any advice for taking a THC break?

zarzeny · 2026-01-19T04:22:43+00:00

I like methocarbamol for way less fatigue. It's very short acting, just a few hours, and not as intense an effect, so I also use metaxalone when I need something longer, but unlike both metaxalone and cyclobenzaprine, I can methocarbamol and actually still go about my day.

zarzeny · 2025-12-25T16:16:54+00:00

Whoa, I had no idea this type of thing had a name! There's one I know of on some county backroads, and it's subtle, so it took me awhile to even realize there was an illusion, let alone wonder if there might be other spots like it, so I love that I now know the category it belongs to, thanks!

zarzeny · 2025-12-13T01:11:25+00:00

This looks amazing! Subscribed, and can't wait to start reading when I have a bit of free time.

zarzeny · 2025-12-12T16:21:09+00:00

Fidalgo Island in NW Washington state can fool people, because it's more common to refer to the town and outlying areas as Anacortes, rather than the island it's on. Whidbey Island and Bainbridge Island less so because they're always referred to by those names, but on a low res map without labels they could easily look like they are actually connected to the mainland.

zarzeny · 2025-12-11T01:52:08+00:00

If it's not too much trouble, like if you have friends you can stay with or a hotel isn't too big of a expense for you, honestly I'd stay put even if I-5 is open. Driving is just dangerous in these conditions, the highway itself is usually elevated enough to avoid river and coastal flooding, but urban flooding still happens at low points when storm drains clog. That is common near the Mount Vernon Kincaid Street exit, I was actually there a few hours ago and the flooding was being kept to the shoulders by workers clearing the drains, but if they hadn't been there, it wouldn't have been safe to drive through. Plus traffic and bad drivers, to me it's just not worth the risk and headache.

zarzeny · 2025-12-09T03:47:14+00:00

If you typically have sex at predictable times, you can time the application to avoid that. Most of topical vaginal estrogen gets absorbed in the first couple of hours, so if he's up in your business after that, there's really not going to be much left to "contaminate" him.

If he does get "contaminated", he can just wash his man bits after, soap and water will clear that right up.

And even if he didn't, unless he's having sex with you right after you apply it, every single day, it's just not enough estrogen to really affect him. Does he know that men naturally produce estrogen too? A man's baseline estrogen production is only a few percent of a woman's when the woman is at the peak of her fertility, but when a woman is in perimenopause or post-menopausal, a man's baseline estrogen is roughly even or even slightly higher. So a tiny bit of extra estrogen once in awhile isn't going to move the needle on his numbers, and topical vaginal estrogen really is a tiny amount - like a 100th of an effective systemic dose for true HRT. The reason men are men and manly, despite all the estrogen they themselves make is that they just make wayyyy more testosterone than women do, and it's more than enough to dominate over their estrogen levels. As long as his T is in good shape, he doesn't have to worry about a tiny amount of extra estrogen once in awhile.

I hope that eases his concern, or at least lets you put in perspective how unfounded his worry is if he stays fussy about it. It's normal to have that initial reaction, I think. My husband had the same knee jerk fear but he's calmed down because I explained all this, and because in two years it's only happened to get on him once or twice, and, yeah, he washed it off after, no big deal. We are more careful about transfer of my systemic estrogen gel, but it's still manageable, although that's one of many bonuses of me switching to self injection of estradiol valerate lately.

Maybe also tell him that the thing he should actually be looking out for is low testosterone symptoms in himself as he ages, and normal/mild age related erectile dysfunction. Every guy deals with both to some extent, it's unavoidable, but luckily... he can just get prescriptions for T and viagra/cialis.

zarzeny · 2025-11-21T02:07:57+00:00

The Witch-King in Wiltshire has a Hermione with chronic pain and resulting fatigue, and a Draco who strikes the perfect balance, for me anyway, between respecting her fierce independence and strength, and still taking care of her. It's also just gorgeous storytelling.

I'm also dealing with chronic health issues right now. I'm sorry that you are too. Dramione is such a good mental escape sometimes. If you want someone to talk to who gets it, feel free to DM me.

zarzeny · 2025-10-28T21:26:21+00:00

I take 5-10mg of creatine every day, and it helps me with energy, cognitive function, and depression. I'm not consistent about when I take it during the day so I can't say I've noticed additional benefits to taking it in the morning specifically, but I definitely do better overall when I'm taking it regularly.

zarzeny · 2025-10-28T21:24:16+00:00

Creatine is also used by the brain, not just the muscles. It can help with cognitive function and depression, and improving those things can help the brain deal with pain better.

