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¿Will It Shall Never Have Been *I*, For Forevermore?
aa-blay-OO' (glottal stop) aas-chra-TAAN-ih-kuh
Astratanica/Ran if that's more syllables than your legal name || Hit me with your best pronouns || Adult || Battlefield: The moon
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Anonymous asked
your dni list says don’t interact if “you’re a pro-ed blog” and sorry if i’m out of touch but since when was it problematic to have ed? i get all the other things on your dni but this one really confuses me. and while i’ve never heard of a blog being pro-ed, it’s a real condition people suffer with and maybe having a pro-ed blog and supporting people who can’t get a boner is a good thing? that’s just my thoughts. but if having ed is problematic somehow please lmk why.
if you can’t get ROCK FUCKING HARD i dont want you to even LOOK at my blog!!!
tor-rentials-deactivated2022020
(Not my content)
About 6 years ago, I was in the hospital with awful pain… I was asked where it hit on the 0-10 scale and I said a 9… because I was told “10 is the worst pain you can imagine”.
I have a pretty vivid imagination. I was in the worst pain of my life, but I imagined that having my limbs torn off by a gator would probably hurt more. So I said “9”.
Turned out I had 6 simultaneous kidney stones. As anyone who’s ever had one can tell you, even a single kidney stone is monumentally painful- famously so.
I had 6 at once. 4 in one kidney, and 2 in the other.
When the doctor figured out what was wrong with me, he was floored that I hadn’t said “10”. Floored that I wasn’t screaming.
I told him about my imagination. He asked if I had chronic pain. I told him yeah, and that the reason I waited almost 10hrs to come to the hospital when I started was because “it felt like period cramps”.
His advice? “Any time anyone asks you where you’re at on the 0-10 scale? Add four to account for my chronic pain daily threshold.
This pain scale isn’t as useful, but it’s funny.
I saw it in my orthopedic surgeon’s office.
A useful pain scale:
If you have chronic pain, your baseline may be 6. A good day may be 5.
Don't downplay that for the doctor. If your recent bad day was 8 or 9 - if you regularly have days that hit 8 or 9 - say so.
Part of the problem with doctors ignoring women's pain and people of color's pain, is that people who are disadvantaged are told to "suck it up" a lot, and they downgrade their baseline at 2-4 to zero.
Fuck that.
Describe your pain as if you were an overprivileged white guy who's never actually done 8 hours of manual labor in his life.
Having some decorations you like in your bedroom will improve your general mental health btw. Won’t cure you but it’ll make a big difference.
Re: blorbo from my research, here is my favorite ever case study. I'm obsessed with it.
Summary:
- Guy presents to neurology with muscle issues, very clearly has something going on but diagnostic tests are inconclusive
- History is mostly unremarkable. Key word, mostly. He drinks four liters of plain Earl Grey tea per day. For context this is nearly twice the recommended daily fluid intake. All fluids, to be clear, not just tea. He only drinks tea tho
- Bergamot is known to be phototoxic in high doses (reacts badly on your skin with sunlight)
- APPARENTLY nobody previously has consumed enough of it for it to be widely known that it is also, apparently, mildly toxic to ingest in high doses
- Guy starts drinking plain black tea again. Only 2 liters this time (he didn't have a medical reason to drink that much tea, he just liked it) and so now he's fully recovered
…I drink a little under 4 litres a day of mostly water and salt stuff, on doctor’s recommendation. Huh.
man having your life even a little bit together will really make you realize how chronically sleep-deprived and poorly fed and under-enriched everyone is and then when they turn to you to implicitly agree that that's just the natural state of existing you feel like the asshole for being like "actually I think you might benefit from eating breakfast regularly and picking up a new hobby"
we really can’t overstate how damaging it has been to indoctrinate the public with the idea that if they let themselves eat as much as they want, they’ll eat too much. human bodies, when permitted over the long term to eat as much as they want, actually get really, really good at calibrating their hunger and satiety, and will over time eat exactly the right amount for themselves. the common conception of a balanced eater as a minimal or restrained eater is absolutely wrong. balanced eaters eat quite a lot (compared to diet cultural ideas about right intake amounts), and they do so consistently and permanently. healthy, balanced eating isn’t some tightrope walk, it’s a gigantic net of total permission to eat.
