Sore throat, runny sore nose, dizzy

(F19, 5’1, 135lbs) so about a week ago i came down with a cold. it wasn’t too bad at all and it was super short. it started with a sore throat then developed into a headache and a stuffy nose. i just overall felt sick. that only lasted for about 2 days and i was feeling almost 100% better. well, about 2 days after feeling perfectly fine, i’ve developed a deep chest pain (worsens when coughing and laughing), mucus in my throat that i have to constantly clear up, an occasional runny nose, and scratchy throat. i’m not having throat pain, chest tightness, wheezing, a fever, or a cough. did my cold develop into a chest cold or is it something more serious?

I'll try and explain as much as I can because I don't know where to turn at this point.
I've always struggled to get to sleep, I got diagnosed with ADHD a few years back so I assume it's down to that (or in part anyway)..
So I struggle with the "if you don't fall asleep within 15 minutes, get up" as I've never fallen asleep within that time, no where near(!)
For the last 2 years (maybe a bit more) I've had an even harder time. It was usually down to my cycle so the week before my period I'd barely sleep (couldn't get to sleep, nor stay asleep, but was at least getting 5 broken hrs), then that crept up to 2 weeks of misery, then 3.. Now in the last 2 months it's been constant & I've also gone from 3-4hrs down to 1, sometimes 45 minutes.
I've had 7hrs in as many days. Everything is hard. My ADHD feels unbearable cognitively and I'm struggling to do anything, I don't feel healthy or well and I feel like I'm never coming back, all I do is cry, drag myself through the days while the nights hang over me. I don't drive anymore, I've had to have a break from work.. I'm miserable.
Im perimenopausal so presumably it's down to hormones, but I get a strong feeling there's something else going on as well. I wake up feeling like I'm choking.. I've done it multiple times in the past, just sat bolt upright, gasping & swallowing.. I always assumed acid reflux although I didn't get sore throats or heartburn.. Now I'm beginning to wonder if it's something else.
I think I was running on adrenaline as I felt wide away at the start of the last 2 months, but in the last week I do feel sleepy, so I can't understand how I'm not sleeping for more than an hour as I know my body must be exhausted by now. That said, I feel drained in the daytime but wouldn't be able to sleep (so that doesn't seem to fit with sleep apnea as it appears ppl with that could fall asleep at any moment from what I've read?)
My GP refuses sleeping tablets. He gave me Mirtazepine but that only gave me restless legs, a dry mouth, a frequent need to urinate and left me agitated & unable to lay still.. hrs later, sometime after 6am I got my (now) usual 1 hour sleep. I haven't tried again.
My GP insists I need to exercise. I was walking but granted it was only half an hour. He insisted it needs to be an hour and I "have to push myself to the point of exhaustion" ( the fact I'm already there didn't seem to matter), however I do as Im told but I feel like I'm going to pass out and after a while my leg muscles tense up to where its painful to walk at all... I'm assuming my body is just exhausted and not repairing itself??
I've done all the supplements, all the sleep hygiene, I don't drink, I take hrt but it's not touching the sleep.. I took 30mg Amitriptyline last night and that did make me feel sleepy, but even when I woke up (still sleepy) I couldn't didn't get back to sleep... Every single time I did drop off I had to swallow (or my hand/foot twitched), like I'm refusing to let myself sleep! It's beyond frustrating.
I did recently come off Amitriptyline after a decade on it (only 10mg).. It crossed my mind the insomnia had something to do with that, but it was getting worse while I was on it daily anyway.
I've considered doing a sleep study but fear it will be a waste of money as I'm only sleeping an hour in my own room where I've got all-sorts (fan, nice mattress, pure silence.... Etc etc). I worry I wouldnt get any sleep somewhere else and I certainly wouldn't be able to sleep on a schedule as it takes an age as it is.
I don't know what to do, if anyone can spare a suggestion I'd greatly appreciate it.
I feel for anyone who's going through this, especially ppl who've been tormented with it for years, I honestly don't know how you cope

Hello!
I (25f) am writing this because I truly don’t know where else to turn and would like to know if someone has seen this or experienced this before.
About 2 months ago, behind my right ear randomly swelled up significantly. It was very puffy and tender to the touch. I went to a rapid clinic and she diagnosed me with an outer ear infection and prescribed me some drops, the swelling and infection eventually went down. As that was healing, my throat started to get progressively more sore and red, mostly on the right side. It started to really bother me so after about 3 weeks I went back to the clinic. I was tested for the flu (negative) and strep throat (negative). I was told it was probably allergies and to start taking Claritin and to wait for it to start raining more for it to go away. I did this for 4 weeks to no avail.
Eventually, the pain gets so bad I schedule an appointment with my GP. The lymph node on the right side of my neck gets very swollen and uncomfortable as well. I get tested for strep and the test is “faintly positive”. The doctor showed me the test but honestly I’m not sure what I was looking at. Anyways, I get prescribed a course of Amoxicillin, which does little to nothing to alleviate my symptoms. I then get put on Azithromycin, which seemed to help a little bit, but not completely. After I was done with that course, things just got right back to where they were. I went back to the doctor, got retested for strep, covid, flu, etc and was negative for everything. I was told to gargle with saltwater and to give it some time, but I feel like I have given it 2 months of time! She did say it was weird that it was only on one side.
I am wondering if anyone has ANY ideas or has seen this before? I’m not sure if I should be advocating for myself harder, as this pain is getting to be pretty intense. I know I should stay away from Dr. Internet, but I haven’t found anything like this on there, and anything I do find is suggesting it to be throat cancer. I’m trying not to go worst case scenario, but genuinely am at a loss for what this could be. I requested a referral to an ENT, but in the meantime I feel pretty uneasy.

I get massages every two weeks with an amazing massage therapist who uses very gentle techniques including craniosacral therapy. I have often felt tired after the sessions, but I got a massage yesterday that was so relaxing that I almost fell asleep on the table, and last night my muscles were aching so bad that it made it hard to sleep. I just woke up this morning feeling hungover with a headache and a sore throat (some of my typical long covid symptoms). Does anyone know why a very soothing gentle massage would make my muscles ache and increase my fatigue and other symptoms??

yeah, i mean, i guess i thought i was built different, i thought brain zaps would be the worst of it. i put off refilling my 150mg dose for almost a week (financial reasons) and after day 2 cold turkey i was a wreck. i was in a constant state of dizziness, my brain feeling like it was being electrocuted, tunnel vision, chills, nausea, and shaking. OH and the migraine that lasted for five days nonstop!
i literally felt like i was dying, i will never not prioritize having these meds, i’m so humbled rn. i thought i knew what brain zaps were, i never could have been ready for my skull to turn into a plasma ball. i felt like the entire inside of my body was made of spaghetti, i cannot express how tired and sore i was after sleeping for almost 18hrs? time didnt exist. i feel like i had an ego death.
i read a few of the withdrawal threads here today and felt so validated, i feel a bit more stable now after three days back on, but am still recovering from satan himself cracking open my head and taking a liquid shit into my skull.
edit: FORGOT TO MENTION, two of these days i had to drive to work and work my entire retail shift both days feeling absolutely blasted out of my mind, barley functioning. i should not have driven, luckily my work is close by.

