My org is strongly considering switching to XCP-NG as our hypervisor ASAP. We need to make a decision on this in the next couple weeks. Our environment is probably medium-sized, with over 1000 VMs. I've done a lot of testing and it seems like a good product so far. We're worried about what we might be missing, though.
What issues have you encountered? What has thrown a serious wrench in your plans or been hard to deal with?
A couple things I've run into that I'm curious to hear about more:

1. Seems there are issues with Secure Boot on Windows: https://docs.xcp-ng.org/guides/guest-UEFI-Secure-Boot/#:\~:text=Enabling%20Secure%20Boot%20for%20the,Citrix%20work%20with%20Secure%20Boot. It sounds like we need to have Citrix guest tools installed? I've done that but Secure Boot still fails on Windows VMs. Or are the "Citrix VP drivers" a different thing that I need to look into?
2. We use iSCSI with SANs for storage. This doesn't support this provision in XCP-NG, which we absolutely need. Our SANs do support thin provision. In my limited testing the SAN thin provision seems to work, but I'm wondering if anybody has used this long term. If we start running out of storage in 1 year because relying on Dell SAN thin provision isn't good, that's not going to be pretty.
3. RAM access performance of VMs seems to be much lower on XCP-NG compared to ESXi and Hyper-V (over 10x slower when testing via sysbench. Windows doesn't show this speed decrease). Overall, XCP-NG performance seems mostly on par with ESXi (save a couple test cases), so I'm not really worried about that, but wondering if anybody knows why RAM access is so much slower.
4. Importing VMs from ESXi via Xen Orchestra works, but it is very slow and the live import is broken. StarWind has a converter that works with some other hypervisors, and it allows you to import a VM while it's running through snapshots. This feature seems to be broken in Xen Orchestra, and would be very nice to have.

Hi all,
I can have an answer here regarding my insomnia that has been going on for many years. I can no longer get into a state of relaxation and sleep no matter how much I do sports, I don't fall asleep even though I feel a great need for sleep sometimes even at noon. In addition to this, I have brain fog, digestive problems and bad general conditions.
TSH 0.659 mIU/L (0,550-4780) FT4 14 (11.45-22.65) FT3 4.36 (2,3-4.2) LH 1.27 (1.50-9.30) Free urinary cortisol 34ug/24 h (1.50-63) Free testosterone 6.093 pg/ml (1000-28,280) Anti tpo 3 (5,61<) Anti thyroglobulin 12 (34<) Trab anti-receptor 0.8 IU/L Calcitonin 4.72 pg/ml Salivary cortisol with dexamethasone 1.5 nmol/L Serum cortisol with dexamethasone 20 nmol/L Selenium 105 Metanephrine 44.9 pg/ml Normetanephrine 64.9 pg/ml Vit d 40 ng/ml
thanks

