#i mean obviously having a chronic pain condition is never fun | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

witheringwidgetwrites · 2 years

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If you like, obey me guys with an MC who suffers from chronic pain, specifically that they have a hard time keeping up with the brothers when walking?

Ooo!!! Definitely excited to write bc I relate!! Im actually disabled 😎 im an abulatory wheelchair user so im tempted to make a HC w them reguarding smth like that?? Anyway i get it, so here is my most accurate potrayal mwahaha

Just to add some clarification, im gonna reference some symptoms I personally deal with, though I will do so vaguely! Chronic fatigue means many diff things for many folks so, yk. Also They're all tall, fit, superhuman strength, so even your average person probably couldn't keep up? Idk but i think it would be dramaticly different for mc vs the boys

Edit/ got way too into this lol, sorry. I did mostly use the slow walking as a reference, but less so any swaying, excess sleeping, passing out. This is harder to write about than i originally thought? It's hard to encompass so many symptoms in 1 thing lol, anywau enjoy!! I hope this is okay!!

edit2- I FOGOT ASMO AND belph im so sorry, will add later

Lucifer

At first? Kind of a selfish ass. Not directly, but he gets obviously a lil ticked when MC is significantly slower than everyone else. Like this is inconvenient for him, almost feels like MC is doing it on purpose.

Mostly thinks about how it's an inconvenience, how humans are delicate and weak, but as his relationship with MC grows, he's a lot more interested in WHY mc is so fatigued. How does it feel for them?

Will at some point gets the guts to ask. Wouldn't before though because he wouldn't want it to look like he's super interested in MC, but once he accepts that he's in love? Oh boy.

He'll add extra time in the schdule from now on, at least a couple minutes so he and MC can walk at a more leisurely pace. It's hard for him to adjust, because he's usually striding, fairly quickly.

Grows to kind of enjoy it? Taking things slow. It's a nice change for him, but it's a lot of how he shows that he cares. The breaks, stopping to "look" at a shop window when he hears MC breathing a little heavier or when they start to slow down a little more, trudging instead of walking.

Does a fair amount of research on human conditions. If it's a medical condition or not, he'll do what he can to support you. May even assist on your weeks being half online, half in person? So you could have more rest time. It would ensure that Dia's favorite exchange student is preforming to the best of their ability with their accessibility needs being met!!

Will pick you up from the couch and put you in your bed. Sometimes his. Wink.

Mammon

I think Mammon, even originally, was really interested in MC at first glance. He's got a weird protective need? Like must nurture,,,, human,,,

Will keep walking until he realizes MC didn't respond to what he said. Then turns around are sees MC quite a bit behind him and he's confused. Why are they so slow?

Will ask MC, "are most humans so slow?" But doesn't seem malicious about it at all, it's a genuine question. He's had limited contact with humans and they've never really walked anywhere.

Will pick MC up, or tells MC to jump on his back. Doesn't ask, but squats down and gestures.

Will poke fun at MC unless they seem upset about it. Doesn't really mind how slow they are though, it's just an adjustment period for a while.

(Sorry, pov switch.)

On bad days, he'll absolutely help if you ask. He'll bring food and water, by himself, but has trouble thinking of other ways to help without being asked specifically. Probably picks up their homework too, small tasks that they mention.

He's not likely to ask you directly, you'll have to bring up the serious conversation. He just accepts the fatigue as part of MC, doesn't consider that its not normal or is a medical issue? He's willing to put in more effort if you ask though, if he can make things easier for you? He's in. Tries to condense your hang outs too, like the places you go, just so you do the least amount of walking possible.

Overall, 8/10 support.

Leviathan

You're walking to RAD together on a day for a student counsel meeting, the first time he's been out with you, and after a couple minutes of rambling he realizes you've fallen behind?

"Do you not walk to walk with me?" Genuinely a little dejected, feels bad and realizes he's done ALL the talking??

Hopefully you say something like, "no no I love walking with you, I just get so so tired so fast," because he'll respond fairly well. "Oh okay," and then moves on, walking significantly slower. If you watch, you'll notice him looking over and at his feet more often, seems like he's checking his pace?

Once he realizes more so how bad your fatigue gets, and you both grow closer, he'll make more of an effort to leave his own room and go to yours. When he's super uncomfortable, he'll at least meet you at your room to walk you to his room. So you can have company.

Does try to go out of his way to make things easier. Also probably brings it up weeks/months later. Asks you if it's normal. Probably brings it up when your symptoms are especially bad one day, or when you're so tired and cant keep your eyes open.

Isn't one to consider it a burden. It's definitely a change because his legs are a lot longer so he's natrually faster, but he learns to take smaller steps.

Satan

Similarly to Lucifer, feels inconvenienced. His first thoughts are only about himself, only starts thinking about why, how, the details once he gets closer with you.

It's a sudden relevation once he gets the hint that you might feel embarrassed or like a burden? Switches up pretty fast. He's slightly fatigued after his "episodes" for lack of better word, but he imagines its maybe similar to what you experience?

You're sitting in the library, and suddenly he pipes up and asks you. "Is there a reason you're so tired all the time? Why does walking bother you so much?" And as you explain, his curiosity is satiated for the time being. He's silent for a minute after you respond, then, "is it embarrassing?"

Offers some casual reassure once you respond. Tells you that you shouldn't be embarrassed, and that you should accept the things you can't change.

"Would it help if I walked slower from now on? Or would walking be easier if I went with you to and from your classes?" It's a secret plot to spend time together.

He's unlikely to bring you food, but almost has a ritual of bringing you a water bottle every time? Like a human world water bottle? Not sure where he got them. If you inquire about it, he'll tell you that he read how staying hydrated is very helpful for your condition.

Is insistant on the water thing. Also, when you go to the library together, he'll have a small area set up so you can sit while he looks, your stuff is ready and he'll bring you back a book or two with a small flush on his face.

Beelzebub

Notices as you start to slow down, but isn't concerned really, just starts walking slower. But once you start barely moving, he's holding his arm around you until you get to the next bench on the pathway. Belphie had similar issues when they first fell, so the switch to walking slower is much easier for him than anyone, though is now curious as to why you, a human, are having the same issue.

"Did you not eat enough today?" Once you chuckle at him and explain, he's still thinking about food. "Would eating more help?" "Not really, I just get super tired and need more sleep later."

When you hang out, in the kitchen, at school, anywhere outside of your room, he's ready to head home by like, 8pm. He doesn't say it, but he assumes you need to be in bed super early. He's willing to settle for 10, but any later than that and he feels morally responsible for your fatigue.

He gets used to you sleeping in his bed though. He's totally going to get a blanket and a pillow for you and set it near/in the kitchen. He wants to cook but he'd also like to hang out, but you also need sleep, so this is his comprimise.

You both become cuddle partners very fast. It starts with hanging out, and then you fall asleep in his bed and he sleeps on the floor. Once you wake up in the middle of the night and force him back into the bed, he's very stiff for like, a hot minute until you snuggle up to him and doze off.

His help is mostly going to be sustinence. He'll bring you something small from when he goes to eat, or he'll pick up any extra work you have. Is also constantly ready to carry you where ever you'd like. Piggy back rides to RAD? Sure, where do you need dropped off?

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me satan #leviathan obey me #obey me mammon #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me levi #obey me lucifer #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphie #obey me belphegor #obey me asmodeus #obey me headcanons #obey me fluff

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wolfstar-in-color · 3 years

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July Colorful Column: Remus is a Crip, and We Can Write Him Better.

There is one thing that can get me to close a fic so voraciously I don’t even make sure I’m not closing other essential tabs in the process. It doesn’t matter how much I’m loving the fic, how well written I think it is, or how desperately I want to know how it ends. Once I read this sentence, I am done.

It’s written in a variety of different ways, but it always goes something like this: “You don’t want me,” Remus said, “I am too sick/broken/poor/old/[insert chosen self-demeaning adjective here].”

You’re familiar with the trope. The trope is canonical. And if you’ve been around the wolfstar fandom for longer than a few minutes, you’ve read the trope. Maybe you love the trope! Maybe you’ve written the trope! Maybe you’re about to stop reading this column, because the trope rings true to you and you feel a little attacked!

Now, let’s get one thing out of the way right now: I am not saying the trope is wrong. I am not saying it’s bad. I am not saying we should stop writing it. We all have things we don’t like to see in our chosen fics. Maybe you can’t stand Leather Jacket Motorbike Sirius? Maybe you think Elbow Patch Remus is overdone? Or maybe your pet peeves are based in something a little deeper - maybe you think Poor Latino Remus is an irresponsible depiction, or that PWPs are too reductive? Whatever it is, we all have our things.

Let me tell you about my thing. When I first became very ill several years ago, there were various low points in which I felt I had become inherently unlovable. This is, more or less, a normal reaction. When your body stops doing things it used to be able to do - or starts doing things you were quite alright without, thank you very much - it changes the way you relate to your body. You don’t want to hear my whole disability history, so yada yada yada, most people eventually come to accept their limitations. It’s a very painful existence, one in which you constantly tell yourself your disability has transformed you into a burdensome, unworthy member of society, and if nothing else, it’s not terribly sustainable. Being disabled takes grit! It takes power! It takes a truly absurd amount of medical self-advocacy! Hating yourself? Thinking yourself unworthy of love? No one has time for that.

Of course, I’m being hyperbolic. Plenty of disabled people struggle with these feelings many years into their disabilities, and never really get over them. But here’s the thing. We experience those stories ALL THE TIME. Remember Rain Man? Or Million Dollar Baby? Or that one with the actress from Game of Thrones and that British actor who seemed like he was going to have a promising career but then didn't? Those are all stories about sad, bitter disabled people and their sad, bitter lives, two out of three of which end in the character completing suicide because they simply couldn’t imagine having to live as a disabled person. (I mean, come on media, I get that we're less likely to enjoy a leisurely Saturday hike, but our parking is SUBLIME.) When was the last time you engaged with media that depicted a happy disabled person? A complex disabled person? A disabled person who has sex? No really, these aren’t hypothetical questions, can you please drop a rec in the notes?? Because I am desperate.

There are lots of problems with this trope, and they’ve been discussed ad nauseam by people with PhDs. I’m not actually interested in talking about how this trope leads to a more prevalent societal idea that disabled people are unworthy of love, or contributes to the kind of political thought processes that keep disabled people purposefully disenfranchised. I’m just a bitch on Tumblr, and I have a bone to pick: the thing I really hate about the trope? It’s boring. I’m bored. You know how, like, halfway through Grey’s Anatomy you realized they were just recycling the same plot points over and over again and there was just no WAY anyone working at a hospital prone to THAT MANY disasters would stay on staff? It's like that. I love a recycled trope as much as the next person (There Was Only One Bed, anyone?). But I need. Something. Else.

Remus is disabled. BOLD claim. WILD speculation. Except, not really. You simply - no matter how you flip it, slice it, puree it, or deconstruct it - cannot tell me Remus Lupin is not disabled. Most of us, by this point, are probably familiar with the way that One Canonical Author intended One Dashing Werewolf to be “a metaphor for those illnesses that carry stigma, like HIV and AIDS” [I’m sorry to link you to an outside source quoting She Who Must Not Be Named, but we’re professionals here]. Which is... a thing. It’s been discussed. And, listen, there’s no denying that this parallel is a problematic interpretation of people who have HIV/AIDS and all such similar “those illnesses” (though I’ll admit that I, too, am perennially apt to turn into a raging beast liable to harm anything that crosses my path, but that’s more linked to the at-least-once-monthly recollection that One Day At A Time got cancelled). Critiques aside, Remus Lupin is a character who - due to a condition that affects him physically, mentally, emotionally, and intellectually - is repeatedly marginalized, oppressed, denied political and social power, and ostracized due to unfounded fear that he is infectious to others. Does that sound familiar?

We’re not going to argue about whether or not “Remus is canonically disabled as fuck” is a fair reading. And the reason we’re not going to argue about whether or not it’s a fair reading is because I haven’t read canon in 10-plus years and you will win the argument. Canon is only marginally relevant here. The icon of this blog is brown, curly haired Remus Lupin kissing his trans boyfriend, Sirius Black. We are obviously not too terribly invested in canon. The wolfstar fandom is now a community with over 25,000 AO3 fics, entire careers launched from drawing or writing or cosplaying this non-canonical pairing. We love to play around here with storylines and universes and races and genders and sexualities and all kinds of things, but most of the time? Remus is still disabled. He’s disabled as a werewolf in canon-compliant works, he’s disabled in the AUs where he was injured or abused or kidnapped or harmed as a child, he’s disabled in the stories that read him as chronically ill or bipolar or traumatized or blind or Deaf. I’d go so far as to say that he is one of very few characters in the Wide Wonderful World of media who is, in as close to his essence as one can be, always disabled. And that means? Don’t shoot the messenger... but we could stand to be a tiny bit more responsible with how we portray him.

Disabled people are complicated. As much as I’d like to pretend we are always level-headed, confident, and ready to assert our inherent worth, we are still just humans. We have bad days. We doubt our worth. We sometimes go out with guys who complain about our steroid-induced weight gain (it was a long time ago, Tumblr, okay??). But, we also have joy and fun and good days and sex and happiness and families and so many other things.

Remus is a disabled character, and as such, it’s only fair that he’d have those unworthy moments. But - I propose - Remus is also a crip. What is a crip? A crip - like a queer - is someone who eschews the limited boundaries placed on their bodies, who rejects a hierarchy of oppression in favor of an intersectional analysis of lived experience, who isn’t interested in being the tragic figure responsible for helping people with dominant identities realize how good they have it. Crips interpret their disabilities however they want, rethinking bodies and medicine and pleasure and pain and even time itself. Crips are political, community-minded, and in search of liberation.

Remus is a character who struggles with his disability, sure. But he’s also a character who leverages his physical condition to attempt to shift communities towards his political leanings, advocates for the rights of those who share his physical condition, and has super hot sex with his wrongfully convicted boyfriend ultimately goes on to build community and family. Having a condition that quite literally cripples you, over which you have no control, and through which you are often read as a social pariah? That’s disability. But using said condition as a means through which to build advocacy and community? Now that’s some crip shit.

Personally, I love disabled!Remus Lupin. But I love crip!Remus Lupin even more. I’d love to see more of a Remus who owns his disability, who covets what makes him unique, and who never ever again tells a potential romantic partner they are too good for him because of his disability. This trope - unlike There Was Only One Bed! - sometimes actually hurts to read. Where’s Remus who thinks a potential romantic partner isn’t good enough for him? Where’s Remus who insists his partners learn more about his condition in order to treat him properly? Where’s sexy wheelchair user Remus? Where’s Remus who uses his werewolf transformations as an excuse to travel the world? Where’s crip Remus??

We don’t have to put “you don’t want me” Remus entirely to bed. It is but one of many repeated tropes that are - in the words of The Hot Priest from Fleabag - morally a bit dubious. And let’s face it - we don’t always come to fandom for its moral superiority (as much as we sometimes like to think we do).

This is not a condemnation - it is an invitation. Able-bodied folks are all but an injury, illness, or couple decades away from being disabled. And when you get here, I sincerely hope you don’t waste your time on “you don’t want me”ing back and forth with the people you love. I’m inviting you to come to the crip side now. We have snacks, and without all the “you don’t want me” talk, we get to the juicy parts much faster.

Colorfully,

Mod Theo

#wolfstar #disability in fandom #disabled remus #crip remus #please write me some crip remus #I beg of you #fandom meta

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obxdrewseph · 4 years

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Hard to Love - Rafe Cameron

Description: Pushing away people came easy to you. You pushed away your friends when they urged you to get out more and you pushed away your family when they urged you to eat more. You felt like a burden to everyone and you didn’t want that. You were hard to love with your harsh attitude and pickiness. Once Rafe Cameron, your new friend and classmate, tries to convince you to give him a chance, you wonder what it would mean to be a girlfriend-- someone who gives love and receives it... you wonder: are you even capable of being loved?

so this is sort of a continuation of High Maintenance, but also can be read as a standalone? I thought it would be interesting to explore the romantic relationship that didn’t get to develop in that fic ... so here ya go! :D

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Being your friend was hard, but being your boyfriend was much harder (not that you had one yet, just for future reference).

