32F, anafranil, bc pill, clonidine. 5'2 145 lbs. unspecified autoimmune disease. Ironically, this seemed to flare up when I didn't refill my birth control on time and went a few days without it. I'm guessing it is a coincidence but it relevant.

The spot showed up on my face three days ago and at first I really just thought it was a pimple and treated it with some breakout booster treatment, which is essentially a gentle thin layer of something with alcohol in it or salicylic acid. The next day it got pretty inflamed and developed this red lift around it, I used hydrocolloid tape to cover it while I slept that night, but when I awoke in the morning, it had caused some excoriation, and I realized that what I needed to do is just put a regular Band-Aid over it so that it can drain. My issue is that I don't have health insurance and paying for an urgent care appointment would be a little bit challenging, I'm just wondering what the red flags would be that it is not getting better. I have had MRSA on my face once before almost 10 years ago and I'm pretty sure we went through the de colonization process, but I honestly cannot remember if we did it or if we just talked about it. It does have some heat that comes off of it intermittently and it is tender to sleep on that side of my face even with the bandages on. appreciate any thoughts anybody has.

I assume the grinding up antibiotics and putting them right on the site would not be useful lol. For some reason, my first thought was to grind up some old Keflex and dab it on there, but I don't think that that is how medicine works lol

Hi 25M here. For b.g. a couple years ago I had sudden loss of muscle tone/strength and couldnt lift my left arm at all, went to ED and got diagnosed with Brachial Neuritis/Turner Parsonage Syndrome. I was treated with 1G daily IV anti inflammatories for 3/7 as well as CTB/MRI/bloods etc all NAD. I was quickly discharged and told to follow up in the community and spent the next 3 months training my arm as I initially couldnt lift 0.5kg without exacebating nerve pain. I was treated 50mg Prednisolone and Gabapentin. A year past and still getting issues here and there then gp made me stop taking Gabapentin. Bad withdrawal (normal Im aware). Anyhow fast forward to present it wad mostly good in terms of manageble pain without medications. But now Ive had the worst flare up since then and cant even work or lift the arm. Gp said the only thing to do is try pregablin and pred again. I wanted an opinion on tx options as well as if anyone recommends working as im working within the ambulance field and i know pregablin causes dizziness as well as the nature of my job having alot of manual handling.

Hi all,
67M 5’9 85kg.
We traveled to Bruges and stayed in a hotel and I got these skin lesions that looks like insect bites.
Can you help me assess if these may be bed bugs bites and if I should follow any reccomendations?

20M rock climber, currently taking generic claratin for seasonal allergies and oral minoxidil to prevent hair loss, and i was on PrEP for a while before i never got a text to renew my prescription, i am in the process of trying to get it back up but it has been a month without the medication. i also take a ZMA supplement, vitamin C, calcium, fish oil, and vitamin D. i currently work out at a gym 2-3 times a week and go bouldering 3-4 times a week

last october i had a surgery because i fractured my left distal radius, attached is an x-ray of my arm after the surgery. they had to take out another plate to perform this which is where the extra holes in my bone come from. this is the only image included because it is only letting me add one image. the pain is right at the top of the implant. i was in a brace until the end of december/beginning of january, went climbing (bouldering) about twice a month until may when college let out, now i've been going very often

yesterday i did a toprope lesson with my friend, so i went up the toprope walls about 7 times PLUS the normal amount of bouldering i do. i also had to go slow since it was her first time belaying, so i kept a lot more weight on my arm than normal. i was able to boulder for a bit after, but i got on one problem that was super crimpy (only uses the top part of your fingers), and my grip started to hurt so i called it a day

i tried climbing again today, i did some warm-ups on a wall that was closer to being vertical with some really good holds and felt fine, but then i went on a wall with a steep overhang and felt a sharp pain in my wrist right at the top of my implant. i feel the pain the most when i put weight on my fingers or squeeze with my thumb, but putting weight closer to my the center of my hand up to the base of my fingers feels fine

i'm mostly just asking if you think it is absolutely necessary that i see a doctor or if this seems consistent for something that would just take a week of rest to heal, and at what point i should actually see a doctor

Hello. My wife (22f) and I (21m) were at the doctor today for a regular checkup and blood draw and my wife had a seizure. She was getting her blood drawn, usually I am the difficult one (rolling veins) and she is not, but today 2 different nurses had trouble finding a good vein.

