My 6 month old daughter’s pediatrician is suspecting that she is having drop seizures and we are supposed to be having an EEG and an MRI soon to confirm it but I am terrified of how this might impact her future. If you have any experience with these seizures how does it impact your life? What was the cause of the seizures in your case? Are they manageable? Any information about this would be greatly appreciated.

So basically i didnt eat for seven days then broke my fast on water and 100 cal pb snack cause was so nauseous next night i drank more and ate about 800 cal and then didnt eat for another 7 days and drank but like only once a day (sometimes once every two days) and throughout these two weeks no electrolyte mixes or whatever. Im feeling very sick but dont want to go to hospital or ER.... should i call someone down to give me IV? What should i ask for in my IV mix?

Im 15 afab (he/him please) i cant go on walking for 5 minutes without my back starting to ache. I get daily headaches and sometimes more rare pains. Like the other day i felt like the gravity in my internal system was bigger and it felt like my organs were about to pop off from one of my holes. It hurt like hell. It only hurt when i was standing still. Got better when i walked. Also ehen i stand too much my legs get a purplish hue and when i bend my knees after a long period of standing it feels like somthing is gonna tear. Like im constricting something. Constant tiredness, joint aches and i realized my elbow locks when i lift something heavy and i have to manually unlovk it bc if i force it open it hurts. Constantly hungry. And a cravked ankle that “healed” months ago but still hurts. My shoulders hurt. I feel nauseous out of nowhere and sometimes i get so dizzy to the point of crashing to the floor. Im constantly tired. And this is only ehat comes to mind. What can i do? My parents refuse to take me to a hospital

28F. I’m trying to understand whether the combination of my blood results and symptoms could point toward a systemic connective tissue/autoimmune disease, and which findings are actually clinically meaningful.

I already have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s), but because of additional symptoms and abnormal autoimmune serology I am currently being evaluated for a possible systemic autoimmune/connective tissue disorder.

Autoimmune / rheumatological blood results

Most of these results are from October 2026:

ANA by IIF: 1:1280 (reference <1:80)

DFS70: strongly positive (+++)

CENP-B: positive (+)

SS-B/La: positive (+)

SSA/Ro: negative

Ro52: negative

Scl-70: negative

dsDNA: negative

Sm: negative

nRNP/Sm: negative

nucleosomes: negative

histone antibodies: negative

Jo-1: negative

PM-Scl100: negative

anti-MPO: negative

anti-PR3: negative

ribosomal P: negative

AMA-M2: negative

PCNA: negative

rheumatoid factor: <6.6 kIU/L / negative

anti-CCP: 1.90 u/mL / negative

C3: 1.0 g/L (normal)

C4: 0.10 g/L (right at the lower end of the reference range)

IgG: 14.9 g/L

IgA: 1.4 g/L

IgM: 1.50 g/L

haptoglobin: 0.78 g/L

ACE: 39 u/L - serum immunoelectrophoresis: no evidence of monoclonal gammopathy

ANA internal screening assay: 0.5 IU/mL despite the strongly positive ANA IIF

Tissue transglutaminase antibodies were negative:

tTG-IgG: 0.4 AU/mL

tTG-IgA: 2.0 AU/mL

What confuses me particularly is that DFS70 is strongly positive, but it is not isolated, since CENP-B and SS-B/La are also positive.

I am also unsure how to interpret the discrepancy between the ANA IIF of 1:1280 and the negative/normal internal ANA screening assay.

Thyroid

I have had Hashimoto’s thyroiditis for many years.

My thyroid function has fluctuated considerably.

Current/recent values include:

TSH: 0.15 mIU/L on 08/10

TSH: 0.33 on 30/09

TSH: 0.24 on 28/08

free T4: 2.27 ng/dL – high on 08/10

free T4: 2.05 ng/dL – high on 30/09

free T3: 3.91 pg/mL – normal on 08/10

free T3: 3.1 – normal on 30/09

TPO antibodies: >400 IU/mL – strongly elevated

current TRAb/TRAK: 0.8 u/L (within this laboratory’s reference range)

At other points my TSH has been very high; an older laboratory result shows a TSH of 34.1.

I take levothyroxine, and there have been significant problems getting the dose/thyroid function stable.

Blood count

On 08/10:

WBC: 4.18/nL

RBC: 4.01/pL

hemoglobin: 12.4 g/dL

hematocrit: 35.2% – slightly low

platelets: 207/nL

neutrophils: 48.3%

lymphocytes: 36.4%

monocytes: 10.8%

eosinophils: 3.8%

basophils: 0.5%

MCV: 87.8 fL

MCH: 30.9 pg

MCHC: 35.2 g/dL

RDW: 11.5% – slightly below the laboratory reference range

There has been some fluctuation.