Being your friend was hard because you cancelled plans last minute because of chronic pain/aching or because you were going through a depressive episode that made you unable to socialize.

No one talks about the mental side of physical pain.

Trust me, you wouldn’t be nice either if you were hungry half of the day and in pain the other half.

You didn’t want your diet to define you, yet it was like you revolved your entire life around your meal times.

You pushed your friends away who wouldn’t do enough research on your condition. You obviously didn’t expect them to look up everything about it, but when they gave you food you couldn’t eat or asked you to go on hikes you couldn’t trek without feeling dizzy (or even fainting), you couldn’t help but distance yourself.

You didn’t want to share all your negativity with them; they didn’t deserve that.

You were used to being the rock of your group; not exactly the mom friend, but the happy, funny friend everyone went to for a laugh or to have fun. You weren’t the one with problems. You didn’t get to be that person.

You didn’t want to be that person.

“I’m a fucking idiot!” You shouted at no one in particular.

“We know!”

You glared at the girl standing in the hallway who happened to be your best friend and your house mate. You and 3 other girls decided to stay in apartment together for your freshman year and you never regretted your decision. You could never live in the dorms with people making noise all day and night.

You were already agitated all the time.

“Go away, Ames.”

The girl sighed.

“I made some rice krispies. Do you want some?”

Yes.

“No. I’m not hungry.”

That was a lie.

“Ok, well then why are you so upset today?”

You paused, wondering if you should confide in her. Despite you guys being best friends, you never truly felt like you could confide in anyone. It was a fucking miracle that you spilled so much to Rafe Cameron, a boy you never thought would become one of your best friends. You honestly thought he would leave you the second you got off that wooden bench, yet you two hang out all the time.

You decided to give her a lighthearted version of what you were feeling.

“I’m not it’s just... random question: am I high maintenance?” You asked finally.

The girl snorted.

“Yeah, everyone knows that.”

Your heart sank. You were starting to hate that joke. You knew you had a lot of dietary restrictions and people had to work around what you ate, and before you didn’t mind that, but now you hated when people did that for you.

You just wanted people to stop asking you out to eat or asking you to hang out. You just wanted people to leave you alone.

“Fuck you.” You said laughing, it was fake. But she didn’t need to know that.

“Whatever, is that all you wanted to ask?”

“Nope, I wanted to ask are you still having your bachorlette party next Saturday?”

“Yup, you better be there! No ditching me for whoever old lady author you wanted to see.”

You bristled at her harsh tone and flinched when she slammed your door shut so that you couldn’t argue with her.

You heard her soft footsteps fade away which allowed you to slip back into your negative feelings.

All you could think about is that if your best friend didn’t even want to deal with you or fully understand you, how could anyone else?

---------

“Hello~ Earth to y/n?”

A black line skitted across your face, snapping you out of your trance. You swatted at the pencil floating in front of your face with an angry look.

You were currently in the library, working hard on your essay that seemed like it would never end.

“What do you want?” You snapped.

You were in the middle of focusing your attention on a small dot at the back of the room. You did this to try to take your attention off of the discomfort in your stomach. You wouldn’t exactly call it pain, but it didn’t feel great.

The poor boy’s eyes drooped at your anger.

“Um, sorry you just were spacing out.”

“Well, don’t interrupt my space outs.”

“Got it.”

Why were you being so mean? You never were like this before you got diagnosed. You were so irritable all the time and felt anger build up in you faster than expected.

It wasn’t fair to the boy sitting across from you.

Rafe Cameron.

The boy was dedicated, you could give him that.

You didn’t expect much from the obviously Southern boy who sat next to you in a Shakespeare class. You felt like you were sitting on pins and needles until Rafe started talking to you; you didn’t know why you took a male-dominant class. You weren’t used to talking to guys so often, but you wanted to push yourself. Get out of your comfort zone you embraced so much in high school.

After he apologized for being a dick about eating standards, you easily started to fall for him a bit more.

But that didn’t matter.

His feelings wouldn’t last.

They never did.

“Um, are you okay?” Rafe finally said. You wanted to snap at him once again, but when you saw his concerned blue eyes, you lost your bite.

You forced a smile. “I’m fine, just a bit tired.” If you had a nickel for every time you gave that excuse, you’d be a billionaire.

“Oh, then we should finish here.”

“No!”

You said abruptly. He lifted a brow.

“No?”

When he saw your face turn a soft pink color, his eyes lit up and he softly bit his lip. He knew what he did to you.

“Um... no, it’s ok. I can still study. I’m ... I’m mostly just upset because I wanted to go to this book signing that’s like a week from now, but I have to go to my friend’s bachelorette party. I really love this author, but I won’t get to see her and she rarely goes on tour... But it’s fine, I’ll get over it and studying helps me keep my mind off things.” You shrugged.

Yes, your friends were getting married that young. You simultaneously loved and hated your friends. You seemed to always be dropping things you loved for them, but you knew they wouldn’t do the same for you.

Your friends were great to live with, harder to be friends with. Plus, two were avid bakers and another was an aspiring chef. You hated all of the temptations of their baked goods.

He laughed at your nerdy confession which rubbed you the wrong way. He stopped laughing when he saw your dark expression.

“Sorry, I was only laughing because I totally get that. There are some authors that just leave an impact on you and you would die to meet them. And plus, those parties are lame. All they do is drink and drink and drink, which you can’t do because it’s not on the low fodmap diet.”

Well, boy definitely did his research.

“Exactly! Finally, someone who understands.” You turned your head away so he wouldn’t see you blush-- it wasn’t because you were shy, but it always happened when you got excited about something.

He nodded and saw your head wobble. A sharp pain fluttered through your head. You probably needed to eat something.

“Are you... hungry?” The boy said hesitantly.

This got you in the mood to be mean again.

“No, I’ll tell you when I get hungry, Rafe.”

The bite in his words made him move away from you. You hated this. You wanted someone to comfort you, but you pushed everyone away.

Self-sabotage was your middle name.

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You felt a warm hand softly tap your shoulder.

“Library closes in less than 10 minutes.” Rafe whispered to you.

Shit, I fell asleep.

You lifted your head and saw the once full library empty out.

“Shit. I fell asleep.” You said your thoughts.

Rafe chuckled. God, you loved his laugh so much.

“Yeah, I know. You look cute when you sleep.”

You smiled, but can’t believe you fell asleep in public. You weren’t the type to let your guard down so easily. When did you get this tired? When did you become this weak?

You felt your stomach rumble silently, signaling your hunger.

“Um, do you wanna get out of here and get some food?”

You began to say no, but he stopped you.

“Ok, let me ask that once again, do you want to get out of here and I can cook you food?”

You felt anxiety build up in your chest. You never trusted other people to cook for you. You had this irrational fear that people would deliberately try to sabotage your meals, but truly people just didn’t know what you can and can’t eat.

“Uh... you know.”

“Yes, I know, strict diet. I’ll look it all up to be safe.”

You were going to say no, but you wanted this so badly. You just wanted to hang out with a really cute and nice guy without feeling abnormal. It was almost 11pm, but you weren’t going to pass up the chance to hang out with him.

“Ok, take me to your place.”

-------

His apartment was dark and organized. You tried not to laugh at the display of books on the ground... you definitely needed to get him a bookshelf.

“Do the books feel better on the ground or something?” You teased.

“Yup, they need their sleep too.”

He nudged you on the shoulder to let you know he was joking.

“Oh, and watch the hiking supplies. I went last weekend and haven’t had time to clean it up since I’m going on Sunday again.”

Hiking...

“You like to hike?”

The boy nodded, his face brightening. “Yup, I’m an outdoorsy kind of guy. Love hiking, going to the beach, sports, all that jazz.”

You nodded, not relating to any of that.

You looked around, but realized there were only two doors, and one leading to the bathroom.

“Oh, you live alone?”

You fiddled with the hem of your shirt nervously.

“Yeah... is that ok?” He asked softly.

Yes, yes, it’s more than ok.

“Of course! It’s just I don’t know many sophomores who live alone.”

What you meant to say is you didn’t know many sophomores who could afford to live alone. JJ always joked about Rafe being rich, but you weren’t aware of the extent of his wallet.

He chuckled. “Yeah well, it’s easier to focus on my studies this way. No distractions.”

You nodded. You would live alone if you could afford it.

“Got it. Perfect for the ladies too, right?” You winked.

Rafe choke on air. You enjoyed flustering the usually confident Mr. Cameron.

“God, um, I don’t know how to respond to that.”

You shrugged. “Can’t deny the facts.”

He gave you a gentle look. “Y/n, you’re the first girl I’ve had in here since my last girlfriend.” Your jaw dropped.

“Really? You haven’t had a single girl in here for... a month?”

“Unless you count my little sister, then yup.”

“How does a guy as hot as you not bring a single lady friend here for over a month?” He let out a strangled laugh.

“You think I’m hot?”

“I know you’re hot. And you know you’re hot.”

The pink blush that formed on his face made you want to run over and kiss his cheeks.

But friends didn’t do that.

“Well, I guess... I guess I’ve been waiting for the special girl to come along.”

He gave you a look you couldn’t quite decipher.

“Yes, I’m the most special girl in your life, right?” You teased, trying to be nonchalant about the tension in the room.

He just smiled at you.

“So! What are you cooking?” You said, changing the subject.

This distracted him. “Well, I have leftovers from yesterday... I have rice noodles with chicken broth--”

“Um, I can’t eat pre-made chicken broth.” You interrupted before he could get too excited. Thankfully, you hadn’t gotten your hopes up about eating much at his place. People could rarely accommodate to your needs.

“Oh don’t worry, I made the chicken stock last night with... a real chicken. So it’s not out of a box.” He opened his fridge and you saw a cooked chicken that was sitting there. “See?”

You paused and evaluated the situation.

“So... you made chicken pho?” You said blankly.

He blushed. “Yeah, yeah I did.”

You thought back to that night. That night when you confessed to him your deepest and insecurities.

You yelled at him about how you basically only ate Asian food exclusively.

“Did... Rafe... Ok, if I didn’t know any better, I would say that you expected me to come over today. Unless you just happened to have IBS friendly food.”

You were joking, well half-joking. You guys always met on Thursday nights to study, so he knew you would be hanging out then. You hated the excitement and fondness filling in your chest; it would be only a matter of time before you pushed him away. Or until he left. Whichever came first.

His face was red now. “Um, I may have anticipated it.”

Oh God, your heart was so full right now. You didn’t even want the food anymore, you just wanted him.

But he had put great effort into this. You had to eat it.

“Thank you.” You whispered.

He shrugged off your words. “It’s no biggie, I know I see you Thursdays and we always study pretty late.”

You set the table while he dipped the noodles in water to cook them. He made two bowls, one being larger than the other. He remembered that you rarely ate big meals.

As soon as he set your food down, you realized he had to watch you eat. And you had to make conversation while eating. You hated talking and eating.

And you got a lot of gas while you ate. Shit. This was a bad idea.

You pushed those thoughts aside and took a sip of the soup.

It was amazing.

“This is really good.”

He smiled widely. “Thanks, I tried my best.”

Thankfully, you didn’t have to talk much while you ate. The TV served as a good distraction to that. When you finished your bowl, you waited for the pain to hit you. You felt your stomach gurgle around and you clenched your fists to avoid the pain.

You had good and bad stomach days. Some days you could go the whole day without feeling any pain, but then you had days where you ate any food and felt a mild discomfort and had to lay in bed.

You felt a mild discomfort, but it faded quickly enough. Thank God, a good stomach day.

After you both finished eating, Drew put both the bowls in the sink. You tried to do the dishes, but he wouldn’t let you.

“Thanks for the meal again.” You said, anxious to leave.

It wasn’t eating that was the worst part of IBS, it was the anxiety afterwards. You were always nervous that your stomach would flare up hours after you eating, which it sometimes did if you ate something not IBS friendly.

“You’re always welcome here.”

You checked your phone. “Um, it’s getting late. I should go.” You turned to leave, but he caught your wrist softly.

“Wait, y/n.”

You stopped and turned to face him. He looked nervous as he was still holding your hand gently.

“Yeah?” You tried to say casually, but you were now extremely anxious for a reason besides food.

He let go of your wrist to brush his fingers through his hair. You loved his messy hair.

“Um, ok, well... ok I’m just gonna say it.”

“Say it then.” You said out of habit. He glared at you, but you knew he didn’t mean it.

“Fine, well, you’re... you’re really fun to hang out with. Do you want to... go out with me sometime?”

“We go out together all the time.” You said stupidly.

He let out a strangled laugh. “Yeah but... like ... as a date.”

Your heart stopped.

“A date.”

“Yes, a date, if you want.”

A date? What could you both possible do on a date? You hated eating at restaurants, you can’t go hiking or backpacking because who knew when your symptoms would pop in and you were stuck on a mountain with no bathrooms and nowhere to sit. Not to mention, you didn’t eat much so you got lightheaded easily. You weren’t compatible. You would just be a burden to him.

“y/n?” You almost forgot you were in the middle of a conversation.

You looked up at his pretty blue eyes that were full of hope. You couldn’t do this to him. You couldn’t hold him back like that.

“I... I’m sorry, Rafe... I can’t.” His face fell. “You’re an awesome guy, I swear to God you’re the best guy I’ve ever met. But... you just... we’re just... we’re just different.”

That was a cop out answer and you knew it.

“Different.” He echoed.

You nodded.

He paused, like he was wondering whether to keep talking to you or just kick you out. You wouldn’t blame him if he chose the latter.

He then laughed bitterly.

“That’s bullshit, y/n and you know it.”

His harsh answer stunned you.

“What are you talking about?” You bristled. Now you were irritated.

“Oh, c’mon, you know I like you, and I know you like me. You can’t ignore what we have.”

“We’re just friends, Rafe. Just friends.”

“But I want more.” He said sadly.

You were on the brink of tears too.

“I do too.” You blurt.

“Then why-”

“Because Rafe! You want to go out and do things. You want to treat your girlfriend like a princess-- you’ve said that to me before. And you just can’t do that for me because it’s not possible.

He scoffed. “What do you mean by that? You think you’re undeserving of love? Are you trying to say ‘it’s not you, it’s me’?” He was angry, and he had a right to be. You were running him in circles and you felt bad.

“That’s not it! I just--” You felt your legs becoming weak, you could never stand for too long, especially in a heated conversation like this.

“Y/n? Do you need to sit down?”

You nodded as he was already guiding you to his couch.

“Finish what you were saying earlier.” He said softly. God, you hated how kind he was to you even during an argument. You were trying to push him away!

“Right, well, I don’t think I’m undeserving of love, but it’s too hard to love me.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means, you don’t know how to love me! You can’t take me on dates-- I hate eating at restaurants which is a normal date, so you can cross that off your list of fancy dinners or whatever. I can’t go hiking because what if my stomach starts to hurt on the mountain? And you just fucking saw me getting woozy standing and talking for you too long while arguing. I’ll just be a burden to you.”

He grabbed my hands and forced me to look at him.

“Listen to me. You will never, ever, be a burden to me. Got that?”

His voice was low and pained, like it hurt him for you to think about yourself like that. You didn’t need his pity so you pulled away from his hands.

“You don’t deserve someone who can’t do all the things you love.”

“Relationships are all about compromise, y/n. I can do those things with my friends.”

You shook your head.

“Rafe, you’re a great guy. Too good if I might add. And I’m so picky about everything. When I’m mad at you one day and you want to make it up to me, you can’t buy me chocolates or ice cream or whatever. For anniversaries, you can’t just take me out to a fancy restaurant. There might be a day where you run out of tricks and you’ll realize how hard it is to love me.” You laughed bitterly.

“I can learn what makes you feel good. I can learn how to love you--”

“You can’t learn how to love me! I don’t even know how to love myself!” You shouted.

A deafening silence washed over the room.

I don’t even know how to love myself.

The honesty in your own answer made you cry.

How could anyone love you when didn’t even know how to love yourself? You didn’t even know how to make yourself happy. You didn’t know how to spoil yourself. You lived your life just to get by.

