Adderall side effects throat clearing

I've been no contact with my mother for about a year. After a lifetime of emotional/physical neglect, we tried therapy together, and she said a lot of the right things, but never could follow through. She decided not to attend my wedding and honestly, that was just the last rejection I could stomach. So, I wrote her a very nice email and basically said I'm moving on to focus on the positive relationships in my life. If she wanted a relationship with me, she would have to do the work, including therapy. I laid it out very clearly. No therapy, no relationship. I'm done carrying the load of a one sided relationship. She didn't respond and it was quiet that first six months.
She has found excuses to reach out via text several times this year. "Just wanted to let you know your step-dad is in the hospital" even though she knows my sisters will tell me anything important. I ignore and block. I've never responded.
Yesterday I got a card in the mail. No return name, just a PO box in her city. The problem is I know other people in the same city, so I wasn't sure who it was from. I should have known. A month and a half after my dog had to be put down, she sends me a sympathy card. "So sorry for your loss, its so hard to lose a dog."
Um, yeah, but its way worse to lose a parent.
She is so clueless. It's painful.

As the title suggests, I've had a sore throat or sore spot on / near the throat on just one side for 2 weeks. More painful/noticeable when I swallow, but no difficulty swallowing or anything like that. It feels like it's a specific area where the pain is, kind of back where the lymph node is. Pain is not severe. Ear pain as well on the same side.
My question is this cause for concern or at what point should I get this checked out by my primary. Non smoker, moderate drinker.

Before I begin, I will preface this by saying that I have never been in a REAL committed relationship. I have had several brief\longterm experiences in my first two years of college, but nothing that amounted to anything long term or made me feel any different than I my baseline feelings. TLDR, I've never been in mutual love.
Enter my long-term friend, I'll call Iris (19-F). Met in freshman year of high-school, were inseparable, we were there for each other through very hard times emotionally for each other. It developed into us having feelings for each other, but because I was deeply insecure and not ready for a relationship (did not know this at the time, which led to me projecting a lot of unfair emotions onto her, pushing her away). I spent the rest of my high-school in deep regret because I had immense feelings for her. They eventually were suppressed by the passing of time. We reconnected briefly throughout HS anytime her long-term boyfriend were having issues (he forbade her from interacting with me out of fear she would leave him for me). They broke up senior year, Iris and I reconnected once more. We would talk for hours a day over text, and any chance we saw each other during school we would spend talking. All the feelings I had been suppressing for years as well as all the regret from not saying everything I wanted to in freshman came rushing back; they overwhelmed me to the point that I was breaking down emotionally to my family members. The only fix for this that I saw was coming clean to her, which I did, over text (boo). I essentially, confessed my love for her without actually saying the word 'love.' She said she felt the same way, but was not ready for anything.
For the sake of keeping things brief, I won't get into every minutiae of detail about how we once more went our separate ways, but by the end of senior year because a multitude of reasons -- including me overwhelming her post-heartbreak\breakup, and some things she did\said to me (a rumor was spread about us that led to her having disdain for me), we graduated HS once again, strangers.
Fast-forward to April 2024, it's the end of both our sophomore year of college. We went to colleges in different states. I was reminiscing on my past, and with the confidence of some friends behind me, I messaged her just asking how she was. She responded, and for the following weeks we would spend hours at night texting. We both came home for college, and we hung out for the first time since HS. Everything came rushing back, we spend 4+ hours sitting and talking. We talked about our self-growth and development into young adulthood, our past and how we were just at different points in our lives romantically, joking about old times, and telling crazy stories of our college experiences. It felt like some anachronistic fever dream, everything I had been wanting to tell her, about what my headspace was like and how I had always felt about her, and her the same. It was amazing. Later that night, we went to stargaze, under the stars looking listening to music, cuddled under a blanket trying to keep warm, we kissed for the first time. After we left that field, we talked about the future of what we would be, because of our distance and her love language, that we would never be able to do long distance. I told her that it was the beginning of the summer, and that we should focus on now. She agreed. That was less than a week ago. We've hung out almost every day since then, but nothing too physical has happened. Mostly just going to the gym together. (She made it clear the day we kissed that, "this was something that we should do more often") Problem is, she has strict parents, and she is passionate about maintaining their trust. I want to respect that, while also respecting her boundaries, but at the same time, not remaining unfair to myself.
Now onto what I want advice on. No one has ever made me feel this way, it's something that I am unfamiliar with, and it scares me. I spend every waking moment thinking about this girl. She's the only girl I've been able to be my true self with, someone who understands my humor through and through. Every second that I am not with her, I overthink on all the things I said when we were last together. When she doesn't respond, I think that she is ignoring me because I have done something or said (this stems from the past when I've said too much and it effected the illusive 'us') . I hate being so overcritical of myself, it's not fair for me or her. Furthermore, I just want to kiss and hold her in my arms once again, but I don't want to mess things up and say the wrong thing. I don't want to overwhelm her into thinking that I want something long-term, even though I would do anything for her. How do I approach this going forward? Why does she, and only her, make me feel this way?
Additionally, it might be important to note, that a lot of my loved ones and friends don't trust or like her because of the past, but I am a forgiving person in nature, as well as a lot of their reasoning for such is because I fed them a one-sided picture of who she is years back. I might come off as overcritical, overthinking, and-or paranoid, but I can't help myself considering the past. I've started communicating more, because that's what we both value in a relationship, but I don't know if I should table certain conversations.
TLDR: Recently reconnected with long term friend that was once a romantic interest, she makes me feel things I've never felt before, do not know how to digest or interpret them and need assistance on where to go going forward.

