#what is diabetic neuropathy

[diabetes-health-corner]

Diabetic Neuropathy

Neuropathy is a serious problem, affecting more than half of all diabetics. While some diabetics may only experience mild symptoms, for others, it can be downright debilitating. The good news is that will a proper diet-exercise-stress release regimen you can slow, arrest and even reverse the problems—including your diabetes itself.

Read more: https://www.freedomfromdiabetes.org/blog/post/diabetic-neuropathy/2630

[mrlesbian]

so it turns out that not only are my health issues due to a diagnosis that i was told would be the worst case scenario, BUT i might also have rheumatoid arthritis on top of that. fantastic.

[enyasaints]

The manifestations of Diabetic Neuropathy (Need a wheelchair)

https://gofund.me/c347d35f

Hello friends I’m Enya and I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2015. Unfortunately I have been losing the battle of my mobility for some time. It has come to the point I struggle to walk even short distances without severe sharp radiating pains. I also experiencing these painful sensations in my right arm. I am asking the community today to help me purchase a motorized wheelchair to not only greatly improve my quality of life but also help regain some sense of my independence. I would be eternally grateful and deeply indebted to anyone who could contribute finacially and or take the time to share and help me reach my goal

For direct Aid:

Venmo: Enyasaint

CA: $Enyasaint

$62/$2600

https://gofund.me/c347d35f

[technicallyhappyarcade]

Neuropathy: A Guide to Understanding and Treating Skin Condition

Neuropathy: A Guide to Understanding and Treating Skin Condition offers comprehensive insights into the complex world of neuropathy, focusing on its impact on the skin. This informative guide delves into the causes, symptoms, and treatments of this nerve-related disorder, shedding light on its effects and the challenges it poses. Written in an accessible and engaging manner, the book empowers readers with knowledge to better comprehend neuropathy's manifestations on the skin and its broader implications on overall health. Whether you're seeking clarity about neuropathy or looking for effective treatment approaches, this indispensable resource serves as a valuable companion, fostering a deeper understanding and facilitating improved care for this condition.

[traegorn]

So many leftists are accelerationists without critically understanding what mass societal collapse would look like, but they seem to think their leftist utopian will rise up in the ashes anyway.

I mean, if we had societal collapse everyone dependent on medication to live would die.

Because I have type 2 diabetes. And before I was on medication I had already gotten permanent peripheral neuropathy and have blind spots in my vision. I might go blind or lose a limb if the supply chain was disrupted.

And type one diabetics who rely on insulin to live... would just die.

Think about every person you love who required medication. All of that is gone with societal collapse. A bunch of us don't live to see that supposed utopia if society crumbles.

Accelerationists can go fuck themselves.

[cripplecharacters]

Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character

[large text: Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character]

So you have decided that you want to make a disabled character! Awesome. But what's next? What information should you decide on at the early phrase of making the character?

This post will only talk about the disability part of the character creation process. Obviously, a disabled character needs a personality, interests, and backstory as every other one. But by including their disability early in the process, you can actually get it to have a deeper effect on the character - disability shouldn't be their whole life, but it should impact it. That's what disabilities do.

If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;

[large text: If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;]

Start broad. Is it sensory, mobility related, cognitive, developmental, autoimmune, neurodegenerative; maybe multiple of these, or maybe something else completely? Pick one and see what disabilities it encompasses; see if anything works for your character. Or...

If you have a specific symptom or aid in mind, see what could cause them. Don't assume or guess; not every wheelchair user is vaguely paralyzed below the waist with no other symptoms, not everyone with extensive scarring got it via physical trauma. Or...

Consider which disabilities are common in real life. Cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, stroke, cataracts, diabetes, intellectual disability, neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, thyroid disorders, autism, dwarfism, arthritis, cancers, brain damage, just to name a few.

Decide what specific type of condition they will have. If you're thinking about them having albinism, will it be ocular, oculocutaneous, or one of the rare syndrome-types? If you want to give them spinal muscular atrophy, which of the many possible onsets will they have? If they have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which one out of the 13 different types do they have? Is their amputation below, or above the knee (it's a major difference)? Not all conditions will have subtypes, but it's worth looking into to not be surprised later. This will help you with further research.

If you're really struggling with figuring out what exact disability would make sense for your character, you can send an ask. Just make sure that you have tried the above and put actual specifics in your ask to give us something to work with. You can also check out our "disabled character ideas" tag.

Here are some ideas for a character using crutches.

Here are some ideas for a character with a facial difference (obligatory link: what is a facial difference?).

If you already know what disability your character is going to have;

[large text: If you already know what disability your character is going to have;]

Start by reading about the onset and cause of the condition. It could be acquired, congenital, progressive, potentially multiple of these. They could be caused by an illness, trauma, or something else entirely. Is your character a congenital amputee, or is it acquired? If acquired - how recently? Has it been a week, or 10 years? What caused them to become disabled - did they have meningitis, or was it an accident? Again, check what your options are - there are going to be more diverse than you expect.

Read about the symptoms. Do not assume or guess what they are. You will almost definitely discover something new. Example: a lot of people making a character with albinism don't realize that it has other symptoms than just lack of melanin, like nystagmus, visual impairment, and photophobia. Decide what your character experiences, to what degree, how frequently, and what do they do (or don't do) to deal with it.