The link between Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction, Hard Flaccid Syndrome, Post Finasteride Syndrome, Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome and advice on how to start your healing journey based on 8 years of research and personal experiences : pssdhealing (reddit.com)
Here are all my thoughts and advice based on my personal experiences, other people’s insight and helpful experiences, and research I have done on and off about pelvic floor issues from the past eight years or so. I am not claiming that any of this is revolutionary, but I hope it can help some of you out there to give you a head start on healing and advance our understanding of these conditions. As I am a 27 year old male with previous major problems with pelvic floor issues and hard flaccid, some of my advice may be biased towards my condition. However, I believe everyone can benefit from a lot of this because I really do think that all of these conditions that I mentioned are linked in at least some way, especially by pelvic floor dysfunction and sex hormone desensitization. I try not to come to these forums because it increases anxiety and negative emotions which leads to worse pelvic floor symptoms, so my apologies if I do not respond to your questions. For hard flaccid and pelvic floor affected people, follow my advice and I am confident you can heal and reach a place where your symptoms barely affect your life, if at all, which is where I am at now. The mentality of trying to find a 100% “magic cure” solution just leads to anxiety and catastrophic thinking if you have a set back which will only worsen your symptoms. You can and will heal. I know this is a lot of information, but try to implement just one or two things at a time. Focus on the present, and take it one day at a time. Don’t get overwhelmed. All of this is my opinion and not professional medical advice. Talk with your doctor before starting anything.
Post Finasteride Syndrome (PFS), Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), Hard Flaccid Syndrome (HFS), Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, and Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome all can have some similar symptoms. I believe that they are all either caused or can be exacerbated by androgen and estrogen receptor insensitivity and are triggered by medication, genital injury, and pelvic floor inflammation and dysfunction. The pelvic floor is rich in androgen receptors and estrogen receptors. However, without proper androgen receptor activation and sensitivity, the pelvic floor muscles don’t have enough DHT which line the tissues of the pelvic floor, genitalia, and lower urinary tract. DHT is vital for healthy sexual functioning in both sexes - it provides an anabolic effect to tissues to provide strength, stability, healing, and relaxation to tissues. As a result of androgen receptor insensitivity and lack of DHT, the pelvic floor can become chronically weakened, tight, and inflamed which reduces blood flow to the region leading to even more androgen receptor insensitivity and thus less DHT. These symptoms can cause psychological stress to the individual which tightens the pelvic floor further leading to more symptoms and less blood flow. One study found that androgen sensitivity has raised the possibility that androgens can be used to rebuild the weakened and/or damaged muscles comprising the pelvic floor - source. Some people may also have normal hormone levels in the blood when tested, but these hormones cannot reach or be effective in the pelvic floor tissues or brain due to sex hormone insensitivity and the lack of the blood flow in the region caused by pelvic floor tightness and dysfunction. It is also likely that there is a problem with desensitized estrogen receptors causing a similar mechanism of dysfunction because they are also found in the pelvic floor, genitals, and brain and are important for pelvic floor health, sexual functioning, cognition, and emotions in both sexes. The most important element to remember to help start the healing process for these disorders is to boost blood flow through supplements, stretches, and exercises which will increase both androgen and estrogen receptor sensitivity over time.
Many males with PFS, PSSD, and Pelvic Floor dysfunction are affected by the hard flaccid condition.
Post Finasteride Syndrome (PFS) caused by Finasteride, a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor (5-ARI), plummets DHT levels in the body to try to help hair loss causing sexual dysfunction and pelvic floor issues. Androgen receptors that surround the pelvic floor, genitals, and brain become desensitized due to the Finasteride leading to less DHT binding to these receptors causing dysfunction and a tight, weak pelvic floor. The tight, dysfunctional pelvic floor now restricts blood flow which impacts healing and the delivery of testosterone to this area that further exacerbates androgen insensitivity leading to less DHT in these tissues. Since androgen receptors are found in the brain and androgens have neuroprotective effects, this could be one reason why some PFS and PSSD sufferers are also impacted cognitively. An herbal supplement called Saw Palmetto has also been reported to cause a disorder similar to PFS because it is also a 5-ARI that blocks the conversion of testosterone into DHT. Another disorder called Post Accutane Syndrome (PAS) is also similar to PFS and it reduces DHT as well through being a 5-ARI: “Isotretinoin, used to treat severe acne, has been shown to induce hormonal changes, especially to reduce 5 alpha-reductase in the production of the tissue-derived dihydrotestosterone (DHT) metabolite 3 alpha-Adiol G.”. PFS, PAS, and PSSD are thought to cause not only androgen receptor desensitization, but likely estrogen receptor desensitization as well.
For Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), SSRIs are also known to decrease androgens and down regulate androgen receptors. This study shows that SSRIs can have an anti-estrogenic effect as well and can even reduce the expression of estrogen receptors (ER), including in the hypothalamus.. As sex hormones get desensitized in the pelvic floor, genital region, and brain, it causes localized DHT and estrogen levels in these tissues to decrease causing emotional blunting, sexual dysfunction, pelvic floor issues, hard flaccid syndrome, and more. The pelvic floor dysfunction can then prevent the sex hormone receptors from being reactivated and sensitized due to restricting oxygen and sex hormone rich blood flow to the tissues. SSRIs can cause androgen receptor insensitivity and estrogen receptor insensitivity by severely inhibiting the serotonin transporter (SERT) leading to increased serotonin levels which desensitizes those receptors throughout the body. One key to help heal from PSSD is increasing androgen production, androgen receptor sensitivity, and blood flow to boost BDNF, SERT, and DHT levels to hopefully allow any estrogen receptor desensitization recover on its own over time after everything else is normalized. Once androgen levels in local tissues (pelvic floor, brain, genitals) are normalized again through androgen receptor activation and sensitivity, it will encourage the conversion of androgens into estrogens in these tissues via aromatase. It is also worth to mention that some community members are trying to restore estrogen receptor sensitivity via boosting estrogen in various ways including by taking hops extract which is a potent phytoestrogen. This is also interesting: Estradiol represents another important natural ligand for androgen receptors that may play an essential role for the androgen receptor function and the development of the male reproductive system.
As mentioned earlier, people with PSSD and other disorders might have normal looking hormone blood tests (testosterone, DHT, estrogen, etc), but the issue is that these hormones are not functioning in the brain, pelvic floor, and genitals properly due to androgen and estrogen receptor insensitivity. An important thing to also recognize is that the medical community still has no official explanation how exactly SSRIs cause all of these debilitating side effects, but they are still being readily prescribed without informed consent about the risks of PSSD. It is unfortunate that it is people like us on the internet leading the charge to investigate and inform. We all need to continue to do our part to spread awareness of these iatrogenic disorders to warn people about the risks of taking these medications because their medical providers aren’t likely going to. Thank you to the PSSD Network for helping to give a voice to the unheard.
Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD): Biological Plausibility, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Presumed Risk Factors
Androgen receptor (AR) inactivation in mice led to reduction in hypothalamic neural nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), indicating the regulatory sexual function of this neurotransmitter. Furthermore, activation of the pre and post-synaptic 5HT1A receptors was found to be correlated with inhibitory effect on erectile function. All of these factors are speculated to be involved in this symptom and might be related to epigenetic alteration of androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER) densities due to influence of SSRIs on the epigenome.
In male PSSD sufferers, the penile shaft can be rigid during erection, yet the glans of the penis remains flaccid.This symptom may arise from hypo-activation of the dopaminergic and oxytocinergic pathways. The glans of the penis, in particular, receives its blood supply from the deep dorsal artery. Perhaps this points to a selective arterial malfunction relative to pelvic floor dysfunction which usually accompanies PSSD.
Here is another interesting study that gives support to the importance of increasing blood flow to help heal:
If SSRIs produce sexual side effects by impairing vasocongestion to the genital region, it would be expected that pharmacologic agents that increase blood flow to the genital region would improve sexual functioning. Indeed, several anecdotal reports and studies have found that sildenafil (a drug designed to treat erectile failure by increasing blood flow into the penile tissue) was successful in reversing SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction in both men and women [8,9,87,88,109]. Sildenafil acts to increase blood flow into the genital tissue by facilitating c-GMP activity that is initiated by nitric oxide [19] and preliminary evidence suggests that the SSRIs may cause sexual difficulties by inhibiting nitric oxide synthase [39,118].
Here is a paper from a community member that hypothesizes that the main issue is lasting estrogen receptor insensitivity just to give another interesting perspective on Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction, Post-Finasteride Syndrome, and Post-Retinoid Sexual Dysfunction
As the body is starved of DHT, ARs upregulate in response. At the same time, ER activation is significantly increased as a result of the increased production of Estradiol during treatment (due to higher Testosterone availability by reduced 5a reduction to DHT) - eventually leading to ER downregulation.
Hard Flaccid Syndrome (HFS) - There are many men suffering from HFS and pelvic floor issues due to PSSD, PFS, heavy weight lifting, excess kegeling, or in the case I’m presenting here, physical damage to the genitals from excessive, vigorous sexual activity (my case) or penis enlargement exercises. When the genitals get damaged, an inflammatory process starts and the pelvic floor contracts to protect itself. Since the pelvic floor is now in a chronic, contracted state, it limits oxygen and sex hormone rich blood flow to the genitals and pelvic floor which leads to sex hormone insensitivity and negatively impacts healing, muscle relaxation, and DHT production in these tissues. Finasteride, Accutane, and SSRIs also desensitize sex hormone receptors in the genitals and pelvic floor tissues leading to hard flaccid and pelvic floor dysfunction. Since the pelvic floor tightness restricts blood flow, it is difficult for hard flaccid sufferers to reactivate and sensitize their pelvic floor muscle androgen receptors again to regain relaxation and strength in their pelvic floor muscles, including the ischiocavernosus (IC), bulbocavernosus (BC), and pubococcygeus (PC) which are in a contracted state; the IC muscle in particular is thought to be the most implicated in the cause of hard flaccid. We first need to promote relaxation in the pelvic floor by boosting blood flow through supplements and stretches because tight muscles are weak muscles. Once the pelvic floor is in a chronic state of tension, it is hard to heal from pelvic floor issues because you likely already had bad habits such as poor posture, unhealthy sexual practices, stiff muscles, sedentary lifestyle, unchecked anxiety, and other negative lifestyle factors. Along with supplements, exercises, and stretches, correcting these bad habits is necessary to heal to have an even healthier pelvic floor than you ever had before because it likely was already tight and dysfunctional to begin with before developing obvious issues, but it was more subtle and you had no awareness of your pelvic floor muscles until now. You have the potential to now become a much healthier person overall than you ever would have been without being affected by pelvic floor dysfunction and hard flaccid.
32% of women will develop a pelvic floor disorder in their lifetime which is double that of men. While childbirth and pregnancy plays a role in this discrepancy, women also have far less testosterone and DHT levels than men which I believe plays a major factor. Since women have less testosterone, their androgen receptors that line the pelvic floor don’t make enough DHT to adequately support these tissues compared to men. This makes them more prone to pelvic floor dysfunction that causes them a disparate amount of pain, tightness, and inflammation. Androgen receptors and their ability to convert testosterone into DHT play such a vital role in pelvic floor health and sexual functioning. This is mentioned in a research study: Prevailing scientific literature has indicated the presence of androgen receptors in the levator ani muscle and pelvic fascia. The existence of androgen receptors in the vaginal wall can play an essential role in the development of pelvic floor disorders in women.Thus, androgen-related disorders may interfere with the function of pelvic floor muscles. [Many people mistakenly believe that androgens are only important for male sexual health:](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/sexualmedicine/patientinformation-physicians/androgen-insuffiency-in-women/#:~:text=Androgen%20insufficiency%20syndrome%2C%20characterized%20by,of%20sexual%20dysfunction%20in%20women.] Androgens have a three-fold action on female sexual function. They (1) increase libido by providing the fuel for a woman’s psychosexual stimulation, (2) increase sensitivity and blood flow to the external genitalia, and (3) increase the intensity of sexual gratification.
What I see in all these conditions is that sex hormone receptors become desensitized in the pelvic floor and genital tissues either from a drug, pelvic tightness, or inflammation from injury leading to less hormones being produced causing sexual and pelvic floor dysfunction. The pelvic floor now goes into a chronic tightened state as a response, leading to less oxygen and testosterone rich blood flow to the genital and pelvic region which leads to more androgen insensitivity and subsequently less DHT. This all explains why many people who have these conditions are helped by supplements that improve androgen receptor sensitivity and blood flow, and why pelvic floor therapy and exercises are so helpful to many of them. Estrogen receptor insensitivity in the pelvic floor also appears to have a similar mechanical negative effect by leading to less estrogen levels in the pelvic floor and genital tissues. It is also possible that some people with PSSD/PFS may have subtle or no pelvic floor symptoms, but the medication still desensitizes sex hormone sensitivity in their genitals and pelvic floor tissues that is leading to sexual dysfunction.
Another study linking androgens and the pelvic floor: Levator ani and other muscles of the pelvic floor and lower urinary tract are sensitive to the anabolic effects of testosterone. Androgen receptors are also expressed in the pelvic floor and lower urinary tract of both animals and humans. Anabolic effects of androgens may play an important role in the female pelvic-floor and lower-urinary-tract disorders. Furthermore, the interactions between androgen and nitric oxide synthase and arginase have been demonstrated, suggesting that androgens may also participate in modulating the physiological functions of the lower urinary tract through nitric oxide. The action of androgens in the lower urinary tract and pelvic floor is complex and may depend on their anabolic effects, hormonal modulation, receptor expression, interaction with nitric oxide synthase, or a combination of these effects.
My solution to help heal and improve the well-being of people with these issues is to try to improve sex hormone receptor sensitivity and pelvic floor function through supplements, stretches, exercises, and boosting blood flow which will hopefully restore normal levels of estrogens and androgens in pelvic, genital, and brain tissues. The body has a tremendous capability of self-healing, but we need to support it through active recovery methods.
We will first start with supplements (this is not professional medical advice - talk with your doctor before taking):
L-citrulline - This is the precursor to l-arginine, and it will improve blood flow and levels of nitric oxide to help get oxygen and testosterone rich blood to the pelvic floor and genital tissues to increase androgen sensitivity. Nitric oxide can also induce smooth muscle relaxation which is important for relaxing the pelvic floor. Herein we report on a young man affected by PSSD who regained sexual functioning after 3-month treatment with EDOVIS, a dietary supplement containing L-citrulline and other commonly used aphrodisiacs.. I recommend taking at least 6000 mg daily by taking 2000mg three times throughout the day. The max dose is 10,000mg. Even potentially better, people report great results using Cialis to improve blood flow and healing rather than L-citrulline and some doctors will even prescribe it to women if you show them the evidence - talk with your doctor. “Tadalafil (Cialis) reversal of sexual dysfunction caused by serotonin enhancing medications in women”. L-Citrulline and Cialis are not recommended to be taken together.
L-Carnitine - This will improve the number of androgen receptors and their sensitivity to testosterone to increase levels of DHT in the pelvic floor, genital tissues, and brain. I recommend taking 2000mg daily. Acetyl-L-Carnitine can pass through the blood-brain barrier, while Propionyl-L-carnitine has a high degree of interaction with testosterone. Propionyl may be better for sexual and pelvic floor dysfunction, while Acetyl might help people suffering from the mental effects of PSSD. This study used each at 2000mg daily to improve erectile dysfunction along with Viagra.. I would work up to 2000mg each of Acetyl and Propionyl L-Carnitine along with Cialis instead of Viagra as it lasts in the body for much longer (36 hours) for increased blood flow healing purposes. You can also use L-Citrulline instead of Cialis as mentioned earlier. Discuss with your doctor before taking them.
Vitamin D - This vitamin, which acts more like a hormone, works directly with the endocrine system. It has its own receptors throughout the body and they are often in close proximity to androgen receptors. Deficiency in vitamin D is associated with a stunting of testosterone's effects on androgen receptors and a decline in testosterone levels. Vitamin D will encourage androgen receptor resensitization. One study found that higher vitamin D levels are associated with a decreased risk of pelvic floor disorders in women, and The levator ani and coccygeus muscles are skeletal muscles that are critical components of the pelvic floor and may be affected by vitamin D nutritional status. I recommend 4000IU of vitamin D daily or whatever gets your levels to 60 - 80 ng/ml.
If you have inflammatory issues or pain due to pelvic floor dysfunction, I recommend a fish oil supplement daily. I take fish oil, and I find that it helps limit pelvic inflammation. I also take Magnesium Glycinate to relax the smooth muscle that lines the pelvic floor and genital tissue. I recommend it for people with clear pelvic floor dysfunction, but others should be careful as research says magnesium is a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor. Take quercetin and bromelain as needed if you experience pelvic inflammatory flare ups and pain, but just be careful as quercetin can also inhibit the production of DHT from testosterone as well. Some say fish oil blocks DHT too, but experiencing chronic pelvic floor pain and inflammation will do more harm to you than minimal DHT blocking. I recommend staying away from all DHT inhibiting foods and supplements for people with PSSD, PFS, and PAS unless you are experiencing pelvic pain and inflammation.
As always, discuss these supplements with your doctor to see if they are okay for you. Lower your supplement intake based on side effects. These aren’t a magic cure, but a tool to help you on your journey to recovery. Don’t do anything without doctor supervision, but this thread gives more evidence for the “cure” for PSSD/PFS being resensitizing androgen receptors and estrogen receptors along with enhancing blood flow as it details how some men recovered through taking high doses of androgens, post cycle therapy, and Cialis. This at least gives hope that a hormonal cure can be created one day by medical professionals. I would of course recommend trying to heal yourself naturally for a long time before doing any hormone treatments under the supervision of a doctor.
I also recommend doing some form of yoga or pelvic floor stretches daily to improve blood flow for pelvic floor relaxation and sex hormone receptor sensitivity. You also need to request to see a pelvic floor therapist for an evaluation and treatment. Learn how to do reverse kegels. Doing reverse kegels will be difficult at first because your pelvic floor is tight and you have little to no awareness of these muscles, so just focus on lengthening and relaxing the pelvic floor through stretches for now. Do not do regular kegels for pelvic floor issues. Learn how to diaphragmatically breathe in 360 degrees to create expansion in your rib cage and abdomen to encourage pelvic floor relaxation. Do not breathe through your chest, and “belly breathing” isn’t the right term because the ribs need to expand as well. You can learn how to diaphragmatically breathe through an exercise such as 4-7-8 breathing. Here is a great video on diaphragmatic breathing and another video. I cannot overstate it enough: retraining yourself to properly breathe diaphragmatically is the single most important thing that you can do to heal from pelvic floor issues. Be a student of breathing: study and take notes on how to breathe better.
Stretches/Yoga poses I recommend:
Hold the Malasana/hindi/yoga squat pose for at least 5-10 minutes at least twice a day, but doing it morning, mid-day, and at night would be the best. Some get great results holding it for 15-20 minutes.This is one of the most important things for your pelvic floor because it will help lengthen and release it. Doing them barefoot is also very beneficial to strengthen your ankles and feet which are connected to your pelvic floor. Again, remember to breathe deeply down into your belly and pelvic floor for all these stretches.
Begin your stretching routine with an Exercise ball ab stretch and Upward-facing dog/cobra pose. This will help stretch your lower abs and psoas muscles so that you can get more breath deeper down into your pelvic floor for the rest of your stretches. Some people say that these types of stretches aren’t great for people who have Anterior Pelvic Tilt, which we should fix, but I still do them as it is important to stretch the lower abs that are hard to get to. You can experiment with doing them sporadically instead of every time you stretch.
This is my current personal complete stretch routine I do in order 3+ days a week:
Myofascial release on my glutes with an orb massage ball but you can use any small hard ball (don’t do this if glutes are currently sore) > Calf stretch against a wall or a yoga block which is what I use > exercise ball ab stretch > upward facing dog > (optional) Do a handful of cat cows > Supine hamstring stretch with yoga strap or an IdealStretch tool which is what I use > Kneeling hip flexor stretch > flat on back supine single knee to chest stretch > then bring knee to opposite shoulder stretch > supine figure four > I do this stretch next right after figure four > Reclined bound angle pose > (optional) butterfly stretch > (optional) A little bit of downward facing dog to stretch the calves > (optional) Lizard Pose) > (optional) Half split stretch/Half monkey pose with yoga blocks > Half-pigeon pose > Child’s pose > Wall quad hip flexor stretch > Wall figure four stretch > Wall straddle pose > Wall happy baby pose > Flat on back while pulling knees apart > kneeling with one leg, other leg out to side for adductors > (optional) Frog pose with feet together > regular Frog pose with feet separated in line with the knees > Yoga squat/malasana > Corpse pose
All these stretches are the ones I found most useful in a routine. See what works for you and develop your own routine. Consistency is the most important. This long stretching routine may not be possible for you to complete regularly so make adjustments, but doing this routine at least 3 days a week is ideal. Stretches such as the yoga squat, supine hamstring stretch, hip flexor stretches, and wall stretches are vital and should be done most days to help relax the pelvic floor. For how long you should hold each stretch, just go by how you and your body feels. Really let go, breathe, and sink into every stretch. On rest days, doing some deep breathing in child’s pose, reclined bound angle pose, flat on back while pulling knees apart, and the happy baby wall pose is really great while trying to do gentle reverse kegels.
You can also work on more individualized stretches for posture to correct anterior pelvic tilt, muscle imbalances, and to release other tight muscles, such as the upper body. Listen to your body if you need to give yourself a rest day from stretching. Adding in a 30-60 minute walk/swim on rest days is incredibly beneficial as well. Eventually, you can also try to learn isometric PNF stretching to incorporate it into some of the stretches such as the kneeling hip flexor stretch and hamstring stretch.
After working to relax and lengthen your pelvic floor through yoga and stretches, I would begin gentle body strengthening exercises that are pelvic floor safe. The pelvic floor is a master compensator. So, if the glutes, adductors, deep hip rotators, transversus abdominis, and other supportive muscles are weak, then the pelvic floor is in the prime position to pick up the slack which leads to a lot of strain on the pelvic floor which results in tightness and dysfunction. You need to strengthen the surrounding muscles to relieve tightness in the pelvic floor. This is where working with a pelvic floor therapist would be helpful to point out safe individualized exercises for you. Yoga will help strengthen your muscles in a safe way too.
The glutes and transversus abdominis in particular are very important to strengthen. Glute bridge, single glute bridge, side lying leg raises, lateral band walks can help build up glute strength. Deadbugs, Bird Dog, 8- point planks, or planks with pelvic floor-friendly modifications, can help to strengthen the transversus abdominis (TVA). Abdominal work may be triggering to your pelvic floor symptoms, especially the 8 point plank, so you can instead look into hypopressive exercises to work the TVA without overworking the pelvic floor. These exercises will help you bring more awareness to your breathing, diaphragm, TVA, and pelvic floor which are all important for recovery. Here is how to find and become aware of the TVA. Do side planks for your oblique ab muscles.
For hip/abductors do the side lying hip abduction exercise, fire hydrants, and the shinbox lunge. For the adductors, do Copenhagen adductor exercise, cossack squats, and an exercise where you squeeze a soft ball between the knees just don’t do any crunch movements with pelvic floor issues. For hamstrings, Nordic hamstring curl/glute ham raises, and single leg bridge. For the back, do supine pelvic tilt. One person even reported that dorsiflexion exercises and stretches were one important element to solve his pelvic floor issues; this is most likely because the ankle bone, like everything else including even our jaw, is connected to the pelvic floor.
Like with anything, do all these exercises in moderation and stop if you sense your pelvic floor is not responding well to them - do them one at a time to see which ones your pelvic floor can handle for now. Here is an exercise routine from another poster that has helped many people. Just be careful of the ab exercises such as the ab wheel and 5 minute planks with your pelvic floor issues - don’t over do it or avoid it if they cause too many symptoms.
Myofascial release and foam rolling to release trigger points also helps a lot of people to relax their pelvic floor muscles and improve blood flow. The glutes are the most important area to target for pelvic floor issues when foam rolling in my experience if you only had limited time. Using a soft ball to lay on and breathe deeply can help release trigger points in the abdominal muscles and psoas which can help you breathe better and relax the pelvic floor. I haven’t done it, but you can also try out a massage gun for myofascial release; just be careful and don’t use it in sensitive pelvic areas. Some men and women also report success using a therawand to release internal trigger points that are causing them pelvic floor dysfunction symptoms.
Walking and swimming for 30-60 minutes are some of the best exercises to lengthen, relax, stretch, and release your pelvic floor, boost blood flow, and help to retain and build strength in muscles that give support to the pelvic floor. Walk or swim for 5+ days a week for the best results. The breaststroke and freestyle are very helpful for pelvic floor sufferers. Along with swimming, people also use an elliptical at a low resistance to help provide a cardio workout that is safer for your pelvic floor.
Fix your posture. Pelvic floor issues and hard flaccid syndrome are closely associated with Anterior Pelvic Tilt and other postural issues. Get evaluated by a physical therapist so that they can give you exercises and stretches to fix it. You could also look into the Postural Restoration institute and see one of their providers and try to implement some of their exercises. In the meantime, here is one video playlist on how to fix APT. Another video to fix APT says to stretch the hip flexors, lower back, while focusing on strengthening the abs, glutes, and hamstrings. Make sure that you sit and walk with good posture - watch this to learn how to walk correctly - activate your glutes during each step and push off with your back foot!. I also recommend getting a standing desk to try to avoid sitting for long periods of time.
Weight training can be effective for boosting active androgen receptors in the body to increase testosterone and DHT levels. However, you need to make sure that it isn’t making your pelvic floor symptoms worse which defeats the purpose. If you are going to lift weights with pelvic floor issues, don’t lift heavy, do any intensive ab workouts, or any other exercises that can put extra strain on your pelvic floor. Do lifts where you can sit down instead of standing up. Start with yoga, stretching, and gentle body exercises to relax your pelvic floor and strengthen surrounding muscles before incorporating consistent weight training. I highly recommend, however, just sticking with yoga and pelvic floor safe body weight exercises to build strength instead. Those with PSSD without pelvic floor dysfunction may benefit a lot from lifting weights, high-intensity interval training, and doing bodyweight exercises such as squats regularly to boost androgen receptors and DHT. Remember to see a pelvic floor therapist to get evaluated first before starting any weight lifting because many people have pelvic floor issues without even realizing it.
Work on your mental health. Anxiety can worsen pelvic floor issues. Just as dogs tuck and tense their tails when stressed, we tense our pelvic floors which are directly connected to our tailbone where we used to have tails ourselves in our evolutionary history. As we are impacted by sexual dysfunction and pelvic floor dysfunction symptoms, we become anxious along with other negative emotions which leads to more pelvic floor tension symptoms due to the fight or flight mode response causing even more anxiety leading to more symptoms. It is a vicious cycle that needs to break by not becoming anxious and negative when we experience pelvic floor symptoms or hard flaccid and instead let go, accept, and realize that it is a normal process when trying to heal because sometimes our muscles that are used to that tightness don't want to let go of the tension we hold in our pelvic floors. Daily yoga, meditation, stretching, and walking will help with anxiety. I would also see a mental health therapist because all of these issues are deeply traumatic and we cannot go through this alone. We often hold tension in the form of emotions and trauma in our bodies, especially our pelvic floor and genital areas. By openly talking about these issues with a therapist, it will help us process and release our emotions and trauma that we are holding inside our bodies to improve our anxiety, relax our pelvic floor, and to let go of all of our tension. Many people who healed their hard flaccid and pelvic floor issues said that solving their anxiety and negative thoughts by talking to a mental health counselor was vital in recovery. The mind-body connection is so powerful, and it directly impacts our pelvic floor. Those who are stuck in the cycle of experiencing pelvic floor symptoms leading to anxiety and negative thoughts will also benefit from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy you can do by yourself like in this video or preferably with a trained therapist. Here is an informative mini lecture on how stress impacts the pelvic floor.
I would also definitely go on a healthy anti-inflammatory diet. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, marijuana, and other substances. Avoid foods and liquids that can trigger pelvic floor inflammation such as highly acidic fruits and veggies, carbonated beverages, very spicy foods, and artificial sugars. To maintain a healthy gut to reduce inflammation in your body I recommend trying a low-histamine probiotic supplement along with eating healthy. You should also work on preventing or fixing constipation; eat a lot of soluble fiber to not get constipated - take a supplement such as metamucil if you have to. Check the Bristol stool shape chart to identify if you are constipated because even mild constipation can contribute to pelvic floor tension. This is because the constipation leads to a lot of pressure being put on your rectum and pelvic floor leading to the muscles becoming weak and dysfunctional. I am willing to bet many of you are constipated and don’t know it because it isn’t just whether you go regularly, it is also how your stool is shaped. People with pelvic floor disorders are at a high risk of constipation which makes their tension and dysfunction worse which then worsens the constipation, another cycle to fix. I recommend getting a Squatty Potty to reduce strain on the pelvic floor during elimination.
To help heal hard flaccid and pelvic floor issues, never watch pornography again (this is vital). Go on NoFap for 90+ days to help heal your brain and body from any unhealthy pornography and sexual habits you have partaken in. Pornography leads to involuntary kegels, a tight pelvic floor, desensitizes you, and messes up the dopamine and arousal circuitry in your brain. Don’t climax too often. Learn how to reverse kegel by yourself and during sexual activities. Never edge or regular kegel - it leads to pelvic floor tightness and dysfunction - just relax your arousal through a reverse kegel. Keep your pelvic floor relaxed during sexual activities.
Stay strong and never give up. You will heal. Thank you for reading.

