#self medication

[sensitivehandsomeactionman]

[daydrinking75]

see the problem with self medicating with weed is that it works and but then its like a 50/50 toss up whether i get sleepy or go actually insane. but hey at least i slowed my brain down enough to form a coherent thought

[clock-06]

Had a conversation with that same able bodied neurotypical guy from a few months ago except this time one of my girl classmates was part of it.

It started after I left our lab table to go get pain killers and he was like “what’d you just take” and I told him “painkillers” and he asked why and I did a brief explanation of hEDS, ie; so I lack the connective tissue you have so my muscles hold everything together and they get tired and stuff slips, I took those specifically for a rib slipping. And he gave me the typical able bodied look of horror and then the girl in our group is just like “oh yea I took four pain killers this morning” and we high fived and he looked even more terrified. He looked flabbergasted when we talked about our mutual large doses of high strength painkillers it takes to get through the day.

We then go into a conversation about our experiences with pain killers, why we use them, and the shittiest times we have to take them (for her it’s migraines that she gets for an entire week each month where they’re bad enough she vomits) and I’m like oh those absolutely suck I’m sorry they’re that bad and at one point the guy chimes back in with “I can’t remember the last time I had to take pain killers” and we’re both just like :| good for you buddy.

As we keep talking, she reveals that earlier in the month she was in enough pain and delirium that she accidentally got drugged by non-human approved medicine that her mom told her to take (her mom later realized her mistake and apologized profusely). Her dog had gone through surgery and she’d accidentally taken those pain killers for her migraine, and found she was almost physically incapable of moving once it kicked in. She brings up that she thought she was dead once she realized the medicine wasn’t approved and was just laying there unmoving waiting for it. Guy classmate looks like he’s never heard anything worse and is shocked and irked when I sympathize with her.

During this conversation, we bring up the medical malpractice and consistent disbelieving of AFAB patients seeking pain relief. This is something I’m glad to be seeing more stories about online and more awareness being brought to, but it’s a continuing problem in the medical community. And it’s even worse for women or afab individuals of color, as medical students tend to continue to be taught POC are “naturally more resistant to pain” and therefore don’t need pain killers. This, combined with drug abuse stigma, blocks a ton of POC from getting the proper care they need. This problem is only made worse when coupled with commonly misdiagnosed or overlooked chronic illnesses/pain, and it is absolutely disgusting and horrific the amount of people who die or are permanently affected by this kind of malpractice.

TL;DR

Disbelief towards POC and AFAB individuals when it comes to medical situations and pain can and does hurt and kill people. There is a problem with the system which causes many to seek alternative and potentially dangerous treatment/relief, and many people are in enough pain that they will take anything with little question behind what it is they’re taking if it will help them feel better in the moment. Next time someone tells you they’re in pain or you see them take pain killers seemingly out of nowhere, don’t judge them or ask them invasive questions, try to have more empathy and if possible, make things you’re doing easier for them to handle. (Don’t overdo it obviously, but like, maybe get them in a chair with backing instead of a stool if possible or have a place where they could sit when they would otherwise be forced to stand)

[robotmechagirl]

Self medicating for my ADHD with microdoses of caffeine throughout the day administered through sips of $1 5 hour energy knock offs. Y’all… Y’all don’t even know. Feel like I can bring down governments with the amount of focus I can finally do. The handicap is off and the world isn’t ready for me at peak functioning self.

[chemicalcarousel]

Any tips on self-medicating adhd? Not as in substance abuse, but something that genuinely helps and is somewhat accessible? I am desperate to try just something that fucking fixes me so I can have a life and the psychiatry has failed me

[shutinlear53]

alcohol dulls my autism, caffeine dulls my lethargy, ibuprofen dulls my chronic pain, and all three can be combined without serious immediate health risks... :)

[perfecttragedyflower]

Still another month until I see a psychiatrist and I'm finding CBD and THC are solving my symptoms better than my old medication.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Cecilia Nowell at The Guardian:

Many transgender people in the US are scrambling to shore up their treatments out of fear the incoming Trump administration will follow through on threats to restrict their healthcare. “My goodness this subreddit has exploded ever since Emperor Trump’s ascendency. Literally overnight almost a thousand newcomers,” read a post just after the 5 November election in one Reddit forum dedicated to sharing advice on gender-affirming hormone therapy. A popular underground hormone manufacturer stopped taking new orders in order to get through a backlog. “[We] didn’t expect to be hit as hard as we did after the election,” the manufacturer wrote on Reddit. The provider, Plume Health, which focuses on gender-affirming care, also noticed “a bump” in inquiries after the election, said Jerrica Kirkley, the co-founder and chief medical officer of the virtual clinic.

Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump promised to cut federal funding from healthcare providers offering gender-affirming care, and said he would “sign an executive order instructing every federal agency to cease the promotion of sex or gender transition at any age” on his first day in office. Trans youth may be the hardest hit – a case that the supreme court will hear this week could cement proliferating bans against trans healthcare for minors. In response to his win, online forums show that some people are stockpiling prescriptions in case they have to manage their care on their own in the future, researching online and international pharmacies, and in rare cases even synthesizing their own hormones. (The National Harm Reduction Coalition warns that home-brewed hormones may not contain the same levels as prescribed of hormones patients are used to taking, and could work differently and therefore cause different effects, and side effects.)

“No matter the freedoms lost, no matter the hardships that await, no matter the strength of our enemies, DIY [hormone replacement therapy] will always be an option,” the Reddit note read. While self-managed abortion has attracted a lot of attention since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, less has been paid to self-managing gender-affirming care, despite a rich history. Studies indicate that 31% of transgender individuals in London, 49% in San Francisco and 79% in Rio de Janeiro have managed their own hormones without a prescriber at some point.

[...]

Self-managing safely

Ahead of the election, the National Harm Reduction Coalition authored a 60-page report on best practices for self-managing hormones – including using new supplies, vetting online pharmacies, and tapping into local and online communities. It notes that people trying to care for themselves should be cautious of allergic reactions when using medications from nontraditional sources, be careful to use clean syringes and test their hormones for other drugs, and watch out for side effects that can come from hormone usage, such as dizziness and blood clots. “Talk with others in your community who are taking similar hormones to help figure out which sources are safer for your DIY GAHT,” the guide suggests, using the acronym for do-it-yourself gender-affirming hormone therapy. “If you start to feel unwell when taking DIY GAHT, stop taking it and seek medical attention.” To self-manage safely, transgender people – like many patients managing other aspects of their health – rely on community networks, in person and online. One Reddit community for transgender individuals looking to manage their own care has more than 82,000 members.

“There are a near infinite number of cancer patient communication networks” where people can share information about medication, said Braine. “The sharing of community-based knowledge occurs in a huge number of different contexts. And this is one of them.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the world will face a shortage of an estimated 18 million healthcare workers by 2030. Because 400 million people already lack access to essential health services, the organization has developed guidelines for self-care interventions that people can take to promote their own health. Since 2019, those guidelines have included recommendations for self-managing abortion. In 2022, the WHO acknowledged the guidelines should be expanded further to include recommendations on self-managing gender-affirming healthcare.

“Ideally, gender-affirming hormone therapy would take place in the context of a supportive health system. However, many transgender and gender-diverse individuals do not have access to such a supportive system. Instead, they may seek to access such therapy through friends, peers and the internet, without consulting a health worker,” the guidelines read.

Trans people in the USA are scrambling to stockpile medically necessary medication ahead of Donald Trump’s return to office in which he seeks to seriously threaten a ban on gender-affirming care by barring health insurance companies from covering it.

[takingtestosterone]

02/nov/24 — updates

So! Just over a month on T (20mg of gel a day) and there have been some noticeable changes. Some of these changes are also to do with my no longer taking 150/30 Levonorgestrel/Ethinylestradiol.

Oilier skin. I've started breaking out on my upper/middle chest and above my stomach (where I most often apply the gel) and my back a little. I had bad acne on my back in my youth and expect that to return. I may start applying the gel to my legs to reduce chest spots.

Bottom growth. It's ever so slight but I'm pretty sure it's happening. My libido is increasing although I think this has more to do with coming off my Levest pills than the T.

I'm getting better with my voice training. I don't expect any noticeable changes to my physical vocal chords any time soon (which is good for being stealth about hrt). And I generally feel more confident in my masculinity which is what it's all about!

[worldbuildingwanderlust]

Smokeless smokes

And toothless tokes

Another day of abstaining

Will it make the morning

Brighter?

...Maybe I just need my lighter

[xxxnonsenssxxx]

Black Cherry Gelato 🍒 <smalls>

CALIFORNIA LOVE

Hmu if your town be dry 🤪

[strwbrryangelskiss]

we all have our way of ✨self-medicating✨

[heqp]

[inspiredtrans]

Not your boomer family getting mad at you for messing up your medication's concentration and hurting yourself ONCE as if they didn't drink margaritas for pregnancy pain and smoked cigarettes against asthma.

[ghxst-system]

if self medicating is all u can do for ur mental illness i trust u with that. that can be a hot take for some

i myself self medicate with nicotine because my previous meds fucked me up and the doctors did nothing about it

its not the best for me i know but if flooding my body with dopamine is all i have during a panic attack or a bad trigger? im going to take that

but remember treating things that can harm u [even if it helps] as the final solution to help u when nothing else RIGHT NOW will, u need to eventually find options that wont hurt but help u instead.