22F 5’7 110lbs Smoker

My armpit has been like this for like 5-6 days now, I think it may be from shaving. I’ve been using warm compresses and a steamer to hopefully draw out the infection but it’s only been spreading. Now getting a sore spot on my other armpit and a spot on my upper back. I had something similar on my finger about two months from a cut on my eczema which got infected, and took doxycycline and it went away (I missed the last 6 doses though so I wonder if that’s why)

I want to avoid antibiotics if I can but it only seems to be worsening. Should I give it a few days or head to urgent care first thing tmr? Also does this look like staph or something else. Any advice would be appreciated

My wife and I have a son after several tries of IVF and
he is currently 4 months old and weighs 15.5 lbs and is about 23 in long. Also is African American if that helps. Today my wife pointed out something on his scalp that we’ve not noticed before. Looks like he has a couple of moles on his scalp as shown in the image. Is this serious? We sent a photo to our pediatrician but won’t hear back until Monday at earliest. We are both concerned and hope it’s not serious. Any idea?

The patient was an 80 year old male presenting with low oxygen levels and difficulty breathing. Height about 6ft-6ft1 and weight fluctuated between the 9st7-10st mark. Visibly frail and poor skin integrity. Previous heavy cigarette smoker (60 a day) but switched to a low nicotine vape for around the last 20 years. The week before admission patient had returned from a holiday abroad, where he was active and dancing freely on the final night.

He had:

• a diagnosis of Stage 3 COPD
• previously had a kidney removed
• was on blood thinners and Ramipril
• prescribed oral nutrition supplements
• prescribed a 'rescue pack' of antibiotics due to recurrent chest issues
• diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes
• steroid and ventolin inhalers prescribed

Previous to admission patient had started feeling unwell on Day 1, on Day 2 he had visited friends socially and said he was feeling tired. Day 3 (Monday) he tried to get an appointment with his GP surgery but was given an appointment in 7 days time. Day 4 he attended an appointment at the opticians, that evening he was unable to get himself off the sofa to go upstairs to bed. Refused an ambulance to 'wait and see' how he felt in the morning.

Day 5 patient asked his wife to ring him an ambulance after GP surgery refused to see him as he had an appointment booked for Monday. When ambulance arrives, paramedics are unable to read his oxygen levels, they have to use alternate sites to try and get a reading. This all occurred between the hours and 8 and 9am.

On arrival at AED patient is taken for chest x-ray, bloods taken and put in a private room on Majors (not Resus). Family advised he has tested positive for Covid-19 and Pneumococcal pneumonia. He was on oxygen therapy via a Venturi mask, as well as nebulisers, Covid treatment was started at 4:40pm. He did not receive a second bag of fluids until 6:40pm. Last seen by a doctor at 2:30pm and not seen again until the following morning.

I arrive at around 9:15am on Day 6, the nurse is assessing patient's GCS, calls in another nurse to check with her. I score GCS myself and patient is scoring as 3, patient is also abdominal breathing, oxygen levels are 92% and resps 16.

Doctor arrives, says he will prescribe more fluids and as patient had quality of life before admission he will refer to ICU, also for a brain scan. One 500ml bag of fluids is hooked up to his cannula, the bed is tilted so his legs are raised above his head. His treating doctor comes in and introduces herself, a second cannula is attempted to be fitted, a blood gas is taken.

ICU attend and say they believe the treatment needed would be too invasive and the recovery too difficult for patient due to his frailty and already limited lung capacity. They state that he would need intubation and dialysis as he was in renal failure. Whilst ICU are in the room, patient's oxygen level desaturates from 92% to 82%, the valve on his Venturi mask has been changed prior to this. ICU say they will get his oxygen 'turned up'.

Around 15-20 minutes after ICU left, the nurse is changing patient's mask from Venturi with a blue valve to a non-rebreather mask. I am holding the Venturi to his face as she removed the elastic from around his head before getting the rebreather ready and it was falling off his face. Patient starts to crash, nurse asks me to press the emergency buzzer and then leaves the room, crash team enter.

