#Improvement!

[onlineviolence]

i think I could post the gama ref on their Creation date (2 April) but also I might not want to wait that long

[rustyvolumedial3-archive]

Volume's feeling slightly more alive today. Still laying on the ground, but at least he's face-up this time.

[bugbyte]

So it's been almost a week

And I figured I would make an update about the pain + medical marijuana situation, for science or the curious or whatever.

So it's technically been 5 days and not a full week, but who's counting?

I failed to read the directions on the actual packaging (lol) and it turns out I could have been taking a capsule like every 4 hours. I have not been doing that because I would burn through everything I have in a week, and the state limits the maximum amount I can buy in any given 30 days. So that would probably be incredibly effective but again, this whole process is incredibly expensive. That bit makes me angry, and I've effectively been radicalized into a pro-federal-legalization person, but that's another post for another day.

So! Even though I've been taking a fraction of the dose I could be taking, I have noticed major changes, and the thing that astonishes me is that all of my pain, day to day, is down significantly. Even if I didn't take anything at all that day.

Basically: part of the (many) problems in my shoulder is that my upper trapezius just. Never ever relaxes. I've had injections, I've done PT, I have a TENS unit I stick on from time to time and absolutely nothing has made that particular muscle relax even a little. Most of the time it feels like a red-hot tennis ball jammed in my shoulder. It has been at least this bad since March of 2023, until now, December. The morning after I took my first dose of MMJ, the very first thing I noticed on waking up was that I could move my arm normally.

For that entire day, I had mostly normal use of my arm, with almost unnoticeable pain. I still have to contend with the problem that it can kind of slide out of place/hang strangely/I have to wrestle it back where it belongs, but the pain aspect? Nearly gone. All I can figure, is that they explained the dose they were giving me had a certain ratio of compounds that are anti-inflammatory to compounds that are pain-reducing (I don't know enough to give details here) and the anti-inflammatory aspect must have been more powerful? Higher dosage? More effective for some reason? Than all of the other prescription things I take supposedly for anti-inflammatory purposes.

Things have been a bit up and down since then, so I suspect I'm going to need to do some adjusting of dose and timing, but I cannot complain about the results I'm getting. I was really, really excited about being able to draw pretty normally, and definitely kind of overdid it. And then I went to cook dinner, and definitely overdid it, and I paid for all that the next day, which was back to a more normal pain level for me.

I was really worried at this point that the first day had been me placebo-effecting myself and it wasn't going to work and oh well at least I tried. But after taking a rest day and continuing to take it before bed, I'm back to a manageable pain level. I spent most of today (Sunday) in the lowest pain I've felt in probably years.

I'm able to draw (as long as I don't push it too hard for now), spend more time up and around, and doing more average tasks around the house. I haven't been able to do these things in a really long time and I keep feeling like this is all fake, and a fluke, and it's going to stop working and I'll be back down in pain hell. I keep giving myself the side eye every day, like, is this real? Are you fooling yourself? But... I think it's working.

I've got a ways to go still to get back some regular functioning -- the aforementioned joints slipping out of place is a major thing. But if I can keep my average pain level to what I've got now, or lower? I can get back to PT and working on muscle strength to help keep my joints where they belong. I don't know if I'll ever get back to doing everything I used to do before this decline, but at least I have hope that things can be better.

[fagrackham]

made a #goodchoice and rescheduled my tattoo i was supposed to get this weekend for the winter when i’ll be home and closer to the studio and am not coming off a v chic lil breakdown that involved the complete waste of $600 in one fell swoop

[lycanthroid]

2022 / 2019. drawn on the chickensmoothie oekaki of a cs pet!

[isaactea]

Lillian_Idle.gif

Jan 2022 - June 2023

[antiv3nom]

hi besties. breaking news. i 3-0'd my friend's testament who i have only rarely won against before. holy shit.

[teaskies]

I have gotten slightly better with my cosplay makeup! The first picture is from 2018 and the second one is from this year, 2022!!!!!

[p0tat0-4rt]

I don’t think I drew enough last year to do one of these, but this year I certainly did.

[qixzel]

*lady gaga voice* In russia doing research.

[recomvery]

One of the most dangerous things in the world is not being able to say no to people because you don't want to upset them or dissapoint them. This will completely ruin your life in every way possible, at work, in your private life, your sex life and your friendships. It's a way of removing your own consent in your own decisions and go against your wishes, it is always a crime against yourself. Let yourself have a say. Upsetting people is better than traumatizing yourself.

[shesmore-shoebill]

"I had choice paralysis :(" is a KILLER line.

He's such a comedic powerhouse, I'm glad more people are getting exposed to him :'D

[silkentine]

In honor of my original meme hitting over 99k notes on tumblr dot com, I’ve made a sequel nearly 4 years later!

(original below)

[minigenos]

[thatpinkkwitch]

i just heard the phrase “if you wouldn’t trust their advice, don’t trust their criticism” for the first time and i don’t think i’ve ever needed to hear anything more