#but it's regulated as a medical drug here and not something most people use or might know about

[erasedcitizen2]

for anyone else out there struggling with insomnia, I'm sharing this just in case it helps anyone else: my doctor suggested 5 mg melatonin for me. It didn't make me sleep better and also gave me pretty bad side effects like having brain fog the day after, like I was completely unable to think and my reactions were slowed down to the point I would've been a danger in traffic. but I switched to a lower dose of 3 mg melatonin and not only do I have no side effects from that dose but ALSO IT WORKED. I've actually consistently slept 7-8 hours for the past week since I switched dose. I don't know the science behind that but lowering the dose worked better to put me to sleep.

[doberbutts]

Curious about something you mentioned in your post last week, you said that in your opinion all drugs should be legal and I’m curious about how that would be a positive at all? Like I get weed bc it’s pretty harmless but when I think of drugs I think of cocaine and heroin, which have destroyed so many lives. If it was widely available wouldn’t that end up hurting more people than helping? That’s just my opinion but I’m curious on the other side

I do think all drugs should be legal. This is said knowing that addiction runs in my family and that the only reason my older sister is my *sister* is due to drug use and addiction. Otherwise she'd be my cousin.

Making drugs illegal does not stop people from getting high. It does not stop drug related crime. And it certainly does not stop drugs from tearing families apart.

Addiction is a symptom of a larger problem. Solve the problem and the addict problem goes away. Solve the addict problem and drugs stop ruining lives and destroying families and creating massive amounts of drug related violence. Places that have roled out decriminalization strategies effectively have seen an overall reduction in crime rates across the board, a reduction in recreational drug use, and a reduction in bloodborne illness like HIV. Creating safe needle exchanges as well as safe places to get high with medical staff onhand has also created a locale where very few people die from overdose.

Most people hear "decriminalize all drugs" and think I mean a free-for-all. I don't. I think the drug market should be regulated. I don't think you should be able to get ketamine or heroin over the counter at a walmart like you can get asprin. But I think it's time to stop putting people in jail for getting high.

My aunt tore her life and her family and her health apart for years while she was addicted to heroin. My sister, her daughter, needed to be removed from her care due to the amazingly bad choices she made as a mother due to her addiction and her prioritizing drugs over the health and safety of her daughter. My aunt has had multiple heart attacks from the damage the constant drug use did to her body.

My aunt is more than a decade sober and do you know why? It's not because she got a wakeup call when her daughter was taken away, because at the time she willingly and freely signed her over to my parents because that got her "out of [her] hair". It's not because she had a heart attack, because she went right back to it the moment she was out of the hospital. It's not even because she spent time in rehab and prison, because the moment she was out she was using again.

No, my aunt got sober because her life changed. She was put on a better pain management plan. She got out of her shitty marriage to her shitty husband. She completed some education to make her more hireable so she didn't have to rely on less than safe means of paying her bills. She reconnected with my sister and reforged their relationship once she was 18. She bought her own house. She found love with someone who didn't give a shit about her past and brought out the best in her.

My aunt was a deeply unhappy person. Heroin made life more tolerable for her. Until she couldn't tolerate life without it. Until she'd do anything, anything, to get her next high.

A lot of addicts are addicts because they are self-medicating for something else and their drug of choice has chemical properties that makes their brains crave it more. If you fix the "deeply unhappy" part, you create a healthier environment for that addict to take control over their life again. Without it, they are far more likely to continue to relapse.

Knowing this, why would I then want to add the threat of prison and jailtime- life-ruining things themselves- to an addict's list of concerns?

Look up rat park sometime. In the rat paradise, drugged water was freely offered, and occasional a rat here or there would take a hit or two, but rarely enough to even get high and almost never habitually. Addiction literally didn't exist even though the rats were taking addictive substances. But the rats in cages, seperated from each other, with no enrichment, crammed into small spaces and stressed to hell? Those rats took hit after hit after hit until they overdosed and died. The addict rats were deeply unhappy. The drugs were their only escape. The paradise rats had to be lured in with sweetened drugs to even consider and even then they rejected them. The caged rats did not need sweetner, even though the drugs made the water bitter.

If we can see such a stark difference in rats having their needs met vs rats experiencing isolation and stress, what would happen if we showed human addicts the same consideration?

I think a lot better results than continuing to jail deeply unhappy and desperate people for doing the only thing they can think of to cope.

[drdemonprince]

Heyyo - autist here who’s still figuring out my physical and emotional needs. I use weed every day, and part of me has shame around this (as I am a “professional” and supposedly it’s “bad for you”, and it costs money) and the other part of me says “fuck it, there’s no moral value in not using drugs and you should do what you need to”. I guess I’m wondering what perspectives you can offer on this. I’m ruminating on it a bit lately and need some outside people to share their thoughts to get me out of that cycle. Thnx

I find that I am a lot more in tune with my bodily sensations and emotions when I am high, and that I find it easier to enjoy things and to chat amiably with random people when I'm high too. It makes life easier and more pleasant to such an extent that I wonder if I ought to smoke weed daily to medicate all my Problems and Difficulties and general irritation at of most aspects of existence. But then I don't. Because I get freaked out by the brain foggy weed hangover that drifts into the next day, and I assume that it will be bad for my writing to be high, and perhaps most of all, because I am terrified of building up a really high weed tolerance and then needing to use a ton to feel anything, or to even return to a baseline.

A couple years back I tried out vaping almost nightly for a few months, and it definitely reached a point where simply *not* being high felt like being anxious, it seemed, so I decided pretty quickly to reduce my weed intake. I don't like NEEDING any substance to function or to just feel okay. so for now I keep it to the weekends. I often think of using weed more often than that, and kind of want to, but i don't.

The research on chronic long-term weed use is quite encouraging! There are no cognitive or motivational downsides to using weed every day, or even multiple times per day. Conversely, there are many emotional and psychological benefits. @testdevice and I discussed the latest scientific research on the subject at length here:

There's really only one rub to the study's findings: people who use weed multiple times per day have a baseline lower mood than people who use weed frequently, but not quite that often. NOW THIS IS NOT A CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP. Chronic heavy weed use is not CAUSING people to be more depressed -- it simply seems to be the case that people who are chronically depressed are reaching more frequently for weed to cope with it.

The study shows weed use does raise mood including for members of that group, so there really is no serious drawback to using marijuana here!

But It does align with a finding that I've made in my personal life: the moments when I want to use weed the most frequently are when something in my life is completely out of wack. When I'm super overworked and stressed out, the temptation is to use weed as a way to down-regulate my anxiety, but what actually works far better for me is taking actual steps to reduce stress in my life. I COULD use weed for depression or for failing to find life activities enjoyable, and it works, but it's also worth asking myself which aspects of my life need to change so that I can feel less depressed and get through the day feeling okay. negative emotions are a signal that something in life is going wrong and needs to be fixed, and I do not want to ignore that alarm system.

Those are just some things to think about. Personally, I think that if you have some ability to make choices in your life that can improve your general circumstances, it's better to do that than to use weed to make a life that sucks a little more tolerable. But if daily weed use is helping make your life better or less hard, the weed itself is not the problem!

Lots of people determine that daily weed use has considerable benefits for them with relatively few costs. For me, using a couple times per week is what hits that sweet spot. but ymmv.

