Lamictal induced acne

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Picking the Right Coconut Oil-Mixed Mineral Sunscreen
While choosing a mineral sunscreen with coconut oil, think about the accompanying tips:
SPF Rating: Guarantee the sunscreen offers wide range insurance with a proper SPF level for your necessities. SPF 30 is by and large suggested for ordinary use, while higher SPF might be important for delayed sun openness.
Skin Type Similarity: Check assuming the sunscreen is appropriate for your skin type. Look for formulations that won't clog pores and are non-comedogenic if your skin is oily or prone to acne.
Fixing Rundown: Avoid sunscreens containing potentially harmful chemicals or synthetic fragrances and go with sunscreens made of natural and organic ingredients.
Water Obstruction: Make sure your sunscreen is water-resistant if you plan to swim or sweat.
https://numama.in/

I’m 18, have struggled with acne before when I was 13-15 years old, mostly bc of hormonal changes. My skin cleared up COMPLETELY when I was 16, and hit when I turned 17, I got diagnosed with PCOS, following my rise in cystic acne breakouts, hirsutism etc.. I’ve tried everything. Spearmint tea, flaxseeds, rice water, I already have a very healthy, fried food free, relataively sugar free diet, i exercise frequently. I’ve gone to the derm, I’ve been prescribed with BC pills, nothing is working, I just keep breaking out with cystic pimples, my pores are so clogged too. I’ve tried benzoyl peroxide, I’m allergic to it, salicylic acid doesn’t do much, Azelaic acid seems to be too strong for me? I think a big reason could be stress, that period when my skin was clear, I was pretty stress free. I’m in my final year of HS, so I can’t dial down the stress. Literally don’t know what to do. Anyone want to recommend me some good skincare😭
Current routine AM/PM glycolic and salicylic acid cleanser (dermatologist ) Mederma scar gel Dr G clear soothing moisturiser Beauty of Joseon sunscreen (AM obv) Tea tree oil/ la rochey posay effaclair soot treatment

For context, I’m 18, got diagnosed with PCOS 3 months ago and have always been quite skinny/healthy. In 2022 everything was completely fine, and in 2023, I started getting horrible cystic acne, I was bloated and I had terrible hirsutism. This year I finally went to get diagnosed, only to be given birth control pills. It’s been 4 months despite the pill, my cystic acne has only gotten worse, I’ve gained weight ( I’ve never gained so much before, given I’ve always been underweight 😭😭), I’m fatigued, I’m bloated all the time… I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.. I’ve always been very healthy, im vegetarian, I barely eat sugafried food, I exercise regularly, yet my skin is just horrible, my weight has been gg up. I understand that these are all symptoms of the hormonal imbalance, but despite the pills, I see 0 effect.
I’ve seen people recommend Flaxseeds/pumpkin seeds etc, sun exposure, walking, but these have genuinely always been a part of my routine. Also maybe 6 months is too short of a period to see effects from spearmint tea, but I’ve seen no difference from it. Anyone have any advice? perhaps skincare advice on their pcos induced cystic acne?
Current routine (AM/PM) Glycolic and salicylic acid cleanser (dermatologist ) Mederma scar gel Dr G clear soothing moisturiser Beauty of Joseon sunscreen Tea tree oil/effaclair duo spot treatment

I (25F) was diagnosed 2 years ago, I actually went to get formally tested for ADHD and the results pretty much said "yeah, you definitely have ADHD but also you're bipolar." Pretty unexpected and jarring to hear! It made a lot of sense to me though as my mother (diagnosed bipolar 2) and grandmother (undiagnosed but its really obvious) both have it. I was in denial for a while but my mom helped me with accepting it and pointed out a lot of my actions and mannerisms that reminded her of her own bipolar experience.
I'm currently really struggling with medication. I'm not looking for anyone to tell me what to take/taking any of this as substitute for a psychiatrist, I have one who is great and she is aware of this!! Just looking for support or anyone who's gone through something similar, because its starting to feel really hopeless and I feel annoying and picky for having to try so many different meds.
I've tried a lot of different meds so far. My main concern and want for meds is to manage how easily irritated I get. I've gotten really good with managing the depression and anxiety, but its the mania that's my issue. I'm super impulsive, kind of all over the place sometimes, and I can go from being super nice to just a huge asshole really quick, and then I feel horrible and guilty after.
I started out on Lexapro for bad anxiety years ago, even before the bipolar diagnosis. I've been told more recently that SSRIs are apparently a no-go for bipolar since it can cause mania. I've only ever been as high as 10mg, they literally wouldn't let me go higher out of fear of inducing mania. It's worked well for managing my emotional disregulation, but makes me so numb. I've also had chronic dissociation since around high school, so anything that makes me numb definitely doesn't help. I've stayed on the Lexapro for years as a crutch, just going back to it every time my new meds don't work. I've recently added Strattera again this year for the ADHD as well.
I've tried Quetiapine, Risperidone, Ziprasidone, Effexor, Lamictal, and Vraylar. All of which made me debilitatingly tired and gave me suicidal thoughts that I had never had before. The only one that worked and was amazing was Lamictal, but I'm one of the lucky few that got the rash and was sent to the hospital twice for it. Just my luck!
I would love some opinions or just to hear anyone else's similar experiences to not feel so alone in this.

This is an update to let you know that a new article has been uploaded to: https://secondlifeguide.com/2024/06/08/accutane-autoimmunity-the-link-to-sjogrens-syndrome/
It's available on early access to paid subscribers before being posted in full on the subreddit. In the article I explore the connection between Accutane treatment and the autoimmune condition Sjogrens Syndrome. Sjogrens syndrome is an autoimmune condition that has a striking overlap to the many side effects of Accutane treatment. The condition is characterised by the destruction of the exocrine glands, such as the sebaceous glands, tear ducts and saliva.
One of the primary characteristics of this condition is excessively dry skin, which is why parallels are often drawn with the effects of Accutane treatment. Other symptoms include dry eyes, fatigue, and muscle and joint pain – which are notably also complaints of Accutane treatment. The ‘dryness’ of Sjogrens syndrome also extends to other mucosal tissues such as airways, digestive tracts, and reproductive organs.
The link to Vitamin A was even recognised as far back as 1933 by the Danish ophthalmologist Sjogren after whom the condition is named. He made his name by differentiating the dry eyes induced by Vitamin A deficiency (known as xerophalmia) from the Keratoconjunctivitis (dry inflamed cornea) manifested in Sjogrens syndrome.
How does Accutane treatment relate to an Autoimmune conditions such as Sjogrens Syndrome? As it turns out Accutane is in fact a possible trigger for autoimmune conditions, as well as exerting profound epigenetic and hormonal changes.
In recent years a number of case studies have presented evidence for Accutane treatment being linked to the appearance of Autoimmune conditions. In particular conditions such as Graves disease (affecting the Thyroid) or diabetes, in those who are genetically predisposed. A 16-year-old female patient was found to have developed symptoms of Grave’s disease, which are tremors, lack of focus, bulging eyes and heat intolerance, after completing a course of Accutane for acne.
Blood tests revealed elevated Thyroid hormones (T4 and T3) consistent with autoimmune hyperthyroidism. This change isn’t consistent with the typically repressive effective of Isotretinoin on Thyroid and Pituitary function, and so highlights the significance of an autoimmune mechanism. Another case study presented the evidence of autoimmune thyroiditis in a 19-year-old male with no family history of autoimmune conditions.
Autoimmune conditions can also manifest in the months following Accutane cessation, where only minor disturbances in blood parameters were identified during treatment. A 28-year-old was required to undergo intensive insulin therapy, with a diagnosis of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) triggered by drug-induced insulin resistance. At the end of Accutane treatment the patients HbA1C was measured at 6.2%, this jumped to 9.1% in the subsequent months. This isn’t an isolated incident either, with a 55-year-old female receiving a diagnosis of latent autoimmune diabetes following a treatment with the acne drug.
This is the last 'stand alone' article before I post the full recovery guide, which will draw together all the evidence into a singular recovery protocol.