Is anyone else getting more migraines lately? Idk if it's the weather, stress, or what but I've been getting so many. They're so so exhausting too. Mine come with excruciating pain, lightheadedness, nausea, dry heaving, light and sound sensitivity, and sometimes weird thumping in my ears. I'll be recovering for days after one and then bam I get another one! I take naratriptan and sumatriptan, alternating between the two depending on severity. Coupled with ibuprofen, tylenol, or excedrin. The migraines and migraine hangovers I suffer from are making life so hard. I've tried a preventive when I was teen that I hated, it made me feel awful so I'm scared to try another. I'm not interested in botox or meds with scary side effects or weight gain. Are there other abortive meds that work better? Idk what else to do. I have intermittent leave to use at work as needed but I always worry I use it too much. I know it's job protected but I still feel awful for not being able to do better. I'm not sure what I'm looking for here. Mostly venting I guess, and maybe to see that I'm not alone?

Like the title says. I’ve been on metformin 500mg for 3 weeks and the GI side effects were pretty bad at first but are pretty much gone now. Last night, I got my period and I hadn’t had one since December. Obviously I can’t be 100% it was the metformin but I’m also feeling better. More energy, less hunger, less carb/sweet cravings, better mood and mental focus. I really think metformin can help and I’m pretty pleased so far.

Hi!
Context: I am 29F and was diagnosed with OCPD traits and OCD like a year and a half ago.
I began treatment with Escitalopram in January 2023 (started at 5mg and reached 20mg), however, my doctor switched me to 100mg Fluvoxamine in October of 2023.
Since starting Luvox I have been much more tired and sleepy than before and it does not go away. Like I will take naps and wake up disoriented, am falling asleep at the office, can’t get much done during weekends because I always feel sleepy. I do sleep well at night, and while I have occasional insomnia I know how it feels in my body when my fatigue is due to lack of sleep and this is not it.
Additionally, I have felt much sweatier and just hot in general since I started. I live in a hot city but I feel like I get these very stubborn hot spells when the weather is over 30C/86F, which is pretty often these days.
Has anyone else felt something similar? Everywhere I look this shows up in the same lists as uncommon and much more severe effects.
I want to talk to my doctor about switching back to escitalopram due to several reasons, but it would be helpful to know if other people have had this experience.
Thanks!!