[wistfulwisp]

Hi katie i love ur content but i do wanna tell you... some of it gets super close to anti pharmaceutical holistic medicine and anti modern medicine and it's not your fault if blogs intend their posts as such, but pls be careful that you remain critical of the things you rb because some of them have like.. new age/manipulative dogwhistles imho

Hi there! First of all, I wanted to say thank you for sending such a well written and thoughtful message to me. I’m really glad that you took the time to write this and to ask me something like this because I don’t want people to be scared or weary of bringing things up like this. I like to try to create an open blog where people can ask me questions about really anything they want and know that they will get a thoughtful and critical response back.

This is actually a topic that really interests me, and the more that I thought about this ask that you sent me the more I realize that I do actually have a lot of thoughts on modern medicine versus non-modern medicine. One of the things that I don’t really ever talk about with anyone is that I was actually born addicted to opioids and to spend a lot of time being weaned off of them I think that that plus having drug abuse in my household has changed the way that I see medical treatments for me personally? I don’t really talk about it with anyone because the very few times that I’ve actually opened up about it. It’s been almost immediately weaponized and used against me so I’ve just stopped sharing it with people, but I do think that it’s actually relevant here. I live with someone that’s actively against modern medicine, but I often don’t share her views either. A lot of that I think stems from her fear of illness.

I think that modern medicine should be accessible to everyone. I think there should be multiple options for everyone and easy ways to try out new medications without jumping through a million hoops. I think it should be easy and cheap if not free. I think if you find a medication that works well for you the government should be paying for that — it’s a right. I know governments have it in their budgets 🙄 are you kidding me?

But, I’m also someone that believes in the power of yoga, and meditation. I’m someone that uses tarot as an emotional regulator. I’m someone that says soup has healing properties and means it. Part of that is believing in the power behind those actions (saying “soup has healing properties” is much more magical than saying “food is fuel, you should eat to feel better”). And, part of it is the loverboy in me that thinks there’s peace in the rain and that sitting outside in the quiet connects you to all the little creatures whispering in the wind. This, in itself, is healing, and I mean it.

Most importantly, I think that these need to be in balance in order for their benefits to be reaped. You can’t rely on either one alone, in my opinion. Just because they give you different things. And, that idea of everything in moderation is kind of where my values lie in most things (this doesn’t include all the slimy goblin-like homophobes or transphobes or anyone that falls under that umbrella).

I’ve learned that the majority of the blogs on tumblr I’ll be disagreeing with, because most of them hold their beliefs to such insane extremes that I can’t possibly get behind them. Even the positivity blogs I reblog from — that isn’t possible all the time. “Staying positive” isn’t possible all the time, yk? My values are much more of a shade of grey than most blogs on here represent. Most informative blogs, anyways.

So I guess the takeaway here is that I’m always critical. The things that I share on here I see with a critical eye. It’s my job as a human that lives in this world to embrace and question the world I live in, because both are forms of loving life.

I actually really like conversations like this, and really enjoy when people send this stuff in so feel free to — you or anyone else. And, usually the blogs I reblog stuff from I don’t even see. I usually filter through tags instead of cruising on blogs (although my mutuals I check in on). So, usually the blog I’m reblogging something from has a completely different take from me, and I’m interpreting a less extreme version of their take lol.

Also, thanks for sticking around! Love ya right back :) I hope this answered any concerns you have and clarified my stance.

EDIT: if you want to follow me on a platform where I express a lot more of my actual views, I’d recommend tiktok. I don’t make TikToks but honestly if enough people followed me on there I could see myself making some. I mostly repost stuff but I find there are people on there that articulate my thoughts better than the blogs run on here.

[thescrumblingmidwife]

Are charcoal pads actually safe? They seem like the kind of thing to be revealed to be detrimental in like 40 years. My favorite brand just started using charcoal and I don’t know how to feel about it.

Hi Anon,

Not gonna lie, I had to do some digging for this one. I know putting charcoal in everything is very *in* right now, and it's usually unregulated and sometimes potentially problematic (for instance, don't ingest charcoal if you take any medications! It interferes with the absorption of medications). But I had never heard of charcoal pads, so thanks for bringing it to my attention.

MENSTRUAL PRODUCT SAFETY

Menstrual products are regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) as medical devices. The FDA does not require manufacturers to label ingredients, nor do they ban the use of known harmful products, and there is no safety standard that needs to be met. The labels "organic" and "all natural" are advertising and not statement of fact. Testing that has been done to check for harmful products has been done by watchdog agencies and independent researchers.

Here's a good rundown:

What is known is that a lot of menstrual products do contain harsh chemicals that are better avoided. Most fall below the threshold of increasing cancer and non-cancer health risks, but a few chemicals to be on the lookout for are benzene, n-heptane and 1,4-dioxane. (Lin et al., 2020), as these can increase cancer risk. Chlorine and other chemicals can cause irritation of the vuvla. Also problematic is the use of phthalates, which are endocrine disrupters (can mess with your hormones) (Gao et al., 2020). Another problem is polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or "forever chemicals," which show up in a lot of products, and never leave your body. The New York Times recently did a testing of 44 products to check for problematic chemicals, and they found that PFAS are present in most products in at least very small amounts, although the lowest levels were found in period underwear and medical-grade silicone inserts.

So, our starting point is that commercially available disposable pads and tampons are already something to be concerned about, because no one in any position of power is doing much to make sure they're safe. They touch mucous membranes, which means there is potential for significant absorption. We can talk in a minute about how to choose the safest products from what's out there.

But let's get back to charcoal!

The purported purpose of the charcoal is to cut down on "period odor," which is not something people around you can detect. This is a case of advertising convincing you there's a problem so they can sell you a solution. The company that manufactures these pads, Kimberly-Clark, does supply ingredient lists and their stated purpose on their website. (It's not clear if this is the entire ingredient list, but it's something.) Interestingly, the function of charcoal is listed only as "A colorant used to color a material." Nothing about odor absorption. The charcoal doesn't come into contact with the vulvar skin or vaginal mucosa, so I don't think the charcoal itself poses much of a risk. I suspect this is more a case of fad-based misleading advertising. Will they harm you? Probably not. Will they do something magical and new? Probably not.

The one upside may be that the use of charcoal in menstrual products reflects manufacturer's response to the market demanding products with more "natural" ingredients and fewer harsh chemicals. But this is something that should be tested.

Yikes, that was a lot.

SO WHAT'S SAFE?

It's important to note that none of the chemical levels in any of these products are so bad that you're going to get cancer from wearing a single pad. The most common risk is vulvar irritation from harsh chemicals. The scariest (but rarer) risk is cumulative exposure over a long period of time for a marginally increased risk of some health issues.

But here are some tips for picking the safest products for your body:

Use a medical-grade silicone insert/menstrual cup (like a Diva cup).

Use reusable period underwear or pads from a reputable brand, like Thinx, and wash them before you use them.

If using disposable pads or tampons, absolutely avoid any with fragrances.

Use the lowest possible absorbency you need - the higher the absorbency, the more the material has been treated.

Try using disposable incontinence pads instead of menstrual pads, as these had lower rates of PFAS and chemicals.

Although there's no way to guarantee it's truthful, try to stick to brands and products that are generally chlorine-free. cotton-based, etc.

