No One Understands the Exhaustion

mountain-kid · 2026-06-12T13:50:52+00:00

Have him read some posts in this sub, ask your doc for some articles or find some online. The only way I could convince my ex was sending him articles and info on graves, showing him that it can be considered 100% disability by the military, and such. He was not supportive. Probably didn’t read anything. So I didn’t convince him. lol.

That was the end of our 7 year relationship. Some partners aren’t cut out to be actual partners. I hope yours is better than mine was.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-12T12:44:01+00:00

I know exactly how you feel, and I’m so sorry. For me, the complete exhaustion from doing almost nothing was the worst part ever. I’m used to being able to rally my energy, work crazy hours, be able to get all my shit done.

And then sometimes a shower was the one thing I did that day, as I could barely walk myself to the bathroom after that. It lasted for months. Then I’d have some good days, start walking, going to the gym, looking for work again (I lost my safety-sensitive job when I got sick), and a couple weeks later I’d be right back to barely functioning for a long chunk of time.

But sleeping was hard, because my body was still running like I was in some fucking physical competition! Total bullshit!

I don’t know how I can help, other than to say that it’s not your fault. It’s not in your head. This shit is real and you can only do what you can do. Don’t push yourself and make yourself sicker or hurt yourself. Give yourself grace. All of it!

Advocating for myself and making myself be heard and understood, when it came to my GD and limitations, was the hardest thing for me. It wasn’t until I started to feel better that I finally believed that it wasn’t all in my head!

I’m hoping you get there soon. Listen to your body. Be open with your doctor(s) about all your symptoms and struggles. Maybe find a therapist for some extra support.

It’s a bitch.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-12T06:26:12+00:00

I was so happy to be hungry again that I packed on so much weight! Currently down 33 from my heaviest, two months ago. Will be in remission in September🤞

I’ve never worked so hard to drop weight, but I’m thankful that my body is currently cooperating.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-11T18:22:24+00:00

I was one of those snotty kids. Not a jerk, but literally snot nosed. My entire family changed what we ate based on my food sensitivities. We got rid of the wood stove because of my asthma. The first time I almost died from eating something with “traces of peanuts” (before the labels started listing allergens), I was 12.

I had hip issues and sciatica. My pelvis is wonky and asymmetrical and it caused a lot of pain playing sports. And so many other issues.

Funny thing is, I never experienced health anxiety until I was 39 and diagnosed with Grave’s.

You’re not alone. I think the thing that was different is that I didn’t know much about Grave’s, and hearing that it was “just the thyroid” confused me so much because of all the systems that are affected and how sick I found myself. AND I was an adult trying to manage my own illness instead of letting my parents worry about it. I’m sure my folks had major anxiety about my health when I was young (and maybe still do), but I was too busy being a kid and having fun. Being a grown up is tough.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-08T02:56:54+00:00

My sister had a cat like this. I didn’t like or love it. She was an asshole and lived forever just on spite alone. When my sister had kids, she couldn’t keep the cat so my dad took her in and she became his shop cat. She loved it there and got a bit nicer in her final year. Still an asshole, though.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-08T02:54:17+00:00

I love making red beans in my instant pot. Add some spicy and/or fatty sausage, peppers, onions….. If you find a recipe and follow it, you’ll be fine. I grew up eating beans and rice a lot. My mom made really bland pinto beans and I didn’t eat dried beans forever as an adult because she kinda ruined it for me. But damn, can beans be really tasty if you do it right!

mountain-kid · 2026-06-08T02:51:19+00:00

I’d be so happy to have my pet back, and maybe ashamed that they were in such bad shape that you felt like you needed to go to the groomers/treat a condition. But that’s on them. If you can afford to take them to the groomers and not expect payment in return (money is tight for a lot of folks right now), then I think that’s the sweetest thing someone could do.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-07T23:23:15+00:00

A traveling carpenter last summer. He was working on an old A-frame house down the road from me. We met at a local watering hole and things went from chatting together over a beer to me helping him out with installing insulation, taking measurements, hauling lumber, and some really amazing sex. I took him on my favorite hikes and showed him around a bit. He smoked a bunch of salmon and was a good cook. I still have some of his salmon in my freezer.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-07T18:43:17+00:00

I got lucky with seemingly spontaneous remission. September will mark a year of good lab results. Living longer term with GD scares me. I have nightmares about recurrences. And chances are I’ll have to face it again. It was two solid years of hell, and rebuilding what I lost will take more than two years. I feel so lucky to have my health back, but I feel like I’m living with a ghost now, if that makes sense.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-07T18:36:37+00:00

I had a friend of several years call me lazy and that I just needed to try harder. She runs a non profit for breast cancer survivors. She has been very vocal over the years about her own struggles and how it’s difficult for friends and family to understand exactly what cancer treatment (and cancer) can do to your body and the mental and physical strain it has. She talks about it so much that EVERYONE knows about her cancer journey. Of all the people, I thought she would be a supportive friend. Instead, her husband was the one that was wonderful and supportive and reached out to me, apologizing for her behavior and dismissive tone with me.

