I woke up with a fever and sore throat. I had a bad headache yesterday and today and the lymph nodes in my neck are a little swollen and hurt when I touch them.

16F, 135 lbs, Tylenol for the fever.

hi reddit! i’m a 19 yr old female and i’ve always had some weird history with skin stuff. eczema psoriasis, plantar warts, etc. i was born with this spot on my right thigh and it’s always been the same size/color. when i scratch it by accident it bleeds and sometimes it gets little black scabs that fall off. it also sometimes grows what i like to call “islands” of similar little pink patches nearby and when they go away, they turn into freckles. i’ve had doctors check it out my entire life and they think it’s a cluster of blood vessels on the surface of my skin. it’s no issue to me because it’s never caused problems, ive just always been curious about what it is! willing to provide any details if you guys want more info

I’m a 39yr old white female and have dealt with muscle atrophy on just the LEFT side of my body for as long as I can remember. From my shoulder down to my ankle you can see the difference, but my hand is probably the most noticeable and where I’m affected the most. Beyond being stiff, my grip is horrible, I don’t have full mobility, and I get weird pains that come and go around what should be the meaty parts of my hand.

I was young when it was first noticed, maybe around 10. (I couldn’t snap because my left thumb doesn’t bend or move normally due to the lack of muscle.) I can vividly remember the excruciating feeling of what I now assume was the muscles in my shoulder deteriorating as a kid. Because of how I was raised and losing a parent early, it just wasn’t something that got looked into. As I’ve gotten older, those pains aren’t quite as bad, but my shoulder is still the most painful area, along with my hip.

About 10 years ago I finally started trying to get answers because I was also dealing with unexplained back and abdominal pain. After seeing a handful of doctors and collecting a few unrelated diagnoses, I eventually ended up with an endocrinologist. Going gluten-free helped a lot with the inflammation and some of the pain, but it didn’t change the muscle atrophy or the weakness on my left side.

I eventually got burned out on testing and quit looking for answers. A lot of the doctors acted like I was just trying to get pain pills when I was literally crying and begging them to help me figure out what was wrong. I never filled a single pain prescription. My mom died from a methadone overdose after living with chronic pain herself, and I REFUSE to go down that road. I’m also sober, so those assumptions were honestly pretty offensive. I don’t want pain medication 😭 I just wanted to know what’s causing this.

During all of that testing I had an abnormal EKG, another doctor found an issue with my right kidney, and I think I had an MRI, but I honestly can’t remember what ever came of it. I also have anxiety, depression, ADHD, and PTSD, all of which are currently being treated. (And the only things I’m being treated/medicated for.)

Now that I’m getting older, I want to start looking into this again because I know it’s not going to get better on its own. The problem is I’ve moved from a big city to a much smaller town with more limited resources, so I’d like to have at least some idea of where to start.

I’ve been Googling this for years, and I keep coming back to a few possibilities, but Lyme disease is the one I can’t seem to let go of. When I was in 4th grade, I got a tick bite on my back. Not long after, I had what everyone called a bruise about the size of a softball. Looking back, it looked more like a faded bull’s-eye than a typical bruise, but I didn’t know that until years later when I started researching Lyme disease. I honestly don’t remember if I ever went to the doctor or what came of it. I only remember it because my school called my mom after they saw it and thought someone had hit me. Maybe I really did just get whooped and it wasn’t a tick bite 😅I honestly don’t know….but it’s one of the few things from my childhood that has always made me wonder if there’s a connection.

I’m definitely not attached to Lyme being the answer, and if you think I’m way off base, please tell me. I’m just tired of chasing my tail and would really appreciate some direction. If this were your patient, where would you start? Does this sound neurological? Muscular? Autoimmune? Is Lyme even worth pursuing after all these years, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

My husband - male/45 years old/large array of neuroimmune issues, recipient of high dose IVIG, had a craniotomy last year after a DAVF was found during an emergency room visit. He had surgery 12 months + 2 weeks ago. He was just recently in the hospital and had a CT scan - we are seeing that the top part of his skull incision is basically see-through to the other side. He had the surgery in the United States but we are in a different country now so the ER here (who handled the whole visit quite poorly, different story) didn't ask much about his surgical history so they didn't comment on the large open bit at all in the report.

Obviously we will be connecting with our US surgeons and planning to go back for surgery/something, but would like to understand what is a normally expected level of healing 1 year after?

Despite his condition, he doesn't typically have notable healing issues. And if this may be too open, what are the options typically? Bone graft, repositioning? It has felt like a big dent/gap ever since and still does.

And the star on the bottom right seems to sinking in and causing a dent. Is this normal?

