Amanda Roberts2 said:I honestly envy those of you who had it easy with your health. My own diagnoses were a gift from my current partner. We have this incredibly deep connection, but after two years together, things have started to unravel as he hits this mid-thirties crisis, and I genuinely don't know how it’s going to play out... if we do end up breaking up, I am completely lost regarding what comes next. How do you even tell someone new? Keeping it a secret isn't an option at all, yet the thought of actually saying it—well, I can't even begin to imagine the confrontation. Even though I truly believe I'll recover, if I stay single for now, I don't think I could ever easily jump into another relationship... partly because of the emotional weight of my current situation, and partly because I’m still in the middle of treatment. And even if I do get healthy and remain single, meeting someone new in the future fills me with dread—what if that person carries something, like unknown, and just when I’ve finally fought my way back to health, I’m hit with everything all over again? 😢 No matter how I spin the scenario in my head, it just leaves me feeling utterly hopeless, like my only real choice is to live alone with thirteen black cats. 😁 I suppose I’m still holding onto hope that my current relationship survives. But that’s just how we women are, isn't it? We overanalyze every tiny detail until we’re exhausted, while men seem to breeze right through these things without a second thought. He doesn't take any of this seriously; he thinks viruses and bacteria are just part of life, that everyone has them, and that I'm being neurotic. He talked to some of his friends—both guys and girls—and they all admitted to having unknown or other similar issues, so he views it as "normal," something unavoidable that shouldn't be a big deal. 😠 👎
I’m struggling with something very similar. I’m "clean" from those little bugs, but about two years ago during a previous relationship, I was terrified that I’d contracted something via blood—something fatal. It turns out I hadn't; I tested several times at the recommended intervals and everything came back fine. But ever since then, I’ve had massive issues simply being physically close to anyone. My last partner didn't mind testing at all when I suggested it; he actually said it was standard procedure and that I shouldn't feel awkward about asking. Meanwhile, the guy I originally feared had infected me just told me, "I choose who I sleep with, there's no need for tests, you're acting crazy." Nowadays, I struggle with something as simple as kissing someone; my mind immediately jumps to catching some illness, or thinking they might have a small sore in their mouth and I'll end up with something like unknown... it's exhausting. I've always been a conscientious person, but once you get burned like that, life never feels quite the same. I'm completely obsessed with these highly improbable ways diseases can spread; I even get anxious at the doctor's office when they go to give me a shot. Honestly, I’d almost rather stay single forever. Because even the person who goes to testing without hesitation—how does that guarantee they won't cheat and bring something else into the relationship?
We've focused a lot here on bacteria and viruses, but we haven't really touched on unknown, hepatitis, and things like that.
copperraven53 said:Basically, she reached this grand conclusion that since I haven't been able to shake these bacteria, I clearly have no idea how to maintain proper hygiene. ☕
Right, because apparently, during my last appointment, I was actually asked if I even knew how to track my cycle. Honestly, I can't even recall what on earth I could have said to trigger such a condescending question. I’m thinking about finding someone else to see, though I suppose there's always the risk that the next doctor might be even more incompetent—and I'm not even talking about the one who did my testing, but my regular specialist whom I've seen for years. He doesn't actually do anything besides ordering Pap smears and unknown scans, so for any real concerns, I usually head over to Washington, D.C., but now that I'm out of work, everything is just sitting in limbo.
Melissa James70 said:And you didn't just turn around on the fifth day and vanish like some sort of swallow's tail because...?
What an absolute idiot...🙄
It was really just a matter of convenience, honestly; he happened to be the only one available at that specific moment. He’s the only practitioner in my neck of the woods who handles all those particular tests, and I was quite determined to get everything sorted out in one fell swoop right here. As much as I wanted to wrap things up immediately, I simply couldn't justify taking a whole day off work just to make the trek out to Washington, D.C.