Don't give your character only the most "acceptable" symptoms of their disability and ignore everything else. Example: many writers will omit the topic of incontinence in their para- and tetraplegic characters, even though it's extremely common. Don't shy away from aspects of disability that aren't romanticized.

Don't just... make them abled "because magic". If they're Deaf, don't give them some ability that will make them into an essentially hearing person. Don't give your blind character some "cheat" so that they can see, give them a cane. Don't give an amputee prosthetics that work better than meat limbs. To have a disabled character you need to have a character that's actually disabled. There's no way around it.

Think about complications your character could experience within the story. If your character wears their prosthetic a lot, they might start to experience skin breakdown or pain. Someone who uses a wheelchair a lot has a risk of pressure sores. Glowing and Flickering Fantasy Item might cause problems for someone photophobic or photosensitive. What do they do when that happens, or how do they prevent that from happening?

Look out for comorbidities. It's rare for disabled people to only have one medical condition and nothing else. Disabilities like to show up in pairs. Or dozens.

If relevant, consider mobility aids, assistive devices, and disability aids. Wheelchairs, canes, rollators, braces, AAC, walkers, nasal cannulas, crutches, white canes, feeding tubes, braillers, ostomy bags, insulin pumps, service dogs, trach tubes, hearing aids, orthoses, splints... the list is basically endless, and there's a lot of everyday things that might count as a disability aid as well - even just a hat could be one for someone whose disability requires them to stay out of the sun. Make sure that it's actually based on symptoms, not just your assumptions - most blind people don't wear sunglasses, not all people with SCI use a wheelchair, upper limb prosthetics aren't nearly as useful as you think. Decide which ones your character could have, how often they would use them, and if they switch between different aids.

Basically all of the above aids will have subtypes or variants. There is a lot of options. Does your character use an active manual wheelchair, a powerchair, or a generic hospital wheelchair? Are they using high-, or low-tech AAC? What would be available to them? Does it change over the course of their story, or their life in general?

If relevant, think about what treatment your character might receive. Do they need medication? Physical therapy? Occupational therapy? Orientation and mobility training? Speech therapy? Do they have access to it, and why or why not?

What is your character's support system? Do they have a carer; if yes, then what do they help your character with and what kind of relationship do they have? Is your character happy about it or not at all?

How did their life change after becoming disabled? If your character goes from being an extreme athlete to suddenly being a full-time wheelchair user, it will have an effect - are they going to stop doing sports at all, are they going to just do extreme wheelchair sports now, or are they going to try out wheelchair table tennis instead? Do they know and respect their new limitations? Did they have to get a different job or had to make their house accessible? Do they have support in this transition, or are they on their own - do they wish they had that support?

What about *other* characters? Your character isn't going to be the only disabled person in existence. Do they know other disabled people? Do they have a community? If your character manages their disability with something that's only available to them, what about all the other people with the same disability?

What is the society that your character lives in like? Is the architecture accessible? How do they treat disabled people? Are abled characters knowledgeable about disabilities? How many people speak the local sign language(s)? Are accessible bathrooms common, or does your character have to go home every few hours? Is there access to prosthetists and ocularists, or what do they do when their prosthetic leg or eye requires the routine check-up?

Know the tropes. If a burn survivor character is an evil mask-wearer, if a powerchair user is a constantly rude and ungrateful to everyone villain, if an amputee is a genius mechanic who fixes their own prosthetics, you have A Trope. Not all tropes are made equal; some are actively harmful to real people, while others are just annoying or boring by the nature of having been done to death. During the character creation process, research what tropes might apply and just try to trace your logic. Does your blind character see the future because it's a common superpower in their world, or are you doing the ancient "Blind Seer" trope?

Remember, that not all of the above questions will come up in your writing, but to know which ones won't you need to know the answers to them first. Even if you don't decide to explicitly name your character's condition, you will be aware of what they might function like. You will be able to add more depth to your character if you decide that they have T6 spina bifida, rather than if you made them into an ambiguous wheelchair user with ambiguous symptoms and ambiguous needs. Embrace research as part of your process and your characters will be better representation, sure, but they will also make more sense and seem more like actual people; same with the world that they are a part of.

This post exists to help you establish the basics of your character's disability so that you can do research on your own and answer some of the most common ("what are symptoms of x?") questions by yourself. If you have these things already established, it will also be easier for us to answer any possible questions you might have - e.g. "what would a character with complete high-level paraplegia do in a world where the modern kind of wheelchair has not been invented yet?" is more concise than just "how do I write a character with paralysis?" - I think it's more helpful for askers as well; a vague answer won't be of much help.

I hope that this post is helpful,

mod Sasza

[froody]

please help my scruggly cat

Tommy, Tumblr micro-celebrity famous for featuring/being the muse for hit posts such as ‘father is…evil?’ and ‘my cat can tell when I’m sad and instinctively bites my toes’ and ‘frustrating each other is our love language’ needs a little financial support. Please consider donating to my ko-fi or buying something from my teespring store.

