My dad is a 59 year old male. Approx 5'10 and between 350 to 400lbs if I had to estimate. Nkda. Medical history includes alcoholism (multiple beers and whiskey daily) for over 10 years, THC use, degenerative disc disease, fatty liver disease, lichen planus. Doesn't take any meds.

He has had large swollen ankles for years and has seen a vascular doctor who said he didn't have pvd, that was a couple years ago, he saw a cardiologist, again years ago, and I don't believe they didn't saw anything abnormal anything except slight cardiomegaly if I remember correctly but he says he doesn't remember that. He was on lasix for a very short time and that didn't help. He just called me and sent me a pic of his one ankle. He said they are more swollen than ever before, but the one is worse than the other. He denies any pain or numbness and says he doesn't have any more shortness of breath than he normally has. That dark shiny spot has been there for years. He did strain his back the other day picking up some weeds in the yard and said he hadn't been mobile in like 3 days. He got up and walked for a few minutes and the swelling did seem to go down a little. I'm in another state and trying to get my dad to go to a doctor is like trying to get a rabid cat in a carrier to go to the vet. Idk what to do, he gets frustrated and when I made him go to all those specialists a few years ago he didn't get any answers so he really doesn't want to go again and I'm at a loss because idk what could be causing this besides circulation issues, cardiac issues, kidney problems, liver issues. And anytime he has blood work it's pretty good. His bp is always normal. He said if it doesn't go down in a couple days he'll let me find him a primary care doctor and he will go see them but I lost my mom a year ago and I can't lose him too so if anyone has any ideas of what this could be or who I should try to get him to go see I would be very grateful.

I brought my son (5M) to a&e with these swollen nodes above the collarbone. They told me he has a virus and sent me home with Keflex antibiotics for 10 days and to come back in 6 weeks. I told them Im concerned it’s a lymphoma as the location is very odd to me but they assured me his blood test was fine so he doesn’t have lymphoma. No X-ray or further tests were done bar physically examination. The doctor I saw before going a&e put in his letter that there was minimum 7 nodes, they were rubbery and matted and the largest was 4cm.

Hi everyone, I'm posting this on behalf of my wife. Her mother had a lump of fat removed from the side of her foot on the 30th of September (17 days ago) and this is her foot now.

I'm really sorry if some of the information I've listed below has holes in it. We're in another country and her family back in the US have been relaying an approximation of what's been happening. If anything doesn't make sense or sounds incorrect this will be why, it's all second hand info.

Please, if there's anything you could advise us to tell her, our family over there or the doctors, we'd be so grateful. We're really concerned and the lack of information and MIL's unwillingness to get a second opinion is really stating to scare us. We've begged her to go to the hospital again cause we really don't want her to lose her foot but she doesn't want to.

What should a person do who's foot is in this situation? We can't keep telling her to go to the doctor as they just give her more pain meds.

General information about my MIL is:
- Female
- 5'5"
- 62 years old
- 200(ish) lbs
- She's allergic to penicillin

She's been in a lot of pain the past few weeks, she can't walk on it at all and there were some complications during surgery that meant that she had to go back under the knife on the same day.

She had the surgery in Tennessee and the surgeon has been less than helpful all the way through. Immediately after the surgery she asked for help going to the bathroom but was told that she'd be fine to walk on it (advisable even). Walking on the same day as the surgery caused the wound to start bleeding again and she had to go back into surgery to fix it.

After the second surgery, the surgeon left the scar open (as pictured) and didn't really elaborate as to why he chose to do this. She was sent home and my SIL has been taking care of it, cleaning and dressing the wound each day but it's been getting worse. My SIL is trying her best but she is not a nurse and has no medical training at all.

Since the surgery, she's been back to see the doctor twice. She went back the first time for a scheduled check up and he unwrapped the wound, did a saline rinse and packed the wound again. He gave SIL some packing as well so she can do it herself and sent her away.

The second visit was because they were worried it was getting infected. After a lot of persuading MIL went in to see the doctor and this time he didn't re-dress the wound or clean it. He just said it was fine and that it was healing and to "keep doing what you're doing." When they went to see him it was just a few days ago and it looked almost as bad as it does in this picture.

