Kaiser permanente ventura urgent care

I donked up my foot by running on the ATT too much and now I’m in running timeout. Only swimming or biking allowed. I need a gym with lots of bikes where no one will give me side-eye for hogging a bike for 90 minutes. Anywhere spring to mind?
ps EmergeOrtho is great for bone/injury-related urgent care, highly recommend. Had an x-ray within 20 minutes of my appointment (/line place) time.

Looking for people with similar experience. Before I get into my symptoms just wanna let everyone know I am already seeking medical attention. I went to the urgent care today just for them to be super busy so headed back tomorrow!!
About two days ago I noticed a shooting pain in the right side of my body near my rib cage. I sometimes get something calls precordial catch syndrome and it felt very similar so I did the usual stretching and rubbing routine I do to offset the pain. Usually when I get precordial it last a couple seconds to a few minutes but this time it was lasting for over twenty minutes and was much more painful. Stretching only mildly relieved the pain so I went to lie down but I kept getting that stabbing sensation every time I would breathe, burp, or sneeze. Eventually the pain spread up my shoulder and my back (only on my right side) the rest of the day was very uncomfortable. If I exerted myself by going up the stairs I would experience shortness of breathe with stabbing pain. The less I moved the better so I focused on having good posture and lying down. I decided that if when I woke up the pain had not improved I would go to the ER.
The next morning the pain was less intense (went from around a 7 to a 4). I would get the rib stab sensation when I bent down or made any sudden movements but it was much less painful to breath. The pain was manageable and felt more dull than sharp so it was not as uncomfortable.
Today I’m pretty much fully recovered but was freaked out enough to visit the urgent care. Unfortunately they were backed up so I have to go back tomorrow but I plan or requesting an x-ray and a referral for an ultrasound. (Which i think are the right tests to request??)
I have ALWAYS had pretty awful PMS pain and it is worth mentioning that I am close to my cycle. I have complained about abnormal right side pain near my period to my primary care physician and gyno before; however my pain was pretty much always localized as soreness and tenderness near my right breast. There is a lumpy patch of breast tissue that I got about 4 ultrasounds for and each time they find thick tissue but said this was fairly normal. I have gotten random bouts of pain throughout my right side during PMS before but nothing this prolonged or painful. Does this sound like endo?

Hi everyone! So to get straight to the point I am a 20 year old seemingly healthy male. Two weeks ago I had what seemed to be a panic attack when I woke up, heart pounding, short of breath and thinking I was having a heart attack. This all felt very real to me as my mother just went through a double CABG in January. I went to my cardiologist and had an ECG and Echo done , both normal.
A couple days after my cardiologist visit, i followed up with an urgent care visit where I got my first CXR, radiology report was completely normal with mild scoliosis. Fast forward a couple days and I just felt so short of breath that I felt like I was dying, I ended up in the ER where they did another CXR , ECG and again everything looked normal.
Over the past week since the hospital, the chest pains and pressure have sort of subsided, but I get this weird pains for a couple seconds sometimes in random places in my chest and in my side. I constantly have this sharp pain in my mid back every time I breath, specifically exhale. My PCP said this is probably due to muscle strain from the SOB, he didn’t seem too concerned. I am still short of breath 24/7 feeling like I cannot take a deep breath, and sometimes feeling like I have to catch my breath when doing simple things like pacing around and typing this message. I’ve been having night sweats as well but not like change your sheets bad, just waking up in the morning noticing I’m sweaty. Also these past 2 days I’ve been getting this weird , almost dizzy feeling. I don’t lose my balance I just kinda feel weird vision. Sorry for terrible explanation lol.
I absolutely trust my doctors but I’m kind of at a loss here, as all of them have said anxiety but I just don’t feel anxious, I feel sick. None of the doctors I’ve seen have thought a CT was necessary after the CXR results being normal, Not spitting anything up or have a cough, just the SOB and pain in back.
Just kind of at a loss of what I should do at this point.
Thank you!

Work for a company that involves heavy lifting and CDL. Got a head and neck injury. Had a witness, a witness who’s been working for family company for awhile is downplaying everything. I’m trying to get video from the place it happened. I’ve had CT scans and multiple Urgent care and hospital visits in the past couple days. I understand they’re trying to cover their business, but I’m not slimy like them with all the daily red flags they’ve thrown up in just my couple weeks there. I have the cleanest record of all employees there and am drug free but based on how the phone call with the owners went, they don’t seem to understand why I haven’t brought it paperwork or why I can’t remember to do it as if I didn’t receive a head injury. This is the most I’ve been on my phone just writing this because I can’t stare at a screen for long. So should I consult with an attorney incase they try to screw me as they already have with my pay? I just lost trust in them last week due to them going back on a payment agreement I signed up for and this situation is probably making them crap their pants. I couldn’t ever think of hurting a business especially a family run operation, but I do wanna protect myself as I’m going through workers comp and have not been healing like I thought I would and they’re already acting sketchy on me. I’m out of SoCal.

I was recently hospitalized for viral myocarditis, and I want to say thank you to the doctor that made sure I got the care that I needed. He is not a cardiologist but he made sure that I got urgent care when I needed it. I am making my rounds with all the people that were part of my recovery but this was the man that got the ball rolling and I don’t know where I would be if he hadn’t sent for emergency care “just in case it was something more serious” (which it was.) I want to him to know how thankful I am for his help, but I don’t know what to say (and that’s very rare.) I feel overwhelmed with emotions when I think about the experience and all I can think is how grateful I am but “thank you” doesn’t even begin to cover it. I was hoping for some suggestions on what I could say to really let him know how grateful I am and how important he was in keeping me alive.