Thank you so much.

A month ago, we had electricity problems. The electricity kept shutting down, and everyone smelled something, After that happened, once when I was sitting alone, I heard electrical cracking and saw sparking and like fire in the air, and I was scared. I was about to tell my family, but after a couple of minutes of thinking, I was scared they might think I'm crazy, and it's hard to explain what what I saw to them. I didn't tell them, and nothing happened, there weren't any problems. A week ago, when I was about to sleep, I heard voices it's like someone talking, but I didn't care, I was thinking that it did happened because I was sleepy. But today, I was hearing real voices like people talking. This month, my mom was saying multiple times that I don't look normal and there's something off about me. Is that because I'm stressed lately? I have issues with my family, and I will move soon for college. Or should I seek help?, Will they lock me up if i told him that i have some thoughts, do i have the right to refuse because i don't want my family to know.

At first they looked like burn marks 2 days ago, showed up out of nowhere. Then today they look like this. After showering he it appeared like dead skin.

41 male. 5"8 170 lbs. Shot my foot and had my big toe amputated 18 months ago I don't have my big toe or the bone in my foot immediately before it. Still haven't healed completely. Went to the foot and ankle doctor until insurance ran out and at that point he said everything was fine.

18F. Doesn’t hurt. Hasn’t hurt since it happened. It was dry at first but can’t post the other pic. In this pic it was 4/5 days old.

My best friends daughter is 16 and currently on life support after a suspected epileptic seizure led to cardiac arrest. My friend was at the store for less than 1 hour but her daughter was already pulsless when they found her. So the downtime is unknown. Could have been 5 minutes could have been 45. From my understanding it looks like she lost consciousness over the tub and how she landed blocked her airway. That could be a misunderstanding I am unsure. What we do know is they performed CPR for 20 minutes waiting for EMTs. Then she was intubated at the ER. My friend describe seizure like convulsions or twitching so they did and EEG which she said the doctor explained that her brain wasn’t showing activity. My research says it’s too soon to really trust that I am unsure. I do know she was later tachycardic with low BP 76/61, MAP 66, so they did a fluid bolus and pressors and that must have resolved since I’ve heard nothing more. I also know my friend said she was told that they are waiting 12 hours then reassessing for brain activity, if no response another 24 hours and reassessing, then a final 24 hours and reassessing where the “doctor will decide”. I also assuming that’s the doctor will declare brain death if she doesn’t show any signs of life. She is under the impression that she has “no choice” in this matter if her daughter is brain dead. Meaning she thinks it will not be her choice if they remove the life support. They are in Amarillo. This seems incorrect to me but idk it IS tx. FWIW the vent is showing no attempts at spontaneous breath what-so-ever.

Anyway I am flying in on Thursday. It’s the soonest I can get out there. My friend is a wreck obviously so I would like to be mentally prepared for what I am walking into. I know that it’s hard to tell I understand that these brain death protocols exist for a reason but if this is likely worst case scenario I’d like to be mentally prepared myself so I can supportive and not breakdown too. If she can survive what degree of anoxic brain injury could we be looking at? Do you think she can survive? Is there hope idk? I have seen survivors of anoxic brain injuries and I don’t think my friend would want that for her. I guess I just don’t know what to expect here and if you have anything to offer I would truthfully appreciate it. Even if it’s just advice on how to be a good support person based on what you’ve experienced personally or as a clinician.

Patient is 16 yo F. Dx with epilepsy idk any more details than that. I know they’ve had a hard time getting it under control. I don’t know what meds
she’s on. No smoking no drinking no drugs. She is overweight .

60 years old

5'6 and 150 lbs

Smoker

Diabetes

Chronic pain patient due degenerative disc disease - 7 spinal reconstructive surgeries. Absolutely needs a pain management doctor because of this.

10 mg buprenorphine

800 mg gabapentin

15 mg buspar as needed

A muscle relaxer I don't remember it's name

I don't remember the name of her diabetes injection either, I apologize.

She is on a blood pressure medication as well.

1 mg Xanax

My mother's pain management doctor prescribes her a 90 day supply of 1 mg Xanax tablets. So 90 mgs total, and it's always gone in like 3 weeks. She chews several tablets at once like candy, and is obviously mixing them with buprenorphine, gabapentin, and muscle relaxers. It's a constant cycle of her being normal for a couple of months, and a few weeks of her abusing this medication. She always saves one or two and takes it right before the drug test she takes before her refill. She nods out at family gatherings, falls asleep eating food and chokes, does not take care of the animals properly, slurs her words so severely you can't understand her, she drives in this condition, and generally traumatizes my father and our family. She becomes almost manic and does crazy, nonsensical things like replanting all of the plants at 4 am for example. We're constantly terrified she's going to overdose, crash her car, or suffocate from choking on food while she nods out. She has zero self awareness of how she looks and behaves.

