Hi, I 24F was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 18. Since then most gynaecologist have given the age old option of BC.
My dermatologist however, has me on spirolactone(100mg), flutamide (250mg), finastride (4mg) & Myo-inositol.
My tests showed very high Free testosterone & DHT. Mildly elevated DHEAS and prolactin levels.
I follow a low GI diet, seed cycling and strength training + Yoga; 5x a week.
I think I do need to lose around 9kgs/(approx 20lbs).
My major symptoms are irregular periods & androgenic alopecia. (Although periods are getting somewhat regular)
Minoxidil (topical & oral) both did not suit me.
Too many horror stories around BC, and as a personal choice I don’t want to be on it.
I don’t know how to get this PCOS under control? Would I need to be on all these 3 anti-androgens for life ? It seems exhausting.
Please give me any advice that worked out for you.
This was typed out from my phone, so I apologise if the paragraphs don’t look right.

Sadly, tomorrow I need to take my 1.5 year old girl into hospital for 2 weeks for a long course of IV antibiotics, as well as a bronchoscopy under general anesthetic. This is to treat a severe lung infection which she's had ongoing issues with since she was 4 months old, but has only recently been referred to a respiratory team who are eager to start this treatment ASAP following a concerning x-ray and partially collapsed lung.
Over the course of these issues we've had multiple stays in hospital, ranging from a couple nights to a week, so it's not completely foreign to us. However we are nervous about how long a time it will be this time around, and the fact that she is a pretty happy and energetic toddler despite her lungs issues. During the previous stays in hospital she was also very ill with low oxygen levels, and so was generally very sleepy which made managing the stay a little easier.
We've no idea what to expect in how an IV course of antibiotics will affect her compared to an oral course (she recently did a 3 week course of oral antibiotics, which was basically 3 weeks of grumpy toddler and poonami's). We've also never had her put under general anesthetic before, which I'm finding quite a scary thought
Our current plans are: - Alternate staying in hospital with her, swapping in the evenings to spend family time together before bed and allow the other to work the next day - Cycle different toys in each day to keep things interesting - Establish some sort of consistent daily routine to give her some stability (though I'm not sure how much freedom we'll have in the hospital) - Call in family when possible to give my wife some short opportunities to decompress during the day/naptime - Ask friends and family to visit as much as possible so she can get engagement and company to break up the monotony
Has anyone else been through a similar ordeal? I'd be extremely appreciative of any advice or shared experiences people can offer!

I’m taking estrogen in preparation for a FET in a few weeks and I am beyond emotional! What I find weird however is my estrogen was so high during my retrieval cycle but I was not emotional this way (I was more nauseous). Why am I having different side effects this time around? Is it different because I’m taking estrogen orally?

I know and do all the things and tricks. Dear god, I have all the visual prompts and reminders and systems in place, and even a LOVELY wife who reminds me of the things I need to do to survive. But like GOD. Why does it require SO MUCH.
Keeping this meat machine running is becoming a whole full time job. For context I have ADHD, ASD, Ehlers Danlos (Accompanied by bouts of Dysautonomia and POTS), and PMDD/PME meaning my PMS phase is EXTRA cooked turning me into a deep-fried werewolf half the month. Oh and i'm trans-nonbinary and have undergone top surgery and low dose testosterone....
So first off there's the BASICS OF LIFE eating breathing sleeping, homeostasis. WELL SOMETIMES MY BODY WONT DO IT AND I HAVE TO STEP IN.
Gotta feed myself every day multiple times a day. Sometimes body won't tell me i'm hungry until its too late. Repeated alarms get ignored /cause me misophonia and rage.
Gotta decide what to eat every time.
Gotta be mindful about getting good nutrition.
Gotta hope i haven't lost a safe food for some unknown reason wherein the sight smell idea and texture makes me suddenly go from pleasure to gagging.
Gotta have variety tho. Brain won't eat the same thing every day so there has to be a variety of "safe food" b/c ASD and "dopamine food" b/c ADHD available.
Gotta get groceries then too. But don't shop when you're hungry b/c thats how you blow the budget. It's worse on T b/c T makes me hungry as FUCK especially once we upped my dose( I'm actually going back down b/c this effect is UNBEARABLE. )
Gotta put water ON my body/clothes in the sun b/c I don't regulate my temperature.. I get cold when its less than 65' outside and overheat when its hotter than 78'.
Gotta wear and manage layers of clothing b/c of said inability to regulate temperature properly.
Gotta put water IN my body too but I don't know what thirst even feels like so i have to do it consciously or else I just....won't drink water. Which means....
Gotta keep enough water bottles of the RIGHT TYPE on hand b/c I just WONT drink out of a normal cup. I'll sip but to meet water need it's gotta be those chewy nip coleman bottles. don't ask me why maybe it's the mouthfeel ????
Gotta take drugs to regulate my HBP b/c i've got POTS. We actually suspect hyperadrenergic POTS b/c I respond well to Guanfacine and Clonidine and watesalt intake wasn't changing it.
Gotta take ALL MY MEDS EVERY DAY SAME TIME. Even with the autoreminder I miss it a lot especially if I flip it and forget to unflip it. or drop the batteries etc.
But if I take the POTS meds then the side effect is that if I forget the meds for even a DAY my body gets rebound effects which debilitate me worse than the POTS itself. So I stop taking the meds regularly and only take them as needed when I'm having more symptoms than usual.
Which is fine and dandy 2 weeks out of the month but the other 2 weeks .....fuck me.
Gotta batten down the hatches every month for werewolf week Because I have PMDD!! And I get POTS symptoms real bad during luteal phase b/c my body decides i'm a topsy tervy WEREWOLF???? and wants to crawl out of my skin. do all the drugs and bite my leg off/harm myself. So then i'm flippy, brain foggy, agitated anxious sensory overwhelmed and brutally insomniatic for 1-2 weeks EVERY MONTH.
Gotta remember tho take the gabapentin it really helps during wolf week. Whoop one more med to manage.
Gotta go to the pharmacy everywhenever. B/c of course they don't pill pack, or autoship and you take 2 controlled meds which must be picked up in person.
Now you might wonder....well why are you still having luteal phases if you're trans and on T? WELL B/C MY OVARIES JUST WONT QUIT. I'm in the male range for Testosterone even when I was at "low dose". My estrogen level is in the guttenearly undetectable but my body JUST KEEPS CYCLING. I even took nuvaring for 6 months no change. and I've tried two types of combo birth control and one makes me sex-repulsed/depressed and the other made me dysphoric and suidcidal. So now we're trying the POP. I don't think it'll work.... But its something to try. Also gotta take topical E for my hoo-ha b/c ....well I don't want atrophy. But that one seems to be treating me okay.
Gotta take my T shot every week and the topical finasteride every day. But T relieves my gender dysphoria significantly, reduces a lot of my PMDD SI/RAGE symptoms, and T is fantastic because it increases my muscle mass which reduced my joint slippage reducing pain? All good right?
Gotta see a derm b/c you're having a scarring alopecia flare up! But then that pesky scarring alopecia comes back. I had it before T, I actually had low T levels back then and i've been on finasteride my whole transition. It seems to run in my family. I've been symptom free for 7 years but something this year restarts the inflammatory process (probably surgery). Typical treatment is topical steroids and topical minoxidil. I have THREE cats. I will not kill my cats for my hair.
Gotta take the minoxidil now too. So they put me on oral minoxidil (and topical steroids). Which lowers my BP great but increases my HR not great. Now i'm constantly anxious about my HR my BP whether i'm fine or normal or having an episode or need to stop my treatment or restart it.
Gotta take more meds and see my GP. Great.
Gotta massage those top surgery scars every night. B/c mobility matters! Adhesions are bad. And the hEDS makes me scar like a weirdo. (hypertrophic and atrophic O.o) plus I want tattoos.
So lets assume i've managed the baseline physiological needs. Fed my body, watered my soul, sacrificed my cats to the three headed god of bendy elbows. Not having insomnia so bad the tech at your sleep study goes ....."is it always like this for you?".
Well then there's the psychological needs and problems.
Gotta take the ADHD meds or I literally won't get out of bed, will doomscroll for hours and watch my life fall apart.
Gotta take the SSRIs or else the crippling rumination, depression and obsessive body checking behaviors interrupt my life.
Gotta take Buspirone otherwise the SSRIS make me unable to orgasm and obliterates my sex drive. Thankfully my spouse's has also lowered these days due to her own meds so it's not causing conflict in the relationship like it used to. Sex is the only place in my life where I haven't experienced trauma and it's important to me personally as well for all the reasons.
Gotta work**.** Thats all i'll say there. b/c that is its own laundry list.
Gotta to do my accounting, pay bills etc.
Gotta do hygiene every single day 2x a day.
Gotta watch what I eat b/c i'm severely sensitive to gluten which limits eating out. So it's harder to do fun things with people/go out to eat with friends or order take-out.
Gotta remember to call/text my friends.
Gotta remember to call/text my father.
Gotta see all the fucking drs about all my fucking medical issues. Schedule and attend the appointments. Yes we hit our OOP MAX EVERY YEAR.
Gotta work out or else risk physical decompensation with increased joint subluxation or dislocations. And also for my MH/because I love acrobatics/aerials. I started decomping after surgery and the pain was atrocious and the injury cycle was beginning. I forgot just how fast the slipping happens.
Gotta attend to my loved ones. my wife and her needs, and my dog and my 3 cats.
Gotta clean the house, gotta wash the sheets, gotta treat the folliculitis infection I gave myself shaving, gotta tidy up after my hyperfixation projects and keep tidying my special interest projects.....
Gotta find/eliminate all the mold bombs regularly. b/c i'm horribly allergic to mold. So you know all the cups of coffee I didn't finish, hidden bowls of half eaten food lost under a shirt, or accidently left in on a bookshelf or in a bathroom, or orange peels dried too slowly or fruit in the fridge left a day too long....
Gotta get my blood drawn again for the 7th time this year.
Gotta schedule more medical tests.
Gotta let the ASD gods rule the weekend and worldbuild for 11 straight hours b/c I may be a sexless angelic demigod but hey at least I ENJOY my special interests again.
All this so that I don't fall apart. So I can get up, work, earn money, make friends, enjoy my special interests , care for myself and my wife and my cats and my dog , and hopefully live on past 30 without succumbing to either my demons or the inevitable progressive worsening of my physical disabilities.
Some days I just wanna be sedated.