i might have already talked about this before but it’s actually crazy that jogging gets treated as a default ‘getting into shape for the first time’ exercise ESPECIALLY if someone’s goal involves weight loss. people who are more than ~200lbs often need special gear and running techniques to avoid shin splints etc *even if all that weight is solid muscle*, and the likelihood of injury only goes up as strength to weight ratio decreases. someone who’s both heavy AND untrained is just going to be miserable for however long it takes their bones and connective tissue to adapt to the sudden increase in demand. usually this takes months, but it can take even longer under adverse conditions like, say, suddenly eating way less than normal. and all this for an activity that literally isn’t even fun unless you are a specific type of insane. there are so many low impact and actually enjoyable forms of cardio why are we slapshotting biomechanically disadvantaged novices into the david goggins torment dimension
could. could you maybe. list some of those 'low impact and enjoyable forms of cardio'? this is not sarcasm, this is a genuine request, every form of exercise I have tried recently has put me in the torment dimension. thank you and I love you
yeah sure! there’s a lot of good suggestions in the notes, i’m probably missing a few
if you have access to a gym/appropriate facilities:
- a LOT of people in the notes vouching for swimming, and it makes sense. not only is it basically zero impact on any of your joints, it engages just about every muscle in your body and it’s actually easier to stay afloat the higher your bodyfat%
- stationary bike/elliptical: works for some better than others, but definitely far lower impact than running, usually has adjustable difficulty, and you can watch youtube videos or play games on your phone to pass the time
- non stationary bike: the benefits of a stationary bike plus the ability to travel to a location
- weight lifting: if you’re a total beginner to exercise this genuinely might be a better place to start than any designated ‘cardio’ activity, it Will get your heart rate up and build strength to do higher impact stuff with less risk, but designing a routine can feel overwhelming without help from a trainer/more experienced lifter
- classes: yoga, pilates, dance, kickboxing, spin class, water aerobics, etc. as long as you can find one that accommodates your current fitness level and is a reasonably friendly environment
- rowing: i actually know relatively little about rowing, but this has come up in the notes several times and people seem to like it. def seems like a good overall workout with little to no jarring impact
- roller derby: definitely less of a Safe Beginner Activity and more ‘form of cardio you can do if you are on the fit side but still hate running’ but has come up in the notes multiple times specifically as a sport where a range of body types can do well
minimal equipment alternatives:
- walking: if you have the resources to jog you have the resources to walk, and it really is a good form of exercise that also puts less strain on your joints
- dance tutorials: seen a few people recommending these, there’s apparently a huge variety on youtube and you can take things at whatever pace works for you
- yoga: also beginner friendly classes on youtube, good way to build up mobility and bodyweight strength
- someone in the notes recommended hula hooping?? which actually sounds kind of genius especially if you don’t have a lot of gear or space. also iirc you can buy different weights of hula hoops for reasonably cheap so there’s a way to up the intensity over time
- this seems like a decent resource at first glance and i think i saw more than one rec for them
one important thing to remember for anyone out there who’s significantly out of shape and feels overwhelmed is that when it comes to fitness you have one enormous advantage: it is currently EXTREMELY EASY for you to get exercise
do you 🫵 get winded walking up a flight of stairs? is curling a 5lb dumbbell 10 times difficult for you? can you barely do a single knee push-up? well i have great news: doing all of those things twice still probably takes less you less than 10 minutes. which means you can do a genuinely worthwhile daily workout in less than ten minutes. and it’ll probably get easy fast, and then you can find a heavier dumbbell
Hey everyone, remember that being sick or healing from injuries is a hard time for your body. You have to eat a lot and lay still and be kind to yourself! [large neon sign that says HYPOCRITE descends from the ceiling and points at me] Hey what the heck what's this who put that there
[I.D.: A five panel black and white digital comic with a supplicant and a sage. The supplicant on their knees says "Oh, all-knowing sage, grant me your wisdom!" The sage, floating ominously says "Stop taking twelve Advil a day"
"Boo!" replies the supplicant. Then the sage takes out a box of Advil and a ox of Tylenol and hands them to the supplicant. "Instead, alternate between Advil and Tylenol. They work through different mechanisms, so they are safe to take together."
