Steroids for ear pressure

I have a relatively large Facial Nerve Schwannoma that affects my quality of life, and I’m feeling pretty hopeless. I had a FN decompression surgery last year to make some room for the mass to expand without (hopefully) continuing to grow toward my inner ear and to help relieve some pressure on the nerves. I’m mostly deaf in that ear with loud tinnitus. I still have facial twitching, though not as severe as pre-surgery as well as frequent dizzy spells and balance issues. I’m always exhausted and fatigued, too.
But what gets me down the most is a 24/7 headache and head pressure for 11 years now. I haven’t had a doctor yet agree that the headache is caused by the FNS, though they say it’s probably an aggravating factor. I never had headaches until one day it appeared and just never went away. I’ve tried multiple migraine meds and acupuncture to no avail. I’m at a loss and I feel very isolated. I tell people I almost feel alien because of all the painful and weird sensations in my head.
Are there any other FNS folks here struggling with constant headaches, or who just want to talk about it all? <3

Hello, I have some classic signs of POTS. I have to wait until September to do autonomic testing, but please tell me if this sounds like POTS to you.
Heaviness in my legs, my heart rate spikes when I sit up or I stand up from laying down, constantly tired, and I have dizziness when I’m standing. And I would say chest discomfort when I’m standing. Before I knew what was going on, I kept going to my doctor to say I need blood pressure meds because I can hear blood whooshing in my ears A LOT throughout the day too. Well I’m on lots of blood pressure meds for the last two years (not beta blockers though), and all my symptoms are the same. I still even have the whooshing in my ears. I genuinely thought I was just fat and having too much caffeine. I thought I was at risk for having a heart attack for having chest discomfort.
Another symptom I’ve had is that upon waking, before I’ve gotten up or moved yet, even moving slightly upon waking will cause a huge spike in my heart rate. Like I straighten a leg. Boom my heartrate goes from about 80 to 130 and I hear it/feel it. I was hoping to see if anyone else has had this symptom or if it’s high blood pressure related? It’s seemed to get slightly better with blood pressure meds.

Quick background: I’ve had TMJ issues for years, but after each pregnancy had major flair ups. After most recent pregnancy, had flair up on right side that wouldn’t improve. Started Invisalign because I knew my bite was a large issue already, right side pain finally cleared, but started having severe left side pain just days after right cleared.
Now here we are. I FINALLY got some relief doing these things:
-Aqualizer water splint during sleep (got from ortho)
-mouth tape to help any mouth breathing, plus keeps splint in place
-ice cube massage on masseter. Exactly like it sounds, use ice cube to firmly and slowly massage the masseter and any tight muscles
-stretches: 1. relax face and gently move lower jaw slowly side to side. 2. Place thumbs behind lower jaw just under ears while looking down. Push forward gently. Slow look up and extend all the way back while maintaining pressure.
Improvement is slow, but this is the most improvement I’ve had in a year. I really help some of this helps someone else!

I’ve had a lot of poor sleep and high stress lately. I also let down my guard with drinking and salty food. After 2 years of only very minor dizziness and tinnitus rarely happening, suddenly the last 2 weeks have been BRUTAL.
I’ve had 5 or 6 vertigo episodes. One was 2 hours long in the middle of the night and awful. The rest have been 30-90 min of varying strengths. Today I had one for 90 min that wasn’t nauseating but made me feel like I was drunk walking. Couldn’t put one foot in front of the other.
I’ve gotten a steroid ear injection, taken a ton of meclizine and diazepam, totally cut alcohol, gotten more sleep, returned to low sodium. But still a bit stressed because of work things that I can’t avoid.
Trying really hard to stay positive but every day is something new. It’s not even consistent anymore. In a single day, I’ll go from low rumble and bad pressure in my ear to awful dizziness to whooshing sounds to LOUD ringing.
It used to be so steady. At least I could predict how I’d feel for a while. Now it’s a constant roller coaster.
I just want some peace.
What else can I do?

I’m 39 and just got diagnosed with Ménières last week. *TLDR at the end with pressing questions
I had my first flare (radiating headache, cloudiness, ear pain, tinnitus, robotic/distorted sounds only coming through my right ear, slight dizzy/wooziness, nothing relieved the pain) around March 29th (2024) and I actually posted on TikTok asking for advice on if there was anything else I could try for the pain in my head (went to an urgent care and they said I had blocked eustachian tubes but no infection, and told me to take 800mg of ibuprofen and strong decongestants and consider making an appt with an ENT if it came back), someone responded that it was actually an emergency and should try to get in to an ENT immediately.
I got in that day and found out I had low tone severe hearing loss in my right ear (where the robotic sounds were coming through). He put me on 60mg of steroids for six days then I tapered off over the following 8 days. Said it’s either SSHL or Ménière’s disease or a could be a mass. (I have non-cancerous brain tumors that run in my family so I did have an MRI and it came back clear).
The steroid treatment worked and two weeks later my hearing in both ears were back into the normal range 🥹 I was still having symptoms like headaches that would come and go and ringing in my ears but he said they would likely calm down over time and that time will tell us if WAS SSHL that we caught soon enough or if it was my first episode of menieres.
I asked what to do if I start feeling any of the symptoms again and he said to call them to be seen asap to do another hearing test.
So about one week later (this was last week) I start having cloudiness and the robotic sounds again and dizziness along with the ringing and headaches so I sent a message and he had the nurse call me to go in for another hearing test, I didn’t see the results of that test but I got my menieres diagnosis and I have been on a low sodium diet for 6 days and a diuretic/blood pressure med combo for 3days, I started to feel better the past two days and the ringing got louder and I noticed I had to set my earphones higher then usual today to hear them well enough and in the past hour I have been experiencing the robotic/distorted sounds in my right ear again 😭.
*TLDR Questions: Do I need to make a call to see if I can be seen tomorrow? I can’t tell what is important and this will be my third flare in a bit over a month even with drastic changes.
Did any of you have back to back flares in the beginning or at all? This feels unusual and new and terrifying to be completely honest.
I don’t want to be taking up another patients time because I’m scared I’m having a flare and then it turns out it was nothing. How do you tell the difference?!
Do you go in for hearing tests every time you flare?
How can I tell if it’s a flare that needs steroids again?
Thank you for looking at my questions and especially for reading this far if you did!