sorry if this is terrible i’m so sleep deprived !!
TLDR: my friends tinder date turned boyfriend has not left her place for over a week (since they met) except for work, not left her side including to shower, and they’ve been high together the whole time and her roommate and i are getting concerned because this guy is essentially a stranger.
i need a fresh perspective on this situation because i’ve only talked about this with my friend and her roommate, who i’m also very close with. her roommate and i tend to spiral when we talk about stressful things because he gets delusions and i’m chronically paranoid, and we’ve talked this to death but im not over it.
so april 28th my friend got dumped by some guy she was dating for 8 months, it was incredibly out of the blue and harsh, and she was wrecked. she’s not someone who subscribes to hookup culture generally, and the last thing she was going to do was sleep around. between april 28 and may 5 she’s been getting over him, classic breakup shit, and going clubbing a lot. i have a slutty week about once a year, around this time, so i’d been on tinder like a full time job throughout this week. she ends up hooking up with a guy she met at the club, entirely out of character, and that guy ghosts her. she’s not super mad, but again she’s not a fan of hookup culture, so her single life is not off to the best start. she keeps bugging me to swipe on my tinder, and she keeps seeing her type, so she decides to redownload tinder. there was this one guy that we both saw and i wasn’t into him but she was, but i can’t remember if she matched me with him when she was still using my tinder. there was also at some point a guy i was going to meet up with, but i had to block because he was way too intense, and was scaring me, im not sure if it’s that same guy or not because i never screenshotted anything from his account because i was talking to him while i was driving (busy gal that week yk?). anyway, she gets tinder and matches with the guy who i wasn’t into, and she decides to have him over that night. i crash on their couch a lot, and i get uncomfortable with men so i wasn’t super chill with this and neither was her roommate, but the guy comes over and spends the night. she had also told us that this guy was not interested in having sex right away, and neither was she, they were just meeting.
i go home the next morning because i have work and school, and just life stuff, and her roommate is texting me funny anecdotes about her “hookup”. we’re both kinda confused because this is out of character for her, they weren’t initially going to hookup, and it just didn’t make sense. at some point i actually meet the guy, and he’s fine, a pretty charming person and fairly nice but something about him is throwing me. i shrug it off because he’s got to go home at some point, and that’s when i can ask her about it. a few days pass, and they’ve both called into work sick a couple times, and have not really left the apartment, and definitely had not had time apart. i talk to her roommate about this, and we’re both a little concerned, but assured that it can’t go on for that much longer because he has a decent level of responsibility at his job and she is pretty intense about her school and work. the next day, they’re officially dating. i’m shocked, her roommate is shocked, and our concern is getting higher. but she does have a tendency to get into relationships quickly, especially after having sex with the person, so we weakly chalk it up to her respecting her values and him being a pretty sweet guy. by this point we’ve noticed this guy is really clingy and intense, doesn’t share tons of values with our friend, and i’m generally getting skeeved out by him. her roommates sister wanted to go clubbing for her birthday, and it would’ve been her first time going out like that, so she only wanted trusted people to join. so our friend let the guy know that he couldn’t join us, and that she would go to his place after. i end up not being able to go because of work, so they go, and within the hour the guy is at the club. it’s unclear if she invited him or if he invited himself, but that was not part of the plan. they ended up leaving shortly after because the roommates bf got a bloody nose and the bouncers thought he was on something, and he got himself kicked out.
the next day, there was a protest going on near their place because they live on a campus, and i was going to head over to study with the roommate, which is something we do a lot. the protest gets intense, and we end up wanting to go, but while i’m driving over her roommate texts me that he’s heading over there because he saw something going down and was bringing a first aid kit and water. i called our friend at this point, because i was worried about her roommate, and she was still at this guys house. the protest was also something she felt passionately about, and in combination with mine and her concern about her roommate she wanted to show up and help out as well. her boyfriend convinced her not to, and tried to get me to tell her to stay with him as well, and he was generally being weird about her leaving without him. that set off alarms in my brain but i saved it for later because of the kind of pressing situation. it all goes fine and we make it back to their place safely, and work on our schoolwork. our friend comes home the next day, and her boyfriend had gone to work. she had classes and then work, so we didn’t see much of her.
i stayed over for that day and ended up sleeping over again because thats kind of just normal for us, but when she comes home from work her boyfriend is with her. he picked her up from work. at this point me and her roommate have been talking about this, and shared our concerns with each other, and were planning to talk to her about it when she got home. that plan was out the window. her roommate is also getting very fed up with an essential stranger being in their space for the amount of time he has, and it’s creating a lot of tension. i leave early again, as i’m uncomfortable with men generally. the next time i head over is a couple days later, and he is still there. at the very least they’re both going to work and my friend is going to her classes, but all of her free time he is around for.
at this point, my friend is also getting exhausted with being around him all of the time, and they’re trying to work out when to spend some time apart. then she tells us that at the end of the month she’s going to a different province with him for a 10 day trip. at this point they’ve only known each other for a week, so we make up a bad excuse to drag her outside and talk. she basically implies we’re being too weird about her going on this trip and to leave it, but then agrees to a couple safety measures, including an itinerary. at this time, her roommate had also seen our friends boyfriend acting stranger when i’m there, being skittish about me coming over, and generally showing discomfort around me. i’m a pretty blunt person, and i have a horribly dry sense of humour so people can misconstrue things i say really easily, but i’ve been generally nice to him.
so we’re all sitting down, i’m writing down the itinerary as they’re taking it through, and then i type up a very generously flexible schedule so that we know where they are just in case. by now, there has also not been a day where they haven’t smoked a joint together every hour. so they both (presumably) have been high since the 6th. he says to add him on snapchat so we can make a group chat to coordinate everything, and make sure we’re all on the same page. when i go to add him, it said that i had previously blocked him.
i get an awful feeling about this guy now, and it’s overwhelming, because i only block people for very specific reasons, everyone else i just unadd. i have no way of figuring out how exactly i know him, because even on the downloadable data files from snapchat our previous conversations are not available because i had blocked him. me and her roommate to outside to talk, and her bf is getting increasingly clingy. we decide we have to talk to her, and have him go home for at least a day or two the next morning, because it was already around 1am. he didn’t want her to join us outside either, which i think is strange. her boyfriend ended up ~getting a call~ that is uncle is dying, on the same night he was meant to go home and chill away from our friend for a while. he ends up staying because she’s worried he may hurt himself (unclear if he directly said this or not)
now, me and her roommate have been poring over the events of the last week and a half, and get ourselves worked up and paranoid as fuck. i think i am justified in being concerned, but every time our friend talks about how tired she is, or how much she wants her own space for a bit, she brushes it off saying that he’s a nice guy. although she has agreed to “kick him out” tomorrow morning.
i feel like he is so clearly far too clingy and possessive, and it feels reminiscent of a uhauling situation i was in a year ago. they’ve been high the entire time they’ve known each other (it’s mostly him providing and suggesting), neither of them has showered alone, and he doesn’t exactly look his age. i’m questioning my fear because the only other person i’ve spoken to about this overthinks just as much if not more than i do, and we both don’t want to wreck something that is going “well” for her. we’re waiting to see if the guy actually goes home today, i have a feeling he won’t. we’re mostly worried about the event of him possibly not taking it well, because we don’t know this man.
TLDR: my friends tinder date turned boyfriend has not left her place for over a week (since they met) except for work, not left her side including to shower, and they’ve been high together the whole time and her roommate and i are getting concerned because this guy is essentially a stranger.

