#this is not medical advice

[sysmedsaresexist]

New Coping Strategy Achieved

If you sleep fifteen hours a day, there's less time to be stressed

[purplesaline]

If you're prone to nightmares try having some dark chocolate before bed! Any chocolate (except white chocolate) may help in a pinch but the darker the better cause we're looking for the chemical Theobromine here.

Theobromine helps block the production of norepinephrine, which is a neurochemical that triggers the fight/flight response and may be responsible for some of your nightmares.

People with PTSD who have a lot of nightmares are often prescribed Prazosin, a high blood pressure medication that also helps block production of norepinephrine (and likely far more effective than eating some chocolate before bed so if your nightmares/night terrors are bad enough and regular enough to disrupt your life tall to your doctor about this option).

Green tea is also another good option, while it has slightly less theobromine it also contains L-Theanine which an amino acid that helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Though the addition of caffeine may offset that despite the l-theanine countering some of the negative effects. There are some low caffeine green tea options which may work better for you.

Even if you don't pre-empt the nightmares, keeping some dark chocolate (or any chocolate as above) on your bedside table may help prevent you from slipping back into a nightmare if you wake up from one in the middle of the night, or at least help your brain steer away from it sooner if you do still slip back into it.

The amount of theobromine in chocolate or tea is pretty minimal compared to the active ingredient in Prazosin so it may or may not be very effective depending on how much norepinephrine your body is producing.

A theobromine supplement may provide better results but check with your doctor first if you want to go the supplement route. Theobromine can cause increased heart rate, low blood pressure and may interact with some prescription medications.

Important note!!

It's always a good idea to check with your doctor before starting any supplements, especially if you take regular medications.

[jennifersbod]

screaming so much (for) stardust in the car is therapy

[burninglights]

in case anyone needs the information: plan b is shelf stable for 4 years when stored correctly, latex and polyurethane condoms are usually viable for up to 5 years past the expiry date (though efficacy does decrease and risk of breakage increases), the hormone implant is good for up to 3 years and a copper IUD is effective for up to 10 years, though neither offer protection against STIs.

Whilst I strongly, strongly recommend going the medical route should you require an abortion to reduce the risk of embryonic products left in utero and infection risk, strong infusions of parsley tea can induce menstruation and therefore as an abortifacent in early pregnancies, though the tea may interact with medication and poses a risk of organ damage (particularly liver & kidney) and toxicity - herbal abortifacients should be a last resort.

make sure to store any birth control, medical abortifacents & contraceptives as directed. if you know of any abortion-friendly healthcare providers or sexual healthcare providers, always consult with them before taking any steps to induce medical abortion or undergo abortion procedures.

take care of one another & yourselves.

[oystertongue]

Risk Assessment: Should You Go to the Doctor?

Add one point for each statement that applies to you.

You are a woman.

You are not white.

You are transgender, intersex, or gender-nonconforming.

You are queer.

You are under the age of 25.

You are over the age of 60.

You are overweight (whatever that means today).

You have one or more psychiatric conditions.

You have one or more physical disabilities.

You have one or more chronic health conditions.  

You have a neurological difference or disability that affects communication (i.e. autism).

You have more than one of the above (7-11).

Your appearance is in any way disheveled or “unprofessional.”

Your appearance is too professional.

You are visibly distressed about your symptoms.

You are not visibly distressed about your symptoms.

You do not speak English.

English is not your first language, or you speak English with an accent.

You are on Medicaid.

You are uninsured.

You are poor or working class.

You are addicted to drugs or have a history of drug use.

This is not your first time this year seeking medical attention for this issue.

This is more than your fifth time this year seeking medical attention for this issue.

You have lost count of how many times you have sought medical attention for this issue.

It will be a challenge to condense your medical history and current symptoms into a narrative can fit within a standard-length clinical visit.

It will be a such a challenge that you will probably leave some things out.

It will be such a challenge that you plan to skip it entirely focus only on your most immediately concerning symptom(s).

0 points: Low risk. Positive outcome not guaranteed, but you probably won’t be accused of malingering or 5150’d.

1 - 5 points: Some risk. Be prepared to be asked if you are “stressed.” If you aren’t already on anti-depressants or anxiolytic medication, you may be offered some.

6 - 10 points: Moderate risk. Your concerns may be blamed on your existing medical conditions, disabilities, body size, or lifestyle. Be prepared to be interrupted.

