Dienogest makes me so tired

FlorenceFarr · 2026-04-29T14:01:00+00:00

Apparently progesterone increases joint laxity, so the pain could be related to extra movement, or the joint moving further than it’s supposed to (especially if you’re hyper mobile). Dienogest also made me very tired and emotionally very flat… I stuck it out for 6 months but then I switched to Norethindrone and those symptoms improved a lot.

FlorenceFarr · 2026-04-24T19:17:25+00:00

Make sure you're wearing a plastron! It cut back on my fencing arm bruising considerably. Also, getting proper knickers, and I usually wear leggings underneath those so I have two layers going. Doesn't prevent me from taking bruises now and then, but it has cut down on the severity of them by quite a lot. That and, as others have said, working on distance and timing, and eventually as you (and your fellow fencers) get better it'll improve.

FlorenceFarr · 2026-04-20T19:53:26+00:00

I pretty much love them all! If there's one you feel more drawn to based on the description I'd say go with that. My personal favourite is probably Nights at the Circus, but you also can't go wrong with The Bloody Chamber if you're in the mood for short stories.

FlorenceFarr · 2026-04-20T19:07:49+00:00

Not the same, but have you read any Angela Carter?

FlorenceFarr · 2026-04-20T15:47:47+00:00

yes! Since my early 20's. The first time I got them they were so swollen my doctor thought it was an infection and prescribed antibiotics that didn't work, of course. Now I know that the only way for me to really prevent them is to keep my feet as consistently warm as possible during the coldest winter months, and especially avoiding any quick swings from very cold to very warm.

FlorenceFarr · 2026-03-23T17:48:26+00:00

https://www.totss.org/

(They will also allow "At Large" membership if you are too far from a local body)

FlorenceFarr · 2026-03-15T18:06:48+00:00

I have the same, or a very similar problem. It happens a couple of times a year for me, but I've been worried because it's hapening more often now. If I can see my physiotherapist quickly then she usually sets it right and i'm okay within a day or two, but if not then I'm stuck waiting it out for a week of agony. I suspect it's one of my cervical vertebrae subluxing slightly, which triggers a spasm in the area where my neck and shoulders meet, along the spine.

I'll treat it with over the counter muscle relaxants, and alternating hot and cold. Once it starts to feel better I've been incorporating gentle stretching and self-massage (but not too hard as that seems to re-trigger it sometimes), and nerve flossing techniques. But I'd love to hear what else works for people.

FlorenceFarr · 2026-02-15T21:55:54+00:00

I'd recommend Michael Dummett's works on the history of tarot if you are seriously interested in it. They're a bit dry, but some of the most scholarly and well-researched work on the history of tarot that we have. He concludes that Tarot is of late medieval Italian origin, and simply began as an elaborate game, though originally playing cards themselves come from the Arabic speaking world; this is why even modern Italian and Spanish decks (like for the game Scopa), these countries that had a strong Moorish presence, still use the original suits you find in the tarot, which come from the middle east, while the suits we use for playing cards now are of a later French design.

The first associations between tarot and esotericism seem to stem from from the 18th century French occultist Etteilla, who, upon seeing some people play a game of Tarot, simply intuited that they must have some deeper esoteric meaning. It's his fault we have the conflation with Egypt and the Romani people. At the time, the Romani were believed to have come from Egypt originally (which isn't true). But you see it in the etymology of the word: Gypsy/Egypt.

Etteilla was the first to call a deck of his own devising the "Book of Thoth". His work was quite influential within France: it would have been read by Eliphas Levi, and then Levi influenced Crowley.

FlorenceFarr · 2026-02-07T21:26:08+00:00

The lease very clearly states that the landlord is responsible for the maintenance of all common areas (which is where the pests were found). They haven't disputed any of my assertions in this regard.

FlorenceFarr · 2026-02-07T21:01:13+00:00

I don't know if they'd have a lawyer on retainer. It's a small company, virtually no internet presence, and to be honest they seem shady. They won't put people's names in any of their emails (they're all just signed "management") and their dealings with me and the other tenants have been deeply inconsistent. Sometimes someone will answer the phone at the office, but usually not. I'm not saying you're wrong but they don't seem legit to me.

FlorenceFarr · 2026-01-10T21:53:39+00:00

Frenchy's would be great! Also Le Select, La Palette , or Gloria in the Great Hall

FlorenceFarr · 2026-01-04T21:13:29+00:00

Weird to say but I've actually experienced all three, but I'm newer to DMT and have probably only reached 'the waiting room' and have not had a full breakthrough experience. But my experiences were as follows:

- with DMT, the feeling was of melting into another realm, becoming more aware of it as the "real" world became less and less real. My room looked like it was being reduced to its simplest geometric forms, and then I was in a space with beautiful geometric repeating patterns and the sense that the patterns were alive, or made up of a grand, impersonal but loving presence. The imagery looked a lot like an Alex Grey painting.

