Currently taking 160/wk TRT, been on it for over a year. Want to regain fertility to try for a baby in late October 2024. Online clinic prescribed me the following:
6,000iu hCG vial
Mix 6mL bacteriostatic water
Inject 0.5 mL twice a week
Cost was $125. By my math that should last me 6 weeks.
I’m having a bit of trouble figuring out if this is a solid dosage to regain fertility - everything I have read recommends dosing in IUs. If my math is correct, my weekly dose is 1,000 IU / wk. Does that sound about right to regain fertility or is that too much? He initially recommended 0.25 mL twice a week but then walked it higher once I asked if that was enough, but he’s obviously encouraged to sell me more.

Overview of Compounded Semaglutide

Compounded semaglutide is a medication commonly associated with weight loss. It is derived from semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist commonly used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and for weight management.
Benefits

• Weight Loss: Compounded semaglutide has been shown to aid in significant weight loss by reducing appetite and increasing feelings of fullness.
• Blood Sugar Control: It helps in controlling blood sugar levels, making it beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes.
• Customized Dosages: The compounding process allows for personalized dosages, catering to individual patient needs.
• Potential Cost Savings: Compounded medications can sometimes be more cost-effective compared to brand-name drugs.

Side Effects

• Gastrointestinal Issues: Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation.
• Hypoglycemia: In some cases, especially when combined with other diabetic medications, it can cause low blood sugar.
• Pancreatitis: There is a potential risk of pancreatitis, although it is rare.
• Allergic Reactions: Some patients might experience allergic reactions to the ingredients used in compounding.

Dosage Information
The dosage of compounded semaglutide can vary based on individual needs and the specific formulation provided by the compounding pharmacy. It's important to follow the healthcare provider’s instructions and the compounding pharmacy’s guidelines. Generally, the medication is administered via injection once weekly, starting with a lower dose and gradually increasing based on tolerance and effectiveness. Oral semaglutide is possible to get from some providers.

• Initial Dose: Typically, a lower dose is prescribed to minimize side effects. Then, your doctor may increase your dosage as they monitor your side effects and results.
• Maintenance Dose: The dose is gradually increased to a maintenance level that effectively controls symptoms. Again, each person does this part slightly differently. Talk with your doctor.

First Week/What to Expect Posts

"I took my first shot of compounded semaglutide 4 days ago, (almost a week) and heres some things I’ve noticed that are so strange!"
1st Week Down
Links are in the first comment so they are easier to edit and add to in the future!

Success Stories and Inspiration

Down 40lbs in 3 months
Down 16.1 lbs in 6 weeks
Links are in the first comment so they are easier to edit and add to in the future!

Where to Buy?

Reddit does not allow direct sourcing questions unless it's name-brand (Ozempic/WeGovy) and/or used with a prescription.
There are bad actors in the semaglutide space. Do not accept DMs from random accounts, do not accept "price lists" from random accounts, etc. They sell them under the guise of "research peptides" - they are not meant for human consumption and are unregulated.
Make sure to buy from a doctor-prescribed source that uses a legit compounding pharmacy. Always talk to a health care professional.

FAQs

What is compounded semaglutide?
Compounded semaglutide is a medication made by compounding pharmacies, tailored to meet the specific needs of individual patients.
Is compounded semaglutide safe?
Compounded semaglutide is generally safe when prescribed by a healthcare provider and prepared by a reputable compounding pharmacy. However, as with any medication, there are potential risks and side effects.
How do I take compounded semaglutide?
Compounded semaglutide is typically administered via a once-weekly injection. Follow the dosage instructions provided by your healthcare provider. Oral semaglutide is also available by some providers.

Links to Studies and Resources

I will add to this regularly and pin it for easy reference. What else should I add?

Consult with a Healthcare Provider

This subreddit and post and comments within it, is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional regarding your medical condition and treatment.

