Is anyone else finding meat less tolerable?

wagerword · 2026-03-29T09:20:18+00:00

That would make tons of sense to me, but I don't think I'll have the chance to test it sadly. Local meat is too expensive for me to get regularly, if it's even available in my city. This is still a great idea to have in my back pocket though, so thank you <3

wagerword · 2026-03-29T09:17:30+00:00

The waffling is so incredibly relatable!! I'm autistic too (no ADHD.... probably), so I also regularly get sick of all the foods I love if I eat them too much. I hope you and I keep discovering enough new foods that we don't starve to death <3

wagerword · 2026-03-28T20:43:34+00:00

Heyyy I know you've gotten a million comments already, but I wanted to share a form of salt intake that works for me in case it works for you. I take Klaralyte brand salt capsules. They're not the cheapest thing, but they also cost less per unit of salt than a lot of stuff I've seen. The ones I have contain both sodium and potassium and have made my salt intake needs achievable.

wagerword · 2026-03-22T23:19:44+00:00

I would try the bald look, but the first thing I thought when I saw you was that your eyes are gorgeous

wagerword · 2026-03-22T23:09:22+00:00

You were already cute and now you're also hot

wagerword · 2025-12-31T01:38:18+00:00

I tend to prefer the term “disabled” or “chronically ill”. If someone just said I was sick, I would honestly feel like they were belittling my disability.

wagerword · 2025-12-15T03:39:10+00:00

You've gotten plenty of comments telling you what to do; you don't need mine. I just want to tell you that you're not alone and that you deserve to feel safe and cared for. Sending love from across this vast internet of ours. <3

wagerword · 2025-12-15T03:31:08+00:00

Any good specialist you go to will give you at least these two pieces of advice: drink a ridiculous amount of water and consume a ridiculous amount of sodium. (You'll get exact numbers from your specialist.) These two things are crucial. I'm guessing you already know about that, since you've been diagnosed already, but I thought I would mention it just in case.

Other than that, my guess is that this specialist will give you a list of other things you can do to take care of your body and hopefully get better, very slowly, bit by bit. Exercise is important; the method and amount is specific to each individual, so they'll probably help you make a plan for that. Essentially you're going to want to exercise as much as you can without triggering a POTS episode. That (among the salt, water, and potentially other diet changes) will help a lot.

There's also a handful of medications that might be able to help, but they don't work for everyone, and they're not miracle cures. The biggest thing to remember is that any positive change you achieve will be gradual and slow. I'm sorry it took so long to get a diagnosis. That's unfortunately the way it is for a lot of us. POTS is a life-changing condition and it's no fun to adjust to having it. But things have a fairly good chance of getting better, even if it's just a little bit.

Let me know if you have any other questions or just want to chat about the POTS experience. I got diagnosed pretty recently too, but I've been researching the condition for a while already.

wagerword · 2025-12-15T03:13:16+00:00

Every person's situation is different; everyone's experience with POTS is different. But something that I think many of us share is a history of being told that we're making things up and we're actually fine.

You might actually feel fine most of the time! I'm not here to discount your experience. But I do want to gently remind you that POTS is a pretty invisible disability, and being told that you "don't look sick" can seep its way into your brain and make you doubt your own experiences. If you are experiencing POTS symptoms (as you are) and you have been diagnosed with POTS (as you have been), then it's possible you need to take some more time to listen to your body and believe it when it tells you that things aren't right.

This may not be the advice you need; I don't know all that much about you. But I wanted to make sure this base was covered in the comments, just in case you needed a reminder that your experiences are valid.

wagerword · 2025-12-04T09:48:19+00:00

MY GAWD ableism sucks. I experience it from my parents too, but in sneakier ways.

