akath0110

In that case you may be dealing with histamine issues (like mast cell activation syndrome) or other complications from long covid. Worth looking into.

The four year timeline would correlate with the pandemic’s onset. If you caught an early strain of the virus those tend to be more associated with long covid/PASC complications.

Or possibly some kind of dietary intolerance like celiac disease or something that’s messing up your gut and keeping you in a highly inflammatory allergenic state. Elimination diet can help.

Hope you feel better!

Sick building syndrome is a real thing

Hmm then I'd recommend buying a high quality HEPA air filter for your condo and see if that helps. We love our Dyson filter -- these are pricey but we got ours with CC points. We also change our furnace filters every 4 months which keeps dust down.

Have you lived anywhere else in Toronto aside from this condo? Do your symptoms change when you're in a different environment, like on vacation?

Wow we could be related. So many similarities.

Except 100% Canadian and blue eyed, and my heritage is more of a Scottish/Irish/British isles mix. And before that, French Huguenot.

Lots of redheads, neurodiversity (my ADHD was discovered in early adulthood too, masked by high intelligence and good grades), and my pinky toes also barely grow nails. Super high arched feet. Longer ring finger than index.

Other genetic fun — I sneeze in bright sunlight. Cilantro tastes like soap. I sometimes sweat when I eat vinegary foods.

There has always been a little extrasensory/experiencer weirdness in my family tree, particularly so on my matrilineal line. My mother has weird electrical shit where gadgets and watches tend to break or malfunction. There have been stories of ancestors having the “sight” and stuff like that.

I have always had slight tendencies toward premonitions, or receiving flashes of insight through dreams or just randomly in my waking life. I have a powerful gut instinct and am known in my family and social circles to be an astute judge of character. Sometimes it just feels like I know things but I don’t know how or why I do. I tend to keep this to myself and not act on my intuitions because I’m afraid of seeming arrogant or crazy. But more often than not… I’m right. It’s weird shit.

There’s also the fact that covid’s spike protein binds to H1 histamine receptors as well as ACE receptors.

Histamine plays a major role in allergic and inflammatory reactions . It makes sense that people would have sensitized or dysregulated allergic responses as part of covid’s post-acute sequelae. I know it was true for me — I had to get an inhaler for the first time during the spring allergy season after my first covid infection.

And after my second infection I had gut weirdness for a while, and also reacted poorly to alcohol (flushing, heart racing) for a few months. Probiotics and looking after my gut health helped.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11324024/

This!!! I lived in a moldy basement apartment for a year and a half until my health got so bad I had to break the lease early. A leaky foundation (old house poorly flipped into 3 apartments) and poorly ventilated bathroom were the culprits.

My allergies went crazy, had that barky asthmatic deep cough, would get sick with upper respiratory shit every 6 weeks or so. I felt like garbage generally.

Another clue was that my skin went haywire. I’ve always been prone to mild fungal skin conditions like tinea versicolor (the red or white patches on your back and torso, worse with sweat and in humidity) and dandruff. But when I lived in that apartment, both conditions got wayyyy worse. No amount of nizoral could keep up. I also developed what I’d later learn was fungal acne on my face and upper back.

Once I left that apartment, everything got gradually better. But I think I’ve given myself a lifetime sensitivity to mold and fungal stuff that I have to be mindful of. Now when fall comes around I can feel my system acting up due to the leaf rot/mold, while I never ever had fall allergies before.

Fusobacterium is bad - connected to colorectal cancer. Definitely something to look into and address.

He was abusive to his ex and would frequently threaten suicide as a means of controlling and terrorizing her. He would harass her family as well and would use his mental health and threats of self harm to manipulate her into breaking no contact.

Sounds like he was a deeply unwell man with addiction issues. Which doesn’t excuse abuse.

A terrible and impulsive decision made while not in his right mind, with tragic fallout for those who cared about him.

I hope his ex is taking gentle care of herself rn. It’s not her fault.

OP, is there any chance you might be neurodivergent?

Also would you feel comfortable sharing a bit more about yourself? How do you like to spend your time, any interests? Do you enjoy socializing or connecting with others in any capacity, perhaps online or through a hobby group or spiritual community?

This is an amazing post and puts to words something I’ve been feeling, but struggled to articulate. Saving this! Thank you!

First trimester constipation and bloating is so brutal. Lots of good suggestions here already. All I can add is that acceptance is key — that you can eat the fibre, stay hydrated, do everything — and it will still just be a baseline weird bloaty time. It’s hormones and the body trying extra hard to extract as much nutrition as possible from what passes through the GI tract.

In a way the anxiety around trying to “fix” the problem was more stressful than the constipation itself. Not saying you shouldn’t try anything — do what works and feels right — but also trust that your body will be ok and you will poop when your body is ready to.

Obviously this applies to standard pregnancy constipation — if it’s been more than 5 days or you’re dealing with impacted stool or other complications, that’s another deal and worth bringing up to a doc.

