Tdlr: what’s the best diaper etiquette when in public? affordable less bulky diapers that really do lock in moisture? what powder do I get for diaper rash? Anyone else having trouble finding the megamax pull up? It’s only showing the tabs one now. Which is better- tabs or pull ups for day time? How do you gain confidence with a diaper?
28F, have chronic utis/bladder pressure for 4 years now. I’m proud to say I went out in public with a trail for the megamax diaper (need to up a size though)for the first time. All this time I’ve been using pads so I felt more comfortable but my anxiety is so bad that I thought people could still smell me. My incontenience is more little random streams than a full leak, I can make it to the bathroom and void the best I can. Sadly my bladder never feels fully empty, I’m on treatment for that. Anxiety influences my leaks too.
Anyway. I liked the megamax pull-up but I was hoping for something less bulky/noticable. Ladies do you wear more skirts because of the diaper? What’s the best diaper etiquette? I just really want to mask the smell while being less noticeable that I’m wearing a diaper, I’m sure the embarrassment will leave over time once I build my confidence up again.

Comprehensive Bill, Otter65, are you out there???
I’ve been reading and posting in this sub for a year, have/read Ferber and PLS, and nothing prepared me for this. :(
LO was ST’ed around 5m using Ferber and then CIO. Started STTN fairly consistently around 7m (but still with EMWs), save for some setbacks due to illness or traveling. 2 months ago he started having a spate of illnesses back to back - cold/flu, double ear infection w 2 rounds of abx, herpangina, then another cold/flu, then another viral thing that caused a roseola rash, then another viral thing. Plus teething (molars coming in), walking, talking, 2-1 transition… just a lot happening all at once. During this time, we rocked to sleep at the beginning of the night and co slept when he woke up screaming in the night. He was napping ok up until a week ago when he started scream-fighting his nap(s).
Took him to ped yday and got a clean bill of health - no ear infections, no fever, no suspected pain or discomfort. So back to CIO.
Put him down awake at 7:30p and he crawled to the corner of his crib closest to the door and scream cried on and off. Around 10p my husband tried to lay him down, but he crawled right back to his corner and stayed there the whole night. Looks like he slept ~2 hours at a time sitting up, clutching the rails. I slept poorly also, and felt so bad when I woke up at 5:30a and saw him still sitting that I pulled him into bed so he could get at least an hour of sleep lying down.
Every post I’ve read on this says “leave him be” and “maybe practice sitting to lying transition during the day” (not sure how necessary the latter is as he’s 1 now and pretty sure he can go from sitting to lying on his own easily). But I feel terrible. :(
Advice? Success stories? Commiseration? Anything would help.
Schedule (since someone may ask — but as I said I’ve been on this sub for a year so am fairly certain it’s not a schedule issue): DWT 6:30-7a, Nap 1 11a-1p, Bedtime 7:30-8p. We typically get abt 12-13 hours total sleep in a 24-hour period.

Hi all, Looking for both face and body suggestions for sunscreen -UK.
I'm 49 and have always had sensitive skin but it's got worse the last couple of years (along with getting food allergies to almonds and wheat and rice) and I seem to have now developed perhaps a sun allergy? Ie I get red itchy blotches/rash on my chest and neck and arms when I wear sunscreen and it looks awful. But just generally my chest area is always blotchy from normal products (even natural ones) and I get lots of large bumps (not spots)as well if I put anything oily on at all but my skin there looks dry if I don't moisturise it So...
BODY sunscreen - I've tried a few in the part including:-
No7 soltan sensitive (itchy) Tropic (brings me out in hives 😭 ) Green People (horrible to put on and leaves skin dry and white cast) Bondi sands hydra (itchy) Piz buin sensitive
Currently trying Emotopic but that takes an age to rub in and it's a small tube so the jury is still out on this one.
I was looking at the eucerin one. Im pretty sure I've had it before but there is a gel cream which I don't think I've tried but some people say it stings as it's got alcohol in??
FACE - (need something suitable for rosacea and for spot prone skin) no almonds/rice or wheat in.
I do use the rodalique one for rosacea which is lovely and doesn't give me spots but it's tinted and sometimes I just want a plain one to top up at home so I don't get super orange from multiple layers 😂 (it's anti redness).
Tried KALM but that's too orange for me and again, tinted.
Just bought the new boots no 7 future renew defence shield but omg, I get so many spots from it 😭 so now cannot use it.
Thank you so much 🤞🤞