Tommy was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this year under dramatic circumstances that involved a week long intensive care vet stay. She has stomatitis (an inflammation of the gums and mucus membranes) that she was on steroids for and the steroids may have damaged her pancreas. Since her diagnosis we’ve had a hard time controlling her blood sugar. Her insulin dose goes up and up. The vet thinks she has a good chance of stabilizing, that diabetic cats can and do live long, healthy and happy lives. She’s only 5. Her 6th birthday is later this month. She’s fighting. She wants to live.

Each insulin vial costs $160. Her prescription cat food is $35 for a 4 pound bag. She’s also on gabapentin for her pain and neuropathy and she’ll probably need another course of antibiotics. She currently goes to the vet every two weeks and the cost of that varies immensely. Basically, she’s a much more expensive cat than she was before and the cost of living for me has risen as well. It’s not an immediate emergency but we need funds. I’m disabled, I have an autoimmune disease that attacks my colon, I have a hard time working outside of the home or even at all because my health fluctuates and my energy levels are low. I’m trying so desperately to get better but for now I’m living in my mom’s house and sponging off my loved ones and tapping into my meager savings.

I know what you’re thinking, the thing people always comment on donation posts about pets, “if you can’t afford to care for your cat, why do you still have your cat?” and as biting as that question is, I know it’s a valid one and I’ve thought about it myself. I still have her because I need her and she needs me. She’s like my soulmate animal. We met when I was 16 and she was about 4 weeks old. There was no way I could have known we’d both be struggling sick moneypits in 5 years. I’m trying to give her the best life I can and she’s trying to give me her best self. I’m her person. I’m home 24/7 so we’re so used to having each other. She brings me immense joy and I know she’s brought a lot of other people joy. If you’re one of those people, please consider giving a couple of dollars. If you can’t afford to, that’s fine. Thank you for reading anyway.

TL;DR: cat sick. I’m sick. please help.

[tteessiiee]

Health impacts of obesity, death feedee edition

TW: this is dark and very real, do not read if you are not ready to understand the consequences of feedism. And I really mean it. It may be f* scary.

You know I study physiotherapy at med school. And Im also a feedee, feeder, FA... Which means that mine internships in hospitals are pretty heavy and hard for me. I see all the impacts of obesity, or even morbid obesity on people and their health. On their life.

We are all talking about heart-attacks. Sure, your arteries getting clugged, atherosclerosis growing in your body and getting you closer to an early grave. But atherosclerosis does not cause only heart-attacks. It would be nice, wouldn’t it? Feeling your heart struggling, pain in your chest (which you deserve for being the pig you were), and pretty soon there is the end. Death.

But atherosclerosis can also cause strokes. And I don’t think you want that. Part of your brain gonna die, part gonna live. It can affect your motor functions, your ability to feel by touch, your ability to know where and how placed your limbs are, your speech, of course your ability to think. You may die, sure. Or you gonna survive and live way way worse life fully dependant on people around you… Did you know that?

You also might ruin your pancreas. Im sure that many of you already have insulin tolerance way higher than you should. Well diabetes mellitus is incoming if you will not change your lifestyle. It does not only mean that you will need to take insulin! It will also damage your nerves. Neuropathies are very common. DM can lead even to amputations of legs. And also an impact on eyes is very well known, you can become blind. Over all diabetes is a metabolic disease and it has huge impact on your whole body – nerves, organs, veins, everything.

Another effect of our feedee diet - your liver become fattier making it work less. And liver are very important organ! Liver steatosis can become cirrhosis, the organ will be very damaged. Btw it also gonna increase your blood pressure which has significant impact on probability of heart-attacks and strokes. Another thing – there can appear stones in your gallbladder. That is mainly caused by eating too greasy and fatty food. And this also can be very painful situation needing a surgery.

It is proved that obesity increases the risk of cancer, especially cancer in gastro-intestinal tract and urogenitals. One more thing that people do not want.

Not to mention your musculo-sceletal system. Arthrosis in joints (another painful thing restricting your daily life), unfit and stiff muscles, bones easier to break by your weight if you fall… And it will not hurt only when you move. But also when you lie in your bed getting stuffed to the brim once again. Who of you have never ever had back pain, mainly lower-back pain? It is not comfortable, is it? And it only gonna get worse if you don’t exercise.

There are also impacts on your skin but i'm not good in this field so can't say much about it.

I know it is a lot of fun to be a feedee. To gain, get fatter, heavier, softer. Getting out of breath easily? Oh f* yes please, it makes you so horny. But there is a huge impact on your health. Im sure you know it. But maybe you don’t know all the specific things that may happen. This is just a brief list of health complications that obesity brings. So if you are a death feedee, go on! Eat yourself to these diseases if that’s what you want. But be aware that your life probably will not end by a sudden quick heart attack. You will suffer many months and years due to many comorbidities till your body will give up on you. Are you ready for that long pain?

Wanted to let you know so that I can feel better when I actually encourage you to gain. You know, consent means that you agree while being aware of the consequences. If you want me to help you get morbidly obese I wanna be sure I warned you. And maybe (hopefully) this gonna help someone to stop gaining so much if they find out that they would not be happy. Because babes – I don’t want you fat in the first place. I want you happy.

