honestly, the first thing I thought was, "Is this the same storm that Anne got?" Hand to god, that's what I thought, even before "Should I wake Tim up and get to the basement?"

I wondered that too. Well, not if I should wake up Tim. The first part.

Yowwwwwwch on the whitefont! It's crazy the, in retrospect, things we don't realize. Being the cautionary tale can be a painful learning experience though. I hope you feel better really soon.

Oooh, Teppy. That sucks. I did know that. People tend to have the one strain on the lips and the other for the naughty bits, but you can get either one either place.

Things I Hate: Waking up in the morning after a full night's sleep (and no alcohol!) with a raging headache. But at least I gave in and took the good meds (two prescriptions, nasal stuff, and a heated ricebag--hitting it from all angles!) and went back to bed for an hour, and feel pretty OK now. Whew.

In much medical news:

Teppy, that was a great SNL sketch once. Alas, I cannot find it.

I just spoke with my surgeon. Tomorrow is the big day. Woke up with a question this morning and left a ms. for my doc to call me. He did and put my mind at ease. He rools.

Interesting medical anecdata from the Phsisiology Is Weird Department: My sister and one of my best friends, who have spent years with similar horriffic periods, both had emergency gall bladder surgery in the fall. Since then, they've both has normal 28 day cycles.

Both had PCOS diagnoses that never responded well to hormone therapy. Both had menstrual bleeding that would sometimes go on so long that it would reverse the usual schedule -- three weeks bleeding, a couple of days not. Sometimes they had no break just a slow down. And now? Sans gall bladder? 28 days. Craxy. Good crazy, but cray cray nonetheless.

Teppy, aiieee. Good luck!

Trudy, may the surgery be easy and may you get the good drugs! That's weird about the gallbladder/period thing. Never heard of that before! Wonder was the PCOS diagnosis wrong, or was the other thing a separate issue? Just goes to show, though, all body systems are connected somehow (cue woo-woo music), even those that seem like they should have nothing to do with each other.

My sister's doctor has heard of it happening. It seems there might be some relationship between galbladders and hormones. Weirdness.

Or that gallbladders fuck up periods apart from the hormone weirdness that gives them body hair and other symptoms related to the PCOS.

I have 40 vicodin looking at me smiling right now! I've found a deli that will deliver ice.

Just a trip to the P.O., some grocery shopping, a pedicure, bathing the dog, and a metricfuckton of cleaning to go!

Enough with the medical maladies, universe. We all need to be healthy without the inconvenience of dealing with the medical industry.

Tep, I hope it doesn't happen.

Trudy, good luck with the surgery. I'm glad your questions were answered and you can go forward without anxiety.

meara, I'm glad the remedies worked, but it sucks that you have to employ them in the first place, especially if you've gone sans alcohol.

edited for proper meara-ing.

Sending out the pre-surgical~ma, Trudy.

It is, admittedly, not something one thinks about one shenanigans get under way. But you can DAMN betcha I will in the future.

Also, if you have a cold, it is not the best idea to give your boyfriend a blowjob because the germs from, say, the back of your throat can infect him I mean, we don't KNOW that's what happened, but when the mysterious infection occurred, and the doctor evinced some puzzlement about how, and he asked the question, the doctor said "yeah, that could be it."

Truds, hoping the surgery goes well, and you have short recovery time!

Tep, I've had oral cold sores since I was a kid (grandma, mom, sis all susceptible -- dad's never had a one, god dammit) and I managed to self-infect myself and pass from oral to genital (this CAN happen, ladies and gents, so make sure you don't touch your cold sore and then, er, touch anything without washing your hands well.)

(It was either self-infected or dormant for three years during a 5 year dry -- DRY, peeps, I had only kissed two people in 5 DAMN YEARS -- spell, and the doc said self-passing can fo sho happen, so learn from me!)

And this is anecdata, but while I pop up a cold sore on my lip or nose about 3 or 4 times a year, the other pops up MAYBE once or twice every couple of years. However, I have to say that the pain leading to the doctor visist and the swab when I was initially diagnosed was more exquisitely painful than my sole kidney infection, but since then, the few eps I have had have been minor and only annoying.

IOW, this is supremely livable.

ION, can I pick the hivemind? I have been dealing with tons of work-related stress, and just went to the doc after having a nice little depresso episode the last couple of weeks, and some lovely anxiety-related issues, including a panic attack. She gave me a 30 day script for Xanax, which I've never used, and Cymbalta, which I don't know if I CAN use, as when I tried to fill it at the pharm, it was CRAZY $$$, and I was all HOLY SHIT I CAN'T AFFORD THAT.

$140.

So, anyone used Cymbalta? I've been taking Citalopram for 8 years; is Cymbalta really WORTH it?

However, I took my first dose of Xanax about 45 minutes ago, and I am actually able to talk about this for the first time in a couple of weeks, so THAT is hopeful. Maybe I can go to work tomorrow without flipping out like a mammal at 6 in the morning. UGH.