24F. Diagnosed with Bipolar II, ADHD, and CPTSD. I'm not even sure I can properly explain this because during depressive episodes (right now and for the past 4 months, in fact, though it's gotten marginally better in recent days) I lose a lot of my ability to write coherently, concisely, and accurately about what I'm feeling. The disconnect between emotion and thought has actually gotten so bad I genuinely cannot even journal anymore. (Coming back after finishing to add: this post alone ended up taking me nearly half the day to complete because I kept having to break and come back to it when my brain wouldn't work, and I often thought about giving up entirely lol.) But that's besides the point.
I had a sort of "eureka" moment during a non-depressive state at one point. That being, "This illness is cyclical. It will come back just as surely as it will eventually go away. Next time it comes, don't fight it."
It came back. I haven't been fighting it. I went from feeling immense, active suffering from constant self-hatred and learned helplessness to feeling dissociated and completely disconnected from my own thoughts, both positive and negative. Most moments are spent feeling nothing but irritability and in the moments where I feel something else, I am thoroughly distracted. My days are filled with distraction. The second I have time alone with my brain, I have crying spells that end in pathetic defeat and it's back to dissociation. "I get it. I get it. I wasn't meant to exist. But I am psychologically incapable of ending my life. I'm already here and I can't do anything about it. I have literally no choice but to continue to try."
Good for me for having that barrier to making rash decisions. But now I feel imprisoned by a life I did not choose. A prison of my own making that I am unwilling to break out of because I am just so. tired. I am aware of how much hard work and commitment it takes to live a fulfilling life with these disabilities. I am keenly aware that it is anything but an easy task and in this state it just does not feel worth it. But it is not an act of bravery that I'm still here in the face of suffering. I'm here because I have no choice.
It always comes back to this, and has since one of my first severe depressive episodes at the age of 14: I am too sensitive, too weak, to exist. So much so that I don't think I was supposed to be here in the first place. I do not, and have never cared about doing something "important" with my life. I have never cared about creating a legacy. I have never cared about being remembered. I have never cared about meaning or purpose in the traditional sense; in this state of mind, my purpose is to just exist, let life happen to me, observe carefully, learn, mimic. And in this state, I've realized I use this information as evidence. Confirmation.
At the end of the day, it seems the answer to this hypothetical is always the same. If there was a console with two buttons: one to continue living as is, and one to make it so I never existed at all, I would always choose the latter. Always. Even when things are good, even with all the luck I've had. The unfairness of life coupled with my weak constitution is inherently incompatible. Negative experiences will always feel more powerful, more real, than anything else.
Which brings me to my hypomanic episodes. They tend to involve extreme productivity, usually starting some large project that I spend every waking moment working on, of which there are many considering how poorly I sleep. I have energy and inspiration that simply cannot be funneled into enough things. I am able to "maintain" (these episodes last anywhere from 4 days to about a month) a superhuman-like "schedule" and "routine" that I would otherwise be incapable of adhering to, and would likely outright despise in ordinary circumstances.
But most notably, most of the time, I have a euphoric feeling about the human condition. I obsess over human suffering and our capacity to withstand it. I convince myself that if something catastrophic were to happen at that very moment, I would be resilient and strong in the face of it. That I could be, and would be, like those who can overcome any adversity at all.
But nothing I've ever been through has suggested that is true. Nearly any negative experience can knock me out of any positive or neutral mood and into a kind of dissociative, vegetative depression. My previous baseline state, where I was able to maintain a realistic and beneficial routine and sleep schedule for nearly 2 months, was instantly derailed, pathetically, by the moment I ended up crocheting too much and injured my left hand for a few days.
This one happenstance triggered a depressive state that I've now been in since March. And I tried to prevent it, really I did. I had enough experience practicing good habits by that point that I tried everything in my repertoire to keep it from spiraling. But it did. And now I'm here. I know better than to think I'm resilient. My window of tolerance is embarrassingly low, and I'm sorry that I don't have the will to strengthen it. Mentally, I am still a scared child hiding in the corner of a dark room from any and all real or imagined danger. And until my brain decides otherwise, (because of course mood changes are the nature of this illness), that's how it will stay.
Part of me believes that even my hypomanic self knows this. I don't know entirely how she operates, if I'm honest. So I've decided to conduct an "experiment."
I know she can't fathom how I think the way I do, and similarly I can't fathom how she thinks either. One is always blind to the other. I need to know whether or not, in my heart of hearts, I still say I would undo my existence. Even when everything inside of me is bursting with energy and life and vibrancy. Because instinct says I've always been this way in any state of mind, but I've never proved it.
So I recorded a short video explaining myself to my future hypomanic and even to my baseline self. Maybe I can find some middle ground between us. Because I have to do something. I have no choice but to do something.