Hello everyone!

General Info

I'm a 24M, Italian, having sudden IBS and mild IBS-related and social anxiety since 3-4 years. Also feel fatigued and lacking energies, like ''I could do better''. Never had any of these issues before this period of time.
Major changes at the start of this period – 3-4 years ago – were:
· quitting smoking cannabis (not gradually) · being on an hypo-caloric diet for some months and losing some weight · mild stress related to post pandemic/university/breakup (not ongoing).
Always done super good in social and relationships, never missed social gatherings, staying away from home even for several days – partying, staying at friends etc – this all seems an old version of me.
My relationships are good, I'm not totally ''anxiety-impaired'' (can travel, go out and have a drink etc), but I tend to avoid certain situations and I'm quite ruminating and over-analyzing future events. I have a girlfriend and have regular sex, I seem to work good under stress – even if it depletes my energies – and alternate between periods of good sleep pattern and light intermittent sleep (e.g. waking up after 3-4 hours of sleep). I don't usually exercise, aside from some cardio 1-2 times a week (running or soccer match), as intense exercise can make me feel really good or really depressed-like. I'm actually trying to do full body dumbbells routines and it feels good.

Diet

At the moment I'm on a dairy-free and gluten-free diet, I will give further info about it later.
I eat lots of bananas, tangerines, walnuts, sheep and goat greek yogurt, honey, chicken, beef and pig meat, eggs, fish, rice, potatoes, bio-chocolate spreads, olive oil and gluten-free cereals/bread, pasta or baked products, with ''dairy free'' natural cheeses (like 36 month Parmigiano Reggiano) or dairy free cheese spreads. As greens, I mainly eat ''light'' salads as lamb's lettuce, rocket, etc. I can't digest vegetables well due to my GI symptoms, so less often i eat broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, pumpkin, chickpeas. I drink vegetal milks and matcha from time to time. Protein makes me really bloated.
Masterjohn's Genetic Choline Calculator recommends 8 eggs yolks.

Supplements Stack

I'm currently taking:
· DS-01 Daily Synbiotic by Seed (probiotic) or other Life Extensions probiotics + enzymes. · L-Glutamine powder (10 g daily on an empty stomach) · Magnesium (only one form at a time): · Magnesium L-Threonate (144 mg elemental mag from 2000 mg of magtein) · Magnesium Acetyl-Taurinate (45 mg elemental mag from 750 mg of atamg) · Magnesium Bisglycinate Fully Chelated (315 mg elemental mag) · Omega-3 + EPA + DHA (700 mg of EPA, 500 mg of DHA, 2000 mg of pure+ wild fish oil) · Bioactive B-Complex *only 3-4 times a week
The B-Complex includes: · 100 mg of B1 as thiamine HCl · 75 mg of B2 as riboflavin and R5P · 100 mg of B3 as niacinamide and niacin · 100 mg of B6 as pyridoxine HCl and P5P · 400 mcg of B9 as L-methyltetrahydrofolate calcium salt · 300 mcg of B12 as methylcobalamin · 1000 mcg of B8 · 500 mg of B5 as D-calcium-pantothenate · 100 mg of inositol · 50 mg of PABA
Never seem to have had any issues with taking this 3-4 times a week – no increased anxiety or anything. As a matter of fact, I've started supplementing 2 months ago and I'm not noticing shifts in anxiety levels.
The only thing which seems to improve my anxiety and gut symptoms is definitely L-Glutamine. It makes night and day difference for me. Supports regular bowel movements and makes me feel calm and more ''ready to go'' (e.g. I don't ruminate much before leaving the house). I'm also adding 5 g of creatine for workouts and general energy.

Lab Results

(technique) [reference values]
Ironemia (Ferrozine) 137 ng/dL [61 - 157]
Testosterone (CLIA) 5.20 ng/ml [2.00 - 9.80]
17-Beta-Estradiol (ECLIA) 11.1 pg/ml [7.63 - 42.6]
Vitamin D 25-OH (ECLIA) 30 ng/ml [Deficiency <10 *Insufficiency 10 - 30* *Sufficiency 30 - 100*]
Vitamin B12 (ECLIA) 410 pg/ml [191 - 663]
Folic Acid / Vitamin B9 (ECLIA) 14.2 ng/ml [2.00 - 16.8]
Homocysteine (HPLC) 11.3 mmol/l [5 - 14]
Histamine (E.I.A) 0.9 ng/ml [0.2 - 1.0]
Vitamin B2 / FAD (HPLC) 301 microgl [137 - 370]
Vitamin B1 (HPLC) 72.4 microgl [28 - 85]
Vitamin B6 (HPLC) 16.9 microgl [8.7 - 27.2]
Copper (GFAAS) 85 mcg/dl [70 - 140]
Zinc (GFAAS) 88 microgdl [68 - 107]

Genetic Reports

https://preview.redd.it/an3ae7sws7yc1.jpg?width=8263&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60f503cb41f38f2b554a13e7ca9e286eb4c12423
https://preview.redd.it/04e3m7sws7yc1.jpg?width=11692&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=524069d1126a6e531f8241414cc388be1d824638
https://preview.redd.it/2gpdmcsws7yc1.jpg?width=11692&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba50d68dc0bc8acf0d7e297484f0abc9c72f30e2
https://preview.redd.it/x2qnc9sws7yc1.jpg?width=11692&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f3e2939f0d4498a6631ecd350a65f3e9347fe4ca
https://preview.redd.it/3zxdyzbys7yc1.jpg?width=8263&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9146099d2bbee6f16ea8f5e7365393e0670fc4e
https://preview.redd.it/s188oojzs7yc1.jpg?width=5088&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ffe4ed7ed7aa69c17b403c6e4144acd73ef07fb3
Thank you all for your time, patience and support!
This is all new to me and I'm excited to start dive into this, so please, be kind!
Saw a lot of incredible answers on this sub by many users, would *love* to hear u/Tawinn's opinion on this!

Chapter 1:
Jan 2017 I tried sucralose after finding out splenda is 99% Dextrose+Maltodextrin (combined GI ~125). The guy that sold me the thing sold me a squirt bottle he said was mixed at 10%. I still have that bottle. I was arguing with him I wanted pure sucralose etc etc. He simply said, you as little as a soft gentle squeeze will put out. Else you will find it tooooooooooooo sweet. And man was he right. Sucralose is easily 700-1200 times as sweet as sugar. If you dont believe me - spend $3 at walmart and buy one of those little squirt bottles of your favorite flavor. Its $3, if you dislike it that's all you lose. Take a white cup Yes it has to be white, put it on a milligram scale 0 it out, and put in water till the top. So its got 200gm water lets say. 0 it out. Now squirt sucralose in till the beverage is the right color. Taste it. Now look at the weight of the sucralose you put in. I'll bet its under 10 mg. OK. Now it also has the right color and the flavor of the drink they have had to add. Its all in that 10mg. If at this point you are interested, keep drinking that flavor (afterall its your favorite) till the bottle is empty, but dont throw the bottle out. If someone has got this far, I'll post the next steps. Else I'll save my and every one's time.
Chapter 2: Now that I've not been booted out of here. How to use it at the right strength and a 2nd proof that its 1000+ sweeter than sugar.
Now that you have the little empty squirt bottle from walmart - yes please buy the walmart brand, not the mio or others. Twist its head (not the thin flip cap, take off the sticker and there's a head under it) 90 degree and pull it off. Clean it (optional). Back to your milligram scale. Put in 4gm sucralose. Trust me 4. Yea you'd need a tiny spoon. Then put in 40 gm water. Yes 40 gm water. It'll be nearly full. Put the cap back on. Squirt 1/4 the amount as before in say a lemonade you're making (lemon juice and water). And try it. Yes 1/4th. Oh yea on milligram scale. Taste it (adjust as required). Enjoy.
Conversely you could buy a 500 ml squirt bottle (a lot cheaper than a mg scale) And now put 45 gm and 450 ml h20. You're still going to need a scale. Baking scale. Trust me, you do not want to eyeball this.
Other information:
1: An old plastic pill bottle is usable too, but only fill it 80% and stir it, not shake. Use a ink dropper. Again start with 1 drop.
2: I now mix mine ~7%, you reverse snow ball. So if you start feeling its too sweet cut the strength down next time.
3: Add a lemon tea or a hibiscus or ginger or some sort of tea instead of water to the powders.
4: 3 yrs ago I bought mine from Bulk suppliments. I like them for so many other suppliments now (no affiliation)
5: Its going to mix into the drink instantly. So that's an added benefit for tea or coffee. No need to stir it like sugar (obviously you guys dont eat sugar).
6: If you guys wanted a fizzy drink - Publix's diet line is sweetened with sucralose.

Preface Over time I've been thinking about various builds with certain origins/classes in Dark Souls 1.
Among these is an INT Build. For all intents and purposes just about ANY of the base classes in the game could focus on INT to cast sorceries and build off from there as they progress through the game.
Note if anyone reading is a first time player, there'll be spoilers ^^;
Here is one INT Build for the Wanderer class as it has some decent stats and also starts with the Scimitar that if you keep as your main weapon and get it to +10, you can then turn into a Queelag's Fursword at the giant Blacksmith.
Do note that this build can also work for the Pyromancer starting class/origin as well. I chose Wanderer just out of curiosity and because I feel it isn't that much of a used starter. Incidentaly enough, both these classes have 12 RES.
First off let's take a quick look at the Wanderer's stats. The Wanderer starts at Lvl. 3 which is decent as early levels don't require much souls:

VIT	10
ATT	11
END	10
STR	10
DEX	14
INT	11
FTH	8

The wanderer has good starting DEX stat allowing you to use certain DEX weapons early such as the Estoc, along with 2-handing the Uchigatana or Partizan.
Weapon of choice
Now one should consider what weapon they want to use; there are various weapons that can be obtained early that can carry you for the entirty of the game, and with just normal upgrading via titanites, will deal good damage without ever investing in STR or DEX.
*One such example is the Claymore; if you choose this to be your main weapon, get your STR to 16 to be able to 1-hand it (or to 11 to 2-hand it).
The Bastard Sword (sold by Andre for 3,000 Souls) is another good Greatsword much like the Claymore.
Furthermore, there is also the Halberd which has good range and its Heavy attack is a spin attack when 1-handed or 2-handed.
If you get lucky and got a Gargoyle Halberd from defeating the boss, this is another effective weapon with similar stat requirement to the Halberd, though slightly less damage even with upgrades
All these weapons need STR 11 to 2-hand, or 16 to 1-hand and are all available by the time you reach Andre's location. Most importantly, as long as you upgrade it to +5 and then to +10 by Sen's Fortress, you'll be dealing effective damage against most enemies and bosses even without putting points into STR or DEX. Furthermore, these weapons have a weight of 6.
*The reinforced Club is sold by the male merchant for 350 souls, requires 12 STR to 1-hand is an effective strike type weapon that has bleed. This weapon can stun enemies (i.e. deals high poise) and gets good damage overall when upgraded via titanite without investing into STR.
Strike damage is effective against stone & crystal enemies, especially if 2-handed due to the 50% bonus STR stat gets. For example a 2-handed Reinforced Club +2, at STR 12 can kill a stone giant in Darkroot in 3 hits
The one disadvantage to this weapon is that it scales only with STR, and if you're going for an INT build, having DEX at 40 will mean a helpful small boost to casting speed. If you're not bothered by this, getting STR to 27 will have this weapon deal wonderful damage against majority of enemies.
*The Zweihander requires STR 16 to 2-hand and by simply upgrading it will deal effective damage against anything that comes against you.
The following weapons require investment in either DEX or STR to deal effective damage by the mid and late game:
*As mentioned prior, the Scimitar is one option to go with. It has nice fast slashes and a fancy looking R2 attack. You'll likely deal little damage against enemies with high slash defense such as the crystal & stone enemies, skeletons, the serpent-men & the silver knights. This is a disadvantage to the weapon, but if you're able to deal with this, then more power to you; just about any weapon can carry you through DS1 regardless of its disadvantages.
*The Estoc, found in New Londo Ruins' opening area is one of the better Thrusting Sword weapons. If you're comfortable with its attack speed and range it can be worthwhile to use. Furthermore if you're good at parrying the silver knights and the serpent men, you could deal massive damage to them with the estoc as it deals more critical damage than most weapons. It shares similar disadvantage with the Scimitar.
*Partizan and Winged Spear are 2 of the best Spear weapons one can get early in the game. The W. Spear needs STR 13 & DEX 15 to 1-hand.
*The Battle Axe is sold by Andre for 1000 souls, and requires STR 12 to 1-hand. If you want go about hacking stuff with an Axe, this one's a good option.
The Gargoyle Tail Axe requires STR 14 and DEX 14 to 1-hand and deals slightly less damage than the Battle Axe. Though at 40 DEX it deals more damage than the Battle Axe.
*The Uchigatana requires 14 STR to 1-hand, if you're familiar and fine with its attacks it can be a viable weapon.
Once you have settled on your weapon of preference, invest points into the respective stats to be able to use it once you get it.
Firing magic bullets
The Wanderer starts with 11 INT and 11 ATT, and for starters you should get your INT to at least 16 by the time you free Griggs from lower Undead Burg; buy the residence key from the merchant (or kill him) and then go to where the torch bearing enemies are and approach the doors along the way. Use the residence key at his door to free him and to loot a sorcerer's set and catalyst.
When you return to Firelink, Griggs will be there to start selling you various spells and items. The sorceries I recommend getting from him are:
Heavy Soul Arrow (2000)
Great Soul Arrow (6000)
Great Heavy Soul Arrow (8000)
At 16 INT, you'll be able to use GH Soul Arrow which deals great damage against bosses this early in the game. It may be intimdating to spend 16,000 souls especially for slow casting ones like the Heavies but their damage is worth it for an INT build. All in all though, you'll get used to the spells timings, and at 35+ DEX, these spells will cast a little faster. Increase your ATT to 12 to have a total of 2 magic slots, and then to 14 to have a total of 3 slots.
You don't need any of the other spells he sells besides maybe Safe Fall but for offensive spells these 3 will be useful throughout the run against bosses, enemies and elites/mini-bosses.
Do take note of Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring; this ring boosts the damage of your offensive sorceries (and pyromancies!) and although it costs a hefty 20,000 Souls, is def. worth the investment. Outside of farming and using up your soul items, you could defeat the Gaping Dragon or Stray Demon and have enough for the ring.
What stats to invest in
Going by the above section, you'd be using 8 levels (5 for INT and 3 for ATT) to get the spells you need. If you've put points to use your weapon of preference, you ought to be under lvl. 20 at this point.
Personally I'd recommending alternating between VIT and INT until VIT is at at least 30. Then focus on INT and whichever stat I want be it END or DEX for example.
Long as you are using Titanite to ugprade your melee weapon of choice, you should be fine in the damage department. Do note that a +5 weapon will deal good damage (at least 200 average) against Havel when you parry and repost at his attacks.
If you would like to go as a glass canon, keeping your health at just VIT 10...hey go for it, I trust in your resolve and skills ;3
Now part of the reason I'd suggest putting points into VIT is because of 2 things: Capra Demon & the Darkroot Hydra.
Crapra Demon This annoying boss can be more managable by having enough POISE stat from your equipment and wolf ring. Take out the dogs then position yourself properly to roll or avoid its attacks and hit it.
Upon defeating the boss, you can go to the Depths to get an ember for Andre to upgrade your weapons from +5 to +6 onwards, kill the AI Invader Kirk (interact with the pool of blood he leaves to get some items), get an early Large Shard or two and defeat the Gaping Dragon.
The Hydra in Darkroot Basin Prior to engaging the Hydra, get the key to 2F Asylum, and return to the Northern Asylum. You don't need to engage the Black Knights here, but try to defeat hollow Oscar to get the Crest shield. Grab the Rusted Iron Ring, then make your way to the hydra in darkroot basin. At this point I recommend grabbing the Longbow from the corpse on the way down to the hydra and having at least 150-200 standard arrows (andre sells them).
If your health is high enough, you should be able to tank past its water shots. Position yourself near the corpse in the water and hold up your shield as the hydra will launch its heads at you. Long as you got the rusted ring you should be able to move fast enough to attack the heads, return to the corpse and repeat this process until most of its heads are gone. If you are unable to hit any more heads, just use the longbow until it dies. Once it's dead, quit and reload your save to have a golden golem spawn on the far right part of this area; return to the shore, go past the waterfall and carefully take it out. This golem high magic resist but a few heavies should be enough to kill it. Make sure not to mash the attack button though as you risk accidentally killing Dusk :X
Once Dusk appears, speak with her, say Yes, then return to the shore and look for her summon side either close to the water or on the shore itself.
Buy at least 3 items from her: the catalyst, Hidden Body and Cast Light. Or just the catalyst but those 2 spells will be useful later on. The White Branch catalyst has a fixed MAG ADJ of 180 and will deal more damage than the sorcerer's catalyst at this point in the game.
Once you've done speaking with her, return to the area where you fought the golden golem and you'll find her set which includes the Crown of Dusk. This increases your spells' damage but reduces your magic defense.
Crown of Dusk+ Bellowing ring = WMD.
FYI, make sure there are no enemies around if you want to speak with Dusk as she can be killed by them.
By now you should have just about everything you need to get a good headstart damage-wise. Queelag takes good damage from sorceries esp. with the crown and ring equipped.
Catalysts and MAG ADJ MAG ADJ is short for Magic Adjust. Think of this as your 'Magical Might'; the higher the value the more damage your spells do. To see how much MAG ADJ a catalyst has, go to the equip menu and press X (or A on your xbox controller) as if you're changing your catalyst then press the Square (or equivalent) button and you should see MAG ADJ in the weapon's detail. Move up and down between your catalysts and choose the one that has the higher MAG ADJ.
The White Ivory catalyst doesn't get extra MAG ADJ from leveling INT, but the sorcerer's catalyst does, so switch to it (or any other catalyst) once you see MAG ADJ is higher.
Sen's Fortress Upon freeing Logan using the Master Key (if it was your starting gift), you can backtrack to Firelink and buy spells from him as long as your INT is 15 or higher. This could be your earliest opportunity to buy Soul Spear for 40,000 Souls along with Homing Soul Mass for 20,000 Souls. Otherwise, speak with Logan immediatly upon returning from Anor Londo as he can sometimes leave Firelink after speaking with Frampt or placing the Soulvessel.
About ATTunment By 19 ATT you'll have a total of 5 Magic slots. This is usually how much I invest into ATT as putting in anymore feels like a waste; Put in 4 more points to have 23 ATT for a total of 6 slots Put in 5 more to have 28 ATT for a total of 7 slots
That's 9 points just to get 2 additional slots; these could be better put into INT or any other stat instead. However, if you'd like to have more slots besides using rings, you can invest at least that much.
I recommend increasing INT only when there is a new spell you have. For example, if you were at say 14 ATT and got Soul Spear, put 2 points to get 1 more slot, then another 3 to reach 19 ATT with a total of 5 slots.
Anor Londo onwards Hidden Body or the Ring of Fog from Snuggly the Crow can be used to get through the Anor Londo Archery Club with little hassle. You can even punt the silver knight with soul arrows while hidden.
While in Anor Londo, grab the Great Magic Weapon sorcery if you want to apply a magic buff to your weapon, but otherwise, as you increase your INT stat, take note of which catalyst gives you the highest MAG ADJ and stick with it. Both Oreo & SnickersOrnstein and Smough have normal magic and fire defense, so you can use it against them even in their giant forms!
Do note that Ornstein has high lightning and bleed defense, but can be poisoned & toxined. Smough is susptible to bleed, poison and toxin, but when in Giant form has high poison and toxin resist.
Do get the occult Club and have the giant blacksmith convert it into a Divine Club +5, you can use this for the catacombs later, or to deal with skeleton enemies. If you have a Scimitar +10 or any curved sword weapon at +10, you can have the giant blacksmith turn it into Queelag's Furysword and use any Demon Titanite you have to strengthen it. This weapon deals a good amount of Chaos (fire) damage and will prevent the Engorged Hollows in Ariamas from toxin-ing you when they're killed.
After defeating the duo and returning to Firelink Shrine, speak with Logan to buy any spells you want, primarliy Soul Spear.
After anor Londo, there are a few things you could do before taking on the final set of bosses themselves: Get the Very Large Ember When you return from Anor Londo you can speak with (or just kill) Ingward in New Londo Ruins to access the lower area of the Ruins. In the room with the large corpse mass and 3 darkwraiths will be 2 doors; take the one that has stairs going up and you'll find the ember in a chest after a little walking. The other door is an elevator shortcut so use it and return to Andre. By now you should have enough chunks to get your weapon of preference to +14, and if you defeat the Stray Demon, pick up the Titanite Slab it drops to upgrade a weapon to +15.
Get the mimic headgear
There are 2 mimic chests in Duke's Archive, one being at the entrance area around the elevator to Seath's initial fog gate and one in the room that leads to the crystal caves. If you killed all 7 mimics, the last one will give you the mimic headgear. While this is equipped you'll slowly lose HP but get more souls from defeating enemies, as well as increase your item discovery (enemies chance of dropping an item increases).
There is a 10 or so seconds delay between killing a boss and getting its souls, so quickly go into your inventory and equip it upon defeating a boss to get the extra souls. However, don't go defeating any bosses juuuuuuuuust yet (well besides Pinwheel at least).
Tomb of the Giants With Cast Light spell, or the Sunlight Maggot, you can more easily see where you are going in Tomb of the Giants. Here is how you can quickly find the Silver Serpent Ring which gives 20% extra souls from killing enemies and bosses. It stacks with the mimic headgear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM52bov94E8
Just roll forward from where you picked up the item from that corpse. Do not that you'd mainly need to deal with1 the Skeletal Beast on the path towards the archer. Also there's a black knight that'll just make a mad dash towards you once you get past the fog wall so back up and take care of it if you want. Upon picking up the ring, you can just roll down to the nearby ledge and make your way to Nito's area. If you are in human form, go to the end of the path past the cave entrance to be invaded by Paladin Leroy. Kill him and interact with the pool of blood he leaves behind to get some items. At this point either return to a bonfire or press onwards to take down Nito.
Endgame With these tools in hand you can now get some extra souls from defeating bosses enough to buy all of Logan's spells. jUST REmember to quickly go into your equip menu and put on the ring (move the other serpent ring to your bottomless box to avoid confusion) and mimic headgear.
Seath actually takes decent damage from sorceries with the Crown and Bellowcrest ring equipped, but if you want the Moonlight greatsword you should try to attack the tip of his MIDDLE tail to try and safely get it. One trick is to get him as close as possible to the crystal, break it then quickly run to his middle tail and attack like crazy. If you're lucky you'll get the moonlight greatsword, else either quit and retry or wait til NG+
After Seath is defeated, speak with Logan and buy all spells he has. When you speak with him again, he'll behave differently, so quit and reload to have him move to where you encounter Seath first time in the archives. Return there to kill him, picking up the various items in this room, then return to where he was in duke's archives to find a chest with the Logan's catalyst. It should be noted that you need to get your INT to at least 45; for majority of catalysts this seems to be the cap of their MAG ADJ value, which includes Logan's catalyst. Crystal Souls Spears deal more damage on impact than the White Dragon Breath, so its not necessary to get INT to 50 unless you want to. To add, the Moonlight greatsword's damage caps at 40 INT.
Final notes on Catalysts and Velka's Talisman 45 or 50 INT is more dependant on which Catalysts you have by the end game.
Generally speaking, Logan's Catalyst deals the most damage for offensive spells at 45 INT. At 50 INT, spells only get a very small boost even with the crown and ring.
The Tin Crystalization Catalyst cuts spell uses in half (e.g. with it you can only use 2 Crystal Spears) but does give more damage for spells if you are at 50 INT. It is, in fact much better than the Manus Catalyst damage output wise. Furthermore, though it is not advised, it deals more damage the higher your INT, so even at a cap of 99 INT, it'll deal more damage from your offensive spells.
Based on the above, settle between whether to use TC or Logan's catalyst and go for 45 or 50 INT.
On the other hand, if you get Velka's Talisman for 5,000 souls from crowell in the Undead Parish's belltower, and get your FTH to 30, you can use it to cast miracles like the lightning spears and it'll deal damage based on your INT stat. At 50 INT, Great Lightning Spear deals a good amount of damage and as various bosses and enemies are suspitble to lightning, you can switch between Velka's and Logan's catalyst for some high damaging nukes! Something to consider for NG+ and beyond ;)
Although the Demon Catalyst will deal more damage when using the Dark Sorceries from the DLC, the difference in damage is neglible when compared to Logan's Catalyst.
In closing That's about the gist of it. I may have written this longer than it should've been but hopefully it'll give you some tips on how to go about doing an INT build. At the least it should help you decide what to do at the start of the game, and then you can make your build as you progress.
I didn't include much about pyromancies, but you can add them to your mix, as pyromanices count as sorceries so benefit from the Crown and Ring.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day~

55m. Have been on 100 mg cypionate per week, IM (prescribed by endo for hypogonadism) for 8 months and my recent blood work is.
Total test= 922.20 mg/dL SHBG= 34.50 nmol/L Free test= 20.24 ng/dL Test bioavailable= 516.87 ng/dL Estradiol= 82.90 pg/mL FSH= 0.15 mIU/mL LH= < 0.12 mIU/mL Prolactin= 11.1 ng/mL
Overall, I feel good, erections are a bit soft and inconsistent with 5 mg tadalafil on the weekend. I would like to dial in my protocol and was wondering if I should go up to 125 mg of undecanoate per week? I have the Cernos Depot 1000 mg/4 ml ampoule and want to convert over. I am considering taking it every 4 weeks or do you recommend every 2 weeks?. I am assuming 2 ml every 4 weeks?. Also, would like to know if anyone uses it this way and experience switching to undecanoate. Any advice is appreciated.

Right now I'm trying to train word embeddings using pytorch. for obvious reasons I want to use a GPU, but right now lightning throws an ImportError. I followed a guide made by Josh Starmer. On the CPU it runs perfectly.
I'm using a SageMaker ml.g4dn.xlarge instance, so it's using an Nvidia T4.
My code is the following:

import torch # PyTorch import torch.nn as nn from torch.optim import Adam # for backpropagation from torch.distributions.uniform import Uniform # for initializing weights from torch.utils.data import TensorDataset, DataLoader import lightning as L import pandas as pd import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import seaborn as sns inputs = torch.tensor([[1.,0.,0.,0.], [0.,1.,0.,0.], [0.,0.,1.,0.], [0.,0.,0.,1.]]) labels = torch.tensor([[0.,1.,0.,0.], [0.,0.,1.,0.], [0.,0.,0.,1.], [0.,1.,0.,0.]]) dataset = TensorDataset(inputs, labels) dataloader = DataLoader(dataset) # using PyTorch Linear() class WordEmbeddingWithLinear(L.LightningModule): def __init__(self): super().__init__() # in_features=4, out_features=2 -> connecting 4 inputs to 2 nodes # 4 Weights for each of 2 nodes in the hidden layer self.input_to_hidden = nn.Linear(in_features=4, out_features=2, bias=False) # in_features=4, out_features=2 -> connecting 2 nodes to 4 outputs # 2 Weights for each of 4 outputs self.hidden_to_output = nn.Linear(in_features=2, out_features=4, bias=False) #CrossEntropyLoss, includes SoftMax self.loss = nn.CrossEntropyLoss() def forward(self, input): # pass input to Linear Object and save sums in "hidden" hidden = self.input_to_hidden(input) # activation functions are identity functions -> activation functions can be ignored # hidden_to_output calculates the output values of the activation functions output_values = self.hidden_to_output(hidden) return output_values def configure_optimizers(self): return Adam(self.parameters(), lr=0.1) # Calculate loss (cross entropy loss), takes batch of training data plus index of batch def training_step(self, batch, batch_idx): input_i, label_i = batch # run input through the network up to the SoftMax function output_i = self.forward(input_i) # run through SoftMax and quantify the difference between SoftMax and ideal values loss = self.loss(output_i, label_i) return loss modelLinear = WordEmbeddingWithLinear() trainer = L.Trainer(max_epochs=100) trainer.fit(modelLinear, train_dataloaders=dataloader) 

At this point it crashes with the following Message

GPU available: True (cuda), used: True TPU available: False, using: 0 TPU cores IPU available: False, using: 0 IPUs HPU available: False, using: 0 HPUs --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ImportError Traceback (most recent call last) Cell In[51], line 2 1 trainer = L.Trainer(max_epochs=100) -- 2 trainer.fit(modelLinear, train_dataloaders=dataloader) File ~/.conda/envs/mamba_gpu/lib/python3.10/site-packages/lightning/pytorch/trainetrainer.py:538, in Trainer.fit(self, model, train_dataloaders, val_dataloaders, datamodule, ckpt_path) 504 def fit( 505 self, 506 model: "pl.LightningModule", (...) 510 ckpt_path: Optional[_PATH] = None, 511 ) -> None: 512 r"""Runs the full optimization routine. 513 514 Args: (...) 536 537 """ 538 model = _maybe_unwrap_optimized(model) 539 self.strategy._lightning_module = model 540 _verify_strategy_supports_compile(model, self.strategy) File ~/.conda/envs/mamba_gpu/lib/python3.10/site-packages/lightning/pytorch/utilities/compile.py:125, in _maybe_unwrap_optimized(model) 123 raise TypeError(f"`model` must be a `LightningModule`, got `{type(model).__qualname__}`") 124 return model 125 from torch._dynamo import OptimizedModule 127 if isinstance(model, OptimizedModule): 128 return from_compiled(model) File ~/.conda/envs/mamba_gpu/lib/python3.10/site-packages/torch/_dynamo/__init__.py:2 1 import torch -- 2 from . import allowed_functions, convert_frame, eval_frame, resume_execution 3 from .backends.registry import list_backends, register_backend 4 from .convert_frame import replay File ~/.conda/envs/mamba_gpu/lib/python3.10/site-packages/torch/_dynamo/convert_frame.py:44 34 from .eval_frame import always_optimize_code_objects, skip_code, TorchPatcher 35 from .exc import ( 36 augment_exc_message, 37 BackendCompilerFailed, (...) 42 Unsupported, 43 ) - 44 from .guards import CheckFunctionManager, GuardedCode 45 from .hooks import Hooks 46 from .output_graph import OutputGraph File ~/.conda/envs/mamba_gpu/lib/python3.10/site-packages/torch/_dynamo/guards.py:48 45 from torch.utils.weak import TensorWeakRef, WeakIdRef 47 from . import config, convert_frame, mutation_guard - 48 from .eval_frame import set_guard_error_hook, set_guard_fail_hook 49 from .exc import unimplemented 50 from .source import TypeSource ImportError: cannot import name 'set_guard_fail_hook' from 'torch._dynamo.eval_frame' (/home/sagemaker-use.conda/envs/mamba_gpu/lib/python3.10/site-packages/torch/_dynamo/eval_frame.py) 

