Can i take oxycod years after expiry date

It’s been 8 weeks since I was left by him for the 2nd time. Blindsided, totally out of the blue both times. No arguments, no struggles in the relationship, no signs. Nothing- as far as I was aware we were completely and blissfully in love and happy together.
He left me with the same bullshit surface level excuses as he did the first time. We have been together for years.
“I need to be alone” “You deserve better” “I can’t give you what you deserve” “I need to heal”
Blablablablabla, the list goes on. The first time he came back (a year and a week later) once I had started to move on - he promised he was ready, he was choosing me, choosing us, every day. He contacted each of my family members to apologise for his actions, to apologise for the pain he caused me and all of us. That he would communicate with me.
Though this 2nd break up isn’t as hard as the first in some ways. As the first time I lost my home (because we lived together), I lost my car (because going to live alone I couldn’t keep a big fancy car) I still feel a whole massive fucking amount of pain. Unfortunately, we had to have a termination of a pregnancy at the start of the year, due to some medication that he is currently taking that causes birth defects and we chose not to take that risk on the baby or on me. He left only a few weeks after I had stopped bleeding. Baring in mind, the whole time I was going through this and obviously was emotional he was telling me that WE will have our chance again, WE now know WE work, it will be in OUR future just this wasn’t the time for US.
Looking back, he was clearly triggered, it scared him. He ran. The fear of growing up, having a little life to look after.
I am 30 next month. This is far from what I would expect my life to be like. I have a good job, a beautiful home, a car, the full works- but this second break up with someone I love completely with every part of myself and the termination has completely knocked the wind out of me this year.
When we got back together, it was incredible. We were better versions of us, which shocked me because we were amazing the first time. It was wonderful. He was (and despite this) still is an amazing man. He unfortunately suffers from childhood trauma like myself- but when he gets triggered he runs, legs it, drops me and literally detaches himself from me to prevent him from looking inside and seeing what the root cause is. I know exactly what it is, he has told me numerous times that it scares the shit out of him how much I know him and sometimes I know him better than himself.
The whole year (and a week) we were split up the first time I had this deep deep knowing he was coming back. And he did, despite everyone around me basically calling me mad because I was so sure of it. This time, I feel exactly the same. I know he is coming back. When, I don’t know. But he will.
Whether or not you believe in attachment theory or not, I know he is an avoidant. DA to be exact. I won’t go in to every single thing to why and his actions, but he is. I am in therapy, and I spoke to my therapist about it (she also specialises in attachment issues) and she had told me I hit the nail on the head with what I think. I refuse to bash him or any one who has this attachment style - but I just wish he could see why he does the things he does, why he gets triggered, look inside himself and the answers are there.
This has been long, I could keep going but I will stop. To be fair I don’t even know why I’m writing this. I suppose for some release. To tell some strangers on the internet what I’ve been going through. It’s shit. I hate it. I’m just in a whole lot of pain, and I’m terrified of the time that is being lost between us. That my body is ticking. And so on.
If you managed to get this far, thanks for listening to me yap and getting some of it out.

Hiya!
I wanted to come in and write a post about my MA experience 2 weeks post pills.
I took my first dose at 5 weeks and 6 days with fear of the pain and sickness I read so many experience. When I placed the next dose of pills vaginally, I was so nervous as I experience some terrible period cramps on a norm and didn’t want this to be like that.
What I can say is, wow is it easier than expected. My best advice is to eat plain food the day before and the day during. No artificial sugars, no greasy food, just plain easy to digest food. I do this on a regular month before I get my period and I feel like it tremendously helps with my period cramps so doing this for my MA felt smart.
It took about 2.5 hours before any bleeding started. Actually - I felt like it was late and was about to seek help before something came out. From here it was like a full river escaped me (the gush is real). I typically have light periods so this was shocking! At the worst of the cramps I would give the pain a 6/10 and I mean this was the WORST. Nothing ibuprofen and paracetamol didn’t help, I took about 800mg of ibuprofen and 500mg of paracetamol about an hour before I started anything.
Heating pad is a MUST. I don’t think I could have done this without. I unfortunately didn’t have my partner with me during this so I was worried about being alone but I had my friend on speed dial in case of emergency, to be honest it was kind of nice to just be dwelling in my own misery.
Cramps ended about after day 2, after what I feel was the passing of the pregnancy, the cramps started to fade with sometimes popping back up and then going. The bleeding began to stop after day 4.
Here I am 2 weeks after and from time to time I will bleed brown and pass a clot but with no pain. It’s like not often enough to continuously wear a pad but enough to be weary. I have one week to go until I can take my pregnancy test again but honestly when they say “symptoms going down like the feeling of feeling pregnant” it’s true. I didn’t have many symptoms to begin with part from sore breasts and slight cramping (and being very very emotional) but I can’t believe how much BETTER I feel! I feel very confident this worked and that everything went smoother than expected.
I write this for anyone else going through this for their first time! I honestly didn’t think I could become pregnant and after years of BC I stopped it and followed the flo app for my ovulation days. TIP - don’t do this 😂. I’m now back on the pill and feel much better to just have this out of the way.
The whole process was legit easier than a monthly period.
Good luck to those having to go through this! You can do it!

ok so, for as much as i love them, i have a pretty bad history with piercings. i have 3 in each lobe (had 4, but the first pair closed) that never really healed after several years, a double nostril that needed to get repierced, snake bites that were so poorly done i had to remove them, and a crooked bridge. now, i really don't like my plain face, and i would like to get more piercings, but it looks like no matter how reputable my piercer is (my last one is even insta verified) and how flawless their portfolio may be, i have the misfortune of always ending up being the one with crooked piercings. i do address them after getting them done, but they always say it's swelling and then it's not. i have yet to decide whether or not to get my snake bites repierced because i have to ponder if my anatomy allows me to have them in a way that doesn't cause me discomfort, but i am still unsure about this bridge of mine. the thing is, upon the terrible luck with piercing execution, i as well have pretty problematic healing processes. i get extremely swollen and sore, much more than the average, and it takes me so many months to ALMOST heal. i have had my bridge since last december, and despite it not being swollen anymore, it's clearly still crooked and irritated (i do take care of it), and i really don't know what to do. i just want to take it out, but the scarring would annoy me and idk if i could get it repierced better. i am a strict perfectionist unluckily and wrong visual imput (especially on my own body) causes me physical discomfort, reason why i struggle so much with crooked piercings. i don't wanna give up body mods, i really love how they look on me and they help me significantly with self esteem, but it's so stressful and complicated to get them right. i try getting fake piercings where i can, but not everything can be "faked" and i am honestly at a dead end with motivation. i have considered going back to the piercer to ask him if he could fix it somehow, but my social anxiety tells me there's no use and it will just be awkward because i am in fact unhappy with his job. i had already told him i had bad experience with every single piercing i had gotten and i hoped he could do a good gob, he was understanding, he spent an hour taking the precise measurements (that looked perfect) only to evidently miss the exit spot by a good 2 millimeters and also go too deep. i don't wanna pay another 80 euros to spend another 6 months with a sore bridge while being unsure of how it will turn out, but i don't want an empty face filled with scars, i am just really done with all this.

Long story short: Met her 6 months ago at a party I hosted, we had lots in common, and she was in a relationship. She showed interest, invited me over to their house when bf was gone several times. Mentioned their relationship was dying, and she had sex with me a couple weeks before they broke up. Bf never got to know, but was suspicious.
We started "dating" in the sense that she didn't want anything official yet, but we had fun times together and basically behaved like a couple. I wanted it to become more serious, but she held back. We both agreed to go with the flow and just see what happens. We had about five months of fun times together, and I really enjoyed her company.
She started distancing and become more unavailable the last month, I asked why and she said she didn't want anything serious. She didn't want to jump to a new relationship and work on herself and her issues.
Okay, so after some talking we agreed that we could keep it more casual since we loved to hang out together, but she was scared about the intimacy part since she didn't want to be "locked" to me, as she felt like she had to act loyal towards me. She wanted to have her options open. I said it's fine, I didn't expect her to be loyal in a casual friendship that includes sex, and in fact I would've had issues trusting her anyways since she's cheated on her ex twice, at least. I've heard several other unconfirmed stories from people that used to know her too, but I haven't told her that.
Anyways, after I told her that, she flipped out and basically blamed me for not telling her that before, that she had ruined her relationship and life, that I've used her, and didn't talk to me for a couple of days. She said she had hoped that it could've turned into anything serious, even though she said before that she didn't want anything serious right now. Almost like I was supposed to "wait" for her, and it could be a year or more.
So, am I the asshole? Should I have been more clear about my insecurity of her cheating in her past relationship earlier in our "situationship"? I feel like I just dodged a major bullet instead. Feels like she used that comment as an excuse to get mad at me and end it. Now she talks to me like I'm a stranger, and I've kept my distance as best as I can. Shame as I really liked her, and we were so alike.
I have asked her to meet in person and end whatever we had and gather my belongings, hopefully with no hard feelings since I want to be able to stumble upon her at parties without having anything unsaid. We have some friends in common, so it might happen.