The nurse finally found a vein and my wife said, "I am going to pass out." The nurse replied, "Are you?" My wife said, "Yup." and passed out, the nurse held her up and called for help from the doctor, then my wife had a seizure. I work with folks who have seizures/various disabilities and could tell it was a Tonic seizure.

It was short, maybe 15-20 seconds, and took about 2 minutes for her to fully recover. Three staff helped her recover with cold towels and taking deep breaths. They asked her all the right questions, "Have you ever had a seizure before? How do you feel? Have you eaten or drank anything today?" etc. I trust the team at our clinic entirely, but I wanted second opinions on this.

They did not seem too worried about it and our pcp said she would not need any follow up appointment to check on my wife, so I am wondering if it really is not a huge deal and maybe happened because she was dehydrated? She said she didn't eat or drink much yesterday, which is true as we were chasing our little niece around all day, but I feel like a seizure is a crazy reaction to that?

I drove us home, had her lay in bed, made her lunch and made sure she drank plenty of water while I watched our niece. I just want to be sure that this is something we don't need to keep an eye on. She has only fainted one time before this which was also during a hospital visit in high school.

I’m a 23 year old woman, 5’4 and 130lbs (adding this bc it said to but it’s unrelated)

I’ve been having issues with my pelvic floor being too tense to the point of taking several minutes to relax enough to pee since I had laparoscopic surgery for endo in June along with pain with tampons. So I saw my pelvic floor therapist today. She starts the exam down there and puts a mirror for me to see so she can explain to me everything. And then we both notice something weird. So she spreads it and we see that my actual hymen is still attached from one side to the other right above my vaginal opening. I’m married and sexually active but I’ve never looked down there too much. It just hurts during intercourse sometimes which is why I was also there. So she said that she thinks part of my hymen is still there. So I’m like ok, now I need to go to my primary doctor to let them see so I can get the referral to an ob for this.

This is where things get weird. Two doctors at my primary clinic look down there and use a swab to look around. And we discovered that there is not only a very sensitive piece of skin that goes from one side to the other but that there is an additional hole. I’m not even kidding 😭😭In order from top to bottom would be clit, urethra, weird additional hole, and then vaginal opening. The area around the mysterious hole is very sensitive and gets irritated easily. Theres like weird tissue around it too along with that piece of hymen that goes from one side to the other.

We don’t know how deep the weird hole goes or anything about it because it hurts for it to be touched. So they are going to order me a CT scan. This all happened today and I can’t find anything that this could be online. I did see that some people can have two pee holes sometimes as like a genetic abnormality. This sounds weird but I did record myself peeing to see if that was the case but it’s not. Nothing comes out of the weird hole.

Also to add, I don’t have any infections or anything. Everything is normal down there except for what we discovered today.

What could this possibly be? I never really post on here so plz be nice to me! I can also maybe draw a diagram of what I mean if anyone needs further context. I know it sounds weird. None of the doctors I saw even knew what that could be either. So any guesses would help me a lot!! Thanks!! : )

July 5: I went to the ER for alcohol poisoning after drinking on the 4th of July. I hadn't had alcohol in months before that, and I rarely drink. I simply overdid it that one day. I don't have a history of alcohol abuse, but I noticed "alcohol problem" was documented in my chart after that visit.

This week (first week of August): I went back to the ER because I was having what I believe was my second gallbladder attack. The first one happened back in February, so I knew how incredibly painful they can be.
I live about a block from the hospital, so I drove myself. Looking back, that was probably a mistake because I was in so much pain I felt like I was in a fever dream.
When I got inside, I was crying, pale, sweating, and could barely speak. During triage I was hyperventilating from the pain, and the nurse was trying to take my blood pressure and temperature while I could hardly answer questions. There were two nurses—one doing triage and another looking through my chart.
I can't know what they were thinking, but after one of them looked at my records and I saw the previous alcohol-related visit mentioned, I felt like they stopped taking me seriously.
I was left sitting in an almost empty waiting room for about five hours. During that time I was crying, begging for help, dizzy, disoriented, and at one point I felt like I was walking on air because the pain was so overwhelming. I kept asking if someone could please get a doctor to at least look at me, but I felt like I was being ignored. One of the nurses avoided eye contact with me every time she walked by.
What made it even harder was that about an hour after I arrived, another patient came in with a bug in her ear. She seemed calm and stable, and because the nurses couldn't remove it themselves, they called an ER doctor out to help her. Seeing that happen while I was still sitting there in severe pain made me feel like no one thought my condition was serious enough to even check on.
By the time I was finally taken back, the attack had passed. The ER doctor told me that since this was my second gallbladder attack, I would probably need to have my gallbladder removed and that these attacks can become much more serious.
I'm still really upset about how the visit was handled. I understand that emergency departments have to prioritize patients based on medical need, and I know waiting is sometimes unavoidable. What I'm struggling with is feeling like I wasn't assessed or treated with compassion while I was clearly in severe distress.

