Adderall xr work better than phentermine

I'm usually prescribed tramadol to take as needed in order to treat JRA pain, but I've recently started having a bad flare-up and have been suffering a lot more than usual.
My doctor prescribed me tapentadol to see if that will work better than the tramadol. I took 200mg tramadol this morning, but I have another busy day tomorrow, so I might need painkillers again.
I'm just wondering if anyone knows whether it will be safe to take the tapentadol tomorrow, or if I should wait until I haven't had tramadol for a few days? I'd ask my doctor, but she's away for a few days.

I owned one of the original SD when they first released. Sold it because it was my only gaming device and it just wasn't powerful enough for some AAA games to look their best. Bought a ROG Ally - my word that was a mistake!! Sd card reader broke and corrupted my 1TB card. Curry's replaced the device. Weeks later, my right stick had really bad drift (so the Windows cursor was constantly moving to the left) - couldn't play a thing. I decided to replace it myself, buying a couple of sticks from eBay. Replacement was fine, but a little wobbly. In the end, I still felt it wasn't powerful enough for some games, and I didn't want to keep messing around replacing sticks, plus also I wasn't entirely happy with the screen size and large black bezels. I sold it and bought a Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop. Absolutely awesome! I can play most games on maximum settings at 1080p no problem. The only thing is having to get my lap tray out to put it on, and have this large heavy laptop in front of me every time I want to play something.
Soooo, back to looking at Handheld PC's again lol. This time it's different though - I'm keeping the gaming laptop. So now, all I'm looking for is something to play the majority of my games on the go, at work, on the toilet etc. And the pressure will be off that device to show games at their absolute best because I'll still play on my laptop.
The ROG Ally is out straight away - not giving that another chance. The Ally X has been announced, but the screen will be the same, and I didn't like the thick black bezels top and bottom, and I always wished the screen took up more of the device face than that. The Legion Go looks WAY too large, reportedly heavy, huge fan noise, and terrible speakers. No thanks. The MSI Claw - well... you might laugh at that device, but it's reportedly doing much better performance-wise these days according to owners. Good design, hall effect sticks, great speakers. Only trouble is it's the same screen as the Ally with large black bezels top and bottom. Plus also the price is ridiculous at £800.
So.... now I've come full circle, played my mates' SD for a couple of days, and bought myself a 1TB OLED SD, due to arrive next week. I'm so looking forward to that large (but not TOO large) OLED screen with minimal bezels, and most of the games I play work fine on SD. I couldn't believe how well Cyberpunk runs on it now! Holy heck!! And then there's Geforce Now, coming to the rescue for games that aren't compatible - COD, Destiny 2, and more. Plus it's a great way to play the games that are compatible without having to install them, and possibly getting even better performance. Playing just like they're installed locally thanks to being on great internet speeds. And it was so easy to install thanks to Nvidia's new downloadable program specifically to install on Steam Decks. Brilliant.
It was a no brainer for me. I'm looking forward to being part of the family again :-)
TLDR: Sold my SD a while ago for an Ally. Had issues, sold for gaming laptop. Now keeping the laptop but missing handheld gaming, so after researching all the competition, buying a SD OLED and can't wait!

I am exhausted all the time trying to do everything. I have been trying to wake up at 5 am to do a short workout during the week before work, which is great except I pass out in the evening. Like we’re talking 8 pm. Then my husband gets upset for having to put out 4 year old to bed.
Recently I’ve been skipping some workouts and sleeping more so I can have energy in the evenings. I still pass out, but it’s after our child goes to bed. Now my husband is trying to encourage me to be more disciplined and workout and not loose my progress. I get where he’s coming from, my father died in his 50s of a heart attack so I don’t have the best genetics.
I think I might be tired as well due to stress. I started a new job in March and it’s been a ride. A few weeks in, the part time admin quit and I was stuck doing the work of 2 people for a month. My workplace was supportive and did help me but it was a lot. We have hired a new person, but I’m still training her. It’ll probably be another month before things calm down and we find a rhythm.
Because of this I’ve been doing extra hours at work. I’m starting to cut back to my 35 hours a week that I should be working. (I’ve probably been working around 40 hours.) My husband complains our child spends too much time at daycare, but he can’t do pick up or drop off because his work hours constantly change. He has a good job but low seniority so he gets really long shifts at work. His days off vary so if our child needs any doctor’s appointments or anything like that it falls on me. My work has been very understanding but it’s hard being the only one that can do appointments. A lot of the mental load is on me. Shopping for shoes for our child, hair cuts (for our child, I haven’t gotten a haircut in months), taking my elderly cat to the vet for monthly arthritis shots. My husband does what he can but with the nature of his schedule a lot falls on me.
My mother has a rare autoimmune disease as well. She just got diagnosed in December but started experiencing symptoms in September. She’s getting better now, but for a long time she couldn’t drive or anything by herself. She needed a lot of help and a lot fell on my sister. I have tried to help the best I can but between having a young child, living in the county, managing my family, and starting a new job I haven’t been able to help as much as she would like. I feel bad because a lot has fallen on her for her whole life. We’re just in different stages of life. Her children are in high school and university while mine is only 4 and as I’ve said a lot falls on me. I’ve been going over once a week to help my mom with stuff but next week I told my mom I can’t come because I’m finally going to go pick out my glasses. I went to the optometrist like a month and a half ago but couldn’t stay to pick out my glasses because I had to help my mom and haven’t been able to go back. My glasses are so old and worn the finish has started to come off the lenses. I offered to come help next Saturday but my sister is taking her shopping that day. She wanted me to come this Saturday, but I have my cat’s injection and the vet books up on Saturday so I can’t reschedule that.
This post ended up being much longer than I anticipated. I don’t know if there’s any point to this. I’m struggling to find balance in my life.