pic for reference 👀
24F, 5’6 100lbs, taking amox-clav, non-smoker
I get sick at least every month (lately every few weeks) for the past year with terrible cold and flu symptoms (productive cough, runny nose, sore throat, ear pain.) My mucus is blue every time. I have chronic shortness of breath the last year and a MicroGenX swab didn't show anything to indicate why my phlegm is blue. I'm on a second round of amoxicillin-clav per an allergist.
Does anyone have any idea what could be causing my terrible immune system, SOB, and blue mucus? Thank you so much.
https://ibb.co/gzrdn98

A few days ago my parents and siblings got back from a family friends uni graduation. To preserve my health and sanity I made a really hard decision to not attend:
The graduation was a few states away. Nobody attending masks or take any precautions day-to-day. When I’ve had to travel with my family, I can usually make them mask in the airport/on the plane. It still got frustrating to beg them to mask in the airport just for them to eat indoors, go to parties and gatherings, visit packed tourist spots, etc. when we got to our destination. These trips pretty much always ended with me isolating in my room with an air purifier…
I decided I’m done being pressured to travel with them. It was exhausting and I had too many close calls. I’ve sat out of a few things now but the graduation was by far the hardest. Lots of friends I haven’t seen in a while attended.
But now it feels like my sacrifice doesn’t matter anyway. They brought something home. Only my dad wore a surgical in the airport, outside of that they went to the actual graduation ceremony (packed/indoors), the grad party, and restaurants. They all came back coughing and/or sneezing, and my siblings are also congested. I’ve been wearing a mask outside of my room but it’s been a few days now and i currently have a sore throat, loss of smell/taste, I’m constantly sneezing and very congested. I took a Covid test when they first came home that was negative, but right now I feel very similar to past positive infection. I’m going to test again but I’m pretty sure I have Covid. My family refused to test even though they’re obviously sick.
All of this is so defeating. I’ve completely restructured my life to mask, test, etc. but the people I live with literally could not care less, so I’ve been exposed and gotten Covid multiple times (outside of now). I’ve done everything I can think of and gently talked to them so many times about Covid, I provide information, I buy and offer masks, I buy air purifiers. I’ve already looked into moving out and I just can’t afford it right now, but I’m working towards that. It’s not in my near future though, and that’s really bothering me. I had some really difficult lingering Covid symptoms from a past infection, and even talking to them about my experience isn’t enough. They’ve been sick very often this year, definitely more than in the past. Ex. One of my sisters has been violently coughing in her sleep. But whatever happens, they just refuse to change their behavior.
I keep thinking about the long term health implication of me getting Covid this frequently, I’ve had it several times over the past 4 years. I have chest pain every once in a while. I also feel like my cognition has gotten worse, like I don’t feel as “sharp”. I try not to think about it too much but it’s hard, esp knowing the risks.
Have any of you guys had Covid multiple times? How do you cope? Especially with thinking about your long term future?

Hi- I am a 33f. I have many Fordyce spots. Today I noticed that a spot looked enlarged, almost blister like or pimple like, with some redness around it. I felt no pain or irritation prior to discovering it. But I did mess with a bit trying to get a better look at it. It looks like a very small blister almost. There is only one. And its right where my fordyce spots are. It looks to me like it could be an irritated spot or potentially a herpes sore. I do have hsv-1 but have only ever gotten sores in the nose. No sexual partner or new partner in over 14 months. I did recently get over a cold sore. I am wondering if I somehow transferred the virus to my vulva. Is there anyone familiar with both fordyce spots and herpes that could inbox me? I do plan on getting it swabbed if it is still irritated tomorrow. Thanks so much

BF started feeling a sore throat and like he was getting a cold on Thursday night, I also had a slightly scratchy throat. He had been travelling for work from Tuesday to Wednesday via plane so we hadn’t seen each other apart from Thursday day time.
As of yesterday, his symptoms got worse like a heavy cold so he tested and is positive.
I’m not feeling like this, but do have a weird head feeling, fizzy nose (like I’m getting a cold), some nausea which I think is anxiety related, weakness and some muscle aches.
I didn’t isolate away from him as assumed we both have it or perhaps picked it up at the same time when we were out together on Monday. However his line was super dark and now I’m thinking I was stupid not to stay away, I’ve slept in the same bed etc and accidentally drank his water so perhaps I’m doomed now anyway?
FYI we only had 1 test so I don’t know if I’m positive at the minute

34M. Im 5’8 180lbs. I have been a smoker for 15 years. I live in Maine and have my medical card.
15 hours ago I got home from golf and decided to take a relaxing toot off my pipe not knowing the screen wasn’t in and I inhaled a glob of resin or 2 and some smoldering flower. I definitely scorched my throat a bit and have been coughing pretty hard and continuously, so I expected it to be a little sore but my breathing feels a little more strained and sleep is not going well.
Is this anything to be super alarmed about and is there anything I can do/take to help it along? VA appointments are scheduled pretty far out.
Edit: the matter I inhaled was about the size of a grain of rice. It’s giving me some small pain and discomfort but the cough is relentless. My lungs are purring when I lay on my side to try to sleep. Still haven’t coughed up anything.

About three or so weeks ago, one absolutely random night I suddenly felt irritation in my nose and throat as if I was smelling smoke even though there was none around me.
At the time I thought maybe smoke is coming from the outside so I wrote it off as a singular irritation.
However, from that night on I have been having a very congested nose, sometimes runny and a very dry chesty cough that follows for a day or two. It seems to flare up the most in the evenings, especially the cough, and nothing helps. I had periods of fatigue, dizziness, brain fog too, but not persistent.
My nose gets blocked and then unblocked on and off again depending on which environment I'm in or if I'm sitting or standing.
I've never had allergies in my life and this happened very out the blue with no further symptoms.
I went to see my GP as I was getting worried about the cough - however all vitals came back good. Just one thing - very swollen inside of the nose.
He advised it might be sinusitis and prescribed a Mometasone Furoate Nasal Spray (UK) and antibiotics. I've been using the spray (albeit incorrectly as I've just found out on this page lol) but haven't touched the antibiotics yet as I doubt it is actually sinusitis. I have no fever, no cheek, forehead or head pressure - nothing. Just a blocked, runny nose, sneezing and the dry cough. And my nose insides do feel swollen, irritated and dry at this point - probably from all the blowing and nasal sprays (which I didn't know can actually dry it out more)
I've been going a bit crazy trying to understand what the hell is up. Thought it might be heart related even - but then I came across the definition of Non-allergic rhinitis and it seems to be fitting my situation the most.
Could it be it and is there any good relief for it in UK?
P.S. I have undergone a rhinoplasty back in 2019. Not sure if that could relate to anything so far later..

27m, 5' 10" , non-smokee, Latent TB, duration 1 day (so far)
I have not left the house in 4 weeks, except for a trip to the corner shop every now and then. At which I'm always the only person in there and the cashier never had signs of being ill (sniffles, coughing, no catchy voice ect). I've know them my whole life so I know what they sound like.
Well I finished uni 4 weeks ago and like I said, I haven't left the house for anything other than what I mentioned. I live with my parents and neither of them have been ill. Yet today I start to get a sore throat and the chills. How can this happen, if from what I know of.. I haven't been in any situation to catch something.
Which makes me wonder, I have latent TB.. and have just finished a 3 month treatment of strong antibiotics. The treatment ended (I took my last pill) literally 3 days ago. Could this be a flair up from no longer being on antibiotics?
Also to note is that I did not get ill the entire time I was on the course of antibiotics, but now I check my throat with a light and it's inflamed and red in areas, also noticed a polyp just behind where my tonsils used to be.
Any ideas?

