u/CleopatrasMoney

This is a bit of a deeper discussion but I’d like to hear others thoughts and experiences on this topic. Anyone in this forum is probably here because they struggle with TS (kinda weird if you’re not - but do you lol) I want to know how many people began struggling with stones/noticed them after one or multiple illnesses (most likely strep throat)? Or did you never have any throat related illnesses and they just came out of nowhere? How many people noticed recurring strep throat? Now the big question is how many people started dealing with other illnesses, symptoms issues regarding various other parts of the body around the same time? What about brain fog, fatigue, neurological symptoms, TMJ, tinnitus, joint inflammation? …… the list goes on.

I’m asking this because I think I’m now just connecting some strange symptoms I’ve been struggling with for a few years to these damn tonsils. I had strep at least once a year for 6 years and then finally one year I had it twice, back to back, and it was the worst id ever had. Took two rounds of antibiotics to knock it out the second time . After that my tonsils were never the same; I’m assuming from all the swelling and inflammation that lead to scarring essentially. They were larger and asymmetrical and not long after that I started noticing the stones. Then I experienced the unexplained symptoms that remain unexplained to this day.

I believe there is a low grade infection still lingering there which is essentially chronic tonsillitis. An infection that can’t be reached because of the biofilms etc. and in an area that is basically connected to your ears, close to your brain and vagus nerve. Either a lingering low grade infection or the constant stones causing the tonsils to be agitated and fighting nonstop, and therefore cytokines (look it up) in the body constantly. This would cause symptoms that you’d (or doctors even) would never connect to a tonsil issue. I’m convinced that this is not some insignificant inconvenience that poses no threat. I haven’t had strep since (I believe the source was the person I was dating at the time; possible carrier?) and no throat related illnesses but the stones and other issues have taken center stage.

I decided to look up some studies and it didn’t take long to have my suspicions validated. I’ll put the link here for one article I found : https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12875394/

Ok- sorry for the long rant but I think this is huge and this issue is affecting all of us in more ways than the medical system even knows . I don’t think it’s just a nasty inconvenience with no major effects on the body. Please share your stories/experiences and maybe we can all start feeling better 🙏🏼

So I finally took the plunge and started vision therapy. It took so long because of how expensive I knew it would be and I think subconsciously I didn’t want to dive into my last hope in case it didn’t work. I’m not feeling super confident about the office I’m going to despite the great reviews but maybe these things are normal :

How many of you are receiving the actual vision therapy from a student? There doesn’t seem to be any certified vision therapists in the office - only students. I’m paying $200 an hour to be seen by someone with no long term clinical experience?!? I’m really not ok with it. Please weigh in you guys. Is this normal/common?

I asked for as much “homework” as they could give me and they made it sound like they had a bunch of stuff for me to do. The girl gave me one card to work on at home (fixation card) with basic instructions. Now that I’m at home I have questions about what I’m doing /feeling. This is the kind of thing that I’d think an experienced therapist would go over with you in detail during your appt. Also…… 1 card?!?? For the whole week?

Legitimately the last 10 minutes of my appt they gave me a paper showing me how to use pressure points and massage for my eye to help relax them. Nice buuuuuut that’s something I can do AT HOME! Also during this time the VT student doing my therapy went to get warm compresses for my eyes and came back with two bowls of warm water with washcloths in them. I was like uuuhhhh…. I have makeup on and I’m going somewhere after this 🤨 then it was like a lightbulb went off in her head like “ooooohhhh yeeeeaaa, ok” 🤦🏻‍♀️ PLUS: I CAN DO THIS AT HOME!!!!! I’m not paying $33 for my last 10 minutes to be doing face massage on myself and putting washcloths on my eyes.

You guys please help! I CANNOT be wasting my money.

This was my first official VT appt following my initial appt with the doc. I will be going in next time and discussing/addressing these things for sure. It just feels …… off. Please weigh in you guys 🙏🏼

Edit: called this morning and confirmed that all vision therapy is performed by students. No certified vision therapist.

Everywhere I go to camp/hike I am looking for archeological sites, petroglyphs, pictographs etc. I’ve found many and it never gets old. I’m such a history nerd and I’m fascinated seeing these things in person and I RESPECT the hell out of them. With that being said I understand keeping these sites private or at least from the common disrespectful tagger. I’m always up in the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park area and have only see the morteros off the trail in Paso Picacho. But from my research there are hundreds of sites throughout the park which are not published. I’d love to respectfully find and observe some of these sites. I’m willing to put in the mental and physical work to find them, observe and leave them as I found them. Any suggestions, tips or clues on where I should start? I’ll be patiently waiting for a reply where someone is tearing me a new one for even asking 😬

*Edit: thank you for the dm’s I’ve received and for understanding my intention here. Also thank you for not publishing on this post specific locations. I think the wise hikers of this community know better but a thank you is in order. I hope we can preserve these historical and sacred lands for many years to come

Alright, by now everyone has heard about the crazy tick problems all over the US and as perfect as SoCal is we know that we have them here. Has anyone seen any/got any on them or their pets? During hikes or in areas you never saw them before? I just want to see if this issue is reaching us here too. I’m always prepared and looking for this kind of thing but I’ll be honest, as a spoiled Southern Californian, it drops to the bottom of my list and I almost forget. Any socal info is welcome but specifically I’m in the San Diego county area.

I’ve been getting photos printed at cvs intermittently for years and in the last few years Ive noticed the photo quality is terrible. I’ll go with the recommended size for any photo I upload to ensure everything will be right but even then the photos turn out grainy and cheap looking. Is there an upgrade option that I’m missing?!? I’m looking for the photos to be like prints from back in the day. Not looking for anything professional but just some basic quality. If this is just their standard of photo prints does anyone have any recs on where else to print photos? I don’t print large quantities, maybe only 20-30 photos a year. Thanks!!!

The last time I took the trolley to the game was 4 years ago and I parked at fashion valley and got back at night. Everything seemed ok even though there were sketchy incidents both ways on the trolley (thank god for all the padres fans that were there). Anyone who takes the trolley now : how do you feel about leaving your vehicle at the trolley station? Specifically fashion valley, PB and old town? Do they have PD patrolling knowing that people are leaving their vehicles for games? I know it’s always a risk but wanted to get some more up to date insight since it’s been a while. THANKS! 💛🤎💛