A little disclaimer before I get fully into it: This was my first real, long term relationship so a lot of things still don’t make sense to me, but I will try my best to explain everything clearly and fully.
Me (19M) and my boyfriend (19M) got together in February of 2023. We met through our job, and even before dating we were good friends for about 6 months prior. During this time in my life, I had just turned 18 and was struggling heavily with my self image, self worth, and the idea that a relationship was even a possibility for me. In fact, I would say i was struggling the most with relationships and men in general. When my boyfriend came along it honestly seemed too good to be true. We hit it off instantly, got along very well, and shared a lot of the same morals and values when it came to dating. Except for when it came to sex, but i’ll go more into that later.
For the first few months, I would say the dynamic worked out well between us. Then, he moved out of his parent’s and in with his best friend and her family, which consisted of her mom, dad, and brother. Since the beginning of the relationship, I wasn’t too crazy about his best friend. I do care about her and have empathy for her, but for lack of better words, my boyfriend kind of let her walk all over him. This seemed to get worse after they started living together. And, it became apparent that they did not see eye to eye on most things and wanted different things out of their living situation. She would get jealous anytime we wanted to spend time together alone, and often times would not let us be alone when I was at their house. This eventually was talked about between them and i will say, in the regards of giving us more space, she did back off. However, their living situation was still toxic. They would have disagreements, but ones that would never be talked about or worked through. In turn, my boyfriend would talk/rant to me about her, and I always agreed with his POV, but that was the end of it. He always said that it’s extremely hard for him to confront people due to his own anxieties and past trauma. I 100% understood this, as I struggle a lot with confrontation too, but when it came to the point of his friend putting stress on our relationship/on me and I would talk to him about it, he would say he understood but nothing would ever be done about it. I could’ve very well spoke up for myself against her, but I was terrified that he would be upset with me and it would cause problems for us. I know that’s unhealthy now but in the moment it felt like I just had to get over it.
Then, around OctobeNovember last year, his friend’s mom ended up kicking both her daughter and my boyfriend out over a very small misunderstanding involving transportation. It was one night that I was taking him home from work, and her mom thought she had to pick him up, so we both showed up to get him. She absolutely flipped out over this and used it as justification to kick him out. Then when his friend tried to defend him against her mom, she kicked her out too. She ended up going to live with her current boyfriend and mine came to live with me. At this point, I had moved about 45 minutes away from our hometown with my dad and step family. I was (and still am) working in said hometown, because I do like my job and most importantly the people I work with. My boyfriend could’ve gone back to live with his parents, but honestly, neither of us wanted that. In hindsight, that’s what should have happened.
Up until this past April, everything was okay with our situation. We were living and working together full time and considering he didn’t have a car or his license yet, I was his source of transportation. Something shifted inside of me though. I found myself not being excited about his presence anymore and also not having sexual feelings towards him anymore, which is highly unusual for me. I felt like I had hit a wall that I couldn’t climb over in the relationship. In that moment, I chalked it up to being a “simple” change in feelings and that we were just growing apart. This did not go very well when I told him. I didn’t expect it to, but I know that he wasn’t even trying to fathom how I felt in the situation and ended up being pretty hurtful about it. The first night after it happened, we had a lengthy conversation over text where he was essentially saying that I ruined him and broke him and that I couldn’t possibly have loved him like I said I did since I was doing this. He also said, and I quote, “You built me back up and made me believe I was finally having the life I deserved and then you destroyed me and left me worse than when you found me”. This of course made me feel immense guilt but I knew it was coming from a place of hurt and I didn’t let it weigh me down too much. He also said that I would never find a friend in him and that this was goodbye, and blocked me on all social media and my phone number. Even though I was the one to break up with him, this still hurt a lot because I did and still do very much care about him.
The next day, he reached back out and apologized for how he reacted and asked me if we could try space instead of a full-on break up. I agreed to this because the relationship really did mean everything to me and I genuinely loved him. I did make sure to tell him that I couldn’t make any promises about my feelings returning but that I would try. And I have. Since then, we have still been working together, just not on the same schedule as before, and he is staying with his parents back in our hometown. We still text on the daily because we both made the agreement that we didn’t just want to go back to strangers. We mainly just talk about work and life and what not, but not much has been said about our specific situation on either end. We both agreed that we needed space. We both also agreed to not really see each other outside of work because we both know it would just complicate things even more, especially if we were to still act like a couple and even more especially if we continued a sexual relationship. This brings us to current day.
It has been about a month of space now and although it’s hard to admit to myself, I don’t want to be back with him. After I’ve had time to think everything over, I’ve realized that I may have put up with more than i deserve/disregarded my self and my feelings for him. Sex was honestly not that important to him, but it always has been for me. It’s not all that I care about of course, but I found myself being told no more often than not. I found myself suppressing my true sexual feelings for him in order to comply to what he wanted. I am also the type of person who likes to try new things, and he was almost always opposed to it. For a while I told myself this was the right thing to do in order for us to work out. With all this being said, our sexual relationship was good and we both enjoyed each other in that way, but it was just very inconsistent.
I also now feel like we just started to want different things out of the relationship. We both needed our own personal space which was impossible at the time, considering we lived and worked together on the same schedules and I was his transportation to and from work and also to hang out with friends when he wanted to. We also have conflicting love languages, as mine is primarily physical affection and reassurance while his are more along the lines of quality time, gift giving, and sharing his interests. As far as the love languages go, I knew early on that they were not the same but I thought we had come to a place where they could coexist. I know now that it was starting not work out that way, and I think he felt the same too although I’m not 100% positive as I found it very hard to understand him and his feelings sometimes, as did he with me.
Like I said previously, he struggles with confrontation. Any time I had an issue with something he did that would upset me, it was usually met with silence and a simple apology or “I don’t remember that/That’s not what I meant.” It seemed like he was taking things as a personal attack rather than trying to understand where I was coming from. One specific moment sticks out to me. One night after work, his best friend wanted to see us before we went home, but she got off of work later than us , which meant we would have to wait around for that. I was very tired due to a long busy day and just wanted to go home as did he, but we stayed and waited anyways because he was afraid of her reaction had we not. I did not respond to this well, and I told him straight up that she walks all over him and that I felt he was not considering how I was feeling about the situation either. All i got in response was confused silence and a simple “I’m sorry.” I was not satisfied with this, and after telling him so, he said how he doesn’t know what else to say/doesn’t know how to communicate how he’s feeling. I ended the conversation there because I could see that I was getting nowhere, but I was still very visibly upset. After we left to go back home, he wouldn’t talk to me and just fell asleep on the drive. This caused me to start crying and after he realized and I reiterated my feelings, I was met with a little more compassion and “i’m sorry”s but then the conversation shifted and no more was said about it on either end.
There were also multiple times that I knew that I had upset him over various things, because he would start acting different (short responses, dirty looks, spending more time on his phone etc). But , when I would ask him what I did, he would just say that he’s fine and to not worry about it. For example, on Valentine’s day this year, I made a very inconsiderate joke about his size (even though it wasn’t true). I was trying to be funny and we both knew I wasn’t being serious, but it still was wrong. It did affect him and eventually he opened up to me and we talked about it, and i apologized profusely and all was resolved. But before that, his demeanor and attitude towards me completely changed and he was treating me very differently. Before we talked about it, I was unaware that the joke I had made was the cause of it, but he told me that he was upset about something I had said but told me it was fine and that he’d get over it, while still treating me differently. I didn’t respond to this well because I knew I had hurt the person I loved, and wanted so desperately to resolve it and make sure it never happened again, but until he brought it to light I was stuck in an intense self-hate/guilt trip.
I will say I don’t recall him ever using any of that against me, but communication is extremely important to me and I just wasn’t getting it. It was like , we always were fine together until the more serious issues came about (differences in intimacy desires, communicating our issues with each other , etc.)
It’s worth mentioning that I also struggle with self image/self worth, and a lot of anxiety/uncertainty. I forgot to include it earlier, but another reason the space is happening is because we lost ourselves in the relationship. We still don’t really who we are or what we want from life. I was constantly preoccupied with how he was feeling and how my actions affected him, and he was constantly preoccupied by turning to me for comfort and safety. I don’t blame him for that though, as I know that we have to fully love and know ourselves/know what we want first before making a commitment to someone else. That’s why I struggle so much with knowing if I’m making the right decision or not. I’m also scared that once I tell him, he won’t want anything to do with me anymore similar to how he reacted the first time. I will forever be grateful for the love that we shared and all the good he showed me and would rather have him as a friend than nothing at all, but I don’t know if that’s the reality. And if it’s not that’s okay and I know that, but I haven’t accepted it. I just want us both to be happy in life and live to our full potentials even if that means it’s not together. If you made it this far I’m sorry for the novel but thank you for taking the time to read. I may be the asshole here and if that’s the case, I will do better and I will make the right decisions. I just need a little insight. Thank you again for anyone who took the time.