I have no idea what seems to be incompatible.
Here's a YAML from my mamba environment:

name: mamba_gpu channels: - conda-forge dependencies: - _libgcc_mutex=0.1=conda_forge - _openmp_mutex=4.5=2_gnu - alsa-lib=1.2.11=hd590300_1 - archspec=0.2.3=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - asttokens=2.4.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - attr=2.5.1=h166bdaf_1 - boltons=24.0.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - brotli=1.1.0=hd590300_1 - brotli-bin=1.1.0=hd590300_1 - brotli-python=1.1.0=py310hc6cd4ac_1 - bzip2=1.0.8=hd590300_5 - c-ares=1.28.1=hd590300_0 - ca-certificates=2024.2.2=hbcca054_0 - cairo=1.18.0=h3faef2a_0 - certifi=2024.2.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - cffi=1.16.0=py310h2fee648_0 - charset-normalizer=3.3.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - colorama=0.4.6=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - comm=0.2.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - conda=24.3.0=py310hff52083_0 - conda-libmamba-solver=24.1.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - conda-package-handling=2.2.0=pyh38be061_0 - conda-package-streaming=0.9.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - contourpy=1.2.1=py310hd41b1e2_0 - cycler=0.12.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - dbus=1.13.6=h5008d03_3 - debugpy=1.8.1=py310hc6cd4ac_0 - decorator=5.1.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - distro=1.9.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - exceptiongroup=1.2.0=pyhd8ed1ab_2 - executing=2.0.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - expat=2.6.2=h59595ed_0 - filelock=3.13.4=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - fmt=10.2.1=h00ab1b0_0 - font-ttf-dejavu-sans-mono=2.37=hab24e00_0 - font-ttf-inconsolata=3.000=h77eed37_0 - font-ttf-source-code-pro=2.038=h77eed37_0 - font-ttf-ubuntu=0.83=h77eed37_1 - fontconfig=2.14.2=h14ed4e7_0 - fonts-conda-ecosystem=1=0 - fonts-conda-forge=1=0 - fonttools=4.51.0=py310h2372a71_0 - freetype=2.12.1=h267a509_2 - gettext=0.22.5=h59595ed_2 - gettext-tools=0.22.5=h59595ed_2 - glib=2.80.0=hf2295e7_5 - glib-tools=2.80.0=hde27a5a_5 - gmp=6.3.0=h59595ed_1 - gmpy2=2.1.2=py310h3ec546c_1 - graphite2=1.3.13=h59595ed_1003 - gst-plugins-base=1.24.1=hfa15dee_1 - gstreamer=1.24.1=h98fc4e7_1 - harfbuzz=8.3.0=h3d44ed6_0 - icu=73.2=h59595ed_0 - idna=3.7=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - importlib-metadata=7.1.0=pyha770c72_0 - importlib_metadata=7.1.0=hd8ed1ab_0 - ipykernel=6.29.3=pyhd33586a_0 - ipython=8.22.2=pyh707e725_0 - jedi=0.19.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - jinja2=3.1.3=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - jsonpatch=1.33=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - jsonpointer=2.4=py310hff52083_3 - jupyter_client=8.6.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - jupyter_core=5.7.2=py310hff52083_0 - keyutils=1.6.1=h166bdaf_0 - kiwisolver=1.4.5=py310hd41b1e2_1 - krb5=1.21.2=h659d440_0 - lame=3.100=h166bdaf_1003 - lcms2=2.16=hb7c19ff_0 - ld_impl_linux-64=2.40=h41732ed_0 - lerc=4.0.0=h27087fc_0 - libabseil=20230802.1=cxx17_h59595ed_0 - libarchive=3.7.2=h2aa1ff5_1 - libasprintf=0.22.5=h661eb56_2 - libasprintf-devel=0.22.5=h661eb56_2 - libblas=3.9.0=22_linux64_openblas - libbrotlicommon=1.1.0=hd590300_1 - libbrotlidec=1.1.0=hd590300_1 - libbrotlienc=1.1.0=hd590300_1 - libcap=2.69=h0f662aa_0 - libcblas=3.9.0=22_linux64_openblas - libclang-cpp15=15.0.7=default_h127d8a8_5 - libclang13=18.1.3=default_h5d6823c_0 - libcups=2.3.3=h4637d8d_4 - libcurl=8.7.1=hca28451_0 - libdeflate=1.20=hd590300_0 - libedit=3.1.20191231=he28a2e2_2 - libev=4.33=hd590300_2 - libevent=2.1.12=hf998b51_1 - libexpat=2.6.2=h59595ed_0 - libffi=3.4.2=h7f98852_5 - libflac=1.4.3=h59595ed_0 - libgcc-ng=13.2.0=h807b86a_5 - libgcrypt=1.10.3=hd590300_0 - libgettextpo=0.22.5=h59595ed_2 - libgettextpo-devel=0.22.5=h59595ed_2 - libgfortran-ng=13.2.0=h69a702a_5 - libgfortran5=13.2.0=ha4646dd_5 - libglib=2.80.0=hf2295e7_5 - libgomp=13.2.0=h807b86a_5 - libgpg-error=1.48=h71f35ed_0 - libiconv=1.17=hd590300_2 - libjpeg-turbo=3.0.0=hd590300_1 - liblapack=3.9.0=22_linux64_openblas - libllvm15=15.0.7=hb3ce162_4 - libllvm18=18.1.3=h2448989_0 - libmamba=1.5.8=had39da4_0 - libmambapy=1.5.8=py310h39ff949_0 - libnghttp2=1.58.0=h47da74e_1 - libnsl=2.0.1=hd590300_0 - libogg=1.3.4=h7f98852_1 - libopenblas=0.3.27=pthreads_h413a1c8_0 - libopus=1.3.1=h7f98852_1 - libpng=1.6.43=h2797004_0 - libpq=16.2=h33b98f1_1 - libprotobuf=4.25.1=hf27288f_2 - libsndfile=1.2.2=hc60ed4a_1 - libsodium=1.0.18=h36c2ea0_1 - libsolv=0.7.28=hfc55251_2 - libsqlite=3.45.2=h2797004_0 - libssh2=1.11.0=h0841786_0 - libstdcxx-ng=13.2.0=h7e041cc_5 - libsystemd0=255=h3516f8a_1 - libtiff=4.6.0=h1dd3fc0_3 - libtorch=2.1.2=cpu_generic_ha017de0_3 - libuuid=2.38.1=h0b41bf4_0 - libuv=1.48.0=hd590300_0 - libvorbis=1.3.7=h9c3ff4c_0 - libwebp-base=1.4.0=hd590300_0 - libxcb=1.15=h0b41bf4_0 - libxcrypt=4.4.36=hd590300_1 - libxkbcommon=1.7.0=h662e7e4_0 - libxml2=2.12.6=h232c23b_2 - libzlib=1.2.13=hd590300_5 - lightning=2.2.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - lightning-utilities=0.11.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - lz4-c=1.9.4=hcb278e6_0 - lzo=2.10=h516909a_1000 - mamba=1.5.8=py310h51d5547_0 - markupsafe=2.1.5=py310h2372a71_0 - matplotlib=3.8.4=py310hff52083_0 - matplotlib-base=3.8.4=py310h62c0568_0 - matplotlib-inline=0.1.7=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - menuinst=2.0.2=py310hff52083_0 - mpc=1.3.1=hfe3b2da_0 - mpfr=4.2.1=h9458935_1 - mpg123=1.32.6=h59595ed_0 - mpmath=1.3.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - munkres=1.1.4=pyh9f0ad1d_0 - mysql-common=8.3.0=hf1915f5_4 - mysql-libs=8.3.0=hca2cd23_4 - ncurses=6.4.20240210=h59595ed_0 - nest-asyncio=1.6.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - networkx=3.3=pyhd8ed1ab_1 - nomkl=1.0=h5ca1d4c_0 - nspr=4.35=h27087fc_0 - nss=3.98=h1d7d5a4_0 - numpy=1.26.4=py310hb13e2d6_0 - openjpeg=2.5.2=h488ebb8_0 - openssl=3.2.1=hd590300_1 - packaging=24.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pandas=2.2.2=py310hcc13569_0 - parso=0.8.4=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - patsy=0.5.6=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pcre2=10.43=hcad00b1_0 - pexpect=4.9.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pickleshare=0.7.5=py_1003 - pillow=10.3.0=py310hf73ecf8_0 - pip=24.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pixman=0.43.2=h59595ed_0 - platformdirs=4.2.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pluggy=1.4.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - ply=3.11=pyhd8ed1ab_2 - prompt-toolkit=3.0.42=pyha770c72_0 - psutil=5.9.8=py310h2372a71_0 - pthread-stubs=0.4=h36c2ea0_1001 - ptyprocess=0.7.0=pyhd3deb0d_0 - pulseaudio-client=17.0=hb77b528_0 - pure_eval=0.2.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pybind11-abi=4=hd8ed1ab_3 - pycosat=0.6.6=py310h2372a71_0 - pycparser=2.22=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pygments=2.17.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pyparsing=3.1.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pyqt=5.15.9=py310h04931ad_5 - pyqt5-sip=12.12.2=py310hc6cd4ac_5 - pysocks=1.7.1=pyha2e5f31_6 - python=3.10.14=hd12c33a_0_cpython - python-dateutil=2.9.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - python-tzdata=2024.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - python_abi=3.10=4_cp310 - pytorch=2.1.2=cpu_generic_py310h5d8fa8e_3 - pytorch-lightning=2.2.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pytz=2024.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - pyyaml=6.0.1=py310h2372a71_1 - pyzmq=26.0.0=py310h795f18f_0 - qt-main=5.15.8=hc9dc06e_21 - readline=8.2=h8228510_1 - reproc=14.2.4.post0=hd590300_1 - reproc-cpp=14.2.4.post0=h59595ed_1 - requests=2.31.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - ruamel.yaml=0.18.6=py310h2372a71_0 - ruamel.yaml.clib=0.2.8=py310h2372a71_0 - scipy=1.13.0=py310hb13e2d6_0 - seaborn=0.13.2=hd8ed1ab_0 - seaborn-base=0.13.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - setuptools=69.5.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - sip=6.7.12=py310hc6cd4ac_0 - six=1.16.0=pyh6c4a22f_0 - sleef=3.5.1=h9b69904_2 - stack_data=0.6.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - statsmodels=0.14.1=py310h1f7b6fc_0 - sympy=1.12=pypyh9d50eac_103 - tk=8.6.13=noxft_h4845f30_101 - toml=0.10.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - tomli=2.0.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - torchmetrics=1.3.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - tornado=6.4=py310h2372a71_0 - tqdm=4.66.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - traitlets=5.14.2=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - truststore=0.8.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - typing-extensions=4.11.0=hd8ed1ab_0 - typing_extensions=4.11.0=pyha770c72_0 - tzdata=2024a=h0c530f3_0 - unicodedata2=15.1.0=py310h2372a71_0 - urllib3=2.2.1=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - wcwidth=0.2.13=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - wheel=0.43.0=pyhd8ed1ab_1 - xcb-util=0.4.0=hd590300_1 - xcb-util-image=0.4.0=h8ee46fc_1 - xcb-util-keysyms=0.4.0=h8ee46fc_1 - xcb-util-renderutil=0.3.9=hd590300_1 - xcb-util-wm=0.4.1=h8ee46fc_1 - xkeyboard-config=2.41=hd590300_0 - xorg-kbproto=1.0.7=h7f98852_1002 - xorg-libice=1.1.1=hd590300_0 - xorg-libsm=1.2.4=h7391055_0 - xorg-libx11=1.8.9=h8ee46fc_0 - xorg-libxau=1.0.11=hd590300_0 - xorg-libxdmcp=1.1.3=h7f98852_0 - xorg-libxext=1.3.4=h0b41bf4_2 - xorg-libxrender=0.9.11=hd590300_0 - xorg-renderproto=0.11.1=h7f98852_1002 - xorg-xextproto=7.3.0=h0b41bf4_1003 - xorg-xf86vidmodeproto=2.3.1=h7f98852_1002 - xorg-xproto=7.0.31=h7f98852_1007 - xz=5.2.6=h166bdaf_0 - yaml=0.2.5=h7f98852_2 - yaml-cpp=0.8.0=h59595ed_0 - zeromq=4.3.5=h59595ed_1 - zipp=3.17.0=pyhd8ed1ab_0 - zlib=1.2.13=hd590300_5 - zstandard=0.22.0=py310h1275a96_0 - zstd=1.5.5=hfc55251_0 - pip: - aiobotocore==2.12.3 - aiohttp==3.9.5 - aioitertools==0.11.0 - aiosignal==1.3.1 - annotated-types==0.6.0 - antlr4-python3-runtime==4.9.3 - anyio==4.3.0 - arrow==1.3.0 - async-timeout==4.0.3 - attrs==23.2.0 - backoff==2.2.1 - beautifulsoup4==4.12.3 - bitsandbytes==0.41.0 - blessed==1.20.0 - boto3==1.34.69 - botocore==1.34.69 - click==8.1.7 - croniter==1.4.1 - dateutils==0.6.12 - deepdiff==6.7.1 - docker==6.1.3 - docstring-parser==0.16 - editor==1.6.6 - fastapi==0.110.1 - frozenlist==1.4.1 - fsspec==2023.12.2 - h11==0.14.0 - hydra-core==1.3.2 - importlib-resources==6.4.0 - inquirer==3.2.4 - jmespath==1.0.1 - jsonargparse==4.28.0 - lightning-api-access==0.0.5 - lightning-cloud==0.5.65 - lightning-fabric==2.2.2 - markdown-it-py==3.0.0 - mdurl==0.1.2 - multidict==6.0.5 - nvidia-cublas-cu12==12.1.3.1 - nvidia-cuda-cupti-cu12==12.1.105 - nvidia-cuda-nvrtc-cu12==12.1.105 - nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu12==12.1.105 - nvidia-cudnn-cu12==8.9.2.26 - nvidia-cufft-cu12==11.0.2.54 - nvidia-curand-cu12==10.3.2.106 - nvidia-cusolver-cu12==11.4.5.107 - nvidia-cusparse-cu12==12.1.0.106 - nvidia-nccl-cu12==2.19.3 - nvidia-nvjitlink-cu12==12.4.127 - nvidia-nvtx-cu12==12.1.105 - omegaconf==2.3.0 - ordered-set==4.1.0 - protobuf==5.26.1 - pydantic==2.7.0 - pydantic-core==2.18.1 - pyjwt==2.8.0 - python-multipart==0.0.9 - readchar==4.0.6 - redis==5.0.3 - rich==13.7.1 - runs==1.2.2 - s3fs==2023.12.2 - s3transfer==0.10.1 - sniffio==1.3.1 - soupsieve==2.5 - starlette==0.37.2 - tensorboardx==2.6.2.2 - torch==2.2.2 - triton==2.2.0 - types-python-dateutil==2.9.0.20240316 - typeshed-client==2.5.1 - uvicorn==0.29.0 - websocket-client==1.7.0 - websockets==11.0.3 - wrapt==1.16.0 - xmod==1.8.1 - yarl==1.9.4 prefix: /home/sagemaker-use.conda/envs/mamba_gpu 

A selfmade cuda program which I compiled with nvcc works perfectly and using pytorch without lightning also works.
How can I get lightning to run?

I am 55 and have been on 100 mg cypionate per week, IM (prescribed by endo for hypogonadism) for 8 months and my recent blood work.
Total test= 922.20 mg/dL SHBG= 34.50 nmol/L Free test= 20.24 ng/dL Test bioavailable= 516.87 ng/dL Estradiol= 82.90 pg/mL Overall I feel good, but would like to dial in my protocol and was wondering if I should go up to 125 mg of undecanoate per week? I have the Cernos Depot 1000 mg/4 ml ampoule and want to convert over. I would like to break this up to 2 shots as opposed to 1. I am assuming 2 ml every 4 weeks? Also, would like to know if anyone uses it this way and experience switching to undecanoate. Any advice is appreciated.