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The following two brain scans were provided by the Neuro-Warfare branch of the Halcyon Security Division (HSD) for the purpose of analyzing the thoughts, behaviors, and information of notorious gangsters Vincent 'Troy' Cohen and Bruno (Deadname: Koraak Tel-Char). At the point of the recording of this archival shared, Bruno has since received his rebirth therapy, and Vincent is currently serving a long-term rehabilitative and reeducative sentence in the Erebus Supermax Prison on Io.
Warning: the contents of this archival shared may be especially disturbing to some audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
Warning: the contents of this archival shard are for the sole purpose of analyzing the thought patterns and memories of certain degenerate criminals in an effort to ascertain vital information that can be used to eliminate their organizations. Only staff with clearance level Omega may view this archival shared, and the viewership of this archival shared by anyone of inadequate clearance level will lead to twenty years in prison and a fine of over a hundred thousand credits.
Booting up memory scan: Vincent 'Troy' Cohen, November 4th, 2446…
Loading and processing firmware data… translating… memories and subconscious simulated…
Beginning archival shard presentation…
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"Do you have visuals of the target, Troy?"
I knelt down in the alleyway, the bodies of me and my partners shrouded in long, waterproof, ashen-gray overcoats the shade of dirty street scum that we wore to ward off the constant heavy rainfall the color of osmium. Our faces were covered in a mix of scrapped respirators, visors, or full metal face masks carved with intricate designs to hide our identities. On our waists were our badges of honor: leather belts studded with interlocked rivets made from blackened titanium, each buckle forged of silver and shaped into the head of our gang's symbol, the black mamba. We hid amongst the shadows of the dark midday of Halcyon City, the heavy, oppressive rains blanketing the roads paved obsidian-black with asphalt and weathered concrete walkways. The street lamps were always on, like beacons of false hope in a storm of melancholy.
The city was dark and dreary as always, the planet of Proxima Centauri B, renamed Dawn's Lamentation over a century ago, orbited the red dwarf star of Proxima Centauri, and the atmosphere was thick with natural smog and ever-storming rain clouds. That didn't dissuade people from living here: there was plenty of money to be had for shrewd industrialists and hardworking pioneers, even in the urban sprawl. But that life also came with risks, especially for those on the bottom of the totem pole.
I was a ganger, and we were criminals; full stop. I won't assault you with some spiel about how we're the good guys fighting oppression because, at the end of the day, we could be just as bad, if not worse, than Halcyon's Security Division, or the HSD for short. We were traffickers, killers, extortionists, and money launderers. We dealt with everything from stolen tech and military-grade hardware to hard drugs and sentients.
Yes, sentients. We trafficked sentients, but not in the way you might think. They weren't prisoners, in fact, we were their saviors if they had the cash. We had developed a reputation for fighting the power, but it was still business: sure, freeing captives from the clutches of the Protectorate. The disruption of its many oppressive organizations held a certain satisfaction in my heart for sure, but we didn't help those who couldn't pay unless someone else paid on their behalf. It was about making sure me and my gang, my family, could live a decent life for another day.
It helped that most of us joined after leaving the state yard for partaking in acts of 'degeneracy' and 'anti-xenopet illegalities' as if those terms meant anything anymore other than that we were a threat to the local status quo. It was hard to pick up a job as a former inmate when even in something as harsh and backbreaking as a job in the iridium mines near the poles when the employment office had you blacklisted as a degenerate, which lead to the formation of many of the gangs: we needed to make a living somehow, and when all social programs were cut off from you unless you submitted for 're-education' and the only way to put food on the table was subverting, breaking, or even downright fighting the law, you did what you had to do or you died on the streets a scorned beggar.
It wasn't like the HSD made it easy for us on even a good day: the local HSD units were armed to the teeth with advanced, military-grade hardware that you'd often see on the front lines of the Second Authority War: armored assault transports, a myriad of advanced war droids, all sorts of chemical countermeasures that made tear gas seem like putting the garden hose on mist mode, and of course advanced firearms. Add that to the fact that they were authorized to use deadly force when they deemed it necessary and you had a ruthless, heartless, and nearly unstoppable enemy. But we could make that work: we weren't trying to stop them, just to withstand them.
"Yeah, I got eyes on the prize, Koraak; seven armored transports, two for droids, five for prisoners."
Today wasn't a day for a normal job: we were getting bolder, cockier, more ambitious. Our numbers had swelled for the last few years after the raid at Barnard's Star and the fall of the Blood Dragon Mafia. Their leader, Saito Yasuhide, had committed seppuku as their manor burned, and his twin sons had gone down fighting rather than allowing themselves to be captured simply to face a firing squad. In the aftermath, many of the family's associates had fled to the surrounding systems, and with the sheer size and scope of the criminal underworld found here, it was no wonder that many people who had developed skills of the less legal variety had decided to form ranks with the gangs, and with them they brought guns, tech, knowledge, contacts, and even something that we thought wasn't possible beforehand: a semblance of peace between the gangs, or at least the closest thing to peace that gangs could cultivate effectively. With the fall of the Blood Dragons, we saw the writing on the wall, and the writing couldn't have been clearer: work together or die together.
"Sounds like a massacre, Troy: are you sure we can handle seven?"
"We ain't got no choice, Cinder: this job's double the usual rate, and that's not including the weapons and gear we could scrounge if this goes well," I hissed, my eyes scanning for any resistance. There were at least four guards for each van, not to mention at least eight droids in total, meaning that we were already outnumbered, but we had the element of surprise: we could make it work. "So put your balls in your purse and get ready to spill some blood."
Koraak snorted at our antics, which sounded like someone pulling the ripcord on a lawnmower. He was a veteran Russu Corsair, and while his past of slaving, raiding, and killing was unsavory, so were the lives we'd lived, so who were we to judge? All we cared about was that he was a brutal and capable fighter and a loyal brother in arms. It turned out that being a ganger wasn't much different from being a Corsair: you lived and died by a code of honor, you fought to the death for your brothers, and you lived to die for the sake of your gang and your family, simple as that. In a strange, ironic way, it was an incredibly honest way of life: we were under no illusions as to what we were, what we did, and why we did it, and we'd long since accepted it. The Russu related to us in that aspect, in many ways I could respect, which is why I hated what the Protectorate was doing, and why I couldn't grasp how most of humanity could just collectively lose their marbles so long ago. What had happened for us to deem all other life below us in such a demeaning and infantilizing way?
The Russu were a race of tall, muscle-bound Saurians with avian features, and Koraak was no exception: reaching almost seven feet in height and weighing over four hundred and fifty pounds, he could be an absolute menace if he so desired. His skin was covered in stubby, knobby scales and dense plumage, with elegant feathers adorning the ridges along his back as well as his forearms, elbows, knees, and the crests on his head. He almost looked like how paleontologists described velociraptors, with razor-sharp talons, feathers shaded in vibrant greens, reds, and purples, and a maw full of sharp teeth, but at the tip of his snout was a sharp, beak-like growth meant for ripping flesh off the bone.
The Russu were strange as hell, but they also looked almost cute in the same way a fully grown alligator was cute: they were obviously dangerous, but humans would always have this innate desire to anthropomorphize them and to pet them for some inexplicable reason, although common sense usually prevented that, at least amongst the very few of us left that were sane.
"Shut up, Troy! All I'm saying is that that'll be rough, and you know it," hissed Cinder. Cinder was a tall black man whose coffee-colored skin was covered in tattoos. He wore an ebony mechanic's jumpsuit with metal inserts underneath his grimy overcoat covering his body and a faded black respirator on his face. His eyes were a startling blue that seemed sorely out of place, and his hair was braided into thick cornrows along his scalp. He wore a pair of heavy black combat boots and palmed his compact shotgun in his hands, the square barrel less than seven inches. Like a lot of the weapons the Black Mambas carried on their persons and dealt in, they fired caseless ammunition; in Cinder's case it was 16x40mm caseless shotshells filled with depleted uranium micro-flechetes no thicker than a toothpick. Cinder nervously fiddled with the detachable tube magazine underneath the barrel, his hands shaking. Despite the shit I have him, I didn't blame him for being anxious: I was anxious too, even if I refused to show it. The biting cold of unease and pessimism was in my stomach, and I ran all the way that this job could go wrong in my head over and over.
"Just hold yourself together, this ain't anything we haven't done before, there's just more of it," I reassured Cinder, "besides, we're not alone; we have reinforcements across the street. We'll make it out of this alive."
Cinder nodded almost absentmindedly, his eyes downcast and his breathing shallow. I turned from him and back to Koraak, who was making sure he had everything on his person; he had a synthetic leather bandoleer across his chest that contained the heavy eight guage depleted uranium slugs he kept loading and unloading into his much larger, longer, and more traditional shotgun he nicknamed ‘carnage’ and several leather straps that held his Tu'shan daggers: traditional Russu pyramidal blades forged from a silvery alloy with all three edges serrated and the tip barbed to leave behind horrible, gaping wounds that gushed blood. They were wickedly sharp and absolutely straight like a stiletto, and the hilts and pommels were beautifully decorated. He wore no clothes underneath his overcoat to cover the countless scars and blemishes he's earned in combat across his chest and abdomen, and instead of a normal respirator or visor, he simply wore a hood over his head and some traditional Russu facial armor to protect his mouth, eyes, and cheeks.
"You ready to fight, Koraak? The caravan will pick up and leave soon."
Koraak was silent for a moment before nodding, a human gesture he had picked up after serving as a soldier with the Black Mambas for years. "I'm always ready to fight," he said before lifting up his shotgun and aiming down the sights at the reinforced front wheels of the first armored car in the caravan. He exhaled and fired, the slug ripping through both front tires and causing them to deflate and fall apart. The echo of the shot rang through the alleyway and the street, causing pedestrians to panic and flee the scene as heavily armored guards poured out of the side doors of the armored cars and unholstered their carbines.
"Go, now!" I shouted, and both me and Cinder rushed out into the fray, our guns raised. Koraak was right behind the two of us, providing covering fire with his shotgun. Several guards fell quickly, Koraak's precise fire and the sheer force of the depleted uranium slugs putting them down for good as their heads were vaporized or their chest cavities were turned to mush. He emptied the tube with one final shot that painted the grey matter of a security guard on the door of one of the armored cars, then racked the shotgun and expertly loaded it in threes, his hands deft and agile as he reached for more slugs faster than any human.
