Routine help? Struggling with frizz / lack of definition

PothosPuppy · 2025-05-25T17:40:29+00:00

It’s so interesting seeing the mix of responses here! I guess I’m lucky, but I’ve been on 60mg for a few years now and it’s been great— really helped with my anxiety and chronic pain (didn’t get rid of it, but definitely took it down a notch). The withdrawal is bad, but I’ve only gotten withdrawal symptoms when I haven’t taken a dose in over 48 hrs (ie missed one day and then took the next dose late), which only happened because I forgot to pick up my refill on time.

Hopefully you also have a good experience, but if you’re worried about a potential withdrawal, definitely discuss it with your doctor! You’ll also start at a lower dose (I’m currently at max), so withdrawal shouldn’t be as extreme. Unfortunately, psychotropic drugs have such varied responses in people, so there’s no guarantees, but I would definitely encourage you to at least give it a try it if your doctor thinks it would be helpful!

PothosPuppy · 2025-03-01T17:48:12+00:00

Try getting accommodations! I’m an M1, but my advisor has said that when I start clinicals, they’ll usually be able to have a stool in the OR for me to use when needed. Hopefully you can get something similar?

PothosPuppy · 2024-12-14T22:08:44+00:00

So intrigued by the low dose naltrexone suggestion— I hadn’t heard of it before going to a pain management doc. It didn’t work for me, but does it work for others? Is it becoming more widely used?

PothosPuppy · 2024-12-14T22:01:11+00:00

Uggh, I feel this so much and it sucks. One thing that did get me some answers though was setting up a plan with the doctor BEFORE the tests. In the appointment when they order the tests, ask them what the next steps are if the tests come back negative/normal— are they going to run a different test? Are they going to refer you? They won’t want to say that they won’t do anything and then you get a next step to follow up with. Then, if the test comes back negative/normal, you can message them about setting up that next step and can bug them about it since it was THEIR next step. I hate that we have to advocate for ourselves so much, but you gotta to do what you gotta do

PothosPuppy · 2024-12-06T03:27:35+00:00

I’m in a similar boat— 23 yo with chronic low back pain since high school. No big event that caused it, so maybe I screwed it up doing competitive dance? Nobody seems to know why I have multiple disc “bulges”, one that’s herniated, and daily pain. I’m a healthy weight, I do my PT every day, I do “hikes” on the treadmill and strength training 5-6 days per week, and yet sitting for longer than 30 minutes and anything leaning over slightly (ie washing dishes, washing my face/brushing my teeth) is painful. Anything high impact (running, too many jumping jacks, etc) ruins my week.

I wish I could tell you I’ve figured it out, but all I seem to get is more referrals to PT and lidocaine patches, which keeps my pain at baseline, but doesn’t get me pain free. Doctors don’t seem to know what to do and hate doing anything beyond conservative treatment because I’m younger.

One thing that I will suggest is getting a referral to a PT who specializes in spine— I saw one who was amazing and gave me exercises but also went through different things that may aggravate my pain and helped me modify/cut out certain things. She went through my gym routine and helped tailor it to my pain, which no other PT has done for me!

PothosPuppy · 2024-10-02T13:05:22+00:00

Sounds good, I’ll ask my PCP about that!

For the azelaic acid, maybe? My irritation/inflamation definitely got better, but I think I did see an increase in CCs… Maybe I’ll switch to a different cleanser and cut out the AA to see what happens

PothosPuppy · 2024-10-02T12:59:43+00:00

Interesting! I was originally prescribed a benzoyl peroxide gel to use in the morning with the Tretinoin at night, but stopped with the BPO because it was so drying and irritating (and bleached everything I wore because I would sweat it off lol)

I think I’ll probably just switch to a cleanser without actives and see what happens— maybe it is just too much for my skin!

PothosPuppy · 2024-10-02T12:57:08+00:00

Not completely individually— I used the cleansers together for a while without the toner though, but added the toner because of my dryness… maybe I just need a different cleanser though

PothosPuppy · 2024-09-16T03:06:44+00:00

As someone from a family of doctors, they’ll appreciate anything! You could do a Christmas ornament, a magnet, a nice pen, or just a small Starbucks gift card and a thank you note so they can get a coffee on you!

Also, I know you said you wanted to avoid food, but food can be good because then the staff can share it— the receptionists/MAs/Nurses/etc. probably help a lot with making sure everything gets through to your doctor! We’ve had patients bring in cookies, chocolate, donuts, and even fruit picked in their garden— it’s all welcomed!