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to know what the benefits of taking BC is as opposed to not taking it? My main PCOS symptom is absent periods, it's been almost 2 years since I got a natural period. Occasionally, I take BC to induce a period. Other symptoms I have is acne, hirsutism, weight gain and I think I'm starting to get frontal balding. Do you think its worth taking BC regularly?

Hi everyone!
I’ve been on HBC for about a decade and stopped in December. I got an iud place in January and that went horribly wrong (perforated my uterus 😅) so now I’m back to no birth control. I don’t necessarily want to start a hormonal version again because on the pill I was SO depressed, so my question is for those of you who stopped HBC how long until your hormones went back to normal? I’ve heard six months to a year but looking for personal experiences.
I’ve been having crazy mood swings and anxiety, my acne is the worst it’s been since I was a teen, and I’m having PMS again. I’ve since been medicated for mental health (on Lamictal) but I’m wondering how much of it is due to hormone imbalances? I’m lucky enough that my period has pretty much gone back to normal. I have no other underlying conditions so am hoping things settle down over time. I’ve done a lot of research into post birth control syndrome so am doing what I can to support my body but damn is it hard! 😫

I used to have mild-ish acne. Only on my face, never my body. Cheeks, temples, between eyebrows, chin. 2-3 cysts a month. It was never numerous or widespread. The problem was they'd always be deep and take forever to surface, if at all.
Did 2 rounds of Accutane. After 1st round I had 3-5 cysts a year. After 2nd round -- never came back. Got older, hormones change blah blah. Was coming back only on chin. Took Spironolactone for a year. Skin has been clear ever since.
Cut to taking Lamictal for 2 days (25mg). The very next morning I got 2 cysts, 1 on the center of each cheek, almost mirror images of each other. 2nd day, 1 on side of nose, 2 on forehead, 1 above lip. All deep cysts.
I quit taking Lamictal the next day. My skin went from barely producing oil to my whole body feeling like the exhaust vent above a stove. Even though I only took it for 2 days, it kept going. I got acne in places I NEVER had acne before. Back of neck, behind ears, between shoulder blades, even my behind! It's been 28 days and I'm still getting spots. This is actually way worse than before I took Accutane the first time. What is going on and how do I stop this freight train???

