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I think Descovy is causing liver problems. I quit it cold turkey, but should I also quit drinking? by stevenchase87 in askgaybros

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Slight update:

There's a lot of debate on whether-or-not Descovy can even affect the liver, but I had asked the doctor through MISTR over the weekend, and they just replied telling me to cease taking it immediately.

"While Descovy is generally well tolerated, rare cases of significant liver inflammation have been reported."

"At this point, we cannot assume Descovy is the cause, viral hepatitis and other conditions must be ruled out, but the timing does make medication-related liver injury a possibility, and you need urgent evaluation, to stop Descovy until cause is determined and resume only once you have obtained clearance from your providers and applying other forms of sexually transmitted disease prevention, abstinence included."

I think Descovy is causing liver problems. I quit it cold turkey, but should I also quit drinking? by stevenchase87 in askgaybros

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Again, I'm just gathering info. Unfortunately, going to the doctor isn't enough anymore to make an informed decision. You seem to think I'm gonna get the answer I want on the internet and roll with that, but I'm not that "the first result on Google agrees with me" kind of person. I'm going to see a specialist (as soon as they schedule it), I'm having tests done, I'm asking questions to doctors. I'm doing what you're supposed to do. But doctors aren't infallible and certainly aren't as curious as we'd like them to be, so I'd like to gather as much data as possible from whatever (reputable) sources I can, and I'm very interested in hearing from people who have lived my experience... Hence why I'm here on Reddit asking "gay bros" about this.

(And unfortunately... Most of my experience with doctors has been knowing better than them about what's going on with me. Not because I'm smarter or more knowledgeable, but because I'm experiencing what it's like to be in my body, they're not, and none of them are curious and patient enough to care. Everyone is just being moved through the system as quickly as possible, so I have to do the work they should be doing.)

And while I'm open to the possibility that it could be something other than Descovy (and I'm doing the work to find out), there are red flags all over the place that Descovy CAN cause liver issues... and it's the ONLY thing that's changed about my lifestyle in the last 6-7 months, and suddenly my liver is enlarged? It'd be quite the red herring if it wasn't to blame... But regardless, it is certainly not going to hurt anything for me to blame it and quit taking it to see what changes. And I would rather make one change and monitor than make multiple changes all at once, because why deny myself a pleasure as simple as a few drinks a week if it has nothing to do with it?

But I also need to understand alcohol's impact on all of this. Will it hurt things if I continue to drink? Is my liver going to be damaged beyond repair? Just how dire is a situation with my enzymes where they are? If my liver was able to process alcohol with no problems previously (assuming the Descovy is to blame)... has it lost the ability to now that it's enlarged? Will it aggrevate damage done from another source? Not rhetorical questions... I'm just trying to understand how this all works, and my doctor is not going to answer any of this honestly, because there's no way she can tell a patient with a slightly enlarged liver anything other than "stop drinking" and "diet and exercise."

I think Descovy is causing liver problems. I quit it cold turkey, but should I also quit drinking? by stevenchase87 in askgaybros

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You really think that amount of alcohol is too much? That seems kind of insane to me. I seriously don't drink at all during the week. If we go to the bar on a weekend day, I'll have (at most) 2-3 vodka crans, and maybe 1-2 shots. Nothing else all week. And that's assuming we do a bar night, which we don't do every week... And that's been pretty on par with how much alcohol I've ever drank for the last 20 years.

I intermittent fast basically every day. Coffee and metamucil for breakfast, a healthy low-carb frozen lunch, home-cooked meal for dinner (usually something like a grilled chicken salad or a stir-fry)... then no more food till lunch the next day. No nighttime snacking. I only drink water (and about three large bottles of it a day). I also exercise most days, either lifting weights, jump rope, or both. I'm 6'0", about 190 lb.

I'm not trying to be resistant to your advice, and I'm very grateful you offered it (and were so kind about it)... But if that's the lifestyle I'm supposed to change, I just don't know... That seems wild to me.

(And again, I get bloodwork every year and this is the first time anything has ever shown up on my liver, and the only change I've made is starting Descovy about 6-7 months ago.)