That’s the reason why im drinking 700 kcal hot chocolate made of heavy cream while writing this article. It makes me happy to gain. It makes me happy being fat even though I know all of these things. And it also scares the s*it out of me. I fear it so much. I want it so much. Im not a death feedee in real life, will not let the kink kill me (I hope). But I definitely am a death feedee in fantasies, deep inside and sometimes it is really hard to find the difference between having fun and ruining your body.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I warned you it gonna be dark and real 🖤

Enjoy your life as you wish 💕 Give fully into hedonism or enjoy the parts of feedism that don't kill you - that is your choice. Your body. Your life. Your death.

~ Tessie

[macgyvermedical]

What's the history of gabapentin?

Gabapentin is a drug officially approved for partial seizures and posherpetic neuralgia (pain due to shingles).

It also represents the 10th most commonly prescribed drug in the US by number of prescriptions.

Now, that's not because that many people have epilepsy and shingles. Instead, it's because gabapentin is one of those drugs that you throw at the wall to see if it works. It is used off label for diabetic nerve pain, for anxiety, for restless leg syndrome, for alcohol (and methamphetamine, and cocaine) withdrawal, for a number of different acute and chronic pain syndromes, bipolar disorder, and migraines, and has probably been at least tried for everything else, too.

That is not to say that it actually works for everything. At most, it has about a 40% chance of being effective for things like diabetic neuropathy and anxiety, and it has a number of side effects that don't make it anywhere near a perfect drug. But if you notice, most of the things it's been tried and used for are usually treated with controlled substances. And in (most of) the US, gabapentin is not controlled. This makes it easier to prescribe and in theory that means it has less addiction/abuse risk than alternatives (only about 1% of people with an addiction history have used gabapentin recreationally).

Why gabapentin in particular? You may ask. Why not a first generation antipsychotic or a first generation antihistamine or a muscle relaxer? All of those are used as adjuncts to prevent having to prescribe controlled substances, right?

Well, that's because Pfizer broke the law. Repeatedly.

You may not know this, but if you're marketing a drug, you can only market it for what it has been approved by the FDA to treat. And Pfizer was going around telling anyone who would listen that their drug could be used for anything you didn't want to treat with a controlled substance. Which made it very attractive for prescribers and very lucrative for Pfizer.

But you know who really didn't like this situation? The insurance companies, which were paying a premium for this on-patent drug that at least according to the FDA was doing very little for things that weren't epilepsy or shingles.

So Kaiser (the insurance company) sued Pfizer and won a relatively paltry sum compared to the money Pfizer was making off of gabapentin, and Pfizer agreed to stop telling everyone that gabapentin could treat things the FDA said it couldn't. But since the cat was metaphorically out of the bag at that point, gabapentin continues to this day to be prescribed for everything.

[pain-is-too-tired]

You know what, should've done this last month,but heck I'm combining stuff for this month as well so-

Queer and Disabilitiy hcs for PJO characters

(I'll be mostly mentioning physical disabilities, but pretty much all characters are adhd and dyslexic(and ptsd) and will probably add lot as autistic so gdgd.)

Percy

I havnt really thought much on his Sexuality and such, maybe Bi?

Think he at least suffers from some form of asthma/ breathing related disability due to Tarturus. Drinking fire can not be good for your throat,definitely sleep apnea. Maybe back/ muscle problems from strain of holding up the sky? Not sure what that might do to someone tbh hdgd

Annabeth

Same as Percy pretty much, don't think much on her Sexuality and identity before and the same experience in Tarturus and the Sky holding stuff.

Think she also has some what of a permanent injury with her ankle/leg. At least enough to effect how she walks and such.

Also. Autistic, maybe ocd?

Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Aroace. I stand by that.

Also, her visions I feel like could be enough to be considered a disability. Maybe similar to Epilepsy? Since it can happen randomly and she collapses from it and all that. Like yeah it's part of her job description, but still hard to find a human job with that I feel.

Piper

Queer/Unlabeled, pretty much canon.

Leo

Demiromantic Graysexual

Probably some muscle issues and such post death? Or something like Fibromyalgia or Neuropathy

Autistic

Jason

Apagender(Gender Apathetic, just think he really don't care too much on how he's perceived gender wise-) Nebularomanic and Pansexual. Constant confused feeling of "do I like them or are we just really close friends-" feels fitting to him. Gdgdf

Also, canonically needs glasses. I feel probably partly due to getting hit in the head so often fgdf

(Also I could see him with visual snow/ static)

Maybe heart problems related to the use of electricity effecting his body? Like POTS or something hdgd

Also. Autism.

Nico

Gay(canon)

Similar lung problems as Percy and Annabeth cause Tarturus. Probably more issues related to being in a death coma in a jar. When he shadow travels/uses his powers too much he passes out cause of low electrolytes and blood sugar(cue Gatorade and Kitkats)

(most demigod abilities uses your electrolytes and sugar/carbs but powerful ones like shadow traveling where your form literally shifts uses more. In this essay I will-)

Also. ✨️Tism✨️

Will

Bi(canon)

I do love the hard at hearing hcs ngl hdgdf

After tsats,probably has same lung issues.