Age: 23 Sex: Male Height: 5'7 Weight: 121lbs Race: White Duration of complaint: 4-6 months Location: Lower left back Any existing relevant medical issues: No Current medications: n/a Include a photo if relevant: N/A
Hello everyone, I've been unwell recently and have started to freak myself out while I wait for my abdominal ultrasound on Monday.
To start, I noticed intermittent lower back pain that was hot and stabbing 4-6 months ago. It would come on, last for a few seconds, then stop, then repeat that for 10-20 minutes. It happened 4-5 times and I didn't think too much of it.
Starting last week I have now had constant lower left back pain. In terms of how low, around or slightly higher than belly button. This has came with a fever of 101.8, nausea immediately after eating, and headaches.
This along with a couple severe bouts of hypoglycemia that occurred at the same time (I'm not diabetic) was enough to go to the Urgent care. Urgent care PA said nothing they can do. But took a urine dipstick test just in case. Came back clean. Trace protein, no blood.
This did not satisfy me so I took a CBC and CMP blood lab and scheduled an appointment with my primary care physician. The CBC came back elevated by 15-20% red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit. As well as 1.5mg/dL bilirubin. Everything else normal. My physician couldn't directly diagnose anything so he ordered an Iron test and thyroid test that'll be in tomorrow. He also scheduled an abdominal ultrasound for Monday.
I went to work (today) after the appointment and ate breakfast and noticed an hour after I was again very nauseous, with a gurgling stomach, burping a lot, and seemingly constipated. I'd go to the bathroom every hour just to release gas and let off a slim and smooth stool.
I started researching all the symptoms and am now incredibly worried. Unsure if I should go to the hospital or just wait it out.
I appreciate any help I may get.

Hi everyone! This is an urgent question and posting on behalf of someone else.
There is a family friend that suffered a stroke and medical staff told family there was nothing further they could do and that the family should make a decision. Since then the patient has moved and opened their eyes. Family has also noted that the breathing changes when they speak to them as if they can hear them PATIENT IS BREATHING ON THEIR OWN. It seems that the hospital is refusing to do any further studies/exams since then as well as refusing to continue to treat the patient. It seems like an effort to let the patient go. Family is trying to locate alternative care/treatment, in the meantime is there something they can do???
Thanks

Hi everyone! This is an urgent question and posting on behalf of someone else.
There is a family friend that suffered a stroke and medical staff told family there was nothing further they could do and that the family should make a decision. Since then the patient has moved and opened her eyes. Family has also noted that the breathing changes when they speak to them as if they can hear them PATIENT IS BREATHING ON THEIR OWN. It seems that the hospital is refusing to do any further studies/exams since then as well as refusing to continue to treat the patient. It seems like an effort to let the patient go. Family is trying to locate alternative care/treatment, in the meantime is there something they can do???
Thanks

TL;DR- Need Texas workers comp lawyer recommendation in DFW area.
Hello! I am helping my mom with her workers comp situation. She is a McDonald’s corp employee in Texas (I know I know workers como is bleak here😭) and McDonald’s opts out of Texas workers comp but has their own insurance it’s one of those massive health network things where everyone involved works for the insurance network- Sedgewick I think. She had a pretty big slip and fall injury at work and ended up with a herniated disc. It’s been about two months and she’s still having significant pain and numbness with activity. The urgent care physician treating her requested she see a specialist and the physical therapist also seeing her also wants her to see a specialist or at least get another MRI to make sure the current course of treatment (Physical therapy) is working. That got denied by the overseeing mystery doctor (who she’s never even seen or met) and her remaining therapy sessions are almost out. They claimed the injury was due to age and degenerative causes. She called the insurance company asking if the doctor even saw her fall since there are camera recordings at her workplace and they said no they didn’t need to. I have been doing as much as I can on my own with reading the Texas legislation on workers comp and all that but I am just a lowly microbiology grad student studying in New York at the moment. I don’t have much time and feel like this is all over my head. I know it’s hard to find a good workers comp lawyer in Texas but just one consultation would be good so we know where to go from here.
So basically does anyone have any recommendations for Texas work comp lawyers in the DFW (Dallas-FortWorth) area? Thank y’all so much in advance!!
TL;DR Need Texas workers comp lawyer recommendation in DFW area.

Hi all. I had a hysterectomy 4 months ago and have had a series of infections since. I still have my ovaries so I know this doesn't have to do with my hormones. I had 2 yeast infections within a month of each other. I took an antifungal on May 10th for my second infection. Yesterday I noticed that I'm having symptoms again. I have chunky discharge that doesn't smell and burning and itching when I pee, which are the exact same symptoms I had when I had my previous infections. I also have pelvic pain and my kidneys are hurting, and the burning and itching is coming from inside. I'm doing all the right things: not swimming or taking baths, no sex, cotton underwear, staying dry, taking probiotics daily, and I even put panty liners in my underwear that I change every time I use the bathroom. I had a urinalysis done yesterday and it came back negative for yeast and UTI. My doctor can't see me until the end of this month but is telling me to go to urgent care. It's uncomfortable enough to have my regular gyno examining me, let alone a random doctor. My question is this: has anyone else had this happen, and if so, what are some over the counter treatments I can use? My doctor didn't recommend any, and I feel like I'm going insane trying to figure all of this out on my own. Any advice would be appreciated.

(21m) Went to urgent care for other reasons. Initial reading was 190/78. They told me to sit for 10 minutes and the second reading was 150/80. I’ve been trying so hard with exercise and diet and trying to be stress free for over a year and it feels like none of that paid off. I’ve been crying all day just really upset. Why does someone my age have to deal with this it’s so frustrating. Have to start taking meds most likely. Feeling really defeated today.

I was recently hospitalized for viral myocarditis, and I want to say thank you to the doctor that made sure I got the care that I needed. He is not a cardiologist but he made sure that I got urgent care when I needed it. I am making my rounds with all the people that were part of my recovery but this was the man that got the ball rolling and I don’t know where I would be if he hadn’t sent for emergency care “just in case it was something more serious” (which it was.) I want to him to know how thankful I am for his help, but I don’t know what to say (and that’s very rare.) I feel overwhelmed with emotions when I think about the experience and all I can think is how grateful I am but “thank you” doesn’t even begin to cover it. I was hoping for some suggestions on what I could say to really let him know how grateful I am and how important he was in keeping me alive.