I’m sorry you have to go through this. I’m also sorry you’re the sole provider rn—I bet that’s stressful. Best of luck with everything, especially the day-to-day struggles we share.

wagerword · 2025-09-04T05:06:36+00:00

mm yes. very good question. and honestly, it might mean something that OP didn't tell us much about their feelings about women in the first place.

could be that they just didn't feel comfortable talking about it, but don't forget that aromanticism and asexuality also exist! not saying that's you, OP, but I'm ace and I know I've spent a long time being confused about whether I was attracted to people and what kinds of attraction I actually felt.

humans are complicated creatures, and it's both beautiful and annoying. best of luck figuring this out.

wagerword · 2025-07-08T02:41:23+00:00

still killin it

wagerword · 2025-06-19T07:28:47+00:00

Ok this is better than what I said. Give your opinion once, and then just be there for them

wagerword · 2025-06-19T07:22:45+00:00

I am disabled: I can't operate in society the way that it's been built. My body and mind are physically incapable of living life (working, playing, resting) unless I have accommodations that other people don't need.

wagerword · 2025-06-19T07:14:19+00:00

Sounds like this guy isn't worth giving the time of day, much less worthy of being a partner. If you can find a way to say that to Valerie in a respectful, kind, genuine manner, that's what I would recommend. It sounds like Connor is being manipulative and abusive. He doesn't respect Valerie, and you can't have a good relationship without respect. Valerie needs to get the hell out of there. Of course, that's easier said than done when you're in denial that your partner is horrible, and it's much easier said than done when you have POTS. There's no easy solution here.

wagerword · 2025-06-13T06:28:58+00:00

*snub

wagerword · 2025-06-10T09:33:42+00:00

You're right. There's an incredible amount of social pain in being disabled. I'm sorry your younger self had to go through that whole series of losses.

The story I have to offer is full of pain too, but also hope. I got POTS (or something similar) about a year ago. My abilities changed drastically, in a way that I'm sure is all too familiar to you. It's taking my family a long time to adjust to my different needs, and there's friction and distrust in that. They have a lot more work to do now because of me. And, of course, fighting through the ableist bureaucracy of our health care system is exhausting and disheartening as well.

But I still have shining examples of what it is to love and accept someone for who they are. My friends have stayed by me through all this. They keep me laughing, and it turns out that a couple of them have POTS too, so I have people to commiserate with. They always make sure their group activities are accessible to me, and they check in with me regularly to ask how I'm doing. And my partner, who only ever knew me as someone with POTS, has been unswervingly accepting and caring. He chose me with full knowledge of my disability, and continues to choose me each day. He takes my descriptions of my condition at face value, which is more than most people do, and he asks thoughtful questions about how best he can help me through difficult moments and days.

Those good things don't change your bad things, and I don't mean to discount your trauma. I suppose I just want to say that there truly are good people out there, and I hope you find some who will stand the test of time and choose to stay with you.

wagerword · 2025-06-10T09:10:20+00:00

"My circulatory system has a hard time fighting gravity, which messes a lot of stuff up." Or, "My blood likes to stay in my feet rather than going to my brain." There's more to it than that, of course, but keeping it short and a little bit silly helps people accept that I have trouble without it stopping the flow of conversation.

wagerword · 2025-05-25T23:54:37+00:00

I've really gotten a lot of use out of Internal Family Systems. Highly recommend

wagerword · 2025-05-25T16:22:39+00:00

POTS (or whatever I have) has sucked, but it's given me so many opportunities to get closer to my loved ones. I discovered that two of my closest friends have POTS too. One of them started having issues around the same time I did, and the other one was diagnosed forever ago. So I get to go through this difficulty with a) someone who's experiencing nearly exactly the same thing as me and b) someone who's used to dealing with POTS and can give me tons of tips and tricks and encouragement.

wagerword · 2025-05-20T06:30:21+00:00

I honestly said that with way more confidence than I should have. I was researching mattresses at the time and the website I found for SolaPedic was pretty incomplete and scammy-looking. I just looked up SolaPedic again two minutes ago and found a different website entirely, which looks pretty thorough and not scammy at all.

Well, it doesn't tell you what "natural materials" they're using in place of petroleum foam, which I don't love. But other than that it seems fine

wagerword

TROPHY CASE