This is becoming more and more frustrating! I'm normally pretty free during the day to talk, because I'm self employed and set my own deadlines and hours. But every once and a while I just need to focus on my work and not talk to anyone. I have a friend that will blow up my phone about "how I secretly hate him" and "he's going to go cry because he has no one to entertain him now". It's over Snapchat so if I look what he's texting me, he can see I've read it. With everyone else, I can read what they've said, not respond for a while, and once I have a minute get back to them without any issues.
I know he's joking and he's said that, but it doesn't stop! I've asked him to knock it off because him blowing up my phone when I've told him I won't be able to answer him for a few hours is very rude and frustrating. This is definitely a me problem and I admit it, if I have a notification on my phone, I have to check it or I get anxious. I also have a lot of family issues going on right now and need to have my phone by me in case something happens.
But every time! Every time I say "hey, I need to get stuff done. I'll text you when I can" it's non-stop! 5, 6, 7 notifications from him about how much I hate him. If I open them, 10 or more rapid fire! "Why are you ignoring me lol!" "You're clearly just avoiding me! Tehehe". I've sent him videos of me working and asking him again and again to just let me work and he's causing me anxiety and breaking my focus and therefore making it take longer for me to be done and talk to him again.
And it's always "I'm just joking!" "Jeez, take a joke!" "See, you clearly hate me because you can't even take a joke!"
I have to mute everyone because if I see even one notification I can't focus anymore and it's all I can think about. When my family stuff wasn't going on, I'd just put my phone on the other side of the room and work no issues and he could just blow up my phone and I wouldn't care. UGH! If someone is telling you to stop joking like that and that they need to work, LEAVE THEM ALONE! Unless it's an emergency or something they can look at and just get back to you later about!

Hi everyone! I’m hoping some of you might be able to share with me your personal experience with Wegovy dosing, the information from my doctors has been mixed. I’ve been on Wegovy since March 14th and I’m currently on .5. My primary doctor who took over my rx in April said he automatically keeps increasing the dose for patients every 4 weeks until max dose is reached. I had heard that this can increase risks/side effects so I asked to stay on this dose until i no longer feel like my appetite is being suppressed.
Have any of you stayed at a lower dose instead of moving up?? I’ve only lost 16 lbs since March 14th and I have been stuck between 164-168lbs for 3 weeks now. My calorie and protein consumption has not changed, I eat 1000 calories and 80g protein daily, so I think this might just be a plateau and unrelated to staying at .5. I’m curious if any of you stayed at a lower dose for longer or kept increasing every month? What did you notice/what were the side effects? Thanks in advance!!
I’m a female, 5’3”. SW: 180 CW: 164 GW: 130

After cleaning my PC recently it wouldn't start back up and I noticed one of the screws came off a heat sink on the motherboard. Now one side is sticking up in the air a bit, I assume that's what's causing the problem. I can't find the screw, I think it went inside the case. I'm new to all this and I'm scared to mess this up.
Do I have to use a specific screw to replace this one?
Do I have to take things apart or can I re-screw it if I can access the hole clearly?
Do you think this would cause the computer not to boot up?

