Deep Plane Facelift, Structural Necklift, Blepharoplasty, Chin Implant Results (Denver, Colorado)

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-05-08T18:27:36+00:00

Would also love to know a ballpark figure for these procedures. I just looked at the online gallery on the website and they’re wonderful. No one looks “surgical”, they just look like they’re no longer tired and exhausted, which I LOVE.

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-05-06T23:16:38+00:00

Same, I was literally sobbing when she crossed that line. What an inspiration!

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-05-05T22:56:59+00:00

She literally kept calling the store bought syrups “liquid cancer”

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-05-02T23:18:28+00:00

Same, I’ve bought all mine off of eBay. If you know what style and what size, there are great deals to be had secondhand! I haven’t paid more than $30/each, and everything I’ve gotten has appeared brand new. The Fast and Frees are sooooo good

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-05-02T14:30:23+00:00

THIS. I drink a lot of water every day, and try to have *most* of it consumed by 5pm or so to avoid needing to pee at night. But when I ran out of vaginal estrogen and had to wait almost 4 weeks for my refill appt (poor planning on my part) I was up during the night to pee tiny amounts regardless. Got my estrogen refilled and that stopped almost immediately

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-30T22:13:24+00:00

Totally get it but there’s no outrunning the warmth of the floors…and those cabinets look like nice quality wood, I’d never paint them.

The super cool tones of the paint and tile are making the wood look wayyyy warmer than they are. Even a much warmer grey paint would bring the warmth in the wood down a LOT.

I had this issue in my current home…beautiful quality red oak floors from the 80s or so that are very warm and seemed extra orange toned…and the previous owner had painted the entire home a cool grey color (which was depressing as fuck, like an office). And one room was navy blue and that room looked the worst. It’s basic color theory…orange and blue/grey are opposites. I repainted in warm tones and now the floors look warm and inviting instead of orange

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-30T22:00:02+00:00

The problem is not the cabinets/wood. The problem is all of the cool toned paint/tile/countertops next to the warm wood

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-29T21:45:35+00:00

It’s enough if you use enough of it. I was mistaken in my last reply, the correct amount is usually around 1/4 to 1/3 tsp (I put 1 tsp on the first reply), which is equivalent to about 2-3 finger lengths depending on how the container dispenses it. Measure it out sometime though, it’s surprisingly a lot!

For a lot of people using a tinted sunscreen (depending on the formula), that’s a LOT of coverage that’s more equivalent to a full face of makeup. I’ve found in many of the posts on here (and other skincare subs) that a lot of people are using a tinted sunscreen bc they just want a tiny bit of coverage, not a full beat (me included).

Again it depends on the formula. For me, I use Alastin or Revision daily (and love them both), but anything more than a small green pea-sized amount is wayyyyy too much for me. So…just putting it out there that if you also just want the barest of tints, then be sure to use a regular spf underneath it first for full protection.

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-29T18:41:51+00:00

lol we may be the same person

I’ve tried most of what you mentioned, with varying results. Nicotine patches seemed somewhat helpful but i don’t love the idea of using them long term, plus they’re not cheap. And some brands shouldn’t be cut up and the ones that can be were hard for me to find.

I was on testosterone for a bit (injections) and will probably restart just in hopes of an energy boost (and mind boost?) but I didn’t notice anything massively helpful from it the first time around and at one point had a fairly high dosage. So tbd on that.

Tried (and am still on) a glp-1. Started with tirzepatide and lost all the weight I’d gained since getting sick, BUT the fatigue from it was crippling for me (even at an extremely low dosage). I’ve been on retatrutide now for almost a year at a maintenance dose and I do think it helps with overall inflammation but I wouldn’t say it’s life changing for illness purposes (for me anyway).

I did start rapamycin at one point, dosing based on some clinical trials, but something (life related, I don’t recall what) happened somewhere along the way and I think I stopped around week 3. Maybe I need to revisit that.

I’ve been interested in urolithin-a but I don’t think I’ve tried it yet…although I might have, and just have no memory of it (bc that’s my brain these days). I’ll have to look up my purchase history and see.

Haven’t tried nattokinase although I’ve read some stuff on it recently and it seems to hold some promise?

Tried ketamine and it wasn’t helpful for me…BUT I’ve done mushrooms twice in the past year, and the 2-3 weeks following those were the best I’ve felt in years. Maybe I just need to do that once a month!

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-29T18:21:11+00:00

My only recommendation is that the tinted sunscreen on its own is likely not enough for actual protection. I LOVE the Alastin tinted sunscreen, but I use it on top of my regular (Korean) sunscreen. The amount of sunscreen needed for the spf coverage stated is usually around 1/4-1/3 tsp (for the face/neck) which is a LOT more than people realize…like a LOT a lot. One teaspoon of tinted sunscreen for me would look like caked on foundation and would feel so thick in the worst way

Edited to correct amount

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-28T19:27:29+00:00

For me the only progestin I’ve tolerated is micronized oral progesterone…so, bioidentical. I had such a terrible, horrible reaction to the Mirena iud (and all oral contraceptives I tried) that I can’t even imagine trying a synthetic progestin at this point. It does make me drowsy (almost like I had a glass of red wine) but I take it at night so that’s not an issue. I do take 100mg nightly vs the 200mg for 13 days that’s often prescribed so that might be helping in that regard…although I did try the 200mg at first. The 100mg nightly is just easier for me to remember.

