r/AskDoctorSmeeee

Please help. Five days ago, I used my friend's anal rubber vibrator toy. It had been washed beforehand and also he didn’t use it the same day. Is there a possibility of infection? And what is the appropriate timeframe to get tested? I only used lube on the toy, and it wasn’t large enough to cause any internal tearing.

Hello and happy Wednesday everyone. I know we are not doctors but I just would really appreciate any inputs of suggestions because I’m really tired and want to figure out what’s wrong with me. Appreciate anything really thanks so much.

So in context 33yr old female

I have had a lot of systemic issues that started 6/7 years ago and it started with night sweats. And I’ve been dealing with on and off chronic pain, nausea, fatigue etc.
but recently things have been worse and more consistent
- night sweats
- around 6pm every evening I get like hot flash feeling like feeling sick internally and under skin
- bone/joint pain that changes areas and fluctuates can be dull with also sharp pain that comes in waves
- muscles twitches a lot
- numbness and specially in toes these days
- fatigue
- nausea lack of appetite at times, vomitted a few times the other month. Always in the evening.
- lost almost 20lbs without trying (everyone keeps asking if I’m okay)
- swollen fingers in the morning

Basically my rheumatologist says my Ana could be undifferentiated connective tissue disease but does not explain a lot of my symptoms

Oncologist says my levels of lambda bands are small and so it’s not hematology issue. And that my electrophoresis results can be a UTI which I don’t have right now.

I am honestly just so tired of feeling this way and I want to feel normal again. I literally am in tears every time I go to the doctors because I’m tired.

IMMUNOFIXATION, SERUM    
IFE INTERPRETATION
- IgG lambda monoclonal band present.
(This was on multiple blood tests and was present but not present in urine)

PROTEIN, TOTAL AND PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS, URINE    
PROTEIN, TOTAL, 24 HR UR 136 mg/24hr
PROTEIN/CREATININE RATIO 0.082
ALBUMIN 20%
ALPHA-1-GLOBULINS 3%
ALPHA-2-GLOBULINS 20%
BETA GLOBULINS 23%
GAMMA GLOBULINS 34%
INTERPRETATION
Pattern consistent with glomerular proteinuria.
No abnormal bands suggestive of monoclonal free light
chain (Bence Jones protein) detected.

ALPHA 2 GLOBULIN 0.9H
ABNORMAL PROTEIN BAND 1 0.1H
ABSOLUTE EOSINOPHILS 10L
SED RATE BY MODIFIED WESTERGREN 22H
EGFR - ranges from 72-88 usually(normal but low for my age)
My other results are either within or borderline normal so did not bother to post.

ANA SCREEN, IFA Positive
ANA TITER 1:320 Nucleolar nuclear
ANA TITER 1:80 speckled nuclear
(I had same ANA patterns last year but it was lower titer at the time and it has not gone up)
***EVERY specific Ana test I’ve taken has come out negative though like literally every autoimmune test)

URINALYSIS REFLEX (test was done three different times and showed up on each)
KETONES trace
PROTEIN trace
LEUKOCYTE ESTERASE Trace(sterile)
RED BLOOD CELL COUNT 3.95
CREATININE, RANDOM URINE 234 mg/dL

KAPPA/LAMBDA LIGHT CHAINS FREE WITH RATIO, SERUM    
KAPPA LIGHT CHAIN, FREE, SERUM 11.4mg/L
LAMBDA LIGHT CHAIN, FREE, SERUM 11.4mgL
KAPPA/LAMBDA LIGHT CHAINS FREE WITH RATIO, SERUM 1.0

Really long but I NEED HELP!!!!!

