My toddler has a runny nose and itchy eyes. He’s perfectly fine otherwise and is running around and playing. I know my kid and he’s had a cold a few times before and he’s nothing like how he is now when he’s sick. But my know it all MIL is swearing up and down that he needs medicine because he has a cold. Apparently a runny nose and itchy eyes are not allergy symptoms. I’m a bit annoyed because my husband and I are going away for the weekend and she will be watching LO. I don’t trust that she will listen to me by not giving him medicine. It’s extremely frustrating dealing with someone who thinks they know my kid better than I do.

Hi there,
I have overcrowding and inwardly slanted teeth, with an inevitably narrow palate to boot. As such, I have never had tongue space in the roof of my mouth for my tongue, which has a rather thick tie.
I had braces on remedy this - but took them off after six months as I began experiencing debilitating symptoms and no one had an answer for what was going on.
These symptoms include: feeling like I’m suffocating, pressure in my nose and head, swollen nasal passages, vision problems, a sense of cranial instability, and dysautonomia.
Before their removal, the braces did open up a bit of space for the tongue to sit in the roof more and it does now sit on the roof by itself - which it never would or could before. My jaw has also seeming moved and my bite has changed.
However, as I have a high palate, I think the tongue is being sucked all the way up and blocking the nasal passage which may be what is causing this issue. As my teeth moved back a bit quickly after removing the braces, I feel this space lessened and the symptoms have been slightly less severe for the past couple of weeks - but always feel like they’re threatening to get worse.
Has anyone experienced this? Is it feasible that my tongue is doing all this?
Thanks,

I have a Gastro and new Rheumatologist appointment tomorrow but I'm so frustrated. I have a lot of Auto Immune signs or symptoms. I have a Rheumatologist who has little to no support to give. She just tries to prescribes more gabapentin. It seems like answering any questions I have is a huge pain. I have a fibromyalgia diagnosis. I will skim over symptoms, aura migraine, peripheral neuropathy, chronic pain everywhere, weird rashes like bug bites to scary patches to blisters in my nose. Lots of fatigue. Joint pain. Ect. About 14 days ago I got real tired. I mean way worse than normal. My right side started to hurt. At first I though it was because I'm trying to change my posture. Then it got worse I thought it was because I worked my abs out to hard. Then last Thursday I got tired again. The pain increased. By Sunday of this week I was ready to go to urgent care. My left leg was swollen and I devolved a rash. Near the pain by my liver. By Monday I was ready to go to the ER. My liver and Kidney blood work and the routine stuff was normal. My cat scan showed inflammation of the small intestine. I have burping nausea and extreme pain near my liver.and a rash that blistered and started to heal. The pain is still severe if I don't take my pain meds. I wonder if it's celiacs. Because I increased the amount of gluten I eat. A few weeks ago going from vegatarian to vegan. My mom, sister and brother all ha ve weird food and stomach, neurological stuff too. So I'm just desperate for anwsers.

I’ve been living with her for a few months now. We’re planning to move out by the summer but in the meantime I could use some advice on how to deal with her mood swings.
There are days when she is very nice to me and talkative. We will even sit down and watch a show or movie together and it feels nice to have bonding time with her. But then there are days (like today) when she doesn’t even acknowledge my presence. She comes out of her room in the morning and my 2 year old and I are in the living room. She says good morning to him and talks to him but says nothing to me. I just get a weird fake smile. I always end up making small talk because it feels so awkward to not have said anything to her at all after some time. Like this morning LO has a runny nose and I mentioned that to her but she ignored me and proceeded to do what she was doing.
This weird distant behavior from her towards me happens a lot. At first I used to think maybe she was just having an off day but it’s just so frequent that it happens and overall it’s incredibly awkward (and a bit confusing) because she can be fine with me one day but the next I feel like my presence is annoying her.
How can I deal with this?

Kindling is when you go through one withdrawal and each subsequent withdrawal is easier to achieve and also more severe.
I stopped drinking a few months ago after being a pretty bad "alcoholic" for only a few months, possibly having mild withdrawal symptoms. Saturday night I had about 8 drinks. Woke up horribly hungover, way more than usual, and started to develop cold symptoms over the next few days. Today is Tuesday Morning and I feel like absolute shit, like I have the flu, coughing, feeling weak, runny nose, sore throat, no significant shaking though. Is it possible that this is withdrawal all over again or am I being paranoid and probably just have some bad cold?
Please don't tell me to go to the doctor that is not a choice right now. I will simply detox safely by myself if it is believed that this is withdrawal.

Kindling is when you go through one withdrawal and each subsequent withdrawal is easier to achieve and also more severe.
I stopped drinking a few months ago after being a pretty bad "alcoholic" for only a few months, possibly having mild withdrawal symptoms. Saturday night I had about 8 drinks. Woke up horribly hungover, way more than usual, and started to develop cold symptoms over the next few days. Today is Tuesday Morning and I feel like absolute shit, like I have the flu, coughing, feeling weak, sore throat runny nose, no significant shaking though. Is it possible that this is withdrawal all over again or am I being paranoid and probably just have some bad cold?
Please don't tell me to go to the doctor that is not a choice right now. I will simply detox safely by myself if it is believed that this is withdrawal.

Kindling is when you go through one withdrawal and each subsequent withdrawal is easier to achieve and also more severe.
I stopped drinking a few months ago after being a pretty bad "alcoholic" for only a few months, possibly having mild withdrawal symptoms. Saturday night I had about 8 drinks. Woke up horribly hungover, way more than usual, and started to develop cold symptoms over the next few days. Today is Tuesday Morning and I feel like absolute shit, like I have the flu, coughing, feeling weak, sore throat, runny nose no significant shaking though. Is it possible that this is withdrawal all over again or am I being paranoid and probably just have some bad cold?
Please don't tell me to go to the doctor that is not a choice right now. I will simply detox safely by myself if it is believed that this is withdrawal.

https://ibb.co/16q7SRT
That hookup was three months ago, a month ago I go a mild fever, pain in the back of the neck’s muscles and runny nose, lasted for a week or so, and didn’t have these dots, now a month later, got the same symptoms but with these dots this time. Any help is appreciated.

