Joint aches with a fever

I’m just trying to find people who also have outbreaks like these.
It’s not on my lips it occurs in the roof of my mouth and I can’t eat for several days. It hurts to talk and I wake up with a very sore mouth. The sores also comes with a sore throat, fever and body aches before they appear on my mouth.
This is my second outbreak in 2 months. I just got diagnosed with HSV 1 😔

Hi,
So, these last years I've been having increasing issues the days after I've taken a bath. It's mostly the ankles and arms, especially the ankles. It starts to show up the day after and gets the worst in the evening so ~24hrs after I've taken the bath. Together with that I also have like a general feeling of sickness, kinda like when you are in the early stages of an infection but no fever or anything like that. It goes away on its own after 24-48h so it's not a huge deal but I just don't really understand what causes it. I don't have that joint pain otherwise and I never get it from showers.

Female, 27, 5'1, 119lbs, no medications. non-smoker.
I have a history of pancreatitis, IBS, minor stomach ulcers etc.
I started with what I thought was a stomach bug or food poisoning, diarrhea, chills and high temperature, extreme pain in the abdomen and distention, migraine, and joint pain.
I had had pancreatic flares before and never had symptoms other than severe pain predominately on one side. I know pancreas pain and it doesn't seem like this is the main issue, I am sure all are playing off each other anyways.
Once the headache, fever, and joint pain subsided, I was left with stabbing gut pain and severe bloat for over a week now. Anything I eat or drink hurts, and I now have severe hemorrhoids which I have had in the past. I can't have solid stool, I get huge stomach pain and a minor amount of loose sludge if I am lucky. It's not easing up and I have a prescription of Anusol coming tomorrow for a start but I fear there's a deeper issue going on. I should note there is also a strong burning sensation all over my abdomen.
Thoughts? I'd love to avoid the hospital if possible.

I just got my third and last Reclast infusion a week ago. I am 68 years old, I have had this drug before, but this time it has really been hard. Had bad joint pain, fever, chills in the first 6 -12 hours, since then, the fatigue and joint pain are staying with me. Has anyone else experienced this? The last 2 times I was pretty ok after 72 hours.

I’d really appreciate any advice and reassurance.
I (29 year old female) have felt something was off for two years after having a baby in 2022.
It started with unexplained gut issues: - fast bowel motility - undigested food in stools - a weird pattern of major 3 day long cramping sessions accompanied with frequent diarrhoea that would resolve when I stopped eating for a day or two. Cycle happened a few times a month. - low b12 and iron but I eat meat regularly
As time went on: - dermatitis-like rashes in breast that come and go - also dry red skin on vulva area - noticed the appearance of flat warts in numerous body locations - more recently, have been dealing with constant staph infections (mainly boils, one turned into a nasty abscess and needed antibiotics) and still am.
My gut issues are still here two years on but Amitryptyline medication has reduced the cramping episodes by 80%. My breast eczema comes and goes and the staph&warts are more recent (within 6months).
At the beginning of this year (2024):

• I’ve dealt with joint/bone pain that comes in episodes.
• When I’m sick or highly stressed, I get deep aches in some of my bones, shooting pain (especially leg)
• also what feels like arthritis-type pains in my or near joints (fingers, hands, knees, hip/groin).

These episodes come and go too, I can be okay for a few weeks and then they trigger, sometimes without a cause I can identify.
Tests I’ve had for my gut in late 2022: - colonoscopy (polyps removed) - gastroscopy (gastritis) - mri small bowel (no findings) - abdominal ultrasound in 2023 (clear)
I’ve had normal fbc, lft, kidney function tests, protein electrophoresis etc through these two years. The only exception was:
Previous bloodwork showing some abnormalities:
https://ibb.co/VT7CHcG
https://ibb.co/GdYSFXy
As compared to my normal results, done a week after the odd ones:
Most recent bloodwork:
https://ibb.co/Msr6GpH
https://ibb.co/kSRmN53
https://ibb.co/99VFjTw
https://ibb.co/bzH9V7F
Other info: - I’m a very anxious person, the last two years have been chronic stress filled. - major health anxiety after having a baby due to my gut issues and ocd, for a year I felt like I had cancer and still worry about it. - my appetite hasn’t been there since gut issues started, it’s like I’m disconnected from my gut - I don’t get hunger pangs etc anymore. - breastfeeding for 25 months
I’d really appreciate any opinions on whether this is likely to be something sinister or not. I’m constantly worried I have cancer and going to lose my child 😣 I really appreciate any comments.
Thank you