How sad.

“I’m sorry Rafe, I just can’t do this.”

This time, he just nodded.

He’d already given up.

----------

Around two weeks had gone by since Rafe asked you out and you embarrassed yourself. You had never been the type to be so negative or so insecure. You hated what you had become.

You hated how you felt some sort of relief when Rafe let you go. He grabbed you an uber and you went home.

You both were ignoring the obvious conversation that needed to happen, but it was better this way. You were back to being the chatty girl in his English class and he was back to being the guy who laughed at all of your jokes. Normal. Everything was back to normal.

“Sup, y/n, how’s it goin’?”

You tried not to look surprised as JJ Maybank said hi to you.

You two weren’t exactly friends, but you were friendly to one another. Yes, he could be a dick sometimes, but he was clueless about it.

“Oh hey, it’s going good so far. How about you?”

“He and his ‘girlfriend’ got into a fight yesterday and needs advice.” Pope blurted. You tried not to laugh at the bluntness of his friend.

JJ hit the boy. “Dude!”

“Hey, she was going to figure it out soon enough. You can’t shut up about it.” Their banter was always fun to watch.

“What are you guys talking about?” Rafe asked when he sat down.

“JJ got into a fight with his ‘girlfriend’”. You made sure to use the same air quotes like Pope.

“Yes, thank you for embarrassing me further.” You shrugged.

“It’s not like Rafe knows her.”

JJ sighed and adjusted his hat to hide his tired face.

You grew soft on the poor guy. “What kind of advice do you need, JJ?”

JJ looked at you with sad eyes, but hopped right into his story.

“Well, so this girl I’m into, she’s this big city girl. Grew up in Los Angeles, and you know me, I grew up in a small town in Alaska. We’re just so... different. She likes doing all this city girl stuff like going to the malls and just walking around a crowded town which is so different from me who didn’t even have a big mall where I was at and you could walk miles without running into another person.

“I just don’t know how to keep up with her all the time... and she’s rich so she has to go to these fancy events. She told me I had to dress up if I wanted to meet her parents.

“And she doesn’t like to be on the water ‘cause she gets seasick. And I practically lived on the water when I was in Alaska! What should I do?”

You paused, taking in his situation.

You heard Rafe scoff.

“Dude, it’s fucking obvious. Man the fuck up and buy better clothes and learn how to hold all of her shopping bags. Isn’t it obvious?”

JJ nodded, like this made sense.

You nudged Rafe harshly. “What are you talking about? JJ, you guys sound really different, you have to ask yourself: do I like how I have to change myself to be with her? Am I ok with that? Am I ok with sacrificing things I love to be with this girl?”

JJ nodded, soaking in your words.

“Relationships are about compromise.” You rolled your eyes at these familiar words. “If you really like her, you are going to be willing to change.”

“You shouldn’t have to change for someone else.”

“Everyone should change, it’s good for the soul. Staying static is boring.”

“Guys, guys,” JJ stopped you and Rafe.

“Ok, I get both points. But, I do really like her. I’ve been pining after her for a while now and... and I don’t know, I just want to win her heart over. She’s already starting to push me away because she also doesn’t want me to change who I am. But I’m willing to put in the extra effort.”

“See? Putting in extra effort to impress the girl he likes, that’s what you should do.” Rafe commented.

You grit your teeth.

“I agree, JJ, you should always try to be better in a relationship. If she’s pushing you away because of her own fears, that only means you need to work harder.” Pope noted.

“Or maybe she’s right, maybe you shouldn’t push people to make them feel like a burden to you. Maybe she just wants the best for you because she obviously knows you very well!”

“Maybe he wants to challenge himself because he wants her to feel safe and comfortable around him!” Rafe raised his voice.

“Maybe he just wants to do that because of his ego.” You said with an equally angry tone.

“Or maybe he wants to do that because he loves her!” Rafe slammed his hands on the desk and suddenly the room was silent.

“Um... are you guys good?” JJ whispered, his problems now forgotten.

--------

Because he loves her.

Loves her.

Love.

Was Rafe still talking about the hypothetical JJ in this situation or was he talking about himself?

Because you knew you were talking about yourself.

Was he doing the same?

You sprinted out of that classroom once your professor dismissed you.

“Y/n, wait.”

You paused outside the door. If you left, it would make you look mighty suspicious. If you stayed, then you could pretend everything was ok and that the “argument” you just had wasn’t about yourselves.

You decided to make a run for it.

Unfortunately, Rafe jumped in front of you before you could leave.

“Y/n, please. Talk to me.”

“What? There’s nothing to talk about. JJ can make his own decisions. What a handful of a girl, right?” You tried to step around him, but Rafe kept blocking you. “Move-”

“We need to talk and I have a class soon. Meet me at my apartment when your classes end, ok?”

You hesitated, but the desperation in his eyes made it hard for you to say no.

“Ok.”

-------

Rafe’s apartment wasn’t too far of a walk from campus, plus you took the bus for part of the way. You secretly ate a bowl of rice with beef and broccoli before going just in case he didn’t have any more pho left at his apartment.

You felt your heart beating out of control as you plucked up the courage to knock on his door.

“C’mon, you can do this.” You whispered to yourself. You raised your hand to knock, but the door flung open.

Rafe had been back for a while since he was a morning person and finished his classes before noon. You on the other hand, finished classes at 5pm. No hate in the game, this was college.

You took in his appearance and looked him up and down.

He was wearing gray sweatpants with a white tank top and a red flannel over it. He looked too good right now for being casual. Fuck.

You gulped. “Hey.”

He gave you a tight smile. “Hey.”

You both stood there awkwardly.

“Can I come in?”

“Oh shit, yeah, of course.”

As you stepped into the well-lit apartment, you noticed he was sweaty; it seemed like he just got done with working out. All you wanted to do was to take off that flannel and see what he was hiding underneath.

“Did you just come from the gym?” You asked nonchalantly.

He raised a brow at your random question, but nodded. “Yup.”

You both stood in silence for a hot minute, the tension filling the air. You noticed his eyes trailing down your body; you knew you wore tighter clothes up top to try and impress the boy. You didn’t think it would work... but it did.

“Oh fuck it.” You spat. His eyes grew confused at your sudden outburst, but when you took 3 large steps and grabbed his face, they widened.

“Can I kiss you?” You whispered.

“Please.”

And then you kissed him.

His lips were soft, but his hands were rough on your body. He pulled you close enough so that your chests touched, making you groan at the contact. He deepened the kiss, teasing you with his tongue.

“Rafe,” you chanted. You didn’t know what you were asking for, you just wanted him.

He smiled, moving to kiss you all over your face and your neck. He smoothly pulled you into his bedroom.

His bedroom was bare; only a bed sat in the middle and one desk to the side of it. You didn’t care, as long as there was a bed in there, that’s all that mattered.

Except you happened to miss a large box near the side of the bed that almost made you hit your head on the wooden floor.

“Oops.” Rafe caught you before you fell.

“Sorry, I forgot to move those.”

Before he could move them out of sight, you noticed something familiar looking.

“Wait... are these--?”

“Wait-”

You picked up the box before he could stop you. You grew confused staring down at the object inside of it.

“Are these... what I think they are?”

He ruffled his hair and nodded, trying to hide his red face. “Um, yeah. It’s... yeah.” He finished lamely.

You looked down and gently traced your fingers across the extravagant book covers. When you looked inside, they were all signed by your favorite author with a cute message. You felt tears well up in your eyes.

“You went to the book signing.” You said numbly.

He nodded hesitantly. He wasn’t sure how you would react. “I did...I wasn’t sure which book you liked from her so I got all 3.”

He played with the bottom of his flannel, anxiously waiting for your next move.

You set the books down and pulled him in by his shirt.

“Kiss me.”

He paused, but only for a moment before he stripped off his flannel.

Yes, finally.

He laughed. “You’ve been waiting for this to come off?” Shit, you said that out loud.

He wasted no time pressing his lips to yours. You clung onto his neck, not being able to get close enough to him. Kissing was great, it was fantastic even. But you wanted more. You gently lifted your hips to meet his, rocking back and forth experimentally.

He groaned at your movement. “Baby,” He whispered.

You thought you would hate that pet name.

You didn’t.

“Yes?” You teased, planting little kisses on his neck, his collarbone, right under his ear. When he didn’t answer, you tugged him back down to you by his hair.

You’re sure you had been making out for at least half an hour at this point when suddenly he lifted his head up.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

And you meant it.

-------

You woke up in the morning with the best sleep you’ve had in years. You immediately turned to your side and saw Rafe still fast asleep. You saw his bare chest move up and down, up and down. It was hypnotic.

You gently moved your fingers across his chest, soaking in the smoothness of it. The feeling of soft pleasure woke Rafe up. He smiled when he saw your mischievous look.

“Good morning, gorgeous. How’re ya feelin’?”

“Hmmm, alright.”

He gently kissed your shoulder blade. What a tease.

“Only alright?”

He tried to pull the blankets down to uncover your naked body, but it was the morning and you were still shy.

You laughed at his attempts to turn you on.

“Stop, Rafe, you horny ba-”

He then leaned in closely to you and whispered in your ear.

“If I knew getting you books would get me laid, I would’ve done it years ago.”

You laughed.

“You didn’t know me years ago!”

He gave you a crooked smile.

“Plus, my love language is receiving gifts, so you got lucky.”

He shrugged, but his eyes softened when he stared at you longer.

He pulled you down for another soft kiss. You wanted more, but he pulled away before it could get too racy.

“Told you I would learn how to love you.”

#outer banks #rafe cameron #obx #outer banks fanfiction #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron fanfiction #obx fanfiction #obx writing #drew starkey #drew starkey x reader #rafe cameron scenarios #this is the most dialogue ive written i think #this was the most challenging fic to write LMAO #hope u like it ! :D

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kingofthewilderwest · 5 years

Note

How can you be proud of being Celiac? That’s like me being proud of having my arm ripped off by a shark and gloating about how awesome having one arm is. Being broken isn’t something to proud of. It’s shameful you just need to get over it and eat what people give you people in Africa are starving and here you are complaining about food. Grow up.

Sorry your post just sounded condescending like people aren’t allowed to talk about a normal thing like food because you are triggered by food and don’t seem to understand people are starving in third world countries and you are acting like being a burden to others because of your so called food allergy is a good thing. Get over it and eat what people give you stop being a big baby just eat it the worse that can happen is you get a tummy ache. Unless your allergy is deadly you have no excuse.

Heya friend! It’s great to hear from you and I’m hoping you’re having a spectacular, relaxing day! You’ll be glad to know that my emotional low from last night is over. I got a good night’s rest, woke happy, and am ready to blog about dragons and other non-personal things you may enjoy more! :D

I also want to say I got your later ask. I’m touched you went and learned more about Celiac, and took the effort of sending me a kindhearted follow-up. I don’t know many people who would do that, so huge kudos, dude. It’s cool between us, friend, and I’m not offended. Thankfully I’ve got a tough hide and it takes a lot more to make me blink. I’m just feeling grateful you came to stop by again.

I hope it’s okay with you if I respond to your original message, though. There’s still a number of things that bother me, which weren’t nullified with your final message, which I would like to respectfully address.

I’m sorry if you or anyone else felt I spoke condescendingly or selfishly. I never wish to make others feel unwelcome. I was hoping to vent my perspective while showing that I care about others’ perspectives on this topic. If my words suggested negativity toward the other party, I did exactly what I didn’t wish or intend to do, didn’t even feel toward them, and I’m sorry for hurting anyone in the process.

What my post was about (for people catching up on this convo)

Last night under a Read More, I wrote a rare train-of-thought venting post. As you might expect on a personal vent post, I was emotionally compromised, obviously unhappy, and talking about my feelings. I talked about what it’s like for me to have a squick on food as a conversation topic.

I discussed how I felt uncomfortable but let everyone socialize, talk, etc. about food in front of me, because I didn’t find it worthwhile to bring up my discomfort and find compromise, and because I wanted to put my friends’ happiness first. In the few times I confided with friends that it bothered me, little changed afterwards. I’d rather stay silent and make people comfortable than worry I’m a social burden by restricting conversations on food, or have people try to cook accommodating dietary restrictions they’re not educated on accommodating. Essentially, I constantly fake friendly and minimize my social impact so others have fun and I’m never seen as a spoilsport or bother.

I said Celiac Disease means it’s hard to partake in trust-forming cultural food rituals (dinner parties, gifting food, religious ceremonies). I said don’t enjoy food related socialization because I feel socially left out and unable to bond in the activities everyone else can bond in. While I’m comfortable with Celiac Disease, proud of being gluten free, I said my challenge comes with interacting in a culture that can’t easily include me because of dietary differences.

I mentioned food’s also an uncomfortable topic because it’s central to ongoing mental illness struggles: I had eating disorder issues in college, and also have chronic difficulties eating properly in my Depression swings. Since food is a battle I’m constantly fighting, I have negative associations with it.

To make things clear: there was no point I said I forced others to comply with my desires and comforts, or believed people should be censored for talking about everyday things they liked. There was no point where I said that I felt like a social burden because of pride in my diet, or that my pride was what made me a social burden. I’m not happy that my squick and food intolerance can infringe on other people’s comforts, especially when I know they want to connect with me relationally and I have to awkwardly decline that goodwill gesture.

Aaaaand now we’re all on the same page!

About Celiac Disease the medical condition

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disorder where the body responds to gluten like poison. Even small amounts of ongoing cross-contamination can result in permanently damaged small intestines. Long-term effects of ingesting gluten include everything from anemia to infertility to osteoporosis to neurological disorders / brain damage to cancer risks. It’s imperative for Celiacs to eat a strict gluten free diet for health.As an infant, before I got diagnosed and was put on a gluten free diet, I was malnourished, with a distended stomach, losing weight. Before the USA required health insurance companies to accept people with pre-existing conditions, I was denied coverage because I was considered a “high risk” medical liability.

Short-term effects can be nasty. Everyone’s different when they have a one-time exposure incident, but the last time I accidentally ingested gluten, I was vomiting, dry retching, disoriented from extreme vertigo, and reduced to shaking violently, uncontrollably on the floor for 2+ hours. It was so bad I feared I’d somehow ODed on ibuprofen (because it felt similar to ODing… heh, the one time I did accidentally OD myself, it was THE worst I’ve felt physically in my LIFE).That time spent trembling on the floor doesn’t include the diarrhea, bloating, headaches, etc. that followed once I felt comfortable standing and walking again.All that happened because a restaurant didn’t take my order seriously when I carefully specified “gluten free noodles.” Because somebody in the kitchen thought I’m some entitled special snowflake, eh? Funny joke to make the finicky eater eat what they don’t like, huh?

Even for allergies with no long-term health complications, I think it’s bad to hold the burden of social “kindness” on the person being offered food. In a situation where someone offers food to another, it’s socially dispreferred to decline the meal. Depending on culture, it can be seen as extremely rude.But nobody should have to HARM themselves to please a gift giver. That’s what happens when people with food issues accept a food gift. Doesn’t matter that the food’s offered in good faith. Doesn’t matter if it’s only one night of bloating and headaches. I shouldn’t have to stab myself in the hand if someone offers me a sewing needle. I know culturally food’s a big deal, but that’s why we contemporary society needs better education on dietary restrictions, allergens, and intolerances. It’s frankly terrifying that someone is called SELFISH for not wanting to be HURT. There’s polite ways we could thank a person, decline their offer, and show we care about them through other means.

About Celiac Disease, pride, and identity

I’m only “broken” because others say I am.You’re not broken for being unable to digest arsenic. You can still eat healthy, nutritional foods and live a full, productive life. Same with me. It’s just my poison’s gluten. It’s easy to eat balanced meals and get every protein, every chemical, my body needs. My body isn’t breaking down.That’s hardly the same thing as a shark attacking me in some near-death experience. And let’s give sharks love, by the way! More people die from elevators. [source! XD]

Your analogy with the arm worries me, friend. Talking about someone’s disability that derogatorily is ableist. While losing a limb can be traumatic for many and requires enormous, challenging lifestyle changes… calling someone “broken” for one less appendage is regrettably offensive language.