All relevant info listed in a timeline:
Sun: had really rough sex with a partner ive been casually seeing / hooking up with for a few months. we had unprotected sex for a minute or two at the end. He pulled out. I was SO SWOLLEN immediately afterwards. It was scary. I’ve never swelled like that before. I was super tender and sensitive but not overly painful.
Mon/Tuesday: the swelling went down a good bit. i was still sensitive and tender. On one of these days i found a raw patch of skin on my vulva by my vaginal opening. It stung whenever I touched it which is how I found it. I looked at it in the mirror and just saw a raw red patch of skin. Looked like the top layer of my skin had been rubbed off. I didn’t think anything about it since we had ROUGH sex. It did not hurt/sting unless i touched it or wiped.
Tuesday/Wednesday: the raw patch started to heal/crust/scab around the boarder. Looked whiteish. By Wednesday I was feeling much better. No pain.
Thursday: felt fine again. Raw patch wasn’t super sensitive or stinging anymore. I was planning on having sex again. I shaved. I ended up not having sex. I used a new vibrator I had just gotten for the first time. I over did it for sure.
Friday: my clit was sore and sensitive. Looked irritated . I used the vibrator more. I had a TON of razor bumps from the night before when I shaved. Over my entire pubic area and vagina. That never happens and i remember thinking it was strange. It itched terrible. At this point i wasn’t having any noticeable pain or itching when i wasn’t touching anything.
Saturday: still sensitive and swollen. Still used the vibrator. Razor bumps were better. I woke up that morning and my newish belly button piercing that ive had no issues with was DISGUSTING. Oozing orange/yellow everywhere and so swollen red and crusty. Not sure if this is related or not.. it’s weird though. My vagina was HURTING. I looked at it again and I was super red and irritated. The raw patch didn’t look any different in shape or color (still red + whiteish) but definitely inflamed. It was smaller than it originally was and went to a red sore with a white middle that was deeper than the original patch. It started leaking fluid. Yellowish. Not puss. Only hurt if i touched it still. I was hurting so bad towards the night on saturday. I even put ice on myself to try and ease it. I masturbated but did not use vibrator. Lymph nodes by my hip bones swelled up.
Sunday: lymph nodes went down. Then.. ITCHING!! Not the sore though. Not terrible and it really started at night. It literally woke me up it was so bad. The sore looked exactly the same. Belly button was worse. I wasn’t severely hurting all day- just irritated and sensitive like Saturday. Sunday night was rough though.. Woke up in the night and put a cold washcloth on myself. It started hurting really bad when I peed in the night. I also masturbated but no vibrator (I have a high sex drive ok)
Monday: THE WORST. The morning was fine even though night before was awful. I was at work and went to the bathroom to pee. First time it stung but fine. Second time mid day? It burned the same but the itching and burning after was awful. I couldn’t sit still. I went home and looked at everything again. All looked the same aside from the sore being a little dryer. No scab. I woke up in the night multiple times because of the burning + itching while I was sleeping again. My pee stopped stinging though that night and so did the itching and uncomfortablility. I poked at the sore a lot and definitely made it more irritated. My lymph nodes swelled again but worse and close right next to my pubic area that connects to my upper thigh. I can see them sticking out. They aren’t super hard and I can move them around though. Here is the worst part!!!!! I looked closer and I have a tear in my vagina!!!! Perineal grade one. It’s kind of jagged though and has tears/rips with white around them in some places. It doesn’t hurt to touch, just a little itchy if I do and I have a lot of runny white discharge that has no smell.
Tuesday (today): woke up in the night before twice. Morning has been fine so far aside from my pee stinging a little in my first pee. I looked again this morning and everything looks the same, but more irritated because of how much I have poked at it. It was leaking a lot of orange-ish fluid in the night from the sore. I am feeling fine now but I can feel the irritation on my vagina if I pay attention to it. I never feel the sore unless I hit it. My discharge has been completely normal otherwise. Only my actual clit/vag/labia/etc itches and burns. Not the sore.

SUMMARY:
I have an open circular / oval sore on my vulva by my vaginal opening. It started as a raw red patch that looked like my skin got rubbed off after unprotected aggressive sex (swelled really bad after). It was all healing until i shaved and over used an intense vibrator. It is now surrounded by red with a whiteish opening in the middle that hurts only when i touch it. It is also right next to a grade one perineal tear at the opening of my vagina. I have been having swollen groin lymph nodes and a lot of pain and itching at times. I also have burning pee sometimes. Everything comes and goes which is weird. It’s been 9 days. The sore hasn’t changed much at all aside from getting a little smaller. My discharge has been normal aside from a little more coming from my tear. The sore has never hurt (even now) unless i touch it. Also never itches in of itself. Never had any blisters. Entire pubic area is itchy and burns bad sometimes. The sore leaks orange liquid. It’s all awful at night. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!? im freaking out!!!

