Macrobid red scalp

I started experiencing pain on my scalp Sunday morning and breaking out on my scalp and forehead on on Monday. On Monday night I got antivirals. Between Monday and today the rash has been creeping down toward my eye. Today, I saw a dermatologist who specializes in shingles at my mother’s request. He told me that the shingles on my forehead look like they might be drying up, and the other ones on my forehead and eyebrow still look kind of fresh. He told me he didn’t think it would invade my eye, but told me to watch it and that it’s an emergency if I do. Since getting home, my eye has gotten really really itchy, and it’s been dry for a few days, but I’m not seeing any redness or feeling any pain in the eyeball itself. Do I keep monitoring? ER? Ophthalmologist within a day or so? I contacted my PCP, but she did not respond after several days.
Also, I saw some neurologist/author talking about shingles, particularly HZO, giving his patients strokes. When I went onto Google scholar, I saw studies showing 2 to 4 fold increases in stroke risk for HZO patients, with notes saying it could be even worse in the under 40 category. Am I getting caught up in speculative statistical associations, or is this something doctors typically look out for young patients? I brought it up with the dermatologist, but he didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. That could be bad news or great news.
36 years old, Hispanic, male, 6 feet tall, 193 pounds, active, valacyclovir

In august last year I had strong infection, I was sweating by month, extreme fatigue, swollen lymph node under armpit.
Since then I have tons of symptons:

• neuropathic pain in back, deep pain in spine
• right shoulder blade is painful and deep itching
• my back feels so messed up I feel asymetric when I walk
• redness on face, flushing, red ears, heatwaves and warm feeling (mostly at night)
• electric, neuralgic pains in face, head, scalp, pain when I move my eyes deep in face
• body itching, itch deep inside ears, face
• skin on face, scalp, eyelids twitch randomly, like electric shocks
• fatigue, brain fog
• brain zaps
• pins needles in feet, body for example when I put my clothes on
• random warm feelings in legs

Here are pics of my red face flushed: https://ibb.co/album/WWw7VS
Bloodwork is ok. Is it some kind of long covid? Taking gabapentin, doesnt help too much. Please, tell me which lab tests should I take.

Hi, so I have been doing a version of NoPoo since the beginning of the year and there have definitely been pros and cons. I am from the UK so any product advice please needs to be procurable in the UK. To briefly explain, I don’t shampoo my hair at home, but I get my hair cut pretty much monthly and they do wash it. I have short soft mullet style hair and the NoPoo gives such a good texture that all I have to do to style is push it forward and let it curl. I started doing it because I have suffered from bad scalp problems which the doctors have tried tons of medical treatments on and each one starts working then stops working, and some can only be used for a short period of time. I felt like I could “reset” my hair with NoPoo and then found it worked well. I brush it infrequently with a boar brush as I’ll be honest I don’t have the patience to be consistent with it. I don’t really get visible flakes anymore but my scalp has remained really dry and flakey. It’s not dandruff it’s more like psoriasis or something, red and flakey. I’ve been thinking maybe there is a shampoo or product I can use that could help without returning to Medicated shampoo or regular washing.
So having said that, I feel that maybe I would be happy to wash once a month and that I would happily spend a fair bit of money on a product that works well as I won’t use it much.
Does anyone have any recommendations? Or should I go a different direction maybe?

I bought a bottle of the Tea Tree Tingle shampoo for $3.99 (16 oz bottle) at Trader Joe’s.
I went to shower and put my usual amount of the shampoo on my head and did my usual gentle massage with it. It lathers up nicely. I have a short #2 buzz cut.
I left it on my scalp for 5 minutes via Alexa timer then thoroughly rinsed it off.
Wow, the cooling effect was amazing and stopped the itching.
For the rest of the day:
No drying effect. No itching. No dandruff. My SebDerm areas looks a lot calmer. No redness.
This works better than any other medicated OTC and prescription shampoos that I have used in the past.
I give it a solid 5/5 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Also: I DON’T USE ANY CONDITIONERS EVER.

What are your general LPP symptoms?
Is it burning, piercing, itching, throbbing or dull ache?
Is it constant or intermittent? How frequent?
Is it on one side or bilateral? Is it mainly top of the head or even sides and lower back area?
Is your scalp always red?
Does it get better when doing certain activities like walking, eating or sleeping? Or none of those affect your sensations?
Do you experience days with sensations only shedding or shedding is always accompanying?
Do you notice any neck or headache type like pain? Or is it only scalp sensations?
Please help I can’t figure it out and my biopsy is couple months away!

Please any ideas of my symptoms
I had strong infection in August including swollen lymph node under armpit.
Woke up one day back then with my body on fire. Since then my symptoms include:

• whole body aches
• my back feels like its messed up, when I take breathe I feel stabbing pain in lots of areas, assymetry, even I feel deep stinging pain in throat/ear when I take breathe
• right shoulder pain, itching like neuropathy
• stabbing pains in face, head, ears
• burning eyes face
• redness on face, hot flushing, Red ears
• feeling of pain and asymmetry when walking
• deep pains in spine
• whole body pins needles, for example when I put on my clothes
• face skin eyelid twitching, scalp also, like electric shocks and skin jumping on head and face when I touch IT
• heatwaves burning on body mostly on evenings
• deep burning and hot feeling in legs and fingers
• whole body electric shocks, neuropathy so severe its painful to move my eyes
• bugs crawling under my skin
• constant phlegm/ post nasal drip

9 months of suffering. Only small improvement. Gabapentin, pregabalin, antihistamines without improvement. Good bloodwork. What should I do next? Mri, lumbar puncture?
I also have chronic genital infection resistant to antibiotics (but I still have some options like linezolid).
Its hell, I dont want to wake up anymore. Im trapped inside my body.