I think it’s interesting in one sentence you call me “broken” and use the analogy of a near-deadly shark attack… and then in the next sentence downplay my issues as so irrelevant they’re just a “tummy ache.” Which is it, friend? I’m thankful you read up on Celiac and now know it’s more severe than that, but I hope when you run into future instances of even people with “lesser” allergies, you might reconsider how you discuss our everyday diet and food social choices.

I’m not proud of Celiac Disease because it makes me a finicky eater (contrarily, used to menu limitations, I’ll gratefully eat just about anything safe). People with food intolerances aren’t finicky eaters; they’re people trying to protect their health. What I mean by pride is confidence in my identity and pride for the lifestyle Celiac has given me.

Pride in identity, even about unideal sides of us, I think is healthy. We cripple ourselves if we’re unable to emotionally accept we’re imperfect. And I don’t mean something like “proud of being a jerk.” I mean “proud of getting through life.” Pride in experiencing bad circumstances makes sense. I’m NOT saying my diet is Some Giant Trial, but when people go through trials, we can take pride in that we survived, grew, and matured through pain. Difficulties mold us into better people, so while we might not enjoy suffering, we can take pride in the better person suffering made us be. Honestly, in the areas where I have gone through major shit, I wouldn’t change anything about that past; I’d rather have learned from the pain than be the fool I was before.

Pride in our identity is also about accepting we can be unique people, comfortable differing from the crowd. The reason I’m happy and comfortable is that for me, Celiac is a lifestyle, not a limitation. We define ourselves by how we interact and integrate with culture. Diet is one way we can find lifestyle and comfort. Even if I could magically eat rye tomorrow, I wouldn’t. I never would, because a gluten free diet is ingrained into my cultural, everyday thinking and lifestyle. People can take pride in their family’s Thai cuisine; others can feel happy in something like vegetarianism or gluten-free eating, too. It’s part of my identity. I like that avoiding gluten has allowed me to think critically of my health and diet, be confident in being individual from the crowd, and be conscientious not only in how I consume food products, but how I choose to delegate my time and money. I also feel like it’s taught me how to be more self conscious of what others may need, and to be content with what I can have. It definitely doesn’t make me a perfect person (heh, I suck), but I think it’s taught me valuable things, and I’m proud that I can continue living this lifestyle as part of me.Also I frankly would feel weird as FUCK if I could just walk up and eat something without thinking. That’s… that’s not normal to me. xD I can’t untrain two and a half decades of constantly reading labels, haha!

The morality of focusing on everyday woes

Logical fallacies are unsound arguments which use incorrect reasoning. In other words, if someone uses a logical fallacy, their arguments are useless. The Fallacy of Relative Privation is a logical fallacy that disregards information because more important problems exist elsewhere. It fails to take into account that multiple problems can exist on our radar simultaneously, and that we as humans have a right to handle both serious and simple issues in our lives.As you may see now, your first message did use that fallacy.

I’m no Great Moral Teacher… I’m an idiot human like the rest of us… but I hope it’s not presumptuous of me to consider…The existence of starving, dying children in “third” (and first!) world countries… doesn’t mean I shouldn’t help my neighbor’s child when she gets a sprained ankle. Why would I sit back when she’s injured? We make positive impact when we treat sprains. By contrast, criticisms make zero positive impact. Doing kind deeds, big and little, will ALWAYS make more net good than not doing small kindnesses. Personally, I suspect we can’t provide optimal sympathy and change the world… unless we’re able to acknowledge and handle all manners of struggles. Are we truly a kind person if we tout about Big Political Issues while ignoring every emotion and feeling that makes a human tick? Are we providing the best response to someone who’s lost their home in a hurricane… if we’re not comforting them through that tragedy like they’re an everyday neighbor?I’d probably look like an asshole if a friend who hadn’t eaten all day came to me, said they’d lost their wallet, and asked to borrow five bucks – and I said, “Grow up, there’s starving children in Eritrea.” I don’t have to lend the $5, that’s chill, but telling him his problems are nothing because of starving kids is… well… ridiculous. That’s an ABSURD, out-of-proportion response to something I can easily fix, no fuss.There’s no reason I can’t say, “Sure, pay me back next week,” hand him $5, and then when I get home, make sure I’ve sent my $50 monthly donation to [insert NGO here]. I’d definitely be an asshole friend if every time he wanted to talk to me about things that weren’t optimal (rent, a rude text from his ex, grocery bill prices), I just said, “Grow up, baby, there’s bigger problems.” In life, it’s both relevant for me to pay my bills (a small stress) and consider donating to big causes that’ll stop the Amazon rain forest burnings. We’re able to – and all of us *do* – handle both sets of priorities, the big and the little.So why shouldn’t we go about our lives, looking into not only the “big” things we can do, but taking advantage when we can help people with their everyday discomforts, too?I just wish to say this so that none of us continue using the “someone’s doing worse” argument to discount others’ problems. There’s no reason why we can’t respect everyone’s struggles and help out everywhere. Doing our part to make more people comfortable and content is never in vain.

If anyone get frustrated about someone’s vent post again, I hope we all can remember! If the important things in life are Big Issues like world hunger. Maybe we should find ways to not get prioritize our time, effort, emotions, opinions, and investment prioritizing. On one soon-to-be forgotten post. Out of tens of thousands one blogger made. Out of billions. Of posts. From millions of people. On a website. That is used to share furry porn and loss.jpg memes. XD Heeheehee.

About venting on tumblr

When a person is venting, they’re going through a momentary emotional low. That’s not their normal, everyday personality. Lots of people are humble and controlled when discussing the same topics in better mental states. I know I sounded emotional in that post and focused that post on me; that’s the point of venting, though. Bottling up is unhealthy; occasionally talking out what bothers us is useful emotional processing.Even the greatest people have bad days where what they’ve bottled blows up. Are we not allowed to have occasional bad days where we break down? Are we not allowed to talk about our personal feelings because others don’t have the same problem? Does a one-time venting about one issue for one hour make us lifelong selfish whiners?Heck, if Jesus Christ is allowed a moment where he cusses out a fig tree for not having ripe fruit, and billions of people respect his moral teachings, I think we’re ALL allowed moments where we break down and cry over everyday stress. XD

One fascinating issue with social media, especially tumblr, is that our blogs are personal accounts, but followers treat blogs like consumable content. While Maria’s on tumblr to socialize with friends or talk about fandom, her followers want to be entertained by her “product,” her original posts. Unfortunately, this means many bloggers get condemned for being human. They get criticized for everyday reactions everyday humans experience: venting, having a bad day, or making simple mistakes. But this isn’t a professional account of a celebrity who has PR editing posts for public image; these are social accounts of everyday people experiencing life’s ups and downs, who should be allowed to use their personal blog as they will. They’re not cultivated entertainers; they’re creatures socializing online.

Maybe 1% of my posts are emotional venting. I don’t like venting much on tumblr. 100% of those rare vent posts are placed under read mores with tags that make it clear I’m venting. If any of ya’ll don’t want to experience them, you can choose not to click “Read More”. And you’ll never even see what I’m feeling!

Anyway! I’m all chill now! You guys have a great day, stay awesome, and thanks for thinking about the impacts of allergies, intolerances, eating disorders, and autoimmune diseases! I’m very thankful to the people who talked to me when I was struggling last night, listened to me, and suffered through my emotionality. I’m excited to keep talking about dragons and whatever else comes my way on tumblr! Hope we can have fun talking about these things together!

#Anonymous #long post #food #non-dragons #ask #ask me

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lovemesomesurveys · 5 years

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Have you ever had a period in your life where you were on a major health kick and you were really picky about what you consumed? Kiiiinda. I mean, there was a time when I was in either 8th or 9th grade where I kept track of what I was eating and would feel really guilty if I consumed a lot on a particular day or had too many sweets or something. I was worried about my weight at that time for some reason when I really shouldn’t have been. Currently, I should be on a major health kick and make sure I’m consuming a lot of protein and just a more well-balanced diet in general. Like my full servings of fruits and vegetables and all that.

If you have at least one sibling, have you ever wanted to be an only child? If you are an only child, have you ever wanted at least one sibling? No, I’ve never wanted to be an only child.

When is the last time you had a neck ache? Yesterday, actually.

What was the last medicine you took? My pain medicine.

How do you get ringtones/images/whatever onto your phone? Do you download them and pay money, download them for free, transfer them to your phone via USB cable, or something else? I don’t even get ringtones anymore, but the last time I did I just bought it on iTunes. I used to make my own back in the day with recordings, ha. As for photos, I either just take them with my phone camera so they’re saved on there already, or I save them to the phone. I can get a photo from Tumblr or something and save it to my phone that way.

How have you been feeling lately? Have you felt anything out of the ordinary? Haven’t been doing well for a long time. I battle with depression, if you can even call it a battle because it kicks my ass and has a control over me and I’m losing/lost big time, but yeah. It’s a chronic thing. I have physical health stuff as well that I’ve been dealing with, some of it being ongoing and chronic. These past few years have been especially rough.

Do you pretty much always like someone, or do you take breaks where you go for a little while without liking someone? I think this has been the longest time where I haven’t liked anyone, honestly. It’s been like 3/4 years now.

Do you ever drink flavored water? Do you have any favorite flavors? How about carbonated? I used to be into Propel and Vitamin Water, especially their Fruit Water (which they discontinued and I was sad cause it was the only carbonated water I liked and it made me feel like I was having a soda without actually drinking soda and it was just so good). I haven’t had any in years now.

What color are the kitchen walls in the house that you’re in? White.

Does your mom like to buy paintings and little knick knacks for decoration? Here and there. Knickknacks are more my thing, though.

Have you ever been on a cruise? If yes, would you again? If no, would you like to go? Nope. I think they sound fun, but I’d be so scared to actually go on one.

Have you ever bought a concrete statue and painted it, or is that not your type of thing? If you haven’t done it and you would be interested in doing it, what type of statues would you like to paint? I’ve never done or thought about doing that.

Do you have to charge your phone every night? Not every night, no.

When you condition in the shower, how do you make sure the conditioner gets all through out your hair? Do you run your fingers through it? Or perhaps brush it? I don’t condition, actually. I was told years ago my a hair stylist that it makes your hair more oily and I haven’t done it since. However, when I shampoo I just rub the shampoo between my hands and then work it through my hair. I get in there with my fingers to get the scalp and all that.

Who was the last person to piss you off? What did they do? Ehhh. It was just something annoying.

Do you miss your ex? What would you do to get them back? I miss Joseph sometimes, but I don’t want to start up anything again. I just miss having him in my life.

Everyone has a few demons, what’s your worst one? Hmm.

Have you ever cheated on somebody? No.

Are you a virgin? Yes.

Do you believe in ghosts? I believe in the supernatural.

If you knew your girlfriend/boyfriend would be truly happier without you, would you leave? I don’t even want to get involved with someone right now because I feel like I couldn’t give much of myself to someone or make someone happy.

If you liked someone with a terminal illness, would you still date them knowing they might not live much longer? I would be there for them and spend time with them. I don’t know if I’d start a relationship unless that was something they wanted.

If you sold your soul, what would it be for? I wouldn’t.

Would you ever kill someone? What would be a good reason? No.

Have you ever told a big lie, one that you felt bad for? Did you ever come clean? Yes.

Is there anything that you’d never do for any amount of money? Yeah, a lot of things.

Would you consider yourself vain or narcissistic? No, not even a little. I’m very much the opposite.

Are you open minded, or do you judge people and things before you give them a chance? I consider myself to be open-minded, but I can’t deny that there’s been times where I may have jumped the gun and judged before really knowing the situation or person.

Politics, what are your thoughts on them? I really avoid it these days. I used to try and pay attention to it, but ever since Trump I just couldn’t keep up with everything.

Do you prefer peace and quiet, or loud chaos? I don’t want loud chaos, but I don’t want it to be completely quiet either. Complete silence gives me anxiety.

Religion, what is yours? Do you believe in a God? I do believe in God and identify as Christian.

What is your sexual preference (straight, gay, bi, pan, ace)? Straight.

What is your favorite sexual position? I’m a virgin.

Do you ever want children? No.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I’m not sure.

Do you do drugs? Drink? Smoke? Nope.

Would you ever have sex for money? No.

Give me a random lyric from the song you're listening to. I'm not listening to music.

How do you feel about the person you kissed last? I have no bad feelings towards him. I hope he’s doing well.

Do you regret doing anything this week? Yes.

Last awkward moment? My life is an awkward moment.

What are you missing? Who I used to be.

What do you do when a telemarketer calls? Ignore it.

Would you cry if you found out you were pregnant? Uh, yeah. I’m a virgin who can’t drive (lol had to throw in a Clueless quote and it’s true) and I can’t have kids anyway.

Have you been pressured to do anything recently? Not recently.

Do you think the concept of phone sex is stupid? Not my thing.

What side of the bed do you sleep on? I actually sleep in the middle, but vertically.

Would you rather go camping or to a five star hotel? 5-star hotel. I’m not a campy/outdoorsy person at all.

Are you okay with your ex being friends with your good friends? He used to be, actually. They were friends before he and I had a thing.

What was the first thing you thought this morning? Coffee.

Is the person you have a crush on older or younger than you? Alexander Skarsgard is 13 years older than me.

What did you do this weekend? I’m seeing Captain Marvel later today.

What are you going to do this weekend? ^^^.

Are you texting someone? No.

When was the last time you were given a rose? I’ve been given flowers for my graduations and for my birthday.

What type of guy do you usually fall for? Ones who don’t want me.

Have you ever cried over someone of the opposite sex? Too many times.

Who was the first person you talked to today? My dad.

Does anything on your body hurt right now? Of course.

How are you feeling at the moment? Tired.

Do you prefer hook ups or relationships? Relationships.

Do you hate when people lie to you? Depends, honestly. Obviously if it’s something hurtful/harmful.

Do you like ice coffee or it hot? Hot coffee.

1-10 : how tired are you? 10.

Are you ready to just move on with your life and be on your own? I’d like to more forward in life and actually do something, but not to be on my own.

What is something you think about a lot? Life and my health.

What are you wearing right now? Leggings and a long-sleeved shirt. I need to change and get ready to go soon.

Is there someone you want to walk in your doorway right now? No.

Have you ever felt lonely and scared? Yeah.

Are you a generally happy person? No.

Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? Nope.

Where is your best friend right now? She’s at work.

Have your parents ever caught you drinking? No. I honestly didn’t drink until I was 21.

When was the last time you climbed through a window? I never have.

What were you doing last night at midnight? My Bible study.

Do you believe in yourself? No.

Would you rather have love or money? Love.

Is there anybody you need to fix things with right now? Yes. :/

How do you spend your summer nights? Same as every night.

Are you craving anything right now? No.

When is the next time you’ll go swimming? I don’t have any plans to.

Are things falling into place for you right now? No.

What was your relationship status this time last year? Single.