Please bear with me as this may be a long one.
I (F) am 26 years old and have not lived with my parents since 18 (went to college moved to another city for work etc). My parents have never 100% supported me financially (not a lack of funds, rather to be spiteful and to hold it over my head), we have never had a great relationship mostly due to how they treated me and the poor life choices they have made. I am quite successful in my career, although it does take a few years to work yourself up in my career (legal field) as you work on salary and commission and need to build up clients. I know I am 26 but we study and do practical so I only finished that last year. Recently I found myself facing a hard financial time (I have to move to another city to accept a better work opportunity and had to pay double rent and deposit, my previous boss also did not pay me my full salary and notice period (even though I did work the month though and my notice period & that is the law here).
I reached out to my parents for help and I was offered a loan with high pay back, which I rejected (lending money through a bank would be a better deal). Now everyone is fighting with everyone. That however is not the reason I want to cut them off, just another fight to add to the long list of rubbing each other the wrong way. For as long as I can remember they have been very absent in my life (I hardly ever saw my father growing up and when I did he would always yell, swore at me and belittle me, the usual "you will never amount to anything" etc). My earliest memory of my father was him cussing at me, I was 3 years old and I remember it like yesterday. My mother although, she did try and made a effort made a lot of messed up decisions in her life which cost her almost everything. That led to her being dependent on my father as well, even though they are divorced (she moved back in with my father a few years back because she couldn't afford to survive on her own anymore, she also isn't treated great and I do feel sorry for her, but in my opinion she did bring it upon herself. My father has done horrible things like, swore at me, said thing no person should ever say to another person, let alone a parent, slapped me and threatened me, e.g. if I didn't do this he wont give me money for food, if I didn't do that he wont help me though college etc. (Just a note, he forced me to go study and held it against me if we ever had an argument). I have always been respectful towards them, but after a few years I also snapped and started arguing back (I usually just cried and went to my room). I have never gotten into any trouble, never had any issues with anyone, so generally I was a good teenager and adult. I always help them with anything they need etc.
Just to give you idee, he wouldn't give me money for things growing up, not in college and I was a full time student, so I couldn't take a half day work. When I first started working I earned just enough to cover fuel, medical aid, rent, utilities, I could not afford food and other necessities every month and would reach out and ask for a small amount of money like 5 dollars or less small. You can imagine how that went, I had to pray to make the fuel last each month to get to work every day. Anyways, he has "friends", people who only surround him for benefits (everyone can see it for what it is, except him) he supports them financially, food, money, alcohol, cloths, pays for their children's school, clothing etc. Mind you, he didn't pay my school fees and was handed over to debt collection, he didn't buy me clothes growing up etc. My though always was, why them and not me, why random people off the street (not actually homeless people or the less fortunate), why am I not enough, but they are. I ask for 5 dollars or food, no big problem, gets insulted, but he will give them 100 dollars for alcohol and to go out and eat (no joke that actually happened). I would sit and not be able to afford monthly expenses and he would call and brag about him taking them out to eat, buying cases of alcohol. And mind you it has been so for more than 10 years, so it isn't like he is doing this now that I am an adult, he this when I was still a child.
Almost everyone think very highly of him, he is always the center of attention, the best person, if I ever told anyone how he treated me he would get very upset and even slapped me once, because he didn't want me telling people that he wasn't the best, I didn't lie nor exaggerate either. Another example is I was in a relationship with a man who handled me very badly (as in abuse in the worst kind of way), my father liked him and knew what had happened. Shortly after I left the relationship, he had him over for a get together and drinks. It has been a constant cycle of manipulation, disrespect, arguing, being belittled, screamed at, swore at and mistreatment for as long as I can remember, I have gone no contact a few times but every time I am reeled back in and it goes well for a few weeks and then back to the same old thing. Addressing it does help, I have tried over and over to convey my feelings, to try and make it better, explain why I feel like I feel, but it does absolutely nothing.
So AITA? Because I do feel guilty and like I am TAH.

Sorry if this isn't the best place to ask. If there is a better sub for this kind of question, feel free to mention it.
For context, I don't have a background in programming. I started learning some programming during the pandemic, when a friend who works in this field offered to mentor me and some friends. We started with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. We then moved to React. I didn't focus full time on programming though, because I didn't want to abandon my other studies. So there were periods when I had exams and I didn't do any coding.
Still, in 2021, the mentofriend said he knows a small company that could offer me an internship. I got in touch with that company and they gave me a test project without a deadline. I ended up working all summer on the project. Even though it was a simple project, I realized that I'm not as good as I thought. And even discussions with a guy from the company didn't help me. Then came the final year of college and I had to focus full time on it, including writing my thesis. After college, I tried finding a job with no success. I even applied to places like Starbucks or Zara and they didn't even contact me back. So I got back to learning programming, this time with some Udemy and Frontend Masters courses. My friend recommended me for an internship at another company and I took a test and an interview and I got accepted.
The internship started last year in September and lasted for two months. From the first week I felt like the dumbest of the interns. Simple tasks that the others would breeze through would give me headaches. Still, I was surprised that the company ended up hiring all of us, including me. I worked in that company for two months only. I was that incapable. Still I didn't mind being fired because I knew that I couldn't handle my tasks.
And since then my friend told me to continue learning and he still helps me with suggestions and stuff. Now I'm going through some other courses and I feel dumb. I feel like I forget everything I learn after closing my laptop. I don't feel like I know more than I did a year ago. I feel like I can't accomplish a simple task without using Google, Youtube or AI. I'm thinking that maybe programming is not for me. Should I continue trying to understand this field?

TLDR: A close long-time male friend (20M) from high school has been telling me he loves me (20F) for years. He lacks goals, stability and we differ on religious/cultural values. Despite a deep bond, I have concerns about pursuing a romantic relationship due to these incompatibilities, even though he might change - but I don't know if he would. Should I give a relationship a go or leave things as they are currently?
Throwaway account because I need advice before I go mentally insane. There's a guy that I started to talk to in high school. I didn’t know him but he seemed like my type (same religion/spirituality, same ethnicity, tall, good vibes) and so we started to talk because I wanted to get to know him better.
Fast forward to a couple weeks after we start talking, he tells me he loves this other girl that we both know (we all go to the same school). He tells me all of his issues with her and how he’s depressed about her not liking him back and I'm like oh. I never knew he felt this way about her. He said that he would always love her and he just has a feeling that they will end up together.
In my head, I was friendzoned and honestly I was okay with it because we only talked for like 2 weeks before he told me about his past situationship with that girl. We kept texting though and we ended up getting really close (he wasn’t in a situationship during this, he was just grieving the fact that she didn’t like him back).
Fast forward 5 months, we're super close now. But then he completely disappears, no calls, no texts and right before he disappeared he told me he doesn't want to talk to me anymore. That broke me. Then a month later he comes back out of nowhere and apologizes about what he did and says he was in a bad mental state and he just needed to be alone. I was so hesitant to let him back in because I still felt broken from that last conversation. But he apologized so much so I caved and said I guess we can be friends. We went to the same school too, so I'd see him every day regardless, including when he completely stopped talking to me. He also has mental health issues and has been told by doctors to get properly diagnosed but he hasn’t done it.
Then we start talking again and 6 months later he tells me he loves me. I was shocked, because remember he spent the first couple weeks of us talking telling me about how he'd always love that other girl and they were destined to end up together. So in my head I'm like "uhh...are you sure about this?"
We had our big final exams coming up too, so I wasn't trying to start anything romantic that could mess with my studying. I already knew he was capable of sending me on an emotional rollercoaster, and I didn't need that affecting my academics. So I told him I didn’t feel the same way about him, leaving him heartbroken. We still saw each other every day for the next 2 years at school and would text on and off. He told me he would be willing to wait till we were older, but I didn't want to give him false hope and told him I cannot guarantee him anything.
We ended up both graduating and are now at university and at this point, I thought he had moved on. We spoke 4 or 5 times during our freshman year and they were 8+ hour long calls or full days of texting. Now we are in our sophomore year and he tells me he still loves me. I don’t know what to do. I legitimately thought he was over me and moved on. I feel like I'm just shattering his heart into a million pieces at this point, because sometimes when we talk he seems so emotionless, like he's just numb from the pain. Now we speak occasionally every few months and sometimes every few weeks. He just texts me out of the blue or calls me.
But he thinks I don't love him back. The thing is I don't want to let myself love him back, because he has never given me a sense of stability. Since I met him he has always acted on very strong emotions, gets very upset and very angry and that has rubbed onto me. Whenever he would get sad, I would get sad and I felt like I had no control over my own emotions when I was around him. If I was in a happy mood and he was upset about something, he would get angry at me for being happy while he was upset. I also feel like he has no goals in life. He's just cruising along whereas I want someone who's very goal oriented and has a stable job because I am very goal oriented. I have done a lot better than him academically speaking as well. Sometimes I think it is my fault for him not trying because I broke his heart by saying I didn't love him back, but I think that’s a stupid thought and I'm not responsible for him acting the way he does and slacking off.
I also realized that despite him being the same ethnicity, he isn't in touch with his background at all which is very different to me. And due to this, I 100% know that my family will not be fond of his family and my family will not be happy with me dating him. They are aware of him though and know that we used to be close friends. He is also not religious/spiritual. I would say I'm 100 times more religious/spiritual than him. I have met other guys who do align with my goals in terms of stable careers and hardworking, enjoys traveling, and has the same religion/spirituality. But I just have not known these guys as long as I have known him. I feel like we both either have attachment issues or a trauma bond or we are just some dysfunctional soulmates.
A part of me wants to give him a shot, but I don't want to end up trying to mold him into who I want him to be. I don't want to nag him about studying harder at university or tell him to travel just because that's what I'm into. If I do that, he may grow to resent me down the line because he would have only made those changes because I pushed him, not because it's what he genuinely wanted for himself. The truth is, he just doesn't seem to have any goals of his own right now.
Another part of me thinks that if we try to make it romantic, it could completely ruin the relationship we've built over all these years. We're still at a point where we can reach out to each other for help when we really need it. I don't want to risk damaging that bond by giving a romantic relationship a shot, only for it to backfire and make us end up resenting or even hating each other.
I also feel like I'd be doing myself a disservice by giving him a chance. There are certain non-negotiable qualities I need in a partner, and he just doesn't display those. I feel like I'd be settling if I committed to him. I don't want to spend my life having to constantly manage his emotions and push him to take action. I don't want to mother him - I already felt that way when we were very close before.
After all these years, I still have an emotional bond with him though. And he still says he loves me. I have tried no contact multiple times, the longest being around a year. But it just hasn’t worked. The other girl he mentioned in the first two weeks of us talking many years ago is long gone by the way. It's been just me and him in that sense for a long time now. And we have so many mutuals and know the same people, which makes fully separating impossible. But I don’t know if taking the risk and giving him a shot is the way to go or if leaving things as they currently are is the better option.