Has anyone else been burned quite like this? *** Let me preface this by saying I know that Disney is a germ convention. We knew what we were getting into ***
We are sick at Disney again! We only made it three days out of ten this time. It's the sickest our son has ever been in his life too. Fever, bad cough, endless runny nose, not himself. We are lucky enough to go annually and we remained healthy last year. We got covid from disney in 2022 though. That one wasn't a total loss because we made it further into our trip.
I'm really depressed at the happiest place on earth. We've been laying around in the hotel waiting for our turn and for our child to improve enough before heading home. We rented a car thankfully so we can leave on our own terms. I wouldn't want to expose anyone to whatever this is either. He's likely less contagious by now but the cough is something else.
I was just wondering if anyone can relate to this or are we better off not coming here anymore? We've been going every year since 2018. Two of those trips were during mask mandates which likely suppressed a lot of germ sharing. We've had two fairly back to back trip ending illnesses which is not ideal. My husband got sick in 2019 on the last day of our trip. It didn't ruin our trip but it still counts in the tally of how inevitable it seems to be for our family.
I don't think we can emotionally or financially afford this type of gamble anymore. We save every year to go and plan and plan. It's lovely outside and we are stuck in here watching happy vacationers walk by our window and watching weird TLC reality shows.
Anyway, just feeling like this might be our last trip. I wish we lived closer so we could take short weekend trips. I'd rather have fun and get sick at home than get sick before the fun even kicks off.
Lots of sick people at the parks and on the bus too. I've never seen it this way ever especially in May. We were the odd ones for not coughing on our park days. It is what it is but we feel like this type of destination isn't in the cards for us. I'm beyond devastated.
Sigh. 🌴

DAY: MAY 20 2024
5-20-2024

Why nightmares and ‘daymares’ could be early warning signs of autoimmune disease

An increase in nightmares and hallucinations—or ‘daymares’—could herald the onset of autoimmune diseases such as lupus, say an international team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. The researchers argue that there must be greater recognition that these types of mental health and neurological symptoms can act as an early warning sign that an individual is approaching a “flare,” where their disease worsens for a period.
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Yoga, mindfulness, meditation, breathwork, and other practices are gaining in popularity due to their potential to improve health and well-being. The effects of these practices are mostly positive and occasionally transformational, yet they are known to sometimes be associated with challenging altered states of consciousness. New research by a team including investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital reveals that altered states of consciousness associated with meditation practice are far more common than expected. Although many people reported positive outcomes, that were sometimes even considered transformational, from these experiences, for a substantial
5-20-2024 Examining the benefits of out-of-network care for pediatric moyamoya
Total in-episode expenses and resource use before the index surgery (preop) and including/after the surgery (postop). The comparisons are separated for analysis into (A) single institution cohorts (1 and 2) and (B) multi?institution cohorts (3 and 4). Moyamoya disease is a rare condition that affects the blood vessels in the brain, especially in children. Narrowing and blockage of vessels significantly increases the risk of stroke and requires surgical revascularization for treatment. Although research shows that outcomes of revascularization are better
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The more time you spend on social media, the greater the likelihood of having unpleasant social-media related dreams that cause distress, sleep disruption and impact our peace of mind. Flinders University’s Reza Shabahang says that the vast and rapid adoption of social media has the potential to influence various aspects of life, including the realm of dreaming. “As social media becomes increasingly intertwined with our lives, its impact extends beyond waking hours, and may influence our dreams,”
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Although the heart and lungs are neighbors in your chest, people may think of them as separate entities with unrelated problems. But a growing body of evidence suggests that asthma—one of the most common lung disorders—is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Asthma is a serious chronic disease in which airways are inflamed, often in response to specific triggers. It affects about 25 million people in the U.S., including nearly 5 million children, causing millions of annual visits to doctors’ offices and emergency rooms. “We call these major changes
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People with seasonal allergies often turn to over-the-counter and prescription medicines to relieve symptoms like coughing, sneezing, runny nose, congestion and itchy eyes, nose or throat. But they often aren’t aware that these meds—including antihistamines—have as much risk for potential side effects, drug interactions and overdose as other drugs. “All medicines have side effects associated with them even when they are taken appropriately and according to dosing directions on the label,”
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5-20-2024 Researchers uncover biological trigger of early puberty
Heather Brenhouse, associate professor of psychology, says disrupting the caretaker relationship can really traumatize a child or a developing rodent. Credit: Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University New research conducted by the Brenhouse Lab reveals how early life adversity triggers early puberty and late-life anxiety, paving the way for potential interventions. The onset of puberty has been creeping downward for decades. In the United States, the average age of girls reaching puberty ranges from 8.8 to 10.3 years old. The early start of puberty, which is associated with many health risks, can be
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. What is the main focus of your thesis? Relapse following initial treatment efficacy remains a major clinical challenge for many cancers. The focus of my thesis has been to explore the therapeutic impact of immune cells in patients with blood cancer (leukemia), by first investigating which cells
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5-20-2024 How a simulation is informing COVID-19 vaccine policy after our ‘return to normal’
As the saying goes “There is no such thing as normal” and this has been especially true after the pandemic. Before the emergence of the omicron COVID-19 variant, countries like the U.K. had high vaccination coverage along with widespread exposure to COVID-19 in the population. This combination of vaccine and infection-derived immunity is termed hybrid immunity and is different to vaccine immunity or infection immunity alone. In contrast, other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and those in the Western Pacific, had a very different pandemic experience.
5-20-2024 Researchers find intriguing connections between Alzheimer’s disease and other common conditions
A study has found that while some medical conditions appear to increase our likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease, others appear to decrease the odds. The study, led by Dr. Yijun (Nicholas) Pan and Dr. Liang Jin, analyzed data from 2,443 older Australians living in Melbourne or Perth who are part of the Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle (AIBL) study, an internationally recognized cohort for dementia research. “We found anxiety and other neurological disorders are associated with increased likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Pan said.
5-20-2024 Prepping autistic or sound-sensitive kids for cicada noise
As Chicagoans await the emergence of the cicadas, parents of children on the autism spectrum and/or who have sensitivities to sound can take a few steps to prepare for what is expected to be a loud summer. “Some children on the spectrum can struggle with loud or unexpected noises, such as toilets that automatically flush, fireworks around the Fourth of July or the emergence of a large number of cicadas,”
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5-20-2024 Significant gaps between science of obesity and the care patients receive, say experts
As research continues to produce evidence about the underlying causes of obesity and optimal strategies to treat and manage obesity have evolved, there are disparities in application of the latest scientific advances in the clinical care that people with obesity receive. Widespread adoption of current findings, consistency of care and expertise in obesity care varies by health care professional and institution.
5-20-2024 Improving online depression treatment
Symptom course of depression for individuals who dropped out of treatment and those who completed treatment. In the dropout group, there is an initial decrease in symptoms while the patients were still in treatment, which tapers off as they drop out. For completers, there is close to a linear change over time. This suggests there is a relation between the more that an individual continues to participate in ICBT and their depressive symptom improvement.
5-20-2024 Women face worse chronic kidney disease management in primary care
Women receive worse primary care-based chronic kidney disease (CKD) management than men, according to a research letter adult patients with CKD receiving primary care at 15 practices using electronic health record data to examine sex disparities in guideline-based CKD management
5-20-2024 Bisoprolol does not reduce exacerbations in at-risk COPD patients
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5-20-2024 Anticancer potential of CLK kinase inhibitors 1C8 and GPS167 via EMT and antiviral immune response
The diheteroarylamide-based compound 1C8 and the aminothiazole carboxamide-related compound GPS167 inhibit the CLK kinases, and affect the proliferation of a broad range of cancer cell lines. A chemogenomic screen previously performed with GPS167 revealed that the depletion of components associated with mitotic spindle assembly altered
5-20-2024 Study sheds light on bacteria associated with pre-term birth
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5-20-2024 New AI model uses federated learning for multi-organ segmentation based on medical image data
Researchers have successfully developed the technology that can accurately segment different body organs by effectively learning medical image data used for different purposes in different hospitals, which is expected to greatly contribute to the development of large-scale medical AI models in the future.
5-20-2024 Second Phase 3 clinical trial again shows dupilumab lessens disease in COPD patients with type 2 inflammation
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with type 2 inflammation may soon gain access to a new drug—dupilumab—that showed rapid and sustained improvements in patients in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial, researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine. This monoclonal antibody is the first biologic shown to improve clinical outcomes in COPD. The data supporting the use of dupilumab in COPD will be reviewed by the United States Food and Drug Administration in June. The disease improvements—as measured by a significantly lower annualized rate of acute exacerbations
5-20-2024 New AI model uses federated learning for multi-organ segmentation based on medical image data
Researchers have successfully developed the technology that can accurately segment different body organs by effectively learning medical image data used for different purposes in different hospitals, which is expected to greatly contribute to the development of large-scale medical AI models in the future.
5-20-2024 Second Phase 3 clinical trial again shows dupilumab lessens disease in COPD patients with type 2 inflammation
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with type 2 inflammation may soon gain access to a new drug—dupilumab—that showed rapid and sustained improvements in patients in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial, researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine. This monoclonal antibody is the first biologic shown to improve clinical outcomes in COPD. The data supporting the use of dupilumab in COPD will be reviewed by the United States Food and Drug Administration in June. The disease improvements—as measured by a significantly lower annualized rate of acute exacerbations