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/ThrowRA-wife89
My[30/f] husband [35/M] thought I was a home intruder on Halloween. We don't know how to move forward
Originally posted to relationship_advice
TRIGGER WARNING: Physical violence, PTSD
Original Post Nov 3, 2019
Regular reader of this sub, never thought I'd end up posting. I know this is "above reddit's paygrade", but we're looking for advice wherever we can get it.
We've been together for 5 years. My husband grew up extremely hard, in one of the worst areas in the country. He was heavily involved in crime and dealt with violence on a constant basis. For going on ten years, he's been through numerous rehabilitation programs, mentors teens who experience similar circumstances and he's absolutely turned himself around. He's never been threatening in the time I've known him, although he still deals with anxiety related ptsd triggers on occasion.
For Halloween, I got the idea to prank him after he got back from a late shift, at which point I'm usually asleep. I hid behind the shower curtain in my costume, which was of a cat burglar (picture the black ski masked crook shimmying down a wire past those lasers to steal a diamond like in movies). I'm 5'9, and this costume made me look a bit bulky. He came in quietly, and when he came into washroom I popped out from behind the curtain. Before I could reveal the joke, he attacked me. It was severe, and I couldn't tell him who I was as he had my throat, and my hands were under me in the tub. He screamed my name and told me to run, and started giving extremely dark threats to "me" telling me what he planned to do when "his wife got out", outright telling me he planned to kill me while continuing the assault and screaming my name. This only ended when my mask was pulled in a way that revealed my dyed hair through the eye holes and he pulled it off, seeing it was me.
He spends the rest of the night an inconsolable mess, and I had to actively stop him from calling the police on himself, from taking me to the hospital and from calling my friends and family, because I knew no matter what I said he'd end up arrested. I entirely blame myself for this, I knew his past, I knew he dealt with ptsd and I pranked him without thinking of how trapped he'd feel in that room or how protective he'd be of me. At the same time, I'm terrified. Not rationally, but reactively. I knew his history, but to experience it scared me beyond belief. The sheer violence of his attack and his threats and anger made me realize just what's still under the surface if pushed, even though my rational brain knows he was reacting to what he thought was a threat and he's been a gentle teddybear towards everyone for the entire time I've known him. He on the other hand blames himself entirely, has been crying on and off since Halloween and keeps apologizing, begging me to just leave him which I have no plans or desire to do. My face looks like I went through a meat grinder, and I cannot go into work or face my family like this, because I doubt they'd believe what actually happened.
We both just want to move forward from this nightmare. Please do not advise me to leave him, he's an amazing man who reacted to my ridiculous idea of a joke. What steps can we take to be around friends and family while I heal? What steps can we take to close this gap between us, put it behind us and love and support one another through this experience? What can I do to ease his guilt, while also reminding myself he's still the amazing man I married and not the person I encountered that night? Any advice on where to start (we both have therapists) would be appreciated.
TL;DR: Played stupid prank on husband suffering from bad experiences. Thought I was a home invader and attacked me. Both of us wondering how to even begin to let this go.
THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP. DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP OR COMMENT ON THE ORIGINAL POST

My thoughts on love
It is currently 3:30 am, and I cannot sleep. My mind is racing, not allowing me a single moment of reprieve. 27 years of age, I have been fortunate enough to have loved over my years. My current heartbreak is the longest I have dealt with and the longest relationship I have held at six years. In my opinion, true love only exists for one person, at least in the romantic aspect. There are those who practice polygamy and open relationships. However, for myself, there is only one true love. My definition of love has changed over the course of my young life, from saying “I love you” to a middle school girlfriend because I had thought at the time what we had was love. Love changes for us as we get older; the things we hold in appreciation change, and the way we show our love changes as well.
Past Love
Love that my present self would not consider love at all. There was a time when I gave everything to my partner and became so selfless that I did not take into account what I wanted from the relationship. She was all I wanted, being close to her and being a part of her world. I know now that this is purely infatuation.
Recent Love
My most recent love, I am still working through the wreckage it left behind after it all crashed. I was still in a state of infatuation; however, I did receive portions of what I wanted out of our relationship. The lack of satisfaction from my end was not due to a lack of open communication of my needs but simply a lack of chemistry and timing for what I had wanted in life. She was focused on building herself up, and I tried my best to support her as much as I could. However, this took its toll on me. I sacrificed everything and coped with the lack of satisfaction from my end by filling the void with financial spending and indulging in quick and easy food to give myself a shot of dopamine. By the end, I had spiraled so out of control that I had to leave and seek help, mentally and emotionally. I had moved across the country to find a place where I could process my emotions and try to build myself back up. This was when it became too much for her to hold on to; she had broken up with me. I was distraught, I was broken, I had hit the lowest point in my life. A relationship I gave everything to, all in hopes that it would pay itself back once she was done building herself. However, I was a fool for hoping that, in truth, I was a bonus and never a priority. I was never her safe person or the person she would find comfort in. I’m not sure if I was at a point, but things changed as I started to spiral. All I know in the end is that my world was torn apart. I didn’t recognize the person who stared back at me in the mirror anymore. I had stopped taking care of myself; I had given up in life. Your most recent love will always sting the most if your definition of love changes as mine does over time.
Future Love
To my future love, I hope to be your comfort and be the person you seek when you need to recharge in life. I wish to give you that peace that you deserve, and I hope that you give me that peace as well. I hope that I do not find you too late. However, I know that is not how life works. I wish to spend as much time with you as I can. I am proud of where I am now; on certain days, I do not feel as though much has changed, but I do know I am better now than I was. I hope you can be proud of me and how much I’ve done, and I’ll be proud of you and all the work you've accomplished for yourself.

i’m open to the idea that this could be a me problem and something i need to work on. i cannot recall having the best social skills from being a kid to now. but i know i am able to carry out a conversation. in middle school i was able to interact with people quite well to be considered a well liked class clown.
maybe this has to do with a really rough period of time i may have dealt with depression (i say may cause i never got a diagnosis but something was definitely wrong) starting sometime october of 9th. i feel it’s gotten harder to talk to people. during all this time, confidence was low. i stopped caring for trying to be fluent in conversation (i didn’t care if i just stayed silent after i responded to someone or i would avoid walking past people who i knew might want to reach out to me)
it’s gotten better this year when i realized how being in pain made me unintentionally push people away. my conversation skills are improving. however, i’m noticing i tend to talk about me a lot. i really don’t mean it in an egotistical way. i don’t like me enough to put me on a pedestal. it comes out naturally, i think it’s a way to assure a person that i understand the idea behind what they’re talking about. i also think i do it to encourage a person to express their personal views as well. when there’s a back and forth like that cnversations feel fluent and more significant because they trust me with sharing insight into their persona. i can sort of engage with a topic and not make it personal, but it takes a lot more effort and it’s not unusual that i can’t come up with a response. more like small talk. i’ll include a template in the comments for clarification.
thoughts on this? it’d be a pain but i’ll accept if im simply subconsciously self-centered if you guys think so. however, is this tendency normal? how can i have conversations less about “you and I” and more about topics and discussions? don’t want people to begin to avoid me cause they get the sense that i’m some sort of egomaniac.
tldr: i tend to talk about myself in conversations and i make them personal (about “you and i”) because it makes conversations flow easier than just discussing a topic and it worries me that people will get annoyed by the untrue sense that i am egotistical

Hi All
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After reading lots and lots of questions and answers on this Subreddit, i completely lost my thoughts. I have a good understanding of how investing works, why i should do it, and the power of compounded interest on long term, combined with the ease of an ETF like Iwda. I have a quite complex situation which confuses me a lot when it comes to investing and saving money. I already saw a lot of 'professional' explanations and theories here, so i would like to ask an objective opinion.
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This is who I am:

• 24 y/o male, works in as production-and planningcoordinator - net income =-2350 / month + benefits
• i have a girlfriend, we are living together in a house of mine (situation will be explaned below).
• +- 150k in savings, doing nothing on the bank at 0.5 % interest.
• +- 25k in stocks and etf's
• i have 2 houses on my name, 1 i live in myself together with my girlfriend, the other one is the house in which my grandparents are living in ( = vruchtgebruik, have been gifted the house a couple of years ago).
• I don't have any debts and don't have that much common expenses.
• Don't have kids, probably not before i reach 30 as i want to figure out where i will get financially to provide a stable situation for a kid. (girlfriend is fine with it).

​
I think i'm in a quite well situation given my age, and that's why i want to seize the opportunity as thoughtful as possible.
​
when i was 19, i started putting 5k in seperate stocks, mainly tech and Uranium as i am a strong believer of nuclear energy. That's doing very well as it's already 18k now.
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invested another 5k in iwda last year, which is doing well aswell.
​
Reason why i am stuck:
I don't know what to do with my cash.
I want to invest some money for long term (10 a 15 years +) I want to invest some for very long term to retire comfy I have the houses, 1 renovated, bungalow from '60, which is now beginning EPC C, so quite efficient for the age. Only large expense for the future: removing asbest roof and replace it with shingles. Note that this house is with our future in mind, to start for the first 10 years or so. My final goal is to renovate the house of my grandparents in the future, to make it as good as possible for the rest of our lives (my girlfriend is fine with the situation, it's beneficial for her too). It's a 'landhuis' on a larnge plot of land. So i guess it will take arround 150k to renovate the house.
​
The approach i am thinking off:
I invest another 15k in Iwda as lump sum and DCA from now on 300 euro's a month. I keep my own money to live from and to invest When i would ever renovate the house of my grand parents, i could get a loan for renovation purposes and use the bare minimum as downpayment. Then i renovate the house, and will live in it afterwards. The house i live in now is modern, detached , and easy to rent out. I would use the rental income from this property to pay off my loan I got to renovate the other house. I could eventually do a downpayment to make the rental income more than the loan, so I get let's say 200 euro's spare which i could park on a high yield growth savings account. This amount would come in when i have a cost at the property which is rented out. In the meanwhile i still have a filled savings account which keeps all roads open for investing oppertunities or to increase the value of the property i will be living in, in let's say 10 years or so (I hope it takes as long as possible as I love my grand parents, i want them to live as long as possible and stay at home while they can.) Once the renovation loan has been paid, i still have a lot of savings, so has my girlfriend, so in the further future, we could eventually buy an investment property together aswell.
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Would you change strategy? Or come in mind with another strategy that could work for me? I am willing to take moderate risk. I don't want to invest all in individual stocks as they are too volatile for me, especially sectorbased like energy. But ETF's, i am fine with. If it crashes, everything crashes, and after a crash, it will climb anyway in the long run.
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My goal is not to stop working or so, or to retire at 40, but i want to be able to say 'fuck it' and do something I really really enjoy, even though I would earn half the money. I never want to stress about money. I am quite economically-minded and think a lot before i purchase something expensive. Working 4/5 when i'm around 40 and 3/5 when around 55 would be ideal i think.
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My main motivation; based on the lifestyle of my grandfather, i like to walk arround on my property, thinking how beautifyl it is, washing the car on saturday, play with the kids, take them for a ride in a old porsche 911 (passionate about that car since when i was 6, posters all arround my room, till to date haha, that's the life strive for, the life i WANT to work for . not to sit at home at 50 all day long as everyone i know will still work then.
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Thank you so much for your insights
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Cheers
​
​