11 - 20 points: Elevated risk. You may be accused of exaggerating, doctor shopping, or drug seeking. Alternatively, you may be treated like an idiot. Speak carefully: appear informed, but not better informed than the clinician. Appear respectable and put-together, but not so much so that they doubt that you’re really in pain.

20+ points: High risk. Prepare yourself to be treated like a criminal or dismissed wholesale. Consider taking notes. Consider recording the appointment, if you’re in a single-party consent state. Walk a razor-thin line between appearing sympathetic and firmly advocating for yourself. Keep your immediate priority in the crosshairs. Don’t let your guard down, but don’t get hysterical. Lower your expectations. Firm up your resolve. Bring tissues in case you need to cry after (but for the love of god, don’t cry during). Good luck.

[gin-and-hypertonic]

Vibrating Dilators: A Breakthrough for Pelvic Pain? 😮

✨ Hey folks with vaginismus/vulvodynia/hypertonic pelvic floor, I just discovered a product that might change things for you completely! I saw this suggestion in an article (I can’t find it now). I’ve been battling with vaginismus for YEARS, and it seems like this has changed the game for me. I’ve made the most progress EVER. It’s SO ENCOURAGING. 💖

Before, I just had the Intimate Rose set, and while it’s basically industry gold standard… it’s been no where near as helpful in removing pain and replacing it with pleasure as the vibrating dilator set. I rarely actually felt pleasure with the Intimate Rose set because there was usually pain… especially when moving up a size, I could just feel the prickly sharp sensations of stretching, so any hint of pleasure was overpowered by that pain! 😬

With a vibrating dilator, you don’t even have time to notice any pain because it’s just buzzin’ in there & feels great. It does the work for you, I don’t even know how to even explain it! While using it, I was thinking “Woah, is this what it feels like to have a normally functioning vagina? This is amazing!” haha! 😂

I never considered vibrators before because they are usually quite large and not designed for people with vaginismus, but these are PERFECT. 😍

I feel silly for not thinking of this earlier! The first couple of times it might be a bit intimidating and strange as you get used to the feeling, but then it’s great (at least in my experience). ✨

Some considerations:

🌸You may need to be able to insert Intimate Rose #2 or an equivalent product in order to use it, because the smallest end of the smaller dilator is about the same size as that.

🌼Make sure to use lubrication. My PT told me to use coconut oil instead of usual lubrication for dilators so that’s what I do, personally!

❗️Please ask a gynaecologist or pelvic floor physical therapist if you have any concerns about whether this is right for you! I’m not qualified to give medical advice- this is just what is helping me! ❗️

💕Here is the link to the set I have: 💕

CalExotics Inspire 3 Piece Silicone Waterproof Vibrating Dilator Kit with Removable Wireless Stimulator, Pink https://a.co/d/10wzWPR

[laura-the-locust]

Here's a quick guide to assessing your mental health, by me. Start with answering a simple question:

Do you enjoy living in society in its current state?

If the answer is no: you have some form of mental illness that impairs your quality of life. You night even be suicidal! Please admit yourself to a mental hospital.

If the answer is yes: you either don't know what the hell is happening around you, or don't care; so you're either delusional, or are an empathy-lacking sociopath. Please admit yourself to a mental hospital.

[unchartedthelostlegacy]

We don't talk enough about how heavy periods can lead to iron deficiency and even anemia. I am still mad at some teen magazine's page that said "there's nothing in particular about your period that should be making you tired" that i read years ago when googling my symptoms. Your period can make your teeth ache and give you allergies (hormonal shifts affect gum sensitivity and yes, you can become allergic to your own hormones -_-) and heavy prolonged blood loss does make you more likely to lose hair and get headaches and feel fatigue and lord can i get out of bed to find my iron supplements please

[pleasurly]

Hey, I might be sick but I am horny as fuck. Lemme pop 2 Tylenol and hop on that dick.

[sysmedsaresexist]

NO I MEANT LIKE GENERAL DRINKS . LIKE WATER OR PEPSI OR FANTA OR WHATEVER

Who needs water

[avarkriss]

listen. listen to me so carefully right now. (if you're in the eclipse path/planning on viewing). please don't stare directly at the sun tomorrow. i am begging you - do not stare at it. if you got eclipse glasses off of amazon/other, please put them on in your house and make sure you can't see anything; if you can still see like regular sun glasses, they are not safe for eclipse viewing, you will burn your retinas, and we cannot fix that. eclipse glasses should be iso/ce certified, and aas (american astronomical society) approved. please make smart choices and protect your eyes. please.