Hello, everyone! It's been a while since I posted anything or even visited the sub. I do not visit the sub anymore as I collected all the information I needed long ago and staying on the sub only led to more thinking about flox. Focusing on other areas of life has been a great life hack for me! I have done a lot of positive things in the past half a year - I am starting my own business, been meeting new people and making a lot of new friends. Flox has changed me for the better.
I want to preface this by saying that I was probably the only person (or almost only as I've met maybe 1 or 2 other people on Reddit) who claimed flares from CoQ10. It actually flared me quite a lot — sometimes I could handle 100mg and sometimes even 30mg would lead to terrible pain. It was frightening to be one of the rarest cases in a pool of already rare cases, so, naturally, I tracked reactions to supplements extremely attentively (u/vadroqvertical won’t let me lie about that) and I have tried a lot (my cupboard is full of supplements — I spent around €3,500 on them in the span of 1.5 years). I will list reactions to supplements and the approximate timeline of when it happened:
— First of all, CoQ10/Ubiquinol flared me not so much 1 month out (tried 100mg ubiquinol multiple times) but it got worse as time went on to the point that April 2023 I could not even take 30mg without great pain. I tried it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 16 months out all without luck with varying doses flaring me to different extents. I will outline the reasons for it below;
— Vitamin E flared me a lot 2, 4, 6 and 8 months out. Never tried again. Tried 200-400 IU at a time. Due to poor GSH regeneration through Glutathione Reductase dependent upon B2 and NADPH;
— Benfothiamine flared me as well (doses 150mg-300mg/day). This is due to high sulphite and blockage of complex IV of the Electron Transport Chain in the mitochondria the reason for I will explain further. Thiamine is easily broken down by sulphite in the body and it is broken down into sulphite as well, which causes a negative loop reaction in people with high sulphite levels. Benfothiamine also caused me a severe allergic reaction (extreme anxiety and itching) that gladly did not require hospitalisation but was extremely scary and scarred me psychologically (likely high sulfocysteine activated NMDA receptors);
— Vitamin B6 increased my neuropathy when I got it. Likely due to poor B2 functional status. The problem I was also deficient in B6 and its supplementation led to great improvements in sleep quality once I could tolerate it. Note B6 is easily destroyed by sulphite just like B1;
— Riboflavin flared me (tried at 100mg, doses under 10mg never flared me). This is likely due to unmatched NADPH supply due to high sulphite load in the body (speculative);
— Astaxanthin greatly improved my physical health at 5-6 months out (proving that the core of my issues was solely ROS) but it caused reductive stress (NADH accumulation), which also caused pain, albeit the pain was a different kind and asta caused worsening neuropathy and visual snow. It accumulates in fat tissue, so stopping it was nice with ROS coming to a balance at about 10-12 days after discontinuation (after a loading dose of 36mg/daily for 3.5 weeks) but ROS then came back after it went out of the body further. I did not retry astaxanthin as I realised it caused me reductive stress and neurological issues;
— NAC helped me a damn lot. It was the best antioxidant for me. The problem is it depleted my molybdenum and copper and started giving me allergic reactions (low molybdenum + copper as well as blocked complex IV will lead to way higher sulphite generated from NAC);
— Did not feel much from vitamin D. I live in a very sunny country and tested at 51 (ref. Range 30+) without any supplements;
— Magnesium helped me a lot. #1 supplement;
— Calcium did not help me much in the beginning, actually, caused me heart palpitations. Was fine taking it after a few months;
— Potassium was a good supplement. I took 800mg/day for a while and it supported my muscle health;
— Important: vitamin B5 made me feel a lot better. It took my ROS down like crazy — I could feel normal muscles again, it removed my oxalate pain completely, too but for only a short while like 3-4h.
I have tried many more supplements that were phyto-supplements and such and none of them really helped me beside maybe some placebo effects. Some made me feel worse and were not worth it at all. I did not try anything mood-changing as I was not interested in it. To note, GABA supplement made me feel a little euphoric at first.
It is very relevant that I have been oxalate dumping since 27 Dec. 2023. The description of the experience can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/floxies/comments/1by0uh0/comment/kyma718/
Now, to the real question: why did CoQ10 flare me even at high nutrient status (just after flox). I have to stress that flares from CoQ10 were much less at the beginning of flox likely due to better nutrient status (it went from extremely terrible to slightly more extremely terrible while 6 months out it went from ‘eh’ to terrible).

1. First, I have to say that NAC made me worse long-term. How? Over a long period of time I was taking it and was not watching my copper (NAC increases metallothionein and causes poor copper absorption) and molybdenum levels (NAC raises generation of sulfite and it needs molybdenum to be detoxified). Some NAC formulations have molybdenum in them but I was not lucky to get one of those and, due to lack of knowledge, did not supplement any molybdenum. The result was high sulphite and from that high ROS (with a combo of benfo which further increased sulphite it caused me peripheral neuropathy at 5 months). Sulphite causes Fenton reactions when complex IV gets blocked up. H2S (a signalling molecule and a vasodilator) also needs to be detoxified by a CoQ-10 dependent enzyme and turned later into sulphite and then sulphate by molybdenum and complex IV (dependent on copper) and if it is not detoxified, it causes a complex IV blockage and starts Fenton reactions as well as electron leakage during production of ATP, causing ROS. This causes a negative feedback loop that was described in the linked at the end article as follows [CoQ10 Deficiency Is Sulfur Toxicity]:

«This can be explained as follows:
1) hydrogen sulfide inhibition of complex IV generates superoxide in the respiratory chain, which becomes hydrogen peroxide,
2) hydrogen sulfide reduces ferric iron to ferrous iron, which makes it release from storage in ferritin,
3) this increases Fenton reactions between free iron and hydrogen peroxide, which generate more dangerous reactive oxygen species like the hydroxyl radical,
4) all of this deplete glutathione,
5) since a major purpose of the trans-sulfuration pathway is to provide enough cysteine to make glutathione, glutathione depletion hyperactivates the trans-sulfuration pathway, leading to more cysteine availability, the excess of which is catabolized to sulfite by alternative reactions that do not produce hydrogen sulfide and therefore do not require CoQ10.»