I am 24. For reference I am Female to Male Transgender, no operations, on testosterone.
I have had pain for a long time, more prevalent in the past 6 years, but have had problems for significantly longer.
I have always gotten bad muscle cramps from a young age, especially in my calf muscles, the earliest I remember I would have been about 7-8 and I would often wake up from them, though that has not happened in a few years now asides from a random once or twice.
The pain is mostly in my joints, especially hips, knees, back (upper, middle and lower,) neck and fingers.
I have PCOS, and T2 Diabetes diagnosed in 2020, at age 20.
I am 173cm, 108kg. I am not too active at this point in time due to my pain, however 2 years ago I was walking an average of 10k steps a day 4 days a week, and actively working out with weights. Did not help the pain at all, and was having to rest often or I’d be in too much pain to stand.
I also have gut issues, seemingly always ulternating between constipated and diarrhoea. Very sensitive to the sun, with l sunscreen on i will still burn on my face which often leads to extreme swelling and my eyes being stuck closed. Overall sensitivity to light, and eye muscle pain. Psoriasis(?) on face which suddenly appeared after a bad sunburn.
I get headaches very often, and nausea, I recently randomly fainted after a brainfreeze which had never happened before, but feeling dizzy and lightheaded is common.
I have jaw pain, TMJ, and have dislocated my jaw twice from overextention (yawning.)
I get severe pain in my fingers and hands, typing even just this causes my thumbs to seize up a bit and makes typing a lot harder on my phone. And I wake up with weakness in my hands daily and am unable to do basic tasks for an amount of time.
Chronic fatigue, anxiety and depression also prevalent throughout my life.
Arthritis of many types runs in my family, my aunt has lupus, both of my maternal grandparents have Ankylosing Spodylitis. All have been ruled out (though need to get retested for Lupus)
Starting to get frustrated at doctors not caring and saying there’s nothing wrong, blaming my weight etc.
Are there any specific tests I should ask for? Any referrals that would be most beneficial? I was told rheumatologist, but then the doctor wouldn’t actually refer me so… yeah.
Just want answers at this point, starting to struggle, 1-2 hours on my feet and my whole bodt is aching for the next 12.

I got bit by a tick last year and was given antibiotics for testing positive to anaplasmosis. Definitely know where I got the tick from and 2-3 days later started feeling awful but never found rash or a tick that had bitten on me. This past weekend I found a tick on me dead that had bitten me, not burrowed, and not engorged. It was just latched onto my skin. I believe it came from our golden retriever who takes that medicine that kills them when they bite and had bitten her first and then tried to bite me but died before it could really feed from me. My question is: does it have to be burrowed in to me and have fed to make me sick, or is the fact that it hadn’t eaten and was dead mean I’m in the clear? It was on me for probably 16-18 hours tops. I’m just worried mainly because my girlfriend is sick with fever, body aches and a headache and I’m really not trying to think I have whatever she’s got when it could be a tick born illness again.

I'm kinda new to weightlifting (coming from a boxing and martial arts background with casual body building), having started learning the clean & jerks and snatch a few months ago. I have an Olympic-level coach who's gone to worlds but he's an old fellow, a little on the grumpy side whenever I come to him for advice on pains and weird stuff I feel. I'm no longer comfortable going to him for this type of stuff.
Can you guys please share some of the pains and discomforts you have as a weightlifter? It would just help to hear how others are handling their situation. I've been feeling anxious and scared about the smallest things like knee tightness/clicking, shoulder joint aches, and sometimes on/off tennis elbow. I'm not sure if I'm whittling away at my ligaments/tendons and whether I should stop certain movements for now. Luckily I've never had a true injury before, aside from schoolyard ankle sprains that were better the next few days.
My shoulder joint feels like I impinged it or almost pulled something; it's not painful and there's no loss in range of motion but it is uncomfortable and the occasional pangs are annoying.
EDIT: Just went through the rules. For the record, I'm not looking for medical or physiotherapy advice. I just wanted to know what you guys are going through and how you're coping with it because I don't know how common or expected some of these discomforts are.