I want to share my limited experience with Calcifediol (hoping to attract to this discussion other folks who take this supplement and maybe get some insights).
I am frustrated by regular D3 products as even if I take 3000 -4000IU I barely move from 22 ng/ml (my level without supplementation) to 31-32 ng/dl. I don't want to take more D3 for reasons I won't get into right now (not sure if my body handles well dosages above 2000 IU)
but I would like to have and maintain a prudent level of 45-55 ng/ml for immunity and just to see how i feel as I was mildly deficient all my life probably until 3 years ago when I first checked it.
When I say "prudent" I mean I want to avoid at all costs the risks of hypercalcemia and other potential problems.
So I took a month ago Calcifediol (from a brand called D.Velop). The serving size is two pills 20 mcg which they list as 2400 IU. NOte that 25 mcg of regular D3 (cholecalciferol) is listed as 1000 IU so they take into account the fact that calcifediol is absorbed faster and more efficiently. But the problem is there is no clear cut research on the equivalent dosage between cholecalciferol and calcifediol.
Anyway, I started slowly and for about two weeks I took only one pill every other day. That is 10 mcg every two days (or 5 mcg a day average). After two weeks I measured my level with a take home test from CVS and the level was 47 ng/dl which is pretty good but I was surprised it increased that quickly with such a low dose. I decided to stop for a while, took again regular D3 and after a month I retested and it was back to 31 ng/ml which is barely in the normal range
So calcifediol increases levels rather quickly but also wears off faster. This makes me think that this supplement is actually tricky and potentially dangerous long term if you take their suggested dosage of two pills a day (they do recommend testing often in the beginning).
In any case, I still want to give it a chance and see if I find a way to maintain 45-55 level. I don't want to go over 60 for now. So I now take half a pill every other day (basically 2.5 mcg a day) which I think should be safe and re-test in a month or so. To summarize, this supplement is very attractive to me as it increases the level quickly but it seems tricky to figure out the long term ongoing dosage to maintain a stable level.
I am actually surprised this is legal to sell as a supplement (D.Velop and there is another brand in UK, I forgot the name) as it seems very easy to go over the upper recommended limit
I wish I could talk to a doctor about this but most of the doctors I come in contact with are just agnostic on supplements to say the least. Last doctor gave me a prescription of 50,000 IU of D2 weekly which did very little only to find, later on my own, that D2 is far less efficient than D3.

Dopamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter that belongs to the catecholamine family; the catecholamine family includes dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine.
Mainly produced in the nervous system and adrenal medulla; it plays a role in many brain functions like behavior and cognition.
A naturally occurring endogenous catecholamine that stimulates beta1-and alpha1-adrenergic and dopaminergic receptors in a dose-dependent fashion.
Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter of the reward system in the brain.
Dopamine neurons are thought to be involved in learning to predict which behaviors will lead to a reward such as food or sex.
Dopamine helps regulate movements, emotion, cognition, motivation, and feelings of pleasure.
Natural rewards, like eating, and recreational drug use cause a release of dopamine, that reinforce these stimuli.
Nearly all addictive drugs, directly or indirectly, act upon the brain’s reward system by heightening dopaminergic activity.
Many recreational drugs, such as cocaine, mimic this reward response—providing an explanation for their addictive nature.
It is suggested that dopamine neurons fire when a reward is greater than that previously expected; a key component of reinforcement learning.
Excessive intake of many types of addictive drugs result in high amounts of dopamine, which in turn affects the reward pathway directly through heightened dopamine receptor activation.
Prolonged, high levels of dopamine in the synaptic cleft can induce receptor downregulation in the neural pathway: and can result in a decrease in the sensitivity to natural rewards.
It stimulates the release of norepinephrine.
In low doses (2-5 μg/kg/min), dopamine acts on dopaminergic receptors in renal and splanchnic vascular beds, causing vasodilatation in these beds.
In midrange doses (5-15 μg/kg/min), it acts on beta-adrenergic receptors to increase heart rate and contractility.
In high doses (15-20 μg/kg/min), it acts on alpha-adrenergic receptors to increase systemic vascular resistance and raise blood pressure.
The plasma reference ranges for dopamine are:
Supine adults – < 10 ng/ml (conventional units); < 0.065 nmol/L (SI units)
Ambulatory adults – < 20 ng/mL (conventional units); < 0.13 nmol/L (SI units)
Age 3-15 years – < 60 pg/mL (conventional units); < 0.39 nmol/L (SI units)
Age Conventional Units SI Units
3-8 y 80-378 µg/24 h 523-2472 nmol/24 h
9-12 y 51-474 µg/24 h 334-3100 nmol/24 h
13-17 y 51-645 µg/24 h 334-4218 nmol/24 h

17 y 52-480 µg/24 h 340-3139 nmol/24 h

The activity of dopaminergic neurons declines during aging.
Catecholamines including dopamine may be elevated in the following instances:
After a medication withdrawal such as clonidine, or alcohol.
In acute illness
With medications such as tricyclic antidepressants, buspirone, antipsychotic agents, cocaine, Levodopa.
Antipsychotic drugs such as haloperidol and chlorpromazine tend to block dopamine D2 receptors in the dopaminergic pathways of the brain.
Excess release of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway has been linked to psychotic experiences.
Decreased dopamine release in the prefrontal cortex, and excess dopamine release in other pathways, are associated with psychotic episodes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Tyrosine hydroxylase converts tyrosine to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA), which is converted to dopamine under the effect of aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase.
Dopamine β-hydroxylase converts dopamine to norepinephrine and phenylethanolamine N -methyltransferase converts norepinephrine to epinephrine.
Plasma and/or urine dopamine tests are indicated as part of the work up for:
Pheochromocytoma
Paraganglioma
Neuroblastoma
Plasma and/or urine dopamine can be used in the monitoring of the following conditions:
Adrenal incidentaloma
Neuroblastoma after therapy
Plasma fractionated catecholamines includes plasma dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, whereas 24-hour urine fractionated catecholamine includes urine dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine.
The most acceptable approach for pheochromocytoma diagnosis is to screen with 24-hour urine collection for fractionated metanephrines and catecholamines; if high clinical suspicion exists, then plasma fractionated metanephrines should then follow as a confirmatory test.
During the work-up for neuroblastoma, dopamine, whether in the urine or the plasma, should be measured in combination with 24-hour urine vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) and homovanillic acid (HVA).
The use of low-dose dopamine for the treatment of acute renal failure does not prevent mortality, acute renal failure, or need for dialysis and should be eliminated from routine clinical use.
Dopamine stimulates dopaminergic receptors and proportionally has a greater increase in splanchnic and renal perfusion and may facilitate resolution of lung edema(Bertollo AM).
Dopaminergic stimulation can alter the hypothalamus-pituitary function with a decrease in prolactin levels and growth hormone levels.
Dopamine and norepinephrine have different effects on the kidney, splanchnic vessels, and the pituitary axis.
Either dopamine or norepinephrine can be used as the first agent for vasopressor effect in patients with shock.
Some studies show that the administration of dopamine may be associated with higher death rates than those associated with the administration of norepinephrine with septic shock (Martin C, Boulain T).
In a randomized multicenter controlled study in patients with shock that received dopamine or norepinephrine as first line vasopressor therapy to restore and maintain blood pressure:there was no difference in the death rate between the two gents, but the use of dopamine was associated with a greater number of adverse events, especially arrhythmias (De Backer D).
Acute CHF patients with renal impairment treated with low dose dopamine or low dose nesiritide did not improve congestion or renal function (The ROSE Acute Heart Failure Randomized Trial).
Refers to the immediate metabolic precursor of norepinephrine.
Occurs naturally in the CNS in the basal ganglia, where it functions as a neurotransmitter, as well as in the adrenal medulla.
Can activate α- and βadrenergic receptors.
At higher doses, it can cause vasoconstriction by activating α1 receptors, whereas at lower doses, it stimulates β1 cardiac receptors.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that acts on D1 type (D1 and D5) Gs coupled receptors, which increase cAMP and PKA, and D2 type (D2, D3, and D4) receptors, which activate Gi-coupled receptors that decrease cAMP and PKA.
Dopamine is connected to mood and behavior, and modulates both pre and post synaptic neurotransmission.
In food addiction, dopamine seems to be related to food‑seeking behavior.
Increased dopamine release is recognized as an important factor for addiction.
Nearly all addictive drugs, directly or indirectly, act upon the brain’s reward system by heightening dopaminergic activity.
Loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra has been linked to Parkinson’s disease.
Dopamine is synthesized from the amino acid tyrosine.
Tyrosine is catalyzed into levadopa (or L-DOPA) by tyrosine hydroxlase, and levadopa is then converted into dopamine by amino acid decarboxylase.
D1 and D2 dopaminergic receptors, occur in the peripheral mesenteric and renal vascular beds, where binding of dopamine produces vasodilation.
D2 receptors are also found on presynaptic adrenergic neurons, where their activation interferes with norepinephrine release.
Actions include cardiovascular: by exerting a stimulatory effect on the β1 receptors of the heart, having both inotropic and chronotropic effects .
At very high doses it activates α1 receptors on the vasculature, resulting in vasoconstriction.
Renal affects: dilates renal and splanchnic arterioles by activating dopaminergic receptors, thus increasing blood flow to the kidneys and other viscera.
Dopaminergic receptors are not affected by α- or βblocking drugs.
Dopamine is useful in the treatment of shock, in which significant increases in sympathetic activity might compromise renal function.
The drug of choice for shock.
Given by continuous infusion.
Raises the blood pressure by stimulating the β1 receptors on the heart to increase cardiac output, and α1 receptors on blood vessels to increase total peripheral resistance.
Dopamine it enhances perfusion to the kidney and splanchnic areas.
Causes sodium diuresis, and in this regard, dopamine is far superior to norepinephrine, which diminishes the blood supply to the kidney and may cause renal shutdown.
Adverse effects:
An overdose of dopamine produces the same effects as excess sympathetic stimulation.
Is rapidly metabolized to homovanillic acid by MAO or COMT, and its adverse effects include nausea, hypertension, arrhythmias.
​
https://standardofcare.com/dopamine/

Warning: I'm not going to pretend like I'm an audio expert, but I think I know just enough to be a little dangerous.
Ok, so I was watching the VODs for the past couple of days, and the topic of stream audio loudness keeps coming up (eg here).
I tend to agree that it feels quieter than it should be relative to other audio/video content on YouTube, but I haven't seen anybody apply some science and data to the discussion. Here goes nothing.

LUFS

"Loudness Units relative to Full Scale" (or "LUFS") is a standardized measurement of "Loudness" used in various audio engineering contexts.
Like I said, I'm not an expert enough to explain it in detail, but feel free to hit up Wikipedia University:

• LUFS
• EBU R 128

We can use this standardized measurement to compare Destiny's stream's audio "loudness" vs. other references.

Methodology

1. I found a script by some dude on Reddit that converts the first hour of any arbitrary audio file into a LUFS graph, using ffmpeg and gnuplot. I don't know if I'm allowed to link to the comment due to the new-ish subreddit rules, but you can probably find it for yourself if you Google "loudness plot site:reddit.com" and look around for a bit. It also took a little bit of editing to get working.
   • Note: I don't know why LRA shows up on some graphs but not others. Blame either that Reddit poster or ffmpeg or gnuplot, not me. I'm too lazy to write up my own script to fix it. :)
   • I think the important part of the graph is the blue "short" line. See the "Metering" section on Wikipedia for an explanation.
   • The X-axis is "minutes from start of content", cut off at the 1h mark.
2. I downloaded a bunch of reference media off of YouTube via yt-dlp and having it convert to wav, then shoving that wav through this dude's script.
3. Then, I wrote this post including a bunch of the graph results of my findings.

Here's the script I was using for #1, for completeness:

#!/bin/bash set -euxo pipefail # $1 should be your input file, $2 should be "something.dat", $3 should be "something.png". No, I don't care to make this any better. ffmpeg -nostats -i "$1" -filter_complex ebur128 -f null - 2>&1 grep "Parsed" awk '{print $5 "\t" $7 "\t" $9 "\t" $11 "\t" $14}' > "$2" sed -i 1,100d "$2" gnuplot -e "set term png size 3500,1000; set grid x y2; set xrange [0:3600]; set xtics (\"5\" 300, \"10\" 600, \"15\" 900, \"20\" 1200, \"25\" 1500, \"30\" 1800, \"35\" 2100, \"40\" 2400, \"45\" 2700, \"50\" 3000, \"55\" 3300, \"60\" 3600); set y2label \"LU\"; set ylabel \"LUFS\"; set xlabel \"Time\"; set y2tics 2; set y2range [0:20]; set ytics nomirror; set output \"$3\"; plot \"$2\" using 1:4 t 'Integrated' with lines, \"$2\" using 1:2 t 'Momentary' with lines, \"$2\" using 1:3 t 'Short' with lines, \"$2\" using 1:5 t 'LRA' with lines axes x1y2" 

I'll let you figure out #2.

Caveats

1. I don't know if / how YouTube messes with the audio of uploaded videos. However, all of my examples are from YouTube, so this shouldn't affect the findings here.
2. I don't know what the uploaders of the YouTube videos did to the audio before uploading them. Beware of jankery.

Music

Just to get our bearings, I ran a few full albums through this script. Well-engineered music typically cares a lot about LUFS because of standardization rules on lots of platforms (eg. Spotify). Obviously this isn't comparable to a livestream's audio. But it's useful to look at some LUFS graphs for things that are explicitly targeting LUFS measurements.
For this section, I just went to Destiny's Playlist, found a few random songs I liked, and then yt-dlp'd the full albums for each of those songs.

• J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• Joji - Nectar [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• Hyakkei - Okurimono [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]

So, music on YouTube is fairly stable between -15 ish and -5 ish LUFS throughout most of the album.

Podcasts

Okay, so what does something a little more comparable to livestreaming look like? Here's some professionally-done podcasts for reference:

• Ben Shapiro vs. Destiny (Lex Fridman) [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• Israel-Palestine Debate: Finkelstein, Destiny, Rabbani, Morris (Lex Fridman) [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• Jordan Peterson vs. Destiny (Jordan Peterson) [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• Joe Rogan Experience w/ Brian Simpson [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]

So, podcasts seem to be relatively stable between -20 ish and -10 ish LUFS. The graphs are "spikier", but it's probably just because of natural pauses in conversation that music doesn't have.
I don't know what Rogan is doing, it looks like he has a lot wider dynamic range than the others. But, his is still mostly between -30 ish and -15 ish LUFS or so.

Other streamers

Alright, so now let's look at what other streamers' audio setups look like. For this, I just used the most-recent livestream video I could find from various streamers.
Note: careful about interpreting these graphs. Streamers stealing reacting to content, and their way too long intros, will look different than them just talking normally. Also, if there's background music or even background noise, the LUFS "floor" will be higher than normal.

• David Pakman [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• imreallyimportant [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• jstlk [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• Pirate Software [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]

Streamers seem to be pretty variable, but if you look at the top of the graph, they all seem to have pretty consistent maxes around -25 to -20 LUFS or so if you squint hard enough.

Destiny streams

I know he's been messing with the audio for the past few streams so there's not really a consistent thing to measure at the moment, but here's Destiny's most recent few streams anyways:

• 2024-04-02 [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• 2024-04-03 [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• 2024-04-04 [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]
• 2024-04-05 [YouTube source] [LUFS graph]

So, I don't really know what's going on, but it does seem like Destiny's graphs are somehow different than everything else.
I think part of it is that Destiny has longer periods of not talking than other people, but remember that the blue "Short" line should be measuring a 3-second sliding window. So if we look at when Destiny is just talking to chat fairly consistently:

• 2024-04-02 @ ~30m: somewhere around -30 LUFS, with a pretty wide dynamic range
• 2024-04-03 @ ~30m: somewhere around -25 LUFS, with a huge dynamic range
• 2024-04-04 @ ~35m: Looks a little better, pretty consistent and relatively tight -25 LUFS or so. You can still kinda see a pretty wide dynamic range when we starts talking louder at 35:45.
• 2024-04-05 @ ~20m: Very wide dynamic range, maybe around -27 LUFS or so.