Taylor Thompson68 said:It’s like I’m just talking to myself at this point... what an idiot.😬 It’s honestly depressing... I was reading through a thread yesterday where this eighteen-year-old girl is asking HOW to take birth control pills and how to even get them in the first place... and she insists she won't go to a doctor. Naturally, the other girls in the thread tore her to shreds. Her little defense? She said her boyfriend is "too precious" and she doesn't want some doctor poking around down there... as if a visit is even necessary. Apparently, her grandmother never went to a doctor either, and look how that turned out for her.🙂🙂🤦 Just my little corner of the world... so uneducated.
There are plenty of people older than eighteen just like that. It isn't necessarily because they grew up in the middle of nowhere—I mean, I did.😁 It has nothing to do with being from a small town; girls from the big cities aren't any better. From what my ex used to tell me—and he was a city boy from Washington, D.C.—they were just, well, healthier.😕 When I had an infection, his logic was that I must have been cheating on him, or maybe I just didn't wash properly because I'm a "country girl." I could never quite wrap my head around which excuse he preferred.😁 And here is another lovely prejudice: if some guy from my neck of the woods finds some fungus or bacteria or whatever, what does he actually know? He just tells his friends back in Washington, D.C., that I should come over to his place instead.🤣👍 And then he claims none of his exes ever had any issues—not one, ever—so he concludes I must be cheating on him. Good grief, where did I find this man...
Anyway, I'm drifting off-topic now, and we're supposed to be chatting—I'll stop, I promise. Let's give everyone else a chance to speak. If they want to, that is.😁
If you weren't such a slut, you wouldn't need a doctor or be spreading your legs quite so much. It’s all the same thing.😁
I’ve honestly caught myself thinking on more than one occasion that maybe I should just follow that logic—why even bother seeing an OBGYN if everything seems fine? Maybe it would be better to just live life as a total slut, so if something actually does go wrong, at least there's a reason for it. But that’s just not who I am, I suppose...
It’s funny, though; these women’s health threads are always flooded with questions from girls and women—some of whom even have kids—who don't even know how to track a basic cycle. They’ve been active for years without ever stepping foot in a clinic because they're too embarrassed, which is ironic considering they aren't embarrassed about the actual sex... and so on. Those of us who actually understand the medical side of things, we only know it because we've been labeled as sluts.
Ugh, now I'm just getting worked up... and I really ought to stop using that word 😁 so much.
As for me, after everything ugly I've had to endure, I've swung to the complete opposite extreme. It isn't exactly healthy, either; I’ve reached a point where I don't even dare to kiss anyone because I'm terrified of catching some kind of disease. I think I've just become afraid of everything.
neonnomad18 said:.....so what does that make me.... just a little girl lacking morals...... or maybe lacking them entirely....🤔
...it’s not like I’m every type of person who passes by and stops to 🙂
Oh, please, you absolutely are. 😁.
Taylor Thompson68 said:I find myself doing it all the time now—wearing my metaphorical gloves, so to speak—dropping gynecological topics into conversation during ladies' coffee dates (and these girls have no clue I even carry unknown), and they just seem perpetually shocked when I mention everything I learned back in college, especially those cases involving people admiring themselves in mirrors and stuff like that (yes, they actually tested the water in the pool area, the tiles, and the surrounding deck, and found thirteen different STIs within a tiny twenty-square-foot area... honestly, gross)...and they are just constantly stunned because they simply didn't know... they truly had no idea... specifically regarding unknown, they haven't a clue about it.. nothing at all.. they recognize the term unknown, sure, and maybe they know what it brings or that there are different types and if it can be cured... but beyond that, nothing
My nerves are already frayed just typing this out. 🙂 🙂
A-ha, but they’re healthy, right? You know, as if they’d actually realize they were sick if they were; they weren't hanging around with anyone like that, they’re perfectly fine, they aren't cowards.... what a joke! 😁. Honestly, it drives me up the wall.... just today, my brother's girlfriend (she's 27) tells me she went to the gynecologist exactly once and never felt the need to go back, since she isn't experiencing any issues. Goodness gracious...
I have this one deeply unpleasant memory that still sticks with me: I went to see this prominent doctor, and when I mentioned I was there to get screened for STIs, he basically looked at me and said, "Listen, if you aren't living the kind of lifestyle that warrants testing, you shouldn't even be here."