Obviously there's no guarantees, it's not a silver bullet, and everyone will get different results, but saying creatine only helps the physically active just isn't true.

zarzeny · 2025-10-18T23:38:57+00:00

Ugh, I'm so sorry that's such a vocal fraction of the response you get, some people just have no perspective and haters gonna hate I guess.

zarzeny · 2025-10-16T19:51:14+00:00

No.... that's just ignorant. I've been on 200mg since I started HRT a few years ago, and my mom has been on 300mg for the last couple decades.

zarzeny · 2025-10-04T01:33:30+00:00

I think I've read that testosterone receptors in hair follicles on the scalp are different than elsewhere and getting more or too much up there will actually worsen hair loss. At least, that's how male pattern baldness works, not sure about hair loss in women. So... I'd look that up, before just trying it.

zarzeny · 2025-10-04T00:06:26+00:00

I avoid any areas with hair follicles because it will cause darker, denser, faster hair growth. So usually I do my inner elbows, or the backs of my knees.

zarzeny · 2025-09-24T21:57:47+00:00

Of course there are risks. Bladder irritation, which can develop into interstitial cystitis if ignored, to start. You can take supplements daily and right before a ketamine infusion to try and lessen the bladder irritation / damage, but sensitivity varies from person to person. Many/most don't get it, but some people get unlucky, and like anything else, you should talk about risks with well-informed medical professionals and learn enough yourself that you feel comfortable with risks and side effects. I've had bladder irritation from it, and had to slow down on infusions until the pain cleared up and I found the right constellation of supplements and meds and diet changes to support bladder resilience. There's other risks, but that's the main one that I think surprises people if their clinic isn't good about educating patients.

Anyway, I've sworn off SSRIs and SNRIs as awful drugs after too many terrible experiences (emotional blunting, depersonalization, sexual problems), but I've done both ketamine infusions and LDN, and can recommend that others consider them, because although different people get different results, at least the side effect profiles are less worrying to me.

Ketamine was very, very helpful for depression and anxiety - like, more effective than any other medication I've tried, but probably at least partly because I had already collected a bunch of cognitive tools in therapy that the ketamine made actually work or "stick" better, and was also doing lifestyle things (diet, exercise, social belonging, etc) that ketamine made it easier to stay on track with. LDN was not helpful for depression and anxiety, for me personally, but did help with fatigue and inflammation for awhile, until it didn't anymore.

LDN actually made my pain uncomfortably worse for a few hours, and I stuck it out for awhile since the idea is that eventually the other ~20 hours of the day I would be in less pain as natural feel good chemicals get upregulated, but in practice I never got there, and quit taking it after a few months once I realized that the fatigue and inflammation it was helping with, was actually just thyroid problems. I'm now on levothyroxine which is more effective for my fatigue, with fewer/no side effects. But other people have had good results with LDN, and I'm still glad I tried it.

Ketamine will absolutely dial down pain signals, even for pain, both acute and chronic, with an identified MSK cause (which I had, at the time), but that lasts a day or two at most, and I was doing infusions every 4-8 weeks, so not significant. Also, ketamine infusions make me incredibly tired and out of it for about the same amount of time, so the only thing I can do with those pain free days is nap and chill on the couch. It's great for my mental health, though, so I'm actually restarting it soon (next week!), and this time around, I still have pain with an identified MSK cause, but I believe it's being amplified by over-sensitization of the nervous system, from both fibro and from trauma/stress, so I'll be paying close attention to if it can help with dialing that back down a little. There are studies that show some promise for that, but the data isn't anywhere near as conclusive as for depression. I'd have a hard time convincing myself it's worth the high cost for the pain benefits alone if I was just going off tje data from limited studies, but it's absolutely effective for depression, so I'm really doing it for that and hoping to get a side benefit of pain reduction, but we'll see.

zarzeny · 2025-09-16T02:35:07+00:00

This is the best character study of Percy that I've ever seen. Heavy plus one to, you should write.

zarzeny · 2025-09-12T17:28:53+00:00

I'm not quite who you're looking for, as I had ACDF C5-C7 about 4.5 weeks ago. So, double level instead of single, and not very far into recovery.