The doctor has just told her to take Tylenol and Ibuprofen as needed and has written her prescriptions for Oxycodone for when it gets too bad. Besides that, nothing. It feels like he's trying to let it get worse without interfering so that when it does his own botched surgeries wont be to blame... he can point to the home treatments as the cause instead. Idk, I don't know what to do!

If she doesn't get treatment, what can we expect from here?
Is there anything you can advise that we tell her, to try and make her act on this?
Should we ask the doctors to test for anything specifically?
What is happening to her foot and what are our (her) options?

Any help you could give us at all would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for your time <3

EDIT/UPDATE

We've just finished chatting to MIL and SIL and have an update. She's got an appointment for a checkup with the doctor that's treating her on Tuesday and she want's to hold out for that. She also called and spoke to an emergency out of hours GP and sent him the photo of her foot, he just told her to mark where the redness comes up to with a pencil and then send him another picture tomorrow.

The doctor thinks that she's had a reaction to the antibiotics and that's what the redness on her foot is. She's not running a fever and she has redness on her cheeks too. She isn't running a fever. Does this change anything?

EDIT AGAIN:

MIL and SIL both claim that she has a similar redness on her face to the redness on her leg, this is why they maintain that it's an allergic reaction. She's still taking the antibiotics even though she's allergic as they're all she's got.

Tuesday 20th Oct is the date for her next checkup. She's also going to have another phone consultation with the emergency doctor tomorrow where she'll send him another image. We pushed for her to got to the ER or call an ambulance, we were told that we were stressing them out. MIL says that she only trusts the doctor that operated on her as he knows her history.

I'll update you when I can when we know more, in the meantime we'll keep trying to get through to them. I'll either update the body of this post or make a new post entirely once we have more information to share. Thank you everyone for your help. We're still texting them any advice you send through, hopefully they'll take action.

I used to be able to do this with both eyes but now only my left eye, lol. This isn't an issue or anything but I was wondering if anyone knew which muscle it is that makes my eyelid move sideways instead of up and down.

info for post requirements:

20 years old, male, ~150 pounds.

So I went to a drugstore recently to get a water bottle, and I saw that this particular store has a blood pressure monitor that anyone can just sit down and have their blood pressure taken. I figured that since I have a history of hypertension and I haven't had my blood pressure taken in a long time, I figured why not.

So I took my blood pressure and it read 180/120, which is weird because despite my hypertension it is very very rare for it to be that high. I had to take it again just to make sure that it was legit and it was the same. Systolic at around 180 and diastolic at around 120. The numbers were slightly different but it was only different by a couple points so pretty much the same reading.

I don't speak with a primary care doctor until next month. I recently did intake for Health services and unfortunately it's just going to be a while until I see anyone regarding my physical health. I feel fine right now like I'm not going through any hallucinations or anything crazy like that. I don't get dizzy, I'm not nauseous, I don't feel any chest pain or headaches, none of that. But my blood pressure test says otherwise.

I won't be able to receive medication for at the very least a couple weeks but maybe up to a month or two. Until then, what are traditional remedies for lowering blood pressure? I drink water everyday and I do a lot of walking everyday as well, but unfortunately my blood pressure is still dangerous and high despite. Maybe there's something I'm doing wrong?

My biggest barrier, other than lack of health insurance, is the fact that I'm literally homeless so a lot of remedies (like beet juice) aren't possible for me right now. I walk a lot, I drink plenty of water, could there possibly be anything else I can do or do I just wait for a prescription?

Female 27, 165 lbs, 5’6, no medical history and no chance of pregnancy.
I had intercourse, nothing crazy, missionary, nothing was inserted, I was not “dry.” I noticed after we were done and I went to pee I wiped and there was blood. This was yesterday morning and I’m bleeding more now. My last period was Sep 26 - sept 20. (My period is due in 10 days.) I see a lot of mucus or like tissue and or lots of blood cloths.
The blood seems to come out more when I pee. I am not filling a pad every hour, no fever, but I feel sore or cramps in my lower abdomen. I don’t have insurance and don’t want to go to ER unless necessary. Also I have somewhere very important yo be at in 5 hours but I’m beginning to feel a little scared. I’m planning on waiting until Monday to go to a low cost clinic if I’m still bleeding. What are your thoughts please?