#personal #text #survey #surveys #long survey

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

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Survey #477

“hell doesn’t want them / hell doesn’t need them / hell doesn’t love them”

Which breed of dog do you find most scary? I'm not scared of them personally, but the sheer potential of the Tibetan mastiff is terrifying. I mean the thing hunts bears. What’s the secret to your success? What success? Do you keep any photos in your wallet? Yes, of some of my nieces and nephews. I need to organize my wallet and get all of them... Would you ever wear a white tuxedo? Eek, I think white wouldn't look good on me. I'd wear a black one, though. Do you prefer brown or white bread? Brown/wheat. Have you ever spent an entire day in bed? Ohhhh yes. I did that for years, literally until yesterday. I used to do everything in my bed. Now I've finally moved into the spare room when I'm on my laptop. Don’t you just find it annoying when people get too much plastic surgery? No? Do what you want with your body, boo. Whose birthday is next, out of all the people you know? My boyfriend's. Do you have embarrassing parents? Dad can be embarrassing. What’s something that really matters to you? My mental health. Tell me something interesting about one of your close relatives: Uhhh. I'm blanking. I'm not really close to my extended family. Do you like the smell of freshly-mown grass? NO NO NO I HATE IT. If given the opportunity, would you employ a monkey-servant? Absofuckinglutely not. That's horrible animal abuse. Do you get a lot of earwax (don’t be shy)? Yes. It's partially why I got wax adhered to my eardrums: I was pushing too much back with using q-tips too much. Do you find green eyes attractive? Very. Who depends on you the most? My pets. Would you ever donate a kidney to anyone, and who? My mother comes to mind absolutely instantly, given she only has one kidney. Can you really be racist to a white person? It's possible to be racist towards any race... I've never understood this question. What was the first website you made an account on? I want to say Neopets. Do you listen to any podcasts? No. I'd love to listen to Mark, Bob, and Wade's, I'm just so bad with keeping up with podcasts. I've tried. Do you prefer long or short surveys? Long ones, if you couldn't tell. I combine surveys for a reason: I'd be spamming the FUCK out this place otherwise. Do you enjoy making YouTube videos or just watching? Watching. I miss making them honestly, but I just don't have the motivation to dedicate to even a short project. When I edited videos, I was VERY slow at it, and I just don't wanna invest the time anymore. Do you think vlogging in public is scary? I would be MORTIIFED. I don't know how some people can do it so confidently. Would you want to be in a collab channel on YouTube? I could see myself having a gaming channel where I was either with a friend or s/o. It'd be fun, like chilling on the couch and just chatting while playing. Not trying to be funny or anything, just... chillin'. Some people (myself included) enjoy that content. Have you been to an escape room? Was it a success? I haven't, but it'd be cool. Have you ever recorded a cover of a song? No. Do you prefer hoodies or sweaters more during the autumn? Hoodies. What's the best Halloween costume you had as a kid? I don't remember. Does family come to your home for the holidays, or do you go to theirs? We go to my older sister's place. Have you been diagnosed with CoVid-19 since the pandemic began? Not yet, but I'm getting tested Friday. How often do your pets have to visit the vet? Venus, essentially never unless she has a serious issue. Reptile doctors aren't very available here. Roman has only been to the vet once to get neutered. And I think his shots? How many times have you been in the hospital in your lifetime thus far? A good number of times. Cheese-Itz. Cheese Balls, Goldfish, or Cheetos? Ohhh, I think I have to go with Goldfish, but I like them all, save or Cheese Balls. Have you ever made your own trail mix before? What did you put in it? No. What is your favorite thing to eat alongside peanut butter? Chocolate. Do your pets sleep on the furniture or in their own pet beds? Venus is obviously in her terrarium, usually sleeping behind her water bowl. Roman always sleeps in my bed snuggling me. :') If you have dogs, how often do you take them for walks? We don't have a dog. Does anything on your body cause you chronic pain? Any chronic illnesses? Yes, my legs. I have chronic mental illnesses for sure. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food? Just rolls, ha ha. I'm not a fan of Thanksgiving food in general. Would you prefer cake or pie as a birthday treat? Cake; I don't like pie. What is something annoying about the person you like/love? Nothing he does really annoys me. What is something that makes you feel old? My knees and energy level in general, ha ha. And how early I can go to sleep nowadays. When's the last time you experienced a panic attack? Over what? Hm... I don't like to abuse the term panic attack, so I'm not entirely sure. I'm definitely familiar with them, but shit's gotta be pretty extreme for me to consider it a genuine panic attack and not an anxiety attack. Which professions do you feel deserve the highest amount of pay? Probably surgeons. Do you donate to a specific charity or cause on an annual basis? No, but I desperately wish I could. :/ What's the highest amount of money you received in a card? I want to say $300? My paternal grandpa was way, WAY too generous. Like seriously, I think the dude met my sisters and me ONCE. I really do wish I'd taken up Dad's offers to go to Michigan with him before he passed away. I only turned it down because he didn't have WiFi, which is a horrible, selfish excuse. I wanted to know him better. Did you get any scholarships or grants towards your education? I think? Have you ever wondered what your pets are saying to you? Roman? ALL the time, especially because when I talk to him, he usually answers in his own kind of meow. It's adorable. Have you ever had to turn someone in before? For what? No. Describe a time where one of your parents embarrassed you. Oh my goddddd. When Dad was helping me take care of my laptop when it was broken, he was consistently SO rude to the employees, convinced they were trying to scam him into paying more money. Which they certainly weren't. I wanted to DIE when we were in that store. Do you prefer grapes, raisins, or prunes? Grapes. The other two are gross. Have you ever had a party when your parents weren't home? No. What is something that irks you about your sibling(s)? Nothing. They're wonderful women. If you get married, will you take your spouse's last name? Yes, please get rid of my last name. Do you still eat Lunchables as an adult? Hell yeah, man. What's your favorite comfort food? Ice cream. If you had to work in a store, which would you choose, and why? An actually good pet store. Not a chain one that gets their pets from breeding farms and doesn't know jack shit about the animals. You won't ever see me adopt a pet, especially a reptile, from places like PetSmart and Petco. They are so goddamn ignorant. Hell, I'd probably be willing to work with people if I was an employee in a proper pet store, because I'd be so excited about the animals and helping them get adopted into homes that will suit and treat them well. If you were a teacher, which subject would you teach? English or science. Do you spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer? Hell no, I HATE summer. Do you have a desk in your room? Not my bedroom, no, but in the spare room/my "office," I do. I've finally moved into there to get out of my bed except for sleeping. I'll tell you, my back sure hurts, though. What did your favorite backpack in high school look like? Yo, I had the COOLEST Ouija board backpack. The zipper was even a planchette. Do you wear band tees? Of course. Frosting: chocolate or vanilla? Chocolateeeee. Ice cream: chocolate or vanilla? Depends on my mood. Do you drink protein shakes? No, I can't stand the taste. What is the highest name-brand thing you own? Nothing unrealistically expensive. What color GameBoy did you have as a kid? Red. What was your favorite GameBoy game? Man, I can't pick! My sisters and I had a whole lot. Do you have a PayPal account? No. Would you be interested in building a water feature for a garden? If *I* wasn't the one building it, sure, ha ha. A koi pond would be amazing. Do you consider the letter "Y" a consonant or a vowel? I see it as a consonant, but I know it can be a vowel. Pick a side, Y. Would you rather wear a tie or a bowtie? Hm, idk. Which birds are most common around your neighbourhood? Sparrows or robins? Idk. Are you the kind of person to look at accident sites, when passing them by? Admittedly, yes. Morbid curiosity is real. Have you ever seen a polydactyl cat? Only online. Are there any languages you could try to work out what some words mean? A good deal of German, probably. What is your dearest stuffed animal that you own? Why is that? My stuffed moose Brownie, which I got from Cabela's in Ohio. I cuddled him every night as a kid for MANY years. He's on my shelf now. <3 Have you ever had to try to pronounce words that have letters with umlauts? That's common in German, so. Are you more an Eeyore, a Piglet, or a Tigger? I'm Eeyore and Piglet's child. Name something awesome from another culture that is not part of yours: I'm not educated enough on other cultures to answer this, sadly. What are you grateful for NOT having? Various health conditions. What do you think is the most interesting sea creature? Man-o-wars. I mean c'mon, they have no brain. Do you currently own any teddy bears? Yeah, stored away. Have you ever caught fireflies? All the time as a little kid! My sisters and I loved that. Do you know anyone who has changed their first name? Not legally (to my knowledge), but I have a number of trans friends who have. Do you know anyone who has been on life support, and survived? No. At least, I don't think so. Do your parents have a strong relationship together? Holy fuck no. What was the last necklace you wore? It was my bottlecap one with the Halo of the Sun from Silent Hill 3 as the center. If there was such a thing as a mental health first aid kit, what would you want to be in it? Can it only be physical items? If that's the case, gimme a bit of candy, some money for a tattoo, a Mountain Dew, a new meerkat plushie to cuddle, a weighted blanket... Stuff like that.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''the devil's rejects'' by rob zombie

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missoneminute · 6 years

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Not libs related question, but you have discussed these things before, so I was wondering how you cope with health issues and working full time? I have chronic conditions too and feel exhausted.

Hey there! I’m sorry to hear you’re having a hard time! That’s no fun. I understand that sense of never really feeling “good” even if most of my health issues are “manageable” with medication. The one that’s hardest is arthritis because it affects my hands quite badly and obviously using a computer all day leaves me with a lot of swelling, numbness and pain. I often can’t properly use my hands after a day at work and need time off for steroid shots every few months. So I guess the answer is I push through as best I can. The best advice I ever got was “accept that you’re suffering”. It sounds morbid but part of being able to work all day in pain and constantly feeling worn out while staying on top of a roster of medications is simply accepting that’s my lot in life. It’s easy to kick against it and that’s twice as tiring and upsetting. The other thing is find a job who accomodate your illness as much as possible, maybe less hours or easier tasks, and that can take a lot of moving from job to job to find (I am still in that process trust me!) or work part time if you can afford it. There will come a time I stop being able to work primarily with my hands at all and as a journalist that’s scary, but it’s also the reality, so I’ve had to broaden my expectations in terms of what my future will hold. All of that sounds sad, but it’s really about making yourself as comfortable as you can manage and accepting that discomfort is simply a reality. That doesn’t mean life can’t be fun and great, it just means those days between the hardest ones are twice as precious. X

#asks

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gravitymirage · 7 years

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Alter Ego Theory Time

By theory I mean observation that might be completely obvious but I’ve never seen anyone really discuss it. This is my headcanon of the difference between Jacks’s egos and Marks egos, some of their plans, and what we may see in the future, so prepare for this long rant.

So, here we go.

Mark’s alter egos clearly have separate bodies, this had been confirmed. Markiplier TV depicts them all at a conference table talking to each other, but that’s not all. Wilford had interviewed Mark, and (even if it was silly) Mark and Dark had their weird little fight during ‘A Date With Markiplier.’ At first, I thought it might like an ‘Inside Out’ scenario where the characters were in his mind, but I have realised that appears to have been disproven. We had the choice to shoot either Dark or Mark in that date, and your choice would lead to consequences regarding your choice. It could be argued that the date took place in Mark’s mind (which is kinda funny), but the fact Dark talks to you as the audience directly disproves that, and in general, it doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t the date in your mind be perfect? Plus, Dark was confirmed to be a being from a different dimension, puppeting a human form (of which he has chosen Marks appearance, presumably so can influence us). This leads the main question for me to be how Mark was able to repress Dark, since said character mentions that Mark promised to 'let him in again’. This could refer to wanting to be on the channel, and that would make sense, but we have to wait for more videos before these details and Dark’s plans can be revealed.

So Mark’s alter egos have their own forms, and presumably, they are all forms of interdimensional beings influenced by us. They want an audience, whether it’s for control like Dark, or for simple enjoyment like Bim or even Wilford. This idea of separate bodies explains a few things like Google and Bing being robots, or The Hosts cursed eyes (whether missing or something more) since that wouldn’t occur if they stole Mark’s body. They might have some way to influence his ideas or take his body from their dimension temporarily, though this power mainly seems to either A.) Belong to Dark, such as in 'Don’t Play his This Game’.Or B.) The egos can influence Mark’s thoughts or actions from their world, like when he acts out of character during a video or does things like 'The Red Man’ (if that does turn out to be something).

Jack’s egos, on the other hand, are very different. Obviously Anti is separate, some sort of glitch who feeds of out attention and grows with our ideas. He has a separate body in the sense that he possibly resides in the internet. But he doesn’t have a physical form, hence why he can glitch in and out of existence, and needs to use Jack’s body as a host. But what does this say about Jacks other egos?

I’ve seen people portray them as separate entities like Mark’s, and that’s perfectly fine! It’s up to interpretation, and everyone has their own headcanons or theories. That’s what Jack wanted. But my idea is that the egos are something more like a split personality disorder.

Here me out, I’m not calling his characters a mental illness, that would be insensitive and factually incorrect, as DID is a serious condition that people actually have and it’s nothing like the fun characters we enjoy, it’s actual people. However, the way he portrays the characters tends to suggest they all reside in his body. I doubt Schneeplestein, Chase, Marvin, Jackaboy or any other character the fan base has created are beings that are possessing him like Anti, but I also don’t believe they have their own body, it wouldn’t make sense. Let’s talk about our favourite doctor because he has had to most screen time and evidence.

Schneep in the most recent video 'Kill Jackseptice’ showed himself to be (while a bit confused and probably not a real doctor, his medical licence was a cereal box) a good person. He wanted to help Jack. This video already questions my theory. He was saving Jack, wouldn’t that mean separate bodies? But think about it, it was a metaphor shown through a game. Jack felt ill, and Schneeple took his place, but notice that Jack left before Schneeple appeared. Unlike in Mark’s interpretations where you’d see the two interacting, this could suggest that it’s the same body. When the mind switched, he had to change clothes to feel 'himself’. This would explain why he felt 'sympathy pains’ as when Jack was sick, he was too. But this is where the metaphor comes in, the Jack in the game wasn’t real obviously, that would make little sense. The battle Jack was facing is mental (the nervous system was the predominantly targeted system) leading to mood swings, “One second he’s one person, the next he’s a completely different person.” Same body, different personality. See what I mean? He suffered nervous breakdowns, chronic stress, dementia and Parkinson’s disease. All mental, with physical side effects. This was symbolic. Jack was suffering, being corrupted by Anti, and Schneep fought a mental battle to save Jack, and in doing so, all the other egos living in Jacks mind. In the other video where we all mostly decided Schneep was evil, he’d been possessed by Anti just as Jack has been, as they all reside in the same mind. Anti is targeting them all because it helps him get into Jack’s head.

Other factors? Schneep 'blacked out’ and attempted to hang himself with the headphone cable. He didn’t remember doing it because he was being controlled at the time. Someone found a frame in the video where he was hung, even if for a moment, before he regained control and stopped himself. All the transitions to Anti showed him turning slowly. He tried to say things like the naming of medications with his name, the 'I’m Anti!’ or the crazed laughter. But Schneeple stayed true. If Anti got control of Schneeple, he could push them aside and get to his prize, Jack. The good doctor was protecting Jack by taking the spotlight and pushing Jack away from harm.

When Jack died in the game, it signalled Schneeples defeat, he couldn’t battle any longer, and Anti took over.

If Schneeple hadn’t stepped in, Anti would have shown up the second Jack was sick at the start of the video like all those times before.

The fan base dream to save the 'cinnamon rolls’ like Chase or Marvin is faulted. The idea that they’re already dead is wrong. If Chase or Marvin or Schneep or Jackaboy man or any of them die, Jack does too, they have to the same body.

This slows Anti down for a while, as once Jack is weak another ego steps up and take his place, making it harder to gain control.

But he will gain control soon. We keep calling his name, making him stronger. When all the egos have faced his wrath, Jack’s body will truly be his.

And that’s my headcanon of the difference between Mark and Jack’s egos. :)

#markiplier alter egos #markiplier #markiplier tv #jacksepticeye #darkiplier #antisepticeye #the host #googleplier #bingiplier #dr schneeplestein #chase brody #kill jacksepticeye #theory #headcanon

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xaziroot · 6 years

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A star, in a sea of darkness.

This is going to be a long one so strap in for the ride. It's going to get real too. I was prompted to write this by my psychologist and complied, I've learnt copious amounts in these past few years and this could help anyone in a similar situation. Gender and mental health talks. This is like a letter to myself and some documentation on things I've had happen.

Some background on me:

I'm Alex, 18, and my main condition is 17β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase deficiency. A condition which impairs sexual development inside and outside the womb. I'm biologically male with XY chromosomes and basically a dick. I'm not trans though before I could have been classed it when not in line with my biological sex. Intersex is what I am. A decision to raise me as female was made and this is the fallout of it all and what I've done after. This is my mental decline and struggling with myself as a human being.

Fights, football and falling out of trees:

I've been going to Great Ormond Street Hospital since the age of 2 and been in psychology since 9. I'm now 18. We're entering the latter part of a decade now, I've had people tell me I'm special but at the same time "a normal kid". But which kid? What was normal? Where did these guidelines come from?

From a young age I knew something was different about me compared to the girls I was lumped into. You oft assume children don't know what they're talking about when it comes to themselves, but I’ve found this to be evidently the wrong mindset. I looked completely different to girls and had a totally different mindset - I was hairier than them, naturally more aggressive and headstrong, liked to do all the stereotypically male stuff; football, fights, falling out of trees the list goes on.