My cat has a yeast infection in his years. He was prescribed tresaderm drops; 5 drops 2x a day. He HATES the drops and won’t even let me get near him with the bottle. At first I was lucky to get one drop in each ear once day, but now he sees the bottle and just bolts. I’m also supposed to irrigate them 2x a week, but when I tried he acted like it was the worst thing that ever happened to him. The vet recommended that I give him gabapentin to lightly sedate him to be able to give the drops. I gave him the medicine and when he was very sleepy I tried to give the drops again and he jumped right up and ran away again. I tried to burrito him but he got out of it. I feel so helpless and like a failure. Is there anything else I can try? He’s currently on a steroid as well because he was having coughing fits. Will that help clear up the infection if I don’t give him the drops? Any advice is appreciated. I feel so bad stressing him out like this, I’ve only had him for about a month and I don’t want him to loose trust in me.

DC Next presents:

Suicide Squad

Issue Forty: New Blood
Arc: A New World
Written by Deadislandman1
Edited by ClaraEclair
 
 
“For the last time, I need you to-”
“Relax Commandant! We’re seasoned veterans, right Mayo?”
“She’s right, we’ve been doing this for a while.”
“Experience doesn’t matter here, chain of command does…and stop calling me Commandant!”
“Whatever, Commandant.”
“You…You….AAAARGH!”
In the back of a race car themed van, complete with flame decals and the face of a famous racer painted onto the side, a man with blonde hair cut to a military standard raged, screaming at a monitor. He ripped a pair of headphones off of his ears, revealing a series of shrapnel based scars running along the right side of his upper head, forcing his right eye into a permanent squint. Throwing the headphones against the van walls, he growled, hanging his head in frustration.
Of all the jobs that would befall Lok, why this one? He just had to spring for the super secret agency when it came to promotions.
A decade in the CIA, working undercover from Austria to Australia, Cape Town to Cambridge, Daegu to Delhi. He’d had lighter assignments, surveillance that didn’t put him in harm's way, and he’d had jobs that took him into the line of fire for days on end. He’d laid in the mud for hours to stay undetected, camouflaged as platoons worth of men trod across the ground next to him. He’d run across rooftops, bullets blazing by, each one able to deliver death in an instant.
He’d shoved a teammate out of the way as a grenade came tumbling down a staircase, the explosion unleashing shards of metal that took his right ear clean off. He’d been in a coma for five years, eating, pissing, and shitting through a tube. He had to learn how to speak, walk, run, and act like a human being again over the course of a year. He learned that his family gave up on him and moved on, and that only taxpayer money kept him alive in the hopes of preserving the knowledge in his head.
After all of that…he chose field work, because it was all he had left, and his reward was babysitting two maniacs who didn’t know how to take orders.
Rubbing his eyes, Lok sighed, “Uuugh….alright Lok…pull yourself together…pull yourself together. It’s been a while. This is only your third op in a commanding position in…in nearly a decade…You have the experience, you have the fortitude…even if you’re being asked to herd wild cats into a cage. This isn’t impossible…you just have to…rethink your strategies.”
Taking a deep breath, Lok trudged over to his headphones, putting them back on. The right side was shattered, cracked, not that it mattered. He couldn’t use that ear anyways. Sitting down at the monitor yet again, he angled the microphone back over his mouth, “Alright, lets-”
“Is the Commandant’s temper tantrum finished?”
Lok gritted his teeth, “Let’s....refocus. Mayo, give me a detailed description of the situation, and please remind me of what your mission is…in case the two of you have forgotten it.”
 