espesially i have noticed it when im tired , while starting other symptoms too - compusion, derealization, lack of concentration and anxiety

So we had our baby shower 3 weeks ago and I’m just now able to post about it without becoming full of rage all over again lol.
My SIL (hubby’s sister) is extremely self absorbed. The world revolves around her, we all just exist in it. If you do things differently than her, she lacks the emotional intelligence/maturity to understand that people are different and it isn’t her place to comment or “correct”. She will find a way to make ANYTHING about herself in some way.
She has not been involved in my pregnancy at all. She has not checked in, asked how I was feeling, given advice, asked if/how she could help with anything. Not a single word or text the entirety of the pregnancy.
Which honestly, is fine. I don’t like her anyway and hearing from her would no doubt just turn into being about her in some way. However, her complete lack of effort and care gives her ZERO right to then try to take over things with the baby shower, which was hosted by my amazing mother who had everything under control and who sunk a ton of time and money into planning a really special baby shower.
My SIL decided to confront me just days before the shower about my decision on not playing games. She said that people really enjoy playing games and like to see it, so we really should do so because people (meaning herself) would be disappointed with the shower if we didn’t. This threw me into a rage spiral because… the freaking audacity. To tell me what to do, days before the shower, when it’s absolutely none of her business and not about what she wants. My response to her was very short and direct and I made it clear we’d be doing things the way we wanted.
Then the day of the shower. Apparently the decor my mother was doing (minimal, because I don’t care about elaborate decor at a baby shower - especially outdoors like ours was) wasn’t good enough. SIL took it upon herself to essentially take over decorating. Which in theory sounds like a nice gesture. Except she’s extremely bossy and when she took over, she was rushing and was apparently in a bad mood from rushing where she stressed everyone else out and started commanding them on how to help her.
Why the need for the decor that WE didn’t care about or ask for? Why the need to rush around and stress/sour the mood? She took it upon herself so that she could get some pat on the back and make it about herself. And the decor was lovely, it looked great, but it was unnecessary and at the cost of her taking over and stressing other people out, it wasn’t worth it. My mother had it under control, and I think she felt a little hurt that her plans weren’t “good enough” for my SIL.
I’m just so irritated and tired of dealing with this kind of crap from my in-laws. My hubby totally understands and agrees with my frustrations and he’ll say things when he needs to, but honestly, I mostly tell him not to bother because his sister and mother completely lack the ability to step back and think about their actions, so it just turns into more unwanted drama.
Anyone else who can commiserate with similar experiences? Thanks for reading all of my pregnant rage word vomit lol.

