Hey everyone, I’m mainly doing this for myself as a journal but whoever wants to join along is more than welcome to me. I’m hoping this becomes a success story and for my quality of life to stop being haunted. YOU DONT HAVE TO READ ALL OF THIS
I’m a 22 year old female in the US. I currently don’t have a job as I have been let go yesterday due to my unsuspecting symptoms and lack of communication. I can’t keep up with the regular 9-5 jobs and it’s turning into a pattern of me burning myself out. I don’t have anybody to rely on other than myself and I can’t get afford health insurance at the moment.
Current Symptoms: - Extreme Fatigue/Exhaustion - SouCurdling/Spicy tummy feeling? - Nausea/Contractions (especially after physical activity and eating or drinking) - Bloating/Gas/Gurgling -Rancid Smelling Poop - Acne - Regurgitating oil/grease - Recurrent yeast - Brain Fog/Confusion - Urinary Incontinence - Body Rashes/Allergic Reactions -Sugar Cravings - Migraines - Cotten Mouth/Dehydration - Malabsorption/Continual Hunger - Thinning Hair - Weight Loss - Weak Pelvic Floor? Tight/Tense Muscles? - Food in Stools (Not often) - Drunkness Feeling After Carbs? - Acid Reflux - Depression/Anxiety - Weak Immune System
Food Sensitivities that have developed: - Dairy -Gluten - Soy - Gastric foods/spices/drinks (including onion and garlic) - Processed Foods - Broths - Sugar (Fruit and All) - Starch - Acid (Fruits/Vinegars) - Medications (NSAIDS/Anti-Acids)
Tried treatments that I can remember: -Xifaxin (2 weeks) - Ortho Molecular Ortho Spore (2-3 months worked wonders but relapsed) -Dietitian: Low Fodmap Diet (3 months didn’t help) - Reuteri - B12, VitD, other vitamin supplements - Physical Therapy - Fluconazole - Boric Acid -Laxatives (basically all) - Collagen Peptides - Plant Based Protein Powder - Yoga
Most of Background: So I have been dealing with different illnesses that is a repeated pattern since I was possibly 12 years old. I would frequently have nasty migraines, stomach bugs, food poisoning, and respiratory infections out of the blue. It gotten to the point of my family always saying “there’s always something wrong with you”, “you’re just exaggerating”.
When it came to 2017, I started gaining rashes as allergic reactions. It couldn’t be classified as hives even though it looked the part because it would sting like a bitch instead of itching. It would run through out my body whenever I ate every so often and that was only on of the reactions as I had a second of my skin swelling as if it was a mosquito bite but worse and when the swelling went down, it would leave scars behind.
I went to an allergist and nothing popped up on the regular tests, but something popped up on the chemical patch test. The name of the chemical was called Balsam of Peru, it’s mainly a preservative that is in your common foods/beverages, cleaning products, and aerosols. I continued to have random allergic reactions here and there as it wasn’t feasible to follow a diet that strict in a household like mine.
Then came the end of 2019, I was having trouble with my stomach and would randomly gag from November til Jan 2020. I would literally start throwing up even if I had nothing in my stomach. I went to doctors but they kept thinking I was pregnant and would say my vitals were fine therefore there’s nothing wrong. One day mid Jan, I had throw up for the last time but there was something different..I couldn’t get up. I lost all strength in my legs and half of my strength in my arms. I went to the hospital and they did X-rays and scans just to say there was nothing wrong and it might be a virus that hit my nervous system. The next day they boot me out with nothing. I had to learn how to walk all over again like a baby until I gained my strength with only the help of my family which took about a month. Throughout that time I was still feeling sick and gagging/throwing up.
This is the point when my mom decides to get a referral to a GI and they look through my records from the hospital to find out I was backed up with waste up to my ribs. They did a horrifying flush on me and prescribed me linzess. It was getting me to poop more frequently but I still was feeling pretty sick often, it was manageable though.
I get to college, it was a shit show, I start to get more symptoms, like brain fog and fatigue. I thought it was all in my head at this point and tried my best in school but had low performance when I was used to easy A’s. I began to have yeast infections every so often. I start getting into vaping, smoking weed, and the occasional drinking. The vaping became chronic and whenever I would drink I would have alcohol poisoning like symptoms that were uncontrollable to the point where a couple of times I ended up in the hospital to get my stomach to stop contracting. I stopped all drinking and started becoming a religious smoker to deal with my symptoms, school, work, and every other stress in my life. All it did was make my health plummet even faster.
I finally got diagnosed with SIBO at the end of 2021 and thought “finally something!”, the GI thought to cure it was to give more laxatives to get my bowels to move more frequently. Instead it would turn me into a balloon that was about to burst but could not push anything out. The GI gave up anf I decided to move on. At this point I had to take a break from school because I was so tired whenever I woke up in the morning that I either slept completely through my alarms or I couldn’t physically get up out of bed. I constantly was having stomach issues. My yeast infections started coming at least 2x a month. I had so bad urinary incontinence that I had to wear diapers. I was dealing with so much stress with family, working, trying to make ends meet, trying different doctors that never helped and telling me different things. I was dealing with a psychologically abusive bf. Nobody believed how bad I felt everyday. How hard it was for me to eat, think, overall function like a human being. My bf seen it everyday but refused to acknowledge that when he says he understood that his actions would always say otherwise. It all mentally broke me and I crashed hard.
This brings me to practically the present. I cut contact with the EX bf and parents. I’m low contact with the rest of my family. I quit vaping for good, but the damage is already done. I am now on Wellbutrin and trying to pick up the pieces that are shattered. It’s been 6 months but my symptoms are worsening instead of getting better. I can’t hold down a 9-5 job, my stomach can’t and won’t tolerate anything. I starve myself most days, drink water and electrolyte drinks whenever my stomach take it.
Everyday I feel weak, exhausted, brain fog so bad that I can’t count to 5, stomach hurt. The last thing that made me question my entire existence, Saturday night I was starving so I made rice thinking it was the safest thing. The next morning I felt so drunk that I couldn’t function, I was so dehydrated and in so much pain I went to urgent care. The doctor looked at me as if I was on drugs, refused iv, and told me my symptoms were caused by trauma, it’s all in my head. She refused a work note as well. I felt a tad bit better after some electrolytes from home and went to sleep for work. I slept through my alarms and woke up 2.5 hrs late (total 14 hrs). I couldn’t move my body, text manager. She called after the shift explaining that she isn’t letting me go because of my illness, bc I failed to tell her about the day prior so she could plan accordingly. She wants me to focus on my health, it would’ve been kind if I wasn’t already drowning in debt and couldn’t even afford rent.
The reason why I wrote everything I could is because 1. I believe a lot of this is relevant to each other regarding SIBO and Candida in some way 2. It will help me for my future
If you made it this far CONGRATS 🎉🎊 🥳 And thank you for the support!

Hey everyone, I’m mainly doing this for myself as a journal but whoever wants to join along is more than welcome to me. I’m hoping this becomes a success story and for my quality of life to stop being haunted. YOU DONT HAVE TO READ ALL OF THIS
I’m a 22 year old female in the US. I currently don’t have a job as I have been let go yesterday due to my unsuspecting symptoms and lack of communication. I can’t keep up with the regular 9-5 jobs and it’s turning into a pattern of me burning myself out. I don’t have anybody to rely on other than myself and I can’t get afford health insurance at the moment.
Current Symptoms: - Extreme Fatigue/Exhaustion - SouCurdling/Spicy tummy feeling? - Nausea/Contractions (especially after physical activity and eating or drinking) - Bloating/Gas/Gurgling -Rancid Smelling Poop - Acne - Regurgitating oil/grease - Recurrent yeast - Brain Fog/Confusion - Urinary Incontinence - Body Rashes/Allergic Reactions -Sugar Cravings - Migraines - Cotten Mouth/Dehydration - Malabsorption/Continual Hunger - Thinning Hair - Weight Loss - Weak Pelvic Floor? Tight/Tense Muscles? - Food in Stools (Not often) - Drunkness Feeling After Carbs? - Acid Reflux - Depression/Anxiety - Weak Immune System
Food Sensitivities that have developed: - Dairy -Gluten - Soy - Gastric foods/spices/drinks (including onion and garlic) - Processed Foods - Broths - Sugar (Fruit and All) - Starch - Acid (Fruits/Vinegars) - Medications (NSAIDS/Anti-Acids)
Tried treatments that I can remember: -Xifaxin (2 weeks) - Ortho Molecular Ortho Spore (2-3 months worked wonders but relapsed) -Dietitian: Low Fodmap Diet (3 months didn’t help) - Reuteri - B12, VitD, other vitamin supplements - Physical Therapy - Fluconazole - Boric Acid -Laxatives (basically all) - Collagen Peptides - Plant Based Protein Powder - Yoga
Most of Background: So I have been dealing with different illnesses that is a repeated pattern since I was possibly 12 years old. I would frequently have nasty migraines, stomach bugs, food poisoning, and respiratory infections out of the blue. It gotten to the point of my family always saying “there’s always something wrong with you”, “you’re just exaggerating”.
When it came to 2017, I started gaining rashes as allergic reactions. It couldn’t be classified as hives even though it looked the part because it would sting like a bitch instead of itching. It would run through out my body whenever I ate every so often and that was only on of the reactions as I had a second of my skin swelling as if it was a mosquito bite but worse and when the swelling went down, it would leave scars behind.
I went to an allergist and nothing popped up on the regular tests, but something popped up on the chemical patch test. The name of the chemical was called Balsam of Peru, it’s mainly a preservative that is in your common foods/beverages, cleaning products, and aerosols. I continued to have random allergic reactions here and there as it wasn’t feasible to follow a diet that strict in a household like mine.
Then came the end of 2019, I was having trouble with my stomach and would randomly gag from November til Jan 2020. I would literally start throwing up even if I had nothing in my stomach. I went to doctors but they kept thinking I was pregnant and would say my vitals were fine therefore there’s nothing wrong. One day mid Jan, I had throw up for the last time but there was something different..I couldn’t get up. I lost all strength in my legs and half of my strength in my arms. I went to the hospital and they did X-rays and scans just to say there was nothing wrong and it might be a virus that hit my nervous system. The next day they boot me out with nothing. I had to learn how to walk all over again like a baby until I gained my strength with only the help of my family which took about a month. Throughout that time I was still feeling sick and gagging/throwing up.
This is the point when my mom decides to get a referral to a GI and they look through my records from the hospital to find out I was backed up with waste up to my ribs. They did a horrifying flush on me and prescribed me linzess. It was getting me to poop more frequently but I still was feeling pretty sick often, it was manageable though.
I get to college, it was a shit show, I start to get more symptoms, like brain fog and fatigue. I thought it was all in my head at this point and tried my best in school but had low performance when I was used to easy A’s. I began to have yeast infections every so often. I start getting into vaping, smoking weed, and the occasional drinking. The vaping became chronic and whenever I would drink I would have alcohol poisoning like symptoms that were uncontrollable to the point where a couple of times I ended up in the hospital to get my stomach to stop contracting. I stopped all drinking and started becoming a religious smoker to deal with my symptoms, school, work, and every other stress in my life. All it did was make my health plummet even faster.
I finally got diagnosed with SIBO at the end of 2021 and thought “finally something!”, the GI thought to cure it was to give more laxatives to get my bowels to move more frequently. Instead it would turn me into a balloon that was about to burst but could not push anything out. The GI gave up anf I decided to move on. At this point I had to take a break from school because I was so tired whenever I woke up in the morning that I either slept completely through my alarms or I couldn’t physically get up out of bed. I constantly was having stomach issues. My yeast infections started coming at least 2x a month. I had so bad urinary incontinence that I had to wear diapers. I was dealing with so much stress with family, working, trying to make ends meet, trying different doctors that never helped and telling me different things. I was dealing with a psychologically abusive bf. Nobody believed how bad I felt everyday. How hard it was for me to eat, think, overall function like a human being. My bf seen it everyday but refused to acknowledge that when he says he understood that his actions would always say otherwise. It all mentally broke me and I crashed hard.
This brings me to practically the present. I cut contact with the EX bf and parents. I’m low contact with the rest of my family. I quit vaping for good, but the damage is already done. I am now on Wellbutrin and trying to pick up the pieces that are shattered. It’s been 6 months but my symptoms are worsening instead of getting better. I can’t hold down a 9-5 job, my stomach can’t and won’t tolerate anything. I starve myself most days, drink water and electrolyte drinks whenever my stomach take it.
Everyday I feel weak, exhausted, brain fog so bad that I can’t count to 5, stomach hurt. The last thing that made me question my entire existence, Saturday night I was starving so I made rice thinking it was the safest thing. The next morning I felt so drunk that I couldn’t function, I was so dehydrated and in so much pain I went to urgent care. The doctor looked at me as if I was on drugs, refused iv, and told me my symptoms were caused by trauma, it’s all in my head. She refused a work note as well. I felt a tad bit better after some electrolytes from home and went to sleep for work. I slept through my alarms and woke up 2.5 hrs late (total 14 hrs). I couldn’t move my body, text manager. She called after the shift explaining that she isn’t letting me go because of my illness, bc I failed to tell her about the day prior so she could plan accordingly. She wants me to focus on my health, it would’ve been kind if I wasn’t already drowning in debt and couldn’t even afford rent.
The reason why I wrote everything I could is because 1. I believe a lot of this is relevant to each other regarding SIBO and Candida in some way 2. It will help me for my future
If you made it this far CONGRATS 🎉🎊 🥳 And thank you for the support!