 
“Uuuuuhh…Let’s see.”
Mitchell Mayo, dressed in blue and purple disco getup, peeked his head out of the bathroom, gazing into the chaotic maelstrom of a warehouse rave. Multi-Colored spotlights, crudely affixed to the ceiling, casted neon lights across the dance floor, giving the entire room a purplish hue. Dozens of people across the warehouse were throwing their arms in the air, swinging their bodies in chaotic dance while packed together like bundles of hay. Squinting, Mayo did his best to adjust for his lack of depth perception, given the eyepatch over his left eye. Scratching his head, he ducked back inside, careful not to let his long mane of hair get caught on the door before putting his hand up to his earpiece, “Well, everyone’s still dancing. I count a little under a hundred people from where I am, mostly in their early to late twenties. Makes me feel a little awkward but hey, that’s the mission.”
“I can do without the personal anecdotes,” Lok remarked. “Keep going.”
“They’ve got the disco lights…but they’re not very stable looking. One could fall at any moment,” Mayo said.
“Might be a combat option if things turn out that way,” Lok said.
“Yeah…I hope not though. These people don’t seem too bad,” Mayo said.
“And where’s your partner? Where’s Quinn?” Lok asked.
“I’m getting myself and Mayo a drink! The gal at the bar really knows what she’s doing!” Harley chimed.
“You’re….ugh…whatever. Whatever makes you happy. Mayo, do you have any updates on the target, the mission?” Lok asked.
“Well…not yet. It’d be hard to spot old Jervis Tetch in a crowd of normal sized people. He isn’t exactly of…average height,” Mayo said.
“Then get in the crowd, or find a vantage point. He’s somewhere around here, we know he is.”
Mayo cringed, “Well….do we?”
“...Mayo, if you’re going to start yanking my chain-”
“No no, listen! I promise you, I’m not messing with you.”
Mayo looked towards the bathroom door, then at the rest of the bathroom, making sure it was empty, “Tetch was always a weird one, and trust me, I know Waller’s sources are typically pretty legit. I totally believe that her computer people picked up a signal identical to Tetch’s mind control tech, and that the tech itself is legit. It’s just…Tetch wouldn’t come all the way to LA. He’s a Gothamite through and through! This place is too hot and fast for him, he wouldn’t be able to handle it. Plus…a warehouse rave just isn’t his style. He’s more likely to crash a masquerade ball or something like that. This place just…doesn’t feel like him.”
“That might be so, but there are also some other trends that do line up. Tetch is always looking for someone to be his Alice, and these places tend to get a lot of young women,” Lok noted. “Maybe this isn’t his new hunting ground. Maybe he’s just here to nab someone and get out. Either way, he’s a danger, and his skillset could be put to better use than stalking young women.”
Mayo grimaced, “And um…if it’s not him?”
“Then whoever has this tech is still a danger. Mission still stands, find whoever has the tech and bring them in,” Lok ordered.
Sighing, Mayo took one last moment to collect himself before adventuring out into the rave, the pulsating music far too loud for his ears. He could never stand stuff as loud and constant as a concert or a sports game, it was just too much for his ears to handle. Sure, it meant that absolutely everyone within a mile of the place could hear the music, but on the other hand it made conversation nearly impossible. You had to scream at the top of your lungs, and even then you’d maybe only get two out of three words to the person right next to you. Some would say that people come to a rave to dance, not to talk, but that didn’t exactly help Mayo’s current situation in the slightest.
Slowly, he made his way through the crowd, trying not to bump into anyone or get knocked over by a stray arm. It’d been months since his brush with death, which resulted in the loss of his second favorite eye. Since then, he’d mostly recovered, and had gone on more than a few missions, sticking close to his partner in crime. It’s never really been all that easy, but with the support of the rest of the Squad, he’s made it through alright. Flag always kept watch over him, taking extra care to keep him safe, which might be why Waller set Mayo up with a different CO this time. To Mayo, it seemed like she wanted to make sure Flag’s protective nature didn’t override the mission.
But even without Flag, Mayo still had Harley. When he first became a minor player in Gotham City’s maddening merry-go-round of villains, he never expected that he’d not only be respected by Harley, but be loved by her. He’d never felt so strongly about anyone else in his entire life, even his own parents. She uplifted and supported him in ways nobody else ever did, and he did the same for her. Hell, he’d practically given his life for her a few times already.
Things weren’t okay often, but whenever he was with her, it got close.
Pushing through one more group, Mayo finally made it to the bar, spotting Harley as she chatted up the bartender, who had just finished making two bluish drinks contained in cheap red cups. Spotting Mayo, Harley smiled before placing one of them in his hands, “Hey Mitch! The Lady said these are her specialty! I managed to get em made without the alc, seeing as we’re on the job!”
Mayo grinned, “Aw, thanks Harls.”
Mayo took a swig of the drink, which was frankly foul even in its virgin form. Still, he choked it down to remain polite, then patted Harley on the arm, taking a look out at the rest of the crowd, “I feel kinda bad about Lok.”
“What? Psshh…Why?”
“I dunno, seems a little dickish to screw with him like this. I know we don’t have a rapport with him like with Flag but…I dunno, the guy’s not our enemy.”
“Sure…but he’s also not accustomed to the kind of stuff we get up to. He’s gotta learn to roll with the punches. Besides, I've been scouting the place out like he said.”
Mayo looked to Harley, puzzled, “But…but…then why do you keep telling him you’re just screwing around?”
“Listen, we don’t know this Lok guy, like you said. We don’t know how he performs under pressure. This is my way of testing the waters, seeing how he handles something not going this way when we’re not all about to die. If he went all control freak on us, we know where his lines are and where not to cross them. If just lets us walk all over him, we know we’re on our own. Right now, he’s just kinda dealing with it, trying to compromise. Means he can work well with us!” Harley rubbed her chin, “Sure, we’re giving him grief now, but think about how happy he’ll be when he learns we actually did our job!”
Mayo raised an eyebrow, “I…question the logic of that…but you know what, at least we’re still doing what we’re supposed to be doing. You find any trace of Tetch?”
“Nope, and I think we both know this ain’t his kind of place,” Harley scanned the crowd. “Guy’s not the rave type.”
“Yup…Guess that leaves us with a bigger question though. There were definitely traces of Tetch’s tech here, so who the hell is messing around with it?”
“I dunno, but we gotta watch out for ‘em. Only people who like mind control are the freaks and the creeps.”
Mayo nodded, and was about to respond when a specific tune entered his ear. A snap and a ring, the chiming of a bell, followed by the rattle of drums and the smacking of gums. Against his will, he did a spin, his hand twisting to keep the entirety of his drink within the cup. Tapping his feet, he found himself pulled into the crowd, prompting Harley to follow with wide eyes, “Woah! Check out the sick moves! Never seen you dance like that, Mayo!”
“Not…trying…too!”
In a single moment, Harley’s joy turned to concern, which turned to trepidation as the entire room suddenly stamped their feet all at once. The music hadn’t stopped. No, it seemed louder and more invasive than ever before.
A real earworm in a sense.
Slowly, Harley felt herself get swept up in the music, her ears ringing with a sadistic, sinister glee as she took Mayo’s hands, dancing along with him as the rest of the room parted in a rhythmic motion. The two tossed and turned, their bodies moving of their own accord as the crowd moved with them, spinning and jumping while keeping them encircled. The two tried to break free, but it was like their minds were submerged in icy water, the signals that should tell their arms and legs to move lost on the way down.
The two stuck a flash pose together, with Harley bent forward while Mayo leaned back, kept from falling by Harley’s embrace. Harley locked eyes with Mayo, terrified. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak, she wasn’t in control. Mayo would be shaking if he had the ability to do so, and the fact that he couldn’t made him all the more scared. In a blink, the crowd parted again, and a figure stepped through to greet Mayo and Harley.
He was well dressed for someone at a rave, decked out in a three piece suit of the black and white variety. He sported a pair of tap shoes and slicked back hair practically drenched in the grease you’d get at an old-timey barber’s shop. He smelled strongly of some kind of wood themed perfume, and sported a bushy, well trimmed and maintained mustache. Grinning, he fiddled with something underneath his right sleeve before circling Mayo and Harley, “Two Dancers, Two Interlopers. Normally, I’d be a little ticked by an intrusion like this, but I can forgive it.”
Leaning forward, he whispered into the duo’s ears, “After all…I do love a double act!”
 