I'm on a 3-4 years relationship now, we're engaged for the most of it. We are planning our wedding this yeanext year but lagi kong naiisip ang break up lately. I'm M, 26 we have the same age.
Here's some context (Ayoko siraan sya or lumabas na magmalinis so sasabihin ko rin mga sa tingin ko is need ma-work on sa akin, also di ako magaling mag story telling, bear with me)
So, first of all, I really love my fiancee, pero lately, napapansin kong madalas syang nagagalit, to the point na kahit maliliit na bagay, nasesermonan (or borderline na sigaw) nya ako, though I am doing what she's telling me, madalas nga lang pinapag mamaya ko lalo na kapag hindi naman masyadong urgent. Pero during my day offs, ako na ang nagkukusa and gumagalaw sa mga bagay na alam kong iuutos nya. Gumagalaw din naman sya dito sa bahay pero kapag day off nya, hindi ko nakikita yung same effort na ginagawa ko for her like yung pagluluto sakin, simpleng paghugas ng pinggan, etc.
Nag start ako magbilang ng mga ginagawa kasi feel kong parang taga utos lang siya, tapos pag di ko nagagawa yung mga gusto nya, nasesermonan ako and to the point na inaaway. Pero kung ako yung nag uutos, and di nya agad nagawa or di nya nagawa at all, hindi ko siya masyadong pine-press kasi tinatry kong intindihin na baka pagod sya. Same eto sa lahat ng bagay, lahat ng mali, sobra nyang pinapalaki kahit maliit na bagay, tapos sumasanma ang loob ko. Pero pagdating sa akin, sinasabihan ko lang sya ng malumanay, kasi again, I try to understand her.
Aware ako na nagiging toxic na ang relationship namin, lagi na kaming nag aaway sa ultimong napakaliit na mga bagay. Kahit tahimik akong tao, nasisigawan ko na sya, and di ko naman din gusto yon, feeling ko lang kasi hindi nya naririnig and naiintindihan mga sinasabi ko, hindi ko gusto yung nangyayari at ginagawa ko.
Dumating rin sa point ng mga away namin na sobra syang galit and nasusuntok nya na yung braso ko, alam kong frustrated sya sakin kaya feeling ko deserve ko rin.
Siguro yung purpose ng post na 'to is manghingi talaga ng advise sa mga married couple if anong pwedeng gawin? And pano i-aapproach yung issue, sorry na uli kasi hindi talaga ako magaling magkwento pero magdadraft ako ng continuation and magdadagdag pa ng context if needed, pero I hope nagets niyo kahit paano. Thank you.
Edit - Additional context:
To add more context,
Yung laging pinag aawayan from her side is maliliit na bagay like: (Eto yung mga madalas)

1. Pera - Pagdating sa pera, wala akong issues or whatnot kasi I earn 6 digits na kaso nga since nag iipon kami and may kanya kanya kaming responsibilities sa side of families namin, medyo pressured kami sa pag iipon kasi magpapakasal nga. Yung recent na napag-awayan namin dito is yung may pera kami para sa bahay na nakalapag lang somewhere pero dun kinukuha yung mga pang daily needs namin madalas. One time she was asking kung bakit wala 20% nalang yung andun, I was trying to enumerate lahat ng nabili/nagastos pero di ko kasi maibigay lahat, yung kinasama ng loob ko dito which nag trigger sa pagsigaw ko is she was asking multiple times kahit di pa ako tapos sumagot, again, alam kong masama ang pagsigaw pero nafifeel ko kasing pressured ako.
2. Gawaing bahay - Kapag paalis na sya or nagpeprepare kami to go to work, may mga maliliit syang bagay na sinesermon nya sakin, which sumasama yung loob ko kasi madalas may mga nagawa na ako para sa bahay pero namiss ko lang yung isa or dalawang bagay.
3. Laro (Mobile Legends) - Alam kong personality nya is mang trashtalk, pero kasi madalas parang imbis na magkakampe kami and sabay dapat naming niki-critizise yung laro ng iba, madalas nyang pinepress is ako lang. Siguro dahil magkasama kami and sakin nya nabubuntong yung galit nya.

Long story short, sensitive ako sa words and tono towards sa akin, kaya as much as possible, yung approach sa ibang tao and tono kapag kumakausap ng ibang tao ay tinatry kong kumalma parin kasi alam kong napaka impacting ng words/approach sa ibang tao.
Marami din akong lapses, kagaya ng pagiging procrastinator and pagiging baby pag may nararamdaman, harsh magsalita kapag nagagalit na (pag sobrang emotional na), etc. Marami din syang good qualities, pero ang gusto ko lang sana sa kanya is maging mas understanding. Nag-usap na kami about dito, it's been a few days, may konting improvement na rin pero lumalabas parin yung pagiging ganon nya. How long do you think na need ko syang i-observe and anong gagawin ko kapag positive or negative yung kakalabasan? Help me please.
Replied to someone din na same yung question sa iba: Wala namang malaking event na nangyari, kung tutuusin nga I am working hard to make heour lives comfortable. And always nyang sinasabing mababa ang self-esteem nya, which I understand kaya kapag may gusto syang bilhin na skin care or any item na makakapag boost ng confidence nya, I just let her. I also give compliments to her from time to time. Nung nagusap kami about dito, sabi nya naman na she still loves me, pero hindi ko magets yung sinabi nya na "Kung anong magiging decision mo, basta buo na yung loob mo, I'll follow your decision. Pero kung sakin lang ayoko sanang maghiwalay"

Today I met with a psychiatrist in the TMS department at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa, and after reviewing my history and contraindications (none) she said I was an excellent candidate for TMS and put me on the wait list.
I asked how long the wait was, and she said, not long, although I wish I'd asked whether that meant days or weeks. I will probably call the department back to clarify, although I'm supposed to receive a call from them soon.
I wonder if others were as impatient to start treatment as I seem to be... Nothing I hate more than "hurry up and wait", especially when it comes to something like this....
But what can I do? Squeaky wheel gets the grease.. I know the main receptionist for the department who does all the treatment scheduling is on vacation this week. I plan to call him first thing Monday morning.
Meanwhile... I am trying to give myself as much of a break as I can at this point. I've taken to eating candy (not depressed I don't even really like candy) and given myself extra permission to watch TV and movies, chain smoke cigarettes, basically, do whatever I need to do to get through this waiting period, waiting for treatment to start, and then to see if it's going to work.
I'm imagining a life with interest and enjoyment again... And I do believe tms might help me to feel better than I have in years... Because although I'm in a bipolar depressive episode now, I do think in recent years my upper end has been a low grade milder depression, kind of like how people describe dysthymia.
I'm really hopeful. And hey, if it doesn't work, I think ketamine is next....