Edward Snowden has been blasted at us by the Media, News, TV, Movies, and probably over 100 interviews. But when was the last time you saw him photographed in Russian media? Well, I can tell you, 2014.
Since the end of the failed Russian Reset, and after invading Ukraine in 2014, Edward Snowden has NEVER been seen inside Russia.
You’ll hear about some stories you are fed to believe. The John Oliver interview is convincing, but you never see him outside. What you also likely didn’t know is HBO and nearly his entire crew (if not all) knew NOTHING about the Edward Snowden interview until John Oliver came back with the recordings. Souce
Tucker Carlson is the newest shill in the Edward Snowden coverup. He swears that he met with Edward Snowden, in a Moscow hotel, in 2024. But Edward Snowden was so shy, he didn’t want his picture taken. And wants privacy… But he has 0 issues doing talk shows every week. CIA probably gave him this so Tuck could crap on the deep state a little bit.
Here’s a quote Edward Snowden wrote before becoming a “whistleblower”.
“Years later, when characterizing his experience as a CIA TISO, Snowden would write that he was ‘specially selected by [CIA’s] Executive Leadership Team for [a] high-visibility assignment’ that ‘required exceptionally wide responsibility.’ Souce

• Edward Snowden was born on June 21, 1983, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. His family moved to Maryland, near the NSA headquarters at Fort Meade.
• Geneva Assignment: Snowden was posted to Geneva, Switzerland, in 2007 under diplomatic cover as a systems administrator at the U.S. Mission. Here, he gained insight into the inner workings of the CIA and U.S. intelligence operations.
• The Media, including television and film, have had a very heavy influence in the perception about Edward Snowden.
• He would claim he looked for Aliens in his book, but i believe that is just misdirection.
• The Guardian reporter, Glenn Greenwald, was the “Snowden leaker” but didn’t reveal any facts that resulted in any substantial change at the NSA or with American civil rights. Look into his resume, and tell me he doesn’t seem like a CIA asset. Souce Source Source

This started with Obama and the Russian Reset. In 2013, Russian and USA relations were not as strained as they are today. During that time, Russian media frequently posted pictures of Edward Snowden, like this one: . However, since 2014, these sightings have disappeared. It’s been a decade since Edward Snowden was seen outside in Russia.
Have you ever wondered how Edward Snowden is paying for living in Russia? Do you really think Russia would pay for some helpdesk employee to tweet for a decade and not be used by Russian Propaganda? He supposedly have to give back his $4m book advance, but we know that’s theater.
It has come to light recently that the CIA withheld information from Trump. Even Jack Smith presented the court with altered documents than what the defense provided. Here is a recent quote from a tweet from a undercover reporter: Source
Amjad Fseisi, is caught on undercover cameras implicating the highest levels of the intelligence agencies, including “The executive staff. We’re talking about the director and his subordinates,” former CIA Directors “Gina Haspel….And I believe Mike Pompeo did the same thing too,” “kept information from him [Trump] because we knew he’d fucking disclose it.” Amjad reasons “There are certain people that would…give him a high-level overview but never give him any details. You know why? Because he’ll leak those details…He’s a Russian asset. He’s owned by the fucking Russians.”
If the CIA is willing to lie about Edward Snowden, they likely provided Trump with fake intelligence that they know he would leak. I bet you the low detail intel briefs with lots of pictures and graphs was just a psyop against Trump to avoid him leaking material. And the stuff he did leak I bet was manipulated by our own government against a sitting president. But at least the CIA hasn't assassinated any more US presidents recently.
Have you ever seen a “whistleblower” do more talk shows than Edward Snowden? They even made a movie about him in a few years. The media is treating Edward Snowden very differently than any other whistleblower in the intelligence community.
I don’t believe we’ve had a real intelligence whistleblower in a long time. Edward Snowden is just trying to misdirect us. There might be aliens, but i would not take the word of an ex CIA agent about that.\
CIA did not expect Russia to go so off the rails so quickly, so you won’t see him in Russian media ever again until he decides he wants to answer questions in USA, like a real whistleblower would do like that hero in Australia exposing war crimes.
What are the true motives behind his tweets and interviews? Does the CIA want to secretly help make our private data more secure? /s

I’ve never written a question on this app before but this is eating at me. BUCKLE UP THIS IS LONG!
So my husband’s family have been abusive to him, he is the black sheep of his family he is the youngest and has a different father than his older siblings (8,6 years older).
Ever since I started dating him I was antagonized in some way. When I first met his family for Christmas his middle brother invited his ex-girlfriend to hang out, unbeknownst to my then bf which was awkward but she was fine with me. My boyfriend then was really sick and I took the train 2 hours to pick him up from his home (where his family was with their cars) and take him to a hospital in London. He was there for 6 days not one person visited him but me. They made fun of him and minimized his illness.
Then we moved to my home country the US and eloped. They came to visit a few years later his mom and eldest brother were okay. Middle brother again constantly throwing barbs and digs at me completely unprovoked. I get there may be a culture difference they are White English conservatives, I’m African American. Shortly after we married he dated a black girl, who left bc she was also treated poorly. Some examples of digs; I congratulated him on graduating and asked him when he finished he replied “same time you were supposed to” (I dropped out). Then I asked what the he loved most and what was challenging about being a PT and he replied “no offense, working with fat people.” Took them to multiple meals and covered everything which wasn’t cheap, he complained about the food being “reheated” and bitched when he was ID’d.
Things get progressively worse, middle brother has a precious baby. I want to spoil her and become close with the mother of the child (who is not with him due to his creepy behavior). We form a fast friendship and chat all the time about the baby. My brother in-law tortures this girl denies he is the dad but also goes out of his way to bully her (she’s not breast feeding right, she shouldn’t have pacifiers) all from the comfort of his home. He is also constantly complaining about having to pay $50 a week in child support nonstop saying he is going “bankrupt”. My hubby is part of a group chat and my mother-in-law talks ish about my friend and my hubby is telling me. I ask to see and his brother is actively trying to give his soon to be 1 year old daughter eggs and gluten that his ex told him she was allergic to and they are plotting to do this during her birthday and explicitly NOT tell my friend the mom of his baby. The reasoning was “I’m the father, I deserve to be respected, I can make choices to” but he is extremely sneaky. I show my friend/baby’s mom the messages and all hell breaks loose because of course he lies and gets caught. I would have told him off directly but he blocked me because he was mad at how close I was getting to his ex. I am called a “despicable woman” dragged in their chat, made to seem that I’m spying on my husband and accused of being jealous and sabotaging my niece’s birthday party. My husband says nothing in my defense just goes along like he didn’t send me the photos of their chat…
They don’t know I’m pregnant at this time and I chose not to tell any of my in-laws due to how awful they are. I also don’t believe in telling anyone that would wish ill on me and my baby (bad juju), but my bestie the baby mom knows. I give birth his mom has an absolute tantrum says incredibly awful things to my husband, reaches out to my mom to wish her congratulations on her grandchild and says “i guess I will learn to love him.”
Then my friend the mom gets diagnosed with cancer and wants to keep this secret and makes me promise, she kept my secret pregnancy it is the least I could do. She dies a few months later and my brother in law attacks her for not telling him and claims she is a horrible mother. He takes custody of his daughter.
Fast forward the eldest brother meets this hog woman. She is rotund and English, very ignorant and rude. The first interaction I had she thought she knew so much, decides to bash my dead friend’s parenting, call my dead father in law “weird”, tells me my niece eats everything now due to having a “good parent” and called my apt in NYC “embarrassing” bc it had scaffolding on google maps when she looked me up (like a creep). She then antagonizes me in a variety of slick ways including posting the eldest brother with my niece with the caption “uncle B’s favorite!” On my son’s birthday. Most recently I tell his family that we want to actually have a proper wedding and celebrate after 10 years of marriage, i give them 2 years notice. The hog says “ohhh me and the eldest are planning on getting married then.” I ask why she says “nice weather”. She then proceeds to have a fall wedding (orange, red, greens, pumpkins, barley, wheelbarrows etc.” in May. I try to be the bigger person and send a kind welcome and she leaves me on read.
I hate these people, I need to let this go. My husband says that we should just go on continuing our happy life and not “start problems”. But it feels like so much awfulness to have to swallow. I also feel like if/when I do speak up I’m the hysterical angry black woman and this hog is the “innocent”. The whole thing is so so frustrating but I need to let it go even though I want them to hurt emotionally as much as they have hurt us.
Any recommendations, would you want revenge? There is so much more but I have written a novel already. I feel alone like no one has my back or tries to understand my perspective. They are so sneaky and underhanded. I want to protect my family from these sick people. At the same time I want justice, justice for my husband, for my dead bestie, for me son and for me.

In most relationships, the last thing a couple intends to do is part ways with their partner. After making an in-depth decision, taking numerous risks, and asking yourself tough questions about your feelings and how you two plan your future together, who would have wanted to break up? As most couples do, they've had highs and lows in their relationship. However, if the worst were to happen, their bond may shatter, and they would go completely separate ways. The most devastating period after a breakup is the morning after—well, given my experience. You can literally feel the emptiness in your soul, and as the day passes, you'll gradually feel the heaviness of the way the thought that it's over finally sinks in.
I have an ex-girlfriend whom I shouldn't name. We were blockmates, and she was the first friend I made before attending college. We shared comparable viewpoints and sentiments even before we developed a deeper connection. And I knew. When I first saw her, I knew she was going to be mine. I liked her the first time I saw her in person. I like how soft-spoken she is, how she listens to my stories, and everything she does has become special to me. To cut a long story short, months after college began, that little happy crush feeling grew deeper, to the point where I mustered the courage to take the biggest risk of my life. I confessed. Surprisingly, she confessed too, and it only took us a week to make it official. It wasn't the healthiest relationship in town, and I'm not sure whether it was genuine for both of us. But I knew I loved her more than anything. We never took the relationship thoroughly, given that it was both of our first relationships. By this, we only lasted three months. We started dating in the month of September, and she ended things with me shortly after the new year.
The first breakup aches like hell. Given that we were blockmates, I was able to survive months in a very suffocating environment. It hurts to see her invest energy in others that she hasn't given to me. It hurts to see how she treats her friends as opposed to how she treats me. We still talked at the time, but only when it was convenient for her. When it was months later and we still had a connection, things became complicated. Another girl entered the picture. The moment I found out about this, she and my ex-girlfriend had already separated. I attempted to distance myself after learning the information, but because I was a fool for her and couldn't say no when she suggested that we go out alone to complete our tasks on a specific subject, I agreed. This was the day I decided to take a chance again if she gave me signals. I tried to disregard what happened to the other factors that got involved in our complicated relationship.
We started dating again after nearly five months of being separated.
We were supposed to be in our eighth month when she broke up with me, and she merely gave me one reason: she got bored with our relationship. I asked her if there was anything wrong with me, and she responded no. During those months, I attempted to give my all without demanding anything in return, even though I believed I deserved more than she contributed to our relationship. I tried to be pleased as a low-maintenance girlfriend, but lowkey craved constant reassurance, "just because" presents, random compliments, and other things I do for her. And here I thought we were growing while pushing each other to be the best possible versions of ourselves. I noticed her improvement over the first few months of our relationship, but as we went on, she relapsed to her old nature, similar to my first ex-girlfriend, who broke up with me after a three-month relationship. At first, I felt I could still fix what we had, but when she begged me to let her go, it was a sign for me to stop.
And as I was writing this, it was only the morning after she broke up with me for the second time. I'm writing this to help me move ahead and to express the things that have been on my mind since the time I woke up. I'm trying to persuade myself that I did nothing wrong and that I wasn’t the one who ruined our relationship.
She never sincerely asked for forgiveness, but I knew that even before she could apologize, I had forgiven her. Perhaps it was because of love. We may never forget the pain that they caused, but love will be the reason we forgive them. However, I still wanted to thank her for loving me for an extended period of time. I will continue to cherish the time we spent together, and I will never regret that I once called you mine.
was written last february and finally decided to post it here now that I've moved on. :))