I need an idea on how long to expect the pain following my hysterectomy.
My story: I had a total hysterectomy/cystoscopy performed 5/8 due to endometriosis that decided to attach itself to various organs it didn’t belong on. It had been about three years of bleeding nonstop (this is not exaggerated-I should have taken up stock in pads) and horrible pain that no doctor believed. I saw five different obgyns before I found one who would listen to me and stay true to her word to give me a hysterectomy. Fast forward a few months and I got my surgery. They performed a cystoscopy in hospital with the hysterectomy and cleaned out my endo while inside. I was inpatient one night in the hospital to monitor pain/bleeding control. I can’t take NSAIDs so no ibuprofen for me- I am on blood thinners for a clotting disorder and history of several DVTS/pulmonary emboli.
I went home on Percocet because the norco was not controlling my pain. I used them sparingly after the first day or so home. I am not a big pain pill person. They upset my stomach & my dad was lost to substance abuse (started with script pain meds) so I avoid them like the plague. Started having signs of infection day 2 at home. Could not get past my triage nurse to get a note to my doctor. Day 5, 3rd try, after being told to take Tylenol and/or Benadryl, I ended up in my doctors office at her request. Immediately was directly readmitted to the hospital 5 days post op hysterectomy for a nasty, fast-moving infection-I said my pain was 7/10 initially but it only got worse from here. My initial liver labs were elevated so they wouldn’t allow anything with Tylenol. What does that leave? Something called roxicodone- oxy without Tylenol essentially-which gave me sleep paralysis and no pain control whatsoever. Was put on Vancomycin for the infection which then caused a systemic allergic reaction. Was given Hydroxizine to calm that down and Benadryl cream. It did not help much. Was discharged on day 10 post op, with clindamycin to take every 6 hours for 7 days for the infection. They sent home the roxicodone which I said did not help. Went home and began taking antibiotics. Had another allergic reaction, this time a full body, horrendously itchy and burning rash. Called my primary doctor and she took me off of it immediately. She sent me in Keflex. I’m allergic to amoxicillin so this should be a party as well. I have an appointment with the surgeon in three weeks. I have an appt with infectious disease this Friday. I have an appointment with GI for my liver problems (likely caused by surgery or the allergic reaction) Tuesday. I have no pain meds I can take, not even Tylenol or ibuprofen. They told me to take Benadryl and sent in a prescription for Gabapentin and told to use the Benadryl to “knock myself out”. Gabapentin isn’t working but I’m taking it anyways because I don’t know what else to do, hoping maybe it’ll build up some tiny amount of pain control in my system somehow.
I’m not on any weird registry for pain meds issues because I usually just flat out don’t take them, ever. Even when offered them. I don’t understand how this is okay.
So -here I am -2 weeks into this mess, rawdogging this hysterectomy and subsequent infection pain. I’ve been using ice packs and heat packs to do what I can, Zofran that my primary doc sent me in for extremely bad nausea (probably due to the pain), my third round of antibiotics, Benadryl for the leftover allergy rash, and I’m thinking about asking a wrestler to knock me out with a metal chair. I’m on day 13 with no pain relief in sight. I can’t sleep. I’m miserable. Please tell me the pain is going to diminish soon. Tell me what helped you with pain. 🙏

unitedstateshealthcare

Hello, I’m a real novice so forgive my naivety, I’m not sure where to start regarding ditching the steroid cream for a skin issue I have.
I’ve been getting an itchy skin rash in my underarm - the doctors aren’t able to identify it and just keep prescribing steroid cream, which clears it up when used but it comes immediately back once I stop.
I’ve tried neem soap, tea tree oil and ACV to no avail and I’m not sure where to go next!
I suspect the cause is my nervous system, I have a young baby who doesn’t sleep etc…

I’m going on holiday in a month and my eczema is red raw and I keep on having flare ups of rashes throughout the day! It’s an unusual rash it doesn’t look like eczema but obvs is. I really want this gone and I don’t want to use steroid creams. Is there a miracle cream anyone can recommend. I have a good diet and gut is healthy but nothing is working. I’m also allergic to antihistamines so I can’t take them if it’s hayfever or just dust.

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What is Cardizoom ?

Adults with hypertension (high blood pressure) can be treated with cardizoom. It can be taken either by alone or in addition to other high blood pressure Capsules. Blood pressure reduction may lessen your chance of having a heart attack or stroke. Cardizoom is also used to treat angina brought on by coronary artery spasm and persistent stable angina (chest pain). Cardizoom is a member of the group of Capsules known as calcium-channel blockers. In order to reduce the amount of force the heart must pump, diltiazem works by relaxing the blood arteries. Additionally, diltiazem improves the heart's blood and oxygen flow.

Advantages of Cardizoom

• Improved Wellness and Cardiovascular Health
• Reduced Unfavorable Reactions
• Controlling Blood Pressure

Cardizoom Adverse Reactions

If you have any of the following symptoms: fever, sore throat, burning eyes, skin pain, red or purple skin rash with blistering and peeling; or signs of a severe skin response (hives, difficulty breathing, swelling in your face or throat), get emergency medical attention.

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Prior to using this medication

If you have a diltiazem allergy or any of the following conditions, you shouldn't use Cardizoom:

• a dangerous cardiac ailment like "AV block" or "sick sinus syndrome" (unless you have a pacemaker).
• extremely low BP.
• if your heart is unable to adequately pump blood; or
• if you recently suffered a heart attack and your lungs have become overly filled with fluid.

How need I to utilize Cardizoom?

Adhere to your doctor's prescription for Cardizoom strictly. Read all Capsule guides or instruction sheets and abide by all guidelines on the label of your medicine. Occasionally, your doctor may alter your dosage. Adhere to the medication's directions exactly. If you move to a new brand, strength, or form of this medication, your dosage requirements may also change. Tablets of Cardizoom can be chewed, crushed, or swallowed whole. It is recommended that Cardizoom CD capsules and Cardizoom LA tablets be taken whole, without chewing or crushing.

What occurs if a dose is missed?

If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed one and take Cardizoom as soon as you can. Avoid taking two doses at once.

Alerts

If you have a serious heart problem such "sick sinus syndrome" or "AV block" (unless you have a pacemaker), very low blood pressure, or a build-up of fluid in your lungs from a recent heart attack, you should not use Cardizoom.