Been buying modafinil online for more than 9 years now. Throughout this time, I have interacted with many Modafinil vendors. While there were a few bad encounters, the bulk of my intersections were positive ones. If my experiences can benefit others, I am delighted to share them!
Through countless conversations with sellers, and occasional instances of getting cheated, I now possess something that I wish I had possessed in the past: a compiled list of trusted vendors.
Essentially, it is an invaluable compilation. If this proves helpful to you, kindly consider upvoting or sharing your own firsthand encounters in the comments section.

Best Vendors for Buying Modafinil Online Reddit

Below, you'll find my curated compilation of the top 15 Modafinil vendors on Reddit, based on personal experience:

1. Modafinia
2. BMO™
3. Sharkmood
4. Buymodafinilonline
5. HighStreetPharma
6. ModafinilXL
7. BuyModa
8. Skinorac
9. Kuikdose
10. BuyEtizolam
11. ModaPrime
12. ModafinilUSA
13. ModafinilUK
14. DaffyDog
15. Quickfinil.

1. Modafinia
In my viewpoint, this vendor stands out as one of the finest. With their extensive experience in the field, they have established themselves as a reputable entity and their pricing remains highly competitive.
Over the years, they have established a robust and consistent reputation. The only small concern pertains to the efficiency and promptness of their customer service, which tends to be extremely slow or unresponsive.
2. BMO™
BMO is a relatively new player in the market. I have been making purchases from them over the past few weeks, and the experience thus far has been exceptional.
They are the first online vendor to provide prices that are more affordable than Modafinia. Their customer service is exceptional, with incredibly swift responses.
It is truly commendable and I genuinely hope they continue to operate for a long time more.
3. Sharkmood
One of the few vendors with a rich and extensive legacy. Their long standing track record attests to their dependability, albeit at slightly elevated costs. It may be beneficial to consider paying a slightly higher amount for the added sense of reassurance.
4. Buymodafinilonline
When it comes to their marketing strategies, those involved in spamming are often referred to as "spam kings."
On Reddit, there is a significant amount of testimonials and mentions them, possibly indicating their involvement in persistent guerilla marketing initiatives.
I can envision the influx of emails from HighStreetPharma that will likely flood your inbox once your email address becomes known to them.
5. HighStreetPharma
HighStreetPharma (HSP) used to be widely recognized as the most renowned platform on the list, offering an extensive selection of products. HSP has been in operation for a long time.
The previous purchase I made from them did not reach its destination, and attempting to establish communication with customer support was almost impossible. In the end, they completely ghosted me.
6. ModafinilXL
In terms of marketing strategy, the vendor who has the widest reach is the one I've consistently found to be the most expensive.
As far as I can recall, ModafinilXL has been in operations for as long as BuyModa and HSP. Consequently, it may be worthwhile to consider paying a slightly higher price for the added assurance and peace of mind.
7. BuyModa
This is the origin of the bothersome Moda Mike. Additionally, as one of the early leaders in the Modafinil market, they have focused solely on offering Modafinil and Armodafinil items, along with a limited selection of medication for treating erectile dysfunction.
Based on my personal encounter, the package that was sent to me never reached its destination due to being held up by customs. No attempts were made to resend it.
8. Modadove
Modadove may have higher pricing compared to others, but for individuals who are willing to pay a little more for the assurance of genuine products, it could be a worthwhile choice.
It serves as a luxurious alternative for those who appreciate premium products and are willing to pay. Consider them as the premium option for purchasers who prioritize quality over cost.
9. Kuikdose
Kuikdose maintains a low-profile yet dependable reputation. They refrain from extensive advertising, and instead, have garnered favorable online reviews for their reliability.
They resemble the unassuming participant who demonstrates their value through dependable contributions.
10. BuyEtizolam
This particular platform places its emphasis on addressing anxiety and sleep-related concerns like Narcolepsy, whilst also providing options for Modafinil and Armodafinil.
Renowned for their exceptional service and product excellence, it is worth noting that their prices may be comparatively higher than most vendors. It is worth taking into consideration if you are already buying Etizolam from them.
11. ModaPrime
It is important not to be overly swayed by their seemingly affordable pricing, as there is an additional shipping charge of $35 USD.
Their website is simple and uncomplicated, providing a limited selection of Modafinil products without any extravagant features.
12. ModafnilUSA
Being the sister site to ModafinilXL, ModafinilUSA prioritizes swift delivery within the United States.
However, the allure of prompt shipping is somewhat diminished by their costly pricing strategy.
On the other hand, I am encountering enthusiastic reviews about them all over the place.
13. ModafinilUK
For fast delivery within the UK, ModafinilUK is the preferred choice, surpassing competitors such as ModafinilXL in terms of speed and timely deliveries.
Although their prices may lean towards the higher end, their true worth lies in the promptness and dependability of their service.
Ideal for individuals seeking expedited and reliable modafinil availability without any hassle.
14. DaffyDog
DaffyDog presents competitive pricing and appears particularly appealing for individuals seeking to purchase Modafinil in the UK.
Despite being a relatively new player in the market, they demonstrate prompt responsiveness to inquiries, ensuring swift and dependable shipping services.
If you desire consistent and reliable service in the UK, this is an excellent option to consider.
15. Quickfinil
Their primary focus is on efficiency and speed, hence the name. Their pricing is reasonable, establishing them as a reliable option for obtaining Modafinil expeditiously in the UK.
Ideal for individuals who require their order urgently and value prompt assistance from customer support.
16. Skinorac (Bonus)
Although not specifically classified as a Modafinil vendor, this online pharmacy nevertheless accommodates a diverse assortment of products. If you find yourself in need of potent skincare medication, you will know exactly where to turn.

Guidance for Individuals New to Modafinil

The legal status of Modafinil

Typically, the possession of Modafinil is not a cause for concern, unless an excessive quantity such as 10,000 pills is discovered, which may raise suspicions.
However, unless you are involved in the unauthorized sale of Modafinil, I am not aware of any legislation, in any country, that could lead to your arrest for simply possessing a small quantity of Modafinil pills.

Potential Adverse Reactions

While the chances are highly unlikely, individuals afflicted with an uncommon skin condition might possibly encounter the emergence of a rash resembling minuscule protrusions throughout their entire body.
In situations like this, where the condition can be greatly severe and distressing, it is crucial to promptly seek medical help.
Throughout the documented usage of Modafinil, a mere six individuals have encountered this particular skin condition, suggesting that it is not a significant cause for alarm.
Commonly encountered side effects encompass migraines, disruptions in sleep patterns, increased levels of anxiety, and possibly sensations of queasiness and gastrointestinal unease.
Apart from disruptions to my sleep patterns, I have personally not encountered any of the aforementioned symptoms.
Nevertheless, there have been instances when a mild headache ensued as a result of sleep deprivation.
Based on my personal observations, I have come to realize that I only experience headaches when I go without sleep for prolonged periods lasting up to four days.

Conclusion

In my view, the most arduous aspect of using this cognitive enhancer is the struggle to maintain a proper and consistent sleep schedule.
In order to minimize the extended duration of action of Modafinil or Armodafinil, which can extend beyond 8 - 12 hours, I make an effort to take them as early in the morning as possible.
By following this approach, I am able to maximize the advantages of Modafinil throughout the daytime, while ensuring restful and consistent sleep at night.
That concludes this post. I hope it was helpful to someone.
Please inform me if you are aware of any additional Modafinil suppliers that you believe should be included on the list or have been overlooked.
Let's build a great community and space together!
[Last revised on October 5th, 2024]

Some people still swear up and down that ivermectin is actually effective against COVID-19. This is false. They also insist ivermectin has far fewer side-effecs than the Coronavirus vaccine. This is also false. I'm going to prove it to you, but whether you are capable of accepting evidence such as listed below is something I obviously have no control over. I can try, and you can keep an open mind.
First of all, ivermectin has many side-effects, ranging from innocuous to severe.^[1]
To wit:

General

Ivermectin is well tolerated compared to other microfilaricidal agents (i.e., thiabendazole, diethylcarbamazine). Adverse reactions (i.e., pruritus, fever, rash, myalgia, headache) occur commonly during the first 3 days after treatment and appear to be related to the extent of parasitic infection and systemic mobilization and killing of microfilariae. The majority of reactions can usually be treated with aspirin, acetaminophen and/or antihistamines. Adverse effects tend to occur with lesser frequency during periods of retreatment.

Ocular

Ocular side effects have included eyelid edema, anterior uveitis, blurred vision, conjunctivitis, limbitis, punctate opacity, keratitis, abnormal sensation in the eyes, and chorioretinitis/choroiditis; however, these effects are also associated with the disease onchocerciasis. Loss of vision has occurred rarely but usually resolved without corticosteroid treatment. Conjunctival hemorrhage has been reported during postmarketing experience in patients treated for onchocerciasis.

Other

Worsening of Mazzotti reactions, including arthralgia, synovitis, lymph node enlargement and tenderness, pruritus, skin involvement (including edema, papular and pustular or frank urticarial rash), and fever, has been reported during the first 4 days following treatment for onchocerciasis.

Nervous system

Nervous system side effects have included dizziness, headache, somnolence, vertigo, and tremor. Serious or fatal encephalopathy has been reported rarely in patients with onchocerciases, and heavily infected with Loa loa, either spontaneously or after treatment with ivermectin. Seizures have been reported during postmarketing experience.

Gastrointestinal

Gastrointestinal side effects have included anorexia, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal distention.

Other

Other side effects have included asthenia, fatigue, abdominal pain, chest discomfort, facial edema, and peripheral edema.

Hematologic

Hematologic side effects have included decreased leukocyte count (3%), eosinophilia (3%), and increased hemoglobin (1%). Hematomatous swellings associated with prolonged prothrombin times have been reported, but the clinical significance is unknown. Leukopenia and anemia have been reported in at least one patient.

Hepatic

Hepatic side effects have included elevated ALT and/or AST. Elevated liver enzymes, elevated bilirubin, and hepatitis have been reported during postmarketing experience.

Cardiovascular

Cardiovascular side effects have included tachycardia and orthostatic hypotension. EKG changes, including prolonged PR interval, flattened T waves and peaked T waves, have been reported in single cases. Hypotension (primarily orthostatic hypotension) has been reported during postmarketing experience.

Dermatologic

Dermatologic side effects have included pruritus, rash, and urticaria. Toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome have been reported during postmarketing experience.

Respiratory

Respiratory side effects have included worsening bronchial asthma, laryngeal edema, and dyspnea.

Musculoskeletal

Musculoskeletal side effects have included myalgia.

