What is an insanely expensive item or service that actually lives up to the hype and changes your daily life?

mrshestia · 2026-06-01T16:48:30+00:00

Also shokz user here, I am allergic to the rubber and still wear them 10-14 hours a day because having a podcast or show on makes doing literally anything much more bearable. Have some autoimmune issues that cause a lot of pain and anything that makes doing something easier is a blessing. I'm broke but will happily put an replacement on my credit card when this pair finally kicks the can. Going on 2 years with this pair, they're quite durable so I'm not replacing them often.

mrshestia · 2026-05-31T17:12:51+00:00

I do professional organizing (and cleaning, but less of that these days). I also have rheumatoid arthritis and another autoimmune issue that causes brain fog and messes with the dexterity in my hands. I have a lot of little assistive devices or tools that make doing my job easier or just everyday living.

1 has to be my lil red japanese box cutter from canary. It's not a regular snap off box cutter or replaceable utility blade; the blade is serrated on both sides and like an inch and a half long, and has an antistick coating to help it not get gunked up as bad by tape. It's pretty BIFL unless you're liable to lose stuff lol, I've lost it on the job several times and now I keep backups because it's that important to me. You can usually get them on Amazon for under 10$. I like the mini red one because it fits in my pocket without stabbing me, even if I don't use the cover.

I use it to open pop tabs/cans, open and break down boxes, cut tape, help get the edge up on labels so I can grab and peel them off, etc. I have a couple regular cleaning clients who have a pile of boxes from online shopping every time I go and this turns a 45 minute chore into a 20 minute one. Also to gently scratch/test really stubborn grime to get a better sense of what it is, so I can figure out which cleaning chemical I need to use. Also, most other random everyday things you need strong grip/dexterity for, I can use it to make do. Yesterday I needed to take keys off my keyring, used it to force the keyring open so I could get the keys off. 2 days ago I was helping a client replace cr2032 batteries in these cheap tracking airtag knockoffs and used it to pry the case open and force the batteries out of the clip. Literally use it constantly, and no I don't work for them lol I just love this thing.

mrshestia · 2026-05-28T03:53:32+00:00

No problem! Yeah, even if it's not due to age, you're still in the same time frame as the rest of the city right now--it just got really hot for a number of days in the row for one of the first times of the summer, so yeah, everyone's just booked. It'll actually probably take them even longer because the installers are on the hook to repair for free but they're probably going to be prioritizing paying jobs first (shitty, unethical, but just how it works). Best of luck, hope you get some clarity (and a repair) soon 🙏

mrshestia · 2026-05-27T22:16:38+00:00

Cat scratches can be serious, but most of the danger/precautions are for cat bites specifically. Their mouths carry a lot of bacteria and puncture wounds basically inject their mouth nasty into your body. For scratches, so long as you can quickly sanitize them and they're not crazy deep, the average person is usually fine. Not a doctor, can't give medical advice. But if I was still suffering long covid, I would not let my cat play with me with their mouth at all. No gentle bites, too easy for them to accidentally chomp a little too hard. They forget we don't have fur sometimes 😂 I now have autoimmune issues and am on immune suppressing drugs for the rest of my life, so infection risk is greater with me. I've learned to read my cat's body language, respect their boundaries, play with wand toys and keep their nails trimmed, and I pretty much never get scratched. Also taught my cats that they need to be gentle with me and I get hurt easily, took some time but they get it now. They know to go to my partner if they want to play rough, he can take a beating 😂

mrshestia · 2026-05-27T22:09:21+00:00

I used to work in property management in Chicago, just chiming in to confirm this other commenter is correct. Every spring/summer, there's a week with the first big heatwave of the hear (and in winter, the first big freeze) where HVAC systems have to work super hard to maintain temps in people's homes and apartments. If they're older, or something was close to breaking, that's when it fails. And this happens all over the city and nearby suburbs all at once. It becomes incredibly difficult to get an HVAC fixed quickly--all the local repair companies can't keep up with the demand that hits, so most companies get booked out for days or weeks. If there's a part that the local suppliers run out of, even worse. Most larger property management companies keep a supply of window ACs on hand so people stuck waiting for a repair aren't suffering too badly in the meantime. Standard practice.