Next Issue: Make way for the Music Meister!
 

greetings,
i don't have much luck when it comes to purchasing these type of headphones my 2 previous purchases are:
1: JBL Live650BT nc
the problems with it: i bought it from a media store and i specifically asked for durability but it turns out it's its biggest weakness, the audio quality is ok but after awhile the hinge on its right base broke (which renders it useless) and the cushions deteriorated & teared out quickly
2: Soundcore Space Q45
bought it from amazon, the problems with it: few hours ago the right side completely stopped working on my laptop so i tried it on my phone same thing, restarted it but to no avail, i liked that the base that connected it to the right speaker cover doesn't have hinges which made it more durable than JBL but the cushions also deteriorated & teared out quickly
the audio quality on JBL is slightly better, the sound on q45 is good but it took me awhile to adjust to it after the switch, when it comes to noise cancelling on JBL is average but on q45 my god, the first month or so when it was active you barely hear a thing and it sucks the life out of your ear ( i don't know how to explain it but you feel air pressure while it's active, so transparency mode was on most of the times so the pressure eases, but i got used to it after awhile when the headphone became loose
due to the build issues with JBL & software or hardware issues that made right side stopped working with Soundcore i lost faith in both companies so my next purchase will be neither unless someone suggest JBL with different design
before someone (if any) suggest to me headphones without noise cancelling or Bluetooth hear me out: i live in Germany in community area where the fire alarms goes off every other day and when they do until police & fire department show up i get headache and migraine from them sounding off above my head :( and due to my setup where my laptop not near me but connected to tv on a small table next to it so you can understand why i need Bluetooth also :/
i can't afford to break the bank ATM so my budget like i mentioned in title till 150€ so any suggestion (durability & no software/hardware issues like what happened with Q45) will be appreciated, please help me out!
best regards.

I have tinnitus. Its annoying as hell, but it is what it is. Mine I believe is the somatic form, due to TMJ & neck muscle issues. So I've decided to start working out at the gym again, hoping this will help in the long run. So I'm in need of a pair of headphones or earbuds.
I know that headphones and earbuds aren't off limits, it's just the volume that needs to be watched. I also know that earbuds that are ill fitting can cause pressure issues on the ear drum itself. Or over the ear headphones themselves can put actual pressure the physical ear causing discomfort.
So with that in mind, I'm looking for a bit of input on what you are choosing to wear for music listening. Ideally, I'd like to stick within the Apple Ecosystem if possible. But I'd be willing to check other options as well like Bose or Sony if the price was right.
Thanks for your input!

I can’t stop crying, I know it’s my fault and I feel so horrible. A little over a month ago I was out with some friends and found this little quarter sized red eared slider away from the water. She was very cold, and not moving much. I took her home with me, I’ve had experience with another turtle before so I thought I knew what I was doing. I got her all set up and warm, she had a heat lamp and a basking rock in addition to a couple other tank decorations. She was the sweetest little girl. I was always so careful not to handle her too much, made sure she was well fed with the right formula and gave her very tiny cuts of the veggies they’re allowed to eat, though she was never really interested in them. Yesterday I took her out of her tank to clean it, she seemed fine and happy as usual. She never tucked into her shell around me, she would always just stare up and blink with her neck stretched all the way out. She was so trusting of me. She has this little fake decorative Sakura tree that she would climb up on to bask, even though she had a rock she loved her tree so much that’s where she was most of the time. This morning I noticed her shell was turning soft, I read everything I could on why and realized it was because she didn’t have a UVB lamp. I took her outside with me, not even for 20 minutes just so she could get some sun. I was so so careful in picking her up, put no pressure on her shell. She was just walking around enjoying it then all of a sudden she started opening her mouth like she was gasping, not even 10 seconds later she stopped and closed her eyes then got stiff. I tried putting her back in the water, gently moving her legs to see if maybe she was scared or playing dead. She was gone. I loved this little baby with all my heart, I had so many big plans for her to have her own pond, I was gonna get her some feeder fish when she was big enough, some more cover plants so she wouldn’t feel anxious. I talked to her everyday. I killed my baby girl and I didn’t even know I was hurting her. All the videos I watched, pet articles I read and they all only talked about heat lamps. I didn’t know she needed something else. I didn’t know I was killing her. I loved her so so much, and now she’s gone.

