Peter Mendoza6 said:Flu with a fever that high?! Are you kidding me? I mean, seriously, we need to talk about this because people are out here acting like a massive spike in temperature is just "part of the deal" when it comes to the seasonal bug going around. It’s ridiculous.
Why on earth is everyone acting so surprised? It’s basic logic. A high fever is a textbook symptom of the flu. If you’re looking at someone running a temperature like that, you shouldn't be scratching your head—it’s exactly what you’d expect to see.
Based on what ruggedmaker36 wrote, you could interpret those symptoms a dozen different ways. But honestly? It’s most likely just the flu. There's an epidemic going around right now, so it wouldn't be a stretch at all.
Ipanema says:> As for me, I know they sell some kind of Ginkgo Biloba here in the States (mostly advertised to seniors 😁 ) and people claim you don't even see results until you've been taking them for several months 🙄 🙄 🙄
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Is that the same doctor who does those marathons and claims he lost his libido because of it?😁>😁> Just kidding. Personally, I love the winter. Seriously, I absolutely adore it.😍>
Bradley Davis33 said:Nathan Collins2, thank you so much... I honestly thought nobody would have any clue what was going on here.
You actually scared me a little bit, but I just did some digging online and it looks like this happens quite often (and it says the itching gets way worse with heat... seriously, I was standing near the heater today and it was driving me absolutely insane). So, does this mean I have to see a doctor—no self-treating at all? Do you happen to remember which medications were prescribed to you?
We started off with Claritin and Flonase, plus a base cream mixed with Hydrocortisone, but nothing touched it. Eventually, I ended up taking 3 Diphenhydramine a day along with a base cream mixed with Eloc. That’s some heavy-duty stuff, and Eloc is a very potent cream, so you shouldn't be messing with any of that on your own without a doctor's okay. What you *can* do yourself is try a strict diet for two or three days—stick to cooked foods, stay away from spices, and cut out eggs, fish, shellfish, shrimp, chocolate, strawberries, and things like that.
Based on your description, it sounds like classic urticaria. It usually starts on the chest, spreads to the stomach, and eventually moves down to the legs. Or sometimes it just hits the face. It looks exactly like what you described—like mosquito bites, and the itching is intense.
Honestly, my advice is to go see a doctor. I dealt with a REALLY severe case of urticaria this past summer. I had blisters breaking out for nearly six weeks straight because I wasn't disciplined enough and didn't take it seriously. Even now, five months later, I still have white patches on parts of my body because I was so negligent when the urticaria first hit; it practically ate through my skin. I went through absolute hell with it.
Urticaria is pretty common and is usually just a harmless allergic reaction to something in your diet. It tends to flare up when you're stressed or when your immune system takes a hit. Do a little Googling, and you can also check out my old thread on the Health forum along with some great advice from other users here.
Regardless, you definitely need to get to a doctor so you can get ahead of it with medication and creams before things get complicated. Also, if you feel any chest pressure or start having trouble breathing, get to the ER immediately. Good luck.🙂
Gary Jones10 said:The reality is you don't even need much effort to get hooked—"mentally," obviously. You could be addicted within a month depending on how messed up your baseline is, or if you're just an inherently unstable person.
Exactly. Cocaine is "special" precisely because it's so damn easy to get addicted to. People say it only takes a few tries, which sounds unbelievable to me, but that's what addicts and experts in the field consistently claim. Someone put it perfectly: the pleasure ("volume") it creates is like comparing a single bar of chocolate to a massive oil tanker. If a person is mentally unstable, they will hook onto that feeling IMMEDIATELY. On the flip side, there are plenty of people who have tried it but stopped after a couple of times because they actually have stable heads on their shoulders.
As for those who aren't... well, it's a mess. The problem is way bigger than people realize and needs to be tackled from multiple angles.
Regarding ibogaine, I know some people who used it to kick heroin, but they ended up swinging to the absolute opposite extreme. First off, they didn't clear out all their other dependencies—the weed, the speed, the pills, and so on—and I can say with total certainty that they aren't quite themselves anymore. They went through with the ibogaine and left a part of their brain behind.😁 Honestly, in my opinion, ibogaine is really meant for people who have lost everything in life, are living on the streets, and are primarily stuck on heroin.
Daniel Lopez said:I honestly don't get why most people find it so suspicious just because someone happens to have money...
It doesn't make sense to me either. Honestly, it just shows how little people actually understand the situation and how many prejudices they carry. It is a complete lie that you need to be loaded to buy cocaine. Total bullshit.
Noah Sanders9 said:I’ve got a situation in my extended family involving cocaine addiction. I've been hearing some chatter lately about this herbal therapy—supposedly some kind of plant-based remedy that’s incredibly effective at helping people kick their habits for good. Apparently, it's meant to be a permanent fix rather than just a temporary patch. If anyone actually knows what this plant is called or can explain how this process works, please shoot me a DM. I'd appreciate some real information. Thanks.