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I have been doing this to myself off and on since the summer before my junior year. I just graduated from high school on Thursday and I'm still the only one who knows, so I guess this is how I reach out. I hope at least someone hears me, sees me, and knows what I've done. I started burning with matches because I was worried about my SAT the day after taking it and I'd read that people sometimes hurt themselves to deal with emotional problems, so I decided to give it a go for myself to see what the fuss was all about (such a weird way to put it lol). I definitely wasn't going to cut myself because all the blood and stuff just did not appeal to me at all, so I would sneak matches out of our grandparents's house (they always kept a few boxes around) and hold them to my legs or torso. I was careful to try to make sure that I didn't burn my arms at all or my legs in visible places, but my parents were able to catch a glimpse of a few poking out of the bottom of my shorts. Luckily (not really) I had recently gotten a really bad poison ivy rash from weed eating at the house, so I blamed the red marks on that, and they didn't think anything of it after that. It got worse, even after I got my SAT and AP scores back, and I began doing it even more frequently after school came back. It was initially almost an attention-type deal, where I imagined someone accidentally finding my scars or wounds and me crying my pain away while they hugged me or some bs like that. However, by that point, I developed an obsessive need to hide what I was doing and make sure no one could catch a glimpse. I got more precise, only burning on my upper thighs and making sure that I would continue doing this undetected. My self-esteem was hitting rock bottom at this point, and I began more and more to isolate from my friends and neglect my homework. At this point it became an addiction, where the endorphins and adrenaline would genuinely make me feel good whenever I burned myself, and I began doing it in the bathrooms at school. Now, my high school has vape detectors that can detect smoke and vapor and take a screenshot of whatever dumbass thought he could escape our principal, but I thought I was slick and would hide under a jacket to sort of hotbox myself with match smoke as I touched the burning head directly to my thigh. This worked for a month or so before it all fell apart. The assistant principal asked to see me one day during my virtual psychology class in the library and took me for a walk in the hall, asking me if I had a vape on me. I knew I was kind of fucked at that point because the matches were in a ziploc bag in my pocket and my school takes a tough on crime approach to vaping and smoking paraphernalia, so I just owned up to having the matches in my pocket and didn't make him search me and find them. But I, this dumbass, was so smart and so slick that I thought up a lie and I thought it up quick. I told him with a completely straight face that I had been shitting and used the matches to cover the shit smell. Somehow that mfer believed me and let me off with a warning (he confiscated the matches too ofc). My parents and everyone believed me, mostly because I'm a people pleaser and would absolutely do that if I was feeling anxious or insecure enough, and the only consequences have been my mom bringing it up as a joke a year and a half later. I wish she would forget. Even though my bullshit worked, I decided I had to stop both so I didn't get caught in the future. So my self harming was dormant until the beginning of this most recent semester. I was extremely busy, balancing school, athletics, and college and scholarship applications. Everything seemed so big and scary and overwhelming. So I began burning again. We have moved out of our grandparents' house, so no matches, but I have been able to sneak the lighters that we have lying around. I make sure to put them back exactly as I found them so I don't get found out. I don't do it at school anymore (for obvious reasons), so instead I began doing it in the mornings before I left for school. I would get up only around fifteen to twenty minutes before I had to leave because I'm lazy, so on a lot of mornings I would have to choose between eating breakfast and burning myself with a lighter. Guess which one I chose. I was never able to get a consistent schedule down during school, but now that school is out I have much more disposable time to hurt myself. It's weird, but I thought that once school got out and I knew where I was going to college, things were supposed to get better, but that did not happen at all. I'm feeling bad about being away from my friends, but instead of sadness it's more like an empty coldness. I didn't cry at graduation, and I haven't cried since, but I feel like shit and I can't get it out. Burning is the only way I can feel safe and be free for a little while from those feelings. I want to tell my friends but I don't want to be burden an attention seeking POS (not to invalidate people who SH as a cry for help or for any other "attention" at all, your feelings are just as real as anyone else's and you are loved and valuable, I just have it in my head that if it's ME doing it as a cry for help then I'M bad). I can't tell my parents because I straight up lied to them twice about it, and I'm worried they would be mad. I feel like I'm always trapped in this cycle of doing shitty things to myself and feeling like shit and like I'm shit, and I don't know how to fix it or where to even begin. Everyone else sees an awkward eighteen-year-old man who is about to go to college (which I am very lucky to be able to attend), but I just feel awful so much of the time. I'm not actively suicidal, but I feel like I don't want to exist a lot. I don't even have a good reason really. I probably shouldn't be posting. But I will I guess so at least someone knows that I self harm and that, to some extent, I'm hurting.

