I’m diagnosed with endometriosis. However, recently I’ve started to wonder if some of the symptoms I struggle with daily may stem from yet another illness, maybe POTS? Are they related?
I’ll list some of the things I’ve started to notice aren’t really that normal… So if someone who struggles with POTS doesn’t mind giving me their opinion/guiding me a little bit?? Thank you…
In the past two weeks I’ve suffered two presyncopes: my blood pressure starts to drop rapidly, my feet get sooooooo hot and tingly, I dissociate and get all dizzy, my whole body feels really weak, my eyes begin to twitch and close against my will… It’s like I’m about to faint but I don’t lose consciousness. Both times I had just eaten a hot, big bowl of noodle soup and had my legs crossed (as usual).
I also experience vertigo and brief vision loss every time I stand up too fast. My hands, feet and nose are ALWAYS extremely cold. I already deal with anxiety on the daily (I take medication for it), but if I drink anything with caffeine in it or don’t get enough sleep I get extreme heart palpitations and chest pain. Usually the minute I start experiencing tachycardia my body gets a really big bright red rash all over it... I’m always really out of breath; even the most ridiculous attempt at physical effort/exercise leaves me not only with really bad endo pain but also EXTREMELY sweaty and tired…

I was recently diagnosed with PCOS and have struggled with facial hair for a while now. Before, I used to use Nair once a month and that typically took care of it but since I’ve had these awful symptoms even before diagnoses, my facial hair grows back sooo fast. I went from using Nair for light hair once a month to having to use it MINIMUM once a week. And it doesn’t even remove the hair most of the time. I just get the awful burns and the hair is still there no matter how long it’s left on. This last time I only used it for TWO minutes and it resulted in extremely painful chemical burns that lasted almost a week. This isn’t the first time it’s happened either, it seems to be hit or miss whether it’ll burn me or not. I dread using it but I don’t know what else to do. I refuse to actually shave my face and don’t know what other options there are. I bought this spring looking thing from Amazon that says it will grab every hair and remove them but it didn’t even work in the slightest. What do you use for facial hair removal that isn’t extremely painful or just straight up shaving?? I’m tired of having to deal with either facial hair or chemical burns to remove it.

I initially started feeling mild rib pain on my left side. I thought I had ripped a muscle or something. But the next day the pain got so bad I couldn’t shower myself, sleep, or take deep breaths. I went the er and it ended up being a bilateral PE from taking birth control to treat my irregular periods. I was admitted to the hospital for 24 hours. It’s been 5 days since I’ve been discharged and I’m still in pain and having shortness of breath. How long will it take to heal from this? Im only 19 and super worried this will affect my quality of life. I’m currently on eliquis and have to be on it for the next 3 months

Male 24, 5’11, 155 lbs
I have right eye pain every single day, it can vary from being 1/10 dull ache to an annoying 5/10 to a 8/10 pain. The pain usually starts mildly builds up to a 5/10 and goes down again. When I look to the left and blink I feel scratching in my eye. The eye is not red nor swollen. When I sleep or close my eyes the pain goes away completely or at least to a point I don’t notice it. This used to happen in October with every morning a strong pain 8/10 that would last for an hour and completely go away for 20 days. It has since not returned but now this issue is concerning.
I do not have any vision issues, I have floaters but that’s in my left eye and been there for years. I noticed if I massage my eyes a little it can help. But other than that it’s extremely concerning and annoying and depressing. It started a month ago and hasn’t stopped since. But again before it used to happen here and there for a few days..