With the cacophony of our initial assault, more Black Mambas poured out from the alleyways and the subways, armed to the teeth with all manner of weapons; shotguns, submachine guns, pistols, machetes, baseball bats, and all manner of homemade explosives. Molotovs and more potent concoctions shattered against the asphalt, herding in the caravan guards with their volatile contents as they were quickly gunned down. The assault was working, and we were winning.
Then I heard the robotic whine of a combat droid activating, and my heart sank. One of the armored cars in the back activated the four combat droids it held, the robotic assault units detaching from their charging ports on the sides of the large van and began to form up, each armed with a terrifying array of deadly weapons meant to quash any and all resistance. They were blocky, soulless, utilitarian things that stood at eight feet tall, with flat feet meant for stomping and blades, grasping claws designed to lacerate flesh and shatter bone. On each shoulder was a weapon: on the left was a multi-barrel rotary grenade launcher loaded with 15mm concussion grenades, and on the right was a burst-fire splinter cannon. They were all painted a dull grayish-green, the color of Halcyon's Security Division, although some had a few decorations on them: the one closest to me had a bit of graffiti on the side that said Mr. Hugs in Comic Sans, which I couldn't decide whether that made it more or less terrifying. They split up without hesitation and began to scan the chaotic battlefield, their single, red, beady lenses the security forces had the gall to call eyes focusing on specific targets to eliminate.
An entire group of Black Mambas was torn to pieces by a cloud of flechettes as one of the droids fired a withering three-round burst of shotshells from the four gauge splinter cannon mounted on its shoulder. Another picked up a Black Mamba in its hand and crushed her skull effortlessly before tossing her limp body to the side, its single, red, remorseless robotic eye tracking a new target. Most bullets that struck their thick armored chassis simply bounced off, and those that could pierce the armor didn't seem to phase the droids whatsoever, merely notifying them of a new potential target.
"Damnit," I shouted as I gunned down another guard only for two more to take his place. "Cinder! We gotta pop open the cars and scram! Get the maglock cutters!"
Cinder rushed and slid over through a dirty puddle, pulling out a maglock cutter from the inside of his coat and slipping it onto the back door of the first van. It immediately went to work, drilling through the maglock with a high-powered plasma torch nozzle, and within ten seconds we heard the telltale clunk of the maglock separating. I yanked the door open and ordered I side, ready to escort the prisoners out… only for my face to contort in shock and horror.
The back was empty. There was not a single soul inside of the back brig of the armored car.
"What the fuck…" Cinder gasped, his eyes wide with shock. "What the actual fuck… what the fuck is this, Troy?"
"I… I don't…" I stuttered the sounds of battle and carnage drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in my ears. All five cars were supposed to be filled with recently captured Russu from the front lines ready to be housed in the local Xenopet-Megaplex for processing and conditioning. The fact that this one was empty…
Suddenly, it all hit me at once with the force of a freight train, but it was too late. "We were set up, Cinder; our fucking client either squealed or was crooked to begin with…"
"Fucking bitch!" Cinder shouted as he spun around in an enraged arch, anger growing in his eyes. He aimed his shotgun at an approaching security guard and reduced his upper body to a fine red mist with a cacophony of shotgun blasts. "We gotta get everyone who's left out of here! Do you know what this means? The Jurors will be here soon, and then we're all going down! We gotta go, fuck the job!"
I grit my teeth. Not the Jurors, anything but the Jurors.
"Fine, gather everyone who's left and we'll slip through the sewers, the droids are too bulky to follow us there…"
As I spoke, my eyes wandered to the seventh and final armored car, the second of the droid cars, and my blood froze. Not only were all four ports empty, but they were also smaller and more shallow than the ports for the combat droids. That could only mean one thing.
"Oh fuck! Cinder, we gotta get our Russu members out of here! They've got arachnid droids!"
Arachnid droids were the stuff of nightmares. Resembling blocky, robotic arachnids the size of a manhole cover, they were specifically designed to take down sentient aliens, specifically the Russu, using sickeningly non-lethal means. They were equipped with full-body adaptive cloaking to blend in with their environments, paralytic agents that they could inject into their victims, built-in taser barbs, psychedelic gas ports for crowd-control, and a narrow-coned cacophony canon that disabled the Russu using incredibly high-pitched sounds that only they could hear, forcing them onto their knees and clutching the backs of their heads where their auditory organs were stored in agony. But worst of all was their stygian spinnerets: special ports near the end of their robotic abdomens that excreted a viscous, latex-like substance made up of millions of nano-bots. This substance could be used to render Russu blind, deaf, and mute by having it forced onto their faces, the black substance growing and enveloping their heads and working its way into every orifice. It was completely permeable to the standard atmosphere, but any Russu who had been 'webbed' was completely helpless and essentially captured, and the 'webbing' was both nearly indestructible and nigh impossible to remove without a triple-encrypted override key that was found in every arachnid droid's code, which was corrupted when the droid was destroyed or hacked into. Once you were 'webbed', you were essentially captured and the standard protocol was to leave you to the wolves since the nano-bots could be tracked, endangering the entire gang.
I turned just as I heard the deafening sound of Koraak discharging his shotgun, and I saw him squaring off against one of the assault droids. The droid has obviously been programmed to not use lethal force against Russu if possible, as instead of simply killing Koraak with it's shoulder-mounted splinter cannon, it approached with its claws extended, blades retracted. Koraak continued to back away and fire, pumping the droid full of depleted uranium slugs, its armor crumbling inward as the slugs pierced its chassis and damaged its internal cyberstructure. Eventually, Koraak ran out of slugs and instinctively reached to his bandoleer only to find that he had no more shells left at all, and he drew one of his knives and his sidearm, a simple high-caliber handgun. He tried to take down the droid with his handgun, but the bullets didn't even seem to affect the droid upon penetration, it's claws still extended as it attempted to apprehend Koraak.
In the corner of my vision, as I watched Koraak battle with the droid, I noticed a faint shimmer in the air on one of the black streetlight poles that was right behind him. I focused on it and blinked, believing my eyes had deceived me for a moment before realizing that it was actually a cloaked arachnid droid stalking Korvaak, ready to pounce and incapacitate him.
Before I could shout, it leaped from the pole and landed on Korvaak, causing him to shout in surprise while it began to coagulate its horrifying stygian webbing to disable Korvaak. Korvaak tried to wrestle it off of him, but the droid was agile and fast, clinging onto Korvaak and skittering around across his upper body as he attempted to grab it, forcibly wrapping the sticky black liquid across his face as he gagged like a spider wrapping up a fly. I rushed towards him to try and help, but I felt pain explode in my ribs as I was struck with the arm of the closest combat droid and launched into the chassis of a parked car, the metal denting from the sheer force of impact. I groaned in pain as I saw stars and my head spun, and just then I felt a blinding light be cast over me.
“Drop your weapons and kneel with your hands on your head, or you will be pacified with deadly force!” Shouted a loud, artificially deepened voice from above. “I repeat, drop your weapons and kneel with your hands on your head! Neither hostility nor hesitation will be tolerated!”
It was the Jurors, I could feel the air being pushed around from the thrusters on their drop ships, and I could hear screams and shouts as my fellow Black Mambas were quickly gunned down. I couldn’t see well since I was seeing double, but I could hear the slaughter as my eyes dimmed and I began to lose consciousness, my regrets crawling up my throat like vomit.
I’m sorry was all I could think as everything finally went dark, and the sounds of chaos, destruction, and combat faded away.
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Memory halted due to loss of consciousness. Booting next available memory in shard…
Booting up memory scan: Koraak Tel-Char Bruno, November 5th, 2446…
Loading and processing firmware data… translating… memories and subconscious simulated…
Beginning archival shard presentation…
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“Good morning, sleepyhead; it’s time for breakfast.”
My eyes shot open. I was not in the street anymore, nor was I home in my bed with my mate. I knew instantly that something was horribly wrong. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t gain the leverage to do so: my ankles had been shackled together with magnetic cuffs and my arms were forced together in front of me.
I was wearing some kind of thick shirt. It was warm, fluffy, and comfortable on the inside, but it still made me incredibly uncomfortable that my arms didn’t have a free range of motion. I looked down to see that I was wearing some human garment I had heard about before, a straightjacket maybe?
The entire room was padded: the walls, the floor, even the ceiling. There was no bed or furniture; the floor was soft enough to serve as a bed in itself. There was nothing else except for the soft reddish-orange lights on the ceiling that somehow made me sleepy. I blinked slowly for a moment, my body screaming at me to just lay back down and lose consciousness, but I couldn’t do that: I needed to figure out where I was and how to escape.
Then I noticed who was speaking to me: it was a short human female, with crow's feet around her blue eyes, blonde hair braided down her back, and freckles all over her face. She had a soft smile on her lips, and her forehead was slightly crinkled. She wore a full-body white lab suit with a white overcoat and a pair of glasses for snugly on her face.
"There we go, now I can see those pretty eyes, such a beautiful shade of teal," she cooed softly, "You're such a handsome boy, even with all those scars: I'm sure you'll be adopted very quickly once we get you fixed up."
Fear gripped my heart as I began to piece all the evidence together. I had been captured; I was no longer on Halcyon, and instead, I was in one of the horrific space-born facilities I had heard so much about from the inside agents. I started to hyperventilate and squawk like a newborn hatchling, my eyes dilating in panic. This couldn't be happening! This has to be a nightmare!
The human woman merely wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into an embrace, cradling my head under her chin and speaking softly. I couldn't bite at her or claw at her: I was muzzled and wearing a straight jacket, so I had no choice but to allow her to coddle me.
"It's okay, sweetheart: I understand you're scared, but Julie's here to make all the pain and bad thoughts go away," she said as if she was comforting a child, which made anger blossom in my chest indignantly. "I'll be your caretaker for the next few months, and I'm going to make sure you're healthy, happy, and most importantly safe while you're under our care. I'm sorry to say that includes your restraints and restrictive clothing, but we have to make sure you aren't a threat to yourself or others before we can determine if it's a good idea to remove you from suicide watch."
I growled under my muzzle. Suicide watch? They must have had a lot of instances of Russu taking their own lives after being captured, something I wished I had been able to do before that damnable droid launched itself onto me and…
I shuddered at the thought of the black, viscous substance forcing itself into my nostrils and down my throat and windpipe, gagging me and rendering me completely helpless. It was so cold, so harsh, like slime, and when I had tried to tear it off of my face it merely attached itself to my claws and bound my talons together. I remember squirming on the ground as it enveloped me, unable to see, hear, or speak, and then everything went dark in an instant. It was the most horrible thing I had ever experienced, which was saying something.
