I just drink from the tap since it's right here and free. I haven't really wrapped my head around paying ten cents a day for water yet. That said, I'm thinking about picking up one of those filters so I can actually drink the stuff, because what's coming out of this tap is pretty gross.
dustycanyon6 said:Those are some pretty weird takes! Motrin isn't exactly harmless—honestly, you shouldn't even be buying it without a prescription! Tylenol and Excedrin are based on acetaminophen, which has its own risks, but I guess it’s probably less risky than acetylsalicylic acid. 😉 You've clearly fallen for the marketing—they push acetylsalicylic acid so hard you'd think people were just swallowing Tic Tacs!
No, no, no... maybe I wasn't being clear. I'm against taking meds for no reason, but if I'm actually in pain, Motrin is the only thing I'm willing to self-prescribe. For anything else, I'll head to the doctor. That doesn't mean I think it's okay to suck on Motrin like it's a Tic Tac.😉
As for everything else, I know a fever is just the body's way of fighting off an illness, so using antipyretics might actually be counterproductive. That's why the fever itself didn't bother me, though I was worried it might be the start of something bigger.
Robin Collins5 said:she mentioned she’s actually smarter than the doctor I saw. mine prescribes Zithromax for absolutely everything, which basically nuked my immune system. lady's a total moron...
on topic: is this actually the flu or just some virus? what else could cause a sudden flu-like hit?
a coworker came down with it over the weekend, and now my boss is coughing, sneezing, aching, running a fever—but she’s still showing up to the office!! 🙄 man... she better not dare try to infect me! 🙂
I'm pretty much against popping pills for no reason. Motrin is about the only thing I'll touch. 🙂 I know plenty of people who are way too casual about swallowing Tylenol, Excedrin, and stuff like that. As for Zithromax, I heard you shouldn't overdo it. I think when it first came out, there was even some kind of guideline saying you shouldn't take it more than once every six months. Not sure if that was official or just common sense.
Both viruses and the flu are going around right now. I think I just finished fighting off a virus. Hopefully, that helps me stay clear of the flu too. Honestly, this is the first time I've been sick in six years.
Flu, pneumonia, measles?!? Damn, you guys really know how to get in my head. 🙂 Just kidding, thanks everyone for the replies. I know you're all just trying to help, and I honestly appreciate it.
As for what I actually had, I can say things are looking pretty good today. My fever dropped below 98.6 last night and hasn't budged since. Sitting at a solid 97.2 right now. So, the whole thing lasted about 48 hours—from Friday night to Sunday night.
Symptoms were basically what I mentioned: a mild fever (hit 100.4, peaked at 100.2), a sore throat that wasn't too bad, a constant dull headache, heavy congestion, and super sensitive skin along with muscle aches, mostly around the ribs and lower back. No cough at all.
All I really did was try to stay warm, take some multivitamins and Motrin, and eat fruit. That’s about it. My one big mistake was barely drinking anything besides vitamins and water after meals. I should've been chugging fluids, but I'm an *idioticus vulgaris*. It didn't occur to me, and since my throat hurt, I was avoiding drinks altogether. But yeah, my bad.
Oh, and... regarding how contagious this is, I'd say be careful. A friend caught me even though we hadn't seen each other in ages; we just grabbed lunch once that week. And I've already passed it on to another friend. 🙂 Sorry, Boza 😁
Just watch out that you aren't sitting on anything too hard, otherwise you might pinch that area between whatever you're sitting on and your pelvic bone. Just let it pass like any other minor irritation.
If things get actually nasty, you might even need to see a doctor. I know a guy who had an ingrown hair in that area that got infected; he ended up having to head to the ER. It wasn't a huge deal—they just had to lance it, clean it out, pull the hair, and he was fine. But yeah, he was in a lot of pain until they handled it. Though, if you say it's already feeling better, you probably don't have much to worry about.
My temp has been hovering just a bit high for the last couple of days—around 99°F or 99.5°F—but honestly, I feel like I’m running a fever of 102. I’ve been taking vitamins, eating plenty of fruit, and popping Tylenol (which is basically my go-to for everything), but nothing seems to change it. Yesterday, my chest started feeling a little sore, and this morning, all my pectoral muscles are aching like I haven't stopped coughing for forty-eight hours straight (even though I only really had a few coughing fits this morning). When I take deep breaths, there's this weirdly pleasant sensation despite a burning feeling somewhere in my bronchial tubes (even with the low fever), but after a few deep breaths, I get slightly dizzy and feel kind of nauseous.