I know there are threads on this already, but I wanted to post with my specific experience.
So I have come to the realization that there is a possibility I am a 2 and not a 9w8 like I thought. I don't know myself very well at all, it seems, as I thought I was a 5w4 even before thinking I was a 9. I read the description of a sp9 and it fits me to a T. It lines up with how I have behaved for most of my life.
There was a time in my life in which I would have definitely seen myself as a 2, if not a very unstable 4. It was a period of a few years after my mother passed. I suddenly became very focused on finding a relationship. I was obsessed with being perfect for people and finding someone who could give me unconditional love. I was uncharacteristically extroverted and social. I was willing to be absolutely anything for whoever my "person" at the time was. I wouldn't say no to almost anything if it meant that my "person" was happy and loved me. I had extreme rage and behaved impulsively in my friendships/relationships. This rage would often be very suppressed and bottled up if it was related to an interpersonal issue. I couldn't tell anyone what was wrong when I was upset and would end up just disappearing from their lives entirely or being very passive aggressive. The only time I was ever up front was when I was paranoid. My rage towards other things was very explosive, however, especially my own inadequacies. I was also very manipulative. People leaving me made me feel like I was dying. It was to the point that my therapist at the time diagnosed me with Borderline Personality Disorder. (I am not implying all borderlines are like this! I don't even have it like I thought and this is merely my experience). One 2 thing I didn't really relate to was helping others with the expectation that they would do the same for me. Honestly, pleasing people just felt like survival. I fell for "lovebombing" and the whole "soulmates" thing very easily.
At the same time, I was terrified of love and would shy away once someone returned the feelings. I would react negatively to words of affirmation and was very suspicious of them. The only time I felt okay with it was when I knew I was being used. I preferred it that way, and real love/healthy relationships scared me (They still do). This is something I have done in every relationship - I have intense feelings of love and then run away when things get too "real." I question their motives - What would they want with someone as awful as me? It must be a trick, though I was okay with that because I felt I deserved to be used. I sabotaged every healthy relationship and clung to unhealthy ones like my life depended on it. I craved, yet rejected codependency. Put bluntly, I wanted to be the one chasing, never the other way around.
I seem to have snapped out of that haze, after seeing a new therapist and being medicated with mood stabilizers. I feel like my old self again. I am much more comfortable being alone now and actually prefer it. I have no desire to pursue romantic relationships or otherwise intense connections. Hell, I didn't even want a romantic relationship until after my mom passed, and it usually just ended in me realizing that I was looking for a replacement for a parent. My mother and I were very toxic and enmeshed, but that's a story for another day. I am happy as long as things are relaxed. I opt to not participate in arguments or fights and am able to calm down much more easily and step away when upset. I can still be confrontational if needed, as I prefer being direct (where I believe my 8 wing comes in). I prefer this directness as it saves me from lying or bottling things up to the other person's detriment. I still can't be extremely blunt though.
My main desire back then was unconditional love, and I feared being hated. I felt I lost the opportunity to receive that love since my mom died. My current desire is to just live as well as I can and be happy as I can. I don't really want anything intense or permanent. I just want things to come and go as they must. I'm not sure what I'm afraid of exactly. While medicated, I am still very passive about my own health and life so I don't fear a whole lot, at least not consciously. If I had to say, I fear becoming what I was back then. I don't recognize that person.
Human minds are complex for sure. Usually my reaction to trauma is to heavily dissociate (I can't remember massive chunks of my life) and cope with food, alcohol, any sort of physical experience I can get my hands on to distract from mental pain. This is why I'm so confused regarding my reaction to my mother's death. Some of it I can't help but wonder if I only became that way because so many people told me I had a personality disorder.
Oh, I am also confused about this: If I acted like a 2 while unhealthy, that would mean that my type is 4. However, I don't quite relate to any 4 descriptions as much as I relate to sp9 (4 is in my tritype, however). Plus, if I were truly a 2, I would be like an 8 when stressed, right? I do want to put others first and be useful but just because things go so much smoother if you don't try to be contrarian or cause problems.
As far as stress is concerned, I feel like I disintegrate to 6 more now. The only remaining traits from that time are that I still have the tendency to dip without saying anything when feeling stressed or ashamed, though this is something I have always done. I tend to have one foot out the door as I don't expect people to be around for long. I'm very, very avoidant lmao.
I'm rather lost on this so if anyone could provide some insight I would greatly appreciate it!

I've been using both of these for a few weeks now, so here are some further thoughts.

Quality of Coffee

The Flair Pro 2 wins hands down. There really is no competition. The Flair produces much nicer coffee. You also get more of it. By comparison the Coffeejack produces comparatively "weak" or watery coffee, unless you restrict to very short, low volume shots. But then you've got to pull a second shot just to have something substantial to drink.
It doesn't seem like the Flair Pro 2 takes that much more coffee by weight than the Coffeejack. Sure it takes a bit more of a dose, but not by that much. Close inspection of the Coffeejack puck after pulling a shot suggests to me that water isn't filtering through the puck evenly at the top. It looks as if most of the flow is going down and around the sides of the puck rather than through it. This would explain why shots are weaker than I would expect. I'm not sure why this is the case. I suspect the basket design is flawed somehow and so it's easier for water to flow around the edges of the basket than through the puck. Strange.
The Coffeejack also "cheats" by using one of these valves at the bottom of the "portafilter" to restrict flow and increase pressure. Some people suggest removing this value. I probably agree. If you leave the valve in place it's very easy to end up in a situation where you can't get any flow at all, because the overpressure valve in the main body of the unit releases at a lower pressure than the pressure required to obtain flow through the portafilter.
To understand why this is the case, consider that the valve in the bottom of the portafilter requires X amount of pressure for coffee to flow through it. The puck itself requires Y amount of pressure. So if X + Y < Z, where Z is the pressure threshold of the pressure release valve, then you won't get any flow. (Disassemble your unit to find the black overpressure valve. It's hidden beneath the silver mesh screen at the bottom of the glass water container.)
Some versions of Flairs also have this restriction valve feature. I don't think units like this make very good coffee. Your grind size should be what creates pressure. It's easy to buy coffee with the right grind size, if you don't have a grinder. People can become excessively obsessive about grind size. It doesn't matter that much, as long as the grind is fine enough to create some pressure when pulling a shot, it's ok. A very large grind obviously will not work. The same is true for a grind which is extremely fine, because it will restrict the flow completely. But you can't buy coffee with a grind that fine anyway.