Sadly, tomorrow I need to take my 1.5 year old girl into hospital for 2 weeks for a long course of IV antibiotics, as well as a bronchoscopy under general anesthetic. This is to treat a severe lung infection which she's had ongoing issues with since she was 4 months old, but has only recently been referred to a respiratory team who are eager to start this treatment ASAP following a concerning x-ray and partially collapsed lung.
Over the course of these issues we've had multiple stays in hospital, ranging from a couple nights to a week, so it's not completely foreign to us. However we are nervous about how long a time it will be this time around, and the fact that she is a pretty happy and energetic toddler despite her lungs issues. During the previous stays in hospital she was also very ill with low oxygen levels, and so was generally very sleepy which made managing the stay a little easier.
We've no idea what to expect in how an IV course of antibiotics will affect her compared to an oral course (she recently did a 3 week course of oral antibiotics, which was basically 3 weeks of grumpy toddler and poonami's). We've also never had her put under general anesthetic before, which I'm finding quite a scary thought
Has anyone been through a similar experience before, and can perhaps offer some advice on how to handle the ordeal? We want make it as comfortable as possible for her, and to support and eachother as much as possible through it
Our current plans are: - Alternate staying in hospital with her, swapping in the evenings to spend family time together before bed and allow the other to work the next day - Cycle different toys in each day to keep things interesting - Establish some sort of consistent daily routine to give her some stability (though I'm not sure how much freedom we'll have in the hospital) - Call in family when possible to give my wife some short opportunities to decompress during the day/naptime - Ask friends and family to visit as much as possible so she can get engagement and company to break up the monotony
I'd be extremely appreciative of any advice or shared experiences people can offer! We live in the UK, but I'm sure this experience must be fairly universal