Pictures 1 and 2 are from yesterday and 3 and 4 from today. I went to pee a few min it es ago and there’s definitely more blood but there’s no picture

35F. Noticed lump 7.5 weeks ago, assumed it was swollen gland. Noticed it again bigger 1.5 weeks ago. Went to drs, got told it might be lipoma but ordered bloods and ultrasound to be sure. Been having night sweats but also the weather has changed recently and I take Venlafaxine 75mg, which could be causing them. No fever but struggle to control body temp (which is normal for me) but sometimes I feel super hot on the inside but shivery on the outside. Had blood test on Monday which didn’t show abnormalities, but did detect nucleated red blood cells (0.11 10*9/L), which isn’t flagged up as a problem. Dr marked it as soft and moveable, but myself and others agree it’s quite firm (not rock solid, but definitely firm). It moves slightly when I push it from the sides. Marked as 3cm x 2cm on exam from dr. Had no pain at all but in the past few days, I have started to have pain in the areas around the lump (side of face in front of ear, corner of jaw bone etc) but the lump itself is still painless. I have also developed a sore throat on the same side as the lump. I am waiting for the US, which I have had to chase on Friday and they have said they will get the booking team to call me when they’re back in on Monday to sort it out. I am really struggling with the pressure on my neck making me feel nauseous and I can’t bear to have anything touching my neck, even lightly! This waiting around is so frustrating.. should I be concerned or is it possible this is just a lipoma? It definitely feels more defined and slightly bigger since my appt 1.5weeks ago!! TIA

I’m posting about my mother (50F).
Height/weight: Unknown. Smoking status: Unknown. Medications: Unknown. Medical history: Venous insufficiency and prior vein surgery. No confirmed psychiatric diagnosis. Behavioral symptoms have existed for decades, with significant worsening recently.

Idk if I am overreacting.
For decades, she has shown severe contamination fears, compulsive cleaning, and rigid household rules. Her behavior has taken over the household. Family members avoid shared spaces and change their routines to prevent outbursts.
She also regularly screams, insults, threatens, and intimidates family members. These episodes can continue for six hours or more, sometimes across multiple days, even when nobody is interacting with her.

Over the past 48 hours, things escalated significantly.
She had repeated episodes of intense screaming, threw objects around the kitchen, and spent about 30 minutes sitting on the floor, flailing and repeating the same accusations nonstop.
She also made threatening gestures toward family members. Earlier, she demanded that my brother drive her somewhere without saying where, screamed at him during the drive, then got out and stood outside in cold rain.
My father offered to take her to a doctor. She responded aggressively and appeared ready to throw her phone at him.
We’ve tried complying with her demands, avoiding confrontation, and leaving her alone. None of this reliably stops the episodes.

My questions:
How severe is this from a psychiatric standpoint? Can OCD alone explain it?
What other psychiatric or medical conditions should be considered?
Does this warrant urgent psychiatric evaluation, even when she becomes calm?
What can family members do when she refuses help?
This has continued for decades, but the recent escalation is alarming. I’m trying to understand the severity and appropriate next steps.

Hey all! Posting as my sister is having rotator cuff / labrum repair surgery and her surgeon is recommending she take these expensive supplements . I have had a couple surgeries including labrum repair and never had such a suggestion but it’s been awhile. Is this necessary?

My sister is:
55 yo
5 foot 5 and probably 150 lbs or so
Non smoker, healthy lifestyle, eats well and has. I chronic conditions , no regularly scheduled medications
Scheduled for rotator cuff and labrum repair surgery in 2 weeks

Question: does she need to take these supplements or is this a gimmick of some kind?

