> sounds like something in your system rather than topical

A few months ago I had a recurrence of plantar fasciitis. When ibuprofen didn't help at all, I tried Aleve (naproxen sodium), which helped, but only a little. I gave up on it after one day (three doses, eight hours apart).

A few days later, I suddenly developed numbness in my lips on the right side, and in the pad of my right thumb -- recovering-from-novocaine-after-a-dentist-visit levels of numbness and tingling. I spent 45 minutes puzzling over "What could I have touched this morning with my right thumb that would not only cause this sensation, but transfer it? I've probably touched my right thumb to my face this morning, but it seems unlikely that I only touched the one spot. Am I going to have to go to urgent care instead of work this morning?"

But the numbness went away before I had to leave the apartment, and after a while I stopped worrying that it would come back.

A few days ago, a co-worker mentioned that her daughter had had to stop taking Aleve because of the side effects, and mentioned that one of them was numbness in the face and/or fingers. Aha! Now I have something to blame for that scary little episode -- although the timing remains puzzling. Perhaps I metabolize Aleve slower than usual? That might also explain why it seemed to have so little effect on the pain.

No direct help in that, sorry meara, just my reason for suggesting that you consider the possibility of side effects from either your prescription or OTC meds.

I've got multiple weather tracking websites bookmarked.

Ooooh. Which ones do you like?

Whoa, that's super weird, dcp! Unexplained numbness scares the hell out of me.

I'm almost completely sure you can make waffles with cake batter, but I will consult my waffle-iron-specific cookbooks when I get home in case there are recommended adjustments to be made.

Which ones do you like?

Weather Underground for local and general, National Hurricane Center, and one of our local news stations known for its excellent weather coverage. I used to have Weather.com, but I got tired of their breathless "Look at this horrible disaster! Join us in giving winter storms names just like hurricanes so we can have punchier headlines!" style. Weather Underground is much less sensational and has more extensive data.

edit: there was a nice hurricane tracker, but they decided to go subscription when everybody started using them because they were so good. That website that shows the wind patterns of the planet is handy for seeing disturbances before NHC starts paying attention.

Timelies all!

Trying to type around the cat.(Psst, Nova, it's too warm for you to be in my lap)

A few days ago, a co-worker mentioned that her daughter had had to stop taking Aleve because of the side effects, and mentioned that one of them was numbness in the face and/or fingers. Aha!

AHA. A fucking HA. That could explain the weird bout of numbness in my left face and hands last week! It coincided with taking Aleve, which I usually don't, because I ran out of Advil. Can't be proven, but dang if it doesn't make sense. I was seriously wondering if I was having a stroke.

Man, I hate taking medicine. I mean, I will if I need to, of course, but it always feels like spinning a Roulette wheel. Which bizarre symptoms will I get THIS time?

The nose doctor told me to stop taking low-dose aspirin every day because of the blood thinning, then he mentioned ibuprofen does the same thing. Having had more major league nosebleeds than heart attacks, I dropped the aspirin. I've also switched to Tylenol, but having lived through the Tylenol Killings mess, I have a kneejerk reaction against it that isn't warranted.

Which ones do you like?

Weather Underground for local and general

I use the Weather Underground app for the forecast, but I use the Weather Channel app for the radar map, because it has the option for the future animation, rather than just the past.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses more than one weather tracker.

Tylenol does carry a significant danger of liver damage if you take too much. Probably one of the least vulnerable to tampering these days.

I'm kind of in love with the Dark Sky app, but I think it might be iOS only.