My head hurts a little too, but my appetite is fine—actually, better than usual; I ended up crushing a massive amount of food yesterday 🙂.
What's going on here and what should I do? I have some Advil on hand, but it feels pointless to take it since my temperature isn't even that high. Plus, my doctor is a few hundred miles away right now, and I really don't feel like heading to the ER over this.
My buddy's tooth started acting up a few days ago. It was Saturday, so he just hit up one of those clinics that stays open late (one over on Potomac, right by SC). The dentist there opened up one of his teeth, put some kind of medicated filling in it, and told him to come back in a few days. I don't get it—every dentist I've ever been to would've just fixed it right then and there without needing some temporary stuff. Anyway, he's still in pain, though he can't even tell which tooth it is. He went back today, they did some X-rays, and long story short, they ended up finding three different teeth were messed up 😲 and she opened all three of them 😲 😲 😲
And now, it's hurting again tonight. Honestly, what kind of hacks was he dealing with? Has anyone else had issues with this clinic?
Also, please suggest a legit, reliable dentist. If he keeps going to these people, he’ll be wearing braces by next month.
Options -> Privacy -> Settings -> Privacy & Security: allow sites to set cookies - checked for the originating site only - unchecked keep cookies - until I close Chrome
So, if I'm reading this right, it should be working. But it's not.
Alright, so here's the deal: I log in, browse some subforums, reply to a few things, and then—boom. It says I'm logged out. God damn! My session expires like two minutes after I get in. Is there any way to extend this? How do I tell the system: "Once I log in, stay logged in until I decide otherwise"?!?!?
It’s getting pretty annoying, honestly. It's not even about the hassle of clicking login again; it's that every time it kicks me out, it marks all my topics as read. It totally defeats the purpose. I can't even tell what I've actually caught up on and what I haven't.
So, I had this issue with my toe—you know, the one next to the big toe? Well, it started acting up like an ingrown nail, which eventually led to some nasty swelling and pus. That was my red flag. I basically tried to DIY the fix. My strategy was just trimming the nail back right at that spot so it wouldn't dig into the skin anymore. I stuck to that for maybe a week or two, which seemed to be enough to clear up the infection, let the wound close, and let the skin heal over like nothing ever happened. After that, I cut the nail at a sharp angle—basically shaving it down low on the side where it was bothering me while leaving the middle part longer. Once it started growing out again, that angled edge actually helped push the skin away as it grew.
It’s pretty much cleared up now. The skin is still a little tight and thin on the side, but it's getting better. I'm mostly just being careful not to bump it, because I guess if I caused it to bleed or something, it could turn back into a whole thing.
Throughout most of high school, I was pulling maybe 4-6 hours of sleep a night. I never really liked napping during the day—it always leaves me feeling pretty terrible. I’d usually hit the sack around 1 or 2 AM and get up by 6, sometimes even earlier. Everything felt fine, though. I guess I’d sleep in a bit more on weekends... but stay up later too. 🙂 mostly.
Now that I'm in college, my sleep schedule is a complete mess. One night I'm out from 2 AM to 10 AM, the next I'm up at 6 and staying awake until noon, just bouncing around. Even though I got less sleep back in high school, it was way more consistent, and honestly, I felt a lot better than I do now.
Look, the thing is, the virus needs access to the bloodstream. During sex, those tiny micro-tears can happen on both sides, which opens the door for transmission. I guess it just makes sense that with anal, there’s a higher chance of those kinds of abrasions occurring.
I used to use Zagat for a while, but my lips started feeling all stiff and I noticed these weird little white spots on the surface. As soon as I ditched the Zagat, everything went back to normal within a few days. Someone mentioned it might be too "harsh" for my skin, so... I guess we'll see.
I mostly just stick to Chapstick anyway—honestly, I’d give a Nobel Prize to whoever came up with that stuff. 🙂 But hey, whatever works, right?
