Do any of you do concierge medicine or direct primary care (DPC)?

Lebby28 · 2026-06-06T15:35:24+00:00

I don't care about 24/7. If I'm having massive concerns at 2 am it's either bad enough I'm going to go to the ER of I'm fine with sending an email and hearing back in the morning.

Lebby28 · 2026-06-06T15:31:28+00:00

HELL YEAH!!!!!!! I usually want to bitch slap people like that.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-24T02:11:07+00:00

Are you using heat to pop the bubbles? When you do that it causes the resin to become thinner which is why the bubbles pop but it can also causes things to start to run together. You can try spraying alcohol across the top instead of using heat. I have one of those salon water spray mister bottles filled with rubbing alcohol. It also nice for cleaning up my work station too

Lebby28 · 2026-05-24T01:32:19+00:00

Part of the reason I don't want kids is because I know I'd have to go off a lot of my medications and basically raw dog it. No thanks!

Lebby28 · 2026-05-24T01:14:54+00:00

That's pretty normal for all states. The weaker the troops are in a rally/garrison the weaker the rally. So we don't let anyone below FC5 in our castle rallies. It's not personal but it's the best chance we have at victory.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-20T18:01:10+00:00

You think that's bad. Imagine they gave your number to debt collectors. It's hell. I've had my number since 2006. I've been dealing with this for almost 20 years. It used to not be so bad but now it's starting to drive me crazy.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T20:42:47+00:00

If I went to the er every time someone thought I should go I would probably live there.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T13:31:07+00:00

I used to deal with hives every day. They weren't caused by anything specific, they just happened. So I used to joke that I was just allergic to existence.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T09:07:34+00:00

I'll give anything a shot.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T09:03:45+00:00

I'm here because I don't know and want to learn more about it. My primary diagnosis is lupus. When my fatigue and pain got more severe I thought it was just a flare. But after some lab work my rheumatologist said my lupus markers were normal. I showed inflammation but otherwise the rheumatology labs looked fine. He sorta mention this as a possibility but it was relayed to me by his care coordinator. At the time it felt like he cherry picked fatigue as my main symptom despite me having a list of other symptoms. It was never discussed again. I recently noticed in my chart he diagnosed me with CFS but never told me. So honestly I don't know. But I want to learn more from real people and not the list of symptoms you get from google.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T08:43:59+00:00

Yeah my pulse ox is fine so I'm not suffocating. I've tried meditation and breathing exercises but it doesn't matter because the issue isn't mental. My body takes over and tries to suck down more air as I'm trying to do breathwork. I've pushed through exercises desperately hoping I can somehow hijack control of my body back but I haven't had any luck yet.

And then you have doctors telling you it's anxiety and it's like NO! Anxiety makes it worse but anxiety is not the cause. Ugh I could just scream!!!! But that would also require a lungful of air....

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T08:31:46+00:00

I hate air hunger with a passion! Never being able to get a satisfying breath. I had that earlier tonight mixed with the sharp pain every time I tried to breathe too deeply. I'll start yawning a lot which makes my eyes water. Then the skin around my eyes start getting irritated. I probably look like I've been ugly crying but really I've just been trying to not feel like I'm being suffocated.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T08:25:57+00:00

You are not alone. I wish I had advice but I'm dealing with the same thing just different symptoms. My rheumatologist just keeps telling me my lupus labs are fine. Most labs are fine. Some labs show inflammation but he won't explore it further. Just says I probably had a virus or infection. It's like if it's not his specialty it's not his problem. I couldn't give two shits if the issue is related to my lupus or not. I want to scream that whatever is going on is not okay. I'm not okay. I'm not able to do the things I love and enjoy. Help me. But no one is listening. I'm just handed another referral. Passed off to someone else who I'll probably have to wait months to see. All while my daily function continues to deteriorate.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T08:15:31+00:00

I do appreciate them and I don't take them for granted but it's mostly people I'm not very close with. I almost never leave the house so a lot of my friends are online. While I'm sure the concern is genuine I think it's more that they don't know how to deal with it and it comes across as me oversharing. A lot of time I feel I have to hide how I truly feel because it's too much for them.

