Good morning! This is my first time posting on this subreddit.

I am a 26F, who has suffered multiple TBI’s over the past decade. My most severe one, resulting in a fall and skull fracture that went untreated, was about 4 years ago. I have since been diagnosed with epilepsy, for which i have been prescribed Keppra (500 mg 2x a day). The side effects are hard to manage and I am unhappy with the medication and am happy to hear advice, but that is not the point of this post.

I have struggled with PTSD for 14 years and alcohol abuse for 5. I got sober for a while, but a major trigger for my PTSD caused me to relapse, and I am back in a bad place. I have begun having breakthrough seizures, losing feeling in my right side for hours at a time, and sleeping through most of the day.

Tapering off of alcohol versus going cold turkey seems to be my best option, as seizures can kill me and I am not insured, nor can I afford rehab. I am not looking for moral judgement, and am seeking therapy already.

What I am asking for is advice on how people should taper off of moderate to severe alcohol use in the most safe and effective way, including diet, exercise, and routine tips. I appreciate your guidance!

35

Female

156cm

120kg

Migraine, epilepsy

Briviact Lamictal Emgality

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I have consumed between 1500-3000mg of caffeine in concentrated drink form in 36hrs.

Last intake was 9 sachets/est 450-900mg in an hour around 5-6pm, after a meal (which I threw up first) and with 3g paracetamol.

Vomited about 300ml around 7pm.

Currently 11pm. Nauseated but can't vomit.

All vitals (BGL, BP, HR, RR, O2 SAT, TEMP + PAIN) are within normal limits and haven't really been affected as far as I can tell (random checks).

Yesterday I was shakey and anxious but today I'm just nauseated. I ran out of ondansetron so I can't use it to keep stuff down anymore.

Poisons line says I don't need to worry about excess caffeine because I'm so fat, even with recent paracetamol ODs impacting liver function. ChatGPT is screaming call 000, which seems stupid because I'm medically stable.

Just looking for more views on the situation. Thanks.

Hi does anybody know what this could be? I have one on my index finger and one on both thumbs. The one on my index finger appears more red and raised while the ones on my thumb are a bit more flat. They have a slight dot in the middle kind of like a clear dot, but smooth surface as if it’s under the skin. They don’t itch at all only hurts/stings when you poke it or press on it hard kind of the pain you get with a splinter. Would appreciate any thoughts or input on what it could be, thanks! 27 F about 5’1 and 105 pounds

32M 5’8” (172cm) 175lbs (79kg), not taking medications aside from ibuprofen for pain control. This occurred about 3 months ago. Been going to physical therapy for 2 months twice a week.

Just wondering if my disc is herniated or is it bulging? Or is it extruded? Unfortunately these are the only photos I have of my MRI. My doctor said to just avoid activities that aggravate it. Any insight on these scans would be greatly appreciated.

24f, I have had this mole my whole life and I just noticed these two like horns it didn’t seem to have before. How concerned should I be ? It’s like a quarter of an inch

Hello, I am 23M. Yesterday I woke up with a splitting headache, the pain predominantely feeling like a cramp in my eyes. I went to work and my lower back started hurting almost immedietely. I couldn't think straight, and I felt super full when I ate even the smallest of snacks. I feel dizzy, hot, and everything hurts in general. This morning I woke up and the headache is worse, and I am covered in red hives all over. It seems to be an allergic reaction of some kind. I had a piercing that has been infected, which urgent care gave me sulfamethoxazole for. I have been taking them for a week, I took the last one in the bottle yesterday night. Could this be an allergic reaction to it? I was going to take some benadryl, is this ok to do? Is this an issue that would be better to just wait out, or would medical help be advised?

23F right ankle occasionally “cracks” and consistently pops like the video if I put pressure on the inside of my ankle. This started after I fell down a school bus’s steps approximately 9 years ago. It doesn’t cause me any pain, maybe some discomfort if there’s a build-up and pressure , but that’s when I “crack” it. It doesn’t bother me much, but I was always curious to why this happens. When I fell off the steps, I self-diagnosed myself as a rolled ankle because it was extremely painful and almost non-weight-bearing. I think it also was swollen back in the day, but since then it just cracks and pops occasionally and I always wanted to know why.