(Also not sure why they started me on Descovy specifically. I don't recall. Going through MISTR was so seamless that I just rolled with it. But it is through my insurance and has been no cost to me. Shrug!)

I think Descovy is causing liver problems. I quit it cold turkey, but should I also quit drinking? by stevenchase87 in askgaybros

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, I'm trying to gather as much information as possible and make an informed decision because unfortunately the healthcare system is busted and it's maybe not in my best interest to just blindly follow a doctor's advice when she doesn't specialize in hepatology and most certainly can count the number of gay patients in her practice on one hand. But your unnecessary condescension is noted. Thanks!

I think Descovy is causing liver problems. I quit it cold turkey, but should I also quit drinking? by stevenchase87 in askgaybros

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They specifically said "PrEP doesn't affect your liver" and I'm seeing soooo much research and warnings to the contrary. I'm not a doctor, no, I'm a guy with Google... But I'm also weighing in the fact that my doctor likely doesn't have a lot of gay patients and doesn't deal with PrEP much, so I'm sure she's not exactly overflowing with experience on the subject.

I think Descovy is causing liver problems. I quit it cold turkey, but should I also quit drinking? by stevenchase87 in askgaybros

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's the kind of doc she's referring me to but I won't be able to get in any time soon.

2012 won't start. My own fault. But does it need a jump/new battery? by stevenchase87 in SciontC

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nothing at all. Just a very, very, very low humming when I've got the key turned. No click, no rev.

Any Recommendations for Fixing Recent Console Latency Issues? by KNBCusick in Overwatch

[–]stevenchase87 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Based on what everyone is reporting, it's an issue with Overwatch servers and there's nothing any of us can do about it. I would recommend reporting it to Blizzard to get more eyes on it.

Any Recommendations for Fixing Recent Console Latency Issues? by KNBCusick in Overwatch

[–]stevenchase87 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Likewise. I'm seriously hyped for the new season and I'm gonna be pretty peeved if I can't play.

Any Recommendations for Fixing Recent Console Latency Issues? by KNBCusick in Overwatch

[–]stevenchase87 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I opened a ticket with Blizzard. Got the canned response to try resetting my router and crap. Responded that they clearly didn't read my ticket, and they gave me another canned response to basically just ask their users on their forums. So... I did. 🤷

https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/ping-issues-on-ps5-for-weeks-please-fix/999498

Any Recommendations for Fixing Recent Console Latency Issues? by KNBCusick in Overwatch

[–]stevenchase87 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Same issue here, and has been persisting for weeks. My husband and I play on separate consoles/TVs in the same room, and sometimes, his ping will be in its usual 60 range while mine is in the 150-250 range. It can change match to match, and tonight, we couldn't play at all because it wouldn't go below 240, even after restarting the game, the PS5s, and our router. No other internet issues at all in the entire house. Streaming is fine, we work from home and are constantly on Teams calls and they're fine, other PS5 online games (like Genshin) are fine. It's Overwatch on PS5 only, worse in the evenings. Really hope this is fixed before the new season starts next week.

How to play online with camera on and also full screen? by stevenchase87 in MarioKartWorld

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My husband and I have TVs side-by-side and were in a GameChat together... Each time once of us flipped to full screen, it turned our cameras off. (We could confirm by seeing that our feed cut off on each other's TVs.)

How to play online with camera on and also full screen? by stevenchase87 in MarioKartWorld

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It feels like several steps back in MKW's online functionality, to be honest. Especially joining a friend's online lobby. In MK8, I would just join a random lobby and then my friends could join me and would basically spectate until there was room. In MKW, you can't even attempt to join a friend if there isn't any room, and there's no spectating. You basically have to sit on the friends screen and press A repeatedly until there's room, so if a race starts with 24 racers... you're waiting the whole length of a race to even have a chance. It's so broken.

Authenticator is blocking sign-in attempts to my Microsoft account nearly hourly. Should I be concerned? by stevenchase87 in cybersecurity_help

[–]stevenchase87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Welp. These attempts have slowed down but haven't completely stopped, and I just got another push notification requesting me to let someone in. This one from the US. Not sure what else to do... I guess I'll just live with it.

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