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Hi all. I’ve had a swollen lymph node/gland on the lower part of my cheek (near the jaw) for about three years now. it’s never once caused pain or tenderness and i’m pretty sure the only reason i noticed it was there was because the right side of my face felt puffy. i have asked a dentist before why it was swollen and they said it could be due to stress which could be true as it always seems to appear when i have anxiety or am stressed. however, i’ve never heard of anyone else having this issue before. the swelling has started again these past few days and i think it’s a result of having my braces tightened hence it’s causing stress to my mouth. it also hurts a little eating on that side but i think that could just be the braces.
i’ve obviously scared myself by looking up the worst case scenarios but does anyone know what this could be?
another thing to add is sometimes it completely disappears or will be very small. again the only reason i notice it’s there is because my face feels slightly heavier on the right side. it also doesn’t affect my appearance.

I sit alone in my room on the seventh floor, writing what will surely be my last will and testament. The heroin which allowed me to forget and to sleep for the last couple of years has lost its power to keep the screaming terrors away. The drug destroyed my body and mind, gradually eating away at them like a corrosive acid. Now I have become a slave to it. And yet, without it, I do not sleep for weeks, but instead continuously see the scenes from that terrible night running through my head on repeat as worsening waves of madness crash on the shores of my consciousness.
In the caverns under the town of Frost Hollow, I found the meaning of true madness. Ever since I escaped that den of horrors, it is difficult to tell what is real and what is only the feverish delirium of an unhinged mind.
Even now, they wait behind the door to this cheap, bare rented room. They drag their claws over the wood. I hear them hissing in that strange, ancient tongue, the one I first heard in the tombs of rock that had been undisturbed for countless millennia.
***
I had first heard rumors of an unexplored cavern from my friend, an experienced caver named Sonia who had explored caverns all over the world. I had been looking for some excitement in my life, some break from the constant monotony and boredom of simply working and sleeping. I had gone caving quite a few times over the year leading up to the trip, but I was not nearly as experienced and had never explored a supposedly virgin passageway of cavern before.
“How do you know no one’s gone down there?” I asked, curious. We sat across from each other at a local diner, getting some early breakfast before our planned descent. The sunrise was still another half-hour away, the sky flat and dark. We would be joined by Sonia’s husband, Phil, who would meet us there shortly after sunrise. I repressed an urge to yawn, chugging half of the steaming hot coffee in one long swallow. Sonia leaned close to me, her nearly colorless blue eyes reminding me of chunks of ice floating down a muddy stream.
“Phil’s friend just found it randomly,” she whispered before glancing around conspiratorially, as if she feared someone would care enough to eavesdrop on a conversation about a cave. “Well, it’s in the middle of a farm, and Phil’s friend, Jack Graysole, owns the entire property and surrounding woods. Jack says he noticed the cows kept going over to a certain spot in the field when it got really hot during the summertime. They would all gather around this little indentation in the grass. After seeing it a few times, Jack got curious and went to investigate what the cows were doing.
“He found a small hole in the ground, almost entirely covered by weeds and grass. He said he felt a cool breeze constantly blowing out of the hole, a breeze that smelled like burning matches and charred metal. After bringing out some shovels and digging down a couple feet, Jack realized that the hole wasn’t a hole at all, but the beginning of a steep passageway leading deep into the bowels of the earth.”
***
The owner of the land decided to unofficially call the newly-discovered cavern Graysole Caverns. Out of respect for him, this is also the name we all used. This is the story of how I found myself in the bowels of a strange subterranean tunnel, a tunnel where creatures beyond my comprehension slunk and hunted, skittering monstrosities who would be more at home in a nightmare.
After grabbing a couple coffees to take with us, Sonia drove over to Graysole Farms. Cows stood out in the grassy fields, huddled in tight circles as they repetitively chewed. The thin silhouette of Jack Graysole waited for us next to the herd. He had a face like a raisin, I thought to myself. I watched his thin, shaking body standing in the middle of an overgrown grassy field. Jack stared down blankly at something only he could see. Sonia and I started unloading some equipment from the car while we waited for Phil.
Once we had the backpacks loaded with some simple supplies, such as water, food, headlamps, rope, a couple extra batteries, some buck knives, and radios, we headed over to accompany Jack. We weren’t taking much, as we didn’t really expect to be down there for more than six or seven hours at the most.
Jack Graysole’s withered old face was as slack and expressionless as that of a corpse. He stared down at the ground as if he were in a trance, waving back and forth slowly on his feet like a plant in a light breeze.
“Jack?” Sonia called out as we approached. I could hear the man’s teeth chattering as we got nearer.
“Hey, what are you doing over here this early? You interested in accompanying us down there?” Sonia joked. But Jack might as well have been totally deaf for all the reaction he gave. Sonia glanced over at me with an anxious expression. I wondered if the old man was having a stroke.
I quickly walked over to where he stood, staring down at a black circular hole about three feet across directly in front of his feet. The entrance to Graysole Caverns stared up at us like a sightless pupil. As I drew within a few feet of Jack and looked straight into his blank eyes, I noticed something alarming.
His pupils were quickly dilating and constricting before my eyes. They would shrink to tiny pinpoints, then, a couple seconds later, rapidly expand until they became dark and serious. I could see his thready, rapid heartbeat pulsating in a vein on the side of his temple. Alarmed, I reached forward and put my hand on his shoulder.
Instantly, he came to life, like a man waking up from a nightmare. Shrieking, he looked at me with fully dilated pupils, reminding me of a panicked deer surrounded by wolves. His quavering old man’s voice shook with ineffable existential horror and mortal fear.
He took a step back away from us, seeming to realize where he was and what he was doing. He looked around, confused, then straight at me and Sonia. His eyes focused with anger and fear, as if we were demons here to drag him down to Hell. His eyes flicked back and forth between us constantly. Jack raised a trembling hand and pointed it straight at my heart.
“It’s you,” he said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. His teeth chattered despite the warm spring air. His skin looked deathly pale. “You’re the one who will bring an end to humanity, who will release the ruler of nightmares upon us.” He continued to point accusingly for a long moment at me, his face turning chalk-white. Then his eyes rolled up in his head. Slowly, he stumbled and fell backwards onto the soft grass of the field.
“Jack!” Sonia cried, running over to the old man. Jack’s breaths had started to come in slow, drawn-out gurgles, like a man with a slit throat trying to breathe. Frothy blood bubbled from his lips as they turned blue. Staring up at the endless expanse of cloudless sky, he exhaled one last shuddering breath and died.