DAY: May 19 2024

• 5-19-2024 ILLNESS TOOK AWAY HER VOICE. AI CREATED A REPLICA SHE CARRIES IN HER PHONE Alexis Bogan, whose speech was impaired by a brain tumor, uses an AI powered smartphone app to create a audible drink order at a Starbucks drive-thru on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Lincoln, R.I. The app converts her typed entries into a verbal message created using her original voice. Credit: AP Photo/Steven Senne The voice Alexis “Lexi” Bogan had before last summer was exuberant. She loved to belt out Taylor Swift and Zach Bryan ballads in the car. She laughed all the time—even while corralling misbehaving preschoolers or debating politics
• 5-19-2024 SMART CONTACT LENSES LEAD THE WAY FOR HUMAN-MACHINE INTERACTION Scientists have developed eye-tracking smart content lenses based on radio frequency tags that can be used for various applications, including health care and augmented reality (AR). The lenses are biocompatible and imperceptible, requiring no battery or conventional silicon chips. Smart contact lenses that can keep track of various health factors and can be used for human-machine interaction (HMI) are a relatively new technology.
• 5-19-2024 INTEL EXEC ON BRINGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INTO THE WORKPLACE Artificial intelligence is just about everywhere you look these days—including the workplace. That means training staff about the technology and using it responsibly is critical. It’s a tall order, especially as the commercialization of generative AI continues its rapid growth. Now some tech players have kickstarted initiatives in hopes of meeting that need. Christy Pambianchi, chief people officer at Intel, recently spoke with The Associated Press about how the semiconductor chip maker is expanding AI education programming beyond the company’s walls—as well as best practices around
• 5-19-2024 JUST BELIEVING THAT AN AI IS HELPING BOOSTS YOUR PERFORMANCE, STUDY FINDS Sometimes it seems like an AI is helping, but the benefit is actually a placebo effect—people performing better simply because they expect to be doing so—according to new research from Aalto University. The study also shows how difficult it is to shake people’s trust in the capabilities of
• 5-19-2024 FEMALE HEALTH APPS MISUSE HIGHLY SENSITIVE DATA, STUDY FINDS Apps designed for female health monitoring are exposing users to unnecessary privacy and safety risks through their poor data handling practices, according to new research from King’s College London and University College London (UCL). In the most extensive evaluation of the privacy practices of female health apps to date, researchers found apps that handle medical and fertility data are coercing users into entering sensitive information that could put them at risk.
• 5-19-2024 OPENAI GIVES CHATGPT NEW POWERS TO SEE, HEAR OpenAI and Microsoft are in a heated rivalry with Google to be generative AI’s major player, but Facebook-owner Meta and upstart Anthropic are also making big moves to compete. OpenAI on Monday released a higher performing and even more human-like version of the artificial intelligence technology that underpins its popular generative tool ChatGPT, making it free to all users. The update to OpenAI’s flagship product landed a day before Google is expected to make its own announcements about Gemini, the search engine giant’s own AI tool that competes with ChatGPT
• 5-19-2024 CHATBOTS TELL PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR, RESEARCHERS FIND Chatbots share limited information, reinforce ideologies, and, as a result, can lead to more polarized thinking when it comes to controversial issues, according to new Johns Hopkins University–led research. The study challenges perceptions that chatbots are impartial and provides insight into how using conversational search systems could widen the public divide on hot-button issues and leave people vulnerable to manipulation. “Because people are reading a summary paragraph generated by AI, they think they’re getting unbiased, fact-based answers,”
• 5-19-2024 STUDENTS, ACTIVISTS, ENTERTAINERS: MINECRAFT’S GLOBAL APPEAL Since the first version of Minecraft was released to the public 15 years ago, the block-based world-building game has become a global phenomenon. Since the first version of Minecraft was released to the public 15 years ago, the block-based world-building game has become a global phenomenon. Players of all ages and backgrounds have used the game for everything from educational projects and architecture to building communities and creating artwork. With more than 300 million copies sold, it is the best-selling video game of all time.
• 5-19-2024 SWISS NURSERY LETS ROBOT DO THE TALKING Swiss children in a Lausanne creche have some fun with their new robot friend, Nao. Sat in a circle on the nursery floor, a group of Swiss three-year-olds ask a robot called Nao questions about giraffes and broccoli. By the time these children become adults, interacting with robots may well be as commonplace as using a smartphone, experts believe. So one Lausanne creche has decided to give them a head start.
• 5-19-2024 EU TO ENCOURAGE INFLUENCERS TO HAVE ‘POSITIVE’ IMPACT Younger audiences increasingly get their information from influencers as they turn away from traditional media. The EU announced steps Tuesday to encourage influencers to post content that has a “positive” impact on society, as concerns rise over disinformation in a fragmented information landscape. With online creators increasingly the preferred source of news and opinions for younger audiences in the European Union, Brussels said they needed to be helped to use their role wisely. Ministers from EU countries responsible for culture, audiovisual and media issues approved a series of steps
• 5-19-2024 THE METAVERSE COULD CHANGE OUR RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES, AND CREATE NEW ONES New technologies have always informed and changed our religious experiences. Listening to early radio broadcasts in the 1880s was experienced by many as religious because radio voices seemed to come from some other dimension. Séances became wildly popular at the time because it was thought by some that radio had opened a door to the spirit world. Today, religion is experiencing new transformations. The information-rich, image-laden character of the internet can provide new ways to understand and explain religious activity.
• 5-19-2024RESEARCH SHEDS LIGHT ON THE WEB OF TRUST, PRIVACY AND SAFETY FACTORS SHAPING USERS’ EXPERIENCES ON FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE Love it or hate it, Facebook Marketplace is the largest online resale site today with more than one billion monthly users.
• 5-19-2024RESEARCH SHEDS LIGHT ON THE WEB OF TRUST, PRIVACY AND SAFETY FACTORS SHAPING USERS’ EXPERIENCES ON FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE Google on Tuesday rolled out a retooled search engine that will frequently favor responses crafted by artificial intelligence over website links, a shift promising to quicken the quest for information while also potentially disrupting the flow of money-making internet traffic. The makeover announced at Google’s annual developers conference will begin this week in the U.S. when hundreds of millions of people will start to periodically see conversational summaries
• 5-19-2024 NEW STRATEGIC DESIGN APPROACH FOCUSES ON TURNING AI MISTAKES INTO USER BENEFITS More and more often, automated lending systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI) reject qualified loan applicants without explanation. Even worse, they leave rejected applicants with no recourse. People can have similar experiences when applying for jobs or petitioning their health insurance providers. While AI tools determine the fate of people in difficult situations daily, Upol Ehsan says more thought should be given to challenging these decisions or working around them. Ehsan, a Georgia Tech explainable AI (XAI) researcher, says many rejection cases are not the applicant’s fault.
• 5-19-2024 MANAGING SCREEN TIME BY MAKING PHONES SLIGHTLY MORE ANNOYING TO USE Existing apps for managing screen time can abruptly lock users out of their phone. If users were in the middle of an important task, they could scramble to skip the time limit, opening themselves up to spend more time on their phone than originally intended. InteractOut’s interventions are more gradual and allow users to decide when to put down their phones while also encouraging them to think harder about their smartphone use.
• 5-19-2024 DIGITAL TWIN HELPS OPTIMIZE MANUFACTURING SPEED WHILE SATISFYING QUALITY CONSTRAINTS Feedrate optimization using an uncertainty-aware digital twin demonstrates significant cycle time reductions of up to 38% in a CNC machine tool while staying close to the error tolerances compared to the existing methods. A new method uses a digital twin to optimize manufacturing machine speed—known as feed rate—while adhering to quality constraints,
• 5-19-2024 THE INCREASING DIFFICULTY OF DETECTING AI- VERSUS HUMAN-GENERATED TEXT Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are used to create text, images and videos, impacting the way society consumes and produces online content. As that technology continues to evolve, it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between AI-generated and human-generated content. Determining the integrity of online information—particularly text—is the current research focus in the Penn State Information Knowledge and wEb (PIKE) Lab, led by Dongwon Lee, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State. In a discussion with Penn State News, Lee spoke about the