Hi all, After reading a lot of post here recently, I kinda wanted to tell my story to give others perspective about treatment options. Obviously, this is MY story and everyone here is different. My experience will not be the same as yours, and I am not a doctor telling you to try these options. But I have had a lot done, and I think it might be helpful if people understand what they can try.
I appreciate everyone who reads even one section of this saga. I am happy to answer any questions that people might have. Again, this was my journey and these things might not be the best options for you. But I want to highlight that pain, itself, is not the disease. It is a symptom. Find doctors who will help you find the cause of it. Sometimes it's difficult to pinpoint the source of pain, but there are options to try different things.
Part 1: How it Started
In 2007 I was 17 years old. During the summer, I got a job working as a bus boy at a reception hall. One night, I was sweeping the floor, nothing different than normal, but I suddenly had intense shooting pain down my hip and leg just from the way I bent down to sweep. That was all it took to set me off on what would be a long life of pain.
I remember the sciatica being really bad during this period. My parents and I were taking care trips to look at colleges and sitting in a car was torture. At some point they told me to see a chiropractor so I started doing that on a pretty regular basis. I went to college in 2012 and continued to have pain. There was always constant pain but I would always have times when it was much worse and it was painful to even walk normally. I recall having my parents visit and I was limping all day because I couldn't extend my left leg out fully.
I continued to see a chiropractor in the area for maybe two or three of the years I was away at school. Chiropractor never really helped though. During one of the summer breaks, I went to a chiropractor who had this decompression machine that would literally strap you down and pull you apart in an attempt to relieve pressure. It never helped. I am pretty sure by this time I already had an MRI done that probably showed some level of lumbar herniation so I guess that is why I wanted to try that type of treatment.
Chiropractics is not a legitimate science. I hadn't realized this until later in college (I was a biomed major). Their theories on spinal health do not align with known medical science. Some chiropractor align more with real medical science, but a lot of them only believe what the area of chiropractics says. I strongly recommend NEVER seeing a chiropractor, especially if you have back pain. It could be dangerous.
Part 2: The First Surgery and More Treatments
So when I graduated from college in 2012, I sought out an orthopedic surgeon. We did more MRIs. I can't recall if we tried anything more conservative first, but I did end up having surgery with him in 2013. We did a microdiscectomy and hemilaminectomy on both L3-4 and L4-5. Recovery from this was about what you would expect. Lots of bed rest for maybe 6 weeks or so, but I recovered well and went to PT for a couple of months. I think the surgery was successful in treating a lot of the serious sciatica I was having. But I was still having some level of back pain months and months after. I was then seeing the pain management doctor at the same office as the surgeon, and we tried a LOT of different additional things. Facet joint injections specifically, trigger point injections, medications. Nothing ever helped. I still have this pain in my low back and it was difficult to bend over without bracing myself, and there were times when I would get sciatic pain but not nearly as bad as it was before the surgery.
At one point I went to a rheumatologist because the pain doctor did some blood work and found I was positive for a gene that is related to ankylosing spondylitis. I was never actually diagnosed with this, but we tried to medications (I think maybe methotrexate but I could be wrong). The rheumatologist ended up putting me on humira, which looking back was a odd decision without actually officially diagnosing me with anything. Humira is a monthly injection, and I think after two months, my pain actually got a lot worse, and I stopped taking it and never went back to him.
For the most part after this, I was just taking Tramadol an naproxen to deal with my pain. I was going to the gym and doing what I could, but often the gym would exacerbate my symptoms. It was just difficult to do anything without feeling weak and obviously, it definitely contributed to some depression.
Part 3: New Pain Doctors and Spinal Cord Stimulator
In 2016, I got a new job that brought me into NYC and I now had access to great insurance and a wide array of great doctors. I found a new pain management doctor and tried a lot of things with him. He put me on Nucynta at some point, which is a narcotic, though I would only take it when I had break through pain. Pretty quickly, only a couple months after in 2017, we decided to try a spinal cord stimulator since I had already tried all these other things with other doctors.
I had to see a neurologist who would be doing the actual implanting of the device. I also had to see a phsychiatrist to get I guess "mental" clearance that I was in sound mind to be making this decision about a medical device implant. Not sure if that was just for the insurance or something the doctors also require. Before doing a full implant, they actually do a test run. I guess I had gone under general anesthesia for this, but they implant the wires (explained more below) and the wires come out of my skin to an external device and all of that is taped down to my low back. They do this so that they can make sure you actually get relief from the device before all the time, energy, and money is spent doing the full implant. I had it for a couple weeks, and decided to move forward. They had to remove the wires from me and scheduled me for just a regular office visit, and I was thinking well how the heck are they removing these wires from me. Well, it was very easy. They literally just pulled the wires right out of my back. Didn't feel anything. It was wild.
I have a Nevro brand stimulator impanted inside me shortly after. Surgery and recovery were as you would expect. I don't thinm recovery was as long as my back surgery was. There is a little 1x1 inch square box that sits above my right glute, around where my waistband would sit. There are two sets of wires that run over my spine to the left side (so I can actually feel the wires right under my skin at this part) and then they go between my vertebral space and then all the way up my spinal canal to my thoracic area. At the end of the wires (aka "leads") there are several evenly spaced electrodes and these are the functional part of the device. From what I understand, they send small electrically pulses very rapidly against my spinal cord and the idea is that these electric signals will over power pain signals coming from below, effectively making my brain blind to sciatic pain. It came with a remote to change the settings and a charger that uses a wireless pad that you hold over the box to charge. I had to charge it ever two or three days. The technician from the company does the initial set up (they device doesn't operate until you are recovered from the procedure and see the technician at your next office visit, I believe). The technician will turn the device on wirelessly and play with the settings and ask you to tell them when you feel something as the increase the magnitude of the stimulation. When you feel it, it does feel like a little electric buzzing in your back. But you aren't supposed to feel it at all, so they the turn it down just below where you felt the sensation. The remote has a couple different programs that I could change through that the technician programs, I guess changes in the frequency of the pulsing or things like that. I could also increase and decrease the magnitude within a set range, but for the most part I never messed with any of the settings. Nevro has a care team that I can contact at any time with questions or concerns and they will follow up with me occasionally to see how I am doing.
Part 4: Life After the Stimulator
I always had the stimulator on, and always said that it did help alleviate the residual sciatic symptoms I had, but I still had this low back pain that wouldn't go away. I continued to see the pain management doctor and we tried so other things. More trigger point injections, medications, etc. He had me on what is called "Low dose naltrexone" which is essentially a very low dose of an existing drug, used off label for chronic pain. It had to be specially made at a compounding pharmacy because the dose you need isn't commercially available. I tried that for a couple months and can't say it helped. In fact, I think it made me very nauseous a lot of the time. I remember I had to stop drinking coffee at one point because the taste of it would make me feel queezy, and one or two times I ran to the bathroom because I felt like I was going to throw up. I decided to stop taking it.
After that, I mostly just lived with my stimulator and dealt with any pain I had (hadn't seen the doctor since 2020). I was going to the gym someone regularly at this point, but like before it would often increase my pain symptoms so I would need to take extended breaks from exercise.
Part 5: Recurrent Herniation