AFAB, 42, type II diabetes, chronic migraines, hypertension, polycystic ovarian syndrome, hyperthyroidism, obese, ADHD, anxiety, depression, PTSD, agoraphobia.
Propranolol, metformin, levothyroxine, methylphenidate, methylphenidate extended release, desvenlafaxine, zomitriptan. No vitamins or supplements.
One pet cat, no lifestyle changes such as a new pet, partner, diet, or move.
I've had huge, red, raised, intensely itchy hives over 90% of my body for weeks, scalp, ears, chin, neck, shoulders, both arms, chest, back , stomach, butt, legs, feet, even the soles of my feet and palms of my hands. It started suddenly, with no history of hives. I've also had my eye randomly swell shut and my lip swell up a couple times.
I've been taking famotidine twice daily and diphenhydramine throughout the day. It mostly controls or at least lessens it but there's no sign of actual improvement. The moment it wears off, the hives come roaring back.
I saw the doctor, who was concerned it could be an autoimmune condition, and had blood work done. They did a bunch of tests because they did my usual thyroid and a1c in there too. I think the relevant ones for the hives were C-reactive protein and anti-nuclear antibody screen.
The C-reactive protein came back as 1.6mg/dL. The antibody screen came back negative.
From what I read, 1.6mg/dL (I think that's 16mg/L?) is associated with autoimmune conditions, and is considered kinda high?
My doctor called it mildly elevated, though, and I guess paired with a negative anti-nuclear antibody test, my doctor says it's not an autoimmune disease.
I'm just a little confused about why it's elevated and why what I read makes it seem more concerning than my doctor's interpretation seemed. Lupus would have kinda made sense, tbh. But I guess I'm in the clear for autoimmune stuff? So what does it mean that it's that high? Or is it really not that high and I read things that weren't accurate?
The only other test that was abnormal was that my thyroid medication does was a little high. My thyroid is never stable, though. It is always too low or too high and my dose always changes.
So my doctor wants me to try a combination of Zyrtec, Allegra, famotidine, and prescription Singulair for a month and see how it goes.
I could include pictures of the hives/swelling, but they look exactly like hives/swelling.

We have tested EVERYTHING and we can’t figure it out. Details:
• Products: 10% sulfur soap, 5% urea, facial cream
Here’s the kicker – he said none of these products have the same smell. Not even the sulfur.
• Tested face products individually, and mixed together on my body. No smell.
• Tested shampoo and conditioner, on both of us. No smell.
• Not my sunscreen, not my face wash, not them mixed together either.
• It is only on my face. Nowhere else on my body, not my mouth, not my scalp, not my nose, my hair, or my ears.
• He describes it as a strong burnt, chemical smell but not like sulfur. He said it is NOT sweet, not fermented, nor fishy - just burnt.
• My diet is fine..I do not eat dairy, drink coffee, or eat a ton of red meat. I drink a lot of water + electrolytes.
• My medication has not changed, I only take adderall.
—-
But he says it’s so strong he can smell it in bed, and that it is for sure my cheeks and forehead, and disappears at the mouth and neck. WHAT IS HAPPENING?? Are there any skin conditions that can smell burnt that react with my skin products listed above??
edit ⚠️
LOL OMG HE HAS COVID

First of all I have an appointment with my PCP next week and getting a dermatology appointment is literally a 6 month wait so I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this.
Female, 24yo, Caucasian thyroid condition as well as some minor underlying issues which are unlikely to be a cause /have an effect.
I've only ever been allergic to penicillin but for the past 5 days I've been on and off with a rash mainly on my wrists. It started as skin colored / slightly red raised bumps (almost like a zit starting to form) and also slight swelling which could ofc have been due to my scratching.
It all started about 1 month ago when our dryer broke and we had to wash and dry our clothes in a public laundromat for 1 (!!!) wash only. The day after I was super itchy in my work clothes but all over my body and I suspected that either someone that used the laundry machine before us used a chemical I'm allergic to or washed something e.g. with fiberglass.
However since then I've occasionally gotten itchy on parts of my legs (calves), single points on my scalp, around my nose and - mainly - my wrists.
It's really odd because nowhere else seems to be a rash forming but the one on one of my hands has been, slowly but progressively, getting worse. I'm taking 5-10mg cetrizine atm and it has helped quite a bit with the itching however the past 2 days it seems like it's coming back around late at night and I'm just at a loss.
The raised bumps stay for about 24-48h after the itching has subsided, some have stayed all these days. On my right hand it has been slowly progressing past my wrist and I've been worried it's hives however my husband has experience with this and assured me it's a simple and very mild rash. He also denied it looking like scabies.
I get that it's likely an environmental thing like a newly developed allergie to pollen as the amounts here are moderate however I'm not sure if and when to be concerned. It all seems very disconnected and not related to specific clothes or anything that would touch my body, new soaps etc etc.
I'm also 90% sure it's not shingles as I've unfortunately had them before due to stress and that looked and felt different and wouldn't be all over my body.
When the rash starts flaring up it hurts a tiny bit (about 1-2/10) but subsides quickly.
Would just like to know what's a likely cause here bc every time I try to look up my kind of rash I only get pictures and cases of either clear scabies, hives, horrible horrible rashes etc. - nothing that looks like mine!
Basically I just want to know if I need to see urgent care tomorrow or can leave it be, even if it's slowly progressing up one of my arms, until my appointment next week.
Thanks in advance.

The definition I read mentioned the eye, area surrounding the eye, and forehead. I have it on my scalp, forehead, and one or two small bumps on my eyebrow. My eye feels completely fine other than a mild dry feeling. I read that it would be highly unusual for the eye not to be affected, and almost every case study I can find has a red eye or swollen shut. If it matters, it’s the lymph nodes on the back of my head and around my ear that are the most swollen.