Part 72 Gene mods (Part 1) (Part 71)
[Support me on Ko-fi so I can get some character commissions done and totally not buy more Gundams]
“Alright, calm down. It's really not that serious.” Though the holographic representation of War Chief Neshkaname, complete with ocean blue eyes and linear facial tattoos on his tan face, looked quite noticeably tired, his overall demeanor seemed fairly positive. “I just got out of a meeting with representatives from the different protesting groups and all of them agree with the general idea of what we're trying to do with our united defense fleet. There's just quite a bit of disagreement about how our Confederacy should approach the questions related to Earth, Mars, and everyone in Sol.”
“What kind of questions are we talking about here?” General Robert Andrews, the now former General of the US Army, was the first to speak up amongst the crowd of military leaders. “Nothing about invading Earth, I hope.”
“Well…” Though Rob was only half serious about his comment concerning Earth, the way the commanding officer of the Nishnabe Militia’s Blue Fleet began his response put a genuinely concerned expression on a few faces from Sol. “It's only a small percent of our population who are calling for war to reclaim land. A few million people at most, none of whom hold any positions of leadership in our military. Luckily, there are far more people calling for boycotts, embargoes, or blockades as opposed to anything direct.”
“War Chief, to many governments on Earth, an embargo, and especially a blockade, would be considered akin to a direct declaration of war.” General Renee Descartes, the former Chief of Defense Staff of France and Second in Command of the European Union's Unified Military, despite the dark bags under her eyes implying she hadn't gotten anywhere near enough sleep before this meeting, retained her rather elegant poise when adding that bit of necessary context. “You see, the economy of Earth is highly reliant on importing raw materials from space. With the climate being as delicate as it is, no one is willing to risk the kinds of planetside resource harvesting necessary to keep the thirteen billion people in the Earth’s Sphere of Influence employed, fed, and happy. More importantly, we are starting to run out of easily accessible mineral deposits in space.”
“Yes, the lunar mines and the near-Earth asteroid colonies still under UN-E control simply aren't producing nearly enough material to meet growing demand.” Admiral Nathaniel Adeoye, who had also given up his position as the Chief of Astral Naval Staff of the African Federation, chimed in with a clearly worried tone in his deep voice. “While I can understand the rage some of your people must feel, especially towards Americans, the many different people of Africa were in no way responsible for the colonization of America. In fact, we were subject to colonialism ourselves.”
“At least y'all still got yahr homelands!” Commandant General Daniel Chasinghorse, the former Commander of the entirety of MarsGov's Void-Marine Corps, didn't mean for his statement directed at Adeoye to sound as vitriolic as it did. However, the idea of him, his Lakota people, and all the displaced Native American Nations who were now mostly living in space or on Mars potentially being included in the Nishnabe’s reasonably negative reaction towards the people of Earth had put him on edge. “Sorry for snappin’ at yah like that, Nate. But the people livin’ on Mars ain't nothin’ done to deserve bein’ restricted by an embargo or blockade. We need all the extra-Solar tech we can get if we're gonna keep our population's health from declining even further. And I’m sure the African Lunar colonies could really use that medical and gravity tech too!”
“Nothing's been decided yet, and most people on Shkegpewen want peace, we just haven't reached a consensus on how that peace will look.” War Chief Msko Pkwenech, the commander of the Nishnabe Militia’s Red Fleet, interjected while making an open gesture with his hands to try to pat down the tension building up in this meeting room. “And if helps at all, we did take quite a few public votes concerning technology sharing for things we consider essential. But Maser probably has quicker access to the results than I would.”
“About ninety percent of respondents voted to immediately authorize and start sending out medical and gravity tech, including a production ship to come out and make things in-system, which is well above the seventy-five percent consensus needed to move forward.” As soon as the Light-born AI holographically representing their consciousness as an androgynous human began to speak in an incredibly soothing tone, the stress levels in the room began to fall. “There are currently a few councils debating the finer details and arranging logistics of what will be sent. However, the specifics of who gets what and when they get it will be negotiated between the respective governments in Sol and the Nishnabe Intergovernmental Council. Our job as the United Human Defense Fleet is not to interfere with diplomacy between nations, just to ensure that diplomacy is handled in a reasonable and non-threatening manner. Now, with that said, the vote to provide essential assistance was just one if a few taken over the last couple weeks. And while that poll was overwhelming and definitive, the ones concerning visas, immigration, galactic trade, and interspecies relations all fell below the consensus threshold for the Confederacy to adopt an official policy. When we say embargoes and blockades, we are purely referring to trade interactions between species, not between humanity and your economic exclusive zone. Once the relevant councils develop updated options for people to vote on, the next vote will be held.”
“An’ how long's all that gonna take?” Commandant Admiral Carol Nez, as the former head of MarsGov’s Astral Intelligence Collective and Councilmember in the Navajo Nation of Mars, was keenly aware of both the pressing urge of many on the red planet to live on a world with a breathable atmosphere and how just long it often took to for Native Nations to build a consensus. “Everaday we got at least a thousand babies born in Martian maternity stations an’ at least thirty percent ‘ave some kinda health issues. The sooner we get y'all's medical tech, the more kids that're gonna grow up to be happy an’ healthy!”
“We are well aware of the negative health implications of trying to raise children in low-gravity.” Msko already had his tablet out and was in the process of sending over the relevant information to his counterparts from Earth and Mars. “Our genetic modification technologies require individualized sequencing but they can be applied before or after birth to correct any serious issues. They can even be used well into adulthood. I got my eye color changed when I became an adult, so we can help anyone who hasn’t already gotten cybernetic replacements for affected body parts. All of our ships still in Sol are actively trying to produce as much of the base materials as they can and are working with doctors from your stations to get everything deployed as quickly as possible.”
“Why don’cha just teach our docs how to do it?” As soon as Carol got the question out, Msko and Nesh shot each other cautious glances before they both looked towards Maser.
“Well, Commandant Admiral Nez…” As soon as the hologram of the AI began to speak, it was clear their words were directed at everyone present from Sol. “To be completely blunt with all of you, we have reason to believe that the moment people from either Mars or Earth got full access to the genetic manipulation technology the Nishnabe utilize, someone would begin conducting experiments to turn humans into living weapons even more dangerous than the cybernetic ones you already produce. The cybernetics sported by many of your civilians would be legally considered military-grade combat modifications, and individuals with those cybernetics would be barred from entering many GCC standard space stations. We know there are doctors within both UN-E and MarsGov already working on projects to modify your species genome to produce what you call super soldiers, which something which is generally highly illegal under GCC laws. In fact, the genetic manipulation done to Sarah and Johnathan McAfree would likely be considered combat adjacent modifications according to GCC standards, and they would also be subject to various limitations due to their enhanced physiology.”
“Hey, now! Spooky an’ ‘er brother ain’t that scary!” Though he had been spending most of this meeting quietly sitting in his corner of the round table and trying to stay out of things he considered to be beyond his expertise, Professor Mikhail T. River felt compelled to say something now that his ex and her brother had been brought up. “Sure, she can bench press me. An’ Johnny can pick up the stove to sweep under it. But that ain't the gnarliest I ever seen! I mean, jus’ look at Comandante Harrison over here!”