I know Reddx is trying to move away from neckbeard stories, so I decided to finally submit my short NeckBeard encounter in the hopes that our humble lord Reddx would grace my scribbling with his melodious voice.
A quick warning that this contains attempted schmexual assault.
This story takes place ten years ago, two months after I turned nineteen. I had spent the previous year interning with a well-known horse trainer. (To this day, it's the coolest thing I have ever done.) I left home for the year-long internship a healthy 112lb at 5’1” and returned 105lb. I also had brown hair down to my waist, and my eyes appeared large in my too-thin face, and I was mistaken for 13 or 14 on a regular basis. I think I could have been considered beard-bait
Now, back living with my parents, I needed employment. My options were limited in our small town. I didn’t fancy trying to work at one of the crumbling fast food joints, so I applied for our local cleaning company. Being a maid sounded perfect! It combined my love of cleaning and my intense curiosity in the lives of strangers. I loved the idea of peeking into people`s homes and getting a glimpse of what took place behind twitching curtains.
After convincing the owner that I was indeed an adult and not a small child with a fake ID, I was hired. The owner placed me with two senior maids who we will call, Laverne and Shirley. Lavern and Shirley were former chain-smoking meth Muppets that now resembled shriveled craisins in their mid-forties. They had given up smoking for vaping; specifically, banana nut bread vape.
Laverne and Shirley had one other notable idiosyncrasy. Laverne would say something apropos of nothing, like “yesterday was too sunny for me” and finish the thought with a sing song “♪Ya know♪.” And then Shirley would repeat “♪Ya know♪.” This would continue the whole drive, between puffs of banana nut bread vape. To this day, I can’t hear someone say ‘ya know’ without muttering a ‘♪Ya know♪’ under my breath.
One fateful Tuesday, I pulled into work, hopped out of my 1993 Skylark, and into our cleaning van just like I had done for the past three weeks.
Shirley: Hey there TwatWaffle, we’re goin’ to a new house today. It’ll be our first time there. We might be there longer than usual.
Laverne: Hopefully you packed a good lunch. We can't stop today, ya know
Shirley: ♪ YA know ♪
OP: Oh, cool! I love cleaning new houses. Yeah, I packed lunch.
We were off on a new adventure. The light babbling of Laverne and Shirley’s inane chattering belied the utter horror that waited for me. Laverne turned into a housing development of McMansions, huge houses with two square feet of lawn, all built about five feet apart. We unloaded our equipment, swung open the door, and revealed… a beautiful, almost immaculate home. Sweet, this should be an easy, quick job. We all took a brief tour of the house to snoo- I mean, familiarize ourselves with the layout.
Shirley: The order says downstairs kitchen, bathroom, and living room. Upstairs bathroom and basement bathroom.
OP: Do you know how to get to the basement?
Laverne: No, this is our first time here too ya know
Shirley: ♪Ya know♪
So, we continued to familiarize ourselves by opening every door in the house to find the basement. After opening doors to pantries, bedrooms, closets, and an office, Laverne finally found the door that led to the basement.
Leverne: TwattWaffle! Shirley! Over here!
The door Laverne found opened to cement stairs that disappeared into a dark abyss. Shirley pushed past us and flicked on the light. The stairwell, now illuminated, led to a brightly lit exercise room. We all made our way down and surveyed the numerous and expensive pieces of workout equipment as we wandered deeper into the basement.
The basement was narrow but seemed to run the full length of the house. An opening to another hallway was at the opposite end of the exercise room. The hall was lit by a dull bulb, which cast a yellow light on the awful carpet it oversaw. The center of the carpet was a deep brown, and the edges a sad dusty pink. The carpet’s pile had long since had its will crushed and now laid flat. Stains of all shapes and viscosity made parts of the brown depressed carpet even darker and crustier. To the left were two closed doors; the first door had light leaking out around its poorly fitted frame, and the second was completely dark.
The gym room smelled musty and a little sweaty but nowhere near bile-inducing. However, the smell emanating from the hall threatened to steal my breakfast. Laverne and Shirley stood at the entrance to the hall, not daring to step on the carpet.
Shirley: TwatWaffle go open the first door.
OP: Sure
On tiptoe, I went to the first door, grabbed the greasy knob, turned it, and pushed. A wave of ammonia slapped me like a-pimp-named-slick-back and face fucked my nose raw dawg. I stepped back into the hall, trying to get a fresh-ish breath. But it was too late; opening the door let the full force of rank smell gush into the hall. So, instead, I pulled my shirt over my nose, which acted like a condom against the assault on my olfactory senses.
Leverne and Shirley had been watching, but when I reeled back, they both came forward to chastise me for being dramatic.
Shirley: Come on, it can’t be that… Oh hell
Leverne: Stop being a pus… Fuck me sideways.
The smell had finally wafted to them as they came forward, and they, too, pulled their shirts over their faces.
The three of us stood in the doorway, surveying the horror. A sink to the left is covered in black, something… Mold? Dust? Curiosity made me take a step forward; peering at the sink, I saw hair. Short black hairs, curly black hairs, and long strands of black hair covered the sink in a fine layer. I looked at the ground and saw that it, too, was covered in an assortment of hairs. I willed myself to look up at the mirror which hung over the sink. The mirror was so thickly speckled with white and pinkish spots that I could hardly see my face. My stomach lurched and rolled; I knew too well what those milky spots were from.
Then, I went to the porcelain throne that was once a functional toilet but had become a biohazardous receptacle some time ago. Brown sludge filled the entire bowl. Thick yellow-brown stains colored the outer rim and ran down the base, pooling at the bottom. This sight and the overpowering stench finally got me, and I wretched.
Laverne: OK! I’ll knock out the upstairs pot, Laverne, you start on the kitchen, and I’ll help you when I’m finished. TwatWaffle, get started here.
Spinless people pleasing me croaked
OP: Yeah, okay.
Laverne and Shirley quickly walked away and booked it back upstairs. I went to my cleaning caddy, opened the bottle of bleach, and inhaled deeply. The bleach burnt in my nose, but it also gave me a little relief from the putrid smells gang banging my nose. Next, I pulled on my thick rubber gloves, summoned all the willpower I possessed, and headed back to the toilet. I pushed the handle, hoping to flush the fecal McSlurry, but nothing happened. I took the top off the tank and found that the pull chain had come undone. The chain reattached, I pushed again. Water rushed into the bowl, and the liquid butt fudge began to rise. Sheer panic ripped through my heart as I contemplated having to mop old stagnant shit off the floor. The slurry came level with the rim of the bowl when suddenly I heard a glop glop. Air from the pipes escaped, and slowly, the sewage oozed down the toilet drain and away from the rim of the bowl.
One crisis averted, I decided to start on the sink while the toilet’s tank refilled. It was going to take two or three more flushes to get it all down. I began scrubbing and wiping, letting myself get lost in my own head as I performed the familiar task. After about five minutes of ferocious cleaning, a sound cut into my consciousness—a heavy sort of breathing. I looked up and caught in the mirror a form filling the doorway. I jumped and spun around to face The Thing.
I hastily babbled
OP: Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry. You scared me. Hi, I’m TwatWaffle, I’m here with Local Cleaning Company. Did you need to use this bathroom? I’ll be done shortly if you can wait.
The Thing stood silently, his mass filling the doorway. A light grey shirt with dark stains under each arm struggled and failed to contain the bulk of his abdomen. I could almost hear the cries of agony from the threads of fabric that made up his tortured navy sweatpants, which were being stretched to their limit. The flesh was so abundant on his face that it rendered it almost featureless. Angry red pimples dappled the entire landscape of his skin.
OP: I can step out now, if you can’t wait.
The Thing just stood there, staring. By this time, I had huffed enough bleach that the bathroom smells were bearable. But The Thing’s body odor had Billy Cosby-ed my defenses and was having its way with my piriform cortex. As nonchalantly as possible, I brought my bleached, soaked rag up to my face, like wiping sweat from my brow, and took another whiff of bleach. We stood just staring at each other for a long, awkward minute.
OP: Okay… Well, if you need the bathroom, let me know.
I turned and went back to cleaning. I flushed the toilet for a third time. Now, the toilet water was just cloudy with sediment. I scrubbed at the left-over streaks that had crusted and clung to the bowl. A fourth and final flush had the toilet looking as good as it was ever going to look again.
I might have been looking at this disgusting commode, but all my attention was on the figure lurking in the doorway. As I got on my knees, intent on cleaning up the thick, viscous yellow puddles, I heard The Things breathing increase and then fade. I dared a glance over my shoulder; The Thing was gone.
Finished with the toilet, I turned my attention to the shower. A glance at the drain revealed that, to Ramtides's query, The Thing was a waffle stomper. Clearly, with the toilet out of commission, The Thing had been using the shower to relieve themself. Hair was also sprinkled liberally over it all.
Giving myself a little pep talk.
OP: Okay, I’m almost done. I can do this. I’m almost finis-
Then, from the doorway, a voice gurgled
The Thing: Hello M’lady.
I whip around, slightly less startled this time but twice as confused. The Thing is talking? And it changed clothes? It now wore a black shirt and cargo shorts, which fit him only slightly better than his previous attire.
OP: Hi, Do you need the bathroom now? I’m pretty much finished; just need to wipe down the shower. I fixed the toilet, so it flushes now.
The Thing: Ahh, clever and beautiful. May I know M`lady’s name?
I was a little confused, considering I told him my name about fifteen minutes ago. But then I also struggle remembering names sometimes.
OP: I’m TwatWaffle, with Local Cleaning Company.
I noticed movement over The Things' shoulder, another shape in the dim hallway. And that is when everything clicked. I remembered seeing pictures lining the upstairs hall—pictures of a Mom, Dad, and two identical cherubic little boys—twins. This then was Thing2, and I had previously met Thing1. Dear god, basement-dwelling twin neckbeards.
Thing2: TwatWaffle, a lovely name for a lovely lady. M’lady, I need your assistance; I accidentally kicked my computer mouse under my bed. Neither I nor Thing1 can reach it. Perhaps M’lady would be willing to retrieve it.
OP: I’m not supposed to do anything that’s not on our cleaning order.
Thing2: But I’m not asking you to clean anything. I’m simply requesting that you do something for me as a favor. Surely, helping your client reach something isn’t against your rules. It’ll only take you a minute.
OP: I guess not, just let me spray down the shower and then I’ll help you.
Thing2: Excellent…
Thing2 lumbered back to their room. Thing1 stood for a moment longer in the hallway, staring before waddling after its brother. I finish up the shower, gathered the trash and used cleaning wipes, and put my supplies back in the caddy. I unscrew the bleach bottle one more time and inhale the fumes before walking to the next room and entering The Things’ nest.
What hit me first this time was a sweaty, musty smell, underlined by a salty, stale smegma. Then, as I stepped forward, the unmistakable stank of rotting food came edged in, joining the bukaki of smells in my nose. This room was also narrow and long. On the right and left sides against the wall were desks, each had two large monitors. LED gamer lights were hung on the wall, but the thick layer of dust that coated everything in the room dimmed their rainbow-light pattern. The only other lighting in the room came from a narrow window set high up in the wall and the glow from the monitors.
But scant light clearly illuminated dishes, pizza boxes, cans, and assorted bottles filled with suspicious liquids that lay in heaps around the desks. Stray bits of trash were scattered everywhere else. Beneath my feet was brown-crusted flooring that might have once resembled a carpet. On the back wall were two full beds set end to end. Thing2 sat on the right bed, and Thing1 sat in a chair, staring at something on one of the monitors.
Thing2: Here M’lday, it’s under my bed.
Holding my breath, I walked forward, knelt on the hard, stiff carpet, and peered under the bed. The mouse lay right there at the edge. Surely, Thing2 could have reached that far himself? I picked it up and held the mouse out to him.
Thing2: Thank you. You’re so kind and helpful. Perhaps you can sit with me for a moment and talk. It’s so rare that I get to meet such a beautiful lady.
OP: You’re welcome, but I have to go. Shirley and Laverne are waiting for me, and we have more work to do.
I turned to walk away when I felt something I will never forget. A pudgy, soft, and clammy hand gripped my wrist. It was so soft, like a baby's hand that had been enlarged. I’d never felt someone's hand before or since that was so fleshy and uncalloused. Sometimes, as I fall asleep, I feel that hand gripping my wrist again.
I froze and looked at this monstrous beast that grasped me. His fleshy acne riddle face smirked back at me in the dimness. I heard a groan and creaking metal as Thing1 exited his chair and stood behind me. Fear now engulfed me to my bones. I had been too distracted by the disgusting state of everything to consider Thing2 might have ill intentions. Or maybe I had inhaled enough fumes from cleaning supplies to cloud my judgment.
Thing1 took a step toward us as Thing2 began pulling me towards him. I braced myself, but the floor was slick, and I slid closer to Thing2. I wanted to scream, I wanted to say something, but fear had gripped my throat as hard as Thing2 gripped my arm.
Shirley: TwattWaffle! TwatWaffle! Where the hell are you, girl?
Shirley called from the hallway. Her raspy smoker's voice sounded like an angel's call to me, and her call gave me the strength to finally speak.
OP: Shirley! I’m over here!
Thing1 plopped back into his chair, and Thing2, startled by the sound of another person, loosened his grip enough that I could yank myself free. I picked up my cleaning caddy and ran from the room as Shirley’s head peaked around the door.
Shirley: Come on, lazy girl. We’ve been done for ten minutes already. You’re making us late. I’ve told you; you've got to go faster, girl.
OP: Yes, ma’am, sorry.
Back upstairs, I shakily helped load all our cleaning things back into the van, and we left. A week later, I quit and found better employment. Before that day, I had been rather naive, but I would never allow myself to get into another situation like that again.
I know my story is short and neckbeard-light, but I hope you found some entertainment in it anyway. Reddx, if you read this, thank you! And if you don’t, thank you for the hours of entertainment you’ve given me.