You notice a slight headache throughout the weeks of your stay in Kenya, you visited Kitum Cave Wednesday last week and ever since then you've been feeling.. off..
you go to a clinic Tuesday this week to see what is wrong, they say you have a raised temperature and a slight headache, might be a cold going around, they recommend headache relief and good rest,
the problem is.. you cant sleep, your mind is racing all the while it feels like its about to explode, suddenly its 7:00 AM. time to get up. you have a sharp pain in your chest and your muscles ache.
you look in the mirror.. your face.. its almost as if you are wearing a mask of skin with two beady beet-red eyes.
your stomach twists and turns in the most agonizing way, you turn to look at your watch, something isn't right, you have little bright red specks dotting from your arm to your wrist that itch and burn.
your frightened by this, and you know deep down this isn't the worst its going to get.
right now a strange organism is turning your internal organs into its own mushy playground, filling your cells with itself until the cells explode like an egg sac filled with spiders, the newly formed viruses burrow their way into more of your blood cells.
you call a doctor and schedule an emergency appointment to get you checked, your driving to the clinic twisting around a mountain.
you hear a strange sound in your gut as your insides drip out of your intestines in what feels like liquid fire.
your hit like a bullet with sudden nausea, you gag and retch trying not to vomit.. futile... black gunk pours out of your mouth like a high pressure tap.
your mind races to the point of extreme confusion.. you. cannot. breath... suddenly you go unconscious driving down from a mountain-top, your tires screech out of control, down you go.. its over for you...

Today’s one page challenge is for The City in the Clouds by J.B. Williams. Finally, a requested challenge, rather than the usual cycle of me finding a story and the person being triggered that I did so. At 234 pages and a whopping price tag of $20.99 for a paperback, it’s a wonder why it looks untouched. Flip some burgers for an hour to pay for this… whatever it is. I was told the editor is good, so let’s see how he gummed up the works.
The rules of the one page challenge are simple: I go through the first page of the book(about 300 words or 3 paragraphs) and say where the average reader would stop. These reviews are short, sweet, and to the point (unlike most of these books). The main things we look for are things like tension, a hint at the plot existing, good feng shui, a feeling like the blurb is accurate, a lack of obfuscation, and the story fulfilling its role as a story. As we go along, I’ll explain why readers love or hate certain elements and we’ll see what straws break the camel’s back.
The title, The City in the Clouds, makes me think of fantasy, but it’s meant to be sci-fi. Clouds symbolize knowledge beyond our reach or something like daydreaming, treated as water in air(mystery in knowledge). Saying the title this way makes it seem like the focus is the city itself, which would be cool if it was something like a dystopian or utopian story. Maybe a tech noir or detective story, but… it’s not. This story is actually about a woman, and it’s a comedy, completely conflicting with the genre in two ways.
I didn’t want to say this but Huston… we’re already having problems.
The ebook cover is a drawing of curly haired woman staring at the camera like she’s constipated, while the paperback version is of an anime girl holding a gun and looking like she has diarrhea. Both versions have her in a suit, with a giant gas planet behind her. Both have similar fonts for the title and name, but the ebook version is so blurred and darkened that it reads like a secret message; the physical version being slightly less blurry. If I saw this on a shelf, I wouldn’t recognize this as a book or know what it was called. I find it strange because the back of the book is very clear, given a blue box for clarity, and has a sun with a red sky that would have made more sense than these frumpy women.
I guess the title and name are made illegible because we’re supposed to zoom our eyes straight to the blurb:

Robin Alia Brook is considered a loser. She works at customer service for one of the largest companies in humanity's interstellar empire, gets stood up on dates, and accidentally kills people. Then when her ex-online boyfriend gives her the winning vacation lottery ticket to the famed habitat, The City of Clouds, she reluctantly accepts it.
Upon arrival, she is greeted by the massive, beautiful gas giant Bellona, and all the glamour and prospects of expansion for the famous habitat. And it is the beginning of a celebration, too! For the election of the new habitat captain! But the celebration and vacation are ruined when pirates attack, seeking the captain's riches.
They are ruthless, they are bloodthirsty, and they won't stop until they get what they want. Unfortunately for the pirates, Robin is really good at accidentally killing people, and with her is a rag tag team of a pilot recruit, an egotistical journalist, a veteran photographer, and the captain himself.
It will be a long battle for The City of Clouds, and the outcome is unknown, but one thing is certain... This is the worst vacation ever.