Today I met with a psychiatrist in the TMS department at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa, and after reviewing my history and contraindications (none) she said I was an excellent candidate for TMS and put me on the wait list.
I asked how long the wait was, and she said, not long, although I wish I'd asked whether that meant days or weeks. I will probably call the department back to clarify, although I'm supposed to receive a call from them soon.
I wonder if others were as impatient to start treatment as I seem to be... Nothing I hate more than "hurry up and wait", especially when it comes to something like this....
But what can I do? Squeaky wheel gets the grease.. I know the main receptionist for the department who does all the treatment scheduling is on vacation this week. I plan to call him first thing Monday morning.
Meanwhile... I am trying to give myself as much of a break as I can at this point. I've taken to eating candy (not depressed I don't even really like candy) and given myself extra permission to watch TV and movies, chain smoke cigarettes, basically, do whatever I need to do to get through this waiting period, waiting for treatment to start, and then to see if it's going to work.
I'm imagining a life with interest and enjoyment again... And I do believe tms might help me to feel better than I have in years... Because although I'm in a bipolar depressive episode now, I do think in recent years my upper end has been a low grade milder depression, kind of like how people describe dysthymia.
I'm really hopeful. And hey, if it doesn't work, I think ketamine is next....

Context: I've been working in this place as a graphic designer for 5 years now, My arrangement is Tuesdays to Thursdays, 4 hours each day, with some flexibility possible from my end in case some exceptional, important work pops up (I'm not being paid extra, but more like doing hours in advance that i compensate later in hours within my schedule). Some weeks are busy and some are completely dead with no work, but my bosses before never had an issue with this since they are the ones in charge of generating the content for me to design. I can't quit my job rn due to complicated medical/ pshicological reasons i need to work from home; we don't have HR, and i sadly don't live in USA (because if i did, I've already sued my workplace).
Everything was fine until last year, when i got a new boss, who slowly but surely revealed how abusive and out-of-touch he is, He did not ask but demanded i work always out of my regular hours, soon all projects were "emergencies" out of my schedule, and i was always harassed by him via text to comply to do the work.
We even had several meetings to talk about it but because he lacks any decency he played the Jekyll and Hyde game, he acted correct and comprehensive in person but will blame me non stop via text saying i didn`t have "the good will to do my job", he was always disatisfied even if for some time (about a month or two) i tried to comply to every request, and put oot all the fires that he came up with (cause all those are made up solely by his incompetence, we actually had a system for emergencies a ton of premade work in canva in the current style of the brand, so anyone with a phone in the company could fill in the text and the pic and upload it to sm, but even if i explained this to him he doesn't want to use it).
I tried to ask him for payment if he wanted me to do all those hours out of my regular days, because i have other clients in freelance, and i explained that i use my personal time to do other jobs, and those clients pay me for that time, so i expected the same from this situation (literally, the price i offered for an hour was equal to a cup of coffee, he didn't accept, but that kept him quiet for a while). Last time i was just finishing a project in my normal hours, and then he sent me 2 urgent ones, i talked to him on the phone and said i could do those because i had the time atm and we agreed that later I'd compensate those hours within that week. Later, with everything solved, i calculated the hours i worked in advance and texted to him the amount (which he knew because it was the time i delivered each work to him, about 8 hours more), saying that if there were any other emergency in bewten me to compensate my hours, I'd be available to do the job and be willing to push those hours to compensate next week.
Within minutes, i got a text from my coworker that acts like his shadow saying something along the lines of, "The boss told me he is no longer ok with you compensating those hours within the future, and since we didn't ask you for any job last week, you should compensate the extra hours you worked today with that free time you got last week." I was speechless...
Since I've been played with, i decided, "Okay, then i'll block all people from that job so they can't botheask/harass me to do any free work out of my hours anymore (only blocked in wp, tho), and since i was clear with him last time, saying, "I'm not taking responsibility for the work out of my regular hours, since we did not reach any agreement,"
I was happy and at peace, but he got offended because, of course, he tried to contact me out of hours again, called me too (but i didn't reply i was busy, and who will think i have a life to take care of out of work?).
He then made up i had him blocked during working hours so he couldn't send me the work that has to be done and involved the coworker mentioned before, saying he cannot reach me (BS because i block and unblock all of them at the same time, even before my shift starts, and some weeks i don't block them cause is too bothersome, particulary there were all unblocked since past week). My coworker wanted to be awful too and blamed it on me even if i said, of course i don't have him blocked, of course i contacted him and he didn't answer; actually, he never does, almost all communication is done between me and that awful coworker, because he delivers the orders to her.
I literally can't believe i'm dealing with this nonsense, i always do my job, and nobody i've worked with had anything bad to say about me. Also, I didn't mention it, but he is covertly threatening me with being fired, saying if you are not available, i'll need to ask another designer, and if i do so i'll just have to replace you...
Now all the time he is not content, he tells me to have a meeting to talk about it when he comes to the city (he is not living here where the office's is). What bothers me is that this AH got so deep into my head i cannot stop thinking about it all the time, i'm doing theraphy, but i'm sick that all the money i make is going to theraphy for the disturbance this AH causes me, i really try to get out of it, but as I said before, i have mental issues just by existing, and this is really destroying the little peace i have.
I feel pathethic that this person is literally controlling what i do and dont with my phone out of work, which is just ridiculous, i don't know if i should keep blocking ppl at the end of my shifts, or just receive the harassment via text and not reply.
Sorry for the long awful post, Thank you for reading. i hope you are having have a nice day :)

I work mostly in the Urgent Care these days and wondering if anyone else is using any handheld US for their diagnoses?

