I have been prescribed 10mg of nortriptyline for VM after failing a ton of meds. I took it last night at 9:30pm for my first dose with a late dinner. Ive been on the couch all day. Its not nessisarily like sleepy I feel like my brain is just like muted and sluggish. I was told this is like a pediatric dose. Anyone else experience this? Will it get better?
Title: I love thrifting but I’m OCD af about germs/contamination — how do you ACTUALLY sanitize thrifted clothes without destroying them?
I love thrifting, especially sweaters, dress shirts, suit pants, etc., but I’m an absolute germaphobe/OCD about wearing someone else’s clothes.
I’ve always washed thrifted clothes in cold water because I don’t want them to shrink. My current idea/routine is:
Cold wash with a strong fragrance-free detergent like Tide Free & Gentle
Lysol Laundry Sanitizer Free & Clear
Dry according to the garment label
I recently learned I’ve apparently been using the Lysol sanitizer wrong because I was just pouring it into the wash instead of using it in the rinse cycle, so that sent me down a rabbit hole lol.
My biggest irrational(?) concerns are warts/HPV, fungus, bacteria/viruses, lice/nits, scabies, bedbugs/eggs, and even possible drug/chemical residue (fentanyl, weed oils, unknown powders, etc.) from whoever owned the clothes before.
I started brainstorming increasingly insane solutions: leaving clothes in my car trunk during the Charlotte summer, sealing them in garbage bags for months, freezing them for a week, putting them through 70 minutes of high dryer heat, literally baking them at 200°F, soaking them in hydrogen peroxide… 😂
So my actual question is: Is there seriously no reliable way in 2026 to completely disinfect/decontaminate thrifted clothing—including resistant viruses like HPV, parasites/pests, and potential drug or chemical residues—without using temperatures or chemicals that shrink or destroy the clothes?
For normal washable clothes, is cold wash + good detergent + correctly used laundry sanitizer + normal drying realistically enough that I should just consider them clean and stop thinking about it?
And what do fellow germaphobe thrifters do with wool/cashmere sweaters, suits, and dry-clean-only clothes? Is professional dry cleaning enough that you consider them completely clean afterward?
I feel like I have finally lost to this disease.
I had my first visual aura at 13 and started experiencing symptoms of VM at age 17.
I have mostly head/eye pressure, brain fog/spaciness, horrific fatigue during attacks, dizziness, Alice in Wonderland syndrome, and aphasia. It feels like I'm hungover every day, and like I'm walking on a trampoline everyday.
This gas escalated in severity and frequency to the point of disability. I'm now 26 years old, and I have not had a symptom-free day in 3 years. I have been overcome by this. I have lost most my friends, my career, all of my hobbies like hiking, crossfit, soccer, video games, rollarcoasters. It feels like a sick joke. Even my personality feels like its being stripped away to exhuasted. The last 6 months have progressed to a level where I cant even work anymore. This flare hasnt responded to any coctails either and i wonder if its just my new baseline. My years of anger and frustration with this disease is turning into utter despair as i reliease this isnt a setback anymore this coukd really be the hell i will live for the rest of my life
I've failed the following medications:
Ajovy – No benefit
Cymbalta – No benefit (sexual side effects)
Lamictal – Worsened migraine
Qulipta – Severe side effects
Topamax – Severe side effects
Atebalol and propranalol -alergic
Nurtec as a preventitive -no side effects or benefit
Cefaly Device -worsened trigeminal sensitivity
Current treatment:
Botox – 3 weeks into cycle 1, no results
Eneura sTMS – 3 weeks in, no results
Valproate – 4 weeks on 500 mg, massive fatigue/brain fog. Mild improvement in dizzyness but sideeffects might make it unbearable trying to push longer
Abortives sometimes take the edge off, maybe 5–10%, but that's about all.
Im considering:
Memantine
Acupunture
Varapamil
Candesartan
Nortriptyline
Nerivio
Truvaga
I dont understand how we can make AI's, wifi/bluetooth, send people to the moon, lab grow organs, replace limbs but no one can do anything to help me in any meaningful way.
I feel like im running out of things to try and thus running out of hope. Im open to any advice, mindset, meds whatever im just so exhuasted i
I had my first visual aura at 13 and started experiencing symptoms of VM at age 17.
I have mostly head/eye pressure, brain fog/spaciness, horrific fatigue during attacks, dizziness, Alice in Wonderland syndrome, and aphasia. It feels like I'm hungover every day, and like I'm walking on a trampoline everyday.
This gas escalated in severity and frequency to the point of disability. I'm now 26 years old, and I have not had a symptom-free day in 3 years. I have been overcome by this. I have lost most my friends, my career, all of my hobbies like hiking, crossfit, soccer, video games, rollarcoasters. It feels like a sick joke. Even my personality feels like its being stripped away to exhuasted. The last 6 months have progressed to a level where I cant even work anymore. This flare hasnt responded to any coctails either and i wonder if its just my new baseline. My years of anger and frustration with this disease is turning into utter despair as i reliease this isnt a setback anymore this coukd really be the hell i will live for the rest of my life
I've failed the following medications:
Ajovy – No benefit
Cymbalta – No benefit (sexual side effects)
Lamictal – Worsened migraine
Qulipta – Severe side effects
Topamax – Severe side effects
Cefaly Device -worsened trigeminal sensitivity
Current treatment:
Botox – 3 weeks into cycle 1, no results
Eneura sTMS – 3 weeks in, no results
Valproate – 4 weeks on 500 mg, massive fatigue/brain fog. Mild improvement in dizzyness but sideeffects might make it unbearable trying to push longer
Abortives sometimes take the edge off, maybe 5–10%, but that's about all.
Im considering:
Memantine
Acupunture
Varapamil
Nerivio
Truvaga
I dont understand how we can make AI's, wifi/bluetooth, send people to the moon, lab grow organs, replace limbs but no one can do anything to help me in any meaningful way.
I feel like im running out of things to try and thus running out of hope. Im open to any advice, mindset, meds whatever im just so exhuasted