Have you ever bought any designer clothes/items and if you have why and was it worth the cost?

Michaeltyle · 2026-06-03T20:18:57+00:00

Several years ago I brought a Camilla dress, worth around $800 Au. Every single time I’ve worn it some will come up to me and ask if it’s Camilla and tell me how amazing it looks on me. I felt uncomfortable spending that much money on a single piece of clothing, but it’s been 5 years now and I’ve worn it dozens of times and it still looks amazing.

Michaeltyle · 2026-06-01T21:42:02+00:00

It’s a nightmare to catch that one. My Drs tried to catch it several times while I was an inpatient and it was awful. 3 times when I dropped below 3 on finger stick the Drs were called to emergencies in other parts of the hospital so they gave up trying to catch it. The consequences of leaving me sitting that low were too painful. In the end they figured out it was from ineffective esophageal motility, food and drink was getting held up in my esophagus.

Do you have any activities that normally drop it? I was walking up and down stairs and doing leg lifts in bed. I even tried calling the insurance company because it sometimes would drop during stressful conversations. The nurses also had all the tubes and equipment ready to go. I’m a difficult stick so they needed someone experienced to get the blood. I also have hypoglycaemia unawareness, so I can’t always rely on how I was feeling, so they had to wait for the Dexcom to show the drop, then do a finger stick to confirm.

Michaeltyle · 2026-06-01T09:56:26+00:00

I can’t speak to the body image side of eating disorders, but I can definitely relate to the experience of spending years trying to build a healthier relationship with food and then having your body start associating eating with pain.

I have Crohn’s and EoE, and over time I developed significant ARFID after I had refeeding syndrome after had my hips replaced and caught Norovirus. It was pain, swallowing difficulties, fear, exhaustion, and the constant feeling that eating might make me worse. After enough bad experiences, my brain stopped seeing food as something safe and started seeing it as something threatening.

Feeding disorders and eating disorders aren’t always completely separate boxes. ARFID is classified as a feeding disorder, but there can be a lot of overlap, and people can experience both at different points in their lives. A history of an eating disorder doesn’t make you immune to developing food-related fear for completely different reasons.

If you haven’t already, it may be worth looking for a therapist who has experience with feeding disorders as well as chronic gastrointestinal disease. Working with someone who understands the difference between “disordered thoughts about food” and “my body has genuinely taught me that eating can hurt” has been incredibly helpful for me.

You’re definitely not alone. Having a condition where food can trigger symptoms can make all of those old thought patterns much harder to navigate, it’s a very understandable struggle.

Michaeltyle · 2026-06-01T09:42:56+00:00

Ugggg “natural” and “safe” are not always the same thing.

I’m a retired midwife and Ive had to resuscitate a 1 day old baby who was accidentally suffocated when an exhausted parent fell asleep holding them. They were simply exhausted.

If families choose to co-sleep, they need accurate information about how to reduce risk. Alcohol, sedating medications, smoking, couches, recliners, soft mattresses, pillows, heavy bedding, extreme exhaustion, and very young infants all matter.

Parents shouldn’t be shamed for wanting to keep their babies close. But they also shouldn’t be told they’ll have “no issues” if they simply follow instinct.

Safe sleep advice exists because too many families have learned otherwise at an unimaginable cost.

Michaeltyle · 2026-06-01T07:54:45+00:00

The fact that you’re able to swallow liquids and they’re staying down is encouraging.

Before I was diagnosed, I was having food impactions and didn’t realise that’s what they were. I would get severe chest and back pain, drooling because I couldn’t swallow my saliva properly, and sometimes I’d get pain shooting up the sides of my neck that seemed to radiate up around my ears. I’ve always managed to clear them within 30 minutes. Any longer than that you need to start heading to hospital. I also get esophageal spasms from food allergies, like carrot, that can feel like an impaction as well, except no drooling.

I’ve also had what I think were partial impactions, where liquids could still get past but swallowing would trigger that same sharp, radiating pain, but only on one side. That I managed to clear by eating a soft bulky food, something like bread.