It felt like a penalty, honestly—like a fine for being a "slut" or whatever label he had in his head. He charged me four times the standard rate you'd pay at an unknown clinic or somewhere else in town... The thing is, he didn't even know me, nor did he ask a single question about my history; the moment I stated my purpose, he decided he already knew everything about my life. This guy is supposed to be a well-known gynecologist here in Washington, D.C. Even though my results came back perfectly clean, he handed me my paperwork with this palpable sense of disgust.
After an encounter like that, I find myself wondering how anyone can judge another person, especially when they seem to believe that having any kind of infection, regardless of severity, means you must just be sleeping around indiscriminately with everyone you meet.
Besides, the sheer irresponsibility of a man acting like him makes my blood boil. I am incredibly careful about who I sleep with without protection... I am meticulous about hygiene... it’s always the same old story: "If you loved me, you wouldn't ask me to use a condom"... "You don't trust me"... "None of my past partners ever had an infection, so clearly you're the one who picked something up from somewhere."
And most importantly, it is incredibly easy to look down on other people's health issues when you lack the basic courage and responsibility to actually visit a doctor yourself, choosing instead to live under the delusion that you're perfectly healthy. Sure.
casualheron3 said:There’s this lingering doubt about whether Hepatitis C can actually spread that way... unlike Hepatitis B. I’ve heard whispers of it and even skimmed a few papers, but nothing feels truly conclusive yet.. The major health organizations focusing on this are all pointing toward the idea that for Hepatitis C to transmit, there really needs to be some sort of infected blood involved—think things like a shared toothbrush or maybe even silverware.
Here is the link if you want to dig in: http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/
Personally, I suppose I’d feel a little uneasy about kissing someone if they were really dealing with Hepatitis C... though, in all honesty, the odds seem incredibly slim.
Thanks for sending over that link. I’m going to sit down and comb through it all. It makes sense, and I appreciate how much information is packed in there.
I'll be waiting to see what everyone else thinks regarding the whole possibility of transmitting hepatitis through kissing. 👍
mistywolf17 said:Nathan Baker, you were just telling some other user on this very same thread yesterday that they eat crap, and then telling someone else they forgot their meds. And now you're constantly picking on this guy just because he's a boy—as if by him making the joke himself, it somehow gives you a free pass to mock him too? It's all very circular. Why on earth do you think you have the right to complain about people being snarky when you're one of the primary offenders in this particular arena? Not the only one, mind you, let's be clear about that. I honestly struggle to take people seriously when they spend their days relentlessly teasing others only to turn around and whine about being teased themselves. Since I find myself reading your commentary on a daily basis, I felt compelled to say this, if only to stop you from drifting into these discussions and bothering both the uninitiated users and the admins.
1. Where exactly did I tell anyone they eat crap? I never said that; you simply read something in Face's post and jumped to that conclusion. 2. He's the only one in this thread making jokes about being a boy and laughing at himself, and honestly, we all go a bit overboard sometimes, but I wouldn't say I stand out for that behavior. Besides, he hasn't complained once, nor has he felt the need to get defensive. 3. People have thrown all sorts of things at me—including calling me a total loser who needs to be taken down a notch—and I just let it slide and reported it to you. Yet, no one seems to touch their posts, presumably because they were deemed "funny" or perhaps because they think I provoked it (?), even though the guy barely showed up once. 4. Jokes are one thing, and I can live with those,
but publishing the contents of reported messages that aren't just banter or mockery—but actually constitute sexual harassment—I highly doubt that falls under the moderator code of conduct. As far as I know, that's a hard no by default. It’s nice to see you finally paying attention to the thread and your friend, swapping stories about me, but a little impartiality wouldn't hurt you. If I had truly offended someone, you could have just deleted my post or handed me that ban you were threatening earlier back when I was still reporting messages. But instead, here we are, and you even missed the latest instance of a banned user creating a clone account. Or maybe you weren't quite sure. This individual keeps registering over and over just to post in your subforum, and he was never even flagged until I pointed him out to the admin. Just try to focus on what actually matters.
cosmicskipper39 said:Well, my dear Nathan Baker after reading post number thirty, I find myself questioning everything I thought was certain. 😢
But, I suppose you can still catch the drift of what I was getting at, can't you?