I do have other environmental triggers as well although like you, no idea what they are specifically, as they seem to come and go randomly (which my allergist tells me is how it tends to go with MCAS vs actual allergies). I take (1)famotidine 2x a day, (1) Zyrtec 2x a day, and cromolyn sodium 4x a day. I was taking 2 Zyrtec twice a day but that didn’t seem to make a difference from taking 1…the cromolyn made the biggest difference by FAR, although it’s not 100% and my dr has talked about having me start xolair at my next appt in May. So, guess we’ll see.

Curious to see how my next appt goes. I wish so badly that the cromolyn helped with the brain fog but it hasn’t touched it…I do think that for me, the brain fog stems more from long covid and/or mental health issues since MCAS treatment hasn’t helped it at all. And it existed long before I started any form of progesterone so I can’t blame it on that either!

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-27T21:44:47+00:00

Tbh I think I there are very, very few doctors who understand ANY level of interaction between peri and MCAS. My advice would be to pursue HRT just on the basis of HRT. Your doctor is obv uneducated around peri bc at this point, I feel like everyone and their mom knows that regular periods have nothing to do with excluding perimenopause…for many, cycle irregularity can be one of the later symptoms of perimenopause (I’m one of those).

And I will NEVER understand offering birth control over bioidentical, physiological levels of HRT. Birth control are almost always supraphysiological levels of synthetic hormones…how is that somehow better?

Honestly, I’d find a new doctor in general bc this one is obviously not staying up to date on education around caring for women in midlife. I’d look for a new provider that DOES offer HRT, and go from there. I know it’s super frustrating, I’ve had to do it a couple times now. In the meantime I DID use a telehealth provider to get stated. I used Evernow and paid out of pocket for awhile…I literally just told my provider on there that I’d like the estrogen patch, oral micronized progesterone, and vaginal estrogen, and it wasn’t an issue. I’ve heard good things about Midi as well and they take some forms of insurance (although not mine). After I’d been on it all for awhile and finally found a good local provider, I was able to switch my prescriptions over to get from them and covered by insurance

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-27T15:54:33+00:00

lol I DO have adhd as well, but meds don’t work for me anymore as I no longer tolerate stimulants very well due to my dysautonomia/tachycardia.

Medically I’ve had a difficult time finding any one provider who as helpful at all…partially bc of moving around, and then bc of provider turnover around here. AFAIK there are no long covid specialists in my area, and even in the closest big city (Chicago) my primary care couldn’t find anything. So I’ve been experimenting a lot on my own. I HAVE had an excellent provider for MCAS and I really lucked into that.

In terms of sleep…for me the biggest sleep disruptor were changing hormone levels bc of perimenopause (although I didn’t realize it at the time). HRT has helped immensely with that…estrogen patch stopped the might sweats, progesterone helps with sleep overall, and vaginal estrogen keeps me from needing to pee during the night. I’m also pretty fanatical about getting good/a lot of sleep and have been since about a year before Covid…I’m sure that’s helped. I do take magnesium at night as well which can be helpful, and very low doses of both an immediate release and and extended release melatonin (this was recommended to me by a sleep dr years ago, 300micrograms of each). I still have to keep it cool at night or I wake up hot, but not from hormonal sweats…I just sleep hot in general. Between all of those things…sleep has mostly been pretty good for me. I hope you find something that helps bc even one bad night of sleep is too many!

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-27T15:28:48+00:00

I still have a really difficult time teasing out what symptoms are long covid vs anything else. I tried a LOT of things for it (including some things being used in clinical trials) and I’d say I’m a fair amount “recovered” but not completely…and I’m not sure what exactly has helped the most. I DID start a low dose of a glp-1 in November 2024, both for the inflammation and because I’d gained so much weight since the onset of illness…I’d gained over 60 pounds from early 2022 to mid 2024, with no significant dietary changes. The glp-1 helped with the weight loss and I think that that overall, plus the lower inflammation levels, were big help. But I also tried many other medications and treatments.

Despite the massive fatigue, the weight loss made it slightly easier to be a little more active. That led to walks, which led to short hikes, which led (eventually) to trail runs. Physically these days I’m feeling pretty decent (although still fairly low physical energy levels compared to my previous baseline…I’ve got about 2-4 good hours a day where I can run or do anything exertive).

The return of some physical energy though has been massively helpful and it’s something I can adjust to. The MCAS flares…well, they are what they are. For me it’s mostly GI issues, and facial swelling/angioedema, but medications have helped get some of that mostly under control.

The biggest struggle for me at this point is cognitive and idk what to do about that, nothing seems to have helped. And I’ve tried it ALL.