Tldr: the process of RCT (converting CE to RCE) can be inverted so that some of the positive energy that forms the body can be sacrificed to produce massive amounts of CE. This technique is extremely dangerous and will almost certainly result in the death of the sorcerer unless it is perfectly controlled.
This is an idea I had when I was thinking of different techniques from DragonBall that could be adapted to JJK. Most of the techniques in DragonBall equate to simple CE manipulation, but Tien's Ki-Ko-Ho (aka TriBeam) inspired me.
Ki-Ko-Ho is said to use "life energy" which somehow is different from "ki" in DBZ, but this isn't really expanded on as far as I can remember. Master Roshi claims that each use of the Ki-Ko-Ho shortens Tien's lifespan, and we saw that spamming the Shin Ki-Ko-Ho against Semi-Perfect Cell nearly killed Tien.
So this is where we move to JJK. It's established that the bodies of Curses are made of negative energy (aka Curse Energy) while the bodies of Humans are made of positive energy. This is why Curses can easily heal themselves with CE while advanced sorcerers must perform the Reverse Curse Technique to generate positive energy (aka Reverse Curse Energy).
In a previous era, a Limitless+Six Eyes (LL+6E) sorcerer survived a near-death battle by attaining a certain level of enlightenment and unlocking the Reverse Curse Technique. Still shaken by the experience, the sorcerer began to meditate for an extended period of time. This sorcerer had tremendous CE output but a fairly limited CE pool, and he was seeking some solution this limitation. Eventually, he reached a bone-chilling conclusion.
In the Reverse Curse Technique (as explained by Gojo), two bundles of CE can be multiplied against each other the produce RCE/positive energy, but the technique requires tremendous amounts of CE and is inefficient: the sum of the 2 CE bundles is greater than the amount of RCE produced. The sorcerer concluded that the RCT process could theoretically be inverted: by using a small amount of CE to split a bundle of positive energy, a tremendous amount of CE would be released into the body to temporarily supercharge CE manipulation, reinforcement, or even one's CT. The amount of CE released is equivalent to the amount of positive energy sacrificed.
Of course, this technique would be extremely dangerous and requires supreme levels of CE control even attempt (possibly even awareness of one's Soul). (1) The process is far more complicated than simply cutting off part of one's body. It requires near-impossible levels of CE control. (2) It quite literally involves the sorcerer sacrificing a part of their body: if too much is sacrificed, the sorcerer will simply die. (3) As the process is comparable to nuclear fission, insufficient CE control can lead the RCE-CE conversion to spiral out of control, resulting in an explosion of CE that will certainly kill the sorcerer.
In practical use, the Body Sacrifice Technique is a self-imposed binding vow and thus follows the rules of self-imposed binding vows. By sacrificing some part of their body, a sorcerer gains a massively increased CE pool. This effect is permanent as long as the sorcerer doesn't heal the sacrificed portion of their body (and no one else heals it for them). For a sorcerer with deep understanding of their own Soul, an unbreakable Binding Vow can be placed: by irreversibly sacrificing part of their body and soul (akin to Idle Transfiguration), the sorcerer will gain even more CE than with the regular Body Sacrifice Technique. However, as seen in Naobito vs Jogo, losing part of one's body can disrupt a sorcerers muscle memory, throws off their balance in combat, and could even interfere with properly using CT or DE. In addition, the extreme surge of CE may also damage the rest of the body similar to how Goku's Kaio-ken can damage his body when overused.
Upon finishing his meditation, the LL+6E sorcerer attempted a small sacrifice as a proof-of-concept: he gave up a pinky on a single hand. He felt his CE pool expand rapidly, nearly doubling its original amount, but there was more: every inch of his body felt on fire and a deep nausea grew in his stomach. Despite the pain dulling his focus, he attempted to push the process further. He attempted to sacrifice a second finger; before he could react, half of his arm was gone. Instant inversion of the process to RCT saved the sorcerer's life, and he concluded that the Body Sacrifice Technique (BST) was far too dangerous to teach to any sorcerer less skilled than himself. He recorded the BST process and his annotations on a single paper, then placed upon it many powerful seals and locked it away in the Gojo Clan Headquarters. It is unknown if any modern sorcerer's have knowledge of Body Sacrifice Technique.
Edit: I forgot to mention one of the major drawbacks to successfully using BST, especially with the irreversible Binding Vow on the soul. Having the body exceed it's normal limits in terms of the amount of CE flowing through it results in multiple dangerous side effects.
First, as the body is unable to truly contain all of the extra CE inside it, BST sorcerers would constantly leak some CE, even more than non-sorcerers. This becomes especially apparent when this extra CE is used such as in reinforcement or using a CT as a natural result of supercharging output. This CE leak would eventually result on the formation of quite a few curses, and the sorcerer would likely become some type of outcast due to this detriment.
In addition, the flow of excess CE through the body will certainly result in variable amounts of short and long-term damage depending on the amount of CE and the length of time.
Minor symptoms include, in increasing severity: tingling/burning sensations, minor nausea, headaches, and light sensitivity.
As amount sacrificed and length of time before healing increase, reckless sorcerers risk onset of Acute CE Poisoning. These symptoms are generally worse starting from joint aches, muscle cramps, and fatigue to early-onset aging, muscular dystrophy, and organ damage. End-stage CE Poisoning results in death from complications of skeletal deformities (and extreme pain associated with them) before eventual partial or full nerve paralysis and multiple organ failure. Even if the sorcerer eventually heals themselves and loses their bonus CE, the damage from CE Poisoning is generally irreversible.
For example: because the discoverer of BST broke the Binding Vow immediately, he only suffered the minor symptoms for a few weeks. But sacrificing a forearm just for a few minutes (long enough to win a fight) could reduce ones lifespan by as much as a decade