All I seem to be able to find is hairdryers with 3 settings: 1. cold and useless, 2. scorches my ears and scalp and leaves me a red sweaty mess or 3. INFERNO!
Can anyone in the UK recommend one with at least one reasonable warm setting? Preferably ionic. Thanks!

Club Vlad sat near the confluence of Central Avenue and Washington Avenue, Albany’s two main thoroughfares. Two stories with blackout windows and a box office from when it used to be a movie theater, it was swarmed with people when Dom first spotted it ahead. He was somewhat familiar with it: He passed it every day on his way to work, and it was always busy around his time of evening, even on weeknights. Part of him always wanted to go inside and be a part of the scene, but he never did.
The man in sunglasses - his name was Joe - led Dom toward the club, and even before Joe spoke, Dom somehow knew that it was their destination. “There,” Joe said. “We’ll go around back.”
Dom and Joe had been walking for what seemed like an hour but couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes. Dom stuck as close to Joe as possible as if for protection, and had become accustomed to his pungent smell. It was noticeable only at extremely close range, part sickly sweet and part…something else, something Dom could not place but still somehow recognized. They were two blocks from the club, maybe three, and Dom could hear the pulsing techo/house/whatever music as clearly as if he were standing in the middle of the dancefloor. He could hear the chatter of the people inside, or at least he imagined he could. He could smell them too: Beneath the odors of perfume, desperation, and spiritual rot was something richer, something blissful. Dom realized for the first time that he was parched - so parched - and drool filled his mouth.
A crowd of people waited outside Club Vlad, talking and laughing; some vaped, some stared down at their cellphones like Gollum with his precious ring. Dom’s first reaction was to avoid them. Perhaps sensing this…or perhaps feeling it himself…Joe ducked into an alleyway two doors down from the club. “We’ll go in the back,” Joe explained.
The back entrance to Club Vlad was a single door underneath a bare bulb. The music was so loud that Dom’s head began to throb. Inside, a dark hallway terminated in an archway filled with throbbing white light. Dread filled Dom as they approached it - he didn’t want to be around people - but thankfully they went into a room off the hall instead. An office. A cramped desk, a filing cabinet. A set of stairs disappeared into shadows.
“Sit,” Joe said.
Dom obeyed, sitting in the swivel chair.
Joe went up the stairs and Dom was alone. The deep coldness that had long settled into his bones made itself known again, and Dom leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his chest for warmth. The muffled music vibrated in his skull, setting his teeth on edge, and the various smells wafting in from the main room assaulted his senses. He was alternately repulsed and aroused by the crashing din of scents: The good, the bad, and the mouth watering. A sharp pain cut through his stomach like the killing edge of a knife, and Dom hugged himself tighter. Had his throat always been this dry? His throat felt like sandpaper; his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and getting it unstuck hurt so badly that tears sprang to his eyes.
Dom rubbed his arms with his hands and tried to still his chattering teeth. He looked around for a blanket, a discarded jacket, something to cover himself with, but there was nothing. Only drifts of glitter on the floor and walls. He supposed it came from a party or something. He’d never been to a night club but it seemed fitting.
A sound drew his attention to the door leading back into the hall. A woman - no older than a girl - stood there, looking confused and unsteady. She was dressed in black, wore glow sticks around her wrists and neck, and held a red solo cup. “I have to pee,” she said drunkenly and laughed. “I thought this was the bathroom.”
A cold wind washed over Dom, and Joe was standing next to him. “The bathroom’s up here,” he said.
“Oh, good,” the girl laughed, “I thought it was here but I didn’t know. This is my first time here.” She held her cup aloft. “Take me to it.”
Joe glanced at Dom. “Come on.”
They formed a party as they climbed the stairs, Dom in the tear and Joe at the head. The girl stumbled and held onto the railing, talking incessantly. Her voice hurt Dom’s head, but the hot smell wafting from her was intoxicating. Drool coursed down his chin and his breathing came in short, hot bursts. Another sharp pain rent his stomach, and he winced.
At the top of the stairs, where the lights were cold and white, a woman in black stood by a doorway, her back ramrod straight and her eyes vacant. Her face was gaunt, her white flesh pulled tight across her skull. She wore a black dress and her black hair long and straight. Dom only caught a glance at her before looking away again.
She looked like a ghost.
“Show her the bathroom,” Joe said.
The woman’s eyes slowly, ponderles, went from Joe to the drunk girl. Her expression, like Joe’s, was dead. She had no expression. “This way.”
She and the drunk girl disappeared down the hall, and Joe led Dom into a room. Though it was pitch black, Dom could still see; not very well…but he could see. Suddenly, a blinding white light flicked on in front of him, causing him to stop and fall back a step. Ahead, through an archway, sat a vaulted chamber, at the center of which sat a man. To Dom’s light dazzled eyes, he seemed a proud king perched upon a throne, the skulls of his many enemies piled around him. Dom blinked and turned his head slightly to the side. His eyes began to adjust, and the world came into focus.
The man was not, as it had first seemed, sitting on a throne. Instead, he was esconded in a motorized wheelchair. The piles of skulls were actually various pieces of machinery, the kind you’d find in a hospital room. A clear tube extended from one of them to the side of the man’s neck: Yellow liquid flowed from the machine and into the man. Another tube, this one in the other side of his neck, filtered out a mixture of what looked like yellow pus and black sludge. An infected malodor filled the air, and the machines whirred softly as they worked.
As for the man himself, his appearance was normal at first glance, Dressed in a flowing red velvet robe, a blue and green blanket with a plaid pattern draped over his shoulders, he was portly, about fifty, and had shoulder length grayish hair with a bald spot in the middle. If the local theater put on a production of Hamilton, they could cast a worse Ben Franklin than him.
On closer inspection, he was not normal at all. His complexion was yellow and waxy, like a statue, and his body was lumpy, misshapen, resembling an overfilled trash bag stuffed with cotton. His eyes were sick and yellow, and something about his posture seemed…off. It didn’t make sense, but the only thing Dom could think was: He looks impossible.
Joe stopped at the edge of the shadows, where the line between light and darkness lay. He seemed to stand up a little straighter, a general greeting his king. “Here he is,” Joe said.