/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While the members of the United Human Defense Fleet Council were in their meeting and discussing the rumors of Nishnabe protests Sarah had also caught wind of, that was far above her paygrade. Despite a tinge of concern fluttering away in the back of the unusually tall and rather athletically built Scotswoman’s mind, she wasn't worried about the things she had no control over. At the moment, she, her rather short and somewhat pudgy mother, and her colossal but cognitively limited brother were relaxing in the stables of the opulent nature area aboard UHDF DS-1 and spending time with the unicorn-like kaehi'xito that Mik had gifted to them. Though the three gingers were each busy with different things most of the day, Donna and Johnny with their Nishnabemwin and remote job training courses while Sarah performed her role as an intelligence analyst, the small family from Glasgow truly cherished this time they got to spend together. And the fact they were bonding with the closest living creatures in the galaxy to unicorns only made this even better for all of them.
“Hey Sarah! There you are!” As soon as Miakorva's voice called out from the entrance to the stable building, Sarah, her family, and the three unicorn-like creatures turned to see the Qui’ztar approaching them with familiar canine at her side. “And look who I found wandering around the ship! Did you know that Mikhail lets her walk around unsupervised?”
“Hiya Mia!” Being the closest to the entrance, Johnny was the first to greet the lanky and seemingly muscular blue woman before he crouched down low and extended a hand towards the Cane Corso. “An’ Micky lets her roam cuz she's a good girlie. Isn't tha’ righ’, Terry?”
“Terry Good dog!” Terry’s soft but deep whine was translated by her collar while she approached the man with her tail vigorously wagging.
“Terry's a trained station guard dog, Mia.” Sarah added while shooting the Qui’ztar intelligence officer a cheeky wink and coy smile. “It's ‘er job to wander a station, ‘r in this case a ship, an’ be on the lookout for trouble. An’ now that she can talk, she's a perfect workin’ animal. But wha’s up? Were yah lookin’ for me?”
“Oh, yes. Yes, I was. But… uh…” Mia paused for a moment as she watched the massive beast of a dog place her paws on Johnny's shoulders and begin licking the man's face as if he had smothered some kind of invisible but quite tasty treat across his skin. “Isn’t there a concern that Terry may… Well… Hurt someone? Her species are non-sapient apex predators with strong hunting instincts, correct?”
“Tha's why she and most other workin’ dogs ‘re so well trained, love.” Donna replied with a giggle, the adorable display of affection between her son and Mik's dog forcing a massive smile across her freckled and slightly wrinkled face. “There's always a bit o’ risk with dogs, especially the biggins like Terry ‘ere. But if these unicorns aren't freakin’ out cuz o’ ‘er, then we don’ gotta be worried.”
“Kaehi'xito didn’t evolve with canine predators, so they likely don't even recognize her as a potential threat.” As Mia watched the beast of a dog lean more of her weight on to Johnny, she half expected the large and well-built man to fall over from the force. However, much to her surprise, the man stopped his energetic scratching on Terry's sides, wrapped his arms around her waist, and effortlessly lifted the gargantuan animal into the air, all the while it continued to lick his face. “But seeing you carry that creature like a baby would be enough to make almost anyone with caniphobia be cautiously curious about these creatures. And they must not be as heavy as they look if you can pick one up so easily.”
“Oh, Terry’s a thickin! At least fifteen stone!” In a motion that seemed in utter opposition to Johnny's comment, the man half-tossed the Cane Corso into the air so that he could reposition his hands to cradle the massive canine as if she were a literal baby. “But she's still a good lil pupper, ain't yah, Terry?”
“Terry, good baby!” Though Terry hadn't started flailing or showing any obvious signs of discomfort, she suddenly turned her head towards Sarah with a longing look in her golden eyes. “Pack-mother cuddle?”
“Yeah, sure, yah big ol’ lunk.”
Though Mia could believe a man as impressively large as Johnny may not have much difficulty in lifting a hundred kilo canine, she was completely flabbergasted by Sarah's ability to simply pull Terry from Johnny's grasp and continue to hold the animal up without even the slightest indication of strain. Not only had she just gotten confirmation that this creature was just as heavy as she thought, Miakorva was now being faced with the fact that the woman she had been cuddling with a night for quite some time was significantly stronger than she had realized. According to all the interspecies education she had received, which may have been slightly biased by the Qui’ztar professor teaching the courses, her own species had the highest ratio of strength to body mass of any Ascended species. And while she was aware that this woman she had formed a relationship with weighed about the same as she did despite being several centimeters shorter, Mia had yet to witness Sarah's capabilities demonstrated in such a casual manner.
“By the Matriarch, Sarah!” The lanky blue woman couldn't help herself as her bioluminescent freckles lit up at the shocking display of strength. “How are you that strong?!?”
“Gene mods.” Though Sarah didn't hesitate in her answer, she did wince slightly as she did so. “Me muscles’re almost twice as dense as the average human's. Tha's actually somethin’ I had to talk to Maser an’ NAN abou’ the other day. ‘Parently tha’ ain't a thing most species do for some reason. Bu’ I'm pre’y sure we talked abou’ tha’ already.”
“You did mention it but… Well… I didn't realize your people's genetic engineering was that sophisticated. But I guess that does confirm a couple of the rumors I've heard that I was going to ask you about.”
“Wha’ rumors?” Donna blurted out with a bit too defensive of a tone as her eyes fell upon her son who had gone back to brushing his vaguely moose-like unicorn. “An’ who's spreadin’ ‘em?”
“Well…” Mia hesitated for a moment, causing the two Scotswomen to shoot her suspicious looks. “I was assisting with the logistical planning with the Nishnabe in charge of the distribution of medicine to people on Earth and Mars, most of which involved genetic modification serums. And when I asked why there was no plan, or even consideration, of passing on the technology so it could be locally produced, the people I was working with told me there were rumors of… Well… My people would call it Qui'kijarto niko'txo, which would roughly translate to an enhanced soldier project.”
“Yahr people tried to make super soldiers, too?” Sarah asked with a laugh that implied a sense of relief.
“No!” The instant denial caused Sarah to cease her laughter and forced a slight frown on her rather pale and freckled face. “As soon as my people began developing genetic engineering almost thirty thousand years ago, our government and scientific community came together to completely outlaw any attempts to enhance our form in a way that would make us even deadlier in combat. Besides that, even after thirty thousand years of research, we have only recently mastered the ability to stabilize our genetics and guard against speciation due to diverse environmental conditions.”
“Yah really tryin to tell us yahr people never tried to improve themselves?” The older Scotswoman chimed in with a clearly doubtful expression. “No one ever tried to give their kids an advantage in life? Super soldiers experiments ain't the only thing we use gene modding for.”
“Well… No… I don’t believe we ever have.” Mia hadn't really put much thought into it, even when she and Sarah had talked about it before. But now she was starting to realize that an attempt to give a child an advantage in life by increasing their physical capabilities could directly translate to turning that child into an ideal soldier. “As far as I know, very few other species have engaged in that form of genetic modification. And the ones who have tried struggled to produce anything truly successful.”
“Gene mods ain't always successful, Mia.” Johnny didn't bother to look away from the unicorn he was brushing as he made the comment lest he see the sadness that suddenly appeared in his mother's eyes. “Bu’ I learned the other day tha’ Nishnabe gene tech is way better than wha’ we got on Earth. Maybe they'll ‘ave some stuff to teach us after they feel we're trustworthy enough to learn it.”

