#central sensitization syndrome

[somniphobicfox]

My aunt called me for a family outing, and I refused because my pain was reaching higher levels and I knew it was flaring up and I just wanted to go to bed. I told her about it, and she goes "I'm tired as well, aren't I going out? I'm so much older than you, I'm still going out with all of you- "

I'm disabled.

I pleaded with my mom to convince her - I was feeling terrible. My pain was sooooooo high I was in tears. And to make matters worse, she told "if you're not coming, then we're not going as well." I felt so terrible.

EVERYBODY told me to suck it up and come along. A cousin was even so sure of why I was hurting, and blamed me for my pain. Told me that I should've listened to her and not done x and that's why I'm in pain.

I'm disabled. I have chronic pain.

And my own mother gave in to peer pressure and I was surrounded by ableists convincing me, blackmailing me to go along with them just so that they don't have to face the guilt of leaving someone behind. It was one of the worst days of my life.

I ended up going, and I cried that night because I was in so much pain. I had been on a bumpy car ride while my arm was flaring up.

Able-bodied people, if you're reading this — please understand that when a disabled person tells you to go somewhere without them, just go. Telling them that you would stay would only make them feel more terrible. And also, believe disabled people when they say they're hurting. PLEASE. Its the one thing we ask of you.

[a-fox-studies]

October 19, 2023

A post, I guess.

I'm still in pain. Flares 24/7. I'm waiting for Sunday, because I get three days off in a row due to a festival - it is a goverment holiday. I'm trying to power through this week even though every nerve in my body is giving up and aches so bad. I'm trying to get as much as done so I can rest for the three days.

Send me asks to help me survive this awful week :(

More frequent posts once I'm alright and well-rested <3

[heart-buzz]

god my knee hurts so fucking bad today like i took the meds i took the Tylenol i took the hot Epsom bath i used the CBD ointment i smoked the weed WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME I CANNOT TAKE MY LEG OFF

[gon-and-killuas-mother]

everyone with chronic pain or chronic conditions please watch this

this week I learned about something called Central Sensitization Syndrome. my physical therapist had given me a questionnaire a while back to score my symptoms. apparently, anyone who scores above 40 gets a talking-to about this syndrome, and i scored a 77 (⁠●⁠_⁠_⁠●⁠)

i definitely cried when she showed me a video like the one above, except it was older and research was still a little new. but this is from the same clinic, with updated information regarding post-covid conditions as well.

doctors who graduated before maybe 2010 or earlier did NOT receive this specific education. this is why people with chronic conditions continue to be dismissed, because doctors are trained to focus on acute conditions. so when a patient doesn't fit their now limited perspective of how symptoms should present, they don't want to face the idea that the patient has something beyond their education.

[thisfemmehasbackpain]

chronic pain is so crippling

I just want to give up

[anxious-and-in-pain]

it’s okay to do things that make your symptoms worse (as long as you’ll stay safe)

every once in a while you need to eat something yummy. or go on a walk. or a trip to the zoo. take a hot shower. cry your eyes out. dance. listen to music. draw for way to long. write. laugh. sit in a cafe with a friend. paint your nails. dye your hair. go on a run. pet a cat

sometimes you need to do things that are cathartic or make yourself feel alive. sometimes you need the reminder of why you’re fighting so hard to stay alive

this is your reminder that just because it makes your symptoms worse, it isn’t always the wrong thing to do. there can be value in these actions

[drferox]

My MS Diagnosis

So I’m approaching the 2 year mark since my Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis and I thought I’d better document how I got here, because being the patient is a weird experience, especially for a condition that had kind of vague symptoms that needed a fair amount of work up.

My symptoms actually started in early 2020, when I was in the third trimester of pregnancy. The main symptom was mistaken for carpal tunnel syndrome - numbness in my fingers that would progress to increasingly violent pins & needles sensations, that would progress to burning if I tried to push through it. Only this sensation would extend all the way up to my shoulders at times. I stopped performing surgery, because not only was I unsatisfied with my lack of sensation to know what I was doing with my tissue handling, but the pain would get worse quickly in constrictive surgical gloves in the presence of patient warming. So I stopped performing surgery in late pregnancy and was told it would get better a few months after giving birth.

It did not.

So six months after giving birth, finding myself able to use my hands for short periods but still unable to perform surgery to my standard, I went back to complain to the doctor. I also couldn’t play video games properly, my arms would often be numb when I woke up, all the way up to my shoulder, and they were super temperature sensitive. Even hot water from washing dishes would set them off.

They sent me down a carpal tunnel work up - ultrasounds and talking to a neurologist. The short version is they did tell me I had mild carpal tunnel… on one side only.

Which did not make any damn sense considering I had symptoms on both sides all the way up to my shoulder.

The worst neurologist in the world could not explain to me why a mild problem on one wrist was affecting sensation all the way up to the opposite shoulder, and just said ‘it happens sometimes’. Now, I like to think I have a solid understanding of the basics of how a body works, and was really unsatisfied with this answer. They recommended I talk to a surgeon, since I’d already been doing a bunch of physiotherapy, but I decided not to. Surgery could have put my hand in a cast for up to 6 weeks, I had a 6 month old baby to care for at home and a partner who was useless at best, and abusive at worst. I could not afford the time in a cast.

So I went to try something else, visiting an osteopath to see what they could do about my ‘mild’ carpal tunnel, and while I’m there, these headaches I’ve been getting.

She spent a good long while stretching out different muscle groups, and found that certain neck muscle stretches changed the sensations I was getting in my fingertips. So whatever was causing the hand problem was coming from somewhere in the neck, and she recommended I get a CT scan.

Went back to my doctor to get a referral for a CT scan, and explained what was going on. He thought about it for a minute, didn’t voice his concerns, and upgraded it to a neck MRI.

That MRI found a demyelinating lesion in my neck. So went back for a full Central Nervous System scan and found a couple more borderline ones.

That sent me back to a (different) neurologist, had a proper neurological exam that found a few random patches of altered skin sensation in addition to the arm weirdness I had going on. So I was probably a MS case, but not particularly severe as MS goes.