I will have my derm appointment in 3 days, and im scared they will rase my dosage. Im on 30mg right now and i used to have really bad side effects ( couldnt see well, eyes always watering, runny nose, intense back pain and ribcage pain, my knees feel like they re about to pop out, and obviously rashes and dryness) and ever since i started taking claritin with accutane my side effects minimized a lot. Plus, my skin actually cleared up so well (i didnt really have big issues before, i took accutane for rosacea type 2, not for acne) However since my last appointment i also lost like 5 kg (i used to have 74 when i started and now i have around 69) and i feel like if i got a dose increase it would be horrible for me. Im scared of purging and i just cant stand the side effects when it comes to my bones/muscles and eyes. I just dont know what to do about it, because i feel like im not in a position where i can tell my derm what to do, especially cause doctors in my country are not as sweet and understanding as they are in the us or other countries, they re actually pretty mean. Should I lie and say that I’m continuously having extreme side effects in hopes that they would not raise my dose? or should i just let them do it?

my dog has seasonal allergies, in past years it has only shown as sneezing. for the past week she has developed a rash on her belly/groin that seems to becoming more bothersome. I have been giving her half a benadryl and putting apple cider vinegar mixed with water on the rash and it briefly helps her. tonight i woke up to her licking and nibbing on her groin and aggressively panting. i gave her a half benadryl and the ACV mix- which calmed the rash a bit, but she was still panting and extremely uncomfortable. i gave her the other half of the benadryl and she is now sleeping comfortably. over the last 3 days she has not been eating normally and is not using the potty like she normally does. what can i do to help her? I am planning to take her to the vet in the morning, but anything i can do to keep her comfortable through the night as the benadryl doesn’t last for long with her.

I'm just gonna be straight up with you. It's been absolute hell for me (F21) these last six months. I need somewhere to vent and maybe get some direction on what to do while I wait for my doctor's appt to roll around. Be aware that this is a sexual health post. I'm on my anon account because I am embarrassed and don't want my friends or partner seeing this.
It started in late December when I moved in with my BF (M22), and I became sexually active for the first time.
We were careful. We used condoms and lube. I was at an 11 on the pain scale and swelled up huge down there after.
Decided to stop using condoms and try a different lube that was non-irritant. We assumed that I was allergic to the latex or lube.
Everything is great and fine until February, when we do some standard missionary. I wake up the next morning to my first ever yeast infection. I'm in hell. It's burning itchy lava, and I have to go through the horrors of Monistat-7 for the first time.
The symptoms flare down. I seem alright. It's mid-April, and I have my scheduled period. I develop a bad allergic reaction to the pads, and my entire womanhood looks like a balloon. I waited a few days and free bleed because basic panties were too painful. This has never happened before with this brand of pads. I was covered in a blistering rash down there where my skin made contact with the pad.
It goes down, and I seem fine again for a few weeks. BF and I have sex because it's been a month since we've been intimate. I thought things were healed (asymptomatic), and we were both desperate to have a normal sex life.
Nope. I wake up with an even worse yeast infection/allergic reaction. It's horrific. Monistat barely touched it, and it took nearly a month to heal from it. The pain was so bad that I sobbed. I never cry.
It's now May. Haven't had sex since April. I have developed BV-like symptoms (terrible smell and strange discharge), and I can no longer control my bladder. My internal opening is bright red and burning. I start some rather expensive women's health probiotics to hopefully get the flora in me to balance out, thinking so much Monistat probably caused an imbalance.
I take two doses over the course of two days. The BV symptoms calm down and pretty much go away. I develop a high fever and become violently ill with the flu and vertigo attacks for a week. I am forced to stop taking them because my body is rejecting it.
The flu lessens but is still present... and guess what's back... a yeast infection. I thought the probiotics were supposed to prevent that. WTF.
All this work, ~$90 on treatments, six months, and I am right where I started with the yeast infection, UTI, and a nasty fever now. My period is in a few days, and I dread it will kick start my symptoms into something horrific yet again. I can no longer make it to the bathroom in time anymore, and I feel disgusting.
I'm calling an obgyn tomorrow. I can barely move from the pain and vertigo. I've never been to an obgyn, but I can't handle this anymore. I'm genuinely at my wit's end, and I've been in so much pain for so long. I don't know what's wrong with me, and I feel broken. Money is always tight, so this is a financial stressor I was seriously trying to avoid. I feel guilty.
My BF seems distant from me out of fear of continuing to make this worse. He feels like he's hurting me and blames himself. None of us have STIs. We are very clean people and faithful to each other always.
I have no idea what's happening. I'm upset and confused as to why my body is behaving this way.

(21F) So, to preface this is want to say I have been to a doctor and been prescribed antibiotics, but thr doctor didn't have much experience with ticks and I have questions they couldn't answer.
Five days ago I pulled a tick off of me that had gone undetected for at least two days. Didn't think much of it, I work outside and am used to ticks. However, last couple days I noticed tenderness; yesterday, a noticed red raised bumps around the bite, and by this morning, it had formed a red ring around the bite. The whole thing, bite and rash, isn't bigger than a penny.
My first thought was lyme, and that's what the doctor I saw is treating me for. However. I wasn't bitten by a deer tick. It was a dog tick, up in the north woods of Wisconsin. I'm not an expert but the species are pretty visually distinct.
Here's a picture of the bite as of evening 5/20, and the tick when it was attached.
Symptoms wise I have an itching, burning sensation and acute tenderness in the area, like a deep bruise. If I have any other symptoms, fatigue, ect, they've been masked by the cold I've had for a couple of weeks now. As far as the doctor, I visited a few hours ago, and the physician on staff said they had little experience with tick bites, had to ask for help from the staff. She ultimately gave me a low confidence Lyme diagnosis and put me on two weeks of antibiotics.
Whatever it is hopefully will get knocked out by those, but I would really like to hear if anyone has experience with tick bites and could tell me any more possible causes for this reaction. Again, dog ticks are pretty distinct from deer ticks, and I never heard of a dog tick being a vector for Lyme.
Thanks in advance

