominent places at court, Lyle as the Rock's Lord Treasurer and Jon as Lancel's Captain of the Guard. To this day, House Westerling are considered the Lord of the Rock's most tireless supporters, with the twins counting among his most loyal men.

Family Tree

House Westerling

Supporting Characters

Gormond Westerling - General
Stafford Lannister - Warrior

Hiya has anyone ever managed to get muscle relaxers meds like Baclofen or something similar on prescription within the UK?
I'm at my wits end with this TMJ. Ive seen ENT, Oral Max-Fac, countless GPs and none of them know what to do. Naproxen doesn't even touch the jaw, they've offered amitriptyline to manage the migraines, I can't go down that avenue due to other reasons. I've been offered Botox but it's such a short term solution to a life long condition. I'm going down acupuncture route next but thinking ahead now meds wise. I've been given muscle relaxants before in Thailand for pulled muscles in my neck from an accident. That worked wonders! Why do the NHS hate it so much? It seems impossible to get.

Hello mold subreddit. First time reddit poster here. Thank you in advance for any insight you can offer to my case. In what follows, I'm going to first describe the health journey that led to my mold discoveries and questions, so please bear with me through the health stuff. I have included excessive detail in the hopes that my case might help others navigate possible mold problems.
If you don't feel like reading all the below, the tl:dr version: After struggling with unknown health issues for 15 months, I eventually linked my symptoms to my new home and subsequently discovered very high volatile organic chemical levels. I linked the VOCs to mold. I also had a mold inspection done, and the results are at the bottom of this post. The levels of mold were high in my kitchen and bathroom. However, oddly, the mold levels in the outside control group were much higher than inside. Can anyone help me understand how high my indoor mold levels are? Does anyone know whether the outdoor levels are reasonably normal? Is my specific blend of mold types implicated in neurological symptoms for others? And if anyone has dealt with mold before, do my possible mold symptoms described below seem similar to ones that you've had?
I bought my townhome in late 2022. Within four months, I started having new neurological symptoms. These symptoms started with a postural tremor in my left index finger and thumb. The same hand eventually began to appear smaller and shriveled, especially around my thumb. I also started having extremely frequent muscle twitches and jerks. These twitches take three general forms:

1. The most common is an odd sensation of something wiggling under my skin. These primarily happen in my face, around my mouth, my butt/legs, and ribs.
2. A pulsing regular beat in a muscle that lasts for several seconds and in some cases longer. These usually happen near joints, especially just above my elbows and knees. These are almost always visible to the naked eye.
3. A sensation of rapid vibrating underneath the skin that lasts briefly. These vibrations are usually not visible but you can feel them if you press a hand over the area.

The twitches and apparent change to my hand have lasted for 16 months. At this point, the tissue loss in my thumb is also apparent in my forearm and upper left arm. My leg on the same side arm appears different and feels as if it has lost some muscle. I also have frequent trembling with specific muscles when I flex them. For example, sometimes when I try to hold a smile my face muscles will shake or give out. My neck tissues are especially liable to shake and vibrate when flexed, such as when doing tasks like flossing where I need to hold my lips back. On a few separate occasions, I have felt slight paralysis on one side of my face for an evening or so that then mysteriously goes away.
Aside from these neurological symptoms, I also have had frequent hoarseness, sneezing, jaw pain, and headaches. My joints often feel like they are more bony and poppy, especially in my left knee and knuckles. In addition, I've had a lot of issues with one ear on the same side as the shriveled hand. The ear had an apparent infection or cloudiness 12 months ago that went away, it then had recurrent pulsatile tinnitus, and now it just occasionally hurts at random times. There have been many other symptoms.
I have seen two neurologists, an endocrinologist, an ear-nose-throat doctor, and an orthopedic doctor. I've had countless tests done including two electromyographies (EMGs) over my whole body several months apart, an MRI, and a lyme disease blood panel. Every test has been normal, although the orthopedic doctor suggested possible thoracic outlet syndrome. The neurologist said my nerves are quite robust. My borrelia blood panel came back negative, although as a side note I did have a tick bite in early 2022 that caused a rash. I was treated for Lyme with 10 days of doxycycline. The tick bite itself still occasionally flares up red and its timing might be correlated with my symptoms.
Back to the house-- I was on a two week vacation out of state and noticed my twitches go away. Then I saw my arm become more normal sized again and the veins start to come back. I didn't feel the same joint issues, had no hoarseness, lost the headaches. All the symptoms came back as soon as I returned home, but nevertheless after that vacation and subsequent extended trips, I was able to conclude with a reasonable level of confidence that these symptoms are linked to the house. I bought an air filter and an air quality monitor that shows volatile organic chemicals, PM, formaldehyde, and C02.
Using the air quality monitor, I discovered that volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and formaldehyde were usually abnormally high and sometimes extremely high. VOCs are usually above safety thresholds at >0.5 mg/m3 and formaldehyde >0.1 mg/m3. Sometimes, the VOC levels will stay consistently above 1.8mg/m3. I witnessed them reach a peak level of 5mg/3 in one bedroom late at night when I was woken up by a feeling of shortness of breath. I tried but failed to correlate these high VOCs to electronics, chemical sources in the home, cooking sources, heaters, and cleaning supplies. The way the VOCs would spike all over the house for no apparent reason in the evening helped me rule out some of these other possibilities. I also actively removed other sources.
Eventually, I realized that the VOCs were likely caused by mold, so-called microbial VOCs. The formaldehyde could also be explained by mold. The levels of VOCs would spike on rainy days, when the humidity was high inside, and in the evening. I don't think any other chemical source near the house would display this pattern. It took me a while to reach this conclusion because the mold issue in my house isn't too obvious. The house has always had a slight musty smell, especially if the air is stagnant for a while. The bathroom also has recurring mold growth on a tiles, in the shower, and on the various shower liners. A couple cabinets in the kitchen have always smelled musty. I didn't think these obvious signs of mold growth were that big of a deal, but given the extremely high levels of VOCs I now believe the mold has always been the issue.
Once I realized it was likely mold, I started noticing all the signs. The house is about 100 years old. The prior two owners of this house each moved out within five months. The house is not ventilated except from windows. It sits in a damp area near where water puddles up in the yard. It's mostly solid brick, so the house frame has a way of trapping hot air and releasing a lot of moisture onto the floors each evening. There's also a cheap layer of vinyl flooring throughout that could easily cover up a massive mold problem underneath. Finally, the townhome sits on top of an old shared crawl space that was used as a furnace. It has had known water puddling issues for which reason a vapor guard was installed underneath my first floor.
So, I had a mold inspection done. The results are at the bottom of this post. The bathroom results might be diluted because I left the window open the night before. Nevertheless, both my kitchen and bathroom had mold detected at levels between 6480 - 12,300 spores/m3. Oddly, the outdoor levels of all of the molds were often much higher, 3-6 fold higher than the levels indoors. It was a humid day, but it still seems odd for me that an outdoor space could have higher levels than indoors.
On later reading about my specific mold spores and neurological symptoms, I noticed that the two most elevated groups of spores in my house, ascospores and basidiospores, are the same class as all of the funguses known to have colonized the nervous system of ALS patients according to this published article. Those specific types of fungus found in the nerves of ALS patients are Candida, Malassezia, Fusarium, Botrytis, Trichoderma, and Cryptococcus. It naturally led me to wonder if my chronic als-type neurological symptoms could be caused by some latent fungal infection in my body that gradually improves when I'm away from the home.
Wrapping up this thread, I have a bunch of questions.