Slight grammar issues here and there, but most wouldn’t notice that “ex-online boyfriend” would mean the boyfriend was online and not anymore. The delivery is a little bouncy, almost appropriate, but doesn’t give much tone from how much info it tries to cram in. Something I noticed is that very little sci-fi is mentioned, with the only thing giving a sci-fi vibe being the idea of traveling to another planet. If this was a vacation to an island, very little would change from how it’s described. Like the title and name on the cover, a lot of what makes this book a book is hidden from us, in plain sight.
At this point, the average reader would probably not give it a shot, unless the idea of pirates and an ironic Die Hard premise is their cup of tea.
No prologue, no maps, no glossary, just a simple chapter 1 to greet us. Ok, I’m liking this already. I know this is a small thing, but the simplicity of just starting a story is a blessing that should be the norm, and isn’t. I haven’t read a single word and this is already the best OPC so far. Yes, it’s that easy.
Don’t ruin the experience with all your fancy try-hard nonsense and the reader will be in hog heaven.
We are told the planet, sector, system, and date. Very effective in establishing the sci-fi element in this single aside, which also lets us know it’s 400 years in the future. The planet is named Andromeda, which is a well known galaxy, so if this is in that galaxy, I assume it’s going for a “New York, New York” type of gag. The editor did a good job, with the first page establishing a scene in a restaurant. What he messed up on was… everything that’s not the scene itself, which makes up 90% of the words.
The protagonist, Robin Alia Brook has her day off described as “shot in the face”, being delivered in present tense and this has it come out awkwardly. I say this because the second sentence is past tense, then it shifts back to present, back to past. This is why people stick with past tense to avoid the headache, and present tense is now used as a hipster novelty to act as if things are more important because they’re happening as they’re written. Most readers just find it as a distraction and it causes something niche to become more niche in the process. The first paragraph ends with us being told that she’s in a restaurant that is 500 feet under the sea, of a planet called Andromeda.
She is to be dining, but she is NOT dining because her date didn’t show. Cue the audience gasping, because this is a travesty. The part that really kills this opening is the sentence “She is currently obtaining nutrients through Poseidon's generous supply of free lemons water and cheesy garlic biscuits.” This was the perfect chance for worldbuilding, to express something futuristic and fresh. Instead, it tied itself to Earth, talked about mundane food like lemon water, and it didn’t use any of these for a punchline.
This is meant to be a comedy, but is absent of comedy. We don’t need a bunch of humor in the first paragraph, but we do expect a comedy to present a tone that can lead to humor occurring. Every scene for a comedy is a setup for gags and punchlines. Much like horror, the scene is built around the mood, which is brought to a peak around half way. The introduction of a comedy book is going to hold a joke in relation to the entire book.
I believe the blurb when it says this Robin character can kill things by accident, because this book dies right after she’s introduced, around the second paragraph. The third paragraph changes the subject to be about other people in the restaurant, acting as a distraction that leads to infodumps of Robin’s outfit and such. I understand that the “joke” is that this woman is stood up on her date and we are to feel her anguish, but the reader shouldn’t be suffering through the opening this soon. Starting here is either far too late or far too soon. If anything, this is something I expect in chapter 2 or something we hear about as she’s on her way to Bellona.
A good way to put it is that this scene is a non-sequitur done in order to give fashion statements, with the important exposition ignored for window dressing.
The average reader needs tension to get sunk into a sci-fi story, because this is a planet we don’t know about with a character we’ve never seen before. What is the point of having this restaurant so deep underwater? There is a city underwater? She has a job, but where does she work? At the Krusty Krab?
Non-sequitur is a distraction that removes us from the scene and the plot to explain things that don’t serve a purpose to either. If I changed the first sentence to only hold what was part of the scene, it would be the characters name and nothing more. To strengthen an opening like this, we would have to set it up for a punchline, reinforce the sardonic tone, and tie the scene with the situation. The first sentence would go like:

Five hundred feet below the sea’s surface, Robin could not stop drinking.

This will give the impression that she’s getting drunk, while attaching her drinking to the sea outside, giving the impression that she’s drowning. But even then, I wouldn’t start here, I would begin with a comedic amount of assurance that she’s going to have her date show up, then the next scene is her waiting with this. That, or I would have her doing the walk of shame, allowing the plot to begin sooner when she gets her golden ticket, which would be like:

The ocean floor outside was slowly swallowed by darkness as the elevator pod took Robin away from Poseidon.

Here, we have a moment for her to think back to the situation, and the word “darkness” gives hint to her current feeling about the restaurant. This is a setup for the punchline that follows, already skipping the failed date and able to move forward to the poster she sees in the elevator. Movies tend to do this type of exposition with the main character telling the situation to another person, who is helpless to escape. That can add more humor and make the main character express their personality quirks. The goal is for less opening to be used up for non-sequitur and to focus it on moving forward in relation to the plot.
For a story like this, the rejection comes from a lack of being straightforward. We can always fix up a sentence and how it sounds, but this doesn’t mean much when the bones are disjointed. Thankfully, for this one, a lot of readers are used to openings like this from online serials, so there is hope that a lot of it will get a pass. It’s that first hump that it has to get over in order to shine. Sadly, for little Robin, that hump was not achieved, so her journey through the city in the cloud might as well not exist.