"Oh!" says the supplicant, now smiling. The sage holds up a finger, saying "Never go over the recommended daily maximum for any OTC drugs. Overuse of Advil can cause stomach and liver issues; overuse of Tylenol can damage your kidneys. Always speak to a physician before combining prescription strength drugs." End I.D.]
you have the kidney/liver backwards. advil and other nsaids cause kidney damage and tylenol causes liver damage
[ID: a two panel black and white comic. The sage dramatically says "the all-knowing sage does not make mistakes!" but then points to a hastily scribbled, sobbing artist and says "but the idiot drawing them does." The artist says "sorry!!!" while hunched over their desk. End ID]
The all-knowing sage is restricted by their medium and the artist is very very srry!!!!!!!!
PLEASE REBLOG THIS VERSION AND THANK YOU SAILOR-LAPIS-LAZULI
Periodic reminder that you should never trust a chiropractor with your body under any circumstances
Chiropracty is a quack medicine in the extreme. It was invented by a guy in the 19th century who said a ghost taught it to him. It claims it can fix cirrhosis by cracking your spine. Chiropractors are one of the biggest groups keeping anti-vaccine fraud alive. Oh, and they can kill you doing a “routine adjustment”
Like I won’t go so far as to say “Ban chiropractors” because doing so would definitely backfire, but you should literally never ever under any circumstances seek their assistance for any health problem at all.
Since this is getting a few notes I may as well attempt to head off one of the inevitable objections that’ll show up if this gets far enough.
“If Chiropractic* doesn’t work, why does insurance cover it?”
Well, it’s very simple you see, insurance hates paying for things, and chiropractors are cheap as fuck.
Let’s say you injure your back scrubbing a toilet or something. You go to a real doctor, a good doctor who doesn’t blow you off. That doctor may tell you to take some Motrin and call them if it doesn’t get better, but they also might prescribe you a stronger anti-inflammatory, or a muscle relaxer. Your insurance has to pay out for the visit and the medicine.
Let’s say they do that and two weeks later your back still hurts. Your doctor orders an MRI. Your insurance now has to pay for an MRI, which can be a couple thousand dollars, well more than the premium you’ve paid this month, which means they’ve lost money on you.
So you’re lucky and the MRI comes back that you’re okay but you need physical therapy. That’s another couple grand that your insurance has to pay out.
But maybe you weren’t lucky. Maybe the MRI comes back and you have a herniated disc. You’re gonna need surgery and physical therapy, and now you’ve not only cost them more than your premiums bring in in a year, you’ve hit your annual maximum which means they have to pay everything from now on. They aren’t happy.
So let’s start back at the beginning. You injure your back, you instead go to a chiropractor. The chiropractor doesn’t have a decade of medical training, they have a certificate from a for-profit college that says they’re a chiropractor. They charge your insurance for an office visit, crack your back a bit, and send you on your merry way.
You might feel better for a while, because the placebo effect is more powerful than you think. But even if you do feel better, there’s still the chance that you’ve got damage. You may still need physical therapy, you may still have a herniated disc.
But if you keep going back to that chiropractor, they’re never gonna tell you that, and even if they do, it’ll be after 2-3 sessions, so 6-8 weeks at a minimum, during which time you’re putting more wear and tear on that injury, and eventually, you have to go to a real doctor.
