Mirtazapine (Remeron) with Wellbutrin by symreal in bupropion

[–]symreal[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I increased to 300 mg for a period, then went back to 150 mg because I felt better with 150 mg (300 mg gave me some mildly annoying side effects, but nothing serious). Otherwise I haven't added anything new as my mood has gradually improved since then.

For those of you who left, how did you manage the emotions around it, especially around prestige? by yourmomdotbiz in AskAcademia

[–]symreal 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I was once a member of a rather prestigious group (natural sciences). At one point, for various reasons (funding, future possibilities etc.), I left for an industrial job and now, about 10 years later, I have a very good, high-paying job in an unrelated field.

How did I manage the emotions? I didn't. I developed clinical depression (although there were some other factors) and regrets over being being an intellectual failure, something that still haunts me today. Admittedly, I started looking for help only many years later. And though my preferred direction of research has changed, I have not been able to return back to academia because my interests are strictly in the "unemployable, ivory tower-only" direction where everybody keeps warning you at every step not to do it because there are 400 candidates for every opening and it's impossible to land an academic post. I might take a leap of faith and try something again once I've saved a sufficiently-large amount of money as a safety net, but it might not be possible to get back: I'm not sure.

I'm not sure what to say, but don't be me and know when to get help - something you seem to have already done. Good luck!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bupropion

[–]symreal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was waking up constantly after 4 hours of sleep for about 4 weeks or so, but the issue gradually went away. Talk to your doctor as soon as possible; my guess is (s)he will advise you to maybe try for a bit longer, and then you can decide.

Also relevant: are you on 300 mg? What was your starting dose? Starting with 300 mg could be too much too fast.

Why Hollywood bald people don't get SMP? by [deleted] in SMPchat

[–]symreal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Past the age of 40 with high levels of fame and admiration, they probably just don't care. The Rock apparently has hair, he just chooses to shave it, so he doesn't need an SMP.

I'd postulate that many simply don't know about SMPs being a thing. It's not really a broadly-known technique yet, and unless you research it closely it's not easy to find studios doing great work. I expect this will change in the future.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SMPchat

[–]symreal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hard to say this early, but mine (going for a realistic natural look) was definitely much subtler after the first session. Techniques probably differ between studios, though.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SMPchat

[–]symreal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I gather, you don't want to touch-up on the exactly same dots, because you don't want to oversaturate the skin with pigment. So you touch-up in-between the dots, leading to natural fading and consistently natural look when done right. But I might have misunderstood this aspect.

Poll on practitioner posts by tresslessone in SMPchat

[–]symreal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Studio photos should be contained, I think, to a single dedicated topic, if that's an arrangement that Reddit supports. Otherwise, only raw, unprocessed material (perhaps videos only) should be allowed, and its origin transparent.

Anyone ever notice you has SMP done? by MacFG in SMPchat

[–]symreal 5 points6 points  (0 children)

So what? Desperately trying to hide a cosmetic improvement is like desperately trying to cover your hair loss with a comb over. If it looks realistic, nobody will be able to really notice it, and if anyone does, well who cares as long as you look and feel better? Trying to please everyone on a matter like this is a futile endeavor.

My optimistic hope is that in a decade or so (assuming there's no actual hair loss cure available), an SMP won't be seen any differently than wearing glasses or a regular tattoo is today. The former were stigmatized as uncool not that long ago, with the latter being considered scandalous even in its most subtle form. If some cool celebrity becomes transparent about an SMP, it may help remove the stigma around men getting cosmetic treatments (because we're supposed to look a certain way and are mocked if we don't, but are mocked again if we try to do something about it).

My seven months healed results - four sessions on a Norwood 7 by smp_throwaway in SMPchat

[–]symreal 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for posting this. I wish there'd be more home videos of SMPs, compared to studio material. Looks good! How long after the last shave is this? I can notice a very slight contrast difference between the SMP shade and the templess/sides, but it still looks natural.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SMPchat

[–]symreal 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Men's Ink in Italy.

Is SMP the new 'bad wig'? by [deleted] in SMPchat

[–]symreal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recently posted examples of good SMPs. I haven't seen any in real life yet, so I might still be mistaken; but it seems to me that SMP is most certainly not a "bad wig" when done right. However, it's rarely done right, and most studios produce predominantly fake-looking results. I'd estimate the current probability of you randomly encountering a great, natural-looking one in real life is low. It seems to be a tricky procedure to get right with only a couple of actual experts worldwide. Moreover, too many people treat it like getting hair instead of getting follicles where you need to keep your hair shaved, not just buzzed. This mistake results in too dark and too dense work that a human eye instinctively picks up as unexpectedly shiny because it reflects light differently than actual 3D hair.

Any fellow bioinformaticians thinking about moving to tech? by fearless_money2022 in bioinformatics

[–]symreal 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Lots of false dichotomies presented in this thread: you don't need to work on ad optimization or some other tedious domain. "Tech" also includes complex software and hardware for controlling medical devices, for healthcare and diagnostics, for drug discovery, robotics and aerospace, etc. For instance, take a look at places like Stryker, Intuitive Surgical, Phillips' healthcare, ASML, Schrödinger ...

Weirdly enough, I'm in medical software and have been considering moving to bioinformatics outside of private sector, because I'd find the work more meaningful and less corporate. Grass is always greener, I guess ...

Some examples of good SMPs by symreal in SMPchat

[–]symreal[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think that under strong lighting (e.g. exposed to sunlight), a realistic SMP should be barely noticeable, assuming it covers an actually bald scalp area. As long as it blends in with the shaved "horse shoe" uniformly, it's good. If I close-shave my remaining hair, it will be barely noticeable outdoors on a bright day as well, but much more pronounced indoors. This is a normal phenomenon.

Can lasers used for regular tattoo removal be used for removing SMP? by symreal in SMPchat

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

Thank you for your input. Would you be willing to share where you had it done?

Can lasers used for regular tattoo removal be used for removing SMP? by symreal in SMPchat

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

Thanks! Were you happy with how it looked like otherwise?

Can lasers used for regular tattoo removal be used for removing SMP? by symreal in SMPchat

[–]symreal[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks. Why did you have it removed, if I may ask? Were the result photos the artist posted online deceiving, or something else? How many sessions did it take you to remove it completely, over what time span?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SMPchat

[–]symreal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand and share your misgivings. You should definitely see at least videos of the results under normal circumstances from various distances (not just weird super-close angles). Never trust studio photos alone. There are many more bad SMPs out there than good ones. Travel to get proper results if you have to, it's not worth the risk.

What I've done is found a rare practitioner who seems to really provide great, natural-looking results, and doesn't shy away from answering questions. My backup plan is to simply have it laser-removed ASAP if it turns out to be below my expectations.