I had a flexible sigmoidoscopy yesterday and they gave me propofol for sedation (not usually needed but I’m only 20 and was scared so they let me lol). After waking up from the anaesthesia I was fighting to keep my eyes open. The same thing today, a little less. I went grocery shopping to do errands with my dad yesterday like 6 or 7 hours after the procedure because it’s my favourite part of each week, and even tho I leaned on the cart for support the whole time I might have over exerted myself. I’ve been off my sleep medication for 4 days now because some idiot (myself) forgot to request a refill in time so now I’m waiting for the mail order. Ive been getting 2-4 hours of sleep each night if I’m lucky, and now am so tired from the procedure. Any tips to not fall asleep for a year? It’s like 80 degrees out (Fahrenheit) too so I have zero energy, and am willing to do just about anything. But I can’t have caffeine, idk why but it legit makes me vomit so energy drinks and coffee are off the table. I got some mio today with electrolytes and have been downing ice water and wearing my compression socks but I’m sweating and exhausted and have had a headache the whole day. Anyone have suggestions?

There’s a lot of smart people on this sub that have the ability to put into words what I could not for most of my life. I’m fascinated reading the SCT symptoms that are in alignment with my own. Finding a cause (well.. cure actually) is what we’re all here for, and many great theories have been suggested. Based on my reading here I wanted to piece together what I’ve learned from others about what may be causing SCT.
Causes that I’ve seen mentioned here include:

• Gut health. From food intolerances to taking antibiotics for ear infections as children. There’s a huge number of possibilities here that affect brain chemistry and cognition. This also leads to..
• Inflammation/neuroinflammation. Many supplements and probiotics have been recommended here with mixed results. It does seem that no one supplement alone alleviates SCT for extended time or without major side effects.
• Deficiencies. There’s too many to list but Vitamin D, magnesium, B vitamins, zinc are mentioned regularly by posters here. Vitamin D interestingly has had discussions on results from direct sunlight as well as taking vitamin.
• Sleep. Sleep apnea and sleep studies have been discussed. Screen breaks, deviated septum, diet/weight loss are the normal causes it seems.
• Eye/ vision. Visual exercises have been discussed to have some positive benefits. Binocular vision/weak eye muscles has been mentioned.
• Posture. Tech neck discussed as reducing oxygen levels to the brain and causing sct “headache”.
• Cortisol and Thyroid levels . Discussed quite a bit here. Explanation for fatigue and other sct symptoms.
• Past childhood trauma. A bit hesitant to include this one because the posts don’t elaborate on SCT progress through therapy, medicine, etc. It’s more for possible common themes with others here.

Commonalities with other issues/disorders:

• ADHD inattentive type - talked about a lot and often the accepted medical diagnosis. Stimulants, straterra are common treatments.
• Dyslexia- has a broad meaning these days and many overlaps with SCT
• Auditory processing disorder. Similar to dyslexia, but specific to only auditory.
• Anxiety and depression. Some controversy on whether depression/anxiety is the cause or if it’s the other way around.
• Chronic fatigue syndrome- lack of energy/ motivation talked about often.
• Autism- common notion here is that SCT is NOT autism but seems to share many similarities.

If I missed anything major please let me know as I try to understand this thing and hope to make strides forward.

I've just increased my adderall dosage from 15 mg to 20 mg and the appetite suppression is driving me crazy. This isn't my first time taking this dosage (I was on it for a good while a few years ago before the med shortage completely derailed my treatment and I couldn't get any meds for months) but I cannot for the life of me remember if I was dealing with it back then and if I was I definitely didn't know it. I'm really bad at recognizing med side effects in myself until someone points it out for me.
I get headaches really easily and the ones I get from not eating enough are some of the worst I've experienced. The meds are doing what they're supposed to be doing but, for obvious reasons, my head pounding like a drum line has taken up residence within my skull makes it hard to get anything done. I know I'm likely to adjust to it and my appetite will return at least a little bit (it did when I was on 15mg) but I am so sick of dealing with it every time I adjust my meds. Cooking and feeding myself is enough of a struggle when I actually WANT to eat, trying to do it when I'm not hungry at all is unbearable.
To anyone else who has experienced this, how did you get yourself to eat? Were there certain foods you had an easier time with? Any hacks or tricks or anything else you recommend?

PLEASE HELP ME :/
I am in need of dire help. I have had severe chronic insomnia and/or idiopathic hypersomnia for YEARS. I cannot sleep for more than 3 hours at a time and constantly wake up multiple times a night. In addition to my lack of sleep I feel tired every day no matter how much sleep I get every night. The daytime tiredness is so bad to the point where I do not do anything after I get home from work every day.
I see a psychiatrist and have tried multiple medications to help me sleep but nothing has worked. I’ve tried amitriptylene, trazodone, remeron, and seroquel at night to help me sleep and have only gotten minimal results if anything from those medications. My dr recently switched gears and gave me wellbutrin sr to combat the daytime sleepiness instead of giving me something to sleep. The wellbutrin isn’t doing much for my daytime sleepiness at all. I feel like I’m running out of options and simply don’t know what to do anymore.
The tiredness I feel every day is definitely starting to impact my social life and my work life. I have been late to work multiple times from waking up late because of how tired I am every morning. Even on the weekends I never feel well rested. I have a normal routine every day to sleep and I should be getting an adequate amount of sleep based on the time I go to sleep and wake up.
I was considering having a sleep study done but it seems pointless because I think my insomnia and/or hypersomnia is idiopathic, meaning there is simply no known cause for it. I’ve had an EEG done before but my results came back fine. Any advice would help greatly appreciated.
I forgot to mention I wear a black out sleep mask, have black out curtains and have tried multiple methods of meditation, relaxing sounds etc and nothing works for me.