If you experience any irritation, redness, or sensitivity, try a new product!

And for those charcoal pads - they don't strike me as being any worse for you than the rest of the Kotex's fragrance-free lineup. It's not as problematic as swallowing charcoal or rubbing the dentin off your teeth with it. You may be right that in 15 years we'll have realized this was like that time we were putting radium in everything, but I doubt it?

Sources:

Lin, N., Ding, N., Meza-Wilson, E., Manuradha Devasurendra, A., Godwin, C., Kyun Park, S., & Batterman, S. (2020). Volatile organic compounds in feminine hygiene products sold in the US market: A survey of products and health risks. Environment International, 144, 105740. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105740

Gao, C. J., Wang, F., Shen, H. M., Kannan, K., & Guo, Y. (2020). Feminine hygiene products-A neglected source of phthalate exposure in women. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(2), 930–937. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03927

[stargazer-sims]

Beyond the Broken Parts

Eden: Everything okay?

Haru: Yeah.

Eden: Sorry for invading your privacy, but you were in here a really long time, and you didn't answer when I knocked and called your name. I got worried.

Haru: Sorry about that. I didn't even hear you knocking. I guess I zoned out for a few minutes. It happens sometimes.

Eden: Are you sure you're all right?

Haru: I'm okay. Just a little tired. I figured I'd take my medication while I was in here, so I wouldn't forget before bed. You know, 'cause my routine is different with you here. But then, uh... I kinda forgot what I was doing anyway.

Eden: I didn't know you have to take medication.

Haru: It's for my brain.

Eden: I shouldn't want to laugh at that, but...

Haru: Yeah... that came out wrong. Remember, I explained how I have problems because of all the alcohol and drugs and stuff my mother was using?

Eden: I remember.

Haru: I need something to regulate all my brain chemicals and calm me down. Otherwise, I'd be so hyper that I'd probably be flying off the walls, and I wouldn't be able to think or focus long enough to have an intelligent conversation or learn anything. Or even basically take care of myself, I guess.

Eden: I'm sorry.

Haru: You shouldn't be. This is my everyday life. It's not a bad thing. It's just... you know. A thing. It's not something I really talk about with anyone, but it's always been a part of who I am.

Eden: I won't tell anybody.

Haru: I appreciate that. It's not something I'd want the whole world to know.

Eden: That's totally understandable. Your friends know, though, right?

Haru: They all know I take medication, but only Ryu and Taiji know exactly what it's for. Keigo might know too, but not from me telling him. I'd never tell him or Senjirō, unless I absolutely had to. I only tell my private stuff to people I trust.

Eden: Are you saying you trust me? Even though we've only known each other for a short time? You've known those guys for like, five or six years, haven’t you?

Haru: About five years, yeah. Sometimes, the longer you know somebody, the less you trust them, though. I mean, I trust Keigo to a point. Like, he's a good person and he'd never intentionally hurt anyone, and I like him, but I'm just not comfortable sharing some stuff with him.

Eden: And Senjirō?

Haru: I think we can say we're friends, but not great friends. He doesn’t take me seriously, and we have too many differences to be really close. And to answer your other question, yes I trust you.

Eden: Thank you. That means a lot.

Haru: You already mean a lot to me.

Eden: Same. I honestly didn't know it was possible to fall for somebody this fast, but I'm glad to be discovering it with you.

Haru: Me too.

Eden: If you're really tired, maybe we should go to bed now. There's no reason to stay up any later, especially if you need to rest your brain.

Haru: My brain could use some rest. The problem is, I’m tired but I’m not sleepy, if that makes sense.

Eden: It does. If you’re not sleepy, we can cuddle in bed. That’ll be easy on your brain.

Haru: I like this plan.

Eden: Good, because I really want to cuddle with you.

Haru: Shirtless?

Eden: Apparently, skin-to-skin contact is very therapeutic.

Haru: You think it works on brains, too?

Eden: *smiling* There’s only one way to find out. We can get a good night’s rest, and maybe you’ll feel better in the morning

Haru: I usually feel great in the mornings. It’s once the day gets going that it sometimes goes all to hell. I don't know why changes in my routine are so hard, but whenever there's the smallest difference, it's like I'm using up three times as much energy just to deal with simple, normal things.

Eden: That must make travelling and being on tour really difficult and stressful for you.

Haru: Yeah, but it's worth it. I always get really energized from the audience. I might have to sleep for most of the next day, or the day after if we have back-to-back shows, but I'm totally willing to do it for that big crowd energy.

Eden: I wish there was something I could do to help you. To make everything better somehow.

Haru: You know what? You're already doing it.

Eden: How? What am I doing?

Haru: Supporting me. Taking me seriously. Being somebody who knows I'm broken and who sees past the broken pieces.

Eden: Haru—

Haru: What?

Eden: You're so much more than your 'broken pieces' as you call them. Maybe you've got issues most people don't have, and like you said, it's part of who you are, but you're a whole person with a million different parts. An amazing person with a million amazing parts. That's what I see.

Haru: How'd you get to be so beautiful? On the inside as well as the outside, I mean.

Eden: I credit my mother, mostly. She says acceptance is the most important thing when it comes to other people. Like, everybody matters, without having to qualify it.

Haru: I think I already like your mother.

Eden: When you feel ready for it, we can FaceTime with her and my dad, and I'll introduce you. I think Mommy will really like you, too.

[lil-tumbles]

something that's making me really fucking angry is the way doctors never actually tell me potential side effects, especially for the more common medicines. I've noticed this with anti-depressants (I only knew the side effects before I started taking them because I am in the very specific situation of having studied depression in school. If I hadn't taken psychology, I would not have known the side effects), but right now I'm thinking about the Pill.

The combined and mini pills are both forms of birth control, and also of mood and hormone regulation, but did you know they can make your breasts swell up? Mine increased to the point where I had back pain and my chest felt tight within about two months of taking the pill. Four months (that was the point I stopped) gave me stretch marks that might never go away. It took about a month after I stopped taking the pill before my breasts reduced in size enough that I could breathe normally again, wear normal bras again (the whole time I was taking the pill, I could only wear sports bras, because I couldn't find a supportive enough regular bra). The pill can also cause weight gain, sleep issues, and suicidal tendencies, among many other things. I have learned these things the hard way because no doctor ever stopped to tell me "oh, this might make you suicidal btw". I'm not writing this to put people off taking the pill - though these side effects are documented and not uncommon, most people don't experience the depression or emotional issues that I have on the pill and it can be a true lifesaver for many people - I'm writing this to say that doctors need to tell us about potential side effects of medication. This might have permanently changed my body and I had no idea that it could happen before it did, and then no-one to contact when it happened (because the NHS fucking sucks and you can't just like. Make an appointment, or call up a gynie).

If your doctor doesn't tell you the side effects of a medication you are starting on, make them. Ask them "And what are the potential side effects?". Make them tell you. Here are some phrases you could try using if you don't know what to say:

"Excuse me, you haven't told me the side-effects of this medication"

"Okay, and, what other effects might I experience on this drug?"