Renal

Renal side effects have included rare transient proteinuria.
I tried to get incidence rates for these side-effects, but in some if not most instances, the answer given for these side-effects is either simply "unknown" or they're just not shown. Imagine telling this to anti-vaxers: if they have at least a consistent set of beliefs, this should deeply alarm them, shouldn't it?
Some people actually did take the horse dewormer version out of sheer desperation and got really sick, were hospitalized or worse: they died.

1. In New Mexico, two people died after taking a deworming drug for horses and other livestock to treat COVID-19.^[2]
2. The FDA received multiple reports of patients who required medical support and hospitalization after self-medicating with Ivermectin intended for horses.^[3]
3. There was a significant increase in calls to poison control centers due to misuse of Ivermectin. Texas saw a 550% spike in poison control calls due to people ingesting horse and cow dewormer.^[4]
4. People poisoned themselves with the horse-deworming version to thwart COVID-19, resulting in an uptick in calls to poison control centers.^[5]

Ivermectin was consistently found to be ineffective in treating COVID-19:

1. A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Virology Journal evaluated the efficacy of Ivermectin for COVID-19 patients based on current peer-reviewed RCTs. The study concluded that Ivermectin did not have any significant effect on outcomes of COVID-19 patients.^[6]
2. A Cochrane meta-analysis of 11 eligible trials examining the efficacy of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 published through April 2022 concluded that Ivermectin has no beneficial effect for people with COVID-19.^[7]
3. An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) concluded that taking 400 mcg/kg Ivermectin for three days, when compared with a placebo, did not significantly improve the chances for a patient with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 to avoid hospitalization.^[8]
4. A study published on News Medical concluded that in COVID-19 outpatients with mild or moderate illness, Ivermectin use for three days at a dose of 400 μg/kg showed no significant improvement in the time to sustained recovery compared to those who received placebos.^[9]

The unwarranted hype surrounding ivermectin can be traced back to its promotion on the Joe Rogan Experience.^[10]

Public interest in ivermectin ballooned following Joe Rogan’s podcasts. “On a national level Rogan’s podcast was a tipping point,” said Keenan Chen, an investigative researcher with First Draft News, an organization that tracks misinformation. (Rogan, who has previously expressed hesitancy to vaccines, announced in September he had contracted Covid-19. He claimed to be taking ivermectin among several other treatments.)

Joe Rogan took a cocktail of Big Pharma^tm meds which, with the exception of monoclonal antibodies, were not indicated for his situation. In fact, some of the medication he took could have made things worse.^[11] Rogan probably didn't get seriously ill because he's fit and without significant comorbidities. The one thing that would have actually been the most effective was the vaccine, which he refused to take.
Many others weren't as lucky as Joe was. I suggest you follow the footnotes and see for yourself. Especially the first one.^[12][13]
Other than ivermectin, coronavirus vaccines are also a subject both Joe Rogan and his guests have shamelessly lied about numerous times, which could have caused medical harm to people who bought into it, and probably did. The most prominent guest which comes to mind is RFK Jr.
RFK Jr.'s influence is so odious, I am comfortable saying he probably contributed to thousands of unnecessary deaths in total. One incident in which 83 people (mostly children) died is particularly disgusting:^[14]

In June 2019, Kennedy and his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, visited Samoa, a trip Kennedy later wrote was arranged by Edwin Tamasese, a Samoan local anti-vaccine influencer.
Vaccine rates had plummeted after two children died in 2018 from a measles vaccine that a nurse had incorrectly mixed with a muscle relaxant. The government suspended the vaccine program for months. By the time Kennedy arrived, health authorities were trying to get back on track.
He was treated as a distinguished guest, traveling in a government vehicle, meeting with the prime minister and, according to Kennedy, many health officials and the health minister.
He also met with anti-vaccine activists, including Tamasese and another well-known influencer, Taylor Winterstein, who posted a photograph of herself and Kennedy on her Instagram.
“The past few days have been profoundly monumental for me, my family and for this movement to date,” she wrote, adding hashtags including #investigatebeforeyouvaccinate.
A few months later, a measles epidemic broke out in Samoa, killing 83 people, mostly infants and children in a population of about 200,000.
Public health officials said at the time that anti-vaccine misinformation had made the nation vulnerable.
The crisis of low vaccination rates and skepticism created an environment that was “ripe for the picking for someone like RFK to come in and in assist with the promotion of those views,” said Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccinologist from New Zealand who worked on the effort to build back trust in the measles vaccine in Samoa.
Petousis-Harris recalled that local and regional anti-vaccine activists took their cues from Kennedy, whom she said “sits at the top of the food chain as a disinformation source.”
“They amplified the fear and mistrust, which resulted in the amplification of the epidemic and an increased number of children dying. Children were being brought for care too late,” she said.

The pandemic is over. Ivermectin wasn't effective. On the one hand we should move on, on the other hand, there should be some accountability for people who pushed this lie, especially those who benefited from it financially.^[10][15]
[1] Drugs.com - Ivermectin Side Effects
[2] USA Today - 'A serious issue': New Mexico health officials suspect two people dead from ivermectin poisoning
[3] Global News - FDA warns Americans to stop taking horse dewormer for COVID-19: ‘You are not a horse’ (Some anti-vaxers counter that the FDA lost a court battle about ivermectin, proving that it works - this is false)
[4] USA Today - Fact check: 590% jump in poison control calls about ivermectin seen in Texas
[5] Ars Technica - More people are poisoning themselves with horse-deworming drug to thwart COVID
[6] Virology Journal - Ivermectin under scrutiny: a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy and possible sources of controversies in COVID-19 patients
[7] JAMA Network - At a Higher Dose and Longer Duration, Ivermectin Still Not Effective Against COVID-19
[8] KU Medical Center - Ivermectin shown ineffective in treating COVID-19, according to multi-site study including KU Medical Center
[9] News Medical - Ivermectin is ineffective in non-severe COVID-19 patients according to new study
[10] The Guardian - Ivermectin frenzy: the advocates, anti-vaxxers and telehealth companies driving demand
[11] Doctor Mike - Here's Why Joe Rogan's COVID Treatment Is Problematic
[12] /JamiePullDatUp - "I made a terrible mistake" vs. "I'm still not a 100% sold on the inoculation" - videos of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in the hospital
[13] /HermanCainAward
[14] AP - RFK Jr. spent years stoking fear and mistrust of vaccines. These people were hurt by his work
[15] Time - ‘What Price Was My Father’s Life Worth?’ Right-Wing Doctors Are Still Peddling Dubious COVID Drugs

Throw away account, just in case. But this is a very unique situation so if the other party ever sees this, they’ll know it’s them…[for reference my ex and I are both in our early 20’s and this all takes place in Virginia] I (F) was with my ex (M, well call him Tom) for about 5 years, we were married for the last 2 years of it. We had a daughter together before we got married as well. We separated back in fall of 2023, my choice for many reasons including I was tired of parenting a 20 something year old, we lived in his family’s home and with years of manipulating I became totally isolated, I was a stay at home parent and had little to no access to finances, and by the end of it his anger issues got the best of him and he became violent and physically abusive towards me and our daughter. I left for our own safety and to gain back some of my independence again. I’ve posted that story on Reddit as well in more detail, on a separate account.
Toms current living situation involves him, he maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother (both in their 70’s), and first cousin (M, preteen aged, well call him George ). They all live in a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom and they’re all living their full time. Tom’s sister lives two doors down with her husband and four sons.
George’s parents have their own living situation, it’s his mom, his dad, his sister, and his brother, and they live in a motel room that is setup like a hotel room that would have two queen beds and maybe a small living area in the same room. They don’t keep George bc they don’t care to parent his ASD and have pushed the responsibility onto the grandparents, but not legal guardianship or anything like that, so that the parents can still benefit from him on tax returns or state benefits. George’s dad is a tier 3 sex offender that was convicted for taking indecent liberties with a minor, in the early 2000’s. Unfortunately George, his two siblings, along with Tom’s sisters kids, have all shown signs of learned sexual behaviors, or sexual abuse, or violent and destructive behaviors, but no one takes action bc their family doesn’t want to start drama.
Tom, and his entire maternal family have sexual or violent offenses or histories including the one above, 911 calls for violence within the family, all the way to murder committed by two of his immediate family members. To say the family is insanely unstable and unpredictable is an understatement. So now we’re at today…
Just over a week ago my daughter went to Toms overnight and when she came home she said George had touched her private areas, we have had a talk about how she should always tell me if anyone ever does xyz and she knows who her safe people are etc. I had a throughout conversation with her letting her lead anything that was said and I just asked her to elaborate on things. She knew exactly what she was wanting to tell me and she never strayed from her story or any details. She’s young, but she’s very smart and aware, I trust that she’s telling the truth. She also said her and George share a room, Tom has told me George sleeps on the living room cough whether my kid is there or not but she’s said this many times and has even said there’s 2 beds in her room. She says George also spanks her, yells at her, and hits her, but that her dad just tells him no and that it continues…
I talked to her more than once but after deciding for myself that she’s telling the truth and isn’t mixing her story up, I called CPS. I did also call Tom so he knew what she had said but he said our daughter was lying, it never happened, and showed no concern. I made the report with all the details above, the next day a family member of mine said I should also make a police report so I did. That turned into a second county CPS being sent the report and the police department opening their own investigation. Two days after that I was able to go to the court house and get a preliminary protective order, which was granted.
I have to go back to court this week for the hearing for the protective order. Today I called both CPS’s for updates and they both said they can’t investigate it because the abuse or neglect wasn’t done by the care giver directly, I don’t understand how that makes sense in this situation bc they possibly share a room and her father is ordered by our custody agreement not to leave her with anyone unless I personally agree to it. In the past his family has put my daughter in harms way and I don’t trust that they’re attentive enough to watch her and all the other small children there, especially due to the grandparents ages.
I am currently pursuing a show cause because he’s been late on child support and hasn’t paid the full amount, has left our daughter at home with family while he went to the strip club and got absolutely plastered, George’s dad is also ordered in our custody order to have no contact whatsoever with our daughter and has been at Tom’s house when she’s there. He also neglects to change her diapers before she rashes, doesn’t care to buy underwear despite her potty training currently, doesn’t bathe her properly or at all, doesn’t wash her clothes before returning her back to me. There’s more to that, but that’s the basics of it all.
So now my hands are tied, there’s two court orders. Our custody order, and a protective order. I don’t know which one I legally am meant to uphold to first. George lives at her dads house so she can’t go there without breaking the protective order, but if I refuse to give her to Tom, I may be at fault for breaking the custody order… I called the court to see if an emergency custody order was possible but they said not if I already have a custody order in place. What do I do? I’m still waiting on updates from the investigators and looking for more answers elsewhere, I feel like my hands are tied. She isn’t due to go back to Tom until the dry end of this month or early next month. What should I do?