"You alright, sweetheart? Oh, I know, you're probably hungry! Here, try some of this." She held up a piece of what looked like raw bacon and wiggled it in front of me before reaching out to remove my muzzle. In an instant, I attempted to snap at her only for pain to blossom in my forehead and my eyes to roll up in my head as I convulsed. It was like something was attempting to drill through my skull from the inside, and every breath felt empty and labored.
"Now, that didn't feel very nice, did it? This is why we have countermeasures in place because we can't trust you yet, sweetheart! Don't worry, we'll work on breaking you of all those bad behaviors and habits while you're here; after all, a well-trained pet is a happy pet!" She began to stroke the crests on my head as I slowly recovered, and she snugly fit the muzzle back onto my snout. "But I won't hold it against you this time, sweetheart; you're just scared and confused, but I'll make all the pain go away."
I struggled in the straight jacket, trying my best to break out of it, but it was no use. Eventually, I became exhausted and despondent, allowing my new caretaker to have her way with me as she gently ran her fingers through my feathers and along my ridges, quietly speaking to me in a hopeless attempt to cheer me up. She seemed genuinely concerned for my well-being, which concerned me even further: who could be this naturally twisted while attempting to be as benevolent and kindhearted as possible?
I felt the pain and terror build up in my chest, the anxiety from what horrific activities I imagined they had planned for me here. I couldn't take the infantilization, the lack of any autonomy, the dehumanization, and what I feared the most was if the rumors of 'rebirth' were true: would they take my personhood from me?
Suddenly, I felt her whisper to me. "Don't worry sweetheart, I know you're so scared and confused, but I promise you everything will be okay: it's going to be your birthday soon, and then everything will get better." She ran her fingers through the feathers along my crest lovingly. "It will be such a wonderful day, and then we'll choose for you the most wonderful family, and you'll spend the rest of your life happy in your forever home! Doesn't all of that sound wonderful?"
I wanted to die. I wanted to disappear. I didn't want to lose myself, not like this, not to these monsters!
"It'll be your birthday soon," she said wistfully as if she was remembering similar events to this in the past like I wasn't the first she'd done this too, "and you'll never be sad again."
I realized that I wasn't the first the stay in this particular cell, and I knew for certain that I wouldn't be the last: I'd end up like my brother, a broken, erased mess of a pathetic creature, reduced to nothing more than a pet for these humans to amuse themselves with.
"We took the liberty of picking out a nice name for you, sweetheart! Now, let me just slip this little programming chip into the port slot on your occipital bone, and... there we go! It will also help you calm down a bit and adjust."
I felt the chip begin to invade my mind, suppressing my thoughts. What made me me was slowly being ripped out of my mind. I couldn't remember my name my name is Bruno, and I needed to get out! I can't let them do this to me! Somebody help me! I was a good boy.
##Do not think. You are a good boy.##
I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn't work: I had trouble forming any words at all, the confusion clouding my mind like wet, slimy eels curling around my brain and sinking their teeth into its folds like needles. I couldn’t scream any longer, because I had nothing left: the chip was slowly beginning to take everything from me, robbing me of my identity and branding a new one into my psyche with a white-hot iron. Julie simply held me close, attempting to reassure me as I awaited the inevitable demise of my personhood. Soon I would be just like my brother: erased. My mind would be shaped into the mind of a loyal plaything, like a Dog.
##Relax. Allow caretaker [Julie] to comfort you. You will let go of your burden.##
Soon, everything was a blur. I quickly found myself resting my head in her lap as she whispered to me and fed me, my eyes bleary and my head fuzzy. I couldn't remember my name anymore My name was Bruno, and I needed to break free from this trance relax, and allow her to help me; good boys didn't resist help.
##Good Boy. Do not think. You are a good boy.##
You can't... I...
##Good boy.##
I wouldn't… good boys don't… I…
##Good boy##
I was a good boy… I was a good boy…
I was… I was… a good… boy…
Someone help me, please! I don't want to be erased!
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The following script is from episode #343 of Halcyon After Dark, a popular late-night and current events talk show hosted by Melinda Carter. This specific episode was sponsored in part by the Halcyon Security Division, with Director Lochlin O'Brien joining as a guest star to talk about the changing crime statistics in Halcyon City and the HSD's recent successes in busting organized crime as well as their plans for addressing the growing criminal underworld.
MC: Good evening Halcyon! I'm your host, Melinda Carter, and you're watching Halcyon's most popular late-night talk show, Halcyon After Dark!
The crowd claps and cheers as Melinda walks on stage and sits behind her desk, her glittering red dress waving as she does so from the special effects.
MC: Tonight we have a very special guest here to tell us about the state of crime in the city and his plans on resolving it: please put your hands together for the HSD's very own Director, Lochlin O'Brien!
The crowd cheers some more as HSD Director Lochlan O'Brien, a tall, muscular, caucasian male in his early forties with red hair and a well-trimmed beard steps into the room, waving at the crowd with a bright smile. He sits in the armchair angled next to Melinda's desk and gives her his full attention.
MC: It's so good to have you on the show, Director! Tell me, how are you doing on this fine evening?
LO: I'm doing excellent, Melinda: every day I wake up feeling fulfilled knowing I'm serving Halcyon to the best of my abilities and then some."
MC: That's the spirit, Director! Now, I know this question is just on everyone's lips, so I have to ask: how successful was the recent gang bust? I heard HSD forces took out dozens of gang members and liberated at least a dozen Russu Hounds from their abusive clutches, but I know that everyone in the audience and at home wants to know the numbers.
LO: I'd be glad to tell you, but I do have to preface this by saying that we still lost a lot of good officers that day, and while we did strike a crippling blow to one of Halcyon's biggest gangs, it doesn't change the fact that each death is a tragedy, and we're taking steps to prevent them in the future. That being said, those valiant officers did not sacrifice themselves in vain: we had over a dozen confirmed kills and several arrests, including the rescue of several corrupted Russu hounds.
MC: That's excellent, Director: proof that even when the number of degenerates and scum grow by the day, the HSD will always be here to keep the citizens of Halcyon safe.
LO: Absolutely, Melinda, and we're always working tirelessly to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our units, as well as racing to stay several steps ahead of the many gangs of Halcyon at all times. My newest goal as Director is to vastly increase the funding given to our Robotics Department and our Neuro-Warfare Department to potentially reduce the number of casualties we may experience in the future, as well as to quickly and effectively detain, and if necessary, eliminate criminals. Within the next decade, I want to double the number of automated units each Security Platoon is assigned: droids are the future of public safety as well as countless other industries, and it would be foolish to be left behind.
MC: That is quite a lofty goal, Director: what about the displaced jobs from the increased automation? What will the union say?
LO: And to that, I say: what misplaced jobs? We aren't replacing our honored and beloved service members with droids, Melinda, we are simply supplementing our units with more droids to ensure that future gang assaults end with fewer HSD casualties and more gang members in prison or eliminated, simple as that.
MC: That makes much more sense, Director, thanks for clarifying. Now, I have one more question that I'm sure much of Halcyon wants to know the answer to before we take a short break: what plans do you and your fellow directors have to make long-term progress in reducing crime beyond just increasing funding? Have you proposed any plans to strike at the source of where crime and degeneracy flourish?
OL: That's an excellent question, and one I am proud to answer: my constituents and I have been working tirelessly on a two-step plan to greatly reduce crime levels in Halcyon. Step one would be to prevent people from becoming criminals and degenerates at all in the first place: a lot of young men and women, but especially young men, have lost either one or both parents or even a sibling, aunt or uncle, or even a close friend by the brutality of the Second Authority War, and while the service of their lost loved ones will always be recognized and honored, many of these young men and women are left bitter, angry and lost without the guidance these people give them in their lives. Oftentimes they seek to fill that void with others who claim to relate to them: career criminals. These criminals will fill their heads with lies and false narratives to make them feel like they're fighting back against the 'evil protectorate government' that took their loved ones from them by sending them off to war when in reality it was the rogue Xenopets of the Triarchy that took them away by resisting their just and inevitable unburdening.
In response, I have proposed a slew of special programs that will make sure local law enforcement and HSD officers are present and contributing to their local community, and we'll be providing easy and light job openings for youngsters and teens looking to make a career for themselves in the force when they grow up. We want to let these lost souls know that there are people who care about them, people who understand them and that you shouldn't turn to degeneracy to feel fulfilled. We want to help the youth of our great society soar to new heights!
MC: That sounds like a wonderful beginning to your plan, Director, but what about the second step?
LO: Well, the second step is to prevent criminals and degenerates from becoming repeat criminals. Sure, they've made their mistakes, some worse than others, but they're only human like the rest of us. Some of them have been through hell: some are traumatized veterans who don't know how to adapt to normal life, others were recruited when they were young and don't know that there's a better way to live, and even more are mentally ill. We're alone in this galaxy, and we can't leave so many people behind. That's why we've come up with an excellent solution: we've set up isolated communities on distant moons and frontier planets where these criminals can be reeducated, rehabilitated, and allowed to repay their debt to society. When they're deemed 'reformed' and have graduated from our program, they'll be granted a hefty stipend and their criminal record will be deemed irrelevant, allowing them to reintegrate and become functioning members of our proud society.
MC: all of these sound like incredible steps forward in the fight to better our society and make real progress, Director. Sadly, we do have to step away for a moment, but you best believe I'll be back, Halcyon, and we'll be asking the Director here some burning questions about allegations over the quality of life Erubus Supermax! Now, a word from our sponsors!
Halcyon Xenopet-Megaplex! Everything your xenopet could ever need in one place! Adoption is now free-
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Good, you’re still alive! The rest of this shard appears to be corrupted, which means this particular trail seems to have run cold here, but do not despair; you need to keep searching. Find out what happened. Find the truth.I cannot guide you any longer: they've already found me, and if I remain in contact with you they'll find you as well. Take the archival database, and see what you can piece together. Maybe if we discover what truly happened we can put an end to this madness once and for all. I'm counting on you. Don't cry for me, I don't fear death, but I fear what they'll do to me to get to you: there are far worse fates than death, after all.

