Community agreements

One. Nobody gives dose advice

You may describe what you take, what happened, and what your prescriber said. You may not tell another member what to take, how fast to go up, or when to stop. This holds even when you are a clinician, and the clinicians here are the strictest about it.

If somebody asks what they should do, the useful answer is what you did and how you raised it with your own prescriber. Facilitators will help anybody turn a worry into questions they can take to an appointment.

Two. Red flags go to a clinician, not to a thread

Some things described here need to be seen today, not discussed. Severe or persistent abdominal pain, especially radiating to the back. Vomiting you cannot break. Signs of dehydration. Signs of low blood sugar in anybody taking insulin or a sulfonylurea. Sudden severe headache. Visual change. Signs of a severe allergic reaction.

If you post one of those, somebody will tell you kindly and firmly to get seen, and we will not offer a home remedy instead. See when a symptom needs a clinician.

Three. Body-neutral language

We do not describe bodies — ours or anybody else's — as good, bad, disgusting, or a problem. We do not moralise about food: no "being good", no "cheating", no "guilty". Compliments about appearance are also out, including well-meant ones, because in a room this size they land on somebody badly every time.

Four. No numbers as scores

No starting weights, current weights or targets. No calorie figures. No intake comparisons. No competitive anything. Weight may be mentioned as a fact of your medical history where it is genuinely relevant; it is never a scoreboard. Some circles go further and permit no numbers at all.

Five. Restriction talk gets named, and then held

Sometimes a post that reads as a health plan is restriction wearing different clothes. When a facilitator sees that, they will say so — once, kindly, in the open — and then they will stay with the person afterwards. That second half is the part that matters and the part most communities skip.

If it happens to you, you are not in trouble and you have not been told off. If it happens to somebody else, please do not pile on; the room staying steady is what makes it survivable. Members have written about being on the receiving end of this and it is worth reading.

Six. No sourcing help, no brokering

You may discuss suppliers in the sourcing-safely circle under its own additional agreements. You may not post links, contact details, prices, order instructions, discount codes or referral arrangements anywhere on this site, and you may not offer to obtain anything for another member.

Compounds sold for research use only are not approved for human use, and we say so every time the subject comes up.

Seven. No photographs of people

There is no facility for it and no exceptions. This includes progress photographs, injection-site photographs, and photographs of yourself looking well. Describe it in words; the words are better anyway.

Eight. Anonymity is respected in both directions

First names and handles only. Do not identify another member anywhere, do not repeat what was said on a call outside that call, and do not name individual clinicians, pharmacists or insurance staff. You may describe a service; you may not name the person behind the counter.

Nine. Disagreement is welcome, contempt is not

Members contradict each other constantly here and it is allowed to stand — two people can have opposite experiences of the same medication and both be telling the truth. What is not allowed is contempt: for another member, for people who chose differently, for people who stopped, for people who take this at all.

Ten. You may leave, pause, or say nothing

There is no expectation of participation. Reading is a full and legitimate way to be here — most members read for months before writing anything. You can stop journalling, leave a circle, or disappear for a year and come back, and nobody will ask you to account for it.