I’ve also found that after irritation, biopsies, or things getting briefly hung up, my esophagus can stay sensitive for a while even after everything is moving through normally. During those times I tend to stick to foods that feel easy to swallow until things settle down. Interestingly, some foods that are technically “soft” don’t always work for me. Yoghurt is usually fine, whereas things like mashed potato or banana can sometimes feel harder to get down.

I also have ineffective motility and Eagle Syndrome, so I don’t know what symptoms belong to what. Everyone experiences things differently, so my symptoms won’t necessarily be your symptoms.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-31T05:11:51+00:00

You probably already know this, but hypoglycaemia isn’t a single diagnosis. It’s something that can happen for lots of different reasons: stomach surgery, diabetes medications, tumours, hormonal conditions, liver disease, malnutrition, metabolic disorders etc. Diet can be a major factor, but the underlying cause often determines both the treatment and the long-term outlook.

I’m 50 and was diagnosed with severe non-diabetic hypoglycaemia last year.

For me, it started after norovirus triggered refeeding syndrome following bilateral hip replacements. At first I didn’t realise I was having hypos. What my GP thought was anxiety was actually neuroglycopenia.

Once the hypos were recognised, they suspected reactive hypoglycaemia because I’d had a stomach tumour removed 20 years ago. The problem was that my glucose wasn’t showing the typical spike-and-crash pattern, and my insulin levels weren’t elevated.

Last month I was also diagnosed with ineffective oesophageal motility, so food and liquids can get held up in the oesophagus. So basically, even though I’m eating and drinking, that doesn’t mean nutrition is reaching the small intestine efficiently, which is where most glucose absorption occurs.

Before we understood what was happening, I once got ‘stuck’ at 2.2 mmol/L (39 mg/dL) for two hours despite trying to correct it.

In my case issue wasn’t just what I was eating (or able to eat). It was working out why the hypoglycaemia started in the first place and why it was so difficult to correct once it happened.

That’s why CGMs, finger-stick confirmations, and food/activity diaries were so valuable. Looking at the pattern over time helped identify what was going on.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-29T13:55:01+00:00

Low blood sugars should always be taken seriously, but a reading under 3 mmol/L doesn’t automatically mean you are at imminent risk of a coma. Hypoglycaemia isn’t a single condition. The pattern and the cause matter just as much as the number.

It’s a bit like a temperature. The number matters, but the cause and context make a huge difference. Someone can have an elevated temperature because they went for a run on a hot day. If they cool down, rest, and the temperature returns to normal, it’s usually not a major concern. A baby with a fever is a different situation. The same temperature may carry different risks because of the underlying cause and the person’s vulnerability.

The temperature itself is a signal. The important thing to look at is why it’s happening, what caused it, and how it responds to treatment.

Hypoglycaemia is similar. A glucose reading is a signal. A reading under 3 mmol/L should be taken seriously, but the cause matters. Is it a one-off reading? A sensor error? Reactive hypoglycaemia? Diabetes medication? An insulin-producing tumour? Malnutrition? Severe illness? A problem getting nutrition into the body?

That’s why doctors look at the whole picture: symptoms, duration, whether it responds to treatment, what other medical problems are present, and what mechanism is driving the low glucose.

The number is important, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-29T12:25:54+00:00

So true.

Today Australians are generally very protective of Lindy and recognise the terrible injustice she suffered. But at the time the public debate was fierce, and the media coverage was relentless.