On 30/09:

WBC: 3.5/nL – low

hemoglobin: 11.8 g/dL

hematocrit: 0.36

platelets: 182/nL

neutrophils: 45.8%

lymphocytes: 36.0%

monocytes: 11.9% – elevated

On 28/08:

WBC: 4.7/nL

hemoglobin: 12.4 g/dL

platelets: 208/nL

neutrophils: 49.9%

lymphocytes: 35.3%

monocytes: 10.3% – slightly elevated

So there was at least one episode of mild leukopenia, with repeatedly relatively elevated monocyte percentages.

Inflammation

Despite my symptoms, systemic inflammatory markers have been very low:

ESR/BSE: 2 mm/h

CRP: 0.20 mg/L

Iron / vitamins / trace elements

ferritin: 29 ng/mL (recent values around 28–29)

serum iron: 1070 µg/L, within reference range

vitamin B12: 369 pg/mL

folate: 134.27 nmol/L

vitamin D (25-OH): 37.9 ng/mL

zinc: 9.9 µmol/L, low-normal

selenium: 145 µg/L – above the laboratory reference range of 50–120

I have a history of chronic iron deficiency.

Kidney / liver / metabolic results

creatinine: 0.85 mg/dL

eGFR: 94 mL/min on 08/10 (previously 89)

sodium: 143 mmol/L

calcium: 2.46 mmol/L

alkaline phosphatase: 54 u/L - AST/GOT: 17 u/L - ALT/GPT: 20 u/L - GGT: 8 u/L - glucose: 90 mg/dL

HbA1c: 5.3%

uric acid: 5.3 mg/dL

total protein: 73.0 g/L

Serum protein electrophoresis showed a slightly elevated gamma fraction:

gamma fraction: 19.6% (reference 11.1–18.8%)

Other fractions were within or close to their reference ranges.

Other endocrine results

PTH: 45.7 pg/mL

ACTH: 14.5 pg/mL

cortisol: 11.2 µg/dL

aldosterone: 48.5 pg/mL

renin: 27.4 pg/mL

aldosterone/renin ratio: 1.8

IGF-1: 300 ng/mL

These were within the laboratory reference ranges. But I may need to add that during a period of immense trauma and stress I had a cortisol level of over 100 two years ago.

Symptoms

Over the last months I have developed a combination of symptoms including:

Raynaud’s phenomenon

very severe diffuse scalp hair shedding

visible reduction in hair density

thinning/loss of eyebrows and possibly eyelashes

scalp burning/tenderness/pain

severe joint and bone pain

significant leg pain and tenderness

occasional difficulty walking because of the leg symptoms

Baker’s cyst in July

pronounced fatigue/exhaustion

headaches

concentration problems/brain fog

feeling unusually cold

occasionally slightly low body temperature

recurrent inflammatory/skin symptoms, including scaly skin lesions

a recent oral ulcer

episodes of inflammatory symptoms in other areas of the body

I do not have a classic malar/butterfly rash, and I have not noticed obvious persistent joint swelling (only occasionally).

The timing of the symptoms, including the hair loss, overlaps with the emergence/investigation of the systemic autoimmune findings, so I am unsure whether this is simply severe telogen effluvium from the thyroid disease or whether a systemic autoimmune process could also be contributing.

Taken together, how would you interpret the combination of ANA 1:1280, CENP-B positivity, SS-B/La positivity, strong DFS70 positivity, Raynaud’s phenomenon and my systemic symptoms? Could this fit an undifferentiated connective tissue disease or an early form of a more specific condition such as limited systemic sclerosis?

Could the other abnormalities — including the episode of mild leukopenia, slightly low hematocrit, low-normal C4 and mildly elevated gamma fraction — support a systemic autoimmune explanation even though CRP and ESR are normal? How much of the overall picture could instead reasonably be explained by unstable Hashimoto’s/thyroid hormone levels?

Based on this overall picture, what further evaluation would you consider most useful ?

Edit: country of residence: germany, race: white, height & weight: 158, 50kg, diagnosed medical conditions: Hashimoto, Raynaud’s phenomenon, migraine, prescriptions or supplements and dosages: levothyroxine 135 µg, Omega 3, iron, zinc, hair vitamines, minoxidil foam 5 Percent, Clarelux foam, duration of complaint, the issue you've been having: 3 Month

So to break it down, I have been sick with a head cold for nearly a week. Two days into it, I started to have pressure like pain in my inner ear but thought that it was because of my sinuses being super congested. Few days it gets very quickly worse to the point I have to leave work early because I can't focus on the tasks I'm needing to get done. I return home, take a healthy dose of cold medicine and Tylenol and go to bed in hopes that i just need to rest and reset.