Thank you for the help!

I dropped a cup of soup and this is the results. How to treat this burn.

So I spent 4 hours at the ER, for what I’m thinking is the absolute worse panic attack of my life. Female, 24, Prozac, Wellbutrin. I’m on day 11 or 12 of my Prozac and I have never felt this terrible or had a panic attack last this long, even hours after the hospital. I’ve been tossing and turning and having a fully body panic sensation.

Now, I think some of the panic is stemming from I took a shot of Zepbound that may have froze and thawed, and I think my health anxiety is amplifying everything. I feel really sick and I felt spaced out, sick, throwing up, etc. they said they ran every test and everything came back ok, I guess my worries could they have missed something with the Zepbound? Or is this just the Prozac ?

Disclaimer: I know this sounds stupid, but bare with me

I have seizures (now controlled with medication), but this is relevant information

In the last three years, I have had three different vehicles spontaneously start having electrical issues within a very short time of me driving them. All of these vehicles have been fine prior, and the one that wasn’t mine, was fine as soon as my parents started driving it again instead

In the last year, I have had at least six different medical devices fail as soon as it is attached to me. There may have been others that I just can’t think of right now.

- Three BP monitors (all in the same five minutes), which worked on the nurses. They ended up taking my blood pressure manually.
- 2 different in office EEG machines (same day). Supposedly, these machines were fine otherwise and with everyone else. They were functioning for the first few minutes they were attached to my head, and then they gave out completely.
- 2 different take home EEG machines (several months apart, but I know they were different machines). One ended up completely erasing all of my data, which is why I had to take the second one. This one also failed while attached to my head, but thankfully, I was in the office when it happened and they were able to switch the machine.

My stove has given out while I’m using it. My iPad and phone both bricked within 24 hours of each other. My garbage disposal and dishwasher keep flipping the breaker when I’m not even using them, and I live somewhere recently built.

If it was only one or two devices, I would think that it was just a weird coincidence. But 11+ including the medical stuff? That seems excessive.

Again, one or two cars, just shitty luck. But all three? My parents had been in the family for almost 10 years when this occurred. And then to be fine, as soon as I give it back? Again, seems excessive

I don’t know. Might truly just be bad luck. But I know the seizures are caused by electrical issues in my brain, and I think it’s weird that a lot of the other things in my life also have electrical issues with no real explanation.

I know this is a long post, and most of this makes me sound crazy. But this either the worst luck I could have, or something might actually be up, and I honestly don’t know which I prefer

So about two-three weeks ago I got really sick and my nose was really stuffy and one nostril was extremely sore. And my throat hurt for like 3-4 days and that went away and then I started getting these almost small blister like bumps on my pointer finger middle finger and thumb on both hands . There kind of sore and at first they itch a little but then that passes. Well they went away slowly and then began to peel in the spot that they were located . Well now it seems at random I am still getting these little blister like bumps and I don’t feel sick anymore what is this???

Hey everyone. I’m 22F with a lot of medical issues that haven’t been fully figured out. At the moment I have been diagnosed with: hypertension, sinus tachycardia, dysautonomia, POTS, hypermobility, and chronic joint pain. I’ve been seeing lots of specialists (cardiology, neurology, orthopedic, rheumatology, etc.) to get the answers I have. But, something new happened to me last night.

So I’ve occasionally had my hands tense up to the point to where I’m not able to move them and they feel locked up, it’s painful to try and move them or use something besides my body to try and move them. Eventually they go back to normal after a couple of hours or the next day. I’ve been prescribed muscle relaxers but never have them when I need them, so I don’t really take them.

I wrote out this morning what all I remember happening last night, when this episode happened.

For context I take medications such as: effexor, ivabradine, vitamin d, ferrous sulfate, losartan potassium, and most recently spravato treatments. I actually started the spravato/esketamine treatment yesterday morning, and this happened later that night. I am 165 pounds and 5’1, 22F.