It’s much the same with how moderators on these online boards cycle through—people step down, new faces arrive, and there’s always some sort of drama unfolding behind the scenes. Though, I have to admit, certain developments are genuinely hard to stomach. For instance, the idea that a former moderator might actually weaponize their old status to air out private messages—messages you once reported for harassment—just to mock and belittle people under the thin veil of "humor." Personally, I fail to see the wit in something like this:
Oh, I can already hear the inevitable rebuttals coming my way, but frankly, I’ve reached my limit with this kind of behavior. It isn't worth it, not even if they threatened to ban me. I could always just make a new account; after all, seeing fresh handles popping up to replace banned users is practically a daily occurrence around here.
1. I spent quite a while diligently flagging a particular user's posts using that little report icon—you know the one—but for the longest time, it felt like my complaints were just vanishing into a black hole. Eventually, the very person I was reporting actually reached out to me, making it quite clear he knew exactly who was flagging him, yet he didn't stop his behavior for even a second. So, I kept reporting, hoping for some semblance of order, only to be met with an insulting message from the moderator suggesting I simply stop, lest I find myself facing a ban myself. It was a rather disheartening turn of events, to say the least.
2. Following that unpleasant encounter, and after stumbling upon this specific thread, I decided to bypass the moderation tier entirely and take everything directly to the site administrators (one can catch the details in my previous post above). To my surprise, I received a prompt response stating they would look into it, and the entire situation was practically resolved almost immediately.
I suppose I'll leave whoever is reading this to draw their own conclusions about the whole ordeal. That said, I do want to give credit where it's due: the administrators were excellent. This isn't the first time they've stepped in with such efficiency, which, in hindsight, serves as a rather grim validation that my initial instincts regarding the issues in point 1 were entirely correct all along.
ambermason822 said:RADIOLOGY REPORT AND FINDINGS - Cervical Spine
"Bone structure and mineralization appear normal. Vertebral body heights and intervertebral spaces are preserved. Flattening of the physiological lordosis with a formed dorsal gibbus at the level of C4 - C5. Posterior intercorporeal line is intact. Calcifications noted along the superior and inferior contours of the atlas."
Ugh, I haven't the slightest clue what any of this means, naturally 🙂. It’s just a bunch of technical jargon followed by a few lines mentioning C4, C5, and C7, and then right at the end, it actually states:
Diagnosis: cervicobrachial syndrome.
But in your case, there isn't even a diagnosis listed. 🤷
Initially, I suspected my cervical spine because you described those exact same aches and pains I'm dealing with, though you did mention your X-ray came back within normal limits. But honestly, what does "within normal limits" even mean in this context? 🙂 There aren't really any standard reference values for an X-ray like that. What did they actually give you as a diagnosis? Or did they just leave you hanging with nothing? You went into such detail about my symptoms—the dizziness, that sense of instability and all that—and the moment I showed my X-ray, they immediately labeled it cervicobrachial syndrome. Maybe your issues are just in the early stages, but to me, it all points back to the neck regardless. Plus, I struggle with high blood pressure too, so we have that in common. As for the stuff regarding menstrual cycles and things of that nature... I really wouldn't know.
hollowtrucker77 said:noted and duly acknowledged The little triangle icon sends a report straight to the subforum moderators, but since I can't seem to spot it myself, I figured I’d better ask
Drew Brooks8 said:Sash, what should we do when the moderators themselves start posting inappropriate stuff or sending weird private messages? How do you even report them?
hollowtrucker77 said:Private messaging also allows for reporting, which then goes directly to the site administrators You either report the post itself or send a PM to the head admin with a direct link
It’s good to have that clarity, I suppose; now I finally understand where I went wrong. 👍
Henry Evans32 said:I’d really appreciate it if one of the admins could take a look at this situation where mistywolf17 is claiming I’m some kind of "Crodra," implying they want to kick me off the forum or whatever else is happening here. I want to make it perfectly clear that I have absolutely nothing to do with that individual. Please, just look into this thoroughly!