Hi all! I've actually posted here before, but there has been a couple of updates, and now using a throwaway account and I've been feeling a lot worse these couple of days, so would appreciate any advice!
Basically, I'm an entrepreneur, and after a couple of years of burnout, my condition has significantly worsened two months ago, and I've been diagnosed with moderate to severe clinical depression. I've been having an indescribable feeling of sorrow, anxiety, apathy, helplessness and emptiness; in the first week of the whole episode, it was even hard to get out of my bed. For the past two months, whenever worked (or even just thinking about work), I would experience immense anxiety, fear and (sometimes) anger, as well as physical symptoms, such as massive headache, body tremors, and faster heart beats (and one time, almost hyperventilating). As a result, I've not been productive at work and in every sense of the word, dreaded it.
I've been taking some time off work, been in therapy and implemented new habits (living healthier, through exercise, diets, sleep, meditation), but recovery has not been linear (some days are better, some days are worse), and the anxiety and fear around work remains. The trauma around anything remotely related to work is real -- I still can't open/reply email, or think of anything/anyone around work at all -- all of these give me tremendous fear and anxiety. I've been totally offline for the better part of the last couple of weeks, but got an urgent update that a commercial deal we had been working on had fallen through, and it may have dire business consequences. It's hugely upsetting because I had hoped that the company (my business partner and the rest of the team) should be able to take care of these things without me, and it doesn't seem to be that way. Things at work are obviously worse now, and I won't be able to go back to work peacefully.
Right now, I'm just feeling a whole range of emotions -- sadness, anxiety, fear, helplessness, emptiness, anger and resentment. Maybe it's the depression speaking, but I've been thinking -- I've dedicated so much of my time, effort and personal resources into the company, and it seems that no one in the team (including my business partner) was as committed as me. At this moment, I want to prioritize healing, and even then, I'm not able to fully relax and recover. A part of me want to just abandon everything and focus on healing, but I'm too sad and anxious to even do anything remotely related to work.
Apologies for the long post, but I've been feeling so sad and lonely, and advice of what you would do, would be hugely appreciated!

Hi so long story. 5-6 weeks ago had a right ear Infection due to bad virus, took antibiotics (amoxicillin pills which helped). Got cracking when yawning/swallowing, pressure and constant tinnitus a week later. Saw ENT and audiologist 2 weeks later and no fluid, healthy ears, good hearing, normal pressure. Audiologist mentioned ETD. Taken Flonase and Zyrtec not much help.
Started getting tinnitus and same symptoms in my left ear so last weekend I went to urgent care and they saw FLUID this time but only in my right which was my first affected ear. Told me ETD.
Recently talked to ENT and he mentioned hidden-hearing loss as a factor but not sure and doubted I had anything wrong with my tubes despite me mentioning my recent Urgent care visit with the fluid. Said my cracking when swallowing and pressure was normal despite me never having this prior to infection.
Reason why I mentioned TMJ is I always had popping in jaw at random, when I chew gum for a long time jaw hurts and pops. Dentist months ago asked if I grind at night since I had marks on tongue and I said I’m not sure. I also notice at night since I’m a side sleeper, tinnitus tone changes and sometimes goes away in one ear but comes back later.
I’m tired of this constant tinnitus, it’s been a month and almost everyday I’ve been having panic attacks and cry especially since my left is affected. I know there’s people with it much much worse but I’m not mentally & emotionally strong like you guys with tinnitus. I wish I was.

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Artificial intelligence could lead to extinction, experts warn
Artificial intelligence could lead to the extinction of humanity, experts - including the heads of OpenAI and Google Deepmind - have warned.
Dozens have supported a statement published on the webpage of the Centre for AI Safety.
"Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war" it reads.
But others say the fears are overblown.
Sam Altman, chief executive of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Demis Hassabis, chief executive of Google DeepMind and Dario Amodei of Anthropic have all supported the statement.
The Centre for AI Safety website suggests a number of possible disaster scenarios:

1. AIs could be weaponised - for example, drug-discovery tools could be used to build chemical weapons
2. AI-generated misinformation could destabilise society and "undermine collective decision-making"
3. The power of AI could become increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, enabling "regimes to enforce narrow values through pervasive surveillance and oppressive censorship"
4. Enfeeblement, where humans become dependent on AI "similar to the scenario portrayed in the film Wall-E" Dr Geoffrey Hinton, who issued an earlier warning about risks from super-intelligent AI, has also supported the Centre for AI Safety's call.