I don’t really know where to begin, but I’ll just start off my saying I’ve been into LOA for many years probably close to a decade. Researching the works of Florence Scovel Shinn, Neville Goddard, Helene Hadsell, etc. I’ve had some successful manifestations but when it comes to large things (important things) it’s seems I have had trouble bringing those things to life. Let me share some of my story and struggles as maybe that could help shine a light to any blockages that I’m not seeing.
One thing is my finances, I am severely behind paying taxes (I’ve never filed or paid since I was 18, I’m 27 now) and know I need to get caught up somehow but don’t know where to start. I work a serving job where on average I’ve made $48k-$52k per year and get paid $2.13 an hour. But because of my backed taxes they garnish my wages, not that it really effects me as I get cash every night, but it keeps me from getting an hourly job during the day because I know the job will be garnished. I also am having trouble renewing my liquor license because of my backed taxes which puts my job in jeopardy. I’ve moved into a friends apartment and am staying in their sunroom to try to cut down on living expenses but because of the economy it’s been difficult to try to get ahead.
Second thing my health. A few years ago I tested positive for HIV, but because I “make too much” I didn’t qualify for any assistance and because of my backed taxes I can’t sign up for the affordable care act and I can’t get health insurance otherwise because it’s considered a “pre-existing condition” so health insurance won’t insure me for care. I try to eat healthy and eat organically and take vitamins; but it gets expensive and I get tired of taking 20 vitamins morning and night just to feel normal. If I don’t take all the vitamins/supplements I feel tired all the time, I get sick easily, I get skin rashes. So because I can’t get treatment, taking all these vitamins is the only way I can treat myself and see/feel results. Sometimes I feel so tired I have to call off from work; which isn’t great because I need to make more money to try to get on top of my finances, but I realize rest is really important too, especially with having HIV. Because of this disease my teeth are also experiencing rot and decay, even though I brush and floss daily and use a water flosser. 3 of my teeth have large cavities (holes to the pulp) which also cause me a lot of pain daily.
I’ve been visualizing and trying to manifest a large windfall of money for a while as I see it as a way to solve a lot of my problems. I know money can’t fix everything in life; but it can help. If I can manifest a large enough sum of money I can pay off all my tax debt, get the healthcare I need, and get my teeth fixed,get my own place, amongst other things in my life.
As far as career, I want to be a designer for my job, both in fashion and home design, and I’m rather good at it (not to sound conceited) but because I’m tired a lot of the time because of my untreated disease it makes it harder to pursue those things while maintaining my serving job that provides me my income. My brain isn’t as sharp as it used to be I’ve noticed, not sure if that’s linked to the HIV or not, I used to have more stamina and drive, I used to be more social and outgoing, but I just don’t have the energy to be myself anymore, which makes me sad.
I really don’t know where to go, or what to do. All I ask for is for my previous backed taxes to be resolved, access to healthcare so I can feel better, getting my teeth fixed, getting my own place, and getting my energy back so I can focus on the things in life that bring me joy & fulfillment. When I go to bed I visualize perfect health, wealth and happiness. I just wonder when it will come my way.

Idea of Balance
Balance is one of the things which depending on the self improvement communities you engage with is either the most important thing or the least important thing. Personally, I am still on a paradox with my view on balance but this is what I think.
OLD IDEA
Balance is one of the things which have been a pretty old idea. Probably the most popular is The Concept of Golden Mean by Aristotle.
GOLDEN MEAN:
The idea of golden mean is that virtues represent a mean between deficiency and excess in some feeling or behaviour.
Like:
Courage: Between Cowardice and Rashness
Generosity: Between Stinginess and Extravagance
Temperance: Gluttony and Asceticism
There are many other virtues in this idea but you can see that middle ground in behaviour.
IDEA OF DICHOTOMY:
If Golden Mean was a pretty old idea this is a new idea which I learned from Jocko Willink. Jocko Willink is a navy seal turned podcaster business and that is pretty different from who Aristotle was. Jocko Willink is probably what most people would consider the most ALPHA MALE but this is probably one of his best ideas.
SOME EXAMPLES:
Disciplined but not rigid
Humble not passive
Nurture people but know when to let go
Aggressive not Reckless
IDEA OF GENES VS NURTURE:
One Idea which we see in a lot of self improvement communities is the idea that we control everything that happens to us or the idea that we can control everything about us. But current research shows a bit different:
Risk of Bipolar Disorder: 70% Genetic
Personality Traits in Twins Research: 30% to 60%
Kids Temperament: 20%to 60%
And we know a lot of our physical attributes like height, eye colour, skin colour are also highly correlated to our genetics.
FINAL IDEA:
Balance is very important and that importance has been emphasised from a long time and it still has been emphasised till today and we also know that a lot of our traits we cannot actually control to a 100%.
So Now we need to balance the fact that we cannot change everything and the fact that we want to change things about ourselves which we don’t like.
HOW TO FIND BALANCE:
Balance is simple: Understand that you can’t control everything but do the best you can do in every single trait and see what happens and how much better you can be, but know and accept that you won’t be able to transform in a super extrovert blue eyes alpha chad if you are an introvert brown eyes normal guy, you can still be better but there will still be walls which just can’t be crossed and to be honest you don’t even need to cross them simply because, when you reach the point of self actualisation you would probably be happy and content with where you are. Also it would be difficult to do a lot of things where you are naturally weak and you can work on that and then be an average person.
Also if you are super into any extreme group no matter what side, left right, redpill, blackpill get out of it. Extreme groups tend to preach extreme things which on average are not completely true as a lot of nuance exists which is not preached. So, Get out of that group and find some better community. Some communities and channels which do use nuance are: Healthygamergg, Natural Hypertrophy, Mike Israetel: Making Progress. These of course are not perfect and you may not like them but they will provide a different and a bit more of a balanced view for your problem.
WHERE BALANCE DOESN’T WORK
If you are in a phase of life where you are going towards a particular goal, like building a business, appearing for exams you will have to let go of balance and focus on what you are aiming at and it works better in the short term like 6 months to an year.
Balance is one of the ideas I juggle with and these are my thoughts. Of course it is not perfect and I would look forward to what you guys think about this and if you have any review for the way I write please tell me in the comments. Thank you.