Wrong. Wake up to pain so intense a few hours later that I'm sobbing and go to ER. At 1am

I check in, wait, get a room and it's a massive ear infection with the cause most likely because of my head cold. Yay...

They give me a prescription and a "I'm gonna make this a fun little dose for you" pain management before I head back home. 4am now.

I wake up and my ear feels weird. One, a constant ringing, two, I have dried blood in the shell of my ear.

I was just seen and I haven't had a chance to get my prescription filled because nothing is open until 9am. Do I go back because I think my ear drum has ruptured or get my prescription and wait a few days? I don't want to be looked at as a pain seeker or drug hound, but like I need to go back to work and I cannot take time off

17F, 164cm, like 50-55kg.

Okay guys, sorry, I'm a bit health anxious and I don't get sick often. But it's spring here, and initially I had an itchy nose. A day later, I had an itchy nose, tongue, upper lip, eyes, inner ears, etc. And chalked it up to hay-fever. Not too long after, I got the ever so slight ache on my like palate/throat to the left, but I got a filling there 2 or 3 months ago. So worried it's related to the tooth. But listen. Followong that, I had slightly more persistent throat ache whenever I yawned, to the left. Again, chalked it up to allergies. As of yesterday, I have had horrible throat ache to the left. It feels inflamed around the back of the tongue/throat/inner ear when I swallow. But a permanently raw/dry throat, and I feel like there's a lot of phlegm, that I habitually hack up but it hurts so bad. My entire throat feels raw and dry, not just the left, the elft just experiences pain when swallowing or hacking up phlegm. It's so raw it hurts to even sip or drink water and drinking water leaves it feeling more irritated, regardless of the temp. My nose though, is extremely clear and not runny. Google said to avoid antihistamines and adco-dol because it'll dry out or irritate the pm. And sinus medication won't do it either. It's officially the next day, my throat hurt, I finally managed to fall asleep at 7am. Got an hour and a half before waking up to my sore dry throat. When I got up, parts of my skin felt tender der even moreso when touching, but not painful. My body feels kinda heavy and I'm having a hard time moving and my body feels weird, sorry I'm bad at articulating, and I suspect I might have a fever but have no way of confirming. My knees feel kinda achey and heavy. Idk why but my lower back suddenly feels achey and heavy on either side, both despite laying down.

I can't see a doctor today, and was wondering if I could self medicate and feel better using paracetamol and a throat lozenge, I was going to do diclofenac but Google says to avoid it. Is there anything else I can do? I really haven't ever felt this I'll, but I can't see a doctor because my dad has gone to the hospital after breaking one of his vertebraes 2 days ago. Will the medication help for the time being?

Female
23
Vape daily
Smoke weed nightly.

Yall tell me if going to the Er would be dramatic or valid.

So when I was pregnant I struggled with chronic UTIs, and after having her I’ve still been having issues. (I’m 5 months pp)

I have this horrible kidney pain at least once a month and this month it just won’t let up. I went to urgent care on Friday and they told me I do not have a UTI, but sent my stuff off for a culture which I haven’t heard anything about it.

Regardless of not having a UTI I still have this horrible kidney pain. When I woke up at 4am today it was on fire, like so uncomfortable that I’m struggling to fall asleep.
I’m also extremely nauseated and I’m shocked I haven’t thrown up everywhere yet.

I’m so scared, my family has not had the best history when it comes to kidneys. (Kidney cancer) but my PCP says it’s most likely just kidney stones and that they’ll pass.

But I fear this may be too big to pass on my own.(and this is just pure speculation I have not gotten a scan done.)

The urgent care Dr said to follow up with my PCP, but I know if I go to her I’ll just get given another medication that works for a week then I’m back to being in pain.

Idk what to do at this point and I do not have ER money but I’m in so much pain.

I also do not want to take away from resources in the ER.

Would you go to the er if you were in my shoes?

I’ve posted an endoscopic video I took myself here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oPLiCLsEqCWKLLYwv-nlQsKBiosXHlLI/view?usp=sharing (When I try posting it in the body of the post, it gets auto-banned by reddit filters)

I injured something while singing almost 3 months ago in the beginning of august. I had just learned to belt and did so too much for 3 days in a row. I noticed some fatigue but kept going. The feeling got worse and my singing suffered a bit so I stopped singing with power, but kept singing quite softly. My speaking voice was pretty much fine except a bit of breaking with more animated higher-pitched speaking. I took the first endoscopic video about 2 weeks after injury.

The problem persisted for 2 months without getting better, so at that point (beginning of October) I stopped speaking entirely. I have been doing this for about 3 weeks now (except for 2 days of limited talking about 2 weeks in.) It doesn’t really seem like it’s gotten any better. I havent tested my singing voice, but my throat still feels agitated. The feeling is a bit raw/scratched similar to after running in the cold. 