Burning your hands

It's easy to burn yourself with the Coffeejack. A flaw I did not fully realize until I started using it and wanted to pull a second shot after pulling a first.

Cleaning

It's easier to clean the Flair Pro 2. Cleaning the Coffeejack is a painful process, as is waiting for it to dry. The Flair Pro 2 dries quickly. You can also towel dry it. Good luck doing that with the Coffeejack.
The Coffeejack will remain wet internally for weeks. There's no way to dry it out inside without disassembling it.

Easy of use

Pulling a shot with the Flair takes some effort. You're going to have to use some arm strength to pull a shot with it. The Coffeejack is comparatively a low effort exercise, only requiring you to pump a small piston with relatively little effort. However this doesn't actually mean it's a better design, here's why:
The problem with the Coffeejack is it's extremely hard to apply enough pressure without releasing the over-pressure valve. This makes it frustrating to use, and in one of my previous posts I explained why doing this too many times might break it completely resulting in your having to re-assemble it to fix it.

Summary

In essentially all possible ways, the Flair is a better product. Just spend the extra and get the Flair.

Hi all. New here. 51 year old man. Here is my story. Diagnosed with T2D August of 2022. I went on a workout binge and diet and reduced my A1c from 12.5 to 6.8 in about 8-9 weeks. Today my A1c is in the 5’s.
During the first week of November 2022 I developed seering pain, warmth and redness at night (between 6-8pm to 2-4am) in soles of feet and toes bilaterally. Pretty much every time I layed down or elevated my feet in chair. The week of Thanksgiving 2022 was the worst of my life. I spent Thanksgiving day in the basement standing on cement to cool off feet. Walking around seems to alleviate the issue somewhat. Showers were terrible with pain with even warm/cool water. The burning pain was within 20 seconds of hitting the water. Allodynia? This was soles of feet only. Went to neurologist in January 2023 and she stated I developed insulin neuritis aka treatment induced neuropathy (TIND). This is a form of SFN where you lower your A1c too quickly and your body basically goes into shock. During this time (November-January), Suicide was on my mind. Had a nervous breakdown. I’m not sure the SFN part is better. I do know that SFN nerves can regrow very very slowly (1mm per day). I’ve read more papers on TIND and joined several forums on the subject. A lot of people develop this and EM with it. Most seem to get better. Not sure if EM ever went totally away.
I am wondering if my EM is part of this SFN and TIND. I’ve watched Dr. Oaklander’s video on SFN and EM. Definitely seem to be a link between the two.
Around January 2023, the intense burning seemed to taper to just 6-8pm. I can now take hot showers. At night I developed zaps and muscle spasms…this too is part of SFN associated with TIND. Was told will get better. That did.
I don’t get a flare with showers. I do sometimes get a flare when I get hot but those go away pretty quickly compared to the nightly flares. The pain is primarily in tips of toes and sometimes on the top of toes now and sometimes it effects one foot at a time.
I still get hot toes between 6-9pm almost every night. Definitely feels like a circadian rhythm-parasympathetic thing.
I get a stinging pain and redness but not too swollen and I don’t cool feet. There are days, maybe 2-3 in a row where I don’t get any flares. There are days where I only get a flare when I lay down for bed. If I get a flare say at 8pm but I’m not laying down, after it disappears 1-2 hours later, I won’t get a second flare once I lay down. The pain usually lasts 1-2 hours. Not through the night. I sleep with blanket on but no socks. I’m actually afraid to try socks.
I’m thinking this is EM and it’s lingering from my TIND. Not sure if it will ever totally go away. I haven’t gone down the road of genetic testing yet. Not sure I want/need to. It’s definitely not as bad as it once was.
Just wanted to share. My fear is this thing getting worse over time. I think it’s secondary and not primary.
Thoughts?

Sorry for posting so much, but I think I have covid - my boyfriend tested positive yesterday and I also have some mild symptoms such as a tickly throat, headache, extreme tiredness and generally not feeling good. My worst symptoms is nausea, I’m not sure if it’s because I have major anxiety about having covid or if it’s because I’m unwell but I’m freaking out. I know there is nothing I can do about it, but does anyone have any advice to help? I’m in the UK where zofran is not easily accessible without prescription