37, type 2 diabetic (BS well managed with ozempic and insulin after years of barely tolerating metformin), PTSD, ASD, OCD, ARFID, PMDD. NB/AFAB. Fat, muscular, active. believe in health at every size and ability. big maintenance phase fan.
i have been dealing with alternating sinus and gum infection for last 5 months.
i'm posting here bc i just discovered this subreddit and think it's dope. also bc my therapist told me not to go on google and im an idiot (as you'll soon see) and now have myself freaked out. also terrible self advocate and blew it at the health center today IRL, so why not go talk to strangers on the interne.
respiratory history- off and on but more on 10 year spliff smoker (never a pack a day- 5/day max), quit for several months at a several times the last several years, but keep falling off the wagon like an idiot. use thc tincture to avoid smoking. also feels relevant to share that i have always lived in wood heat houses. i def have had exposure to plenty of badly vented houses, smoke, mold, n other toxins over the course of 17 years of dirtbag life. i have treated my lungs terribly for too long, i know. last two years i have been living in an early 90s double wide with kerosene heat and discovering how incredible it is to just turn up a thermostat.
timeline - maybe too detailed but fuck it
2020- didn't complete a course of antibiotics for a boil, it resolved and i stopped early. short time later had the first and worst gum infection of my life. imagine trying to get a dentist appt in summer 2020 in a rural area. anyways. took full course of antibiotics, resolved, bought a power toothbrush, great.
2021- dx type 2 diabetes, ARFID
2023- dx ASD
jan 2024- start having these insane night sweats- absolutely drenched, sheets wet, skin running with sweat like i've been ina sauna. perimenopause?! da fuq. PC says yup maybe perimenopause.
feb 2024- go to dentist with gum infection, dx periodontal disease, prescribed 250mg amoxicillin and 250mg metronidazole, referred to periodontist
a few days later, see PC for regular check up, she ups amoxicillin to 500mg
a week later, see periodontist who agrees infection is not fully resolved after antibiotics. she applies antibiotic pellet directly into gums. infection fully resolved, periodontists gives all clear.
april 2024- get sick from work (i do mask), resolved but lingering sinus infection. PC prescribed z pack
may 2024- last few weeks have been feeling tender gums, feel like i have a sore throat, lungs feel sore/infected, ears clicking, neck, chest, jaw, all feel achey and tender. armpit groin knee and elbow all feel sore/overused. exhausted, fatigued, can't sleep enough. everything is hard. i usually come home from work and work in the gardens til dark but now i feel like i just need to come in and rest. headache a lotta days. had a few ticks crawling, no bites but sometimes it's hard to know. make appt, PC can't see me but i see a new NP. tick borne panel comes back negative, blood work looks decent but kinda high WBC (? it was 11.9) an low MCV/MCH, borderline anemic. prescribed 10 day course of augmentin 125mg 2 x day.
wednesday- i call on day 7/10 of antibiotics to report no change (boogers are less bloody but otherwise same). schedule for appt friday
today-friday- see NP again (PC booked out). NP agrees antibiotic should have helped by now, advises i can stop (im scared and don't want to plus tmrws the last day). NP suggests we can check blood work again, add thyroid and autoimmune to the list, doesn't redo tick bourne panel. suggests allergy meds (i've never had seasonal allergies but it's been a bad pollen season?). discuss mental health and recent intense stress with housing issues. brings up fibromyalgia, given the tenderness in multiple body parts and stress. i start to cry and shes very nice and gives me tissues. we agree to start with blood tests and allergy meds. i don't want to be an AH, i like this NP even tho im more comfortable with my PC. it just feels crappy to hear those things as possible answers. esp the FMS one- yes im afab and "overweight"- but why does it feel like the first suggestion is always FMS?. i know this isn't a tv show but can't we rule a few more things out? i've met my deductible for the year ppl let's go. lol. but seriously- FMS is all 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🤷‍♀️🤷🏼‍♂️ prescribing low impact excercises mediation and reduce stress. like ok??? and?! y is women's health so mysterious and under researched. /rant
anyways. i can see my blood work results tonight as they come back. pretty much the same as two weeks ago, high WBC and low MCV/MCH. thyroid, vit d, rheumatoid all average.
so i go on the google like a dumbass. and obvi ok- i know i shouldn't. i need to stop. and at the same time i can't help but feel like i have a lot of early warning signs for something serious. this doesn't fee like FMS. this feels like infection- heavy and tender. maybe i don't understand FMS, maybe i'm talking out of my ass with all of this bc i don't know the full picture. but from what i've read, gum disease def infect diff parts of the body and i've now had 4 rounds of antibiotics (1st scripts, pellets, zpack, 2nd scripts) in the course of 5 months and im not better. is breath work and allergy meds gonna heal me or do i ned to be hitting a panic button before something (idk what but something!) goes to town on me? the comorbidities got me stresssing yall.