So, maybe the compression settings need to be tweaked a bit further? I'll let some other audio peeps chime in.

Destiny podcasts

I wanted to do the same analysis on Bridges and Anything Else, but all the most-recent VODs are paywalled. 😡

So I am working on a server-side script for the multiplayer version of BeamNG. I know coding basics, but am still new to LUA.
I have a table of variables.
I have a set of M.command functions that are triggered when the right keyword is typed into the chat. These seem to interact with the above variables perfectly (i.e. I can write to a variable with one command, and print the updated value with another).
I also have an event timer created by one of the above functions, which triggers a T_Update function. However, if I reference a variable from the table of variables, it will also give me the default value and not the updated value after it has been changed. Also trying to write to the table of variables does not seem to work.
Here is a snippet of code (I removed a bunch of the code to leave just the important parts. Removed sections are just ways to change the values of the variables. These changes are reflected in the printSettings code, but not the T_Update code).
https://preview.redd.it/ox415sx4kasc1.png?width=1341&format=png&auto=webp&s=d5f8e1237f7974f1d16244d59f71465e02566d8a
I have also tried placing T_Update above the M.commands = {}, but that didn't work either. I left it here as this was the location of it in a known working mod I referenced.
Any thoughts?
Current state of the full code:

require("multiplayer") --requires multiplayer to work local M = {} --I think this creates everything below as a module M.options = {--originally had these as separate variables but that didn't work. switched to this method based on the flood mod grav = -9.81, gravmax = -25, gravmin = -0.5, gravwarn = "true", randtime = 60 } print("Current Gravity is " .. M.options.grav) --verifying the original gravity. Probably not needed once we get everything working. M.commands = {} --honestly, no clue what this does. --[[function onPlayerJoin(pid)--orginially copied over from flood mod, but no clue what it actually does. local success = MP.TriggerClientEvent(pid, "E_OnPlayerLoaded", "") if not success then print("Failed to send \"E_OnPlayerLoaded\" to " .. pid) end end]]-- M.commands["set"] = function(pid, gravity) --manually set a gravity value gravity = tonumber(gravity) or nil--check to make sure its actually a number or return invalid value statement print("Current gravity is " .. gravity) if not gravity then MP.hSendChatMessage(pid, "Invalid value") return end MP.TriggerClientEvent(-1, "gravset", tostring(gravity)) --sending to client as a string as it didn't like sending a number. the client converts it back to a number and sets the gravity to it. MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity set to " .. gravity) M.options.grav = tonumber(gravity) --setting the main variable to the set value end M.commands["reset"] = function(pid) MP.CancelEventTimer("ET_Update") --cancel timer gravity = -9.81--reset grav value print("Gravity reset to " .. gravity) MP.TriggerClientEvent(-1, "gravset", tostring(gravity)) MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity reset to " .. gravity) end M.commands["rand"] = function(pid) MP.CancelEventTimer("ET_Update") --tried cancelling the event timer before doing anything else in case it was running from the beginning and not updating. didn't help. probably can be removed. local gravrand = M.options.grav--tried creating local variables in order to try to send the values to the t_update function as sending the m.options. wasn't working local randmax = M.options.gravmax local randmin = M.options.gravmin local randwarn = M.options.gravwarn local changetime = M.options.randtime MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity: " .. gravrand .. "\n")--debugging messages to make sure values are coming through. To be removed when it finally works MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Max Gravity: " .. randmax .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Min Gravity: " .. randmin .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Change Warning: " .. randwarn .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Time Between Changes: " .. changetime .. "\n") MP.RegisterEvent("ET_Update", "T_Update",gravrand,randmax,randmin,randwarn,changetime) -- create the event ET_Update which triggers the function T_Update when event happens. tried passing the values of the variables here as it wasn't working otherwise. MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity Randomizer initiating in " .. M.options.randtime .. " seconds") randtimems = M.options.randtime * 1000--converting to ms from seconds MP.CreateEventTimer("ET_Update", randtimems)--new timer, will trigger event ET_Update every randtimems milliseconds end M.commands["stop"] = function(pid) MP.CancelEventTimer("ET_Update") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity Randomizer stopped. Gravity has not been reset.") end M.commands["max"] = function(pid,gravmaximum) gravmaximum = tonumber(gravmaximum) or nil --verify number is input or invalid gravity. probably want to add another option to disallow or discourage positive values (upwards force) if not gravmaximum then MP.hSendChatMessage(pid, "Invalid gravity") return end M.options.gravmax = gravmaximum --set global variable print("Strongest gravity set to " .. gravmaximum) MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Strongest gravity set to " .. gravmaximum) end M.commands["time"] = function(pid,randtimes)--verify number is input or invalid time. may need to disallow negative values? randtimes = tonumber(randtimes) or nil if not randtimes then MP.hSendChatMessage(pid, "Invalid time") return end M.options.randtime = randtimes--set global variable print("Time between changes set to " .. randtimes .. " seconds") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Time between changes set to " .. randtimes .. " seconds") end M.commands["min"] = function(pid,gravminimum) gravminimum = tonumber(gravminimum) or nil--verify number is input or invalid gravity. probably want to add another option to disallow or discourage positive values (upwards force) if not gravminimum then MP.hSendChatMessage(pid, "Invalid gravity") return end M.options.gravmin = gravminimum print("Weakest gravity set to " .. gravminimum) MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Weakest gravity set to " .. gravminimum) end M.commands["warn"] = function(pid, gravwarning) if string.lower(gravwarning) == "true" then --originally used true, but when that didn't work, switch to the string "true" gravwarning = "true" MP.hSendChatMessage(pid, "Gravity change warning enabled") elseif string.lower(gravwarning) == "false" then gravwarning = "false" MP.hSendChatMessage(pid, "Gravity change warning disabled") else MP.hSendChatMessage(pid, "Please use true/false") return end M.options.gravwarn = gravwarning--set global variable end M.commands["printSettings"] = function(pid) MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity: " .. M.options.grav .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Max Gravity: " .. M.options.gravmax .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Min Gravity: " .. M.options.gravmin .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Change Warning: " .. M.options.gravwarn .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Time Between Changes: " .. M.options.randtime .. "\n") end function T_Update(gravrand,randmax,randmin,randwarn,changetime) --originally T_Update(). added the variable passthrough as an attempt to send the new values and not the default values MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity: " .. gravrand .. "\n") --chat messages to print as a troubleshooting method. Remove when code actually works. MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Max Gravity: " .. randmax .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Min Gravity: " .. randmin .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Change Warning: " .. randwarn .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Time Between Changes: " .. changetime .. "\n") --[[local tgravrand = gravrand--attempt to make local variables from the passed-through values when using the passthrough values directly didn't work. local trandmax = randmax local trandmin = randmin local trandwarn = randwarn local tchangetime = changetime --[[MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity: " .. tgravrand .. "\n") --original troubleshooting print MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Max Gravity: " .. trandmax .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Min Gravity: " .. trandmin .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Change Warning: " .. trandwarn .. "\n") MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Time Between Changes: " .. tchangetime .. "\n")]]-- --[[if gravwarn == "true" and randtime >= 10 then--if they want warning, and time is longer than 10 second, implement a 10 second and 5 second warning. When finally working may switch to 15 or 20 seconds to allow for the transition period and keep the event shorter than the time between events MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity changing in 10 seconds") MP.Sleep(5000) MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity changing in 5 seconds") MP.Sleep(5000) end]]-- --[[gravdif = trandmax - trandmin --get the difference between max and min values. was ogiginally just in the math, but when that didn't work it was separated to new variable. local newgrav = trandmin+gravdif*math.random() --takes a value between 0-1, multiplies it to the difference, and adds the min. if value is 0 it would be min, if value is 1 it would be max local gravinc = newgrav-gravrand --find the increase from existing to new grav value gravinc = gravinc/100 --make an incremental version of the increase. future plan to make 100 adjustable, either new variable or based on the time variable MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity Change Initiated...") local i=0 while i<100 do --while loop to add the increment to the grav value every 0.1 seconds. future plan to adjust 100 here along with gravinc 100 above tgravrand = tgravrand + gravinc MP.TriggerClientEvent(-1, "gravset", tostring(gravrand)) i=i+1 MP.Sleep(100) end gravrand = math.floor(tgravrand*100)/100 --reduce the number of decimal points print("Gravity set to " .. tgravrand) MP.hSendChatMessage(-1, "Gravity set to " .. tgravrand) M.options.grav = tgravrand --save global variable, except it doesn't work return]]-- end --[[MP.RegisterEvent("onInit", "onInit") --these were all in the flood mod, but are currently unused and therefore commented out MP.RegisterEvent("onPlayerJoin", "onPlayerJoin") MP.RegisterEvent("E_OnInitiliaze", "E_OnInitialize")]]-- return M 

In the time that I’ve had blood tests done for a variety of things (the earliest being in my early teen years, I’m now into my 30s) I’ve always been low in vitamin D except ONCE when I got it to 36 ng/ml
I live In the northern US, but I do lay out in the sun a lot in the summer and I also had a bad habit of using tanning beds previously but none of it ever makes much of a difference in my levels.
I got it up to 36 when I was using a lotion that has D, b6, b12, and K.
Any time I use the lotion or supplement orally, it makes me feel awful. Before I had thought it was due to magnesium deficiency, which likely played a part, but it seems that even with taking high levels of magnesium glycinate (or others) I still couldn’t take vitamin D for too long before I felt like shit again (anxious, depressed, achey, just blah)
Now I’ve been using topical magnesium twice daily since September 2023 and have felt so many benefits from it, so I thought maybe NOW I might have enough of a baseline magnesium level to be able to try vitamin D again…. But just a couple days in and same issues.
The dosage of vitamin D I generally use is anywhere between 1000-2000IU every day or every other day. I usually can’t do more than a few days.
The one time I got it up to 36ng/ml I ended up having basically a nervous breakdown that took months to heal from. I had issues with sporadic racing heart, major chest tension, just… it was nuts.
I have to imagine that I’d likely feel better if I got my vitamin D up, but I’ve been trying to do that for over a decade.
What am I doing wrong?

As a concerned husband, I am reaching out for guidance and desperation regarding my 38-year-old husband’s ongoing medical mystery. Despite numerous tests and consultations, we have yet to find an explanation for his severe and persistent symptoms. I would deeply appreciate any insights or suggestions you may have.
Initial Health Episode Abroad: Last December, we traveled to London. During our trip, he developed a fever and body aches resembling flu symptoms. These symptoms subsided within three days, (it might be irrelevant ).
Subsequent Illness back home (US Florida )and Hospital Visits: About the beginning of February, he began experiencing flu-like symptoms again. An initial virtual doctor visit suggested strep throat, for which antibiotics were prescribed, but his condition did not improve. Within days, his symptoms worsened, prompting a hospital visit. Initially, the hospital suggested a viral infection, advising continued use of Tylenol and ibuprofen, and sent him home. His condition deteriorated further, leading to severe fatigue, night sweats, extreme muscle, joint and jaw pain and high fevers of up to 102-103°F, difficulty swallowing, and swollen lymph nodes, resulting in his hospital admission.
** Key Findings and Interventions:**

1. Laboratory Tests: Elevated C-Reactive Protein (254 mg/L), high ferritin levels (>1,999 ng/mL), and Neutrophilic Leukocytosis. Tests for ANA, IgG, HIV, HSV 1&2, N gonorrhoeae, and Chlamydia returned negative or within normal ranges. 2. Imaging and Procedures: Including CT scans, MRI, X-rays, and ultrasounds did not conclusively identify the cause. A thoracentesis procedure was performed, removing 1000 mL of serosanguineous fluid from the pleural space. 3. Biopsy and Advanced Testing: A bone marrow biopsy was conducted; cancer ruled out . Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) did not detect any pathogens at statistically significant levels. 

Spinal tap was also performed and meningitis ruled out 4. Treatment: Broad-spectrum antibiotics, naproxen, and various symptom management measures have been implemented without significant improvement in the patient’s condition.
** hospital and specialist findings ** sepsis which was the main finding in the hospital. It was resolved in the hospital and there is no trace now but the symptoms continue. Infectious disease, oncology, hematology, cardiology, pulmonology and ENT have all cleared him from their respective specialities Some of the specialists suspect it is an autoimmune disease. Tests were done and several common autoimmune diseases including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis were ruled out.
Specialist Consultations and Discharge: A week post-discharge, after being seen by both a cancer specialist and an ENT—with cancer being ruled out and the ENT finding no issues of concern—the swollen lymph nodes resolved. However, he continues to experience high fevers and significant body and joint pain.
Current Symptoms: His fevers now occur during the day as well as at night, alongside persistent body ache and joint pain, especially in the shoulders and jaw.
Request for Insights: Given this complex case, starting with what appeared to be a simple flu-like illness during travel and evolving into a serious, unexplained condition, I am seeking:

• Insights into potential diagnoses that might have been overlooked or need re-evaluation.
• Advice on further tests or specialist consultations that could provide clarity.
• Any similar case experiences or suggestions for managing his symptoms.

We are committed to finding answers and ensuring his well-being. Your expertise and guidance in navigating this perplexing situation would be invaluable.
attached tow files (discharge report and after discharge visit)
https://jmp.sh/s/EwgcbpoZVWssZaawPF2w

As a concerned husband, I am reaching out for guidance and desperation regarding my 38-year-old husband’s ongoing medical mystery. Despite numerous tests and consultations, we have yet to find an explanation for his severe and persistent symptoms. I would deeply appreciate any insights or suggestions you may have.
Initial Health Episode Abroad: Last December, we traveled to London. During our trip, he developed a fever and body aches resembling flu symptoms. These symptoms subsided within three days, (it might be irrelevant ).
Subsequent Illness back home (US Florida )and Hospital Visits: About the beginning of February, he began experiencing flu-like symptoms again. An initial virtual doctor visit suggested strep throat, for which antibiotics were prescribed, but his condition did not improve. Within days, his symptoms worsened, prompting a hospital visit. Initially, the hospital suggested a viral infection, advising continued use of Tylenol and ibuprofen, and sent him home. His condition deteriorated further, leading to severe fatigue, night sweats, extreme muscle, joint and jaw pain and high fevers of up to 102-103°F, difficulty swallowing, and swollen lymph nodes, resulting in his hospital admission.
** Key Findings and Interventions:**

1. Laboratory Tests: Elevated C-Reactive Protein (254 mg/L), high ferritin levels (>1,999 ng/mL), and Neutrophilic Leukocytosis. Tests for ANA, IgG, HIV, HSV 1&2, N gonorrhoeae, and Chlamydia returned negative or within normal ranges. 2. Imaging and Procedures: Including CT scans, MRI, X-rays, and ultrasounds did not conclusively identify the cause. A thoracentesis procedure was performed, removing 1000 mL of serosanguineous fluid from the pleural space. 3. Biopsy and Advanced Testing: A bone marrow biopsy was conducted; cancer ruled out . Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) did not detect any pathogens at statistically significant levels. 

Spinal tap was also performed and meningitis ruled out 4. Treatment: Broad-spectrum antibiotics, naproxen, and various symptom management measures have been implemented without significant improvement in the patient’s condition.
** hospital and specialist findings ** sepsis which was the main finding in the hospital. It was resolved in the hospital and there is no trace now but the symptoms continue. Infectious disease, oncology, hematology, cardiology, pulmonology and ENT have all cleared him from their respective specialities Some of the specialists suspect it is an autoimmune disease. Tests were done and several common autoimmune diseases including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis were ruled out.
Specialist Consultations and Discharge: A week post-discharge, after being seen by both a cancer specialist and an ENT—with cancer being ruled out and the ENT finding no issues of concern—the swollen lymph nodes resolved. However, he continues to experience high fevers and significant body and joint pain.
Current Symptoms: His fevers now occur during the day as well as at night, alongside persistent body ache and joint pain, especially in the shoulders and jaw.
Request for Insights: Given this complex case, starting with what appeared to be a simple flu-like illness during travel and evolving into a serious, unexplained condition, I am seeking:

• Insights into potential diagnoses that might have been overlooked or need re-evaluation.
• Advice on further tests or specialist consultations that could provide clarity.
• Any similar case experiences or suggestions for managing his symptoms.

