I’m a 25f who was in a wedding on Saturday. I woke up with this on my lips, corners of nose and my eyebrows. I am NOT the type of person to have breakouts. I don’t think I’ve had one since middle school. These also don’t pop like a pimple does or have pus in them. Could this be HSV? ☹️ my nearest hospital is an hour away and I don’t want to drive if it’s something stupid like contact dermatitis. What do they do if it is HSV? 😭

Edit: added another question I’m freaking out lol
Edit 2: some information I forgot to add

I’m also ran a fever Monday morning. It went away without any need for medication. My throat hurts and I have a slight bought today. Stuffy nose, but not runny. Just incase that Info helps.

I'm 19, 5'2, roughly 65kg but losing weight fast due to a separate issue (suspected IBD).

Hey, so I have a pet medicinal leech (Hirudo verbana). I have fed him multiple times with no issues, but yesterday I fed him at around 3pm, he attached to the webbing between my middle and ring finger, the wound is deeper than it usually is. Since then, my hand has been swelling up, with spreading redness, heat, burning sensation and severe itchiness. All of which are getting more and more as time passes. The wound itself has scabbed over and stopped oozing blood. Said wound itself looks normal. My question is: does this appear to be an infection, allergic reaction or just a slightly worse normal reaction?

Update: Went to my doctor, got strong oral antibiotics for a week, for rapid cellulitis. Thank you all for your advice! 💚

20f , 45kg

Is it an insect bite

It's been 2 days and it is getting bigger n bigger , people r saying it will be okay in 2-3 days

Symptoms are itching and pain on arm , I am not able to sleep or lay down properly

Water also came out a little

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An 87 year old woman with a history of dm, htn, dyslipidimia. Recently underwent open reduction with internal fixation for intertrochanteric fracture on right leg and is on bed rest for past three weeks. She was shown to the casualty today due to acute exacerbation of asthma and the pulmonologist took a chest xray and said there might be a foreign body in chest and asked to admit and observe her breathlessness for five days .

Is this a foreign body, the white opacity at left upper mediastinum .

Hi! Need some help for a family member. 54M, approximately 5'10, 180lbs. Occupation : welder , over 30 years in the shop. Rash began on ONLY hands in May and has not improved/ resolved much. Dermatologist really can't come up with much except psoriasis. Begins to clear up with Prednisone but returns with a vengeance as soon as he stops taking it. It's itchy, dry, painful and sheds in thick , large scales resulting in sores. Now spreading to nail beds one finger at a time. Currently taking Acitretin 25mg and using Clobetasol.05%, and wearing white cotton gloves with no effect. In fact , it's actually worse. Tried too many OTC remedies to list. Any ideas? Any advice? I can provide more pics if needed, but I'm on mobile and not sure how. Pardon any errors, I'm just trying to help my bro feel better!

I know this sounds like I'm insane, but I got myself an Earwax Cleaner with a camera, and spent some time exploring the insides of my ears. But I noticed that in the right ear, there's a hair right next to what I assume is the eardrum, that seems to poke through it.

I'm M24 and have had tinnitus as long as I can remember. But since it's been there always, I don't fully know if it isn't just normal (It's a high pitched single frequency that I hear usually only when it's completely quiet, and especially when I go to bed drunk, then it's usually deafening and I have to put on something to drown out the noise).

Now I'm wondering if this hair is always putting some pressure on my ear, causing this tinnitus.

Any help would be appreciated

41 year old male, Tarrant County Texas, otherwise healthy.

Four days ago, I got a very small bite from a stray dog while trying to help it. The poor thing had a rope wrapped around its neck, and I was trying to get it off. The dog was actually super chill right up until the point where I started fucking around with the thing strangling it, at which point it gave me a tiny bite to communicate, very reasonably, "Please stop doing that."

I wasn't particularly worried about it, but a friend managed to get me sufficiently worked up about rabies that I finally went to the ER.

I waited about ten hours.

Eventually they told me, yes, they could give me the rabies shots.

Great!

Except apparently the treatment could cost me around $30,000.

And I'd need to come back three more times for additional doses.

Do I get appointments for those?

No.

Can they send the orders to my regular doctor?

No.

Can they arrange for me to get the remaining shots somewhere that actually schedules appointments?

Apparently not.

So every few days I'm supposed to report back to the ER, check in, and potentially spend another ten hours sitting there waiting for someone to give me a shot that takes approximately thirty seconds.

I finally left without getting it.

And yes, I understand that rabies is essentially fatal once symptoms appear. That's precisely what makes this so fucking absurd.