Yoshua Bengio, professor of computer science at the university of Montreal, also signed.
Dr Hinton, Prof Bengio and NYU Professor Yann LeCun are often described as the "godfathers of AI" for their groundbreaking work in the field - for which they jointly won the 2018 Turing Award, which recognises outstanding contributions in computer science.
But Prof LeCun, who also works at Meta, has said these apocalyptic warnings are overblown tweeting that "the most common reaction by AI researchers to these prophecies of doom is face palming".
'Fracturing reality'
Many other experts similarly believe that fears of AI wiping out humanity are unrealistic, and a distraction from issues such as bias in systems that are already a problem.
Arvind Narayanan, a computer scientist at Princeton University, has previously told the BBC that sci-fi-like disaster scenarios are unrealistic: "Current AI is nowhere near capable enough for these risks to materialise. As a result, it's distracted attention away from the near-term harms of AI".
Oxford's Institute for Ethics in AI senior research associate Elizabeth Renieris told BBC News she worried more about risks closer to the present.
"Advancements in AI will magnify the scale of automated decision-making that is biased, discriminatory, exclusionary or otherwise unfair while also being inscrutable and incontestable," she said. They would "drive an exponential increase in the volume and spread of misinformation, thereby fracturing reality and eroding the public trust, and drive further inequality, particularly for those who remain on the wrong side of the digital divide".
Many AI tools essentially "free ride" on the "whole of human experience to date", Ms Renieris said. Many are trained on human-created content, text, art and music they can then imitate - and their creators "have effectively transferred tremendous wealth and power from the public sphere to a small handful of private entities".
But Centre for AI Safety director Dan Hendrycks told BBC News future risks and present concerns "shouldn't be viewed antagonistically".
"Addressing some of the issues today can be useful for addressing many of the later risks tomorrow," he said.>
Superintelligence efforts
Media coverage of the supposed "existential" threat from AI has snowballed since March 2023 when experts, including Tesla boss Elon Musk, signed an open letter urging a halt to the development of the next generation of AI technology.
That letter asked if we should "develop non-human minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us".
In contrast, the new campaign has a very short statement, designed to "open up discussion".
The statement compares the risk to that posed by nuclear war. In a blog post OpenAI recently suggested superintelligence might be regulated in a similar way to nuclear energy: "We are likely to eventually need something like an IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] for superintelligence efforts" the firm wrote.
'Be reassured'
Both Sam Altman and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai are among technology leaders to have discussed AI regulation recently with the prime minister.
Speaking to reporters about the latest warning over AI risk, Rishi Sunak stressed the benefits to the economy and society.
"You've seen that recently it was helping paralysed people to walk, discovering new antibiotics, but we need to make sure this is done in a way that is safe and secure," he said.
"Now that's why I met last week with CEOs of major AI companies to discuss what are the guardrails that we need to put in place, what's the type of regulation that should be put in place to keep us safe.
"People will be concerned by the reports that AI poses existential risks, like pandemics or nuclear wars.
"I want them to be reassured that the government is looking very carefully at this."
He had discussed the issue recently with other leaders, at the G7 summit of leading industrialised nations, Mr Sunak said, and would raise it again in the US soon.
The G7 has recently created a working group on AI.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65746524

President Biden warns artificial intelligence could 'overtake human thinking'
WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden on Thursday amplified fears of scientists who say artificial intelligence could "overtake human thinking" in his most direct warning to date on growing concerns about the rise of AI.
Biden brought up AI during a commencement address to graduates of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. while discussing the rapid transformation of technology that he said can "change the character" of future conflicts.
"It's not going to be easy decisions, guys," Biden said. "I met in the Oval Office with eight leading scientists in the area of AI. Some are very worried that AI can actually overtake human thinking in the planet. So we've got a lot to deal with. It's an incredible opportunity, but a lot do deal with."
Scientists, tech execs warn of possible human extinction
Hundreds of scientists, tech industry executives and public figures – including leaders of Google, Microsoft and ChatGPT – sounded the alarm about artificial intelligence in a public statement Tuesday, arguing that fast-evolving AI technology could create as high a risk of killing off humankind as nuclear war and COVID-19-like pandemics.
"Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war," said the one-sentence statement, which was released by the Center for AI Safety, or CAIS, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization.
Biden met May 5 at the White House with CEOs of leading AI companies including Google, Microsoft and OpenA to discuss reforms that ensure AI products are safe before released to the public.
"It is one of the most powerful technologies that we see currently in our time," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about the extinction fears of scientists. "But in order to seize the opportunities it presents, we must first mitigate its risks, and that's what we're focused on in this administration."
White House launches $140 million in new AI research
The so-called “Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton last month left his job as a Google vice president to speak freely about his concern that unexpectedly rapid advances could potentially endanger the human race. Others portrayed Hinton’s assessment as extreme and unwarranted.
Asked at a recent panel when asked what was the “worst case scenario that you think is conceivable,” Hinton replied without hesitation. “I think it's quite conceivable," he said, "that humanity is just a passing phase in the evolution of intelligence.”
The White House unveiled an initiative last month to promote responsible innovation in the field of artificial intelligence with the following actions:

1. The National Science Foundation will fund $140 million to launch seven new National AI Research Institutes. This initiative aims to bring together federal agencies, private-sector developers and academia to pursue ethical, trustworthy and responsible development of AI that serves the public good.
2. The new Institutes will advance AI R&D in critical areas, including climate change, agriculture, energy, public health, education, and cybersecurity.
3. A commitment from leading AI developers to participate in a public evaluation of their technology systems to determine if they adhere to the principles outlined in the Biden administration’s October 2022 Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights.
4. The initiative includes new Office of Management and Budget (OMB)] policy guidance on the U.S. government’s use of AI systems in order to allow for public comment. This guidance will establish specific policies for federal agencies to ensure that their development, procurement, and use of AI systems centers on safeguarding the American people’s rights and safety.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/01/president-biden-warns-ai-could-overtake-human-thinking/70277907007/