• Does anyone have the same kinds of molds (see below) in their home and have the ability to speak to how problematic my levels are from their own experience?
• Why would the outdoor control be so high? I do compost and garden, but all of the compost is buried underground.
• Is my specific blend of mold types implicated in neurological symptoms?
• Do my symptoms seem similar to mold-related symptoms that you might have had? I'm trying to figure out if mold is a likely culprit or if I should keep seeking help for possible tickborne illness or other issues.
• Should my mold levels be a cause to stay away from this house as much as possible? Should I ever return?
• Do I need to throw away all my belongings like books clothes and sheets?
• Would a very high quality HEPA air purifier make any difference?
• Is there some kind of public health representative that could help me navigate this or a type of mold doctor who could help me investigate the causes of my symptoms and seek the right kinds of medication?
• Do you have any other advice for someone in my situation?

My mold inspection results

ive been sleeping terribly this entire year and it has negatively impacted my quality of life so much. i'll have some weeks where i can sleep at night 6-7 hours but majority of the time i sleep in the afternoon with around 3-5 hours of sleep.
whenever my friends message me i always respond so much later because im asleep,and i turn down invitiations to do stuff because of my sleep also. school is also extremely hard to get through because typically i dont sleep the night before. my muscles also ache sometimes and whenever i breathe, i can feel my left neck vein.
what should i do guys? my skin has been improving lately but sleep is still a major issue. i tried to reduce the amount of sugar, dairy, junk food and increasing water intake and although this helps with my skin, my sleep is still terrible.
ill be seeing a doctor on the 20/5/2024 and pray to god to find a remedy.

Symptoms- -Joint swelling with fingers and wrists being the worst -low grade fever when joints are most swollen - pain comes and goes in fingers, wrists, elbows, knees, hips, shoulders, lower back and toes - extreme fatigue - muscle weakness - dry red eyes - general flu like symptoms
I also have IBD. Dad has RA. Brother has MS.
Doctor prescribed prednisone and ordered X-rays and blood tests. Thinks it is definitely inflammatory arthritis. Will likely diagnose RA or seronegative RA depending on labs.
At least I have answers.

AITH My mother is in her 60s. Bless her, but she's had a rough life of drinking and can be procrastinate. This leads her to be neglectful of others (me in the past) and herself.
Starting 3 weeks ago, she woke up in a rough way... The left side of her neck, swollen. Lymph nodes huge to the point it was hard for her to breathe. She would say shes fine, only to clearly not be. I would offer her food, only for her to turn it down. Very quickly, I watched this petite women turn into skin and bones, all the while staying in bed and insisting she's fine. She would promise me she's going to the doctor, only to not go when the day comes.
That pattern continued to today.
She kept talking about how she's going to go to Albany, how everything will be great. I asked her if she's going to go to the doctor, and she said the usual spiel about washing her legs and feet first. This time I got mad. She's doing nothing to actually take care of herself and it was more of the same. I was silent.
She then asked what I think.
I asked if she wants me to be truly honest.
She then said yes.
I then played into her. I told her she's dying. If you have to go to the emergency room for an illness this grave, statistically speaking, you don't have long to live.
She laughed and asked me how I knew.
I listed her symptoms, then said that ultimately, you're not taking care of yourself. Any chance you have is good as non existent if you don't make an effort.
Her demeanor changed.
She got quiet, asked me to leave the room. I did.
She barely talks now, often rocking back and forth.
Was I an asshole? I regret saying it. I was mad because she wasn't really trying. But it really seemed to hurt her.