So the last couple months I’ve been dealing with what I thought was extremely somatic anxiety. Until I got some blood work done and it came back that my ANA levels were elevated. (1:160 homogeneous, nuclear) I have a mild family history of autoimmune diseases, my mom has lupus and my grandmother has celiac disease.
Over the last few months I’ve been trying to treat myself for the anxiety but I’m afraid that whatever is actually wrong with me I’m only making worse with intensive exercise and work. I’ve tried to fill my time with those things as a result I’m completely exhausted.
Symptom wise things haven’t gotten any better mostly it appears I’m suffering from neurological effects of whatever’s going on.

• patches of skin that feel like they’re burning
  
• nonstop tingling
  
• brain fog and confusion
  

-numbness

• twitching

But there are now some other things that have popped up causing concern

• joint pain
  
• random muscle aches
  
• a weird redness on my cheeks
  
• fatigue
  
• pain in my chest
  

I’m worried I’ve developed lupus and based on the extensive amount of reading I’ve done I feel like it has mostly ruined any sense of a normal life people have had. Furthermore as a single white dude, I know it is rare for my demographic, but I feel like it’s really gonna be hard. Like I don’t have anyone to help me, I’m supposed to be the one making life happen, providing and building. I feel like I’m losing myself and I’m real scared. My rheumatologist has ordered some more test I get done today but in all honesty I don’t think it’s looking too good for me. I get sick a lot more than anyone else I know like I at least miss a few days of work every month, I always just figured I was weak but now I’m starting to think it wasn’t my fault.

At this very moment I am so angry and it is slightly (it is) my fault for not setting boundaries. I have been sick for 3 weekends yes weekends. I had to take 4 days off at first and this this upcoming weekend I got hit with insane muscle aches and high fever.( my NK had foot and mouth) and I came once her blisters were healed but she still had fever but recovered pretty fast. I disinfected the whole house thinking it’s going to be fine. It wasn’t. Again the only reason I went in is because bills gotta be paid I missed 4 days and I only get 20 hours sick days per contact which is a year. However NM says I can still take days off but I’m not getting paid which is unrealistic right? Not in this economy lmao. I know it’s not a big deal you get sick and that’s over with but now I am getting my boyfriend sick and then he will miss work and it’s a whole fuckery.
I also booked a week off to for family reasons at the end of June and I’m holding on to every damn penny to get through this. I want to laugh and cry like that sponge bob meme when he’s in the corner. (I am also super emotional I’m close to my cycle) SOMEBODY SEDATE ME 😂😂( for the grays Anatomy fans) Also pls let me know how to get rid of the blisters in a timely manner 😭

I was recently diagnosed with inflammatory spondylarthritis but it was sort of tentative and may be revoked/added to. Blood tests were always fine apart from high ESR sometimes and I think high CRP once, but even then the increases weren't TOO high. I had some synovial thickening and inflammation in my finger joints, mild scoliosis, and evidence of previous inflammation that had been covered over by fatty tissue in my hip joint (which lines up with a massive flare up I had about 2 years ago). I'm still not sure if it's the right diagnosis though, or the only one? It happened again today where it feels like my shoulder comes out of place. I'm certain it's not a dislocation because it would be visible and I'd probably be screaming in pain, but my shoulder 'feeling out of place' is the only way I can describe it. It felt like I couldn't drop my shoulder down or else something would snap, and when I tried dropping my shoulders it still felt like my right one was locked up and caught somewhere. It felt like I needed my joints snapped or something, or like I needed to SEVERELY roll my shoulders (which didn't help). This happens sometimes with my hips and knees, probably more than my arms actually. It was also hard to tell where exactly the pain was coming from. I settled on my shoulder but it felt like my whole arm was also out of place, including my elbow and wrist, and there was aching pain throughout my entire arm - similar feeling to shooting pains, but constant instead of shooting. Is this part of arthritis pain?