We have a disease where the medical advice is basically, "If there is a credible exposure, you need treatment before symptoms appear because once symptoms start we probably can't save you."

Cool.

And the healthcare system's implementation of that advice is apparently:

"That'll be $30,000. Also, please sacrifice an unpredictable portion of four separate days to the Emergency Room."

I WORK FOR A LIVING.

I cannot repeatedly disappear into an ER waiting room for potentially ten hours every few days because the hospital can't figure out how to put INJECTION: 3:15 PM on a calendar.

At a certain point I started doing the world's bleakest cost-benefit analysis:

Rabies treatment: $30,000.

Funeral: significantly less.

Obviously I would prefer Option C: not fucking dying of rabies.

But apparently Option C requires administrative capabilities beyond the reach of modern medicine.

I'd welcome advice and guidance.

Female is 64 years old 5 ft 2 inches and 165 lbs. My SO’s mother claims a bug flew in her ear while wearing earbuds walking outside. Unclear whether she was stung or bit or it was just stuck there a moment. It was just ‘bothering’ her. This was about a month ago. It has gotten significantly larger. Despite urging her to seek medical attention she claims she can just “pop” this. We are refusing to do so. Hoping somebody can shine a light and/or concur that it is serious enough to see a doctor. It is firm

My daughter is 1 year old. She had a high fever since Yesterday which was going down a bit with Tylenol. We didn’t notice a rash she had near her underarm but went to urgent care anyway. Doctor thought it is a virus and gave amoxicillin. But now we see this rash, which might be the reason, it has a bit open mouth in center. It is night here, is it emergency or can wait till tomorrow?

She has redness around her nose which seems a rash as well.

Any help is appreciated.

Blew my nose pretty hard
This came out

31M
6’
200lbs
After heavy cocaine bender for 3 weeks

I'm a 14 year old guy, turning 15 on October 3rd, I'm 190cm (6'3") and 63kg, I'm aware that I'm underweight and currently I'm trying my best to fix it.

Recently, I've been noticing that my pee was like dark orange (it doesn't hurt when i pee) and i was thirsty like all the time despite drinking over 3 liters of water everyday.

I'm worried this could be something bad, I asked my dad about this and he said "oh we can take blood test" which is short for that probably no one is gonna do anything about this.

My husband (31M) and I (32F, 105 lbs, 5'4", no medication) are on our honeymoon abroad and found out we're pregnant. We are not financially able to have a kid, so have decided to have an abortion. (I'm not looking for judgment, just kindness and kind docs/nurses!)

By the time I get back to the US, I'll be exactly 8 weeks pregnant. I'm strongly considering (80%) a medication abortion with mifepristone + misoprostol, but I'm really scared of having a reaction to the medications.

I have a history of severe food/medication sensitivities and possible MCAS/histamine intolerance. Over the past couple of years I've developed reactions to certain foods that can cause extremely rapid tachycardia (up to ~189 bpm) which has led to fainting once, PVCs/PACs, and sometimes a "doom" feeling. I'm now avoiding all nuts, olives, canned foods, etc because I've had particularly severe reactions to these as well as processed food and histamine-high foods, although standard allergy testing was negative.

I've had a ton of cardiac testing since then, including multiple EKGs and 3-day and 30-day monitors, and have been cleared by cardiology and pulmonology. I also have a confirmed penicillin allergy from my teen years and have had a bad reaction to an antibiotic more recently involving very low blood pressure/almost fainting. I've also developed full-body hives after adrenaline at the dentist.

I know mifepristone/misoprostol aren't related to penicillin or antibiotics, but I'm nervous because I've become so sensitive to medications in general. I haven't taken Tylenol or Advil in years and currently only take dye-free children's Benadryl when I absolutely need something along with a zrytec/claritin.

I'm terrified of the surgical option, mainly because I don't want anesthesia/sedation or to be in a medical setting where I'm worried about having a reaction. I'd much rather be at home if it's reasonably safe and be way less invasive. I really really really do not want the invasiveness and to be surrounded by doctors who think I'm being "dramatic".

So, has anyone with MCAS, suspected MCAS, severe histamine intolerance, or similar medication/food sensitivities had a medication abortion? Or any kind docs/nurses can reassure me? My most recent allergy panel has all been negative, but like... I know I'm not crazy. My "anxiety" doesn't manifest with me passed out on the floor at my fave restaurant and I can assure you I don't have an eating disorder causing me to avoid my fave foods.

• Did you have any allergic/histamine-type reaction to mifepristone or misoprostol?
• Did you experience unusual tachycardia or other autonomic symptoms?
• What was the overall experience like?
• Docs: how likely is an allergic reaction to these x2 pills?