1. In the article linked below, you will see that CoQ-10 protects against reactive oxygen species mainly due to improving hydrogen sulphide clearance (H2S). Therefore, CoQ-10 deficiency did not cause much ROS in complexes I and II but mainly produced issues in Complex III (where sulphite detoxification starts) and complex IV (where the last electrons are delivered during the sulphite-sulphate reaction). Excerpt: «In human cells with CoQ10 synthesis defects from the same study, CoQ10 protected against reactive oxygen species, but suppressing the enzyme that uses CoQ10 to clear hydrogen sulfide abolished this effect. This shows that the reactive oxygen species were coming from poor hydrogen sulfide clearance.»

Considering this, and oh my god, finding this article was like god sent it to me: my CoQ10 flares were coming from poor hydrogen sulphide clearance. At that point there were multiple reasons this could be happening:

1. Cellular CoQ-10 deficiency;
   
2. Manganese toxicity which causes CoQ-10 deficiency [read "Manganese Toxicity Is a CoQ10 Deficiency" linked below];
   
3. Copper deficiency;
   
4. Molybdenum deficiency;
   
5. SUOX (enzyme which converts sulphite to sulphate) or another genetic impairment;
   
6. Blockage of complex IV by something else.
   

I checked my molybdenum and copper transporting genes, SUOX using DBSNP and my AncestryDNA.txt file, and they were all good (Yes, I know Ancestry does not do a full genomic profile but it still had the main SNPs for that). I also checked my manganese transporter genes and seemed I was homozygous for an important one but fine with others. It is really hard to estimate how that might affect you IRL, perhaps that would require a really good genetic counsellor (or lots of hours spent ruminating again). I also did not think I had any genetic issue since I was very very healthy all my life and had 0 pain or health issues before flox occurred (I have extremely healthy young looking parents that drink, smoke and do whatever they want and have 0 consequences to their health as well).
I took some tests, for example: Genova NutrEval at ~6 months out, full nutrient blood test panel at ~11 months out (abstained for 35 days from any supplements at all, even vitamins and tested literally everything, paid around €1,200) and my CoQ10 levels at both of those occurrences were at 1 & 1.07 in absence of supplementation with ref. range 0.8-1.4, so it was definitely not low. That way I eliminated #1 and #5. While I was not entirely sure whether genetic issues had to do anything with it, I decided to pretend like they didn’t, since I had to try out other solutions before jumping to the most complex one. I took a lot of molybdenum, so molybdenum deficiency was not at the table for me. In this way I was left with #2, #3 and #6. In the full blood panel, my manganese was slightly high (20.1 with ref. Range <~18) and the SNP people were talking about that caused them manganese toxicity was homozygous for me, so I definitely considered it but manganese when supplemented made me a feel a lot better, actually (mentally, not physically), so I was also likely deficient in it. For now, I just avoid it in supplemental doses but I do not avoid foods containing it. Besides, I do not have iron overload genes that could contribute to manganese toxicity. My CoQ-10 levels were good enough, too, so it was unlikely to be manganese toxicity.
I could not take copper because it would lead to high ROS immediately (due to complex IV blockage the reasons for which I will outline further). Considering manganese was likely deficient and not superfluous, I discarded reason #2 and reason #3 could not be fixed by copper, so it was definitely not only copper deficiency but either another factor or another factor coupled with copper deficiency. I was stuck for a long time until I found another article from the same author about B12 and B9 helping to detoxify oxalate. As I said before all this explanation, I have been oxalate dumping throughout the whole process (already 4 months). I should note I was oxalate dumping even before I got floxed (I likely had oxalate overload due to my appendix surgery — this is proven by inflamed mesenteric lymph nodes confirmed by 3 MRIs — Sally Norton has the same case of over-absorption in her book) and that is how I actually got the E. Coli they gave me Cipro for (oxalate crystals create a good environment for it in the urinary tract lol) and how I got floxed (I went full circle, lmao). When I was floxed, I was not oxalate dumping for at least a year likely because my body was not in the state to handle the dumping process but it was still affecting me as I will outline further. First of all, I want to say that biotin actually promoted dumping for me as said in the article and not relieved it like it is said in Sally Norton’s book (I am not sure if there is a genetic variation to this). The proposed mechanism of oxalate detoxification in the article is as follows:
«Recall my proposed two-step detoxification process:

1. Pyruvate carboxylase [biotin-dependent] converts oxalate to formate.
   
2. Formate is joined to tetrahydrofolate to enter the methylation cycle, be used for the synthesis of purines or DNA, or be converted to carbon dioxide and exhaled in the breath.»
   

This are also very important words: «There may be more regulation layered on top of this to prevent excessive formate accumulation. It would certainly be preferable to have oxalate crystals cause pain or disrupt the skin than to have formate accumulate beyond the capacity to clear it.» This is why I felt best when dumping. Could eat anything, drink beer, even smoked weed once without issue. Another time though I got too brave, smoked a lot of weed and got a very bad ‘relapse’ but recovered quickly from it. The next morning when using a towel after a shower I had the same pain I used to have 2.5 months out from Cipro (which was extremely bad and took me back 14 months in memories) while before I smoked weed that second time I had almost 0 tendon pain in my daily life apart from oxalate [Here I thought maybe I and DrHungry share similar issues then? He also had an extreme (same in intensity relatively to his flox journey) flare from weed and is also using a lot of sulphur-based antioxidants still. Could such weed flares be related to complex IV dysfunction and/or impaired sulphite clearance?]. In either case, I felt best when dumping, probably because my body was able to regulate formate accumulation and ROS production greatly reduced at those times.
I was sitting outside with my parents and their friends, researching my flox issue when I read these lines: «Formate accumulation is the principle mechanism of methanol toxicity. Part of its toxicity is driven by inhibiting cytochrome oxidase, complex IV of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, which would inhibit the clearance of sulfite and hydrogen sulfide and block the production of ATP.» It finally clicked. It was honestly one of the best moments in my life when I realised. I made the connection between great improvement from B5, formate accumulation, issues with copper supplementation, general ROS improvement from dumping and oxalate everything together. Suddenly, my whole flox journey became crystal clear to me.
B5 is mainly used in the body to create Coenzyme A. An intermediate molecule in the production of CoA is called 4’-phosphopantethine and is used in the enzyme 10-methyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (high formate will pair with THF and form 10-MTHF in the attempt of the body to detoxify formate). This enzyme converts 10-MTHF back to THF and creates NADPH in the process which is used by Glutathione Reductase to regenerate Glutathione. Hence, high-dose B5 led to a lot of those reactions occurring and me feeling a big relief from ROS AND OXALATE, so oxalate is indeed detoxified into formate by biotin-dependent pyruvate carboxylase.
Okay, so theory is very interesting but what is theory if it has no proof? When I read it, I realised I finally cracked my flox but I had to get real proof.
Just a few weeks before this, I drank some wine and got nerve damage (likely from high sulphites in it, again, duh — while this was a terrible experience, it played a role in me getting closer to the solution of my issues). Beer caused me no issues, could drink 10 or more bottles in one sitting, eat a lot of rice when drunk with no issue. Before, I had only numb hands and top of feet. After the wine, I had burning up to the knee and burning in palms and behind my shoulders. I got fed up with this, I just decided to methylate the fuck out of my nerves and eat copper not in supplements but from calamari (very high in copper but low in vit A, so no toxicity risk like from liver). At that time, I was dumping and my ROS was not too high. I started consuming around 200g protein per day, eating a lot of copper 3-4mg/day and my nerves really healed a lot. To the point they even became normal after 3-4 days. My vision became brighter, it was absolutely crazy. I was also supplementing 150mg molybdenum/day. After a week of that, though, I started getting ROS back and it was very bad ROS, like almost a year ago when I had low molybdenum and copper from a lot of NAC use. That confirmed my suspicion that my issue was indeed sulphite. Eating almost anything caused ROS for me, dumping stopped since the body had no free reducing agents (NADPH) to support sulphate-producing enzymes (oxalate is transported on sulphate transporters, so it literally could not drive out of the cell because it had no car lol). As you understand, high ROS prevents a lot of enzymes from working and here it causes, as you have probably understood, a negative feedback loop.
So, back to the proof. Since I realised that my issue is probably formate, I just decided to take high-dose B5 again (did not add any high dose B2, B1 or other B vitamins, just took my usual B complex with food). It really helped me a lot, again. I felt almost normal. Then, it caused me some pain but I felt how I was getting better and the next day I took it in the day, then in the evening I ate around 80g carbs and took double the dose of B complex (my B complex has low doses: 10mg B1, 10mg B2, 25mg B3, 20mg B5, 5mg B6, 100mcg B7, 100mcg B9, 50mcg B12) instead of adding a lot of B5 and boom, no pain and oxalate dumping restarted quite more strongly than it even used to be before mega-dosing protein. So I was in pain for at least 2 weeks dying from ROS and then 2 days of B5 and suddenly I was normal again and dumping restarted? It felt like paradise with a twist. The next day, I went out with my friends. I was a little nervous since we were going to eat out and we ordered 600g of carbonara (the portions were huge there). I ate it all at once with 2x my light B complex and guess what happened? NO PAIN, just oxalate dumping. I finally realised that I was right and detoxifying formate unloaded my complex IV, allowed sulphate transporters to be created, reduced ROS production from food and suddenly I felt like a normal human being (except the dumping part). I recently retried CoQ10 — no flare. Likely before formate got recreated a lot because I was dumping a lot (if you read my comment linked above, you will understand).
I am not megadosing B5 right now but just stuck to 80-100mg B5 per day, so 4x my light B complex as my B6 tolerance improved a lot. Why I am not megadosing B5 is because oxalate likely blocks conversion of vitamin B2 into its active forms as I, at ~11 months out, when I did full-testing in the absence of supplementation 35 days pre-testing had high molybdenum, iodine, (almost above the ref. Range (113 with ref. Range <120) selenium and very high B2 even though I was cellularly deficient according to Genova NutrEval (at 356 with ref. Range <295).
Considering everything above, we can understand what happened to me from the beginning:

1. Oxalate overload led to formate overload as oxalate is converted to formate through the action of biotin-dependent pyruvate carboxylase;
   
2. Formate overload led to complex IV blockage, high ROS and high sulphite, which also leads to high ROS and also leads to complex IV blockage (negative feedback loop);
   
3. High sulphite destroys vitamins B1 & B6 as said in the beginning, which caused endogenous production of oxalate to skyrocket (you can read about this if you google, this information is very available);
   
4. Hence sulphate transporters also got impaired, oxalate detoxification in the form of physical crystals also halted, which led to even higher overload;
   
5. This led to higher formate, this led to even more ROS.
   

Mega-dosing B vitamins and especially B5 and B9 led to formate detoxification and the ability of my body to detoxify oxalate. This improved me a lot and it definitely feels like it will inevitably lead to my recovery. I feel good now, I still have some remaining neuropathy but it’s minimal and I know what to avoid to not make it worse and how to improve it quickly if I need to. I have no OS from beer, coffee or food. Also, I am dumping a lot right now. You can ask me all kinds of questions that you want and I will try to answer them to my best ability since I know what it is like to be floxed and I will help anyone who is in the same situation.
I am only 22 years old and this experience led to me rethinking my whole life. I plan to become an extremely rich person to be able to fund biochemical research in the future and will focus specifically on floxed individuals and I will help floxed people first. I will try to reach my goals as fast as possible, I promise. While flox was very difficult, painful and frustrating, I only took the good things out of them. I already realized it but it confirmed that we only have one life and there is no place for negative emotions or indecision.
I hope this post does not get removed by moderators. If there is anything to moderate, change, or add, I will be happy to do that. I can provide my analyses if needed as well as proof. All I say here is very attentively selected and fact-checked either from external sources or personal experience. I do not lie and have no motivation to do so. I am only trying to share my knowledge and to help realise others flox is not unbeatable and can be understood and solved — it all depends on individual factors.
Linked articles:
Manganese Toxicity Is a CoQ10 Deficiency
https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/manganese-toxicity-is-a-coq10-deficiency
CoQ10 Deficiency Is Sulfur Toxicity
https://chrismasterjohnphd.substa2ck.com/p/coq10-deficiency-is-sulfur-toxicity?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader
10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase
https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/pantothenic-acid#formyltetrahydrofolate-dehydrogenase
Can Biotin Help Detoxify Oxalate?
https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/can-biotin-help-detoxify-oxalate
Can B12 and Folate Help Detoxify Oxalate?
https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/can-b12-and-folate-help-detoxify
Just an extra fact: My ALT was consistently high >50 for a year after flox. Dropped to 30 when dumping occured.

Help! I’m currently in search for a telehealth provide pharmacy — that service GA residents. I’ve learned that all cannot be trusted even among the 503a/ 503b pharmacies (although they’re a little better— but the potency of their meds differ between pharmacies). Seems like the bigger telehealth providers heavily use Hallandale for GA residents, and their meds (tirzepatide specifically seems like water). I know some claim they’ve had success but many don’t know what they’re missing b/c they haven’t had the experience of comparing it to another pharmacy’s tirzepatide (I.e. Revive—- so much stronger {or whatever word to use} than Hallandale). I’ve bn searching various telehealth providers and specifically ask which pharmacy they use for days now— I’m tired lol. But need to find a service quick— don’t want to ruin the success I’ve had through Revive (can’t seem to come across a telehealth provider who uses Revive for GA residents… I use to be w/ Amble— they switched me from Revive to Hallandale and claim they can’t switch back…). If Hallandale is working fine for you-- great! Seeking suggestions from those who are using other pharmacies & a GA resident.

This is my first time using reddit and by doing this—typing all this shit down in here—I feel like I could at least feel less burdened.
I don't know how to start because my mind is a mess right now, so basically:
I am genuinely in love with studying and writing in general (this doesn't necessarily make me an exemplary student tho), however I am currently failing in my academic duties. I have not submitted a single assessment this year nor have I really worked on what I personally wanted to do with my undergrad thesis, and the only thing I do is answer my professors' exams.
I am also the current Editor-in-chief of our college's publication. A leadership position I am unfortunately failing at. I have made so many narrow-minded decisions, and I feel like I should stop my clownery act and resign already despite my deepest wishes not to.
I blame everything on my own laziness, stupidity, and some of my other unresolved issues, some of which I couldn't even identify.