I think i may have fibromyalgia, I have a lot of doubts, but I been having chronic constant body aches (for about a year) and most times I can ignore it, but other times it so bad I can't get out of bed, I think I may have tender points, but I'm not sure if I'm touching those areas correctly and I rather a docter do it.
The issue is I'm not sensitive to touch, I heard ppl describe it as hugs being painful, but I love hugs (sometimes), and seeing how I'm also autistic, it's sensory issues and not other causes I think. It hurts to touch the alleged tender points (but only when I press down) but definitely not sensitive to being touched, I'm sensitive to clothing because of autism ofc, and I love being covered or hugged because it helps with my pain or helps me distract from it.
My other symptoms are chronic fatigue which lasted more than a few years, cognitive issues but I think that's just my ADHD, chronic headaches also more than a few years, severe GAD and depression, chronic joint pain/stiffness/popping for more than a few years, and medicine dose nothing for all of these symptoms.
Sorry if this is longer, I'm just really worried, fibromyalgia is the only thing that keeps popping up when I rule out everything else, and the widespread pain from my head to toes makes me feel like I have a constant flu.
Edit: after thinking about it, I do after episodes when I can't even touch myself with my own body and I have to lay down like a starfish, but I think that's just an autistic sensory issues and it's more about the discomfort of touching parts of my body because it reminds me I have organs there, which grosses me out mentally but idk abt really physical, it just feels strange and I rather not touch it.
Edit again: ok, sorry, I keep doing edits, but I thought about something new, getting my hair brushed HURTS, which I heard that's part of allodynia? But I have coily hair, so I'm not sure that would even apply to me. Just gently pulling it makes me tear up tho.

Has anyone found a way to help with prednisone withdrawal symptoms I'm down to 15 and I have a long history with prednisone and adrenal insufficiency I've been going down 5mg a week and I have been getting terrible head ache, body and joint pain and fatigue. This is my first time working while weening on prednisone so I think that is part of it. Every other time I could just sleep it off