i noticed as we flew through the sky, on our way to regroup with Lobelia's group, that in this dragon form drew in energy as i flew, maybe in a way to maintain the form, this was too new for me to know at this time. it didn't take long to reach the spot to regroup with Lobelia, but when we arrived, we didn't see anyone around the area. i decided to come in for a landing, since i figured we might have arrived a bit early and i didn't want to cause a panic in this form in case someone else came along. as i was landing, i suddenly felt a rumbling through the ground, questioning if this was a quake or something else. it didn't take long to get my answer since a mere moment later we saw a huge explosion off in the distance. i had an uneasy feeling about this, as i turned my head to look at Clint, Bruno, and Vince, whom all had the same feeling. with no words exchanged, i took back to the sky and headed in the direction of the explosion, hoping that this wouldn't be a repeat of my village. while we were still approaching the area, we saw a green light fired into the air roughly where we were heading. Clint yelled out to me, letting me know that was a distress flare the elf group used during their share travels following me to Dragonus. i started to pick up speed, as the group tighten their grips, to try to get to them sooner. when we arrived over head, we looked down on a field full of beasts, monsters, and demons. what once was an unknown future has finally come to a head and we had no other choice but to engage the enemies.
as we flew over the battlefield, i started to fire off different elemental dragon blasts to thin out the enemy groupings and help find where Lobelia's group was exactly located. they fired off another distress flare spell, allowing me to lock on to their location, at which time Clint's group heard me speak for the first time in this form. "do you trust me?", to which they each nodded, "then release your grip and follow me", to with they did. at this moment, i released the dragon form, sending us all into a free fall toward the ground. Vince started to cast every buff he could think of as we fell on the party, while Bruno, Clint, and i drew our weapons for battle. i focus energy into one of my hands and with a swing of my arm, i enveloped the group in wind barriers. just before we were about to make impact, i went into a drive-bomb stance, while charging as many elements as i could into my weapon. upon impact, my weapon blew apart, unleashing the elements and weapon fragments through the area, causing massive explosions, wiping out hundreds of enemies at once. Clint, Bruno, and Vince came in a mere moment later, causing shock waves around the area, sending enemies flying. i quickly pulled out two swords to duel-wield, has we started to fight our way through the hoards of enemies, making our way over to Lobelia's group. Clint's group went to fortify Lobelia's group, while i continued to thin the ranks in front of us, unleashing everything i learned during my training. Vince and a few of the elves cast various team buff abilities on me, as the others aided from behind, guessing worried that one of my new skills might catch them by accident. Lobelia took advantage of some strong winds approaching and caused the wind to form a few tornadoes on the battlefield with air magic. something inside told me what i should do, almost as if by memory, i combined together ground and fire elements and slammed the spell into the ground toward one of the tornadoes. followed by shooting off water and ice spells into another, then finishing by firing off a lightning dragon blast down the center of the field, taking out numerous enemies before hit another one of the tornadoes. the ground started to rumble as it split open and lava strayed out, heading toward the first tornadoes, opening a volcanic eruption underneath, forming a magma twister. the water and ice struck the next one, forming high speed ice tornado. the lightning hit another one, whipping it around until it became a voltaic twister. these three ripped through the battlefield, wiping out hoards of enemies by the second, until all three smashed together causing a huge explosion over the entire battlefield. we all quickly took cover, as everything came raining down, wiping everything out. as the dust started to settle, we all regrouped, everyone absolutely stunned by what just happened. when we could finally see the field again, we saw that there was still someone standing out in the middle of the battlefield. the lone survivor yelled out at us "you'll have to do better then that to kill me", just then realizing, he seemed to be a high ranked demon.
the demon stood there, staring us down, waiting for one of us to make a move. we debilitated if we should spread the group back out some, so that we wouldn't be seen as a single target for the demon. i told the group that i would go in for the attack to hold his attention and they should provide back up and support when they saw an opening. i stepped forward out of the group and started to walk toward the demon, as it started to smirk back at me. after i got enough distance between me and the group, i did a quick flap of my wings to shoot myself forward at the demon and start the battle. the demon readied for contact, as a mere moment later we made first contact of battle. in a flash the battle begin with us blasting around the battlefield, firing off attacks and spells nearly faster then the eye can see. everyone else took any small opportunity they saw to try and aid with buffs, spells, and attacks. the demon seemed annoyed by the interference to our battle and start to fire off attacks back at the others any chance he got. this battle continued as a stalemate for half a day, which the demon took any opportunity when we locked in a clash to taunt me. it would says things each time such as "this world is already going to be destroyed", "you all don't stand a chance", "you really think you can save them", and more of the like. it wouldn't be long before the demon started to put it's words into action, as a few of the elves shot off infused arrows at it when they saw an opening, just for the demon to catch them mid flight and redirect the arrows back at them, sending the arrows straight through their skulls and killing half the elves in Lobelia's group. this threw the groups into a panic, which caused them to act rashly in an attempt to take out the demon. Lobelia and Vince stayed back casting buffs and heals on the remaining people, while the remaining few elves, Clint and Bruno jumped into the battle in an attempt to end this. before i could stop them, they charged in for the attack and i needed to try my best to stop the demon from getting them as well. the battle intensified as we attacked from all sides in an attempt to overwhelm the demon and hopefully turn the fight in our favor. it seemed to be working as we seemed to be slowly damaging it, that is until i realized my attacks were the only few that actually doing damage. the demon suddenly smirked again and i quickly yelled out for them to get back, but by this point it was too late. as Clint went in for a swift strike, the demon caught his sword arm, ripping it out at the shoulder socket, and plunging his sword through his head. the few elves followed shortly after when the demon ripped one in half while skewering two more with it's tail, before smashing another's head in with a headbutt and the last one being sent flying with a kick to the chest and splattering on the ground upon impact. i had already moved in to try and stop him, but kept getting knocked back, as it's focus was on the other people here. Bruno went in for an attack as the demon was dealing with me and managed to chop off one of it's wings before it turned around and grabbed Bruno by the neck. before i could stop it, the demon plunged it's other hand straight through Bruno's armor and chest, ripping his heart out. before tossing Bruno's body aside, the demon took the sword from Bruno's hands and threw it in a spinning motion toward Vince, slicing him in two. before it could do anything to Lobelia, i fired off a full elemental dragon breath, blasting a giant hole through the demon. as i stood over the demon, readying to kill him, i asked if he had anything to say before i ended him. the ground started to rumble and quack as he said to us, "you fools, it's already too late, i was but a distraction. your world falls now!". i chopped off it's head as we hear explosions in the distance and the ground starts in split open and crumble. after all that had happened, everything we went through, and losing all but me and Lobelia, was this truly the end for us?

So this all started in January about two weeks after a COVID infection. For some background I’m 21F, 5”3, 140lbs, pack a day smoker for 10 years, history of alcohol and cocaine abuse, no medical history and no regular medication.
I welcomed this year in by getting covid, had it for about two weeks and then was fine for a week before this all started. I have had numbness/lessened sensation in the left side of my face 24/7 since the end of January (worse around one spot near my eyebrow and my entire left cheek), I’ve also had some memory issues/odd patterns of thought, headaches which last only a few minutes and feel like a dull poking, random skin rashes that come and go and visual disturbances such as flashing lights and an occasional blurring in my left eye. I have had 2 brain MRIs without contrast which showed absolutely nothing, also had my cervical spine MRI’d and again nothing. My bloods are completely fine, they checked absolutely everything including my thyroid function. I also had a bad tooth removed on the left side as it was close to a nerve and the dentist thought it was worth a shot to see if that solved my numbness, it didn’t. I’ve seen an ophthalmologist too who thoroughly checked my eyes to rule out any eye issues causing my visual disturbances. Everything’s been coming up clear.
I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place now because I’ve tried everything I can think of and the doctors have absolutely no clue what’s wrong with me, they’ve suggested atypical migraines, FND, long Covid but I’ve not had an official diagnosis of anything as they’re just guessing. I saw a neurologist last week who is ordering a repeat MRI this time with contrast and a venogram but he said he’s 99.9% sure nothing will show up and believes it may be anxiety related.
I’ve never been a very anxious person, and while I know anxiety can do some crazy things to people I don’t think it can cause 5 months of neuro symptoms that are constant. Any suggestions for where to go from here are so appreciated, any tests that can be done or any ideas as to what it might be- just anything. Thank you.

Last week in a post-deleted by the OP, there was discussion about how there is no point in stockpiling antibiotics and any attemps for lay people to practice any form of health care in a widespread grid down disaster was a waste of time
Myself and some colleagues wrote: Survival and Austere Medicine
Edit. New link. in a post below.
We are slowing working on a 4th edition with some new material and minor corrections - but it is taking longer than we thought!
But I thought given the above post, I would take the opportunity to post the introduction - which address the "why bother" question for a major long-term grid down situation. Apologies for the formatting and length
"There is a sense, when considering the issues around survival medicine practice, that everything is overwhelming, that it is impossible for lay people to provide a high level of medical care and maintain a high level of population health.
We don’t think this is the case at all. We believe that intelligent lay people with some basic medical knowledge, skills, and equipment can deliver high quality health care. While it is obviously impossible for lay people to safely and competently deal with every medical problem, and there remain many complicated diagnoses requiring equally complicated or technologically advanced treatments, for 80- 90% of the health problems afflicting humanity, simple things done well are all that is required to preserve life and limb and help alleviate suffering.
Consider the following:
1. Remote Medicine Practice:
Below are the results of one of our author’s experience in the provision of health care in various remote and austere locations (some third world, some first world) to nearly four thousand people over a cumulative 30-month period (spread over 18 years) – with more data there are few minor changes from the 2005 2nd edition, but the list is essentially the same – which is interesting. The record keeping was a bit unreliable at times, but the following summary is reasonably accurate.
Top 20 presentations (representing > 95% of consultations):
1. Minor musculoskeletal injuries - ankle sprains most common, included many minor fractures which didn’t require more than diagnosis and simple care
2. Upper respiratory tract infections
3. Allergic reactions/Hay feveAnaphylactic reactions/Rashes
4. Minor open wounds – included a mix of lacerations needing closure, many needing
cleaning and advice only, and some infected wounds
5. Gastroenteritis/Vomiting/Diarrhoea
6. Mental health problems
7. Sexual health/Contraceptive problems
8. Skin infections/Cellulitis
9. Dental problems
10. Abdominal pain - 4 confirmed acute appendix (2 treated with IV antibiotics and
subsequent delayed appendix removal / 2 required evacuation) + 1 gangrenous gall bladder. Many were "no cause found". Of the remainder with a clear diagnosis the most common were renal or biliary colic)
11. Fever /Viral illness
12. Chest infections
13. Major musculoskeletal injuries (fractures/dislocations)
14. Asthma
15. Ear infections
16. Urinary tract infections
17. Burns – mostly partial thickness within the realms of management in the environment the
patient was in. Several required evacuations. Several required rehabilitation due to location and sub-optimal initial treatment.
18. Chest pain
19. Syncope/Collapse/Faints
20. Early pregnancy problems
Major trauma was uncommon but was seen including several fractured femurs and a dozen cases of multi-system severe trauma resulting in a mix of in-country surgery and evacuations
Top 12 prescribed drugs (representing >90% of medications prescribed):
1. Paracetamol (Acetaminophen)
2. Loratadine (and other assorted antihistamines)
3. Diclofenac (and other assorted antiinflammatories)
4. Combined oral contraceptive
5. Flucloxacillin
6. Throat lozenges
7. Augmentin (Amoxycillin + clavulanic acid)
8. Loperamide
9. Nystatin (and other antifungals)
10. Hydrocortisonecream
11. Ventolininhalers(Salbutamol/Albuterol)
12. Morphine
What is of note here is that the clear majority of problems dealt with are simple and straight forward – there is still potential for serious consequences but there is scope for a well-informed lay person with a basic knowledge and access to a reasonable collection of reference books to provide reasonable care. Equally the vast majority of medication prescribed are from a very narrow well defined list – despite the fact 1000’s of drugs are on the market – the list of core lifesaving or comfort preserving ones is relatively brief.
2. Why children die
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the following conditions as having contributed to >75% of worldwide deaths in the under 5-year age group (in no particular order):
Pneumonia Pneumonia is an infection of lungs. Prevention of this condition is somewhat limited – although good nutrition, clean and warm housing, and a reduction in the exposure to respiratory irritants (smoke) all can help. However, the most common bacteria which cause pneumonia are frequently sensitive to penicillin – which is discussed later in the book and can be produced in a low-tech environment.
Diarrhea Death from diarrhea (dehydration) is almost 100% preventable with appropriate use of oral rehydration therapy. Dirty water or poor food handling causes much diarrhea – this can be virtually eliminated by proper hygiene practices and care with drinking water.


