Just a mouthy medic

[dnd-apothecary]

Living with chronic pain be like

[hellobiscuit]

i always say this, if you have chronic pain, memorize this chart and the descriptions!

make your “activities” be not what you’ve been doing since pain began, but rather the things you would have done before you were in pain or things u wish u could have done- sports, going out, doing chores, getting dressed without help, etc

feel like you couldn’t play a game of ultimate frisbee even though you could clean your house? you’re at a 4! can’t clean your entire house after working and showering and eating? you’re at a 5! etc-

you have to be honest with your doctor or they can’t help you- jokes are fine and all but if you downplay your pain you won’t get help bc your doc won’t know it’s bad enough to need help

[dnd-apothecary]

This is super helpful for anyone who needs it! Im well aware of how much pain I am technically in - my pain scale is a little skewed so the chart doesn’t really work for me!

Thanks for the extra info :)

[bifemmequeen]

Was anyone going to tell me that I live at a level 5 or was I supposed to find that out from this post myself

[dnd-apothecary]

Same. Im lucky if I can manage a day or two in a row where im under level 4. And I’ve tried to tell my doctor(s) about it, but they either don’t want to take the risk of prescribing stronger pain meds or they think im just an addict looking for my next fix.

Being a chronic pain patient is….tricky, to say the least. Which is why the meme is really funny for me.

Anyway I hope that anyone with chronic pain has a day where you have less pain than usual and you get to do something you’d like to do but usually can’t due to your pain.

Much love 💖

[ordinarytalk]

Hey just saying this graphic was the reason I started taking my migraines more seriously, because I’d been living and working somewhere between a 5-7 every day but I was recording it as a 1-2 because “Well, I can still move and accomplish some things, so it can’t really be that bad.”

Being able to accurately assess and record my pain made the doctor start taking it more seriously, and my treatment improved immediately.

[welt-verbessererin]

I’ve been anywhere from a 5-10 this week as I am most weeks.

Frustratingly, it doesn’t just keep me from doing physical tasks, but especially mental ones.

I don’t know when I was last able to focus enough to actually study, for example.

I don’t have the energy or stamina to write all the comments I want to write.

I’ve lost rl friends because of this.

That’s my life and it fucking sucks.

[dreamilypurpleoutcast]

[borgevino]

so fucking stupid that meds literally work. "swallow this pebble it makes you think" hateful

[hellish-undeath]

i love medications and swallowing pills #mypebbles

[kunaigirl]

#mypebbles!!!!

[jupiterjames]

Did I just employ the "Treat Them Like You are A Kindergarten Teacher Again" method with my insurance company today? I surely did. Did it work? Probably better than intended because I made an actual doctor feel contrite.

So, my insurance has been trying to not cover my SNRI because it is new on the market and no generic available yet, so pricey.

I apply for a refill and the request gets locked for review. Again. For the 3rd time.

This time I call and immediately ask to speak to the actual doctor making these clinical decisions. Very politely. Must be a slow day because they allow it.

ME: [Teacher voice] I'm calling in regards to the SNRI you have placed a lock on. Why was this decision made?

DOC: Well, there are dozens of other medications on the market in that tier, and far cheaper for you and [insurer]. We have sent a request to your doctor to consider alternatives.

ME: I am aware of that. So, can you do me a HUGE favor and look up my prescription history really quickly and tell me how many SSRIs and SNRIs were only filled once in 2022 for me, showing they were poorly tolerated?

DOC: It looks like eight.

ME: Great job! Now, can you please look at my genetic test for psychiatric drug tolerance and tell me how many medications are listed in the safe category?

DOC: Two.

ME: Awesome! Now, can you tell me what type that other drug is that I'm not taking?

DOC: Yeah, totally, it's an MAOI.

ME: That's correct, you're really knowledgeable! Should I be taking something as dangerous as an MAOI with my other medications, or even just in general?

DOC: It's contraindicated for sure.

ME: It is! So true! So, last question since you've been incredibly smart and helpful. Is it less expensive for [insurer] to pay out for the medication knowing they already get a huge manufacturer discount anyway, or is it more expensive for them to pay for me to need potentially long-term inpatient psychiatric care?