To confirm it I needed a lumbar puncture to look for oligoclonal bands in by CSF. The lumbar puncture was a moderately unpleasant experience which then mandated that I remain lying down for 24 hours so that my spinal fluid didn’t spring a leak. With a baby and a distinctly unhelpful partner, I barely made it to that 24 hours.

And then… I sprung a CSF leak. Which is a jolly weird experience I can tell you.

When your CSF leaks from a lumbar puncture you will feel perfectly fine… when you are lying flat on your back, because your spine flops over the hole and plugs the leak. If you’re upright at all the spine flops away from the hole and it slowly leaks out, and you get more of this weird frontal headache that gets worse the longer you’re upright, standing there talking to the ER admissions nurse. And the info I had explained that it can progress to seizures and similar the worse it gets, but I only got as far as pain and fuzzy vision. I seriously could only be upright for ten minutes without pain, and had to lie down to resolve it.

That required some medicine-that-looks-like-magic to fix, called a blood patch. Doctors took some of my blood, fresh out of the vein, and inserted it into my spine approximately where the leak should be, so that the clot would cover the leaky patch. Self blood magic. It worked brilliantly, about an hour later.

The CSF tap ordeal confirmed the presence of the oligoclonal bands, and then I got stunted into the public health system, in a department specifically geared towards managing Multiple Sclerosis patients. They debated for a little while, at a multidisciplinary meeting, whether I was really MS or a Clinically Isolated Syndrome (which is like Multiple Sclerosis but without the ‘Multiple’ part), but settled on MS. Yes, Tumblr, I was nearly diagnosed with CIS.

The shoe thing took about a year from when I actively complained to doctors, or about 18 months from the first probable symptoms. That’s approximate because some things that were thought to be pregnancy symptoms could have been due to MS, like fatigue and leg weakness. I’m pretty lucky that I’m comfortable in hospitals and with medical procedures, am reasonably medically literate. I think the magic phrase that got things to happen quickly was ‘these symptoms are greatly affecting my ability to do my job’.

I don’t think my MS has progressed since starting the medication (and I’ll talk about the medication in another post). I’ve acquired one additional brain lesion since diagnosis, but I have no clue what physical symptom it’s associated with.

While some symptoms are better, I still cannot perform surgery to the standard or with the endurance that I used to,so I basically don’t any more. I can do about ten minutes, which is enough to bail a new graduate vet out of trouble, but not enough to take over completely for them. I’ve had a few years to think about it but I don’t know what the MS is going to do to my career, only that I can still practice for now.

It’s not great, but it could be a whole lot worse, and that’s how I got here.

[deliciouskeys]

@cozycornerkinktober's prompt lucky #13: Nursing/lactation

Another deleted scene from the Selfish Gene (Butchlander)

Warnings: Everyone's going to write about HL's canon nursing/breast milk fetish for this one. And uh... so am I. But in mine he's the one lactating so trigger warning for that upfront. Mpreg. Supe baby. Injuries. Weird fetishes. Probably a little bit more emo than I intended. @vanshoundd requested this one, but I'm not at all sure they'll be pleased with the result lol, but I tried! AO3 link.

Butcher’s nose was never that sensitive, but he starts to detect it as soon as he’s out of the elevator on the twenty fourth floor of their new hoity-toity high rise condo building. It hits him full force when he opens the door to the apartment, thick, cloying, notes of melted butter and even something a little like apple, all mixing together into a bouquet that now smells like his partner, like their child, like home. Butcher puts away the groceries he brought in before following the overly familiar, obnoxiously loud sound of the pump coming from their bedroom.

Homelander is sitting half propped up in bed, browsing on his phone, the wearable vest with suction cups stuck to his otherwise bare torso, both 150ml milk bottles half-full with creamy white liquid, frothing up slightly from the negative pressure. Lena’s sleeping soundly on top of his body and not in her crib— as far as Butcher knows she’s never been in her crib in the two weeks since being born, Homelander being completely engrossed with taking her everywhere and keeping her close at all times. He hasn’t really left the house except to go out on the balcony, despite having been so enthusiastic about having the house confinement officially nixed a few months ago. At least their new apartment overlooks Central Park and has two spacious bedrooms— not that Homelander has let Lena stay in her nursery yet. Butcher made a token attempt to convince him that sleeping together with your newborn in the same bed was ill-advised, but SIDS was just not something on Homelander’s list of worries. ‘How about you worry about Sudden Dad Death Syndrome,’ he said dismissively. Butcher had no intention to stay away and sleep in another room. If he’s going to get lasered for rolling over on his infant daughter, well, it was a good run. Homelander seems genuinely worried about that eventuality though, and keeps Lena between his own body and a pillow. Butcher’s not sure how much the pillow would really protect him, but he’s learned not to argue about most of these things. He’s also not sure how much Homelander actually sleeps during the night, because he’s still feeding the baby so often, and every time Butcher wakes up groggy during the night, Homelander’s either feeding, burping, changing, or pumping.

At the moment Lena’s sound asleep, positioned along Homelander’s belly, tiny legs flexibly curled up under her diaper, tiny ribcage visibly moving in and out underneath the tiny blanket draped over her.

“I don’t know how she can sleep through that racket going on near her head,” Butcher says as he lies down next to Homelander.

“It’s really not that loud.” Homelander rolls his eyes, finally putting away the phone.

“It’s pretty loud, love. And I think you’re going to break it soon if you don’t stop running it 24-7.”

Homelander huffs. “What am I supposed to do if I can’t store much inside my body?”