Im glad y'all liked the last chapter. I'm going to continue this story and see where it goes. As usual, if you like this then make sure to like and comment: I really value your feedback. I'm also thinking of going back and editing some things, as I thought of some cool ideas that might make the story more interesting, mainly some Meta ideas to increase the depth of this litRPG. So make sure to go back and read the last chapter in a bit: some things may be different.
First Next
I gripped the rough leather hilt of my new sword tightly as I walked down the newly lit hall within this strange labyrinth. The air was dank and musty, and cobwebs hung from every corner. The dented blade glowed in the firelight, as did the breastplate, and I was just starting to warm up.
I didn't like this place: it made me feel uneasy. The loneliness was also crushing, but for some reason I was used to it. The weight of all my gear was also heavy, with all the weapons and rations causing my shoulders to ache, but I pressed forward. Something inside me insisted that this was familiar, and if I could do it before then I could do it now.
At first, the hall seemed unending, but after what felt like hours I finally reached a large, open room with a humble wooden throne in the center. The edges of the vaulted ceilings held great tapestries that had faded over time, the once magnificent artistry lost forever. Candelabras, urns, and braziers all forged from bronze and inlaid with different gems and precious metals were strewn about, and there was a gigantic bronze brazier at the center of the room, just in front of the throne.
On the throne sat a withered corpse wearing a crown of twisted branches, as well as rusted armor that had fused with flesh long ago. Simple wooden coffins lined the walls, six in total, each likely containing another corpse.
Then I noticed the brazier in the middle: it had long gone cold, the coals dead and waiting to be given life again by flame. But what worried me more was the burnt remains of the skeleton in the center: it was a reptilian thing, tall and robust judging by the size of the femurs, and it gripped a sword much like mine…
Okay, I didn't like this place at all, not one bit. Whoever was here before me obviously met some horrible fate, maybe even burnt alive within the brazier, which was a fate I had no desire to experience.
Next to the throne was a chest, and anyone with common sense knew that opening the chest would probably be a bad idea. So I looked for something far more valuable: an exit. At the far end of the room we're a pair of double doors made from polished slate, and soni approached them. I ran my scaly hands across it and admiring the beautiful masonwork: engraved with elegant images of all sorts of events, such as men slaying giants, terrifying dragons burning down villages, great treasures hidden away, and a large mead hall with a boat as it's roof nestled on a hill, it was something out of legend. But that didn't matter, I just needed them to open so I could leave. They didn't budge from me pushing them, nor did they possess any handles or bars, so something else has to activate them.
I decided to see if I could get some answers out of the magic note turned journal. I pulled it out and began writing with the quill, the tip seemingly possessing an endless supply of ink. How do I open the doors?
Once again, my good hand began moving if it had a mind of its own, scribbling out a minimalist sentence that would probably be of no use to me. Open the chest.
I grumbled and wrote down another response. Will bad things happen if I open the chest?
More furious scribbling against my will. Bad things will happen either way.
Well, that was reassuring.
What will happen when I open the chest?
Bad things. I wanted to punt the book across the room. I just stuffed it back into my bag and growled again, the depth of my reptilian voice startling me. I was sure I wasn't supposed to sound like that, but I did. Maybe I was just overthinking this, and it was just a side effect of some kind of amnesia, but I really felt like I was in the wrong body.
I turned back to the throne and the chest next to it. It was a simple wooden thing with no lock, so it wouldn't be challenging to open at all. I walked towards it, sword in hand, anxiety shooting through me like electricity, and as I bent down to open it up I couldn't help but look behind me as I did so.
Then, with one simple motion, I opened it. There was more than I expected, but still not much, just a small pile of rough gold coins and a few assorted gems. I dipped my hand into the gold and pulled out a handful, the coins each easily the width of a golf ball and decently hefty too. Then I looked for a place to put them: if I was going to be put in danger for opening this damn chest, then I was going to get something out of it.
As I stuffed the gold into my pack, I heard creaking next to me, and I instinctively dropped my pack onto the ground and kicked it to the side before rolling away. The withered corpse lifted itself up from the wooden throne, a faint hissing escaping its lips as if its vocal chords no longer worked. Then it turned to me, eyes glowing red with hatred and jaw clenched. It balled its fists and deeper its hateful gaze before pointing at me and unleashing an ear-splitting hiss like that of copper pipes coming apart. I lifted up my longsword and held it in a defensive stance, backing away slowly as my ears rang. Then I felt a bony hand on my shoulder.
I spun around and swung the blade, vivisecting another corpse halfway. All the other coffins were bursting open, and the angered dead were hobbling out, some holding rusted and chipped weapons, others simply meandering towards me with the same hatred in their eyes as the first. I was surrounded.
I swung my sword and cut one’s head off, the otherwise dry and leathery flesh of its neck giving way to my old longsword. Then I sliced through the knee of another, sending it sprawling to the ground before I stomped its head into pieces. That left four, including the one on the throne. That one stood back, glaring at me and waving its hands as if conducting an orchestra, its armored robes flowing despite the lack of ventilation. It must be the one controlling the undead.
I matched forward, sword lifted again and swung at the leader of the undead. It blocked the strike with its armored bracer and swiped at me, bony hands scraping against my breastplate but also imbuing me with an overwhelming weakness to the touch, as if I hadn't slept for days. With a grunt, I kicked him back and onto the floor, but the rest of the dead seemed to fall into a frenzy, charging at me as if they were rabid ghouls. I needed to end this, and I needed to end it now.
I impaled the first undead and kicked him off alongside their ringleader, then slammed the pommel of by sword into the forehead of the next with a spiteful roar that seemed to charge the air with static, crushing the undead’s skull inward and releasing the energy trapped within as if crumbled to the floor. The third swiped at my arm, causing an intense cold to run through me and a horrible pain to erupt from the deceptively small laceration, as if maggots were chewing on my flesh. I roared again and swung diagonally, vivisecting the decrepit thing all at once.
That left the composer. It stood back up and seemed even angrier than before, as if it had actually cared for those skeletons. Then I heard a voice behind its bestial whispers, a voice that almost sounded… pained. “Hadvar, Børge, Aegilief, Gunhild, Halfdan, Ivar! Do not fall, not to this dragon’s bastard!” It seemed to exclaim, but its cries seemed to fall on deaf ears as the corpses were no more, what remained of the flesh disintegrating into nothing more than ash, leaving only dirty bones behind.
“You shouldn't have attacked me.” I said behind grit fangs, my body still recovering from the effects of their icy touch. But no matter how much I tried to justify it to myself, it always felt like a weak response: I was probably plundering some poor guy's tomb, and then proceeded to kill all his friends to boot. I was in the wrong here, but I wasn't just going to be trapped in this shit hole of a tomb forever.
Then I looked at the brazier, which was now lit and burning, the otherwise bleached white bones of the reptile thing within coated in fresh soot. They would've killed me, or I would've starved. And they were already dead, anyway: for all I knew the undead here were held together by nothing more than old memories and whatever terrible magic possessed this place. I wasn't going to die yet, I at least wanted to see the sun one last time.
“Sorry about you and your friends, but I'm not going to die here today,” I said, trying to seem apologetic, “I've only got one shot, or so I've been told.” I matched forward again, unwavering, and busted him in the head with my pommel before slicing off his arm at the joint when he tried to reach out for me again, hissing with anger. Then, as I bullied him backwards to put some length between us, I finally kicked him one last time and jammed the end of my sword into his empty eye socket, sending the blade through his rotting head and out the back. He let out one last hiss before going limp, whatever magical nonsense holding him together dissipating as his body crumpled and his bones unknitted themselves.
I dropped the sword with a grunt and sank to my knees. My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and my stomach was churning. The horrible sickness the undead gave me when it swiped at me seemed to be winding down, the pain in my arm dull and more distracting than painful, but the unbearable cold and discomfort was still coursing through me. I needed to get out of this wretched place. This was a tomb, right? Maybe that door led to some kind of exit to the outdoors, or at least a pathway to it.
I forced myself back up on my feet, retrieved my bag and filled it with the rest of the treasure from the chest, and strapped everything on my back once again. I would probably want to find some kind of civilization, maybe a place where this gold would hold some value, because then maybe I could use it to find some answers.
Behind me, the doors began to crumble with a glowing purple light, as if the magic that has sealed it had been broken with the death of the undead on the throne, and I could see some semblance of light. I rushed towards it, only to find myself in an even colder area than before. The air was frigid and filled with a thick, looking fog that seemed to sap the strength out of me. It felt like an early spring morning, when it would go just above freezing and the rain had come in droves overnight, leaving behind the mist. Spruces, pines and other evergreen trees towered around me, and the forest floor was coated in thick roots, mossy rocks, vines, and dead evergreen needles. A dirt path that had long been overtaken by the forest stretched away from the tomb I had emerged from, leading me away from this place.