At the beginning of November 2023, I started to feel something new. I was starting to slowly get sciatic symptoms again and was having flashbacks of my symptoms when I was in college. I was starting to get sciatica in both legs, and my right foot would sometimes start going numb if I stood for too long. It was getting more and more severe. Within a few weeks, I had to stop commuting into work because the pain was getting so bad. I contacted my pain management doctor who I hadn't seen in years. Their office was telling me how since I hadn't been there in so long I had to be treated as a new patient and the first opening for a new patient was like 2 or 3 weeks out. I was pretty angry at them about this. I mean, this doctor did the implant of the medical device that I have...should that not exempt me from this rule? Its not like this was an appointment for an unrelated issue. Anyway, the first available appointment was with a different doctor, but I was desperate so I saw him. He was not helpful. I was basically begging for pain meds and he was like welllll the other doctor should really prescribe you something because he knows your case better. It was such a a waste of time.
About a week or two later I did in fact see my original doctor, and he had the Nevro technician come because he thought it could potentially be an issue with the device. The technician found that there was "impedence" on one of the leads, a couple of the electrodes weren't working as they should. So she did some adjustments to compensate for that. I have it a week or so, but that did not fix the problem at all. I stopped charging the stimulator altogether because it wasn't doing anything for me. I had to start using a cane to get around because if I was standing, I needed something to lean on so I didn't have to keep my back straight. It was getting very difficult.
The doctor had me get a regular CT done, because I cannot get an MRI due to the stimulator (the stimulator itself is actually MRI safe and I think most of them are not, but because of the issue with the electrodes, my Nevro care team told me I could not get an MRI). So I and the CT and I could see it myself. It was absolutely clear that there was a herniation at L4-L5. Clear as day. So I had a video call with the doctors assistance soon after and to my dismay, they suggested treatment was to get an epidural to reduce the pain. Here I am, knowing full well that my symptoms and the results of the MRI are definitely worthy of surgery, and they want to give me just an epidural. I asked her about surgery and she said something about not opting for surgery until exhausting other options. I said okay. After the call, I immediately reached out to my friend who worked at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC. She actually works with the director of Spinal Surgery. Immediately, I was in contact with him and his entire team and they moved quickly to get things moving. I regret not having reached out sooner.
Part 6: Prep for Second Surgery
So the first thing to do was get better imagining. Since the MRI was out of the question, I had to do something called a CT Myelogram. Oh boy this was not a fun diagnostic procedure.
You need to be accompanied to the appointment because they will be giving you some very light sedative. You are hooked up to an IV, and they bring you into a room with a special x-ray table that rotates so you can be either laying flat or raised up so you are nearly standing, and the X-rays can be taken from many different angles. The doctor there take a couple of initial scans to find the location where they go in. I am queezy just talking about it right now. What they need to do is inject contrast dye right into my spinal canal. An epidural goes AROUND your spinal canal, but for this they need to pierce the dura and go in.
So they do local anesthesia and then take quite a large needle and go in. It is painful because it is going so deep. But God, you can feel the piecing of the dura layer when the needle goes through. I immediately feel my body hating it. Then they inject the dye, and you can feel that sort of cold sensation spreading across your back. And then he takes the needle out. I start to get VERY hot and am about to pass out, so they put some ice on the bacm of my neck and give me a minute to come back down. They also gave me some IV zofran to help with nausea and some IV sedative for the pain Thankfully it passed. But that wasnt even the difficult part.
Next, they have to make sure the dye gets into all the crevices. So the doctor rotates the table to different angles and has you try and bend in specific ways. It was incredibly painful to do. When he had me in an almost standing position, and the pressure of the dye was increasing my leg pain beyond anything I had experienced so far. It was really difficult. But once they are satisfied with the X-ray that shows the dye has spread well, they send you to the CT scan. Once I was laying down again the pain subsided and I was feeling better. They did the CT scan and then rolled me back to the recovery room, and by the time I was back in there I was feels 100% back to normal and had no issues getting up and walking. So that was that.
The image results were very telling (gunna try and include them here or in a comment if I can). The point of this type of imaging is that the contract dye with spread anywhere that the CSF can go. You should be able to clearly see the space all around the spinal cord, and if there are spots where you don't see the dye, you will be able to see what is causing some problems. It was plain to see how severe this herniation was. It was compressing my spinal cord and pushing it all the way to the back of the spinal column.
So the doctor said we have two options. A microdiscectomy or a fusion. We decided to do a MD though I would be okay with a fusion. Well guess what, two days before the surgery the doctor changed his mind and said that after reviewing the imaging again the best course of action would be to do a fusion. I was very excited for that.
Part 7: The Fusion
So at the end of Feb 2024 I had my fusion done. It was your standard surgery, nothing too crazy. Recovery was tough though. Basically with a fusion, they take out the herniation and most of the disc and they put this rubbery block in there that contains bone graft. That is what is going to grow to fuse the two vertebrae, but that process can take a year to fully fuse the bones. So they put in four screws, two in each vertebrae, and join them together with rods. This holds the bones together completely so that they do not move independently. They are essentially fused at this point, but only with the rods.
For recovery, the first couple days were difficult, mostly trying to stand up from laying down because I had like no low back strength. The pain was also pretty constant so I was taking a lot of muscle relaxers and narcotics to help me stay asleep as much as possible.
The surgery area was quiet large. There were two large bandages and two small bandages and the entire area was covered in a large adhesive patch to keep everything clean and dry (it was also very orange from the iodine). So I could shower without worrying about it. Within two weeks I was moving around a lot better. I might have stopped using my cane at this point, though anything that required me to reach forward, like washing my hands at the sink, was difficult because it would require back strength. By 2 weeks, the bandage had because really really frustrating. The huge adhesive patch was causing my skin to become itchy and irritated, and I could see they I was starting to develop some red bumps like pimples underneath. Thankfully 2 weeks was the point I could remove it (after my first follow up call with the doctors team). So I took it off which was not easy. The whole area was soooo sticky, I tried to remove a lot of the stickiness with either rubbing alcohol, soap, or Vaseline. I was able to get a lot of it off but some stickiness still lasted for several days. There will tiny bandages over the incision sites that covered the stitches and those would eventually all fall off themselves. I had two larger scars at the top where they did most of the work of cutting out the disc and putting in the graft, and then two tiny scars lower down where I assume they put in the screws for the lower vertabrae. My back does not look pretty.
I started PT at four weeks was doing better but still had a weak back and was very cautious with my movements. Did PT for 12 weeks and made a lot of improvement. I was back to how I was. The fusion 100% fix the issues that this new herniation had caused, and it was such a relief to finally have a procedure that was totally effective. However, the back pain that I had already had for many many years was and is still there and I am still not certain what is causing it.
Part 8: Now
I am about 20 weeks out of surgery and am still doing great. I still do not use my stimulator and don't plan to, but having to get it removed would be a really huge pain. I have started to actually go to a gym again and life weights to stay active. I am mostly convinced that this low back pain I still have is really muscle related, caused by the years of instability, and that I can address it by strengthly my core muscles and following my PT exercises. I think a lot of these muscles issues, like trigger points, can mimic sciatic symptoms. Knowing what REAL sciatic symptoms feel like again, this pain doesn't feel like I have a herniation pushing on my nerves. So I am going forward with that in mind and trying to deal with this pain muscularly.
As for the fusion, I don't notice any new limitations in my movement. I avoid rubbing the area because I could feel the rods if I rub it hard enough. But I feel normal. I had a follow up with the doctor with another X-ray and everything looks great. I am hoping that this can be a turning point for me to really live as close to a pain free life as possible.

