Hiya Sarah
@Millhouselady,
Firstly, Sarah (with an 'h') is one of my favorite names and is the name I gave myself as a child for secret girls-only clubs and writing in my diary.
Please don't think no one cares. We all care here. I care. I want to be your friend and I will be your friend.
I am just a few months younger than you and although I'm married with a step-son, I often feel alone. I am 4500 miles from my family and 'real-life' friends. I have no 'real-life' friends here in England, just acquaintances and friends of my husband's. I do have a lot of online friends though, and they have been a lifesaver to me! I work from home and don't drive, so it is difficult for me to make friends as well, at my age.
I also struggle a great deal with food. I have IBS as well as Type 2. The sweet stuff is bad for my diabetes and the meat and veg trigger my IBS. I often feel I'm in a lose-lose situation. For years my diet was mostly pasta, potatoes, cereal, bread and rice (what I considered 'plain' food) to help my IBS. Then I switched to a raw vegan diet, but that only lasted a couple years and I was back to my "white food" diet. I struggle the most at breakfast, because eggs make me sick
and I've never been a big fan of sausage and bacon. I hate salmon.
I'm not a big fan of cheese. When I was diagnosed, I wrote a list of the things I liked, that are low carb *and* that don't upset my stomach - and the list was small! I had to test and test to broaden that list a bit. It's still a pain and I still struggle to find the right balance but I'm doing so much better now on all fronts.
I share your needle phobia
(I couldn't even test myself in the beginning!), have neuropathy in my feet
and often struggle to exercise.:***: So it seems we have quite a bit in common!
I actually hate exercising, so I will often just put on music
and dance around the room (and no, I really can't dance either!
) but it gets everything pumping and moving. I bought some silly DVDs (bellydancing and Miranda's workout with maracas) and they are a lot of fun and don't feel like exercising.
I sometimes get quite down about my ills and ailments and then I read on this forum about people overcoming so much more and it gives me a lot of hope. I was actually somewhat relieved when I was diagnosed as at least I knew what was causing all my bad days!
Before I ramble on forever (as I am known to do!),
I just wanted to say that nothing you wrote was '****' and I do hope you will write a lot more.
You are NOT wasting anyone's time! We are all more or less in the same boat on here. Firstly, you have to start feeling better about yourself and the rest will come much more easily. Maybe just sharing more about yourself and your struggles, and knowing that me and others on here go through many of the exact same things you do and will help you along and understand and will suggest things - well, maybe that you will make you feel better and want to do a bit more each day?
Sorry to write such an incredibly long post but I want you to truly know that we do care, we do share your ailments and struggles and we will help as much as we can. Knowing you have support may just be the little push you need?
Big hugs to you. x