The hotel hallway is dim, illuminated only by flickering lights. Elena is nowhere in sight, running after her would prove useless. The fire escape is the best way to intercept her. As I opened the door, I hear the echo of feet pounding against stairs. It was her. Swiftly, I hop over the railway, she wouldn’t escape so easily.
Elena’s adrenaline was no match for my speed. I gain on her with every jump. She is almost to the exit. I can’t let her escape. I’m so close. She’s reaching for the door, but her ponytail lags. I jump over the last flight of stairs and reach out as far as possible. Relief washes over me when I feel her silky hair in my hand. I yank back as hard as I can, her head whips back followed by her shoulders. She stumbles back but I catch her. We wrestle in the stairwell but quickly I gain control. I pull her against my body and with one hand over her mouth, I slowly crack the door… All clear. It seems no one heard us in this deserted shithole.
“No one can help you now,” I whisper in her ear. She tries to bite my hand but only manages to graze my skin. “You're going to have to try harder than that.”
…

The sun begins to rise—a glimmer of light peeks through the hotel room's curtains where they don’t quite meet. I dim the bathroom light, my eyes are burning from the fluorescent bulbs. 

I turn to the mirror. It’s dirty, so my reflection is blurred, but it doesn’t hide the age starting to show on my face. My hair is beginning to thin, the bags under my eyes are now turning purple, and my eyes are bloodshot. Not only is my age showing, but so are the years of secrets and lies.
I run the sink faucet and splash the cold water on my face. The cold water stings and sends a chill through my body. My eyes lock on their reflection, they look unfamiliar.

 “Are you ready to talk now?” I call back to Elena. I watch her through the mirror. The tub is small and her knees are folded to fit inside. She is choking, the ropes binding her hands together have chaffed her wrists, there is steam rising off the wet towel on top of her mouth. 

My hair is greasy, it’s been days since I’ve showered. I wet my hands and run them through my hair. I feel a wave of adrenaline rush over me.

I walk over to the tub, and raise the towel from Elena’s mouth, “You ready to start talking?” I ask again. Elena weakly pushes her lips together and blows a raspberry, a mixture of drool and water flows out of her mouth. She was always a spitter, and now it was her only defense. “Save your energy.” I put the dripping towel over her face and turn the bathtub faucet. The water pours over the towel, and her body writhes. The rush of energy from the cold water doesn't last and my eyelids feel heavy. If I’m tired, I know Sam can’t last much longer. 38, 39, 40. I turn off the faucet. I lift the towel and slowly ring it out on her face. 7, 8, 9, 10. “Where the fuck is she” I scream. I am losing my patience. Elena is still gasping, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. I sling her over my shoulder and throw her on the bed just a few yards away. Quickly I hook the rope on her wrist to the handcuffs hanging loose from the bed frame. She coughs in rhythm and her eyes flutter shut, she must be exhausted. I need to rest before she wakes up. I sit in the chair in the corner but my body is still tense while my mind races. I know Sarah wouldn’t have told Elena where I keep the safe (change). They might not have gotten to her, or she could have escaped if they did. I can’t get the image of my house out of my mind, the tables turned over, the broken glass, the blood-streaked walls. The blood may not have been hers. She’s smart, she knows how to defend herself. She could have escaped. Did they even capture her? Was it all a trap to lure me? Is she dead? Is she suffering? I don’t want to think about it anymore, I need to rest. My eyes ache from holding them open, I concede and let them fall shut. 

…
I gasp and my eyes shoot open, I feel an aching chill take over my body. My eyes focus and Elena is smiling in my face. There’s an excruciating cold pain in my chest, I look down and I see a knife protruding out. I watch as Elena slowly turn the knife, ripping my chest open. Her eyes are glowing, hungry for my cries, I won’t give her the satisfaction. Slowly she pulls the knife out but there is no relief. She pokes me again with the knife, it’s dull and the pressure builds as it slowly penetrates my soft stomach. Again, she slowly pulls the knife out, wiggling it along the way.
“Where is she?” I gasp, blood slowly filling my mouth.
“Since you really want to know, I guess I’ll tell you.. She is in Baltimore, well her head is in Baltimore, her body is in Essex, and her legs in the Back River. She wasn’t easy to catch, you’d be proud.” I drain the emotion from my eyes, my face is heavy. Elena’s face twitches with disappointment.
She continues, “The funny thing is we don’t even need you. She told us where the safe is, all to save you. I promised we wouldn’t go after you if we got what we needed, which was of course a lie, we have to kill you regardless. Or maybe she caved because of the pain. We didn’t go so easy on her as I have with you. First I cut off her fingers, one by one, and her toes, but of course it wasn't enough. I’ll give it to her, she’s tough, I suppose you coached her in the event she got mixed up in your nasty business. Do you feel guilty about that? I would. The person I love most in the world is dead because of me. I couldn’t live with the guilt knowing that my innocent wife died in such a painful way; and trust me, it was painful. I like to call it the death by a thousand cuts. Too bad you weren’t there to save her.”
I can no longer tell the source of the pain. I close my eyes and let the pain run its course, I deserve to feel every moment of the unbearable agony. She leans in real close, I feel her hot breath on the nape of my neck “Her last words were ‘Help me, David.’”
My body shakes uncontrollably and the dark room grows dimmer, I’m ready for relief. “I love you, Sarah. I’m sorry”.

Hey y’all, I had endoscopic sinus surgery and turbinate reduction done on Friday, April 26. My ENT initially was only going to clear out my maxillary sinuses and then also cleared out my ethmoid and frontals. The procedure went well and I stopped bleeding when my ENT said I would. I felt super stuffed up until yesterday which was 5 days post op. The saline spray helps a lot! I probably felt pain for 2 days or so. The rest has just been pressure headaches that tylenol will kick. I have a humidifier and use the spray every 2-3 hours. I’ve been making sure to drink enough water to stay hydrated as well…well today I noticed that the inside of my nose feels dry/sensitive. It’s the cartilage part of my nose. I did not have a septoplasty….Has anyone experienced that feeling after surgery? I see my ENT tomorrow so I’m not stressing too much, I’m curious as to what anyone else feels after having this procedure I can breathe through my nose sometimes after the saline spray and omg it’s so nice lol
P.S. I had the procedure because of recurrent sinus and ear infections. My sinuses were so jacked up that I was only draining down the back of my throat so it was backing up into my ears 🤮 causing painful infections in my ear. I was on 5-6 rounds of antibiotics for sinus/eabronchitis from December to February this year and the same exact thing in 2023. I opted for surgery this year.