P.S.
So apparently, some post from yesterday "exposed" me? And some member over on the finger of fate 5 subforum—you know, the social lounge area supposedly recognized me based on that. I honestly don't understand the logic behind this. Does this mean I can just point at someone, claim they are person X, report them, and then get banned based on nothing but hearsay? Is that how we're playing it?
You either misunderstood or you're pretending to have misunderstood. No one actually reported you. Mistywolf17 figured out who you were, whether it was through an IP address or whatever tools the admins and mods use. You aren't seriously suggesting they don't know what they're doing, are you? I merely mentioned that it confirmed my suspicions. And I know I'm right because you went out of your way to drop my actual name in a post just to provoke me. Others noticed that too. With this current handle, you wouldn't have known my name, but you certainly did under your old one. Even your comments today just prove the point. Honestly, consider yourself lucky they even let you back in during the Christmas break—though, considering you started acting up like you used to, they probably should have just banned you outright for violating the rules regarding banned clones.
Then why don't you actually follow it yourself? Honestly, you were already warned about posting such nonsense on this board. I’m genuinely surprised the mods haven't handed you a ban yet.
Sarah Bennett58 said:I experienced some similar bleeding episodes back when I was taking aspirin for pain management. Well, maybe not quite within twenty minutes, but give it an hour and things start getting pretty messy... Regardless, it’s probably never a bad idea to check in with a doctor (even if you don't think anything is actually wrong, of course).
Aspirin essentially dilates the blood vessels, which naturally ramps up any bleeding. It's just how it works. In fact, that's exactly why people dealing with circulation issues often rely on it.
I’ve been sitting here thinking, just wondering what everyone else on this forum makes of this... I was digging through some medical literature recently, and I stumbled upon the idea that things like hepatitis could actually be transmitted through kissing. I’m not talking about anything explicit, just standard, old-fashioned kissing between partners—you know, 🙂 French kissing.
The problem is, the sources seem to be constantly tripping over one another; one study claims you can catch Hep B that way, but absolutely no chance of getting Hep C, while another source says the exact opposite. It really makes me wonder: if it were actually possible to spread infections like that through a simple kiss, 🤷 how many people would be infected by now? Honestly, at this rate, I’ll be too terrified to even give someone a friendly peck on the cheek, let alone go for a real kiss before we’ve both cleared a full panel of STIs. It’s a pretty exhausting way to live, isn't it? 😠
restlesstiger47 said:Hey there, is there any way to actually track a package being sent within the States? Every time I get a tracking number on my shipping confirmation, I plug it right into the HP website, but it just stares back at me with absolutely nothing to show for it.🤷
That site is basically a dead end; you're essentially flying blind since the tracking feature just doesn't work.
Chloe Moore65 said:Well, if you’re that unhappy, don't shop here—just head down to a local store and pick out whatever you actually want.
I’m not exactly thrilled when someone pulls a fast one on me either, or when a package arrives looking nothing like what I expected, but honestly, that’s just the inherent gamble you take whenever you click "buy" online.
Exactly. It’s a two-way street. I remember this one time I sold an item for $20, under the impression we’d settled on cash on delivery. I went ahead and paid the service fee at the UPS Store for $7.25, thinking it was just part of my $13 profit margin. Then, the buyer simply changed their mind; the package was sent right back to me, and I ended up footing the bill for the return shipping too, which cost $3.25. So, they essentially shorted me $11. They didn't even have the decency to reach out and explain. Then there was another instance where someone withheld my package during a trade and never sent what we had agreed upon. That one cost me about $100. To top it all off, she had the nerve to insult me, claiming I was lying about not receiving her shipment. My point is—selling can be just as much of a headache and a risk as buying; it isn't always the customer who bears the brunt of it.