u/SugarStarGalaxy

I know the Apple TV 3rd gen doesn’t support eArc, but I’m wondering if there’s a workaround that will allow me to route the audio from my Roku TV through my HomePod Mini speakers. I don’t mind audio latency issues as the Roku TV allows me adjust that. I just want better audio as the quality on the TV’s speakers is garbage. I snagged the Apple TV for $10 mostly to bypass the awful Roku TV’s new UI and make casting from my iPhone easier/better, but was hoping to figure out some way to upgrade the crappy TV audio by routing it through my HomePod minis if possible.

Does anyone know of a budget-friendly way to accomplish this? I can only spend like $30-ish, but if anyone knows of a decent bridging device that would allow me convert the TV audio to an AirPlay signal or something like that I’d be open to buying/trying something. I have a 2024 MacBook Pro and read somewhere that I might be able to use it somehow to bridge that gap, so if that’s what it takes I’d be willing to try it. Thanks in advance 💜

Dude is asking for help from doctors and anyone who thinks they may know what he’s dealing with right now and it’s, like, all the stuff we all talk about. Poor guy is going through it, and while I know I can’t post links here and I’m super low energy today, if anyone can go help him out I’d super appreciate it. I left a mess of a comment trying my best to explain it all but my brain fog is nuking me lately and I think I just sounded like an idiot who was calling him autistic and telling him about how I eat salmon. I wanna help the guy but I am not in a state to do so right now. Title of video is ‘I’m publishing every medical record I have’.

Please help him if y’all got the spoons today. I ain’t got it in me right now

What are some ways y’all accommodate yourselves? Sure, we can cut tags off of clothing and wear ear plugs, but I wanna see what else you guys do to make your lives easier. I’ll start!

I put cute little stickers on things like USB cords so I know how to plug them in first try without checking. I spent the last two years making as many accommodations as possible in my life to reduce stress because it affects my MCAS, and I was genuinely shocked at how much these small stressors add up. Your turn!

It’s basically impossible to find ice cream sans corn, coconut, palm, and cow’s milk, so I’m going to try making my own. I plan on using goat milk and flavouring with some variety of clover honey (lowest in formic acid, which I’m allergic to), raisins, mochi, tart cherries, fennel, ginger, and/or ube. I think a tangy, tart, earthy flavour profile will be delightful, and after a bit of practise I’ve begun to really enjoy the unique tanginess of goat milk/cheese (especially since the alternative is not having it at all).

Anyway, anyone know of a good budget ice cream machine that doesn’t involve hand-stirring/shaking/cranking? I can’t do the double bag and rock salt method, and preferably it’s run by itself and does not require me to be involved in the churning process.

Ice cream is one of my few remaining pleasures, and I’d love to be able to have it without the requisite post-enjoyment ‘crying on the toilet at 4am’ visits. One of my fave snacks is rice crackers with a dip made from sulfite-free raisins, clover honey, and goat cheese, and I’m dying to try it as an ice cream. Budget is as cheap as possible, ideally under a hundo, and yes I’ve seen the Ann Reardon video on ice cream makers but I’m seeing if anyone knows of some other options too. Thanks!

I’ve accepted that I will not be able to find a dishwasher soap/powder that I’m not at least a little allergic to, which is at least tolerable at present. However, the water where I live is pretty hard and so I’m struggling to figure out the whole rinse aid thing. I’ve tried every vinegar I can, and likely due to my formic acid allergy (though not sure if it’s only that or also imbalanced pH makes my skin freak out) it hasn’t worked out too well. So I’m looking for suggestions for a rinse aid that isn’t an endocrine disruptor, coconut/palm/corn/babassu-based, and doesn’t have any fragrances or dyes. I’m happy to try an actual rinse aid product or if anyone has some ideas for alternatives (like vinegar) that work in its stead I’m open to suggestions. I don’t know if I’m just doing it the wrong way or something, but vinegar is not it.

I’m also moderately allergic to Ferrous Sulfate, a lot of which is present in our water supply, and so stopping hard water buildup before it starts would be an awesome bonus if anyone has tips on that too. However, I think that my coconut allergy (used to make activated charcoal to filter water) and sensitivity to chlorine are my main issues with tap water. I’m renting, so anything I do has to be renter-friendly. Thanks!