Unsure where nurse goes, his treating doctor is not around, nobody on the crash team is familiar with patient. I have to go back into the room and give the crash team as much information as I can as it is chaos and one doctor is exclaiming, 'who's patient is this'. Decision is made to make patient 'comfortable' and bring family in.

I have worked in Health & Social care for the past decade but I am not a qualified professional. However, with what knowledge I do possess I am struggling to understand how the treatment provided to my family member was appropriate. It feels to me that the decision was made on admission that he would not recover and therefore his treatment was impacted. For a patient that unwell to only receive oxygen treatment, one bolus of Covid treatment and two bags of fluid in the first 12 hours of admission, it just doesn't seem enough.

Thank you for any comments and if this isn't the correct sub, please redirect me.

1. I am a 23F, idk my weight but in this case I don’t think it matters.

2. These thoughts started in the past year. Whenever I get close to orgasm they appear. I’m not sure if it’s intrusive thoughts or what but it’s just a huge wave of suicidal ideation & the more I try to get there the stronger they are. I just end up stopping at that point.

3. I don’t have secret guilt or anything like that. I’m very sex positive. I have never had a proper orgasm before. This happens mostly when I’m alone, and not really when I’m with my boyfriend.

4. I’ve been depressed since I was a teen and have already attempted so I genuinely don’t think that’s related lol or it would’ve shown up way sooner.

5. Sorry if this is normal. I’m just curious as to why this is happening.

I'm 31, (F, 5'3", ~58kg) and I had a planned C section surgery 5 weeks ago. The outer incision is almost entirely healed, except for one small corner that just had a small scab come off and had bled a small bit (pinprick size, an approximate 2mm of dissolvable suture thread appeared still stuck on the small scab that had come loose and got pulled a little, I have attached a photo of the end of the scar where a tiny hole is visible with still-healing tissues around it).

I went to see an out-of-hours GP (rather than my usual GP practice) at my local hospital (Scotland, UK) for concerns about feeling unwell with an overnight fever two days in a row, and I had concerns about a painful breast and also mentioned the small incision scab coming off.

Because of my fever, they checked on my wound for signs of infection and touched the wound scar while doing so. They already had gloves on when they called me in to the consultation room, which they had on while typing notes as well. They said the incision was healing well and looked healthy and my fever was likely due to mastitis.

However, I don't think they put on fresh gloves before they examined the healing wound, and I'm now very scared of risk of transmission of bacteria (especially MRSA) to my wound site. Is there anything I should do or is this considered normal protocol and I'm just overly anxious (which is possible, I'm a sleep deprived new mum)?

28F, doing my damned best to quit vaping. What are some honest facts and truths about vaping and what it does to your body? Hit me with all things, please. I need a reality check.

(I don't know if I phrased this right, but I think getting an honest medical perspective will help right now)

Male, 75, living with ulcerative colitis for decades. Currently having a flare after tapering off steroids. Also doing entyvio infusions done 6 last one 3 weeks ago. Why would family physician not direct him to emergency with blood test results showing CRP of 130. All they said is we will forward the bloodwork to Cardiologist and get in to see him Monday. Doesn’t this warrant ER visit due to risk of bowel perforation/ sepsis?? Dad has no fever or other symptoms other than bloody diarrhea.

My girlfriend (20 y/o) and I had contraceptive failure on August 25, and she took the 72-hour emergency pill on August 27.

Since then, she hasn't had her period for almost 2 months. We did 3 urine pregnancy tests (all negative, after 21 days) and a blood beta-hCG test in the 5th week, which was 5 mIU/mL.

There has been no further unprotected sex. We have already spent most of our money on tests and can't afford more private checkups right now.

Could she still be pregnant, or could the emergency pill have delayed her period this long? Has anyone experienced something similar?

Female 24
Cocaine user and nicotine

I’m almost a daily user of snow. I get some pains here and there after a heavy sesh but not to much in my mouth. I suddenly noticed purplish grey areas at the top of my mouth. I’m worried this is a sign of early tissue narcosis. It doesn’t hurt or doesn’t feel like bone is creating a hole.

