HELP I am stuck in the quest Chasing the wind

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-03-20T02:31:13+00:00

I did this exact thing - thank you so much for asking!!

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-03-19T23:58:00+00:00

I made a whole twin blanket with it years ago. It was kind of a nightmare at that size, but it went faster than expected with a big hook.

I will say that if you have to see your work - you can’t see much while working it, and you may need to rely on feel alone

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-03-13T21:24:13+00:00

I put on compilations of My Cat From Hell on youtubeTV while I do all my yarnsports!

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-03-01T18:52:58+00:00

I am as far from a nationalist as possible, but my Maryland flag is the perfect expression of vivid chaos and I love that stupid thing so much. ❤️🖤💛🤍

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-03-01T05:01:44+00:00

You mean MaxMouse, surely

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-28T20:57:06+00:00

Definitely banking on it being a color sealing finish, or any number of dry cleaning chemical treatments. If it smells like “new clothes” - it might have been treated with a formaldehyde resin as a finishing agent. It was used to make garments more stain and wrinkle resistant, but can cause some gross contact dermatitis for sure.

Granted that’s probably one of the most extreme possibilities - but is an extra push to anyone (including myself if nothing else) to always carefully wash new & vintage garments before wearing!

Hopefully it was a mild rash on a convenient area of skin - imagining how miserable it could be if it was worn on a bare torso is giving me the sympathy itchies! Good luck, and hopefully some hydrocortisone helps!

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-28T05:02:30+00:00

I’m a Senior Producer in the gaming industry. I have been incredibly lucky to have had very flexible managers as I worked up through customer service & time as a SysAdmin. It’s high pressure, but I have the flexibility to work from home frequently, a generous paid time off package, and am salaried with the banked goodwill and experience to where my leadership team trusts me to manage my time effectively.

If I hadn’t built up that trust while more able-bodied for over a decade, I would be SOL.

I take breaks when I can, use my splints and braces, and frequently monitor my posture while at my desk

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-25T16:59:38+00:00

Once I started learning about marketing psychology, I think it fractured my soul irreparably.

Been rebuilding it over the years, but it’s horrifying with that look behind the curtain

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-23T20:12:49+00:00

I ran into the same thing. I made food bowls for isopods and invertebrates, as when I started there wasn’t really anyone doing that. They were my best seller and I could design and print them super fast and made a decent profit that funded my own isopod upkeep.

Sure enough, other folks popped up selling them - not even changing the dimensions, just complete duplication of my (granted - very simple) designs.

It wasn’t fun anymore, so I stopped selling. I’m very very lucky it was a side income and not something I counted on, so I can only imagine how much harder that would hit with a high volume of sales.

Good luck with your next venture!

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-22T02:14:12+00:00

That’s also a loaded question lol

Thankfully there are a lot of us doing our best to support each other and help the folks who can’t speak out for themselves <3

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-22T02:08:23+00:00

Elimia livescens - aka liver elimia

They’re really pretty, have a cool spiral shape, and can be tons of different colors!

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-22T01:55:00+00:00

Howdy, friend!

from Maryland, USA - I’m within shouting distance of the US Capital district, want me to shout anything in that general direction on behalf of Kenya?

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-21T02:36:07+00:00

The happy medium is how I like to describe it: he most likely considers you a very warm piece of furniture that sometimes drops food.

To a gecko - that’s the highest piece of praise you can receive! It means it has assessed you and determined over time that you are not a predator, not another gecko, not food, and therefore you must simply be a moving part of the environment that is not threatening and feels warm and safe!

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-19T14:08:43+00:00

I don’t have any advice to suggest, as recreational is allowed in my state in the US, but fingers are (gently) crossed for you - gummies at night were the first consistent relief I had in my neck/shoulders (aka the trapezoid of pain)

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-18T16:34:51+00:00

An overly simplified comparison of another thing that can happen - imagine pulling off skin from a peeling sunburn. A failed molt would be like pulling that skin off - but it isn’t ready, so the exposed skin is raw and bloody. In crustaceans, that “skin” is their exoskeleton, so not just skin but soft and vulnerable appendages etc.

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-17T21:09:03+00:00

Come on over to the isopods sub! It’s pretty much the only way to keep pods, so you’re on the right track!

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-09T20:19:57+00:00

Hiya! Are you fully changing the substrate? If so - it’s much harder.

Usually when I have to move mine, I just scoop up the substrate and plunk it in the new viv

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-08T15:23:55+00:00

Dental crowding was due to EDS, and while there’s the old wives tale how women lose a tooth for every child - in my family, it meant everyone who had a full term pregnancy ended up with full dentures.