- Was using a weed vaporizer (erig for concentrates, used for pain mgmt) and coughing a bit every couple of minutes, not heavily at all

- Was timing my breaths in my head to make sure I was taking deep breaths but I could feel something bad was about to happen. I assumed I’d pass out or something, since that’s what usually happens with my pots. But, not this time.

- Symptoms start with an onset of crazy ear pressure (felt like my head was full of air that was trying to force itself out through my ears) and red spots in my eyes (looked like red tv static that covered my whole vision to the point to where I could not see through it)

- After a couple minutes I was having whole body tremors and my throat felt like it was spasming. My throat was opening and closing sporadically, making it hard to talk. Could only talk when my throat would release for a second. Spasms felt like 1 sec on 1 sec off so my sentences def had pauses. This went on for about 20 minutes and was the last symptom to leave

- My hands were so tense I couldn’t move them, they were locked in place like some weird claw

- Was very dizzy so I thought maybe my heart rate was super high. Tried to softly sit on the floor, ended up half falling half throwing myself to the floor.

- Laid on the floor with elevated legs and my friend called my partner

- I was still counting my breaths and everything but no symptoms were getting any better. Felt like it went on forever

- Eventually partner came and after a couple mins helped me sit up to get blood to my head

- Was still shaking and vocal cords and eyes messed up

- After about 30 minutes I was able to see again gradually and my ears stopped hurting

- After about an hour I was fully back to normal and was able to stand and walk home

So yeah. This is next day and I’m not really sure what went on… I felt like I was convulsing the whole time and my friend was thinking I had a seizure or smth. Google says maybe my hypertension. So here I am, asking doctors if Reddit. If anyone has any ideas on what the heck went on, pls let me know. Thank u!!

Hello,

I was wondering how to get help for someone who is extremely paranoid. Hasn't had a job after she graduated in 10 years. Living off of their parents and thinks everyone is watching her through the internet. The situation is exhausting. She has no friends, wants to hang out but then wants everyone in jail for cyberstalking her. She refuses to go to mental health professionals because they say that they look at her like she is crazy. She hasn't been formally diagnosed but she has some delusions where things never happened. Logic doesn't work with her.

The family is exhausted.Three siblings don't talk to her at all. She doesn't do anything but talk to herself 24/7 and then blames others. Any attempts at conversation or anything innocuous becomes where she starts saying everyone should be in jail. She keeps on asking for her elderly parents to give her money all the time and then gets angry when they don't. She hasnt' earned a cent nor contributed to the household at all. It's exhausting trying to support her financially. When she did have money, she blew it all away. Her thoughts and behaviors are all scatter and she makes no sense. She is really exhausting and she refuses to take any anti depressant meds.

She is genuinely unpleasant to be around and she has gone to the police and FBI to talk about how everyone should be in jail. They think she is crazy.

My 42 yo wife went to get a haircut about a year ago at a local fantastic cuts. she went to get the haircut because she had uncontrollable split ends and figured that cutting it would make the hair start to grow back properly. Unfortunately for my wife, the hair started breaking shorter and shorter and eventually fell out. she still has hair but it is very short. Soon after the hair begin falling out, she started to complain of a foul smell when she would wash her hair and bumps on her scalp that would pop and secrete a terrible smell. about a year before the haircut she was diagnosed with lupus, not sure if the smell and hair loss is connected to lupus, but I'm sure having lupus doesn't help anything. does anyone know what this could be?

Hi everyone, I need some information and advice.

During intercourse, after ejaculation, the condom remained inside my vagina. I noticed there was sperm inside the condom and around it, so I’m concerned about the risk of pregnancy.

I am currently taking the following medications regularly:

• Concerta 36 mg
• Lustral 100 mg
• Attex 60 mg

In this situation, can I take the morning-after pill (emergency contraception)?
Do these medications reduce its effectiveness or cause any interactions?

If anyone has experience or knowledge about this, I would really appreciate your help. Thank you in advance.