I get asked this question a lot but before answering what do I know and who the heck am I?
I am a German/American Who thoroughly enjoys the discussion and Pharmacokinetics Of anabolic steroids and nootropics
I started lifting when I was 17 years old because I felt I was frail and skinny and wanted to pack on some powerful muscle! After 3 years in the gym and eating everything in sight I went from 140-165lbs I was relieved the wind wouldn’t blow me away but now I just looked average! At 21 I decided to take the plunge with my roommate at the time, we went out to search for our anabolics, we got scammed a couple times from telegram that hurt we lost our extra money we didn’t make a lot at the time but we didn’t give up little did we know it was right under our nose the whole time, Our boss at the car dealer we worked for us a massive 240lbs lean and mean, he was literally mean so we’re scared to ask him.. We decided to approach his office together and meagerly ask the beast of a man, “Hey boss uh do you umm. Not saying your on them but like do you know where to get some muscle builders if you know what we mean” to our surprise he answered openly and excited “Sure you lil twats what you want?! Deca?? Dbol??” He ended up giving us a couple bottles of deca and test and looking back at his prices he absolutely raped us on cost, but within weeks we went from average blokes to breaking necks and collecting compliments in weeks time! We gained muscle and confidence by the day! We needed to find a better supplier due to giving him rents worth money every couple weeks it was unsustainable!! So we scored the net and we found and tried a couple sites over the next couple months Some never sent the damn package or it was just plain junk! This happened for a couple months wasting $1000s and getting frustrated we almost went back to the greedy boss! One night I found a site that was based overseas They were 1/3 the price of the domestic sourced and after receiving our package we wre surprised to find it in original pharmacy packaging and the quality well it blew our socks off! We believe we had been getting severely underdosed gear this whole time! Till this day we still use this site our blood work is on point and our wallets fuller and our PR’s higher! I do not mind helping others avoid bad cycles and crooked sources!
I hope you enjoy my shit story I wrote it on lunch break at work lol! Cheers DM anytime Best regards

I get asked this question a lot but before answering what do I know and who the heck am I?
I am a German/American Who thoroughly enjoys the discussion and Pharmacokinetics Of anabolic steroids and nootropics
I started lifting when I was 17 years old because I felt I was frail and skinny and wanted to pack on some powerful muscle! After 3 years in the gym and eating everything in sight I went from 140-165lbs I was relieved the wind wouldn’t blow me away but now I just looked average! At 21 I decided to take the plunge with my roommate at the time, we went out to search for our anabolics, we got scammed a couple times from telegram that hurt we lost our extra money we didn’t make a lot at the time but we didn’t give up little did we know it was right under our nose the whole time, Our boss at the car dealer we worked for us a massive 240lbs lean and mean, he was literally mean so we’re scared to ask him.. We decided to approach his office together and meagerly ask the beast of a man, “Hey boss uh do you umm. Not saying your on them but like do you know where to get some muscle builders if you know what we mean” to our surprise he answered openly and excited “Sure you lil twats what you want?! Deca?? Dbol??” He ended up giving us a couple bottles of deca and test and looking back at his prices he absolutely raped us on cost, but within weeks we went from average blokes to breaking necks and collecting compliments in weeks time! We gained muscle and confidence by the day! We needed to find a better supplier due to giving him rents worth money every couple weeks it was unsustainable!! So we scored the net and we found and tried a couple sites over the next couple months Some never sent the damn package or it was just plain junk! This happened for a couple months wasting $1000s and getting frustrated we almost went back to the greedy boss! One night I found a site that was based overseas They were 1/3 the price of the domestic sourced and after receiving our package we wre surprised to find it in original pharmacy packaging and the quality well it blew our socks off! We believe we had been getting severely underdosed gear this whole time! Till this day we still use this site our blood work is on point and our wallets fuller and our PR’s higher! I do not mind helping others avoid bad cycles and crooked sources!
I hope you enjoy my shit story I wrote it on lunch break at work lol! Cheers DM anytime Best regards

I get asked this question a lot but before answering what do I know and who the heck am I?
I am a German/American Who thoroughly enjoys the discussion and Pharmacokinetics Of anabolic steroids and nootropics
I started lifting when I was 17 years old because I felt I was frail and skinny and wanted to pack on some powerful muscle! After 3 years in the gym and eating everything in sight I went from 140-165lbs I was relieved the wind wouldn’t blow me away but now I just looked average! At 21 I decided to take the plunge with my roommate at the time, we went out to search for our anabolics, we got scammed a couple times from telegram that hurt we lost our extra money we didn’t make a lot at the time but we didn’t give up little did we know it was right under our nose the whole time, Our boss at the car dealer we worked for us a massive 240lbs lean and mean, he was literally mean so we’re scared to ask him.. We decided to approach his office together and meagerly ask the beast of a man, “Hey boss uh do you umm. Not saying your on them but like do you know where to get some muscle builders if you know what we mean” to our surprise he answered openly and excited “Sure you lil twats what you want?! Deca?? Dbol??” He ended up giving us a couple bottles of deca and test and looking back at his prices he absolutely raped us on cost, but within weeks we went from average blokes to breaking necks and collecting compliments in weeks time! We gained muscle and confidence by the day! We needed to find a better supplier due to giving him rents worth money every couple weeks it was unsustainable!! So we scored the net and we found and tried a couple sites over the next couple months Some never sent the damn package or it was just plain junk! This happened for a couple months wasting $1000s and getting frustrated we almost went back to the greedy boss! One night I found a site that was based overseas They were 1/3 the price of the domestic sourced and after receiving our package we wre surprised to find it in original pharmacy packaging and the quality well it blew our socks off! We believe we had been getting severely underdosed gear this whole time! Till this day we still use this site our blood work is on point and our wallets fuller and our PR’s higher! I do not mind helping others avoid bad cycles and crooked sources!
I hope you enjoy my shit story I wrote it on lunch break at work lol! Cheers DM anytime don’t want to openly “Source talk” Best regards

I have been mostly experiencing pain right where my eajaw joint is and it has been going on for months. The pain radiates down towards my jaw muscles and neck sometimes as well. I don't clinch and my mouth remains open at night. Muscle relaxers didn't do too much and after several physical therapy visits I don't think things are getting better either.
My doc provided me 2x 50mg Diclofenac sodium DR (delayed release) to take, one in the morning and one in the evening (total 100mg a day). For those that have taken it, how long did it take to work? This is day one for me taking it and I'd rather not have to deal with this constant pain during my upcoming vacation. So far I'm not feeling much improvement.