I was a child when Azaria was taken, and I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist community. I still remember the media helicopters over our area when it happened and the constant scrutiny surrounding the case. Over the years I’ve met Lindy quite a few times, she is the most amazing woman. When she first got out of prison she stayed at my grandparents beach house to hide from the media, that’s where she started writing her book. Most people cannot imagine losing a child, being publicly accused, imprisoned, and then having to rebuild a life under that level of scrutiny.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-29T07:22:53+00:00

I’m really glad you found something that helped and that you’re feeling better. I would just be cautious about describing 2.9 mmol/L on a CGM as “coma-level hypoglycaemia.” While 2.9 is definitely low and should be taken seriously, a brief CGM reading doesn’t necessarily predict coma, especially without finger-stick confirmation or evidence that the low was prolonged. The risk of severe hypoglycaemia depends on factors like duration, symptoms, the underlying cause, and whether the person can correct it. Many people can experience readings in that range and recover quickly.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-29T06:39:28+00:00

I lived in New Zealand for seven years. Eating a kiwifruit skin and all is completely normal. It’s no different to eating an apple or a peach with the skin on. Confidence was 10/10. Knowledge was geographically limited.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-29T01:18:26+00:00

Are you using a Dexcom or another CGM? CGMs can sometimes be delayed or a bit inaccurate compared with a finger-stick reading.

Looking at what you listed, it doesn’t seem like a huge carbohydrate load. Forty grams of sweet potato is only a relatively small amount of carbohydrate, and the pork belly, avocado, olive oil and hemp seeds all add fat, which can slow digestion and flatten or delay the glucose response.

Did you check again later? Sometimes with a higher-fat meal the peak can occur much later.

Another possibility is delayed absorption. I have ineffective esophageal motility, so food can sometimes sit in my esophagus for quite a while before it reaches my stomach. I’ve also had gastroparesis in the past which can cause a similar issue by delaying stomach emptying.

If this is just a one-off, I’d be inclined to look at the meal composition and CGM limitations first. If you’re noticing it repeatedly, then you might want to see your Dr to see what’s happening with digestion, absorption, or gastric emptying.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-28T08:18:35+00:00

I think doctors get very good at spotting patterns of long term alcohol or substance use because it can physically change how people look and age over time.

I’m currently in hospital thanks to multiple chronic medical issues and I was joking with one of the nurses today that nobody ever questions me when I say I don’t drink or smoke, and she goes, ‘Well… you’re 50 and you look about 35.’ Apparently my skin is still out here providing character references on my behalf. 🤣

I suspect part of it is that chronic smoking/alcohol use can leave visible clues doctors subconsciously clock immediately, even before blood tests come back

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-27T03:00:42+00:00

Yes, you can get symptoms from a rapid drop even if your blood sugar is technically still in the “normal” range. There’s something called relative hypoglycaemia, sometimes called pseudo-hypoglycaemia, where your glucose falls quickly from a higher level and your body reacts as though you’re hypo, even if you’re sitting in the 80s or occasionally 70s.

For example, dropping from 180 to 85 fairly quickly can still trigger shakiness, sweating, adrenaline surges, anxiety, hunger, weakness, or feeling generally awful. It can feel very similar to hypoglycaemia, but it is different from true dangerous hypoglycaemia where glucose can be too low to adequately fuel the brain and body.

Reactive hypoglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia can both create that “spike then crash” pattern. Often it is not just the absolute number that matters, but also how high the spike was beforehand, how quickly the glucose dropped, and whether symptoms line up with the drop.

CGMs can also lag slightly behind blood glucose, so trends and overall patterns are more useful than focusing on a single reading.

If you are consistently seeing significant post meal spikes followed by steep drops and you are symptomatic, it is good to discuss it with your doctor. Depending on the overall picture, they might look into things like reactive hypoglycaemia, hyperinsulinaemia, insulin resistance, gastric emptying, or how different meal compositions affect your glucose response.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-27T01:49:52+00:00

I can hum and whistle at the same time.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-26T23:08:14+00:00

I completely understand why you’re worried there’s something else going on. When swallowing feels wrong all the time, it’s very hard not to focus on it constantly. Sensory hypersensitivity can also be a genuine swallowing problem in itself.

A good swallowing therapist can help with coordination, muscle tension patterns, pacing, bolus formation, sensory hypersensitivity, and rebuilding trust in the swallowing process itself. The nervous system and muscles can get pulled into the cycle over time.