Regarding my academic life: I just can't find the drive to simply START my assessments immediately to thr point that I just forget about them and not submit. It seems that I just keep on procrastinating—putting everything off to the side. However, when I do get to start answering an assessment: I just enjoy constructing every single sentence, and if we are given the freedom to add designs, then it's all the better. But with just a few hours in, I just stop. I get mind-blocked. And as aforementioned: I do every other thing besides that assessment until I just forget about it and end up without anything to submit.
It sounds stupid, but it's something I've been deeply struggling with for a whole year now. It's unfortunate as well, since we now have professors who actually care for the things we do, read the shit we submit and gives helpful comments on them.
I am currently trying to catch up with the heap of shit I got to submit.
As for my publication life: I've had the great opportunity to meet great people from every other program/course from both the lower and higher years. Some of those people are now members and officers of the publication, and most of the people I have met are simply, amazing, not for just putting up with my shit and by being kind and open-minded, but for also giving the publication a chance.
I love the publication and the members and officers we have, and I could probably say that I mostly abide by its motto about the truth, but no matter how much I love—how I feel about this publication, I am pretty sure I am currently bringing it more harm than good.
We have a system wherein we would timely post campus events we were requested to cover, but I haven't been able to keep up. I also don't think about asking anybody to post it on our page since I feel like they might be busy. This is especially harmful since my members took photos for those events, and I feel like I'm making them and their efforts feel exploited and unrecognized.
Speaking of our page, it has been so inactive to the point where the presence of the publication is non-existent.
A brand new non-official organization was established recently. They act similar to the publication in many ways, but we don't exactly compete with each other, however we indirectly do due to the vision we share. Most of my members have migrated and my officers have been scouted by that organization due to how the current leader runs things (which I look up to him for) and how thry have more creativr freedom and it has made me feel unneeded and more useless, but that's not their fault.
I've also recently felt so overwhelmed to the point where I've felt like I wanted to vomit everytime I woke up or even think about the publication. Our "Head" for our publication is also pretty much a mess and is someone who I would like to partly blame for the way I am concurrently due to her demeaning and irrational actions and treatment towards me, my officers, and the student leaders she manages directly.
As for my narrow-minded, tunnel-vision decisions, they are so bad to the point I simply want to disappear instead. In fact, I've been deeply considering about ending my life because of how I've fucked up what I envisioned for myself and how they've been affecting the people around me.

Casino dealer (table games) So far we averaging $35-60 an hour in tips, every hour we get a 20 minute break, sometimes 40 minutes depending on the rotation. as a courtesy alot of casino offer an eo list for the table games department so you can get out early 2-3 hours earlier. so alot of flexibility
*usually the high end casino treat you better, Ex: free food for all the employees & multiple special request days
• ⁠All you have to do is past gaming commission • ⁠Be 18 yrs old+ {No real ageism in this industry, at least none that I have seen. Only thing that matters is can you do the job.} • Graduated high-school/have a GED • ⁠learn the games the casino’s want/needs {craps/roulette are the Prime games that all casinos need dealers for. Other than those 2 every house is different and have different buisness needs. Theres a bunch of games for tables games just look them up, diversity is king in our job sector. Blackjack, baccarat, tiles you name it.} • Have thick skin {alot of shot takers & assholes in this industry, but don’t worry you supervisors/bosses normally have your back}
Bonus:
A slot attendant is a good second option, make just as much if not more as dealers, but different ball game & less job security (don't work in that department so i don't know the in's & outs)
Hope this helps. Good luck. Any furthers questions as down below in the comments or feel free to message me if you would like.

• WEEK 1: How To Dominate In Life and In Business With A High-Ticket Mindset Other programs teach you to use aggressive, salesy techniques to close deals. I show you the opposite right in the first week. This is the week where you’ll see how you NEVER need to be pushy at all – especially when it comes to high-ticket sales. In fact, the less pushy you are, the more successful you’ll likely be. ​
• WEEK 2: The Advanced Human Psychology of High-Ticket Sales and Ultra-Luxury Selling This is NOT a sales program. This program is about closing High-Ticket Offers and luxury goods/services so it requires a whole new set of strategies most people never even heard of. In fact when it comes to selling High-Ticket Offers and luxury goods/services, it’s actually quite simple. You just have to know human psychology on a very deep level. After this portion of your mentorship, I’ll teach how to be able to read anyone’s personality within minutes of talking to them. You’ll get to know them even better than they know themselves. ​
• WEEK 3: The One-Call Closer Methodology That I’ve Used To Close Profitable Deals With High-Level Influencers FAST — Even When I Was Just Starting Out And No One Knew My Name! It’s usually my top students that learn these strategies who get the best results. You can ask any of my 4,900+ past students (or see the testimonial section) – they’ll tell you the same thing. With my methods done properly, people may look at you and think you’ve got a natural gift for deal-making / closing deals. But of course you’ll need to put in the work first. ​
• WEEK 4: The High Ticket Sales Scripts – The 7 Secrets I, Dan Lok, Have Used To Close Tens Of Millions Of Dollars Over The Phone So far in my career, I’ve done thousands of calls. I’ve closed hundreds of deals. And I’ve made millions over the phone. So that’s why you will NEVER find these scripts on Google or any sales training. With these scripts, you will never be phased by any client, prospect, or sales conversation again – no matter how intimidating the person you’re talking to is. ​
• WEEK 5: How To Handle Objections and Resistance Like A KungFu Master Easily Handles A 300-Pound Boxer Imagine never getting rejected again. Not in business. Not in relationships. Not in any situation. Well you don’t need to imagine because you’ll know how to turn around any conversation at any time with this week’s strategies. Even after learning these methods some people still get rejected. These are usually the students who aren’t committed and don’t practice. And I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, but not everyone can avoid rejection in every situation in life. However, if you use these methods, you’ll discover that the more resistance your prospect gives you, the more power you have over them. And the easier it is to close someone. ​
• WEEK 6: How To Find High-Ticket Partners – Includes Role Play Sessions With Me, Dan Lok, And Others On My Team In this week’s class, you’ll be able to hear and experience I, Dan Lok, use the exact skills I teach in HTC to close BIG deals. You’ll also experience how other HTC students are using the exact skills you have to close deals too. I’m not implying you’ll be able to close big deals like I do. But I AM saying you’ll save all the time and effort it took me to learn these methods that got me results. ​
• How My Top HTC Students Make A 6-Figure Income (And Keep Growing) As A High-Ticket Closer™ This is one of the MOST important classes in the program. In this class, you’ll discover how my top students are making 6-figures faster and easier as a High-Ticket Closer™ compared to working a corporate job. This includes; where to meet clients. How to introduce yourself. How to win their respect with the first words out of your mouth. How to structure win-win deals with your clients. The 4 requirements every one of your clients must meet for you to make money – for the long-term. And much, much more.

• WEEK 1: How To Dominate In Life and In Business With A High-Ticket Mindset Other programs teach you to use aggressive, salesy techniques to close deals. I show you the opposite right in the first week. This is the week where you’ll see how you NEVER need to be pushy at all – especially when it comes to high-ticket sales. In fact, the less pushy you are, the more successful you’ll likely be. ​
• WEEK 2: The Advanced Human Psychology of High-Ticket Sales and Ultra-Luxury Selling This is NOT a sales program. This program is about closing High-Ticket Offers and luxury goods/services so it requires a whole new set of strategies most people never even heard of. In fact when it comes to selling High-Ticket Offers and luxury goods/services, it’s actually quite simple. You just have to know human psychology on a very deep level. After this portion of your mentorship, I’ll teach how to be able to read anyone’s personality within minutes of talking to them. You’ll get to know them even better than they know themselves. ​
• WEEK 3: The One-Call Closer Methodology That I’ve Used To Close Profitable Deals With High-Level Influencers FAST — Even When I Was Just Starting Out And No One Knew My Name! It’s usually my top students that learn these strategies who get the best results. You can ask any of my 4,900+ past students (or see the testimonial section) – they’ll tell you the same thing. With my methods done properly, people may look at you and think you’ve got a natural gift for deal-making / closing deals. But of course you’ll need to put in the work first. ​
• WEEK 4: The High Ticket Sales Scripts – The 7 Secrets I, Dan Lok, Have Used To Close Tens Of Millions Of Dollars Over The Phone So far in my career, I’ve done thousands of calls. I’ve closed hundreds of deals. And I’ve made millions over the phone. So that’s why you will NEVER find these scripts on Google or any sales training. With these scripts, you will never be phased by any client, prospect, or sales conversation again – no matter how intimidating the person you’re talking to is. ​
• WEEK 5: How To Handle Objections and Resistance Like A KungFu Master Easily Handles A 300-Pound Boxer Imagine never getting rejected again. Not in business. Not in relationships. Not in any situation. Well you don’t need to imagine because you’ll know how to turn around any conversation at any time with this week’s strategies. Even after learning these methods some people still get rejected. These are usually the students who aren’t committed and don’t practice. And I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, but not everyone can avoid rejection in every situation in life. However, if you use these methods, you’ll discover that the more resistance your prospect gives you, the more power you have over them. And the easier it is to close someone. ​
• WEEK 6: How To Find High-Ticket Partners – Includes Role Play Sessions With Me, Dan Lok, And Others On My Team In this week’s class, you’ll be able to hear and experience I, Dan Lok, use the exact skills I teach in HTC to close BIG deals. You’ll also experience how other HTC students are using the exact skills you have to close deals too. I’m not implying you’ll be able to close big deals like I do. But I AM saying you’ll save all the time and effort it took me to learn these methods that got me results. ​
• How My Top HTC Students Make A 6-Figure Income (And Keep Growing) As A High-Ticket Closer™ This is one of the MOST important classes in the program. In this class, you’ll discover how my top students are making 6-figures faster and easier as a High-Ticket Closer™ compared to working a corporate job. This includes; where to meet clients. How to introduce yourself. How to win their respect with the first words out of your mouth. How to structure win-win deals with your clients. The 4 requirements every one of your clients must meet for you to make money – for the long-term. And much, much more.