I’ve been a Yugioh player for most of Yugioh’s existence. However, I can’t deny that I’ve grown increasingly distant from the game. I stopped buying paper entirely and mostly just play Master Duel so I don’t feel like I’m putting money into something I’m not all that satisfied with.
Eventually I decided to see what’s on the other side of the fence. I was going to dedicate some time to learning Magic the Gathering (or MTG) to see what a popular alternative was. I think there’s a few lessons Yugioh could learn, I’m curious what everyone else thinks.
DISCLAIMER: I CONSIDER MYSELF A “CASUAL”. I HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES TO KNOW WHAT IS COMPETITIVE, BUT I WOULD NEVER TOP A TOURNAMENT IN MY LIFE.
First, MTG is WAY better at a new player level. The fact that I started with no experience and could easily figure the essential skeleton of the game within an hour is so refreshing. Yugioh is too complex to explain to newcomers. You will end up talking yourself in circles trying to explain that a trap card must be first set on your turn and not played for 1 turn… except we mostly ignore those and play the ones you can play straight from the hand which we call a “hand trap”… also monster cards can also be “hand traps” etc. We desperately need a comprehensive way to ease in new players.
Second, MTG has powerful blowout cards, equivalent cards to “hand traps”, and resistant type boss monsters just like us. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to dealing with this in Yugioh, but I didn’t at all feel frustrated seeing these. Mostly because there were clear indicators what could happen. If you don’t know, MTG cards are color coded based on play style. So if you see red you know burn or swarm effects are in your future, black means destruction effects, and blue means counter cards. Idk how Yugioh could implement this, but I think having ANY indication of a potential threat could go a long way to resolving player frustration with this issue.
Third, card text bloat. I tried to bury the lede on this one for as long as I could, mostly because it’s beating a dead horse. I don’t care if it’s cliche, it’s true. MTG cards are mercifully short in text. Sometimes even just a few words thanks to keywords (think how we now say “banish” instead of “remove from play”). Unfortunately I don’t think keywords can entirely fix our issue, only bandaid it. It would honestly take a reduction in our power ceiling by at least a decade just to get close. Which is impossible based on how our cards don’t rotate out of play.
Fourth, MTG actually supports multiple formats. MTG will release their version of structure decks for MULTIPLE formats. Not only that, but some are based on competitive lists actually played in tournaments. They will include multiple copies to full play sets of cards, and are intended to be usable out of the box. This is such an easy ball for Konami to hit out of the park. Release Time Wizard structure decks and give us annual competitive builds out of the box for standard. The buy 3 mix and match structure decks look so outdated next to MTG’s.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I hope everyone understands this is coming from a place of love. This is not a quitting Yugioh for MTG post. I LOVE YUGIOH. I want to get my friends and family into it. I want it to continue for a long time. My most enjoyable MTG match doesn’t hold a candle to my favorite Yugioh matches I’ve played over the years. Also I’m aware MTG also has their own issues, but that’s THEIR problem. WE have issues with OUR GAME and we should look to other sources to see how they handled it.