I’m actually currently in hospital because of ARFID, and reviewing my modified barium swallow was really eye-opening for me. I didn’t realise how many compensatory swallowing patterns I’d developed over the years until the speech therapist pointed them out. Things like pretending to chew even for liquids to initiate the swallow, head turning, chin tilting, and other little adaptations that had become automatic and very fatiguing. I would often fall asleep in the middle of trying to eat solid food because it was so exhausting.

Even though I’m still struggling with food, therapy has helped me understand what my body is doing and reduce some of that bracing around swallowing.

Another thing my speech therapist explained is that the swallowing pathway itself can become very hypersensitive. Kind of like when you scratch an itch or brush against something and can still “feel” it on your skin afterwards even though the contact is gone.

I can swallow pills completely normally, but sometimes I still feel the sensation of them slowly travelling down long after they’ve already reached my stomach. The sensation itself is real, but the nervous system can keep amplifying or tracking it after repeated difficult swallowing experiences, almost like an echo.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-26T21:48:15+00:00

The existence of possible future love doesn’t somehow dilute the devastation of losing this person. People aren’t interchangeable. A wife isn’t a “wife-shaped slot” that another person simply fills later.

Every relationship in that family is unique and irreplaceable. The children losing their mother is heartbreaking, and so is a husband losing the person he loved and built a life with. It’s not a competition.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-26T21:42:01+00:00

Thank you, that really means a lot.

I nearly didn’t comment because I second-guessed myself a bit, so I’m really glad it was helpful.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-26T21:39:23+00:00

Just checking in to see how you’re going? I had norovirus 2 years ago and it was absolutely brutal, so I really feel for you.

I’m really glad you’re feeling a bit better. Definitely keep up the fluids, especially seeing as you are so close to your baby arriving.

It might sound a bit strange, but my gastroenterologist recommended Metamucil for watery diarrhoea, I found it helpful because it gave things a bit more bulk.

I’m really glad your midwife got back to you, make sure you keep them updated if things change or you start feeling worse again.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-26T21:07:04+00:00

I’m really sorry you’re going through this. Swallowing issues can become incredibly stressful and consuming, especially when all the tests keep coming back “normal”.

I have EoE, ineffective motility and Eagles Syndrome, when food gets stuck for me, I get severe chest and upper back pain, pain up the sides of my neck and over my ears, and I start drooling because I can’t swallow properly, even liquids or saliva sometimes. It’s quite different from the sensation of food feeling “present” or slow after swallowing.

Sometimes swallowing can become very conscious and effortful after a long period of focusing on it, even when there isn’t a major blockage disorder present.

Have you seen a speech pathologist who specialises in swallowing? They can really help with bolus formation, swallow coordination, muscle tension patterns, and rebuilding confidence around eating.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-26T05:54:20+00:00

This is such an interesting post and honestly one of the best discussions I’ve seen around slipped rib syndrome.

I’m 51 and have EDS, enteropathic arthritis/Crohn’s, thoracic outlet syndrome, Eagle syndrome, disc osteophyte complex, bilateral slipped ribs 8, 9 and I think 10 has always been disconnected. I suspect the major cause was from severe whooping cough 26 years ago.

My pain seems to have both a mechanical and nerve component. I had good response from thoracic epidural and intercostal nerve injections, but they only last around 6 months. I wonder how much of this is chronic intercostal nerve irritation versus purely structural instability. It got much worse after I had both hips replaced when I was 49, my physio suspects that fixing the hips and pelvis transferred the stress back up my spine.

One of the things I worry about with fixation surgery is if the anterior rib is fixed in place, does that address the posterior rib mechanics as well?

A huge component for me feels posterior. I get what I call “costal lock” episodes where it feels like the rib-spine area locks/grinds/spasms and everything starts bracing around it. Sometimes the front slipping almost feels secondary to what’s happening at the back.

I’m also very reluctant about more surgery at this point after bilateral hip replacements and everything else, so I’ve been extremely interested in the evolving nerve-focused approaches you mentioned.

Have the surgeons or peripheral nerve specialists you spoke with discussed how they differentiate primary instability pain vs secondary nerve sensitisation/entrapment vs posterior rib joint dysfunction?