Hey Devs, I need genuine help regarding this and I need to hear your honest advice on whether I should pursue career in tech or not given I have a 3 year gap because I have to take care of my father suffering from brain hemorrhage. I graduated with BSc. CS back in 2021.
He was a dentist in some local hospital, and was laid off during COVID and unfortunately later he began having severe mental health issues, headaches, and one day it became so critical that he went unconscious and was hospitalized.
He was diagnosed with brain hemorrhage , hence needed immediate surgery. And all this happened during fatal 2nd COVID wave, we had to pay a huge price for surgery..
We were close to poverty at that time, so when things opened up, our sole motive was to set up our dental clinic. So we did rent a space and began setting it up.
My father still needed supervision, he had some cognitive complications, and BP problems, due to BP sometimes blood clotting interfere with nerves, he would faint, become nausea tic sometimes. And in course of 3 years I had to carry him to hospital 3-4 times.
So at that time I decided to help my father and not pursue further education that year, and I have younger brother and sister whose college fees we had to arrange. I didn't knew about gap years at that time, thought I can continue it later on when we become stable enough. At the moment I am needed at home.
Hence I went to clinic with my father daily I used to do data entry work like scheduling appointments and managing report history of our patients. But main purpose for me being on clinic was supervision, if he needed some help..
After two years of effort, we are doing well and have recovered financially, allowing me to continue my studies. My father's health has also improved. And I can further continue my studies. In the meanwhile I tried clearing few government exams, but unfortunately was not able to make it, this year I am thinking to get into something productive.
During my college days, I found great joy in working on projects, including data analysis with Python and R, as well as web development projects like e-commerce stores, among others. As of now, I am a bit inclined towards data side of things, like data analytics, data science.
However, I am quite worried that I may have burned all bridges...
Hence,
To the developers and hiring managers on developersIndia, I am reaching out for your honest advice on how to handle this situation. Programming is the only skill I can provide, and I would greatly appreciate any further guidance you can provide.
Once again, thank you for your willingness to help.

Yesterday after 12 years of relationship from 18 to 30 years old I got dumped out of nowhere. I am quite devastated as it was a complete surprise. Woke up and asked her why she was distant since a week and she said "I need to find myself and I no longer want to be in a relationship" and that's it...
I need to know if I am doing the right thing and if there is a chance of salvation. Please help me understand better...
I totally get where this comes from since we are in complete symbiose, work together and are together most of the time. The thing is, she sort of lived some parts of her life through mine. The work is my business, which she came in, every time I have a new idea she instantly helps me launch it. I always knew this was an issue, but I didn't have any solution for her except encouraging every hobby and activity she had without me. Same for most things in life she relied excessively on me, including any problem she got, vacations, family issues ect...
Recently she got into yoga and sports seriously doing multiple teacher formations, I was very happy for her, but in hindsight I think this emancipation is what sparked the breakup and the need for more emancipation. I was very happy she found something she loved and is passionate about that have nothing to do with me, I was also glad she was discovering herself more.
Yesterday when she told me this, I was totally devastated but couldn't say anything else then "Okay" since anything else I wanted to say would've been very negative . Then she asked me to leave, so I did and went to my parents house. She has a 2 weeks yoga formation right now so that's why she is the one staying, she said to me that in two weeks she'll move in the south with her mom and I'll get the appartement back... Quite depressing...
She sent me a text :
"My love I am with you. Forgive me it has nothing to do with you, I have a visceral need to be alone. I am really sorry I hurt you so much but I have to listen to myself. You are amazing and I will always love you."
I answered that I was very sad and surprised but I understood and she could take the time she needed and I was still here for her. But I refrain from sending anything else, giving her the space she needs.
Now please tell me this is not over... Do you guys think this is only a break or should I grieve and accept this relation is over? I totally get why she needs space, but can't accept our beautiful relation is over... She is the love of my life and I have no idea what to expect or prepare for.
I have no idea how to live without her. The fact that there was no argument is even worse, it seems there' nothing to fix and nothing I can do... Can I do anything more?
Ps : of course it sparked in me the motivation to solve every single bad habit I have, even if this was not the cause of the breakup. Also sparked the need to drink a lot...

I'm sorry, I'm not english speaker but I need to say it because I think I'm going crazy. Six years ago, I was raped by my ex. I left him and he couldn't take it. One day he dragged me into his car, drove me out of town, raped me, threw me out and then tried to escape. He was caught and now he is in prison. It was a huge trauma for me. Since then, I try not to sit in the back seat of a car because I start having panic attacks if I don't know where I'm being taken. And if a certain song starts playing in the car, memories come flooding back. The thing is, everything happened under the song that I used to really like. It was our song, we kissed and had sex for the first time to that song. All my close ones know that I can only sit in the front seat and that song and that band cannot be played around me. I went to therapy, but it didn't help completely; I don't think I will ever fully heal.
A year ago, I started dating an amazing guy. We are happy together and I know he is choosing a ring. He knows about my situation, and I asked him to warn his family that I have certain triggers. They are very understanding; they have never treated me differently after learning my story.
A week ago, his sister, who is currently 25 weeks pregnant, asked me to go shopping for the baby with her and I agreed. When I got into her car, she said her seatbelt was broken and she could only put me in the back seat. Despite my doubts, I agreed. I can ride in the back seat for a short time, but I need to know and control the road; otherwise, I start panicking. Everything seemed fine, though I was nervous. After shopping, she drove me home and on the way she played that song. I asked her to turn it off, but she refused. She said the driver chooses the music and she wants to listen to that song. I had a panic attack. I asked her to stop the car or turn off the music, but she laughed and said I was overreacting. I told her I was having a panic attack, and she just drove faster. When she dropped me off, I had a breakdown; I was crying and ran into the apartment. I sat in the bathroom until evening and only calmed down when I had no more strength to cry. My boyfriend came and comforted me. When I felt better, I asked if he had talked to his sister about my problem, and he said he did, but she probably forgot. After that, he and his parents apologized to me. His sister sent a message saying she was sorry and didn't think I would react so strongly. Now I can't understand if she did it on purpose or accidentally. Everyone says it just happened, but I feel like she knew and wanted to see my reaction. I can't meet and talk to her face to face right now because after this situation she got upset herself and now she needs peace because of the pregnancy. I feel like I'm going crazy because of my doubts. I have already sought emergency consultation and feel a little better, but I want to hear an outside opinion.