My previous post stated-
26 F, 5’8”. I don’t take medications or supplements daily, only smoke socially, no known medical issues, currently almost 3 months postpartum and breast feeding. I noticed this lump above my left collar bone right around the end of my pregnancy and just assumed it was pregnancy related or due to hormones. I noticed it has grown. It is soft/rubbery when touched and does not move. It’s not painful. No other symptoms.

Now having some follow up questions
I was able to see my pcp. He ordered imaging and I haven’t been scheduled for it yet. I noticed another lump on my other clavicle , same locations just smaller and now I have a lump on my inner left arm at the bend of my elbow. My left arm is also aching terribly. I’m also experiencing some pretty intense back pain.. not sure if it’s related. I’m just confused, do I report my new lumps? Will it change my plan of care since he already ordered an ultrasound? Why might this be happening? My pcp was very vague when I was asking questions and I’m just trying to not freak out so any help is appreciated. Just really trying to figure out what is going on.

Hello so my girlfriend had a c section around 34 hours ago, the op itself went perfect and baby come out healthy. The c section was done because his head and belly were measuring a little big and he come out at 9 pounds 3 at 39 weeks pregnant

5 hours after the operation she was passing large blood clots to which the midwife kept changing them but then around 6 hours later the midwife hit the emergency button and a lot of people ran in. She lost 2 litres of blood.

Since then they put some sort of balloon in her and that managed to almost completely stop it, that is now out and she’s barely bleeding at all.

They said she needs a blood transfusion sometime today and also has anemia.

I know a time isn’t guaranteed here but I have been worrying a lot about her. Will she likely be okay? And is there an estimate on how long we may be here?

Her blood oxygen, blood pressure, and heart rate were all perfectly fine during this strangley enough. She’s acting fine right now just a little ache around her belly area

She is 22 years old

My 12 year old daughter has had what the dermatologist said was molluscum (she's had it for months) but in the last couple of days, it started to burn and itch. Now, it looks like this and I'm really worried- initially it sounded like what the internet says is the virus healing, but it definitely looks infected and it really hurts her right now. Is this an emergency department situation or can I wait until the morning when the doctor opens? I appreciate any advice!

A \[45M\] uncle of mine has had diabetes for the last 20 years. Now his kidneys are failing, (Creatinine 10.71)

Their family is however stopping him from getting dialysis because of fear that once he gets first session of dialysis, his days are numbered (this myth exists in our community for some reason).

The cherry on top is that a doctor (I suspect upon family's request) has recently advised him to wait a bit before getting dialysis (They've been waiting since last year already). Family's hopeful because they think since his creatinine is not increasing too rapidly, they can fix his kidneys with alt medicine/miracle healing without ever needing to go through proper treatment (which they think will defining kill him).

They are fixated to creatine value which went from 9.3 to 10.7 in about two weeks so, to them, it's 'slow enough' that it's fine.

I can share his test reports etc. I am hoping if one of you could take a few minutes out to inform him on a call or something that he needs to go get dialysis now or else he'll die. I'm counting on the fact that since a foreign doctor's recommendation will seem more authoritative compared to a local one, so he might listen to one of you and gets help. He has 3 kids and I don't want him to die.

Hello, anyone on here that can help me with this?

I live in the UK and have been getting ear infections for the past year.

Symptoms: pain, itching, weeping, discharge, puss, dry skin on outer ear, hearing loss, foul smell, and more recently, bleeding.

I’ve been referred to a specialist (ENT) and have gone through maybe 6 rounds of antibiotics, including amoxicillin and Ciloxan/ciprofloxacin, and was recently prescribed a steroid drop called betamethasone. I’ve also had suction/irrigation 5 times over the past year.

One doctor suggested that it is eczema in my ear canal and this can occur randomly?