So after a long (2 and a half year) struggle with infertility, starting IVF, OHSS after egg retrieval, being in and out of A&E for ‘unknown fluid in POD’, etc., I finally had my surgery to remove this ‘fluid/cyst’ that was causing pain. They do an MRI make sure its still there, two days later (before surgery) I have some rectal fluid come out. Ignore and go ahead with laparoscopy to remove the fluid anyway. Post surgery: fluid disappeared, STAGE 4 Severe deep pelvic rectovaginal ENDO found.
I was in shock. Finally i had answers to my infertility…. my extreme period pains…. discomfort during sex….bloating…sciatica…rectal shooting pains… BY ACCIDENT!!!! They were meant to go in to remove a cyst/fluid and if they knew it had exploded they wouldve never gone in and i wouldve never had answers.
They did not excise the endo but released my ovaries from my pelvis as they were stuck. According to my doctor this does not increase my chances of conceiving.
Im super relieved but very overwhelmed. Anyway, moving forward, any endo fertility advice? ☹️ I am ready to do the medicated FET but i wanted to pause on it and take a breather first.

Psalm 69:1-36

¹ Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. ² I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. ³ I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. ⁴ Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.
⁵ You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you.
⁶ Lord, the Lord Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me. ⁷ For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. ⁸ I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; ⁹ for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. ¹⁰ When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn; ¹¹ when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me. ¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
¹³ But I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation. ¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters. ¹⁵ Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.
¹⁶ Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. ¹⁷ Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble. ¹⁸ Come near and rescue me; deliver me because of my foes.
¹⁹ You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you. ²⁰ Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. ²¹ They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
²² May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and^\)^b\) a trap. ²³ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever. ²⁴ Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them. ²⁵ May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents. ²⁶ For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt. ²⁷ Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation. ²⁸ May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.
²⁹ But as for me, afflicted and in pain— may your salvation, God, protect me.
³⁰ I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. ³¹ This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves. ³² The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live! ³³ The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.
³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them, ³⁵ for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it; ³⁶ the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.

this is my first reddit post ever so sorry if i’m doing this wrong. i only use this app to find people with similar problems, anyway.
i’m a 19 (almost 20) y/o F, i weigh 106 and im 5’1.
i like to start off by saying i have anxiety (mainly health anxiety) and tachycardia (due to anxiety probably) so this could just be a misunderstanding.
but as of now i feel bloated, like a balloon. i feel like i need to burp but i cant. i feel like i cant take a full proper breath. my middle/upper back hurts, (my spine is slightly curved to the right so maybe thats why, but i think thats lower) under my left breast feels uncomfortable and my left arm near my armpit feels odd (basically lots of slight pressure) i have a weird sensation in my left arm and hand, kind of like a numbness but not at the same time. the left side of my face (cheek/jaw and ear area) feels weird and my throat feels like there’s a lot of mucus clogging it. everytime i lay down after awhile i feel like i get out of breath and my heart spikes up. i have a cheap heart watch on but it said it went up to about 113, (i constantly check my heart rate and blood oxygen.) as of now its in the mid 80s, but its going up still. anyway, i’ve been feeling very imbalanced lately, like the floor is moving, not standing on solid d ground. i’ve been feeling dizzy and very fake, like derealization. and it’s super scary considering i feel like i’m not in my head / body most of the time. maybe this is because my iron is mildly low (55) and i’ve been staying up until 7am and waking up at 4pm and haven’t been eating right, constantly have stomach pain. but in my mind all this stress, bad sleeping habits and and eating habits could lead to a heart attack. my episodes usually start at night when i want to go to sleep. it’s scary. i always have a feeling that once i fall asleep i wont wake up which keeps me up at night. i usually fall asleep once my boyfriend wakes up because i like the feeling of being monitored i guess, its comforting to know that someone is there just in case.
but are these signs of a possible cardiac arrest or heart attack or is it just anxiety ? i’m trying to avoid going to the ER since i went 11 times JUST in may and had multiple CT scans and x-rays done and everything seems to be fine (except my $2k hospital bill) my mom always told me growing up that stress can kill you and that information stresses me out more every time i’m stressed and lately i’ve been constantly stressed.