Supplement with formula maybe, Butcher thinks but doesn’t say out loud. It’s a really sore topic they’ve been over multiple times over the past couple of weeks. Homelander’s body responded to pregnancy by the textbook, golden colostrum letting down as soon as Lena rut her face into his chest, not even an hour after being born. But his milk supply never came in as plentifully as the lactation coach assured him it would. He produced milk quickly, but had little storage capacity. His chest was only a little bit more swollen and veiny than before pregnancy, and there was apparently just not enough volume for a satisfying feeding, even for a tiny newborn. Butcher had probably never seen him as upset as when he was frantically switching Lena from one nipple to the other, to no avail because she’d drained both in short order and was crying for more. “Why can’t I do this right?!” he’d lamented, sobbing about his failure, rather than the fact that their famished newborn’s suction was apparently strong enough to make his nipples’ skin chafe, pop, and bleed. Butcher fed Lena formula out of a bottle between her breast feedings during those first few days, and Homelander refused to even watch it happen, lying in bed turned away, weeping, depressed, and defeated. The mere sight of the bottle would send him into what, in Butcher’s mind, was irrational hysterics, but suggesting that there might be some postpartum depression at play here was angrily dismissed out of hand. Butcher found what was at least a stopgap solution, buying one of those supplemental nursing systems where breast milk could be mixed with formula to boost the volume and be used to feed the baby through a thin plastic tube taped to align right with the nipple. All the nice physical bonding of not using a bottle, without the anxiety about your baby going hungry, Butcher figured. But Homelander was still a purist, and wanted zero Similac in the mixture. That’s why he’d taken to pumping day and night, every hour except when Lena was actually latched on to him. For better or worse, it seemed to be working, his body slowly adjusting to meet the demand. In the past few days, he finally started having leftovers to freeze. 

“I just feel like I haven’t been able to talk to you without raising my voice over the din of that motor,” Butcher says, cupping Homelander’s face and kissing him on the cheek, then rubbing his hand against the rough beard bristles on his chin. Homelander was so focused on his baby that apparently he stopped prioritizing shaving every morning, brushing his hair, or showering.

“Sorry, I haven’t been taking care of myself today,” Homelander says defensively as Butcher’s hand runs along his jaw.

“D’you want to?” Butcher asks.

Homelander looks down at Lena and sighs.

“I can watch her while you take a fifteen minute shower,” Butcher says, both amused and annoyed. “You can’t keep being this much of a control freak.”

“If she wakes up-”

“I’ll inform you at once, commander-in-chief, Jesus.”

“And if she…”

He trails off but Butcher knows what Homelander is getting at without any more being said. Lena has yet to actually fire off a laser but her eyes have powered up a glow a couple of times in the past two weeks. They haven’t been able to pinpoint what seems to trigger it. Every time it’s happened she was latched on, feeding, and not fussing. Butcher thinks it’s overwhelmed-with-happiness-and-pleasure lasers, not rage-lasers, but they can’t know for sure.

“I’ll be careful and point her away from me. What do you want me to say?”

Homelander nods and slowly sits up. Lena makes a quiet whimper and he freezes but she seems to go right back to sleep, despite being held almost fully upright. Butcher takes her gently into his arms and cradles her. She turns toward his body but thankfully doesn’t wake up and start searching for milk. Homelander walks out of the bedroom with the pump still attached to him.

“Maybe you should take it off before you get in the shower,” Butcher mutters to himself under his breath, but Homelander hears him loud and clear, of course, even with the machine still on and says “Very funny” from the bathroom.

Butcher enjoys the rare opportunity to study this tiny creature snoozing in his arms, a creature he helped make. He leans down and inhales the scent of her head, her wispy dark hairs flying up when he does. He finally hears the pump being shut off and the shower running shortly after. Lena stays asleep, eyes sometimes moving underneath her thin eyelids, long eyelashes twitching slightly. She’s unbearably cute. Holding her, Butcher admits he can understand why her other parent doesn’t seem to want to let go of her for even a minute. He never would have imagined he’d feel like that about anything, let alone a newborn, but there’s some kind of biological or psychological program that’s kicked into gear in his brain once he finally saw her in the flesh. Somewhere in his deep memory he also recalls what it was like to see Lenny for the first time, and feel an overwhelming immediate sense of love for someone so tiny.

As he watches her sleep, his mind starts to drift as well, as if the sleepiness is contagious. He’s in this hypnotized state, so he’s not sure how it happens exactly, but Lena wakes up pretty suddenly. She doesn’t cry, just opens her eyes and next thing Butcher feels is her tiny fist finding and wrapping around the pinky of the hand he’s laid on top of her. Butcher immediately realizes his dire circumstances when he feels powerful force squeezing his finger and bone starting to crack. He stays stoically silent, looking down at her open eyes. They’re huge—sometimes it feels like they’re taking up half of her face— and a piercing blue. He’s heard babies’ eyes often darken as they grow, but as of now they’re the spitting image of Homelander’s. Maybe that’s why he feels just a tiny bit unsettled whenever she fixes them on him– some echo of their old antagonism still buried somewhere deep in his brain.

“Lena, love, let go of Daddy’s hand,” he says quietly through teeth clenching in pain, still smiling at her, already knowing talking like this is futile. He’s fairly sure he feels something fracturing and blinks back tears. She stares up at him, but doesn’t release her grip. He can’t even try to pry her hand off, with none of his hands free. The shower is turned off already, and loath as Butcher is to prove that he can’t watch Lena for fifteen minutes, he gets up and carefully makes his way to the bathroom.

“Can you help me out…” he says as he’s pushing the door open with an elbow and sees Homelander choke on something and press the back of his hand to his mouth. Although he’s at the sink, turned away from the door, Butcher can see in the mirror that he was sipping on one of the milk containers that he detached from his chest.

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST CAN YOU KNOCK?!” he explodes, apparently before he’s swallowed everything down because the first words come out with a gurgle.

“I actually couldn’t…” Butcher answers sheepishly, wincing because Lena’s grip tightened further around his already broken finger during the yelling.

Homelander looks over and sees the situation and his facial expression twists from anger to distress. He quickly approaches and pries her tiny fingers open, taking her into his own arms almost at the same time, cradling her close.

“She hurt you,” he says, frowning so dramatically that Butcher can’t help but feel amused at their predicament. A baby being able to mangle her father has some kind of dark humor to it.

“She’s fine. I was careless,” Butcher says, almost waving his injured hand dismissively before feeling a jolt of pain in his pinky at any movement.

“Your right hand. You need to go to the hospital,” Homelander laments, starting to sound panicked. 

“Hey, it’s not a big deal, alright? Leave it alone. I’ll take care of it later.”