Basically, the title. I was diagnosed in 2018 with an autoimmune disease based on blood markers but my rheumatologist couldn’t tell me exactly which one I had. He said there were some markers for Lupus but not enough to diagnose me.
I can always tell when I’m having a flare because I get these sores in my mouth. They’re ulcers. They’re so insanely painful. When my stress was at its worst in my life, I was also getting these ulcers in my nose and I got one in my eye right under my eyelid. It was unimaginably painful and I went to my primary care physician to have it looked at when it happened. But she said she couldn’t see anything and basically seemed to imply I was over exaggerating, which honestly deterred me from continuing to see a doctor about these issues. I figured I had HSV 1 and it was particularly bad because I was so stressed.
I have had a myriad of other symptoms. Swollen joints, osteoarthritis, constant headaches, bleeding from random organs (ie. coughing up blood clots, constantly having blood in urine tests despite no infection, bleeding a lot when I pass stool). I have a lot of skin problem. I get those pimple blister things and am super sensitive to sunlight.
I’ve been having a flare recently, likely due to poor sleep and stress and I have gotten these terrible sores in my mouth again. So freaking painful. They were healing up after I slept a lot and then a few days later some new ones started popping. It was bothering me so much I googled mouth sores related to autoimmune diseases and found a description of Behçets. This is the first time I’ve ever found out about an autoimmune disease that seems to describe what I’ve been experiencing for so many years.
I found this sub and have been exploring it to see what the experiences of others are. And I feel like I have read some horror stories on here already. I know this place is not to be used for a diagnosis, and I already plan to have this conversation with my rheumatologist. I was just wondering if some people are just constantly uncomfortable and not always in searing pain?
I say this as I’m laying here with swollen muscles I am literally trying to tenderize like a steak because they’re so tense and painful and causing me the worst headache ever.
Basically just looking for stories about peoples’ personal experiences to see what Behçets is really like on an average day.

I’m sick with worry and grief. First our sweet male cat died unexpectedly on March 1. We only had him 1.5 years. And now today our spunky female cat who we’ve had since she was a kitten (now 9.5 years old) likely has cancer. She’s been a constant in our household as well as our relationship and I’m gutted thinking our time with her is coming to an end. We thought we were going to have many years with her yet.
She stopped eating about 1 week ago. And if she would eat, she’d regurgitate it almost immediately. She’s been so lethargic and not acting her usual silly self. So we took her to the vet.
He found a mass on the base of her neck that’s long, thin, and wraps almost around the complete right side. It’s hard, irregular, and doesn’t seem to hurt. Idk how we never noticed it. It had to have grown very rapidly. I also feel the right side of her thyroid area is swollen as well which I worry might actually be a mass that he didn’t mention or didn’t notice. When she meows, her voice sounds different. Her amylase level was 4x the normal amount, so he’s concerned it might have spread to her pancreas.
He was unable to do much else as he didn’t have the necessary equipment to provide a definitive diagnosis. He referred us elsewhere to do imaging of her pancreas to see if the growth originated in the pancreas or if the mass on her neck has spread to the pancreas and other places. He told us to give her a steroid daily and monitor the growth. Then to return in 1 month to repeat labs. We’re getting a second opinion on Monday.
I’m seriously gutted. She can breath completely fine right now. But I’m worried with how fast this mass is growing on her neck that it might restrict her breathing eventually. Her meowing sounds different today.. but it could be from her crying in the car to/from the vet. She’s sitting on my lap as I type this and is purring up a storm. He gave her an anti-emetic shot today that helped her eat a bit when we got home. And he’s hopeful the steroid will increase her appetite as well.
Has anyone dealt with something similar? The growth/mass/tumor really freaks me out. Especially because her thyroid feels inflamed on the right side now as well.
TL;DR: Our newest cat died unexpectedly 2.5 months ago and now our other cat likely has cancer. Feeling emotional and conflicted.