Hello some stats at the beginning:
Age: 24
experience: 8 years
weight: 83,5kg
height: 183cm
bf:~ 10%
Now to my question.
I want to start my first testo e cycle and I planned to inject two times a week 0,5ml (125mg) so my weekly total would be 250mg.
For me the most important thing is that I want to keep my fertility because I planned to make some children in the next 3 years so what would be the best on cycle support and pct ?
And how long should I stay on 4 or 6 months I want the least side effects?
I know about Hcg Tamoxifen and Clomid as pct but need some more experience from others before I start.
And yes I did my blood work etc.

I’m going through my first pregnancy loss that is possibly ectopic.. seeking advice.
I started my “period” on 5/12, bled for 4 days. Tested positive for pregnancy. HCG 148, progesterone 2.5. Took PIO injections 2x per day.
Second HCG draw was 737, third and 4th were 650. One week later, HCG was at 680 4 days later, HCG rose to 737 (this past Monday) and we did a TVU and couldn’t locate a gsac in my uterus. Diagnosed with PUL.
I started bleeding on Tuesday (but wasn’t super heavy) for 3 days, but my at home tests are still very dark & positive, leading me to believe my levels aren’t dropping.
Doctors aren’t confident it’s an ectopic because my HCG levels haven’t been fluctuating a ton, but I’m so anxious and nervous it is… I go back tomorrow for another HCG draw and if it doesn’t go down they’ll start me on methotrexate, which I’m terrified of.
Its been 3 weeks since I found out I was pregnant and I’m ready to move on and want this to be over with 💔

Hi, my name is Jay and I'm currently located in Oklahoma (CST/GMT-6).

PORTFOLIO

With a degree in accounting and roughly a decade of full-time experience managing businesses ranging from startups to publicly traded corporations, not only do I come with a better understanding of your product needs outside of just the code, but I can help you plan your project in a way that makes sense for you or your business, including:

• Tech/idea feasibility and advice
• Time/cost/benefit analysis regarding different approaches
• Product release stages and planning (including which might be necessary)
  • MVP (minimum viable product/proof of concept)
  • beta
  • alpha
  • full release
• All initial discussion and advice comes free of charge. Not a penny is accrued until a contract is signed.

Skills and Experience

I have been programming for 9 years, freelancing for 8, and working full-time as a Software Engineer for 6. All skills listed come from successful professional experience and represent technologies I'm fully comfortable building from scratch and deploying (in no particular order).

• Frameworks
  • React for web
  • React Native and Expo for mobile and web
    • See my most recent expo project here with both web and mobile functionality
  • Native iOS/macOS/Android
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• Languages
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• Database Technologies
  
  • SQL
  • MongoDB/NoSql
  • GraphQL
  • Third party solutions like FireBase and AWS
• Previous Project Examples
  
  • iOS/Swift security framework
  • Product/venue revue and rating app/website
  • Movie scene location finder and shot replicator camera image overlay
  • Job tracking and inventory management app/website for moving companies with QR generation, printing, and scanning for boxes
  • Native iOS and Android buy/sell app for luxury watches
  • Social media apps with posts, comments, likes, friends, follows, #hashtags, @user tags, and live chat
  • Native iOS chatroulette/omegle clone
  • Farm harvest tracker with CSV exports
  • Pharmacy price tracker with chat between pharmacists and customers

Work and Availability

I can work with any time zone (located in US Central) and offer both hourly rate contracts and fixed-quote contracts.

• How hourly contracts work $60 USD
  • Higher hourly rates come with higher familiarity of the project technology
  • Fairly simple contract outlining app concept and hourly rate
  • Product and codebase are available to you throughout the project
  • Invoices are sent on a regular schedule
    • Time is tracked online and a detailed report is sent with each invoice
• How fixed/quote-based contracts work
  • More initial conversation/planning required in order to:
    • compile a quote price
    • outline in-depth list of deliverable features on the contract
  • Material scope/feature changes will require contract amendments
  • 3 payments due at start, midpoint/MVP, and completion
    • Product available for testing at milestones, code made available after final payment
• If you have a hard set budget...
  • ...and are comfortable disclosing it, I can work with you on outlining a version of your product that can be properly built within that budget, even if that includes helping you find other vendors more suited for your price range.

Contact Me

You can reach me here on Reddit, through my website, or by email at jay@doan.works

I' ve had many visits to different dermatologist since last 4yrs. First ones I met were kinda bullshito they were just there for selling products without any kind of diagnosis, I remember buying 5k worth of products that the doctor prescribed on my first visit, none of them worked to stop my hairfall. Later on I met this dermatologist he prescribed me minoxidil upon examination of my hair loss pattern. I've been using a specific brand of minoxidil 'Hair 4u' since last year and my last visit to a dermatologist was like 8mths ago. This brand worked quite well for me, can't tell much about hair gain but my hair fall has slowed down for sure. None of the cosmetic pharmacies seem have to have Hair 4u, is it safe if i switch to other brands? What brand Ur using if u r a user?