***
Phil showed up only a couple minutes later. He found me and Sonia in a state of utter panic, both of us bent double over the still body of Jack. Sonia was on the phone with 911, and I was trying to give Jack chest compressions. The way his fingernails and lips shone with that cyanotic blue cast made me feel sick and weak. I knew it was futile, that I was simply playing with a corpse at this point, but I didn’t know what else to do. I felt if I didn’t do something, I might explode.
I heard the faint wailing of sirens approaching as Sonia’s panicked voice continued babbling to the 911 operator. Phil stood by her side, his tall, dark features searching and lost.
“Oh God, I think he’s dead!” Sonia cried over and over to the operator, as if she thought the operator could do anything about it. I didn’t hear what the operator said in response. As the ambulance pulled in, I gave up on chest compressions. I stood up and took a step back, looking sadly down on the kindly old man’s dead body.
The paramedics ran over. Phil, Sonia and I stood back while they worked on the corpse, trying to shock the heart back into life. But Jack’s open eyes stayed glazed as they stared sightlessly up into eternity.
***
The paramedics left. A couple police officers stayed behind to ask us a few routine questions. Eventually, after an hour or so, they left, too.
“What a fucked-up day,” Phil said, shaking his head grimly. “Do you guys still want to do this? Maybe it’s an omen from God telling us to go home.” Sonia and I exchanged a glance, then we both nodded at the same time.
“Definitely,” she said. “It’s sad what happened to Jack, but realistically, we don’t know what’s going to happen to this property now that he’s passed away. It might get sold or taken by the bank for all we know. This could be our one and only chance to explore this cave.”
“I don’t believe in omens. I’m still down,” I said, feeling slightly sick from the experience. I still remembered how Jack’s body had cracked under the weight of my chest compressions, how his ribs had snapped like bones shattering in greedy hands. “We’ll do it in memory of Jack. I plan to put this up on YouTube.” I pulled my GoPro out of my bag, turning it on. Phil groaned at that.
“Do we have any idea how far down this cave goes?” Phil asked. I felt a sense of relief now that the topic had changed from the death of the old man.
“I sent a little camera down on a rope, but it only went about a hundred feet,” Sonia responded. “It’s pretty steep at first, then it levels out. I couldn’t really see much after it leveled out, but it looks like it should be easy to climb down. There’s plenty of handholds, lots of jutting rocks.”
Phil put on his headlamp and small pack. As he crawled down into the hole, his tanned face looked up at us and gave us one last devilish grin. Once he had gone down a few dozen feet, Sonia started descending. She looked excited and happy. I noticed how she couldn’t stop smiling as she disappeared from view.
I watched their lights grow smaller and dimmer in the circular tunnel. I marveled at how perfectly circular the entrance was. It almost didn’t even look natural.
Taking a deep breath in, I followed my friends down into the dark.
***
“This isn’t too bad,” I said as I climbed down. The jutting rocks gave plenty of handholds and footholds for us. It wasn’t so tight that it felt like a coffin, either.
“It only gets easier from here!” Sonia called up.
“How do you know?” I asked. “You said you’ve never been here before.” She laughed.
“I know. Probably just wishful thinking,” she said. Far below us, Jack’s voice drifted up, faint and weak. He had already reached the bottom.
“The tunnel really opens up down here, guys,” he called. “It’s somewhat… bizarre, though.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sonia asked. I looked down, seeing Sonia and I would reach the bottom in seconds. “Forget it, I’ll let it be a surprise.” I heard her drop down. Slowly and carefully, I lowered myself down the last few feet. There was a short fall onto a smooth granite floor. I looked up, seeing what Phil and Sonia were so mesmerized by.
“Oh, wow,” I said, speechless. I blinked rapidly, wondering if the image would clear like a mirage. The tunnel was cut into a perfectly triangular shape, each side about seven feet long. The ceiling met in a point above our heads.
All along the smooth walls of gray rock, I saw thousands of black orbs peeking out. They looked similar to obsidian, but they were perfectly smooth and circular, each about the size of an orange. They were formed into interlocking diagonal patterns and followed the tunnel straight down as far as the eye could see.
“What is this place?” Sonia asked, taking a tentative step forward. I looked up, seeing the distant pinpoint of sunlight far above our heads. Our voices continued to echo off down the massive tunnels, disappearing in eerie waves into the thick curtain of shadows.
“Are you recording all this?” Phil asked me. I laughed, giddy.
“Of course! This is internet gold right here,” I said. “No one’s going to believe that this isn’t man-made, however. I can’t even believe it. Do you think Jack was playing a joke on us or something?”
“Jack had the sense of humor of a wet paper towel,” Phil whispered, shaking his head. “No, he wouldn’t do something like this.”
“Well, let’s go check it out,” Sonia said, taking a step forward. Her headlamp bobbed up and down rapidly, throwing dancing shadows through the triangular tunnel. It continued straight ahead, without the slightest deviation or curve, disappearing off into a dark point in the distance.
***
We walked as fast as we could, excited to see where, if anywhere, the strange tunnel led. Phil, always the conspiracy theorist, babbled excitedly.
“This has to be aliens, man,” he said, running his fingers through his dark hair. “I bet that scientists will find out this shit is millions of years old when we get back up and tell everyone. Maybe aliens came to earth in ancient times and made a bunch of stuff underground.” Gradually, as we walked, I noticed the tunnel opening up. The pointed triangular ceiling rose up higher above our heads and the walls moved outwards, as we were walking up a triangular funnel. At first, it was so subtle that I didn’t believe it when Sonia pointed it out.
“No, look,” she said, raising her hand above her head. “When we first started down this weird tunnel, my fingers were only maybe a foot away from the top. Now it’s a couple feet.” I was about to respond when our headlamps illuminated something standing in the middle of the tunnel.
“What the fuck is that?” I whispered, stopping cold in my tracks. Phil and Sonia looked up at the abomination at the same time. Its back was to us. It stood nearly as tall as the tunnel, which was now about twenty feet high.
The bottom half looked black and spidery with dozens of long, jointed legs. A bloody, white spine rose out of the mass of legs. Inhumanly long, skeletal arms stretched out in front of it. Its face was pointed away from us, but the back of its head resembled an enormous pointed skull with deep fissures like the cracks of an earthquake running through the bone. The abomination stayed as still as a statue, and for a long moment, I wondered if we were looking at some macabre work of art.
Then, suddenly, one of its insectile legs twitched. A moment later, the other legs started jerking and twisting. There was a sound like bones shattering as it rose up to its full height, turning around to face us.
Its face was like something from a nightmare, melting and reforming constantly like dripping candle wax. I would see a black eye appear on its forehead, then a grinning mouth on its chin, then the features would get sucked back into the folds of melting flesh. After a few moments, two enormous eyes appeared on its face, dark and cold like craters on the surface of the Moon. The mouths and noses disappeared back into the dripping skin, and only the two lidless eyes remained, emanating a cold, reptilian consciousness beyond the ability of my mind to comprehend. I felt terror radiating from its body like freezing waves.
