Wendy Sparrow

Huh. I wonder how that will influence schools encouraging their students to use Google docs. I know a lot of authors who use Google docs too and share access with beta readers, editors, and their agents, so that's really disturbing.

This is hero material.

*Wendy opens doc file*

I'm glad too.

I mention this periodically because it's not commonly known, but I don't want to dissuade people from trying a med that is perfect for a lot of people. Plus, I'm not a doctor...just someone who had one of her teeth crumble and six months of RX toothpaste.

Anyway, I'm talking with myself and I should really go eat more food to buffer more meds to live in the house that pain built.

You don't realize how much of a simpler time 2015 is until you're trying to self-pub backlist and reading through a story and thinking, "Oh, you sweet summer children...you're heading into hell. BWAHAHAHA," and, then, you can't do it. You're forced to leave them in their 2015 ignorance.

I mean, I did say that I was leaving it set in 2015 rather than trying to update the story to include the hellscape we live in today, but that seemed a bit harsh to call it "historical fiction."

Anyway, hopefully, it is no longer being put in historical fiction, but who knows? WHO KNOWS, friends?

In fact, this novella has been cursed in multiple ways. This novella is how I learned that the Zon uses what is on your cover to determine other categories it might fit in. I originally had a cover with a neon sign in the background saying "Disco Bar." So the Zon put it in historical fiction.

Actually, one of my novellas is FREE today. It's a contemporary rom-com set in Vegas and the title contains a cursed word. I was not anticipating this being a cursed word when I named it in 2015, so promo-ing has been problematic. I get loads of spammed comments. www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYPYGJZV

Well, that's enough promo for this week. Whew. Done.

(I hate promo that much, friends.)

If you're reading my posts and thinking, "Hey, you're not too bad. I find you entertaining," I'm equally as weird in my writing and I've got meds and medical bills. *finger guns* So, you know...check out the Zon. A lot of my books are on KU.

I also have a lot of characters with disabilities FYI.

This is so true of all forms of media.

I wish people would recognize when it's them and their preferences/needs/expectations vs. actual issues in storytelling/pacing/content/design...whatever when they decide to review or complain.

Know thyself, friends, and know when to shut up because it's you.

Sunny Moraine @dynamicsymmetry.bsky.social

I’m actually not even kidding, I really firmly believe that some stories require a certain kind of engagement and sometimes that engagement requires something of you. Discipline, patience, trust… I’m annoyed when people regard this as a flaw rather than a feature they simply dislike

17 hours ago

Honestly, I think pharmacy apps need to go through a significant overhaul because if they think Gen Z is going to actually call in for help...even with an automated system... LOLOLOLOLOLOL x forever

I shouldn't have to hunt through menus within menus and then resort to scanning a bottle to actually get a med to pull up. Then, having my attempts to get something not acknowledged because they're trying to get refills or their system hasn't updated or it's out of stock. Ugh. Pharmacy apps.

I like this Rite-Aid better than other places we've tried, but I would love a pharmacy with an associated app that isn't a UI nightmare, and I haven't found that. The apps are always bodged crap that never update and it's like they're hiding ways to do things easily like refill RXs.

Usually, they respond like telemarketers calling for someone on the day of the funeral. "I'm so sorry! Here's your meds. Take them. Here. Here's $20 besides. Also, my grandmother's recipe for marinara sauce that only two other people know. I'm so sorry."

Just give me the damn drugs already.

I feel like, when it comes to weirdo health, pharmacists can be valuable allies in treatment or they can just be the people side-eyeing you and asking you why you need pain meds.

I get graphic with those people.

"EVERY joint in my body dislocates. I get injured in my sleep. Pain! So much pain."

Yeah, me too. And, the knowledge was helpful with other people's treatment in my family with less robust dental health.

Our doctor once tried to get one of my kids on a nasal spray version of a migraine med and the pharmacists had to tell him that it had been delayed in trials and they were hoping it'd be out in a year.

Oh, that's interesting. I wonder if the injectable form has better absorption and fewer side effects.

Also, for anyone reading this...Celebrex doesn't do this to everyone, but it's something to be aware of. It also can cause brittle bones so if you're prone to falls, you should have a serious discussion with both a pharmacist and a doctor and do some research besides.

I used to have nightmares about my teeth crumbling all the time...just all the time. Then, this happened like eight years ago, and I never had another nightmare about that. My brain was like, "Actually, there are worse things, and I will find them for you."

My doctor had no idea because it's a med commonly used by older people with dental issues, but both the dentist and pharmacist had linked Celebrex to people needing RX toothpaste shortly afterwards. Thankfully, we caught it six months in and I only needed one tooth fixed and my enamel is fine now.

There have been times where I wish my pharmacist HAD weighed in. I went to my dentist because my teeth started crumbling and the enamel was suddenly gone. The dentist said, "Oh, you're on Celebrex. Stop that." I was put on RX toothpaste and the pharmacist was like, "Yeah, Celebrex does that."

It definitely might matter more with an older house because they want to see it go to someone who'll make it a home rather than just buy it for an investment property or gut it and sell it for 100K more in six months.

No problem. Unfortunately, I have waaaaay too much experience in dealing with pharmacies at this point. And, they've been the spectrum from life-saving brilliance to irritating road blocks delaying treatment.