On the 6th of June, I will be giving my FR exam. I am not 100% confident in it as I am still weak in certain areas. I only did the exam kit once. I am still on my second revision of the exam.
As for my situation, on Sunday, I had a stomach ache and thankfully the stomach ache has been dealt with. But the problem is I have a bad headache which has been going on since Sunday night, and I think I have a fever due to the fact that I shiver when my body is not covered by a blanket.
I have at least 16 days left till we give the FR exam. I haven't studied since Sunday. I still have a headache, I am taking my medicines and taking all the rest that I need. I hope I get better tomorrow, so I can continue studying.
In that case, how can I prepare for the FR exam with 2 weeks left.

Just posting in case anyone has all the same symptoms. I've been in distress for about 6 weeks with all of this. Been to see a private ENT, spoken to 3 GPs and none of them have been much help sadly.
My jaw has always cracked/popped without any pain. I started noticing a bit of jaw ache but didn't think much of it.
6 weeks ago I started getting muscle spasms in my ear (fluttering sensarion) and flare up of tinnitus. Been getting a touch of sensitivity (hyperacusis) in my right ear as well. ENT said it was Middle Ear Myoclonus.
However, a few days later I'm getting the most intense neck and shoulder aches/pain I've ever had. I cannot seem to get any relief. I'm getting pain deep inside my ears, around my temples, underneath my ears and all down the sides and back of my neck. Some days I feel light headed, some days are OK. Some days I get an intense pain in one of my jaw joints and my jaw is stiff. Seems to be good days and bad days.
I also started getting more eye floaters this year which I had checked out.
After doom scrolling all my symptoms for weeks and weeks I'm pretty sure I'm clenching my teeth. My GP suggested it and has referred me to another ENT, but it's not for 3 months.
I have a dentist appointment in 2 weeks so I'm going to ask about a custom mouth guard.
I had the worst anxiety of my life at the start of this year, for no reason. It became quite hard to live with and I'm now thinking it's manifested as Bruxism.
Oh what joy... being stiff, aching and having ringing ears every day is utterly shit.
Have tried, or am taking, Magnesium, B12, Kalms, Propranolol and CBD Gummies. Have now bought some heated pads to use on my face on the bad days.
Just sharing incase anyone else needs to know they're not alone with these symptoms.

I don’t know what type of doctor I should see. Post menopausal woman, bmi 24, no history of any significant health issues. Healthy diet, regular exercise (usually walking).
I’ve been having abdominal pains and back pain on right side. They are not severe, they’re very similar to pain I had prior to menopause. Menopause was 13 years ago, this pain started 4 years ago. It was small at first and is gradually increasing in duration and intensity. It’s pretty much always there, though intensity varies
So far I have seen my primary care doctor, then the doctor who replaced them after they retired. Had CT scan and an MRI of upper abdomen, plus typical bloodwork. Nothing found. Two gynecologists say it’s not a gyn problem. Had a colonoscopy two years ago, no issue. A year ago the gastro dr did a test for blood in stool, no blood found.
Primary care chalked it up to adhesions, but the only surgery I have had was close to thirty years ago, and the way this pain is, doesn’t seem like that is a logical diagnosis. For example, it hurts even if I sit or lay still. Movement doesn’t matter, probing doesn’t matter, it is not bone/joint, it’s a deep inner ache. It seems unrelated to eating.
No one has any idea what is causing the pain but I’ve got a bad feeling about it, and I do not know what type of physician I should see. I can live with the pain but I want to know what it is, because I am worried.
Any advice of who to see next?