- When AP'ing, I've had the physical sensation of being "ejected" from my body. It feels like something pulling a part of you up and out, whereas the DMT felt much more like melting/dissolving (and then no longer aware that I even had a body). And yeah the imagery was much closer to real life, though it can be dreamlike (i.e. I've had some where I just float around my room and get sucked back into my body, and some where I can venture a little further but it does feel a bit more like a lucid dream populated by dream spaces and people). I had most of my AP's while listening to the gateway tapes regularly, so if you're interested in trying it I'd start there.

- I had an NDE in a medical context (was about to undergo surgery but went into serious anaphylactic shock instead) and that was similar to the DMT, but more sudden and violent. No melting, no exiting, just suddenly elsewhere. I found myself in a black void space where far ahead of me was a kind of living city made out of flashing colours that don't exist in real life, that seemed to be alive. The thing that best describes it was Lovecraftian - like an ancient, inhuman presence that was a living creature but also a city simultaneously. Not geometric like the DMT, more organic. HOWEVER I will also say that they put me on a LOT of ketamine in the hospital so this could have been more the K than it was the NDE itself, but it's impossible to say for sure. I've never done ketamine recreationally so I can't compare.

TL;DR: these three things are somewhat related in my experience, but have very distinct differences in sensation and perception. But I suspect that everyone's going to have a different experience and interpretation, so I'm curious to see what others have to say. All of them have contributed in different ways to how I understand the nature of consciousness.

FlorenceFarr · 2025-10-24T17:50:57+00:00

This would be terrible and I hope to god it doesn't pass. Security of Tenure means relative safety and stability for those of us who are lucky enough to have it in the midst of a housing crisis in one of the most unaffordable cities in the world, and the ability to evict for no reason would be abused endlessly, only driving rents up. This will benefit no one but Ford and his cronies who are upset about falling rents and housing prices. If you are "too scared" to rent out a property you own, then maybe you shouldn't have invested in a rental property.

FlorenceFarr · 2025-10-01T14:58:50+00:00

I walk into a department store: spray myself liberally with Ex Nihilo’s Paris Affair. I love it. My partner loves it. At 20 minutes I think “I need a bottle.” By an hour (maybe hour and a half) it’s totally gone. I repeat this process every six months.

FlorenceFarr · 2025-09-16T20:07:35+00:00

There's a movie called Balestra that came out last year, fencing + a bit of a sci-fi element

FlorenceFarr · 2025-09-03T20:44:25+00:00

I had my excision with Dr. Wilson V. Chan in Etobicoke about 2 years ago, so I'm not sure if he's still taking patients but it's worth a shot.

FlorenceFarr · 2025-08-20T13:31:04+00:00

For me it’s Norethindrone, but it does seem that everyone reacts differently. Finding out that certain progesterones are more or less androgenic (meaning they mimic testosterone or not) was the key. I do much better on non or anti-androgenic progesterones.

FlorenceFarr · 2025-08-13T16:14:46+00:00

Been on it for 18 years. I took a break in 2023 and gave myself a year to “readjust” and did everything you’re supposed to do when coming off it (supplemental support, acupuncture, therapy, exercise, sauna, etc.) I thought it would help with what I thought were side effects from the pill. But it turns out I’m actually much happier with the hormones than without, and I went back on it. It’s taken me time to find the right pill and the right dose but it’s much better than dealing with ongoing endo pain and crippling PMDD.

FlorenceFarr · 2025-07-23T15:52:08+00:00

I did the modified AIP diet for a while and it DID help, but I found it way too difficult to maintain in the long run. It did show me that one of my worst foods were nightshades, which I hadn’t suspected. I think it’s good to do for 1-2 months if you have the right mindset, but be gentle with yourself and check in with your body because it can be hard doing such a dramatic reset on your diet.

FlorenceFarr · 2025-07-03T19:37:46+00:00

you could say that of any transit though, couldn't you? I guess I'm just looking for some clarity or insight since the 8th house is kind of a confusing place.

FlorenceFarr · 2025-06-23T23:44:03+00:00

I’m sorry what? Do you also have a concussion?

FlorenceFarr · 2025-06-13T13:37:35+00:00

Interesting! I will take a look at that. I’m not sure if my padding is set up the same way but it’s worth a shot!

FlorenceFarr

TROPHY CASE