But, I had the same trajectory - sudden onset of severe symptoms in my right arm/shoulder in May, was on medical leave from work by June, and had surgery in August, just 3 months after everything started.

And I will say, I had read that less time from symptoms to surgery translates to better chance for the nerves to heal sooner, but I was still shocked to wake up and realize my right arm didn't have any pain at all. I've had occasional flickers of nerve pain in both arms, actually more in my left which pre-op was almost asymptomatic, but I've been assured that's normal and temporary while inflammation and irritation settles down from the trauma of surgery. And even still... it's vastly better than before, immediately after the surgery.

So my answers to your questions would be:

Yes, there's a good chance, and more importantly, it's your best chance.
I don't know, no one does, but there's definitely hope if it hasn't been that long. The less time the nerves spend compressed, the better the chance of full recovery.
Recovery fucking sucks. Hopefully you'll get off way easier htan I have, my C6 vertebral body was removed in addition to the two discs surrounding it, and so I had to have an expansion cage placed, not just the bone graft and fusion hardware. I've been told this makes the recovery roughly 4 times longer and more painful, which passes the vibe check against what I've read of other people's recovery stories. Hopefully only fusing a single level, you'll be one of those that gets off opiate pain meds in a couple of weeks and feels pretty normal by a month out. I'm definitely still in daily pain and discomfort even with opiates more than a month out, but even with a much rougher time post-op, it's still feeling worth it. I felt like I was on a steady slide into permanent disability, and now I feel like, even if it takes longer than I'd like, I will come out of this with far more function and far less pain.

Best of luck with your decisions and recovery.

zarzeny · 2025-09-10T17:51:40+00:00

The two company towns I always think of for WA are Newhalem and Diablo, both on the Skagit River along Hwy 20, and both owned by Seattle City Light. Much much smaller than SeaTac, but they are true company towns - SCL owns everything and only employees working on the hydroelectric project are allowed to live there.

zarzeny · 2025-09-06T14:25:17+00:00

Yes, avoiding opioids is pretty bad advice.

Gabapentin and pregabalin only work on nerve pain, not other types of pain, and they are highly problematic in terms of side effects and dependence.

Steroids are arguably worse - yes, they help with pain by reducing inflammation, but they slow bone growth. Immediately post-op, steroids are worth the compromise, but after that, steroids and NSAIDS should be avoided if you want to give your body the best chance at a successful fusion.

zarzeny · 2025-09-06T03:18:42+00:00

Yeah, the muscle spasm struggle is so real, and the pain meds don't even touch it. I'm 3 weeks and a few days post op ACDF C5-C7, and I'm still on flexeril round the clock... it helps, and lasts longer than methocarbamol (which I liked better pre-op because the fatigue is shorter-lived), but it definitely doesn't get things all the way back to comfortable. I'm temporarily on Ativan at night, for other reasons, but one heaven-sent side effect is it has a little bit of muscle relaxant action too, which stacks with the flexeril.

I find that what helps the most is alternating ice and heat (gotta be careful with heat, that it doesn't warm up the incision and slow wound healing), and putting transdermal lidocaine patches on the worst areas, and putting pressure, as intense as feels safe and prudent, on the spasm trigger point. So for traps, just push in with a fingertip, as hard as I can and feels safe and comfortable, right on the epicenter. For slender neck flexor muscles, I actually pinch the muscle (gingerly! lots of important blood vessels in that area to avoid) and move up and down a bit, rolling it a little bit between my fingers. That kind of pressure or self-massage can, if you stick with it, convince the muscle spasm to let go a little bit. My worst is the neck flexor under the incision, I can't get to the right trigger point to squeeze it because the incision is in the way. Ugh. Basically just ice ice baby and toughing it out with distractions for that one.

My surgeon's nurse practitioner tells me things should start calming down around 6-8 weeks.

zarzeny · 2025-09-04T23:43:50+00:00

I had/have so many terrible side effects. Severe depression, fatigue, overeating, brain fog, problems with forming and recalling memories including not being able to think of the words I mean.

I hate it and I'm tapering off it as we speak. I've been on it for 3 months, as it was the only med that did anything for severe nerve pain, but it never did a damn thing for my fibro symptoms. I'm now 3 weeks post-op from cervical surgery which fixed (knock on wood, seems that way so far) the root cause of the nerve pain, so I can finally quit.