My husband is a quadriplegic who has to use catheters. Are there any brick and mortar pharmacies or stores that sell catheters and supplies? We are facing a temporary shortage and have found it extremely difficult to get any in less than 3-5 business days which is not soon enough.
Thanks in advance. ETA: we are in Chandler but willing to drive anywhere if necessary.

So, I want to preface this by saying this was originally a reply to another post critiquing CIG's development cycle - partially. Then, I realize what I was really replying to were the multitude of posts I've seen over the last weeks discussing different issues with the development and the game's state more broadly. There have been, without fail, regular posts, complaints, and questions about where the game's at and why things are a certain way.
Just some background: I only started following the game around 2021, so I definitely don't have the same historical traumas other players might express regarding the game. However, given that a true immersive space sim has been one of my greatest hopes in a game and my "meh" experience with Starfield (no hate, just didn't like it as much), I've followed SC's development pretty closely.
In that time, I've listened to a lot of voices both within and beyond the community. There have been many legitimate critiques, a decent amount of salt, and some pretty neat insights. This represents a synthesis of those voices and my views on where things are at regarding the game. My overall tl;dr: I think the game's moving at a decent clip and is working to fulfill its promises.
This post is aimed (an will undoubtedly fail to stem the tide of) those many posts I've seen over the last couple of months. You might disagree, but I hope you enjoy the read anything.

Starting Off: CIG in the Industry Ecosystem

Something folks need to realize when they're discussing a company like CIG is that it's a significant departure from most game companies in terms of its goals, organization, and history. It has similarities and differences with numerous other studios and publishers but is also unique in its execution.
To better illustrate this, I will try to draw comparisons to other studios in the industry. For example, given the size and intended scope, it might be fair to compare CIG to large publishers such as Blizzard or Ubisoft. It's a large publishing company with significant assets, a large team, and a stated goal to develop two AAA games. However, there are several important differences. First, we must understand that most large, well-known studios today had significant history and development leading up to their AAA releases.
Consider Larian studios. Prior to Baldur's Gate 3, it had a decades-long history developing the Divinity Series. Bethesda had several games before Morrowind, which I would consider their first foray into AAA game territory, to say nothing of Oblivion, Skryim, the Fallout Series, or Starfield. Ubisoft had the Tom Clancy series and Assassin's Creed, expanding on the scope of each subsequent game. Blizzard, of course, had Warcrafts 1 and 2 before Warcraft 3 and Starcraft. All of this represents substantial institutional expertise and memory. Teams and administrative sections with years of experience working together, using tools, developing workflows and assets, etc. Remember that Starfield had an eight-year development process - backed up by a company with almost half a century of experience.
CIG had none of that in its inception. It had to build its teams and organization from the ground up. It needed to find the right tools, then the right workflow for those tools. Hell, it needed to develop its own internal roadmap, to say nothing of its work with the larger public. It would be unfathomable that the company would not make mistakes in its organizational process or work with the fanbase. Consider, by way of example, what happened to John Romero when he left iD to open his own studio and develop his magnum opus... Daikatana (suck it down).

Funding and Ownership

A second factor that differentiates CIG is that it's a private company. Others, such as Ubisoft and Sega, are publicly traded or held by parent companies. This means that CIG has to approach funding from a radically different perspective than its contemporaries. There's no venture capital injections, no investments, and no parent publishing support. In its place, CIG won the proverbial lottery and seized on crowd-funding at the precise moment it was in the public zeitgeist. That gave them seed funding, but as the game's scope has increased, they need additional funding to support development. That's where ship sales come in.
In a sense, we can consider these in the same vein as microtransactions. They are digital assets purchased to allow certain capacities inside the game. However, they represent a significant difference from, say, Clash of Clans or Diablo IV. In the first sense, the ships are not Pay-to-Win or even really Pay-to-Play. The only ship you seriously need to get started in the game is a decent starter package ship, which tends to run between $40-90. Pretty much every other practical ship can be purchased in-game.
Admittedly, they do sell much more expensive ships, but these are not necessary to enjoy all the game's features. You can earn your way - fairly easily - to most of the ships in the game. The ships sell because people want to buy them, but not having them doesn't limit the game experience. Hell, you can try most of them out during the free fly events to see if you actually want them. I think the most problematic element that needs to be addressed are backfilling the early concept ships, though that requires proper integration and leads to my next point...
Even compared to when I first started in 2021, the ship release process appears to have improved, with CIG stepping back from releasing ships that are unfinished or that do not fit into the game yet. Their last few ships, such as the Vulture and Cutter, were all released alongside more feature-complete gameplay loops that allowed the ships to be used at their full capacity. Even the upcoming capital ships represent a release with more comprehensive engineering gameplay.
As a private company, they can take the time to develop elements as they need to. A public company like Sega or Ubisoft is beholden to its investors, and there are numerous predictable examples of its outcomes. Games like Cities Skylines 2, Battlefield 2142, Homeworld 3, Company of Heroes 3, the CoD series, and Redfall all represent, I argue, games released too soon due to publisher pressure. As the industry has been discussing lately, games like BG3, Animal Well, and Dave the Diver are all successful because the developers had time to cook. This is my speculation, but I believe that large publishers tried to seize on a quick-development, iterative release schedule as occurred with various sports franchises and the CoD series because it is profitable. Those, however, represent pretty terrible end products.