• 5-19-2024 RESEARCH TEAM WORKS TO IMPROVE AI-BASED DECISION-MAKING TOOLS FOR PUBLIC SERVICES More and more public services—such as affordable housing, public school matching and child welfare—are relying on algorithms to make decisions and allocate resources. So far, much of the work that has gone into designing these systems has focused on workers’ experiences using them or communities’ perceptions of them. But what about the actual impact of these programs have on people, especially when the decisions the systems make lead to denial of services? Can you design algorithms to help people make sense of and contest decisions that significantly impact them?
• 5-19-2024 CINEMATIC TOOLS CAN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE USER EXPERIENCE IN VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENTS Without teleportation, many users would be unable to use virtual reality due to motion sickness. Unfortunately, teleportation can cause users to miss important aspects of their surroundings. Credit: Alan Medlar Cinematography techniques can significantly increase user engagement with virtual environments and, in particular, the aesthetic appeal of what users see in virtual reality.
• 5-19-2024 HUMAN DIFFERENCES IN JUDGMENT LEAD TO PROBLEMS FOR AIThe noise level observed in ComVE annotations when controlling the minimum (a) and maximum (b) allowable labels for each turker (we omit the residual in these two figures as, similar to what was observed earlier for TG-CSR, it was nearly coincidental with the level noise curve). We also report the statistics of statements categorized by the number of annotation labels under different cutoff methods used for screening participating annotators
• 5-19-2024 HUMAN DIFFERENCES IN JUDGMENT LEAD TO PROBLEMS FOR AI Innovation is rarely accidental. Behind every new invention and product, including the device you are using to read this story, is years of research, investment, and planning. Organizations that want to reach these milestones in the fastest and most efficient way possible use technology roadmaps.
• 5-19-2024 HUMAN DIFFERENCES IN JUDGMENT LEAD TO PROBLEMS FOR AI A team of researchers at Delft University of Technology has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains. Animal brains use less data and energy compared to current deep neural networks running on graphics processing units (GPUs).
• 5-19-2024 US SENATORS UNVEIL ‘ROADMAP’ TO AI LAWS Top US lawmakers on Wednesday said efforts to pass laws governing AI were entering a higher gear and hoped to pump $32 billion into the sector to help assure US dominance. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said bipartisan legislators had agreed on a policy roadmap and had tasked key senate committees to draft specific proposals on regulating AI. The US is home to the biggest AI companies in the world and has trailed the EU and other regions on coming up with rules to rein in the sector.
• 5-19-2024 US SENATORS UNVEIL ‘ROADMAP’ TO AI LAWS Google chief executive Sundar Pichai says the AI revamp of its online search engine will soon spread to countries other than the United States. Google’s use of artificial intelligence to sum up answers to search queries has publishers wondering if traffic to their websites will wither. The internet titan announced Tuesday it is introducing AI-generated answers to online queries in the United States, in one of the biggest changes to its world-leading search engine in 25 years.
• 5-19-2024 CONSUMER GROUPS ACCUSE TEMU OF MANIPULATING ONLINE SHOPPERS Chinese shopping app Temu has on average around 75 million monthly active users in the EU. European consumer groups on Thursday accused Chinese shopping app Temu of using “manipulative techniques” to make users spend more and other violations of a landmark EU tech law. One of the fastest-growing apps, Temu only entered the EU market in April 2023 and says it has on average around 75 million monthly active users in the 27-country bloc. Europe’s BEUC umbrella consumer rights group filed a complaint with the European Commission while 17 member
• 5-19-2024 PARENTS UNDERESTIMATE THE PRIVACY RISKS KIDS FACE IN VIRTUAL REALITY Nearly two thirds of parents of children aged 5–10 don’t understand the metaverse, according to the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Credit: Kampus Production/Pexels/public domain Virtual reality lets kids play 3D games with their friends as avatars, go back in time, even journey to outer space, all without leaving their living rooms. But while children are immersed in the metaverse, they also face privacy risks that their parents might not recognize
• 5-19-2024 MODEL DISGORGEMENT—THE KEY TO FIXING AI BIAS AND COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT? By now, the challenges posed by generative AI are no secret. Models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Meta’s Llama have been known to “hallucinate,” inventing potentially misleading responses, as well as divulge sensitive information, like copyrighted materials.
• 5-19-2024 CAN WE RID ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OF BIAS? AI giants face a challenge of making artficial intelligence models reflect the world’s diversity without being overly politically correct. Artificial intelligence built on mountains of potentially biased information has created a real risk of automating discrimination, but is there any way to re-educate the machines? The question for some is extremely urgent. In this ChatGPT era, AI will generate more and more decisions for health care providers, bank lenders or lawyers, using whatever was scoured from the internet as source material.
• 5-19-2024 CHATGPT IS NOW BETTER THAN EVER AT FAKING HUMAN EMOTION AND BEHAVIOR OpenAI executive Mira Murati launching GPT-4o. Credit: OpenAI Earlier this week OpenAI launched GPT-4o (“o” for “omni”), a new version of the artificial intelligence (AI) system powering the popular ChatGPT chatbot. GPT-4o is promoted as a step towards more natural engagement with AI. According to the demonstration video, it can have voice conversations with users in near real-time, exhibiting human-like personality and behavior. This emphasis on personality is likely to be a point of contention. In OpenAI’s demos, GPT-4o sounds friendly, empathetic and engaging. It tells “spontaneous” jokes, giggles, flirts
• 5-19-2024 MOST PEOPLE STILL THINK BARRISTERS NEED TO SOUND POSH, RESEARCH SHOWS—BUT ACCENT DISCRIMINATION SERVES NO ONE In the UK legal system, a barrister’s job is to present formalized legal arguments in court and at tribunals. Training to become one, therefore, involves considerable focus on oral skills. It is considered important that barristers have the ability to speak “eloquently.” This risks people thinking there is a “correct” way of speaking in order to be successful in this career. Accents, of course, play an important role here. Accent-based bias discriminates against speakers with non-standard accents—people whose speech differs from Received Pronunciation (RP).
• 5-19-2024 A MINUTE’S SILENCE IS FINE BUT WHEN IT COMES TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, BEING QUIET ISN’T ENOUGH Sport has a role to play in creating a culture of respect, yet women in sport are often seen as “less than” on almost every measure: salaries, sponsorship, broadcasting, leadership, access, media, coaching, officiating, uniforms and support. Research shows 3 out of 4 Australian men are gender equality supporters, but very few (17%) prioritize taking any action. As Australia grapples with a “national crisis” of violence against women, what can men in sport do to help?
• 5-19-2024 ARE CANADIANS TOO POOR TO BREAK UP? Why did Al and Peg Bundy from the sitcom Married… with Children never get divorced? After all, they were rarely happy and constantly arguing. Maybe they felt they were the best they could do for each other—a middle-aged homely shoe salesman and a stay-at-home mom with two kids. They cared for each other, but they also hated each other deeply. And neither ever cheated, despite having the opportunity. However, what if the Bundys lived in Canada today?
• 5-19-2024 REPORT LOOKS AT ‘POVERTY STIGMA’ THROUGH A NEW LENS TO STAMP IT OUT OF SOCIETY Stigma is a glue that holds poverty, inequality and economic insecurity in place enabling and exacerbating inequalities of wealth, health and opportunity, says a new report. Poverty stigma is a “wicked social problem,” highly complex, difficult to define and challenging to solve
• 5-19-2024 HOW CRAFT-BASED FIRMS PROJECT AUTHENTICITY THROUGH CREDIBLY AND VISIBLY COMMUNICATING THEIR IDENTITY Consumers are drawn to authenticity when it comes to craft-based firms, and a study looked at how managers in identity-driven markets are challenged to maintain their authenticity as their company’s scale of operations expands. In such craft industries, the authors note, overt claims of authenticity by producers are ineffective.
• 5-19-2024 PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH OFFERS STRATEGIES FOR HEALTHY POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS AMONG PEOPLE WITH OPPOSING VIEWS Civilized political debates may seem increasingly out of reach as democracies across the world face rising polarization, but people still want to discuss issues with people they disagree with—especially those who present themselves as balanced and willing to seek solutions that work for everyone or open to learning new information, according to two studies published by the American Psychological Association.
• 5-19-2024 MORE THAN HALF OF AMERICANS GIVE TO CHARITY AT CHECKOUT, SURVEY SHOWS 53% of Americans give to charity at checkout, and young and diverse people tend to do it more often, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. Credit: Binghamton University, State University of New York Fifty-three percent of Americans give impulsively to charities at the checkout, and certain demographics tend to give more, according to a new survey conducted by faculty at Binghamton University,