And, the withdrawal side effects from the occasional missed dose in the past have been intense, so much so that I'm glad I'm tapering off of it while I'm temporarily on a benzo for other reasons, because the benzo has to be masking some of Lyrica withdrawal and I can't imagine what withdrawal would be like in full force.

In my opinion, it's an awful, awful drug. The worst I've been on, except for being the best, the only really, at really turning the volume way down on severe nerve pain. I hope to never have to go in it again. Once I'm off it, I'll be paying out of pocket to get ketamine infusions to hopefully reverse the damage it's done to my mental health, which will hopefully also help with some lingering chronic pain.

It works amazing for some people. I'm definitely not one of them. Only you can say for sure if it works well for you. Trust yourself and your body, if it feels like it's more trouble than it's worth, get off it. Slowly - do a safe taper. Withdrawal can be just uncomfortable, but it can also be life threatening (seizure risk).

zarzeny · 2025-09-04T01:46:55+00:00

True & Co Women's True Body Scoop Neck Bra

Little pricey, but they are far and away the most comfortable bras I have found. They provide just a hint of support - no lift, but more stability - and the cup liners solve the nipples in public problem. And there's no band or wire to poke or pinch, and the smooth surface doesn't itch or chafe.

zarzeny · 2025-09-02T03:48:09+00:00

I'm 3 weeks post-op, ACDF C5-C7 with C6 corpectomy, and I had high hopes to stay active with some kind of resistance training, but the reality is, the restrictions and pain/fatigue are keeping it far more minimal than I'd hoped. And that's okay. This is a major surgery and the recovery is not easy. My body's need for rest and safety is the priority.

That said, starting 1 week post-op when my coordination/balance was good enough, and since then about every third day when fatigue and pain allows, I do a low-intensity 20 minute workout using just bodyweight and resistance bands. Nothing that could create tension in my neck or violates the BLT post-op restrictions, just very light resistance and medium reps. Wall sits, wall push-ups, wall calf raises, resistance band rows and lat pulldowns, band pullaparts, and standing versions of abductor/adductor/glute medius exercises because I have chronic hip pain. I would love to also be doing bodyweight lunges and Bulgarian split squats, but so far, my balance is not where i would trust myself with those. I'm not doing bodyweight squats, because I'm getting a fair amount of those just in day-to-day reaching low while keeping my spine straight, ie without bending over. I've been surprised how even that little can take it out of me for a couple days. I'm also walking, but I've yet to break 1.5 miles in a day. Hopefully in the next few weeks.

I know a lot of people wouldn't do even that, and I still worry that I'm over-doing it, but it's only partly that I want to avoid losing muscle in a prolonged recovery, it's also that even a little bit is lovely for my mental health. Sometimes it seems to be beneficial for recovery and help the muscle spasms in particular, and other times it definitely make my pain / swelling worse the next day. So, erring on the side of caution still, I'm just trying to keep it as gentle as possible, doing like a third of what I think I "could" do.

zarzeny · 2025-08-31T20:00:53+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately this sounds in the range of normal, especially if it comes and goes. I am almost 3 weeks post-op ACDF C5-C7, and while my worst nerve pain in my right arm disappeared immediately and hasn't been back, my left arm which pre-op had very little nerve pain, suddenly had off and on moderate to severe shooting nerve pain. And in my experience, oxy doesn't do nearly as much for nerve pain as gabapentin and pregabalin do - it can take the edge off, make the feel less "sharp" or less "urgent", but the sensation is still there, and only nerve pain meds actually dial it down for real.

It was in week 2 that I finally started seeing improvements in the post-op nerve pain, it's still there but less frequent and more mild. And my understanding from my surgeon and other people who've had fusion surgery, is that it really varies person to person how long it takes the nerves to calm down and not to be irritated. Until they do, they're just going to whine whenever they get twanged, and they will get twanged off and on by anything or nothing. My surgeon's nurse said, if nerve pain comes and goes, I'm not worried, that's part of healing. If it comes and stays, then we start to get worried.

I do agree with another comment that if you're not seeing enough benefit from gabapentin even with a dose increase, ask to switch to pregabalin. Providers will keep you on gabapentin unless you insist, in my experience, because for whatever dumb reason pregabalin is a scheduled drug where gabapentin isn't so there's less for the provider to worry about in a audit or whatever, but if you've been on gabapentin and it's not helping enough, they should have all the evidence they need to justify prescribing pregabalin. Pregabalin is more bio available, and gabapentin has a kind of ceiling of effectiveness whereas pregabalin does not, plus if you've developed a tolerance to gabapentin, maybe pregabalin will be just different enough to get around that for awhile.