Hi everyone,
I'm a 25M Paramedic and I'm looking for any reasonable explanation/hypothesis for the presentation of a patient I treated recently. I was dispatched to 44M who was delivering mail when he became unresponsive and was to be in cardiac arrest. This was witnessed by the homeowners of the residence. I live in a rural area, so when I got on scene, CPR was in progress and was initiated by volunteer first responders. Althought the patient was apneic, the patient had a strong carotid pulse, sinus tachycardia around 130/140 bpm. The patient was not responsive to painful stimuli. Being that my community is small, one of the first responders on scene knew the patient personally. They were very confident that the patient had no significant medical history and does not use drugs/alcohol (later confirmed by the spouse). When I realized that the patient had a pulse, I asked myself the rhetorical question: "Why would a young/healthy individual who felt well enough to go to work suddenly become apneic?" After thinking through various differential diagnoses, I was suspicious of an opiate overdose. The patient's pupils were constricted (although not pinpoint) and equal, non-reactive. The patient was maintaining a blood pressure of 140 systolic and capnography was consistently in the 20's- low 30's with a supraglottic airway adjunct. SpO2% was initially 75-80% and increased to 85-90% throughout transport. With a high index of suspicion for an opiate overdose, I administered 2mg of Naloxone intranasally. The patient began to ventilate spontaneously within 1-2 minutes of administration. Although, the quality of ventilations were very poor, so we continued assisting ventilations with a BVM. The patient was extricated and I was unable to obtain IV access, so I performed an IO on the patient's proximal tibia without complication. The patient did not retract or respond in pain at all with IO initiation, and I fast pushed 50CC off NSS. However, since the patient's respiratory drive had improved with the Naloxone, I was fairly confident that opiate overdose was the primary cause of the patient's condition. I administered 40mg of Lidocaine for IO analgesia (in case the patient did become more responsive) and an additional 2mg of Naloxone via IO. The patient's ventilation quality improved. The patient began fighting the assisted ventilation and the supraglottic airway. The patient began reaching for the I-gel and trying to sit up. We extubated the I-Gel and the patient continued to breath spontaneously about 20 resps/min with 15 L/min via non Re-breather. After transporting the patient to the hospital, the ED performed RSI. When I brought another patient to that ED later that afternoon, the ER doc informed me that the patient I had brought in earlier was found to have an intracranial hemorrhage and had a seizure. The spouse reported to the ED that the patient had been complaining of neck pain from an injury sustained "while moving a cow." It was described like a pulled muscle (not a traumatic injury) and the patient did not take anticoagulant medication. I asked the doc "Did the toxicology screening show any evidence of opiates?" The physician gave me a skeptical look and said "No?" I responded with "Well we administered naloxone twice and the patient's ability to spontaneously breath improved dramatically each time." The doc just gave me another skeptical look and continued with his work. I'm sure he's seen EMS give narcan to patients who did not need it for years so I understand his skepticism. This physician is a quality physician and I have no doubt the patient was diagnosed and treated appropriately. However, it's been bothering me that if there were no opiates in the patient's system, why did the patient's respiratory drive improve not once, but twice with naloxone administration? Am I just a victim of remarkable happenstance? I hate to chalk patient outcomes up to coincidence but maybe that's the truth? Any insight or hypothesis is more than welcomed. Thank you in advance!