Pre-term delivery While we are limited in the direct interventions available in an austere environment to mitigate this problem contributing factors to early labor are young age, malnutrition, smoking, poor maternal health, so there is scope for indirect intervention based on optimizing mum’s health and environment. For babies who are born prematurely the necessities of life are warmth and breast milk. With attention to detail for both things, it is possible for infants as young as 33-34 weeks to survive without high-tech intervention.
Malaria. Prevention is better than a cure, knowledge about clearing stagnant water, mosquito nets and long sleeved clothes can significantly reduce the risk. Equally quinine is derived from the bark of the Chincona tree and the Chinese have been using the herb, Artemisinin, effectively for the treatment of Malaria for years. So, while not as easy to treat or prevent as diarrhea, there is still scope for significant reduction in death rates in low-tech ways.
Blood infection Blood infection or septicemia is rapidly fatal. The ability to intervene depends on the cause of the infection and antibiotics available. Broadly, infections causing septicemia can originate from the skin, the lungs, the kidneys or bladder, and the abdominal contents. While specific treatments for these may be lacking in an austere environment – all have prevention strategies and basic low-tech treatments that can be lifesaving when applied appropriately.
Lack of oxygen at birth Of these problems, this is the one with probably the least scope for impact. Unfortunately, even if foetal distress is detected during labor (with heart beat monitoring or signs of distress like meconium), without the ability to deliver the baby quickly options are limited. That said, a caesarian section is not a massively complicated operation (and discussed in Chapter 10), and in parts of the third world is performed by trained lay people with safety and success.
Measles Again, there is limited scope to intervene directly with the disease. Measles is always around and while vaccination reduced the incidence of epidemics, sporadic cases still occur. In the absence of vaccinations epidemics of measles every few years will be inevitable. There is however some scope to minimize the spread during an epidemic with isolation and respiratory precautions during outbreaks. While some of the serious neurological complications are unavoidable in a
Prevention is better than a cure, knowledge about clearing stagnant water, mosquito nets and long sleeved clothes can significantly reduce the risk. Equally quinine is derived from the bark of the Chincona tree and the Chinese have been using the herb, Artemisinin, effectively for the treatment of Malaria for years. So, while not as easy to treat or prevent as diarrhea, there is still scope for significant reduction in death rates in low-tech ways. small number of patients, basic care such as maintaining hydration can also prevent complications such as dehydration.
Neonatal tetanus The prevention of neonatal tetanus is easy. You don’t let the site where the umbilical cord attaches to the baby get dirty. It is as simple as that.
HIV/AIDS Prevention of maternal infection is the key to prevention of infection of newborns. The steps required to prevent exposure to the HIV virus are widely known: abstinence (not undertaking sexual activity), monogamy (maintaining a single sex partner rather than multiple) and if neither is a palatable option, then safe sexual practices.
Most the conditions above have an element of either preventability or the ability to be treated to some degree in an austere environment and significant improvements in mortality and morbidity can be made.

3. The greatest advances in medicine
Several years ago the British Medical Journal ran a poll trying to identify top medical advances of the last 200 years. The following is the top 12 from that poll:
Sanitation 1st Antibiotics 2nd Anaesthesia 3rd Vaccines 4th DNA 5th Germ theory 6th = The oral contraceptive 6^th = Evidence based medicine 8th Imaging 9th Computers 10th Oral rehydration therapy 11th Smoking cessation 12th =
Just as with our discussion above about the causes of childhood deaths, this list is introduced to show just how much impact a very basic health care knowledge can have in terms of optimising health in a post-disaster or austere situation.
Of the biggest advances of medicine in the last 200 years, between 7 to 9 (depending on your knowledge and available resources) of the 12 can be applied to care in a austere situation. In particular, the knowledge of sanitation, germ theory, oral rehydration therapy, and simple manufactured antibiotics and anaesthetic agents all have the potential to be able to be continued to be applied in a post-disaster situation and to continue to contribute to a high quality of low-tech health care. In the same way that we can substantially reduce childhood death rates in a low tech post-disaster situation, we can still continue to have access to some of the biggest advances in medicine even at the end of the world.
4. Surgery in the third world
A non-specialist surgeon working at a isolated bush hospital in Papua New Guinea published his experience of Emergency Surgery over a 14 month period (similar articles have been published with similar data):
Emergency Surgery 243
Tendon repair 33 Open orthopaedics 32 Dilation and curettage 31 General surgery 29 Incision and drainage 26 Laceration repair 26 Obstetrics 23 Manipulation under anaesthesia 15 Urology 15 Gynaecology 9 Ear, nose and throat 2
Emergency anaesthesia 243
Ketamine – spontaneous breathing 166 Local anaesthesia 33 Ketamine – ventilated 16 Spinal anaesthesia 12 Propofol / thiopentone 10 Epidural 5 Epidural / GA 1
The point of this reference is to help illustrate what someone can achieve in primitive conditions with no formal surgical training and no dedicated anaesthetist. We are not suggesting that the average layperson can safely practice to this extent or breadth of surgery, but it does demonstrate that a non-surgeon can achieve much. It also shows that most anaesthetics for surgery in an austere situation can be done under local or ketamine anaesthetics.
Why this is relevant?
Each of these four references gives you insights, one way or another, into low-tech austere health care. First, it gives you an insight into the likely clinical problems that you may see in a survival situation, and how much can be dealt with in that sort of austere environment. Second, it demonstrates how medically speaking it is the small things and simple knowledge which save lives and some of the biggest killers can be mitigated with these relatively low level interventions or strategies.
In our opening summary – “Medicine at that end of the world”, we describe a pretty bleak medical reality post-SHTF. Will million’s really die from lack of access to modern heath care as we have alleged?
The short answer is yes – many will die much sooner than they otherwise would have, from disease and injury, which currently are not immediately fatal. But the answer is not nearly that simple nor bleak. The reality is that while cancer, diabetes, malnutrition or serious injury may claim many of its victim’s sooner than with today’s health care, most health problems can be treated or mitigated to a degree in a low- tech environment, with a narrow range of medications and interventions – including some cancers, non- insulin requiring diabetes and many major traumatic injuries.
Most medical problems are relatively mundane and not life threatening. Truly catastrophic problems in medicine are fortunately rare. You should focus on learning and preparing to deal with the common problems, and doing common procedures well, and you will save lives, and possibly also improve the quality of those lives.
There will be a significant change to health care but with knowledge and some preparation it isn’t quite as dire as many (including our own opening paragraph) predict. "

Teething in babies is a natural developmental stage where a baby's first teeth start to emerge through the gums. This process can be uncomfortable for babies and challenging for parents. Here's a detailed look at the symptoms and remedies for teething in babies:
Symptoms of Teething

1. Drooling:

• Increased saliva production, leading to more drooling.

1. Chewing and Biting:

• Babies may chew on toys, fingers, or other objects to alleviate gum discomfort.

1. Irritability and Fussiness:

• Increased crankiness due to gum pain and discomfort.

1. Swollen or Tender Gums:

• Gums may appear red, swollen, and tender to the touch.

1. **Sleep Disturbances**:

• Discomfort can lead to disrupted sleep patterns.

1. Loss of Appetite:

• Babies may eat less because of gum pain.

1. Ear Pulling and Cheek Rubbing:

• Babies might pull at their ears or rub their cheeks, as the pain from teething can radiate to these areas.

1. Mild Fever:

• Some babies may experience a slight increase in temperature, though high fever is not typical and should be checked by a doctor.

Remedies for Teething

1. Teething Toys:

• Provide safe, chewable teething rings or toys to help massage the gums.
  
• Chilling these toys in the refrigerator can provide extra soothing relief (avoid freezing as it can cause more harm than good).
  

1. Cold Washcloth:

• A clean, damp washcloth chilled in the refrigerator can be given to the baby to chew on.

1. Gum Massage:

• Gently rubbing the baby's gums with a clean finger can help alleviate discomfort.

1. Teething Biscuits:

• Hard, unsweetened teething biscuits can be offered to older babies to chew on.

1. Cold Foods:

• For babies already eating solids, cold purees, applesauce, or yogurt can be soothing.

1. Pain Relief:

• Over-the-counter pain relief medications like infant acetaminophen or ibuprofen can be used if necessary (always follow the dosing instructions and consult with a pediatrician first).

1. Distraction:

• Engaging the baby with activities, toys, or a change of scenery can sometimes help take their mind off the discomfort.

1. Teething Gels:

• Some parents use over-the-counter teething gels, but these should be used with caution and under a pediatrician's advice due to potential risks from certain ingredients.

Additional Tips

• Maintain Oral Hygiene: Even before teeth emerge, wipe the baby’s gums with a clean, damp cloth after feedings to keep the mouth clean.
  
• Monitor for Other Symptoms: Teething should not cause severe symptoms like high fever, diarrhea, or a rash. If these occur, it's essential to consult a healthcare provider as they may indicate another issue.
  
• Stay Calm and Patient: Teething can be a trying time for both babies and parents. Maintaining a calm and comforting presence can help soothe a distressed baby.
  

By understanding the symptoms and using appropriate remedies, parents can help their babies navigate the teething process more comfortably. If concerns arise, it’s always best to consult with a pediatrician for guidance.

I think nobody understands one's own skin and wellness more than themselves. We all are doing our best according to latest research, reviews and prescriptions but- certain skincare principles that have been touted as supreme have fell flat on their face when I started listening to my skin.

1. Salicylic acid reigns number one, the moment someone utters 'acne'. Be it as a cleanser or a serum I have never heard anyone not prescribing it. I realised not only did it not help my case but worsened my acne. While I know purging is common, but i had a feeling my skin is crying for help. The serum was too skicky for my oily skin causing more issues and cleanser dried it. What do you all think?
2. I have read innumerable times that sunscreen does not prevent tanning. But in my case it made a huge difference. I mean it could be a coincidence but it helped.
3. Hydrating cleansers with hylaraunic acid and ceramides, which are prescribed for dry skin helped with my acne. It calmed by skin down unlike the cica ones made for oily skin.
4. The two finger rule for sunscreen was the main cause of my enlarged pores and oiliness. The moment I reduced amounts, the texture improved.

Have you ever came across experiences which counter popular recommendations? And how do we see this debate with millions of Youtube dermats, Instagram skin influencers and generic advice. I personally feel, one must try following what one's dermat says but never overlook your skin's language. If something is hurting you, listen to your skin.
EDIT: I feel it is also important to give an account of skincare rules that did work for me, to establish the whole argument. So retinol night creams worked wonders for my skin texture, so did reading labels to avoid comedogenic and fragranced products. While certain brands and formulations of VitC caused rashes and reactions, I realised it was the brand's/ formulation's fault because other brands VitC serums were extremely effective. So it is a layered argument.

Hi, I’m newer here. Here is my background:
I was clinically diagnosed with Hypermobile EDS a few months ago by a rheumatologist but knew I was hypermobile since I was very young. I didn’t pursue a diagnosis earlier bc I didn’t think I needed to but now I realize it would have been a good thing and explain all of my other immune, fatigue, posture, etc. problems.
Anyway that doctor now doesn’t want to put in my record I definitively have Eds. He had told me I have the hypermobile kind, there is no blood test, printed a 20page article I should read about it and sent me on my way. (He also tested me for Lyme, Ebv, etc. Lyme was negative, Ebv positive which is what I expected.) He also mentioned having Hypermobile syndrome was better than having an eds diagnosis and something about how insurance companies think you’re dying otherwise.
When I followed up with my PCP for what I believe was a Mast cell rash based on my symptoms, she denied I had Eds, ignored all my symptoms and comments but agreed to take a biopsy of my rash. The results came back today with “Vacuolar interface alteration with scattered intraepidermal necrotic keratinocytes and superficial dermal perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate with eosinophils. The histopathologic features raise a differential diagnosis including a medication reaction, a viral exanthem, or less likely drug-induced lupus or another connective tissue disease.”
Her comment to me was I was allergic to something and should buy hydrocortisone.
I took an allergy test recently and I’m not allergic to anything. Nor was I around any new products that would cause this spot on my arm. I’m tired of the gaslighting each time I see her and plan to change PCP. I need to advocate for my health care. I feel so foggy, tired, all the things and I just need help.
How do I get help before letting this get out of control? If I can’t get a referral for immunology or genetics, I’m just being denied care. WHY would having EDS on my record be a bad thing for insurance? At this point it doesn’t matter I need the truth to come out so I can hope to feel better. I’m honestly so utterly disappointed and confused.

Did anyone have very good skin prior to becoming bulimic?
I've had ED since I was 13 and I'm 31 now. I've had anorexia, orthorexia and now bulimia- but I only started getting rashes and inflammatory symptoms on my skin after becoming bulimic.
I used to have perfect skin before but now I'm plagued by red and flaky rashes around the mouth and I also have jawline acne, which I never had before! I think this is the main reason why I want to recover.
I also abuse laxatives so I'm wondering if that's also causing bad skin.
Anyone with similar symptoms? Is it the purging or binging or bad gut health from laxatives that's causing this? Will my skin resolve once I recover from bulimia?