DOC: I'll clear the code, ma'am and flag it as medically necessary. I'm sorry about this.

ME: I appreciate you SO MUCH. You have a great day now.

WALGREENS PHARMACY TECH WITH 5 NOSE RINGS AND PURPLE HAIR STARING AT ME: ........... OKAY! It'll be ready in five minutes. You wanna come work here?

[headspace-hotel]

Kill them with kindness

BUT KILL THEM

[fzzzp]

a baby at work the other day gave me the meanest look i've ever seen as it got lifted out of a cesarean. 1 second old and already hating. you can't teach that.

[argumate]

I appreciate the way hitting the word "cesarean" forces me to go back and reevaluate the earlier phrase "at work"

[kingcatnine]

reminding everyone to wear sunscreen because the sun is a deadly laser: 😁😊

having to spend 10 minutes slathering yourself in grease just to safely be outside in the sun for 20 minutes. because the sun is a deadly laser: 😐👎

[brofisting]

helpful tattoo reminder: they are technically Injuries so u have to eat a lot of calories drink a lot of water and sleep a lot after so your body can Heal The Injury

[brofisting]

another helpful tattoo reminder: the 24-48 hours after you get a tattoo your brain can not be trusted in regards to whether or not you should have gotten that tattoo, if you have somehow ruined your life, if it turned out ugly, etc. ignore that

[brofisting]

finally, while i am at it: always bring a candy bar and a sugary drink to your appointment for blood-sugar reasons (worst case scenario) or so you can have a treat (unilaterally applicable)

[brofisting]

this has been your friendly neighborhood haver of 19* tattoos (assorted sizes and placements)

*not totally sure here. bad at counting

[parasocialanxiety]

Can I just emphasize that not everyone reading this has yet encountered the information that injuries require food, hydration, and sleep? I think the way many people associate rest and injury is that you rest the injury itself to avoid making it worse, but overlook that the healing process itself requires rest regardless of if not-rest directly injures it further.

Also exercise is a form of controlled injury so that as your body heals it heals stronger. You also need food-hydration-rest for strength and cardiovascular improvements after exercise.

[sunshinerotting]

ever since i was a child ive had a headache

[natalieironside]

I think I'm gonna start calling it "CBRN ordnance" instead of tear gas, pepper rounds, et al. Just to hammer home the point, y'know. "The cops used teargas against the protestors" You mean the regime deployed proscribed CBRN ordnance in order to pacify the dissident citizens

[catgirlwarrior]

i think it's important that this stays with the post

[biteybeast]

i do think its really convenient how they name this shit so nonthreateningly. "tear gas" awwww it makes you cry a little haha. wrong. you can go blind.

[natalieironside]

"Gas that makes you go blind and gives you chemical pneumonia and respiratory cancer" just isn't as marketable, I suppose

[rat-collective]

Whatever gas they shot at us literally ate through the waterproofing on my rain coat and permanently damaged one of my eyes (needed surgery), and I wasn't even hit directly.

[andhumanslovedstories]

Is there anything on this beautiful marble of a planet than lying down for a little while

[andhumanslovedstories]

sleepy bitches know that the omitted adjective is “better”. So fucking hyped for today’s lie down session number two (the big one)

[caspercryptid]

The really unfortunate thing about mental health progress is that sometimes you realize you've made it in the form of "wow, I haven't felt this bad in a fucking while"

[caspercryptid]

On the one hand it's a bit of a pick me up in a dark place to know that this will pass because it has passed before on the other hand sometimes it isn't entirely a pleasant thought to go "wow, I used to feel like this all the time. That was pretty fucking bad. It's pretty bad right now too also."

[caspercryptid]

Someday your current baseline will be the sort of thing you consider A Really Bad Day. It does get better.

[infectiouspiss]

disabled ppl we need to start lying to nosy people okay? you tell me i'm too young to need a cane and i will tell you point blank that maybe you should tell that to the guy who ran me over. you don't get an explanation of my health issues you get lies and depending on how much of an asshole i want to be that lie will be anything from a humble car crash to a 1 billion lions attack. mind yr business.