So for some context my partner and I have been having unprotected sex for coming up on 10 months now, I got my IUD removed September 2023. I’ve been on birth control essentially since I started puberty (about 9 years ago now, I’m 20) because of my heavy periods. It’s not like we’re trying to get pregnant, we are just letting things be more natural because I’m so sick of birth control. I was having painful periods and stress induced bleeding while on my IUD, but after I got it removed it’s like a whole new world for me. My periods are extremely regular, don’t last that long and are never late by more than a day. My flo app is actually super good at detecting my period. For the last few months I almost always start my period on the exact prediction date. But this month I was supposed to start my period on Monday (27/05), and it’s now almost Sunday (02/06) and nothing. My boobs are super sensitive which I haven’t had since I got my very first period at 12 years old, my stomach is more sensitive to foods & I’m also peeing like a race horse. My flo app has been telling me I’m late for a few days now too (& it’s been telling me to test) which ever since getting the app, has never happened to me. I took a test on Monday for fun and it was strange. Normally when I test the control line shows up as the pee goes across the test, but this time it took 5+ minutes for the control line to become somewhat clear. I also found out you’re supposed to only dip it in the cup/stream for 5 seconds exactly. A stopwatch or clock is even recommended. It’s literally so important that it’s in bold and underlined, but for some reason I didn’t read the instructions in a panic and literally kept it in the cup for like a minute because I wanted it to soak up as much as possible. Then to my surprise I find out that too much pee on a test will hinder the results. I retested on Friday (this was still before I knew too much pee can affect the results. I also tested at night both times after already drinking a lot of fluids throughout the day) and I thought I saw something while the pee was going across the test, but then my pasta sauce started boiling over and I forgot about it for the rest of the night so I actually don’t know what to think. Especially because the control line on that second test was also significantly fainter than I’ve ever seen. My long term partner and I are reasonably active (especially during ovulation) so it’s not like pregnancy is out of the question. My cycle is normally 28 days long, but I’m nearly on day 34. What should I do? Should I test again to see if I’m pregnant? In my 9 years of having a period this has never happened to me and I’m worried it’s now a sign of something more sinister like health problems… What do yall think?

M30.
I am worried of having autoimmune hepatitis.
I had ANA positive at 1:320 (homogeneous) since January 2023 (shortly after getting COVID) along with a positive ASMA (antismooth muscle antibodies) - indicative of autoimmune hepatitis. My ANA remained positive through the year, but my ASMA went to negative from June onwards. In December 2023, my ANA turned to positive again at 1:640 (fine speckled), and ASMA also back to moderate positive (1:320).
I am consistently testing negative on ENA & dsDNA tests. Only strong positive on anti- DFS 70 but that is often associated with no autoimmune diseases.
ALT is at 79 (jumped to 90 recently despite losing several kg of weight). AST is normal. Bilirubin is normal. ALP is normal. Immunoglobulin (G, A & M) is normal. Negative on HBA1c (pre-diabetes). LKM and Mitochondrial antibodies are negative. Hepatitis B & C tests are negative.
Ferritin and GGT fluctuate between elevated and normal levels (full iron panel following the Ferritin levels doesn’t indicate anything abnormal, however). Extremely low vitamin D levels.
I visited a gastroenterologist, but he advised against a liver biopsy, considering I don't have any AIH-related symptoms, besides occasional liver pain (I've had fatty liver for 8 years now). The liver pain is recent (from 8 months ago, daily) and disappears after a meal.
They sent me for an ultrasound in August 2023 which didn’t show anything but the already fatty liver I’ve had for 8 years. I still did a liver tumour marker test (AFP) and it was negative.
I occasionally wake up with really dry mouth and low energy. This has become more frequent in the past few months.
I also saw a rheumatologist in January 2024 and they said my wildly fluctuating ANA patterns (homogeneous to fine speckled) often mean it isn’t an autoimmune disease. They also comforted me that if I had untreated AIH for over a year even (since COVID), I would feel very unwell by now and my ALT would be in the hundreds. They advised against a liver biopsy too.
Any idea on what to do? All I know is my health issues started in June 2021 after my COVID vaccination (I developed testicular inflammation, only subsiding now) and also the liver issues started shortly after getting COVID itself in December 2022.
Many thanks.

M30.
I am worried of having autoimmune hepatitis.
I had ANA positive at 1:320 (homogeneous) since January 2023 (shortly after getting COVID) along with a positive ASMA (antismooth muscle antibodies) - indicative of autoimmune hepatitis. My ANA remained positive through the year, but my ASMA went to negative from June onwards. In December 2023, my ANA turned to positive again at 1:640 (fine speckled), and ASMA also back to moderate positive (1:320).
I am consistently testing negative on ENA & dsDNA tests. Only strong positive on anti- DFS 70 but that is often associated with no autoimmune diseases.
ALT is at 79 (jumped to 90 recently despite losing several kg of weight). AST is normal. Bilirubin is normal. ALP is normal. Immunoglobulin (G, A & M) is normal. Negative on HBA1c (pre-diabetes). LKM and Mitochondrial antibodies are negative. Hepatitis B & C tests are negative.
Ferritin and GGT fluctuate between elevated and normal levels (full iron panel following the Ferritin levels doesn’t indicate anything abnormal, however). Extremely low vitamin D levels.
I visited a gastroenterologist, but he advised against a liver biopsy, considering I don't have any AIH-related symptoms, besides occasional liver pain (I've had fatty liver for 8 years now). The liver pain is recent (from 8 months ago, daily) and disappears after a meal.
They sent me for an ultrasound in August 2023 which didn’t show anything but the already fatty liver I’ve had for 8 years. I still did a liver tumour marker test (AFP) and it was negative.
I occasionally wake up with really dry mouth and low energy. This has become more frequent in the past few months.
I also saw a rheumatologist in January 2024 and they said my wildly fluctuating ANA patterns (homogeneous to fine speckled) often mean it isn’t an autoimmune disease. They also comforted me that if I had untreated AIH for over a year even (since COVID), I would feel very unwell by now and my ALT would be in the hundreds. They advised against a liver biopsy too.
Any idea on what to do? All I know is my health issues started in June 2021 after my COVID vaccination (I developed testicular inflammation, only subsiding now) and also the liver issues started shortly after getting COVID itself in December 2022.
Many thanks.