TLDR: Nannying is a very hard job. There would probably be a lot more nannies who work as hard as one needs to do this job well if the pay matched the value and difficulty of the work.
I’ve been pretty active in this sub lately because I’ve been feeling unhappy at my job and it helps to have a community. I wrote this a while ago and have been nervous to post it but I think it’s important. I saw a post in nannyemployers asking where all of the “good” nannies have gone and this was the response I was writing until I realised the replies were to be from NP only.. I would post in the nanny employers sub if I weren’t terrified of the response. I know I’m singing to the choir here and I know saying it out loud doesn’t change much. But I am so, so angry, so imma just send it.
As a nanny who has two college degrees, practices Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and RIE, and as someone who has always loved and wanted to work with kids, there simply is not enough money in this career path to stick to it. I personally simply cannot rationalise doing the amount of physical and emotional work that is required for me to do this job as well as I want to for the typical pay, even though I absolutely love it.
For my background, experience, and approach, I am in a severely underpaid position (even when disregarding my qualifications it would still be severely underpaid.) Because of my personal and financial situation at the time of my job search, I did not have the luxury to wait for a unicorn family to offer me the salary I was looking for. I found a family that was a good fit and accepted the position even though I felt it was very much underpaid. I am now in a position where I am continuously battling wanting to work as hard as I can for these kids and this family, and realising I can’t break my back for them while being this underpaid (I mean I literally threw my back out during this job). I’m not someone who breaks a commitment easily but I guess I could move from family to family, waiting to find one who is able to financially match the value of this work, or I could stick it out and get $2/hr raises every year, but I can’t wait 10 years to finally get close to being paid what I know a proper nanny is worth. Yes there certainly are some nanny employers who properly respect this work and are able to financially meet it’s value, but in my experience they are few and far between. I have found that the overwhelming majority of nannies are severely underpaid and overworked.
Nannies are asked to have flexible schedules, work long hours, take on a laundry list of responsibilities, develop personal emotional relationships with children that aren’t theirs while keeping a professional distance, pay for and organise their own continued training, be emotionally and socially engaged with children all day long, and more. But above all, the most important aspect of nannying is managing our stress is such a way that allows us to stay in an executive state of functioning all day every single day. People deeply underestimate and undervalue the amount of hard and constant work it takes to keep oneself in an executive state of functioning day in and day out, especially in a high stress position where you are helping other people regulate their bodies all day on top of yours, AND are constantly sick and tired and being pushed and tested. I think that this ability is what makes the difference in a “good” nanny and is often the most overlooked, misunderstood, and undervalued aspect of the job responsibilities.
I want to be a good nanny, it’s my dream job to be the best nanny there is, and I used to think that I could accept being in an undervalued role because “it takes a village” and I wanted to do my part and this was my passion. But it doesn’t feel good to be undervalued financially and socially, in fact it feels really really bad, and this is why I will no longer be pursuing a career as a nanny. Even if I found my unicorn position, it wouldn’t change the fact that the overwhelming majority of my nanny peers are still underpaid and undervalued, and that doesn’t feel good. It makes me want to leave, and I think all of the other underpaid nannies should leave too. (We need a union or something, is this a thing?)
The market is oversaturated and undervalued. Not everyone needs a nanny now that quarantine is over (a full-time nanny, not babysitter or after school care). I have both worked at a preschool and as a nanny and I have found that a setting with multiple children of similar age is far better developmentally for a child than spending most of their time with a single adult and a sibling or two, even for young babies. I think a healthy mix of a daycare setting and family time at home is probably best but can be the most difficult to achieve with the current work culture. This is no one’s fault, the overworking culture is a burden of late stage capitalism that we all face. However, it is the burden of the parents to solve their work/life balance. This is a very big part of what one signs up for when becoming a parent. It is not the burden of the nanny to work more for less or the children to miss being with their parents (I’d say two doctor NP are pretty much the only ones who’d get a pass here).
It’s no one person’s fault that nannies are financially undervalued, the value of personal childcare and domestic work has a long saturated history fraught with misogyny and racism. Have you compared the average wage of a plumber (male dominated domestic work) to that of a nanny (female dominated domestic work)? And don’t tell me plumbing requires more training or is harder than nannying, I assure you they are of comparable difficulty especially considering there’s no step by step instructions on YouTube for nannying. (And if you do consider plumbing to be that much hard than nannying, what do you think gives you that perception? I mean as a parent, one should know that nannying absolutely is not just playing with kids all day, even if that’s all you ask your nanny to do. What subconscious bias could be giving you the perception that bringing up children is less difficult and of less value than screwing pipes together? Have you seen The Help? Don’t answer, just think.)
Plumbers make average $28/hr in the states, mechanics $26, for nannies it’s $20 (and that’s being generous). That’s a ¢70 on the dollar comparison. It is time we all realise that nannying is an underpaid and undervalued role and work to change that. If the wage being offered across the board better matched the value of the work, I think one would find a lot more serious nannies and a lot more current nannies taking the job more seriously.
I didn’t get it at first, why so many nannies at the park seemed so burnt out and disinterested in the kids. Oh boy do I get it now. I want nothing more than to do my best in this role, but in the past few months after nearly being stiffed by NP, not receiving a bonus from them when I really thought I would, and overall realising I am being taken advantage of and am a human mine to them, I have realised that I can no longer put my all into this job for my own health and sanity. Being properly compensated is the primary motivating aspect of all work especially in the society we are a part of. After loosing my sense of respect from NP, I’ve lost most of the non-financial motivation I started out with and am left with what little motivation my petite pay check gives me, and the kids can tell.
Since my fallout with NP, I have pulled back emotionally from the kids. I’m not mean and I am still doing every responsibility in my contract to the letter (and then some still), but I am no longer as emotionally available to them as I was. I am shorter and more curt with them, I don’t take as much time with them to sit and talk about every feeling they have, and I’m not working as hard to help them break the bad habits NP give them that NP specifically ask me to break (one example - NP want NK to walk everywhere with me but then always use the stroller with NP and every time we go out it’s a fight to use the stroller or not. Guess who’s been using the stroller far more often lately). Anyway, the past week my NK 3f has been quietly crying before her nap and I’m sure it’s because she’s felt me pull away from her. It’s breaking my heart and I’ve been trying to give her extra cuddles, but I have to protect myself first now. This is a job and these aren’t my kids and I can no longer rationalise putting them first emotionally especially considering I am burnt TF out, torn down, and left feeling used up and tossed aside without any recognition or proper thanks from NP.
I don’t know what the perfect number is, the number I would say many NP would probably think is too high, and maybe they’re not looking for a nanny who works as hard as I and others do. But I can tell you that $17/hr before taxes in a VHCOL area does not even come CLOSE. I think we can all easily recognise that the financial value of this job needs to better match the value of the work, in general and across the board. We’re talking about the people caring for and raising the future generations here, I mean how is this not the most coveted role in our society?
This is my Roman Empire and I will die on this hill every. single. time.

Hi I just came across a novel, chosen by the moon novel by izabella W. Its on pay by chapter websites, I've opened and read a few chapters but I can't seem to find any free version or chapter version anywhere. Please help. If anyone has read it I'm willing to take spoilers. Here's the advert I found below of it on Facebook.
Lycanthrope species is a disgusting race. And I, Delan Riley, am nothing more than a human scum in their eyes never expected those species would turn my world upside down. Since when the lycans managed to penetrate our town, like in the early 1900's we have a hierarchy, upper class = the lycans, middle class = mated humans, and lower class = the normal humans, who were basically considered scum. I endured their torment day after day, vowing to run away from them one day, until that day came and everything changed.
Dylan POV "Humans," I scowled at the principal's words from tannoy. "The Alpha twins will be celebrating their birthday tomorrow, as such, festivities are in order." Oh great, the Alphas twin children. Adrian and Arya are the worst lycans alive. I swear just because they are the alphas kids they literally get away with everything. If their birthday is tomorrow, then the wolves are going to be worse than ever. "All students will be present to greet them, two lines will be made, with humans on the left and the lycanthrope on the right. Any mated human will be at the front of the line for their year, you will all also be in order of your school year. That is all." Chat broke out the minute the tannoy was finished. "We haven't had a school gathering since the alpha king visited three years ago, before his sons coronation." Nick was right, the last time we all gathered like that was for the king and queens visit, when he decided to let the world know that he was to renounce his title to his only child, son Josh. "That sick bestard, he wants to make sure everyone is there so those idiot twins can find their mates." Yes I was mad, my fists connected with the table in front of me once more as I thought about how disgusting the situation was. You see the twins will be turning 17, so it's very possible someone in our school could be their mate, finding a mate is sacred to a wolf, the minute they say that one word your fate is sealed. They will turn your mind, morph you into being a lover of their kind, and then you'll give in.

That won't happen to me, I'm growing old to see the world as it once was, and I'm going to choose who I'll be with. No one will take that dream away from me.

