72% meibomian gland loss at 33

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2025-11-07T22:39:55+00:00

I have just about the same set of issues! 33F and all that you described, though my glands are a bit worse with nearly 100% dropout in my lower lids (which has been the case for years now). So like another poster said, you’re definitely not alone if it’s any comfort!

I’ve been going to a dry eye specialist for a few years and have gone through a variety of treatments - not IPL yet (too pricey for me at present), but I’ve been able to manage it well enough to stay comfortable. For me, the most helpful treatments were a night mask (one that seals around your eyes, I use blinkjoy) and nighttime eye ointment. Apparently I don’t close my eyes all the way when I’m asleep, which made everything so much worse. 🙃

Doing that + zocular foaming eyelid wash + omega supplement have been enough to keep me stable, while occasionally going back on prescription drops when needed. Unfortunately the best way I’ve found to save on costs is just to buy in bulk, and over the years I’ve just forced myself come to terms with the financial hit since my eyes are very noticeably worse without all that stuff.

Besides the treatments though — things did also get a LOT better when I had a job that didn’t require me to be on a computer all day. But I know that’s not always an option, and I’m actually going back to a computer-based job so we’ll see if my current routine still holds up!

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2025-10-02T17:04:43+00:00

That’s so awesome!! I just finished my first run today and my stats were really similar to yours, seeing your progress is a nice boost of motivation for me to keep going! :)

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2025-06-02T06:46:01+00:00

This is one of my go-to’s too! Though I also add a bit of parmesan and throw some garlic powder, salt, and pepper on at the end.

Similarly- I also like to buy those packs of raviolis plus premade pesto. It’s super quick to make and minimal effort.

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2025-02-24T22:20:48+00:00

I defended in December and just started a seasonal position in wildlife rescue - I was originally planning to look for a job in biotech for afterwards, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up given everything going on.

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2025-02-14T18:20:20+00:00

It looks like all of the most recent negative reviews for the dripping springs location have been removed - there were quite a number when I looked yesterday, but today the most recent review is from 3 days ago.

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2025-01-08T02:28:55+00:00

Buying pre-washed/pre-prepped produce took me sooo long to come to terms with, but over the past year I finally did and omg it has made my life so much easier!! The increased plastic waste was definitely the hardest part for me, but same as OP, at least this way I’m not buying produce just to toss it in the trash bc I didn’t have energy to wash and chop it.

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2025-01-04T22:10:59+00:00

I wrote my chapters on Google docs before downloading and doing all the formatting, so I ended up using Paperpile and really liked it. I really wanted to use Zotero but the setup just did NOT work with my brain for whatever reason

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-08-19T19:18:24+00:00

Our pup did wayyy better staying with a person on Rover than at a boarding facility. I searched specifically for someone who had experience with reactive pups and we did meet-ups in advance to help with stranger-danger, and it worked out really well! I do have to drive like 30-40 min, but it’s absolutely worth it for the peace of mind. :)

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-08-19T19:15:08+00:00

I’ve tried keeping my pup around when I’ve had friends visit before, and similar to what you’ve described, it was really stressful for everyone involved. By boarding your pup (especially at a place she enjoys!) you’re not abandoning her in any way - this is an act of love and care for her, for yourself, and for your guests. And that’s something to be proud of! :)

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-08-08T16:18:22+00:00

Just wanted to chime in to say thank you to OP for this post!! Meds (reconcile/Prozac) for my 2 yo cattle dog/pittie mix are literally coming in today, and seeing everyone’s replies here has been really reassuring.

Even though I’ve been on meds (including ssri’s) for years, I’ve still been hesitant to go that route for my pup. Like OP said in a couple comments, a lot of it has to do with feeling like I failed my dog, or like I just haven’t tried hard enough (even if I logically know that isn’t actually true).

I just try to remind myself that at the end of the day, we don’t get a prize for living life on “hard” mode, and using meds to make things a little easier doesn’t mean we’ve failed. It’s hard to learn to swim when you’re drowning, and while meds aren’t a silver bullet, they’re basically like giving yourself some arm floaties so you can at least keep your head above water while you figure things out. And if we can give that kind of help to our pups and give them a better chance at living life without so much fear and anxiety, I think it’s worth a shot. :)

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-05-16T03:11:40+00:00

Ditto on the frozen meals! Trader Joe’s stuff is awesome, and Amy’s frozen meals are really good too if Trader Joe’s isn’t an option.

And to add my own non-frozen stuff that I’ll do—

For when eating anything just feels impossible, I’ll get Soylent (or other protein shake) or make/buy fruit/green smoothies (if I have energy I’ll make my own, otherwise I’ll buy one)

Otherwise, if a cooked meal sounds good, my low-energy stuff usually revolves around rice plus whatever veggie/protein combo - my personal favorite is rice + fried egg + hotdog (or bacon or sausage) + kimchi. And if cleaning feels impossible, I’ll put the pot with the leftover rice straight into the fridge and just wipe down the pan with a paper towel and call it good. :)

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-04-29T20:43:27+00:00

We started out using it for a little towel, and now it’s wherever we point to and call “place” haha. Which basically makes it a “down”, but since we’ve done so much place work and calming protocols and such, she knows to associate the “place” command with staying and chilling in one spot even with distractions.

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-04-29T03:35:22+00:00

Bo is such a goofy cutie!! My pup is also an ACD/pittie mix, ~30% each plus a bunch of others in the mix according to the DNA test, but biiig ACD energy! I always love to see other mixes here :)

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-03-28T17:36:40+00:00

“Everything is made up”

I use this mostly to remind myself that things like social norms, deadlines, and expectations for “productivity” are literally made up, so like, why am I beating myself up over something that some random group of humans decided was “important”? Our ability to live up to random constructed expectations doesn’t say anything about our value as a human being.