Last year in April me and my family went to Florida as a vacation. This was before I was diagnosed with Lupus but we knew that I would get reactions when I would get sunburns so we made sure to get a sun hat and a lot of sunscreen. At the end of the day everything seemed fine just a little red, so we went to sleep. Then at 2:47 am I woke up with my face itching like crazy, I went to the bathroom to look at my face and it had swelled up so bad I didn’t even look like myself anymore. My cheeks were very puffy that it looked like my eyes were gone. We told my doctor about this when we got home and they suspected it was a sun allergy but later on we found out it was a butterfly rash caused by the lupus and the swelling was just a part of it. Does anyone else get bad flares or face swelling?

I am 23 y/o F, H: 5' 2", W: 145 lbs, Race: South asian, currently living in US.
cc: experiencing red, circular, raised, itchy rash, warm to touch mainly on my legs. REFERENCE PHOTO
These rashes first appeared when I traveled to South Asia last summer. I woke up with chunky rashes all over my thighs and shins. You could see each individual bumps, they didn't all mesh together into one huge mass. They were circular but not perfectly. About 1inch in diameter. I used a very strong steroid to cope with the itching. As the rashes healed, they became blue bruises and then left small dark scars on my legs. It took about 2 wks for them to clear up.
After coming back to US, I had 1 flare up of these rashes about 4 months ago. Same in appearance and healing time as the initial rashes.
1 month, I started getting these rashes out of nowhere again. Same in appearance and healing time. Unlike the last 2 episodes of these rashes, where I would about 10 bumps all at once and they would go away within 2 wks, this time, I keep getting 2-3 new rashes every other day. Right now, I only have this one big rash at the back of my right knee ( SEE HERE ) and 2 small ones on my ankles that are almost done healing. It's extremely itchy and hot. The one behind my knee is SO RED. I have never seen any of these rashes look THIS red so it's kind of scaring me.
Also, noting that most of my rashes have only been on my legs. Except for the current episode that started 1 month ago, I got some on my lower back-upper buttock area and 1 bump on my arm.
Please help me figure out what might be going on. By the time, I manage to get any derm appt, the rashes go away and I always end up consulting the docs on the scars rather than the active episodes.
I do not drink/smoke/do drugs. Don't have any severe food allergies that I know of. I have gotten allergy tested before for ~30 allergens and nothing causes me hives. I haven't been spending time outdoor where I can attribute these rashes to bug bites. I haven't used any new cosmetics or eaten anything new. Nothing foreign in my environment that I can note.

that's it. i just feel so insanely bad that people have to deal with me being the way i am despite years and years of trying to control this stupid disorder that's ruined my life
i only have online friends left, had a massive falling out with IRL friends that i don't miss but three years of not having anyone to see besides my parents every day is soul crushing. i'm too disabled to work after sudden onset fibromyalgia back in 2019 and i haven't found anything to help the symptoms, i am currently seeing a doctor i trust but i've literally only been to him once so there just isn't much time to really sit down and try to find the cause. he's also treating the PMDD but we're still very early in that as well. i'm on viibryd and lamictal so i'm medicated but it's too early to see real results with the lamictal. i've been more stable the past 5 days but it's like im feeling all of it at once instead of the slow burn
idk. i have only been talking to the few friends i have left maybe once or twice month for over 2 years now and that's mostly just to say "hey i'm not dead yet" they're wonderful people, i love them so much and they're all very patient and understanding and know that the pmdd is extremely severe and that the safest thing for me to do (for myself and for them) is to isolate so i can try and rest and not potentially blow up on someone during a rage episode.
my most favorite person in the world sent me a dm a few weeks ago that was essentially "you say the word and i am driving ten hours to come see you and we're going to go have fun" and i just lost it. lost my fucking mind because i read that message and all i could think was "but what about my period what if i'm in luteal" and had the worst word vomit of my life trying to express gratitude but also that i just don't know if i will ever be ready for life again. i don't know if i will ever be pleasant to be around ever again. sure, i get my good week if im lucky that cycle but it's all spent trying to recover from 10-14 days of emotional trauma made by own fucking stupid body and trying to prepare myself for The Horrors Yet to Come
i just want to go back in time and never have met these people just to save them the pain of having known someone who ended up being so profoundly mentally ill kind of out of nowhere when i tried micronor back at the end of 2021 and have been violently depressed since. it's not even that i'm upset with them in any way at all, i just feel so guilty for having made friends and now having psychic powers to know everything would go to hell so fast
i know it's illogical, i know i can't keep myself from making a connection ever again in my life because what if a bad thing happens, i know i'm in luteal on top of a late period. i fucking wish that knowing that i'm in luteal made anything better but if anything i think i feel worse knowing it's just a reaction to a hormone my body makes. i'm transgender so it's an extra kick in the teeth that not only did i get a body that doesn't look right but it doesn't work right either- so many things that have traumatized me and made me worse off mentally could have been solved if i had just ended up with a dick and balls instead of the uterus set up
i just want it to end. i am a massive burden to my parents and i know seeing me in this much pain upsets them and there's nothing they can do about it. my only sibling killed himself years ago so i'm the only child they have left. i wish that i could say "well everyone sorry but it sucks too bad and i am ready to die now" and the answer would be "aw we'll miss you but if this is the only way to make the suffering stop we'll send you out with a bang"
i'm tired. i'm trying to distract myself until the bleeding starts but i'm so scared i won't feel better this time and it's so hard to try and stay focused on literally anything through the luteal fog. i know that it's the PMDD talking but my fucking god it makes me feel all the more insane to know this is just going to keep happening to me until we throw a dart in the dark and manage to hit something that might work for a little bit
i feel like an old dog that needs to be let go of but no one else is ready so they're keeping it alive for their sake. it feels so cruel to not let me end it when i'm the one who has to sit through this for the rest of my life that i didn't ask for
this is very long and very dramatic and i am hoping that in like 20 minutes i finally get my period and then i get a little embarrassed about crying really hard on the Internet to a bunch of strangers and then get on with it but god i am so sick of this. i wish they could inflict the emotional turmoil on cis men so someone would find a fucking cure or at least acknowledge that it's real

I first noticed an itchy red mark on my waist in March 2023.
It's hard to remember exactly but it felt like the itching started very suddenly. At night, it got so bad I'd struggle to sleep and after a shower the itchiness would flare up pretty badly. I didn’t have bumps, it was more like a rash or hives. I thought maybe I was having a reaction to something.
After a while with no improvement, I started to google “itchy skin” and eventually went to see a pharmacist and told them I thought I might have scabies. I got poor advice looking back on it. I was told to do one permethrin application and see if it helped - I bagged up all my clothes for three days and cleaned my room.
At the time, I was living in a large house-share and didn’t tell my housemates I was doing the permethrin treatment. I was hoping it wasn’t scabies.
The treatment didn’t help and I tried to manage the symptoms instead with antihistamines and Eurax (an anti-itch cream), thinking I must be allergic to something. I contacted my GP on and off for months but was told to keep trying the anti-histamines and hope it would clear by itself.
My doctor would ask if I’d tried a scabies treatment and of course I said yes, not thinking that I’d only really completed half a treatment at best. They suggested it could be lichen planus amongst other things.
I started getting fully fledged bumps and bites by the end of the summer. I went back to my GP and they prescribed me a steroid cream and prednisone - which would give me some relief for a day or two. I now know that’s probably the worst thing you can do, as it interferes with your body’s natural defences to the scabies mite.
Finally, after a particularly bad flare up at Christmas, and having noticed large dark bumps on my genitals, I panicked and went to a sexual health clinic in January. A doctor told me I had scabies within about ten minutes.
I started my first (proper) permethrin treatment the same day, bagged everything up for three days and repeated a week later. I had a horrible reaction to the cream this time with intense itching and a delayed, blotchy red rash across my torso.
My housemate also started his treatment but we were a week out of sync. He’d had a nightmare back and forth trying to get a prescription and it didn’t help that there’s an ongoing shortage of permethrin. He ended up paying privately and the cost was exorbitant.
The treatment didn’t work. We tried again. I unbagged my clothes three days after my last application and within a day had new itchy red bumps. I was so disheartened.
It started with a few new bites and built up but I wanted to believe I had post-scabies so badly that I tried to ignore it for a month, just to see if it would clear on it’s own. It didn’t and I went through the process again of contacting the doctor, asking for a prescription, trying to find a pharmacy that stocked permethrin and starting the treatment for a third time.
I finished my (hopefully) last treatment about a month ago. Touch wood and a prayer to all the gods that this is finally the end, more than a year after it started. This time I bagged my clothes and left them for a bit over two weeks. I still have some clothes in bags - the psychological scarring is real!
I’ve noticed bumps pop up here and there but they clear within a few days. I’m using a steroid and anti-bacterial cream, plus Eurax and a daily anti-histamine, to manage them. It hasn’t been a linear recovery. Every time I notice a new bump or itchy spot I panic a little. The itch is no where near as bad as when I had full throttled scabies though and I can sleep again.
The gaps between bumps and strange skin reactions is getting bigger but I’ve noticed the hotter weather and certain types of clothing can trigger it. The worst part has been the constant worry and fear that I’ve still got scabies. Thankfully, I feel like things are improving.
Hands down this has been top three worst things that’s happened to me in a while - and some shit has gone down. I feel for everyone going through something similar.
This subreddit has helped me learn that post-scabies is most definitely a thing. I really appreciated it when people would remind me that it does get better and you can get rid of scabies. It’s also caused me a lot of stress and worry and I’d suggest taking a break from this forum when you’re really feeling the pinch (or itch).
My advice - you have to be your own advocate when it comes to healthcare. I was fobbed off for months and suffered unnecessarily for longer than I needed to.
I love nature, but man, fuck scabies.
TL;DR: I've had scabies for over a year and finally think I'm in the clear. It's possible to get through it.