If applicable, "I am very sensitive to medication, and know from past experience/as you can see from my medical history, I am much more likely to experience side effects of medication than other people, so it's really important that you explain any possible side effects to me"

[nixmcretro]

Depression, Debt, Bees and Lizards

Ahhhhh yes, now where was I? I've corrected my spiralling debt thanks to an early release of superannuation due to financial hardship. Taking away from future me isn't too bad - especially as future me shouldn't really exist. The fact that present day me exists is surprising to… me. For now I'm past that.

I've hit a bit of a problem with the ever-fast-approaching start of university. I can't handle groups of people. Groups of people I don't know anyway.

I have trialled visiting a gender therapy group repeatedly and either break down and fail to leave or get to the group, enter the building and… panic. I then escape the situation. Fear extinction will be difficult to achieve - especially in such a short time before university starts.

Doing nothing now will likely result in me deferring until 2025. In an effort to mitigate this I tried to restart antidepressants. I picked out the least side effect riddled one. In my case, that would be duloxetine (Cymbalta), an SNRI.

And no. I can't even. Unrelenting bruxism 24/7. At the lowest dose. Every damn time. Something is not quite right with my serotonin-based systems. Great. That's why I've had no luck with antidepressants or first-line anxiolytics for the past decade. So where to from here?

My anxiety seems to fuel my depression and seems to be specific to interacting with groups of people. Of course there are the drugs that no one wants to prescribe because they are bad for you. Mainly drugs in the barbiturate and benzodiazepine-classes. I would argue that killing myself is also bad for me. I would rather feel better some of the time than none of the time. They are not available to me, so…

I'm trialing buproprion (Zyban, Wellbutrin) which is an NDRI. No bruxism. Doesn't touch serotonin and might be good for moderate anxious depression. There's a honeymoon period of two weeks where everything feels magical - as it is pretty much a stimulant. Now I wait for the down-regulation of receptors to see if it has any lasting effect.

In other news I've scraped the top end of the healthy BMI range. BMI isn't the absolute best measure but it does tell me that I am healthier at a BMI of 24.8 than a BMI of 34.8. I'll probably start to cycle my weight around to see if any fat redistribution happens.

What an excellent segue into the medication side of things for being a transgender woman. I've been monitoring a few things over the past month or so.

Progesterone is expensive and I am poor. So I have been trying to see how equivalent the compounded version of progesterone is to Prometrium (progesterone with an oil-based carrier, expensive). And at 400 mg/day split twice a day and measured in the trough, I ended up with slightly better numbers on paper using compounded.

However, there is one unexpected, positive side effect that I appreciate. When taking the oil-based Prometrium (200 mg with food), I get a nice little high. A similar feeling to 4-5 mg of diazepam. I was not getting this when I was on finasteride. My best guess is that the finasteride was interfering with metabolism to the several neurosteroids - allopregnanolone and friends.

For a few hours each day, at a big hit to my wallet, I can leave my anxiety behind and actually get things done. It's a very desirable side effect for me. For now I am not taking any progesterone to retest my baseline - it should be very low but not quite zero.

One of the reasons for retesting my baseline is a pretty big confounding factor - I am now on modified release (or sustained release) compounded progesterone which could have messed with testing. To try and counter this over a one week period I increased my dose to 800 mg/day. Nothing. No positive mental side effects at all. No negative ones either.

I'm also checking serum DHT, which isn't very useful as most of the testosterone to DHT conversion is done intracellularly at the target site - the hair follicle. I suppose I'm looking for shifts of various precursor hormones when on progesterone vs when not on progesterone. I'll do another post when I have additional data.

It was also neat to see what my estradiol levels were so soon after a new set of pellets were implanted. I scored just over 1500 pmol/L around one week after implant. This was ~700 pmol/L with the existing pellets prior to the newest set. After another three weeks, it was round 1200 pmol/L. Anything above 400 pmol/L is just gravy.

See what the bupropion made me do? This post is massive. Oh well, until next time! 🥰

[aghostwithnoname]

TLDR: It's OK to take meds if you need them.

TW: Much discussion of struggles with mental and physical health, suicidal ideation, ableism, etc.

Unsure if this is relevant to anyone BUT I was thinking a lot about how lately I've noticed an uptick in songs, posts, blogs, etc. criticizing the use of medicine to treat mental disorders. Related to this, I also used to think 'alternative medicine' was just some harmless BS to shill useless and unethically sourced rocks -- now I feel like MOST of it is some scary cult shit that prevents people from getting actual fucking help and needs to be interrogated and regulated.

As someone who has struggled with my mental and physical health for decades, this trend against so-called "traditional medicine" is concerning to me for several reasons. DISCLAIMER: I'm not saying meditation, tai chi, yoga, etc. are at fault. These are cultural and spiritual practices developed by communities of colour that have a long history that should be respected, and they can certainly help some folks! I'm more concerned about the predominantly White people selling crystals to "cure your depression" or who say "cutting cords is going to free you from your PTSD", etc.

For so many years, I had been scared off of seeking out medical therapy because other people had told me "It's just about reframing your thinking," or "Big Pharma is just trying to sell you on drugs that will make you worse!" or "Your mental disorder is actually what empowers you/makes you creative/etc. and the meds will destroy that!" This sort of toxic "positivity" and misinformed distrust of medical science was even said in supposedly disabled-inclusive spaces and was incredibly damaging. I also worried that any time I considered the possibility of taking meds, this would be considered "drug-seeking" behavior, and doctors would deny me regardless. But here's the thing:

If you need to take meds or ask for meds, you can. It's not a bad thing. You are not denying "your true self" or whatever. You are not "lazy" or a bad person for "relying" on medication to feel better.

I get it that meds don't work for everyone, can make people feel worse, etc. Sometimes, it's a very long struggle to finding out what works for you -- and there's a lot of disappointment along the way when something doesn't work out. We all are different in how we respond to certain therapies and drugs. That's really what the term "neurodivergence" is meant to capture -- that everyone's brain chemistry and mental makeup is different -- and not all of it deserves to be pathologised. And I do agree, not all pharmaceutical companies are ethical in how they approach the creation and distribution of medicine -- look no further than the opioid crisis for evidence of that.

But when medicine is scientifically proven to be effective, is necessary, and *does* work for you -- gods, it's indescribable. For me, it really was a new lease on life. I finally was able to be wholly myself -- after living more than half my life in a dark, horrifying place -- though to everyone around me, I seemed to be doing fucking awesome. After meds, I finally was able to look in the mirror and tell myself I was good, deserving, intelligent, and caring without it being a blatant lie. I no longer thought about death constantly, or obsessed about my abuse and trauma.

Until then, I had forgotten how much my joy was just as much a part of me as my pain was. I think back to that endlessly scared, suicidal little kid and how much life they missed out on because they felt ashamed for seeking medicine that they desperately needed.

It's not that I wasn't trying hard enough to "redirect thoughts" or accept my brain for "what it was". I toughed it out until I couldn't. I punished myself for so many years seeking help in all the wrong places. I pushed myself until life broke me again -- and I could not put myself back together on my own.

There was so much guilt attached to me finally seeking out a prescription, until I reframed the conversation. "Hey, ghost, you also have a chronic illness that you need to take meds for -- so why are you so afraid of taking meds for your mental disorder when it would help? This is an option for a better quality of life that is accessible to you -- why the hell are you punishing yourself for wanting to use it?" The answer: Internalised ableism, baby! I mistakenly thought I was beyond that kind of thinking -- I wasn't.