I’ve been on 150mg Wellbutrin XL the white tablets for 9 months now and I’ve been doing fine. Well 3 days ago my refill had red tablets in them, I confined the pill number identifier that it was the same drug but for the last few days I’ve felt extremely tired all the time, I have no appetite during the day but I’m starving to the point of nausea come nighttime and when I wake up in the morning, and I also have constant slight nausea throughout the day. The only thing that’s changed is the tablets being different. Is this in my head? I’m not sure what to do. I have no psychiatrist, they were prescribed to me by a NP at my OB’s office when I lived in another state. I’m just not sure if this is normal or if it’s psychosomatic.

So, been with my guy for 17 months , myself (44F) him , (50M) goes on social media and post occasionally,
Let me just stay here, it’s not the fact that he doesn’t come on his own the fact that , I have restricted my account to friends of friends. That means someone in our circle is leaving these comments, obviously to be hurtful. Alls it would take a few comments every now and then to stop whomever is messaging me, and backing me up.
I’m listed as his GF, I post to his page at the very least once every few days , mostly of photos of the things we do saying how much we had fun etc.
And of course, I love him,
The issue is… and has anyone experienced this?!?
I’ve had people , friends at first , asking why he never responds to my messages I post, after I explained to them he isn’t on very often etc. they insist he should at least comment when he is on , I’d say it’s at least once briefly every few days to a week . , but left it at that, And Rando’s some at first trying to persuade me to go out with them, they would be more attentive ?! Others just saying things like , your not dating anyone so stop lying… so I get frustrated, I mentioned quiet a few times mostly when people start messaging me again telling me he is “stepping out “ if he can’t respond to a little display of love . Etc.
He says he doesn’t feel the need to display his life to the world , he doesn’t have to prove our love to anyone etc.
I think it just be nice for him to be like , Babe, I got you, and just post something lovingly.
But nope, so today was the last straw, I told him again(yesterday ) someone was saying something in regards to a sweet picture with lack of his comment again.
And today I posted a few pictures of him with messy hair . Which irks him,
He went on and said something funny about hiding in a closet, no response to the sweetest picture of us . So I deactivated the account.
I’m just tired of whomever is being an asshole , and I have no patience or interest in hunting whom ever it is down, tried before and got know where.
My account used to be public, I restricted it to friends of friends : Am I overreacting wanting him to just comment occasionally, just to have my back to stop the asshole comments ?

Today I've felt fairly on edge about a stroke I went into reddit to see why my dizziness is short and uncomfortable. Then I seen something about a stroke. Now I'm a healthy 16 year old but I've seen it can happen to almost anyone at any age. So puts me on edge. The top of my head is numb out of the blue and I'm tired most likely to lack of sleep (Insomnia) I've seen abnormal sleeping patterns can cause one so it really scares me that something can happen without me really knowing I'm scared il die I'm scared il have to go through the horrible experience of having one although the hospital last month said my blood pressure, bloods are really good. So I'm now worried with the symptoms I've been gained with is a onset of a stroke:/

I am in need of dire help. I have had severe chronic insomnia and/or idiopathic hypersomnia for YEARS. I cannot sleep for more than 3 hours at a time and constantly wake up multiple times a night. In addition to my lack of sleep I feel tired every day no matter how much sleep I get every night. The daytime tiredness is so bad to the point where I do not do anything after I get home from work every day.
I see a psychiatrist and have tried multiple medications to help me sleep but nothing has worked. I’ve tried amitriptylene, trazodone, mirtazapine (remeron), and seroquel at night to help me sleep and have only gotten minimal results if anything from those medications. My dr recently switched gears and gave me wellbutrin sr to combat the daytime sleepiness instead of giving me something to sleep. The wellbutrin isn’t doing much for my daytime sleepiness at all. I feel like I’m running out of options and simply don’t know what to do anymore.
The tiredness I feel every day is definitely starting to impact my social life and my work life. I have been late to work multiple times from waking up late because of how tired I am every morning. Even on the weekends I never feel well rested. I have a normal routine every day to sleep and I should be getting an adequate amount of sleep based on the time I go to sleep and wake up.
I was considering having a sleep study done but it seems pointless because I think my insomnia and/or hypersomnia is idiopathic, meaning there is simply no known cause for it. I’ve had an EEG done before but my results came back fine. Any advice would help greatly appreciated.
I forgot to mention I wear a black out sleep mask, have black out curtains and have tried multiple methods of meditation, relaxing sounds etc and nothing works for me.