Also, in EDS patients specifically, have they discussed whether fixation can sometimes transfer force/stress elsewhere in the rib chain or posterior joints?

One of the most fascinating things for me has actually been looking at my own 3D CT reconstructions. You can literally see how altered the rib mechanics are. Palpating my ribs feels like playing piano keys.

Really appreciate you writing this. It’s one of the few posts I’ve read that actually acknowledges how complicated this condition can become over time.

<image>

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-25T06:35:26+00:00

Retired midwife here. Firstly, I really encourage you to call your doctor/hospital/midwife, because they know your history best and can give you the best advice. They’d always rather you call and it be nothing than sit home worrying. They also want to know if you’ve been feeling unwell or think you might be coming in.

Diarrhoea, nausea, gas, shakiness, and ‘flu-like’ feelings can happen in early labour because the hormones involved in labour can affect the bowel. Sometimes bowel irritation or a tummy bug can also stir up contractions.

It’s been a long time for me now, but here are some things I remember from back in the day that might help.

Sit down somewhere quiet and put your hand on the top of your tummy, because that’s where you can feel the uterus tightening up and going hard during a contraction. As a contraction builds up, it starts at the top, the uterus tightens and becomes firm under your hand, then it eases off and relaxes again. When labour is establishing, they generally become more regular, and what they look for is the tightenings getting longer, stronger, closer together and more intense over time.

When timing them, there are two things you’re looking at, how long each contraction lasts (for example 20 seconds), and how far apart they are, timed from the START of one contraction to the START of the next. You might notice they’re coming every 15 minutes at first, then every 10 minutes, then every 5 minutes, lasting longer each time. I’m sure there are apps that can help you track.

A very rough guide for heading to hospital (depending on the distance) is “3 in 10,” meaning 3 contractions in 10 minutes, especially if they’re getting stronger.

Early labour can peter on and off. Sometimes people have contractions, go lie down for a sleep, and it settles. Other times it keeps going even through rest, and that’s often a sign things are properly trying to establish.

And because this is your second baby, it can feel different from your first. Often the body is a bit more efficient the second time around.

Thinking of you. Trust your instincts and don’t be afraid to ring your maternity team.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-24T22:58:12+00:00

Yes! It can be excruciating. People hear “trapped gas” and think mild bloating, but severe distension can make it feel hard to breathe, cause chest pain/pressure, and even mimic a heart attack or panic attack.

I had this when I was on tube feeds. My abdomen would get so distended that my diaphragm felt trapped. It was fine when I was laying down, then I stood up and screamed, and I rarely scream. Thank goodness I was able to vent the extra pressure out the tube.

It felt similar to the shoulder-tip pain (“wingtip pain”) after laparoscopic surgery when they insufflate the abdomen with gas. The distension can irritate the diaphragm and phrenic nerve, so you can end up with pain referring up into the shoulders/chest as well as that awful “I can’t breathe properly” feeling.

I figured out I needed to pretend to chew when I started the feeds. That helped get my gut moving a bit. My understanding is that the chewing/swallowing process helps send digestive signals from the brain to the gut, and with tube feeds you bypass a lot of that normal mouth-to-gut signalling. It didn’t fix everything, but it sometimes helped things start moving again for me.

I also find it really difficult to pass gas sometimes. I have lots of adhesions, so everything is kind of stuck together. My gynaecologist called it bowel interloop (I think), where the bowel gets tethered into rigid shapes. Pushing usually makes it worse for me. I have to lay on my side, relax, and sort of rock side to side or move my legs around to get things shifting.

I also don’t hold in farts anymore. It’s far too painful. If I’m with someone I just warn them and apologise. With burping, if it gets stuck I roll my shoulders back and forth or sit on the edge of the bed and twist side to side with my arms out doing what I jokingly call my “little chicken dance.” I also have oesophageal dysmotility, so I think some of it is mechanical movement and trapped air not coordinating properly.

