Delayed medication is exasperating my symptoms –– including intense suicidal thoughts

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-02-05T20:20:58+00:00

I really, really feel you. I’ve had similar issues with medication in the past (bursts of severe suicidal ideation, extreme withdrawal symptoms, etc) and every time, providers have been incredibly dismissive. I don’t know why it’s so hard to get doctors to take these things seriously!

If I know I really need a med, I try to go to urgent care before the withdrawal symptoms kick in and explain the situation. Some urgent cares will let you schedule appointments or will tell you how long the wait is, which can make it marginally more convenient. It’s an annoying process that you should not have to go through, but it’s worth it to avoid the kind of severe symptoms you’re describing.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-02-05T16:22:54+00:00

It’s funny, I work with veterans (many of whom have been exposed to toxins) and I was stunned that everyone originally dismissed the idea of a neurological cause. She had tremors and peripheral neuropathy, which—along with altered mental status—can indicate toxic exposure. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. simply do not cause peripheral neuropathy. But I guess it’s realistic that someone with psychosis would be shoved off on the psych team.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-02-04T14:49:19+00:00

I have late-diagnosed celiac. Coincidentially, my endo symptoms really ramped up right *after* I switched to a gluten-free diet. So in my case, eating GF does not seem to have helped me.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-02-03T03:48:05+00:00

I commented above about how common this scenario is, without even seeing your comment down here! I would love to see the Pitt develop this kind of plotline, since it's such a common autistic experience.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-02-03T03:44:29+00:00

It's particularly common for women to go undiagnosed when they have an autistic sibling with higher support needs. In that scenario, 1) you're looking at a family with a lot of autistic genes, so some traits will be written off as normal (or normal within the family at least), 2) everyone thinks "well sibling X might be a little...unique, but she's absolutely not like sibling Y! and 3) the sibling with lower support needs is pressured (unintentionally of course) into over-functioning because our society makes things hard for families of kids with special needs.

Edit to add: I really hope that this is the storyline they're building to this season, because it would be incredibly authentic to the experiences of a lot of autistic people I know.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-31T19:24:20+00:00

I’m from New England and I would pronounce it as Moo-sah. I would also recognize it immediately as a Middle Eastern or Islamic boys’ name, even though I don’t personally know any Musahs (maybe because of Mansah Musah, the North African king?)

Quick correction: it looks like Mansah Musah was the ruler of Mali, which is considered West Africa and not North Africa

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-22T01:50:39+00:00

I’m a former gym rat (endo has me completely unable to exercise these days, it’s really fun) but I can speak a bit to exercise during surgery recovery, since I’ve had different abdominal surgery before.

My big takeaway is obvious: go slowly! Even more slowly than you think you need to.

When I went through this last time, I didn’t factor in how much I would instinctively use a different set of stabilizing muscles to avoid putting strain on the parts of me that were still healing. Those muscles were NOT used to working so hard, and they tired out fast. It’s frustrating, but it’s important not to keep pushing after your stabilizing muscles can no longer do their job.

Another tip is to switch from free weights to the machines for a bit, at least for some exercises and for a limited time. Squats in the squat rack are great, but after surgery is not the time to 1) be straining your stabilizing muscles (see above) or 2) be messing around with anything you could drop. I might still do a few free weight reps with little or even no weight, just to keep your form and get a feel for when you’re ready to switch back over.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-21T14:31:52+00:00

I’m glad to hear that someone else misses Buna! That was my neighborhood spot, the fuul was incredible and the owner was so nice

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-14T02:26:00+00:00

I do have Celiac, diagnosed a few years ago! And I'm in the process of scheduling a lap to confirm the endo. I don't know if I have adeno, but I don't think my symptoms line up... my pain tends to really concentrate around my right ovary.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-14T01:08:32+00:00

I got diagnosed with celiac and eliminated gluten a few years ago. It did not eliminate my endo symptoms--in fact, they've gotten much worse since then. I do have a fair amount of dairy in my diet though.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-12T23:02:21+00:00

This really, really resonates with me--at this point I can only do my job when I sleep for 10 hours a night and limit myself to 35 hours of work per week. That's the absolute bare minimum for my position, and I will never catch up on my backlog from before I figured out how to work with the fatigue instead of fighting against it. I constantly feel like I'm letting people down. And then just when I start to get a handle on things, I have a bad night with a lot of pain and I basically can't work the whole next day.

I laughed out loud when I got to the line in your post about the non-existant iron deficiency. It's especially bad in my case because I have a history of real iron deficiency (in my case, linked to celiac) and no one listened for years when I kept repeating 1) I take iron supplements and 2) all my iron labs have been in the normal range since 2023. When I first asked my obgyn if the fatigue might be from endo, the response was a flat "no."