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Memory transcription subject: Sawvek, Junior Extermination Officer
Date [standardised human time]: October 5th, 2136
Hard foam presses uncomfortably up against delicate pressure points situated across the length of my entire body, building up to an unbearable ache that makes me shift and turn against the thin mattress pad. I yank at the rough old blanket I’d taken out of storage and clutch it even tighter around my body, trying to keep out the chill. The best racks, the ones near the heating vents, had already been claimed long before I’d decided to move into the Guild House’s Barracks and it doesn’t seem likely that the current occupants will be giving up their spots any time soon.
My mind is still racing from the events of last paw, replaying the scene over and over again in my dreams and in my head. The way my brother had looked at me… That look on his face when he’d seen the real me…
My paw gives a sympathetic throb in memory, still aching from where it had met the wall, but at least I had been able to wrap it up a bit and stop the bleeding. I feel like I should take it as a small miracle that it isn't broken. More medical bills are the last thing I need right now.
I turn about in the bunk once more, rolling around in vain to try and find a comfortable position that doesn’t seem to exist. Through a conscious act of will I try to empty my mind and sleep, but the very act of trying not to think about things only brings them bubbling back up to the surface of my thoughts. My heartbeat echoes in my ears, a damnable drumming sound brought about by the exertion of my own restless tossing and turning. Out in the hallway I can hear the muffled shuffling of feet and murmurs of conversation. The Guild Hall never sleeps, and it seems that neither would I this paw.
Electing to abandon the attempt as hopeless, I cut my rest claw short and get up, venturing out into the hallway. If I can’t sleep anyway then I might as well start my waking claw early, maybe get in a little exercise. It’s not so bad when it’s self-directed, almost fun in a way. If our family had the money to support it then maybe I could have been an athlete of some variety growing up. I had always possessed something of a natural physicality.
“Stop wasting time with worthless questions about what could have been, Killer.” The voice interjects, early and active today by the sound of it. “You’ll never amount to anything more than a wild predator kept on a leash.”
There’s nothing to do but sigh and carry on. It was right after all. This is it. This is my life now.
Making my way down the hallway towards the gym I find myself walking past a row of private offices assigned to some of the more veteran officers on staff. Most are empty at this claw, their occupants either asleep or off doing other work. One room in particular catches my attention though, the one belonging to our newest PRED Team Commander.
The door leading inside is open and ajar, seemingly forgotten in the midst of more pressing business and granting me a look inside. The entire room is a mess, papers and binders strewn about everywhere with official looking documents littering the floor. A map of the city decorates the otherwise unadorned and impersonal space. On its face it hosts a variety of multicoloured pins, all connecting seemingly arbitrary locations as well as photographs of people and places from the records department. The face of the former PRED Team Commander, Vrienna, looks out at me once again with the same cruel eyes that decorate the memorial wall. Beside her photo are another pair of eyes, a pair I recognise, but not one I would have expected to see here.
Trilvri, my brother’s creepy coworker, the one who’d brought him home the night he’d drunk himself into a stupor, stares out at me from the wall. He was younger in this photo, barely of age, if even that, and dressed in a regulation space corps flight suit, but I could still recognise him. Trilvri’s eyes appear somehow more lively than when I had met him in person, though it does nothing to improve his overall disposition, looking, as they are, as if behind them resides only hatred and a feral desire to kill and rend. Come to think of it, he had mentioned he used to be in the corps hadn’t he? ‘Used to’ being the operative word. When I’d asked he hadn’t seemed particularly fond of his time in the service…
Situated as he is next to Vrienna like that, their pitch-black wool and evil-looking eyes bear a striking resemblance. It was the exact same sort of predatory expression that bore into your soul, the kind that made me feel weak and exposed, the same kind that was worn by-
“What do you think you’re doing in my office?” A voice asks from behind, nonplussed, but with a casual depth of power and authority behind it that makes me freeze on the spot.
“Commander Glagrig, Sir!” I turn about on the spot, fixed at attention in the doorway as I stare up at the man himself. “I’m sorry to intrude. I noticed someone had forgotten to close the door so I was just going to secure it.”
“I see.” Glagrig doesn’t seem to believe a word of it, but neither does he seem inclined to press the issue. “At ease. Tell me, do you recognise the man in the photo there? Have you ever seen him before?”
“No, Commander.” I lie reflexively as I shift to a parade rest, not fully knowing why, but knowing that whatever is going on I want no part of it, for me or my brother. It’s only after the fact that it occurs to me that lying might be worse than telling the truth.
“How… regrettable.” The prestige officer says plainly and I can’t tell whether he believes me or not. “If you do ever catch sight of this individual, then be sure to let me know immediately.”
“Y-Yes, Commander.” I subconsciously swallow with apprehension, hoping that he doesn’t notice. I want nothing more than to run away as quickly as I can, but I haven’t been dismissed yet.
“Junior Officer Sawvek, was it?” Glagrig carries on, looking me up and down, dissecting me with his eyes. “You have quite the interesting record on file and Officer Intalran is quite adamant about your potential. Your simulator results speak for themselves, even if they are just simulations.”
“Thank you, Commander.” I can feel myself growing dizzy as I answer with uncertainty.
“Don’t thank me,” the all-consuming void in front of me replies with no hint of warmth, “just remember that your performance is under evaluation. It’s in my interests to keep note of promising young aspirants who might someday join my team, and I would hate to see you squander your talents.”
“I-I understand, Commander.” I flick my tail in agreement, straining not to look away towards the floor.
“Dismissed.” Glagrig brushes past me as he enters his office, moving to shut the door behind himself.
“Um, Commander?” I ask just before the door shuts, feeling a beckoning call of curiosity that even the predatory prestige exterminator couldn’t crush. “If you don’t mind me asking… Why do you have all that stuff up on the wall there?”
The door opens again, just a crack, and I can feel my superiors' weighty presence bearing down on me, almost suffocating in its intensity. “It’s simply a personal matter. I have reason to believe that the prior investigation regarding the kelach incident was conducted according to… insufficient standards. The predator responsible was never found and I intend to remedy that deficiency.”
“How hard could it be to find a kelach?” I tilt my ears in confusion. “They're huge!”
“Despite initial reports,” he answers with an ominous, cold tone that sends a chill up my spine, “it may be possible that we're dealing with something far more dangerous than just a kelach.”
“T-Thank you, Commander.” I flick my tail in appreciation and the door closes.
I breathe a sigh of relief as the malevolent aura recedes. That was too close.
“And you’re a complete moron going back to ask him more questions afterwards, Killer.” The voice rises with amusement. “What? Do you want him to figure you out and turn you to cinders? Only a matter of time, Killer.”
“Ugh, shut up.” I mutter under my breath, quickly turning back around to make sure Commander Glagrig didn’t hear me, but when no reprisal comes I quickly depart. If I’m gonna be stupid I should at least try not to do so right in front of his office.
