Why would anyone want to date me?

January 13, 2013

I wasn’t going to write this post because it is too painful, but then I remembered that it’s because this is so painful that it needs to be written.  It’s the tough stuff that we don’t talk about, that we try to ignore, that we bury deep down, which we most need to talk about.

Today I was listening to someone talk about her cousin and how he has a new girlfriend.  The other person was surprised.  “Good luck to her!”  “Why would anyone want to date him, with all of his [health] problems?”  I quickly changed the subject.  I don’t think they knew how I heard their comments, how I related them to me and to my situation.

Before I go further, I should be honest and say that my health issues are just one reason I don’t open up to people dating-wise.  I also have trust issues.  I know this, I just haven’t figured out how to move past it.  I have been in love twice.  The first time, we were together 2 years when he told me he didn’t love me anymore.  The second time, we were together almost 3 years, had rented an apartment together, had bought furniture together, had shopped for engagement rings, and had discussed how many kids we wanted to have, when he walked out.  So even if someone says they love me, how can I believe they mean it and will stick around?  So yeah, there’s that.

Now, when it comes to the health stuff, I often find myself wondering why anyone would want to date me once they know about it.  The big relationships I had were before I was so sick.  I believe a relationship may be possible now, but how can I get to that point?  After all, there are plenty of not-so-sick people out there who they could be dating.  And yes, I know I have plenty of great qualities to offer.  And I’m not just saying that, I really do know that I have some terrific qualities.  The problem is, my dates won’t know that!  It takes some time to get to know someone, and in the meantime, while they’re still learning about my odd sense of humor and my desire to help everyone I know, they’ve already seen my limp, observed my odd eating, noticed that I don’t do many fun activities like hiking or skiing, and been cancelled on twice.  I am a pretty fantastic person in so many ways, but I don’t expect anyone to learn that until, or unless, they’re willing to look past all of the health crap.

I see other CI folks with spouses and I wonder how they do it.  Obviously some of them met before the CIs set in, but some of them didn’t.  Some of them met and fell in love knowing full well what they were getting in to.  I suppose I could meet someone like that.  I just can’t imagine how it could possibly happen.  And if I do meet someone that’s willing to look past the health crap and see me for me?  I guess that’s someone worth holding on to.

And maybe that will be a person worth trusting.

How do you handle dating?  I’m on a dating hiatus while I focus on health treatments, but I hope to be dating again within the year.  How do you get past the fear?

14 Comments | Educating, Expectations, Frustration, Isolation, Rants, Symptoms | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

Celebrating a less-bad lab result

January 10, 2013

I just got a test result back and it was only a bit over 10 times higher than it should be!  Yay!

My guess is that most “healthy” people don’t understand why this is cause for celebration.  From my interactions, it seems that their world consists of healthy or not healthy and nothing in between.  But for those of us with chronic illnesses, there’s a huge spectrum, and I’m thrilled to be moving along mine in the right direction.

I got diagnosed with an autoimmune condition at age 23.  My hypothyroid diagnosis came at age 25.  After a lot of research, now I know that many hypothyroid cases are autoimmune and people should be tested for that, but that someone with a history of autoimmune disease should definitely be for Hashimoto’s Disease, which is an autoimmune thyroid condition.  Unfortunately, I only did this research in the last year, and none of my doctors thought to test me for thyroid antibodies until I was 31.  Yep, it took six years for anyone to think of testing me for something that was incredibly likely.  That’s just another in the long list of errors made by my doctors.

Anyway, the point is that they did finally run the test.  On a “normal” scale of 0-35, my score was over 400.  Not good.  The next year it was over 600.  Even worse.  My doctor told me that the only treatment was the pill that I was currently taking, but through my own research I determined that wasn’t the case.  I went on a gluten-free diet.  I started seeing a naturopath.  I made more dietary changes.  I began taking supplements.  I did whatever I felt was right to fix my body.

For a long time, none of my doctors tested my thyroid antibody levels.  Why bother, when there was nothing they could do anyway?  But at my (and my naturopath’s) request, a doctor ran the test last month.  I got the results this week: on a scale of 0-35 my level was 375!  Wow!

The real question is, what does this number really mean?  After all, it’s just a number, just a lab test.  This doesn’t change how I feel.  I feel the same today as I did last week, before getting the result.  But now I know that the hard work, the experimenting, the huge expenses, are all worth it.  Because of all of that, I’m heading in the right direction.  I knew this, of course, because I was feeling better, but there was the nagging worry that maybe my feeling better was the result of a placebo affect, or maybe it was only a random, temporary blip that wouldn’t last much longer.  Of course, these things could still be true, but now it also looks like I’m getting better.  I may never get those antibodies into the “normal” range, but the closer they are, the better I should be feeling.

So for only having my thyroid antibodies at a ridiculously high level, instead of a super ridiculously high level, I’m CELEBRATING!!!

2 Comments | Educating, Expectations, Healthcare, Milestones, Raves | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

When it’s worth the extra pain

January 3, 2013

“Just what kind of sex are you having?”

Unfortunately, sex is a pretty rare occurrence for me.  But last week an ex texted me, and one thing led to another, and yay!  Later I was telling a friend about how sore I was, and not in the more expected areas.  My arms and legs felt like rubber.  My 1-3-2013 10-59-48 AMabs were a wreck.  Standing up and sitting down hurt every time.  She didn’t understand it, and assumed I was having crazy, kinky sex, but how could I possibly explain it? I haven’t been using those muscles much at all lately, so even trying to support my own body weight, for example, was just too much for my tired, unused body.  Sure, I like to be a bit kinky sometimes, like I said last month, but that’s not what this was.  This was just me pushing myself too hard.

And I knew it would hurt.