The man squinted slightly against the glare of the light and motioned with one gnarled hand. “Step into the light,” he said. His voice was soft and kind, that of a senile though loving grandmother. Dom imagined he felt a pull toward the man, and did as he was bidden, wincing as the light stung his eyes.
For a moment, the man stared at him, his waxen features frozen fast as stone. Then, a subtle look of compassion flickered across his face. Dom did not believe in God, but he suddenly felt like a man standing before God, his every thought, feeling, and transgression laid bare. He had never felt so naked in his life, so exposed. He had the sense that the man before him could see everything, knew everything.
“You’ve been through a lot,” the man said. It was not a question, but a statement.
Everything Dom had been through over the past couple of days came back to him in a rush, and hot tears filled his eyes. He nodded.
The man nodded slightly, more to himself than to Dom. “Kneel down,” he said, “I want to look at you.”
Dom knelt without question.
The man lifted one hand and touched Dom’s face, tilting Dom’s head from one side to the other like a farmer appraising a horse. His fingers were long and bony, his nails ragged and unkempt; his touch was like ice. He brushed his knuckles over the purple bruise on Dom’s cheek, and there was such gentleness in that one act that Dom broke down sobbing. He leaned into the man’s touch like a cat and gave voice to his misery.
“Shhh,” the man said, “it’s all over now.”
“W-What’s happening to me?” Dom asked.
In his heart of hearts, however, he already knew.
“You died,” the man said patiently. “And you came back.”
Hearing it stated so plainly, Dom cried even harder.
“Only a handful of people throughout history can claim to have defeated death,” the man said, stroking Dom’s hair, “and you’re one of them. You should be proud.”
“How?” Dom asked between sobs. “What am I?”
The man stroked Dom’s cheek. “You’re the same thing I am.”
At that, Dom looked up at the man. “What are you?” he asked.
A little, knowing smile touched the man’s lips, and when he spoke, his canine teeth were longer and sharper than before. “I’m a vampire.”
“No,” Dom moaned and shook his head, “no, no, no.” He grabbed the man’s hand and held tight, his tears coming faster. He trembled like a frightened animal and squeezed his eyes closed, as if by doing so he could escape the hell his life had become.
But there was no escape.
“You have a lot of questions,” the man said, monologuing now rather than speaking directly to Dom, “I had the same questions when I was your age. I have spent the last forty-two years of my life trying to answer them, but every answer I find leads me to still more questions. There’s one thing I’m certain of, though.”
Dom blinked the tears from his eyes. The last of them had been squeezed from his dead tear ducts and he had no more to give. He simply stared into space, trying to come to grips with his situation.
“There is freedom in death,” the man said. “Death is easy. It’s simple. Once it’s over, you feel no pain, no sadness, no grief. It’s living that’s hard.”
As he spoke, he brushed his long nails across Dom’s scalp. It was a soothing feeling, and served to calm him. “People have so many troubles.” A note of revulsion crept into his voice. “So many needs, so many desires. People are complex but we’re not. We’re easy to please. A vampire wants only two things: A little blood and one more night.”
The combination of his touch and his voice had pacified Dom to the point of almost tranquility. “I’m scared,” Dom heard himself mumble.
Nodding almost reluctantly, the man said, “Fear is one of the only emotions a vampire can’t escape. Everything feels fear. Do you want to know a secret?”
Dom nodded.
“I’m afraid too,” the man confessed. “I’m afraid of death. Well…death as it were. I’m terrified that my body will rot away and leave me a pile of bones somewhere, unable to move but still aware”
A shudder went through Dom.
“As I’m sure you’ve seen yourself, the movies lied. We rot just like any other dead thing. Our flesh decays, our organs turn to sludge, and we go from rational men to monsters whose only thought is feeding.”
Now it was his turn to shiver.
“But…you’re not like that,: Dom said.’
The man smiled. “I’m lucky, I guess” A thin yellow fluid began to drip from his nostrils. He did not seem to notice. “What is your name?”
“Dominick,” Dom said.
“I’m Merrick,” the man said, “and this is my family.”
Dom realized that they were now surrounded by others, ten in all. They stood ramrod straight, their eyes vacant and their faces devoid of humanity. They were mainly men, though one was a woman. Some were pale, others were blue or black, and one was little more than a skeleton clad in withered brown skin, a white button up and jeans hanging from its frame.
A thought occurred to Dom. “You said my brain was going to rot…”
“Not necessarily,” Merrick cautioned, “though it’s possible.”
“Am I going to be…?”
“Like them?” Merrick asked. “Braindead and staring?”
Sheepishly, Dom nodded.
“Maybe,” Merrick allowed. “But these people are free of everything that troubles humanity. You were human just a short time ago. I’m sure you remember all too well what it was like. The constant politics, the moral quandaries, the philosophical pontificating. Human beings - and make no mistake, we are humans - were not meant for all of that. We’re animals. We were made to hunt, fuck, and sleep. Somewhere along the way, we got pretentious and started complicating things.” He looked at Dom, sizing him up, seeming to read him. “Things that animals take for granted, people work their entire lives to achieve. If an animal wants to fornicate, it fornicates. If a man wants to fornicate, he needs to be tall, handsome, rich, funny, progressive when it suits women but traditional when it doesn’t. If a man wants a home, he has to work thirty years for it. An animal has only to dig a hole in the ground.”
Every word struck a chord with Dom.
Because every word was true.
“Unfortunately, the living won’t allow us to live that freely, so we have to hide. These people here - my children - need a guiding hand, a protector, someone who can lead them. And I, an old man, need help.” Here he smiled playfully and patted his bulging stomach. “My body is mostly sawdust and cotton balls at this point, so I can’t do much. I share my wisdom and my knowledge with them, and they take care of me.”
“Why haven’t you…rotted?” Dom asked.
“Embalming fluid,” Merrick said. “Blood doesn’t sustain you. Embalming fluid does.” He smiled at Dom. “It can sustain you as well. If you’ll stay with us. We’re not the most attractive bunch, but we’re a family, and we really wish you’d join us.”
A family.
Dom’s parents had broken up and he lived with his mother. He had never had a family before, and had always wanted one, a real one, like in the movies. Even as a grown man, he sought the love, acceptance, and belonging that a family brings. He sought it in the wrong ways, but that - and not sex, not romantic love - is what he had really wanted all along.
This is what he had wanted all along.
“I want to,” Dom said.
Working quickly, Merrick slashed his wrist open with his thumbnail. An ugly mixture of stale blood, siphoned from someone else, and embalming fluid leaked out. “If you choose to drink, my blood will be in you. You will be my son and I will be your father. You will obey me as your father. You will do whatever is asked of you for this family, as this family will do for you. You will not reveal the secrets of this family to anyone outside of it. You will protect this family from all threats, both inside and out. Do you accept?”