[infectiouspiss]

"i could never live like that" well maybe you'll have to because this happened overnight. yeah you heard me i was the most able bodied man in the world but then one morning bam i woke up disabled. yeah you could have that too. there's no cure either you'll just wake up one morning and now you have to live like me

[infectiouspiss]

"what happened" well have you ever seen looney tunes? yeah an anvil landed on me and squished me flat.

[sergle]

are you guys hearing about this dude working to developing a vaccine for cats that he's hoping would like. theoretically double their lifespans?

[sergle]

turns out i wasn't making that up, his name is Dr. Toru Miyazaki! he also wrote a book called "The Day Cats Live To Be Thirty", so cats are kind of his thing.

apparently, cats' kidneys tend to be the thing that takes them down, something about their bodies being unable to self-clean their kidneys, and the vaccine is supposed revitalize the body's ability to do just that. It would be very VERY fucking cool to have cats suddenly reaching 30 years of age be the normal thing.

Could the macrophage-derived protein AIM save cats from kidney disease?

As they age, almost all cats develop kidney disease, from which they eventually die. Just as in humans, kidney disease i

Cat Kidney Disease Cure Nears Reality: Dr. Toru Miyazaki’s AIM Therapy

Dr. Toru Miyazaki’s AIM injection for cat kidney disease enters trials in 2025, aiming for a 2027 release. Greycoat Research supports the sc

[moki-dokie]

whoa wait i actually read the articles and it's so much cooler than just that!!

dude cracked the case about WHY kidneys fail, across the board as far as i can tell. turns out there's a specific molecule whose job it is to attach to waste and signal macrophages to come eat it. it remains inactive in cats for some reason, but the molecule is still there. basically what he's done is found the switch to activate them. this will be profound not only for our domestic babies, but for big cats too - especially cheetahs!

although his research was focused on cats, it's already being used to develop drugs for humans too!

on top of that, since these molecules are tags for waste, this could also dramatically lower the rate of fatty liver disease, liver cancer, urinary crystals, rheumatoid arthritis, and even some neurological cases! like, they're hoping it may have an impact on parkinson's and alzheimers, but it DOES have an impact on stroke recovery. like. holy shit.

furthermore, he's insisting that the feline drug be affordable if and when it rolls out onto the market. he wants this to be something anyone can get for their cat!! idk how much sway he'll have over the human drug, but hopefully enough that it, too, won't be that expensive.

annnnnd in his research that he's still doing for the human side of things, he's found a potential link between this molecule and estrogen. in the 20,000 samples he's tested, women between ages 10 and 29 had the highest amount of this molecule present in their blood (a higher amount means Something Fucky is going on, essentially. There's a higher amount of waste the body is trying to clean out) but it drops down to be almost equal amongst men and women after menopause. it hasn't been looked into yet, but fuck, just the fact it's noted and known and probably WILL be looked into soon??? imagine if this is what leads to figuring out all the various ways the ovaries and uterus fucks with people and how to fix it. or even like, maybe there's something about estrogen that makes it work better. who knows! but it's rad the link is there to be researched :D

man just think, not only could our kitties start living longer, healthier lives, but just maybe dialysis will become as rare and obsolete as the iron lung is for people. what a badass Dr. Toru is!

[fluxxdog]

"But I don't want to turn people into dinosaurs. I wanna cure kittie kidneys!"

[rorleuaisen]

Update: So they have done clinical trials and have submitted it for approval as of april 2026. They are expecting it to be available late 2026/early 2027

AIM Kidney Drug for Cats: 2026 Approval Update — How It Works, Efficacy & Expected Cost | Carelogy

The AIM protein drug for feline chronic kidney disease has been submitted for approval in Japan (April 2026). We break down clinical trial d

As for the study itself, the 360 day follow up on stage 3 kidney failure kitties showed that the control had a survival rate of about 20%, while the test group had a survival rate of 80%

New 2026 study: AIM protein boosts cat kidney disease survival from 20% to 80%. Discover how this scientific breakthrough is changing the fu

[idiomagic]

Our cat Scout is in the early stages of kidney disease. This might be available in time to save her!