As the imminent threat of our in-house prestige exterminator dwindles so too does the energy driven by the adrenaline of the encounter. It figures that the moment I roll out of bed I want to take a nap again, but I know the moment I lie back down I’ll be back to full wakefulness in an instant. That’s just how that sort of thing works. With that in mind there’s really only one solution, a big, steaming hot cup of tea.
Making my way towards the tea machine I spot Jonsco, the feisty little primitive that mans our dispatch centre, smacking the top of the dispenser with a clenched paw while holding a mug underneath it.
“Is the tea machine fixed?” I ask as I pull out a mug from the cabinet myself.
Jonsco sighs heavily and shoots me a combative glare. “For the last time it’s not my brahking job to fix this damn tea machine! You got a problem with that then you can go pester someone else about it!”
I shrink back under the harsh rebuke. Jonsco may be small, but there was as much rage and fury condensed into that little package as anyone else in this department. Maybe more.
“I… I didn’t mean to imply…I just wanted to know if it was working again or not… Sorry.” I sputter out, feeling properly admonished as I look away towards the ground.
Jonsco looks at me quizzically, his hard glare softening somewhat as he seems to truly see me for the first time before returning to his usual scowl.
“Right…Whatever you say…” With one final smack the machine coughs and chokes, sputtering to life with a struggle, and a small trickle of freshly brewed tea begins to fill Jonsco’s cup. “The machine is on the fritz again as usual, but if you hit it just right, do a little percussive maintenance, then you can get it started again.”
“Thanks, Jonsco.” I lean back against the wall and watch as the mug slowly fills, impressed by the primitives know-how. “That's actually pretty smart of you.”
“For a ‘primitive’ right?” The words are barbed and spiteful, but lack his typical enthusiasm, more of a simple statement of fact than a real question. I couldn't exactly deny it, those had been my thoughts, and so the silence drags on awkwardly, marked only by the splash of tea falling into the steadily rising pool.
“What are you doing here at this claw anyway?” I eventually ask, dodging the question entirely. “We’ve still got at least another half-claw until our crew's shift is supposed to start.”
“I could ask you the same thing, you know?” The angry little dispatch operator retorts. “I'm here early working an overtime shift so I can afford to put food on my family's table. It's expensive feeding that many mouths. What's your excuse?”
“I had a fight with my brother…” I rub the back of my neck as I turn away abashedly, “moved out of the apartment and into the barracks full time… couldn't sleep…”
“Well then you should hurry up and work on patching things up with him.” Jonsco looks at me with an uncharacteristic hint of sympathy in his eyes. “Your family are the only ones who might actually care. This Gods-damned place is a slyther’s nest and no one here gives a speh about you or your problems. If you want my advice, you should do your best to spend as little time in this cesspool as possible.”
With his cup now full, Jobsco steps back from the machine and begins walking out towards the main hall.
“Thanks, Jonsco.” My words stop him in his tracks as he walks away from me. “I appreciate it.”
“... You're welcome.” He says after a short pause, glancing back to look at me one more time before leaving. “See you around, Sawvek.”
Taking advantage of the tea machine while it’s still mostly working, I fill up my own cup and drink deeply of the warm, fragrant beverage. The taste is bitter and unpleasant, just about the quality I would expect of this Guild Hall, but even at the first taste it’s evident that it’s been loaded with an extra strength dose of caffeine. I down the drink quickly and rinse out the cup before continuing on my journey towards the training hall. Fatigue begins to fall away as I walk, bit by bit as the drug makes its way into my bloodstream, blocking off sleep receptors and energising me. I know I’ll probably pay for it later, no amount of caffeine can actually replace sleep, but for now it feels good and I can see how some people can get addicted to the stuff.
A loud, metallic clanging emanates from the gym as I approach, something unexpected for this time of paw. No one's reserved space in the gym for this claw and not many people are industrious enough to sweat on their own initiative. Peeking my head inside the door I spy Bikim, the perfect, privileged, ‘holier than thou’ brahkass occupying the otherwise empty weight room. His irritatingly handsome face is taut with strain as he performs a series of weighted squats, his back and leg muscles straining underneath his short-cropped wool, and he pants heavily under the exertion.
I’m half tempted just to leave and go back to bed despite the fact that there’s no way I’d be getting any sleep with the tea running through my system. It’s too early in the paw to deal with Bikim’s speh. Before I can slip away unnoticed though, he spots me. I give a heavy sigh and continue my way inside. There's nothing to be done for it now. Trying to back out now would only make things worse later, a sign of weakness.
“What… Do you want… Predator?” Bikim asks between gulps of air as he reracks his weights, practically hanging off the bar to support himself on shaky legs.
“Good paw to you too, Bikim.” I say, forcing civility into my tone. “I’m here to use the equipment. Same as you. I'm allowed.”
“Whatever…” He eyes me with suspicion. “Just keep your distance… I don't want to catch any of your taint.”
“Believe me,” I flick my tail out in irritation, “I intend to.”
Looking around the room for available spots, I march my way over towards a cable machine on the opposite side of the room. Not nearly as far from Bikim as I would like, but the farthest I can get without leaving the weight area entirely. Bikim watches me all the while as I seat myself down and begin adjusting the machine. Eventually he grows tired of watching me fumble around with the machine and returns to his own exercises with a displeased flick of the tail, quite obviously judging me for my lack of experience with the equipment.
A tense sort of quiet settles over the room as we each go about our business, trying our best to ignore one another. Bikim slowly winds his way around the room, cycling from station to station to exercise all the different parts of his body in sequence before repeating it all again. He seems to bypass my corner of the room, glancing over at me with each repetition of his pattern. For myself, I stay put where I am, taking advantage of the varied exercises offered by the versatile machine to experiment with different muscle groups. Occasionally I slip up, dropping the weights with a loud clang that always draws Bikim’s ire. Every time he seems just a bit more disgruntled, a bit less patient. Eventually, the constant disruption reaches a tipping point and the pompous, self-entitled jerk walks over to confront me.
“Do you always do this?” He asks rhetorically. “If you keep slamming the weights like that you're gonna break it. Your form is speh so either fix it or lower the weight so you don't have to keep compensating. Better yet, just leave. You’ve been monopolising the cable machine for almost half a claw now. I don't know why you're even here in the first place.”
“Oh, look at Mr. Know-it-all thinking he can just go around telling us what to do, eh Killer?” The voice rises to the challenge. “Where does a guy like that who's been handed everything his whole life think he can get off with telling us how we should be doing anything?”
“Brahk off Bikim!” I don't even try to reign in the predator inside, feeling justified in letting it roam free for once. “I didn't ask for your advice and you don't get to kick me out of the weight room just because you can't wait your turn! I'm here because I don't have anywhere else to go! Ever since Intalran dragged me into this stupid Guild this brahking job has taken over my entire life! I don't even have a home to go back to anymore!”
Bikim's body tenses at my tirade and his tail flicks out aggressively like a whip.