He held his bleeding wrist out to Dom.
Dom did not question, nor did he hesitate. He grabbed the hand of his father, brought it to his mouth, and drank from the seeping wound. The fluid was cold, thick, and vile.
It tasted like belonging.
“Have you fed yet?”
“No,” Dom said.
“Before you do, I have a question for you. Who did this to you? Who made you?”
Dom thought. Everything was hazy. “Was it someone in this room?” Merrick asked.
Dom shook his head. “Her name is…” he wracked his brain. “Heather.”
Merrick nodded. “So there’s another out there.” He looked at Joe. “Did you turn her?”
“Yes,” Joe said.
Merrick looked annoyed. “I’ve told you not to go out and feed on your own. You have no self-control. You drink too much and create others, which creates headaches for the family. Tomorrow night, I want you and Dom to find her and bring her here.” “Okay,” Joe said.
Merrick looked over Dom’s shoulder. “Jess? Can you come here?”
The black haired woman from earlier came out of the shadows, the drunk girl with her, arms tied behind her back. The girl looked dazed. “Max,” Merrick said to the skeletal corpse-thing, “help her.”
Max, Jessie, and another vampire named Matt tied chains around the girl’s ankles and hoisted her aloft via a pulley system. Upside down, she swung back and forth. Merrick instructed the others to leave the room. “Max,” he said.
On his way out, the corpse-thing produced a knife and dragged it across the girl’s throat, slicing her skin; blood spurted out. Max leaned in to taste it, but Merrick shooed him away. When he and Dom were alone, Merrick told Dom, “Go to her.”
But Dom was already on his feet, his eyes transfixed by the crimson life flowing from her pumping throat. The hot, rich smell filled his nostrils and tantalized his senses. Saliva filled his mouth and his stomach panged with hunger. Some small, human part of his decaying brain screamed at him to stop, but he did not listen to it. He had been human for almost thirty years, and he had been miserable. Now, in this chamber of the undead, he gave himself over to his dark thirst. Like a man in a dream, he shuffled to her, inhaled the sweet scent of her blood, and shivered. He was so lost in lust that he hardly noticed the strange, cumbersome feeling of his descended fangs.
“Drink,” Merrick said.
Opening his mouth wide, Dom sank his teeth into the girl’s neck. Her blood filled his mouth and splashed down his throat. Warmth thawed the ice in his marrow and spread through him. His dead heart began to flutter, then to pound. His knees shook, his body trembled, and his mind rolled away on a tide of ecstasy.
As it was his first meal, he couldn’t drink much. Before long, his stomach was hard and distended and his body burned with fire. He collapsed to a heap on the floor and twitched as random nerve endings, stimulated by the blood, began to misfire. He felt full, warm, and drunk. He closed his eyes and let himself drift.
Dominick Mason had died.
And this…
This was heaven.
***
With all that was happening in the city of Albany, the last thing Bruce Kenner needed on Thursday morning was a visit from Bertha the bitch, but that’s exactly what he got. She flew into his office like she owned the place and instantly started in on him. Young man this and have you talked to Joe Rossi that. You’d think she was his boss. And if she were his boss, he’d quit and find another line of work. He heard McDonald’s was hiring.
Bruce almost snapped at her. He’d been up most of last night riding around Albany and looking for Dominick Mason. He and Vanessa expected him to drop dead somewhere close to the medical examiner’s office, but if he had, he’d done so in a super secret location.
“I’ve been busy,” Bruce said, “but I’m going to go by his place of work today.”
Tired and still confused over that bullshit from last night, he had no energy to argue with the old crone. He could spare a few minutes to talk to Joe Rossi, he figured. He assumed that Jessie was safe but he owed it to her to check. If he found the girl, he’d take her back to her grandmother (sorry, kid, really) and try to avoid arresting the guy. Unless he came off as a creep, then he’d bust his ass. See, people assumed that an older guy with a younger girlfriend was some master manipulator hell bent on evil deeds. Sometimes they were, but hell, his grandparents married when his grandpa was twenty-one and his grandma sixteen. They were married for fifty-five years and loved each other to the end. Maybe it was innocent, maybe not. It wasn’t his job to judge either way. Just gimme the girl so I can get her grandma off my back and no one gets hurt.
“It’s about time you started doing your job,” Bertha said, “I heard on the police scanner last night that you people lost a body. What kind of town is this? Your coroner is a drunk who makes up stories about bodies walking away. He probably sold it to black people.”
Bruce couldn’t help it; he snorted laughter.
“Now what would black people want with a dead body?”
“Probably to use it as a prop in one of their rap videos.”
Bruce didn’t know much about music videos, but he was pretty sure that the people who made them didn’t like the smell of corpse any more than the rest of us. “I’ll be sure to round up all the local rappers for questioning. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Luckily for him, there was not, and Bertha left shortly thereafter. Alone and able to hear himself think, Bruce sat back in his chair and went over his mental checklist for the day. First order of business, go to Club Vlad. Second, find Dominick Mason. There were others, but that was the most important. He wanted the body found so someone could get to work explaining this whole weird thing. There had to be an explanation. The thought that there wasn’t, that a dead guy literally rose from the grave and disappeared into the night, deeply disturbed Bruce, and the more this whole thing remained ongoing, the more disturbed he would become.
Needing some fresh air, he decided to hit up Club Vlad.
Outside, the day was hot and sunny. Waves of heat shimmered from the pavement and not a single breath of air stirred in the whole world. Bruce slipped on a pair of sunglasses and drove over to Club Vlad. It occurred to him that the place might be closed during the day; it was the only place Joe Rossi was associated with. His address in the computer system was Glens Falls, far to the north. The messages he sent Jessie indicated that he lived onsite at Club Vlad.
The build, wedged between a corner store and a check cashing place, was as grimy and dumpy looking as it had always been. The front windows were blacked out and covered with posters and fliers for punk concerts, house bands, and far left political organizations: The Albany Social Justice Center, something called Bash the Fash 2025, and Bruce’s favorite. ACAB. He caught some kid spraying that on the side of the police station once, and under extreme police torture (ie, a good tongue lashing), the kid told him it meant All Cops Are Barnacleheads.
Bruce shot the kid on the spot and planted a gun on him.
How's that for barnaclehead?
Calm down, he didn’t really do that. He made him clean the graffiti off with a toothbrush. LOL he was out there for hours.