That’s the key.  Ok, I didn’t know how or where or for how long it would hurt, but I knew it would hurt.  And I decided in advance that it was worth it.  I was careful not to do anything that would lead to more long-term or high-intensity pain, like leaning on my hand in any way, but I was perfectly willing to accept short term pain, like leaning on my forearm.

I made the same kind of decision recently when I visited with a friend who just had a baby.  There’s something so great about holding a newborn.  They are so peaceful (when they’re not crying, that is.)  They have an inner peace that adults just do not have.  They are simple and content and relaxed.  So that’s why I kept holding her even when I was starting to hurt.  And I continued to hold her even as I hurt more.  It wasn’t until the pain got pretty bad, after about 15 minutes of holding this little 7.5 pound darling, that I finally had to give her back to her parents.  I hated to give her up, but I knew that I was about to cross over from short-term to long-term pain, and I didn’t want to go that far.  Still, one week later, I held her again.  And again, I continued to hold her even as the pain got worse.  And it was worth every second.

Pain is our body’s way of saying DON’T DO THAT!  It’s usually a good idea to respect the pain.  And I think that for the most part we’re all good about listening to our bodies when there’s pain.  But for those of us with chronic pain, who experience pain every single day of our lives, there’s no such thing as avoiding pain completely.  And sure, it sounds like a good idea to minimize pain as much as possible, but that would mean missing out on so much in life.  We have the advantage of knowing our bodies better than most, of knowing what will cause and worsen our pain, so occasionally we’re able to make choices (if we’re lucky) of whether or not to do those things.

For everyone else I know, sex and holding babies are fun things and that’s all.  For me, they’re big choices about how willing I am to be in pain for several days afterwards.  It may not be worth it to me to take a walk in 16 degree weather today, especially with ice on the sidewalks and knees that already sore, but I’m looking forward to having sex again tonight, and I’ll be holding that little baby again the next chance I get.  Those are my choices, and I am very happy with them.

2 Comments | Educating, Expectations, Limitations, Raves, Relationships: Family & Friends & Dating & Sex, Symptoms | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

Why dating isn’t happening while I’m ill

December 23, 2012

I noticed her as she walked into the room.  She wasn’t “my type” yet I found her very attractive.  I smiled at her and she smiled back.  This was the point where I would normally get shy and look away and hope that maybe she’d come talk to me.  But I’m trying to get out of my shell more, and flirt, and that’s easier to do because I’m not dating anyway.  Not dating = less pressure.  So I got up, crossed the room, almost lost my nerve, got my nerve back, and introduced myself.  And she flirted with me!

We found a quiet spot and chatted for a while.  Then we went our separate ways, and found each other later in the party.  We agreed to get together one day soon.  I wondered if I could manage to see her, but I was so attracted to her, and I hadn’t had a date in 8 months, and I hadn’t had sex in 9 months.  Something had to happen to change that.  I’ve been lonely at times and I’ve been horny at times, and often I’ve been both at once.  I figured it was worth it to try just one date.  After all, I really liked her.  But then I did something stupid.

She asked, “What are you doing tomorrow?”  Before my brain could stop it, my mouth said, “Nothing.”  My brain instantly pointed out, “Of course you’re not doing anything, you idiot, because you’re exhausted and even coming to this party was a ton of effort, and you promised yourself a day to rest.  You can’t go out with her tomorrow!”  I went home thinking that maybe I could make it work, but by morning I knew it was hopeless – I felt like crap.  I texted her that I felt lousy, but didn’t elaborate, and we made plans for later in the week.  I just hope I don’t have to cancel again.  If I cancel twice in one week, I know I’ll have to give up on her, because she’ll have given up on me.  But it would be nice if it worked out and I could have just one date with her.

By an odd coincidence, I also got a text earlier yesterday from an ex.  He was thinking of me and wanted to say hi.  I filled him in on the basics (not working, not dating, etc., because of worsening health.)  He said we should get together when I’m feeling better.  I quickly explained that I’m feeling just fine for sex.  It’s dating I can’t handle.  Once I’d assured him that my health was ok for sex, we made a date for one day this week.

That’s why this whole thing is so odd.  I can have sex with someone I already know, because I don’t have to worry about explaining the health stuff.  He already knows all about it.  It’s worse than the last time we saw each other, but it’s generally the same.  He understands and accepts it.  If I have to cancel, he’ll be ok with that.  If I have a problem while we’re together, he’ll support and comfort me.  But with someone new, I want to give a good impression.  Even if I tell her a bit about what’s going on (and I’ll probably have to,) I still don’t want her to think that it’s worse than it is, or even that it’s as bad as it is.  I want to act like I’m ok so I don’t scare her off.  And I’m just in no condition to act like I’m ok, even though a date should be physically easier than sex.

So many people don’t understand why I feel that I can’t date while I’m so ill, but it all comes down to that last part: I don’t feel up to acting like I’m ok.  It’s just not worth the effort.  Because even if I can manage to do it once, chances are, I won’t be able to do it a second time, and before the third date they’ll have to know everything.

With any luck, I’ll figure out a way to share enough of my problems with the lady from last night without scaring her off.  And in the meantime, sex with my ex may not be the smartest move ever, but a good tumble is not only great exercise, but it should also help relieve stress.  Chances are, I’ll feel better afterwards.  Now I just have to make sure I’m well enough this week, and that it happens again after this week too!  And I really, really hope that I can have a good date with that woman.  Please cross your fingers (figuratively – most of us can’t do that literally anyway) for me.

2 Comments | Educating, Expectations, Frustration, Isolation, Limitations, Pain, Rants, Relationships: Family & Friends & Dating & Sex, Symptoms, Unpredictable | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

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