Height and weight: 5'3", 210lbs
Medication: Aripiprazole 25mg, Sertraline 150mg, Codeine 30mg, Amitriptyline 75mg
Medical history: PCOS, bipolar disorder, myopathy (cause unknown)
I've had two separate EMGs a year apart, which have both shown myopathy. My symptoms started in 2018; however, looking back, I've always been quite easily fatigued. My symptoms mainly include cramping pain in my calves - they visibly tense up when walking and will not release for a while, I'm not sure if this is a contracture, and easy fatiguability of almost all of my muscles upon use. I physically cannot walk any more after around two minutes due to my legs stiffening. I was forced to walk for a few minutes a few weeks back, and I physically had to drag myself back up the apartment stairs to get home. Some days are better than others, but I struggle to understand why.
My symptoms are affecting almost every part of my life. It's a struggle to shower, brush my hair, chew food, and walk, the latter of which being the most bothersome symptom. I've dropped out of university and cannot work. I can't even sit at my desk at home to WFH as my back becomes easily fatigued if I'm not lying down. Apologies for being so negative, but I'm miserable.
None of the medical professionals I'm under seem concerned, except my GP. My neurologist told me that the next step would be a muscle biopsy and genetic testing. Still, she later changed her mind, stating that she doesn't believe it's an inherited condition as no one in my family displays similar symptoms, so there's no point. Before this, I was told by another doctor that the pain was all in my head due to my bipolar disorder. I don't know what to do at this point. I'm in the UK, where we have a public healthcare system, and it's not easy to go private.
I recently had my first appointment with a physiotherapist and explained the above to her. She said that sometimes myopathy can be present with no cause and that it probably isn't anything to worry about. I'm incredibly worried. My life has changed drastically because of my symptoms, and no one is taking me seriously. I'm in pain every single day.
MRI and blood tests have ruled out spinal stenosis and myositis, and all of my other organs seem to be functioning as they should. A nerve conduction study done simultaneously with my EMGs showed normal nerve function. I'm not deficient in anything. My inflammation markers have been consistently raised for several years. My creatinine levels are low, but not extremely. My creatine kinase levels are normal, which I've come to understand is somewhat unusual with myopathies, or so I think.
I'm not sure where to go from here, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Could this just be myopathy with no other cause, as the physiotherapist said? Or should I keep pushing for a diagnosis? I know something's very wrong, but I just don't know what to do anymore.

I have a laptop wich I have a warranty on. Before the insurance expired (I have it 3 years) my laptop suddenly refused to go on (after 2,5 years). I thought hmm. Could be the power. So I bought a new charging cable. Didn’t work.
I sent it to the store for repairs, they changed the motherboard and the next time I got it back, it worked. Paid by insurance. But I started having black screen/bsod issues. I sent it back to the store. I got it back. According to them, there was nothing wrong with the laptop. So I took it back and put my phone as a camera on it as soon as I put it on. I had a few black screens/bsod’s but I ignored them as everything was still updating/windows/driver. After that, after exactly 23 minutes, it kept either giving a black or blue screen everytime I started it up again. I had camera proof now.
So back to the store. 3rd time. The guy told me they had a policy they would refund the buy value if after 3 times it still didnt work, so I had to rest assured. I was not so sure about that. I know how company’s can be.
I got it back and they replaced the SSD. I tested it. I got 2 bsod’s and 1 black screen in one evening again.
So I went back to the store. The first thing the guy was looking for was when the insurance date was over, he told me I didn’t have it anymore(excuse me? I have the paperwork right here? And it’s in the pile of papers I got from when I sent it back and forth). Then he went like, oh well we can take it in, then they will destroy the laptop and you get the money it is worth at that time. He kept saying that its up to the warranty company to repair it. But the shop is making all of these claims at their website when you took a warranty with them. And I took my warranty with them, on their site. And now they try to distantiate themselves with their warranty company. Because they are not connected with them anymore since a year ago. But that should not be my problem.
I was not going to let them taxate my laptop. My insurance is still there. Its worth more than the 175 euros they will probably taxate it for as it has been repaired multiple times with high bills for the insurance. Because as soon as they have the laptop and taxate it themselves, you can’t prove anything. Because then they have the laptop. They even tried dodging paying the 2nd repair of the laptop.
Like why say things you can’t promise? It’s even on their site! I was patient. I waited 3 months total worth of repairs and I’m still in my warranty time. They are really mistreating me in my opinion. My patience is gone now. I will go to take a lawyer in hand because this is outrageous. And I’m angry as hell. I had a really hard time not hitting them in the face while they said that and I’m someone that never fights/gentle person as I don’t like violence. 3 months no laptop and still not repaired or a proper solution.
I have also seen many colleagues there. There was this girl and guy who were like the most genuine and sweetest people ever. The girl was polish and the guy was surinam I think.
The turkish person helping was not a kind person at all. Everytime I go there and one of those turkish people help me, they are really cold and distant, and act like they are better than you. Not racism, just general people knowledge. Probably because I’m gay. He was focused on not giving me a proper solution at all. It had to be in the interest of the shop in any way.
The first time I got my laptop back with damage on the sides (clearly someone dropped the laptop) and there were fat stains on my keys. I cleaned my laptop before giving it to them lol. And they clearly made sure in their policy that small damage during repairs is expected.
I guess this is more a vent than anything. But I’m so furiated. I want to be done with this for once. It almost makes me want to study ICT so I can repair my laptops myself from now on.