Homelander looks unappeased by that, and it dawns on Butcher that he’s probably insecure about his child being perceived as a danger to normal people, the public. Perhaps to be locked away in a secure facility until all the powers are under control.

“Hey, I’m okay. I was just careless.” Butcher says, but he’s also starting to survey the scene he walked in on. Homelander’s standing naked, hair still wet, holding Lena in his arms who seems to recognize her feeder parent smell and is starting to root around his chest. Butcher sees the bottle of breast milk, almost drained. He doesn’t say anything, but Homelander seems to catch where his gaze went.

“I make enough for her! I’m not having anything that she needs!” he starts saying and Butcher doesn’t know where to start with this.

“Look, I don’t care what you do with it. You’re the one obsessed with not giving her formula. If you want to drink your own breast milk, I’m not going to be the one to stop you.”

Homelander chews on his lip, face crimson, and Butcher can’t believe that this is, of all the strange things this supe’s done, what he’s going to be mortified by.

“I’m not saying it’s normal, but you’re not harming anyone.”

“You don’t get it,” Homelander says, eyes fluttering when Lena finds his nipple and latches on but then he looks down at her and avoids eye contact with Butcher. “I obsess over it. I- I feel like I get turned on when she’s nursing. I even get a little turned on when I’m pumping. I’ve been wanting to drink it. I have real issues.”

Butcher rubs the bridge of his nose, remembering to use his left hand. “I mean, yeah, that sounds a bit sick, but it’s harmless I guess.”

“You never feel tempted to even just taste it?” Homelander asks. His tone is weird and desperate, as if he’s hoping to hear just a little bit of support for this freaky fixation.

“Can’t say I have,” Butcher says, but then adds. “I kind of like the way it smells. I’ll taste it if it makes you feel better.” He approaches and takes a small sip from the same bottle Homelander was drinking out of, smacking and trying to describe the taste like a connoisseur. “It’s really sweet. It’s not that bad. If I didn’t know what it was I might have though it was some kind of bland custard.”

Homelander watches him, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“What?” Butcher asks. “What do you want me to say?”

“You’re not revolted?” Homelander asks cautiously.

“I don’t know, after watching you be in labor for more than a day and then give the bloodiest birth I’ve ever heard of at home on a shower curtain I spread out on our bed? I think I’m beyond being revolted.”

When they move back to the bedroom, Butcher holds Lena while Homelander puts on fresh sweatpants. He’s rushing, as if every second Butcher is holding her is borrowed time.

“You can’t do everything yourself.” Butcher sighs. “It’s just a broken finger. I don’t even feel like going to the ER. They’ll just put it in a splint.”

“Fix your hand,” Homelander answers him brusquely. “I don’t want you walking around with an ugly crooked finger and have it be this ‘Story’ about how Lena broke your pinky.”

“And here I thought you cared about my well-being.” Butcher chuckles.

“Maybe that too,” Homelander says morosely, as he lies back and switches Lena over to his other nipple. His expression softens whenever she’s latched on. “If you’re not going to the ER, can you…bring the bottles from the bathroom…?”

Butcher shrugs and carries the two containers back into the bedroom.

“Can you…” Homelander’s voice gets really quiet. “Can you feed me with it.”

Now Butcher’s a bit disturbed. “Can I what now?”

“Just put the bottle top on it with the nipple and just hold it to my mouth.”

Butcher sighs, incredulous, but does as he’s asked. He watches Lena sucking languidly on Homelander’s nipple– she’s not hungry, she’s mostly doing it out of habit and for comfort. He watches Homelander slowly downing the remaining milk in one bottle and then the other.

“Yeah, this is a bit fucked, love, I have to tell you.”

Homelander licks his lips when he’s drained everything. Lena leans back at about the same time, and the synchrony is vaguely disturbing to Butcher.

“I know,” Homelander says, looking off into the distance and avoiding eye contact. “But it makes me happy.”

A/N: The oxytocin released by the brain upon the sensation of breastfeeding doesn't bring people to orgasm, but it can turn some people on quite a bit. Socially unacceptable biological phenomena, but honestly it makes a lot of evolutionary sense that you'd get rewarded for feeding your brood.

[crosstheveil]

Health: Adrenal Glands

TCM: Jing, Kidneys

GNM: Off Track (cortex), Unbearable Stress (medulla)

Greek: Sanguine (cortex), Choleric (medulla)

Chakra: Root

Astrology: Mars, Aries-Libra; ex. managing adrenal health can be especially important for natal placements like Mars in Libra/7th, Mars in Pisces/12th, South Node conjunct Mars, etc.

The adrenal glands, which sit atop the kidneys, play a central role in the body's response to stress, fatigue, immune challenges, and several key physiological and metabolic functions. Issues related to the adrenal glands is very common yet highly under-diagnosed. They consist of two regions:

Adrenal Cortex: Derived from the mesodermal base substance cholesterol, the adrenal cortex produces hormones such as cortisol, corticosterone, aldosterone, and male sex hormones. These hormones play vital roles in physiological functions. Cortisol and corticosterone, known as stress hormones, contribute to the regulation of metabolism, inflammation, and blood sugar, and assist in long-term stress response by enriching the blood with minerals and glucose. Their anabolic effects also aid in healing and regeneration. Aldosterone helps maintain blood pressure by regulating the balance of salt and water in the body. The adrenal cortex's production of male sex hormones can influence the reproductive system. If unresolved, chronic stress may lead to excessive cortisol production, causing problems like weight gain and high blood sugar.

Adrenal Medulla: The endodermal adrenal medulla manages emotional and physical stress by producing the hormones noradrenaline, dopamine, and adrenaline. These hormones are pivotal in activating the "fight, fright, flight" response, a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event or threat. This acute stress response increases heart rate, blood sugar, and mental alertness, along with other physiological changes. Chronic anger or emotional upheaval can strain the adrenal medulla, leading to an energetic drain.

Stress

The adrenal glands are highly sensitive to stress, and chronic stress can lead to various disorders:

Psychiatric Disorders: Neuroses, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder.

Neurological Disorders: Migraines, peripheral neuropathy, dizziness, tremors.

