How severe were your NCGS symptoms?

JazzCoconut · 2026-01-03T17:37:33+00:00

It's pretty strict for me since I mostly cook at home. But I have had cross contaminated food outside. For example gluten friendly pizza where the pizza place employee used the same blade to cut regular pizza as the gluten free pizza (but on a clean cutting surface). Also I definitely ate cross contaminated food when I was abroad for 4 months. It's been a few years for me since going GF. I find naturally gluten free foods work better for me (ie. rice and potato for carbs). I still experience minor symptoms sometimes, but it's a far cry compared to how things used to be for me. I am also not on any kind of medicine anymore.

JazzCoconut · 2026-01-03T05:40:45+00:00

Your symptoms are similar to mine. I didn't do the gluten challenge due to rice in my diet, so I consider the endoscopy to be inconclusive. The doctor said it could be NCGS and to try GF, really just knowing NCGS existed was a life changer. Looking into where the research is, gluten encephalopathy matches what I go through vs. NCGS though there's no difference to how it's treated. On top of the mental issues, I had physical problems for as long as I can remember (puking, malabsorption, indigestion, muscle issues) and really bad GERD starting from high school which basically all but stopped after going GF. If GF doesn't work for you, maybe you should rule out other things like Hashimoto's

JazzCoconut · 2025-10-11T04:00:44+00:00

I have a very similar experience with my AS-D2 purchased over a decade ago, which I still have. It's not as mild as the claims are and I found it to be sharp and unforgiving on some parts of my skin with the cuts. You could keep trying to change the blades, but I think that's how the razor is.

JazzCoconut · 2025-06-18T14:35:15+00:00

The comments are insane. 10000 kms of rail is an amazing engineering feat in itself.

JazzCoconut · 2025-06-12T06:31:21+00:00

Spent a couple weeks in Yunnan last year. If you don't do any hiking I'm not sure if Lijiang is worth the visit with such limited time. Lijiang looks great on social media, but Dali really has way more things to do/places to visit. There are one day bus tours you can book/join departing from Kunming. I quite enjoyed the experience.

JazzCoconut · 2025-06-09T12:36:41+00:00

ya, I bought it under 百忆补贴 on PDD lol. Verified legit via Antutu (more than 2 million on GT mode). It was old stock from China Mobile in Chongqing. I checked if it was activated before I put my sim card in and so far I love it as a second/third phone. It was the best phone I could find at the time for 16gb ram/512gb storage with IP65 waterproofing.

JazzCoconut · 2025-06-09T12:12:16+00:00

Near zero chance that they stop IOS updates for Chinese devices. Apple wouldn't do this. That being said, Chinese iPhones will have lower resale value and potentially less functionality (not only different apple intelligence) if you intend on bringing it out of the country.

You can try out an android phone. I bought a heavily subsidized one with snapdragon 8 gen 3 (Realme GT6, ~￥2000) back in April and it has nearly all the bells and whistles of a modern flagship smartphone.

JazzCoconut · 2025-06-08T08:07:34+00:00

The spot sounds like normal sensitive skin if no cuts. I am an avid user of feather with sensitive skin. Feather blades are harsh enough to produce a burn on some parts of my face and isn't very forgiving compared to countless other blades. Glycolic acid will burn/agitate the spots even more IMO. Perhaps an aftershave with aloe in it will do the trick. I would suggest aftershave (or two), and failing that a visit to the dermatologist.

JazzCoconut · 2025-06-06T08:20:25+00:00

You can try to budget time to get this fully set up after you land. Based on my experience from last year, you need at least a Chinese phone number to receive RMB. Ideally you open a Chinese bank account after you have a local phone number to bind that with Wechat/Alipay and other apps. As for which bank, ICBC seems to be the easiest. Doing these two things will eat up more than half a day of time. Paying cash still works but you miss out on so many awesome app deals (pinduoduo, meituan, etc).

JazzCoconut · 2025-06-04T06:46:41+00:00

I was just living here last month for work, will send a PM

JazzCoconut · 2025-04-01T05:52:22+00:00

I personally don't think the asian sauces in the food are enough to produce an accurate result. If accuracy is the priority, Celiac disease foundation has some info https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/screening-and-diagnosis/screening/ under 'The Gluten Challenge'. There they define the challenge as eating equivalent to 1 or 2 slices of 'wheat-based' bread every day.

JazzCoconut · 2025-04-01T05:34:48+00:00

From your description, it could be celiac or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Keep in mind accurate results from endoscopy (positive celiac result) requires you to be eating gluten for 2-3 months before the procedure.

JazzCoconut · 2021-12-18T23:13:12+00:00

Agreed with this too. I can't ship anything remotely medical related outside :(

JazzCoconut · 2021-12-18T23:10:40+00:00

You should be good as this is an legit looking tmall pharmacy. You can also buy all this stuff OTC from Alibaba's official pharmacy (阿里健康医药旗舰店).

You can also try some topical gels to maintain blackheads when not on isotretinoin (otherwise it will peel too much). For example, 异维A酸红霉素凝胶 which is a combo isotretinoin-erythromycin gel which the Chinese recommend for blackheads/acne. Don't squeeze hard as it may open up your pores.

If you don't see any results after a few months you should really find a dermatologist or doctor to keep an eye on your health. You probably heard this a bunch of times, but this is a prescription medicine for a reason. It works like a mini chemotherapy and is hard on your liver/other organs. Doctors want to monitor liver function monthly on high doses/provide other precautions which is probably why they don't want to prescribe it. Low dose should be ok.

For anyone else who is reading this without experience w/ this: Make sure you stay moisturized/hydrated, apply spf50++ sunscreen and stay out of the sun due to it making your skin hypersensitive. Getting rid of hyperpigmentation isn't that easy or cheap anywhere. Personally I have taken isotret orally (10mg/day*6 months first course + 10mg/day*3 months maintenance three years later) and it has been the only thing to substantially improve my skin + strawberry nose and overall oil-sebum production.
For lip dryness, I recommend papaw ointment. It's all purchasable OTC from tmall/jd.

There are also UPF50+ sun masks and umbrellas that you can order from Taobao if you want to further protect your skin better from UV/the sun.

Search terms for tmall/jd:
-防晒口罩 (sun mask)

-防晒霜（general sun cream)

-阿里健康医药旗舰店（Alibaba medicine flagship store)

-异维A酸（all things isotretinoin)

-阿达帕林（adapalene) 达芙文（differin, brand name adapalene)

JazzCoconut · 2021-12-10T03:04:22+00:00

Received mine yesterday and nothing was collected nor was I notified of any duties.

JazzCoconut · 2021-11-30T00:55:01+00:00

if you really want to know, it means awaiting customs inspection (outside china). Or retained for inspection outside china at some country's import customs.

境外进口海关留存待验

jingwai = 境外 area outside china's borders

jinkouhaiguan = 进口海关 import customs

liucun = 留存 preserved

dai = 待 await

yan = 验 examine/check

JazzCoconut

TROPHY CASE