MRI sometimes uses a non-radioactive contrast depending on what you’re trying to get images of. MRI is probably the safest imaging modality, but it’s very expensive, kind of difficult sometimes due to how long it takes, and isn’t useful for every kind of imaging that needs to be done.

Not even a sip for me. I was offered small amounts of champagne or wine at special occasions, but I never drank any because I could smell the alcohol on it and didn’t want to.

I’ve just always been some variant of the “mom friend” and after I turned 21, I was still the DD most of the time.

Nope. The first time I drank any alcohol ever was on my 21st birthday. My Dad made me a gin and tonic with Bombay Sapphire, and that set the standard for the kind of alcohol I will drink. It’s a good thing I’m a lightweight because I only drink the expensive stuff. (The cheap crap burns too much.)

I’ve tried to drink coffee a couple times. I never was successful at it. My body just hates something in coffee and it just comes right back up before even hitting my stomach. So, I guess it’s gone down my esophagus, but never further than that.

I end up going to the ER way more than I want to. It’s really annoying; if you walk into an urgent care or a regular doctor’s office (besides my regular care providers, they’re used to me now) and say you think you have a kidney infection or other kidney problems and you just need antibiotics, they just go “NOPE” and yeet you out the door to go to the ER. So far, I have been successful in preventing them from calling an ambulance for me.

Never have I ever drank alcohol illegally or underage.

As an absurdly fervent Tolkien fan, people bringing up the Eagles spikes my blood pressure in a way that cannot be good in the long run.

This is the mindset I have to keep myself in while working in medicine. I can’t save every patient. Some of them will die in my care, but that won’t stop me from trying to help the next one.

These are incredibly important reports to publish and spread awareness of…but I kind of wish I hadn’t read them today.

That’s why it’s a disagreement. I’m not necessarily saying their opinions are factually incorrect, just that they are devoid of empathy, morally reprehensible, and antithetical to the teachings of the religious figure that they are statistically likely to claim to be faithful to. A lack of empathy should not be rewarded.

Typically, the things I disagree with are the things like bad faith arguments, lies, rudeness, or bigoted ideals that purport that not all humans deserve equal rights, etc.

Usually, when I disagree with something, it is because it is incorrect, lying, or particularly mean-spirited. I disagree with people that do not think that every human deserves the same rights. I disagree with people that push for ideologies that would strip other humans of their rights, or that would inflict needless suffering. I don’t downvote people when I disagree with what media they think is good or something. I downvote those that express ideas that are antithetical to what I see as basic human decency or that are factually incorrect.

Personally, I use downvotes to say “I disagree with this and/or it is a stupid/bad/bigoted/etc take, but I do not wish to spend the time and effort to respond and get dragged into a text-based mudfight with someone who is unlikely to speak to me politely, no matter how polite I try to be in my rebuttal.”

I like having a way to say “no, bad, stop that” without having to spend time trying to explain things or engage with someone who I think is beyond convincing anyways.

Yeah, caffeine is a good vasoconstrictor, so it can help with headaches that are not from something like high blood pressure. Paracetamol/acetaminophen is really good for headaches on its own because it gets into the brain better.

Alternating the paracetamol and ibuprofen on a schedule is the best recommendation I can give. Severe pain, especially post-operative pain, is best managed by taking the pain meds before the pain sets in. The ibuprofen is also an NSAID and the swelling and inflammation are big contributors to pain.

The schedule that I always recommend is:

• 0800: 650-1000mg paracetamol (acetaminophen)
• 1200: 600-800mg ibuprofen
• 1600: 650-1000mg paracetamol (acetaminophen)
• 2000: 600-800mg ibuprofen
• (and in the first day or two after surgery, set alarms to wake up and take pain meds at 0000 and 0400 on the same pattern if the pain is really bad.)

This pattern keeps you covered on pain control, and you can shorten the intervals to every 3 hours if this isn’t enough without exceeding daily dose limits on either medication. If you are an American reading this and you’re also taking something like Norco, make sure to account for the acetaminophen/tylenol/paracetamol that’s in those because exceeding the recommended dose on that one is bad news for your liver.

Like some other folks have said, warm saline (salt water) rinses and soft or liquid foods are going to help as well.