Glandular Disorders: Issues related to other glands including the thyroid which is responsible for cell growth; for instance, uterine cancer, polyps, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism.

Cardiovascular Disorders: Coronary artery disease, stroke, heart attack, hypertension, arrhythmias.

Respiratory Disorders: Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), difficulty in breathing.

Immunological Disorders: Possible tumor promotion, reduced resistance to infection, autoimmune disorders, chronic inflammation.

Metabolic Disorders: Diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, difficulty in regulating blood sugar.

Gastrointestinal Disorders: Ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic indigestion, malabsorption.

Genitourinary Disorders: Impotence, incontinence, menstrual problems, urinary tract infections, kidney dysfunction.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Muscle weakness, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, joint pain.

Skin Disorders: Acne, eczema, psoriasis, skin thinning.

Cysts and Cancer

Adrenal Weakness: If the adrenal glands don't produce enough adrenaline, the heart may pump slower, leading to fluid accumulation and cysts in the prostate, ovaries, and breasts. These cysts can harden and potentially lead to cancer.

Blood Flow: Increasing blood flow can help resolve cysts if addressed quickly.

Signs of Imbalance

Frequent sickness, fatigue, low libido, low backache, chronic health issues, dark circles under the eyes, hair loss, early greying, frequent urination at night, cold hands and feet, brain fog, pain and weakness in the lower back, loins, thighs, knees and lower body, urinary weakness and debility, polyuria and nocturia, impotence and male sexual dysfunction, moodiness and irritability, depression, muscle or bone loss, autoimmune conditions, chronic fatigue, hormone imbalance, body aches, unexplained weight loss, lightheadedness, skin discoloration (hyperpigmentation), weakened stress response, insulin resistance, sleep problems, weight gain, sweet and salty food cravings, difficulty getting up in the morning, increased PMS or menopausal symptoms, inability to handle stress, increased allergies, frequent sighing, cravings for salty foods, higher energy levels in the evenings, overuse of stimulants like caffeine.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Jing (essence): The statement by the Chinese that the kidneys harbor our Jing refers to the adrenals having the highest concentration of neural crest cell derivatives in the entire body. Strong Jing corresponds to robust characteristics like strong teeth, which are made by neural crest cells, while weak Jing relates to signs of aging like grey hair and deafness, also linked to neural crest cells. Jing's manifestations include the progression from youth to adulthood, reflected in functions controlled by the pituitary (aided by neural crest cells), and can be seen in the structure of the face and jaw. Neural crest cells also create the heart's connective tissue, affecting lifespan. Jing as a concept is not the same as neural crest cells but they represent the body's inherent organizational strength. Weak organizational energy leads to neural crest cells that don't form properly or function well, resulting in genetic disorders affecting facial development. The Chinese recognized these markers as indicators of weak Jing.

Kidneys & Urinary Tract: The adrenal glands are connected to the kidneys not just through the renal fascia, but also by way of the renal artery, draining into the renal vein, and receiving nerve connections from the renal plexus. The kidneys regulates the body's water content and are essential for maintaining healthy bones, as well as producing healthy bone marrow and blood. It determines the level of adrenaline and dopamine in the body, affecting our energy and rest. In addition, it forms a relationship with the heart through various hormones. During puberty, the adrenal cortex starts to produce sex hormones like testosterone and oestrogen, and this production continues throughout adulthood. Caffeine depletes kidney qi, yang, yin, and essence, contributing to liver and adrenal issues, and long-term exhaustion. Regular coffee drinkers, especially those who don’t feel its effects, may be nearing adrenal exhaustion. Adrenal fatigue is often considered a kidney yang deficiency. If left untreated, it can progress to a kidney yin deficiency. These deficiencies are often marked by a light low groaning tone to the voice, a darkish pallor under the eyes, negative attitudes of insufficiency or inadequacy, needing to sit and not being able to stand for long, and worrying about money. Additionally, those who experience traumatic shock or long term stress often have their hair turn gray or fall out.

Kidney Yang (medulla): Linked to the reactive sympathetic nervous system and the hormones adrenaline, dopamine, and norepinephrine, produced in the adrenals. A deficiency in kidney yang can lead to symptoms like cold hands and feet, edema, night urination, and low libido. This deficiency parallels disorders like adrenal fatigue, hypothyroidism, and sexual dysfunction. This condition is worsened by the use of marijuana, diminishing our natural drive, motivation, and willpower. Adrenaline is used to treat conditions like asthma, anaphylaxis, and slow heart rates. It works on the cell membrane's outside, which is known as the yang aspect of the cell. It never enters the cell but attaches to a receptor on the outside, initiating a cascade of chemicals that open or close gates on the cell's exterior. In the heart and muscles, adrenaline prompts more calcium to enter, which amplifies the force of contraction; in the lungs, it leads to the relaxation of the muscles, permitting more air to flow in; in the brain, it initiates the emotional reactions connected with fear.

Kidney Yin (cortex): Associated with the parasympathetic nervous system and the hormone cortisol, produced in the adrenals. A kidney yin deficiency may manifest as sore back, leg weakness, insomnia, and anxiety. It may parallel disorders like diabetes, high blood pressure, and hyperthyroidism. Although necessary for daily function and stress response, excessive cortisol can lead to fluid retention, osteoporosis, muscle wasting, depression, and diabetes. If our bodies stopped producing cortisol, it would result in significant illness. While adrenaline binds to the exterior of the cell (yang), cortisol is absorbed into the very core (yin). Contrary to the effects of adrenaline which are more immediate, the effects of cortisol can take years.

Greek Medicine

Hot Temperament: The adrenals are generally represented as stimulating and energizing various functions to adapt to stress.

Adrenal Cortex: Sanguine, nutritive, and anabolic, enriching the blood and decreasing swelling.

Adrenal Medulla: Choleric, energetic, and catabolic, stimulating acute stress response.

Faculty Support: Adrenal glands produce supplementary amounts of sexual hormones, bridging a connection between vital and generative faculties; supporting heart and lungs (vital), kidneys and pancreas in blood sugar regulation (natural), enhancing mental alertness and stimulating the sympathetic nervous system functioning (psychic), supporting male sexual function and response (generative).