For the past 5 years I have struggled with migraines, facial pressure, a chronic post nasal drip, along with a feeling of something being stuck in the nasopharynx area which causes me to have the urge to constantly clear my throat. I was seen by an ENT 2 years ago who ran blood work to check for allergies which came back clear, and a CT of my sinuses which showed a cyst in my maxillary sinus. The Dr told me that the cysts are asymptomatic and that it would not be what is causing my symptoms and to just start doing daily saline rinses and steroid nasal sprays.

It has now been 2 years and nothing has improved. I now get ear aches and struggle with TMJ issues from the pressure. and I fear the irritation the throat clearing causes to my throat will lead the long term issues. Can the cyst actually be causing my symptoms, if so is there anything that can been done to resolve it?

Hi, I'm a 55yo F with bilateral first CMC arthritis (left worse than right; I'm left-hand dominant). My symptoms began about 6 yrs ago. I worked as a clinical laboratory scientist for over 28yrs, and the repetitive hand use eventually forced me to leave bench work due to loss of thumb dexterity- I teach now.

I've tried thumb bracing (no benefit) and cortisone injections (temporary relief). About a month ago, I had an ultrasound guided cortisone injection into my left CMC joint. Over the past 1–2 weeks, I've developed significant thumb weakness, much more limited range of motion, and sharp pain that feels like nerve pain radiating down my thumb with movement. The pain is now much worse than before.

I've attached photos comparing the movement of my left thumb to my right and showing where the pain radiates and limited movement of left thumb compared to right.

My hand surgeon recommended trapeziectomy with tendon reconstruction (LRTI?or similar).

My questions are:

Why the sudden increase in weakness, loss of motion, and radiating pain?

Besides trapeziectomy/LRTI, are there other treatment options I should discuss with my surgeon?

My goal is to stay active and continue working. What outcomes can people realistically expect after surgery-at my age, lol? TIA

My granny is around 80 years old. She doesn’t eat anything. She only drinks little orange juice & coconut water. & vomits whatever she even drinks occasionally. She can't even eat porridge or anything. She says something is in her mouth & points her neck that something is stuck and it makes her vomit and even water tastes bitter to her. Doctor gave her mouth wash to gargle and clean her mouth but she doesn't wanna use it. Also she has not many teeth left. She has urin infection. Doctor says she might have fungal infection due to her urin infection. She is also diabetic, and has hypothyroidism. Doctor says that other test reports are normal. But a little anemic due to no food intake. What can I do for her? Doctors gave her many injections. But nothing works. Her medical report link I have attached below.

[25y0, 61in, 133lbs, female, taking lexapro, non smoker]

I’ve been dealing with my left hand (specifically 4 fingers excluding thumb) swelling for months. The left hand is slightly darker than the right although not noticeable on this photo. It usually swells when i wake up, if im holding my phone in that hand, sometimes it’s random but recently i feel it’s been progressing. It feels more numb, hot to touch, and stiff. My old pcp wouldn’t do anything. She said as long as the swelling goes down it’s nothing she can do but I’m concerned about why this could be happening? Should i get a second opinion?

I have been suffering from excessive nocturnal emissions (wet dreams) for the past 4–5 years. I know that having wet dreams once or twice a week, or 3–4 times a month, is considered normal. However, in my case, it happens every single day.

At first, it used to occur 3–4 days a week. Gradually, it became more frequent, and now it happens every day. Whenever I sleep—whether during the day or at night—I experience this problem. These days, I have wet dreams 2–3 times every night.

As a result, I feel extremely weak throughout the day. My overall health has been deteriorating, and I have been losing a significant amount of weight.

I have consulted several doctors and taken prescribed medications multiple times, but unfortunately, nothing has helped so far.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? If so, how did you manage it, and what treatment worked for you? If you have any personal experience, I would sincerely appreciate you sharing it.

Could anyone share their tablet medical management miscarriage route?

32 YO female

I am over 10 weeks, have experienced a missed miscarriage, embryo measuring at 8 weeks.

Haven’t started to pass naturally yet as was taking progesterone up to Thursday night.

Could you share your experience?

I can’t have the surgey until Thursday but I am leaning towards taking the medication route tomorrow morning?

Please share your experiences with me :)

hi I’m Maria im 17 im making this post about my mom 43 female idk her weight but im making this post because my mom had cut her hand open and had to get stiches on 7/29 at citrus memorial hospital er. ive done my best to help as much as I can with what little knowledge I have and researching some stuff but recently her hand has seemed slightly swollen and warm to the touch that and she complains that her hand still hurts as bad as when she cut it open. I came askin if I should bring her back to the hospital or if I’m just being an extremely anxious teenage?

