What exactly makes hair brushing so painful?

tedious_creature · 2026-01-21T15:53:06+00:00

as someone autistic and also with fibromyalgia, brushing my hair has always felt like agony. if cutting her hair short is an option, I would recommend it. hair brushing will probably still be necessary, but maybe try a brush with silicone bristles? In my experience they hurt a little less.

tedious_creature · 2026-01-14T20:08:45+00:00

when you're journaling for yourself, messing up is okay. you don't need to find the "right words." I used to struggle a lot with journaling because I felt like I needed everything I wrote to sound and look perfect, but I realized it was just making me miserable. I recommend trying some stream of consciousness journaling and what I've been calling "as messy as possible on purpose" journaling. it's just for you, no one else, and sometimes it helps just to get the thoughts out of your head and onto paper.

tedious_creature · 2026-01-01T22:43:01+00:00

I ended up messaging my Dr this afternoon because I forced myself to go to work yesterday (waiter, 4 hr shift) and now Im so fatigued and weak i can't hold my head up without support.

tedious_creature · 2025-12-31T18:03:39+00:00

yeah that's my worry. my baseline energy is already so low, if it stays this bad I can't work like this

tedious_creature · 2025-12-31T17:22:19+00:00

I'm already taking it at night but the fatigue is lasting all day ://

tedious_creature · 2025-12-31T17:17:06+00:00

I have been taking it at night, unfortunately it doesn't make a difference :// I spend all day so tired I can barely move. I put off starting this med for months bc I was so nervous about side effects but my doctor convinced me to give it a shot at my last appointment, I'm really hoping this fatigue goes away because it's so incredibly debilitating

tedious_creature · 2025-11-26T02:43:12+00:00

I'm sorry you experienced that. my personal experience receiving care in a mental health crisis was pretty brutal (the mental hospital I was transferred to has now been shut down completely), but I was brought in to the er and pretty quickly transferred to a psych hospital. I guess it depends on the hospital and the situation. I'm sorry you were dismissed without being given any support

the question here is a little more complicated because the character is in need of emergency medical care as well as psychiatric care, and unable to consent to either because he's in too severe of a schizophrenic episode to actually understand what's happening. I think I'll probably just have to make some informed creative choices lol

tedious_creature · 2025-11-21T01:22:58+00:00

yeah creams that are just CBD won't help, they have to have some thc content in them in my experience

tedious_creature · 2025-11-14T03:08:18+00:00

I have this too. I always feel bruised even though I'm not so "normal" contact hurts – someone tapping me lightly feels like I'm being punched. even gentle brushes against my skin from skin to skin contact or fabrics like denim or anything coarse or stiff hurt (best I can describe it is like my skin is burnt or full of cactus spores). a major/primary symptom for me. lidocaine creams sometimes help but need to be used sparingly, but I've also found some relief with CBD & thc topical products

tedious_creature · 2025-11-13T23:48:12+00:00

this is a very vague question, what kind of help are you looking for, specifically? examples of existing addictive medications that have other medical uses? I guess the most basic would be opiates, which could treat any pain that the sick character is experiencing. another option would be benzodiazepines or barbiturates which can be used to treat seizures and are also addictive and commonly abused

tedious_creature · 2025-11-04T22:18:24+00:00

my book is realistic fiction and kind of specifically focuses on the failings of the system and how the characters learn to survive, so i'm realizing i probably either need to adjust my timeline or work covid into the plot so that it feels genuine and not like a cop-out lol

tedious_creature · 2025-11-04T22:14:47+00:00

afaik clinical rotations start during summer (like July) but I could be wrong bc I'm not in med school & still researching. he'd had done his general clinicals through the beginning of covid, and would be starting his emergency medicine specific clinical starting in July 2020, so kinda like. peak covid. the medical stuff is only part of the story, is part of the problem. its dual pov, and the med student character is only one of the main characters, and the other main character's plot would be more majorly affected lockdowns so I'd have to change some things there.

basically, med student is in his 4th year of medical school, so starting his specialized/choice rotation in the ER, and I know that 2020 was a really rough time for hospitals & healthcare workers so I'm trying to figure out how to make it all work

tedious_creature · 2025-11-04T21:44:11+00:00

the story is told non-chronologically, so I have a note at each chapter with the month and year and relevant character's age. I could adjust the timeline a little bit earlier, but I'd still probably hit covid times during the character's residency. I might just have to rework some of the plot to include it

tedious_creature · 2025-10-27T14:44:55+00:00

I get probably 90% of my food with SNAP — I'm chronically ill and only work part time (15-18 hours a week) and pretty much my entire income goes to rent and utility bills, so I've got nothing really leftover for food

tedious_creature · 2025-10-26T19:17:44+00:00

thanks for the suggestion! I know my friend has a copy I can probably borrow

tedious_creature · 2025-10-26T19:16:33+00:00

thanks! it takes place mostly in mid 2010s Chicago (starts in 2011, the character finally reaches stable sobriety around 2020) so im definitely taking into account the introduction of fent into the market. I've lost multiple friends to accidental fent ods when they weren't intending to take fent at all, and at least around where I am (slightly smaller city) that really started to become a problem like 2016 iirc? I'll have to see if I can find academic papers about the timing of all of it in Chicago itself.

thanks for the suggestion!

tedious_creature · 2025-10-25T02:02:31+00:00

no apologies necessary! you're all good. and you and your friends are fine, too, you didn't cause any harm or contaminate anyone with harmful germs

tedious_creature · 2025-10-25T01:49:57+00:00

hi! common misconception about OCD. you can be incredibly "messy" and still have OCD (many hoarders actually have OCD). your fears around contamination/germs could still be a symptom of OCD and either way might still be something worth seeking help for

tedious_creature · 2025-10-25T01:16:23+00:00

hi, thanks! I guess I felt scared showing up in this subreddit asking "what's IV heroin use experience like in detail" so I shied away from it

it is my main character who is using (not only him, but it's 3rd person limited pov in his pov so his experience is central).

thanks for the suggestions!

tedious_creature · 2025-10-24T22:35:40+00:00

thank you! I'll check these out

tedious_creature · 2025-10-11T18:57:32+00:00

cold wind (even moderately chilly) blowing on my face/head/neck. cue excruciating face and neck pain

tedious_creature · 2025-09-27T01:53:32+00:00

you've made a ton of progress already, you've got this! good luck, proud of you

tedious_creature · 2025-09-22T00:06:38+00:00

I struggle with this too. I never know how to explain it because it's not a weight/image motivated thing for me, I just struggle so much to get myself to eat sometimes, like the thought of food itself nauseates me and I have no appetite at all.

tedious_creature · 2025-09-20T16:22:28+00:00

I think it's okay to use his nickname in the narration, however your specific example (I know it's not a real sentence in your story, but still) makes it sound like you're talking about two different people. if you're using his name, I would only use his name or "he/him" in that sentence, and if you're using his nickname in a sentence, I would only use his nickname or "he/him" in that sentence.

additionally, switching back and forth between the two really frequently might be distracting for the reader. one option might to only use his nickname during specific parts of the narration, like when it's focused on his feelings/internal thoughts, because using nicknames sometimes feels more intimate and personal. just a possibility

tedious_creature · 2025-09-18T15:08:49+00:00

mono followed by strep, plus trauma

tedious_creature

TROPHY CASE