Out there - Patreon (for all those curious or wanting to support :))
At the Beginning
Adventure Arc - Arc 2
Wilderness Arc - Arc 3
Academy Arc - Arc 4
Nobility Arc - Arc 5
Previously on Leveling up the World...
DOMAIN INVASION
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DOMAIN INVASION
​
DOMAIN INVASION
​
Rectangles kept on flashing in front of Dallion’s eyes. The emperor’s attempts to kick him out of his domain were increasing. The first wave had been merely a test to probe the defenses. Since no immediate response had followed, Jeremy had pushed on with more settlements, wedging them within Dallion’s territory.
Both attacks were performed in perfect coordination. It was obvious that the emperor was leading Archduchess Priscord, who in turn had decided that the risk was worth the potential reward.
As Dallion flew from his domain in the north in the direction of the Academy, he concentrated on a top-down view of his domain. It wasn’t so much looking as a general feeling of the dimensions changing. Moving settlements about had trained him to have a full sense of his territory.
Circles of nothing kept on eating into his domain as settlements with reasonably large populations invaded. Dallion could tell that they were soldier forts full of Priscord’s troops. The moment they got anywhere close to a settlement of his, they would rush out and attack outright. So far, they had captured three minor towns with minimal resistance.
​
DOMAIN INVASION
You have increased your domain
​
The TOWN of GRIFFIN FORT has become part of your domain
​
Another pair of rectangles popped up. Euryale had sprung into action, taking on one of the invading forts.
For a moment Dallion hesitated whether to get involved as well. If he made a push in the same area, he could well strand several of the invading forts, potentially commencing a counterattack.
No, the wiser part within him said. There would be time for that later. For the moment, all his focus had to be on the Academy.
Summoning three clay cylinders, Dallion cast three aether echoes and sent them to scout the general area he where remembered the Academy being. Adzorg had done a good job suggesting that as a target. In theory, the emperor could move its location like any other settlement. However, that wasn’t entirely true for the Academy buildings. Having them remain so long at their original location had caused the magic lines of the area to thicken like roots taking hold. Moving the buildings would rip a large part of them out, severely limiting a lot of the spells that the mages took for granted. In a worst-case scenario, a series of wild vortexes could appear, turning the Academy into the vortex fields. The archbishop was probably aware of that, which was why he hadn’t attempted to glass them with his magic rockets until now. That left the morsel ripe for the taking.
Veil, any trouble? Dallion asked through his domain.
You bet. Nothing we can’t handle, the overseer replied. She’s using hunting troops.
Actual hunters?
Nah, just the common riff-raff that we were volunteered to way back. Level twenty, all of them.
That was somewhat strange. Provided that the emperor was still in possession of the skill altar, one would have assumed that he’d boost the skill level of all his troops. Or maybe that was on purpose. After all, Priscord’s troops remained loyal to her, not the emperor himself.
“Be ready, Gleam.” Dallion summoned the shardfly near him.
You know they must have added a few extra illusions since our last visit, the creature said.
I see them, Aquilequia said in a smug manner. Being a great dragon, even when reduced to level one, had more advantages than the achievement had let on.
Dallion could feel the anger and bloodlust erupt from Gleam. It was the shardfly’s nature to face something strong, especially a dragon. Thankfully, she was loyal enough to keep herself from doing anything rash. After all, Dallion had promised her a go at the emperor’s great dragon in the near future.
It’s right over—
Before Aquilequia could finish, a purple beam of light erupted from below. Shattering the area illusion hiding it, it struck one of Dallion’s aether echoes, evaporating it on the spot.
Instinctively, Dallion thrust his harpsisword in the direction, sending a spark infused spiral attack. Dozens of aether barriers emerged in an attempt to block the attack. All they did was shatter one after the other, barely diminishing its power.
Careful, dear boy! Adzorg warned. There are buildings you don’t want to destroy.
“I know.” Dallion split into fifty instances.
In sync, Dallion’s remaining two aether echoes performed a series of line attacks, scarring the ground below them. Chasms, several feel wide and hundreds of feet deep, covered the terrain, breaking any illusions along their path. In the cases when buildings were destroyed, Dallion would ignore the instance, choosing one more appropriate.
“Aqui, can you consume threads?” Dallion asked.
Not directly. The dragon glided closer. Why?
“No reason to waste a good opportunity.”
​
COMBAT INITIATED
​
A purple rectangle flashed, then disappeared. It was immediately followed by a cluster of purple rays. Over half of Dallion’s instances were instantly vaporized, along with another one of his aether echoes. Alien was clearly not pulling any punches, making full use of the imperial rune golems entrusted to him. Curiously enough, there didn’t seem to be any bladerers or battle mages.
“Stop!” Dallion shouted, mixing his music skill with magic.
There seemed to be a momentary pause. The new set of rays quickly made it clear that his attack wasn’t as effective as he thought.
They’re not letting any mages take part? Dallion wondered.
There might be a whole range of reasons, Adzorg explained. My guess would be that Alien is keeping them close at hand.
Even the skilled ones?
Choosing to push the archmage into action, Dallion landed on the ground on a cluster of magic concentration. Based on the intensity, there could be no doubt that a building of moderate importance had stood there in the near past.
“Aqui!” he shouted. “Better learn this fast!”
He reached into the ground and grabbed the threads of magic flowing through it. With measured strength and perfect precision, he pulled them out as if he were taking out a weed, careful not to have any threads snap. Once he had pulled enough of them, he tore them out with one brisk action. Losing their contact with the rest of the mesh, the magic threads merged together, forming a ball of pure magic.
“Eat this,” Dallion offered, bursting into another set of instances. It was a good thing too, for one ray vaporized that particular instance of him.
Damn it, Dallion thought. The golems were adapting to his actions.
The dragon sniffed the ball of magic like a cat. Her indecision might have been described as adorable if it didn’t occur at the worst possible time. There was an option to have Gem assist, but that might prove rather risky. Aquilauia’s nature tended to be on the vicious side, same as Gleam.
“Aqui.” Dallion gently pushed her using his music skill.
Able to see the strands of music, the dragon still felt compelled to hurry up, gobbling the ball of magic in one bite.
​
AQUILEQUIA has assimilated the MAGIC cluster.
​
A purple rectangle flashed. Sadly, there was no mention of level increase. Even for a level one, the dragon required a lot more to advance. That wasn’t the point, though.
Shards of hardened aether rained all over the ground, as Dallion’s last aether copy cast a myriad of spells, providing him and the dragon with cover.
“Did you understand the principle?” Dallion asked as he pulled out another cluster of magic threads from the ground.
Yes. The dragon attempted a pout as she devoured the next ball of magic offered. I got it.
And just to prove it, she then sunk her teeth into the ground, draining an even larger amount.
​
AQUILEQUIA has assimilated the MAGIC cluster.
​
“You know what to do,” Dallion said, splitting into instances again. “Gleam, watch over her.”
Do I have to? The shardfly sighed like an older sister being denied a night out to look over her infant sibling. Even so, she did flutter close to the dragonlet, as did Dallion’s aether echo.
Dallion performed another spiral attack. He’d already discovered a number of buildings, yet not the one he needed. Fortunately, the Learning Hall also wasn’t among the revealed areas. As far as he could tell, he’d stumbled on one of the academy’s libraries and the senior mage cluster. The latter had been transformed into a battle mage training area, with most of the previous occupants having gone rogue or finding refuge among influential provincial nobles.
It’s always the rats that run first, Dallion thought as he summoned his new armadil shield.
“Gem,” he said. “Guard my back. Lux, help him.” A dartbow wrapped in blue flames emerged as well.
Alright, boss. The aetherfish said, floating the shield to cover Dallion’s back.
Lux followed, chirping instructions in his typically cheerful fashion.
I’d almost forgotten what this was like, Dallion said to himself. Sadly, there wasn’t much time to reminisce. While the human mages were focusing all their effort on casting defensive spells, the golems were attacking in full force. At any single point several cast days of destruction indiscriminately in Dallion’s direction, while dozens more were charging straight at him, as if that would make any difference. Done was the time when he would be intimidated by a twenty-foot entity made of stone with speed and reaction in the high eighties.
Music spark attack, Dallion thought as he slashed the air with his harpsisword. Strands of music shot out, drilling through anything they came in contact with. Just for good measure, Dallion followed up by a line strike with his aura sword, casting twenty spells as he did.
Use a bit more instances, Adzorg suggested. Even when observing near perfection, the old man had something to criticize about. You still could be a target for rockets.
​
AQUILEQUIA has assimilated the MAGIC cluster, increasing her level to 2.
​
“Good work girl,” Dallion praised as rune golems disintegrated by the dozens.
​
MULTI KILL
(+2 Body, +2 Perception)
Killing twenty in one strike isn’t anything special. Killing twenty entities with an awakened level of eighty, is.
​
A kill achievement? For some reason that made Dallion think of his grandfather. He, too, had killed off dozens of similar levels. Did that mean he had earned that achievement as well during the Order of the Twelve Suns massacre?
Careful, boss! Lux chirped.
A wave of destruction came out from beneath the ground, vaporizing all but five of Dallion’s instances.
Instantly, Dallion split again, and just in time as more waves followed from beneath the ground.
​
MAJOR WOUND
Your health has been reduced by 50%
​
Even with all his effort, Dallion had still suffered a partial hit. A ray of purple had effectively severed both his feet. The pain was tremendous, though severely dulled by his high body level, as if he was having a tooth pulled with partial anesthetic.
An immediate soothing sensation followed, as the firebird moved the dartblade to where his legs were, transforming it into a pair of metal bowls.
“Is everyone alright?” Dallion looked about with his instances.
There was no trace of his echo, though Aquilequia and Gleam seemed unharmed, located on the only patch of land that remained unaffected.
Nymphs aren’t the only ones who can play tricks, the shardfly said. Looks like you lost a few inches.
Smiling at her humor, Dallion performed a series of spiral attacks directly below.
The ground tore, revealing hundreds of partial golems buried there. The designs seemed ancient—something that must have been constructed during the first days of the Academy.
“You really were planning things out forward, weren’t you?” Dallion said out loud. Even back before Jeremy had openly rebelled he had set things up so nothing he had created would fall in enemy hands. The capital, the Academy, and Moons know what else were nothing but expendable pawns that had served their purpose.
The realization sent chills throughout Dallion’s body. If the emperor was willing to use them here, he’d be willing to destroy every structure of the Academy, people included.
“Damn it!” A hundred instances of Dallion darted straight down. Unsummoning both his blades, he reached forward in an attempt to come in contact with the ground as fast as possible.
​
AREA AWAKENING
Next

We have a 1 year old pup, a cross breed with Sharpe Shepherd and a Pointer Spaniel. He looks like a black lab. Who would have know. He's about 25kg<.
Anyway, since around February he has developed some serious congestion in his snout and we cannot work out what is causing it. For the most part of his life he has had no allergies, no issues with congestion etc. he is not lethargic, full of life and energy. He eats well, passes well and sleeps soundly. His coat is shiny and well kept, he doesn't smell. There are no other symptoms other than a blocked nose. The mucus is generally white, sometimes a little greener but mostly white. He has no skin conditions or rashes either.
Here's what we have tried:
We have always cooked and prepared all his meals and have changed aspects of his diet to eliminate food allergies. We vary his protein, feed him plenty of veg and always keep an eye out for anything that may not be suitable for dogs. We don't feed him processed foods or packaged foods. Lucky boy.
We have no pollenating plants in the house and all the plants we do have, have been present since he came home with us.
We don't use scented house smellies, carcinogenic candles or plug in ones and we have a smoke free home.
We have steam cleaned everything and hoover regularly to avoid dust and mites and other contaminants.
Now it is warmer outside, we leave him to his own devices and throughout the day, in the garden, his symptoms disappear only to worsen in the evenings when he's back inside. By morning time his nose is very blocked again and he waits until he is let outside before blowing it all over the patio.
We have been to the vets who ran basic diagnosis and prescribed some antibiotics. This was early in the year and there was no improvement. They suggested an invasive scan up the nose with a camera and quoted somewhere in the region of £2k for the pleasure. Around that time we took a trip to my sister in the country and his symptoms disappeared whilst still surrounded my flowers, animals and the lot. We have cats, so does my sister. Upon returning home, after a week the symptoms returned and have lingered. When I have trips away I take him with and generally his condition gets better before returning once we're home.
Im sure I've missed things here but if you have any questions I can answer them. If you have any suggestions as to what this could be and what we can try, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

It feels amazing to dive into a refreshing pool during the sweltering summer months. But as soon as you get out of the water, you realize your skin is itching. Known as “swimmer’s itch,” this irksome drawback of swimming is surprisingly widespread. Read on to discover the reason behind skin irritation caused by pool water and how swimming pool contractors in Dubai may assist avoid it happening again.

What Causes Swimmer’s Itch?

Cercarial dermatitis, another name for swimmer’s itch, is an allergic reaction to certain microscopic parasites that may survive in pool water. Infected snails discharge their parasites into the water. The larvae bury themselves in your skin, triggering an allergic reaction that leaves the areas of your body exposed to the water red, with itchy welts, and a rash.
Millions of individuals get swimmer’s itch in lakes, ponds, and seas every year, but it may also happen in swimming pools. There are several ways in which parasites might inadvertently enter public and backyard pools:
– On the bodies of infected snails or birds – Carried in on the feet or swimsuits of swimmers – Transported in contaminated water used to fill the pool
Once established, the parasites multiply. Chlorine and other chemicals meant to keep water clean and clear unfortunately do not always kill them off.