I’m getting married next Saturday (!!) and my fiancé and I are both very acne-prone. We’re both on pretty strict topical regimens and have our skin largely under control besides a few little breakouts here and there which I don’t usually care about, but I’d obviously really like to have as clear of skin as possible for my wedding. Pretty much my worst fear is that I’ll have a huge stress-induced cystic acne form, the kind that you can’t hide with makeup, and it’ll ruin my self-confidence and thus the whole day. I went to my dermatologist yesterday and asked for a short course of doxycycline for this reason (given to me with no question, derms love doxy). My question is if anyone has taken doxy for their skin before, is there a “purge period” where any underlying lurkers come to the surface once you start? i.e. I’m on tretinoin as well and that has a known and significant purge period with it. Because more than anything else, THAT would ruin my day and I’d rather risk it with the many other meds that I’m on now. I want to think that my derm wouldn’t have prescribed it knowing that the wedding is in 8 days because that would be a super fucked up thing to do to someone… but…
Note: I’m a doctor and was a microbiology major in college, I’m VERY AWARE of microbial resistance and the ethical and moral reasons against taking sub-therapeutic antibiotics. In every other sense of the way I practice and live my life I am 100% against what I’m doing. But my self-conscious, anxious, and acne-prone self murdered the rational side of myself when deciding to ask for the abx

I just started tapering lamictal, and have noticed an unusually upbeat and happy mood. Depression immediately lifted. Is it a coincidence, or has this happened to others as well. I wasn't expecting positive side effects, not that I'm complaining!