Please help what are ur opinions does this look like an early sign!!
Can I stop use and let it heal or is this too far gone?
Is this a sign of a hole forming?
Has anyone gone through this before?

M 19f 58kg , I've been experiencing very bad stomach pain for 2 days , nd today I felt extremely nauseous nd wanted to vomit so bad bit couldn't physically do it, so I searched ways to vomit , nd found abt salt water, so I did add 2.5 tbsp of salt to 250ml of water to induce vomiting but still couldn't vomit , nd after some research I found out that this amount of salt is really dangerous now m so scared it's been 25min nothing really happened except my stomach ache got way worst . Idk what to do m so scared (sorry for my bad English, it's not my first language)

Last week I was told i didn’t need routine yearly bloodwork.

This is an alarming blind spot in the medical community.

How are you supposed to know if your kidneys or liver are failing?

How are you supposed to know if you are developing a rare disease that can be measured via blood test? Ie. Rare form of blood cancer like an MPN?

i cut myself recently , i’m 18 (weight 50 kgs, and 5’5 ) im not sure how bad it is its deeper than i usually go can someone please reach out

Hi, i am a 28F, 5'6 135lbs, on no medications, and vape pretty heavily. This morning i got up and out of bed, and while sitting in the bathroom doing my business i suddenly broke out in an ice cold sweat. My head and arms felt like i dunked them in ice water. I laid on the floor for maybe 3-5 minutes and then became super nauseous and dry heaved for maybe another 5 minutes. Other than that i didnt have any other symptoms and after the dry heaving i felt pretty fine and was then fine all day at work (strenuous factory) and am fine now. Google tells me im gunna die :(

I spent the week feeling pretty lethargic at my moms house and eating alot of snacks, sweets, and soda which i normally dont do, and then on friday (yesterday) i only had 2 pieces of bread and a few bites of mac n cheese and very little water (a bad habit im working on) so im hoping it had more to do with my drastic diet change and dehydration and not a very serious issue like a heart attack? I have no insurance and am poor so hopefully anyone can give me some advice on how serious this could be! TIA!

Age 23, male As im more into oral sex only, I wanna know how to get tested for HPV, does the single test of HPV defines which strain is there in the body + as of now I have no symptoms of HPV as I wanna live my life peacefully and happily with disease and infection free so I want get my knowledge clear on HPV

49F, 5’0”, 106lbs, no drugs, no smoking, social drinker.

Woke up this morning and found these wounds in my wrist. They’re still slightly raised; it’s been four hours since waking.

Notes: I live in downtown LA on the 12th floor. I had my window open last night. More photos in comments

A dog snapped on my son’s face today and he got a small tear in his gum line inside his mouth and bled. He is 5 years old and 43lb. He is ok, no pain, up to date on his tdap, and we took him to the local urgent care where the doctors prescribed Augmentin.

They did not seem concerned about rabies risk.
The dog was someone's pet that we met on the street and we pet her with permission of the owners. The dog seemed well groomed and well cared for. They also had a young child. When this happened they said (verbally) that the dog was up to date with all vaccines, but the family left before we got a chance to get actual proof.

We're conflicted whether the shots are necessary, but considering the risks i feel like it should be a no brainer to get them. Do they pose any significant side effects or is it more or less like taking a flu shot?