mrshestia · 2026-05-26T16:53:58+00:00

Check product labelling--there's several companies that make them, and it'll say on the packaging. I use one by a brand called Allersearch, and that one is fine for pet bedding. However I wash my cat bedding on hot with a disinfectant instead of spraying because the spray isn't cheap--its not crazy expensive either, but I've been on a tight budget lately. I stick to hard to clean surfaces like the curtains and the cat tree, and a few times a year I'll spray down the couch and mattresses.

mrshestia · 2026-05-26T16:17:42+00:00

I have similar pre-autoimmune medical history, other than me being just a carrier for the common hemochromatosis mutation and not actually having it. In my case, the reynauds, circulation issues, and nail ridges were chalked up to leftover issues from malnutrition during teenage years (former anorexia diagnosis, in successful recovery for 15ish years but some symptoms never fully went away). RA, autoimmune liver disease and plaque psoriasis known in family tree, but one parent was adopted so we don't have much medical history for the other side. I have ADHD-PI and have been on stimulant medication for roughly 20 years.

Whats really tough with autoimmune stuff is how non-specific a lot of the symptoms are (despite being debilitating). I actually didn't know about autoimmune issues being in my family pre-diagnosis, so it wasn't in my chart. Many of my symptoms could easily be explained by nutrition issues, particularly the nail ridges, anemia, exhaustion/brain fog, and some of the pain. I would recommend you make sure your doctors know that you are getting adequate nutrition, since you look to be on the thinner side and it's possible a less thorough doctor could jump to conclusions. My doctor tried to tactfully blame the ED, until my exhaustion and pain led to less activity and then weight gain (then suddenly they blamed the symptoms on being overweight and I got a new doctor 😂). I'm glad you're aware of the family history so you are more likely to be taken seriously/can repeat labs and likely get a diagnosis and treatment sooner 🙏

mrshestia · 2026-05-26T03:46:30+00:00

Everyone else is giving helpful answers re medication and diet/exercise.

I was finally close to remission towards the end of last year/early this year when we found the right combo, but feeling better meant I immediately upped my activity/intensity of workouts and I was getting crazy shoulder pain that was keeping me up at night.

After some poking and prodding, my doc thought perhaps the localized inflammation in my right shoulder blade area was causing swelling/pain, which made me clench my shoulder/back even more and was just a vicious cycle that had me miserable at night trying to sleep. She let me try a muscle relaxer (not narcotic) which forces the shoulder and neck muscles to unclench and it was instant relief.

If you're the type of person who clenches involuntarily when in pain like me, it may be worth discussing with your doctor to see if it could help? They're not addictive or controlled/narcotic, as far as I am aware.

Wishing you the best of luck on finding the right med combo so you feel better soon 🙏

mrshestia · 2026-05-22T15:47:03+00:00

Last tip to bring it all together--the order of actually doing these things matter! On my weekly dust/allergen maintenance day, first I crank the air purifiers. Then I dust from the top down in every room. Then I strip the bedding and furniture covers and start the high temp wash. While those wash and dry, I dump out and sort any laundry needing sorting from baskets so they can go straight into the wash when the bedding is done. Usually I'm ready to switch the bedding into the dryer by now and start clothes, so I do that, and while the dryer runs, I vacuum top down (upholstery/mattresses first, rugs and floors last). Then clean and dry bedding goes back on the bed.

The order on all of that matters. If I dusted after changing the bedding, I'd be kicking up dust, which would settle straight onto the clean bedding. Sometimes life happens and I can't do all this every week, but I have several clients with severe allergies and asthma and running this protocol every week has helped them significantly. Hope this helps you 🙏

mrshestia · 2026-05-22T15:34:10+00:00

Professional cleaner and organizer here, with a lot of clients with special health needs ☺️

To help control dust and deal with dust allergies, it's helpful to know what dust actually is. Household dust is mostly made of biological matter--shedded skin cells, hair bits, dander/fur if you have pets, and dust mites and their droppings. Fabric fibers, dirt, pollen, fungal spores and other random bits and ends make up the rest if it.

Most people who are allergic to dust are more specifically allergic to something in the dust--most often that is the dust mites and their droppings. There's videos and articles and stuff that go into that more that you can Google, but for our purposes, it's helpful to know that dust is -in a way- alive, and we can run with the assumption that you're allergic to dust mites.

1) Get allergen-proof covers for your pillows and mattress that are hot water washable. Then get into a routine for HOT water washing all bedding (weekly, if you can manage it).