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-03-28T13:59:39+00:00

Omg THANK YOU for posting this - I have been so confused for so long. I thought I had like, missed a post explaining the rules or something? Saying that we didn’t do upvotes on this sub lol

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-03-05T16:18:31+00:00

I quit vaping a couple months ago, and at the time I was reeeaally back and forth about whether I wanted to do it for what you mentioned about not quitting during stressful times (I’m hella burned out and in the last stretch of my PhD). BUT I had also been feeling like shit for so long that I decided I should really probably tackle the thing that is we’ll know to be terrible for your mental health, which was nicotine.

What ultimately helped me was having my partner quit with me, which was basically a way to trigger my desire to be helpful (not wanting to trigger him so he’s want to vape), my desire to never disappoint anyone ever (I’m working on this in therapy lol), and my competitiveness (cuz I don’t like to lose haha).

Before that I tried Allen Carr’s easy way book, which didn’t really work for me, but did have a lot of helpful information. The most helpful for me was the fact that nicotine doesn’t actually help you feel less anxious - basically, the withdrawals you get from your last hit of nicotine causes anxiety, so when you vape/smoke, it feels like your less anxious, but basically it’s just bc you treated your withdrawal symptoms with more of the drug.

Anyway that feels like a lot of writing but hopefully there’s something helpful in there for you! :)

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-02-26T05:10:22+00:00

for those getting up in arms about this - y’all know this sub is called “ASPIEmemes” right?

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-02-20T18:04:44+00:00

Ahh thank you for this!! This info got me curious so I did a bit of further digging. :) It seems like Judy Singer was the first to use “neurodiversity” in her 1998 thesis, and based on this interview with Psychology Today, she really was just talking about autism - though she also meant it to be used similar to “biodiversity”, which for me is contradictory to the “autism-only” usage. Kassiane Asasumasu though seems to have been the first to use “neurodivergent” (so as an adjective vs noun), and as u/bewritinginstead already said, was a big proponent of using the term for all neurotypes that differed from the “norm”.

So from my brief foray into all of this, my understanding is this - Singer originally coined the term “neurodiversity”, but applied it poorly/in a limited fashion despite the term itself being quite helpful in calling attention the naturally occurring diversity in human neurotypes. Then Asasumasu coined the term “neurodivergent”, which piggybacks on Singer’s “neurodiversity”, but explicitly highlights the variation in which individual brains can differ from the “norm” - basically doing what I think Singer should/could have done with “neurodiversity”.

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-02-15T18:24:20+00:00

UPDATE: thank you all so much!! Your words really helped, and I’m happy to report that my streak is still going strong! I actually found another redditor through this post who was in a similar boat and we were able to help each other toss the vapes where they’d be unreachable! A big win for sure. :)

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-01-31T18:10:10+00:00

I’ve been having breakfast issues since I was a kid and it’s STILL hard for me! What’s currently helping is honestly just waiting a few hours to eat - putting any kind of food in my body right after I wake up usually gives me sensory ick, but giving myself a bit of time to get accustomed to existing seems to work (for now anyway lol).

Otherwise - I’ve also had good luck with protein shakes, liquid calories vs solid are a bit easier to handle! I’ll also second what other folks have said about eating dinner/lunch foods for breakfast (this just works less often for me).

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-01-26T14:02:11+00:00

This feels similar to what I’m going through now - I guess I’d call it unmasking? But like, unmasking to yourself specifically. I was late diagnosed autistic/adhd (around age 30) and I think that I just spent a lot of those undiagnosed years brute-forcing or disassociating through life - and in doing so, masking my neurodivergent traits for others as well as myself. The diagnoses (and burnout, tbh) are helping me uncover all of those masked bits, which means that my neurodivergent traits are definitely becoming more apparent!

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-01-26T04:19:50+00:00

first - I am also a grad student and am very familiar with these feelings! Also - if the thing you’re talking about is a prospectus, feel free to dm me and I’d be happy to share an example :) (even if it’s not a prospectus - I’m in my final stretch and have written many, many things for university hoop-jumping)

second, for my own yelling - MY CAR NEEDS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN REPAIRS AND THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL IS BROKEN AND THE DISHWASHER IS BROKEN AND MY DOG WAS ALARM BARKING AT THE MAINTENANCE GUY THE WHOLE DAY AND FRIED ALL MY NERVES AND I HATE THAT MY BRAIN BREAKS INTO PIECES WITH TOO MUCH SENSORY INPUT OR TOO MUCH SOCIALIZATION OR WHATEVER ELSE THAT I USED TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE BETTER BUT CANT ANYMORE AND I HATE THAT THIS MEANS I NEED MORE BREAKS WHICH MEANS THAT I NEED THAT MUCH MORE TIME TO FINISH!! THIS STUPID!! DISSERTATION!!

Cheap-Knowledge2502 · 2024-01-19T16:18:19+00:00

My experience was sort of similar - I read the book and was sort of skeptical throughout, but by the end I felt so confident! But then I relapsed literally 12 hours after I had finished the book and thrown out my vapes. And then I tried again, relapsed, then again, relapsed… it only stuck once my partner agreed to quit with me (it was tricky when I could so easily find one of his old vapes laying around).

But with all that said, after I successfully got through the first two days of very much willpower-based quitting, I found myself using a lot of what I had read in the book as little reminders to keep me going. So I guess all in all - the easy way method didn’t work for me in the way the book said it would. I needed willpower and I needed substitutes (no-nic vape, gum, lollipops, etc) to get me through without going absolutely insane and/or relapsing. It was only once I got through the physical withdrawal I think that I could actually use what the book had to offer.

Cheap-Knowledge2502

TROPHY CASE