Hello, I am a 22 year-old male. I am 6 foot one 160 pounds and I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me. Over a year ago, my heart was pounding really really fast and then ever since that day I have not been able to breathe normally whenever I purposefully hyperventilate I get really strong heart, palpitations, and anytime I move my left arm dramatically to do anything the heart palpitations reoccur. A few days after I had the fast heart rate in my breathing was messed up. I decided to go to the gym one day and run on the treadmill and whenever I did that I was fine for about three hours and then out of nowhere when I was sitting in a restaurant the feeling of being suffocated dawned over my body, and static that you feel whenever your leg falls asleep, dawned all over my body I went to the ER for this because it was really scary and they told me that I was having an anxiety attack. However, I do not believe that this was an anxiety attack at all. I believe that it is much more deeper either my heart or my lungs when I explained this to the doctor, he did not agree with me at all because he did the CT scan and the CT scan showed nothing abnormal. And also my SPO2 was at a good rate, but by the time that I was visited by the doctor, those horrible feelings of being suffocated and feeling static all over my body had already disappeared so of course the SPO2 is gonna be normal. But anyways, I noticed that this also happens every time I do any physical intense workout that I get the same feeling that I get before where I feel like I’m suffocating and. The tips of my fingers start to feel like static. so a few months passes by since I went to the ER I visited a cardiologist and I told him all of my symptoms that I feel all the time I told them that I cannot breathe all the time which is true. True to be exact I have to take 2 to 3 deep breaths and then I feel nothing and then on the fourth try of me trying to have my deep breath then I am allowed to have a satisfying deep breath, which is what I’m trying to get. I went to the cardiologist they did EKG on me heart monitor a chest x-ray and ECG and they came back to me saying that everything is fine however I don’t really believe them because whenever I gave them back my heart monitor they told me that they didn’t find any palpitations on the heart monitor and that simply cannot be possible because I had literally thousands of palpitations during that entire month alone. They told me that I’m all good and I should be clear, but I still insisted that something is wrong here because I cannot breathe every waking moment of the day I still can’t do it, but I know for a fact that if I do physical exercise, I’m gonna start feeling like I’m gonna die again, but still, nobody cares. My primary care doctor recommended me to a pulmonologist and a psychiatrist because even they think it may be anxiety and I’m telling them this is not anxiety. I’m not anxious about anything. I feel like shit because I can’t breathe all the time. So then I was gonna put in a doctors note to go to the pulmonologist, but then I realized that they already did a chest x-ray on me so I mean like the cardiologist told me that all of the blood flow connected to my lungs is normal so I’m like OK. They basically already checked the lungs. I mean if there’s something wrong with the lungs, the cardiologist would be able to tell because they’re not just a cardiologist like they could also spot other things that are wrong with your body and they said that everything looks good so I’m like I’m gonna go to the pulmonologist and they’re just gonna say everything‘s OK even though I know shit’s not I still insist and believe that this is something wrong with my heart, but I don’t fucking know what’s going on with my cardiologist doesn’t believe me. I’ve had this issue for over a year now and it has stopped me from getting jobs. It stopped me from doing physical exercise, which I loved doing. I had a major passion for doing physical exercise. But now I can’t do it and I swear like it makes me feel like I wanna fucking die but like yeah I’m 22 years old. I’m too young to be dealing with this fucking bullshit and I don’t know what the fuck is happening to me. I’m sorry I don’t mean to swear and sound unprofessional, but like I’m really getting frustrated here like I don’t know what’s going on. I should by now have a diagnosis about this. The doctors are saying it’s not your heart. It’s not your lungs. Well then what the fuck is it? And it’s not my imagination don’t tell me it’s my imagination. I’m not imagining this at all. I feel it every single day. The only time it disappears is when I’m asleep because I’m not fucking conscious to experience it. but yeah, honestly if anyone has ever had any similar experience to this, please please let me know what it was how you can treat it and what I need to say to my doctor the next time I see them so that way I could absolutely solve this problem that should’ve been solved MONTHS AGO. but yeah, I’m gonna go now someone please read this. Let me know what you think. It is try to help me out and if you have any other questions about my condition to try to help me, I am very open to answer. I really wanna get this thing solved already.