Root Center: The adrenals form the basic energetic support for the entire organism, associated with the Root Chakra.

Kidneys & Urinary Tract: Weak adrenals may adversely affect the vitality and functioning of the kidneys and urinary tract, which are interlinked with the adrenal glands'. When the kidneys are not effectively eliminating fluids, it can lead to the accumulation of phlegm and moisture. Additionally, the kidneys have a connection to the soles of the feet which may be affected by cold conditions. Conditions of melancholy or devitalization of the adrenals, kidneys, and urinary tract often correlate with chronic fatigue.

Adrenal Exhaustion: Chronic stress and irregular habits can lead to fatigue, irritability, pain, and impotence in men usually caused by flare-ups of Choleric anger or any experiences which feel like a roller coaster. Sexual overindulgence also exhaust the adrenals.

Male Sexual Function: The adrenal glands provide energetic support for male sexual function. Issues with adrenal energy may result in sexual dysfunction, including impotence or premature ejaculation.

Blood Sugar Regulation: In instances of dangerously low blood sugar, the adrenal glands jump into action, raising levels through adrenaline. Chronic instability may involve adrenocortical hormones, aggravating factors in type II diabetes.

German New Medicine (GNM)

Adrenal Cortex (Off Track)

Conflict: Feeling like you've made a wrong choice or gone down the wrong path.

Under-Functioning: Waterhouse-Friedrichsen syndrome, adrenal gland insufficiency, Addison's disease. Reduced cortisol production, feeling stressed and tired.

Over-Functioning: Excess cortisol (Cushing's disease) with high blood pressure, round face, obesity, muscle atrophy or aldosterone (Conn's syndrome) with high blood pressure, low potassium, weak muscles, thirst, frequent urination.

Adrenal Medulla (Unbearable Stress)

Conflict: Extreme tension from stress, feeling overwhelmed. Something is beyond reach.

Diagnosis: Pheochromocytoma, neuroblastoma. High blood pressure, racing heart, increased blood sugar, sweating.

Astrology

Mars: This planet governs adrenaline, testosterone, male sexual function, playing a role in the catabolic metabolism where fuel is burned. It also oversees the release of toxins, the regulation of red blood cells, iron, and muscle tissue, including tendons and ligaments. It extends to the entire muscular system, embodying vitality and physical strength. The energy of Mars is hot and dry so it's temperament is Choleric. Mars co-rules the adrenals (with Aries/Libra) and the male genitalia (Scorpio).

Aries: Aries is a Choleric sign, and its will to action makes it prone to anger and stress, which deplete and weaken the adrenal glands. The sign is energetic, sharp-eyed, cheerful, and alert, but may become irritable and have a restless tendency to keep going until burnout. This can lead to eyestrain and poor vision as the health of the eyes is dependent on the strength of the adrenals. The preference for stimulants like chili pepper, caffeine, and their attraction to the Sun can overstimulate the adrenal glands, leading them to seek cooling substances like icy drinks, fruits, and seafood.

Libra: Libra, the Sanguine Air sign that rules the kidneys and lower back, is a counterbalance to Aries. The kidneys and genitourinary tract are only as strong and healthy as the adrenal glands, which are their energetic support. Underlying adrenal weakness and exhaustion weakens the kidneys and genitourinary system, leading to urinary debility, urinary tract infections, inflammation or irritation, uremia, and gout. Since male sexual function is also dependent on the strength and health of the adrenal glands, problems may arise in this area.

Aries-Libra Dynamic: Kidneys, adrenals, eyes, head and cranium, low back, lumbar spine, bladder, genitourinary system (especially male), hips and loins. Aries represents personal power, autonomy, honesty, and decisiveness, often leaning towards individualism and assertiveness. Libra, on the other hand, emphasizes cooperation, diplomacy, compromise, and social harmony. While Aries is direct and often acts alone, Libra seeks mutual choice and operates through consensus. This represents a struggle between competition and cooperation, selfhood and partnership, war and peace, doing and being. Finding balance is needed for acid/alkaline balance, as Aries tends to run acidic, and for hormonal balance, where Aries tends toward excess testosterone. The tension between these two forces may cause a lot of frustration and aggravation, particularly in males, manifesting as irritation or inflammation of the genitourinary tract.

Healing and Relief

Diet: Paleo; reduce caffeine, sugars and sweeteners, gluten, starch, white flour, processed foods, and hydrogenated oils.

Nutritional Supplements: Ionic Magnesium, B Vitamins, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Vitamin C, Zinc, Probiotics, L-Theanine

Herbal Adaptogens: Ashwagandha, Rhodiola Rosea, Holy Basil, Licorice Root, Siberian Ginseng, He Shou Wu

Lifestyle Considerations: Address societal pressure to perform, lack of self-care, and the conflict in real life. Regular exercise of varied intensity. Practice meditation, mindfulness, Tai Chi, Qigong. Express creatively and spend time in nature. Align sleep schedule with circadian rhythm to nourish yin. Hydrate more and add salt to water. Avoid various toxins like dioxin or insecticides which contribute to adrenal malfunction. Spend more time in the sun each day. Don't sit for too long. Try wearing a haramaki, stretch cotton (for summer) or stretch wool (for winter).

These are research notes from the work of Daniel Keown, Michel Odoul, Michael Tierra, Lesley Tierra, Johan Boshwinkel, David Osborn, Judith Hill, Eileen Nauman, Björn Eybl, Caroline Markolin, Deb Shapiro, and Jody Smith.

[wilderun]

Hello, with your experience with wolfdogs, would you say high-contents have more behavioral similarities with -

Huskies

Laikas & other nordic/boreal hunting spitzes

"Pariah" dogs

Nihon ken & other east asian hunting spitzes

Central European shepherds types?

I'm currently not in a spot where wolfdog ownership is feasible, I'm just curious about their behavior. I know that wolves & wolfdogs are more intense in some behaviors than domestics, but are there any quirks specific to them? Sorry for longish ask.

Hmmm.