The sidewalk in front of the former theater was empty save for some little. The box office was abandoned. There was no open sigh, but then again, there was no closed sign either. He parked his cruiser at the curb, killed the engine, and got out, sweat instantly springing to his brow.
To his surprise, the door opened. Inside, a couple steps led down to a dance floor. A bar lined the wall to his right, and a couple more sets led up to a railed platform filled with tables. Above, a huge balcony looked down on him. A giant disco ball hung from the ceiling like a pair of glittery nuts and there were cages here and there. Presumably where girls danced go-go style. Oh yeah, nothing hotter than a woman behind bars. Why do you think Bruce became a cop in the first place?
Speaking of glittery nuts, there was glitter everywhere. On the floor, on the tables, on the bar. It twinkled like flecks of diamond and swirled around your feet when you walked. Bruce imagined big buckets of the stuff raining down on the dance floor at midnight and he shuddered. Imagine having glitter stuck in your hair. That shit would never come out.
Music played from the sound system, not as loud as it would be during operating hours. It sounded like ‘80s metal, not exactly what he expected from a place like this.
Some say life she's a lady
Kinda soft, kinda shady
I can tell you life is rich
She's no lady, she's a bitch
Being morning, the place was deserted except for a man behind the bar, busy at cleaning the countertop in anticipation for the night’s events. He was tall, Hispanic or Italian, and feminine, with a single earring and a tank top.
Bruce moseyed over to the bar and the barkeep looked up, missing a beat when he realized the fuzz was here. He sat down his rag and walked over. “Can I help you?” he asked in a whispy voice.
“Yeah,” Bruce said, “I’m looking for Joe Rossi. Is he here?”
“I don’t know,” the bartender said. He looked nervous. “I can check.”
Before Bruce could answer, he scurried off, leaving him alone.
They suck my body out
But friend there is no doubt
I'm gonna pay the devil his dues
Cause I'm sick of being abused
Bruce looked around, his fingers absently drumming on the countertop. Club Vlad was a clashing mix of grunge and glam that made his head hurt. He imagined what the place must be like at midnight, packed and noisy, and nodded to himself. Yeah, this was the spot, he guessed, the place all the cool kids went, if they went anywhere anymore. Hell, if he was thirty years younger, he might come here.
He had been waiting for almost twenty minutes when a voice spoke behind him. He turned with a start, and beheld the strangest man he had ever seen in his life. Short and plump - lumpy, even - he sat in a wheelchair, a red blanket draped over his shoulders and his hands resting on his knees. He was about fifty with sparse gray hair falling to his shoulders and a plastic-looking face. He looked like a wax statue of Ben Franklin come to life, and a deep sense of disquiet stirred in the pit of Bruce’s stomach.
Just can't fight the temptation
It's become my inspiration
Gonna get myself an axe
Break some heads, break some backs
It was only then that Bruce noticed the sickly sweet smell of death.
It seemed to come from the man in waves.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” the man said, “my name is Merrick Garvis and I own Club Vlad. Maybe I can be of assistance.”
Bruce grew up in the south where manners and saving face were paramount. His mother and his grandmother both taught him that it was impolite to stare. Maybe he'd been in New York so long that he’d forgotten himself, or maybe Merrick Garvis was just the strangest looking man in the world. Either way, Bruce couldn’t help gaping at his strange appearance. Recovering, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, I -”
Merrick smiled and waved one hand. Why was it so goddamn skeletal? “Don’t worry. I was injured in a fire a long time ago and this is the best they could do for me. To be honest, I’d stare too. What can I help you with, officer?”
“I’d like to talk to Joe Rossi,” Bruce said. “I understand he works for you.”
“He did,” Merrick said, “but I had to let him go. Did he do something wrong?”
Bruce sighed. “Well, yeah, he’s shacked up with a sixteen year old runaway.”
A look of concern crossed Merrick’s features, such as they were. “Oh, my, that is concerning. I haven’t seen him in several days. I assume he went home. He lives in Glens Falls.”
Bruce nodded, his mind working. If Rossi really was in Glens Falls, that meant the whole mess was someone else’s problem. He could send Bertha up there to bother some other poor barnacle head and be rid of her. Yet…he didn’t think Rossi was in Glens Falls. Bruce had a knack for knowing when people were lying, and he was certain that Merrick Garvis was doing just that. It couldn’t be a facial tick, as his features were largely unmoving, like clay. Maybe it was something in his cloudy eyes. Maybe it was the tone of his voice. Or maybe Bruce had the shining and knew things just for the hell of it. In any event, the certainty that Merrick Garvis was lying grew stronger with each passing second.
“Why’d you fire him?”
“He got drunk and hit one of the customers.”
“What did he do?” Bruce asked. “What was his position?”
“He was a bouncer.”
“Aren’t bouncers supposed to hit people?”
Merrick fumbled. “Well…not to punch them in the face for bumping into them.”
“How long did he work for you?”
“Six months.”
“Did you ever see him with an underage girl?”
“Of course not,” Merrick said, “you have to be twenty-one to get in. I make sure everyone’s ID is checked at the door.”
“What if she had a fake ID?”
“Then I guess she’d get in, but I’d assume she was of legal age.”
“You said he shoved someone, when did this happen?”
“Last week,” Merrick said.
“I thought you said he hit someone.”
Merrick again fumbled. “I did.” Now his face seemed to darken a little. A strange yellowish liquid, too thin to be snot, began to drip from his nostrils. Bruce barely suppressed a smear of disgust. “I understand you have a job to do but playing mind games with me isn’t going to solve anything. I can give you his address. Other than that, I can’t help you further.”
“Fair enough,” Bruce said. “But I’d like to see your ID please.”
Merrick glared at him. “I suppose you want my name, rank, and serial number as well.”
“Actually, yeah, I’d love that.”
Merrick drew a deep sigh. “Okay.”
In five minutes, Bruce had Merrick’s ID, social, and all other relevant information. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have bothered, even though he was well within his rights to ask for this information from someone he was questioning. But something about Merrick Garvis was off, and not just his weird face or strangely bulbous body. Bruce was just smart enough to realize that something was going on here, but not quite smart enough to even begin to imagine what.
When he had everything he needed and saw no reason to stick around, Bruce bid Merrick farewell and left the club. Before he could do anything else, he got a call from dispatch: Officer needed assistance in Pine Hills. Bruce slipped behind the wheel and went forth to help, momentarily putting Merrick Garvis out of his mind.
But soon or later, he would get back to him.
Oh yes he would.