[obaewankenope]

I've given myself heat exhaustion AGAIN (heck, I hope it's only heat exhaustion, rip) and I am not here for it ffs so to make sure y'all know about it, imma share the signs of heat exhaustion!

Heat exhaustion is quite literally your body getting too hot and Exhausting itself to cope. Heatstroke is your body Failing To Cope.

Heat Exhaustion signs include:

You get a headache that Will Not Go Away

You feel confused and dizzy (balance who? Idk her)

You don't feel hungry but you feel sick as well (this sucks and happens a lot in high heat so try and snack regularly)

Sweating and clammy skin like the kind that has people go "you're freezing!" because you've sweated so much you literally end up with a chill on your skin

Cramps. Feckin cramps. Arms. Legs. Stomach. They suck ass.

You have a heckin fast pulse or you're hyperventilating like you've just had a Scare

Your body temp is over 38°c (because you're literally boiling like a lobster in a pot)

You are Beyond Thirsty and no matter what you drink it Does Not Abate

If you end up experiencing any of these symptoms, or multiple, and you're in a hot/warm environment, then sit your ass down in the shade, get something to drink, and get a damp cloth on your head or a change of clothes that are cool.

Basically, stop what you're doing and give your body a chance to Not Keep Boiling

Heat exhaustion is NOT THE SAME as a heatstroke.

Heatstroke is So Much Worse™.

Heatstroke signs include:

Still feeling like utter shite 30 minutes after you sat your ass down, rested in a cool place, and rehydrated

Not actually sweating even though you really do feel like a lobster in a pot that has the heat up High

Your body temp is 40°c+ (which is bad btw, that's temp for causing your to pass out etc)

Hyperventilating/fast breathing or actual shortness of breath (I struggle with this because asthma so I'm always like "idk if I got this oops)

Feeling confused but in a like "I don't know what's going on, I can't think, I have no idea about anything, someone help me please I'm crossing into traffic and don't even realise" way

Having a fit/seizure because your body temp is so high your brain is Actually Getting Boiled In Your Skull 🙃 [upside down smiley emoji]

Passing out and not actually responding or waking up from a brief fainting spell (this is the Serious™ kind of passing out that has doctors going "oh shit, we need an IV STAT!" or whatever it is they say when Shit Is Going Down)

Heatstroke can be really dangerous if it isn't treated quickly so please don't ignore these signs. Right now, I'm in a cool environs, with hydration, and am avoiding moving and am gonna have a nap because I'm going very dizzy, can't focus properly, have a headache, and am only coherent here because I'm HyperFocusing on this post. I can't even understand words being said to me right now hence nap, hydration, and cool environs.

So please, y'all, take care of yourselves. Seriously.

[hidesinthedark]

Very good advice

Some additional hot weather tips

If you have low blood sugar, but are having a hard time eating because you feel crappy from the heat, try sucking on some hard candy

If possible, after you get out of the sun/heat drink Gatorade or something similar to replenish what you've been loosing from sweating

When drinking water or Gatorade (no matter what you have it is important to stay hydrated!) it is important to drink slowly, even if you are very thirsty, because if you drink too fast the water might come back up

In hot weather, bandanas are very useful, even as a preventative measure, because you can pour some water from you bottle (or anything else) on them, and then put them on your head (as mentioned above) or neck. A few other areas help as well, like armpits, but I would personally recommend your neck.

It is not recommended to use a fan at or above 99°f or 35°c, because they can actually start to make the heat worse. (I know these are different temps, the recommendations come from different governments, 35°c is around 95°f, but this also depends on conditions like humidity, so just use your best judgement with this info)

Most importantly, if you think you are getting heat stroke call 911 or your equivalent, heat stroke kills several people each year, even in my area, where it normally only gets to 100°f for a few days each year

For fahrenheit users,

38°c = 100.4°f

40°c = 104°f

Remember to stay safe in warm weather

[artisanscribbles]

Well shit, I had most of those Sunday Morning, can heat exhaustion continue to hit even after you've moved into a cool environment, rehydrated, eaten, taken a long warmish-coolish shower and then slept for 7 hours?