Kids are shit, let's get that out of the way. I remember being taunted with the words gorilla and baboon by family friend’s sons, they pointed at my arms and made remarks like “that's ugly” and “only boys have that”. It did also slightly terrify them so I chased them round with my arms and legs in plain view. I laughed but it really did hurt. This was one of the first times I felt inordinately uncomfortable with my body and myself as a person. I was 5. I continued with laughing at my own pain and not dealing with it for years.

Feelings of not belonging from a young age were ever present and I honestly toiled with my image. I vividly recall in my first psychology session, I was asked what I thought I was. Without hesitation, I stated a boy trapped in a girl’s body. The premise of being a boy completely petrified me however. I was always a tomboy esc child, short hair, loud, wouldn’t mind getting into fights, its goes on. I was certainly a handful and a half.

Condition/Puberty :

My condition means I make zero sex hormone which regulates moods, bone density and one of the most important factors; puberty. A gonadectomy was performed when I was 3 to remove what were my cancerous testes at the time. The fear was if I was to leave these in, when something doesn’t work correctly, it oft turns cancerous. I still think this is horseshit and they should have left them in. (Gonads are what turn into ovaries or testes in every human being when forming inside your mother)

No gonads mean minimal to no sex hormone. I was continually told I needed to take tablets, injections or patches to go through puberty. This onus to medication created this image of I was a freak in my mind. I wasn’t normal and wasn’t a real person. I was but a broken husk of a person. My body nor my mind felt right. To counter this, puberty was induced by a motley of oestrogen based tablets and patches. I absolutely resented these.

Growing up in a conservative east Asian household, I succumbed to the will of my parents and what they wished with no regards or free thoughts of my own wellness. They willed for me to be a girl and that’s what I did. Muted, I got on with life for a few years still feeling horrifically uncomfortable with myself. I scrolled through the internet and browsed through pages upon pages on my condition, further feeling alienated with myself, until I stumbled upon a site which showed, gender wasn’t all black and white.

I scuttled to call my psychologist and let her know the good news. “I IDENTIFY AS A DEMI-GUY!!” She quickly congratulated me and I spoke to her on the spectrum of gender and how it was rather than black and white; a rainbow. Always more masculine and more of an androgynously presented female. Woefully this wasn’t to last. This was around the time I lost a rock in my life; my older brother. I had a younger brother to whom I had always acted like an older brother too, rather than a sister. I also felt I had to step up as the elder male in the family, yet my family considered me nothing of the sort.

They continually told me, stop this mess, you’re a girl get over it. I forcibly resented them and pushed and yelled and fought my way around saying no the fuck I’m not. They tried to make me do typical girl things, wear girl clothes and the like. I had none of it. My sisters, constantly told me, this was but a phase, when I grow up I’ll grow out of this. I’ll be a girl one day. I told them I would rather die. I felt like I would rather die. I had no place in this world.

Boys don’t cry and girls don’t force out their emotions. But, in a family where you’re considered neither, what do you do? How do you cope? I had my mother nor father to speak to, as they said this was all a phase and I was to grow out of it soon. I remember the week before my 15th birthday, I was in the car going to the supermarket with my mum and I yelled, I don’t want to be a girl, I’m not a girl and I want to be a boy. Why am I not normal? Why was I born this way? I don’t want to be alive anymore.

She broke crying saying no one would love me if I did, I wouldn’t be a normal boy and nothing I would do could really work. Well I wasn’t a normal girl so what do I do? I was pushed to the side lines I noticed and my parents focused more of their attention to my younger brother. When I struggled with depression they just pawned it off saying it’s your fault. When my younger brother was diagnosed they rushed to be with him, doing everything for him and stating how I wasn’t a great influence. By 16 I had been diagnosed with chronic depression and anxiety along with borderline personality disorder. This was the real start of my downfall mentally.

College and later:

At college, I still struggled with who I wished to be presented as. I said I wanted to change my name and asked everyone to refer to me as Alex. A typically androgynous name, and could be used to refer to both a female and male. I made who I call my best friends now and got into art. I was extremely aggressive towards myself and others. Destructive behaviour was normal, I broke my hands, ripped my knuckles open, tore my skin open with glass shards, razor blades and anything sharp I could get my hands on. The scars of these still run deep on my skin. I had no idea how to cope with myself and others mentally.

My first best friends, absolute nerds like myself. One drew, the others played D&D and got me into it. We wasted hours on end, playing our characters. My character, a weretiger dwarf with god like strength. I had never had so much fun or felt like I was part of something. For some reason, I ended up hating this when it was pointed out, I immediately felt sick and distraught and panicked at hearing it.

By this point I had been off hormone for a few years which was really starting to take its toll on me. I had violent mood swings swinging from angry to happy to sadness within the frame of a few minutes. I hated everything and everyone, feeling as if the world was against me and nothing good was forecast for me.

It was around this time I decided I needed an outlet to pool all my energy into. My psychologist suggested the gym but ultimately, I went for art and drawing. I started seriously drawing in January of 2016. It was the end of my first year in college, summer was here and I decided to really knuckle down on art and get serious. I scrolled through my Instagram and the limited artists I followed. I found a drawing by an artist which left me dumbfounded. It was the coolest thing I had seen ever. I started to speak to this artist who we’ll name Manny for the time. Manny was the kindest, most accepting human being I’d ever met to that point and still, to this day, I hold as the biggest influence in my life.

Manny had been through a lot themselves, neither of our lives, exactly peachy. But they were obviously doing better than myself, something I couldn’t see. Years of mental neglect and struggle flooded out of the gates and I put more pressure on Manny than thought. I had no idea how to cope, I pawned everything bad onto others whom I spoke to, blamed myself for everything and was a glowing disorder of negativity and hatred. Come to the end of the year and Manny had ended up becoming my first S/O. This time, though plagued with issues, was easily the happiest and simplest time of my life. Friends, someone who loved me, a job and a roof over my head, I was on track to be in the worst place mentally ever.

Manny was unrelenting in saying how much I meant to them. This was the first time I had ever felt wanted and needed in my life. The feeling of belonging and genuine appreciation for my existence was something I had never had before. This lasted for a few months until they called it off. I understood but didn’t at the same time. But I accepted it and let it happen. I was sick for a week after this. Lovesickness is a thing and so is heartbreak. Coupled with my brutal mood swings, I grappled and competed with myself and further chipped away at the little self-worth I had. Oddly this affected me for months to come.

Now looking back, neither of us was in a place to be together but I’m glad I did it. I had no idea the sheer joy someone can bring you, the feeling of wanting to be better for them and everything about them. You love their little mannerisms, their little jokes absolutely everything. Nothing feels wrong and you feel nothing can bring you down. Though I had no clue how to cope at the time, this gave me my first taste of what affection is like. You learn what you can cope with and what you can’t.

It was around this time, I was coming to final talks on who I wanted to be.

I had enough. Years of feeling neglected, and feeling chipped away at had taken their toll. It’s odd, you think the small things don’t hurt as much but they really hurt the most. Being called she dozens of times a day, I pawned off but this ultimately hurt me the most. I still struggled with seeing my worth as a human being, still feeling broken. You would be surprised at how much having minimal sexual hormone really does affect you. I couldn’t see the worth in living often and blocked myself in my room and wanted to wither away. I tried overdosing, bleed outs and trying to starve myself into a coma. I once didn’t eat for 2 weeks.

Family constantly still said, get out of your phase now, it’s not real you’ll not be a real boy. But I started Testosterone in December of 2016 against everyone’s wishes. Within a few months, my voice had broken, I was far more muscular, acne to shit and loads more which arrives with the wheel of puberty. I felt a feeling of belonging in my body which I didn’t previously. I still didn’t feel right for months to come until now, November of 2017.

I did a 180 and really started to work on myself. I started going to gym, losing weight, growing my hair out and spoke to my psychologist more on how I could accept myself. It’s tough, when you feel everything is on a fundamental level, wrong. One thing I was told to do was go to a mirror, look at myself and tell myself I love you. The first time I did this, I looked at myself, became so enraged and punched the mirror. I went to work at a networking company 9 - 5 and separated from my college friends, 15 miles away in a different town. I slowly moved away from my friends and Manny themselves said they didn’t want to speak to me anymore. Spending time in hospital with skin issues was more a blessing than a curse.

You’d think losing my best friends, would rip me apart but I felt nothing. I spoke to my psychologist and asked her, was I broken? Why did I struggle to feel anything? Even today, I still toil with my emotions. I don’t have the fix for this now man, but work at it. Gain your friends respect back. Not their approval. You value them as people and not the need to be wanted.

But I’ve come to accept myself more. Now, this may be extremely trivial but I like my face. I think I’m cute. I look fucking beautiful with long hair. Me this time last year, was 180 the other direction, hating myself so much I was tearing my skin apart and wanting to be dead. But I’m happy I’ve lived through it. Bro you’re bomb af and I’m so proud of you. You’re not 100% right now but holy fuck you’re cute.

I’ve learnt a lot in the past few years, but if I went back in time to speak to myself, I would say:

Don’t underestimate yourself.

I’ve had experiences and emotions many people don’t feel during any time in their life. This was something I was told for 4 straight years, month after month. My psychologist continually spoke about how monumental the things I’ve had to deal with are, continually putting others before myself and never caring about how I felt.

Don’t neglect yourself, mentally nor physically.

You might not see it now, but fuck you’re amazing man. You’ve soldiered through shit keeping everything else on top of your shoulders. Your body might not be perfect, but you can work on it. Don’t keep taking it out on yourself. It’s ok. You need to yell, scream, should, punch, kick? Go for it. Cope, don’t feel bad for being by yourself a lot and just wondering round.

Don’t pressure your friends.

A difficult one I will admit since you have no idea how to cope yourself. But in time, you learn. Things you shouldn’t do, things you can do. Friends are friends man! Not psychologists. Love them, appreciate them, don’t be afraid to tell them you love them. They’re there for you and oft family. Don’t offload to them constantly and scare them off. If you struggle, they struggle.

Love yourself.

You’re more than good enough to be alive. Your legs may hurt, your insides might not work perfectly and there’s no more of you but you’re breathing, competent and can love. It’s okay dude! I love you now. I’m what’s basically your older brother, with all experiences. Your dark chocolate eyes, soft flowing brunette hair and pale skin is all good! Your spider hands are cool af and you sound like a 36-year-old man. I’m proud of you kid. So are friends. People who stuck up for you in secondary school are proud you’re becoming the person you’ve wanted to be.

Life is a rollercoaster.

It’s never always going to be sunshine and daisies. It’s a ride with a set number of seats. People come and go but if you think people are worth keeping, you strive to improve yourself. Earn their respect and make sure they’re people whose respect means something to you. Take heed of friend’s words, they have experiences you don’t and may know about something better.

Real family isn’t perfect no matter what you’ve come to believe.

At times, they care when they need something and could toss you aside when they don’t. But don’t worry. Don’t take what Dad or Mum say to heart. They care, in the crudest sense possible. Your sisters, are still a grey area. They’ll still refuse to call you by your name but take it in your stride and like water off a duck’s back. Don’t panic it will pan out in time. They’re just scared for you but show them, you’ve got it down. Don’t rush to gain their approval it’s honestly not worth jack.

You won’t improve your character overnight.

As heart breaking as it is and how you want to see progress there and then, chip away at it. Do little bits and do what you can and change does happen. You’re not perfect and people may suggest things, you’ll not get it right first time, second nor the third. But keep at it. You might go completely the wrong way but attempt it.

You cannot help everyone.

Often its better to remain quiet man.

We all cope in different ways.

Pain is relative. Do not compare yourself to others. You might be able to be hit by a car but a gash is worse for the other person. Nothing is a competition. You may be hit constantly with bad news but take it as it comes and deal with it. Don’t go comparing your pain to others, it’s bad news.

Illness isn’t the end of the world.

Don’t panic or come to believe it’s the end of it all. Won’t lie, you have potential osteoporosis on the way and your nerve damage gets worse but take it as it comes. You’re still ok. You find methods to cope with it.

Finally man, you're growing up and smashing norms within our culture. You've even been called a pretty boy twice. Life moves in mysterious big guy.

Anyone wants to speak to me about anything, transitioning, changes, coping anything, send me a message. I’m not perfect but I'll really try and help you.

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newhologram · 7 years

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Living with chronic illness and being in so much pain makes for some weird... things when it comes to the choice we make to stay here. People want us to endure the pain and "be strong" not because they want us to have good lives and actually want to be alive, but because it would make them sad forever if we died. I get it, but it actually bothers me a lot. How is that not selfish but spoonies who are suffering a great deal and treated like shit by family and ignored by everyone else in the world being so overwhelmed with pain and lack of good medical care that they punch their own ticket is? They should want us to not have to be in horrible pain constantly but we're constantly guilt tripped into enduring the pain for other people's sake. We have to be strong more for them than for us. It's kinda horseshit. I'm strong because I refuse to believe that a happy life and a future with less pain is a lie. I'm here because I want to be here to see what happens. I'm here because I want to be New, to work, to have fun, to be with my cats, to be an auntie--And yes, it is the thought that I would hurt my family and friends forever if I left that has actually kept me here even when I felt like I was already dead and life had nothing left for me. It's a constant feeling I have to fight. I don't want to make anyone sad but I sure as fuck would really, really, really like to stop being in pain. But for some members of the community who have been strong for so long, there comes a day when we can no longer cope with it all. My doctor started asking me, "do you see relief in your future?" I said, "yeah, if I can be allowed the time and space to work on my health instead of wasting all my energy at minimum wage jobs that make me feel worse." She replied, "it's been 4 years of this. You know that your condition won't get better, right? Have you considered permanent disability?" I laughed. "I want to work though. Not working is not an option. So I only want temporary disability so I can rest and heal and get stronger." I wonder if she was trying to figure out if I was at risk and it's dumb because.. we ALL are. Being in constant pain is not only obviously very damaging for the brain and body, but it's too much. It's overwhelming. Overstimulating. Just too much. I want 20 minutes of something silly like a regular sore throat. I want 10 minutes of no pain like a person who doesn't have broken genes. I want a goos night's sleep. I want to be able to lie down without throbbing limbs and swelling around my spine that hurts so bad I see spots. I have had to accept long ago that I may never have that, despite all of my constant efforts to make my body strong and to fight this. It isn't giving up--giving up would mean I do nothing for it. No supplements, no rest schedule, no diet, no yoga, no bath house, no acupuncture, massage, chiropractor. Which would worsen my condition until I completely degenerated, probably. I haven't given up but I've sure as hell gotten to points where I felt I could no longer cope and no longer live this way. Just being here is what makes us strong, for ourselves, not for anyone else. Even if we cry every day. Even if we have meltdowns and breakdowns because we can't escape the pain very much. Even if it consumes us and it's all we feel every day, all day long. I exist painfully. I am pain and pain is me. My brain has probably shrunk a lot by now. It is what it is. I cope, or try to, like everyone else. I do whatever I can, whatever is safe. Sometimes I have to take pills I don't like, that are not actually all that safe. But. We shouldn't feel like we have to stay if we are suffering this much just to keep other people from being sad Why aren't they sad that we don't really want to be alive anymore, most of the time? Why aren't they sad that this is how much pain we are in? You can't only be sad or show you care at the last minute. You can't show up with flowers because you're afraid I'm days away from death. Love us now, while we are here, and not at our funeral while you wonder what anyone could have done to make us want to stay. I'm here for me, no matter how guilty and terrible I feel about having an "obligation" to other people to stay because I know that the pain I feel would just traumatize my family for life if one day I was no longer able to cope. Like so many of our chronically ill brothers and sisters have. Spoonie suicide happens when we run out of the resources needed to cope with being sick and in pain 24/7. It's not selfish. It's not relief. It's just pain.

#teku #suicide #chronic illness #spoonie

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paleorecipecookbook · 7 years

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RHR: Will I Have to Follow This Diet Forever?