I have a formic acid allergy that’s pretty significant, and I’m looking for a clover or acacia honey manufacturer that is trustworthy in terms of sourcing. Google says it needs to be raw, certified organic, and either acacia or clover. I’ve only just figured out that my allergy is to formic acid and not a bazillion other things like I originally thought, so I have no experience finding the right honey and would appreciate anyone else with the same allergy or experience in this area to let me know if they know a good honey supplier. I’m also open to any other suggestions for honey that is low in Formic acid. Thank you

I have a formic acid allergy that’s pretty significant, and I’m looking for a clover or acacia honey manufacturer that is trustworthy in terms of sourcing. Google says it needs to be raw, certified organic, and either acacia or clover. I’ve only just figured out that my allergy is to formic acid and not a bazillion other things like I originally thought, so I have no experience finding the right honey and would appreciate anyone else with the same allergy to let me know if they know a good honey supplier.

I am struggling to find food I can eat with all the stuff I react to and one of my main snacks is goat cheese and honey dip with raisins. I also apparently react to raisins, so I’m trying to find a different dried fruit to substitute and it has been really hard. Latex, lauric acid, formic acid, and nickel are all things I react either severely or strongly to so it’s been a heck of an adventure trying to find food. Trying to figure out if I have an issue with salicylates and carbamates too but not sure how to go about it. Any tips or food ideas welcome, thanks!

The story is long but the summary is that I have been trying to get the mold in the windowsills and gutters dealt with for years and they refuse. Now I’m so sick I can barely move and the room spins when I stand up. I have rent set to autopay but my card got flagged for fraud randomly and I didn’t know rent hadn’t been paid until over a week later. I tried to pay using the online portal and it was not letting me. I got a note from my doctor saying that no, I can’t drive right now, I need to be able to pay rent from home. They still wouldn’t let me and kept saying it wouldn’t be a far drive.

So now I have court on Thursday and a bunch of paperwork to do before then to prove my case and I don’t even know if it will matter or if I’ll lose my home anyway. I don’t actually know what’s worse- a home with mold or no home at all. That was sarcasm; it’s the latter. Govt is dragging its ass on my disability appeal but it’s taking place in October- 3 years after I applied.

I’m out of time and I burned through all my savings trying to figure all this MCAS stuff out alone since even my loved ones said I was just being lazy and ungrateful and faking being sick so I wouldn’t have to do anything. After 14 years of solid work history. When my family wasn’t gaslighting me, doctors were, insisting I wasn’t sick. Coincidentally, my two cats were faking being sick, too. I didn’t find the mold until I’d moved away from everyone- it was in my things that had been packed up the whole time.

I’m sick of my life being shaped by microorganisms and the humans around me who refuse to believe or help me. I can’t afford all the meds and supplements I need anymore and my savings is all gone, mostly spent trying to figure this shit out while I bought various products to try and see what didn’t make me sick. I tried so many supplements, had to buy all new clothes that were cotton, paid out of pocket for Ketotifen for two years, rent, utilities, and so much gas driving to see specialists hours away. I hate this so, so much.

But you guys here are why I’m alive. I made a post saying “we’re dying and nobody is helping us” and people commented and it helped me. I crawled back out from death’s doorframe and I tried. I really, really tried. My best friend died and I kept going. My cat died and I kept going. I clawed tooth and nail and fought for every ounce of purchase I made away from the long, dark tunnel. Thank you to everyone here, from those who commented support and recommendations to the mods who were forgiving of me accidentally posting links due to the mind-erasing forgetfulness and brain fog. Wish me luck in court on Thursday.

I have MCAS and have tried just about every commercial soap I can think of, and I’m reacting to them all. I know what I’m allergic to, and the issue is that these companies make soaps with ingredients I’m allergic to as well as soaps I’m not, and cross-contamination is an issue. I live in a small apartment and cannot make my own soap, and some folks at r/MCAS said I should check out local soap makers who could work with me to find soap I can use as they can make smaller batches.

I’m in the Midwest and if I find someone who can make soap for me I’ll be a lifelong customer. I’m looking for soap for myself (body, face, shampoo), laundry, and general cleaning. If anyone knows of someone who would be able to work with me on this I’d be eternally grateful.

My highest sensitivities are to coconut, formaldehyde, babassu, palm, olive, and corn. I’m talking ‘equipment that has touched those things needs to be completely washed free of them’ levels of allergic. I also don’t tolerate latex (banana and kiwi), nickel or most animal products well, though I could likely be okay with soap made with machinery containing nickel or that had been used to process animal ingredients like tallow provided it was washed first. I’m also allergic to citric acid (mold allergy), and citrus fruit.