M30.
I am worried of having autoimmune hepatitis.
I had ANA positive at 1:320 (homogeneous) since January 2023 (shortly after getting COVID) along with a positive ASMA (antismooth muscle antibodies) - indicative of autoimmune hepatitis. My ANA remained positive through the year, but my ASMA went to negative from June onwards. In December 2023, my ANA turned to positive again at 1:640 (fine speckled), and ASMA also back to moderate positive (1:320).
I am consistently testing negative on ENA & dsDNA tests. Only strong positive on anti- DFS 70 but that is often associated with no autoimmune diseases.
ALT is at 79 (jumped to 90 recently despite losing several kg of weight). AST is normal. Bilirubin is normal. ALP is normal. Immunoglobulin (G, A & M) is normal. Negative on HBA1c (pre-diabetes). LKM and Mitochondrial antibodies are negative. Hepatitis B & C tests are negative.
Ferritin and GGT fluctuate between elevated and normal levels (full iron panel following the Ferritin levels doesn’t indicate anything abnormal, however). Extremely low vitamin D levels.
I visited a gastroenterologist, but he advised against a liver biopsy, considering I don't have any AIH-related symptoms, besides occasional liver pain (I've had fatty liver for 8 years now). The liver pain is recent (from 8 months ago, daily) and disappears after a meal.
They sent me for an ultrasound in August 2023 which didn’t show anything but the already fatty liver I’ve had for 8 years. I still did a liver tumour marker test (AFP) and it was negative.
I occasionally wake up with really dry mouth and low energy. This has become more frequent in the past few months.
I also saw a rheumatologist in January 2024 and they said my wildly fluctuating ANA patterns (homogeneous to fine speckled) often mean it isn’t an autoimmune disease. They also comforted me that if I had untreated AIH for over a year even (since COVID), I would feel very unwell by now and my ALT would be in the hundreds. They advised against a liver biopsy too.
Any idea on what to do? All I know is my health issues started in June 2021 after my COVID vaccination (I developed testicular inflammation, only subsiding now) and also the liver issues started shortly after getting COVID itself in December 2022.
Many thanks.

M30.
I am worried of having autoimmune hepatitis.
I had ANA positive at 1:320 (homogeneous) since January 2023 (shortly after getting COVID) along with a positive ASMA (antismooth muscle antibodies) - indicative of autoimmune hepatitis. My ANA remained positive through the year, but my ASMA went to negative from June onwards. In December 2023, my ANA turned to positive again at 1:640 (fine speckled), and ASMA also back to moderate positive (1:320).
I am consistently testing negative on ENA & dsDNA tests. Only strong positive on anti- DFS 70 but that is often associated with no autoimmune diseases.
ALT is at 79 (jumped to 90 recently despite losing several kg of weight). AST is normal. Bilirubin is normal. ALP is normal. Immunoglobulin (G, A & M) is normal. Negative on HBA1c (pre-diabetes). LKM and Mitochondrial antibodies are negative. Hepatitis B & C tests are negative.
Ferritin and GGT fluctuate between elevated and normal levels (full iron panel following the Ferritin levels doesn’t indicate anything abnormal, however). Extremely low vitamin D levels.
I visited a gastroenterologist, but he advised against a liver biopsy, considering I don't have any AIH-related symptoms, besides occasional liver pain (I've had fatty liver for 8 years now). The liver pain is recent (from 8 months ago, daily) and disappears after a meal.
They sent me for an ultrasound in August 2023 which didn’t show anything but the already fatty liver I’ve had for 8 years. I still did a liver tumour marker test (AFP) and it was negative.
I occasionally wake up with really dry mouth and low energy. This has become more frequent in the past few months.
I also saw a rheumatologist in January 2024 and they said my wildly fluctuating ANA patterns (homogeneous to fine speckled) often mean it isn’t an autoimmune disease. They also comforted me that if I had untreated AIH for over a year even (since COVID), I would feel very unwell by now and my ALT would be in the hundreds. They advised against a liver biopsy too.
Any idea on what to do? All I know is my health issues started in June 2021 after my COVID vaccination (I developed testicular inflammation, only subsiding now) and also the liver issues started shortly after getting COVID itself in December 2022.
Many thanks.