I'm a female, 30, USA with history of hEDS, craniocervical instability, MCAS. Currently on tylneol, gabapentin, buprenorphine transdermal, oxy as needed, baclafen, topical thc for joints (not near my head or neck) and bacatracin on incision (ok by plastic surgeon)

I am 3 months op from an occipital cervical (OC) fusion to c3. I am in touch with my neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon, but since it is the weekend, I won't hear back until Monday. I had a post-op infection a few weeks ago for which I was treated with cephalexin. I was ok'd to use nonstick gauze and bacitracin by plastic surgery PA.

I have a rigid foam collar on with nonstick gauze and bacitracin. There is definitely worsening pain, and my hardware has been hurting quite a bit on top of it. My husband noticed the blood seems to be coming from the area where my hair is growing back in, and I’ve noticed an unusual increase in bleeding/oozing today. I think the increased bleeding started after my shower this morning, as the hard foam collar I wear in the shower seems to irritate the incision, and I am not sure if I am allowed to remove it. I've attached photos of the incision and the discharge on the gauze. (More photos in comments)

I just don’t feel well overall; I am very run down and out of it with body aches, head pressure, and nausea, though I have no fever. I have been dealing with increased intracranial pressure (ICP) that worsened since surgery, and I am on Diamox, though the cause of the worsening ICP is currently unknown.

I went to the ER yesterday for heart palpitations, persistent head pressure, difficulty speaking, and other neurological symptoms, alongside mentioning the incision pain. My bloodwork was reassuring. ER doc saw my incision and wasn't overly concerned but it wasn't bleeding this much at the time.

Given my history of a recent infection, the worsening incision pain, increased bleeding, and systemic symptoms, how concerning is this presentation, does this look infected again? I'm so scared.

11 week old, 21 in 12.3lbs, Female. Rash appeared 2 days ago. No new detergents. No new maternal foods. Baby is exclusively breastfed. Waiting on pediatrician to answer. Baby gets a bath every night as it’s part of her night routine we use dove baby derma care wash and aveeno baby eczema therapy cream. This rash is on her back and sides. Spots are blanchable and no fever is present

22 year old male, 195lbs, 6ft tall

started buzzing my hair and just noticed these, not sure honestly if these are more recent or have been there all along? looking for info if i can get any

worth getting checked out?

I had an unexplained weight loss of 15lbs and I have a smaller frame so I stopped fitting in my clothes and look quite different. My boyfriend loves it.

I used to be a bulimic for about 10 years but I did quit. Bulimia never got me so low.

I‘m also having some GI problems. It genuinely makes eating painful. I get anxious to eat that it will hurt more. I’m trying to cut out certain foods that are worse but I just feel lost.

I also want to lose more weigh admittedly. But not to the point of looking bizarrely thin.

Is this at all concerning for an eating disorder reappearanc? I’m in my 20s and a woman

I got this pimple on my finger a couple of days ago. It was smaller at first, but I tried to pop it and I think I might’ve done worse. It seems to be filled with a yellow infection or something, and to me it looks exactly like a bigger pimple I would get on my face. Now it stayed at the same dimension, but I’m wondering if I should pop it with a needle or it will go by itself? Did anyone else had something similar?

This is a bump/lump underneath my chin. Its been there since Dec. 2025 at least. It was much smaller than this but it would grow and shrink as I did warm compress but now its gotten to this size. Never pained me or stopped me from doing anything just more so annoying and caused cosmetic anxiety (who tryna be with someone with an odd lump under there chin was my thought process). I thought it was an ingrown hair since im prone to those as my hair is very kinky? Curly? My hair just isnt straight in the slightest. I have an appointment with a dermatologist in a few days but I thought i might as well ask now. I also went to get it checked at an urgent care yesterday but they confirmed its not an ingrown hair since its hard. My mind has honestly been racing with no sign of stopping as to what this may be so I would like to know if anyone might have a clue.
I also tend to get sunburnt, have been since a little kid(im 20 now) which would lead to my lips swelling up if i got sunburnt on my face which is the usual place. Thank you all again.