Interaction with the Player Base

The final element represents, I think, CIG's history. I think that it's entirely understandable that people would have some hard feelings about SC's early development. For all the reasons above, it sounds like CIG made some missteps in its process. It's also trying to manage the monumental challenge of a completely public development process. To compare, even BG3's early access process started in beta, when most of the features were already developed. It already had an engine. It was nearly feature-complete.
To compare, CIG developed its engine from scratch, and is still getting the last elements online. Every time it brings in a new system or feature, things break. From a development view, it doesn't make sense to focus on fixing some issues if you're going to have to do it all over again when the next system switches on. At the same time, because they have a public development process, they have to balance their resources and try to ensure the game is enjoyably playable. It's an unenviable position to be in, especially because the scope of their game really shows. I think a lot of frustration from players stems from being able to see what should be possible but isn't - at least not yet.
From what I gather, a significant issue in the early development was how the company communicated with its player base. I understand there was a lot of over-promising and under-delivering, alongside a lack of transparency about certain elements. Combined with the early ship release philosophy, the company finding its legs, and the nature of an alpha product, I can totally see how they'd alienate some folks.
From what I can tell, it looks like they're trying to make up for those issues. They've scaled back their promises to what's reasonable, have changed their ship release philosophy, are communicating with the community, and are regularly releasing substantial updates. To me, that represents a dynamic and active company. We might be able to compare this to games like Skull & Bones, Duke Nukem Forever, or Redfall. In each of these examples, development releases were chaotic and sporadic, publisher interference deeply fucked with the process, and communication was often severely lacking. Hell, there are a ton of small games I've followed that lack several of the positive markers I've noted. None of this is to say CIG is perfect by any stretch, but to me they're operating well within the boundaries of a healthy development cycle.

Conclusion: Chill, and a Special Note about Master Modes

The Internet's memory is long and (mostly) permanent. There's a lot of articles out there that have discussed controversies around CIG, such as whether it's vaporware, a scam, or predatory. I think that recent releases, along with the changing pattern of the company, show that it's sincerely trying to do right by its players. That doesn't mean there isn't room for disagreement about design choices; case in point: Master Modes.
There is controversy about this design choice because it represents a significant departure from what players had come to be used to. Personally, I don't think we have enough long-term information about how the system will play out to accurately judge it, and that's part of the process of the alpha - figuring that out. At the same time, the master modes are also emblematic of my argument above: CIG is doing things, trying things out, and improving on processes. Forward movement is occurring, and at an increasing pace.
I remember the disaster that was the 3.18 release. I have heard the stories about what free fly events were like in the past. The 3.23 release was the smoothest I've played the game in a long time, and that's with duper ships and Invictus stressing the servers. And we're already moving to the new release and everything that comes with that. To close, I implore you, dear readers: Let CIG cook.

I've been on TRT cream for 5 months (1ml of 200mg/gm per day). I just got my first bloods back and they're terrible. I tested in the morning before application and my Total T was 237ng/dl. My number hasn't budged. Could it be that the local compounding pharmacy is selling junk? I have an appointment coming up and I'm thinking about switching to Empower to give that a try.

TLDR :- A poor coconut seller refused to take money for 10 slices from the doctor becuase he got his treatment for free at a government hospital, where the treatment is supposed to be free.
I was working in an outpatient department of a government hospital in a rural part of India. There used be around 150 patients per day in the outpatient department in the department i was working in. I was the on who used to arrive at 9 am and my senior resident would arrive by 10 or 10.30.
We also had a pharmacy in the hospital which has around 60-70 medicines available and these medicines are free. Like you pay 6 cents for registration in the hospital when you areive and after that consultation and the medicine which are available inside are free and the medicines which are not available inside can be bought at various pharmacies just outside the hospital.
Now for the story. A person came to the opd. This guy sells coconut flesh by cutting it into slices which are enough for 2 or 3 bites.How do i know it ? He came with the plate he carries the coconut in. He had fallen from his bicycle and got a few scratches and a minor wound. I saw him told him that he just needs wound cleaning and dressing and no stiches were needed. I gave him the tetanus shot, wrote him the medicines {painkillers, antibiotic, iodine based ointment} and told him that he would not need to buy anything from outside and everything should be available inside and he should come day after tomorrow for a follow up and get the dressing changed. I also told him that he shouldn't but the medicines from outside as these would cost him about 500-600 Indian rupees {6-7 US $} from outside. I added this line because sometimes people can be doubtful of medicines they get for free and decide to buy from outside. And this would have been the amount he would earn in an entire day or 2.
Now after all that he asked him if i wanted a coconut. Remember he had his plates of coconut still in his hand. I told him yes sure, washed my hand and got one and then told him to give one to each of staff in the department, about 10 people. He came back after giving them and i asked him how much, he said no, no there is no need for money. We had a little back and forth with this me asking how much and he refusing. Finally he surrendered and told me the amount {150 Rupees/ 2$} and i paid him and he went away never to be seen again.
This made me think this poor man was one of the richest person at heart i have ever seen.

I don’t want to make this long. I have posted again. I think my penis is too thin especially after trying condoms. It seems normal width is 56mm condoms and only 49-52 ones do fit me. I struggle to find those condom and only sex shops sell them in my country. The thought the the majority of people seemingly are okay with those available at pharmacies and department stores makes me feel hopeless and worthless regarding sex and relationships. These thoughts are triggered whenever I think of having sex and having to find condoms . I am in a really bad place and I want to feel normal again. I can’t talk to anyone about this because it will make me instantly a weirdo. The fact that I am stuck with a penis like this really hurts me…
For those who wonder I am 13-14 cm long 10 cm girth

**new
To give you some background I'm mid 30s and have spent my life so far as a medical assistant in most roles with other various titles attached including lead and coordinating positions. I am recently coming to a realization that I am aging out of my career. I am looking into work from home related roles as is everyone. The market is saturated with individuals wanting remote work. I however have an idea to pitch myself directly to offices within my area as a medical assistant from a virtual standpoint. I would provide administrative/clinic support. Aiding in specialty referrals, medication management including prescription refills, prior authorizations, pharmacy related inquiries (I have a background creating protocols for this) some scheduling, chart prepping and so on. Basically I won't be giving you an injections or handing the physician any tools. I still want to work directly with physicians and limited amount of patients. I also want the flexibility of my schedule essentially being just that MY schedule. My background is strong and I know I am capable. I have references.
The idea to start pitching myself locally is because I have so many offices immediately near me I could pitch myself hybrid to begin.
These roles do already exist and some specialties utilize a virtual assistant more than others. But when your in the market for employment there are alot of scams and I want to avoid that.
What are some ideas of how to pitch myself?
How do I put a price on myself? (Considering limited remote experience)
Am I crazy for having this idea?

