diff --git a/src/commands/gemini-chat.ts b/src/commands/gemini-chat.ts
index d38785c..9a0b53f 100644
--- a/src/commands/gemini-chat.ts
+++ b/src/commands/gemini-chat.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import {
     collectReplyChainText,
     escapeMarkdownV2Text,
     logError,
-    oldReplyToMessage,
+    oldReplyToMessage, replyToMessage,
     startIntervalEditor
 } from "../util/utils";
 import {ChatCommand} from "../base/chat-command";
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ export class GeminiChat extends ChatCommand {
                             chat_id: chatId,
                             message_id: waitMessage.message_id,
                             text: escapeMarkdownV2Text(text),
-                            parse_mode: "Markdown"
+                            parse_mode: "MarkdownV2"
                         }
                     ).catch(logError);
 
@@ -167,7 +167,10 @@ export class GeminiChat extends ChatCommand {
                 waitMessage.reply_to_message = msg;
                 waitMessage.text = currentText;
                 await MessageStore.put(waitMessage);
-                await oldReplyToMessage(waitMessage, `⏱️ ${diff}s`);
+
+                if (Environment.SEND_TIME_TOOK) {
+                    await replyToMessage({message: waitMessage, text: `⏱️ ${diff}s`});
+                }
             }
         } catch (error) {
             logError(error);
diff --git a/src/commands/ollama-chat.ts b/src/commands/ollama-chat.ts
index 8338b87..8f0962d 100644
--- a/src/commands/ollama-chat.ts
+++ b/src/commands/ollama-chat.ts
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ export class OllamaChat extends ChatCommand {
                             chat_id: chatId,
                             message_id: waitMessage.message_id,
                             text: escapeMarkdownV2Text(text),
-                            parse_mode: "Markdown",
+                            parse_mode: "MarkdownV2",
                             reply_markup: cancelMarkup
                         }).catch(logError);
 
@@ -220,7 +220,10 @@ export class OllamaChat extends ChatCommand {
                         waitMessage.reply_to_message = msg;
                         waitMessage.text = currentText;
                         await MessageStore.put(waitMessage);
-                        await oldReplyToMessage(waitMessage, `⏱️ ${diff}s`);
+
+                        if (Environment.SEND_TIME_TOOK) {
+                            await replyToMessage({message: waitMessage, text: `⏱️ ${diff}s`});
+                        }
                         break;
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/src/commands/openai-chat.ts b/src/commands/openai-chat.ts
index c269680..17b2ae9 100644
--- a/src/commands/openai-chat.ts
+++ b/src/commands/openai-chat.ts
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ export class OpenAIChat extends ChatCommand {
                             chat_id: chatId,
                             message_id: waitMessage.message_id,
                             text: escapeMarkdownV2Text(text),
-                            parse_mode: "Markdown"
+                            parse_mode: "MarkdownV2"
                         }
                     ).catch(logError);
 
@@ -151,7 +151,10 @@ export class OpenAIChat extends ChatCommand {
                 waitMessage.reply_to_message = msg;
                 waitMessage.text = currentText;
                 await MessageStore.put(waitMessage);
-                await replyToMessage({message: waitMessage, text: `⏱️ ${diff}s`});
+
+                if (Environment.SEND_TIME_TOOK) {
+                    await replyToMessage({message: waitMessage, text: `⏱️ ${diff}s`});
+                }
             }
         } catch (error) {
             logError(error);
diff --git a/src/common/environment.ts b/src/common/environment.ts
index 3e66e63..452cb15 100644
--- a/src/common/environment.ts
+++ b/src/common/environment.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ export class Environment {
     static IMAGE_HANDLE_FALLBACK_POLICY: ImageHandleFallbackPolicy;
 
     static SYSTEM_PROMPT?: string;
+    static SEND_TIME_TOOK: boolean;
 
     static OLLAMA_ADDRESS?: string;
     static OLLAMA_MODEL?: string;
@@ -112,6 +113,8 @@ export class Environment {
             Environment.IMAGE_HANDLE_FALLBACK_POLICY = ImageHandleFallbackPolicy.NOTIFY_USER;
         }
 
+        Environment.SEND_TIME_TOOK = ifTrue(process.env.SEND_TOOK_TIME || false);
+
         Environment.OLLAMA_ADDRESS = process.env.OLLAMA_ADDRESS;
         Environment.OLLAMA_MODEL = process.env.OLLAMA_MODEL || "gemma3:4b";
         Environment.OLLAMA_IMAGE_MODEL = process.env.OLLAMA_IMAGE_MODEL || Environment.OLLAMA_MODEL;
diff --git a/src/util/utils.ts b/src/util/utils.ts
index d479ee0..b12167e 100644
--- a/src/util/utils.ts
+++ b/src/util/utils.ts
@@ -312,6 +312,8 @@ export async function sendMessage(options: SendOptions): Promise<Message> {
         reply_markup: options.reply_markup,
     });
 
+    await MessageStore.put(response);
+
     return Promise.resolve(response);
 }
 
@@ -338,6 +340,8 @@ export async function replyToMessage(options: SendOptions): Promise<Message> {
         link_preview_options: options.link_preview_options
     });
 
+    await MessageStore.put(response);
+
     return Promise.resolve(response);
 }
 
@@ -563,7 +567,14 @@ function escapeMarkdownV2PreservingAllowedFormatting(s: string): string {
 }
 
 function unescapeAccidentalMarkdownV2(s: string): string {
-    return s.replace(/\\([_*\[\]()~`>#+\-=|{}.!\\])/g, "$1");
+    let prev: string;
+
+    do {
+        prev = s;
+        s = s.replace(/\\([_*\[\]()~`>#+\-=|{}.!\\])/g, "$1");
+    } while (s !== prev);
+
+    return s;
 }
 
 function escapeTelegramQuoteLine(line: string): string {
@@ -726,6 +737,8 @@ export function cutPrefixes(msg: Message | StoredMessage | string): string {
     });
 
     const text = extractTextMessage(msg);
+    if (!text || !text.length) return "";
+
     let newText = text;
 
     for (const prefix of prefixes) {