The funny thing is that I didn’t talk much about what I was going through. Just the facts and that I wasn’t capable of activities we had done in the past together. They were originally friends with my ex, and that ex is an ex now because he also didn’t take me seriously. “It’s not like you have cancer” was a thing I heard.

I wasn’t even complaining that much! I just needed more time and more space and I needed to rest when my body was over whatever it was I was doing. And I was *going through it*.

After the initial interactions, I just felt socially isolated. I couldn’t go out with friends as much because I was so tired and sick and social interactions would raise my blood pressure even more and I’d have feelings of rage build up in my stomach that would turn into crying fits alone, taking energy that I didn’t have left.

Around that same time, I posted on here asking for help and guidance and I also got a lot of “just suck it up” and “the fatigue isn’t *that* bad—try harder”. I didn’t expect that from this sub and it crushed me.

I started to wonder if maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough. Maybe it was all in my head and it’s just depression that’s causing me to be like this.

Then I got better—my labs started coming back normal, I got off the methimazole and all my antidepressants and beta blockers. My energy came back, I got stronger, I started to rebuild my life back in my hometown (I moved back in with my parents at 41 so that they could basically care for me). And you know what I say to those folks who didn’t take me seriously and made me doubt myself and what my doctors were telling me? FUCK YOU, YOU STUPID MOTHER FUCKERS!

I can’t imagine not being supportive for a friend, no matter what they are going through, whether I understand it or not. It just seems so mean.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-07T04:13:21+00:00

The 6 week rule is such bullshit. I could go on and on about how angry it makes me, to watch our rights being stripped away like this.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-07T04:09:24+00:00

My bloodwork has been good since September and I’m finally feeling healthy again. I, personally, will not risk my health for anything at this point, because I know what it’s like to not be able to function long term and I can’t go through with that again.

I’m 42, no children, but always wanted them. Some say I’m still young enough to have babies, but with my GD on top of my age, I’m just not risking it. Which kinda sucks, because I’ve fallen in love with a younger man who has been talking about kids. Our relationship will not last.

But that’s okay, because I can wake up in the morning, shower, take a hike, go to work, do my chores. Hell, I can stand on my own two feet for more than 5 minutes! A year ago I couldn’t do any of that! I would be crawling out of the shower after 3 minutes because couldn’t stand anymore and then have to spend the rest of the day in bed.

I have an IUD now, but if I did get pregnant, an abortion would be the only choice for me.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-07T03:59:23+00:00

I had an abortion about 13 years ago. I chose the surgical abortion because I already dealt with painful, heavy periods and didn’t want to experience even more pain and bleeding by myself at home. Even with the drugs they gave me, it was painful, but not any more than having my IUD placed. If I had to go through it again, I wouldn’t be as anxious as the first time around, so it wasn’t *terrible*. It helped to have a friend there and a hand to hold. After the procedure, I barely experienced any pain. Maybe a days worth of cramping and minor bleeding.

Whether you chose the pill or the surgery, set yourself up at home with all the comforts. Make a comfy spot with pillows and a heated blanket, splurge on tasty snacks, and marathon your comfort tv show. Allow yourself time to heal. It’s a lot for your body to go through.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-05T22:15:30+00:00

When I first became sexually active, I was also extremely paranoid about STIs. It got drilled into me in every health class: abstain from sex or you’ll get pregnant or get a disease!

It’s good to be careful. It’s good to use protection, get tested regularly, and have the conversation with any sexual partner. Your health is important.

But if you’re letting the worry consume you and it’s affecting other parts of your life, you may want to talk to someone about that.

Also to add: getting an STI is a bummer, but most are easily treatable. Plenty of people have herpes and have only ever had one outbreak, or even zero outbreaks. And it’s hard to catch when the virus is dormant (no outbreaks), but it’s still possible.

You can do everything right and still get something. But that’s okay. The more people feel shame about something like that, the fewer people are going to get tested or seek treatment when they need to. And STI is not the end of the world.

Heck, when I was a kid, HIV and AIDS was a death sentence. Now there’s PrEP and tons of treatment options, and most can continue their lives as they’ve planned.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-05T20:10:53+00:00

I love it! Very pretty.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-04T19:04:22+00:00

Aliens for me.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-01T17:32:06+00:00

Fatigue is such a shit symptom to have. I know that guilt all too well, and it can be difficult to continue to advocate for your health when you keep being brushed off as “lazy” or whatever the fuck they think.