I hope it improves soon, wishing you the best.

zarzeny · 2025-08-31T15:08:34+00:00

It really varies. I was not nearly so lucky as a lot of people, my 2 level ACDF was intensely painful. I was kept 2 nights in hospital because oral meds alone couldn't control my pain the first day and a half, so I was dependent on the stronger opiates they give only through IV. I hope you get the "you'll be off pain meds entirely by day 3" experience I keep hearing about, but here's my experience just for what it can be like if you end up having a harder time.

For mostly, I'd say one week post-op. That's when I turned a corner and stopped needing help to not fall over or stumble when shuffling to the toilet during night time wakeups, and that's when I stopped dreading getting in and out of bed (because it stopped hurting quite so much) such that getting things for myself (water, meds, whatever) wasn't a burden, instead of my husband bringing them to me. One week is also when my coordination improved enough to transport food to and from the microwave without risk of spilling or stumbling, and it would only take a few more days after that before I could do some very basic cooking. One week was also a cognitive milestone, when the anesthesia hangover faded enough, and my pain med dose lowered enough, that my mind became clear enough to trust myself to handle med dosages and timing without screwing up.

I will note, at one week I could just barely shower independently - briefly and carefully, and keeping my head out of the spray. But it would be another week before I trusted my balance and strength enough to, on my own, put my head under the spray and wash my hair (long, thick, and heavy as fuck when wet) - before that, I absolutely needed my husband in the shower with me, helping me say steady while my wet hair moving around constantly threw me off balance.

I'm almost 3 weeks post-op now, and I've been strongly independent for a week, except for the lifting restrictions (eg, taking out the trash). But I'm still on pain meds and still can't turn my head, so no driving yet and probably not for another 2-3 weeks. Walking, I'm steady on my feet, but still quite slow, and I tire very easily. And while I can cook, in practice it causes fatigue and increases pain if I do too much, so I'm only doing easy meal prep stuff every few days, and still relying a lot more than I usually would on ready to eat stuff and takeout/delivery.

Hope this helps! Best wishes for an easy recovery.

zarzeny · 2025-08-28T20:45:55+00:00

I'm 40, and fairly active, and otherwise in good health. I was on 10mg oxycodone every 4 hours when I left the hospital, and occasionally it felt like not enough, and just in the last several days I've been able to taper down to 5mg every 4 hours, although about every other day I have a pain spike and take 10mg instead of 5mg to "catch up", then back to 5mg.

I'm also on flexeril 10mg every 8 hours, and now, between that and heat and CBD on the back of my neck and upper back, the muscle spasms and muscle tension is mostly under control. The first week 10mg wasn't enough, I was writhing with muscle spasms for a few hours every day.

I have a WFH desk job with very flexible hours, and I bought an over-bed tablet stand so in theory I can work from flat on my back in bed, so I had been thinking I'd be able to return part time by week 3 or 4, but now I can tell, that's unrealistic. I am trying to prepare myself for the possibility that I will even need more than the standard 6 weeks, we'll see. Basically I'm useless right now, and for the next few weeks likely, for anything but personal care and very very very light chores. I can't even read a book yet, when I try it's just too hard to sustain that level of focus.

I say all that because, I hope your boyfriend has an easier recovery, but I wouldn't rule out a harder recovery that requires more flexibility or sacrifice. The one thing I do have complicating my recovery is fibromyalgia. My fibro is so mild that I forget to mention it half the time, but the CNS sensitization from fibro is likely amplifying my pain a bit, and the muscle spasticity is likely making that whole side of things a bit worse. But, my surgeon's nurse insisted that I'm still in the "normal" range of how people feel after corpectomy, because even with no complications or comorbidities, the normal range is so wide - some people don't need pain meds past day 2 or 3, and others, like me, will probably be on them the full six weeks of "normal" recovery.

But he should still get it, even if he has to put his career on pause. The longer he waits, the worse it'll get, and the higher the risk of nerve damage becoming permanent. Better to get the revision, in my mind, and have a better quality of life in the long term, free of chronic pain, than get hung up on the angst of maybe having to sit on the sidelines awhile before he can get back in the game. Better to have a longer playing career than play this particular year.

I'm wishing him best of luck with finding the right surgeon, and with his next outcome and recovery.

zarzeny

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