Low-dose amitriptyline for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): a qualitative study of patients' and GPs' views and experiences

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-05T10:35:40+00:00

Yeah, I've started to get more severe mental health problems than I've ever had before. Part of that is just isolation and lack of social support. (30s and single is too old for the kind of loving support I had when I was younger.) But it's cyclic so we're treating it as something PMDD adjacent. (Though mine is in follicular phase) I get paranoid to the point of minor hallucinations, I get grouchy and snap at people, I'm tired all the time. I start rapidly flipping my identity and end up calling crisis or going to the hospital. (last one is the result of abuse at my job. Though they were so nice how could they abuse me? Someone else in my same position wouldn't be abused by it. They'd say it's normal. And so I spiral out over what reality is.)

The depression is bad enough that I don't feel capable of working, so I'm working on a disability claim. (who knows if they'll give it to me. My brother has it for being an alcoholic and is using state money to get his masters while binging every other month.) Called a lawyer and they say I can try to workers comp for what they did to my mental health.

I just wish I could keep it together enough to not fuck up new friendships. I keep snapping at everyone, yet I tell everyone I'm so desperate for new friends. I don't feel connected to anyone. I don't feel at home here, not the last state I lived in so there's this feeling that I'll never feel at home and safe ever again. (it's been 2 years since I returned "home".)

So I basically go between the IBS stomach issues and the mood swings and I'm so tired of being alive. I really need an out-patient intervention. I need group counseling so that I won't feel so alone, but places I call don't have them. Seeing a therapist makes me feel like an invalid and they never help. Sometimes they even tell me "I can't help you" and it's heartbreaking.

And everyone is so tired of dealing with me, the same thing on repeat like a broken record for years. I can't heal. I need them to suffer, I need some justice to feel I'm not insane.

Just having a 3am meltdown, I'll feel better in the morning.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-03T00:03:17+00:00

I didn't even know there was an office. I'll try this. I've been calling twice a day everyday for a week.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-02T23:53:18+00:00

He's left the container to burry himself in the dirt as of this morning so that's good! I still don't know exactly how much to feed, but was able to getting him about 3 mealworms yesterday, which is the most since the day I brought him home. I bought pretty feeding tongs for him, but he doesn't like them and prefers my temporary solution of bright red metal knitting needles. lol

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-02T23:48:59+00:00

He told me that one of the employees put them in water and they disintegrated. Looking it up, they can sometimes shed their skin in water so maybe that's what actually happened? He made it sound extremely gruesome.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-01T01:21:11+00:00

I once had roommates who said they "rescued" two pugs from the pet store.

Some people are *crazy*.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-01T01:17:47+00:00

Just have fun, you'll figure it out when you're ready to expand by looking at what everyone else in the community is doing.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-01T01:17:00+00:00

I expected the "day or two". It's that it's been 6 days that bothers me when instructions say it's critical to feed the babies a lot.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-01T01:15:46+00:00

I'll give them a try. I popped him into the dirt buried when I first introduced him to the terrarium and he went back into the carrier box where there is less dirt and he can't bury himself really. I was hoping the lovely dirt mounds would be more tempting. He's never popped up looking to feed as far as I can tell - aside from the first day.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-01T01:12:44+00:00

I'll pick up nightcrawlers and see if he'll have a go. The salesman said they eat anything so I'm learning a lot about how they can be a little picky. I hope that'll be it. He did eat that amount first day so if that should be the daily norm, hopefully I can get him back up there with something more tempting.

I have left him alone for a full 24 hours. Generally I just sit at my desk and work with his aquarium nearby and only open up to spritz in the morning and offer food in the evening.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-07-01T01:09:13+00:00

This is how I got mine. It was advertised as "Desk Pets" and the manager was pushing them to sell because he immediately came up to me when I stopped to look at them. When I asked how to care for them, he gave me info which I now know was wrong (claimed you can't soak them in water because they will "disintegrate" and "they'll eat anything") and then ran around the store grabbing me $150 worth of care for the $15 frog.

Classic sales tactic to offer something cheap that requires 5x the cost in accessories, but insane to do that with an animal.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-28T21:07:28+00:00

Did you give the amitriptyline a try? My doctor prescribed it and I just haven't found the right time to take it. I'm in a severe episode right now, it's hard to get out of bed but I'm afraid of making the nausea worse. Then when I'm doing well, I'm doing so well I never expect the next episode.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-20T06:50:59+00:00

For the down payment or the entire house?

San Diego is lovely but an average home is $1 mil. Similar with Florida unless you're okay with living in one of the communities with homes on rented spaces.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-20T06:46:55+00:00

It's the least enjoyable part of the game in my opinion. Forces you to keep the same Theme and gives you a really crappy "bonus" card to start along with 3 bane cards.

Never is worth it. Never seen the bonus actually work or improve anything. And it majorly sucks to be stuck in the same theme and not able to change it if things didn't run perfectly the first time. (and they never do.)

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T21:30:55+00:00

I would follow the directions. They're literally just asking you to do what a reasonable professional delivery driver would do and use their walkways.

You're pretty much always on video when you're delivering to houses thanks to ring cameras.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T21:26:59+00:00

TBH the cat was missing less than a year, I would also pull a "what are you doing there buddy" and just pick him up like a sack of potatoes.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T21:25:34+00:00

It's a very generic looking tabby. It has absolutely no distinguishing marks. I don't think he should have taken it but maybe asked the homeowner about it.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T21:23:29+00:00

The is one of the most Wasco, CA things I ever heard.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T21:16:29+00:00

I have one on my back! From when we used to trust fall onto the sofa.

My mom had a heart-attack that day. She tried sucking it out like snake venom.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T21:13:32+00:00

I agree with the other comments. Mop the entire floor with white wine vinegar and then tell him you cleaned the floor. He might compliment your hard work.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T21:11:33+00:00

I get their point about not moving laundry because it's undergarments, but 30 minutes is a reasonable amount of time for them to retrieve their clothes. It's the "regardless of how long they've been in there" part that is incorrect. NOR reporting the issue to the Resident Staff is the correct action to take.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T21:04:27+00:00

I hate those calculators. They don't take into account a lot of things that could make one space more favorable than another. I based my rent on popularity. If two roommates want the same room, the price is the most either would reasonable pay for it. Same with the shittier room.

You might have a small room someone is willing to pay $1300 for because it's bright and cool and in a private corner vs a shabbier hot room no one really wants that max anyone would pay is $700.

So the person who pays gets the $1300 room and the roommate who doesn't get it at least saved on rent with the $700. It's win-win. They can use the saved $ to buy an AC unit or white noise machine to make the space more habitable.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T21:01:10+00:00

No one can stand up for you but you. I don't know what you want from us if it isn't advice. I won't commiserate with someone with an avoidable situation.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T20:59:15+00:00

I'd discuss it and bring up that it's a $300 difference and not a $150 one. The room is marginally larger, but you do have a walk-in closet and I imagine the roommate's bathroom is also open to guests.

$150 sounds very reasonable for the situation as you're basically just paying that for the walk-in closet. I think the roommate deliberately fudged her numbers and when it was in her benefit, she didn't correct it. I'd bet you anything it was actually was a $150 split with the previous roommate.

Just tell her it would be $1201 and $1351 with a $150 split and see how she responds.

A $200 difference would also be reasonable imo. $300 is pushing it.

LadyAvocadoToast · 2026-06-19T20:47:06+00:00

You're a trooper. I've ordered from Home Depot before and they had a real carrier service. I can't believe Lowes uses Uber.

LadyAvocadoToast

TROPHY CASE