When using his healing also feel he uses a lot of his own needed electrolytes/vitamins and such which can give him a deficiency depending on how often he's doing it

Also Tism

Kayla

Aroace(I can not explain why if feel this fits but I do)

Type 1 Diabetes. Uses Insulin pump, Will has to stay on her case about keeping up with it fsgdg

Lee

He/They

Panromantic Graysexual

For the short time after, had complications from an injury from the Drakon fight.

Michael

Demi

Tism(especially sensory issues with sounds)

Jake

Queer(canon? We know he came out but nothing else. So you know what? I give him Queer label cause I can and feel like it'd fit him.)

Honestly probably so many problems from injuries. My man was in a full body cast guys.

Tbh, feel like all the Hephaestus cabin is Autistic. Feel in my bones.

[mrlesbian]

i love how i had my first bad day at my new job yesterday, and so today my body literally decided to shut down and i had to take the day off so i could sleep for 21 hours. like??? why are you being so dramatic chill bro.

[kingcunny]

Tbh i always tought Vis had some type of Diabetes type 2, but because Westeros is a medieval society thet didn't had our confiable metformin and insuline 😔👌

i think that is what hes supposed to have! diabetes is kinda the stereotypical ‘fat king disease’ and it would not be diagnosable or treatable in that time.

also supported by the fact that diabetes can cause heart and lung issues, viserys complaining if chest pain and shortness of breath.

also the fact that his illness was adapted into leprosy for the show. i know diabetes=leprosy SOUNDS crazy but hear me out. over time high blood sugar can damage nerves and blood vessels, leading to neuropathy (lack of feeling) and poor bloodflow in the extremities. people with diabetes also often have trouble healing wounds. these things combined leads to the phenomenon of the ‘diabetic foot’. diabetics getting injuries on their feet that they cant feel, that wont heal on their own. if untreated the wounds can fester and ulcer. this is why you sometimes hear about diabetics getting their feet or legs amputated.

now what does leprosy do to the body? the bacteria attacks the nervous system (+respiratory system, skin and eyes). leading to neuropathy. it can cause lesions and rashes on the skin, that due to nerve damage may not be noticed by the patient (as well as any just, regular injuries) left untreated… again. opportunistic infections, wounds festering and necrotizing… leprosy doesnt cause your limbs to rot off but it can prime them for the infections that will.

until diabetes gets BAD its not a very visual disease, but once it does well… the physical symptoms look very similar to leprosys

[does-truth-matter]

The CDC has quietly changed who should AVOID the MMR vaccine.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html

They now state that ANYONE that “Has a parent, brother or sister with a history of immune system problems” should AVOID THE MMR VACCINE!

What exactly is an 'immune system problem?" Every autoimmune disorder.

* Achalasia

* Addison’s disease

* Adult Still's disease

* Agammaglobulinemia

* Alopecia areata

* Amyloidosis

* Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrigs)

* Ankylosing spondylitis

* Anti-GBM/Anti-TBM nephritis

* Antiphospholipid syndrome

* Autoimmune angioedema

* Autoimmune dysautonomia

* Autoimmune encephalomyelitis

* Autoimmune hepatitis

* Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED)

* Autoimmune myocarditis

* Autoimmune oophoritis

* Autoimmune orchitis

* Autoimmune pancreatitis

* Autoimmune retinopathy

* Autoimmune urticaria

* Axonal & neuronal neuropathy (AMAN)

* Baló disease

* Behcet’s disease

* Benign mucosal pemphigoid

* Bullous pemphigoid

* Castleman disease (CD)

* Celiac disease

* Chagas disease

* Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)

* Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO)

* Churg-Strauss Syndrome (CSS) or Eosinophilic Granulomatosis (EGPA)

* Cicatricial pemphigoid

* Cogan’s syndrome

* Cold agglutinin disease

* Congenital heart block

* Coxsackie myocarditis

* CREST syndrome

* Crohn’s disease

* Dermatitis herpetiformis

* Dermatomyositis

* Devic’s disease (neuromyelitis optica)

* Discoid lupus

* Dressler’s syndrome

* Endometriosis

* Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)

* Eosinophilic fasciitis

* Erythema nodosum

* Essential mixed cryoglobulinemia

* Evans syndrome

* Fibromyalgia

* Fibrosing alveolitis

* Giant cell arteritis (temporal arteritis)

* Giant cell myocarditis

* Glomerulonephritis

* Goodpasture’s syndrome

* Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis

* Graves’ disease

* Guillain-Barre syndrome

* Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

* Hemolytic anemia

* Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP)

* Herpes gestationis or pemphigoid gestationis (PG)

* Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) (Acne Inversa)

* Hypogammalglobulinemia

* IgA Nephropathy

* IgG4-related sclerosing disease

* Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)

* Inclusion body myositis (IBM)

* Interstitial cystitis (IC)

* Juvenile arthritis

* Juvenile diabetes (Type 1 diabetes)

* Juvenile myositis (JM)