I quit exactly 7 days ago (to the hour, 1pm EST), here is what my journey looked like, and how it looks like now

Background context

I've been vaping for about 6 years. Equivalent of a full strength JUUL pod every 1.5-2 days. 6500 puff dispo every 5 days. Smoked cigs briefly but no more than 5x a day, usually.
Switched from full strength flavored dispos to unflavored dispos about 8 months ago.

Daily Log since quitting.

• Day 0: Fine, some itches but overall okay
  
• Day 1: Holy shit I cannot think at all. My vision is blurry, brain fog 100.
  
• Day 2: huh. Weirdly not that bad
  
• Day 3: I want to kill everyone. Homeless beggar came up to me and I told him to fuck off.
  
• Day 4: Less angry but can't think or focus
  
• Day 5: First day I didn't think about vaping. At least until the afternoon which is when the cravings kick in.
  
• Day 6: Didn't think about vaping but have been thinking about nicotine a lot. Craving a zyn or something to get that body buzz and mental fix
  
• Day 7: Same as above. Want nicotine but not necessarily to vape. Have some shakes still.
  

Learnings from prior attempts to quit

1. The sooner you switch off FLAVORED vapes the better. I feel like I have way less oral fixation this time around.
   
2. Intense nicotine taper was not effective for me last time, just felt like I ended up vaping more to compensate. I think the first 2 tapers (50mg to 40mg to 30mg) were good, but I think I should have quit cold turkey at that point. When I tapered down to 20mg and 10mg I just started getting angry and ended up reverting back to full strength.
   
3. LOZENGES were more effective than ZYN or GUM or PATCHES. Less intense, less gross, easier to modulate the usage.
   
4. Walks + cardio are great ways to get your mind occupied
   
5. Quit into a thursday / Friday, not on monday when you have work.
   
6. Look into wellbutrin potentially? Been seeing it a lot
   
7. Quitting in summer is better than quitting in winter
   
8. Spend as much time in nature in first week
   
9. CARDIO CARDIO CARDIO. I did 1 hour of incline walks every day last week.
   

Seeking advice here because tressless deletes my post, I'm gonna summarize it and maybe repost the full details and pics if anyone asks

I'm looking for:

1. Some explanations on why Minoxidil is acting the way it is (persistent shedding and progression of MPB)
2. Some opinion on if i should stop or change my therapy
3. Some opinion if Minoxidil is not working because i messed with it too much

I've been on Fin 0,25mg for 1 year and my hairline was stable then i started introducing topical Min 5% and it went downhill pretty fast since Min has nuked my hairline with its shedding starting at the second week of usage and its effects not reversing when stopping the application

Total time on therapy: 2,5 years

• started Finasteride 0,25mg in Dec 2021
• started Minoxidil in Dec 2022 and stopped in Jan 2024
• reintroduced Min from April 2023, then stopped in Dec 2023 (this was the longest consecutive period and i mostly applyed a low dosage of 3 drops once per day)
• reintroduced Min for the third time since April 2024

During those periods i've made small changes such as decreasing/increasing dosage for both medications but never stopped Fin
Looking at my pics i can see that some vellus hair disappeared during those months of abstinence but they never really grew past an inch anyway and most importantly AGA progressed further

My current regime

• 0,5mg Fin + 10 drops of topical Min 5% twice a day (the solution has also 5mg of Fin crushed into it)
• Mizoral twice a week and collagen conditioner + a keratine product post wash
• Retinol before applying Min to see if Tret might be an otpion
• I also dermarolled for 4 months once a week or two (from Feb 2023 to May 2023) with no effects so i stopped due fear of creating scarring tissues

Other considerations

• Min has some effects since i get hypertrichosis on eyebrows, cheeks and forehead which don't seem to disappear if i take a pause unlike the vellus hair on my scalp
• I manily apply Min on my right temple and now both fronto temporal areas, so not the entire scalp
• Lots of previously terminal hair on my hairline turned into miniaturized/vellus hair and their life cycle got visibly shortened, I grew my hair long and i can see that those minizturized hair's lenght is around 1 or 2 inches depending on how close they are to my "healthy" hair
• When on Fin 0,25mg, my bloodworks showed a decrease in DHT of around 80%
• Bloodworks also don't show Iron deficiency or Thyroid issues
• Diet hasn't changed and I'm still supplementing with: Zinc, Calcium, Magnesium, Vit.C, Vit.D during winter
• Oral Min and Duta are not available since they come in high dose capsules wich do not allow me to use the dose i want

For starters I am early 50s. I have been using PEDs for about 6 years. Started by cycling, and then about 1.5 years ago I went on a continual cruise of a combo of test acetate, test enanthate, and test cyp. that keeps my levels just a hair over 1100 all the time. I get bloodwork 3/year and other than elevated test, everything else is normal. I came across some 50mg anadrol tabs and am trying to figure out a good way to do a little blast (or several) with them. I have no experience with anadrol at all, but I am thinking about taking 25/mg twice a day for 6 weeks or so on top of my current regimin. Given my baseline cruise, is there anything I need to consider regarding PCT? I am guessing not, but just soliciting helpful input of any kind.

I'm trying to figure out if this is a coincidence or not, but I'm suddenly getting much deeper wrinkles on my face, and when I sleep on my side I'm now getting massive vertical wrinkles running down my face.
I've read that minoxidil can reduce collagen production, but mostly heard that this isn't a problem from physicians online. However I've run into a few anecdotes from others.
Rough timelines. I'm nearly 44 now.