We are committed to finding answers and ensuring his well-being. Your expertise and guidance in navigating this perplexing situation would be invaluable.
Edite: i have attached tow files (discharge report and after discharge visit)
https://jmp.sh/s/EwgcbpoZVWssZaawPF2w

The answer depends on who you ask.
To the average American, they would say the USA is on the US customary system. When they weigh themselves it is pounds not kilograms. When they measure their height it is in feet/inches rather then centimeters. When they drive on the road they measure distance in miles and speed in miles per hour. When they listen to the weather forecast the temperature will be reported in fahrenheit(F) not celsius(C), and rain/snow will be reported in feet/inches rather than centimeters(cm). When they cook they use teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, and pints rather than milliliters(mL). When they buy gas it is in gallons rather than liters(L).
On April 2nd, 1792, Congress establishes the coinage system of the United States by passing “The Mint Act.” The U.S. adopts the decimal system for currency with one dollar being 10 dimes or 100 pennies rather than the confusing system of the British. Until 1971, British money was divided up into pounds, shillings and pence. One pound was divided into 20 shillings. One shilling was divided into 12 pennies. One penny was divided into two halfpennies, or four farthings. The metric system does not include currency. But all metric units except for time are base 10. Even time was originally base 10 but that failed. So having base 10 money is in keeping with the spirit of the metric system.
In 1832, the US customary system of units was formalized. But in 1866 Congress legalized the use of the metric system and in 1875 the US solidified its commitment to the development of the internationally recognized metric system by becoming one of the original seventeen signatory nations to the Metre Convention, also known as the Treaty of the Metre.Under the Mendenhall Order of 1893, metric standards, developed through international cooperation under the auspices of BIPM, were officially adopted as the fundamental standards for length and mass in the United States, though some metric standards were used in practice before then. The definitions of all US customary units have been based on metric units ever since (e.g., one pound is officially defined as 0.453592 Kg)!
By the late 19th century, all the world's scientists, including all American scientists, had adopted the metric system!
During the 20th century, the world's engineers, including American engineers, gradually adopted the metric system! In Sept. 1999 a $200 million Mars mission failed when the probe crashed into Mars because of a conversion error! That was the final straw and all remaining US engineers switched to metric.
In 1975, Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act, which declared metric as the preferred system of the United States, and the US Metric Board was created to implement the conversion.
In 1978, all US auto manufactures switched to metric. While it cost them money to convert they quickly made back that investment with lower ongoing costs.
Executive Order 12770, signed by President George H. W. Bush on July 25, 1991, citing the Metric Conversion Act, directed departments and agencies within the executive branch of the United States Government to "take all appropriate measures within their authority" to use the metric system "as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce", and authorized the Secretary of Commerce "to charter an Interagency Council on Metric Policy ("ICMP"), which will assist the Secretary in coordinating Federal Government-wide implementation of this order."
Passed under Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act first took effect on July 1, 1967. The metric labeling requirement was added in 1992 and took effect on February 14, 1994. In June 2010, NIST called for an amendment that would allow manufacturers the option to voluntarily label their packages solely in metric units, rather than being dual-labeled with US customary units and metric units as is currently required.
US time is in metric.
US medicine is in metric. When you buy medicine or vitamins they are in grams(g) or milligrams(mg). When you get a shot, the medicine's volume is measured in cubic centimeters(cc).
There is a strong push to switch US aviation to metric. On July 23, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 made an emergency landing at a decommissioned air base near Gimli, Manitoba. The jet had taken off with half the required fuel because of a conversion error!
Critics of the US switching to metric point to the cost of the conversion (e.g., replacing road signs) but they fail to realize the ongoing costs of maintaining two systems and all the confusion that entails is far higher!!!
Once Americans become accustomed to the metric system they will never want to switch back to the US customary system.
1 mile = 1760 yards = 5280 feet = 63360 inches
1 km = 10 hm = 100 dam = 1000 m = 10000 dm = 100000 cm = 1000000 mm
Note: hm, dam, and dm are rarely used. Most people just use km, m, cm, and mm. Scientists use many more prefixes for very large and very small scale. It is just a matter of moving the decimal place as everything is base 10.
This is converting distance (one dimension), when you do it for area (2 dimensions) and volume (3 dimensions) the difference in complexity is even more pronounced!

After almost dying I wanted to share a quick tip for everyone, if you are dealing with lots of die off, activated charcoal one hour after herbal antibiotics helped me so much.
Edit number one I posted down below but I want everyone to know, if you’re dealing with lots and lots of die off, eat a meal without any supplements at all if you get sick within 4 to 6 hours of eating, it is most likely leaky gut and it’s not actually caused by the supplements. That was the case for me. Multivitamin collagen and soup and liquid diet can heal my leaky gut and just a few days, no raw foods! For constant die off and if you suspect your supplements are causing it, I highly recommend every now and then eating meals without any supplements and see if you get these die off symptoms because if you do, it’s not from your supplements and it’s not die off, it is intestinal hyper permeability aka leaky gut, which must be healed and very soft very easy to digest food must be consumed as well as the healing amino acids inside collagen. If you cannot tolerate collagen or bone broth, try to find other soups or stews or meat broth that are extremely easy to digest
The body cannot make collagen without copper or vitamin C as well
End edit
Doing probiotics for year and herbal did very little for me,, it wasn’t until I also added vitamins and minerals that I started to greatly improve, since August 8 I’ve been taking seeking health multivitamin one methyl free and I’ve been proving months on month since,
If you’re having lots of anxiety, you don’t need valerian root or cava cava or marijuana, you need your freaking vitamins especially the B vitamins. No herb on earth will replenish your vitamins if anxiety is caused by a vitamin or mineral deficiency.
High protein diets can cause over methylation in some people, look up the symptoms, see if it is you. It certainly was for me. I could not tolerate methyl folate or methyl cobalamin. That is why I get the seeking health methyl free multivitamin one Mf METHYL FREE
Multivitamin Nordic naturals fish oil, or gain brand collagen, I take 2 to 4 mg copper Thorne and 15 milligrams Thorne zinc on top of the multivitamin. copper because I have a known deficiency through serum copper testing and cerruloplasmin and taking it increases my sense of touch tremendously, zinc which improves my sense of smell tremendously
Intestinal damage decreases absorption so getting extra nutrients is wonderful for patients with lots of intestinal damage
I also did lots of B1 Benfotiamine which completely demolished, destroyed, killed, obliterated all anxiety and fight or Flight problems I use one capsule 200 mg of micro nutrient formula brand to three times a day as needed to kick my butt into rest and digest state
Hot Epson salt baths have helped me tremendously and during my toughest times it was the only hour in the day and the hour following that my brain fog was gone and I felt wonderful. The magnesium sulfate helps detoxification and because you’re getting sulfur through the skin it does not affect hydrogen sulfide bacteria.
And dozens of capsules of niacinamide 500 mg thorn to cure my eyes and over methylation symptoms. Some days I need to capsules three times a day especially with high protein like a full rack of ribs.
First thing in the morning two capsules niacinamide totaling 1000 mg plus a 200 mg B1 Benfotiamine set me up for a wonderful relaxed happy and thankful day, increased motility, no anxiety or racing thoughts or over methylation overstimulation.
On days where you’re really toxic activated charcoal first thing in the morning can really help to soak up any remaining toxic compounds within the gut, one hour later I will do my Orgain collagen with a little bit of MCT oil and some pumpkin spice Stevia drops or toffee Stevia drops,
Most days I will take three capsules of seeking health 125 mg brand, ox bile to continue to resolve all gallbladder pain and improve fat digestion and fat soluble vitamin absorption Right rib cage pain can be your gallbladder left rib cage pain can be your pancreas. Ox bile and pancreas enzymes have truly helped me along with everything else
My vitamin D this winter was only 33 ng/mL so I’m adding two capsules totaling 10,000 international units of seeking health vitamin D K2 5000 international unit capsules. Total 200 µg K2 as well, on top of the 1000 international units of D3 inside the multivitamin and 100 µg inside the vitamin of K2
Dr. Berg electrolytes has completely cured all muscle tension within my shoulders and body, I was doing so much magnesium the past 10 years but completely forgot about potassium, potassium is critical for bowel motility, muscle relaxation as well as magnesium, and sodium and calcium are important for the constriction of the muscles.
Getting every single vitamin and mineral in the proper dosage taking the herbal antimicrobial plus working on digestion instead of doing each of these things alone the past 10 years but combining them, has gotten me 80% of the way whereas last year I was at 2% and barely clinging to life because of extreme leaky gut
If the body does not have the nutrients to repair the gut lining and have proper functioning immune system, no herb or herbal antibiotic or supplement will ever help anyone if their body is depleted of the actual nutrients it needs to heal!
If you’re not getting any better you are missing something!
As far as digestion ox bile , digestive enzymes like digest spectrum, and hydrochloric acid are the three pillars of digestion. I’ve used seeking health ox bile, now foods or enzyme Medica brand enzymes, and ZYPAN standard process for hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid does seem to increase methylation problems with over methyl because of the Formula is similar to trimethyl glycine which is bad for over methylation. So I only do them with high protein meals
Nutrition full spectrum every vitamin mineral in the proper dosage! Full spectrum digestion, gallbladder bile fat digestion, enzymes and hydrochloric acid to thoroughly break down and absorb the food and kill pathogenic bacteria in the small intestine
Just with nutrition and digestion if someone misses these things and does everything else, they may remain ill forever. Probiotics will not fix nutrient deficiency, neither will herbal antibiotics,
I wish I knew this three years ago so I wanted to share with everyone so they don’t go down the path of almost death as I have
I still have further to go to finalize healing but God will lead me as he had every day in this past journey of battling disease and disinformation from so many web articles promoting their own protocol while completely forgetting nutrition and digestion, as well as the desire to give up and be done with this all. I’ve been trained by three natural pathic doctors that God led me to, that are completely separate and specialize in many different things, and it took all of this plus my own research plus lots of prayer and God‘s guidance to thoroughly understand all of these things that I started learning in 2014 when fibromyalgia was so bad I was ready to die. Thank God for God ha ha he created the body and the vitamins minerals micro nutrients trace minerals amino acids essential fatty acids and it all works more complex than all of human history combined. I am fascinated every single second of every day by the body and its complexities.
That is when I started multivitamins through Youngevity and Dr. Glidden and noticed it cured my fibromyalgia due to the vitamins and minerals nourishing the muscles and nerves and removing all the muscular and paresthesia nerve pain numbness burning and stinging
There’s so much more I can say but I hope this helps someone
Dr. Ben Lynch’s book Dirty Genes is a great read for someone starting out new.

I started to take progesterone for 10days. I just wanted to see my body converting progesterone into DHT. After taking progesterone for 10 days i did blook work. Total testosterone <3ng/dl (undetectable) Dht 24 ng/dl. It was my first dht test. Ive been also on cpa for years. Estradiol level at trough: 278 pg/ml Is my dht increase because of using progesterone for 10 days? It seem i have no t>dht conversion because its undetectable. I just took progesterone for ten days to see blood work result and stopped it untill seeing blood work result. Currently i don’t take progesterone for 2 weeks. Im planning to do dht test again 2 weeks later and wanted to see this high dht level is a result of taking 10 days progesterone. If my blood work results with lower dht i will be sure that this because of progesterone conversion. By the way i took hogh dose progesterone 300 mg for 10 days. If my blood work result shows same amount of dht it means its not progesteron conversion issue. What can i do if i see unchanged result about dht? Should i take dutasteride or bicalutamide in this case? I dont want to stop cpa. But if in this case should i add bica or duta top on it? Because my t extremely low and thinking dutasteride doesnt work for me because it blocks t>dht conversion and i have already no t? @deannawilliams222 help me

Important Background Information

- this post is basically part 2 of this: https://www.reddit.com/Supplements/comments/1awve8y/gorilla_mind_supplement_has_killed_my_testosterone/

My 2024 Testosterone Before Using Any Gorilla Mind Product

(January 4th)
https://preview.redd.it/3nkoojsbb7lc1.png?width=1031&format=png&auto=webp&s=22da9c2193d9bf6968141fbfe85037f8fd1f14a0
The Testosterone metrics convert to:
Total T = 871 ng/dl
Free T = 16.8 ng/dl
​
(January 23rd)
https://preview.redd.it/w2rsz86qb7lc1.png?width=1031&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ab352a8e0539c7008ab9d564183de6c3d79a3f6
The Testosterone metrics convert to:
Total T = 882 ng/dl
Free T = 20.3 ng/dl
​
(January 30th)
https://preview.redd.it/t9n76oayb7lc1.png?width=1031&format=png&auto=webp&s=558a87ef462f18d39fae97bc18c0c70adaf21c92
The Testosterone metrics convert to:
Total T = 1000 ng/dl
Free T = 26.9 ng/dl

My Blood Test Before Starting Gorilla Mind Supplement #1

​
https://preview.redd.it/g44sly6xd7lc1.png?width=1091&format=png&auto=webp&s=6caf19cf865916ad354f5d89622d38d61bea2739
https://preview.redd.it/lh7i8n8wd7lc1.png?width=1031&format=png&auto=webp&s=49f985cbed6071da18fd36be7c05285619010bf8
The 4 most important metrics convert to:
Total T = 925 ng/dl
Free T = 22.3 ng/dl
Estradiol = 30 pg/ml
Prolactin = 1.6 ng ml
- full details on that disastrous experience is here: https://www.reddit.com/Supplements/comments/1awve8y/gorilla_mind_supplement_has_killed_my_testosterone/

My Blood Test After Gorilla Mind Supplement #1/Before Starting Gorilla Mind Supplement #2

​
https://preview.redd.it/24lssxtld7lc1.png?width=1043&format=png&auto=webp&s=8c13cf93f76b928c11f361d7eadb2b2d860debb9
https://preview.redd.it/l9qbjuekd7lc1.png?width=1091&format=png&auto=webp&s=2af0312a4c17149df84615b3171addf146331ef7
The 4 most important metrics convert to:
Total T = 654 ng/dl
Free T = 13.8 ng/dl
Estradiol = 38 pg/ml
Prolactin = 1.6 ng ml

My Latest Blood Test After 9 Days On Sigma/Gorilla Mind Supplement #2

​
https://preview.redd.it/iypyi7m8e7lc1.png?width=1043&format=png&auto=webp&s=da7b54aa2108dcec1e7b8df358647ac08e85f48a
https://preview.redd.it/iedbujo7e7lc1.png?width=1101&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a77fb32f270d5c595248b1307a666dd4d7e02f6
The 4 most important metrics convert to:
Total T = 850 ng/dl (8% decrease compared to before any gorilla mind product)
Free T = 17.8 ng/dl (20% decrease compared to before any gorilla mind product)
Estradiol = 57 pg/ml (90% increase compared to before any gorilla mind product)
Prolactin = 1.8 ng ml (12% increase compared to before any gorilla mind product)

My Thoughts

I do not think i will try any "testosterone supplement" anytime soon after this experiment.
I went from having amazing natural metrics all around to now a super high estrogen level that I'm not sure how to lower.
And i'm having high estrogen symptoms already with feeling depressed for the first time ever in my life.
EDIT
I forgot to add info on the actual sigma supplement.
what is the supplement?
it's called sigma: https://gorillamind.com/products/sigma
here are supplement facts:
https://preview.redd.it/jfq85zc0i7lc1.png?width=645&format=png&auto=webp&s=eb3bfef3420a970f11837a7c6418a5a14e625279