* Kawasaki disease

* Lambert-Eaton syndrome

* Leukocytoclastic vasculitis

* Lichen planus

* Lichen sclerosus

* Ligneous conjunctivitis

* Linear IgA disease (LAD)

* Lupus

* Lyme disease chronic

* Meniere’s disease

* Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA)

* Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD)

* Mooren’s ulcer

* Mucha-Habermann disease

* Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN) or MMNCB

* Multiple sclerosis

* Myasthenia gravis

* Myositis

* Narcolepsy

* Neonatal Lupus

* Neuromyelitis optica

* Neutropenia

* Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid

* Optic neuritis

* Palindromic rheumatism (PR)

* PANDAS

* Parkinson's disease

* Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD)

* Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH)

* Parry Romberg syndrome

* Pars planitis (peripheral uveitis)

* Parsonage-Turner syndrome

* Pemphigus

* Peripheral neuropathy

* Perivenous encephalomyelitis

* Pernicious anemia (PA)

* POEMS syndrome

* Polyarteritis nodosa

* Polyglandular syndromes type I, II, III

* Polymyalgia rheumatica

* Polymyositis

* Postmyocardial infarction syndrome

* Postpericardiotomy syndrome

* Primary biliary cirrhosis

* Primary sclerosing cholangitis

* Progesterone dermatitis

* Psoriasis

* Psoriatic arthritis

* Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA)

* Pyoderma gangrenosum

* Raynaud’s phenomenon

* Reactive Arthritis

* Reflex sympathetic dystrophy

* Relapsing polychondritis

* Restless legs syndrome (RLS)

* Retroperitoneal fibrosis

* Rheumatic fever

* Rheumatoid arthritis

* Sarcoidosis

* Schmidt syndrome

* Scleritis

* Scleroderma

* Sjögren’s syndrome

* Sperm & testicular autoimmunity

* Stiff person syndrome (SPS)

* Subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE)

* Susac’s syndrome

* Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO)

* Takayasu’s arteritis

* Temporal arteritis/Giant cell arteritis

* Thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP)

* Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS)

* Transverse myelitis

* Type 1 diabetes

* Ulcerative colitis (UC)

* Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD)

* Uveitis

* Vasculitis

* Vitiligo

* Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease

Wonder how many doctors are paying attention?

~shared from Jodi Wilson

[funnuraba]

I've been compiling a list of weird or embarrassing warning signs of ME/CFS or Long Covid. Perhaps you have noticed these in yourself, but they've seemed too minor, confusing or embarrassing to ask about or look up. In any case, I've gathered these from online posts, so you'll never know which, if any, have happened to me, which I think is a very clever move on my part. Okay I did start complaining near the end, but I added some helpful solutions you may purchase, which I had to figure out on my own.

Actually I'm gonna lead with the absolute weirdest one, because it's a sign of the initial acute Covid infection that can be hard to detect now. I've only seen a post about this once, but a bunch of people agreed with it and said it happened to them:

If the skin on the soles of your feet is suddenly super thick and dry, that is associated with the initial 'Vid infection. I don't know how long this is supposed to last, but it was vouched for by several accounts I felt were trustworthy. I had to look up "Covid feet soles" on Twitter to check for this, forgetting that Twitter search now just randomly shows you posts with only one word that you entered, and I didn't find the post I remembered but I am not going back in there.

Extremely ridged and brittle fingernails (apparently this is showing up a lot on beauty subreddits and such)

Shrinking or vanished half-moons on the fingernails (I don't know if the level of shrinking is random, or related to severity/length of time)

Thinning hair/balding: seems to follow the usual pattern of your dominant hormone, so estrogen-heavy people get thinning hair, particularly along the center of the scalp, and testosterone-heavy people get receding hairlines and bald spots. There's no single pattern that everyone with ME gets. (Although ME is much more common in AFAB people.)

Incontinence that's not associated with age or childbirth, etc. In this case it's due to nerve damage, not weakening muscles.

Pins and needles, or sharp shooting pains in your fingers and toes: this is called neuropathy and it's also a sign of nerve damage. (I got a ton of this and thought I might be pre-diabetic, because that's all that came up when I searched! I asked doctors about this and they just went "oh 😐 " so I exercised a bunch and probably made myself much sicker XD. Anyway magnesium supplements helped a lot with this! You need a magnesium complex that includes magnesium glycinate, because other types are really hard for the body to absorb.)

Sudden acid reflux and heavy gas, loss of tolerance for foods you could once eat: this is associated with aging, but if it's really really bad? Like remember a year or so ago,when suddenly everyone was posting about how their tummy hurt and they were being really brave about it, and it kind of came out of nowhere and had never been a meme before? Almost like it was sort of new for this to be so very widespread? Yeah, Covid can fuck your system up real bad, and this is a common comorbidity of ME called gastroparesis. Basically your stomach muscles are as weak and slow as your other muscles, so your food sits in there for way too long. It often comes with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, which is bad news and means a ton of new sensitivities, to food and other things. MCAS goes along with a lot of other unexplained body syndromes that doctors don't really "get" or care about.