I feel like my ankles have been clicking forever. I can actually remember it happening back in elementary school, though it never really crossed my mind as an issue. People give me these weird looks, so I just smile back and move on 🙂 Now, I don’t get any popping sounds anywhere else, so I don't think it's anything major.
And yeah, if we were talking about some other joint—especially my hands—I might agree that exercising helps, but my ankles are basically in constant motion anyway...
Hey, thanks. Honestly, everyone was great today. First, they checked my blood pressure (using both standard methods), then they used some kind of laser tool, and finally, they sent me for a visual field test because they were worried about potential nerve damage. Luckily, everything came back perfect—just typical 22-year-old 🙂 stuff. Then they did a few more checks...
In total, I saw four doctors, plus the specialist who runs the visual field tests, and even a nurse with 27 years of experience whom the interns kept asking for advice 🙂
Four hours at the hospital all told. Hats off to them. Seriously, if you have any eye issues, go to Sister Act. I don't know how other places operate, but this was fantastic. I honestly can't think of anything they could've done better.
The final diagnosis: I'm sensitive to dexamethasone, which is the main ingredient in Maxitrol, the drops I've been using. That caused the high pressure, which has finally dropped down to 26/23 today. Follow-up is in seven days, and they recommended getting my pressure checked once a year from now on.
Thanks again to everyone for the help, the support, the warnings, and the advice... 🙏 You guys are the best! 🙂
Anyway, I feel like I'm starting to spam the Health board, so... 🙂
Pallas, that was from before I headed out for my checkup.
I didn't get any actual lab results back. All I’ve got is this piece of paper they told me to bring in on Monday. And since it's handwritten, it's basically illegible (pretty sure I'm gonna misread something):
Paperwork? Yeah, didn't even think about that... I don't have any records on hand. Maybe I should look into getting some.
I guess there might be something to how I reacted to those drops, though I doubt I'm in some high-risk category... who knows. No one in my family has eye issues, really, except for my grandmother who deals with high eye pressure—not glaucoma yet, but close enough. She also struggles with asthma and a bunch of other stuff because of it.
As for the warnings on the drops: "Long-term use of this medication may lead to the development of glaucoma and optic nerve damage, reduced visual acuity, field vision disturbances, and the formation of posterior subcapsular cataracts." Not totally sure what that last part means, but yeah...
On the bright side, my vision is actually great today. I haven't used the drops since the night before last, so enough time has passed... The headaches are gone, no more dizziness, no 'vision disturbances,' just maybe a little bit of cloudiness left. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good. 🙂
rapidranger79 said:You read it right; a normal reading is usually around 18 to 20.
Read it 🙂 But I'm still stuck on what that 44mmHg actually means. Is it just slightly high, or am I looking at something critical?
There's acute glaucoma (which might be what you're dealing with, I guess), and then there's chronic—like the hereditary kind I have. There's also a version that doesn't even cause symptoms but quietly eats away at the nerve and shrinks your field of vision.
I was searching online yesterday and honestly, I just panicked... It’s annoying how every site says, "If eye pressure stays high for a long time, permanent damage can occur..." But they never specify how long "a long time" actually is. An hour? A day? A month? Then I stumble onto the section about acute glaucoma, which lists my exact symptoms (though mine are milder) and claims you need emergency surgery within hours. Terrifying. Better not to read anything at all. As for the chronic stuff, if I'm following correctly, it slowly eats the peripheral vision. I played around with testing it yesterday; my field of view is about 180 degrees.
What they drip into your eyes is an anesthetic, and then they use that device to measure the pressure.
Yeah, I figured out the drops part once things started getting numb, so that wasn't the issue. I just don't get how such a simple little mechanical tool can actually measure internal eye pressure...
One more thing. You should mention you have glaucoma to any doctor during any kind of treatment or surgery.
Well, nobody has actually told me I have glaucoma yet. They checked me out, and this young doctor asked another one, "Do you think it's acute?" and the other lady just looked and said, "No, no signs of it." So... then later this older doctor showed up, maybe 35 or 40, and just told me to stop using these drops.
Anyway, it's weird... they told me my pressure was high, but then sent me home like it would just clear up on its own. I guess they don't think it's serious since they didn't prescribe anything for temporary relief.