Yes, this is how my sister has picked people when she's sold houses. And I think my best friend chose from letters the person who would fit into the neighborhood best because she liked her neighbors so much.

I get it, but it also adds a personal dimension to losing out on houses, and that's rough.

It also could be that the precise formulation the doctor wanted is no longer available or is on back order so they want to shift to like a slightly different formulation or dosage. That's happened to me with the less common meds I'm on. Or specific aspects are outrageously expensive.

But, I'm not using any meds for their typical use and I'm a jumble of diseases so it just felt like a pharmacist doing a "well, actually" on both of us. We switched to Rite-Aid shortly after that and it's so much better, but I suspect that varies place to place.

I'm still kind of trying to get over that last one. If I had a less-involved doctor and spent less time dealing with my health, I might have appreciated this Walgreen's pharmacist holding off on prescribing because this med, if we were using other meds on-label, would have been ridiculous.

I've gotten this when they've gone generic or shifted the dosage instructions (like break one pill in half) or if it is contraindicated by other meds they've dispensed to me. I've also gotten it one time because the pharmacist didn't think it was the right path for treatment, which made me livid.

It's so weird that this has become mainstream now.

The frustrating aspect is that I'd need to go off immunosuppressants to fully present with enough symptoms to get diagnosed with some conditions, but I absolutely can't go off my immunosuppressants without dire consequences. In the meantime, the low-key presentations are ruining my body slowly.

I wish this was more common--that some diagnoses just came with presumed comorbidity with some symptoms present without the stress of trying to prove it or having your situation worsen because tests aren't conclusive.

I've been trying to get diagnosed with scleroderma for years now.

rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social

I was super lucky in that my Ehlers-Danlos specialist thinks EDS, MCAS, and POTS are all the same root cause and that if you have EDS, a doctor should presume you have the other two even if your presentation of them is subclinical. So I got my DX along with the EDS DX, because I had enough symptoms

9 hours ago

I guess I'm like Batman too. It feels less amazing than I would have guessed.

Jamie McKelvie @mckelvie.bsky.social

I'm like Batman. My circadian rhythm is way out of sync with most of society.

9 hours ago

Anyway, bodies are weird. I wish I could take fewer meds but I'm grateful I found meds that work...or help other meds work. But it is a lot of meds.

The timing worked out not just for me but for other people in the family who have EDS. Their meds were all losing effectiveness fast too. Now, I'm on different and more effective meds for the colitis and IBS, but I take Bentyl to keep my other meds working.

But I probably wouldn't be around if not for Bentyl helping me absorb meds. I started to fail at absorbing my immunosuppressants when my doctor put me on Bentyl for colitis and IBS. At that point, pain meds were as effective as placebos. The Bentyl slowed digestion and my meds worked.

My EDS affects absorption so I have to take Bentyl with every med dose I really need to absorb. I just took an Rx pain med with Bentyl and then a Dramamine because opiates cause esophageal spasms and Dramamine helps with that. I call the med patterns like these "chasing the fly" because it builds.

Isn't that glorious? That scarf brings me so much joy.

Don't ever let an internet weirdo convince you to take medical actions. There are medical professionals for that and you deserve the best care you can get. Don't listen to weirdo grumps who are a teeny bit high already and salty as a beach in hell from pain.

Also, I know I'm not alone in all this and I'm really grateful for an online community because this feels wrong, but it's right for me... and I'm sorry for everyone nodding along in "sooooo many meds" misery.

Also, despite this...take your meds as you've discussed with your medical team, friends.

I hate managing this many meds because, if something happens to me, like another surgery... it's a frickin pain to track. And the impact of missing some meds could be horrific. My Raynaud's is particularly scary if I miss doses... and my OCD is no peach either. *sighs* I hate this. I'm only 48.

But, hopefully, soon, I'll be too high for social media and I will revel in that brief lapse in enduring endless pain and hopefully sleep, but every day is a new adventure in disease and pain management so *fingers crossed*

Seriously, this is not my beautiful life.

Anyway, this thread brought to you by the warning I just gave my daughter that I'm crossing two meds that I haven't before. And they're supposedly safe to take but my body isn't normal.

Also, last night, I cut an "as needed" med that I'd been taking regularly and didn't get to sleep until 11 a.m.

It's not so I'm healthy. I can't reach healthy. We're trying for a 4 on the pain scale and stable.

But, in the back of my mind, I'm also thinking of famous people who accidentally overdosed on or mismatched RX meds. Because it's scary having to make medical choices like this every single day.

And I track so much info including my latest liver and kidney labs and whether my stomach is bleeding in deciding whether NSAIDs are cool or if Tylenol is out again. My heart is a factor. Some meds can't be taken if I have specific foods. I weigh that in. And it's to maintain a crappy balance.

Sometimes, I end up jittery or sick to my stomach. Sometimes, I end up taking meds for esophageal spasms when my esophagus gets pissy about med combos. I have 3 regularly scheduled dose times for multiple meds (9, 2:30, 9) including my heavy-hitter immunosuppressants. Rest of the day is mad science.

Something not talked about enough among those with chronic conditions is everyday you're doing treatment or medication adaptation or experimentation. I have at least 15 meds/supplements I take "as needed" in addition 9 regular meds/supplements in varying doses. Sometimes, I screw up on *gestures*