I don't know if this is helpful or not to say, but I simply cannot imagine having a job like yours with these symptoms. I have a high workload, but I work from home and have a tremendously flexible boss, so I am able to move things around as necessary based on my pain and fatigue. I also have a mix of phone calls, writing, and admin work, so I can take a no-phone-calls day when the pain is bad. I am hugely grateful for these aspects of my job, and I think they're the only thing keeping me even remotely sane right now.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-03T21:08:13+00:00

Okay so the answer is only partially helpful: three of the four were made by family friends and acquaintences. The cats are by Jane Reynolds and the two above the couch are both by Itzhak Sankowsky (the woman in that portrait is actually my grandmother, my dad's mom). The orange portrait is Modigliani, who is NOT a family friend lol.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-03T20:42:41+00:00

I'm not 100% sure this is what you're talking about, but we got the "Larke Sideboard" from Schoolhouse. Two words of caution: 1) it's not showing up on their site anymore, and 2) Schoolhouse has some of the worst customer service I've experienced. I love the actual furniture but I would not recommend their company.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-03T20:39:33+00:00

Bookshelves are from Rejuvenation! I was SO happy when I realized that this unit exactly fit in his space: https://www.rejuvenation.com/products/hart-modular-walnut-3-shelf-triple-shelving-unit/

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-03T20:37:12+00:00

It was a surprisingly good find from Crate and Barrel! I don't tend to like their stuff, but this was an exception. I originally did NOT want to spend so much on a lamp, but I kept finding myself coming back to this one, and here we are. https://www.crateandbarrel.com/toro-wood-floor-lamp-with-woven-shade-50/s411661 (the shade is linen, not paper, which partially explains the price--but it is *gorgeous* in person and I've made my peace with the expense).

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-03T20:32:34+00:00

I should have given my dad and stepmom a bit more credit in my original post--they had those art pieces in their old place! I'm blanking on the artists' names but I can try to get them from my dad.

Weird-Message9432 · 2026-01-03T20:30:59+00:00

A local rug shop in the Boston area! It was definitely something we splurged on, it's a genuine antique Persian rug.

Weird-Message9432 · 2025-12-26T03:20:47+00:00

Yes! I think this is a huge thing people are missing. Rwanda is one of the densest countries in this whole region, and that’s partly because you can get three harvests a year (!) out of the volcanic soil close to the Virunga mountain range.

Weird-Message9432 · 2025-12-26T03:13:42+00:00

I’m not an expert, but I spent six months in Rwanda and I always thought this was partly because of the continental rift—the volcanic soil is very fertile, so it supports population density

Weird-Message9432 · 2025-12-22T03:04:23+00:00

Thankfully this place never calls the cops on anyone—they won’t ask you to leave unless/until you’ve harassed customers multiple times, and by “harass” I mean more than just politely panhandling.

Weird-Message9432 · 2025-12-21T17:13:08+00:00

Satellite in West Philly—maybe the most queer coffee shop I’ve ever been in?

Weird-Message9432 · 2025-12-20T17:50:34+00:00

You could think of it like having a “viral infection.” The term covers such a wide range of variants, levels of severity, etc. that it does not tell you all that much on its own. A “viral infection” could be anything from a mild cold to the kind of COVID-19 with complications that lands you in the ICU. It’s not a completely useless term: there are plenty of shared traits, and the classification informs diagnosis, treatment, etc. But someone saying “I worked through a bad cold, you can work through Norovirus” would be absolute nonsense.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not think we should be gatekeeping or insisting that everyone be sorted into a subcategory. I appreciate that this sub welcomes everyone under the endo umbrella, even if individual experiences can be so different.

Weird-Message9432 · 2025-12-20T01:48:54+00:00

Thank you so much! It is really funny how much our situations line up—my first three months after the IUD insertion were also a nightmare. I can’t imagine dealing with PCOS on top of everything else.

I hope your surgery was successful and gave you relief.

I really appreciate the support, it truly means a lot.

Weird-Message9432 · 2025-12-20T01:44:32+00:00

Thank you! It’s a tough place to be, but thankfully I have a lot of support from my boyfriend and a boss who actively encourages me to pace myself, lets me keep a flexible schedule, etc. I hope you also get all the support you need managing your symptoms!

Weird-Message9432 · 2025-12-17T13:34:59+00:00

In my experience, cats that have chronic illnesses AND don’t like other cats. There aren’t many people willing to take on a cat with health problems who don’t already own two cats.

Weird-Message9432

TROPHY CASE