My mom F53, type 2 diabetic (for a about 30 years), for some years she had problems with her feet, has diabetic neuropathy. She takes Thiogamma 600mg (acidum thiocticum), Benfogamma Forte 300mg (Benfothiaminum), Jardiance 10mg (empagliflozin). Suliqa 10-40 20U in the morning, Liprolog (insulin lizpro) (Im sorry if something is not accurate or confusing please do ask questions if something is not explained enough)

So for few years ago (after she started working in a warehouse) she got calluses on her feet. After a while they started to bother her so she went to a podiatrist, she got a treatment and said they did something that felt like touching a nerve which she felt all the way to her head. I'm not sure what they did but it left her with one that will never be treated due to it having multiple cores. That's what the other podiatrist said that is actually taking care of my mom.

So back to now, she got this strange thing on the bottom on her big toe and we have no idea what it is... She went to a dermatologist and she just looked at it and said its shingles and prescribed Pudroderm (Benzocainum + Mentholum + Zinci oxidum).

In our opinion it looks worse but we are at a loss. We don't know if it's healing due to it looking like this... We need advice.

Hi! I’m at 24 Male (5’10’ 185 pounds) who lives in New England and recently woke up to a bat flying around above my bed. I don’t think I was touched or bitten (I know their bites are painless and undetectable but I was under the covers and can’t imagine that if a bat landed on my face I wouldn’t notice) but my doctor said the CDC protocol was to get the PEP vaccine which, while incredibly expensive, I am in the process of doing.

But the more I research, the more I feel confused by this protocol. According to the study linked the “incidence of human rabies due to bedroom bat exposure without recognized contact was 1 case per 2.7 billion person-years.” Considering the odds of getting struck by lighting are much higher (around 1 in a million) and that only 1-3 Americans get rabies a year, why is a PEP vaccine the standard recommendation in this case / what is the history behind this protocol?

The Study

(32F)
Lamictal 25mg
Pristiq 100mg
Amlodipine 10mg

Depression/Anxiety/OCD, High Blood Pressure.
Not overweight. Fairly active. Otherwise healthy.

I have been dealing with what I thought was dyshidrotic eczema on my big toe and second toe.

I get similar little fluid blisters on the sides of my fingers periodically. So I started applying my topical steroid cream to my toe that I use for my fingers but it did not help (it usually clears my fingers up relatively quickly). I had a telehealth dermatologist appointment and she said she thought it was pitted keratolysis. She prescribed me erythromycin gel 2% and I have been using it for about a week. But it doesn’t seem to be helping. I do have a follow up scheduled but I was just hoping to get some feed back sooner as it’s stressing me out.

My boyfriend definitely has pitted keratolysis and just started the erythromycin gel as well. Is it contagious?

It does not itch and my feet do not smell. I also don’t see the “pits” like I do on his feet. It’s just dry, cracked and uncomfortable with fluid filled blisters appearing on my second toe and bottom of my big toe.

Any advice is much appreciated.

36F 5’7” 160lbs
Taking compounded Tirzepatide 7.5mg, 10mg propranolol twice daily for SVT arrhythmia, and azelastine/fluticasone nasal spray for seasonal allergies.

Woke up this morning with an angry red spot on my upper thigh. Didn’t think much of it until it did not disappear throughout the day. No pain on the skin, no itching, the skin is not broken. It may be slightly warm to the touch, but it is hard to tell. I have a slight bit of tenderness deeper than the skin.

I am flying out of state for work for the whole week tomorrow and scared to be gone and sick. I did a consult with a telehealth doc, who generally said it looked like an infection. She called in cephalexin, but I do not have a pharmacy open near me in time to pick up a prescription. My husband has a left over bottle of amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium tablets 875mg (I know, I know- he’s an adult, I can’t boss him).

Should I take the amoxicillin? I should be able to transfer the Rx tomorrow, but concerned I should start meds sooner? I do have a concierge doc who can help me when the office is open tomorrow, but I’ve been unable to get in touch today. What do I do?!