Once dinner was finished, I just wanted to sleep. I'd had a very long tiring day, I quickly sat down on a small stool my mother kept in the storage closet and removed my shirt while my brother Freddy sat at the table to do his simple homework. It wasn't long before my mother came in with a large bowl of warm salt water and some cotton, this was going to sting I just knew it. She was here to help me with the wounds caused by wolves yesterday. She slowly began to unwrap the bandage from around my torso and slowed down drastically when it came to the final layer, I felt it peel off every wound and my fists clenched in pain. "Jesus!" I heard my mom exclaim once the dressing was completely removed. The air on my back was nice though and I sighed as my arm covered my once again exposed brests. "This is more than 15!" I began to hear sniffles coming from her and sighed turning round to look at her face, only to notice tears streaming down it. "Mom I'm fine, it's alright." She shook her head. "It's not alright, I'm your mother I shouldn't let these things happen. I'm so sorry. Your father would have..." here she goes again. Every single time something happened she'd always bring up dad, it really annoyed me because no matter how much we all wish he was here, he just isn't. My father was kiled by THEIR kind, almost 5 years ago when they actually managed to take over. When the lycans managed to penetrate our town my father rose up with some people from the neighborhood, to defend our livelihood, it was futile to say the least. We lost many people and I watched as my dad was ripped apart by two fully shifted wolves, I ended up shoting him to stop his suffering before they dragged me to the courtyard, i was the person to receive the first lashing of the town when I was 12! The wolves have been pretty strict with me since that day. "Stop being stvpid!" Was I harsh? Definitely! Did she need to hear it again, absolutely. "Dad is dead, we don't know what he'd do because he never knew this life. He never knew this world." I know what he'd have done, most likely attacked the guy who held the whip and got himself kiled in the process. "The best thing you can do for me, is stop crying and help me, next time don't insist on helping if you can't handle it." She began to wash my open wounds with the warm salt water causing loud winces to leave me, I knew it was necessary to prevent infection, but my god it hurt like a betch. "Some of these are really deep Dylan!" She sniffed again and my eyes rolled in my head. "I told you, I'm fine, just wrap me back up so I can get to bed." My mom was obviously more impacted by my injuries than I was, I suppose that always the case though. When it's happening to you, you've just got to get through it but when it's happening to someone you love, you just want to take their pain away. She quickly placed a fresh bandage around my waist and chest and wrapped it tightly for compression. The bowl of water that was used was now red in color, I guess from the blood my back was dripping with. "Can you keep your head down please? At least just this week. You can't take any more lashings." I simply nodded before standing up away from the stool, I walked over to Freddie and ruffled his hair in affection. "Good night squirt." He giggled and fixed his hair slightly. "Night Dilly." I smiled walking upstairs to my little bedroom, as soon as I was inside i shut the door and flopped down on to my bed on my stomach and I took a minute to cry to myself at the pain in my back, what my mom did was important but it hurt, not that I'd ever tell her. My hand covered my mouth quickly to muffle any noise I might be making. I couldn't tell anyone, I had to be strong because more and more people were crumpling these days, and my mom would break if she knew how much I was suffering. Sleep followed me shortly after, she was right though about me needing to keep my head down for the time being, I could not take another lashing! After a long night and an even longer morning, we were all finally stood in the hallway at school waiting for the twins to arrive. "Mine!" Everyone that was stood in the hallway tensed up, as we were seniors, me and Nick were stood towards the very back of the human line. All the mated people were situated directly opposite their wolf mates in their years. We stayed silent and still as Arya walked down the hall and stopped directly in front of Nick. His eyes widened in fear, unsure of wether to look up or keep his head lowered. "Look me in the eye, mate." He glanced at me slightly as if asking what he should do. "I said, look me in the eye." He slowly moved his eye line up to look at her face. I took a glance myself to see her eyes pitch black with lust. "I... can't... I mean... erm." Before he was able to mutter anything else, two wolves from opposite, grabbed him out of the line and dragged him behind Arya. "Hey!" My head shot up before I could stop myself. My mouth also forgot its place as I jumped out of line. Everyone's head shot to me as my eyes widened in realization at what I'd done. Adrian, the other twin, walked up to me before punching me right in the stomach, I doubled over instantly. Feeling the sting in my slightly healed back. "I know you... You were publicly flogged only two days ago." God I hate this guy. "I also have it on good authority, that you openly spoke out against our rules and regulations in yesterday's class." My head shot down the line slightly to see Erin, looking a little frightened, her mate, the beta to be was looking at her, nodding his head in reassurance. "You traitor, you grassed on your own kind?" I yelled at her before feeling a fist connect with my cheek. My head whipped to the side from the force, while my class members gasped. I'm so done with this treatment, right then, I wasn't in charge of my actions. My fists curled up and my stance became a lot more defensive. My head snapped up to the alpha to be, and I looked him in the eye. "You don't know the meaning of the word disrespect." I suddenly hurled my fist towards his head, which he easily dodged, but my foot came up and kicked him instead. He stumbled backwards from the force with wide eyes. "You... you Actually hit me!" He didn't even sound annoyed, more shocked. Everyone in the hallway was watching, waiting for the alpha to do something but instead he simply stood up straight, regaining his composure. "I think everyone should get back to class." He began to walk away, following his sister when I called him back. "What about Nick?!" "Simple, He's my sisters mate. He now belongs to her." Argh, he's not an object. "He's not her property." A chuckle left his mouth, before turning his back to me again. "All humans are property." A short while later everyone made it to science class, our teacher Mrs Mathews is mated to the lycans pack doctor, she also now has a four and two year old with him. She was one of the first humans to be cohered into a false relationship. "What were you thinking young lady?" I rolled my head at her before looking at the empty seat next to mine. Nick was with that stvpid wolf girl right now. Being changed, I'm so angry it's ridiculous. "I was thinking, this guy is being a prick. Did you hear him? 'All humans are property.' It's bull shet." I looked up and the whole class looked at me like I had three heads. Talking shet about wolves is one thing, but talking about an alpha is punishable by death, attacking an alpha is an even worse offense. There was then a knock at the door and in walked Erin and her band of mated bestards. "Sorry we're late Mrs." "Erin, how are things between you and bata Monroe?" She blushed, the traitor actually blushed at the mention of his name. "He spoke to me last night about trying for a baby. We need a good strong boy to take over as beta." I scoffed looking at her as she took her seat. "You guys are actually pathetic, why can't it be a girl? Those mutts are basically Neanderthals" I voiced my opinion and saw all the shocked faces around me. Calling the lycans mutts, is the same as them calling us scum. After lesson had ended the entire school was called into the hall for assembly. This is where any human who has been found to have broken the rules were punished, usually 10 lashings were goven out or something similar. "Welcome to the school assembly, congratulations to the alpha twins for finding both your mates. Now on to the business at hand, as the 5 year anniversary of the new world is coming up, we have been informed that the alpha king will be visiting our district next week, this is very exciting news. We want you all to look your absolute best, she wolves and mated females will wear exemplary dresses made by seamstress. Male wolves and mated men will wear tailored suits. Anyone who doesn't comply will be reprimanded." The Alpha King?! No one has met him yet, he took over the throne three years ago when he turned 18. He really didn't make any appearances though, great, this month is going to be a nightmare. "As for the humans, you will be given a new uniform to wear for the visit, these are to be neatly ironed and worn to the highest standard. As for the following humans, based on your attitude this past week, you will be coming to the front and facing punishment. Tony summerset?!" Tony's head shot up as he looked around, he was in the year below but he shared my views when it came to the lycans. He slowly walked up to the front of assembly, almost instantly his top was t0rn in two and he received 10 lashings. A girl named Kara was next and she too received 10 lashings. A few more people went up slowly accepting their fate then suddenly my name was called. "Dylan Riley." Inside I was terrified but I simply shrugged my shoulders, I guess I did kind of expect this. Although I'm not sure if my back can take any more damage. "You attacked an alpha, correct!" His eyes bored into mine as I bowed my head submitting to his authority. "Technically, no." Everyone in the school gym looked on in fear, as my head moved to the front row of the wolf side. Adrian sat, with a werewolf girl in the year below, her name was Jana, I guess he found his mate. Nick and Arya were no where to be seen though. Adrian gave me a shrug as if to say he didn't tell, before smirking at my comment. "He hasn't officially taken the alpha title yet, so he's just..." i looked at the principle and noticed his eyes black and his claws out, he was in what lycans call a half shift, triggered when the subject has become angered. He turned to two security wolves and gave them a nod, Almost immediately i was forced onto my knees, my arm was slammed on a table and held in place by one wolf, while my body was held in place by the other. "Ok, I don't think this is needed, I have alpha blood, a stvpid human girl can't hurt me." My head snapped to Adrian who had stood up in front of the school to stop what was happening. "Nevertheless, humans need to know their place." With that the pressure on my arm increased as our principals hand pulled my sleeve up before a long claw punctured my skin. The searing pain shoting from the fresh wound had my eyes scrunched and my fist clenched, I bit the inside of my cheek hard instantly tasting blood, however no sound left my mouth. He continued to write, using my skin as a canvas and his claws as a marker, it went on forever, my vision blurred slightly at one point as I turned my head away. After minutes of torture, he was done and the pressure on my arm eased, instantly I snatched my arm away, hissing through my teeth at the pain. I was about to scurry off stage, when I was roughly grabbed yet again, my arm being held in the air by the principal while my feet were inches off the floor, blood dripped from the wound and the pattern he had made was on show for everyone to see. Loads of people gasped, even the wolves looked slightly horrified at what had happened. "This is what happens when a human decides to speak out. I can promise, anyone who so much as says one word about our way of life, will have the same punishment." My arm was starting to seriously ache from being held in the air for so long, and the lack of blood flow to my suspended arm was causing me pins and needles, still I refused to make a sound. I held the tears back and I bit my cheek harder causing more blood to fill my mouth. "That's enough Bradley!" Adrian growled, he was still stood up and looking at the scene in front of him. His eyes hard as he stared at the principal a low warning growl erupted from his chest which had the head teacher gulping, he quickly let go of my arm causing me to crash to the floor. A small cry left my mouth as I hit the hard floor. Immediately I scrambled away, my foot just missed the high step leading to the stage and I fell, waiting for the impact of the ground, but it never came. Two strong arms wrapped around me catching my weak body causing me to look up, my eyes widened as I noticed Adrian had caught my falling form. "This isn't part of the human punishment program!" Adrian growled causing me to tense in his grip, I pushed him away from me before fixing my uniform top. The room was deadly silent, taking in the scene in front of them, while I stole a glance at my forearm. Carved into my skin by his devastating claws were two words, words that would most definitely scar my body for life. 'Human scum' "Lessons must be learned, she received lashing merely two days ago, and clearly it had no effect on her." Another growl left Adrian's chest as he stepped on to the stage, I wasn't bothered though, you would think I'd be ashamed but I simply smiled slightly. I fixed my sleeve a little so it wouldn't rub on the fresh wound before speaking. "It doesn't matter," the whole room looked at me shocked by my attitude. "I would rather be labeled human scum, than have any resemblance to your kind. I'm proud of what I am, how many of you can say that?" After my amazing little speech, I walked right down the middle between the humans and lycans and out the door. No more compliance, I'm going to get away with as much as I can without getting into too much bother. There will come a day when the lycans power will fizzle out. When it does I'll be ready, I'll be waiting for the day we take our world back. As for the best part about my plan...

No one can stop me.

"Ouch, not so hard." I seethed as the school nurse cleaned my new wound with antiseptic. "If you had of just kept your mouth shut, this wouldn't have happened." I turned to my right looking out the window at the few clouds that were floating in the blue sky. "Like I said, I'm proud to be human, and now everyone knows what I am." I clenched my fist together as the nurse began wrapping a bandage around my forearm. It had been a good few hours since the incident in the hall, and I had been forced to come to the nurces office after I had tried to clean my wound by splashing it with water from the tap, it also refused to stop bleeding. "You are impossible. Can you please just try and stay out of trouble? For one day, that's all I ask." Our school nurse is a wolf, she's one of them. However she hates the way they treat us mere humans, she thinks we should all just live in peace with equal rights. Like that would ever happen. "All I've done is stay out of trouble, but you are just going to humiliate me anyway, so what's the actual point?" "The pack were discussing a public execution, Dylan. You need to walk on egg shells from now on, not just for you but for your family as well." No ones been publicly executed in over 4 months, I'm flattered they're considering it. They only execute people who they believe are the biggest problems to society. "Well then... I'm flattered." I chuckled, before looking at the patch job. 'Huh, not too shabby.' I quickly stood up from the human nursing station and pulled the sleeve of my shirt down covering the evidence of ever being hurt. "This is serious!" I just gave her a blank look before leaving the room. On the way out I heard her call back to me. "Please just think about it." I gave a clipped nod as I walked away wondering how I'm going to tell my mom about this. Later in the evening... "Dilly why you say that?" Freddie looked up at me with a mouth full of bread. "Don't speak with your mouthful!" My mom scolded him as a bashful blush made its way to his cheeks. "Sowwy mommy." His reply was muffled as he swallowed the last chunk of food. "I said it Freddie, because it's the truth. The wolf race are a pathetic excuse for..." my mom cut me off with an extremely stern look. "Dylan! They have ears everywhere, one more word out of you and it's your room." I scowled, my hatred for the Lycan kind growing stronger as each day passes. "What more can they do to me, lash me? Beat me? Brand me? They've ran out of options." I stated slamming my hands down, then severely regretting it as sharp pain shot though my wound. "What was that?" My head shot to regard my mothers worried expression. Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were dull and judging as she looked at me. "Nothing, it was nothing." I quickly took my plate in my hand and began to walk to the kitchen. "I'm not really hungry, and I have homework to do!" My mom caught hold of my forearm causing me to drop my plate suddenly, I watched it slowly fall before shattering on the floor. I retracted my arm quickly and turned to Freddie. "Stay there and don't move until it's cleaned up ok sport?" He just nodded with wide eyes, I turned back to my mom and noticed her curious stare on my arm. Her grip shifted to the other side as she turned it around before pulling my sleeve up. The bandage was showing and a bit of blood was seeping though after the wound had been disturbed. "What the hel happened?" My moms eyes widened as she began to fumble with the bandage. Before she could unravel any of it I snatched my arm away. "I had an accident at school. No big." I began to gather the large pieces of the broken plate up ready to put them in the bin. "What did you do Dylan?" She looked at me with pure worry and only then did I realize what the wound must look like to someone who didn't know. "For gods sake! I didn't do it to myself! I got publicly punished at the assembly alright? It's no big deal." Her face dropped instantly and she stepped towards me, causing me to step backwards. "Mom, I'm ok. So back off will you." "What did you do? I've never known them to cut someone's arm as a punishment." Her shock and accusation was evident in her voice and I sighed heavily. "I spoke against the alphas son." I may have hit him too, but I wasn't going to divulge that part to her. "It's not one big cut, mom, it's a brand, 'human scum' carved onto my arm." "They've branded you now too?!" My eyes rolled at her hurt tone as I went to get the dustpan and brush. "You're so much like your father." A sigh left her mouth as she spoke, running a hand through her hair, while I quickly swept up the little pieces of the broken plate. "You've had a new uniform delivered. It's laid out on your bed. Dylan, Please just try and stay respectful in the future, I don't want my daughter to be completely mutilated. Although you're not far off." "Gee, Thanks." I then walked over to my little brother Freddy before blowing a kiss into his neck and hearing him giggle. "So sport, how's school going?" "It's ok." He shrugged before going back to coloring a dinosaur picture in. "Well that's good, stay out of trouble, ok little man?" Heading upstairs and into my room, my thoughts wandered to the permanent graffiti scar very slowly healing on my arm. Disgusting beasts. Think they own the world because they're faster, stronger and can shift. Pah. If you ask me they are not all that.