• Early 30s first saw thin horizontal lines but weren't super deep on forehead (3 lines)
• Started seeing first THIN vertical lines from sleeping on my side roughly around 2020. I did switch to that side of my face to watch my phone in bed sometimes. Noticed is staying more permanent over time, but mostly reverted.
• In the last 8-12 months, sleeping on ANY side of my face now leave really deep wrinkles. One huge one is rather permanent at this point, but new verical lines are forming almost every time I sleep and I'm worried about this.

Possible other factors:

• 1 cycle of accutane at age 34 or so
• high stress/depression over last 2 years and bad sleep
• covid in september of 2022
• started oral minoxidil february 2023

I realize I'm no spring chicken at nearly 44, but also I just don't see almost ANYONE else with wrinkles like this esp around my age. Might see a rare guy with wrinkles like this if they are like aged 70+, but even then the vast majority don't have this bizarre vertical wrinkling.
It's really hard to tell because I know much of the wrinkling started before minoxidil so maybe that is just being exaggerated now, but it just seems so much worse in the last 8-12 months.

Hey I've been taking Lamictal for the past three months, and I've increased my dose from 50mg to 100mg a week ago. It honestly feels like it's making me much worse at the moment.
My cycles have gone from 30-33 days to 39 days, which means an extra week of PMMD (yippee!) but I was willing to stick it out in case it overrode my PMDD at a higher dose.
Right now it feels like I'm just violently sad and angry all the time. All I wanna do is lie on the floor and sob my eyes out. I have 0 quality of life. My partner has asked me for space because he has his own issues and can't handle seeing me like this all the time. Everything hurts.
Has anyone on Lamictal experienced this? Has it gotten worse before it got better? I am clinging on to hope but I might just start tapering off bc I'd still prefer 2 weeks of my usual PMDD over 3 weeks of absolutely unbearable misery that I barely have a week to recover from before it starts again.

It feels like my period is on its way. not cramping per se (although I had that day 1) but that pre-period feeling so i’m feeling upset like my transfer didn’t work. Is that the same feeling you get before pregnancy too? Trying to hold on to hope and keep myself from taking a test. Anyone have the same feeling?
If this matters at all i’m doing a partially medicated cycle so currently 3 prorgesterones and one suppository a day. It was only the oral pills but my doctor said my progesterone was a little low so started the suppositories too.

Smoking has detrimental effects on various aspects of health, including dental health. Understanding the specific impacts on oral hygiene and dental conditions can be a powerful motivator to quit smoking. Here's a detailed look at how smoking affects your dental health.

Negative Impacts of Smoking on Dental Health

1. Tooth Discoloration

• Cause: The nicotine and tar in tobacco can stain teeth yellow or even brown over time.
• Consequences: Stained teeth can affect your confidence and are typically harder to clean effectively.

2. Gum Disease

• Cause: Smoking impairs blood flow to the gums, which can affect the attachment of bone and soft tissue to your teeth.
• Consequences: Increased risk of infections, receding gums, and more severe periodontal diseases.

3. Increased Build-up of Plaque and Tartar

• Cause: Smoking contributes to the buildup of plaque and tartar on teeth.
• Consequences: This can lead to tooth decay and gum disease.

4. Delayed Healing Processes

• Cause: The healing capacity of the mouth is compromised in smokers, affecting recovery after dental procedures.
• Consequences: Slower healing after extractions, periodontal treatment, or oral surgery; increased risk of complications such as dry socket.

5. Oral Cancer

• Cause: Tobacco use is a major risk factor for oral cancers.
• Consequences: Smoking can lead to cancer of the mouth, throat, lips, and tongue.

6. Bad Breath

• Cause: Smoking results in bad breath due to the presence of tobacco particles and the impact on oral bacteria.
• Consequences: Chronic bad breath (halitosis) can affect social interactions and self-esteem.

Using Tabex to Quit Smoking

Quitting smoking is essential to mitigating these dental health risks. Tabex, containing cytisine as an active ingredient, can help by reducing cravings for nicotine, making it easier to stop smoking. With no nicotine in its composition, Tabex aids in breaking the addiction cycle while minimizing withdrawal symptoms.

Conclusion

The effects of smoking on dental health are severe and can lead to both cosmetic issues and serious health complications. By quitting smoking, you not only improve your dental health but also enhance your overall health. Support your journey with Tabex and professional dental care to restore and maintain optimal oral hygiene.

Hello! I’m currently 78 hours into quitting vaping once again, this time quitting 18mg freebase nicotine juice after I accidentally relapsed. Before the relapse, I had been going 6 months strong CT off of a 50mg salt nic daily vaping habit that I had clung to since 2018 after starting with Juuls, moving onto refillable pod devices, and eventually settling on shitty disposables. I should state that I’m currently 24 years old male with ADHD.
I had quit the 50mg Salt Nic back at the end of last March, and I had not been prescribed Wellbutrin for the entire time, I only got put onto Wellbutrin at the end of this January. Anyway, quitting the 50mg Salts was hellish, but I got through it and eventually the cravings mostly subsided. The first 2 weeks were the most difficult with the first week itself being the most challenging. However, Week 2 and 3 presented their own challenges as my brain kept convincing itself that something was wrong with me since I still had occasionally strong cravings and agitation and I was sure that I was supposed to be past that shit since I was at the 2 week mark. But EVERYONE is different, and instead of relapsing, I sought out a lot of products to assist in quitting vaping that were used by people close to me or online who had successfully quit themselves.
Here’s my shortish and sweet thoughts on each:
• Vicks Inhalers: A personal favorite. They’re non-medicated and contain NO ACTUAL VICKS, so there’s no chance of them making you sick even if you use them a fuckton. If you do use them a fuckton, the worst that might happen is that you’ll eventually have to sneeze really badly, but that’s the worst I’ve experienced from them. I know it sounds silly, but using the Vicks Inhalers actually almost tricked my brain into feeling like I was getting the satisfying hit of like a menthol vape. I was half expecting to exhale smoke the first few times I used them. They do ‘taste’ a lot worse when you first start using one, but after using it for a bit, the ‘hit’ it provides becomes a bit more subtle and a lot more palatable and satisfying. It sort of does give you something to fiddle with and can satisfy that oral fixation even if you’re inhaling it nasally. I guess you could inhale it through your mouth like a vape, I’ve definitely done it a few times (accidentally, like my hand is just trained to put stick-shaped things to my mouth like a cigarette lol), and I had no ill effects besides people looking at me weird and it tasting pretty bad when it’s fresh and super potent. Give it a try, but don’t buy the bulk ones on amazon.
• Nicor Inhaler: Similar to the Vicks, just not as strong and it lacks the strong menthol punch in favor of a more chill, subdued, relaxing scent. Full of essential oils and other stuff, I kind of like it. There’s tons of other essential oil inhalers that you can try if Vicks has too much of a punch, I’m just using this one because a friend bought it for me and I wanna show them my appreciation.
• Gum/Mints/Candy: Pretty self explanatory. I’ve fallen in love with the Trident Sour Patch Kids gum, and you can pick up a pack of 4 on Amazon for like $12-$15. I’ve also been munching on Jolly Ranchers, Sour Skittles, Hi-Chews, and Popsicles like crazy. Go for what you love and feel no shame about it. Give your inner kid a little hit of that old childhood sweets fix. You deserve it.
• Wellbutrin XL 300mg: It definitely helps to really take the edge off of the cravings and withdrawals. I definitely still feel a bit of agitation, but there’s been alot of points throughout the last few days where i’ve felt shockingly normal and almost forgot that I wasn’t using nicotine but I don’t know how much of this easiness is attributable to the Wellbutrin since I’m definitely comparing this experience to the more hellish experience I had quitting salt nic since obviously freebase nicotine is a lot easier to quit.
• Metal Breathing Tube Thing: Idk. It kind of relaxes me and helps to remind me to slow down and focus on my breathing sometimes. Guided breathing and medication exercises genuinely can make a huge difference for you and have helped me step down off the ledge of an oncoming panic attack or meltdown. The breathing tube just exists to make that process easier while giving you a fun little object to satisfy your oral fixation.
If you have any questions, need any advice, or just wanna talk about your experience - please feel free to PM me or comment!
I’m using Apollo and I can’t post images with body text, so here’s the imgur link:
https://i.imgur.com/3lc37xY.jpeg