I’m really freaking out I feel detached from my whole body/body feels physically numb. it’s there 24/7 not just coming and going so that’s why I’m rlly scared but everyone is saying it’s just my anxiety as I’ve had bloods tested and everything is fine so is this just caused by my severe health anxiety? And does anyone have any tips on how to reduce or ignore the numbness?

Hello everyone. I'm here because we need support in the form of advice. My fiancee is bipolar, yet she's one of the most mentally/emotionally stable people I have ever known, but when she crashes...she CRASHES. She has been to therapy and has learned how to be the best version of herself and does okay-ish off her meds most of the time. That being said, the two doctors she has seen have retired shortly after writing a prescription and were difficult to get refills from, causing us to basically run in circles playing extra and taking more unnecessary days off work. How on earth do we get her duloxetine prescription written, filled, and RE-FILLED steadily?

TLDR; It's always been a royal pain to get it filled, but even harder to get it refilled. Is there an online based provider that is more stable/reliable than my love's mood so she doesn't have to withdraw, load testing our relationship, and missing work?

I self-oral ocationaly and I've never got herpies before but I make sure I'm cleaned up. Though even after all of that I'm stressed out if i might get it. What do I do?

Diagnosed severe hypothyroidism treated until TSH normalized, then taken off medication — now symptomatic again with rising TSH
46f
145lbs
5’5”
Non smoker, drinker

Sorry for the long post. I just need advice on where to go from here.

PMH diagnosed
ADHD
Severe Hypothyroidism
Iron deficiency anemia
DDD
Osteoarthritis
Osteoporosis
Extra scoliosis (double curvature)
Bursitis
Carpal tunnel surgery both hands in Dec and Jan
Anxiety, depression
Chronic constipation

Current medications:
Cymbalta
Adderall
Vyvanse
Celebrex
Wellbutrin

Last March I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism with a TSH of 36.7. I was started on Levothyroxine 25mg, but my TSH actually got higher to 47.6 before it finally started coming down. It took until December to get my TSH down to 1.7 and reach a normal range.
Once my TSH was normal, my doctor took me off Levothyroxine entirely.
Now, four months later, I’m experiencing the same symptoms I had before diagnosis — and my TSH has been rising month over month. Last month it was 3.7, and this month it came back at 4.9.
My doctor is refusing to restart treatment because 4.9 falls within the “normal” range, and has told me she won’t consider treating me until my TSH reaches at least a 10.
My questions

1. Is it standard practice to discontinue Levothyroxine once TSH normalizes, rather than maintaining a low dose?
2. Should I be asking for a referral to a different endocrinologist?

I’m frustrated because I lived through how debilitating my symptoms were the first time around, I even asked Dr., so I just have to deal with my symptoms and wait until I reach a TSH of 10 before I can be treated and feel better. With a smirk on her face she’s says “yeahhhh” 😡

4. Does family history matter here? My mother had thyroid cancer. Given that, should I be pushing harder for closer monitoring or a referral to a different endocrinologist from my pcp rather than waiting for my TSH to climb to a 10?

My symptoms
Chronic fatigue- literally cannot drive myself anywhere due to always being tired.
Muscle pain
Shoulder pain
Severe constipation (I only empty bowels twice a month and only after I take milk of magnesium) also rectal prolapse
Very dry skin. Fingers crack open an bleed constantly
Hair is so dry and brittle I’m afraid to brush it everyday
Heat (not cold) makes me physically ill. Nauseous
None of my meds feel like they work at all.

So can someone please respond. I need guidance!! My family is so upset that I may have to go through this again this year. Last year was horrible until I got my TSH down to 1.7

I understand the normal range is debated — at what point would you clinically consider restarting treatment in a previously treated hypothyroid patient who is symptomatic?”

That white spot on the lower right, it wasnt there before and I have no idea what this is. Anyone know what caused this? Any advice and tip is greatly appreciated.

Lately I’ve realized it’s usually the small things that shift my mood the most.

Not big achievements or life-changing moments — just quiet little habits.

Things like going for a walk at night, making tea, sitting in silence for a few minutes, listening to music while driving, watching the sky change color, or having one genuine conversation with someone.