“Free me,” it cried in a gurgling voice that seethed with insanity. It had a shrieking, metallic ringing behind every word that gave it an alien quality. “Free me, and I will give you the waters of eternal life. Within me, I contain the seeds of immortality. Within the nightmares, we live forever, always together, never alone.”
“Who are you?” I asked, terrified. The black reptilian skin of the enormous beast glistened as it knelt down, its massive face drawing near to mine. A sideways mouth burst out of the liquified flesh, showing hundreds of fangs growing like tumors from its white, bloodless gums. The fangs varied in size from only a couple inches to long, sword-like projections that stabbed into the creature’s flesh, causing white blood glittering with rainbows to fall like raindrops all around me.
“I have many names,” it hissed, its thousand voices rising and falling in crashing waves of sound. “I was present at the beginning, when this planet was no more than dead cliffs and endless freezing oceans. Those holy ones who search for us, the ancient ones, call me Niralahoth.”
“How do we free you?” Phil asked, looking terrified. He held Sonia’s hand tightly.
“By letting me into your mind and body,” Niralahoth cried, shaking the cavern. “I was thrown down here, cursed and forgotten. I cannot leave this place of shadows within this body. But in the body of another, my consciousness can be free, and the seeds of new life can spread beyond this prison.”
“There’s no way anyone’s going to do that,” I said, my eyes widening as Niralahoth’s reptilian skull turned towards me in fury. “I mean, you’re asking one of us to give up our individuality, our lives, right?”
“I am asking you to become one with me and gain power undreamt of by mortals,” it cried. “I have within me the fountain of life, the waters that send death away screaming.” I glanced anxiously at Phil and Sonia, wondering if we would have to run.
“The answer is no,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, we can’t do that,” Phil said, backing me up. “But, anyways, I think our trip has ended. It’s time to turn around…”
“You will never return,” Niralahoth cried, skittering away from us. “If you will not accept salvation, then you must accept death.” Within seconds, it slunk away from us, backpedaling on its many skittering legs into the shadows.
***
All around us, a rumbling started.
There was a pounding that crashed through the rock tunnel, as if an insane blacksmith were hammering on a massive anvil. The ringing of crashing rock started off slowly, with a few stones smashing down around us with heavy blasts of sound. Within seconds, the cacophony sped up, rising into a constant stream of destruction. The black orbs were spinning in place all up and down the tunnel, their glossy obsidian surfaces flashing with sparks of blue light.
“It’s collapsing!” Phil cried, running back in the direction we came, holding Sonia’s hand as she tried to keep up with him. I could only stare for a long moment, not sure what to do. It seemed that the direction Phil was heading stood closer to total collapse.
“Wait!” I cried, but my voice was drowned out in the destruction all around us. I felt a rock smash into my shoulder, sending me down to my feet. I heard Phil give a scream of pain, then another stone came down and smashed into my forehead. I remember seeing everything spinning around me as the world went black.
***
I awoke to find my headlamp still shining straight up in the dusty tunnel. Large chunks of the tunnel had slid out of place and crashed to the stone floor. The granite chunks that had fallen looked unnaturally smooth, most of them in the shapes of cylinders or cubes and varying in size from that of an egg to that of a small car.
My head throbbed. It felt as if a tight belt of fire were wrapped around my temples. Groaning, I put my fingers up to my forehead. They came away slick with blood.
Slowly, I started pushing myself up on my feet. I was relieved that nothing seemed broken. I had a deep gash running from the center of my scalp down to my left temple and some shallower cuts on my shoulders and back, but I knew none of that was life-threatening.
“Sonia?” I whispered, my voice coming out weak and strained. I reached into my pack and found a bottle of water. I chugged it quickly in one long swallow.
“Phil?” I cried again, this time stronger. I heard a soft weeping nearby. Staggering, I followed the sound.
Sonia was bloody and covered in cuts and scrapes, sitting next to Phil’s prone form. I saw Phil’s right arm pinned under a massive slab of granite. His arm disappeared from the elbow down in a spreading puddle of thick, dark blood.
“Oh God, Max, I think he’s hurt really bad,” she wept. Phil’s eyes rolled wildly in his head, his face pale and bloodless. I looked down the way we had come, seeing the entire tunnel blocked by large slabs of stone, many with strange, black orbs peeking out like the lenses of cameras.
***
I don’t know how much time passed. My phone died after a day, and then we were counting the endless darkness in breaths and tears.
Phil swam in and out of consciousness as his arm putrefied and blackened around the crush site. After a couple days, Sonia and I agreed that something had to be done. We told Phil we would need to amputate his arm. He was half-delirious, but he came back long enough to understand us and nod weakly.
We made a fire with Phil’s pack, trying to find fuel to throw in it to get it roaring. As it grew, I saw one of the black orbs near the flames abruptly ignite, as if it had been covered in gasoline. Blue, almost colorless flames rose from its surface. We started throwing the small black orbs on the fire until it rose high in the air. I sanitized the buck knife with the flames and pulled a rope tourniquet tight around Phil’s arm. He was conscious but seemingly insane, talking to himself more than anyone else.
“How are we going to get the car started without a key?” he gurgled to someone only he could see. “We need to look around. It has to be here somewhere.”
“Phil, can you hear me, bud? We need to fix your arm. We need to get you out of this mess. OK?” I said as comfortingly as I could. Phil’s eyes rolled wildly, but they didn’t meet my own. I sighed and looked over at Sonia.
“Let’s do it,” I said, giving a grim nod.
I pulled the buck knife out, slicing quickly down through the flesh next to the tourniquet. His veins throbbed like fat worms as the blackened, necrotic skin split easily under the blade, releasing a rancid-smelling gas that hissed out of the wound.
I couldn’t believe how hard it was to slice all the way through the arm. It felt like I was stuck in that hellish task forever. Phil’s eyes rolled in his head as his skin turned the color of clotted milk.
“God, Jesus, make it stop,” Phil whispered over and over, exhaling ragged, pain-filled breaths. The blood spurted from the blackened, dying tissue all over the dust-covered cavern floor, covering my hands in its warm, slick embrace.
After what was probably only three or four minutes, but felt like hours, I had sliced all the way down to the bone. The infected tissue of his arm spurted great gouts of orange pus mixed with rivulets of blood. The hard part was over.
Standing up, I took my steel-toe sneaker and stomped down on his arm as hard as I could. Phil cried out in a powerful voice, as if all the agony and suffering in the world was contained in that one shriek. The bone snapped under my weight with a sound like a tree branch cracking. A moment later, Phil rolled away from the rock that had pinned me in place for so long. Something alien and spongy was shoved into my face, a mass of destroyed red tissue pulsating in time with a runaway heartbeat. At first, shell-shocked and revolted, my mind couldn’t comprehend that I was looking at the stump of Phil’s mutilated arm. I hardened my heart and forced the giddiness and madness to the back of my mind. The time had come to cauterize the wound.