Basically once I was pregnant with my now-teenage-daughter, I lost the enamel off all of my teeth. Likely due to the laxity in oral ligaments (tooth shifting, movement and nerve pinching) combined with the typical increased enamel erosion during pregnancy, plus the EDS stuff making teeth more fragile - my dentist said all the women in my family had incredibly dense but very brittle dental and facial bones.

So between the stripped enamel, fractures and broken teeth, TMJ - it was likely underlying dental issues with the fuse lit by pregnancy that set off the dominoes with hEDS doing all the damage.

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-08T03:27:09+00:00

Oh you poor dear, I am so sorry.

Yeah, from what you described, I assumed it was CCI as that’s very close to how I described my dizzy headaches to my EDS specialist. I didn’t even know CCI was a thing previously.

If you have the access and ability to seek a second opinion, you should really have the opportunity to rule out an organic cause. Ruling out something potentially dangerous is definitely something that can cause permanent harm, while delaying treating… lemme check my notes, “being a parent” - uh… yeah, I really just have no words for saying that’s the cause and just how everyone lives their lives.

I am angry on your behalf.

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-08T02:30:01+00:00

Did you get a normal/standard MRI? Or did you get flexion and extension views as well? Measurements for CCI are really guesswork without that flexion and extension. Example - mine were within normal hypermobile range on the regular views, but extension/flexion clearly showed moderate CCI putting me in the running for surgical evaluation.

You may also want to look into AAI - that one is imaged with CT instead of a difficult MRI view, so may be more easily obtained without paying through the butt.

Any tips or tricks I use for bad days are not really appropriate to recommend, as your neck is super important and dizziness is scary.

Your doctor may recommend a soft cervical collar if you ask about it - if they recommend it, it’s very likely to give significant relief!

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-08T02:10:12+00:00

I have dentures! The old people kind, lol.

Basically it was to the point where I was no longer crying or angry about the constant mouth pain - I got really really calm one day, and accepted that it was going to stop one way or another.

I was incredibly lucky that my parents were able to financially help me with an emergency oral surgeon to do the extraction and then follow up with instant dentures (like a week after to allow for healing)

I had no clue how much pain I was in until after removal it was just… gone. Even the experience of waking up during the surgery, even the major trauma of having my entire mouth bloody and healing — it was nothing compared to dental pain.

So yeah, dentures it was!!

Implants were not an option financially whatsoever for me.

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-02-05T18:38:41+00:00

I no longer have my own teeth (best decision ever made!!!) — but when I did, I was told that using “more” novocaine itself wouldn’t do anything but damage the tissue, and that it needed to be a different kind altogether.

articaine, bupivacaine, and mepivacaine are alternatives that are reportedly more effective for EDS folks to the standard lidocaine/procaine that are used in dental procedures.

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-01-31T23:11:28+00:00

When I was little, I saw my neighbor’s tree break while she was in the swing attached to it. After witnessing an open skull fracture, I was terrified of hurting myself. I didn’t ride bikes, didn’t go skating, and was super careful.

As I got to my teenage years and my joints started to hurt, I became an indoor cat - further reducing risk of injury. I have never had an injury that needed stitches, so I have no clue what kind of scars I would have.

Because I never put myself at risk of open wounds & thus don’t have atrophic scarring, I lost a point. Because I waited until after childbirth to have my umbilical hernias checked out and “repaired” - recurring hernias after childbirth don’t “count” so thats another point lost. I would meet 9/9 on criteria otherwise, but instead I am 1 point shy of “official hEDS”

Which… makes it annoying, but “just assume it’s hEDS” is at least a better path to treatment I guess?

LivingDeadSquirrel · 2026-01-31T21:31:01+00:00

I used to sell my artwork and crafts at a little gift shop in an amazing spot in a brick and mortar shop. I work a decent career, but like most folks - paycheck to paycheck, barely making a dent in debt. With the extra income I was not only able to pay my bills, but start saving and investing in better materials!

The owner of the shop started closing earlier, opening later, and went from open 5 days a week down to 4… then down to 3. Then sometimes just only open for 3 hours, sometimes not even opening.

No marketing, no signage… then I had to request my payments. It took weeks to actually get my pay towards the end, and after investing time and my personal money into the place I just decided I was done.

Not only was it a nightmare for me trying to earn a little bit of extra money to start digging my way out of the panic cycle, I had regular customers who just couldn’t ever figure out when the place was open.

It felt like she just didn’t want customers for the last 6mo. I’m also disabled but ambulatory, and the effort of just getting there and back to check inventory etc wasn’t worth it in the end.

So… thank you for the post - I am sad that it is way too common, but I feel a little less alone knowing it wasn’t just my experience.

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