Posts by frozenorca63

melloworca6 said:That makes it even more unbelievable that the ER staff just brushed him off. 🤷

The whole thing really comes down to whether they actually took him seriously or not. I mean, I’ve had my fair share of weird encounters at the local urgent care... ugh, but look, if he isn't just trolling and actually swallowed them, he needs to get to a doctor ASAP. And obviously, he should bring those damn butterfly pieces along so they can see exactly what he's dealing with...

With the mountain red cap, you won't feel much at first, which is the scary part because by the time those symptoms actually kick in after a couple of days, your body has already taken a massive hit. Honestly, if you aren't messing around, you need to get to an ER immediately so they can start working on you before things get out of hand. This thing is seriously, incredibly toxic, so please don't just sit there waiting to see what happens... If you're positive you ingested them, your best bet is to call Poison Control or head straight to a top-tier hospital like Mayo Clinic where they’ll actually take you seriously.

analogstag3 said:I wonder, what would actually happen if someone just decided to stop paying their bills indefinitely?

I honestly don't think that's an option, man. Once things get serious, the government and those collection agencies have way too many ways to come after you.

James Cox6 said:You've got it right... if it's an emergency C-section, it's general.

Not necessarily though... I actually had an emergency C-section but they gave me spinal anesthesia instead.
I was already up and moving about 12 hours later without any issues at all—honestly, after just three days, I was practically strutting down the hallway with my little one in tow.
Maybe I’m just one of those lucky outliers?

Christian Thompson said:I used St. John's Wort oil for my stretch marks. Back when they were still red, I was applying it once or twice a day for about six months, and they just vanished...
Meanwhile, my neighbor keeps slathering that stuff on while she’s out tanning, and now she’s looking darker than a burnt piece of toast.

If there’s one thing people really need to get straight about St. John's Wort oil, it's that you absolutely CANNOT go out in the sun after putting it on your skin!

Sophia Lopez9 said:Why Betrion? 😕

And looking at the photo, that definitely wasn't a mosquito bite.

Since Betrion is an antibiotic, I just went ahead and applied it because I figured there might be some kind of infection going on. I don't think it could really hurt anything, right? Or am I totally off base?

Honestly, my little one had such a nasty little scrape. It’s been about seven days now, but there’s still this brownish mark left behind on the skin. I've been applying some Betrion to help it along

nimbletinker10 said:frozenorca63, I’m actually not even from the States, I’m way further away than that—way, way out there—but thanks anyway! 🙂

Thanks for all the messages, you guys are honestly the sweetest. 🙂 I started my first round of antibiotics this afternoon and grabbed some yogurt on the way home. I did see somewhere that you shouldn't take dairy at the exact same time as your meds, but rather wait a little bit—like, don't wash them down with a glass of milk. My leg is still super swollen too (it's been two weeks!) and the bite site is all bruised, painful, and red, so I'm basically just sipping water all day.

I haven't really looked into any natural supplements for liver support, does anyone have any tips? I'm trying to stay away from alcohol because of those test results, though I used to love having a glass of wine whenever I went out for dinner.
Thanks for the link, I'll definitely give it a read tonight 👍

I used to take silymarin back in the day.

nimbletinker10 said:Honestly, there's no way they were on me for ten hours; we headed out on our trip early in the morning, and I didn't even shower until pretty late that night.
I'm not totally sure if the specific bugs they carry depend on where you live, but I definitely know people around here dealing with Lyme disease. One friend of mine actually got hit so hard by it that they're in physical therapy right now just trying to learn how to walk again.

It really depends. Those meningitis cases usually pop up in the Midwest, specifically in the area between the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers—think places like Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Columbus, Indianapolis, Des Moines, or Lancaster—with a bit of a "buffer zone" around Memphis. In the urban areas around D.C., stretching toward the foothills of the Appalachians, you’ll see ticks, but you don't really have to worry about tick-borne meningoencephalitis there. The Appalachians themselves are technically a zone where that virus exists, but the actual risk is super low. Even with tons of hikers hitting the trails in the Appalachians every year, you only see maybe a handful of cases—like, zero to five people total—each year.

nimbletinker10 said:What do you mean by "punctured"? Are we talking about a spinal tap or something else?

Can't they just catch an infection with a standard blood test?

I actually dealt with meningitis once—not from a tick, though—and yeah, I had to go through the whole spinal tap thing. It doesn't show up in your bloodwork.
But honestly, I'm not totally sure if this specific type of tick-borne meningitis is caught that same way. nimbletinker10, check out what this site says:
It mentions a few things, like how important timing is: basically, once a tick finds a host, it spends about six hours looking for a spot, another two hours biting through the skin, and then it needs at least ten hours of feeding before someone actually gets infected. So, there's definitely a window to act before the infection sets in. It also points out some practical ways to stay safe, like tucking your pants into your socks or your shirts into your pants—it just makes the trek longer for them and gives you a better chance of spotting them moving around. Also, wearing light-colored clothes really helps because the contrast makes them pop. Most importantly, you've gotta do a full body check after coming back from areas where tick-borne meningoencephalitis is common, use repellent on your skin and gear when heading into those spots, and if you do find one attached, get it off ASAP.

Angela Kelly said:Lyme disease is way more dangerous than just one round of antibiotics.

I honestly don't get how people can be so casual about potential Lyme, especially if that bullseye rash looks exactly like we’re describing; Lyme isn't some minor thing, it can mess with your heart and brain if you don't catch it IN TIME.

It hits your joints, your bones, basically everything living in your body.

I personally wouldn't put off starting antibiotics.