Experts are warning AI could lead to human extinction. Are we taking it seriously enough?
Human extinction.
Think about that for a second. Really think about it. The erasure of the human race from planet Earth.
That is what top industry leaders are frantically sounding the alarm about. These technologists and academics keep smashing the red panic button, doing everything they can to warn about the potential dangers artificial intelligence poses to the very existence of civilization.
On Tuesday, hundreds of top AI scientists, researchers, and others — including OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Google DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis — again voiced deep concern for the future of humanity, signing a one-sentence open letter to the public that aimed to put the risks the rapidly advancing technology carries with it in unmistakable terms.
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” said the letter, signed by many of the industry’s most respected figures.
It doesn’t get more straightforward and urgent than that. These industry leaders are quite literally warning that the impending AI revolution should be taken as seriously as the threat of nuclear war. They are pleading for policymakers to erect some guardrails and establish baseline regulations to defang the primitive technology before it is too late.
Dan Hendrycks, the executive director of the Center for AI Safety, called the situation “reminiscent of atomic scientists issuing warnings about the very technologies they’ve created. As Robert Oppenheimer noted, ‘We knew the world would not be the same.’”
“There are many ‘important and urgent risks from AI,’ not just the risk of extinction; for example, systemic bias, misinformation, malicious use, cyberattacks, and weaponization,” Hendrycks continued. “These are all important risks that need to be addressed.”
And yet, it seems that the dire message these experts are desperately trying to send the public isn’t cutting through the noise of everyday life. AI experts might be sounding the alarm, but the level of trepidation — and in some cases sheer terror — they harbor about the technology is not being echoed with similar urgency by the news media to the masses.
Instead, broadly speaking, news organizations treated Tuesday’s letter — like all of the other warnings we have seen in recent months — as just another headline, mixed in with a garden variety of stories. Some major news organizations didn’t even feature an article about the chilling warning on their website’s homepages.
To some extent, it feels eerily reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic, before the widespread panic and the shutdowns and the overloaded emergency rooms. Newsrooms kept an eye on the rising threat that the virus posed, publishing stories about it slowly spreading across the world. But by the time the serious nature of the virus was fully recognized and fused into the very essence in which it was covered, it had already effectively upended the world.
History risks repeating itself with AI, with even higher stakes. Yes, news organizations are covering the developing technology. But there has been a considerable lack of urgency surrounding the issue given the open possibility of planetary peril.
Perhaps that is because it can be difficult to come to terms with the notion that a Hollywood-style science fiction apocalypse can become reality, that advancing computer technology might reach escape velocity and decimate humans from existence. It is, however, precisely what the world’s most leading experts are warning could happen.
It is much easier to avoid uncomfortable realities, pushing them from the forefront into the background and hoping that issues simply resolve themselves with time. But often they don’t — and it seems unlikely that the growing concerns pertaining to AI will resolve themselves. In fact, it’s far more likely that with the breakneck pace in which the technology is developing, the concerns will actually become more apparent with time.
As Cynthia Rudin, a computer science professor and AI researcher at Duke University, told CNN on Tuesday: “Do we really need more evidence that AI’s negative impact could be as big as nuclear war?”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/30/media/artificial-intelligence-warning-reliable-sources/index.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThere%20are%20many%20'important%20and,that%20need%20to%20be%20addressed.%E2%80%9D
Given these, is mankind about to go completely extinct due to AI randomly launching nuclear weapons like how it did in Terminator series very soon? Why or why not?

To be frank this community is a bit of a downer, and I get it. There have been times where my life has felt completely hopeless due to my asthma, and that is why I have come to this community to share what I wish I had known about years ago. Will this work for you? Maybe, maybe not. Your outcomes are based on your own set of factors and there is not a one size fits all solution to this disease process. With that out of the way I feel compelled to tell you that I am a former respiratory therapist and my taper from medications was performed under the guidance of an asthma and allergy specialist.
I grew up in a household filled to the brim with animals, a seven cats at any time type of household. On top of that I have a parent who smoked indoors and in the car.
Throughout my childhood I had no idea that I always smelled like cigarettes.
I distinctly remember being told in middle school that I smelled like a cigar, and it’s no wonder that teachers and students alike thought I was a drug user despite this not being the case. I was never able to participate in sports like the other kids. One day I had an episode at school and I was told by my mother that I must just be “overheated.” Things carried on with pseudoscience treatments such as facial steaming and vicks vaporub until one day I could not breathe. I sat tripoding on the couch for hours before my parents finally buckled down and took me to the doctor where I was formally diagnosed with asthma, given albuterol, and placed on Advair 250/50 and Allegra, which I took throughout my adolescence.
Fast forward fifteen years. Things had not changed for me. My asthma was well controlled and as a result I didn’t think about it too hard, but I was very weak. I suffered from chronic neck and chest pain. The neck pain was close to unbearable and the only relief I got from the chest pain was an occasional sternum crack after which the pain would rapidly return. I began to learn yoga to try to correct some of this pain and thought I was learning and progressing but in actuality I was hyperflexible from weakness and did not understand how to stretch my body properly. It took some time to figure out that my yoga was doing me no good and that is when I turned to bodyweight exercises. I attempted squats, pushups, pull ups, and bodyweight shoulder pressing exercises. The exercises were all performed completely wrong and while I gained a small amount of muscle the pain went nowhere.
Fast forward again to the end of 2019. I was fortunate enough to find a barbell and plate set at good will for $10. I bought a power rack on craigslist and followed the training guide outlined here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVek72z3F1U&t=581s) and gained a significant amount of weight, somewhere in the ballpark of 30lbs over the course of the pandemic. At the time that this was occurring I became greatly interested in the Wim Hof Method and practiced cold immersion and the breathing exercises daily. The breathing exercises did not fix my breathing but they made it clear that something was very wrong with the way I was doing it. I did not know at the time that it was due to my diaphragm not being engaged at all.
I ended up moving to the pacific northwest for a short time and while I was there I experienced a reduction in allergies the likes of which I was unaware were possible. It was like night and day, and when I moved back to the south east I was discontented at my newfound condition of feeling terrible all the time again. I continued to stay active in the gym and gained another ten pounds and this is when the wheels started to turn on my condition. In five years I went from 145lbs to 184lbs. This was the first time that I noticed acid reflux. I began taking omeprazole and felt a minor alleviation of symptoms though shortness of breath would occur after eating more often than not. I chalked it up to my stomach being so full that it was compressing my lungs. For the first time in my life I was overweight for my height, if only just slightly. I made the decision to cut 10lbs and began to feel better after doing so over the course of several months.
I moved again to a newly built apartment and noticed a slight improvement in asthma symptoms. I suspect that my previous place had a hidden mold issue but moving was not a total game changer.
I started shopping at whole foods and this was when everything clicked into place, but not for the reason you’re probably thinking. I started to develop a facial rash underneath my eyes that was accompanied by an inflamed feeling. I had no idea where this was coming from but I was determined to get to the bottom of it, considering that it was on my face.
I have found relief for asthma in fasting in the past but whenever I would eat again it would just come back, and we have to eat so it felt like it wasn’t worth messing with. This was right around the time that I began seeing my allergist. We went over the typical fare but she was surprised by my PFT, citing it as well above what she would have expected. It was then that she told me that what she suspected was not asthma so much as VCD (https://www.mountsinai.org/locations/grabscheid-voice-swallowing-centeconditions/vocal-cord-dysfunction) She prescribed me pursed lip breathing exercises for when I felt symptoms coming on and they offered slight relief.
I began looking into factors that exacerbate VCD and discovered that reflux can be a major player. But what was I going to do to fix it? I was already taking omeprazole and tums as needed. This was when I started investigating the diaphragm’s role as it pertains to acid reflux (https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/52/suppl_62/PA2446.) I figured that there really are no downsides to strengthening the diaphragm so down the rabbit hole I went. I found this reddit post on the diaphragm(https://www.reddit.com/Fitness/comments/32wz2s/diaphragm_the_neglected_muscle/) and will be forever grateful to the op because this is when things began to change for me. If you are serious about changing the way your body functions forever do not skip this post. I will reiterate once more that this post changed my life.
The more that I used my diaphragm the more I realized that I hated eating. I never felt like I could breathe afterwards. I even ended up visiting urgent care due to chest pain and shortness of breath during this time as I was scared that there may be something wrong with my heart. Docs found nothing out of order, which allayed my fears of a heart attack but left so many questions on the table. Why did I feel this way?
I could not figure out the mysterious rash and it kept coming back and kept coming back. It was gross and I needed it to go away. I was genuinely ready to give everything up to fix this. I started my elimination diet. I only ate meat, fruit, nuts, and vegetables. I stayed away from any type of dairy or gluten containing product. The difference was night and day. I went from feeling terrible every time I ate to feeling invigorated.
As time went by I felt that I needed to indulge in snacks and this is when I figured out the rash. As it turns out the rash is caused by any foods that contain sunflower oil. After not eating the way I used to it became very apparent that the sunflower oil was also causing some shortness of breath and all around itchiness as well as some joint pain in the hands.
Since starting this endeavor I have reintegrated dairy and wheat separately and have noted the following. Wheat causes chest pain and facial itchiness(for me), and dairy causes joint stiffness in my hands and back. Did I mention my favorite food was pizza? Double trouble on that one. (https://acaai.org/allergies/allergic-conditions/food/wheat-gluten/),( https://opa.org.uk/whats-the-link-between-dairy-and-acid-reflux/), (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/asthma/expert-answers/asthma-and-acid-reflux/faq-20057993)
Now that I have eliminated those foods I have rapidly become more able to activate my core which helps a lot with pain in the distal parts of my limbs which up until this point have been burdensome.
The inflammation in my life began to subside and with it came the awareness of just how much mucous is sitting in my nostrils and dripping down into my throat at any given time. I remembered back to when I had been sick at the beginning of the year and was so stuffed up that I resorted to pouring water into my nasal cavity and just how much dark green mucous had come out when I did. I eventually came to the realization that all of the things that I inhale that cause me to flare up are just sitting inside of my face making everything worse. Nasal irrigation completely took the place of the fluticasone spray that I had used religiously in the past. I use a neti pot available at any pharmacy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62vm1Mb0T38).
The final thing I’d like to touch on is the chest expander. Until using an exercise band to perform the exercises listed in these videos( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2npj4EqCpk&t=977s), (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1BpPPL6AWk&t=371s) I had no idea that my ribcage was severely atrophied from breathing like an asthmatic my entire life. My wife was surprised by how much muscle I had appeared to have gained from using it for only a couple of days and I intend to buy a nice chest expander when I become strong enough to need more. I have also begun to supplement kettlebell with inverted breathing patterns to further work the diaphragm with great success.
I am not here to try to sell you anything. I am just a normal person like you who has gone from coughing up green sputum on a daily basis to blowing “superhuman” PFTs. I have always been inspired by people like Joseph Pilates and B.K.S. Iyengar who supposedly overcame asthma with exercise and I feel that I have come one step closer to being like them.
As I said in the beginning of this post I no longer require the use of daily Advair and I only keep my prescriptions just in case. I am still sensitive to triggers like cigarette smoke, strong perfumes, and sickness but at the very least they no longer completely debilitate me. I have continued to take a daily allergy reducer in the form of cetirizine but I do not notice if I forget a day.
I know there is no one size fits all solution, but I hope that this post serves to expedite strides in a healthful direction for the members of this community. Good luck with your treatments.
TLDR: Read the post