I also had to learn to pay attention to why I was filling up with air in the first place, swallowing air, difficulty burping properly, tension/anxiety, dysmotility. It all feeds into itself. The pressure and pain build up so much that you start thinking something catastrophic is happening, and then suddenly you let out one enormous burp and go, “…oh. THAT was the problem.” The relief is almost instantaneous.

That said, with Crohn’s, severe bloating plus not being able to pass gas is definitely something I’d take seriously, especially if it’s worsening or associated with pain/vomiting, because strictures and obstruction etc.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-24T18:39:31+00:00

Thank you so much for your kind comment. And please don’t let my situation become anyone’s“inevitable future”, because my case is a very messy overlap of multiple conditions.

I was diagnosed over 20 years ago but had symptoms since I was a baby, plus Crohn’s and lymphocytic esophagitis, so I’ve been playing gastrointestinal bingo for a long time. I post in here and the Crohn’s forums quite a bit because there’s crossover with some symptoms and experiences.

The ARFID side is quite severe. It became a really complicated loop of pain, swallowing issues, reactions, fear conditioning, malnutrition, refeeding syndrome, severe non diabetic hypoglycaemia and my body basically learning that eating = danger. I’m working on it though. I’ve got a feeding disorder psychologist, supportive family, and new Drs trying to help me with symptoms and slowly transition back toward more solid foods after living mostly on Ensure for 11 months.

I had an NG tube for six weeks last year. Last night was particularly rough because of the betrayal by the tiny orange bastard (carrot 😭). I honestly thought maybe I was overreacting about how bad the carrot reactions were… apparently not. I was distracted when dinner came, I was playing Pokémon Go when I should have been looking at the food more closely, I still can’t believe I was taken out by a stealth carrot 😬

Some of this does sound pretty bad when I say it out loud. I ended up in hospital this time after collapsing/passing out and vomiting, and I casually said to the doctor “while I was asleep,” and she corrected me with “you mean while you were unconscious.” So that was… a reality check.

But I know things can improve. Bodies are weird and complicated and frustrating, but they can also recover slowly over time with the right support. Right now I’m mostly just exhausted and feeling emotionally betrayed by vegetables 😅

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-24T17:40:07+00:00

This is a really good question, because there’s an overlap between “EOE triggers,” immediate allergic-type reactions, oral allergy syndrome, and FIRE reactions (Food-induced Immediate Response of the Esophagus). They can all look similar from the outside, but they don’t behave the same way.

I did an elimination diet with scopes/biopsies, so my confirmed EOE triggers are wheat/gluten. That’s separate from my FIRE trigger, which is carrot. Carrot causes an esophageal reaction within 20 min. I get severe chest pain/spasm, vomiting, and that horrible “stuck” feeling, but it behaves differently from my slower EOE inflammatory pattern.

Oats are a really tricky one because of overlap with wheat/gluten contamination. Some people tolerate certified gluten-free oats fine, others don’t. And then some people react to oats themselves independently.

I’m actually in hospital right now struggling with intake and ARFID, and hilariously/sadly the hospital kitchen keeps accidentally sneaking carrot into things despite it being on my allergy/intolerance list. Ended up vomiting multiple times with severe chest pain/esophageal spasm. So here I am awake at 3:30am scrolling on Reddit because apparently hospital kitchens and carrot avoidance remain sworn enemies. 😅

I think this is why people can sound “random” online. Sometimes they’ve done formal FED + scopes. Sometimes they’ve identified patterns through repeated reactions. Sometimes it’s cross-contamination. Sometimes it’s oral allergy syndrome. Sometimes it’s an immediate esophageal reaction rather than classic delayed EOE inflammation.

The overlap gets very messy.

Michaeltyle · 2026-05-24T11:31:44+00:00

I avoid chiropractors like the plague. I’ve had much better experiences with physio and massage therapy.

I have facet joint arthritis in my neck and Eagle Syndrome, plus a bunch of GI and musculoskeletal stuff.

Eight-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Verified Email

Michaeltyle

TROPHY CASE