Because those symptoms match the the symptoms I had last Sunday and made me feel like shit upon waking up.

[obaewankenope]

They can yes @artisanscribbles because heat exhaustion takes time to go away. You may well feel a bit under the weather for a few days after experiencing it, and any sort of exposure to heat without proper precautions can make it flare up again and worsen into heatstroke.

It's why it's so important to rest and keep hydrated when it's warm. I hope you eventually felt better and maintained your hydration levels with water and other fluids.

I had three days of feeling the after effects of heat exhaustion myself and felt like I had a cold, a constant headache, and random chills all at the same time as having a dry throat, not sweating properly, dizziness, and even muscle cramps from the rapid dehydration I experienced.

In general, to anyone who sees or reblogs this:

It's really important to take care of yourself, both immediately after you recognise you've got heat exhaustion, and in the long term. It can affect you for days after.

Please take care of yourselves aka TAKER:

Take breaks

Avoid too much sun

Keep hydrated

Eat regularly

Rest

[obaewankenope]

Reblogging this again because hello heat and fire and death, that's a bit not good.

Look after yourselves y'all

[obaewankenope]

Once again, in honour of 2024. Enjoy the advice on Heatstroke and Heat Exhaustion that I still have to remind myself of every darn year.

Stay hydrated folks!

[obaewankenope]

Annnd in honour of summer 2025!

Don't die y'all.

[obaewankenope]

BECAUSE THERE'S RIDICULOUS HEAT RIGHT NOW IN THE UK.

STAY IN SHADE.

HYDRATE.

EAT IN EARLY HOURS AND LATE EVENING.

NAP WHEN YOU GOTTA.

PUT. ON. SUN. SCREEN.

[shofarsogood]

When you hydrate, you need to drink water or a sports drink like Gatorade. Beer does not count! Coke does not count! Lemonade does not count! You are getting some water, but it has other things that your body needs to digest and process. You really need straight water or something with electrolytes. (Pickle juice or diluted vinegar are okay choices in a pinch, but straight water is best.)

You can also put a cold towel on your neck, wrists, inner elbows, and inner knees. This will help you cool off faster.

[alpaca-clouds]

No, sorry, but lemonade does count and is also important to count. Yes, the sugar and additives might not be ideal (and yes, drinking stuff with electrolytes is great if available (please remember that not everyone is living in a country where sports drinks are very available)) but what you most need is hydration. And given that lemonade of any sort is still very much 95+% water, it is fine.

There is a bunch of people who for a myriad of reasons (among them neurodivergence) struggle with drinking plain water, or have no access to safe water, and who cannot access any sort of isotonic drinks, because again, those are not a readily available thing in every country/place. So this entire "don't drink lemonade" thing ends up with a bunch of people not drinking enough at all.

Obviously alcohol is the exception (alcohol has the side effect of basically doing stuff to your kidneys that makes you less capable of retaining water in your body on the short term), and caffeine is a mild diuretic (= a thing that makes you pee more), do you need to be somewhat careful about caffeine intake, which applies to some forms of tea, coffee, coke, and energy drinks. Though usually it not big enough of a problem.

And, like, too much sugar intake is obviously not great, especially if you live in the US where instead of normal ass sugar they add the hellish shit called high fructose corn syrup to your drinks which is generally even worse on the body than normal sugar due to how the body takes in the sugar and such... But it is still better than not drinking enough. (Also: gatorade is in the end just a lemonade with some added electrolytes, and usually also comes either with about as much sugar as other lemonades or with artificial sweeteners that can create a bunch of other health problems for some people.)

So for the love of god: stop spreading the "only drinking water or gatorade counts" myth. Because that stuff is literally killing people.

If it is hot, you need to drink. Not alcohol. Alcohol is bad in the heat (it is also is bad without the heat, but worse in the heat). But otherwise: if it is liquid, it is good in terms of hydrating your body.

If gatorade or any other sort of isotonic drink is not available to you, a good alternative to fill up on electrolytes would be yoghurt with fresh fruits (especially bananas), salted watermelon (the Japanese classic), cucumber salad, or some cold soup (there is a bunch of recipes for summer soups out there).