M30.
I am worried of having autoimmune hepatitis.
I had ANA positive at 1:320 (homogeneous) since January 2023 (shortly after getting COVID) along with a positive ASMA (antismooth muscle antibodies) - indicative of autoimmune hepatitis. My ANA remained positive through the year, but my ASMA went to negative from June onwards. In December 2023, my ANA turned to positive again at 1:640 (fine speckled), and ASMA also back to moderate positive (1:320).
I am consistently testing negative on ENA & dsDNA tests. Only strong positive on anti- DFS 70 but that is often associated with no autoimmune diseases.
ALT is at 79 (jumped to 90 recently despite losing several kg of weight). AST is normal. Bilirubin is normal. ALP is normal. Immunoglobulin (G, A & M) is normal. Negative on HBA1c (pre-diabetes). LKM and Mitochondrial antibodies are negative. Hepatitis B & C tests are negative.
Ferritin and GGT fluctuate between elevated and normal levels (full iron panel following the Ferritin levels doesn’t indicate anything abnormal, however). Extremely low vitamin D levels.
I visited a gastroenterologist, but he advised against a liver biopsy, considering I don't have any AIH-related symptoms, besides occasional liver pain (I've had fatty liver for 8 years now). The liver pain is recent (from 8 months ago, daily) and disappears after a meal.
They sent me for an ultrasound in August 2023 which didn’t show anything but the already fatty liver I’ve had for 8 years. I still did a liver tumour marker test (AFP) and it was negative.
I occasionally wake up with really dry mouth and low energy. This has become more frequent in the past few months.
I also saw a rheumatologist in January 2024 and they said my wildly fluctuating ANA patterns (homogeneous to fine speckled) often mean it isn’t an autoimmune disease. They also comforted me that if I had untreated AIH for over a year even (since COVID), I would feel very unwell by now and my ALT would be in the hundreds. They advised against a liver biopsy too.
Any idea on what to do? All I know is my health issues started in June 2021 after my COVID vaccination (I developed testicular inflammation, only subsiding now) and also the liver issues started shortly after getting COVID itself in December 2022.
Many thanks.

Im sorry about what happened. I didn’t disappear on you intentionally.
If you remember 2010, I left because i had no idea you might have feelings for me or that i did and because i thought you didn’t care about me as a friend. Seemed like you had so many good friends and i was afraid that you would hurt me like N did. Im weird about friendships because I barely had any growing up and seemed to constantly lose friends. I didn’t leave to hurt you I just thought you wouldn’t notice.
Then more recently, i was in love with you. I didn’t want to hurt you. Not ever. I started to think you were using me along with him encouraging that idea then the proxy changed and became nasty and i didnt even know you were still out there loving me. I didn’t know it hurt you and realizing last night from your letter hit me like a truck cause i never wanted to be the person that appears to prove your trauma fears right especially not for you. I know what thats like and i know how horrible it feels (though with a different trauma of course) and it pains me so much that thats how it was for you.
Im so sorry but as i was saying I didn’t do it on purpose. I just didn’t even know. The thing about our relationship is it was through letters and i stopped looking at letters and i guess I stopped writing them too. So you couldn’t know and i dont remember seeing anything from you. I vaguely remember you were upset that i was talking to him but i don’t know if you knew he ghosted me after seeing my picture. I dunno. I was so lost and confused at the time. Writing letters became too difficult, thats why i stopped.
I guess i am a terrible person. I shouldn’t have talked to him though i remember someone kept trying to talk to me during the beginning. It was probably him.
And based on the fact that i got psychosis just from talking to a dude casually a while before that (when we werent talking cause you told me to leave you alone, which id still like to know what happened there, that whole thing really hurt me but that’s not the point of this), i was far too traumatized by men then to have any clue about him (A). Unfortunately. (Btw, i wish we had a more private place to hash out private things)
Im not trying to make excuses and please don’t say i am (cause my mom has forever and ever) but this whole thing was more complicated than perhaps you thought.
Im conflicted because i feel like this is the path i had to go down, to find myself and figure out my traumas but i never meant to hurt you along the way. I never wanted you to feel abandoned and left without a word. I can’t imagine how that must have felt. This will eat away at me probably for the rest of my life.
Im sorry, this is a shitty explanation and apology but apparently all i could come up with at the moment. My brain is all over the place.
So, thats why i thought you wouldnt want to give it a try anymore. Seemed too terrible to ever trust me again.
I do love you (but without any contact how can i show you? I wanna show you) and i see a future everywhere around me of us. Comes up unbidden. Sometimes i think i hear you, im not sure. And i worry im so bad at just everything that youll think im just some user. I don’t know how many users go through extreme embarrassment though lol. They’d be smoother too. Im so awkward.
I froze when i realized just what id done (inadvertently). From the letter. I shut down completely. My guilt is never ending, what’s some more. But for reasons i can’t explain right now (one day though) this guilt is extra excruciating. Cause it’s you. The one i adore most.
You always thought (it seemed) that id done something to hurt you with all this intangible guilt i carried around but it was just how i annihilated the whole world.
I wish i could hold you. You can yell at me if you want. If it helps. I wish i could just be near you.
It’s been like 5 years. I can’t believe it. We’re due to see each other again.
Anyway, i love you and i hope you have sweet dreams when you sleep baby (he calls you babygirl ive noticed). I’ll stop calling you that.