As the child of middle-American white people, the kind of family that forgot who they were and where they came from once they got here, almost my entire life has been a search for identity. Not in the angsty teenage sense that found so many of us stoned in suburban basements trading minor, unoriginal insights as glorious revelations from barely dipping our toes in the real world. I've never been able to find much out about my paternal lineage, but the past decade or so I'd thrown myself hard into the Irish identity of my mother's family. They aren't overtly or openly Irish, but at least the lineage is apparent and traceable. At times, that identity has given perspective, purpose, and meaning, like the uncomfortable "White Privilege" political discourses at Thanksgiving. Y'know, fun shit like that.
Like a lot of people, I grew up in some fucked up things. I don't think it's of any particular use to itemize or describe those circumstances but I've known much of violence, violation, and a variance of heartbreak. These things are not unique to me.
I've struggled relentlessly with self-worth for most of my life. Since my early childhood. I cannot say it's entirely bad, but I suppose the wonderful times (which have truly been wonderful; I've been afforded some experiences lots of people haven't in life) are still outweighed by the negative. The dark parts are markedly dark and abundant. In the midst of this self-discovery journey, I held out hope for a long time that I would make it back home. Back to see Ireland, the Small Sea...visit the East End of Glasgow to see where my family fled, before they made the trans-Atlantic journey to lose themselves in American identity. Venture to Northern Ireland to see the H-Block, where James Sands starved himself in protest against English occupation. Purpose and dignity in the harsh Atlantic seaboard, where it can be said that there's no sadness quite like a Celtic sadness.
I think of this often when I think about the English word 'home' and the layers of meaning it conjures. How we tie it not just to a building, but to family. Warmth, comfort, safety and security. Those sentiments can all come sprawling forth from those four letters. In Irish Gaelic, there are probably four or five different words for this based on context, and I remember how difficult I found Irish at first because there is no possessive verb meaning 'to have'; things are either at, on, or with you. In English, the word 'sorry' comes from 'sorrow', or more specifically being full of sorrow on account of oneself. Colloquialism and the evolution of language brought us a more direct way to apologize in both menial day-to-day interaction and times we genuinely must feel awful for what we've done. English is like that, full of matter-of-fact efficiency.
To say "I'm sorry" in Irish now, you would say "tá brón orm", which I guess most literally translates to say "sadness is on me". To say you were sad at the moment, you would say "tá mé brónach", more literally "I am sadness".
I think a lot about Ireland lately. You cannot run away from your problems entirely, no, but I do think you can change your environment. I think about history, of people repeatedly forced into economic exile for centuries, losing their language and constantly occupied by foreign rule. There's been a melancholy in how I exist that probably owes a great deal to this lineage but I've failed to see it, much less harness it. I wish I'd taken a more particular and driven interest in the language before it was too late, especially as I don't think there's a more accurate description of what I feel but for how the Irish say 'sorry'.
The sadness is on me.
In Scottish Gaelic, the word 'cianalas' is one of nostalgia, of profound longing and homesickness...in Welsh, 'hiraeth'. In English, the sappy and sentimental of whom I find myself amongst often liken the word 'home' to people. We find a home in someone, in a person who purposefully made a space for us in the last place we expect to find it. There was a time when I had found this. I was too cocky, too smart for my own good, too sure I'd outgrown the fucked up that I'd come from. I thought I fell too far from it to let the wood rot of my family tree creep in.
I didn't just lose my home. There were no tragic circumstances. I acted poorly, disgracefully, selfishly and in bathed in a darkness inside me I never knew I was capable of. I didn't just lose my home, I set it aflame and burned it to nothing, kicking about in the ashes after and I've still got the nerve to live each day tinged with a deeper grief and sadness than I never knew existed. In this life, I am both the Irish and the English.
The sadness is on me.
It's no longer a profound sadness that longs for the fogged beauty of inland bog or rocky sea shore, or the beautiful person who rivaled such wonder. It's a sadness that aches, that has outpaced time to settle deep in my bones before father time could take my joints. It taunts me to look at what I've done, what I've become, in a dark home with dusty mirrors. Stalks me while I walk my dog. It tells me that everything in the world is a loaded gun in my hands and to use it on myself before hurt someone else again. It tells me that I still have potential and that I will waste it all.
I have been a liar, a cheater, a disgrace. I have acted in direct defiance of everything I thought I believed and I never knew I was capable. I don't know of any other way to fix this.
The sadness is on me.

So I'm not sure where to post this exactly because my flu test was negative-- but I had whatever other virus from hell is going around the US right now a couple of weeks ago. It started with body aches and chills and a horrible headache-- that lasted a few days, and then congestion joined the party. After a while the body aches and headache went away but the congestion stayed and last week I noticed my tonsils were swollen and covered in white patches and I had a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes. I have been to the doctor and they prescribed me antibiotics to see if that did anything for the tonsils. I haven't had a fever this entire time, but I have had night sweats and I still have them. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? I'm so sick of this