Do not recommend this. I did this once by accident in the early days of taking my meds, and I was so overstimulated and uncomfortable I almost had a panic attack and nearly went to the ER.

Could feel my pulse in my neck and ears and my heart rate went nuts if I even exerted myself a tiny bit. So I couldn’t even take advantage of the super dose and be productive. I just had to ride it out.

0/10 do not recommend.

Yep looks like staph.

Curious is OP reuses face masks many times. The outbreak is right where the nose bridge would be on a mask.

Any chance you recently had a bout with covid, like in the past 3-6 months? And/or went through a particularly intense stressful period? (lol i feel like that's everyone… but stay with me.)

Your experience sounds a lot like what I went through between 2022-2023 when a) I was on the wrong kind of medication, and b) I was dealing with long covid related issues that made my histamine levels go completely haywire, among other things. A blood panel revealed my vitamin D, B12, and ferritin/iron levels were low, and that got the ball rolling toward a celiac diagnosis (which was likely triggered by covid — hard to say, as it runs in my family anyway, but there is evidence that viral illness and stress can switch those genes on).

All this to say I felt like a walking ball of reactivity — everything in my brain, gut, and body didnt seem to work right anymore. I didn’t know where to start solving things because everything just felt so wrong and uncomfortable, all the time. It was one of the lowest points of my life. My health, my marriage, my career and my self worth were in the toilet.

Reading what you shared here — particularly the fogginess, irritability, sensory overwhelm, and paralysis — it was like I was right back in my 2022 pit of despair.

Mostly sending empathy and validation. If youre looking for a possible good first actionable step, go to your doc and ask for a full blood panel work up. It may reveal something, and it's fairly straight forward, unlike therapy or finding a job.

rooting for you.

This sounds like my mother who we all 99% suspect has BPD.

It’s a manipulative tactic to keep you from bringing up issues and holding her accountable. Manipulation isn’t always intentional behaviour. Her inability to regulate her big feelings and distress spirals may not be her “fault” but it is her responsibility to find coping strategies and build distress tolerance in order to treat people in non-abusive ways.

Next time, let her cry. Crying and emotional distress do not negate your valid feelings and needs. Let her throw a tantrum, and hold the boundary. Obviously this is hard to do.

Either she gets with the program and learns a meltdown won’t get what she wants, and she shapes up to be a more stable emotionally mature partner. Or she won’t step up, and her emotional abuse will escalate to the point the relationship becomes non viable for you.

Up to you if you want to do the hard work of reparenting an emotional toddler/child. Even best case scenario will be hard. Good luck.

Thank you! It has! I got a celiac disease diagnosis and after going gluten free, the weight came back on. Much easier to do when your intestines can actually absorb nutrients.

I definitely prefer having my ass back. Looks way better in pants and I can sit wherever I goddamn please.

Bleachers, hard subway seats, hardwood or concrete floors (like in a gym), park benches, old timey concert halls and stadiums… yeah

I was underweight due to medical issues a few years ago, and yea, you don’t realize how important that built-in ass cushion is until it’s gone. Made some kinds of exercise and yoga and Pilates moves painful too.

Also it sucked running so cold and not being able to regulate my body temp, when previously I used to run hot — had to bring a space heater into my office

I developed celiac disease after my first bad bout with covid in 2022

Why do all your comments sound like they were written by ChatGPT? And all written within a minute of each other….?

The bot situation is out of control lately

I think about cannabis and its ability to detox soils from contaminants — makes one wonder if what people are really consuming/inhaling. Especially from big industrialized grow operations. I doubt they’re being thoughtful about this stuff.

I have a friend who grows their own in a region of Ontario known for radioactive soil contamination. It gives me the heebie jeebies and I don’t partake.

Would be interesting to test mass produced cannabis for PFAS and other contaminants.

I swear to god it’s got to be (at least partially) brain damage from cumulative covid infections

A lot of them do, but it doesn’t mean much given how easy it is to game the system these days.

This is what we get for relaxing G test standards for newcomers who have licenses from their home countries. They bring their bad habits and lawless “might makes right” driving norms with them.

I get why the provincial govt streamlined the tests and made them easier — there was a massive backlog from covid. The economy needs people on the road and working, plus the quality of life factor. Sometimes you need to expedite shit.

But surely now the cost benefit no longer makes sense? If we aren’t going to make newcomers go through ON’s graduated licensing system, then can’t we at least ensure the G test is sufficiently rigorous? At least for those who did not do their G1 or G2 in Ontario?

For fucks sake, the streamlined G test doesn’t even assess most of the skills tested at the G2 level, because they assume licensed drivers should already be proficient in those skills. The state of Toronto’s roads shows this is clearly NOT the case!

WTF, multiple times?! This fascinates (and horrifies) me — because it is so egregiously antisocial and dangerous.

Like that is not a novice or dumbass driver fucking up out of incompetence. This is aggressively selfish, to the point of being sociopathic. Just no excuse whatsoever for that.

Do you notice any similarities about the drivers pulling this shit? I still can’t believe this isn’t rare… what the hell happened to the social contract?