Look, I’ve had my fair share of "close encounters" with addicts and former addicts throughout my life. Because of that, I can tell you exactly what they’ve shared with me about their own experiences, combined with everything I’ve personally dug up through my own research into the subject.
Cocaine addiction is fundamentally a psychological battle. That’s the reality most people miss. Everyone goes looking for herbal remedies or some magic plant-based supplement to fix them, but that stuff is a waste of time because it only addresses the physical side of the dependency—which, let's be honest, is actually the easy part to handle. If you literally lock yourself away for seven days, isolate completely, and push through, the physical cravings are almost entirely dealt with. You've cleared the biological hurdle. But the psychological addiction? That stays with you for life. It doesn't just vanish because you stopped sweating or shaking. What you actually need is to build a sustainable system that constantly reinforces your mental state. You have to find a way to empower your mind over and over again. For some, that means leaning into prayer—which is incredibly common. For others, it might mean a complete overhaul of their lifestyle or finding strength in their family. At the end of the day, the choice of which path to take lies solely with the addict. There is no shortcut for the mind.
You have to understand one thing here: we’re talking about a psychological addiction that sticks with you for life. It doesn't just vanish because you had one good week. Every single day is a fresh battle, a constant struggle against that urge. You wake up, and you start the fight all over again.
Jacob Johnson70 said:Modern alternative medicine and mainstream medicine can definitely coexist, but only if they're handled by actual professionals who have put in the work. You can't just have some amateur who read two books and took a weekend seminar thinking they've suddenly mastered everything.
Exactly. But let’s be real—you'll find just as many hacks with MDs as you will among those self-proclaimed "alternative experts."
The difference is that people are much more likely to blindly trust a fancy diploma, a big reputation, or a slick commercial than they are to look deeper.
I am a firm believer that both sides of medicine MUST align and work hand-in-hand. Any doctor out there claiming otherwise—regardless of which camp they fall into—isn't actually focused on healing anyone; they're just focused on the bottom line. It's as plain as day.
Hannah Barnes24 said:I know. Reiki won't hurt you even if it doesn't work.
Exactly. Since Reiki and other alternative methods don't involve any "aggression"—you know, like taking pills, using unverified substances, or any procedure that physically attacks the body besides the mental aspect—I don't see why there's such a massive fuss and fear over it.
And regarding the money part, where on earth have you guys been living? In what country have you ever seen healthcare being free?? 😕 When you go to a standard doctor, you pay for their services. Sometimes it's indirect through insurance, sometimes it's direct. But why aren't you all foaming at the mouth about every single doctor in the world then? It would be great if everyone just worked for free, right? 😁 But no, you'll happily hand over a mountain of cash to someone like kurjak (regardless of how much they're bragging about themselves globally 😁) just because they have some fancy diploma and references. So, they can charge for it. Great. Honestly, your hypocrisy is staggering; you clearly don't actually care about anyone else getting better. 🙄
It would be more honest to just admit that anything outside the "Western" medical system feels alien to you, and you're scared of it because it's unfamiliar. Instead of spitting on something you don't even understand.
I’m not sure how often you deal with constipation, but if this is a recurring thing for you, you really need to be proactive about managing it. If I were in your shoes, I’d definitely go talk to a doctor. They’ll likely order an ultrasound and actually take a serious look at what's going on. My mom has dealt with this on and off for years. I remember back in the day, during one of her OB-GYN appointments, she hadn't had a bowel movement in days. She didn't even think the doctor would notice or care about it. Well, he absolutely lost it.😲 😁 She ended up getting a full-blown lecture on how dangerous this is and why you can't just "ignore" the problem. He used this one pretty graphic example to make his point. He said, "Imagine if you stuffed a room full of waste and then walked into it after leaving it there as many days as it's been sitting in your gut. You would die from the stench." That’s basically what it’s like inside your body—only with much worse consequences for your health, obviously.
Look, I know it's risky to rely on laxatives for too long—whether it's herbal teas, suppositories, or whatever else—because your bowels can become "lazy," which just makes the whole problem way worse. From what I've seen with my mom (and honestly, I use the same methods when it happens to me; it happens to everyone, it's normal), you really need to cut back on certain foods, like bread and stuff like that. You have to prioritize fibrous vegetables, fruit compotes are always a great option, drink plenty of fluids (not soda), stay active, and then there's the world's most famous laxative😬 — black coffee on an empty stomach. For me, personally, if I don't have some yogurt in the morning, I run into trouble. You just have to figure out what works for your own body. Good luck.👋
Look, Jamie Clark74, I’ve got a direct, clear-cut, and proven example right here where an alternative exercise system actually worked for me.