Idea of Balance
Balance is one of the things which depending on the self improvement communities you engage with is either the most important thing or the least important thing. Personally, I am still on a paradox with my view on balance but this is what I think.
OLD IDEA
Balance is one of the things which have been a pretty old idea. Probably the most popular is The Concept of Golden Mean by Aristotle.
GOLDEN MEAN:
The idea of golden mean is that virtues represent a mean between deficiency and excess in some feeling or behaviour.
Like:
Courage: Between Cowardice and Rashness
Generosity: Between Stinginess and Extravagance
Temperance: Gluttony and Asceticism
There are many other virtues in this idea but you can see that middle ground in behaviour.
IDEA OF DICHOTOMY:
If Golden Mean was a pretty old idea this is a new idea which I learned from Jocko Willink. Jocko Willink is a navy seal turned podcaster business and that is pretty different from who Aristotle was. Jocko Willink is probably what most people would consider the most ALPHA MALE but this is probably one of his best ideas.
SOME EXAMPLES:
Disciplined but not rigid
Humble not passive
Nurture people but know when to let go
Aggressive not Reckless
IDEA OF GENES VS NURTURE:
One Idea which we see in a lot of self improvement communities is the idea that we control everything that happens to us or the idea that we can control everything about us. But current research shows a bit different:
Risk of Bipolar Disorder: 70% Genetic
Personality Traits in Twins Research: 30% to 60%
Kids Temperament: 20%to 60%
And we know a lot of our physical attributes like height, eye colour, skin colour are also highly correlated to our genetics.
FINAL IDEA:
Balance is very important and that importance has been emphasised from a long time and it still has been emphasised till today and we also know that a lot of our traits we cannot actually control to a 100%.
So Now we need to balance the fact that we cannot change everything and the fact that we want to change things about ourselves which we don’t like.
HOW TO FIND BALANCE:
Balance is simple: Understand that you can’t control everything but do the best you can do in every single trait and see what happens and how much better you can be, but know and accept that you won’t be able to transform in a super extrovert blue eyes alpha chad if you are an introvert brown eyes normal guy, you can still be better but there will still be walls which just can’t be crossed and to be honest you don’t even need to cross them simply because, when you reach the point of self actualisation you would probably be happy and content with where you are. Also it would be difficult to do a lot of things where you are naturally weak and you can work on that and then be an average person.
Also if you are super into any extreme group no matter what side, left right, redpill, blackpill get out of it. Extreme groups tend to preach extreme things which on average are not completely true as a lot of nuance exists which is not preached. So, Get out of that group and find some better community. Some communities and channels which do use nuance are: Healthygamergg, Natural Hypertrophy, Mike Israetel: Making Progress. These of course are not perfect and you may not like them but they will provide a different and a bit more of a balanced view for your problem.
WHERE BALANCE DOESN’T WORK
If you are in a phase of life where you are going towards a particular goal, like building a business, appearing for exams you will have to let go of balance and focus on what you are aiming at and it works better in the short term like 6 months to an year.
Balance is one of the ideas I juggle with and these are my thoughts. Of course it is not perfect and I would look forward to what you guys think about this and if you have any review for the way I write please tell me in the comments. Thank you.