I'd say they're probably most similar to pariah dogs, because they lack selection for some of the more extreme behaviors like prey drive that continues even once full/sated, guardian nature, pull drive, etc that the other varieties of primitive dogs you listed tend to have, as those breed types all stemmed from selective breeding to make more prominent the traits they needed.

The only thing I've personally seen in high contents that I haven't seen in dogs of any breed, is seasonal behavior changes, because dogs don't experience the immense hormonal shift that wolves do. A male wolf's testicles are the size of small grapes most of the year with relatively low testosterone production, but they experience a 300% increase in testosterone in winter and the testicles swell in preparation for breeding season.

As you can imagine, this change can make them more sensitive during winter months. Some get very "mushy" and affectionate, like Zephyr and her relatives do, but some other lines tend to become protective of their space and their mate, territorial, and when they're improperly imprinted into humans instead of other canines due to bottle-feeding, it can cause them to view humans as a "challenger/opponent" for their mate, creating conflict and aggression.

The animals who experience more intense seasonal changes and who are handled poorly through it causing escalation get labeled with "winter wolf syndrome", although the sad truth is that the term came from an animal who was severely mishandled thru his own seasonal changes. Two Feathers would have likely been fine like his siblings were, had his owners practiced de-escalation and redirection and not taken offense to his hormone shifts and kicked the fence, yelled, smacked him, etc when he was moody.

[covidsafehotties]

From 2022

Highlights

"The most dire consequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may not manifest during the initial infection but appear later and are disproportionately associated with compromised neural function. Central nervous system (CNS) complications often appear after the acute phase but persist and become prominent later and last for weeks to months (i.e., long COVID). Indeed, while severe neurological diseases accompanying COVID-19 are rare during the acute phase, 7.3 to 33.62% of COVID-19 survivors experience long COVID, with diverse neurological and neuropsychiatric complications such as headaches, fatigue, anosmia, cognitive impairment, and depression. In addition, surprising brain pathological changes, such as loss of gray matter in several regions of cortex, have been identified in COVID-19 survivors."

"Given the complexity and diversity of the CNS symptoms, discerning whether health impacts arise from direct infection of the nervous system or indirect hypoxia, coagulopathy, and systemic inflammation that are able to trigger downstream neuroinflammatory responses is essential. Central to addressing these issues is determining which CNS populations are directly infected by the virus."

"Bolstering the earlier report, they found that SARS-CoV-2 preferentially infects and replicates and propagates in astrocytes, particularly those adjacent to infected vasculature. Notably, this vulnerability of astrocytes to SARS-CoV-2 not only exists during development but also extends to adulthood. In contrast, neurons and microglia are less likely to be directly infected. Importantly, while microglia and astrocytes are both reactivated, a direct dosage-sensitive effect of SARS-CoV-2 is only observed in reactive astrocytes."

"Moreover, non-cell-autonomous inflammatory effects are found in SARS-CoV-2–infected cultures, such as an increase in reactive microglia and an overall loss of neurons by apoptosis. Studies have suggested that astrocytes are critical support cells in the regulation of brain energy, metabolism, and microenvironment."

"Astrocytic infection results in dysfunction of their metabolic homeostasis, enhancing neuroinflammation and impacting energy support for neurons indirectly. These could contribute to COVID-19–associated CNS complications. More severe neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms may result from neuronal death or synaptic loss in brain regions that are more vulnerable to pathogenesis, inflammation, or energy deficiency. Since the CNS complications are diverse within different individuals and viral infection is a dynamic process, it will be important to further investigate the correlation between viral load within different brain regions, the neuroimmune response levels, and the CNS symptoms with a larger clinical sample size."

[somniphobicfox]

I am passionate about Rubik's cubes when I was younger. I used to solve all kinds of puzzles right from the 2x2 cube to the 6x6, upto 10 different puzzles.

Central sensitization hit 6 years ago, and my left arm turned weak.

I am passionate about writing, I used to fill so many notebooks with short stories, chapters from novels I had in my head.

Chronic pain prevented all that.

I am passionate about coding, and I want to become an app developer/freelancer/bot developer — I need to practice code

My weak fingers gave up.

My hands are bound behind a pillar with my dreams an inch away from me. And this is the case for so many other cripple punks. Don't ask us why we're grumpy all the time, don't accuse us of being lazy, don't say we're using our disabilities as an excuse.

Because sometimes, we're tired of living when our ambitions seem close to unattainable.

[a-fox-studies]

Why is it that everytime I start a studyblr challenge my body decides to straight up malfunction and i have the worst flares of mankind—

Anyways discontinuing the Southern Hemisphere Spring Challenge because well, can't do shit with an exhausted body can we?

I'm sorry I sound cranky and negative and unoptimistic but I'm just having one of those days where im tired of being positive about my disability and every single needle prick in my neck and arms frustrates me to no end. I'm taking a break and doing other creative things like work on my story, fix my digital planner because uni starts in a week, and just letting my body rest for a bit. I'll do occasional posts of my journal or reblogs of study tips (maybe, nothing is guaranteed because of how terrible my health is right now).

Good luck in the challenges for all the studyblrs who are taking part!! I'll be back soon :D

[heart-buzz]

had a back xray today!

[salt-baby]

What EDS treatments are effective?

you all responded really well to a previous medical education post I did, so I wanted to try something new: a series on research papers!

today I’m looking at “Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: An Analysis of the Current Treatment Options”(2019) by Song et al

tldr:

when researchers (well, doctors) looked at the medical records of 98 patients with EDS of any subtype, from their physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) clinic, to find out which medications improved, did nothing to, and worsened symptoms, they found:

- complimentary and alternative medicine and opioids were most common for patients to try, with NSAIDS, physical therapy, and bracing/splinting close behind.

- the following improved symptoms in at least 60% of patients: massage, bracing/splints/orthotics, ibuprofen, a nerve block, platelet-rich plasma, prolotherapy, taking a combo of hydrocodone and acetaminophen, steroid injections, oral steroids, baclofen and botox.

- physical therapy improved symptoms in 43% of patients and heat in 58%.