[obaewankenope]

Very true. If you want max hydration, water is best aye, but if you can't handle drinking water enough to rehydrate effectively, even a diuretic like coffee will help you in the moment.

The problem, I think, with lemonade, is it probably depends on what you think of as lemonade. For me in the UK, lemonade is a fizzy pop that, whilst it may hydrate you, isn't all that healthy in the moment. Especially compared to sports drinks with electrolytes or water itself.

You're 100% correct tho that regardless of how much it may or may not hydrate you, if you have lemonade to drink then it's better to drink it than not to.

Anything that soaks your insides will help you in this situation even if there's other liquids that may help you better/quicker.

[afeelgoodblog]

Why hasn’t this been done before?

[autisticexpression]

You know why.

[petrosapian]

Mind the Gap: a handbook of clinical signs on black and brown skin

Second year medic, Malone Mukwende, has been working with staff members as part of a student-staff partnership project looking at clinical t

[missmixx-a-lot]

Cause racial health disparities…

[xmagnet-o]

I hope this gets published

[algorizmi]

It is available for download as a pdf from their website. www.blackandbrownskin.co.uk/mindthegap

[imperatorsapphiosa]

Hey, if anyone’s curious, this IS making a serious impact — this handbook was taught as standard practice for my EMT license course, as well as several other programs. A lot of new providers are being taught this as a matter of course.

[ryan-sometimes]

Working an office job will truly make you have the wildest enemies, bc why is my nemesis rn a woman I’ve never met and who exclusively haunts me by sending diabolical emails, and also a specific guy who left my company before I even worked here and made the system so fuckass that it ruined procedures for like a year

[ryan-sometimes]

Yesterday my nemesis (woman I’ve never met and whose face I’ve never seen) sent my office an email so rude, basically saying we had fucked up every project she ever ordered from us, one of the worst emails I’ve ever read in my life.

And it pissed me off so badly that I spent the ENTIRE WORK DAY today compiling evidence from every project my team has ever done for her, pulling past emails she’d sent us, putting together an entire case proving that she had been the problem all along. That she got projects mixed up, that she’d made requests that were nonsensical, literally everything you could possibly imagine. Screenshots of emails, reports we’d submitted, EVERYTHING.

This woman in particular has been terrorizing my team for years, her name is almost a slur in my office, I had simply had ENOUGH of her.

I put all of this evidence together and sent it to all of my bosses at 4:30pm. Then I took a long break to eat a sweet treat and drink some tea.

After my break, my bosses all called in an emergency meeting with me and they said they read my report and fucking loved it. And I sat on a teams call with my boss’ boss as she wrote my nemesis the scathing email I had always fantasized about sending, using the evidence I’d compiled, and hit send.

It was the most satisfying workday I’ve had since I got hired.

[winnie-wine]

[libraford]

An incomplete list of

Potions of Hydration!

Earlier this week I mentioned putting pickle juice in my water to replenish electrolytes. I work outside in a very hot and humid area, so it was very necessary.

Since then, a LOT of people have chimed in with their favorite hot weather drinks. I want to try... all of them. I've only had a few. Many of them are similar, but I still think its cool how many variations there are for 'its fucking hot out here and I don't want to die.'

So here is the incomplete list.

ORS (oral rehydration solution) (link has several recipes)

Shrub (sharaab)

Agua de pepino

Switchel

Posca

Ayran

Straight up drinking pickle juice (small doses)

Agua fresca

Sekanjabin

Pickle lemonade

Lebanese lemonade

Salted watermelon

Jamaica/hibiscus tea

Lebu pani

Ayuvedic gatorade

Soda chanh muôi

Suero

Aam paan

Sharbat

-

These ones were given to me without names, and were just lists of ingredients, to taste:

- water and umezu

- diluted apple juice with lemon and salt

-watermelon, lime juice, mint

- sparkling water, mint leaves, lemon or lime juice, cucumber

-coconut water, lime juice, salt

-salt, lemon juice, water

-orange juice, salt, sugar, water, lime or lemon juice

-elderflower syrup and lime juice in water.

There are probably more! Hydrate or die straight!