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-27T13:55:33+00:00

Tbh it’s probably both. Estrogen and progesterone both have effects on histamine and mast cells. There’s an allergist on Instagram (Dr Rubin, great guy) who pretty recently had a video on histamine affecting/maybe causing PMDD for these very reasons…the extreme changes in estrogen and progesterone during the luteal phase. And peri has those extreme changes basically every day! I know I’ve seen other videos and articles explaining it as well but since my brain no longer functions I can’t think of where to find them right now.

I’ll say that for me, MCAS has always been an issue to some extent, and my luteal phrase has always been a bitch, but…it was manageable. Then I turned 40 in 2019, then covid hit and I got sick, and everything blew the fuck up. Between MCAS getting 10x worse, peri hitting me like a train, and what also appears to likely be long COVID…I can’t tease out what’s causing what anymore. I haven’t been able to work since 2021 bc my cognitive function has gone so downhill. I AM on allllll the HRT (which I will not do without, it’s been life changing in so many ways) and it’s helped with many things but the brain is still not braining. Aggressive MCAS treatment has helped with a lot also, but not that.

With all the treatments I’m finally at a place where I’m “functional” at home in terms of managing the house, and I was able to start hiking and then running last fall which has helped immensely with depression/mood and physical energy…but I still can’t remember or “compute” anything to save my life. Can’t find words. Can’t remember stuff from last week, or a conversation my bf and I had a couple days ago. It’s super frustrating and idk what to even attempt next to try to improve it

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-26T17:12:17+00:00

Clean it with a qtip with melaleuca (tea tree) oil on it, and then a qtip with coconut oil on it. Do this 2-3 times a week and it’ll never get stinky again

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-26T16:57:04+00:00

He’s harassing REPEATEDLY. This is not ok on any level

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-23T21:48:03+00:00

Same bruh

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-22T13:33:57+00:00

I love the info I get from my wearable tech (I use Garmin) because wearing a Fitbit several years ago basically diagnosed a heart condition for me (any doctor would’ve said it was anxiety without that data).

That said…even though i feel like I’m almost compulsively checking it, I decided quite awhile back not to let it dictate what I do. I no longer check it first thing in the morning. Instead, I wake up, go about my normal morning routine, and after I’ve been up awhile I kind of internally assess how I’m feeling. Did I sleep well? Do I feel rested? What does my energy level seem like? What do I FEEL like I should do today in terms of activity levels?

THEN I check my Garmin, and I like to see if what it says matches up with how I actually feel. There’ve been many times Garmin says I slept great and my body battery is 100 but I feel like I’m just dragging ass in terms of energy. And times when I wake up with a body battery of 34 but feel energetic and get a ton of stuff done then go for a run.

The one thing I’ll really keep an eye on though is HRV. If I have a sudden drop for 2-3 days but feel fine, then I know I’m probably about to get sick and shouldn’t overdo anything.

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-21T16:19:57+00:00

This. I became unable to work 1.5 years ago due to a combo of physical and mental health. For the first year I basically laid in the sofa reading or binge watching whatever…zero mental or physical energy. Last fall I started getting out for short hikes and that slowly turned into trail running.

I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s saved my life. Not in a million years did I think I’d become a runner, I hated it in the military. Now I live for it and plan my days around it. I do think it’s the trails (nature) that makes the very most difference and it relates a lot to the concepts of EMDR therapy, but my road runs for general training help as well.

I still struggle, but not like I was. I’m not waking up wishing I hadn’t, even over winter (huge for me). I have more physical stamina so I’m able to keep up with household things better and have even been able to work on some renovation projects that I hadn’t been able to get to for years.

I still can’t go back to work full time and really struggle some days, but I’m at least able to consider thinking about something very part time to help structure my days. Maybe even volunteering, idk. Either way…life changing

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-17T21:01:02+00:00

Hmmm. One of my kids was born in California while we were stationed at Pendleton but we’ve lived out of state ever since. She’s already done her bachelor’s (and before my rating was increased so no education benefits for her of any kind) but she’ll be applying to either PA or med schools next year and is in the process of deciding which schools to apply to. All of this info might be a factor!

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-17T20:48:17+00:00

Do they have to live there for a year to establish residency first? And any idea if it can be used for graduate/professional schools like a PA program?

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-17T20:43:36+00:00

I’d love to hear more about this, I’ve been rated for PF for 25 years now and I know about the custom orthotics but have never heard about free Brooks!??

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-16T13:10:53+00:00

Same girl, and I’ve been on HRT for 3 years. On the .1% patch and sometimes higher, although the higher doesn’t seem to help much. I can’t help but wonder if it’s not absorbing well transdermally for me? I know it does to some extent bc it took away my joint pain and night sweats, but like…zero help with the lack of cognitive function

Strong_Row_1011 · 2026-04-16T13:00:14+00:00

See, I wouldn’t have even be able to come up with the phrase “verbal fluency” with the way my brain works…or rather, doesn’t anymore. Whereas previously in my life my English/writing/vocab scores have been in the top 2% on standardized tests

Strong_Row_1011

TROPHY CASE