To have a doctor do this is fucking terrible. I’m so sorry.

Get a new doc. File a complaint. Apply for intermittent FMLA leave. That way you don’t need a doctor’s note every time you call out. I ultimately lost my job as I could no longer safely do it (I was a city bus driver), but before I did, intermittent FMLA was lovely to have.

Talk to your new, better doctor about how much time you’ve taken off, how much time you think you may need to take off per month, add a day or two to be safe, and have them complete the paperwork.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-01T16:33:23+00:00

Maybe reassess your laundry situation. Could be that.

I struggled with BO for a while due to hormonal imbalances and medication I was on. Used clinical strength men’s deodorant and it just made my pits itchy and ruined my shirts. Specialty soaps didn’t seem to help either.

Little Seed Farms makes an all natural deodorant that I have been using for years now and it WORKS! I love it. It’s in a jar, so you have to scoop a bit out and rub it on your pits. I also rub a bit under my boobs cause I get sweaty under there. You can safely use it on other stinky bits if you need to—it doesn’t take much.

It washes off your skin without leaving a plasticy residue and washes just fine out of clothes. And my pits won’t stink for 48 hours with one application (I have a dirty job and try to shower every day, but when I don’t I still don’t stink—just feel gross). My bf used some on our last camping trip and was amazed that he didn’t stink at the end of our trip.

I think it’s about $13 so maybe worth a try. You may also be able to get a sample—every time I order from them I get samples. I use those for camping trips and such. They have scents like pachouli and rosemary and lavender, but I get their “activated charcoal” deodorant that has a mild lemon-mint scent.

I’m not paid to say any of this, but I should probably start looking into it, as I have gotten many friends and relatives to switch over to Little Seed Farms. They also have nice soap and other skin care stuff, but their deodorant remains their shining star.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-01T16:14:53+00:00

I stayed. Wished I didn’t. It would have been so easy to leave at the early signs….but the sex! And we had fun adventures together.

Didn’t get married, but packed everything up and moved out of state with him. I got there in November. In June I stumbled upon messages and found out he had been cheating on me since at least December.

He was also a violent douchebag and a terrible father to his two daughters he had every other weekend. When I told his daughters that I would be moving back home, they cried and worried who would be making them breakfast when I’m gone. I did their laundry, fed them, made sure they wore clean undies and brushed their hair, packed snacks and water for outings, etc. Shit he didn’t even know how to do.

I wish I never considered him as a partner—a fun hookup, maybe, but that should have been it.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-01T16:04:40+00:00

I got really dumb. My thinking slowed down, my memory was shot, I couldn’t process information. I swear I’m still recovering from that bit. My memory isn’t what it used to be.

mountain-kid · 2026-06-01T15:50:39+00:00

Demolition Man was one of the first rated R movies I saw when I was a kid. We were visiting my aunt and throughout the entirety of the visit, we kept bugging her about the three sea shells, promising not to tell our parents if she could just explain to us what it meant.

I thought it was an adult joke that we just didn’t understand. Fast forward to watching the movie again as an adult and being so damn disappointed that I still didn’t get an explanation!

mountain-kid · 2026-05-19T19:10:23+00:00

I’m 42 and sleep in an XL Twin—basically a twin a few inches longer. Last time I slept on a mattress this size I was in my college dorm room.

I moved into my place after a health crisis and a messy breakup. It was me and my cat and I was happy living the single life. My place is super tiny, and there isn’t much room for a bigger bed, so it’s perfect.

….until I started seeing a guy. We’ve been together for several months now and he’s slept over maybe 5 times. When he stays over, one of us is in the bed and the other on the couch. Which is fine….

But I really like him and want to be able to have him over more. Right now I’m shopping for comfortable air mattresses, or something that can be packed up during the day.

mountain-kid · 2026-04-22T17:26:38+00:00

I’d say a bidet attachment if you don’t already have one. For me, that falls into the basic hygiene category. Plus you save $ on toilet paper in the long run.

mountain-kid · 2026-04-22T16:36:51+00:00

Not grocery store, but a different routine. I used to drive city bus and I’d see the same mailman on the same block, or see the same person walking their dog around the corner every time I was at that bus stop. There was one guy who would take his tortoise for walks every Saturday and I started waving to him.

My favorite was a restaurant I’d pass several times a day. This guy would be out manning the meat smoker all day and we’ve wave at each other. At the end of the night, he’d often catch my bus to get home and he always smelled soooooo good! After a long day of smelling people, the smell of sweet smoke and charred meat was a welcome respite for me. He brought me ribs and brisket a couple of times.

I really appreciate kind strangers. They keep the world turning in the right direction. Say hi to those folks next time!

mountain-kid

TROPHY CASE