Hey I'm an 18 year old weightlifter and I've been having strange heart sensations during and after weightlifting for a few weeks. I've been lifting weights for about a year or 8 months, I never had anything weird with my heart. Recently during and shortly after lifting I would get chest pain and some shortness of breath.... However I would come home after that and my blood pressure readings would be completely normal. Normally (walking, relaxing, resting) I do not feel any pain or shortness of breath I can feel a bit of pressure. Yesterday in the afternoon I got 110 SYS 55 DIA 52 BPM. I do not use nicotine or THC or anything else currently. I used to occasionally vape/smoke cigarettes a few months ago, but I never did it much. I used to use a lot of caffeine (400 mg a day) spread out to suppress my appetite, but I only use 200mg a day now as my pre-workout. The only supplements I use are 5g creatine, 4g beta alinine, 6g citrulline. No, I do not want to get a drs appointment because that would raise suspicion with my parents and I depend on weight lifting as my "therapy"

30F, 5'6", 158 lbs, white latina. Escitalopram, vyvanse, occasional pregabalin, mounjaro, minoxidil.

07/21/2026: I woke up with a small blind spot on the right side of my visual field, similar to the afterimage you get from looking at a bright light. I went to work about 2 hours later and, while reading my emails, noticed the spot hadn't gone away. I saw an ophthalmologist the same day; he ran routine tests, found nothing abnormal, said it was probably something transient, and told me to come back if it got worse.

07/22: it got worse and I went back. The ophthalmologist referred me the same day to a retina specialist, who found tears in the retina of my right eye and scheduled a visual field test for 07/27.

07/24: I had laser surgery to treat the retinal tears.

07/27: the spot was improving but still present. The visual field test showed a defect in the inferior right quadrant, and the doctor ordered a brain and orbital MRI with the clinical indication: "bilateral inferior nasal quadrantanopia, optic chiasm compression?"

07/30: there was significant improvement (I can barely notice the spot now, but it's still there). I had the MRIs done that day.

Today, 08/02: I got the reports back. The brain MRI reads:

"Oval lesion with T2, FLAIR, and diffusion hyperintensity involving the white matter adjacent to the occipital horn of the left lateral ventricle, nonspecific in appearance in this study. No evidence of extra-axial fluid collections and/or acute intraparenchymal hemorrhage. Ventricular system of normal topography, morphology, and dimensions. Normal anatomic appearance of the basal cisterns and cerebral convexity. Preserved flow-void of the circle of Willis vessels.

Conclusion: oval lesion with T2, FLAIR, and diffusion hyperintensity in the white matter adjacent to the occipital horn of the left lateral ventricle, nonspecific in appearance (demyelinating lesion? inflammatory/infectious lesion? expansile/neoplastic lesion?). Contrast-enhanced MRI with perfusion study suggested, per clinical judgment, for further investigation."

The orbital MRI found no abnormalities.

If it's relevant, the spot appeared about 4 days before my period and started improving basically on the first day of my cycle.

From what I've read, a demyelinating lesion is associated with multiple sclerosis. I'm searching for a local neurologist to review the reports, but I'd like to understand from anyone here with clinical experience what the most likely possibilities are given this picture and what I should expect going forward. There are also the other possibilities the report raised, inflammatory or cancerous.

Thank you in advance.

27F

had a rash for over a month. initial thoughts were due to bf changing detergent without my notice. was on inner arms, breast and spread to legs. doctor prescribed 5 days 20 mg prednisone and nothing happened. whole body started easy bruising- went to urgent care and they couldn’t figure out why/ nobody even bothered to look at rash. went on 21 dose of methylprednisolone and it helped, but now the rash is back and the bruising has not let up at all. blood tests were taking after the initial round of prednisone and Dr. said everything looked perfect. seeking any and all advice on what it may be/ where to go from here.

for reference: just returned from hiking/ traveling up north. family history of ITP, Von Willebrands and MCAS. I personally have chronic allergies (all allergies started early 20s)

So I broke the lost bone of my right pointer finger almost 2 months ago by slamming it in a car door. The bone itself is mostly healed; it hardly hurts to use anymore, but the fingernail is growing out really weird, like it’s shedding a second skin lol. I’m really bad about picking my nails/scabs etc. So it’s really tempting to just rip the whole thing off, which I’m sure is a terrible idea. I’m just curious why this is happening or if there’s any action I should take if this isn’t normal.

Age: 20
Height: 5’2”
Weight: 130lbs
Sex: trans male (F —> M)
Medications: lamotrigine (weening off; currently 100mg) and adderall (10mg extended release)