Hi, first time poster here - looking for anyone who has experience with trying PRP infusions/injections for thin endometrial lining. I've had chronic thin endometrium- averaging about 4.5 mm on a good cycle. We've tried every kind of estrogen (oral, patches, vaginal, injections), gonal-F, letrozel, lupron, doing acupuncture regularly, taking vitamin E, baby aspirin, l-arginine, pomegranite juice, brazil nuts, raspberry leaf tea - you name it weve tried it. The only thing we haven't tried is vaginal viagra because my doctor says research doesn't support it. I've had 5 canceled FET transfers now due to my stubborn lining. We've discussed trying PRP infusion, and would be capable of doing it in my clinic- but my doctor isn't confident in how many MLs we should infuse/inject and on what days during my cycle. Together we've read several scientific articles, all with varying methods. Has anyone had success with PRP for uterine lining? Can you share the methods used so I can have a reference? Thanks so much!

Hello ladies,
I’m 35F, I have thoracic disc herniations in T8-T9 and T9-T10. I got Prednisone taper in January (oral pills) and it did nothing for me, then I got 2 epidural injections in late February and middle of March. Also, due to severe muscle spasms I got steroid trigger point injections. It worked for me so far. But I my 2 last periods were close to each other and I experienced heavy bleeding. This month I missed my period, I have no chance of pregnancy… so I wanted to ask you if you have similar experience. I’m going to meet an OBGY on Wednesday.
Is it possible that steroid injections changed menstrual cycle?
Thanks

TLDR; Has anyone had experience with Elmiron instills? I want to give Elmiron a shot as it’s so helpful for a lot of people, but I’m very cautious about the eye side effects of the oral pill. I’ve heard of people doing instills with it instead, anyone know if the side effects can still occur with this delivery route?
22F Hi guys, havent posted on this sub in a bit. I’ve gotten a decent amount better with the addition of 300mg gabapentin, but I’m still flaring kind of randomly. I felt super good for a few days, then I ate auntie anns brown sugar cinnamon pretzel bites (with prelief) and my bladders been mad for a few days now. I think one of my main triggers is probably sugar. Other than that its hard to determine what my triggers are. Sometimes I can have sex no problem, other times it flares me. Sometimes I can eat chocolate, other times it flares me. Sometimes I flare the week before/during my period, sometimes I actually feel better then. Consistently though, I feel pretty good when lying on my stomach. Weird. I’ve already had PTs tell me my PF isnt anything crazy, so its prob not that. I try to follow the IC diet as closely as I can, but it’s really difficult to do as a college student in the US.
I’ve tried a lot of meds, some working good, others not so much. Vesicare 5mg (helps a bit, I’ve been on it from the start), Hydroxyzine 25mg 3x a day (idk if this helps or not helps a bit maybe, have also been on this since the start), nortriptyline 75mg (have been on this at 50mg since childhood, just upped it), aloe vera caps, bladder builder, marshmallow root caps (maybe they help?), birth control minipill (took once and flared terribly), and recently gabapentin 300mg (I thought this was helping but then I got a several long day flare). Pain meds do nothing to touch it. I did one “rescue” instill that either didnt work or started to work two days later. The cath was very painful to insert.
Everything started being consistently painful for me after a night of drinking a ton and blacking out. Previously I’d get some random slight burning here and there that would go away fast after drinking some water. I’d get a little exterior burning on occasion before my period.
With my health history (POTS, hypermobility, EoE, migraines, possible MCAS) I have no clue what to do or try now. While my symptoms are significantly better than 8 months ago when all this started, I’m still flaring for seemingly no reason most of the time. While I do have some almost pain free days, I am paranoid of triggering myself. Has anyone had experience with Elmiron instills? I want to give Elmiron a shot as it’s so helpful for a lot of people, but I’m very cautious about the eye side effects of the oral pill. I’ve heard of people doing instills with it instead, anyone know if the side effects can still occur with this delivery route?
I have a laparoscopy scheduled for the end of June to physically see whats going on in there, as well as to rule out endo. My periods have never been too bad, I’ll just get very bad lower back pain during, or abdominal cramps that hurt so bad that they wind me anytime in the month. I also bleed almost every time I go #2. Along with the lap, they plan on doing my first ever bladder scope to see whats going on in there while I’m under anesthesia. My Endo specialist doc and Urogyno doc are both going to be there, so they can excise or cauterize anything they may find.
I am so so so tired of whatever is going on with me and I just want to get back to a pretty normal life. I want to know exactly what my triggers are which seems impossible. Even while I’m doing my best to have an IC friendly diet I still get 10/10 flares. I’m so sick of being to afraid to eat anything.