Took a stupid dose of HCG. Did a 2500iu injection every 5 days. I did 4 of them. Followed by 7 days of clomid. Will this have caused any long term damage? Is it true that HCG desensitises the leydig cells, especially with such a high dose?

I'm 29(F) living abroad. My relationship with my two aunts has always been fraught with tension and conflict. My mother is one of nine siblings. My two aunts have lived and worked overseas for most of their lives.
Growing up, my parents struggled to provide for us. My mother didn’t finish university, and my father didn’t finish high school. He worked various jobs to make ends meet, while my mother worked as a helper. When I was seven, my youngest aunt returned home to get married, reconnecting with our family.
We were extremely poor, often struggling to eat three meals a day. My eldest aunt bought a house in our hometown and allowed us to live there for free while we took care of it. She also funded a small food business for my mother and bought a franchise vehicle for my father. My parents’ relationship was tumultuous, with my father often absent and eventually cheating on my mother, leading to constant fighting.
My parents mismanaged the business and lost the vehicle, putting us back to square one. My mother turned to her sisters for help again, enduring verbal abuse in return. They called us worthless and other degrading things, even telling my mother to unalive herself. She had no choice but to endure it.
As the eldest, I took on many responsibilities early on, acting as a caretaker for my siblings and enduring physical and emotional abuse from my mother. My mother’s side of the family was similarly dysfunctional, with my grandfather being a womanizer and the siblings separated after their mother died. I vowed to break this cycle, and today my sister and brother are doing well.
When I finished high school, I asked my youngest aunt for help with university. I offered to pay her off when I finish school. She was reluctant and even suggested I should sell my body but then she suddenly changed her mind and offered to support me if I studied pharmacy instead of my dream of becoming a psychologist. Lacking options, I accepted her offer and moved in with her and her two kids while attending university.
Living with her was difficult. She was always angry, and I constantly felt on edge, developing anxiety. Only finding reprieve when she went back abroad and lived there, just coming home during summer break. Despite the abuse, I graduated and became a licensed pharmacist. My aunt told me that I don't have to pay me as long as I support my family and we don't ask for her help anymore. I thanked her, very grateful and that was my plan anyway she didn't have to tell me. I felt indebted to her, but her true motives became clear when she proposed starting a pharmacy business together. I didn't have the financial means at that time. She wanted me to borrow the money for our partnership from the bank. But my loan was declined and that was that. I worked as a community pharmacist after that. Often juggling 2 jobs to help my mother pay off her debts and send my siblings to school.
Years later, I moved back to my hometown to be closer to my family and received an offer to become a non-equity partner in a pharmacy business. We needed a location, so I asked my eldest aunt who was still living abroad if we could use the space of our crumbling eatery and offered her a partnership to get her on board. She accepted and moved back. Despite her calmer demeanor (comparing to my younger aunt) she was overly suspicious by nature, and eventually accused my business partner of trying to take over the pharmacy, which was a baseless accusation, before it all started she knew what she was getting into, we agreed this is how the share will go, she gets 35%, I get 15% and he gets 50%, as he should because he started the whole business and has invested more, still she was adamant that eventually he will take over the business, forcing me to choose between them. Under pressure, my business partner exited the partnership, leaving me embarrassed and guilty.
The situation worsened when my eldest aunt, influenced by the youngest aunt (Idk what was her problem and why she got involved) became suspicious of me as well. She accused me of also trying to take over the pharmacy, I think because of our initial plan to have the business under my name due to legal restrictions (she's not a citizen) on her owning it. She pushed me out of the business after I had already quit my two jobs to manage the pharmacy full-time. She offered to hire me as a pharmacist at below minimum wage, which I refused. This led to a massive fallout, and I suffered major depression. I finalized the pharmacy setup, allowed her to use my name in papers but she will have the full control of the business, and stayed for the grand opening before leaving my hometown to start anew.
I moved to a new city, worked various jobs, and eventually applied for a student visa abroad. At 25, I left the country, maintaining contact with my aunts for my mother's sake. I transfered the business under her name after she got her dual citizenship.
Looking back, I understand why my aunts were resentful, seeing us as leeches. However, we didn't receive their help for free. When they came home, we serve and worked for them, cooked, cleaned, washed etc, and my mother managed family affairs, took care of everything when their dad and 4 brothers died, and they only had to send money. Even now, my mother manages the pharmacy and cares for my eldest aunt as her Parkinson's disease has progressed. I send money home for family emergencies and special occasions, never asking for their help since moving abroad.
If they truly hated helping us, why didn't they just cut us off? This question always came up, this is where the guilt is coming from, surely it’s because they see us as family, right? They care about my mum and they care about us. Right?
The final straw was when my cousin (their brother’s daughter), who was also mistreated by my aunts, died at the young age of 27. She was the “rotten banana” of the family, with 3 kids by 25, no college degree, and a rebellious nature. My aunts hated her and saw her as an embarrassment. When she needed surgery, I sent money immediately and asked the family to contribute. My youngest aunt cruelly told her, "Even if you die, I won’t help you again," and true to her word, didn’t help and didn’t attend the funeral. This cruelty made me realize I wanted nothing more to do with my aunts.
Recently, my youngest aunt accused me of being ungrateful and brainwashed by my mother because I had distanced myself. I told her the truth about how her cruelty and abuse, especially towards my cousin, drove me away. She became furious, blaming her actions on stress and that she blamed my cousin for her brother’s (cousin’s dad) early death that’s why she said those hurtful words to her, I told her that is no excuse to hurt someone who was already in pain and bleeding at the hospital, she responded with more vitriol, saying I should have died with my cousin and that karma would come for me and my family.
I understand my parents are partly to blame. They should have protected us but relied on my aunts despite the emotional toll. In a third-world country where I came from, opportunities are scarce, and there's no government support. I understand why my parents continued to ask for help despite the abuse.
Now, I feel a mix of guilt and relief for cutting them off. Yes, they helped us financially, but their abuse left lasting scars. Should I ask if I should repay all the money they helped us with? I don’t have that amount now, as I just started my new life and just recently became a registered overseas pharmacist, but I could offer to pay it off slowly. How much should I pay them? One time before our last fight, I offered to support my cousin (younger aunt’s daughter) financially when she goes to uni, she said she doesn’t want my help and money and now she’s ruined my relationship with my cousins by telling lies about me. I know they’re evil and toxic but I also recognise their financial contribution to my family.
AITA for cutting off my aunts despite the financial help they provided over the years?