It's hard to believe so much time has passed. On one hand, it feels just like yesterday (or today) that I woke up and decided to look through her phone. On the other hand, I feel every bit of 3 years having had passed. The pain isn't as bad, but it's still there, just below the surface. Granted, some of that is because I know there's a 2nd dday and also because our wedding anniversary is a week from today. Which was something I asked her last night. "Why does this have to be so close to our anniversary?" I wasn't necessarily looking for an answer or an apology. She more or less asked how I was feeling so I told her. Which is what we agreed upon early on. Being fully known, which in turn, allows us to be fully loved. We did our love tank checks prior to me asking that question, with me revealing that I still get afraid of something coming between us again.
I had my final therapy (yaay?) appointment about a month ago, and one of the things I asked my therapist is "will this always be with me?" Her answer was "it's trauma and like any other trauma, it's always going to be there. It won't go away. You simply learn to live with it." Which is what we've done thus far. Speaking of therapy, not being in therapy anymore was kind of scary at first. Almost like another security blanket has been removed, leaving me exposed to another betrayal. But one thing my therapist said is "even if you need to come back, it's not a failure on your part. Just remind yourself of all the progress you've made." I often forget to remind myself of this: that I've been working through the most difficult time in my life and that I should commend myself more of the progress I've made.
One such example of showing myself progress firsthand was when a buddy of mine came over this past Saturday. We've been friends for years. He's married to my cousin, whom I consider my sister because we're very close. I also love him like a brother. Finances have become a major issue with them (as with SO many marriages, us included which was more so in our past). As we're talking, I'm also somewhat observing how the conversation is going. How different I'm thinking compared to years ago had this conversation happened back then. One thing he said that I agreed with is how much pressure we feel as husbands and fathers (especially us black men) to provide. It's so easy to get so caught up in trying to make ends meet and that pressure becomes exponentially harder when you don't make as much as you would like, or you feel stuck at a dead end job. Now, I honestly don't know whether or not they've dealt with infidelity, but having dealt with both infidelity and financial struggles, she and I communicate a lot better than before. Which is more or less what I observed with them. It's not about the money. It's about how we communicate our needs and doing what we can to meet them. Don't get me wrong. Money struggles is a top 5 issue that leads to divorce, but like any issues, if we find ways to better communicate, mole hills don't become mountains between us.
It was pretty obvious, looking back, that so much had gotten in between us. I used to think one of the bigger issues was the money, until I later found out it wasn't. We had lost our way long before that. So much so that it's still a bit of a fear in the back of my mind. Considering I haven't slept well all week, most likely due to the recurring anxiety induced by the PTSD and memories of this dday (good ol' body keeps the score), I look forward to the day when this no longer happens. We've already made plans for our anniversary next week, which will be another stay-cation. This will be a nice reset, especially as we get ready for the kids to be out of school and for another busy summer.
I'll probably never forget what happened on this day. But I also need to let this serve as a reminder of how far I've come and how grateful and pleased I am for our victory in progress. I'm going to keep sharing with her, which in turn, continues to give her the gift of knowing me.

So all the anti AI people keep saying they're against AI because it's killing their jobs, it's theft (this argument drives me insane because it's not theft by any metric of the word), and it's going to eventually take over and there will be no need for humans (even though AI can't actually do anything without humans managing what it does 🙄)
Here's the thing though, yes some jobs have been affected, but seeing as though most people who's work has been affected work on a freelance basis, work already wasn't guaranteed or stable. which I'll admit definitely sucks. But despite that, being anti AI seems to be hurting just as many jobs. Like I've been reading all over on different subreddits where people say they're losing clients because they're being accused of using AI, even if they aren't.
Some people have said the clients will demand they run their work through an AI detector. I love how in order to figure out if something is AI, they decide to use AI. Thing is, AI detectors kind of don't work. A lot of people reported completely original work was being detected as AI. And considering AI Just keeps getting better and smarter, it's only going to become more difficult to detect AI.
I think that being against AI is hurting creativity more than AI itself, the witch hunting and the fear mongering is insane. The world doesn't stop moving forward just because some people are stuck in the past. It's part of who we are as humans, to grow with our tools.
I think AI has great potential as a tool, and it's already helped me quite a bit. Creativity is a subjective word, and considering the best criticism anti AI people can come up with is "it lacks soul and hard work", I definitely don't want to take any advice from people who think you have to break your back in order to be a creative person.

Hi everyone. I just wanted to commiserate with other working moms in the world. I had to go back to work at 3 months (USA). I feel like the daycare is taking care of her more than me and my husband. He drops her off around 7am and I pick her up after my work around 4pm. My husband doesn’t make enough for me to stay home. I am not sure that is even what I want. I feel like a part time job would give me a feeling of independence and some financial help but also let me be with her more. Finding something that pays enough would be difficult though. My position is also our source of family healthcare insurance since my plan is better than his. I also have a pension which is sort of a factor. Idk how do you guys deal with the mom guilt? I also worry about the daycare not loving her as much as me so they won’t treat her as well. Idk I just wake up with her and don’t want to put her down. I just want to snuggle and hold her. I had a terrible childhood so I want her to have the best life she can have while she’s little.

I’ve been trying to get on the right medication for my anxiety and depression.
I took 20mg of my lexapro over a month ago for 2 days straight after not taking it for a while (over 6 months) and it gave me the worst persistent anxiety I’ve ever had. Like 24/7 panic attacks.
Went to the doctor to sort it out. They prescribed me Zoloft and hydroxyzine. I took the Zoloft for a week and developed breathing issues (shortness of breath) which made my anxiety worse, ruined the vacation I was on with my family. I took hydroxyzine at night but I didn’t feel right at all. I stopped taking both after a week of being prescribed.
Within the last month my mental health has been suffering more than ever. Every day has been getting worse to a point where if it persists I will get desperate if you catch my drift.
My boss knows how bad I am, and I’m not the same at all. I am not well. But they are picking me apart, putting me down. Took away my promotion. The pressure is getting too much. I cry every day at work. The mask is slipping and customers see it and have been less than forgiving. I am truly miserable. I don’t know how I’ll get better.
I have a doctors appointment today so I can explain my situation with the Zoloft and hydroxyzine. I wanted to bring up taking a leave of absence so I can just focus on getting better, I just don’t know if I can afford it. It’s either that or a mental hospital.
The only thing stopping me is burdening my job and family. I have not talked about this with my partner bc I’m scared they will not agree with taking leave of absence, especially if it’s unpaid. I don’t know what to do but I cannot heal like this. The work place is very toxic and high pressure. I want to start looking for another job but I need to be well.
Every day is harder than the last and I am growing desperate. I can’t live like this. I’ve totally neglected taking care of myself. I have no joy or passion for anything anymore.
I have not been the same since I took the lexapro for those two days. It’s been steadily down hill since then.

I've experienced a mix of good and bad teams over the years. I've found I work much better in teams where I'm an SME supporting a team with different specialties.
In teams where there's 3-5 of us doing the same thing I feel there's a massive clash of egos and I mentally "check out". I hate people sniping me and taking credit for my work or offloading shitty projects they've agreed to on me as if they're time is worth more than mine. It just always ends up so toxic.
If I rise above I become a magnet for sabotage. If I let others rise above I'm seen as incompetent.
How do you handle this kind of team dynamics?
I'm not looking for textbook/e-learning responses. I know there's theoretical ways to better manage relationships but in reality these just aren't practical.

I priced out what I figured was a good medium level PC (i5-12600f/13409f + rtx2050/3050/rx6600) and I keep hitting $2k CAD after tax with all the other basics.
I'm hoping to spend no more than a grand now and upgrade/replace later when money is more favorable.
What say you wise wolves?
PS - I heard something about a slightly lower res that works better with Twitch and YouTube that's between 900 and 1080. Does that ring a bell and is it recommended?

And god my new job is an absolute pleasure in comparison. This is a vent / shoutout to anyone over worked, over stressed and basically being fucked over left right and centre by their current employers.
Big news, you don’t have to take the fucking! Worked as a tech support lead in a relatively large company, that like most places had been bought and was being run by bean counters who got rid of anyone even remotely knowledgeable on the software we actually sold.
Place is in chaos right now. I can’t mention it directly but its office is directly opposite a church that defines whether you are a cockney or not. But I’ve gone from hating life, with hundreds of emails going unread, meetings for meetings sake & a distinct lack of responsibility all round, to a wonderful lovely job where I’m working hard but everything is calm and organised.
So if you are frustrated at your job, get another one…it will invariably be better. Recognise you are worth more than your current employer gives a fuck about you.