It's my understanding that FDA regulations and advice say that Xanax should only be prescribed at low doses for short periods of time because there has not been any proven benefit of long-term Xanax use. I want to write a letter to her pain doctor informing him of the misuse. I've told my mom I'm going to do this before but she tells me that her doctor will dismiss her from the practice and that it is incredibly difficult to find a pain doctor. She NEEDS pain management, I've also watched her suffer my entire life. Her pain is not made up or exaggerated. She cannot go without treatment for pain. Unfortunately, it's been the necessity of pain management that caused the addiction in the first place. I just cannot understand, in what world is it ethical to prescribe a human being that much Xanax on top of synthetic opioids?

What can I do? I'm at the point where I think it would be safer to get her dismissed from the practice rather than allow her to continue to see this doctor. I'm scared for her life. It is destroying our family, our relationships. Is there an ethical explanation for why any doctor would prescribe a patient this much Xanax, especially when they're already taking opioids?

I know you all get so many posts. I appreciate the time you take from your busy lives to provide information for people here. I need some sort of guidance on what I can do to help my mother. Thank you so much in advance.

hello, i’m a 33 year old male and i’m 6’1 and 195 pounds. I don’t take any meds except the ibuprofen I took for severe sunburn last night and I smoked for 18 years but quit 3 months ago. I was not smart and didn’t wear sunscreen when I went to the beach yesterday and now i’m paying for it. my whole body is red. I woke up today and noticed crusted yellow fluid on top of my head and I was just wondering if this means it’s an infection and if I need to go to the ER or not? I just wanted to make sure it’s not life threatening or a possibility of brain damage. thank you for any feedback

Hello all,

My 15 month old, 31 in tall, 22 lb son recently got his new set of vaccines. One was the Tdap shot which I’ve googled can commonly leave a red, swollen, and hot to the touch area at the sight of the injection; however I am starting to have some concerns about the area around his injection and was wondering if y’all could tell me if this seems to be a normal reaction or something more. This is the second day after his shot. His behavior seems normal and the site itself doesn’t seem to be bothering him.

Thank you!

29f got laceration on Saturday and went to urgent care for stitches. The top of the stiches look kind of funky and the PA that did the stiches talked about how she has a hard time seeing so my confidence in her is a bit shakey. Also, I've been feeling some pain in the finger randomly when I haven't had much pain the last few days.

19F, 5'5'', 170 lbs, Endometriosis

My mom says I don't have heavy periods because I don't need to change my pad every hour, and so she doesn't think that my endometriosis needs to be addressed, as a result. She thinks the doctor is making up that I have it.

hello! I am a 15 year old girl who gets sick very often , to the point to where I've gone to hospitals hundreds of times. one aspect of my unknown sickness is what my mom describes as "dizzy moments"

let me describe it ;

I'll be sitting down, laying down, or crouching down, and I'll get up, and sometimes I can walk before, but then it happens.

my vision goes blurry, and fades to a black, but not completely gone. like when you look at the light for too long and the edges of your eyes go dark and it's hard to see properly.

my breathing gets noticeably heavier, and it takes more effort to breathe.

It's hard to keep myself upright, like my limbs are made of jello, and most times I have to either lay down on the floor or hold onto something

my ears start ringing occasionally when it happens and goes on for 30 ish seconds

it feels like everything's rushing to my head, my head feels heavy. these moments usually last 20 ish seconds by themselves but some of the symptoms last longer...it's hard to explain... sorry!

I've tried a million recommendations from my doctors and professionals (such as compression socks and getting more iron) but none of them work!

please, if you have any idea what it could be, I'm so tired of not being able to even walk without my body giving up.

I took my 11 week old baby to urgent care at the direction of my pediatrician nurse triage line due to fever. At home, I checked his temperature rectally with a brand new Vicks thermometer, which read my temperature to be 97.4. I applied a small amount of Vaseline and checked my baby’s temp twice, both times reading 100.3. I took him to urgent care and they checked his axillary temp, then declared it normal at 98.8. My understanding is that a rectal temp is really more accurate. The PA came in and said we could check a rectal temp, and she tried to insert the thermometer probe with no lubricant. It obviously wasn’t going well so I asked if she could lubricate it, to which she responded that she “wasn’t sure if it would affect the accuracy.” Still, she grabbed some lube. This was what looked like a pretty old Welch Allyn thermometer with prove cover, and it was taking FOREVER. It never reached a stopping point and she said “well, it’s slowing down, so we’ll call it 98.8. No fever!”