I'm not telling her not to take the antibiotics, I'm just suggesting she check if the tick could have just fallen off on its own without her seeing it—unless she's been checking herself thoroughly for a few days, which I doubt. It's not like she actually saw the damn tick.
My kid was recently prescribed Sumamed as a precaution by their doctor, mostly because she said why wait for a headache when lab results will come back in three days anyway? Turns out the tests showed my kid was totally fine. We just needed to wait a bit instead of rushing straight to antibiotics. Sometimes I really feel like doctors are just chasing commissions (there was even some talk about that from experts recently).
And speaking of the liver, I've dealt with my fair share of illnesses and have taken plenty of meds over the years, so my liver is pretty much trashed. I totally get where nimbletinker10 is coming from, because once you mess up your liver, it's hard to fix. It might be better to double-check if the medicine is truly necessary before jumping in.

nimbletinker10 said:To be totally real, I’m also pretty trigger-happy when it comes to antibiotics.🤷
I’m honestly just stuck in this loop where I’m terrified of skipping them and ending up with something nasty, but then once I actually start taking them, my whole system just goes haywire down there.

Maybe it's worth grabbing a second opinion just so you can finally breathe easy?

Betty Bennett10 said:frozenorca63, I thought that part felt a little off too, but I distinctly remember seeing on one of those vaccine info posters that a huge chunk of people end up with Lyme disease without even realizing they ever got bitten by a tick in the first place!

Honestly, Mary, I’m not so sure. Every medical site I’ve looked at says you really have to pull the tick out yourself, since they don't start pumping that toxin into you until they've been attached for a few hours. I haven't seen any info suggesting they just drop off on their own—unless they've gorged themselves enough to swell up like a little balloon after a couple of days, but then you'd definitely notice them.

nimbletinker10 said:I tried slathering everything on for two weeks straight and honestly, things just went south, plus I ended up running a fever. At this point, I feel like I'm more likely to run into a spider than an actual tick 🤷
Now I'm just totally confused.
My stomach can't handle antibiotics at all, so I haven't touched them in ages.

Honestly, I’ve become pretty skeptical about doctors lately since it feels like they just reach for the prescription pad for everything. I mean, I’m a doctor myself, and I see how it goes—redness? Antibiotics. Fever? Antibiotics. A little cough? Boom, antibiotics. I’m not trying to bash your physician or anything, because prevention is always better than cure, but based on my own bad experiences, it feels like they prescribe them for every little thing. I really hope you start feeling better soon.

Angela Kelly said:Looking at her photo, that looks like a textbook bullseye rash, which is pretty much the classic look for this kind of bite.

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl...-8&sa=N&tab=wi

I’m honestly not sure. I’ve asked around everywhere, and everyone tells me that a tick stays stuck to you—it doesn't just fall off on its own. I mean, sure, it might drop off after two or three days once it’s had its fill, but wouldn't you notice it by then? To be honest, my little guy once got a red bite that turned really hard, but it was just a mosquito. It didn't look like that weird red circle with a pale ring around it; it was just this solid, red, firm swelling. We ended up using some Hydrocortisone cream on it, and the redness eventually faded away, leaving nothing but a tiny brown spot behind.

Angela Kelly said:You can usually tell by that classic bite pattern and how the body reacts, which is totally different from your average bug bite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease

I’d say all five possibilities are on the table, though I honestly don't think a tick can actually pass anything along unless it really digs in and stays attached. It takes them a good few hours—sometimes even up to ten—to actually transmit anything. From what I gathered about the OP, she didn't actually find a tick stuck to her, just the bite itself, so it could have been a spider or something else entirely. A tick usually hangs on for a while; if it just brushes you and falls off, it hasn't had the chance to do any damage.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lyme-disease/symptoms-causes/mcd-20356721

So, when a tick bites you, it just stays stuck right there in your skin, right? I don't really get how you can even tell if one was on you in the first place if you didn't notice it happening. Like, how do you actually know it was a tick and not something else?

analogranger41 said:My doctor prescribed this FactSet cream and honestly, it's been a lifesaver. 🙂

It's just hemorrhoid cream.

Laura Myers37 said:I had my brain surgery about a year ago, and honestly, I’m just craving some connection with people who've been through this too. Everything seems fine on paper, but I can still feel the lingering effects—this weird pulling sensation, soreness around the incision, and these little sharp stabs here and there. I really just need someone to tell me that what I'm feeling is totally normal. I went in for an MRI follow-up and the doctors gave me the all-clear, but I’m terrified I’m turning into a total hypochondriac... because, man, the anxiety is hitting me hard right now!!!!!!:🙏

I went through the exact same thing about five years back—actually, I had to go in twice. Honestly, those sensations are just temporary side effects, but since we're talking about major brain surgery, it takes a while for everything to settle down. Don't sweat those surface-level pains; it's all part of the process and completely normal.

Alex Rodriguez5 said:I had my baby about 10 months ago, and man, right after delivery, my shoulder blades were killing me, especially when I tried to get some sleep. It went on for a few months before that pain started spreading down the rest of my back, and once again, it was mostly hitting me at night. During the day while I'm busy running around and getting stuff done, I barely feel a thing, maybe just a little heaviness in my back. I’ve tried doing some Pilates classes and even grabbed a few massages here and there, which helps a bit, but nothing is really fixing it.
Has anyone else dealt with this kind of thing, and do you think it'll finally clear up soon? I'm really not feeling the whole doctor route right now.

Honestly, I just hit up a chiropractor and they basically fixed everything in like five minutes flat.