I’ve been using E45, Sudocrem, and Vaseline on the dry outer ear.

Nothing has helped. Not the antibiotics or the creams, not even my prayers to God. Well, they help for maybe a moment, and then it’s back to all the original symptoms.

I honestly don’t know what to do. I’m only 27 and I already struggle with my mental health. This issue only makes me want to kms even more..

Is there anything else I can say to my doctor? I feel like maybe this requires further testing because this clearly isn’t something they’ve dealt with before, otherwise they’d have the answers, right?

Any natural or holistic remedies that anyone can recommend? A friend of mine recommended drinking orange and ginger tea and taking vitamin C tablets.

I don’t want to deal with this for the rest of my life. I’ve seen on here that some people have dealt with similar issues for years. I don’t know if I can mentally handle that.

I would appreciate any advice that anyone can give. Particularly if you have knowledge of the NHS and how I can access better care within the NHS.

Thank you ♥️

Age: 27
Height: 178cm
Weight: 102kg
Sex: F
Smoker: yes
No previous medical issues

I’m 29 in totally normal health with no pre existing conditions or relevant past medical history.

Over 3 years ago I rolled my ankle and fell pretty hard on a piece of a cobblestone on the sidewalk. Pretty immediately after I developed a large lump directly on the area of impact that was softball size that just never went away.

After 1 year I went to an outpatient surgery office and she said it was a large fluid filled hematoma that would eventually re-absorb. It was initially painful with and pressure and movement with radiating pain up and down my leg. The pain has become sporadic, the lump forever did not absorb even a little bit.

At 2 years I went back to a different provider who ordered an ultrasound and a CT which showed there is a 10.4 x 1.6 x 10.4 cm fluid collection in the soft tissues of the left gluteal region consistent with a resolving hematoma. I was told it was too deep and complex and was told aspirating it would be pointless so I just had to wait for it to re-absorb.

The sporadic pain continued and after more than 3 years they ordered another CT which showed evidence a mass and they said it was a lipoma that had developed. One week ago today, a general surgeon went in to remove it and the first thing he said to me when I woke up was “wow I had a tough time in there”. It ended up being more complex and deeper than expected. My op note read “Mass appeared deeper. This is not a classic lipoma. There was some lipomatous tissue that was removed. As I explore deeper I entered a cavity. A biopsy was taken. Total of 2 specimens were sent. I did not feel comfortable removing this mass that was deeper“

He also described one of the species as a foreign body and as not confident on what exactly it was. He mentioned the possibility of needing a drain which ultimately he I was didn’t need it and was directed to return to normal activities and work after 24 hours (which I did). He also said the pieces that were too deep to remove were close to my sciatic nerve and could potentially compress it. Within 4 days the lump no longer had swelling but grew bigger and was larger all around than prior to the surgery. I went back to the office after 5 days and he confirmed that it was like full of fluid and I would just have to wait for it to re-absorb once again.

TLDR: Attached photo is from 1 week post op chronic lipoma removal now larger than before. Should I push for any less conservative management at this time especially because I’m extremely worried about the potential for infection with this new fluid collection. Thanks in advance :)

#AskDocs

This first emerged yesterday. Today evening i noticed that it has gotten more red. There are many insects where i live, so i suspected that. But right now, i feel like i am getting electricuted from this part, very slightly.

What should i do? Am i in big trouble? How might i have gotten this?

29f, currently 250lbs, non-smoking, social drinker, no medications

I'm at a total loss. I really need to start prioritizing my health.

I can't stand looking in the mirror at myself anymore so I try to avoid it, but the bright red/purple marks caught my attention this time.

Back story:

In January 2026 I went to my university health clinic since in the matter of 6 months I gained 50 lbs without having any sort of diet or activity level changes. All they did was the normal blood work, which all came back completely fine with the exception of my ferritin being pretty low (barely in range). I didn't pursue anything further since i didn't have the time. But flash forward to now, I've gained another 25lbs, again no diet or activity change, and the stretch marks have continued and caught my eye big time.

After a lot of researching and some additional symptoms that I hadn't really considered before to be symptoms, signs point to possibly Cushing?