If you do not have time to read this, or would like a video explanation for this article that will help you understand this better, here is the link (the video also includes images taken from the journey):
https://youtu.be/7BeZz79zMHk
Foreword
First and foremost, I would like to thank you for showing interest in my journey and trusting me enough to share the challenges that you are facing during this difficult time. You are not alone, and I am here to make it more understandable for you in order to ease the difficulty that you might be facing or are about to face when deciding to take this on. Before we begin, I want to mention that this topic is a continuation of the original article named “Gentlemen, holy shit” which went viral in the NoFap community on Reddit resulting in over 160,000+ views, over 750+ shares, and all in all 97% upvote rate.
If you would like to read it, here is the link, it will give you more of a background where this in depth discussion has originated:
https://www.reddit.com/NoFap/comments/1d3qd4g/gentlemen_holy_shit/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Let’s begin.
Wake up call.
It is the month of November, 2019. It is a cold, windy Saturday here in Seattle (for those who live in the pacific northwest know what I am referring to.) I received a message from a mature woman who was in her late 30s and of Hispanic descent that showed interest in me over the last couple of months and asked me if I would be open to meeting her in the downtown area that evening. Since I was interested in her (I was 24 at the time, and yes there is just something about grown women that tickles my pickle, they deserve love too.) I decided to make things interesting this evening rather than just taking her to a nightclub (which pre-covid, I was very well connected with the owners of, and hence had special “VIP” treatment there. Back door entrances, tables, bottles, exclusive areas, etc.) I had decided to grab an AirBnB close to where we were meeting, grab a couple drinks perhaps, walk around and then head to “my place”. I had laid out the logistics of the plan and sent her a message explaining exactly what we were going to do that evening, with the last statement stating that later on we will go to “my place and get to know each other a bit better”, she knew immediately what that meant and sent me a couple of pictures for me to pick from in regards to the outfit that she was going to wear. For some reason I was busy actually planning everything that I couldn’t respond in time resulting in her just going with what she thought I would like. (Now, I am the type of guy who enjoys all colors, shapes, and sizes yet prefer more of darker colored physical features of hair, outfits, shoes, etc.) and to my surprise she had picked out an all-black outfit with black heels which immediately caught my interest and attention (Mind you this is inside my head, I didn’t tell her that.)
We had met at one of the bars in the area and to our surprise for some reason it was closed. Hence, we decided to go to a different place that wasn’t too far and grabbed a bottle of wine, a pair of wine glasses and decided to just enjoy it at “my place.” We had arrived at the location and entered the room. Now, anyone who is familiar in how to build a relationship with a woman and has experience having sex will understand that women have a “routine” that they like to follow before the actual act of reproduction happens. Most of the time, they will do what? Go to the bathroom, get themselves ready, sit near you and have a bit of a sensual conversation, etc. Well, that is exactly what happened.
NOW, with me not knowing at the time that I had a SEVERE porn addiction and dependency. I also, went to the bathroom and tried to “get myself ready” by opening up a couple tabs on my phone getting a couple scenes going, ANYTHING to get me to have an erection. To my surprise, nothing even budged. “The fuck? That is odd.” I thought. Coming out of the bathroom I was shocked to find out that this woman, had drank the WHOLE bottle of wine by herself which was kind of a “weird” thing to see yet whatever, the woman likes her wine… I guess.
Before we continue, please a word of advice, if an individual that you are about to be engaged in sexual acts with chugs a WHOLE FUCKING BOTTLE of wine. Perhaps it would be better to just go to sleep and carry on another time and not place yourself at risk of a “sexual assault of a drunk individual”. (Try proving yourself innocent in court with that coming out of the prosecutor’s mouth.)
Now, I am grateful things did NOT go that far, yet it sure as could have looking back at it now. (Keep it at a two-drink maximum, if you do decide to drink.)
Alright, moving on. We started making out and touching each other, everything was such a great experience. Me undressing her, her undressing me (and by the way, gentlemen PLEASE practice unstrapping a bra, because if you get hung up on that you WILL make yourself look like a fool, thank goodness on my first attempt that shit snapped off.) The whole foreplay experience was very pleasant, she got turned on right away, I became aroused mentally (yet notice I said mentally, and not physically.) UNTIL it came time for her to do her part and get my shaft “wet”. THIS is where shit started to go south, my dick became a bit erect yet no where near a full erection. She started blowing me and calling my penis her “caramelo” which in Spanish means “caramel” (totally not obvious, I know) and when it came time for me to insert my dick in her, it just “disappeared”. It was as if my body just completely rejected her and wanted to do NOTHING with what was happening. I must have used up perhaps a whole box of condoms because the tiny amount of an erection kept coming and going and yet every time I would put on a condom, whatever erection I had had disappeared. This just kept repeating until she just offered to fuck her mouth and that is exactly what I did. That night ended with me ejaculating into her mouth with whatever erection I had, and then telling her that “next time, perhaps you should wear an outfit that is more revealing and sensual” which I KNOW was a complete fucking asshole thing to say since she DID wear EXACTLY what I prefer (Fucking idiot, I know. God damn what an idiot looking back at it now.)
Alright that was the moment when I started seriously questioning myself in regards to what the fuck is happening to me.
Paying a visit to the “Doctor.”
The very next day, I had scheduled a visit to my physician and what was recommended to me COMPLETELY placed me on high alert in regards to how this situation is treated by the medical “professionals.” I was recommended to take VIAGRA and CIALIS in order to treat my “erectile dysfunction”. “Erectile Dysfunction ??” I asked in a shocking surprise. “I am 24 fucking years old, isn’t erectile dysfunction something old people have??” I thought in my head. Leaving the medical office, I couldn’t believe it. It was as if there was a great misunderstanding in regards to what I am experiencing. “Did I not explain my situation clearly?” I thought “Okay, perhaps my testosterone is low, let me buy a bunch of Goat Weed supplements” ran through my mind. Perhaps instead of watching pornography of other individuals fucking, perhaps I am going to watch only the POV (Point of View angle of the camera showcasing what it is like to have sex from the individual’s point of view, for those who don’t know) content and this way train my brain to get aroused only to certain “angles” that are more relatable to how it would actually be when having sex. I started only watching porn that only showed women masturbating, only watching scenes from the POV angle that showed only the sexual positions with the camera pointing in a more “natural” angles that an individual would see when actually having sex. At the same time taking testosterone supplements, completely being unaware to what the fuck was actually happening to me. I became so insecure in regards to my “erectile dysfunction” that actually (knowing that now) was a SEVERE case of Porn Induced Erectile Dysfunction (also known as PIED.) Since now I was getting seriously concerned in regards to why am I experiencing what I was experiencing, I started doing research in regards to these symptoms. It was at this point I was invited to a quick coffee meet with an attorney of mine named Tim (Tim oh my god, you have fucking saved me and I am FOREVER grateful) which I told briefly my experience with dating, and questions I had in regards to why women are the way they are and all that shit, and he introduced me to a couple dating coaches that I RELIGIOUSLY started watching to learn everything I could on the nature of women, their psychology, sexuality, dating “strategies”, etc. I started reading every book I could get my hands on in regards to sexuality, pleasure, how the female anatomy works, etc. ANYTHING I could get my hands on in regards to those topics I would without a question read and learn from. (Hence, I am so good at what I do now, can’t you tell?)
This was the moment I decided to drop pornography and masturbation. Here we go. I will try to describe the journey and include as many details as I can, because frankly now, it seems as if all the 15 years of this addiction has been all but a big blur. Yet for you I will try my best. (You ready?)
Week 1 – Fucking Idiot.
The day I decided to no longer artificially stimulate myself is the day I remember having an INCREDIBLY high anxiety. For some reason I was so worried about things I don’t remember that apparently were so “serious” enough that I had to worry about them. My skin was extremely oily and acne was almost a regular occurrence. My physique was of a very skinny individual yet had a bit of a double chin thing going on and a small belly that wasn’t too noticeable yet was starting to appear. I remember being overly “nice” to individuals that didn’t wish me any wellbeing and always an individual to “turn the other cheek” so to speak always trying to prove that being “nice” is what gets you ahead. (Oh boy was I wrong about that one.)
I remember my parents, my dad, my mom, always being irritated with me, and I had no idea why. My mentality was “If I am going to be the nicest person and always smile” people will value me and get me to be successful, while at the same time be absolutely chewed and spit out almost by everyone (I am not even going to start talking about how women treated me, here is a hint: absolute disgust). It was such a wild experience that I will never forget. There were complications at work (people treating me like shit), complications in business projects (difficulty with management, team members, etc.) and it was an overall shit experience. (Looking back on it now, my testosterone was so low, that estrogen was instead taking over and driving me, resulting in very feminine behavior, as you can tell.)
I would always try to avoid conflict, try to “soften” things just to not get emotionally hurt, try to let things slide just so conflict wouldn’t happen. Notice I am not talking about any sexual experience or women, that is because NONE of that was ever even CLOSE to happening when I was in that state. Women would not even LOOK at me and I couldn’t look at them because I couldn’t even hold eye contact for any period of time. I remember as clear as day, being at one of my families’ social events, and there was this new family that just came from overseas with a girl that was part of that family and was showing signs of interest towards me. I remember this happening again clear as day, her walking into the house and standing behind me waiting to meet me. I turn around, (and please have patience, you are about read a moment of some clown ass behavior) and I just jump up in surprise as if I have never seen a girl before and just start acting like a complete fucking clown. The moment that happened EVERYONE started laughing at what just happened, and her WHOLE attitude towards me changed from being curious to who I was to an ABSOLUTE DISGUST. I will never forget this. Never. Oh man. What an IDIOT! (If you are watching a video of this, I will showcase a couple pictures of myself and you will see that in me clearly.)
Okay, that is the WORST version of myself that you will get to read about, fuck I can’t believe I was that way. Let’s move on.
Month 1 – Getting a “taste” of testosterone.
This was a very interesting moment to observe, since after the fiasco that happened in the previous weeks. I had started feeling incredible surge of aggression and rebellion that I have NEVER felt before. I spontaneously decided to grow a beard. (Again, if you are watching the video I will showcase and image of.) I started being more aggressive toward individuals, started standing up for myself and demanding people to start respecting me. At work I started following less orders from management (which eventually led to me leaving), and started studying for a real estate license just because, no reason. My skin continued to go through episodes of acne yet it felt like the acne was popping up due to the fact that I was in some way shape or form going through “puberty” again. It is wild to say yet it literally felt like I was going through hormonal changes. I started pushing harder at the gym, and overall become more determined in my efforts. Now, in the sexual department, nothing. No libido, no erections, no “morning wood,” nothing.
At this point I still didn’t have enough guts to approach women let alone conversate with them. Yet deep inside of me I was starting to feel like a man, a man that is on a mission yet had no idea what that mission was, I started trying everything that I wanted to try. I started learning computer programming, just for fun. As mentioned previously started studying for the real estate license, just for fun, and overall becoming a more skillful individual.
Now, after this is when things REALLY started happening, and not in a positive way. Keep reading.
Month 2-3 – Relapse, aggression, energy.
On the second month of the journey is when my mind started waging a complete war against myself. This is odd to write yet somehow, I started wondering if the previous porn stars that I was getting off to had any new content. Now bear in mind that, for some reason these “new” porn actresses just for some reason did not do it for me. I was yearning for the older (2011 – 2017) type of content that I was growing up being used to, and that in a way what helped me get through it because every time I would go and binge on this content I would become “disappointed” due to the fact that I am constantly having the desire to watch “older” content, and that was getting old. On top of that these porn stars were younger and better looking back when I was getting off on them and yet now, since they were aging, their newer content just did not do it for me. Hence that gave me a bigger reason to just not watch it at all. Okay, back to the journey. At this moment my brain was trying to convince me that “edging” was the trick, that the ejaculation was the “thing” that caused dependency, that my “lasting” time would increase and at the same time I thought that if I do not “release” that I would be fine. Oh man, was I so SO wrong about that. This process of “edging” is EXACTLY what caused me to relapse, and IMMEDIATELY after the relapse I just couldn’t believe it. The very next day I felt like shit, looked like shit, and was in absolute disgust in regards to what happened the night before. I told my self “You fucking idiot, never again” and the combination of aging porn stars, older content that started getting boring, resulted me in having more willpower to abstain from it.