“Sonia, give it to me,” I said with a tremor in my voice. I reached out a hand towards her, a hand stained with Phil’s blood. It looked as if I were wearing a wet, crimson glove. Sonia only stared blankly at me for a long moment, however. A surge of anger ran up my chest.
“Sonia, toughen the fuck up! He’s going to die if you just sit there!” I swore at her, hearing my deep, angry voice bounce around the caverns. Sonia pulled back, as if she were struck. Inwardly, I cursed having a woman as my only able-bodied companion in this situation. She was a competent enough caver, but what would happen if violence and blood came over us? What would happen if, or more realistically when, we needed to fight?
Grimly, Sonia leaned forward and yanked the burning black orb out of the roaring fire, handing it to me on the end of a buck knife that had just barely pierced its hard, strange exterior. The handle of the knife felt coarse and splintery under my filthy skin. I put it to the spongy stump of Phil’s arm. The stump twitched violently. Phil tried to pull away as black smoke rose from the burning flesh.
There was a smell like bacon sizzling. The searing meat of Phil’s arm blackened and crisped under the heat of the orb, which had become no more than a cylinder of glowing blue embers by this point. I felt simultaneously sick and giddy. I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or vomit. I felt like I was on the verge of some kind of madness, that the stress and insanity of the experience had started to shatter my mind.
His eyes rolled back in his head and he appeared to go into a seizure for a few seconds. With a long exhalation of breath, he finally, mercifully, lost consciousness. It’s hard to admit it, even this close to the end, but a small, sick piece of me was jealous of Phil. Most likely, he would be dead soon, maybe within hours, while Sonia and I would slowly starve and dehydrate like animals over a period of weeks. I looked at her lithe body and soft skin, seeing the feminine curves of her hips and chest. She was a beautiful woman. I knew Phil to be a lucky man. At least, before this trip, he was.
I watched her body, wondering if I had what it took to eat her or Phil if I had to. Did I have an iron heart that would allow me to slice into my friends and consume their raw, cold flesh? Perhaps, by that point, it would be hunger and madness driving me forward, and I wouldn’t even hesitate. I shuddered at the very thought.
***
I fell asleep that night, having strange dreams of massive gods with melting faces sitting in judgment in a circle around me. We had very little food or water left. No one knew we were down here. Rescue was not coming.
When I awoke, I found myself alone. Phil had died from his injuries while I slept, the black streaks of septic shock spreading up his arm towards his heart. His eyes stared sightlessly up at the rock ceiling.
“Sonia?” I called out, my heart racing as I sat up. “Where are you?” My headlamp was growing dim. I looked in my pack, realizing I was on the last of my batteries. I saw a silhouette walking out of the darkness, the thin, pale form of Sonia. She was trembling badly.
“I saw them,” she said. “Niralahoth and its priests. The priests aren’t human. They look reptilian with sideways mouths and too many eyes.” She shuddered.
“Why would you do that?” I asked. Her eyes grew distant.
“You know we’re not getting out of here alive,” she said. “Not on our own. I wanted to see what it offered. It says that if we take a piece of its nightmare into us, we will gain the power to leave this place, that it simply wants to see the surface and spread its nightmares there.” I shook my head.
“Insanity,” I muttered. “We’d be better off dead.” Sonia nodded.
“My thoughts exactly,” she responded grimly. I didn’t realize what she meant until the next day, when I woke up and found her hanging next to Phil’s body, her tongue swollen and blue as it poked out of her cyanotic lips. And then I was truly alone.
***
Soon after Sonia committed suicide, the last of the batteries for the headlamp died. I had run out of food and had only a small sip of water left. I don’t know how much time passed in the darkness, starving and raving, following the tunnel by running my hands over the walls. I heard many things skittering in the darkness, and a few times, I heard the demonic voice of Niralahoth as it split and distorted.
“You are on death’s door,” it hissed. “Will you not drink from the fountain of life?” I couldn’t tell where the voice came from in the maddening blackness. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. I had lost nearly all of my sanity in that pit of shadows by this point. I tried laughing constantly to keep my spirits up, and when that failed, I simply cried.
“I’ll do it,” I wailed. “I’ll do it. Just let me see the sky again. Get me out of here, Niralahoth.” Everything went deathly silent all around me, then a laugh rang out like the grinding of glass.
In front of me, I saw a tornado of fire descending from the ceiling, surrounding the massive, spidery form of Niralahoth. It rose its skeletal arms upwards, as if it were Zeus calling down lightning. In the sudden brightness, I saw the fiery form of snakes slithering and centipedes skittering forwards in that tornado, each massive creature sculpted from flames in the spinning cyclone of energy. Niralahoth reached into the tornado of fire with its sharp points of fingers and plucked something small from it. The fire instantly dissipated. In its hand, I saw a tiny, swirling orb that looked like it contained a firestorm within it.
“The nightmare seed,” Niralahoth gurgled as it skittered forward towards me. I could only stare, open-mouthed and starving. I hadn’t slept for days, it felt like, and everything seemed slow and unreal.
In a blur, its skeletal arm shot out and forced the orb into my mouth. Despite the fire raging within it, it felt freezing cold. As it touched my tongue, it gave off a sensation like frostbite all throughout my mouth. I screamed and tried spitting it out, but it seemed to have a mind of its own. It started liquifying, dripping down my throat.
I felt something cancerous and sick spreading throughout my body, radiating out from my heart and stomach to every inch of it. I tried to scream, but it caught behind my teeth. I fell to my knees, clawing at my face as that insane, alien laugh continued resounding all down the tunnel. I fell unconscious and woke up under a beautiful sky in the fields of Graysole Farms.
***
Soon after, I realized that my life would never be the same. Everywhere I went, I could hear the wailing voice of Niralahoth. Behind the trees, I always saw skittering shadows, creatures with long, spidery legs that stalked me every day and night. I slept with every light in the house turned on, yet when I woke up, they would all be shut off, and I would find myself in darkness, next to something in the bed with far too many legs and a face that dripped like burning wax.
I sold everything I owned and tried to move far away, to give as much distance between myself and those cursed caverns as I could, but the nightmares followed me like a shadow. I realize what a fool I was in those ephemeral moments of madness. Sonia was much wiser than myself; I should have killed myself or died rather than allowing that thing inside of me.
Even now, I can feel it creeping through my heart, spreading through my blood. I feel it trying to crawl its way out of my throat, the thin, black legs peeking out at the back of my esophagus.
I only hope that, when I finally jump and feel my bones shatter against the concrete far below, I will kill whatever is inside of me. For I fear the consequences for the world if it were to escape.