Hi all! I've actually posted here before, but there has been a couple of updates, and now using a throwaway account and I've been feeling a lot worse these couple of days, so would appreciate any advice!
Basically, I'm an entrepreneur, and after a couple of years of burnout, my condition has significantly worsened two months ago, and I've been diagnosed with moderate to severe clinical depression. I've been having an indescribable feeling of sorrow, anxiety, apathy, helplessness and emptiness; in the first week of the whole episode, it was even hard to get out of my bed. For the past two months, whenever worked (or even just thinking about work), I would experience immense anxiety, fear and (sometimes) anger, as well as physical symptoms, such as massive headache, body tremors, and faster heart beats (and one time, almost hyperventilating). As a result, I've not been productive at work and in every sense of the word, dreaded it.
I've been taking some time off work, been in therapy and implemented new habits (living healthier, through exercise, diets, sleep, meditation), but recovery has not been linear (some days are better, some days are worse), and the anxiety and fear around work remains. The trauma around anything remotely related to work is real -- I still can't open/reply email, or think of anything/anyone around work at all -- all of these give me tremendous fear and anxiety. I've been totally offline for the better part of the last couple of weeks, but got an urgent update that a commercial deal we had been working on had fallen through, and it may have dire business consequences. It's hugely upsetting because I had hoped that the company (my business partner and the rest of the team) should be able to take care of these things without me, and it doesn't seem to be that way. Things at work are obviously worse now, and I won't be able to go back to work peacefully.
Right now, I'm just feeling a whole range of emotions -- sadness, anxiety, fear, helplessness, emptiness, anger and resentment. Maybe it's the depression speaking, but I've been thinking -- I've dedicated so much of my time, effort and personal resources into the company, and it seems that no one in the team (including my business partner) was as committed as me. At this moment, I want to prioritize healing, and even then, I'm not able to fully relax and recover. A part of me want to just abandon everything and focus on healing, but I'm too sad and anxious to even do anything remotely related to work.
Apologies for the long post, but I've been feeling so sad and lonely, and advice of what you would do, would be hugely appreciated!