First of all I want to mention a trigger warning just in case. I know we all struggle at every weight. I’m not advocating for anything that has worked for me, simply wanting to share my (TLDR) experience and learn from others.
I have struggled with BED since childhood, and spent 35 yrs actively bulimic and anorexic. I was in ED therapy for 15 of those years, but the BED has remained the most pervasive and difficult to address. I have had rare periods of abstinence from bingeing but ultimately it has always come back. It’s the dreaded feeling of a switch in my brain / the train leaving the station / no turning back, even when I’m in tears trying to fight it. IYKYK.
Along with therapy, certain things have helped me a lot. (Note this is only my experience and certainly not advice to anyone who hasn’t had their own recovery journey).
-Yoga. Turns out I wasn’t truly breathing for years, which contributed to panic-y feelings and high stress that I coped with by bingeing. Relaxation felt foreign. I was used to living with surging cortisol to get through the day and then going numb with binges at night.
-Making sure I eat enough food during the day, and striving for getting protein at every meal, and enough vegetables and fruit. Drinking enough water is a constant struggle, but when I do, it helps too.
-Counting / recording calories. This is controversial in the ED recovery community and not helpful for everyone, for sure. For me it helps with awareness and mindfulness throughout the day and helps me not disassociate.
-Being intentional about when I chose to eat sugar, knowing that none can lead to a binge, but any is a bit risky for me personally.
-Acceptance of a normal feeling of fullness, so that that doesn’t trigger a binge.
-Not keeping triggering food in the house. I wish I was beyond having to do this, but for me it is still safer to not have it present. That said, I’ve driven through blizzards in the middle of the night (pre-delivery days) when the urge has been overwhelming, so just not having it in the house only does so much. Again IYKYK.
-Planning for eating out. Knowing that my calories for that day may be slightly higher but that does not need to trigger a binge.
-Vyvanse (50mg). This has been more helpful for me than other SSRIs, anti-anxiety or other med I have been prescribed, and I’ve been prescribed them all. The worst for me was Topamax. It works, for a very short time in my experience, but wreaked havoc on my memory and mental processing ability. The problem with Vyvanse for me is the drop off effect when it wears out for the day. I take it as late as possible, but struggle with any ability to sleep if I take it past noon. Naltrexone has been moderately helpful as an add on, but it’s super subtle in my experience, and too easy to override.
So finally, the last time, last summer and fall, that I started to really struggle with binge eating I decided to try compounded semaglutide. Each cycle of bingeing very rapidly leads to 40+ lb weight gain these days as I do my best not to purge. However, inevitably I start purging (“just this once”), and it just makes the cycle go on indefinitely.
Please note, I don’t know if these drugs should be used by those with a history of eating disorders or not (certainly it could be quite worrisome for active untreated anorexia, and I would never want my experience to substitute for medical advice) but for me I had to try something, because the risk to my health from the downward spiral back into bulimia was more concerning and I felt desperate.
Right away the food noise, for the first time in my life, was dampened. I could practice all of the strategies I listed above regularly. I started feeling healthier and stronger with better nutrition and sleep. The cost was challenging, but actually was offset entirely by the costs of bingeing. Sadly I think I’ve spent in excess of $100K during my lifetime on bingeing, which I have huge guilt around. And that doesn’t even begin to account for the costs of therapy and medication.
After titrating up on semaglutide I was noticing it wasn’t quite as effective, and I was having a few small binges, so I decided to switch to tirzepatide. Currently I am on 50 units (the second to lowest dose) of tirzepatide, which I inject every 8-9 days. I can tell when it is wearing off as the food noise starts to come back, but I’m also very much wanting to keep my dose as low as possible to make sure it does not stop being effective.
Now, six months into this GLP-1 journey I have lost the 40lbs I put on last year, and am not bingeing at all, which feels like nearly a miracle. I also do not want to lose any more weight. Well, tbh, there is still part of me drawn to losing more weight, but I know it would not be healthy physically or mentally, and could trigger bingeing again.
Finally (sorry for the lengthy post!) I am getting to my question. Have any of you with BED that are taking GLP-1s had success in maintenance over time? That is, have you been able to keep the food noice at bay and maintain a steady weight instead of continuing to lose or gain? If so, what have been your strategies and dosages?

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[REQ] ($8000-$1000) (#Adelaide, South Australia, Australia) (Repayment: $100-$500 a week) (PayPal, Bank Transfer)

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Howdy all! I am so excited to have discovered this subreddit! Hoping I get lucky with someone kind hearted who can help!
I am pretty flexible on the amount, ideally I would love 8k to be able to consolidate all my debts however right now even just some money will do.
Situation: I was unemployed. Started borrowing money here and there over 2 years from family and friends. Got in to a terrible cycle of giving someone my whole pay check to pay them off, then having to borrow more to get by until I was paid next (government pension), then doing the same thing. I owe people between $600-$3000 dollars. I also have 3 “little” pay day loans taking money out my account each week (have gotten them a few times and always paid off). The people I owe money to want weekly amounts like $200, $300, $100 etc so by the time I’ve paid them all I have nothing and end up borrowing AGAIN. I’m looking to just end all this by consolidating my loans: for example it’ll be cheaper to pay someone here $250-300 a week (more than a bank loan even) than 4 people that amount.
I’ve never been bankrupt or not paid a loan etc. I have successfully paid off a $3040 debt by the due date. Never been late!
About me: Currently employed in a secure job as a dental practitioner (oral health therapist). Right now the books are slow due to 2 dentists leaving but I’m still making at minimum $600 a week, obviously usually more.
I’m 26, live at home with family.
Besides rent ($100 a week) and petrol and medications I have no real expenses so I’m not worried about not being able to afford this loan.
You can choose the interest — I would seriously be happy to pay an extra few thousand just to consolidate all these now. I need the peace of mind. I am sick of living pay check to pay check and having $0 in my account after paying everyone and then borrowing more or taking out stupid payday loans which just cause more stress.
In Australia if I were to lose my job I would be able to go on the pension and get $600 a fortnight so I will always have an income. However dental jobs are easy to come by now due to covid vaccine requirements and like I said my job is stable, I love my job.
I am happy to provide every single detail needed: address, photo ID, employment details and boss contact details, have my friend vouch for me that I am trustworthy and have repaid loans on time etc. Also I would get a statutory declaration from the police station with the conditions of our agreement and have it signed and authorised by a police officer. You can have all my social media etc etc I am not worried about not being able to repay it so can give any details you want!
I am able to be flexible if you want to charge me more or need it paid back by a specific date. Ultimately $100-$500 a week would be best for me, but I guess $250-$300 would be the standard.
Please please please if you can help me, I would appreciate it so much.
I am never ever ever borrowing money off people again!
Also: I am ineligible for bank loans/credit card. The reason for this is because my job is too new and I’m not a permanent employee on the books (despite having set hours etc guaranteed work they just have me as casual). Banks have said I can wait 6 months to apply but I’m also worried I may have killed my credit applying for too many crappy pay day loans and getting rejected while unemployed. So yeah that’s why I have turned to here! I am desperate and will pay $$$ interest!!!
Thank you for reading.
Also if someone is able to do say a smaller loan that would be good to however because I owe someone $600 on Monday and I have these 3 small loans (totally $1000 if I were to pay them out early) it’ll be smaller payments like $50 a week due to me still owing everyone money. But once I’ve gotten those out the way could pay off quickly in one pay cycle (weekly).
Any help at all is appreciated! Thank you!!!