A 45 year old female patient presents with diabetes, high blood pressure, sinusitis, moving masses on body, red spots, bloating every where in body, liquid in ears (which she takes ear drops for and the liquid dries up as cotton), with problems in the 5th and 7th cranial nerves (unspecified). What could she have? She went to many doctors and still can’t reach a diagnosis, what do you think it could be? Some have been going by on for years (like the sinusitis) and some for months, with her condition worsening. She’s considering going to an oncologist soon, but the quality of medical care isn’t that great in my country. For a family member and I’m personally interested and willing to look up literature for more info as a med student. Thanks!

My spine is KILLING me. Also have had a severe headache with head pressure and vibration for 13 days in a row. I'm struggling. I also really don't know what to do with my PCP. He thinks all of the pain I am having including my headache with severe pressure, neck pain, and ringing in ears is all due to stress and anxiety and lots of cognitive dysfunction. He'll still prescribe stuff for pain and what not but I'm still not being heard and it sucks. He knows I struggle with anxiety so he's pinpointing all my pains on mental health issues...note I'm post concussion, too. I love him to pieces and has really good qualities about him but I really don't feel heard by him. There's physical proof for some conditions yet it's apparently still all in my head just because I struggle with anxiety. Any suggestions?

TLDR: If you were torn about having a second child and ending up having a second, how did it go? Specifically looking at a 4-5 year age gap.
I know there's probably a million posts exactly like this one, and I've read a few, but I want to ask some more specific questions. Please be truthful, but kind.
I've always felt torn about having a second child. Until recently, I thought maybe we'd be one and done. As much as I love the idea of the simplicity of one child (truly, I do), it also makes me sad to think of how lonely my daughter's life could be as she gets older. I personally grew up with a big family - one brother, 18 cousins on one side of my family, and 4-5 on the other (we were pretty close and played together quite often, especially in the summers). My husband has a brother and sister, and quite a few cousins as well. Our daughter does not have this. She has one cousin - a boy who is much older than her (by almost 10 years), and this will likely be her only cousin. None of my cousins with kids live closer than 2+ hours away. I would really love for my daughter to have a sibling in life, and I know I shouldn't have another baby for my child, but it is something I want, too. Even though my brother and I aren't best friends (especially growing up...), I find so much comfort in knowing I can reach out to him. He lives many states away but visits twice a year, and in between we play games virtually from time to time. I would love for my daughter (and our second child) to have that - for them to have each other in life. I know they could end up disliking each other, but I also feel like it's up to the parent to foster a loving relationship between them.
Anyways...my husband and I always said we'd play it by ear, and that ideally we'd like a 5 year age gap and that would give us lots of time to decide. My daughter just turned 3 a little over a week ago, and a month or two ago I could just start to really see the possibility of having a second. Now, just within the last week or two, I feel like I could have a second, and my husband says he'd actually like to maybe try for a 4 year age gap instead (which I am starting to agree with - but that's IF things go smoothly and we get pregnant quickly - our daughter was a first try baby). For perspective, I'm currently 32 and he's 36. I'm sure seeing a bunch of people around me having babies and getting pregnant is influencing me. Oh, and my daughter has actually started to say she wants a baby sister (I would love that, and we've already started talking about how we don't get to choose the gender, lol). So I have all of that influencing me right now. I'm just so torn...I feel like if we did decided to be one and done, I could regret that later in life, and I don't want to have kids late in my 30s. But I also feel like I could possibly regret having a second, and I feel like that regret would be far worse. I'm sure I'm just wayyy overthinking everything (that's what I do), but it is a big decision.
Here are my biggest worries:

• My daughter is my whole world. I can't imagine dividing my time between her and another baby. I fear I'll resent my second baby and that my daughter will resent me AND the baby. This is my greatest fear.
  
• I know it will be hard, no matter what. I'm in an "expect the worst, hope for the best" mindset. I do fear that I will struggle with not having enough time for myself, or that my marriage will crumble. I also worry if I can handle it mentally. I fear the stress/pressure/overwhelm could just make me a worse mother. I am currently a SAHM (I left my job just before my daughter turned 2).
  
• I hate to even write this, but I'm slightly afraid of gender disappointment. I'm not a shallow person at all, and ultimately I truly just want a health baby. With our first pregnancy, I was indifferent about the gender. I've always wanted a girl, but was convinced I was having a boy (we kept the sex a surprise). Now with one daughter, I would prefer to have another girl (we have all girl stuff already, and I like the idea of a sister-sister relationship, etc.). My daughter also has expressed wanting a sister and that plays into it as well. I would also love a baby boy and can see the pros of that as well. We would find out the sex before birth this time around, and I think that would help me prepare mentally more and help me prepare my daughter mentally to have a brother or a sister. Has anyone else felt this way? If you have a daughter-son combo with the daughter being older, how is their relationship?
  

I know so many of my fears can be lessened slightly with prep work before a second baby arrives, and I can shift my mindset to be more positive if/when we become pregnant with our second/once we commit to trying for a second, but there's only so much prep work you can do. I would really appreciate other's perspectives on this. It seems like something that people just do without much thought, but it is a HUGE change. It's easy to get wrapped up into the excitement of choosing baby names, clothes, etc. and overlooking the potential downsides.
Thanks in advance (and sorry for the novel)!