I’ve looked into what you can make soap out of, and the most promising ingredients have been sunflower and rice. I’m also okay with goat milk and honey, and I tolerate salmon well. I’m sorry in advance if this isn’t the right place to post this, but I’m honestly kind of just desperately reaching out wherever possible right now. If anyone here knows of any soap makers who might have something I could use or someone who would be willing to work with me in terms of samples, etc. I would love a point in the right direction. Thank you

Anyone know where to find pure henna that doesn’t contain PPD and isn’t mixed with anything? I’m about to chop my hair off and I’m desperately trying to make it cute and I want to dye it reddish with henna. I would obviously patch test first. Anyone have experience with this? I react to most hair dyes now but thought henna may be worth a try

I have been looking through every post on here I can find and all the recommendations contain either coconut/tree nuts, olive/babassu, or some kind of corn-derived ingredient like ascorbic acid or glycerin and I’m about at my wit’s end. Right now I’m using a three-ingredient dish soap that makes me cough like crazy because of the sulfur in it, and my clothes hurt to wear, but it’s the best I’ve got right now because I do have to wash stuff. I have a vinegar that’s alcohol-free that is made from sugar beets that is the least reactive vinegar I’ve found, but it still does make my throat sore when I wear clothes I rinsed it with. Water here is hard AF so I have to use some kind of softener or acid because the mineral buildup makes me react as well and I’m slowly going insane and I just want to wash my freaking clothes and body/hair.

I’m going to try camellia oil today for conditioner and to help keep my hair hydrated. I already have short hair but I’m so unbelievably close to shaving my head because my curls looks like a bird made her home in them. I’m tired of how porous my hair is and how if someone thinks about cologne within 10 feet of me they reek of it until I wash my hair. Showering is literally not doable because I get dizzy from POTS so I take baths but it’s such a freaking process and exhausting.

I want to wash my clothes. I want to wash my hair. I want to wash my body. I want something to make my curls look nice that doesn’t require me to boil flax seeds in a pot for 20 minutes every other week because I’m TIRED. I’m tired of my hair falling out and my clothes burning my skin and the endless research and learning every possible ingredient derived from freakin’ corn and soap that smells like volcano farts

TW: death

I cut off all my corners
so I could be a shape
that fits into a hole
from which there’s no escape.

A hole I felt at home in
that was almost six feet deep,
behind a door, within a dream
in which I’m not asleep.

I peeked behind the curtain
when I finally left the cave,
and greeted all the shadows
that were dancing on my grave.

Then pulled back to my senses,
having met with the Divine.
I can almost smell the roses;
I can almost taste the wine.

I have both been and gone
now different somehow.
I am changeling soul and mind;
“My peg was always round.”

About: I’m processing a lot right now in therapy- a near death experience, a late-life autism diagnosis that finally explains always feeling like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole, and the death of my best friend. I don’t journal; I write songs and poetry. One of my favourite poems is called Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam by Ernest Dowson. I have loved that poem since I read it in college, though I never understood why I was drawn to it. I wanted to honour my love of the poem connecting in a deeper way after my NDE both in a similar tone/style and some imagery. Thank you for reading.

For context:

Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.

-Ernest Dowson

I’m looking for a salmon oil supplement (preferably wild caught) that doesn’t have a capsule made from bovine/porcine gelatine and doesn’t contain ingredients derived from corn or tree nuts. Fish gelatine is okay. I also don’t want anything with citrus or added flavourings or colours. I don’t care if the supplement tastes fishy or makes my burps fishy; I just want it to not have things like corn or tree nut-derived tocopherols/glycerin/etc. I’m also open to salmon oil in a different form, and don’t care about taste or smell. I’m doing this to help control my inflammation-based chronic illness and am past the point of caring about how I get the stuff in me or what it tastes like- I just need to get it done and on a consistent basis. Ideally I’d like to get this from a product that is third-party lab tested and verified and also without having to spend oodles of money. Dosage frequency is also something I’d like to keep to a minimum, as I can only tolerate food intake twice a day. Thanks in advance

To begin, I want to say that I am VERY meticulous about cleaning. I have a cleaning calendar that helps me keep track of things like when to scrub out my shower, washing machine, fridge, dishwasher food trap, etc. I have desiccant packets taped to the inside of all my trash cans, I have a steamer that I use in my curtains, pillows, and mattress. I sanitise my drains and never leave dishes in the sink overnight. By all accounts, I am very much on top of keeping my home as allergen and mold-free as humanly possible. I open packages and mail outside and store groceries in glass jars instead of their original boxes to reduce VOCs in my home. I run multiple air filters, don wear shoes in my house, and clean with microfiber mops and cloths regularly. I take all the supplements and meds possible, follow a strict diet, exercise regularly, and drink plenty of water. But despite all of it, I still react to my environment and I still have flare ups that knock me flat for weeks or longer.