Being super itchy in one spot for no reason: this is a histamine dump. MCAS again. I'll admit to this one too. A couple of years ago, my lower legs started getting super itchy after showers, and I would pour on the lotion, over and over, and it would do nothing. "What the heck has happened to my skin?" I would wonder. It was histamines, roaming wildly through my body from the hot water and standing up for too long!! The standard ME advice for histamine stuff is:

10mg Loratidine 2x daily (I've just discovered that this can fuck up your stomach and a bunch of other stuff though; see this Twitter thread for alternate antihistamines)

20mg Famotidine 2x

Quercetin daily (I'm doing 1000mg a day)

Some kind of Cromolyn thing. I take a NasalCrom spray a couple times a day, because my sinuses swell up when I lie down (?), which I have to do all the time now. Lol.

Anyway, your sinuses can swell up when you lie down, did you know that? At first it would just happen sometimes, and I would be like why am I suffocating? That's so crazy haha. So I got these things called nasal cones that keep your nasal passages open, and they're just a little bit too big so they slide out all the time, and it's really annoying but other than that they worked. (My brand is Max-Air, the Sinus Relief line.) Then I got reinfected this year, and now my sinuses swell up constantly when I'm lying down. Hence the Cromolyn spray so I can breathe :)

The soft tissues in your face are collapsing: I think this is also an issue for me because it's not like the cones are reaching right up into my sinuses and un-swelling them, right? Anyway other people have reported some really serious issues with eyelids and noses, etc.

Your mouth and nose no longer produce moisture: okay so I got this too, and as a result I must use Ayr brand saline nasal gel multiple times a day, or else it feels like I'm suffocating. I'm pretty sure this Sjogren's Syndrome, another common comorbidity. For me it was one of the first signs something was wrong, circa 2020. Again, I thought pre-diabetes and asked multiple doctors for input and they went "iunno 😐". For the mouth, Xylimelts are your only real choice; don't bother with anything else when it gets to this level. You keep a Xylimelt in your mouth, 24/7, stuck to your teeth, or else you experience the intense, maddening distress of a totally dry mouth. If either of those solutions wears off during the night: don't worry! You'll wake up!!! Don't worry about choking on the Xylimelt, though, it's very safe.

Skin stuff: Dark, flaky patches of skin on the torso, long dark lines around the neck, pruny fingers, skin randomly splitting like paper cuts, chilblains, nails peeling off, other weird stuff.

Swollen genitals: settle down.

[ask-october-fox]

I got my body mostly figured out, diabetic meds and meds for the neuropathy. Also cooler weather so I can open the windows, plus I'm looking at maybe getting some upgrades for my computer

Ah that is very good to hear! I am sure you must be feeling much better now that you have found the right combination for what your body needs. And some upgrades for your computer sound like a nice treat for both you and your pc! Hmm~ A nice fall breeze sounds so lovely right about now. Please enjoy that for me as I am still waiting for said fall breeze to make its way to me, haha!

[cripplecharacters]

Disabilities that You Should Consider Representing in Your Writing More… part 1

[large text: Disabilities that You Should Consider Representing in Your Writing More… part 1]

While all disabilities are underrepresented in basically all sorts of media, it’s hard to not notice the trend in what disabilities make up the majority of representation. It’s especially visible when having a blog like this, where we can see what disabilities writers even consider including in their writing, and which ones never come up.

One in four people are disabled. With eight billion people alive it means there’s a lot of disabled people, and a lot of reasons why they are disabled in the first place - but this diversity is rarely represented, even on this blog, and anyone who has been following for a while has probably noticed that fact.

To be blunt: there are disabilities other than “amputee” and “(otherwise invisibly disabled) mobility aid user”. Does that mean that it’s wrong to write either of those? Of course not, and we don’t want to imply that it is. Does it mean that either of these have a ton of good representation? Hell no. Does it mean that when you are deciding on what to give your character, you should think beyond (or along! people can be multiply disabled!) just those two? Absolutely. Disability is a spectrum with thousands of things in it - don’t limit yourself for no reason and embrace the diversity that’s built into it instead. 

This is, simply, a list of common disabilities. This is just a few of them, as this is part one of presumably many (or, at least three as of right now). By “common” we rather arbitrarily decided on “~1% or more” - so at least 1 in 100 people has the disabilities below, which is a lot. Featuring!: links that you should click, sources of the % that are mostly just medical reports and might be hard to read, and quick, very non-exhaustive explanations to give you a basic idea of what these are. 

Intellectual disability (about 1.5%) Intellectual disability is a condition we have written about at length before. It’s a developmental disability that affects things such as conceptualization, language, problem-solving, or social and self-care skills. ID can exist on its own or be a part of another condition, like Down Syndrome, Congenital Iodine Deficiency, or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. This post covers a lot of basic information that you might need. We have an intellectual disability tag that you can look through!

Cancer survivors (5.4% in the US, about 0.55% worldwide) A cancer survivor is a pretty self-explanatory term. There is a lot of types of cancer and some of them are very common while others are very rare, which makes this a very diverse category. Cancers also have different survival rates. While not every survivor will have disabling symptoms, they definitely happen. Most of the long-term side effects are related to chemotherapy, radiation, and other medication, especially if they happened in children. They can include all sorts of organ damage, osteoporosis, cognitive problems, sensory disabilities, infertility, and increased rate of other cancers. Other effects include removal of the affected area, such as an eye, a spleen, breasts, or the thyroid gland, each of which will have different outcomes. Cancer, and cancer treatments, can also result in PTSD.