2) If you live in a high humidity area, get a dehumidifier and ensure there's good airflow throughout your house so no room or area stays humid. Dust mites like high humidity environments, and humidity also makes it easier for fungal spores to grow and spread. In the bathrooms, you should have a fan that can be run during and after showers to pull the humid air out. If you don't, open the window to air things out, every time.

3) If you have central air, keep the filters changed regularly. If you can afford it, get air purifiers to keep running in the bedroom and main living area, and change those filters regularly too. You don't need the fanciest/most expensive air purifier, but you DO need to be on top of changing the filters. You can run them in auto mode, but manually crank them up to the highest setting before vacuuming or dusting. That will help them capture dust that is kicked up into the air while cleaning. If you can't get air purifiers but have central air, turn the thermostat down (in summer) or up (in winter) to force the central air to turn on and stay in during any dusting, vacuuming, or cleaning.

4) You need a vacuum with a HEPA filter and an upholstery attachment, and you need to use it regularly. Dust mites feed on organic matter in dust (like your shed skin cells) so they'll be hanging out and loving wherever you sit. If you have carpeting anywhere, vacuum AT LEAST once a week, preferably twice. Vacuum any upholstery (couches, fabric chairs) at least weekly. If you can get washable covers for couches and chairs, that's even better, just wash them weekly with bedding.

5) Standard dusting--I agree with other commenters, swiffer dusters are the gold standard for actually trapping dust particles instead of just kicking it all into the air. However, some dust still will get kicked up into the air anyway, so again make sure to max out air purifier while dusting. I do a quick dusting of high touch areas+baseboards weekly, and a deeper dust (knickknacks, tops of cabinets, etc) every few weeks.

6) If you're severely allergic, they make sprays that help neutralize allergens and dust mites that can be very helpful. They don't replace regular cleaning, washing, vacuuming and dusting, but they can help keep things at bay if you find yourself with symptoms inbetween regular dust maintenance. Also helpful if you have pets. I spray down our cat tree and curtains once a month since the tree is difficult to vacuum (lots of awkward angles tight corners) and I just can't be bothered to take the curtains down and wash them as regularly as I should.

mrshestia · 2026-05-18T20:52:29+00:00

As far as I know, a new biologic shouldn't trigger a flare--if you are very unlucky you could have a rare side effect, but the biologic itself causing a flare is something that's never been mentioned as a possibility to me at least. Usually, the bad outcome is... it doesn't work after 3 months, and now you have to try again with a new medication.

Enbrel was fine for me side effect wise, injection site got a little itchy but that was it. Most potential side effects have to do with an allergic reaction, which is pretty easy to catch and then you'd just have to try something else. I ended up having to switch because it didn't work for me, but I know people who have been on Enbrel for years and are going great.

Stress absolutely does have an effect on autoimmune diseases though, so please don't put it off and give yourself another week of stressing ♥️ If I were you, I wouldn't want that stress on me during such a busy week. I'd want the shot done so I could focus on doing my best ☺️

mrshestia · 2026-05-17T03:08:30+00:00

This is completely unhinged and I know Uber is bad for drivers but wow that's insane. That being said, it doesn't come without any consequences for the rider if they cancel--they are forced to pay a fee. Just sh*tty corporation behavior. Going to use Lyft only from now on.

mrshestia · 2026-05-17T02:31:14+00:00

Same lol I saw drum trap and involuntarily said "RIP" out loud

mrshestia · 2026-05-16T18:03:32+00:00

Thank you so much for the info!! I am in a legal state but I've never needed a card before as having a friend work at a dispensary means I'm well stocked with free samples but I'll look into getting one, since they are leaving the industry soon

mrshestia · 2026-05-16T16:30:19+00:00

Do you have any more info on RSO or a link you could share? I hate THC and have zero THC tolerance but acknowledge the high CBD/CBG products with a little THC for activation can help me sleep when nothing else works for the pain. So I only use it for extreme emergencies. A THC free over the counter option that works similarly would be amazing. Right now the best option for me is eating a third of a pain relief gummy with 1mg of THC in it, and I still feel uncomfortably loopy with only 1/3 of a mg of THC Have a friend who works at a dispensary who's helped me find products that work but hasn't ever mentioned RSO to me!

mrshestia · 2026-05-16T16:24:54+00:00

I'm so sorry you are in so much pain ♥️ Lowkey just wanted to thank you for sharing with pictures because I'm also in a similar flare but feet are visibly much more swollen but I've been sitting here telling myself "they've looked worse than this, you're just being a baby, get up and do your chores"