What is interesting is after the first relapse, I noticed that I started getting less attention from individuals around me, my energy had dropped, and it was more difficult for me to work out. This has lasted for about a week. After that week, my energy started coming back and I was BACK into the cycle of self-improvement, software development, real estate license, reading, physical fitness, combat sports, etc.
I didn’t even notice how I started becoming more and more aggressive and eventually that led me to getting kicked out from the training facility for chocking a kid out (well a kid to me, in actuality it was a teenager) right in front of his pathetic ass mother (worth it.) It was a shocking moment for me since I really was into the training and have been training on/off for years, yet this was personal for me since I got so close to the trainers and the training partners there that in a way, I became disappointed and in the area that I lived this was the best training facility.
Since now I had to find another place to train, I started grabbing my gear to the gym and doing bag work exercises there until I found another place to train.
This has caught a lot of attention from the gym members since the amount of energy that I had was insane. I would go to the gym, go through the workout, then I would go to the bag area, go through the warm up routine (jump rope, shadow boxing, stretches, etc. guys that train understand this process), go through the bag work, and THEN and only then I would go back home, and get back to the self-improvement process. Till this day I look back and wonder “damn, how was I able to do that?”
Month 4-6 – New Training Facility, Flatline, Women, Oh and Another Relapse.
Since getting kicked out from the previous facility I was now hungry to find another one, and find another one I did. This new training facility had a different routine and training approach which made me focus on the very fundamentals of combat sports, whereas the previous location needed to get fighters out as soon as possible in order to start making money from them. This place took things slowly and made me basically start from square one. On the other hand, this place was in a more upper scale neighborhood and hence had more access to more of a “tech” inspired crowd (for those unfamiliar, Washington State is the home turf for Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, etc.) that means that now there were more educated and sophisticated women training there. This led me to witness for the very first time, true nature of how SAVAGE women can be when competing for a guy that they want.
At first when I started training there, I made sure that everyone there knew who I was (notice the confidence level rising), I walked up to every single man, and woman who was there and made sure that they knew that my name is Eli. This started stirring up the place and a couple guys did not like the fact that now I am the “hot shit.” On the other hand, the women there at first were very cautious and didn’t pay attention to me, yet over time of me not giving a shit about them (because my dick still didn’t work, and I didn’t want anything to do with them since I didn’t want them to know that my dick didn’t work) they started to get curios and eventually noticing that other women were starting to want to “roll” with me. Rolling in the Jiu-Jitsu world is used to describe the training process between two partners. Meaning that the two individuals are going to be in very close contact with their bodies through out the training process.
As soon as (and I remember this clearly) one of the trainer’s daughters got on top of me during one of the sessions and noticed that I did not flinch, act nervous, or mind her being on top of me. It was ON. Ever since then, the women in that place almost competed to see who would become my “rolling” partner. I tried my best to not pay attention yet eventually it started becoming so evident that this would start stirring up a bit of drama between them. It got so wild that one of the “hotter” girls there got the chance to roll with me, and as soon as she mounted me said, I kid you fucking not, she said “FINALLY.”
I have NEVER experienced this before and couldn’t do anything about it because I did not want anyone to know that MY DICK DID NOT WORK.
Okay, back on topic. During my training there is when I would experience my very first episodes of the “flatline” process. In the morning I would drive to the training facility and feel absolutely dead. No energy, no motivation, no drive, I barely was able to move if at all, and coaches were getting confused since they would see me basically out perform everyone one week and then be absolutely dead the next week. I tried to combat this by drinking caffeinated drinks and that did help in the moment, yet as soon as the training was done, the ride home was just absolutely dreading, and I had to do that again later in the day (training twice a day).
This was very evident for myself since I had never felt such fatigue, I felt so old, tired, useless, I tried to hide as much as I could yet it was just unbearable. Yet, after about a week, it seemed like it was a recurring process that started to take less and less time whenever it would appear again. Every time I would enter a “flatline” it seemed like it was easier and easier to manage. Almost as if from the beginning it was a mental state of “holy shit, what is going on. Am I going to be like this for the rest of my life?” to a mental state of “Oh here we go, alright just get through it, you will be fine.” It became more of an annoyance, than a worry.
Now, you were most likely waiting for the story in regards to the second relapse, well! Here you go, how did it happen? Well, it all started with me wondering (Man that brain of mine, knows EXACTLY how to manipulate me) “Are any of those porn stars actually producing any more of those movies, are they still working? I am just going to check whether they are still in the industry or not and see whether they are still in their “careers”, for research…” (The fuck? Who the fuck cares?? YOU DON’T KNOW THEM. Is what I should have said.) Next thing you know I am watching just the scenes of these porn stars, not intending to masturbate (since now I think I know better) and BAM! Next thing you know my nuts bust without even touching anything. RELAPSE. Now, what was different this time around?
Whereas before, I was looking at life from the lens of an addict into a life of an individual that had a healthy brain (desexualized), and now I was looking at life from a “healthier desexualized” brain into a life of an addict, and THAT was very evident. Let me explain:
Notice how right before this second relapse, life was starting to look promising, good habits, physical health, women starting to pay attention, etc. yet as SOON as I relapsed, I saw the life that I was living this whole time before taking on this journey. It was as if I took a journey back into my old self. IMMEDIATELY the next day, when I went to the gym, and this was so evident I will never forget this. Women that would usually start to show interest in me, acted like I didn’t even exist. I started feeling anxious, this feeling of “weakness” became apparent again, there is this one particular older Hispanic lady, perhaps in her late 30s, has a great physique, great long dark hair (again I don’t mind older women, they need love too) was walking towards me, and for some reason I was looking at her and out of NOWHERE my body just “twitched” from seeing her look at me, and RIGHT AWAY her face went from a smirk to a face of absolute DISGUST. I will never forget that look, ever. That right there, was the LAST moment that I told myself “I will NEVER relapse again” and I have not relapsed or even have the slightest want to view sexually explicit material ever again.
This was the “toughest” part to get through, the mental battles, cloudiness, physical fatigue, feeling of being absolutely worthless, at some points even thoughts of suicide came to mind during this stage. Yet, somehow, somehow, I pushed through, and eventually it led me to seeing the “light at the end of the tunnel”
Month 6-8 – Light at The End of The Tunnel.
Looking back at everything now, it is as if I was a completely different individual my whole life. Was I really such a different person this whole time? Is this what drug addicts go through when they go through the process of recovery?
Those are the thoughts that started running through my head during those months. It is incredible how the last 15 years has been an absolutely blur compared to this state. Here is when I started to feel more alive. I started to re-read the books I’ve read before and understood them in a completely different way than I did previously. Information starts to “stick” and your memory becomes clear. I started looking people in their god damn eyes and not flinch for a second. I started to mean the things I say and say the things I mean. It is so difficult to describe this to someone who is still not out of the woods yet when it comes to desexualizing your brain. This was the stage when I started just randomly walking up to women at the gym, store, coffee shops, fucking anywhere I went and just look them in their eyes, and say anything. Literally anything, I would walk up to a random girl, look her in the eyes and say “Hey, my name is Eli. It’s a great day. What is your name?” and THAT’S IT. I just did that with every girl I found attractive just to say something and get more comfortable with just that. Not caring about what she says whether she reciprocates or not, I just wanted to be proud of myself of doing just THAT.
You know what? That’s what has led me to my FIRST actual enjoyable sexual experience that solidified my choice to never go back. (Go back to fucking what? Go back to pixels on screen of people I DON’T KNOW? Go back to seeing other MEN pleasure the women that I WANT to experience pleasure from? That sounds pathetic just typing this.)
Anyway, here is how it went.
Month 9 – Present – Never Going Back.
I was meeting with my photographer at a local Starbucks near where I live. I arrived a bit earlier and started ordering my drink (I enjoy the honey, lemon, citrus tea that they have, so good.) and the girl that was taking my order, wow, how can I describe her voice. It was the most innocent, sweet, nurturing, just the most pleasant sound waves that I have heard come out of woman’s mouth, and IMMEDIATELY my body started tingling, and I felt a bit of an erection come up. Something that I have NEVER experienced before, EVER. (Mind you I lost my virginity at age 16 yet even then it wasn’t like this.) This was something that I just could not pass up. Yet, I kept it cool, kept the eye contact to see how she is reacting to this moment, and understand something…when you experience this “jolt” in your pants, your eye contact tells her everything she needs to know (somehow). I grabbed my drink, met with the photographer, and kept the side of my eyes on her to see perhaps if she is going to go on a break or go to the bathroom, some moment to get her alone and shoot my shot (the sexual drive that I had at this moment was just skyrocketing, no way in hell I would let this chance pass by when my body is reacting like this.) I felt like a fucking panther stalking its prey through the bushes, literally, I have never felt this before.
To my luck, a couple minutes later, she went from the counter to the entrance door to change a bag in one of the trash cans that was nearby. RIGHT then in there, I told my photographer to hold on for a moment. I walked up to her and said “Excuse me, I just wanted to introduce myself, my name is Eli. What is your name?”, what has transpired after that is looped exactly the same way that got me here in the first place. We met near a nice park in the city about a week later that she was surprisingly living not too far from, we shared an incredible conversation (women right, who would have thought that would happen…yet it did), and then we met again a week later at the same park which then she asked the question “Where are you staying tonight?”, now Gentlemen, when a woman asks you that question, know that she is not JUST trying to know where the fuck you are staying that night. She is trying to see if you pick up on the fact that if where you are staying that night is suitable for her to be comfortable and safe for REPRODUCTION. REPRODUCTION will happen, and THAT is exactly what happened. We ended up going to her place that evening, and the rest, well the rest is history. This was the FIRST time I have ever experienced truly pleasurable sex that both of us have enjoyed and THAT what has led me to writing the viral story of “Gentlemen, holy shit” the very next day that has become the face of the NoFap community, with over 160,000+ views, and over 750+ shares, for which I have JUST shared a background story for (which by the way if you wonder what experience has led me to describing the “Now, let’s get to the fun part, women:” section at the bottom of the article, THIS was the experience I was describing. (Mind BLOWN, right? I know.)
Conclusion
Congratulations, you know have completed the circle and now know the full story. I appreciate all of your support and encouragement. You all have been absolutely incredible. Is the journey over? Absolutely not, this is only the beginning. Am I FULLY recovered? No, absolutely not. There are still mental battles and in some way shape or form “flatline” symptoms that come and go yet they are much MUCH easier to manage, since remember now it is more of an annoyance rather than a scare.
Is my dick fully functional? Not yet, yet it is MUCH better than I have ever felt it to be. It is much more responsive to regular individuals, as you can tell from the story. Just a feminine voice did it. Am I looking forward to a better future? YOU’RE GOD DAMN RIGHT, I can’t WAIT to start absolutely DESTROYING women once my “Johnson” fully awakens. Yet, this was a major victory in my life so far, and I cannot wait to start living it.
Life LITERALLY begins at the other side of porn addiction.
Gentlemen, I wish you all a GREAT rest of your day.