[thehoveringbrain]

ok so i was waiting for a train and got a backache, which prompted me to come up with an hypothesis for a

Personal pain scale

0 - no pain at all

1 - the pain lasts less than a second and isn't even an inconvenience (e.g. stepping on a lego, pricking my finger with a needle)

2 - the pain is just an annoyance and, if distracted, i don't think about it (e.g. a mouth sore)

3 - i can refuse to act on it and easily be able to go on with my day, the pain will eventually go away on its own (e.g. sore feet after having walked all day)

4 - i can stubbornly refuse to do something relatively simple to fix the issue and still be able to go on with my day as usual. the pain bothers me, and won't go away on its own though (e.g. a blister in the foot scraping against my shoe)

5 - the pain can be fixed through very common means (e.g. sore throat syrup, painkillers,...) which don't require a specialist's assistance

6 - the pain can be fixed via common specialized procedures (e.g. prescription drugs, massages,...)

7 - the pain is strong and must be fixed. Sooner better than later. It must be gone to go on with my everyday life, but it's not excruciating (e.g. broken arm, wisdom tooth extraction)

8 - the pain is very intense, but if i had to move to save my own life i'd be able to (e.g broken leg)

9 - the pain is excruciating, so strong that i'm bed-ridden. I can't do anything else but try to not feel pain. I struggle to think clearly

10 - the pain is unimaginable and a shock in itself (e.g. being burnt alive)

I'm sharing just because, why not. Disclaimer: i am so much NOT an expert on this

More thoughts under the cut

This is a very absolute scale with 0 being none and 10 something mortal. Not a circumstantial one such as chronic pain scales or "do i need the ER" scales. Tbh i just need the whole spectrum, from none to extreme, to evaluate if i need to go to the ER. Like I'll never go to the ER if you put it at 10. I don't wanna be an inconvenience because i misjudged my pain, ya know?

Of course if this scale is absolute, 0 and 10 should only be theoretical and never be felt. I'm not saying relative scales are bad, on the contrary, for example, a person with chronic pain benefits much more from a relative "can i work today" type of pain scale than an absolute one. But if the ER operator asks me how much in pain i am i wanna be able to hand them this 😂

Also some scales use such unhelpful wordings. "Minor" "hardly-ever" "occasional" "strong", what do these even mean. Instead I made a scale that mixes descriptions of how debilitating the pain is, how easily i think it could be solved, and how long it lasts.

obviously pain isn't categorised by type of injury. Backaches can be a 2 or a 9, stabbing yourself with a needle for a quarter of a second is different than being stabbed in the eye with a needle. The pain of a broken limb depends on whether i have to use it or not, duh.

[jacemchale-andi]

Potentially TMI thoughts about undiagnosed body hair growth. Queer feelings.

I never expected that I'd get my first chest hair (chest hair! Not the weird nipple/aerola hairs I've had since I was a teen that make me wildly self-conscious) at 24 years old. Or that I'd have it pointed out to me by my gf while we showered together. It's in a place I can barely see, after all.

She rubbed her hand across my chest, and I just assumed she was checking me for acne (a consistent, irritating problem) or new freckles. When the rubbing continued longer than I expected, I asked, "did you find something?" She had the look on her face like she was trying to investigate something, "Trying to figure out if it's attached". We determined, yup it's attached to me. "Aww your first chest hair."

I didn't grow up as the boy you see in cartoons who's constantly checking himself for any plausible sign of a chest hair. The neck beard already gives me conflicted feelings, and so does the happy trail that I've learned to like even if my stomach isn't flat. The chest hairs are shorter than my beard hairs, not nearly as coarse, and I can hardly see them because my neck doesn't bend that way.

It's a strange feeling to be confronted with a pseudo-puberty when you're in your mid-20s and already have gray hair. I have a whole streak of grays!

Anyway, just some thoughts I'm having y'all.

[booksbeatlesj2]

Chemical sunscreen goes on after you wash and tone your face but before you do any other skincare. Physical barrier sunscreen is the last step in your skincare routine.

Chemical sunscreen transforms UV rays into heat which is then lost through the skin. Physical sunscreens form a barrier that deflects UV rays.

There are two types of UV rays. UVA which goes deeper into the skin and causes long-term damage like wrinkles, and UVB which causes sunburn.

[classycookiexo]

Hopefully this tip can really help someone, please take this advice or suggest to friends and family if you feel it could really assist them 💕

[owlphaace]

I take medication the same way as I bake

Ignore the recommended amounts and just take whatever feels right