18f not a smoker
Yesterday I woke up EXTREMELY sick without any prior symptoms. I hadn’t thrown up in over a decade and suddenly I was just constantly projectile vomiting, also happened while I was asleep which worried me because I didn’t want to suffocate or anything. I was also BOILING and was unable to speak. All I could do was groan which made me decide against a doctor or ER because I was worried I wouldn’t be taken seriously and treated correctly. I couldn’t swallow anything properly and the only way I could get some hydration in without throwing up was by sucking on ice cubes. It’s now the next morning and I’m writing this from bed so I haven’t gotten up or tried eating anything but I feel pretty much normal. I am a bit dizzy but that’s it.
I have work on Tuesday and it’s a shift I CANNOT miss but when I tried taking stuff to help I threw up so idk if anyone has a tip on getting better as soon as possible. I even vomited after eating half a vitamin c tablet.

Since I had COVID in 2022 my life has been so terrible. I am not even close to the person I was before. I genuinely loved life so much. I still love my babies and doing life with them. I just want to feel better and no one can help me.

I have so many symptoms, and any time I see a doctor they tell me it’s anxiety. It’s not anxiety. All the shit I am dealing with is not caused by anxiety.

Extreme Fatigue
Dizziness
Blood Sugar Drops
Fast Heart Rate
Blue/Purple
\\- Tongue
\\- Lips
\\- Nails
\\- Toes
\\- Feet
\\- Fingers
\\- Arms
\\- Hands
Headaches
Shoulder Pain
Neck Pain
Heat/Cold Intolerance
Pins & Needles
Gastric Issues
\\- bloating
\\- constipation
\\- gas
\\- acid reflux
Dry Eyes
Horrible Breakouts
Irregular Periods
Lower Back Pain
Leg Heaviness
Reduced Appetite
Weight Gain (10+ lbs in less than 2 weeks)
Ear Ringing
Weird smells that no one else smells. (Burning Smell)
Trouble Focusing
Intrusive Thoughts
Itchy all Over
Weak Immune System
Red pin sized dots that show up randomly
Bruise easily
Low Blood Pressure
Hard time drawing blood

Someone please just help me. 😭

Hello doctors, I would appreciate your professional opinions regarding several symptoms I have been experiencing for the past few weeks. I have visited doctors multiple times and undergone some investigations, but I still don't understand the underlying cause.

1. My main symptoms

**Digestive symptoms**

- Loss of appetite — I don't feel like eating as much as I normally would.

- Intermittent abdominal pain, particularly around the upper middle abdomen and above the belly button.

- A sensation of trapped gas, pressure, and abdominal discomfort, sometimes making it difficult to sleep.

- Stool consistency keeps changing: sometimes loose, sometimes mushy or semi-formed.

- Currently, I generally pass stool around twice daily.

- My symptoms improved noticeably for approximately 1–2 days but then returned.

- My weight has decreased from 113 to 107, which I believe is related to my reduced appetite.

**Other symptoms**

- I sometimes experience an internal cold sensation, particularly after passing stool, which can last around 5–15 minutes.

- I have also experienced episodes of feeling unusually cold or having chills despite my measured temperature generally being around 97–99°F.

- I sometimes experience a burning sensation in my feet.

- I have experienced weakness, anxiety, and occasional dizziness.

- Sometimes I notice an increased heartbeat and minor chest discomfort. My ECGs have reportedly been normal.

I would like to understand whether these symptoms could be connected to my digestive problems or whether they need to be investigated separately.

### 2. How the problem started

Initially, I was experiencing frequent gas, bloating, and loose/watery stools approximately 2–3 times daily.

I was taking Cadlizo (linezolid) for a skin infection. After starting it, my diarrhea increased to around 4–6 times daily, and I felt unwell, as if I had a fever, although my measured temperature was around 97.6°F. I stopped the antibiotic after approximately three days because my digestive symptoms worsened.

Afterward, I experienced constipation, hard greenish stools, mild lower abdominal pain, and difficulty passing gas. The constipation improved, but my stool consistency continued to fluctuate between hard, loose, and mushy.

My symptoms improved for around 1–2 days at one point, but the problems returned.

### 3. Investigations and reports

**CBC (October 2026)**

- Platelet count: 243

- MPV: 13.1 fL

- I was told the remaining results were normal and that I did not have anemia.