A missed cleaning due to physical exhaustion here, a carton of mushrooms that I didn’t notice had gone moldy there, and I fall behind and it becomes overwhelming and I can’t keep up. It seems like no matter how hard I try, eventually I just can’t keep pace with the demands of my overactive immune system. So I did some research and read some Reddit posts and I bought an ozone machine. Two, actually. I got a bigger one that plugs in for large spaces like my garage or living room. It has a hose and bubbler attachment for washing veggies or other things in water, as well as to use on my drinking water. I also got a smaller one that is rechargeable and wireless for my car, dishwasher, fridge, and the litterbox cupboard. I used them for the first time a couple days ago.

I cannot overstate the amount of relief I’ve gotten as a result of running my ozone generator in various places in my home. I feel the same way I felt the first time I took Cromolyn- like the fog in my brain had lifted and I felt lighter. I could think clearly again and the irritability that had been getting worse over the past handful of months was noticeably better. My mood improved significantly; I was listening to music and dancing around while I cleaned and singing again. The stiffness in my fingers and joints was easing.

The thing about flare-ups is that they don’t always happen all at once after a significant exposure (though that can happen, too). Sometimes they creep in slowly, blurring the edges of my life almost imperceptibly. The tendrils of heavy fog begin sinking into the corners of my mind and weighing down my body by only a modicum a day. I lose my sense of taste and smell and enjoy food less and start craving sweets and junk food more, I stop listening to music, singing and dancing as I wash dishes or scrub counters and mop floors. I stop playing guitar and sewing and going for walks, opting instead for video games and cartoons to fill my time and occupy myself. I start struggling to recall names, words, and reasons why I walked into rooms. I become irritable more easily, frustrated by things I didn’t think about only weeks before. No matter how many times I experience this kind of slowly encroaching flare up, I always seem to notice it only when I’m a whisper of my former self. This was one such occasion, where I only realised it when it had crept into my bones and being so completely that I’d started losing weight and stopped doing almost everything I loved.

The contrast between how I felt only hours before I ran the ozone machine and afterwards was so stark I was shocked I hadn’t noticed how bad it had gotten sooner. It was like I’d been living in a home where all the life and air had been removed and suddenly it all came pouring back in. I’d started with my car, mostly because I felt it was the safest place to test the machine.

After realising just how much better I felt while running errands, I ran it in my fridge, dishwasher, and am currently doing my laundry room with my mattress encasement inside. I plan on using it in the bathroom, litterbox area, and shoe closet next, and finishing out my whole apartment as I’m able. It takes an hour or less to run, but you have to let the room air out and ventilate it for at least an hour afterwards before you or any pets and plants can enter, so I’ve had to be somewhat strategic about when I use it. I stuff towels under the door crack, close all vents and don’t use the heating or AC while it runs and airs out, so weather/temperature is something to factor in as well. I haven’t finished running it in even half the apartment yet, but just having it do the few spaces I have has made a significant impact on my overall wellbeing and I’m actually genuinely excited to see how much better I feel once I’m done.

I’m not here to sell you any particular device or promote any company, so I won’t be providing links to the devices I bought. You can ask me privately if you’re interested and I’ll tell you, but I abhor being accused of advertising for companies when I’m only taking the time to write these posts sharing my experiences because this community saved my life and gave me hope when everyone from family to doctors had failed me. I will say that I got them on Amazon, and the smaller device was $35 and larger one was $38. You could totally get just one device and use it wherever you need, with the most significant difference being the amount of time it takes to ozone an area rather than a question of efficacy. The small one could totally do the garage, but it would probably take like half a day or longer. I got the smaller one specifically for places that plugging something in wouldn’t be feasible, and also for small areas that I’d be using it frequently like the litterbox cupboard or shower.

I haven’t used the bubbler on the larger one yet, but I’m excited to test it out on produce and drinking water. I have had two somewhat recent instances of produce going moldy very quickly and haven’t bought any fresh produce in a while as I’m a bit gun shy after how sick I got both times. I’m hoping using the ozone on fresh veggies will allow me more time to eat them before they go bad. I’ve also read that drinking water treated with ozone is good for helping with mold exposure recovery, though I want to do more research on the verisimilitude of that claim before I go trying it out on my ridiculously expensive imported water. I’ll update in the comments how that goes when and if I test it out.

Also, here’s a link to an ozone generator calculator. You input the size of room, generator output, and what level of clean you want and it calculates how long to run the generator and how long after it’s done until it’s safe to go back into the room. The site has a billion ads, but I’m too tired to find a better one at the moment and it’s worked for me so far so I keep using it.

https://generatorsizecalculator.com/ozone-generator-calculator.html#google\_vignette

Anyone else out there who has had positive experiences with ozone, let me know! And if anyone out there has been debating whether or not to get an ozone generator, consider this an enthusiastic endorsement from me.