Idea of Balance
Balance is one of the things which depending on the self improvement communities you engage with is either the most important thing or the least important thing. Personally, I am still on a paradox with my view on balance but this is what I think.
OLD IDEA
Balance is one of the things which have been a pretty old idea. Probably the most popular is The Concept of Golden Mean by Aristotle.
GOLDEN MEAN:
The idea of golden mean is that virtues represent a mean between deficiency and excess in some feeling or behaviour.
Like:
Courage: Between Cowardice and Rashness
Generosity: Between Stinginess and Extravagance
Temperance: Gluttony and Asceticism
There are many other virtues in this idea but you can see that middle ground in behaviour.
IDEA OF DICHOTOMY:
If Golden Mean was a pretty old idea this is a new idea which I learned from Jocko Willink. Jocko Willink is a navy seal turned podcaster business and that is pretty different from who Aristotle was. Jocko Willink is probably what most people would consider the most ALPHA MALE but this is probably one of his best ideas.
SOME EXAMPLES:
Disciplined but not rigid
Humble not passive
Nurture people but know when to let go
Aggressive not Reckless
IDEA OF GENES VS NURTURE:
One Idea which we see in a lot of self improvement communities is the idea that we control everything that happens to us or the idea that we can control everything about us. But current research shows a bit different:
Risk of Bipolar Disorder: 70% Genetic
Personality Traits in Twins Research: 30% to 60%
Kids Temperament: 20%to 60%
And we know a lot of our physical attributes like height, eye colour, skin colour are also highly correlated to our genetics.
FINAL IDEA:
Balance is very important and that importance has been emphasised from a long time and it still has been emphasised till today and we also know that a lot of our traits we cannot actually control to a 100%.
So Now we need to balance the fact that we cannot change everything and the fact that we want to change things about ourselves which we don’t like.
HOW TO FIND BALANCE:
Balance is simple: Understand that you can’t control everything but do the best you can do in every single trait and see what happens and how much better you can be, but know and accept that you won’t be able to transform in a super extrovert blue eyes alpha chad if you are an introvert brown eyes normal guy, you can still be better but there will still be walls which just can’t be crossed and to be honest you don’t even need to cross them simply because, when you reach the point of self actualisation you would probably be happy and content with where you are. Also it would be difficult to do a lot of things where you are naturally weak and you can work on that and then be an average person.
Also if you are super into any extreme group no matter what side, left right, redpill, blackpill get out of it. Extreme groups tend to preach extreme things which on average are not completely true as a lot of nuance exists which is not preached. So, Get out of that group and find some better community. Some communities and channels which do use nuance are: Healthygamergg, Natural Hypertrophy, Mike Israetel: Making Progress. These of course are not perfect and you may not like them but they will provide a different and a bit more of a balanced view for your problem.
WHERE BALANCE DOESN’T WORK
If you are in a phase of life where you are going towards a particular goal, like building a business, appearing for exams you will have to let go of balance and focus on what you are aiming at and it works better in the short term like 6 months to an year.
Balance is one of the ideas I juggle with and these are my thoughts. Of course it is not perfect and I would look forward to what you guys think about this and if you have any review for the way I write please tell me in the comments. Thank you.

I have bipolar 1. I used to be completely stable on meds. I had a good job that I didn’t struggle to keep, I had financial freedom, my social life was thriving, I was happy, and I was mania and depression free for the most part.
But then I got this new fancy psychiatrist who claimed to specialize in bipolar and schizophrenia. I thought, well if I’m successful now and I have this disorder then I better get the best treatment money can buy before this illness fucking sabotages everything I’ve built.
New psych disregarded our entire intake and after talking to me for 15 mins about my life, he said there’s no need for an intake because there’s nothing wrong with me— I’m too successful to be bipolar or have any mental illness. He told me his “real” bipolar patients can’t hold down a job or maintain relationships, like I can. And there’s no way I’m bipolar. He even called his “real” BP patients “crazy”.
I was on 400mg lamictal and 400mg seroquel. He told me to completely discontinue the meds, cold turkey. This seemed like bad advice, but he insisted I’d be fine cold turkey quitting since I’m not really bipolar.
I listened to him. I wanted him to be right because I don’t want to have this disorder…So, when I went off my meds, I destroyed what I built (which was what I was avoiding in the first place). Wound up in the hospital for 45 days! Lost my job. Ended up in extreme debt. Had to move in with my parents. Basically my whole life fell apart.
It’s been a bit over a year since this happened, and I honestly still haven’t picked up the pieces. I haven’t been able to hold down a job and get out of debt. My personal life is a mess too.
I’ve tried SO hard, but I’m stuck in a cycle of mania and depression. I just want to feel stable like I did before all this happened. Then I could turn my life back around and build back up to where I was before… maybe even surpass where I was before… But I keep having episodes. Which makes it near impossible to live well.
If I had never taken his advice, wow… I’d be a different person. I wish I never listened to him. But it’s too late. I do want justice at this point, though.
If you were me, would you consider sue’ing for malpractice?

They aren’t kidding when they say use sunscreen to avoid sunburn and scarring. I live in the Southwest and went in the pool for the first time today. Even though my legs stayed below the cold water, my surgical knee received a sunburn! Use sunscreen even when you’re staying indoors. The only reason I didn’t add sunscreen today was I thought the skin was still too sensitive and it would cause a rash. Live and learn I guess.. :-(

Supposedly people use two fingers, but I've been trying a single finger of sunscreen application and reapplication and my face broke out the next day using the same sunscreen. Normally I don't use more than a pea size for each quadrant and I'm using the same exact sunscreen for years. My face is also sensitive so I don't know if using too much of anything will cause me to break out in rashes and hives. I also see people recommending 1/4 tbsp and I thought it was 1/4 tsp?