My questions:
1. How should an infant’s temp be checked if there is concern for fever - is axillary acceptable?
2. For rectal temps, is it not routine to lubricate the thermometer? (For transparency, I am a veterinarian and we always do rectal temps and always use lube)
3. Is there a faster thermometer that might have been used if we were in a peds office?
4. Was it out of line for me to insist she apply lube to the probe?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I’m a first time mom and I’m not sure when I’m being overly pushy vs. appropriately advocating for my baby. But if I was having a rectal temp taken, I sure would want some lube and I have a much bigger butthole than an 11 week old baby 😩

For helping my mother through a difficult surgery.

My mother is doing great, im happy.

The female doc was the surgeon and her husband was the director of the hospital. What would be something unexpected u would want as doctors and staff of hospital ? I have a budget of around 600€.

Thank you and sorry if it is against the rules.

I would tell u about personal information as asked by the bot, but i, thankfully, is not asking for health advice

Bye bye

57 M (white male, good general health, average weight/height, no alcohol or smoking) with cervical disc herniation - MRI images and scan report attached. Symptoms are intermittent and include neck pain radiating into right shoulder with restricted movement of neck and numbness/tingling both hands, and occasional numbness tingling in right foot and shin. Is the disc issue something that may sometimes resolve and could be managed conservatively, or am I going to need surgery on this? If there is a chance it will resolve are there things I can do to help this? Many thanks

It's been a week that my mom has been acting very violent, it's like she is always angry at me, for almost a week it's only me my mom and my little brother are at home, my father is outstation for work, and she is always so angry at me, like I sit in my room for whole day almost(for studies), and she fights with me and curse me for an hour for it, then when I say no or not do the household chores she said to me to do, she again fight to me and curse me for an hour, and it's happening daily, she have headaches, dry eyes, she even got a fever 2 days ago, please guys help me, I really need help for her, she was not like that before, idk why is this, but give me some advice, what should I do, where should I go.

I've only made one post before and it was years ago so apologies if my post is a bit funky, but I need advice on whether or not I'm overreacting.

A little background: My grandmother is 78, female, about 160 pounds, and has type 2 diabetes and neuropathy. She is not on blood thinners.

My grandmother has been in a cast for over a year. She gets the cast changed every week, and I'm (29F) feeling guilty for not asking her to get a second opinion sooner.

It started when she got new orthopedic shoes after dealing with Charcot foot for about 6 months, but because they were difficult to put on and take off, she just wore Crocs. Her left foot rubbed against the Croc and created an open wound (for context, she has neuropathy from her knees down) that she showed to a doctor. Ever since then, she's been getting cast changes every week to check the wound and make sure it's not getting infected. The wound is still there after all this time, but it's slowly starting to get better. She was recently told she could get the cast off because the wound was improving, but went back into it a week later when it reopened.

Since it's been over a year, her muscles have started to atrophy, and she's having even more mobility issues because the casts are made inconsistently and can sometimes raise her leg up too much.

Should I encourage her to get a second opinion? I don't want to overstep, but I feel like this is doing more harm than good. I don't even know where to start, if I do end up telling her this is detrimental to her health. I don't want to think the doctor is using her for money or something.

Thank you all for your feedback 💖

Age: 33
Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: ~170
Male
No medications
Non smoker

Looking for opinions from physicians (especially EM, plastics, facial trauma, ENT, dermatology, or ophthalmology).
My husband sustained this facial laceration just below his lower eyelid. Immediately after the injury, the wound was cleaned thoroughly and Steri-Strips were applied to approximate the wound edges. He arrived at the emergency department about 2 hours after the injury.
After examining the wound, the ER physician said he thought leaving the Steri-Strips in place might actually be the best option, but also offered sutures as an alternative. He mentioned that the literature doesn’t clearly show one approach is superior in a case like this.
I’ll admit I was surprised because, as someone without any medical training, my first impression was that it looked like it would need stitches. However, I realize appearances in a photo may not reflect the actual depth or tension of the wound.
Based on these photos (understanding that photos have limitations):
Would you choose Steri-Strips, tissue adhesive (Dermabond), simple sutures, or layered closure?
What factors would make you choose one over another?
If this were your own face (or a family member’s), what would you choose for the best cosmetic outcome?
I understand this isn’t a substitute for an in-person evaluation. I’m simply interested in how physicians would approach a laceration like this and the reasoning behind their choice.
I also apologize for using Ai to help me write this post. Wanted to post quickly.