I understand I should see a laryngologist, but I’m not able to at the moment. I will when I can if this doesn’t resolve, but for now, these endoscopic videos are taken by me. 

I see a lot of SOVT therapy. Is this something I should/could be doing without risk of making it worse?

Thanks for any input.

Hi there, I’m running out of ideas and people to ask advice from, so I’m here.

My almost seven year old has been potty trained since he was 5, with a few spotty accidents since then but otherwise really good. He had ASD but is usually quite good at self-care activities, and is verbal.

I’ve just had a sudden uptick in soiling accidents, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what is going on. I’m at my wits end, and struggling to not divert into the shaming part of soiling accidents because of my own stress with him and the school accidents.

got a GP booked for two days from now, but I wanted to see if anyone had any help or similar experiences in the past.

I’ve had a sudden issue with smearing, and with small amounts of soiling. He can sometimes go normally, but will still have constant little accidents, sometimes without realising it. All the Google searches point to encoparesis but I’m not sure he is constipated because he can pass stool when he tries. The accidents we’re finding are very thick, sticky. I’ve tried kids laxatives, he eats tonnes of fruit and veggies, plenty of fibre, plenty of water. These accidents are happening both at school and at home.

Because it’s so thick, he’s having issues with wiping and then it ends up on his clothes, which means it transfers to his uniform and the school requires kindergarteners to be picked up/go home when this occurs. I have clean clothes for him, several packs in his bags, wipes and everything, and it’s still happening. I’ve tried treat charts, sticker charts, rewards, bribing, everything, with no effect at all. He hasn’t said going to the toilet is painful when I ask, and he seems otherwise well.

Has anyone dealt with anything like this before?

Recently i had my 20th bday and i got pretty drunk, it was fun and all but i ended up throwing up near the end of the night before going to sleep, quite a bit, and the morning after i had a hangover.

This is weird because i genuinely haven’t thrown up since i was about 9 years old, (i’ve also never felt sick or had a hangover from drinking before). I’ve felt nauseas sometimes but it always stays like in my throat and never comes out, but since my birthday ive thrown up twice and i feel nauseas almost every time i eat anything now.

It’s freaking me out tbh and i hate throwing up as well so i’m scared to eat or anything at this point.

If anyone has advice on why this could be happening, i’d be grateful.

I’m 26M. My first vitrectomy for retinal detachment failed, and now I need a second surgery with silicone oil due to recurrent detachment and PVR.
I’ve consulted two surgeons with different opinions. One recommends removing my natural lens and doing cataract surgery at the same time, saying it’ll give him better visibility to repair my retina. The other strongly recommends preserving my natural lens because of my age, even though I’ll likely develop a cataract later.
I’m confused about which approach is better. Has anyone faced this decision? Did you keep your natural lens or have cataract surgery during your retinal repair? Any regrets or complications?

History: 31, 5’7, 135lb. History of chronic migraines, and a whiplash concussion in 2022 that led to chronic cervicogenic vestibular dizziness. Did vestibular PT for a year for the dizziness. Crazy headaches and dizziness and essential tremor still flare with strobe lights/camera flashes, jolts, quick-braking in a car, getting hit with a volleyball, etc.

What happened; I fell off an exercise bike onto concrete six days ago. Not a painful fall, and my head made no impact. My back hip took most of the impact. Later that night, I went to see a horror movie in theaters with a lot of jump scares.

Since then, I’ve had constant ongoing pressure in my head and headache that has finally died down a bit. Some ache in my back neck and shoulder blades, too. Lots of neck guarding. In tandem, I’ve felt lots of motor coordination issues like unstable hands when I’m using a fork and knife, or zipping a jacket, etc. — but I’ve still been able to accomplish every task and pass basic motor function tests (nose touching, arm drifting, Urgent Care dismissed it on day 2). No one looking at me notices the problem. Today I was able to write a few paragraphs by hand OK. Cognitively I’m OK, but last night while bent over on the floor or organizing paper papers, I felt absolutely dazed and stoned, like I couldn’t complete a single thought.

Today, day 6, the head pressure is at about a 1/10, but my vestibular vertigo is really flared up. Like a 7/10. I feel wobbly like I’m walking on a boat. I did some of my old home exercises to try to tame it and it made the imbalance really spike.

I’m trying to not go to the ER if I can avoid it. I have health OCD that I’ve really been working through, and going to the hospital for every little thing was a real problem for me for years. However, 6 days of constant headache and perceived motor issues is pretty different from my normal migraine/vestibular flare symptoms, even though I’ve been able to manage my life pretty normally for the last week. I’m about to travel for work and I will be gone for two months, so there’s some fear built-in of how serious this is or is not.