I then thought back to all the time doctors and medical staff had failed to listen to my concerns when I was suffering from my chronic physical illness even AFTER I was positively diagnosed. One doctor had even purposefully set my dosage too low to actually address my condition and proceeded to "compliment" me on my unplanned weight loss. I didn't find out until years later from an actually good and empathetic doctor that I needed a dose 5x higher. 5x higher, people! That's not a mistake -- that's negligence and medical abuse outright.

When confronted with your physical and/or mental disability, for some weird reason, people will try to force you not to seek medical help and keep you suffering. That's fucking horrifying, especially when it's the people you are trying to seek help from.

Despite all this, I'm glad I fought the healthcare system, societal perceptions, and my own internalised ableism to advocate for what I needed. Even though it was scary, tiring, and years in the making, I finally found a good PCP and psychologist. I relied a lot on family and friends who understood my conditions for support. Now, thanks entirely to being on the RIGHT meds and correct dosage for both my physical and mental illnesses, it's like I'm a new person -- it sounds so cliché but it's true.

Does the dark side of my mind still come out some times? Sure. But I can turn away from it now and focus on the present and the people and things I cherish. I'm finally back to the person I was before the world tried to crush me. I can look at life again with the happiness and hope I had as a child, like I'm reaching back in time and holding their hand as they excitedly show me all the parts of myself I've been missing out on for the past twenty years.

This is why medical therapy should be accessible to EVERYONE, and people should not be shamed by their community or their healthcare providers for seeking out that option when it is available to them. FULL STOP.

Either way, if you're Going Through It, to quote my fav girl Karlach, thanks for listening, for existing. Love you.

[talenlee]

Getting High In Cobrin'Seil

This is more talk about Drrrruuuugs! More stuff about DRRRRUGS! You should avoid this if you don’t want to hear me talking about drrrrrruuuuuuuugggggs. In the context of a D&D setting. You know, that kinda thing. You won’t get any real or cool tips about that stuff just D&d Dork Stuff.

The first time I tried this article it wound up three thousand words long and barely talked about actual drugs. It was mostly about drug regulation, about the ways in which governments and systems recognised the existence of drugs. But we’re not done! Because this isn’t even necessarily a list of cool fantasy drugs (you can probably find those written by other people better for the task than me) but instead I want to talk about the material realities of how different peoples regard different drugs!

Glossary Note: Conventionally, the term used in D&D for this mechanical package is race. This is the typical term, and in most conversations about this game system, the term you’re going to wind up using is race. For backwards compatibility and searchability, I am including this passage here. The term I use for this player option is heritage.

Okay, something real quick about real world biological science: drugs are things that more or less work consistently for all humans more or less. The idea that humans as large groups have really consitently different reactions to almost all but the finest stimuli, divided on common genetic lines is a bit of race science that sits underneath the architecture of D&D. The idea that different groups of humans have major fundamental reactions to stimuli is root to a lot of medical racism and it’s complicated further by there being real things (like the way that lactose intolerance and types of anemia are distributed across some population groups) and then completely nonsensical things (like biological testing for supposed IQ rates).

In the context of Cobrin’Seil, while there is room for communities to have, for example, genetic trends towards handling a type of alcohol or drug better than others, the differences between any given person and the baseline is not meaningfully, predictably different to their population’s deviation from any other large group. That is to say, for any given individual, their responses cannot be meaningfully predicted based on the groups they’re from within that group. It’s much more likely to have a regional trend, like people with a lot of cow farms are more likely to be able to drink milk, and if you can’t handle that odds are good you move away.

Why then do I care about drugs across populations?

Because Cobrin’Seil, and most D&D settings, is actually like the thing that Race Scientists of the 1800s and therefore Gary Gygax believed in: A place with multiple biologically distinct species. In the context of Cobrin’Seil, the reason Elves and Orcs can have half-children with humans is because they’re (effectively) ring species to one another, with humans still in the middle of the ring. But there are also much more distantly related genetic groups and that means that there are characters with wildly different biologies even if they have reasonably similar phenotypes.

To look at things as a cladistic biologist would, there is a Common Prehuman Ancestor for Orcs and Humans, and if you look at that as a starting point, that ancestor forks down into Orcs and Humans, half-elves, halflings, tieflings, the entire wing of creatures known as Erd (things like ogres, hobgoblins and the like), the Kyranou Genasi and other niche heritages, who all share a reasonably similar response to drugs. Bonus, Elves try to emulate that. That means there’s one major biologically close bloc that even if they can’t interbreed (keeping genetic material from crossing into one another) are all meaningfully built on the same biological architecture which you can detect by how they react to diseases and stimulants. In the context of drugs, then, there are a whole wing of drugs that you can classify in a way that they affect this group in a predictable way. Since these groups represent one of the most widespread collections of people, the things that affect this group is a reasonably useful ‘drug’ category for commercial operation.

There are two other major threads of biological relationships for the major cultures; there’s the Beastfolk thread, which are related upstream to some kind of sapient event, and the Goblins. Goblins aren’t actually representative of many different species of culture, because Goblins are so flexible within the category of ‘Goblin.’ Basically, all Goblins can have Goblins with other Goblins even the ones that look wildly different. This doesn’t have a lot of interface with the drug stuff though because Goblins are so resistent to drugs, they’re only really affected by drugs that are explicitly magical.

That makes two large, major, predominant forms of nervous system that drugs can interface, the Common Prehuman Ancestor group and the Beastfolk Group. These groups are both linked by being mammalian tetrapods (which incidentally puts minority cultures like centaurs outside of it), and so there is some overlap between them. There’s also the wildly diverse Dragonkin, who are hexapod reptilians and their relationship to drugs is even more niche.

What this means is that drugs in general work the same across all of the heritages of Cobrin’Seil, but not specifically. For example, most Beastfolk don’t respond to something best compared to Catnip, but Gnolls and Abilen do. What these groupings tend to highlight is particularly rare inter-related commonalities, and create niches for specific community consumables. The more specific a community is, the more likely there is one specific way they can get fucked up but also that way is probably not commercially interesting and therefore widely known outside of that community. Abilen smoke on their hookahs all the time and people can tell that they’re smoking, but they don’t have to know exactly what they’re smoking, as the ‘doing drugs’ part of the situation is well handled by the obvious participation.

There’s also questions of just sheer bulk and metabolism. An Orc and a Halfling are, from the perspective of a genetic mapping trend, as close to one another as a dhole and a wolf, and they respond to drugs almost entirely identically, except the Orc is literally as much as eight times as much mass as the halfling. What gets an Orc modestly toasted could put a Halfling peer well into the realm of what medicinals and apothecaries would classify as ‘proper zooted.’ This also plays into the economics of such things; Halfling dealers famously espouse the power and potency of Orcish weed but it’s more that Orcs grow lots of it and sell it in huge quantities. They grind it down more finely and pack it more tightly, just because it’s pragmatically a size difference.

Thing is, there are also thresholds! From the perspective of a human, Orcs tend to take ‘more’ drugs and they tend to be more potent but don’t tend to have a notable impact. Halflings can consume with Humans pretty much piece for piece up until the point the Halfling drops unconscious, but the Human is pretty well on the way out the door at that point too.