I dealt with PCOS and totally irregular periods for a solid 13 years. Following my doctor's advice, I went through various medications and birth control pills. My cycle never came on time unless it was artificially induced by those pills.
Then I started practicing Tai Chi—it's an Eastern exercise system rooted in Buddhism and Taoism, and before you ask, it has nothing to do with "medicine"—and after just two months of training, my period started coming on schedule. My cycle finally settled into a consistent 28-30 day window. It’s been a year now, and things are better than ever.
Got any counterarguments for that? I highly doubt it.😉
Karen Brooks said:I don't even see how they could be at odds with each other.
See, that’s where you’re wrong. At their core, the goals aren't actually in conflict—the whole point is to help people.🙂 What’s really clashing between these two types of medicine are the cultures, the religious ties, the lifestyles, social standing, and let's face it, the massive amount of money flowing through one versus the other. In my opinion, every "mainstream doctor" should be incorporating elements of alternative medicine, and vice versa. If they aren't doing that, then they don't actually care about healing people; they just care about maintaining dominance and lining their pockets. Unfortunately, that's what usually wins out in the end.
Lisa Ortiz17 said:But Karen Brooks, how can you be so sure that the alternative crowd isn't right in this specific case?
Exactly. The people pushing alternative medicine are usually the ones insisting on staying "natural," and honestly, there's nothing wrong with that. Using it alongside conventional medicine can be a great way to get some extra support. However, adopting an entire alternative lifestyle just because you happen to use holistic treatments is where things get stupid. That’s a trap you really need to avoid.
In my view, returning to nature and using natural methods to try and "encourage" your body to defend itself is a solid approach. You should use mainstream medicine for everything that alternative methods either can't handle or take far too much time to resolve.
The real trouble starts when someone begins blindly following one side or the other. People aren't wizards...
It’s the truth... I just wanted to point out how we tend to throw these deep phrases around way too quickly and with a bit of arrogance, when really, we’re just being lazy. We won't actually commit to ourselves or the people closest to us because we always have a million excuses about having "more important" things to do than simply appreciating the fact that we are alive and healthy. It's all total bullshit. By default, humans are ungrateful, and that's the saddest part of it all. We have our health—the most precious thing we own—and yet it’s never enough for us. Life is tough like that.😢 Threads like this make me feel angry and depressed at the exact same time.😢 First off, I'm pissed at myself...
A friend of my dad's—a kid who's been playing competitive soccer since he was sixteen—woke up one Monday with a sore leg. By Wednesday, he was limping. By Friday, they hit him with a diagnosis of galloping sarcoma. The doctors' immediate plan? They wanted to immediately amputate the leg. Almost all the way up to the hip. His parents wouldn't have it. They demanded second and third opinions, fought to get him moved to a major hospital in Washington, D.C., and after ten surgeries and an entire year of non-stop radiation, the leg is still attached. He’s even back in school now. He still limps a bit and has to go in for checkups twice a month, but he's alive.
How can a life be completely flipped upside down in just five days? It can. And it's horrific. But then you have us—the healthy, lucky ones—pathetically lecturing people about how terrible things are and shouting "carpe diem" because "you never know what tomorrow brings," without actually living by any of it. That’s almost worse than the disease itself. We play games with our lives, and the moment we actually get sick, we start asking, "Why me? What did I do to deserve this?"...😢 So instead, you end up with the illness and the guilt. Just great.😢
Hannah Scott69....best of luck to both her and you.
I honestly have no idea why you’re dealing with this, but I run into a similar issue during the winter months, though mine isn't quite as intense as yours. I’ve had pretty good luck managing it with Estée Lauder spray—you can pick it up at any local drugstore. It’s basically just seawater that's been slightly "refined" for your nasal passages, so you can spray it as much as you want throughout the day without any issues. It mists really well into the nostrils, and according to the label, it’s specifically designed to tackle mucosal dryness.🙂 Just keep a bottle right by your bedside and give it a spray whenever you need to.😵 😁 Hopefully, this does the trick for you.🙂
It sounds like it might be ringworm. Based on how you described it, that’s my best guess. If the itching is mild, then that's probably what we're looking at. You should try applying an over-the-counter cream like Dow or Monistat; that usually clears things up pretty quickly. That said, you really ought to go see a doctor just to be safe and get a definitive diagnosis.
So, how exactly did the pharmacist fail to give you the full scoop on Differin?😕 Everything. Just go back there and grill her until you get the answers you need. Or better yet, just scour the manufacturer's website; you'll definitely find some FAQs about Differin if you look hard enough.😉
By the way, obviously there are people out there who can get by on four liters of water a day, but then you have others who function perfectly fine on just two cups. On that thread, there seemed to be this weird sense of shock toward anyone saying they don't drink much water, along with all these suggestions that it's somehow extremely unhealthy. It isn't unhealthy at all.😉 You just have to listen to your own body... and what it's actually asking for.