Hi mom friends. I’m a part time nurse and have a 17 month old. My husband works a 9-5 weekends off and I’m working 3 evening shifts a week. I know part time is a lot more time than a full time worker, but I still feel like I don’t have enough time for self care. The days I work I’m with my daughter all day then MIL and my mom will take my daughter for 3 hours before my husband comes home and will have her for the night. I get home around 11:45 pm, latest 12:30 on a hectic shift. I’m reaching out to ask what you guys do to make time for self care. Especially the full time moms! I desperately miss working out and I really want to lose weight and feel good again. The lack of sleep doesn’t help either. I feel like I’m always depleted of energy and then I have the mom guilt of being less engaged during the days with my daughter. Im working mostly to keep my skills and try and save for a house. I feel overwhelmed and tired. I feel like I have no time to reflect or think. Is it just a stage? I want another baby as well but right now it feels overwhelming to think about more responsibility. How do y’all do it?! I just miss doing something for myself. Btw my husband is a saint and does everything for me and my daughter so that’s not an issue lol.
Thanks 🤍

I don't take my meds regularly (concerta 36mg) because they are hassle to get in my county and very expensive but today I had to finish some important work so I took them. I don't know if it was because or lack of sleep or something else, but I fell very emotional and unstable when I am tired and take meds. I had some troubles in my relationship and when I am off my meds I am chill and rational about them, but when I take them (expecionaly when combined with lack of sleep) I get super emotional. I even had to go to bathroom to cry a little bit before going back to my work. And now that they are wearing off and I had couple of drinks I feel my usual self. Distanced, unbothered, and much more rational.
Did anyone else notice this and how do I get rid of it because I don't want to become emotional mess every time I take my meds during period there is some trouble in my life.

Hi everyone! I lack friends in life right now so would like to change that. I have a very large amount of free time so it'd be cool if you did too. I'd honestly like someone I can talk to a lot.
Stuff I like in list form because I like lists:

• My main interest is probably gaming. I've been playing Sea of Thieves the most lately, though I think I'm getting pretty close to tired of it. I'm also into single player stuff. Not sure what game I'm going to play next, but open to recommendations!
• I'm also huge into retro gaming (NES, SNES, PS1, etc.) and some of my favorite games are retro. I also have a collection of games. I tend not to play them as much as modern games, but if there's any retro fans out there that's awesome.
• I started reading last year. Fantasy is my genre of preference so any recommendations in this genre would be cool. I'd also like to give sci-fi a try. Maybe I'd like other genres too? Mistborn is probably the favorite I've read so far, I absolutely loved it (especially the first 3).
• I like metal music, especially power and prog. Those are usually my go to genres, though I also do like 80s thrash and bands like Iron Maiden.
• Been trying to learn how to properly play a guitar for over 10 years now! One day I'll motivate myself for a period longer than a week and actually get good at it. One day. If you're trying to learn guitar or want to pick it up we should totally learn and practice together!
• I listen to music in what I think is a weird way. I tend to fixate on one artist for weeks to months and just listen to albums of theirs repeatedly. My current band I'm listening to is Dream Theater. I just finished a 6 month obsession over Kamelot which is probably by far the longest I've ever had.
• I have other interests that I'm a lot more casual about. I watch (American) football, though much less than I used to. I like technology in general and like keeping up with what's new. I think cars are cool and like to sometimes dream about owning an expensive Porsche. One day I hope that I can get into astrophotography because I think it'd be super fun.
• I have a lotttt of free time. Outside of work, I have no commitments, and even during work I'm highly available for chatting. Single, no family really that I talk to, no friends. So people who also have lots of free time to talk and do stuff would be cool. I'm based in the US but have a habit of staying up late especially on weekends.

Okay the list is long enough. DM me if you'd like to talk and maybe be friends! Please say more than just "hi". At least your age/gender and a comment about something in my post would be nice :)

I wake up with headache or pressure in my head every single day since 3 years. It gets better after getting up.
Literally woke up with it one day and it hasn't gone away since. I was originally diagnosed with NDPH (New Daily Persistent Headache), but I'm not buying it.
In addition to the headache, I suffer from:

• Bruxism
• Stuffed nose
• Dry throat in morning
• Brain fog, harder to find words
• Feeling like crying despite feeling ok
• Light flu-like symptoms like 'tingly' ears
• Not feeling like the sleep was restorative
• Tired, sensitive, wrinkly & blood-shot eyes
• Periods of unquenchable thirst and dry lips

Main symptoms (pressure in head) are ALWAYS worse in the morning and during the night, and seem to alleviate temporarily when I eat.
I have a history of jaw surgery for my overbite, which is still somewhat there.
I am suspecting a possible sinus condition as well as most, if not all of my symptoms are in or around my head.
Could I have TMJD? Ainyone here who is in the same boat?