I’ve traveled to Europe many times with my biologic, but after the 16+ hour journey, my pen always reached room temperature regardless of the ice pack I used. I scheduled my trips around my injection days. Now that I’m on Orencia, all four pens must be used within 6 hours of reaching room temperature, I’m facing a challenge. I’ve tried every travel cold case available on Amazon without success.
4AllFamily offers cool thermoses, but they only hold one biologic pen each, meaning I'd need four thermoses, which is quite costly. Shipping them is unreliable due to customs. Has anyone successfully traveled long haul with four biologic pens and managed to keep them cold? Lufthansa won't take responsibility for refrigerating them during flights, and the box my CVS specialty pharmacy uses to ship them won't fit in the overhead bin. Orencia’s customer service hasn't been able to provide any solutions. My route is Seattle-Munich-Rome. Any advice would be appreciated.

I've spent the last three months building prototypes of my consumer kitchen product. I've developed four or five distinct versions and finally landed on one that checks all the boxes. I use it almost every day, and it works great. The idea is new, and the product is defensible. The prototypes not only work well but also look amazing. I've shared the development and the final product on social media, and it has garnered significant attention.
I've pitched to investors, attended an early-stage venture conference, and spoken with hundreds of potential customers. The interest is there, but the only way to get real traction with investors seems to be by showing revenue.
I've considered selling handmade "alphas," but the cost to build those would almost be double the ideal market price for the units. I can't afford to take that hit, and I can't feasibly charge people three times the retail price just to generate some cash, nor do I have the time to invest in that at the moment. For reference, the product has 75 total parts, around 35 distinct parts, most of which will be injection molded at scale.
So, what's next? How do I take this beautiful prototype and positive customer sentiment and translate it into real money for final DFM work and a product launch? I'm open to any ideas and would appreciate your help in finding funding.
Some additional stats: Organic web traffic is around 250 visits per month (currently showing renders, but will soon be updated with beauty shots of the prototype), around 50 "waitlist" signups per month (1.5 months live), and only $150 spent on ads. Target retail price is $399-459 to get a sense of scale. Final cogs at scale would be around $75-150 depending on quantity. With overheads and Salaries, breakeven is somewhere around 1500-2000 units. Kickstarter is something kicking around, but it also realistically costs 20-50K to do well and at the scale I am looking to achieve at launch (at least breakeven)
Thank you for your suggestions and support!

I've spent the last three months building prototypes of my consumer kitchen product. I've developed four or five distinct versions and finally landed on one that checks all the boxes. I use it almost every day, and it works great. The idea is new, and the product is defensible. The prototypes not only work well but also look amazing. I've shared the development and the final product on social media, and it has garnered significant attention.
I've pitched to investors, attended an early-stage venture conference, and spoken with hundreds of potential customers. The interest is there, but the only way to get real traction with investors seems to be by showing revenue.
I've considered selling handmade "alphas," but the cost to build those would almost be double the ideal market price for the units. I can't afford to take that hit, and I can't feasibly charge people three times the retail price just to generate some cash, nor do I have the time to invest in that at the moment. For reference, the product has 75 total parts, around 35 distinct parts, most of which will be injection molded at scale.
So, what's next? How do I take this beautiful prototype and positive customer sentiment and translate it into real money for final DFM work and a product launch? I'm open to any ideas and would appreciate your help in finding funding.
Some additional stats: Organic web traffic is around 250 visits per month (currently showing renders, but will soon be updated with beauty shots of the prototype), around 50 "waitlist" signups per month (1.5 months live), and only $150 spent on ads. Target retail price is $399-459 to get a sense of scale. Final cogs at scale would be around $75-150 depending on quantity.
Thank you for your suggestions and support!

For some context: I started getting T a few months ago, and because of my country of residence, my only option is getting it via intramuscular shots. Problem is, I have an AWFUL needle phobia, bad enough that I almost passed out once at 12-13 because I wanted to look at the blood flowing through the needle like an idiot, and cannot do my own shots without risking a full panic attack. I assumed the exposure to, you know, getting shots once a month would make it gradually better, but it has not. Sometimes I can do the shots seamlessly, others I need various attempts to calm myself down or risk crying/having a panic attack.
So, my boyfriend does my shots. Problem is, he's NOT a nurse or trained physician, and it is usually painful to get them done, but I pretty much don't have other options. A few pharmacies have free injection services, but they are transphobes (last year I went to like five different locations and they refused to administer the shot, so yeah, I'm on my own here)
In short, does someone here have any advice on:

1. How to make the shots less painful for me, be it with a bettedifferent technique or a different needle?
2. How to keep myself calm enough to actually let my bf do the shot? I sometimes tense up the second the needle hits my skin and once it almost broke it, so, yeah, it IS a serious matter now.