Finally, there is just plain magical nonsense. The big one in-setting is Opprobrium; it’s essentially, magical cocaine. A stimulant that sharpens your senses and heightens your ego and activates latent magical ability (supposedly) and also, guarantees that it’s not harmful or addictive because of how it uses transmutation magic to make your body repair itself. This common belief about Opprobrium is completely not justified by any expert in the field, and if you ask almost any skilled magician if you should be using consumable magical items that explicitly claim to cast spells on your brain, you’ll probably get a consistent reaction of ‘no.’ And even if there are those who are okay with going ‘hey, yeah I would trust my skill to make that’ then you ask them if they’d be okay with consuming it when it was made by someone else and explicitly they would have no way of knowing who did it, and suddenly the number of experts interested in using this stuff goes way down.

In the category of magical nonsense, I want to highlight that the Eladrin, specifically, despite being very politically important and internationally relevant, are not only not common enough to really have a meaningful drug culture, but also, they’re not entirely organic creatures. Still somewhat Fey creatures, the Eladrin can huff, you know things like the dreams of a butterfly, which means that not only are their drugs extremely hard to commercially produce and distribute but also they might be getting high off something that you think is entirely G-rated and not telling you.

What we get then are these broad categories:

Drugs For Almost Everyone

Drugs For Beastfolk

Drugs For The Humanfolk

Just Plain Magical Nonsense

Within that category, then, some cultural notes because I mean I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface here and … what’s our word count at, oh lord, 1400 words, okay, moving on from that concern, here’s some stuff about how cultures are commonly perceived to relate to drugs from within them, which is to say, not how people stereotype them doing drugs.

Kobolds are big on synthetics. They have access to magical synthesis tools and distillation of chemicals, which means if you’re thinking like LSD, or other forms of ‘make it in a lab’ rather than ‘grow it in a field ‘stuff, chances are Kobolds make it. They also tend to think of it as a thing you take very precisely, which means they tend to think of doses as personalised, not shareable. Like, if you have a Kobold drug dealer, they come to your place and they get you high. They’re very expensive.

Orcs are enormous people who get keyed up very easily, don’t like difficult cultivation methods and have enormous open spaces. Typically Orcs favour either stuff that heightens how you get keyed up (so short-term stimulants, like imagine a root you can chew to get a high-power caffeine spike), and stuff you can partake of for a long time doing nothing (so, weed). People call Weed ‘Green’ because it is an Orc association.

Humans are the booze nerds of the drug world; not exclusively by any means but specific, niche forms of alcohol are almost all going to be linked to some human settlement or cultural space.

Abilen and Gnolls both partake of catnip, which the Abilen pay people to cultivate and make as a cash crop, and which the Gnolls just plant in their path at celebratory/sacred spaces.

Goblins don’t get high off drugs but they do consume them as food stuff, and have very clear opinions of which ones taste good or don’t, and most drugs do not taste good. They tend to like Orc Green, because it’s kinda minty and nutty, but they don’t like it as a smoke.

Elf communities are druidic, which means that there are regular drug experiences as part of religious rituals, and the druids can even magically grow specific ones.

Dio Baragh know every kind of mushroom you can consume and get stonky wonky, and the funniest part of that is that Dio Baragh are extraordinarily tough, which means that their recommended doses for enlightening experiences instead render smaller or less hardy peoples completely hammered. Orcs and Dio Baragh swap drugs a lot, especially as people who don’t tend to engage with capitalism by default.

The Tjosen reputation for being both extremely comfortable with contact and interested in staring at the stars is perhaps directly related to their common cultural practice of distilling MDMA from a type of plant root.

Aaaand…

I think I’m done.

Thank god.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[mangodestroyer]

Anyone else starting to think that maybe they don't have a "mental illness" or a "mental condition", but that they're actually just having a normal response to their environment?

I used to really identify with depression. As well as autism. They were things that a couple therapists suggested. And I used to find comfort in them because I thought they described my life experience pretty well.

And also, I used to be one of those people who got super into Psychology and started wondering if there was something very wrong with me. I started getting all "do I have this?" and "do I have that?" I also started getting super obsessed with "toxicity" and "working on myself." Thought that I was horrible and toxic for still being miserable at times and that I needed to "put in the work and sort out my problems" to... whatever magical point determines if you've actually "done the work."

It's because the advice is always about "looking inward" because "you're 100% in control of your emotions and responses to things. You can "do the work" to make things better!" Which isn't a bad thing to be aware of and practice, but this can be pretty dismissive and toxic to say about certain situations. But blaming outside factors is considered "toxic."

Um, yeah. I might actually be prone to feeling down at times. Feeling anxious. Having bad thoughts. And, well, autistic tendencies. But tbh, I think my environment has always greatly aggravated those problems. I mean, that's just a natural side effect of living in such a toxic environment where certain people go out of their way to make you miserable/disrespect you and your belongings. While other people shrug or even encourage them. Or being around people who ACTUALLY struggle with emotional regulation (getting super angry all the time, ALL THE TIME, and making it other people's problem; my mother loved to/still does use me as a therapist but doesn't care about my problems in the slightest, so I think that would be a source of misery for someone).

On top of that, isn't it normal for people to sometimes be awkward or overly analytical? Or to get super upset over dumb shit (i.e. misinterpreting a situation as you being left out and feeling under appreciated)? Or to get envious of others when they have something you've always wanted? Or to get super frustrated when dealing with a difficult individual?

I've been talking to irl people more and they don't actually seem to think I'm that abnormal/weird/toxic. Two people told me it's my environment and I need to get out, or at least, find some way to get away from it now and then. And also, people aren't put off by my "autism" either (seriously, I am diagnosed with a similar condition and ig could be on the spectrum, so I'm not trying to dismiss the diagnosis or anything, but I also don't think it's a social death sentence like I used to). I used to think it was scaring people off/causing bullying behaviors in others, but that's actually not true. Working through my trauma, however, has made me more confident and THAT'S making people approach me more. But being terminally online led me to fall down a weird Psychology rabbit hole where I started believing I was too weird, horrible, and neurotic.

It's also been proven that the way therapy is done, at least here in the U.S., just doesn't work. Keeping things surface level and promoting toxic positivity isn't going to help someone with some heavy problems (which is going to be most people in therapy). I think there's also a shaming factor to it (being considered toxic if you aren't always okay). Or just the extreme push with drugs (seriously, I can't even visit a doctors office these days, as someone who is anxious around medical professionals because of bad experiences, without getting anxiety drugs pushed on me!) I've never touch any of those drugs and I'm glad I stayed firm about not taking them. I was almost tempted to because of pressure (literally thought that I was too neurotic at one point and needed anti-psychotics). They just wouldn't have helped me. They would have just been like putting a band aid on a gaping wound. It's disturbing how many medical professionals and therapists will just jump to them within minutes of talking to you.

[gales-big-naturals]

Weed person here and the main seller of CBD in my store! I can tell you the same thing I tell my customers who are scared to try CBD. Idk how informed your mom is so if you wanna share this with her it might help.

Firstly like some people in the replies are saying, calling CBD a drug is a bit of a stretch. It doesn’t produce any sort of psychoactive effects so you don’t get the sort of high you would with other substances.