F19. It's never been this bad before. Last year I broke up w my bf (long story, lots of lies on his end) and I was almost totally fine by myself. Didn't want to be around men, didn't care, was pretty okay. Got back together w my bf after he asked me back, and now he's leaving again and I don't know why, he won't tell me.
Anyways I'm getting really worried because I'm afraid that any dude that shows me any attention I am going to latch on hard to even if they suck as a person. I just want someone close to me so badly, im just so used to abuse and abandonment throughout my life, and I've never had someone genuinely care about me or my wellbeing before. I never felt it w my bf, even though I really wanted to. I dont have any close friends as they all just kinda drop me (boy or girl). I'd say there's a problem with ME but no one tells me that's the case and I don't know what it is about me. I have been having a really hard time recently making friends, but I just want ONE so bad.
Like I said, I'm worried I'm just gonna take whatever comes. I have extremely bad people pleasing responses from csa, and this has been the pattern in my life, its gotten me nowhere good. I've never felt this type of pain before yet so im assuming the circumstances I'm gonna get myself into are gonna be so much worse coming up. Anyone have experience with this and how they stop themselves from living in lala land and just going along w whatever just so they can be in a relationship?
Tldr: hard-core people pleaser, can't make friends but will take anyone who comes my way even if they are a terrible person

So last week marked then 2nd anniversary of the fateful day I went into the local family clinic in Holmfirth England and had my life changed in 10 minutes. Here is an over view of various aspects and how they have changed over 2 years

1. Pain. Far less than the first 6 to 7 months or so. When I was in constant agony with left sided nerve pain. However I have cycles. First 6 months awful. Winter 22 up to Jan 23 practically went away . Was sitting at work again. Jan 23 to March 23 pain on the right side and noticeable lump started. Very painful,and painful to ejaculate . Subsequently diagnosed as a sperm granola which has since gone . May 23-sep 23 return of left side pulling pain coinciding with summer and testes descending . Sep 23-Nov 23 little to no pain . Nov23 to Dec 23 rolled onto my front in a hotel bed asleep and up with sucking nerve type pain in my right for 1 month. Dec 23 to feb 23 some left side pain . Booked reversal see below . March 23 to may 23 slipped a disc in my neck. Agony . 9/10 on pain scale. Testicle pain was absent as brain was concentrated on greater pain . Now. Neck pain subsiding . Constant feeling on ache or fullness in both testicles with left being worse
   
2. Emotions. A rollercoaster . I’m living my life now and getting on with it . First 6 months was suicidal, second 12 months varied from grief to extreme anger directed at the doctor who performed my op. Now I’ve settled . I want to get back to normal but am starting to forget what normal feels like
   
3. Medication . Tried coedine for first 3 months . Now been on amlytryptline for 18 months 20 to 10 mg a day. Does it do anything ? Not sure he,ps me sleep and I think it’s helped my depression . Would like to come off it
   
4. Sex. Still enjoyable but orgasm release doesn’t feel complete . Am not sure if this mental or physical. I no longer ejaculate daily probably 2 to 3 times a week otherwise it’s sore
   
5. Future. Reversal was booked at best life for oct. I’m deferring to next year to allow my slipped disc to fully heal .
   
6. Life style . I’m back on my bike and go to gym. Can only do 1 hour max though. Still find cinema painful and have to do reclining seats at showcase . Running has stopped . I use a stand up desk at work (although this is for back and groin ). Done some physio for tight pelvic floor which helps.
   

Summary. I’m a lot better . Do I want to stay like this? No. Am I terrified of reversal yes but also really keen on feeling reconnected. Is the pain the worst I’ve had? No as the slipped disc put it into context . Will update in 12 months !

I had an ACL surgery with both meniscus repair on March 21. I had to wear a brace for one month due to the site of medial meniscus stitches and was only allowed to bend 30 degrees. It seems that there is fibrosis buildup and it’s really hard for me to get my range of motion back. The problem is that every progress I make no matter extension or flexion is just gone by the next day. PT is extremely painful and the upper side of my ankle and foot as well as my tibia hurt especially when I try to extend the knee. I feel like I’m running in a circle, I manage to extend the knee and to bend it only 90 degrees which is really painful and the next day it’s gotten back to its previous state… is this normal? It feels like I don’t make any progress…I had ACL and meniscus surgery on my other knee (but no meniscus stitches) and never had such problem. I’m getting really sad and I feel like I will never get my ROM back… does it get better with time? Will it stop hurting?