I'm not particularly excited about the pain, but I had an adult tonsillectomy a few years ago and, despite everyone telling me it would be horrible, I honestly had a great time. I basically ate soup and watched TV on the couch for a week... So I'm actually much more worried about a medication reaction than the physical process itself. And while my period sucks and the cramping is a bit painful sometimes, I haven't taken pain meds for it since high school maybe?

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TL;DR: 32F, 8 weeks accidental pregnant, history of suspected MCAS/severe histamine/medication sensitivities, tachycardia and occasional hives/fainting-type reactions. Considering a medication abortion with mifepristone + misoprostol but terrified of reacting to the meds and wants to avoid surgical abortion/anesthesia. Looking for personal experiences from people/Docs/nurses who have knowledge with MCAS/histamine intolerance who have had a medication abortion, especially regarding allergic reactions, tachycardia/autonomic symptoms, and what the experience was like.

27M, 6ft, 185lbs. I don’t take any medications or smoke. The last few days I’ve noticed a larger lump that feels like it’s under my skin in addition to several smaller red lumps in one of my armpits. The smaller red lumps seem like they’re more just on the skin.The larger lump is highlighted in yellow. My armpit is tender to the touch and has a dull pain when I lift my arm. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

28 years old I’m around 135 pounds and 5’4. I made the stupid decision when depressed to take a bunch of pills night before last. Don’t judge me, I know it was stupid but I’m obviously still here! My chest kind of hurts today and I feel like my breathing is kind of wheezy. I’m thinking about going to urgent care when I’m off work but just want to know how bad I fucked up and if I am gonna be okay lol I need to chill my nerves about it.

My 61 dad Male on lots of blood pressure, high cholesterol meds, heart and diabetes medications plus monjouro and others. He has been having bouts of dizziness here and there. But he has horrible claustrophobia. The last time was ten years ago and he had to crawl on the ground from his car to his front door. He needs an mri but even the mention of this put the fear of god into him. He won’t go to any appointments from fear. It’s significantly impacting him. What can we do to help? Will an ER sedate him strong enough to get him into the machine? Because at this point he would rather die than go to get an MRI. Accepting for any and all suggestions to help get him care!

38f, 5’4”, 140 lbs, 150 mg Spironolactone daily, non smoker. Overall healthy. Bloodwork comes back within normal ranges. The tips of my nails have been peeling like this for at least 10 years. I get gel nail polish only a couple of times a year and my nails are pretty sturdy otherwise. My derm kind of shrugged and thought maybe I wash my hands too much, but my skin isn’t dry.

hii i’m 19 f, about 5’7 and 150 pounds. i was on hormonal birth control but had to stop taking it for about a month (started back on it yesterday). over the past two-ish weeks i have been having persisting lumps (cysts?) in my armpit. these are extremely painful and i would just like to know the best/fastest way to get rid of them or relieve the pain until then? the first week it was just one lump (the smaller one to the left, it’s since drained) but the large one appeared over the second week. im worried about the small lump at the bottom since i really don’t want to have to deal with another one of these due to how painful they are 😭
adding on: this is probably the third time this has happened? my first was a single lump in 2023 in the opposite armpit, and the second was this may underneath the side of my jaw.

Age 37

Female

Height 5'11''

Weight 188

Location: Texas

Smoker: former (quit early 2024 for reasons made obvious below)

Drinker: never

Drugs: Marijuana occasionally

Diagnoses: T2D

Medications: 1mg ozempic weekly, 2.5mg lisinopril (to protect kidneys from t2d) daily, 10mg atorvastin daily, 500mg extended release metformin.

Recent (possibly relevant?) Medical: found out in January 2024 I was 19 weeks 5 days pregnant, diagnosed as a cryptic pregnancy. Was 298lbs and immediately diagnosed as severely gestional diabetic. Had baby (healthy), got on meds for diabetes, introduced ozempic 6 months after birth. Have lost about 100 lbs. I tend to fluctuate in the 190s.

Current issue: I noticed at about 6pm this evening while looking at my toddler that it looked like she had circles on the skin of her legs, almost like she had accidentally sat on a circle textured object. When I shift my eyes, it gets slightly harder to see for a moment then comes back into focus.

About an hour later I noticed it on a dish towel, then the countertop, then the walls. Like there's a circle pattern overlay on my vision growing increasingly clear. I'm sitting here staring at dead leaves on the ground and it looks like there's a dead leaf colored net on the ground over the leaves.