I've been balding since I was in my early 20's and I'm now, the initial balding happened around 26 and did seem a bit rapid (but I had my hair long so it would have covered up any balding spots) I decided to just shave my head and have been doing that since so I haven't paid much attention to my hair but I did notice my bald spot getting bigger over time, I assumed it was just Male Pattern Baldness and that was it.
Recently I've been having stomach issues so I decided to go on a low inflammation diet, low acid, and mainly very healthy food. While on this diet I started to notice my hair seemed to be getting darker and seemed a bit fuller than it used to be so I decided to start trying to grow it back. I tried random stuff like rosemary oil daily with some melatonin topically, as well as Stemoxydine, and also tried ketoconazole shampoo because I heard it was effective and I did always notice my head had random redspots and generally seemed irritated. I also started taking Finnestride 3 weeks ago. Fast forward to recently I noticed an explosion in growth, my crown that was mostly bald seems to be filling up with white hairs that eventually turn dark, and the bald region started to shrink. This doesn't sound too crazy for Finnestride, but the same is happening in my hairline where I was completely bald for at least 10 years, my temple points are also regrowing as well. I do also have some redness and irriration all over so this could even be a fungal thing? I'm guessing I still have some MPB but it doesn't seem to be that bad given the level of regrowth.
I do have Eczema, and this could be some kind of sebderm or autoimmune thing, but it doesn't look like normal regrowth from MPB to me, but I could also be completely off the mark as I'm not an expert. Thanks!
Pictures Temple area that was previously bald: https://i.imgur.com/hPQqRTu.png
Crown area filling up (lot of new white hairs): https://i.imgur.com/nItECbV.png (Note the bigest red dot on the bottom is because my hat was stabbing my head the rest of the redness is always there.
Side of face: https://i.imgur.com/ytXSFlU.png
Some pictures from before
Front facing shot from 2 months ago (longer hair): https://i.imgur.com/j4qWI15.png
Crown shot from 2 months ago (longer hair): https://i.imgur.com/baNDTxY.png
Scalp from 2 weeks ago: https://i.imgur.com/SaGiNcZ.png
Crown from 2 weeks ago: https://i.imgur.com/5FnPV61.png

