iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Me packing for a four day trip: Four pairs of pants, four shirts, eight pairs of socks, and four hundred pairs of underwear.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I suspect that too. Migraines are so unpredictable. Sometimes blood vessel constriction is what helps, sometimes blood vessel dilation is what helps. And a lot of times absolutely nothing helps.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In chronic illness spaces, I hear a lot of stories about autoimmune markers being dismissed as “false positives” only for patients to get the diagnosis years later. Was that really a “false positive in a healthy patient” or was that a “positive result in a sick patient with atypical symptoms”?

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

When you say that the test result is a false positive — did you actually ask the patient about their symptoms? Or are you just assuming?

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I hear a lot of doctors talking about the risk of a false positive in an otherwise healthy patient. Yes, that does happen, but I suspect the more likely scenario is a patient having symptoms, having some wonky test results, and having those results dismissed as a “false positive.”

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Hi, I’m an elderly driver who is about to drive onto the median and hit three pedestrians.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I’m headed to the science writers meeting later this week, where one of the evening activities is a SHARK DISSECTION. I mean, talk about knowing your audience. Plus…Fat Bear Week and a shark dissection, all in one week? Talk about an abundance of riches.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

My unhinged hack is soaking in a warm bath. For some reason, the pain goes away when I’m in the bath. I don’t know why, but it works. The catch is that the pain returns the second I get out of the bath, and it leaves me so weak I can barely crawl the twenty feet to my bedroom.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

My slightly spicy opinion is that every long-term migraine sufferer needs at least one unhinged migraine hack, that makes zero sense, and only works for them. The less scientific the better. It’s an important rite of passage.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

My dog is a year old now, which means she is transitioning from the brashness of youth to the fearfulness of early adulthood. I know how you feel, doggo. I know how you feel.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Amblyopia is lazy eye, where your brain is wired to ignore input from one eye. Strabismus is being cross-eyed, where your pupils don’t quite align. For strabismus, surgery can help. Both these conditions can result in BVD.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Our medical system is so fragmented and siloed. I had an optometrist who diagnosed me with amblyopia when I was younger, but never mentioned there were corrective lens available. It’s maddening.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

It’s a specialized exam. I searched for BVD exams near me, and called around.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

It does seem to help a number of people with their migraines, although it may not be the miracle cure you are hoping for. That said, any reduction in frequency/intensity is very welcome.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Binocular vision dysfunction is strongly associated with neurodivergence, which is also associated with eds/pots/mcas/etc. You want to see an optometrist/ophthalmologist that can test you for BVD. Prism glasses can help. My insurance paid for a pair; Costco also sells prism glasses.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Strabismus is also one of the conditions that can result in binocular vision dysfunction.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

BVD is also associated with migraines. Mine have been especially bad lately. I’m hoping this will help, although I don’t think it’s going to be a cure. Migraine triggers have a way of stacking on each other. Lessening the triggers can raise the threshold for triggering a migraine.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I should have had my vision corrected sooner, and/or had an eye patch as a kid. But I didn’t, and I assumed it was too late. As it turns out, there are some corrective lens that can help. These are called prism glasses.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I’m assuming that sometime during my early childhood, my left eye was the better eye, so my brain learned to compensate by ignoring the right eye. Joke’s on the left eye. In the long run, it ended up having the worse vision. But by then, the neural patterning was finished.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

These experiments helped us understand what is known as amblyopia, or lazy eye, which is what I have. My brain overwhelmingly relies on input from my left eye. My right eye is structurally normal, but it’s quite weak. Doctors were never able to correct its vision to more than 20/40 or 20/60.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I remember looking at photos of kittens with one eye shut, and photos of neural patterning in the brain, and going ‘huh.’

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

What they found was that depriving the kitten of visual stimulation in one eye during early development had the effect of rewiring neural patterning in the visual cortex, leading to permanent vision changes. Essentially, the brain adjusted to input from only one eye.

embryo.asu.edu

David H. Hubel and Torsten N. Wiesel’s Research on Optical Development in Kittens | Embryo Project Encyclopedia

During 1964, David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel studied the short and long term effects of depriving kittens of vision in one eye. In their experiments, Wiesel and Hubel used kittens as models for human c...