Honestly the York new city arc was my favourite at first. Whilst the chimera ant arc took time to build, I feel like every stage had strong highs. I hate how at the end I couldn’t even hate the ants - namely pitou. Who I wanted Gon to kill so bad. But her wishing she was killed instead of mereum pissed me off.
I think people over exaggerated about meruem pre-rose bomb, being a villain who was in the right. But he did learn and I loved how he became a lot more tolerant.
Komugi… I already made a post. And I just can’t. I feel so empty. Honestly imo I think they had to die because the threat of meruem scared me but those last moments fucked me up. Fuck Togashi for the main hunter x hunter music straight after that. I hate how dark it can be, komugi’s runny nose shows blood as they die together.
I get why hunter x hunter is so popular. It’ll hold a special place in my heart. It wasn’t some destiny thing, it was two kids going out into the world (yes with their goals) and stumbling across different plot lines. I think that’s where the 2011 hunter x hunter shines. Making the contrast between light and dark moments. I’m glad I finally watched it.

For example, someone has a runny nose. They are praying, but the runny nose makes them lose focus because it distracts them from their prayer. What can they do in this situation? Should they carry a tissue to sneeze into their nose during prayer?

Hi guys!
I have celiac and recently was diagnosed with a nickel allergy that has caused major inflammation and systemic symptoms. I'm also pretty positive I have MCAS, given that the histamine reaction (eg. burning skin sensation, swelling nose, red hot ears and hands/swelling) comes about not only after meals but also when pressure is applied to my ears or in temp changes. I've been going between derm and allergist who recommended I do a low nickel diet. I haven't been super strict with it (eg. i eat brown rice cakes, will have a cocktail once a week sometimes, have had fruits that are medium in nickel levels) but i've definitely cut out all legumes, nuts, seeds and soy (+ chocolate, oats) which is something. ive seen some improvement over the last few weeks but by no means am i better or have these symptoms gone away (eg. cant breathe through nose right now its so swollen) but I still get flare ups and i'm starting to feel desperate. WHO do I see (endocrinologist, rheumatologist, etc) for all of this and to get more tests to prove that im not crazy and there is more I could be doing to stop this??? Or maybe I need to see a different allergist?
Really trust this reddit community so thank you in advance for the advice. im so down on myself and sad.