Age 19

Sex female

Height 162cm

Weight 50kg

Race asian

Duration of complaint

Location thigh

Any existing relevant medical issues no

Current medications no

does this need stitches ? happened about 14 hours ago

26 years old, female, 150lbs, no known medical issues, no smoking. I got my blood drawn 2 days ago. I woke up yesterday with a headache and stiff/sore neck but both went away, and thats not out of the ordinary for me. Then, also yesterday, I noticed bruising going up my vein. Bruising is usually normal for me, but I've never had it follow my vein. Got spooked and drew a line to see if it continues to move and it seems like it did? Slightly swollen but not really painful. Should I be concerned?

I am 38, female, 5’5, 200lbs, non-smoker, non-drinker. Hx Graves Disease, Papillary thyroid cancer. Meds: Effexor XR 75mg, levothyroxine 150mcg, Ramipril 2.5mg (started at 20mg when first Dx with Graves’ disease, the CA, now down to 2.5)

Over the past month or so I’ve noticed that my left ankle has appeared larger than the other.

I’ve attached a photo of the problem ankle to this post. My reply below contains my unaffected ankle (right) for comparison.

I have not injured it.

It is less swollen/smaller in the morning. As I walk on it, it worsens. There is some discomfort, but not enough that it affects how I go about my day at all.

I do not feel any sort of lump, bump or hardened area. There is no pitting edema. My range of motion is not affected.

I do overpronate, more so on the affected (left) foot. I have relatively flat feet as well, so both of those things lead to me over-pronating that foot and “duck walk.”

I know I need to lose weight.

What could be causing this ankle issue?

I am in Toronto, Canada, so an MRI or CT scan for something like this could have a wait of a year or more.

Hello. I'm having some symptoms that I'm wondering if it's worth it going in.

I'm 41, female, 5'9, 300lbs. I'm on a number of meds, some for psych, some pain, heart meds abs stomach meds. A couple of them are lithium, Ondansetron, Lamotrigine, dapagliflozin, Pantoprazole, dom peridone, and others. I have pulmonary hypertension, which I'm on oxygen for, congestive heart failure, obstructive sleep apnea, achalasia, Costochondritis.. that's all I can remember atm.

I was coming up to my daughter's dad's place and at the top, it took my brain a second to register that there was another step I had to go up. I was looking at the step and my brain couldn't figure out what to do.

My hands have also been very shaky

I've also almost spilled a drink when kiddo handed it to me because my hand jerked at that moment.

The shaking hands, which are now worse than I've ever had. It's the being off balance, the more frequent than not blurry vision, and the confusion of the top step.

Oh and I don't know if is good or bad but my heart rate got into the 40s.

I've been sleeping a lot more than is normal.

And I've been stuttering a lot

40 year old woman, 5’0, 124.5lbs. I take lexapro, trazodone, and 10mg mounjaro. I do smoke lightly (I know it’s bad for me) and I don’t drink often, maybe once or twice a month and it’s usually 1 drink that I don’t even finish. No recreational drugs.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2023 with an A1C of 8.4. I weighed approximately 240 pounds. I started Mounjaro, and began to lose weight, then kind of fell off the rails for about 6 months when my insurance was giving me grief about covering it. I ended up at the ER in June of 2024 with a reading of 380 and A1C of 9.4. Since then, I have been able to be on mounjaro consistently. My readings have been:

Sep 24 8.5
Jan 2025 7.4
April 25 7.1
July 25 7.1
Feb 26 8.6
June 26 10.4 - I had gone to the ER with a meter reading of 400 - doc bumped me up from 5 mg mounjaro to 7.5
September 26 9 - Doc bumped me up from 7.5 to 10 mg mounjaro

To note: they did try me on metformin and I did terribly on it. I was so sick I couldn’t function.

I do not eat sweets, ever. My typical diet consists of nuts, cheese, and berries, no sugar yogurt, and an Atkins protein shake in my coffee throughout the day, and I do use Splenda. I eat a normal meal in the evening. I probably don’t get the exercise I should, but honestly, I have felt so rotten for so long it’s hard for me to even get though the workday and it’s been like this since my diagnosis. All of my other labs are pristine. I am struggling a bit with eating with the higher doses of mounjaro, and while I know I’m not underweight, I don’t have much more to lose on my frame without looking sick.