•DCA dollar cost average •Order book •Liquidation Chart •Depth view •Open Interest •Funding rate •Fibonacci Retracement •Fear and Greed index

1. Moving Averages (MA): • 5 SMA 10 SMA 20 SMA 40 SMA
   
2. Bollinger Bands (BB/BOLL): • 28 SMA or 30SMA • Scalping • Identify first trending or in a range, works well in trending market • Should work with MACD, RSI • Relative strength—or momentum • The price relatively low (attractive) if it is near the lower band, and relatively high (overvalued) if it's near the upper band. • Also help assess volatility. • Lagging indicator.
   
3. Ichimoku Cloud: • Tenkan Sen: 20 [Conversion line Blue] • Kijun Sen: 60 [Base Line Red] • Senkou Span A and B: 120 [Both Leading Span, Light Green, Light Red] • Displacement: 30 [Lagging Span White]
   
4. Volume Profile: Must have
   
5. MACD: • 12 EMA & 26 EMA 9 Close • Trends, momentum, and possible breakouts • Lagging indicator. • The signal line is sometimes referred to as the trigger line.
   

6.Relative Strength Index (RSI): • Momentum oscillator • Shows a market is overbought or oversold • 14 SMA • Works well in range not in trend

1. Stochastic oscillator (KD): • Momentum indicator that is used to indicate overbought or oversold • It signals a potential trend reversal

PS: Multiple indicators overkill.

I was working last year at a stressful job in finance (100ish hours a week), and developed a very itchy scalp and noticed significant shedding. I went to the doctor and got diagnosed with seb Derm- Nizoral seemed to help reduce the problem.
My scalp is fine now, but I am having occasional redness in my inner ear that’s likely the seb Derm acting up. My scalp looks normal according to dermatologists, but I have insane shedding behind my ear and nape- but the top of my head is unaffected along with my hairline. If I lightly pull, 4-5 hairs come out. My nape has thinned out.
I got a blood test done and noticed low ferritin and am taking supplements but have not seen a change. My dermatologist is dumbfounded and just says it might be MPB or TE - ie she has no clue.
For those with MPB, how obvious is the shedding? I’m not sure what my case could be- I have significant chronic stress tho.

I was diagnosed with seb derm around the beginning of Covid and since then I've had mixed results in using certain things. Ketoconazole works after using it consistently for a couple weeks, and it also seems like my mom's super oily moisturizers worked almost instantly.
I recently had a flare up and used ketoconazole and it was sorta working but then I also added my new moisturizer and even my left over patches of red skin looked normal pretty much overnight.
My derm gave me new ketoconazole shampoo which hasn't helped a ton with my scalp seb derm yet, and she also gave me betamethasone dipro which I'm hesitant to use since it's a steroid.
I'm thinking my seb derm is mostly caused by dryness and seasons changing. Is there a good chance that my scalp's seb derm will work the same way as the stuff on my face? I'm thinking I might just need a shampoo that moisturizes the scalp.
If so anyone have any recommendations for shampoos that moisturize the scalp that don't have almond / nuts in them?

Hi. I've had eczema all my life but it had always been very mild and could be kept under control. People have never asked if I jad eczema because it was never quite visible. Anyway, I've recently moved from a soft water city in Asia to Birmingham in the UK, and it's only been 3 months when I immediately started developing unusual skin conditions like seborrheic dermatitis - something I've never had before in my life. It started from my scalp, at first I thought it was just dandruff and that I wasn't washing my hair as frequently but it started to spread all over my face too, my face would develop red itchy patches, so serious I had to take a day or two off school. Although having eczema, I never had it on my face as they would just be on areas like behind my knees or behind my elbow. Then I went to the GP and he gave prescribed me Nizoral which helped with that massively. However, I am still experiencing these red rashes on my face which is EXTREMELY painful and I've used steroids + protopic and they would keep it under control for at most 5 days until I have to use them again. My arm, around my waist and my entire neck have also always felt itchy. I've cut all dairy products, seafood, beef and eggs since 8 years ago and have continued to do so so I don't think it's to do with the food. Now, I'm thinking it may have something to do with the water I shower with. I know that Birmingham had relatively less hard water compared to London or more down south but it's still a lot harder compared to the water I've used my entire life in Hong Kong. Could that be the cause? Does anyone have experiences similar to mine? Any advice on what to do now? Will installing a water filter help? Thanks!

Had SebDerm for more than 10 years, mainly on my forehead, eyebrows and chin area (red inflamed & flaky). Over the years it sort of progressed to my back too.
Medicated with Nizoral (Ketoconazole) & Fucicort (Steriod) cream all these years as per recommended by my dermatologist. The cream worked well in the beginning, but as time went by, the flare up became worst and it came to a point where the cream don't seem to work anymore.
After researching and experimenting on my own last year. I'm glad to share that I have not had a flare up since Oct 2023. The 2 products I have been using are,

• Dermaharmony 2% Pyrithione Zinc Face & Body Cleansing Bar
  • Started off using twice daily (day and night) to wash my face, hair and whole body. Took about 1~2 week before seeing some result. When I first started using the soap, it caused my face to be very red and dry/flaky. So after applying the BHA Liquid Exfoliant, during day time I applied the Vanicream sun screen / moisturizer. While for the night, I applied Cetaphil Redness Reliving Night Moisturizer. I no longer apply those after I ran out of them as my skin condition got better and mainly because I'm too lazy.
  • Currently using twice daily (day and night) to wash my face and back only (instead of whole body). Occasionally, I use it on my hair if I feel my scalp itching. Otherwise, I'm mainly using Clear Men Shampoo twice daily for my hair which also contains Zinc Pyrithione.
• Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant
  • Started off using once daily (day) with additional layer of sun screen/moisturizer (Vanicream)
  • Currently using once every 2 days (night) without sun screen

Created a Reddit account just to share this. Hopefully my experience will help someone out there :)
Update: List of other products I tried which I think did not really made a difference for me

• MCT Oil (C8 & C10)
• LA ROCHE-POSAY Lipikar Baume AP+M
• MooGoo Scalp Cream
• MooGoo MSM Moisturizer