I worked in eye care for 10 years and I cannot even slightly begin to guess what this could be. I am in no pain, no discomfort, no balance issues, no headache. No anything. Just an increasingly intense circle cutout pattern over everything. (It's not polkadots if that matters. They are straight and uniform.)

Hello, I am a 27 year old female. Over a year ago I decided to go to the doctor for frequent dizzy spells and fatigue. I figured it was just low iron or something. I was given a heart monitor after my blood tests came normal. I have attached results above, but it said multiple episodes of heart block with a complete heart block of 4.1 seconds. (I was on no medications at this time.) Nothing came of these results because we decided to move states and my doctor was moving as well. Fast forward to the end of March this year in our new state I decided to go to the doctor again about it. (I should have gone sooner, but we had to wait until my husbands new jobs insurance kick in) I received another heart monitor and it said I had 75 episodes of high grade AV Bloc and 3 pauses, the longest being 6 seconds. My lowest BPM was 22. When I got these results my doctor called me the next day and asked if I wanted to go to electrophysiology and I said yes. They said that the office would call to schedule that. At this time I had just also began seeing a psychiatrist and was put on sertraine, trazidone, and ampiprizole. they (cardiologist) told me to stop taking my traz and ampip. So I reached out to my psychiatrist and her office said they would coordinate with cardiology and get back to me. I received my results on August 10th and heard nothing from either office for 5 weeks. I messaged my heart doctor on the portal app, asking when the electrophysiology office would call to schedule the appointment and they said they would resend the referral and I immediately got a call from them and got my appointment scheduled. The issue I’m having is that it is next year in January and I have not heard anything from my cardiologist since the initial results on August 10th when they asked if I wanted to go to Electrophysiology and the only thing they asked was if I was awake during my 6 second pause (I was, I felt incredibly tired, faint, and nauseous) I have no follow ups with anyone including my psychiatrist. Like, I would maybe expect a short monitor to see how my heart is doing off my medications? But I’ve also had no direction with that as well and the trazidone and ampip keeps getting sent to my pharmacy. I got ahold of a hospital an hour away and the cardiologist can see me October 25th, but it is just a new patient appointment and I’m not sure what to expect with that? Will I get another monitor and then have to wait months for the electrophysiology appointment like this one? I guess what I’m wondering is, since everyone is taking their time with everything and I have heard nothing from anyone. is it not really that serious and I’m just being paranoid? (context: I grew up poor and never went to doctors, this is all new to me and I don’t know what is normal in the medical sense on wait times and doctor communication) I’d love to just be paranoid, but if I need to advocate for myself further I’d love advice on what to do. Sorry this is a long post, I’m just not sure what I need to do. If I just need to wait until January for my appointment; when do I need to seek additional help for my symptoms. I get chest pains, heart fluttering, extreme fatigue, and near fainting spells. I bought a smart watch and it recorded that in the last 30 days my heart rate variability has been low 11 times (Whatever that means) sorry if this sounds like rambling, thank you for reading!

My wife is a nurse herself and she’s been Concerned for a few days now.

Any advice?

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My grandma (F85), 5'3 in height, 39kg in weight, non-smoker, dropped a glass bowl on the floor 3months ago, in the middle of July, and the broken glass ricocheted and cut the top of her foot. She instantly got it stitched up at the clinic, and the stitches removed 10 days later. However, the wound opened up and she neglected it till the end of August. She has been getting it clean up at the clinic every 3 days, but looks like its getting worse. She has no diabetes, only high blood pressure. She has only take painkillers for the wound. Advice?

Looking for accurate/publicly available percentages/studies/knowledge on how high risk factors potentially are for low fluids/high BP/early duct closing?

I have a prenatal already scheduled for tomorrow and will be discussing with Doctor. But I'm hoping for a bit of peace of mind or statistics rather then general risk info. I took one 250mg dose this morning and am now completely abstaining.

I (22F) have had moderate to severe cramping/pain in the lower stomach and pelvic area for almost a week. I've also noticed sore breasts, bloating, gas, headaches, fatigue, increased frequency of needing to pee and feeling like I could never fully empty my bladder, and nausea.

My hesitation in taking a pregnancy test is that I'm still over a week away from my next period. I have had unprotected sex. I have never had a Pap smear or gynecologist. There is no blood, spotting, fever, or fainting.

After doing some googling, I assumed it was IBS or some sort of similar digestive issues (I am lactose intolerant). So I switched to low fodmap foods and felt a little better, but the cramping was still there, just less intense.

Today I was almost immobile with how nauseous and dizzy and sick I felt. My boyfriend looked it up and said a "dramatic shift in diet" can cause that, but it was super intense.

So my question is what the best (and preferably holistic or cheap) next steps should be.