I've had TMJ issues as long as I can remember. The last few years it's gotten so much worse especially this last year. I tried dental guards but I have a small mouth and have to order the kids version next check to see if it fits, the regular ones I got won't stay in.
I use cold packs and massage the area when flare ups happen but it's not always super effective. It causes terrible headaches and I'm not supposed to take most OTC pain relievers because of my ulcerative colitis.
I'm looking for suggestions for any type of massager, cream/lotion/etc, any thing to help with the pain. I'm more than open to suggestions to exercises and any tips anyone has.
I can't afford to go see a dentist again until fall and I'm not sure if my health insurance will cover PT for it because I just got Medicare and there's a lot that it seems to not want to cover.
Thank you to anyone who will respond, I'm tired of the endless pain. :(

On May first I had drawing sinuses, back of mouth raw. Thought it was a cold or allergies. For the last few days I had been around only two people. Sure enough it was Covid and wrote to the two people and one was positive. Felt crappy for four days, chills in evening, sinus pressure, headache…and the mucous. I did start Paxlovid day 4. Felt better when I was off that five day dose, still some congestion and a dry cough. Tested negative on day 10. Got to feeling pretty good there for a week. Probably did too much. Saturday night, day 18: developed a cold sore. Sunday I was just tired. Nap didn’t help. Couldn’t get it going. Yesterday and today I have a dryish cough, sinus things seem to be simmering. Blood pressure is higher than normal and this is concerning. Just don’t feel good again.
Does this sound familiar to anyone else? Trying to get into doctor, but they are booked. If anything, thanks for listening.

I just passed the driving test after failing the first time ; Here are the best pieces of advice I can give you.
The car
You should absolutely try your best to have your own car for the test and there are a couple of reasons for this. The first reason is because you can practice in it as much as you like and get used to all its quirks.
The second reason is that the added pressure and cost of hiring an instructors car creates more headache because you will be stressed about having to hire it and organise it and worry about if you fail having to hire it again.
The last reason is a bit technical but alot of instructors cars are 1-1.2l petrol cars, these are very small engines so they need a lot of torque to get going that means you have more work to do on the clutch and an increased risk of stalling. Most diesel cars will take off or accelerate just by going into gear and can handle clutch mistakes better without chugging.
The tester
Be prepared for your tester to be stern, and unfortunately for some of them to be rude. Their training and quality guidelines published online state they shouldn’t talk to you, offer you advice or assume the role of a “driving instructor”.
A lot of people are put off by this because you expect them to be like your instructor.
The nice ones will be polite , the rude ones will be condescending but they will all be silent and stern for 90% of the test.
A lot of them are stressed, overworked by the RSA and some of them get abuse from students, parents etc...which we don’t see it’s why even if you fail they wait to give you your results.
Your driving instructor
Try to do as many lessons as possible ; there are a couple of red flags to watch out for. If your instructor
• Ghosts you, takes days to reply.
• Doesn’t contact you about upcoming tests.
• Doesn’t offer alternative availabilities.
• Isn’t upfront about your mistakes.
They are likely just trying to do and sign off people’s 12 EDTs and then move on to the next person. Shop around and don’t be afraid to google things your tester says or ask another tester to verify….some testers say weird things that aren’t correct.
Back to point one a lot of instructors make money off car hire to cover their operating costs. Be conscious of this.
Common fail points
• Not moving up into the middle on the green light for a right turn. (Progression)
• Hitting a speed bump hard. (Reaction to hazards)
• Not driving at the speed limit when safe to do so. (Progression)
• Stopping at a roundabout when it’s clear. (Progression)
• Checking your blind spot when the car is in motion. (Reaction to hazards or observation).
• Signaling back in after overtaking (Misleading signals).
• Signalling around a parked car in an estate (Misleading signals, reaction to hazards ).
• Giving way to pedestrians without their feet on the road (Progression).
• Excessive observation at junctions(Makes you look uncomfortable and lacking confidence likely a reaction to hazards or observation grade).
Presentation
Humans are judgmental beings, arriving to your test in dirty clothes, dirty hygiene , smoking or vaping, dirty car , things hanging off your car with a rude demeanour will subconsciously tell the tester you don’t care which makes you look a danger.
Alternatively turning up with your whole family, crying , shaking , rattling and mumbling makes you look dangerous also because you aren’t confident; fear and 60kmhr in a two tonne metal box don’t mix.
You are trying to demonstrate you aren’t a learner anymore.
They can already tell within 10 minutes if you will pass or fail based on your presentation.
Uncommon tips
• Do not tell people you are sitting or resitting a test, you will have to explain a fail and it adds pressure.
• Take the quickest available tests, do not take far out tests you will stir on it and build it up in your mind.
• It is unsafe to drive too safely ; you will fail your test for being too cautious. A lot of instructors don’t explain this but if you are driving too cautiously others will take risks to overtake you or fill your gap and this is one of the number one causes of road accidents.
That’s what progress is.

My situation is not terrible, but it is very bland. I have always been someone who struggles to make choices, not for lack of will but for lack of desire. After finishing school, I no longer have any guide to show me the way. At the moment, I am working, but the mere thought that even this will end demoralizes me, and besides, I hate the job-searching process. I don't know if I should go to university; I really don't know anything. My passions bring me less and less joy, I've lost my appetite, I'm much more irritable than usual, and I feel much more toxic than before. I don't recognize myself. I keep asking myself what the purpose of my existence is, what value the life I'm leading has. My anxious thoughts have worsened, and I only feel good when I manage to forget everything around me. I just wish I didn't have to worry about my future, finding a stable job, or a house. I have lost the spark of life; I am completely apathetic. I dream of lying under palm trees without worries, without discomfort, feeling the wind rustling through the leaves and resting. I know there are people who have it worse than me but i just can't help how i'm feeling.