Itchy Skin Triggers

The timing and location of itchy welts point to the swimmer’s itch as the culprit rather than a simple allergic reaction to chlorine or other chemicals. Swimmer’s itch symptoms usually pop up within 12 hours but can start in as little as 10 minutes after swimming.
The location of the rash provides clues too. Swimmer’s itch usually affects the parts of your body that were most exposed to water and rubbing against your swimsuit including:
– Torso – Legs – Arms – Neck and face
The itchy rash typically lasts up to a week and may be accompanied by symptoms like:
– Hives – Tingling Skin – Small Blisters – Headache – Fever – Fatigue

Preventing Swimmer’s Itch

While swimmer’s itch cannot always be prevented, the key is keeping pool water clean and free of parasites through proper maintenance. Here are some top tips:
Test Water Frequently Check chemical levels including chlorine, pH, and alkalinity with test strips once a week or more when actively using your pool. Adjust chemicals if outside the normal range.
Shock Treat Regularly Using pool shock weekly or biweekly helps control algae growth and kill microorganisms. Make sure to allow proper contact time before swimming again.
Maintain Proper Filtration Run your pool’s filter system sufficiently each day and clean out filters regularly to remove waste and impurities from the water. Consider upgrading old cartridge filters to more efficient sand or DE filters.
Brushing Use a pool brush daily when in use to keep all surfaces smooth and remove any tiny pests clinging to walls and floors. Pay special attention to corners and the water line.
Vacuum Use your cleaning vacuum weekly or more often to get rid of debris from pool floors and surfaces where larvae or parasite eggs can hide.
Consider bringing in professional services for pool cleaning in Dubai if you are struggling to stay on top of maintenance yourself. They use specialized techniques and equipment including pressure washing to keep water in tip-top shape.
While a swimmer’s itch is difficult to control, the payoff of preventing repeated itchy and painful rashes is well worth stepping up your pool maintenance protocol. Protect your family’s skin and keep your pool water sparkling and irritation-free by testing and adjusting chemistry properly, shocking regularly, and thoroughly brushing and vacuuming all surfaces inside the pool.

18M and I live in the UK. Last year I went abroad and got a rash along my chest, arms and hands, which I assumed was prickly heat. I was given steroid cream to heal it and it worked, but having to stay out the sun made me miserable.
I thought that it was the 35 degree heat that had got to me , not being used to it, but a couple of days ago, on the first real day of warm weather, I was in the garden and got the rash along my arms and hands, even in just 23 degree weather. I did research and apparently prickly heat is caused by sweat clogging in the skin, but a lot of places I was sweating were fine and not red, whilst the bits exposed to the sun were red and bumpy, like my collar bone.
This makes me think it's not prickly heat but maybe some sort of sun rash (if that's a thing?). I stayed out of the sun for the rest of the day, which I didn't like because I love the sun, and we don't get much in the UK.
I plan to go to the doctors if it doesn't return to normal, but in the UK, this could be a 2 week waiting period just to see a GP, and the rash really itches and hurts. Is there anything I can do to prevent this, and is it really prickly heat or something else?
I've never had it before last year,and I thought I may just be reacting to the relatively (for me) high heat of another country, but now it's happening in 23 degrees when it wasn't only 2 years ago. I really don't want to have to avoid the sun.

𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨…
“𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗-𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟” - ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕠
𝙊𝒗𝙚𝒓𝙫𝒊𝙚𝒘
Life’s weird. One’s idea of happiness is so different from another’s. Yet we end up living in these well defined boxes. You pretend almost living another’s life cause you feel jealous of their happiness & feel it would be yours if you snatched it. Not seeing what they are not living in order to live what they are…
One never thinks what one is not living in order to live another person’s idea of happiness…
It comes crashing down on us & there is only one aspect that cuts through the crap and shakes our world leaving it totally changed never to ever be put back together in its old form. It’s linked to earthquakes for a reason this Uranus.
You are peacefully blissfully unaware of your own fake facade on how weak the foundations of your made up life is. Till it hits, crumbling it down & it’s so sudden and honest. You feel free versus feeling sad about it. As a higher octave of Mercury our conscious mind, Uranus awakens desensitized parts of our psyche - the ones we have buried deep disassociating with our essence. Uranus awakens the things we have put away, releasing a very core authentic part of us. Lightening strikes & it all comes forward to conscious form. With Uranus being in zodiac sign of Taurus what comes forward is our actual physical, touch it feel it human Venusian desires - love, beauty, physical affection, money, luxury. This is truly awakening of heart - what I love, what I desire, what brings me comfort, what makes me feel loved & how I would like to love. What’s my definition of creature comforts? What’s beautiful to me? How do I want to look, eat, love, earn & physically manifest that would be most authentic to who I really am. Does the outside world match who I truly am inside? Does my current life reflect me valuing myself ? If I valued myself truly would I like this ? Are the traditional outdated values holding me in passive repressive patterns never letting me explore all my senses & desires ? Aim is raise the vibration across these spheres of our life but the way to it can be sudden. Its not surprise to our subconscious, we are normally ready for an upheaval when it hits yet it has shock value. Some of us have been through it and would see next phase of it in May and for some lightening strikes first time in May with initiation in April. But for all of its blown out of proportion due to Jupiter being in Taurus.
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𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔
Uranus is outer planet - to see physical manifestation of its thunderbolt you need it to interact with a personal planet - Sun Moon Mercury Venus & Mars. We have been going through this awakening as Uranus meets these planets one by one throughout May with 13/18/31 May being key exact days though whole month falls in category of sudden changes. Jupiter meeting Uranus on 20 April at 21°50’ started a new 13 year cycle closing the chapter on whatever ideals we cultivated from 2011 to 2024. New growth cycle requires new methods, new ideology, ideals and a steep learning curve of self. So the bigger shifts in our life have initiated as a precursor to what we experience in May. Change of our religion, what we hold as our higher knowledge & principles we live our life by - initiation of change in them already started. Aim is to expand our consciousness, allowing the growth we would normally never let in cause we are stubbornly holding onto outdated values, monetary systems, agricultural practices, diet, money sources - denying us what we deserve and how we deserve to live.
Uranus will continue to change our physical world, surface as well as environment of earth & our financial world till it’s in Taurus aka till 2026. This phenomenon of Uranus meeting personal planets accelerating changes has been coming and going every year since 2018 making us more honest with ourself, pushing us to make physical actual tangible changes in our life. Jupiter this year has just blown it in proportions - everything everywhere all at once as it’s said. We see that in earth & monetary changes in mundane overall sense.
Over a year, Uranus roughly focuses on 4 degrees to work through so to personalise this transition you should look at where fixed signs sit in your chart. Due to that for some it would change them in big way in year ahead & would be the lightening bolt they asked for yet never saw it coming. Uranus focused on 19-23º Taurus from May’23 to now greatly shifting things for fixed signs around these degrees. It’s coming back to 23º now really emphasising this degree +-2º for all fixed signs (personal planets or points around 23° +-2º Taurus, Aquarius, Scorpio, Leo). We are completing one chapter of change and now embarking upon 23-27º Taurus / fixed signs till May’25.
This current chain of events would have started last year around May 2023 when Uranus first stepped on 19º Taurus and this was greatly emphasised as it went retrograde in Aug’23 wanting us to look back what hit us between May-Aug’23 and internally assimilate in our quiet period that change without saying a word from Aug’23 to end Jan’24. This period from Aug’23-Jan’24, made us look at what needs to shift as a result of lighting bolts & sub conscious awakenings that hit us from May-Aug’23. When the psyche changes - physical changes start manifesting. Outer planets just do that to us on personal level. As we became more awake till Jan’24 - physical reality started shifting and thats been the cycle of awakening since Jan’24 as we complete that chapter and now launch the new annual phase during May. Creating new tangible changes which are sudden, shocking, exhilarating, destructive of fake, old & weak as well as enlightening. We don’t like surprises in this part of life so we have been resisting this change - that’s why we have Uranus take one year to change just meagre 4 degrees which can translate to 18 month process for us personally. A sudden change that was slowly in making for past one year, will continue to evolve over next one year. With us standing in middle knowing fully we cannot go back even if physically everything right now looks the same. Everything within has changed, shifted. Cause once you have what’s repressed outside of you awakened, standing in physical form taunting you - you simply cannot go back to status quo. It’s Taurus what’s changing was once valuable, constant, stable but dormant & possibly not fruitful anymore & not in line with your values and growth path now.
As we have Sun meeting Uranus come Monday 13 May at 23º Taurus, expect the unexpected in name of events, your own vibe & actions and harness your ability to move beyond what doesn’t serve your desires any more - its a move to higher vibration which requires us to shed old facade, old ways of operating and we can experience surprises or possibly act rashly to set free of our old life. Not going beyond norm is not an option. Cause if we dont event accept what’s not real, we become our own resistance and there is clear burn out due to trapped current in the body. We see this manifest in all things migraines, anxiety, pressure within our system and overall short circuit of our body’s electric system / nerves yet anticipation even excitement. While calm is advised (usual nerve calming - I like magnesium for me), there is a reason for our body vibrating differently, we got to tune into a new frequency. This is both an ending and a beginning. More we resist changing our ways more this feels like pushing against current. We have Jupiter conjunction to look forward to on 18 May to realise this shift is meant to be for our own expansion and gain.
While it’s all nervy - surprising Uranus gives us objectivity like we are floating out of our body and looking at our life from a third person’s eye as we watch our chaotic life standing beside it feeling shocked with how we are feeling and why we never understood superficiality of what we have been living so far. This first stage already started. And we would continue to discover things about us as Uranus would meet each personal planet this month. Changes speed up from now to Sept. We would change all superficial things trying to avoid changing what really needs to be changed. None of it is undesired, none of it is useless but it’s not why the current events happened or why past year happened or why things started evolving since 2018.
𝑱𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔
As we move from Jupiter Uranus conjunction of April which was at degree of “Spiritual inspiration during crisis” to current Sun Conjunct Uranus at degree of “Social recognition or certification of self worth”. We could receive some reward to the faithful, the ones who continued to hone their jewels under pressure when no one was watching. And with upcoming 18 May Venus Uranus conjunction we can move to phase of “collective enjoyment” where those jewels can be shared with larger group with many communication surprises to 31 May Mercury Uranus conjunction. Uranus can unsettle & excite at same time opening world beyond your imagination but it will bring some separations, they are inevitable. 18 May also brings the very beneficial Sun Jupiter annual meeting followed by 23 May Venus Jupiter & 4 June Mercury Jupiter conjunction which makes we very positive about this shift. If you have tried before & it didn’t work - don’t worry about it, try again now with this new life experience you have had.
𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 ?
Mind you esp after initial phase, there will be tendency to go back to status quo the hair color fades away, the first spark with crush dies down, the excitement of freedom from quitting an oppressive job fades away & all Taurus things will come back and move us to planet earth. What then ? Was it for nothing ? Madness of Tesla who had Uranus on ascendent Taurus or would this one spark change how we think of current of our life & change how things flow in our life lightning up the dark hours of our existence. The genius is born in chaos. Even if it’s not for you, sway your life with this transit.
Earthquake proof buildings were made to sway cause if they were fixed they would surely crumble. Cause it’s not if, it’s when that an earthquake will strike our physical life cause that’s just what Taurus Uranus does. Do we sway do we stand still refusing to change to move to take in what’s it’s giving us so we can in that moment feel it all. It’s so not about other person or external change - Uranus makes you feel more of you without the pretence.
Now you can shove Taurus things down your throat to stop its way - food money sex comfort of Netflix 24/7 … cause well the lower manifestation of Taurus is laze and not ease. Or can you starve yourself for a moment to truly see what you hunger ? They say you are offered the things in the category of ones “you would never do” during Uranus transit. The message keeps repeating till we understand our needs fully. It takes the third go of Uranus on our personal planets for us to finally make the real change - with these cycles of Uranus its falling in Jan. It takes the third go of Uranus on our personal planets for us to finally make the real change - with these cycles of Uranus its falling in Jan. We will go through anxiety to excitement to oh no what did I do to disillusionment to understanding to finally making the right changes till then. Now to Sept will be external changes followed by internal retrospection & reconsiderations of those changes from Sept to Jan and then in Jan we go with a new form of these shifts. In this process we would get in touch with the most innovative and creative part of ourselves even though we might feel rattled and confused. Genius in chaos. As Venus would meet Uranus on 18 May, we would see our values shift, our style shift and for many relationships will shift forever. Mar Uranus conjunction in July will add fire to this.
Santorini was created by earthquake of massive proportion … most beautiful thing came out of massive destruction of what seemed like civilisation of the moment. It created visual we could never imagine threw out elements we would never be gifted with without it
Embrace it … you cannot find Santorini without your ground shaking & once u find it don’t run from it by shoving things down your throat. It’s trying to introduce you to you, the you that is very very deep buried & screams once in a while manifests as malaise you don’t know how to heal.