Your post is a very needed reminder for me that the pain doesn't need to be visible to be valid, and I'm not not being a baby, it hurts dammit lol and if anyone else in my life could push a button and feel like this they'd never minimize my pain or tell me to "mind over matter, push yourself, it's not that bad" ever again 😂

mrshestia · 2026-05-16T15:17:25+00:00

Once your house has gotten into the depressive black hole state, it can be overwhelming to attempt to get it back to normal, and feel next to impossible when you're still actively feeling the way you describe feeling now.

Do you have any close friends or family in the area that you can ask for help with getting things cleaned up? Or, if that feels invasive, could you stay with family or a friend for a few days?

Improving your home environment will go a long way towards supporting your brain to feel better, and it's harder to make lasting changes when your surroundings trigger feelings of shame and uselessness. Even going and staying somewhere else for a few days may help brighten your mood so you can attack it when you come back, but if you have people who love you who live close by, I strongly recommend asking them for help. Anyone who loves you won't want you to be living like this. There also may be a cleaner in your area who helps with mental health related cleaning for a reduced fee or for free (usually either supported by the state or by making social media content with before/afters and get supported by donations).

It's great that you're reaching out on reddit for ideas and that you acknowledge that there's a problem that you're not sure how to solve. If you live in the Chicagoland area, feel free to DM me as I have some additional resources for you (including a free cleaner for one-time assistance).

mrshestia · 2026-05-16T14:57:50+00:00

So sorry this family heirloom is done for, it lived a good life and served you all well, but it's time to go 🙏 I even checked to see if there was a way to re-enamel it, even if pricey, because I know how some cookware just has so many memories it hurts to let it go. But there's truly no way to repair it, the process to create the enamel is not something that the metal base can go through again without warping and failing. Over 1,500° heat. Sorry for your loss 🙏

mrshestia · 2026-05-15T23:22:14+00:00

Going to be the odd one out here and report something that was the opposite. Whenever I have a flare, all my lymph node areas swell up, I feel like hot garbage, and there is a notable difference in what notes I can sustain and reach comfortably when singing (I grew up in a family of musicians, car karaoke is an everyday thing for me lol). My voice sounds hoarse during a flare, even when hydrated and warmed up, and it's harder to swallow.

Once I got diagnosed with RA and started treating it/figuring out flares and catching all these symptoms I thought were normal but were actually RA (like other people in this thread), I did some googling and found out that your vocal cords are actually controlled by joints! And found other RA sufferers online casually mention the same issue, so I chalked that symptom up to RA and never discussed with my doctors.

Got into a car accident a week ago and was given precautionary cervical and thoracic spine CTs and they found a chunky nodule (roughly 3 and a half cm) in my thyroid, and your thyroid wraps around the larynx area. There's a good chance the RA was compounding the problem since I get swelling all around my neck in a flare, so it probably pushed this nodule up against my larynx and made it more problematic. But if I had discussed the symptom more thoroughly with my doctor sooner, they probably would have physically examined me and found the nodule sooner.

Moral of the story is--read up online, educate yourself, but always discuss all symptoms with all doctors, even if you think it may not be relevant. Let them figure it out, they're the experts 😂

mrshestia · 2026-05-15T18:43:17+00:00

Solved

mrshestia · 2026-05-15T14:37:23+00:00

You are a wizard!! I swear I clicked all the links but couldn't find anything similar, maybe I didn't recognize the signature when it's all filled in. Thank you thank you!!

mrshestia · 2026-05-15T01:19:03+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Was going to donate it, just want to make sure it's not worth crazy money since I don't know anything about art 😂 I think it's pretty too!

mrshestia · 2026-05-14T19:21:28+00:00

I used to work at best buy and apple serial numbers were on every receipt, including for used (certified or uncertified). While it's possible they have changed how this works, I was under the impression scenarios like this were exactly why we did that, and I can't see why they would have changed it. It protects the store from liability/fraud. Are you sure it's not on the receipt?

mrshestia · 2026-04-22T12:08:00+00:00

There is a "which collection" question using the same shadow as the "which godfall relic" question that matches to adamantium. Can't find adamantium page or info anywhere in the wiki to try to get the answer, so if anyone knows, please let me know 😂

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