Hello- earlier this morning my husband 26M was feeling a little under the weather with a sore throat but generally okay. Around 1pm when I left for work he noticed a strange rash/spots on his eye. He did have a stressful conversation and cry earlier that morning so I thought he maybe rubbed his eye too hard?
Anyways later he confirms he’s feeling more sick- symptoms of sore throat, chills, body ache, fever. He’s been taking ibuprofen but still has a fever of 100.8 F. His eye rash doesn’t look great still but I can’t decide if it is an isolated incident or connected. My mom is freaking me out with the possibility of meningitis.
He’s feeling a bit out of it, but I can’t figure out if it is a normal head cold/ virus or possibly that. He has no nausea or vomiting. Has been dizzy when standing up and a really bad headache as well as the other symptoms I previously mentioned. The rash is no where else last I checked. I will post a picture in the comments.
Thank you for any help. For context my husband is generally very healthy with no other comorbidies.

38F 5'5", 150 lbs, non smoker, United States. Duration one day.
This morning I woke with a stuffy right ear, after fighting what I think was a light case of flu (I'm vaccinated) this week. I did not have any congestion really, just a sore throat, dry cough, chills and fatigue. I also had some conjunctivitis in my right eye that seems to have been viral and not responsive to antibiotics.
So all of that was going away and getting better until this morning. I am not congested except for my ear. Over the course of the day it got worse. I took Mucinex, Sudafed, Aleve and Flonase in an attempt to get it unclogged, but it just got worse. I used swimmer's ear drops as the pain grew even worse. Finally around noon it got bad enough I did a telehralth appointment. They said nothing they can do without looking (why was earache on your menu then 🙄), so I make an appointment at a Minute Clinic. By this time it is abaolutely excruciating pain.
When I get examined at 3:30, my ear canal is so swollen she couldn't see my ear drum. To be safe, she gave me antibiotic drops and pills, and told me to take both Tylenol and Advil. I do all four ASAP and after a short nap felt a little better. My ear started crackling, which seemed like a good aign. Got my kids to bed and started feeling bad again so I took more Advil and another dose of the antibiotics. Been lying awake with tinnitus and pain until midnight, took more Tylenol.
I am still wake ful and ouchy. I may be panicking at this point but my other ear feels like it might be starting to clog.
Is this some kind of virus? Do I need steroids? I am a working mom and I have not gotten as much rest this week as I would like, never do. I am sure my immune system is run down.
I just want this tinnitus to stop and a clear ear so I can take care of my kids this weekend. They are so mad at me for being to sick to go to the pool all week. :(