It’s overall very safe to take, safe enough that veterinarians prescribe it to pets fairly often. It can be a very effective form of pain relief and I’ve had customers using it to treat anything from cancer pain to ankle sprains. It can even be used in the treatment of other medical conditions. I have an epileptic friend who would have several grand mal seizures a month but since her doctor switched her to CBD she hardly has any.

The main effect experienced from CBD is drowsiness. The feeling is somewhat similar to a muscle relaxer. There are no behavioural changes that occur with CBD usage. Beyond a high dose likely leaving you a bit sluggish, no more than after a bad nights sleep though.

CBD doesn’t produce a “hangover” type effect and people can continue their business as usual while taking CBD. I’d caution driving on a high dose as reaction time could be impaired but I know many people who will take CBD through the day at their jobs. Many jobs that test for THC and other substances don’t test for CBD since it rarely impacts any sort of performance at work.

Here in Canada cannabis is legal both medicinally and recreationally. There are a lot of regulations about dosages on THC products and how strong things like edibles can be (especially here in Saskatchewan) but CBD is much less regulated. Not because people aren’t worried but because adverse effects are rare and usually minor.

Medically speaking the only concerns that come to mind is potential blood thinning though this isn’t an issue for most users. The only person I’ve ever met who was concerned about that one was someone with hemophilia. High doses can cause liver abnormalities but about the same as expected with otc medications like acetaminophen.

There are a lot of studies that still need to be done and a lot of scientists working to understand CBD and all of its potential risks and benefits. Overall though it is quite safe to use and the worst experience I’ve personally heard of is just not feeling it. I’d be more concerned about the prolonged use of caffeine and it’s effects on the body than CBD.

Lots of misinformation out there on both sides sides. It’s not like alcohol or hard drugs but it’s irresponsible to listen to people saying it’s completely risk free. The truth is that the studies are still being done and there is plenty that isn’t known just yet. Right now the benefits seem to outweigh the risks which is why it’s so accessible in so many places.

Hopefully something in here helps put your moms mind at ease about it but if not still NAH, I understand her hesitation especially with all the misinformation about cannabis products but a CBD gummy is very low risk

Am I the asshole for doing drugs at home?

I (24nb) live at home with my mom (57f) and my stepdad (60m). I’m lucky enough to live here rent-free while I save up to go back to school. I have several part-time jobs while I work on college apps and more job apps. This is all very stressful for me, so every once in a while, I take edibles. It helps with my chronic pain and insomnia issues as well. They aren’t strong at all, I literally can’t get high off of them, but my mom told me she’s uncomfortable with me taking them. I tried explaining to her that they were safe, legal, and for a medical reason, but she wouldn’t listen to me. All she said was, “I’m just not comfortable with it,” over and over. So I told her, “I won’t talk about it in front of you,” and she got upset. I get where she’s coming from, her ex-husband was an addict, but it’s not like I’m shooting up heroin or out getting STIs. I know there isn’t anything wrong with me choosing CBD for stress and pain over any other medication, but I feel like an asshole for not respecting my mom’s wishes because she lets me live with her for free.

What are these acronyms?

[croservices]

Where Is The Best CRO?

1. The Top Five CROs In The World

The Top Five Contract Research Organizations (CROs) In The World

1. PRA Health Sciences

PRA Health Sciences is a global Contract Research Organization (CRO) that offers a comprehensive suite of services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

2. IQVIA

IQVIA is a global contract research, consulting, and technology company that partners with life sciences companies to transform commercial strategies.

3. LabCorp

LabCorp is a global life sciences company that provides a broad range of clinical laboratory and end-to-end drug development services.

4. inVentiv Health

inVentiv Health is a global provider of contract research, consulting, and commercialization services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries.

5. Covance

Covance is a global contract research organization providing drug development and animal health services.

2. Why You Should Use A CRO

The best CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) is a process that helps you to improve your website’s conversion rate. In other words, it helps you to get more leads, sales, and customers from your website.

There are many benefits of using a CRO, but here are the top 2 reasons why you should use one:

1. Improve website’s conversion rate

2. Get more leads, sales, and customers CRO

1. Improve website’s conversion rate

The main goal of using a CRO is to improve your website’s conversion rate. By using a CRO, you can test different elements on your website (such as headlines, call-to-actions, images, etc.) to see which ones convert the best.

This process can be very effective in increasing your website’s conversion rate because it allows you to constantly improve and optimize your website for better results.

2. Get more leads, sales, and customers

Another great benefit of using a CRO is that it can help you to get more leads, sales, and customers from your website.

By improving your website’s conversion rate, you’ll be able to get more people to take the desired action on your website (whether it’s subscribing to your email list, buying a product, or signing up for a service).

This can lead to more sales and customers for your business, which is always a good thing.

Overall, there are many benefits of using a CRO. If you’re looking to improve your website’s conversion rate, then using a CRO is definitely something you should consider.

3. What Services A CRO Can Provide

There are a number of different services that a CRO can provide. The most common service that a CRO can provide is clinical research. This involves the design and conduct of clinical trials. Clinical research is essential for the development of new medicines and treatments. Without clinical research, new medicines and treatments would not be available.

A CRO can also provide regulatory affairs services. Regulatory affairs is the process of ensuring that a medicine or treatment is compliant with all relevant regulations. Regulatory affairs is a complex and time-consuming process, and a CRO can help to ensure that a medicine or treatment is compliant with all relevant regulations.

A CRO can also provide quality assurance services. Quality assurance is the process of ensuring that a medicine or treatment is of the highest quality. Quality assurance is essential to ensure that a medicine or treatment is safe and effective.

A CRO can also provide marketing services. Marketing is the process of promoting a medicine or treatment. Marketing is essential to ensure that a medicine or treatment is known about and used by patients.

A CRO can provide a number of other services, including data management, statistical analysis, and project management.

4. How To Select A CRO

When faced with the task of selecting a CRO, there are a few key factors to consider in order to ensure you are making the best decision for your company. The first and perhaps most important factor is to consider is the CRO’s experience and expertise. It is important to select a CRO that has a proven track record in conducting successful clinical trials. The CRO should also have a good understanding of the disease area and the therapeutic area of your drug. In addition to experience and expertise, another important factor to consider is the CRO’s ability to meet your timelines. The CRO should have a good understanding of your timelines and should be able to work with you to meet your deadlines. Finally, it is also important to consider the CRO’s financial stability. The CRO should be a financially stable company that can provide the resources necessary to conduct a successful clinical trial.

5. How CROs Can Benefit Your Business

If you're not familiar with the term CRO, it stands for "conversion rate optimization." CRO is the process of improving the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.

There are a number of ways that CRO can benefit your business. Here are five of the most important:

1. CRO can increase your website's conversion rate.

This is the most obvious benefit of CRO. By optimizing your website for conversions, you can increase the percentage of visitors who take your desired action. Even a small increase in conversion rate can have a big impact on your bottom line.

2. CRO can help you get more leads and sales.

By increasing your website's conversion rate, CRO can help you get more leads and sales. If you're selling products or services online, CRO can help you increase your sales. If you're generating leads for your business, CRO can help you get more leads.

3. CRO can help you save money.

If you're spending money on advertising, CRO can help you save money. By increasing your conversion rate, you can get more leads or sales from your existing traffic. This means you can get the same results with less traffic, which can save you money on advertising.