I found myself at urgent care today with ear pain, assuming it was an early infection. Luckily it’s not, but there is lots of fluid and inflammation and the doc gave me a steroid shot (in the butt, ow). I did a tiny amount of research between the time of her telling me that’s what they wanted to do, and them coming back in to actually do it, and felt ok that it shouldn’t negatively affect anything. But, upon further scrolling, I came across some posts from people saying that a steroid shot affected their ovulation for a few months after. Has anyone experienced this? I’m trying not to stress myself out that I just screwed us for this month, and maybe even more months.

Ear fullness, hearing loss, tinnitus, jaw tightness, sore throat, neck stiffness. That’s the order of appearance of symptoms. I believe this all began because my mother took me to a chiropractor who does drop table stuff and gently pulls and pushes on the body parts to straighten out the spine. I had been having lower back pain when sitting too long and she said my hips were misaligned. She also said my neck vertebrae were tending left and gently pushed them in the other direction. The next day I had a long flight and my left Eustachian tube never opened back up. Very loud tinnitus in that ear followed. A few days ago I started to feel jaw tension which I’ve never had before.
Luckily, I got a steroid shot and Flonase a few days ago and it has opened the tube and the fluid behind my Eustachian tube feels nearly normal. The tinnitus is like 50% better. But wearing my usual headphones (listening at 70 db max) seems to cause my jaw muscles to become sore. At first it was just the left side but now it’s all of it. My throat feels sore and I think it’s from the same thing. I wonder if it’s the light pressure of the headphones themselves on my jaw makes it worse.
Is this nerve irritation? Muscle inflammation? The steroids? What’s going on?

38F, 5’5” 125lbs no medications or health issues multivitamin daily
3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia after having a persistent fever and developing a cough that worsened over 5 days.
I completed 10 days of antibiotics and was given a steroid inhaler to use 2x in the mornings and evenings. This was 3 weeks ago.
Last week I developed an ear infection and competed another 7 days of antibiotics and prednisone (40mg/day for 5 days).
Since the start of the illness I’ve been having persistent post nasal drip, throat clearing, and straining to speak. My voice sounds hoarse and muffled.
Now I’m not really coughing that much, so I’m not sure why my voice and the mucus hasn’t improved. I also have lingering sharp pain in the area where the acute pneumonia was that comes and goes.
This is likely a stupid question but can the phlegm from my lungs work in the reverse? My bloodwork came back normal according to my Dr showing no more signs of infection. I’m wondering if these lingering symptoms are normal or not.
Family member is a retired physician and worried I have undiagnosed sinus issues causing a problem however I’m not congested and have 0 sinus pain.
I have a follow up CT of my lungs scheduled for the 10th.
I’ll plan to follow up with my Dr regardless. Any insight is appreciated.

Please dumb this down. Dxs + symptoms after MRV report. My Neuro-Opth is very condescending and dismissive of questions and concerns. Done w/o contrast despite my objection. Specifically the opacification is new to me and I am unclear on what it indicates.
"There is opacification of the superior sagittal sinus, internal
cerebral veins, vein of Galen, straight sinus, and transverse venous
sinuses. Left transverse venous sinus is hypoplastic.
Overall similar moderate stenosis of the right transverse venous
sinus.
No large extra-axial collection. No definite acute intracranial abnormality
IMPRESSION:

1. Overall similar moderate stenosis of the right transverse venous"

I have had right sided Pulsatile Tinnitus for many years, low grade Papilledema (or none, depending on which doc you ask), IIH w/opening pressure of 27.5, burning, painful facial & ear flushing almost exclusively right sided, numbness/pins and needles that comes and goes in face, scalp and ears and *daily* migraines.