But here’s where the magic happens. See, you injured your back in December. Now it’s February. Because your insurance put off sending you to a real doctor for two months, some actuary gets a big fat bonus for “reducing costs” in quarter 4. Meanwhile, your real doctor orders an MRI that shows that the damage is, in fact, much worse than it probably was to begin with. And there’s some evidence of injuries after the fact from the chiropractor. Oh, and by the way, there’s a chance you’re gonna be in pain for the rest of your life even with surgery.
But hey, your insurance managed to post a profit in Q4.
* “Chiropractic” is the “official” term for whatever the hell it is chiropractors do. I don’t respect it enough to use it unless I’m mocking someone who’s defending it.
I love how the notes on this are like, 60% “my friend in their 20s got paralyzed/had a stroke/exploded because of a chiropractor”, 39% “I didn’t know holy shit” and then there’s like four really loud people going on about how I’m being really mean and chiropracty totally works bro, you just have to find the right practitioner bro, they’re better at neck manips now bro, you’re totally not risking your life at them bro
Anyone who thinks chiropracty is "completely safe" needs to go talk to @thebibliosphere because gods how that woman has suffered as a result of their "healing art"
My neck can no longer supports the weight of my head without crippling nerve pain and life threatening consequences when my cercical verterbra subluxes out of place and threatens to sever all the vital arteries in my neck ✌
Anonymous asked
Following you has really changed my perception on what is normal sex ed to know because i just went on twt(mistake) and was struck by "[cis bc terf] lesbians have inherently safe sex and telling them to use protection is forcing hetero shit on them" girl the stds
batmanisagatewaydrug replied
sorry hang on they’re saying it’s heteronormative to. have protected sex ?????
everybody knows that regardless of your genitals you can get STIs in your mouth and throat right. please tell me you all know that.
You Can Get A Gonorrhea Infection In Your Throat
gay guy i knew also thought you didnt need protection for oral. got mad at me when i explained.
I know we have Gardasil vax now but
ALTreminder that if you weren't vaccinated for HPV as a child, you can get vaccinated up to age 45 in the US. the best time to get it was when you were in middle school, the next best time is now.
i hate that concerns about urban gardening/foraging safety is often met with "What are you, a cop?" scorn. I believe it's a suspicion of anything that hinders the punk/anti-system urgency to jump in immediately and do whatever feels right.
Safety, ethics, and sustainability are all a part of urban gardening and foraging. I'm sorry that means you need to do homework before you can do anything, I know that sounds lame. But life is complicated.
I know anti-intellectualism is viewed as activist these days, but like, surely you don't want to literally eat lead, right?
Let’s check in and see how those rascally solarpunk kids are doing, surely they’ve learned by now that…..
ALTDaily reminder: Leafy greens like kales uptake all those delicious heavy metals in urban soils like lead and cadmium.
Don’t eat sidewalk-crack kale.
Here's some cool references from the EPA on safe urban gardening:
ALTREUSING POTENTIALLY CONTAMINATED LANDSCAPES: Growing Gardens in Urban Soils
Steps to Creating a Community Garden or Expand Urban Agriculture at a Brownfields Site
the discussion around ozempic frustrates me. ozempic in of itself isn't the issue here. the issue is that people in the medical field are allowing people to abuse a drug that's intended to treat type 2 diabetes for weight loss
idk just stop demonizing these medications. some people actually need them and they are actually very effective for helping with diabetes management. the fact that they are used outside of that context is not the fault of diabetics. not everyone on ozempic or mounjaro or any other diabetes medications that are used for off label purposes are doing it for said off label purposes. i am on mounjaro because my diabetes is very poorly maintained with pills alone. some people literally need these medications to avoid kidney failure or liver failure or any other complication associated with diabetes. the issue is fatphobia and the way doctors are willing to allow people to abuse these medications. stop demonizing necessary medications for diabetics. stop it