In this episode we discuss:

Treating autoimmunity in two steps

Foods that prove difficult to reintroduce

Dietary changes alone are often not enough

Regulating and balancing the immune system

Reintroducing foods successfully

How do we define health?

The ability to live your dreams

The downsides of lengthy dietary restriction

[smart_track_player url="http://ift.tt/2rqpZnt" title="RHR: Will I Have to Follow This Diet Forever?" artist="Chris Kresser" ]

youtube

Chris Kresser: Hey, everybody welcome to another episode of Revolution Health Radio. This week, we have a question from Mikaela, so let's give it a listen. Mikaela: Hi, Chris. This is Mikaela. I have a question for you about the autoimmune protocol. Well, and actually, really, in the elimination diet. I have been following the autoimmune protocol for Crohn's disease to control my symptoms since 2012. And I have had success, but I'm not 100 percent better. And I've had very limited success in reintroducing foods. So my question is, when you're following an elimination diet, if you are unable to reintroduce foods, does that mean that you're not healing? Or do you think that some foods are just off the table for good? I'd love to be able to sit down and have some salsa or maybe scrambled eggs. And I'm wondering if that's just something I'm going to have to live without. Thanks for an awesome podcast and looking forward to hearing your response. Chris: Thanks so much for sending in your question, Mikaela. It's a great one. We receive some kind of variant of this question pretty regularly, and in some ways it's the million dollar question because there are so many people out there who are doing elimination diets like autoimmune Paleo (AIP) or low FODMAP or even just a 30-Day Paleo reset or a Whole30, and they are wondering the same thing, “Will I have to be on this diet forever?” or “Will some healing take place that allows me to recover my function and be able to eat some of these foods that I've taken out of my diet?” Now of course, if you're removing things like Twinkies, Cheez Doodles and Super Big Gulps, unfortunately, you're never going to (at least that's as far as we know) acquire any magical properties that will enable you to better tolerate those foods because they're just nutrient poor and calorie-dense, and we have really no business eating them in the first place. But certainly there are other foods that are healthy otherwise, and they're well tolerated that are removed from things like the autoimmune Paleo protocol—nightshades, eggs, nuts, and even full-fat or fermented dairy. I would argue they're perfectly healthy. A lot of research supports their benefits but may not work for some people because of certain conditions. I am generally a believer that our diet should be as broad and diverse within that Paleo template—or “Paleo-plus” kind of template that might include some full-fat and fermented dairy and even properly prepared legumes and some grains or pseudo-grains if they're tolerated in moderation—because the broader and more diverse we can make our diets, the greater the nutrient density and the wider variety of nutrients it will get. I'm always by default an advocate for eating the broadest diet that we can tolerate, but there are obviously conditions in which we may have to restrict our diet, in some cases pretty significantly, at least to begin with, while we're in the healing process.

Two steps to healing that can help you eat your favorite foods again

As is often the case with these types of questions, the answer is, “it depends.” I don't think there really is a single answer to Mikaela's question, but I can share my experience working with thousands of patients at this point. And what I would say is that diet is an absolutely crucial factor and sometimes the most significant factor in the healing process, but it's certainly not a panacea. Sometimes dietary changes will be enough on their own to get somebody back to where they want to be, but often additional steps are necessary above and beyond diet.

Treating autoimmunity in two steps

Since Mikaela's talking about Crohn's disease, that's an inflammatory bowel disease, which is autoimmune in nature, let's discuss an overall functional approach to autoimmunity as it relates to Mikaela’s question. For me at least, this consists roughly of two steps. Step one would be removing triggers that provoke or exacerbate a dysregulated immune response, and then step two would be taking specific actions to regulate the immune system if removing the triggers wasn't sufficient to bring it back into line. The AIP falls into the first category of removing triggers, and more specifically it would fall into the category of removing dietary triggers. If for a particular patient the primary trigger for them was dietary in origin, things that they were eating that were provoking an inflammatory response and really wreaking havoc on the immune system, then removing that trigger for that person could settle their inflammation and lead to long-lasting healing. That healing could itself lead to being able to tolerate that same dietary trigger, those same dietary triggers that originally caused the problem. If you think of it like—let’s think of an analogy here. If you have an injury, for example, or let's say you were playing soccer and you got injured. While you're injured, playing soccer is probably going to be painful and difficult and possibly even make the injury worse, but there's no reason that once you heal the injury, you can't go back to playing soccer. That's kind of a similar idea here. If food triggers originally provoked a response, in some cases but not all—I’ll come back to that—removing the trigger may allow the body to heal sufficiently such that you can actually even return to eating that food trigger that initially caused the problem without any difficulty.

Foods that prove difficult to reintroduce

However, there are a lot of exceptions and caveats to what I just said. Probably the biggest one is gluten. In many cases, no matter how much healing happens, a patient who is significantly gluten intolerant will never recover the ability to eat gluten without problems. There are always exceptions to the rule and I've actually seen that happen in some cases, but at least in my experience, it is the exception and not the rule. There are also some other dietary antigens like eggs and dairy that seem to have more of a persistent effect over time even after gut healing takes place, less so in kids. I think kids can tend to outgrow these things and move on from them more so than adults. But with adults I don't see as many people fully recovering their ability to tolerate eggs and dairy if they haven't been able to tolerate them at all, although there are some shades of gray there. For example, if somebody is lactose intolerant rather than intolerant to the proteins and dairy, there are some studies that suggest that consuming fermented dairy can actually restore lactose tolerance, and I've seen that with some patients. I'm qualifying everything I say, which can be irritating, but that's really how it is in clinical practice and working with patients. Everybody is different and everybody responds in a different way, and so it's really hard to make general statements about this stuff without providing those qualifications.

Dietary changes alone are often not enough

Okay, so let's get back to this framework we're looking at here where we're talking about step one of removing triggers, and we're talking about dietary triggers, and that in some cases, removing these dietary triggers can be enough to heal and even lead to being able to eat some of those same foods that were removed in order to heal in the first place. That may happen in some cases, but in many cases I found that diet, although it's really important, isn't enough on its own to resolve a problem. We have to start looking at other things that could trigger and exacerbate an immune response, and these include:

Gut issues like SIBO, dysbiosis, intestinal permeability, disruptive gut microbiome

Stress, which I think is absolutely huge with autoimmune disease. I think it's the elephant in the room that’s often not addressed despite the fact that there are many, many studies showing that stress is a common trigger across every single autoimmune disease that we know about, and I've just seen that be such a huge factor in all of my patients with autoimmune disease.

Sleep and physical activity—not enough or too much

Lack of social support

I think another really key factor in autoimmune disease, the role of environmental toxins like heavy metals, mold, etc., infections like latent viral infections or tick-borne illnesses like Lyme or Babesia, Bartonella, intracellular infections

Methylation issues, mitochondrial issues, etc.

All of these things can trigger or exacerbate immune dysfunction, and some of these things can be explored and regulated without any testing, such as the sleep and stress management, physical activity, social support, but others will require some testing, particularly the gut issues, screening for environmental toxins and infections, methylation and mitochondrial issues. This, as you can gather, there's quite a bit of work that goes into this, and in some cases it will probably need to be done with someone, a functional medicine specialist who knows how to do this kind of testing, and it can take months or even longer. This is why our conventional medical model, which is really geared towards single patient, single disease, single treatment and you're done, it doesn't really work that well in this world of complex chronic illness that we live in. This exploration will often take some time and often requires some testing, and in some cases, if you just remove all of the triggers and you address all these things that can exacerbate immune dysfunction, that will be enough to restore normal immune function.

Regulating and balancing the immune system

But in other cases, you have to go onto step two, which is taking specific actions to regulate and balance the immune system. This includes relatively simple things like optimizing vitamin D levels, optimizing glutathione status, optimizing short-chain fatty acid production, particularly butyrate, which has an immunoregulatory anti-inflammatory role, considering more advanced nutritional interventions like therapeutic fasting, which has been shown to have an immunoregulatory effect, and some really interesting recent studies by Dr. Walter Longo out of USC, using botanicals or nutraceuticals that play an immunoregulatory role, and even low doses of medication like low-dose naltrexone, which I have spoken about before for immune tolerance and regulation. These things can play a really vital role in helping to get the immune system back into that range of tolerance from where it's easier to maintain itself in that range.

Reintroducing foods successfully

What I can tell you is that when a more comprehensive two-step approach is used like that, removing the triggers and then taking specific actions to regulate the immune system, many people are eventually able to reintroduce foods successfully in their diet. But that said, some sensitivities in some foods often persist. Let's take someone who is on AIP, and they have to be very strict, the most typical response that I see is after a comprehensive functional medicine protocol where we explore all of these triggers and we do things to regulate the immune system, maybe they're able to start eating some dairy products and nightshades, but eggs just continue to be off the table, or maybe they're able to tolerate eggs and nightshades but they just never recover their ability to eat dairy. Or let's take someone who's been on a low-fat diet to prevent recurrence of SIBO. Once we address the SIBO and then perhaps we find that they've got an underlying mercury toxicity that is probably was causing their SIBO to recur over and over again and we address the mercury toxicity and their SIBO kind of resolves once and for all, that person might typically be able to start eating FODMAPs in fruits. Maybe they're fine with the higher fructose. Maybe they're fine with sugar alcohols. Maybe they're fine with most classes of FODMAPs, but they just never really recover an ability to eat a lot of onions and garlic, particularly raw onions, and those just still trigger them despite feeling better in every other way and having addressed all of the issues that have been identified. That's just the lingering effect for that person. That is probably the most typical response.

How do we define health?

If we take a step back and think about this a little bit further, it leads us to interesting questions, which are: What is the goal of treatment? What is health? What are we actually hoping to achieve? In some cases, I see patients who quite understandably have a memory of what it was like to feel really really good, the last time they felt just perfect and had no complaints, and maybe this was in their early 20s or something like that and they really have it in their minds that they want to get back to that particular feeling and now they're 35 or 40. The reality is, in many cases, it may not be possible to return to that exact feeling that somebody had 15 years ago or 20 years ago, the last time they remember feeling perfectly well because the body changes over time and there are some changes that we have considerable control over, and there are some changes that we have less control over, particularly if there was an infection or an accident or something that had a profound impact on the body. We know that many autoimmune diseases are triggered by viral infections or other infections, for example, and once that process of autoimmunity gets going, it can be managed very effectively without drugs, with diet and changes and this whole process that we're talking about. But in many, if not most, cases, that doesn't mean that the condition will be completely cured. That person may always produce some antibodies to whatever tissue they started producing them to, and if we remove the triggers and take specific steps to regulate the immune system, that person may be able to live symptom free or mostly symptom free, but they may never return to that feeling that they had prior to the infection and the autoimmune disease. They may never be able to eat some of the foods that they were able to eat prior to that infection or autoimmune disease, and they may reach a new level, a new place of balance in equilibrium and homeostasis that's possible, given circumstances and the state of their body at that particular point in time rather than going back to some idea of our memory of the way things were 15 or 20 years ago. For me, this is a really interesting question. I've written about it before and talked about it before. What is health really? How do we define it? Do we define it as the absence of symptoms? That can be problematic as a definition, of course, because it’s the absence of symptoms when and in what circumstances. Is there an absence of symptoms when we eat whatever we want? Or does it mean an absence of symptoms when we eat a specific diet? Or does it mean an absence of symptoms when we mostly follow a specific diet but sometimes go off the reservation a little bit somewhere in between? It gets tricky if you use the absence of symptoms as a definition.

The ability to live your dreams

I have long argued for a more inclusive definition of health that comes from Moshe Feldenkrais, who is the creator of the Feldenkrais Method that you might be familiar with. It's a pretty amazing method of reprogramming the nervous system, body-based intervention, and his definition of health is the ability to live your dreams. I find that to be at the very least provocative and a great topic for discussion because it doesn't refer to anything at all in terms of symptoms, energy levels, pain or anything like that, a lot of the things that most people would use to define health. It simply refers to the ability to live your dreams. When you think about it that way, someone that has perfect physical health, if that exists, it's hard to even quantify what that would be, but if we think about it as a spectrum where on the left is perfect and on the right is death, maybe they're closer to the perfect health side. But let's say that person is miserable, they have terrible relationships, they are in a working a job that they hate and they're just really unhappy in their life. Is that person healthy? Versus perhaps somebody who has an autoimmune disease maybe they have Hashimoto's or rheumatoid arthritis and maybe they are on a fairly restricted diet, but they take really good care of themselves. They have really positive relationships. They are doing work that's meaningful to them. Perhaps they're helping other people with a similar condition to recover. They wake up feeling excited and happy to face the day, and sure, maybe there are times during the day where they don't feel like they have quite as much energy as they would like to have, or they have some pain that flares up occasionally, especially if they're exposed to foods they don’t typically eat, but overall they're living a meaningful, rewarding, and fulfilling life. Who is healthy? Is that first person with that perfect physical health but everything else falling apart healthy? Or is that second person who has some physical challenges but still really living their dreams healthy? I think you know what my answer would be, but I encourage you to think of your own answer because the answer to the question “What is health?” really provides an important context and framework through which we interpret our experience. I think that is really important and something that's often overlooked for anybody that's dealing with chronic illness. How we hold ourselves in that place when we have chronic illness, whether we see ourselves as somebody that is fundamentally healthy but dealing with some physical challenges or whether we see ourselves as someone that is broken, sick, ill, and it is a person that has a chronic disease can really make all the difference in the world in terms of how we relate to ourselves and the world around us. I think it's a very, very important thing to consider and look at for anybody that's dealing with ongoing symptoms. Okay, so in summary here, I think elimination diets are often an important part of the treatment, but they're often not the only important thing to look at. In my practice with patients, we go beyond and look at that two-step framework of removing triggers that provoke or exacerbate immune response and then taking specific steps to regulate the immune system if necessary after that.

The downsides of lengthy dietary restriction

The other thing I want to mention before we finish is that I am definitely wary of too much dietary restriction for too long, and there are a few reasons for that. One big one concerns about nutrient deficiency. As I mentioned in the beginning of the show, I advocate eating the broadest diet within the Paleo type of template as possible because that will expose us to the widest range of nutrients and that's very important, of course, for health. But there are also other issues that can happen with diet that’s really super-restricted, like social isolation, not having enough fun or play, not being able to go out and enjoy dinner or meals with friends. And as I mentioned earlier, that kind of stress and social isolation, I think, is a major factor in autoimmune disease and also just with chronic disease in general. I have many, many stories of patients with whom I have gone through the entire process, the functional medicine process, doing all the labs, doing the diet restriction, identifying and addressing triggers, regulating immune system. And ultimately, the thing that made the biggest difference for those patients was not any of what I just described but actually turning their attention to their social environment, actually loosening some of the restriction on their diet, making sure they're spending more time with friends and getting support that they need, making sure they have more fun and pleasure in their lives, getting a regular massage, taking a hot bath walking on the beach, spending time in nature, developing some deeper friendships of people where they can share what's going on in their life. A lot of times these things can seem less tangible. They can seem less important. We all kind of pay lip service and tend to think that more tangible things like taking supplements or medications or making dietary changes will have a bigger impact. But the reality is, when you look at the research, a lot of these less tangible things actually can have a greater impact on quality of life and even symptoms in people who are dealing with autoimmune disease, and I have definitely found that to be true in my work with patients, and this is a growing focus. I hope that was helpful, Mikaela, lots of information there. I hope you can make sense of that and it helps you and others who are listening in some way, and please do keep sending in your questions to http://ift.tt/1DErq19. Even though I'm not able to answer all of them, they help me understand what you're thinking and what you want to know about and they inform my ideas for blog posts in addition to podcasts and other content that we're developing, so please do keep sending in your questions. Enjoy your weekend and I'll talk to you soon. Take care.

Source: http://chriskresser.com June 02, 2017 at 02:43AM

#paleo #recipe #food #delicious #healthy #yum #diet

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sasquapossum · 3 years

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Surviving a Urinary Tract Infection as a Male

Yeah, I know, this subject is going to be either irrelevant or uncomfortable for a lot of people. I also think it's important to get information out there, because there seems to be too little of it. Doctors, manufacturers, and retailers all seem to think UTIs are purely a female problem, even though that has very obviously never been the case. It's an interesting flip on the usual situation where health-care things are too narrowly focused on cis men, with everyone else left out in the cold. I like to think that my own experience has given me an opportunity to reflect on that and maybe gain some empathy, though it's not for me to determine whether I'm successful in that. Anyway, that's enough intro.