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I learned that this wasn’t normal while taking neuroscience in grad school, during a lecture about how early visual exposure shapes brain development. In these experiments, they took kittens and sewed one eye shut, to see the effect it had on brain development.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I spent almost a decade working in research labs, where I had to close my right eye to use a microscope. My eyes just couldn’t merge the two images into one. I thought this was normal?

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I am ‘DGAF years old,’ so I got the colorful glasses. Also, I always have a tilt to my head, in all the photos and videos, which is apparently me compensating for the fact that the bulk of my vision is from my left eye.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

People see like this every single day? I just spent five minutes in the parking lot, staring at my hands. No wonder my depth perception has always been so messed up.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I was recently tested for binocular vision dysfunction, which is a disorder where your eyes are slightly misaligned, and can’t merge the two images into one. I just got the corrective glasses for them, and holy crap, it’s like getting 3D glasses for your life.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Thank you, that means a lot. I am very grateful that I’m able to cover these topics, we desperately need broader awareness.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Nothing can stop our big boy Chunk from conquering Fat Bear Week.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

“Chunk proved immediately adaptable. […] He adjusted his behavior to avoid most direct confrontations with other large male bears. He quickly learned to eat salmon without the full use of his mandible. […] He remains one of the largest bears at Brooks River.”

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

“In addition to his narrow-set eyes, dark brown fur, large muzzle scar, and prominent brow ridge, Chunk also has misaligned the jaw. In 2025, he emerged from slumber and made an appearance at Brooks River with a noticeably broken jaw that rangers guessed was a result of a fight with another bear.”

share.google

Big boy Chunk returns ahead of Fat Bear Week 2026

Last year's champion is back, busted jaw and all.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I hear that a lot. It's especially frustrating when neurology is booked out months in advance.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Also, for my fellow migraineurs: There are new guidelines for treating migraines, published earlier this month. This is a helpful guidelines for knowing what the state of migraine care is at the moment, and for knowing what the potential treatment options are.

americanheadachesociety.org

Updated Guideline on Migraine Prevention Medications for Adults

AHS and AAN published a guideline update to help clinicians determine which medications may be most effective at preventing migraine in adults.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Spoiler alert: My insurance approved Nurtec ODT for migraine prevention. I started a couple weeks ago, and it does seem to be helping. That is six fewer weeks of suffering, which is everything. Plus, given how hard our healthcare system is, it feels good to have the occasional win.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

"I'm OK with trying to get insurance approval and failing. Can we at least try?" Thankfully, I have a PCP that is open to evidence-based requests, and doesn't see this type of request as a threat to her authority. This is a rarer trait than it should be.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

"Here is documentation showing that I meet my insurance's criteria for coverage. Technically, my insurance requires failing a cheaper migraine prevention medicine first. Technically, I am already on a migraine prevention medicine, although it was prescribed to manage another health condition."

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

My solution? I did a whole bunch of research, and went in to my PCP with a very detailed request. "CGRP inhibitors are the class of medication that is the most likely to help. Here is documentation showing that I meet the criteria. Here is what my insurance formulary says about coverage."

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Navigating chronic illness in a dysfunctional healthcare system really forces you to get creative and resourceful. For example, my migraines have gotten really bad lately, but I can't see a neurologist until October.

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Reposted by Rachel Fairbank

Billy Hanlon @bhanlon15.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

National Geographic: 'Why Do POTS and Long Covid Look So Much Like Autoimmune Disorders?' 'Researchers are studying the curious connection between autoimmune diseases and conditions like POTS and long COVID...' By Rachel Fairbank www.nationalgeographic.com/health/artic...

nationalgeographic.com

Why Do POTS and Long Covid Look So Much Like Autoimmune Disorders?

Researchers are studying the curious connection between autoimmune diseases and conditions like POTS and long COVID—in the hopes it might lead to more targeted treatments.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

And if you meet people who refuse to acknowledge any of the negative side effects, that’s a warning sign. Even if it is an amazing intervention, that helps many, many people, there will be a group of people who won’t benefit. And that is okay.

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Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Even the best medicine has side effects and contraindications. It’s the same for lifestyle interventions that are used as medicine, such as exercise and meditation. It’s a matter of identifying who will benefit, and acknowledging the subset of people who might experience adverse effects.

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