4. CRO can help you make more money.

In addition to saving money, CRO can also help you make more money. By increasing your conversion rate, you can get more leads or sales from your existing traffic. This can lead to a higher return on investment (ROI) from your marketing efforts.

5. CRO can help you improve your customer retention.

CRO can also help you improve your customer retention. By making it easier for customers to take your desired action, you can keep them around longer. This can lead to repeat customers and higher customer lifetime value.

CRO is a powerful tool that can benefit your business in a number of ways. If you're not already using CRO, it's something you should consider.

[ear-worthy]

NYT “First Person” Podcast: How Do We Treat Obesity?

Interview podcasts are as common as hidden fees in today’s world. Think about it. They’re cheap to produce, easier to set up than on-location recording, and enable the guest to fill in most of the script with their comments and observations.

Most interview podcasts market themselves as having culturally relevant conversations on topics of social importance. The reality, however, is far different from the hype.

Interview shows like Something You Should Know and The Jordan Harbinger Show are solid interview podcasts with interesting guests a host that knows how to ask probing questions, then listen to the response and follows up.

The New York Times’s interview podcast, First Person, is one of the best in the genre. The show’s tagline is: “Every opinion starts with a story. Intimate conversations about the big ideas shaping our world, hosted by journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro. From New York Times Opinion.”

Garcia-Navarro has Ira Glass-level interviewing skills, and the topics chosen resonate with listeners. Consider some of the recent episodes.

Why Does Big Tech Make It So Hard to Fix Your Devices? — The C.E.O. of iFixit is fighting for your right to stop shopping and start repairing.

Veteran Outing Domestic Extremists — Veterans are valuable recruits for far-right groups. Kris Goldsmith wants them to fight back.

A Librarian Spoke Against Censorship. Dark Money Came For Her. — Now she’s fighting back.

In the most recent episode of First Person, host Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, a professor at Harvard Medical School and Obesity Medicine Specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

When Dr. Stanford entered medical school in the early 2000s, obesity medicine was not part of the curriculum, even though obesity rates in the United States have been steadily rising since the 1980s.

Since then, she’s spent her career pushing for changes in the way the medical establishment thinks about and treats obesity, calling for interventions that recognize the condition as a disease, not simply a failure of willpower.

And one of those interventions is medication. As new weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy enter the market, Dr. Stanford finds herself at the forefront of a larger cultural debate about weight loss, body image and the role of medication in it all.

You can listen to this episode of First Person on Apple, Spotify, Google or wherever you get your podcasts. The full transcript of the interview can be found here, with highlights below:

Fatima Cody Stanford

“A lot of people believed that obesity was just a consequence of other diseases as opposed to a cause of the 200 plus diseases that obesity does cause. That was one of the arguments. A lot of people pointed to a lot of the behavioral studies that did demonstrate for some people that they had achieved success in interventions like Weight Watchers, like you mentioned earlier, or community level interventions. And so there was this pushback against this being a disease characterized by pathophysiology in the body. And a lot of that, I would say, came from the public health space, this idea that we can fix it if we just work harder.”

Lulu Garcia-Navarro

“Dr. Stanford, let me ask you this. What does that mean? When you say you began to see that obesity is a disease, what is it a disease of? I mean, do we know what causes obesity?”

Fatima Cody Stanford

“So I’m going to say it’s a disease of the brain. And the reason why I’m going to say it’s a disease of the brain is because the brain regulates how the body stores fat. The brain is the central operating system.”

Fatima Cody Stanford

“If the brain’s not there, the rest of the body doesn’t work. So let’s explain what happens. There are two primary pathways by which the brain will regulate weight. There is the pathway that tells us to eat less and store less, what we call the POMC or proopiomelanocortin pathway, or AGRP pathway, which is the agouti-related peptide pathway, which tells us to eat more and store more.”

Fatima Cody Stanford

“And we don’t choose. And this is where the willpower issue goes away. My organs, my genetics, my environment, all of these things can play a role in whether I signal down the more desirable pathway or less desirable pathway. And so this comes the complexity of this disease that is obesity. Why do certain people signal one way and other people signal another way?”

Lulu Garcia-Navarro

“Well, help me understand this. Our genetics haven’t completely changed in the past 40 years. Yet, we’ve seen this huge increase in the number of people living with obesity. So what’s changed? I mean, are there environmental factors at play?”

Fatima Cody Stanford

“Absolutely. So we’ve placed our bodies inside of what we call this obesogenic environment. And this gets into those environmental factors and how they play a role.”

Fatima Cody Stanford

“How has diet quality changed? How has our sleep quality changed? Our screen time, how does that disrupt or affect our circadian rhythm? We’re supposed to rise when it’s bright outside and go to sleep when it’s dark outside.”

Fatima Cody Stanford

“But I can tell you that most of us don’t follow that as our inherent rhythm. So when we deviate from all of these things, put ourselves in this world that our bodies weren’t really created to be in, it’s going to lead to a greater storage of adipose or fat. It’s stress on the body. And when we have stress, stress increases storage of an organ that has typically helped us out. And that organ is adipose or fat.”

The full transcript of the interview can be found here.

[ask-a-vetblr]

Hi! I’ve seen an uptick in neighbors and friends giving their dogs meds for anxiety. I was wondering if you guys have seen the same uptick? Do you think it’s do to more research on meds or more owners becoming aware of potential solutions? Also how effective are some of the alternatives to meds like compose and Cbd? Thank you and sorry if that’s too many questions 😅

vet-and-wild here.

I am finding more and more owners that are willing to use behavior meds, and more vets are being trained to use them as first line rather than a last resort. That combination definitely makes it seem like more dogs are needing meds for anxiety. I don't necessarily think there are more anxious dogs, I think that we are just starting to make a dent in the ridiculous stigma about using behavior modification drugs. And we're realizing that it's much less stressful and more humane to use them for anxious/aggressive dogs. It used to be standard practice to basically just hold a dog down to get minor procedures done, no matter how much they struggled. You just overpowered them with strength/numbers. Now we know that is a really stressful way to handle dogs, and it will likely make their behavior worse in the long run. I occasionally have owners that don't like the idea of using meds (or straight up accuse me of being "too scared" of their dog), but most have been very open to trying. Generally, I give them two options:

1. We can get a bunch of people, shove a muzzle on the dog's face without any kind of desensitization or warning, and have a bunch of strangers hold the dog down while it screams, pees, and struggles. Then we hope no one gets hurt. Next time the dog will probably be much worse.

2. Or we can have them come back on some very safe, very affordable medications for non-urgent services on another day and end today's appointment on a good note.

Usually they go for option 2.

CBD has very minimal research and basically no regulations in animals. Personally, I think there's probably a lot of potential there but right now there's just no regulation on the products out there, so we really can't say that it's safe or effective when they're all super different. I don't have experience with Compose, sorry. Adaptil (canine appeasing pheromone) is another common one we use, and I've had boarded behaviorists and trainers that I trust recommend it so I generally feel pretty good about using it. A lot of these types of supplements are harmless, and could help, so I'm ok using them even if we don't know for sure how well they work. If something won't hurt and is safe/easy to add to a training and medication plan, I'm all for it.