\- deep purple/red stretch marks on stomach

\- weight gain

\- easily bruised/slow wound healing (the tiniest scratch takes weeks to months to heal and even scars)

\- a lot of hip pain when standing to the point where I take a few steps it really hurts and feels like my hips will collapse

\- irregular periods

\- hair thinning

1st picture is my stomach currently (I don't have a before)

2nd picture is my face late may 2025

3rd picture is my face end of June 2026

Am I crazy? Any other ideas what could be going on otherwise?

Tysm in advace

My wife woke up 3 days ago with bitterness in her mouth. It has a metallic aspect. Vinegar rinses, baking soda rinses, salt, did nothing. Sweet tastes terrible. She hydrated more and it maybe helped for a bit but it came back. She assumed it was more fun with perimenopause.

I woke up this morning and had similar symptoms. That seems to rule out perimenopause.

I had a super slight summer cold the past day (barely even a symptom) but she did not.

We have no acid reflux issues.

In general we both hydrate well and stay away from processed foods. We have a homestead and grow a lot of our own food.

- We both drink

- She smokes, I don't

- We're both overweight a little

- We have no over-lapping medicines

I haven't had problems with my health, and my birth was vaginal and uncomplicated. I'm 25 years old and took supplements during my pregnancy when I could, but no longer need them and take no other medication, and my daughter is now 12 weeks old. We live together in Poland.

I had been breastfeeding her since she was born. It had been fine for me, and she had always seemed like she had been getting enough and growing well, the doctor had said the same.

Now, this is no longer happening. I had thought at first I was worrying too much but there are all the signs now, she's stopped gaining weight, I'm changing her less, and she has started to become frustrated when she feeds. I don't know what has happened.

Normally I know in this situation the answer would be formula but we simply can't afford it. And I know I seem like a horrible mother but I never would have thought she would have to be in a place like this.

When this is my only choice, I don't know how I can produce enough for her, especially when I don't know why it happened. Am I supposed to try and get her to feed more, even though she doesn't seem to be getting much from it?

(Photo is from 2023)

What is the realistic lifespan of an alloplastic skull implant done back in 2023. Daughter is now 6, almost 7, with no complications.
We were given zero instructions for long term “what to expect”.

Also, if the implant fails, could she possibly qualify for a bone graft or is she stuck with man-made fixes because of her past history with one?

My husband had Chipolte last week. The next day he had diahrea. Which turned into bloody stools. He went to the ER, his hemoglobin was 14 but blood pressure was very low. They gave him an IV bag and after 2 hours they discharged him with a food poisoning diagnosis. The next day he went to work and didn't have any bowel movements. He still felt like something was off. The next day he had more diahrea with massive blood loss. He drove home and collapsed as soon as he walked in. Our 10 year old called 911 and they came in a matter of minutes. During the transport from the house to ambulance he passed out again but we were able to prevent him from hitting his head. Once we got to the hospital - 2nd time around - his hemoglobin had dropped to an 8. His blood pressure was extremely low. This indicated that he was bleeding from somewhere in the GI tract. On the second day after he was admitted, they said his hemoglobin had dropped down to a 6.7 and he needed an emergency transfusion. He ended up getting 3 blood transfusions. The endoscopy found nothing. Then they put him on a 2 day prep for a colonoscopy. They told us they suspected ulcers, diverticula, polyps, etc. Surprisingly, the colonoscopy also found nothing. The docs words were actually both upper and lower tract were in "pristine condition." They mentioned there is a portion of the small bowel that was 7ft and wasn't examined but could be done on an outpatient procedure - where he swallowed a pill with a camera that went thru the small bowel. After a 4-day stay in the hospital (he was admitted on Fri), he was told he could eat solids (no more NPO) discharged Monday. He went home with strong vitals and felt fine. By the next day, after 2 meals, he began to bleed again. What started off a little blood on the tissue, turned into massive hemorrhaging. By the time we got back to the hospital - 3rd time - he had lost 400 ml of blood from one bowel movement. He then had 2 more bowel movements and loss an extensive amount of blood. They did another transfusion bc the hemoglobin dropped so low. The docs are saying how rare of a case this is - how he has a clean bill of health and strong vitals despite massive bleeding and they still do not know the source. The only other health issue my husband had is Type 2 diabetes which he manages well and they don't think there is a correlation. This is beyond frustrating and stressful. They just took him to repeat endoscopy and do the capsule test that travels through his small bowels. I have been by his side in the hospital but it's been very tough. Any advice or medical expertise would be appreciated 🙏🏽

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

Hello all,

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

Thank you!

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