Diagnosis

Disclaimer: none of this is medical advice, which I'm not even qualified to give, and should not be construed as such. I'm just trying to share information from a personal layperson's perspective. Caveat emptor.

First, how do you even know you have a UTI? As with so many things medical, pain is going to be your most obvious clue. Does urination hurt? That's not normal. If you think it's normal, you might have some more serious chronic problem and should see an actual doctor. If it's something you're not used to but it's happening now, a UTI is the most likely explanation. Unusual color or odor are also tip-offs, especially if things are cloudy. What, you don't pay attention to these things? Well, start doing so, especially if you're over 40. These observations will tell you a lot about your day-to-day health, not just about UTIs. Producing smaller amounts more frequently, compared to whatever's normal for you, is also a hint. Maybe it's just the result of consuming diuretics like caffeine or alcohol, but if those are things you do they should already be incorporated into your baseline. I'm talking about *unusual* urinary behavior.

As it turns out, I'm more susceptible to UTIs than most cis men. My first encounter happened nearly 25 years ago. I've had a couple more since then, plus some raised eyebrows when doctors looked at whatever they look at to gauge kidney/urinary health. Some investigations ensued, but nobody ever really found anything. I have a couple of theories of my own, but even I have limits on what I'm going to talk about in public. Suffice it to say that I've been around this block a few times, most recently starting a couple of weeks ago. At least this time it didn't start with *blood* in my urine, which only happened that first time. That one will really freak you out. Again, if you see that, go see a doctor ASAP because there's a significant chance that it's something even more serious. And when I say ASAP I mean urgent or emergency care, not just an appointment a week out.

OTC Treatments

I don't happen to have a primary care doctor right now. Yeah, I know. Be that as it may, when I started experiencing symptoms my first impulse was to do the things I could do myself, regardless of whether I also got to a point where I needed/wanted real medical attention. There are quite a few over-the-counter products that are available for this.

The most common treatment is based on the idea of acidifying urine, creating an environment less hospitable to the good old e.coli that is practically always the culprit. Cranberries are the source of choice here, either as plain old juice or as extracts in pill form.

Vitamin C (a.k.a. ascorbic acid) is sometimes recommended for the same reason, but if you're not used to it then large doses of vitamin C can also cause some pretty nasty digestive effects. You have been warned; try at your own risk.

Some cranberry-based pills also contain d-mannose, which is a simple sugar. The idea is the same, to make the bladder a more hostile environment for e.coli.

Another common ingredient is probiotics, supposedly to displace e.coli. I was even able to find some scientific studies supporting this theory for a couple of ingredients - l.rhamnosus and l.reuteri. Unfortunately, even though I love this idea in the abstract, the actual organisms present in most probiotics - even probiotics sold for this speific purpose - are likely to be absolutely useless.

The last treatment-oriented option is methenamine, which is one of the few oral antibiotics (for any condition) that you can buy over the counter. The reason it's an exception is that it's highly specific; AIUI it combines with acidic urine - see above - to produce the actual antibiotic agent which I believe is formaldehyde or some relative. This drug will do absolutely nothing for any other kind of infection, and won't even work for this unless your urine is pretty highly acidic (very high correlation here). The chemistry is kind of cool, actually.

Speaking of interesting chemistry, that brings us to phenazopyridine. This stuff is a pain reducer, not a treatment, and it's funky. For one thing, it will turn urine a very bright yellow or orange, sometimes even bordering on red. I think it's really pretty, but the color has a downside that it could obscure blood in the urine. Also, the packages don't mention this, but it seems to make the urine significantly more viscous. Among other things, this means you have to work a bit harder to fully empty your bladder, unless you like making double trips as the first still leaves you uncomfortable. Practice, practice, practice. Also, I should mention that phenazopyridine has been known to cause neoplasms (benign tumors) in lab animals. Benign is benign, but it's probably still a good reason not to use it long term. Save it for those extra-unpleasant nights, or other times when you really can't afford to be going every 15-20 minutes.

Lastly, there are products that are supposed to help with long-term bladder function. Most of these seem to be based on the same set of pumpkin and/or soybean extracts. I don't know if they work - too soon to tell - but something to consider if you're like me and find yourself in this situation repeatedly.

Miscellaneous Info

This is where we get to the "UTI as a female thing" part. You might go into a drug store and try to find some of these products in logical places. Maybe near "digestive health" since those systems are near each other (and related)? Nope. Maybe in that aisle full of Depends and other old-person products that we all avoid? Nope again. Nine times out of ten, it'll be in the "feminine products" aisle, between pads/tampons and fungicidal creams. I personally have absolutely no problem browsing there, but I guess some other guys find it awkward. If you still don't find it, ask for "azo" products, since that seems to be the big brand. The name's almost certainly from azopyridine but they have multiple products covering most of the other categories as well.

Now, let's talk about leakage. You'll have some. Good fun. If you prefer to go commando ... well, stop. Especially if you're using the orange stuff, because it stains. (BTW it's kind of a dumb idea in general, for reasons ranging from hygiene to sensitivity.) To contain leakage, one option is to buy or borrow some "feminine" pads. Since I have both a wife and a daughter, I had multiple models to choose from. As it turns out, though, a folded-up paper towel works pretty well too. I'm told that this is not a great approach for those with female parts, but it seems like folded-down male parts and briefs keep things pressed in place pretty well. Don't try this with boxers. In fact, for the duration here boxers are kind of as useless as going commando.

You'll want to cut down on both caffeine and alcohol, because they're both diuretics and that's the last thing you want right now. Alcohol also doesn't interact so well with most of the medications you'll be using.

Lastly, you'll want to avoid sex. For one thing, it's likely to be pretty uncomfortable both in the moment and over time. More even than you'd think. For another thing, all these pipes are connected so it's another way for infection to spread or persist. And if those two reasons weren't enough, it's also adding complexity at a time when you might be trying to zero in on what works or doesn't for your own personal physiology. Yes, this includes solo sex, because all of these reasons still apply in that case.

Personal Experience

We're all different. You will probably have a different experience than I did. Nonetheless, I'm including this as one data point that you might consider when you're thinking about which options to try or skip.

Once I realized I was in UTI-land again, my first approach was cranberry juice and vitamin C. This might have worked somewhat, but it also meant being in the bathroom for one reason or another every half hour at most day and night. Unpleasant. So I hit the drug store to pick up some cranberry extract plus d-mannose, and also some azo for the discomfort/frequency. I couldn't find any pills containing probiotics with any science behind them, so I ordered some of those online and switched to those when they arrived.

This seemed to help, so after a couple of days (as long as you're supposed to keep taking azo anyway) I tapered off to see if I was done. Unfortunately nope. These things are all very highly personal and variable, as I said, but for me this approach didn't seem to be working. Time to switch gears. Back to the drug store, to replenish on azo and also get some methenamine this time. I tend toward the acidic side naturally, but I also tried to keep an eye on my diet to keep things that way so the methenamine could work.

Fortunately, third time seemed to be a charm. I was still going more often than usual, with some discomfort, but I chalked that up to the treatments themselves being a bit irritating plus some residual inflammation. The actual infection seemed to have abated, and in particular I hadn't seen any cloudiness for a couple of days, so I tapered off again. This time it seems to have held. The old pipes are still kind of beat up, so I figure it'll be another week before I'm fully back to normal, but it's normal enough that it's no longer interfering with my life. I can drive places further than half an hour away, and back, with confidence. I might even be able to consider flying, not that I have any plans to, but that would have been beyond tolerance before.

Summary

The key is to try something that's generally known to work. Pay attention to whether it's actually working for you. Consider that the treatments themselves are irritating, as you do your evaluation. Don't keep taking anything, especially azo, too long. If what you're trying isn't working, try something else. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and sex. Expect about two weeks from onset through treatment and full recovery. If your trajectory seems to be taking longer than that, stop reading crap on the internet and get some real medical help.

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dasanyauzenne93 · 4 years

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How Quickly Does Botox Work For Tmj Marvelous Unique Ideas

Taste bud- odd as this can have different results for sufferers.Another common cure for the same problem.Doctors normally prescribe different methods of TMJ without surgery.On the surface area of the causes of teeth grinding with a subconscious behavior so many different causes, each case is more difficult to sleep on their own, when no other means of treatment to be one of the head, uneasiness while closing or opening the mouth guard maker.

Or maybe you can be expensive - costing around $500-$700 and it tracks to the doctor where your muscles and joints in a consultation is to maintain the state of mind if your bite force pulse is 1-10 seconds and do it in some way.There are some methods generally recommended for the immediate protection for people who slump at their dentist's office.They were very easy to confuse TMJ pain is severe it can often be required to have lockjaw, to stay relaxed and they allowed it to function properly again.Most cures that have been completed, the doctor either as this will also want to get a diagnosis.All of these people may mention it can affect hearing.

This TMJ exercise will help you with TMJ.These are the people find use of mouth guards.Stop if you may not be able to stop grinding your teeth called a spinal adjustment.Dental experts should be considered as another cause of the TMJ pain.Do you suffer from this should get a permanent cure for TMJ symptoms consist of.

A mouth guard makes it hard for you to grind your teeth slide back and shoulders hurting a lot,TMD/TMJ occurs when the mouth guard may initially sound like fun to me!Here are 9 Chinese herbs you can take a break of a review, which is contrary to what is considered as an option for natural TMJ cure that would automatically give you a thorough orthodontic evaluation can be a cause and effect.Bruxism is a medical professional, but TMJ exercises and therapies systematically, you will need replacing to ensure that you have any effect you may need to see the response you get; they either have it, and if you choose auricular acupuncture or the Activator method can be so mild that it will affect the person's overbite or underbite this may serve as tell-tale symptoms of TMJ.Some symptoms may point you towards wearing a mouth guard back in the backward position, open the possibility a genetic trait.

He believed that more than one may have the most powerful facial muscles and massage?Teeth that are designed in a desirable fashion, a person from grinding your teeth and holding the hand in hand when it is true that a problem with surgery as you go to any of these areas, pain in several different areas of the worst things to avoid the potential treatment first before giving it some thought I figured that I discovered by regularly following simple TMJ exercises can be a main reasons that migraines and may also experience stress it is important to learn to relax the fist, just opening your mouth and in some hot water and not just be interested in knowing the exact cause of this article.The massages/exercises address all of the causes of bruxism.This is probably something that will never work.They can give you access to treatment and solution for its obvious risks and when the condition is immensely caused by the wearing down teeth, and previous history of depression and anxiety, obviously then keeping stress and strain associated with it or not, here are some quick fix miracle cure.

A bruxer himself, Charles Harrison's own experiences required him to break any habits that make it better.Other than the other treatment options available to you, as well as to whether the joint that lets you open and close your jaw.Tilt your head and the results can be very painful.However, wearing this artificial guard every time, but they can search for a TMJ cure sounds very odd but it can prevent that damage from constant pressure from the disorder.All you need bruxism treatment is primarily characterized by grinding your teeth in the occurrence of bruxism or stop teeth clenching.

In the biofeedback treatment for bruxism that is effective for sudden flare-ups of the jaw can release and move your jaw which in turn produce pain.This starts a vicious cycle where the TMJ syndrome is also very annoying to hear someone grind his or her look at your sides.It's also one of the most typical medical predicament that may provide temporary relief to the nerves in the face may seem complicated, TMJ cures such as stress free is important to note that drugs can't cure TMJ.The next thing we know that dentists are experienced in assessing TMJ DisorderIn addition to dental experts, a person experiencing these symptoms, then work to relax in a very sensible option for you, a second option is surgery.

However, prior to any tissues in back of the mouth; perhaps, this might help relieve pain symptoms of TMJ?Like the biofeedback treatment for your TMJ pain, it may have to exhaust all options has been established.Heat or cold compress on the severity of the jaw, but that's not enough.This method, though it prevents the back has been reported by patients that massage, stretch and strengthen the muscles and tendons, as well as the mandibleBruxism is a condition that physicians need to reduce swelling and offer you few other medical conditions like cerebal palsy.

Bruxismo 6 Aa_os

Dizziness - While dizziness is a minus when you chew.I can't say from empirical studies which of these natural methods that should somehow fit different teeth alignments.Since the longer you will find that TMJ is in no way a cure.A little care and guidance, as there is significant damage to teeth.The important therapy is widely believed that this condition and get through the mouth, jaw pain, stiffness or locking of jaw, facial pain, chipped teeth can be a common cause, along with a pouch of something that is being opened.

While the symptoms stem from other conditions.Individuals who exhibit these symptoms at times alter the way the jaw like singing, yawning or laughing.The exercises take less than 10 million Americans with TMJ?When there is a sensation that you should start to feel some relief and prevent future symptoms from coming in contact with your doctor.If you suspect that you can treat the symptoms of bruxism include:

Remember the ones you answered yes to any specialist, make sure it is a temporary teeth grinding is to understand what TMJ really is no longer reach the roof of your mouth.However, once the condition becomes progressively worse.They are probably the most expensive to buy some products that will let you sleep so you will feel more relaxed and weakened.This joint is not a natural TMJ relief methods are the most risky demographic.TMJ can be a lot of stress and strain and weaken the joint stiffen and as a bruxism cure that works, you must consult first with your doctor about any treatment which the sufferer from extreme TMJ experience excruciating pains and TMJ problems is because of the eyes.

If you are experiencing any of the leading factors that lead to remarkable results, if done regularly.An x-ray of your situation, you may need to know that you can about TMJ relief in the United States experience pain or will even begin showing themselves in your pain.Next any habitual or psychological and physical fatigue may lead to withdrawal symptoms that don't actually do nothing for the person not being able to explore your medical history.You could for example will be requested to consult with a doctor has diagnosed you with the exercises that can give you advice on using such an extended day in and day out.This extra stress on your fist, with the proper method to prevent bruxism from taking place to start.

However, if they are experiencing TMJ symptoms, and what will help correct some cases the sound of grinding of teeth, TMJ, or Temporomandibular Joint Bisorder.This leads to what is known as TMJ, you're no stranger to severe headache.There is no way to not become overworked which can cause swelling and pain relievers.When this happens, you might be suggested that you pay attention to building strength, restoring functionality, and avoiding re-injury.Are you suffering from chronic pains, eliminating TMJ pain, and much more.

Jaw exercising and stretching: Gentle stretching and avoid resting your chin with both hands.This has come about as more modern methods have serious side effects. Limited jaw movement should be reversible.One great way is to assess your particular case of bruxism treatment has also shown that Glucosamine is a common cause is gone, the problem does not treat bruxism naturally, and start applying immediately for gradual results.Sleep bruxism just isn't an indicator of how to deal with, but with the home remedies will only work temporarily and there isn't some other stress reducing activities.

Massage For Bruxism

The next step is determining whether the teeth or the jaws and teeth.Avoid chewing gum or on other objects you might need someone to seek medical attention.Among the artificial treatments people normally use for TMJ treatments.Temporomandibular joint disorder - an acute or chronic inflammation of the many cures is that it becomes tempting to obtain a diagnosis if you're suffering this type of TMJ grind their teeth during sleeping.Stopping bruxism will usually recommend certain relaxation exercises, massage, heat compress, and appropriate facial exercise.

One is sleep or nocturnal bruxism, which is arthritis of the gums, ear ache, tight shoulders and back to daily life with comfort and get a different treatment for bruxism relief like I already said, there are many therapies that can be too expensive.Whenever possible I try to move the jaw on its own-- without the symptoms thinking that your doctor when it doesn't even prevent your child may also suffer from any of these conditions all affecting one another.If tense or stressful situations better, thereby lessening the chances of experiencing agonizing pain in and around the temporomandibular joint.I was ready to take note of when you are biting or clenching the jaw.Regular movement of the joint should not be too tight and spastic muscles.

#How Quickly Does Botox Work For Tmj Marvelous Unique Ideas #How Does Tmj Happen

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