“That's your own damn fault, predator!” He shouts back, eager for the excuse to vent his own frustrations. “Maybe if you weren't just some blood-starved beast out roaming the streets then you wouldn't be here right now! I’ve read your file! You got a history of herdless behaviour and physical altercations! Someone should have institutionalised you a long time ago, but someone took pity on you and let you slip through the cracks because of your poor dying mommy! They should have known it would come back to bite them! A normal, functional member of the herd wouldn't even think to pick a flamer up off the ground and burn another person to death with it! But you? You did it instinctively! You revelled in it!”
“You think that was easy for me!” I get up and walk towards him as I yell incredulously. “You think I asked for that to happen! You think it was fun for me to get choked out and almost eaten! That thing I burned wasn't even a person anymore! It was a predator in the middle of a feeding frenzy! So yeah, I did what I did, and you know what? It's a good thing I did! If I wasn't a freak of nature then that thing would have kept on going and kept on killing! Last I checked, preventing that sorta thing was supposed to be your job, but I had to be the one to step up! Now I have to live with the consequences of my actions every paw, knowing that I’m a Protector-damned killer that doesn't belong anywhere! Maybe you, in your infinite wisdom, would've known the perfect thing to do in that situation, but I’m not you! I’ve had to work and struggle for every little thing I have! Not just had it handed to me on a silver platter!”
“Oh, so you got me all figured out do you?” Sarcasm drips from Bikim's mouth as he looks down on me. “You don't know me. You don't know my life or what I’ve been through, how hard I’ve worked to get where I am. You just see the end product from cycles of effort and assume that it's always been that way, that it's always been that easy. It hasn't.”
“Yes, I’m sure you had it so hard growing up Bikim.” Saying it aloud almost makes me laugh. “You’re such a child of privilege that it drips off of you with every move you make and every word you say. I hate people like you, thinking that you're better than everyone else just because you were lucky enough to be born into wealth and status. Try living like the other side for a change, scrounging for every credit just so you can afford to eat, and then try to tell me how hard you had it with a full belly and a warm home!”
“You’re right, predator,” Bikim says contemptuously, “I am a child of privilege. My family has a long and decorated military tradition, my father is a captain for the space corps, a brahking hero, and I’ve reaped the benefits of that. That privilege came at a cost though, and that’s called expectations. Second best is not good enough and I've had to put in ten times the effort as anyone else my whole life just to meet standards! At least you grew up with a father who was there for you and loved you without the condition that everything you do is perfect!”
“All that talk about reading my file and you didn't even get past the first page did you?” I snap at him with a snarl. “ I didn't grow up with a father at all! He's been dead since I was in elementary school! Killed in action! I barely even remember him anymore!”
That one seems to give Bikim pause, but I’m not done yet.
“If you and your whole family are such a bunch of brahking heroes then how come you're here, working as a common garrison exterminator in a run-down backwater city like this?” I taunt. “Shouldn't you be out gallantly fighting the Arxur with one of the fleets or on a colony pacification force rather than making my life here harder than it already is?”
“That's the price for failing to meet expectations,” Bikim quiets down, drawing away from the world and into himself, “the price for knocking up a beautiful, wonderful girl right after graduation and refusing to get rid of it afterwards. You get cut off. You lose that privilege, and you do whatever you have to in order to provide and try to be a good role model for your son.”
Now that one threw me for a loop. In the short time I’ve known Bikim I’ve had a lot of thoughts about him, few of them good, but never would I have expected him to be the type to take responsibility… For anything. Still, there is one thing about his story that doesn't line up…
“Oh really?” I take a step back as I watch for his reaction closely. “I seem to recall Jonsco mentioned just the other day that your wife had left you for a Human.”
“Don't you bring that brahking primitive into this!” Bikim's anger flares in an instant before returning to a subtle simmer of regret. “We’ve just been having a… a rough patch in our relationship. I’m not giving up on us. I’ll win her back. She's just… confused and being taken advantage of! It's all that damn predators fault!” Bikim sighs and sits down on a nearby bench. “You're not the only one whose had something taken from them because of this job. You're not the only one without a home to go back to.”
Looking at Bikim now, a sad, pathetic man moping on the bench with nothing better to do on his rest claw than to try to externalise his inner pain… I find it hard to stay angry at him. He's still a narcissistic brahk ass and a complete jerk, but it's hard to truly hate someone when you actually know them. I had made quite a few assumptions about him when we first met, and he certainly hadn't helped my impression of him since, but… perhaps I was wrong to judge him so harshly?
“Nah,” the voice chortles, “he’s a piece of speh that got what he brahking deserves for being an insufferable prick.”
Overhead the intercom crackles to life and I can hear Jonsco's voice reverberating over the airwaves.
“Officers Vaesh and Sawvek please report to the briefing area for assignment. Repeat. Officers Vaesh and Sawvek please report to the briefing area for assignment.”
“Sounds like it's time for your first field assignment, Kid.” Bikim says, staring up at the intercom. “At least it gets you out of my wool. Try not to brahk it up and make the rest of us look bad.”
“Hmph.” I turn to leave, muttering to myself. “Stupid brahkass.”
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A/N - Hello! Sorry this one took a while. Like I mentioned before I got delayed working on my Ficnapping chapter as well as a crossover One-shot that's still in progress (but hopefully will be done soon). In other news we have new art of Sawvek's life-changing encounter in the Builder's Lane Bloodbath as drawn by Miglove and you can still find that and everything else Nature of Family in the new Master Post linked up above.
If you like the story then please remember to upvote, comment, and use the “!Subscribeme” function to be alerted to all new posts. I post as often as I can but real life has a tendency of getting in the way and my job makes it almost impossible to keep to any kind of schedule. Your engagement and support go a long way towards helping to keep me on track and motivated, so thank you very much for reading and I hope you'll stay tuned for next chapter!

I am hoping to get some advice or hear some similar experiences here to see if this is normal with ME/CFS. I had a Covid infection in Feb of 2023, no major symptoms at the time. In early April I started having itchy, burning lungs, the lymph nodes on my neck were visibly swollen and I was tired and sleeping all the time as if I took a bunch of sedatives.
Over the past year now these symptoms haven’t improved. My family Dr sent me for neck ultrasounds when my neck was swollen, ordered bloodwork (to rule out cancer) and I also got a neck CT. I was later referred to a specialist who went over everything and suggested I may have ME/CFS.
My question for this community is whether when flaring up it’s normal to get swollen lymph nodes in the neck and feeling like you’re coming down with the flu (but no fever or actual infection). It seems to be perplexing my family dr that the lymph nodes will go down but then swell back up and be quite sore for days at a time. At the the same time I usually feel quite tired and it causes me a lot of stress. Essentially once a week sometimes for days I feel quite ill, especially if I walked to much or was stressed out.
Is there a reason this happens despite everything else being ruled out? My guess is the body thinks or has a remnant of a virus that is being repeatedly activated and so the immune system flares up despite there not being anything there. How many others here experienced this?