Hello! I took b12 supplements for almost a year and started breaking out end of February. I quit 4 weeks ago and am still having break outs. This is causing severe mental anguish and I am feeling utterly depressed and lost at the thought of it never going away!
Please if anyone has had a similar experience that ended well. I would love to hear it.

Hello! I took b12 supplements for almost a year and started breaking out end of February. I quit 4 weeks ago and am still having break outs. This is causing severe mental anguish and I am feeling utterly depressed and lost at the thought of it never going away!
Please if anyone has had a similar experience that ended well. I would love to hear it.

Hello! I took b12 supplements for almost a year and started breaking out end of February. I quit 4 weeks ago and am still having break outs. This is causing severe mental anguish and I am feeling utterly depressed and lost at the thought of it never going away!
Please if anyone has had a similar experience that ended well. I would love to hear it.

OVERVIEW
Whenever I (24AFAB) really exert myself at the gym, especially if I do hard cardio, I get this stabbing pain in the center of my chest where my heart is, and the area feels like it’s imploding on itself. My heart rate also goes to well over 200 (my highest being 225). Stopping and taking a breather seems to help albeit temporarily, but even many hours post-workout, I still feel a very dull tightness. It sometimes makes me not want to work out. :/
For reference, I’m 138lb on the dot and on a mostly plant-based diet, mostly because I’m poor anyways. I’ll still eat meat, just nowhere near as often as one normally would, and I omit dairy as much as humanly possible due to lactose intolerance. I’ve hardcore chain-vaped on and off for 3 1/2 years, but I’ve since quit almost three months ago. I also got diagnosed with hypothyroidism February and have since been medicated. I’m 99.9% sure that at least nowadays, this is most likely from the hypothyroid and vaping. But you never know.
I also take mood stabilizers as I have bipolar disorder but they don’t seem to be associated with what I’m experiencing. If this is relevant at all, I take:

• Lithium (900mg)
• Lamictal (150mg)
• Movisse/Norethindrone (0.35mg)
• Synthroid (0.075mg)

HISTORY
Anyways. I’ve had this almost my whole life, though most noticeably when I was overweight and eventually obese (which took up a good chunk of both my childhood and adult life). My memory is shit, but it all started somewhere between the age of 8-11 (so when puberty started). Gym teachers and peers alike, even my own family would assure me that it’s just a result of inactivity and this would go away with time. Except it didn’t.
In high school long before I started incorporating weight training, I was extremely active and at my skinniest (underweight, actually). Yes, I could go on for longer periods of time, but I would still inevitably experience that crippling chest pain if I went on long enough. I had to sit out in gym class a lot because of it.
Admittedly, I’m the type of person who pushes themselves past their limit, but I don’t think wh normal since to this day I don’t see the other people around me experiencing this, even people in substantially worse shape.
I’ve ruled out all the possibilities below:

• At first, I thought it was my caffeine intake. But this happens even when I’ve gone weeks without a morning coffee, and it’s been happening since childhood - long before I had my first Monster or cup of coffee.
• I don’t think it’s precordial catch as I’ve had it many times my whole life. The pain is localized entirely in one area (front and center of my chest) and comes on more like an impending crescendo rather than a sudden sharpness.
• Asthma does run in my family, but I don’t show any other signs other than when exercising. Could be exercise-induced athsma, but my breathing has mostly been fine and it goes away if I take at least 30 seconds to stop.
• It’s not heartburn nor acid reflux, as I get those once in a blue moon (runs in my family). This feeling is different.
• It could be anxiety, but the chest pain I have during panic attacks is completely different from this kind of pain.
• It’s hard to say if this is heart disease-related, but I have a family history of it on both sides of my family. My maternal grandfather passed of a heart attack at 50 and a few distant cousins have had heart problems from their 20’s and beyond, while my paternal uncle’s had triple-bypass surgery. My father gets random arrhythmias now and then and I might have inherited that as well.

It’s a lot worse this time around too. I’m 99% sure it’s not only the hypothyroid, but also my formerly shitty diet (in part due to depression and a failed pregnancy) and years of heavy vaping finally catching up to me. Oh and my childhood obesity, of course. I became overweight very quickly over the course of two months due to the hypothyroid (was essentially bedbound and constantly craved shitty food). I’m at a normal weight as of now and I’m back on track, but goddamn I didn’t think the pains would be this bad again.
The good news is I’m seeing my GP in a couple weeks. Regardless, say it ain’t so - because I know things like clogged arteries are irreversible and it’s a downhill battle from there. :(
TLDR; Title says it all and I’m seeing my GP soon. Ever since childhood I experience an extremely high heart rate (225 is my highest thus far) and a stabbing pain in my chest only during strenuous exercise that lasts post-workout, and the most common causes of chest pains and the respective types of pain don’t seem to line up with the location and feeling I experience. Heart diseases run in both side of my family and I’m seriously hoping this is not the case here and this will subside in due time. Docs of this sub, what do you guys think?