Hello everyone! Long time lurker here. I wanted to make a post as I've not seen many people talk about Mr Rubin, or what the process is like when GDNRSS moves you to a shorter waitlist, this post may be long, sorry!
So, on march 25th, I received a phonecall from GDNRSS. They said that, because I had been on the NHS waitlist for a long time, they have selected me to possibly be transferred to a different surgeon that could reduce my wait time significantly. They gave me 3 options, one of which was Mr Rubin in Highgate private hospital, London. He does private surgery in London but has opened up some of his schedule for NHS patients to assist with the wait time issue. I chose to switch to him, as I liked the results I had seen, and was told his wait list is very short.
April 2nd, I received an email with an appointment letter attached, for April 24th. On April 11th, due to unforseen circumstances, Mr Rubin had to reschedule for May 1st (my birthday!). I will say, their phone system is a bit frustrating, as they are linked to another hospital (the holly, I think?).
So yesterday, I had my consultation! The hospital is lovely, although it has a very small car park, so arrive early to find parking! We went up and checked in at the outpatients reception, and were told to wait in the outpatients lounge. He was running around 20 mins late.
My girlfriend and I were finally called in and he got straight to it. I had to do an exam, where he called in a nurse to chaperone. He told me to go behind the curtain and take everything off of my top half. He asked if I was ready and then him and a nurse came behind the curtain. The nurse was behind me so she didn't see much. He asked me to stand up facing him. He described my fat distribution in my chest, and the gap between. I then had to lie down and he asked and explained everything as he was doing it. He had to check my chest and armpits for any lumps. It was all very professional and respectful. I got my binder and shirt back on and came back around and sat down again.
He then said that double incision would be the most appropriate, and that I didn't have a lot of fat on my upper chest so it may look a little empty. He said he doesn't think I will dog ear. He explained thoroughly how he would do the surgery, explaining about not doing the sutures too tight so they don't ripple etc. and explained all of the aftercare, the risks of the surgery and so on. He said that I would get two post op binders. He asked me about any medical conditions I had, and all of my medications. I told him about my antidepressants, and my levothyroxine. He also took my weight.
He asked me if I had any questions, and I had a list on my phone so I asked them;
Can I use minoxidil on my beard whilst healing? He said it shouldn't be an issue
Are there any caffeine limitations whilst healing? Nope
Would I have to take all of my piercings out? (I have several on each ear) Nope, maybe the bar (industrial) so it doesn't get caught on anything.
Do you provide a sick note? He said someone from the hospital will give me a 2 week sick note, and I would have to get further ones from my GP.
Will I get written aftercare instructions? Yes
Do you personally think my scars will touch? No I don't think so, we can't guarantee they won't but I don't think they will
Do I need to shave my chest before the surgery? No, we will do that. But if you do want to, make sure it's at least 3 days before.
Am I allowed multiple guests? Yes, they can't stay overnight, but they can stay until around 9pm.
Will you do revisions incase of things like dog ears? No, because I don't do dog ears in the first place. (He said something about people in the UK not doing revisions unless medically necessary? Don't remember what he said, sorry!)
Can I take my medication normally on the day of surgery? (I take levothyroxine in the morning, and venlafaxine in the evening) The venlafaxine will be after your surgery so that won't be an issue, you can take the levothyroxine but with a tiny bit of water.
He then asked if I would like to book a date!!! I said yes, of course, and he pulled up his calendar and asked if I would like May 20th!! I said yes so quickly, and he booked me in. (It's now 18 days away?!!!?). I have a family birthday party on the 19th, he said that I will be fine to eat but can't have alcohol.
He then got a nurse to take be for a MRSA swab and blood pressure, height and weight. I did the swab myself, 5 swipes in each nostril. Then another "5 swipes on each groin". I was confused at the second part, she then said bikini line, I just had to turn around, it was very awkward haha. I hope I did it right 😬. She then did my blood pressure and then took me to do height and weight, and I did a short questionnaire, and then they let me go. They said they'd call me in 3 or so days for the results.
We got in the car and started driving home, for them to call me back a few mins later. They read my questionnaire and saw that I took thyroid medication so they had me come back to take bloods and do an EKG, as well as a really long questionnaire (I think they had forgot haha). We turned around and I went back up, she took my bloods (struggled a bit but it's okay), and then I was taken to another nurse for an EKG. Apparently the nurse who took my blood should have done a full blood panel but only took one tube, they assyred me it'll be fine.
The EKG was my least favourite part of the day. I wear a full length GC2B binder, and if you've ever had an EKG, you know that it's not possible to do one whilst wearing one. I told her, and she gave me a gown to change into, I asked if I could just wear my t-shirt and she said it was fine. I lay down, assuming she would just reach under my shirt, but she rolled it all the way up, attatched all of the sticky things, and took my readings. I was very anxious and dysphoric at this point, and she told me to breath normally and that I was okay. It wasnt too long and we took them off and I put my binder back on.
I was given a long pre op questionnaire and she aaid I could take it home and scan it across, but i said I'd prefer to do it here, and was taken back to the outpatients lounge to do it. It took me about 15-20 mins. I finally finished it and gave it to a nurse and was sent home!
I will hopefully get a call in the next couple of days, regarding my MRSA swab and bloods. I will update this with what they say!
Overall, I'm very happy and glad that I decided to swap waitlists. For Victoria rose (who I was originally waiting for) the consultation would have been the end of may, but I'll have already had the surgery by then!!
If anyone has any questions, please ask, I will try and answer the best I can! Sorry for the long post, I just remember looking for anything relating to Mr Rubin before my appointment, and not finding much. I hope you find this useful!
EDIT: so they called me today 4 times in 10 minutes while I was at work. I was STRESSED and asked to go take a call, thankfully they said yes. I was just about to call them back and they called me again so I answered, they said that my thyroid levels were low and they had emailed me all the results and my appt confirmation letter. I now have to get a GP appointment for them to sort out my thyroid issues and they will "take it from there".
I am now stressed out because I need to get an appointment tomorrow and try and get this sorted asap. I have a phone pre op assessment on may 9th, so hopefully they will clear some things up for me then!

Please dumb this down. Dxs + symptoms after MRV report. My Neuro-Opth is very condescending and dismissive of questions and concerns. Done w/o contrast despite my objection. Specifically the opacification is new to me and I am unclear on what it indicates.
"There is opacification of the superior sagittal sinus, internal
cerebral veins, vein of Galen, straight sinus, and transverse venous
sinuses. Left transverse venous sinus is hypoplastic.
Overall similar moderate stenosis of the right transverse venous
sinus.
No large extra-axial collection. No definite acute intracranial abnormality
IMPRESSION:

1. Overall similar moderate stenosis of the right transverse venous"

I have had right sided Pulsatile Tinnitus for many years, low grade Papilledema (or none, depending on which doc you ask), IIH w/opening pressure of 27.5, burning, painful facial & ear flushing almost exclusively right sided, numbness/pins and needles that comes and goes in face, scalp and ears and *daily* migraines.

Doctor said I have no infection and didn’t see any fluid. But since then I have had ear drainage. Involuntary ear popping (which has thankfully subsided), sensitivity to loud noises in left ear, able to hear my heartbeat in both sometimes. I have no pain or nasal congestion, but I feel post-nasal drip. I’ve been taking sudafed and flonase for two days but I think the flonase is giving me headaches and anxiety. I feel drowsy and fogged. Thinking of trying Allegra or Zyrtec or the “D” versions of them. I’ve also heard of Afrin but not sure if that’s the best path. Doctor precribed me Decadron oral steroid in case otc meds don’t work, if I stop flonase I might consider it. When should I start taking them? Is this something that clears up relatively quickly, especially concerning noise sensitivity? First time I’m experiencing this and hopefully last.