The second I walked into my room my mouth dropped open. On my bed was some grey pants laid out neatly, which wasn't the surprising part, no, what shocked me was the grey high neck no sleeved button down shirt, every single set of uniform had sleeves except this one. They've done this on purpose those, mutts. They want the world to see my arm and know what a disgusting creature I am. They want the world to know that I, Dylan Riley, am nothing more than 'human scum'.

During the last week, I've been horrible, in class I've been loud in voicing my views, I've insulted at least everyone to some degree, I didn't care about the consequences, and I certainly didn't think about them. I haven't seen Nick at all since he was claimed, and to make matters worse today was the royal visit. Oh yes, werewolves and mated humans alike were spending every waking minute preparing themselves to meet his royal majesty, king of the wolves. Unclaimed Humans however would rather stick pins in their eyes. "Dylan, get down now... you're going to be late." She was right, I was dawdling this morning, I really couldn't be bothered today, I gave myself one last look in the small mirror and sighed when my eyes met my newly uncovered brand. It had bad bruising around the letters, and was still extremely tender to touch, it was definitely healing now though. I made my way down the stairs and came face to face with my mother who was seeing to Freddie, she was helping my brother get his coat on when she turned to me. "You ready sport?" Freddie nodded his little head at me and smiled while I quickly slid my shoes on. "Just Remember, the alpha is bad enough, Dylan, please, please don't do anything to anger the king." My mother stopped us from walking out the door to tell me something she had been telling me continuously for the last couple of days, it was almost as if the entire human population of our district was expecting me to do something stvpid. "Try and have a good day." I rolled my eyes but nodded, even I know not to push the king, he could kil me in the hallway like it was nothing. In fact I plan on staying out of his way for the entirety of the day. "We will see you tonight mom." I stated before me and my brother began our walk to school, his little hand clutched my own tightly as we went. Usually Nick would be with us, as he lives next door, well he used to, now he's residing in the main pack house. I quickly dropped Freddie off at his school and watched him get the wolfsbane neutralizer before walking into him building giving me a small wave before he went in. With my new scar on complete show, and my figure being complimented by the skin tight shirt I was wearing, I sauntered down the street to school, I gave my name and year in and took the wolf's bane neutralizer injection with no problems at all. It was finally getting into school that the problem occurred. Walking through the halls I was met by many looks, some of pity some of disgust. You see every single non mated human in the school was wearing a long sleeved version of the uniform I was given. All the Wolves and mated couples were scattered around in fancy floor length dresses or tailored suits. As I turned the corner I noticed a couple, now this couple happened to catch my eye the most out of all of them because it consisted of Arya and Nick, eating each other's faces off. "What the hel!" Nicks head shot to me as his eyes widened. He too was dressed in a tailored suit, a navy blue tie hung on his neck to match Aryas dress. Why was this happening all the time? It's always my friends that get completely brain washed. I shook my head in disbelief before turning my back on him. I heard his fast footsteps behind me as I rounded the corner. "Dylan?!" He ran right in front of me, stopping me in my tracks, making me drop my bag off my shoulder and almost causing me to bump into him. "Let me just explain..." "Has she marked you?" I mean you could almost see it in his eyes, she had marked him, and knowing the way life goes he's probably even mated with her. "Actually... Don't even answer that." I aggressively picked my bag up off of the floor and stormed off down the hall. "Dylan, just listen to me, Erin was right, it's so hard to resist your soulmate, and Arya is actually ok once you get to know her." I just kept walking, he caught up to me walking beside me but it didn't matter, I completely ignored everything and everyone. 'I'm so not in the mood today' getting into class was good though, I said hello to Mr Foley and took my usual seat. Nick sighed then took his bag off ready to sit next to me, but I snapped before he had the chance. "Traitors and mated idiots sit on that side of the room." I didn't look him in the eye as I pointed to a seat right at the front of the classroom on the opposite side. His eyes widened as he turned his attention back to me. "You can't be serious Dylan." I gave him a blank look before grabbing my book out of my backpack, I placed it on the desk then began to write the date on the top line. "I've sat in this seat for as long as I can remember." I ignored him, his voice sounded sad and shocked. "Dylan? Wait! What is that?!" Before I could react Nick had grabbed hold of my branded arm and turned it to see the letters. "Oh my God! What happened?" I snatched my arm away from him and shrugged as I continued to write in my book before grabbing my water bottle out of my bag. "The principal happened, it was my punishment for speaking out against Adrian and Arya. I wear it with pride." He just held a complete look of disbelief. "You spoke out against them?" I shrugged, what did he think I'd do. "It's no secret that I despise this stvpid new world and the mutts that control it. You were my friend, I wasn't going to let them just take you without saying something, although that is exactly what you seem to have done. Enjoy the view from your new seat!" "Don't be like that, Dylan, I'm your best friend, I'm sorry about your arm, but..." my eyes rolled inside my head at my friends words. "Anything with the word 'but' in, isn't an apology, it's a rationalization." I took a drink of water from my bottle and kept my eyes facing forward, ignoring his every attempt to try and talk to me. "Dylan?.. Dylan?... Do you know what? Erin is right, if you push us all away you won't have any friends left." He huffed before walking over to the empty seat and sitting down, I could feel him glancing up at me every now and again but I didn't respond. "Good morning class, please settle down." He looked at me then at Nick and frowned, we've never sat apart, we were friends before the new world even began. I just shook my head telling him to forget it. "So... as you know the king will be arriving in a short while, but until then lessons will go on as normal." Its funny seeing teachers in the same uniform your wearing, mr Foley and his wife are the coolest. Human teachers and doctors only have slightly more respect than we do. Because of Mr Foley's status him and his wife have better access to food and drink, Mrs Foley is cool, sometimes she even makes sure mr Foley brings some in for me. Ya know, coz I'm their favorite student. It's not in a weird way, it's just they were friends of the family before the new wold took effect. Mr Foley and my dad were buddies from high school, so it goes without sayin really. "All the mated humans will be at the front of each years line again, after that you will all be placed in status, Nick, as your mated to Alpha Arya, you'll be at the front of your line. Dylan as you have been branded..." his voice trailed off as he looked at me. "Yeah yeah, I'll be at the back of the line behind everyone. I get it." I huffed, moving my sight towards the window once more. "I am sorry." I turned to face Mr Foley again, he looked genuinely upset and that look of pity wasn't something I wanted to see. I gave him a clipped nod then turned away again. "Anyway, on to the subject matter, 'Of Mice and Men, page 64, Nick why don't you start us off with the reading."

"Of course sir." Nick began reading the book but I switched off, today is going to be a long day. After almost an hour and a half of reading comprehension, the bell chimed signaling lunch. I shot up and out of the classroom before anyone could say anything. Today, I was avoiding drama like the plague.

I wandered the corridors straight to the lunch hall. All the people I would normally hang out with we're all mated so I grabbed my lunch quickly, and sat down at the end of the human table. Let me lay the lunch hall out for you. On one side of the room you have two long rows of tables, with simple benches that make it look like prison, on the other side of the room you have multiple round tables with fancy chairs. Yup you get it. The humans sit at the prison tables and the wolves and traitors sit on the fancy tables, they get fancy food, fancy drink and most importantly they get pudding. what I would give to have some pudding. "Dylan can we just talk?" Nick quickly took the spot next to me as he set his lunch tray down. I looked at his food which had been placed on a ceramic, circular white plate. God that looked good. I sighed knowing he was going to talk anyway. "Fine, you have two minutes." I used my fork to take a bit of pasta off his plate and shoved it into my mouth. God that was good. "After I left school, I was taken to the pack house with Arya, and I really got to know her. It took a few days for me to finally accept being with her, but ever since life has been ok, and the sax... well that's a whole other story." Eww, I didn't need that mental image in my head. "I'm glad your happy." I stated before deciding I had no appetite. His face held shock before he sighed in relief. "That means a lot Dylan, I mean you know that your opinion matters to me." I cut him off before he could say anything else. "I said I was glad your happy. I didn't say I approved of what you've done. You've basically turned into one of THEM, I can't ever forgive you for that." He looked hurt, but I couldn't care less about his feelings. He placed his hand gently on my arm and went to open his mouth when a growl sounded out. All heads whipped to where it came from, Arya was stood holding a glass of soda and a plate, she was looking right at me and Nick and I would totally be dead if looks could kil. Nick quickly retracted his hand, his whole face fell and you could see sorrow flood his irises. "You sit with me now, get away from that, that... scum!" Wow, Nick was such a lucky guy. NOT. "You heard her. Get away from me, go sit with your new friends. I'm happy for you, and I understand where your coming from, but don't come up to me again and pretend you didn't betray your own kind. Don't pretend you didn't betray me." I shoved a little bit of food into my mouth before standing up and walking out of the cafeteria, leaving my tray on the table. I was walking through the hallway to the classroom, you see I decided to spend lunch with Mr Foley in his room, when I happened to hear voices in the corridor. "Is it wise for her to actually be present when the king arrives? Surely she could be placed in the dungeons, it might actually teach her some respect?" My principal was speaking to the alpha of our district, huh, if I stayed and listened do you think they'd notice, maybe they could smell me?! "Everyone is to be present, if the Riley girl does one thing out of line she will be dealt with severely, child or not. That girl has been a blight to the district since day one, she's dangerous, if she puts one hair out of place I will personally break her into submission." Oh shet, they were talking about me specifically, and they mentioned the dungeon, that's not been used in months. Normally I would have listened in more but something about the entire situation didn't sit right with me, all of a sudden, I was on edge, and simply wasn't interested in the slightest in hearing how my misery was to be enhanced. I backed up slightly before turning around and bumping head first into one of the hottest man I had ever seen. I lost my balance immediately and fell straight on to the floor letting out a small grumble in the process. His eyebrows knitted together quickly and his breath hitched in his throat as he looked upon my fallen state and gasped. "Mate!" He whispered, his eyes fixated on mine. Now, I had seen and heard that many times to know what that means, I gasped before taking a step back. 'No, no, no, no, no. This can not be happening.' He growled slightly before stepping towards me. Oh Shet!