Like the post says I want to be a DM but I have some issues that may get in the way of things.

1. Am an introvert whose not super comfortable in socializing. I can do it don't get me wrong I just can't start a conversation on my own.
   
2. Am Autistic, I don't really know what that means exactly but I assume that would effect how I interact with people online. am on the high funcuntioning side of the spectrum though so I might still be fine.
   
3. Am Lazy, not a good reason I know but I often jump in and out of hobbies based on my interests. I worry I might learn too late that DMing isn't my cup of tea and end up disappointing people.
   
4. My household sometimes ends up in some drama that bums me out of playing a game. I've already had to quit a session with a group am in because of it. I don't have it happen too often but it does happen.
   
5. Am primarily a digital player of TTRPGs. I got Foundry VTT awhile back for my personal games with Ironsworn. the only physical books I got are four DnD 5E books. I do have Savage Worlds as a PDF though and that's the system I plan on running as it's the one am most similar with and I quite like it.
   

We have a team coming up who runs a pass first defense with a lot of trips to one side. We're an 8U league, so this is a bit of a change of pace to say the least. Our base defense is a 3-2 zone and I'm wondering if there are some good, simple adjustments that would be effective. I'm thinking either shifting everyone to the edge of their zone toward the trips side, or having my middle guy as a rover that can move around freely and ask the edge guys to cover each be responsible for half a field.

I was recently prescribed Cymbalta, after years of avoiding taking antidepressants due to weight gain, with the reasoning that it is less likely to cause this side effect than other antidepressants. Is this true? And is it possible if I start eating on a calorie deficit in a healthy way and continue with my physical activity that I can avoid/minimize this? will be put on 30mg for 3 days then increase to 60mg.

I had a pretty bad sprain back in December and thought I broke my ankle. Went to the ER who only x-rayed it. I had some bad nerve damage and couldn't walk for about 2.5 weeks. I saw my PCP after I could start walking again. She told me to give it 2-3 weeks and if it wasn't getting better she would refer me to Ortho. It did get better over time and just a slight pain that eventually wasnt even every day, some days worse than others. In late April though it felt like I was having more bad days then good again and I still wasn't able to walk at my regular pace without pain. The pain is on my out upper side of the foot all the way to the ankle. I finally made the call to get referred and had the appointment yesterday. Ortho did 10ish X-rays all came back clear. He then manipulated my foot and asked how many times I've injured it in the past. I only know of 2 times and he acted as if I was lying. He then he said "Well can you live with it?" I said " I can but the reason I'm here is I prefer not too." He then told me that my "ankle was real lose." and he couldn't do anything without an MRI. He then asked what I have done to manage the pain... Which has been wraps, braces, anti inflammatory but nothing changes the current pain level it's met a plateau and I haven't done anything for months. He then told me I could either just live with it or they would look at the MRI and go from there. I asked about PT and he told me all they would do is teach me how to not to resprain it and he didn't recommend it because it wouldn't do anything.
From what I've read surgery can take a long time to recover from. I would like to talk to someone else but not sure who that would be any advice would be appreciated.

Blood pressure at my doctor's office yesterday was 114/76.
It wasn't super high before, but it was creeping up and up and was sometimes borderline.
And it's funny because prior to starting ZB, my doctor had said, "For a 61-year-old obese woman, you're remarkably healthy."
And it's true. No diabetes or pre-diabetes, my cholesterol has sometimes been borderline, but I've never been on medication, I had a calcium scoring test (MRI) on my heart to detect blockages and my risk was rated as less than 5%. Meanwhile, my tall, thin husband has a much higher risk, is on Lipitor, and has flirted with diabetes in the past.
I suppose these markers could have worsened over time if I had continued to gain weight, and I am glad to be losing.
On a side note: for the last two weeks I took 5 mg compounded tirzepatide, didn't lose any weight, and didn't feel the same level of suppression or satiety, and had increased hunger and food noise. I didn't lose or gain any weight. It's not like it didn't work at all because I experienced some minor side effects that I associate with this medication and it's not like I had to hold myself back from a binge or white-knuckle it around certain kinds of foods. It was just different. I did notice that it was much easier to eat the amount of calories I am "supposed" to eat and even went over a tiny bit one day.
I was able to get a box of 5 mg Zepbound and I started back on it today and will be interested to see if anything changes.

So around 2 months ago I got diagnosed with ADHD and ive been taking methylphenidate ever since.
I am currently titrating in order to find the correct dosis and ive already run into some issues.
When I took concerta 18mg I felt like it did nothing to me at all. It was as if I haven't taken the medication.
I got upped up to 27mg and I feel like this does have a positive effect on my ADHD symptoms however it feels like it might be to weak. I feel like I have no side effects and a few positive effects, feeling more calm with a slightly better focus however I feel like it does not suppress all of my ADHD symptoms.
I tried 36mg concerta and this felt "perfect" in regards to my ability to focus and to through with my days. However after around 7 hours my blood pressure got to 157/100 with a pulse of 136.
I am a bit confused as to why this happened and suspect that 36mg might be too much but that 27mg is not enough. Ive been taking 2x 10mg short acting which is perfect.
So ive got the following questions
1) Could it be that Concerta is generally more "potent" on an empty stomach?
2) Could it be something else, like lets say anxiety or something? 3) Could it be 36mg is just to much and that 27mg is not enough?
4) Could it be because of caffeine from coffee?
I am currently on 27mg concerta which is "fine" but I feel like this is not "enough".
I have been thinking of combining 27mg concerta with 10mg quick acting but Ive been hesitant and am currently waiting for my next meeting with the psychiatrist