Brief history. A year ago I had a staph infection in my sinuses. CT scan confirmed all sinus cavities were full, everything was swollen, I was a hot mess. Suffering from daily headaches, stuffy nose, etc. Prescribed strong antibiotics and it cleared. She had suggested surgery because of the anatomy of my sinuses but I didn’t do it at the time. I rarely have sinus issues so I didn’t think it was necessary.
Since that time I’ve had zero headaches, no sinus pressure, can breathe 💯 though my nose. Only issue is sometimes I can “smell” my sinuses if that makes sense. Also have some post nasal drip but not significant.
Went to the ENT a few weeks ago because I suspected a CSF leak (clear fluid leaking from one side of my nose when I bent over, no other symptoms). She ordered another CT scan and this time my Maxillary sinuses (both) are 💯 obstructed. I suspect they’ve been that way for a while, even though I don’t have any traditional symptoms.
Doctor is again suggesting surgery to correct a deviated septum with bone spur, and open up my sinuses so they can drain. I’m hesitant to move forward with surgery since I don’t really have a quality of life issue associated with the filled sinuses.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? Would you move forward with the surgery despite not really having issues?

Hi everyone, I am coming up on a year of working full-time with this one family in particular. I started out part time giving them a rate of 30 an hour for twins in the Los Angeles area. I wasn’t actually sure that I was going to move forward full-time with them and ultimately I lowball myself, but when I worked part time, I did not have any cleaning duties I simply took care of the twins. Now, I do everything but get them up in the morning and put them to bed at night. I also realize now that I should be making significantly more money for twins, it’s very demanding on top of the fact that they don’t sleep very long and are only on one nap. It’s very hard to get chores done and running errands with them is almost impossible. Due to where we work there happen to be a lot of twin nannies and everyone is making 45 and above. I need to ask for 40 to feel comfortable doing the work that I do. I’m not exactly sure how to go about this, given I lowballed myself.
Also, I need to ask them to begin to tell me if anyone gets sick, even if it’s over the weekend before I walk through that door. If one of the parents are sick, sometimes I don’t even find out until days later that they were sick. If one of the twins are sick, I don’t even find out until I walk in the door or I tell them and they hit me with the yeah they’ve had a runny nose since yesterday. I’m not sure what the reasoning is behind not telling me before I get there, but I don’t feel like they even care about my well-being. Ideally, I’d have the opportunity to put on a mask or up my vitamin C intake.
I’m feeling very drained and unappreciated. I’m struggling to write this as I know they’re not going to be happy with my request for 40 an hour.
Is there a template to follow or guidelines that anyone generally follows when asking for a raise?
My main duties include, but are not limited to. Every piece of laundry wash, folded, and put away. (Including the overflowing basket with clothes that are falling to the floor Monday morning,despite leaving an empty basket Friday evening. I do laundry twice a week.) Every dish that belongs to the twins that was left in the sink even if from over the weekend. All Grocery shopping all cooking, including meal prepping for the weekend and fixing a plate for dinner before I leave for the day. Cleaning the stroller and playpen There’s more, but that’s a general understanding.

Edit: HC 😅
So: can’ t do the Indometacin test or be on it.
I do have migraine, VM and something constant going on on my right side of the face/eyes.
It is never pain attacks, just face irritation/migraneous symptoms with some runny eye and nose.
My typical migraines are on the opposite side usually.
But my possible HCside does not give particular classic head pain in the brain. And not like sudden pain attacks. Just a 24/7 thing where the eyelid is droopy, closed and often teary. Also cheeks/jaw, but mostly cheek/eye.
On Ajovy now that does some for the migraine/nausea etc and 0% for my dizziness and possible HC.
Any take on this?

I really want to have my apartment checked for mold in the walls. There are two reasons why, but I am scared when I bring it to the apartment the are going to look at me like I’m crazy!
1- Every time I am home I get a runny nose, sore throat, and allergy symptoms! I do have allergies in certain areas of the country but I’ve never had them where I currently am located. When the “allergies” are bad in my apartment I can go walk outside or get out of the house and they go away.
2- There was a review of the apartment I am living in that had a complaint about mold being an issue in her apartment.
Most of me feels like it could be a coincidence but a small part of me thinks it could be something. I’m not sure how to even begin with addressing this situation.