- surgery, going to a chiropractor, acetaminophen alone, and drugs for nerve pain (ie duloxetine, gabapentin, tri-cyclic antidepressants) tended to have low efficacy (less than 30% of patients had an improvement in symptoms).

Note that there may have been a bit of bias in terms of who participated in the study, that it’s not certain how reliable the medical records are, and that there’s a bit of ambiguity in the results because they included multiple subtypes of EDS.

if you want me to walk you through the whole paper, and learn some skills for interpreting papers on your own, keep reading!

I chose this paper for a couple reasons: its open access, easy to read, and has very clearly reported and well defined results. it also has very simple statistics (which is great, because thats my least favorite part). 

the introduction provides some good background information on EDS, although a few things are of note. One is that they refer to a phenomenon called pain sensitization or central pain in paragraph three, which they don’t go into too much detail on. This topic is a candidate for another post in this series, since it’s surprisingly little known. in short, this has to do with the body adapting to being constantly in pain, and as a result, an abnormal pain response develops (3). I don’t want to go into it too much here, but if this part was confusing to you, that’s what it’s referring to. 

additionally, they mention the so-called three stages of hEDS, which I traced back to this paper (4). While this researcher has a lot of publications in heds, I find it hard to believe that a sample size of only 21 (very different!) patients is enough to firmly define three stages that all patients go through. Plus, their ages are never reported, and “stiffness” is defined as just “not hypermobile anymore”. IMO, not very strong evidence.

Looking at the methods, most of it is as I said above. This type of paper is a retrospective review, meaning they looked at data that already existed, did analysis on it, and drew conclusions on it. Reviews in general can be really useful when you’re first starting out on a specific topic, and I recommend people start there. 

Another thing about methods is they used a Mann-Whitney U test, which, fair warning statistics isn’t my strong point, but I’ll do my best. For more resources, look here and here (5) (sidenote, this whole college-level statistics textbook is open access and very practical, and the author is clearly very passionate about teaching.). For the purposes of this paper, just note that the P value in the last column of their results table indicates significance, ie whether the data they got was any better than random chance. Significance in research is usually defined as a P value less than 0.05. The lower the P value, the more likely the results weren’t just random chance. Any P value over 0.05 is generally considered just random chance. 

That’s really important for interpreting these really beautiful results tables. Make sure you pay attention to the little “Significant? Y/N” column. If there’s an N, there’s not enough evidence to prove anything about that treatment one way or another.

Note that when you’re interpreting the results, just because it didn’t work for most people in this study doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. I really like diclofenac gel for joint pain, but only 24% of these participants had the same experience, and that result had a P value of <0.0001!

There’s not much to say about what the authors wrote as their interpretation of the results, which I think was sound. 

Regarding limitations of the study, I think there’s a few. Overall, my opinion is that the paper is decently strong evidence of how effective certain treatments are, especially when combined with other, more specific papers. But for limitations, the sample size is a bit small, but for EDS, pretty good. 

There’s the issue of almost all participants being women, but that’s a product of EDS affecting female people more strongly than male people (1). To be specific, both afab and amab people have an equal chance of inheriting EDS, because although the exact gene hasn’t been discovered, the way it’s inherited has been (an autosomal dominant gene) (1). It’s possible that sociological factors are at play, but the author’s conclusion (and my own) is that it’s likely one of many biological factors that makes EDS worse in female people than male people(1). I’m using female/male instead of afab/amab because anecdotally, some ftm trans people with eds have found their symptoms improved with testosterone (which one person in this treatment efficacy study also found).

This study also mixed all the subtypes together, with only 76 of the 98 participants having diagnosed heds. 2 had other subtypes (ceds and cveds), and 20 were unspecified EDS. That muddies the results a bit, because although the subtypes have some things in common, they can also be pretty distinct. For that reason, I would’ve liked to know what happened when they separated by subtype and ran their significance tests, but it’s not the biggest deal to me that they didn’t.

Then there’s the issue of the sample itself, which was taken from a PMR clinic. Who goes to a PMR clinic? people who live within a reasonable distance and have the money to both get the referral and pay for the specialist. Additionally, people may be hesitant to tell their joint doc about EVERY treatment they tried, and that doc may not have written everything down. Plus, this study only includes those diagnosed with eds (which again requires money), and therefore may not represent EVERYONE with eds, diagnosed or not. In research, these things can be really difficult to control for, and in my opinion, there’s not much the researchers could’ve done to fix this without massively changing the study. 

Additionally, all these medical records would’ve been made by the same few doctors at this clinic, who may have had biases or writing quirks that impacted the data. Plus, the doctors who wrote the paper also probably wrote some of those medical records. That’s not unusual, but definitely not ideal.

I did notice cannabis was missing from the list of treatments (although cbd was not), likely reflecting it’s illegality and controversy. patients don’t want to tell their doctors that they did illegal drugs, and researchers don’t want to publish about illegal drugs either. Still, it’s worth pointing out that cannabis has promising efficacy for eds pain (2).

In conclusion, I do really like this paper, and I think it’s a great intro to both research and EDS treatments. From here, there’s plenty of more specific papers about specific treatments, and its a great way to get started.

This series will be navigable by the tag “salt baby reads”, and I really do mean to encourage learning and questions with this. If you don’t understand, or (respectfully) disagree, please feel free to send me an ask. I want to start discussions about this, because I really do think its important for people to be educated about the conditions they have, so they can make the medical decisions that are right for them. Let me know if you liked this!

Sources:

1.  “Ehlers–Danlos syndrome hypermobility type and the excess of affected females: Possible mechanisms and perspectives” (2010) Castori et al. 

2.  “Use of complementary and alternative medicine by patients with hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome: A qualitative study” (2022) Doyle et al.

3. “Pain in the Ehlers–Danlos syndromes: Mechanisms, models, and challenges” (2021) Malfait et al. 

4. “Natural history and manifestations of the hypermobility type Ehlers–Danlos syndrome: A pilot study on 21 patients” (2010) Castori et al. 

5. “Handbook of Biological Statistics” (2014) John H. McDonald

[thisfemmehasbackpain]

4am and the pain is so bad 😭 I can’t get comfortable and I keep waking up in agony