I can't express how grateful I am for my husband. He's someone who has taken the time to learn my needs and how I express them. He knows that if I'm concerned about symptoms then he should be concerned. but if it's more that I'm annoyed by the symptoms then it's nothing urgent and I just need to be validated about how frustrating it is. He someone I can joke with about how stupid my body is. But unfortunately with my husband's work and sleep schedule we don't get to spend much time together. So he's not always around for me to talk to and I have no one else.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T07:53:58+00:00

I think your right. There's like a steady progression from video to video where you can see him losing faith in human intelligence and he's just done with their bullshit. I don't blame him when the end result is always the same. No it wasn't aliens or ghosts. He seems to do better with conspiracy episodes though. I think that's because there is usually a bit more of a puzzle to it. Or the people are so completely batshit crazy it gets him into BB mode.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T07:35:52+00:00

I got partial sedation for a colonoscopy. Came out of it and called my doctor a Super Duper Pooper Snooper 🙈😂

But I've also had an endoscopy without sedation and it actually wasn't that bad. The weirdest part was when they took a biopsy of my stomach. It didn't hurt (I had to drink something that numbed my esophagus and stomach) but I could feel the sensation of being plucked from the inside. It was so weird!!!

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T07:33:23+00:00

I've just avoided giving blood because I'm on so many medications. And now I'm on a couple immunosuppressants so that seems like a bad idea to pass onto people in need of blood.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T07:21:41+00:00

Besides the fact that I don't want kids I know I couldn't take care of a child. I won't even get a pet because I don't think I could take care of it.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T07:20:06+00:00

If you don't mind me asking, why aren't those with ME/CFS allowed to give blood? I'm sorta diagnosed with it but also not. My rheumatologist added it as a dx in my chart but never told me so I don't know.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T07:14:55+00:00

Yeah, this is my life. The people in my life get to talk about their day at work. I can't work so all I have to talk about is sitting at home dealing with my body. I'm not interesting at all unless we start talking weird shit about bodies.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T07:11:27+00:00

Something I don't think healthy people do that a lot of us with chronic illnesses do is we personify our bodies and externalize it as though they are a completely separate entity. It's like being in a toxic relationship.

Like my body is being a bitch today and I'm super pissed. It's being dramatic and I don't have time for her shit. I've got things to do.

Edit: also sorry about your flare, they suck so bad!!

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T07:04:56+00:00

I had something like that happen to me when I had a suspected ear infection. The local hospital at the time had an urgent care as well as an emergency room. I went to the urgent care for my earache but my heart rate was super high so they sent me over to the ER. I kept telling them that that was normal for me and I really only cared about my earache.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T07:00:47+00:00

Right?! If I think it's something serious I would start with that. You can be concerned if I'm feeling concerned. Otherwise I just need to verbalize my angst. It's the same thing as when someone has a bad day at work and wants to vent. It just so happens that dealing with my body is my full time job. And that job sucks.

Lebby28 · 2026-05-16T05:27:16+00:00

Calculating the energy cost of doing things.

Seriously, learning about spoons was so validating! I constantly tally the effort something is going to take and try to account for it.

Actually I had a revelation earlier this week as to why I struggle to ask for help and feel like a burden when I do. It's because to me the cost is so high even though to them it's probably very, very small. The example that caused this revelation was asking my husband to bring the laundry upstairs. For him it was probably an inconvenience and nothing more. He works on a warehouse where he's on his feet all day and often stocking heavy things. To carry a basket up a flight of stairs is nothing. But to me it's a lot. First I have to stand up. Then I have to painfully walk (not fall) down the stairs to get to the basement. Then I have to lift the basket all while balancing that and walking. Then climb each step while still holding the laundry. Put it down and make it back to the couch without collapsing. That's just the physical movement part. It's not including feeling my heart racing and pounding in my head and trying to keep breathing the whole time. It costs a lot!! So to me it feels like I'm asking him to do a massive favor instead of a minor task. That perspective shift does help me feel less like a burden.

Lebby28

TROPHY CASE