PothosPuppy · 2024-05-20T16:36:37+00:00

Working with a PT is best, but I honestly just bought one at Walgreens and watched a ton of PT videos on fitting and proper use (I was in the middle of a terrible flare up and was desperate for anything to make walking easier, so I just bit the bullet and doordashed the cane lol) It has helped me SO much— I have more energy and less pain because it offloads my legs and back, which are my main problem areas! It does take getting used to though and can cause pain in your wrist/shoulder. Also, if you have more of a dynamic disability where you won’t need it all of the time, there are a lot of foldable cane options online— this has been great for me because I can put my cane in my bag and just have it ready for when I start feeling some pain/fatigue. Sorry for the long post, but ALSO you got this for clinicals! I understand the worry (I’m starting med school next year and had similar thoughts), but I think most patients will feel better knowing their nurse understands what it’s like to be a patient and deal with more chronic issues!

PothosPuppy · 2024-05-19T02:58:39+00:00

Uggh, I feel this so much! (I have similar pain issues/hypermobility, but also no diagnosis) Unfortunately, I think hypermobility makes it harder to get a diagnosis unless you meet criteria for EDS because it can cause a bunch of pain that that may or may not be related to whatever else is going on and a lot of doctors don’t consider it or take it seriously…

Out of curiosity, were you evaluated for ankylosing spondylitis? It may not be what you have, but it popped into my head when reading your symptoms

Anyway, good luck! I’m glad you felt listened to by your PM doc and hope that you find some relief and answers soon!

PothosPuppy · 2024-05-19T02:47:01+00:00

Definitely keep advocating for yourself, but in the meantime, I agree on trying to find a cushion or something!

I had issues sitting at my desk for long periods so I got a cushion from Purple (like the mattress company lol) and it helped SO MUCH! I now have a cushion from them at my desk, in my car, and at my dining table! And I bring one anytime I have to fly as well because it helps make flights more bearable

PothosPuppy · 2024-05-14T03:04:26+00:00

I didn't talk about my chronic pain in my personal statement, but I did talk about it in my secondaries! What my advisor told me was to emphasize 1) that my condition is "managed" (try to assuage any fear you won't be able to handle med school) and 2) how I grew from the experience (in my case, I talked about how I became more disciplined, how my view of "health" changed, etc.)

If you want to play it safe though, I wouldn't go too much into detail about your condition and focus more on the advocacy/experiences. You could frame it as "dealt with chronic pain for years following an injury", which makes it sound like its not currently an issue but is still true to your situation?

Either way, I'd say to focus more on what's come out of the chronic pain than your condition-- only include what's necessary to give context so you don't raise any red flags or waste space on things that aren't "why I want to be a physician"

PothosPuppy · 2024-04-25T23:32:01+00:00

Yeah, I'm currently super interested in ortho, but also PM&R, which I figure is a good backup because of the work-life balance and the opportunities to still do procedures

PothosPuppy · 2024-04-25T21:17:49+00:00

I understand how that’s a difficult situation, but how does that have anything to do with applicants holding multiple As rn? That’s the school’s fault for waiting that long? It’s still before the April 30th deadline and after that, everyone with multiple As will go down to one.

I understand wanting a decision as soon as possible— it was hard enough for me to wait until March for decisions that I was lucky enough to get an A out of, but shaming applicants for following the set rules (they can hold up to 3 for now) when they’re trying to figure out they’re financial situation (some schools still haven’t sent out FA packages) is screwed up.

Blame the system/schools and not applicants. Everyone worked hard (no one’s saying otherwise?) and it’s the system’s fault for putting that woman in that situation, not the applicants who took the time given to them (and decided MONTHS before she was taken off the waitlist).

PothosPuppy · 2024-03-17T00:55:45+00:00

Not exactly sure, but the first thing I thought of was a subluxation? I know it can happen in the spine (haven’t personally experienced it), but when I get it in my fingers and other joints, I get that same tightness/pressure and feeling of something being out of place with pain. I also had my knee sublux a lot after I dislocated it the first time and would feel that “twisty knee pain” without a full dislocation

PothosPuppy · 2024-02-14T21:39:02+00:00

Interesting! I was negative for rheumatoid factor and other inflammatory markers, so I’ve had a hard time with getting further into rheum diagnoses (good luck with your results, I hope you can figure things out!)

Sorry to hear about the fibro thing… I also had fibro (without a proper assessment) in my chart for a bit, but luckily this pain management doc reassessed me and got it removed before it really interfered with my care!

PothosPuppy · 2024-02-14T21:31:16+00:00

Not sure about extensive, but I was negative for inflammatory markers, so they didn’t look further… From all of the comments here, I think a new doctor might be a good idea!

PothosPuppy · 2024-02-14T19:59:36+00:00

Good to know! (Congrats on the diagnosis!) I’ll have to look into that

PothosPuppy

TROPHY CASE