TMI, but I literally cannot poop on ANY seizure medication I’ve tried. Total block. For context, I had my first (and 2nd) seizure one day in 2023 due to an undiagnosed brain injury. No clue when or what caused the injury, but I do know I’d unknowingly been experiencing the pre-seizure auras for about 2 years before my official seizure experience & MRIs.
I’m not epileptic, but this is the best group to ask advice to. 🙏🏻
The problem is, I’m super sensitive to every medication I’ve tried since this journey began, as pre-seizure I was on 0 prescription medicines & lived a very clean, vegan, regular 💩 lifestyle.
1) Keppra: rage / suicidal 2) tegretol: severe constipation & mild acne 3) lamictal: severe constipation & severe acne 4) vimpat: severe constipation.
I KNOW I should be grateful to be seizure-free, but please hear me out when I say “severe” constipation: I’ve tried it all. Supplements, water chugging, laxatives & enemas. I cannot poop for over a week.
I can get past the other side effects (sleep/balance issues/nausea/dreams/dizzy), but I’m losing my mind trying to function like pre-prescription days.
My only saving grace is my increasing dose of Senna tea—which I’m concerned about becoming dependent on after successfully beating my eating disorder & laxative dependency years ago.
Does anyone have medicine recommendations or similar experiences?? I would prefer diarrhea 3x a day over force pooping 3x/month.
Please share your TMIS!!

Very interesting study, which proposes that scar quality improves equally both in saline-injected and autologous fat-grafted scars: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7605847/ The authors argue against any special effects from stem cells or other cell types within fat. Rather, they hypothesize that the observed effects may be related to the act of needle injections/passes and associated inflammation and/or potentially to the mechanical/bulking effect of the injected material—regardless of its origin. The fibroblasts within the collagen matrix can be biologically altered by the resulting strain through mechano-transduction, a mechanism recognized as inductive to collagen production and scar remodeling.
Here is another study, which finds no difference between efficacy of saline injections and subcision: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34188750/
There actually are several studies showing positive effects (increased epidermal thickness, increased number of localized blood vessels, dermal elasticity, pliability, observer perception, etc.) of saline injections into scars. For example: https://jcpsp.pk/oas/mpdf/generate_pdf.php?string=RjlaRW0xcEQwS0s0azdoSE1qdEUrUT09. Moreover, saline injections are the first line of treatment for localized lipoatrophy induced by injections of corticosteroids (however, the mechanism for reversing corticosteroid induced atrophy is different than improvements for acne scars).
Now, the observed effect of saline is clearly very mild, but equally mild apparently are the effects of considerably more expensive / invasive alternative treatments, such as fat grafting and subcision. But still, very interesting.

Hi, everyone. I've been very confused and concerned about not receiving my period for the past year. My family and their doctors are freaking me out about the possibilities, and I just want some outside advice.
I am a pretty healthy 22 year old - about 5'5, roughly 115 pounds, BMI ~19. I received a hormone test and was told I had about normal levels (prolactin 5.1 ng/mL, TSH 1.1 uIU/mL, FSH 7.3 mIU/ml, Estradiol 14.2 pg/ml). I was given a 5 day provera prescription which wasn’t successful at inducing anything. I haven't had any physical issues or signs of an underlying problem. I do not have any of the signs of PCOS. My hair grows normally, and I'm having no major weight fluctuations or acne. I started my period around age 13, and have had mostly normal cycles (every 35-40 days) until this recent pause. 2 years ago I had a painful ovarian cyst that ruptured but the doctors saw no major issues with it when I came in and got scans done. I have never had a pap.
I started strength training at the gym about a year and a half ago, possibly increasing some intensity of the amount of weight around last Summer. I have done progressive overload overtime, but I don't go beyond 4 workouts a week, don't powerlift, and don't exceed an hour per session. I've grown some additional muscle mass since but nothing extreme. I eat three meals a day with snacks and don't engage in extreme dieting. My diet can be more low-fat, but I don't cut out all fat. I don't do cardio beyond walking max 10k steps per day. And I was put on Wellbutrin and Adderall back in October of last year. My mental health has severely declined I believe as a result of no longer having a normal cycle.
Planned Parenthood couldn't identify the issue and I'm very confused and concerned. If anyone has a similar experience or any advice, I would really appreciate your comments!

Hi, everyone. I've been very confused and concerned about not receiving my period for the past year. My family and their doctors are freaking me out about the possibilities, and I just want some outside advice.
I am a pretty healthy 22 year old - about 5'5, roughly 115 pounds, BMI ~19. I received a hormone test and was told I had about normal levels (prolactin 5.1 ng/mL, TSH 1.1 uIU/mL, FSH 7.3 mIU/ml, Estradiol 14.2 pg/ml). I was given a 5 day provera prescription which wasn’t successful at inducing anything. I haven't had any physical issues or signs of an underlying problem. I do not have any of the signs of PCOS. My hair grows normally, and I'm having no major weight fluctuations or acne. I started my period around age 13, and have had mostly normal cycles (every 35-40 days) until this recent pause. 2 years ago I had a painful ovarian cyst that ruptured but the doctors saw no major issues with it when I came in and got scans done. I have never had a pap.
I started strength training at the gym about a year and a half ago, possibly increasing some intensity of the amount of weight around last Summer. I have done progressive overload overtime, but I don't go beyond 4 workouts a week, don't powerlift, and don't exceed an hour per session. I've grown some additional muscle mass since but nothing extreme. I eat three meals a day with snacks and don't engage in extreme dieting. My diet can be more low-fat, but I don't cut out all fat. I don't do cardio beyond walking max 10k steps per day. And I was put on Wellbutrin and Adderall back in October of last year. My mental health has severely declined I believe as a result of no longer having a normal cycle.
Planned Parenthood couldn't identify the issue and I'm very confused and concerned. If anyone has a similar experience or any advice, I would really appreciate your comments!

Hi, everyone. I've been very confused and concerned about not receiving my period for the past year. My family and their doctors are freaking me out about the possibilities, and I just want some outside advice.
I am a pretty healthy 22 year old - about 5'5, roughly 115 pounds, BMI ~19. I received a hormone test and was told I had about normal levels (prolactin 5.1 ng/mL, TSH 1.1 uIU/mL, FSH 7.3 mIU/ml, Estradiol 14.2 pg/ml). I was given a 5 day provera prescription which wasn’t successful at inducing anything. I haven't had any physical issues or signs of an underlying problem. I do not have any of the signs of PCOS. My hair grows normally, and I'm having no major weight fluctuations or acne. I started my period around age 13, and have had mostly normal cycles (every 35-40 days) until this recent pause. 2 years ago I had a painful ovarian cyst that ruptured but the doctors saw no major issues with it when I came in and got scans done. I have never had a pap.
I started strength training at the gym about a year and a half ago, possibly increasing some intensity of the amount of weight around last Summer. I have done progressive overload overtime, but I don't go beyond 4 workouts a week, don't powerlift, and don't exceed an hour per session. I've grown some additional muscle mass since but nothing extreme. I eat three meals a day with snacks and don't engage in extreme dieting. My diet can be more low-fat, but I don't cut out all fat. I don't do cardio beyond walking max 10k steps per day. And I was put on Wellbutrin and Adderall back in October of last year. My mental health has severely declined I believe as a result of no longer having a normal cycle.
Planned Parenthood couldn't identify the issue and I'm very confused and concerned. If anyone has a similar experience or any advice, I would really appreciate your comments!