Over a year ago, I was going through a particularly stressful time and went to my neurologist concerned that I was possibly having Medication Adaption Headaches (MAH aka Medication Overuse Headaches aka Rebound Headaches) or would develop them.
I was having a migraine or headache almost daily. I had been cycling through pain meds to avoid using too much of the same thing and too many triptans mistakenly thinking that this would keep me safe.
My neurologist didn't take any time to discuss why I thought I might be having MAH or what should be done if I was already having them. He did give me the prescription for Aimovig that I asked for, but also a recommendation and prescription for Panadol migraine (same as Excedrin migraine) which I had never taken before. The prescription wasn’t needed to get the Panadol migraine, but it was needed to have it reimbursed by my insurance. I thought because it is OTC in the US (which is where I'm from) that it would be better (again mistakenly) than taking so many triptans.
The aimovig was like putting a bandaid on a gash that needed stitches. I made it another year before I had an absolutely horrible flare-up about 60 days ago that led me to do my own research because my neurologist had failed me horribly and I decided it was most definitely MAH and I needed to detox.
The Detox
I quit taking all pain OTC pain meds and triptans for 60 days (as is recommended in most treatment guides). It took me roughly 9 days to have a noticeable drop in my migraines back to episodic. My migraines have lessened in severity and length over the last 60 days. Though the first week or so was the most challenging to get through, I also had hormonal migraines that were tough. The few other non-hormonal migraines I had later in the 60 days, I was able to clearly identify triggers for. This hadn’t been the case for me in the past. I've also now been able to abort a hormonal migraine with other methods listed here.
Other Options for Pain Relief
(for any meds or supplements always consult your doctor)
Ginger is a great natural painkiller. There is some BS study that says it is as effective as sumatriptan, it most definitely isn't and I'm not going to try to sell it as that, but I would say it is probably as effective as an NSAID. Unfortunately, I’m unable to get GCRP inhibitors where I am so I didn’t have other migraine abortive options, just this.
Benadryl (note: this is the brand name in US & CA, it’s different in Europe) helps me with migraine pain during an attack (sometimes even helps avoid an attack).
A TENS unit was very helpful with migraine pain, but also with cramps during my 60 day detox and I’ll definitely continue using it going forward.
Migraine Cap was especially helpful after the migraine to help with the residual soreness.
Migraine Relief Nasal Inhaler, hot showers, decongestant meds, and decongestant nasal spray* help me because nasal congestion is a major symptom for me. When the congestion is worse, the pain is worse. If I can relieve some congestion, I can also relieve some pain. So I use these as needed depending on the severity of the congestion.
*It is important to note that decongestant nasal sprays can cause rebound congestion if used frequently, follow dosage and warnings on the label.
Myofascial Release & dry needling - this isn’t so much for migraine pain, but it helps me manage back and neck pain that contributes to my migraines and helps me with pain management overall.
The Pain Relief Options That I Wish I Could Have Used or Tried
Balms and patches that you put on your forehead- personally my skin is too sensitive for it, I have tried in the past and it just makes my skin burn (but so does most sunscreen when applied to my face). I’m mentioning these because I think they are a great option for some people and as I was looking through this sub for more ideas of what I could use, they are something that I saw repeatedly that I wish my skin would allow me to use.
Celafy, Nerivio, and Relivion all looked like interesting devices, but sadly aren’t available where I am.
Heated eye massager also looked very appealing and should have been available, but the wrong item was delivered when I tried ordering it and I didn’t feel like trying my luck again. I will definitely get one when I go to the US.
GCRP-inhibitors - these aren’t available where I am so I didn’t have the option to use these as abortives while detoxing from pain meds. I definitely would like the option to be able to use these as abortives for migraines. One study did note they could cause MAH (this is listed below and linked) but there's no good research regarding this as they are so new. I just feel obligated to mention this.
About MAH
Please educate yourself. I have included links to sources. Consult your doctor if you think you might have MAH and advocate for treatment.
1 You have to add up your pain med use!!!
2 OTC Pain Meds+ Triptans + Rx Pain Meds* = 10 Days Maximum Per Month
*Opioids and butalbital may lead to MAH in about 5 days
3 Approximately 50% of patients with chronic migraine have MAH that may revert to episodic headache after drug withdrawal.
Chronic migraine is classified as 15 or more headache days w/ 8 migraine days a month.
Episodic Migraine is classified as 14 or fewer headache and migraine days a month.
4 The name for MAH changed a few times and the one I chose to use is focused on the mechanism that causes the condition rather than the name that sounds like it is blaming the patient (Medication Overuse Headaches). Here’s an article regarding the name dispute.
5 One article even listed GCRP inhibitors as possibly contributing to MAH. But as these medications are new, the research isn't there yet to say if they really do contribute. I just had found it surprising to see and felt obligated to note it.
6 Risk Factors

• Having a primary headache disorder such as migraines.
• Having other chronic pain or gastrointestinal issues.
• Being less physical activity (defined as less than 3 hours of hard physical activity per week)
• Smoking
• Mood disorders
• OCD
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Substance-related disorders
• Cutaneous allodynia 7 (Cutaneous allodynia (CA) is defined as pain resulting from application of a non-noxious stimulus to normal skin)

8 Withdrawal treatment does not only reduce the headache attacks, but also improves responsiveness to acute or prophylactic drugs. Withdrawal symptoms normally last between 2 to 10 days, and do not persist longer than 4 weeks.
Going Forward
I have a number of MAH risk factors including migraines, other chronic pain, anxiety, family history of substance-related disorders, being less physical activity (especially during the time that the stressful situation was happening), and cutaneous allodynia. Had I known about all of these risk factors and that alternating meds would not protect me from MAH, I would have done things very differently. I’ll have to be very careful to not develop MAH again, and actually am thinking of extending my detox because of my risk factors and some concerning statistics regarding allodynia in particular. For now I'm going to try to continue managing my pain with other methods while I can comfortably. Actually just last night I had a hormonal migraine that I managed to abort with a combination of things I listed here that just 2 months ago it would have been at least a level 4 with triptans.
When I do start using pain meds again, I’ll definitely be tracking meds more carefully and adhering to a strict 10 day max per month for OTCs plus triptans. I’ve made an annual tracker that you can print with the maximum days noted for reference.
To the Mods - I’ve noticed many posts with discussion related to MAH being removed. I’ve instructed others to consult their doctor thereby trying to adhere to the sub rules, please let me know if there is something else that might need to be adjusted in order to adhere to the rules.

I (F 44) have been in a LDR with Sam (M 45) for about two years. Sam has a few kids. I have none.
Issues: Sam does not communicate well. He bottles things up, doesn’t was to discuss any big ticket items. Makes jokes about everything. He interrupts me as I’m speaking with him. Not as part of natural conversation flow- just interrupts.
Sam is not affectionate - unless he’s looking to get some action. I have to typically be the one to sit down next to him, hold his hand, kiss him, tell him ‘I love you’ first. Only then he will offer those things up, but without enthusiasm. It’s just kinda flat. When we first started dating, I had to explain to him that opening car doors is a thing gentlemen do. He does it now, but not without an eye roll.
When I stay at his house, I do a fair amount of the cleaning. I clean up after him and his family.
I have told him in the past that I often feel unappreciated by him. He rarely thanks me for anything. Yes.. for anything.
My therapist says he’s taking advantage of me. I am really starting to think he is right.
Question: What would your advice be to back off and make him realize that I’m not in this to be at his every whim, want and need? It’s easy to say “just stop doing those things”
TLDR: debating taking a step back from my LDR because I feel like I’m being taken advantage of and he doesn’t reciprocate the things I do for him.

I (F 44) have been in a LDR with Sam (M 45) for about two years. Sam has a few kids. I have none.
Issues: Sam does not communicate well. He bottles things up, doesn’t was to discuss any big ticket items. Makes jokes about everything. He interrupts me as I’m speaking with him. Not as part of natural conversation flow- just interrupts.
Sam is not affectionate - unless he’s looking to get some action. I have to typically be the one to sit down next to him, hold his hand, kiss him, tell him ‘I love you’ first. Only then he will offer those things up, but without enthusiasm. It’s just kinda flat. When we first started dating, I had to explain to him that opening car doors is a thing gentlemen do. He does it now, but not without an eye roll.
When I stay at his house, I do a fair amount of the cleaning. I clean up after him and his family.
I have told him in the past that I often feel unappreciated by him. He rarely thanks me for anything. Yes.. for anything.
My therapist says he’s taking advantage of me. I am really starting to think he is right.
Question: What would your advice be to back off and make him realize that I’m not in this to be at his every whim, want and need? It’s easy to say “just stop doing those things”
TLDR: debating taking a step back from my LDR because I feel like I’m being taken advantage of and he doesn’t reciprocate the things I do for him.