Basically I’m sick. So far doesn’t seem too crazy. Sinus pressure running nose sore throat etc. general feeling of shit. I’m just about to start week 5. Of course if anything crazy were to happen I’d hop off but as it is now.. should I stay on and ride it out?

26 female. Major diagnoses: congestive heart failure as a result of illness (covid) from 2022.
Smaller diagnoses: chronic migraines, some mental illness.
I take a slew of meds for heart failure and depression/anxiety; I’ll provide a list if someone thinks it’s relevant.
May 15th, I started a dry cough. Symptoms worsened over the next few days (the usual: runny nose, sore throat, coughing horribly, fever, shortness of breath) until I finally went to the ER on May 19th. They said I had pneumonia and told me to come back on a hair trigger if I felt like I was getting worse. They administered doxycycline via IV and gave me two azithromycin pills; sent me home with a prescription for six more azithromycin to be taken once a day, along with a script for an albuterol inhaler.
That said…my dad had a nebulizer breathing treatment machine thing and tubes of albuterol for it. He hasn’t used it in a while so he sterilized it and gave it to me because I was having such a bad time trying to breathe that first week. I’ve done 3?4? treatments with it, one or two that first week (not anymore because I just never felt like cleaning and setting it up each time, I felt that bad), and 2 in the last two days when my mom forced me to bc by the end of the day I’m still struggling to breathe.
I really should have gone back to the ER, because I DID get worse in those few days after leaving the ER, but I did not want to be admitted to the hospital after what happened last time. Looking back I wish I had; these last couple weeks have SUCKED.
I’ve since improved, but still been coughing pretty frequently and having a runny nose. This entire time I’ve been coughing up mucous that’s varied from clear to yellow. I’ve also been sneezing up very thick yellow or white mucous.
This morning, after doing an albuterol breathing treatment last night, I coughed up more mucous. For the most part it was clear, but I saw some flecks of blood, which was odd. A little bit later I coughed so more up and there was still some blood flecks. No big deal, whatever, I’ve been able to breathe pretty well today.
However, it’s late now and I just coughed up so more mucous with a significantly more prominent blood spot in it. The mucous is pretty obviously pinkish red with a couple of flecks of bright blood. It was significant enough that I could taste the iron when it came up.
Should I be worried or is this normal? The ER doc didn’t really tell me what to expect as far as recovery goes; I think he expected me to come back…

Hello! Maybe someone could help me gain back my sanity. I've been feeling some PMS (sore breast and kind of dizziness also back pain just yesterday) since May 10 and my last unprotected sex was May 7 (withdrawal). I tested every week from May 12, consumed more than 10 PTs, and tested again earlier today ~ all negative. But I had some brown spotting last May 10 too. I went to my Doctor and found out I have high sugar, cholesterol, and thyroid + PCOS + thickened endometrium (which states that I'm near my period or early pregnancy/baby building up). My last period was last year in November. I'm puzzled whether I'm pregnant or just having a severe hormonal imbalance. Is it possible for multiple PTs to still not be able to pick up any signs of pregnancy through my urine even if it's almost 1 month since? This is just too crazy for me. Had this same feeling last year before I had my period (sore boobs have always been my period indicator). Any help, please.

I decided not to talk anymore. Everything I say is stupid and unnecessary. I talk without thinking and every word I say comes with snide remarks from someone. I am so goddam annoying...
But I don't wanna hurt my family.
I only don't hate myself in two places. When I idealise my future self being a genius or when I am at home. Honestly, the only reason I don't kill myself is bc of them. I don't hate when I talk there. So I'll talk at home - maybe a bit less, but I will still talk.
When I am outside, I'm going to have a "sore throat" and people will slowly get used to it.
My therapist said that diagnosed, I only have anxiety. But she says that over the past 4 years, my mood has been mainly depressive. (I also had/have problems with SH)
I think a small - but real - part of myself is trying to prove something. To gain the "depression title". After spending so much time miserable, I need some proof that it was real. Then, I think I'm just doing it for attention. I am so goddam annoying...
Sometimes I imagine my future myself doing all these great things - being a popular musician, poet, writer... Sometimes it makes me sane, sometimes it makes it worse. I'll just wait till my expectations kill me.