What I don’t understand is why, given I have lost 115lbs and am now at a normal weight, am I not seeing improvement with my diabetes? My aunt got adult onset type 1, she has never struggled with being overweight and I didn’t know type 1 could be developed in adults.

I finally have asked for an endocrinologist referral, but that appointment isn’t until January. I am wondering if it’s possible I could have adult onset type 1? Is it worth asking for testing for this, if testing is available? Or is this just the nature of the disease? I’m mostly just sick of feeling tired and sick all the time, and it’s been this way for years. Any insight would be so appreciated!

40M 250lbs 5’10

Going through a couple things all at once rn. Been dealing with an anal fissure that gets better and gets worse…

Out of nowhere, I had two cyst like growths appear around my scrotum. One just next to it facing my inner thigh (on the left side), and another surfaced on my right inner thigh facing my scrotum. One ruptured this morning, and so I drained, cleaned and dressed it. The growths became noticeable about 2 days ago.

I could see the one on the right thigh was inflaming and it was also showing signs that it was ready to rupture. I assisted a little and it began draining. Both had a very foul smelling, dark red pus-like substance that came out.

The weird part is I do keep rather clean. What would be the cause of 2 of these happening together? Stroke of bad luck? And in cleaning I basically doused gauze pads in rubbing alcohol and low key aggressively cleaned around, and into it as much as possible. The pain was intense and sharp, but I accept that as a trade off for being somewhat disinfected. The dressing was also a gauze pad doused in rubbing alcohol, taped on with a dry gauze on top. Any advice would be appreciated.

Female

34 years old

5'7

107-113 fluctuates

I have pots, me/cfs

Ive had like 3 stomach bugs in the last 6 months. Anyways ive lost weight I was 125ish 6 months ago and am dealing with nausea still from the first one though it was getting better until this past stomach bug i had 3 weeks ago. Anyways im having a hard time with carbs the first stomach bug I lost the ablity to digest them for a few months (nausea)and just recently right before getting sick again was able to eat them but now after this past illness its making me super sleepy and my heart rate drop to the 40s which also makes me short of breath. So I decided to not eat a grain today and focus on protein, fats, a little fruit, and veggies. I had asparagus and maybe half a sweet potato as my veggies. I felt a little shaky and air hunger today but I havent been extremely sleepy or nauseous today. But during this past stomach bug I was having a difficult time drinking enough water and to avoid the ER I was drinking electrolytes. Which the electrolytes would give me crazy chills. I even ate broth that has salt in it and it gave me chills as well. Well the last week recovering from it I havent had any chills except for tonight after I ate some more bites of sweet potato, my protein, nuts, and apple sauce. Now im having the chills again any ideas what these chills are? Do I have to be concerned about chills after eating and drinking? Am I just still recovering after 3 weeks?

Anything I should be concerned of?

20 y/o female, no alcohol or tobacco use, 280lbs

thursday night while cooking dinner i cut my finger nothing crazy other than needing stitches while in the er they recommend getting a tetanus shot, i obliged as i couldn’t remember when i had one and just saw a story about a guy who recently passed from it so why not get up to date, i get it done didn’t hurt at all, going to bed it’s sore as the nurse said it was going to be and she also said there’s gonna be a knot there and to massage it in, i did that all night. friday morning its sore of course, im able to massage a bit and there’s a noticeable knot present, through out the day im getting very dizzy and feel like imma pass out and my arm is hurting worse, im starting to feel feverish and very cold then hot, and back and forth between the two, i get home from my shift im so sore and feel like i need to sleep in hot and very dizzy. waking up this morning my arm is blown up red and so swollen, hard, red and very very painful, as the morning progressed the redness continues to spread and i trace it, i feel so lethargic today, i keep on getting cold and hot flash and im just so beat, i feel the urge to have the shakes, or like gitter idk it’s weird, im staying hydrated and taking Ibuprofen, the redness has stopped spreading as of a few hours ago but the swelling is still persisting when does it become concerning?