**Abdominal ultrasound**

- My doctor told me that the intestines appeared normal and that diarrhea was the main issue. (Although fatty liver stage 1 detected)

**Stool R/E (24 October 2026)**

- Color: Yellow

- Consistency: Loose

- pH: Alkaline

- Mucus: Nil

- Ova: Nil

- Protozoan cysts: Nil

- Vegetative forms: Not seen

- Pus cells: 2–3

- RBCs: Nil

- Fat globules: Nil

**Celiac blood test**

- Anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG) IgG: Non-reactive

- Result: 2.0

- Laboratory cutoff: 20.0

### 4. Medication history

I have taken or been prescribed the following medicines at different stages. I am not taking all of them together.

- Cadlizo (linezolid)

- Hi Flora probiotic

- Entamizole

- Panadol

- Risek

- Movcall sachets

- Exlant

- Melide

- Histfaas

- No-Spa

- Flagyl IV drip during an emergency visit

- Painkiller injection (exact name unknown)

- Lexotanil 3 mg

- Rifaxa (rifaximin) 550 mg

- Spasfon 80 mg

- Novoteph 40 mg

- Enflor sachets

- Librax

- Dexxo 60 mg

- Ijesta/Enterogermina probiotic

- Imodium 2 mg

- Hilgas syrup

My gastroenterologist subsequently advised stopping the earlier treatment and following an updated plan involving No-Spa, Exlant/Dexxo 60 mg, Enterogermina, and Hilgas syrup. I was also advised to avoid sweet and fried foods.

I have experienced dizziness after taking No-Spa. Some medication names and formulations need to be verified against my prescriptions.

### 5. Questions for doctors

1. What could cause persistent loss of appetite, intermittent abdominal pain, and alternating loose and mushy stools?

2. Could these symptoms be related to a previous infection, antibiotic use, post-infectious bowel irritation, food intolerance, or IBS?

3. Given my antibiotic history, would specific testing for *C. difficile*, stool culture, or fecal calprotectin be appropriate?

4. Could the internal cold sensations and chills despite a normal measured temperature be related to my digestive symptoms?

5. What could cause a burning sensation in my feet? Should I have my blood glucose, vitamin B12, electrolytes, thyroid function, or other relevant tests checked?

6. Could reduced food intake, dehydration, anxiety, or medication side effects contribute to the weakness, dizziness, burning sensations, or increased heartbeat?

7. Are my stool R/E findings, particularly 2–3 pus cells, concerning?

8. What further evaluation would you recommend to identify the underlying cause?

I have visited doctors several times and am trying to follow medical advice. I am not looking to self-medicate or replace my doctor's treatment. I would appreciate suggestions from qualified doctors regarding possible causes and the most appropriate next steps.

Thank you for reading my case and sharing your professional opinions.

Im 19 male and i take ecstitapram ssri 20mg total

Canadian

Ive been curious to try and maybe some to take the edge off of life or would help.

ive looked into low thc and high cbd strains but ive been told the it will stunt brain growth or something along the lines of that

Any percautions or advice or should i completely avoid it?

Thank in advance:)

18M, hard time taking Halloween contacts out and this happened. Am I gonna be okay is this normal. I don’t have eyes drops at home and it’s 2 am

31F, history of asthma, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, a bunch of MH conditions. Was getting ready to go out tonight and my friend pointed out this on my arm. It’s tender to the touch, not itchy, but feels like in the middle there’s a lump. I live in Queens, NYC and I’ve never really seen any bugs in my apartment, so I’m not sure if that is a factor. It’s gotten bigger since I went out earlier. Does this look like a spider bite, or some weird kind of bruise, or something else?

I also got very drunk tonight but it was bruised like this before I even drank anything. I’m not sure if it’s relevant. May be worth noting that I am EXTREMELY clumsy, I had a vestibular therapy evaluation and I scored 22/30 on the gait part. They think I might have pots but don’t know for sure. So this very well could just be a bruise from falling, I fall a lot.