Diabetes (about 8.5%, ~95% of that are type 2) Diabetes is a group of endocrine conditions that cause hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) for various reasons depending on the type. The vast majority of people have type 2 diabetes, which can cause fatigue, poor healing, or feeling thirsty or hungry. A diabetic person will use insulin when needed to help manage their blood sugar levels. There are many complications related to diabetes, from neuropathy, to retinopathy, and chronic kidney disease, and there's a lot of disabilities that coexist with diabetes in general! You might want to check out the #how to write type 1 diabetes tag by @type1diabetesinfandom!

Disabling vision loss (about 7.5%) Blindness and low vision are a spectrum, ranging from total blindness (around 10% of legally blind people) to mild visual impairment. Blindness can be caused by countless things, but cataracts, refractive errors, and glaucoma are the most common. While cataracts cause the person to have a clouded pupil (not the whole eye!) blind eyes usually look average, with strabismus or nystagmus being exceptions to that fairly often (but not always). Trauma isn't a common cause of blindness, and accidents are overrepresented in fiction. A blind person can use a white cane, a guide dog or horse, or both. Assistive solutions are important here, such as Braille, screenreaders, or magnifying glasses. We have a blindness tag that you can look through, and you might want to check out @blindbeta and @mimzy-writing-online.

Psoriasis (about 2-4%) Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition with multiple subtypes; it can cause intense itching, pain, and general discomfort, and often carries social stigma. It’s an autoimmune and non-contagious disability that affects the skin cells, resulting in raised patches of flaky skin covered with scales. It often (30%) leads to a related condition, psoriatic arthritis, which causes joint pain, tenderness, and fatigue, among other things.

Stroke survivors (0.5-1%) A stroke survivor is a person who has survived any kind of stroke (ischemic, hemorrhagic, etc.). While the specific symptoms often depend on the exact location on where the stroke happened, signs such as hemiplegia, slurred speech, vision problems, and cognitive changes are common in most survivors to some degree. When someone has a stroke as a baby, or before they are born, it can result in cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and other disabilities. We have a brain injury tag that you can look through!

Noonan Syndrome (about 0.1-1% - mild is 1%, severe 0.1%) Noonan Syndrome is a disability that is almost never mentioned in any context, but certainly not around the topic of writing disabled characters. It’s a congenital condition that can cause cardiomyopathy, chronic joint pain, hypermobility, short stature, facial differences such as ptosis, autism, and various lymphatic problems among other things. Some people with Noonan Syndrome might use mobility aids to help with their joint pain.

Hyperthyroidism (about 1.2%) Hyperthyroidism is a condition of the endocrine system caused by hormone overproduction that affects metabolism. It often results in irritability, weight loss, heat intolerance, tremors, mood swings, or insomnia. Undertreated hyperthyroidism has a rare, but extremely dangerous side effect associated with it called a thyroid storm, which can be fatal if untreated.

Hypothyroidism (>5%) Hypothyroidism is an endocrine condition just as hyperthyroidism is, and it causes somewhat opposite symptoms. Due to not producing enough thyroid hormones, it often causes fatigue, depression, hair loss, weight gain, and a frequent feeling of being cold. It’s often comorbid with other autoimmune disabilities, e.g. vitiligo, chronic autoimmune gastritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Extreme hypothyroidism can also be potentially fatal because of a condition known as Myxedema coma (or “crisis”), which is also rare.

Deafblindness (about 0.2-2%) Being DeafBlind is often considered to be an extremely rare disability, but that’s not really the case. DeafBlindness on its own isn’t a diagnosis - it can be caused by a wide range of things, with CHARGE syndrome (congenital), Usher syndrome (born deaf, becomes blind later in life), congenital rubella, and age-related deafness and blindness being some of the most common reasons. DeafBlindness is a wide spectrum, the vast majority of DeafBlind people aren’t fully blind and deaf, and they can use various ways of communication. Some of these could be sign language (tactile or not), protactile, the deafblind manual, oral speech (aided by hearing aids or not), the Lorm alphabet, and more. You can learn more about assistive devices here! Despite what various media like to tell you, being DeafBlind isn’t a death sentence, and the DeafBlind community and culture are alive and thriving - especially since the start of the protactile movement. We have a DeafBlindness tag that you can look through!

It’s probably worth mentioning that we have received little to no asks in general for almost all the disabilities above, and it’s certainly not due to what mods answer for. Our best guess is that writers don’t realize how many options they have and just end up going for the same things over and over.

Only representing “cool” disabilities that are “not too much while having a particular look/aura/drama associated” isn’t what you should aim for. Disabled people just exist, and all of us deserve to be represented, including those whose disabilities aren’t your typical “cool design” or “character inspo”. Sometimes we are just regular people, with disabilities that are “boring” or “too much”, and don’t make for useful plot points.

mod Sasza (with huge thank yous to mod Sparrow, Rot, and Virus for their contributions with research and data!)