u/OrneryDirector5588

I’ve been friends with a guy for a little over two years. We used to live in the same apartment complex like right next to each other, and I recently moved just a few buildings down same street. We live in a close-knit neighborhood, have mutual friends, and still run into each other regularly.

I’d had a small crush on him in the past but talked myself out of it because I valued the friendship and didn’t want to make things awkward. He’d always been genuinely kind to me, and after two years of friendship I trusted him quite a bit.

After he found out I was moving, he asked me out. We kissed, and he told me he’d wanted to kiss me for a long time but hadn’t because he didn’t want to make things weird while we were neighbors. After that he started inviting me to movies, neighborhood events, and little one-on-one hangouts. From my perspective, it felt like we were intentionally exploring whether there was something between us.

We ended up sleeping together a few times over about a month.

The morning after the last time, we were cuddling in bed when he said he wanted to be honest because he didn’t want to hurt me or give me the wrong impression. He told me he wasn’t looking for a relationship, was also seeing another woman (who he’d apparently told the same thing), and that he’s naturally very affectionate but didn’t want me interpreting that affection as romantic intent.

I appreciated the honesty and told him casual relationships aren’t really for me anymore.

A few days later he joked about setting me up with another guy I’d once mentioned was cute. Given what had just happened between us, it landed badly. I told him privately that it felt disrespectful, and he apologized immediately and then again later over text.

I eventually told him I wished the whole situation had been handled with more care because we’d been friends for years. He was receptive and told me to take whatever space I needed.

I’m not confused about whether he owed me a relationship—he didn’t. What I’m struggling to understand is the disconnect between the sweet, considerate friend I’d known for two years and how casually he seemed to approach sleeping with and pursuing me. It feels so cold.

If you’ve been on either side of something like this, how do you interpret that disconnect? Can pursuing a longtime friend this way genuinely feel completely casual to someone, or does this sound like poor communication/consideration on his part?

And for anyone who’s had this happen with someone who remains in your social orbit: how did you recalibrate the friendship afterward?

Looking for insight from anyone who's been through this. My hematologist was completely unbothered by my ferritin of 13, and my regular doctor doesn't seem too concerned either, but I'm still dealing with severe fatigue and brain fog daily.

Some background: my ferritin was tested at 13 on June 5th. In the past when my iron was low I tried ferrous sulfate, but after about a month my saturation came back through the roof and it was also really hard on my stomach. So this time I switched to iron bisglycinate. Someone on this sub mentioned it was fine to double up, so I've been taking 2 capsules (56mg) every other night.

Current protocol:
- 2x Iron Bisglycinate 28mg every other night (56mg) (Nature's Bounty - (Each pill contains Iron 28mg as Ferrous Bis-Glycinate, Vitamin C 60mg as Ascorbic Acid, Folate 667mcg DFE [400mcg as folic acid], Vitamin B-12 8mcg as Cyanocobalamin,
- Heme Iron Polypeptide 10.5mg morning and afternoon (21mg daily)
- 6x beef liver capsules daily (I buy Ancestral)
- Lactoferrin 500mg daily
- Vitamin C 1,000mg daily
- Methyl B12/Folate every other day (Jarrows Formula - has 1.5mg vitamin bc, 680mg folate, 1,000mcg vitamin b1 as methylcobalamin)

I take Vyvanse and Adderall for ADHD, and honestly without them I'd be a complete potato right now. The fatigue and brain fog have been really difficult.

Retesting in about a month from June 5th. Anyone been through something similar? How long did it take before you started feeling more like yourself? Any insight appreciated.. feeling pretty dismissed by doctors on this one.

I'm a 36 year old active woman. My ferritin has been trending down — 16 in January, 20 in February after some supplementation, now back down to 13. I've had 2 nose bleeds this year, my OCD and anxiety has been high, I've dealt with fatigue.

The hematologist basically said everything looks fine and that my low ferritin is just from my cycle. I've been menstruating for 20 years and this has never happened before — so is it really normal for it to suddenly start causing iron depletion now? She also recommended ferrous sulfate despite me telling her it previously spiked my saturation. She said fatigue has nothing to do with my numbers, that they look fine, and proceeded to ask if I work out, what I do for work, (i'm very healthy) and it all felt dismissive.

I have a history of gallbladder removal, biliary stones, and a borderline elevated calprotectin in 2023 that was never followed up on. I'm also HLA-DQ2 positive.

Is ferritin of 13 really considered fine? Has anyone else been dismissed like this and found answers elsewhere? Really considering finding a functional medicine doctor at this point.

I'm a 36 year old active woman. My ferritin has been trending down — 16 in January, 20 in February after some supplementation, now back down to 13. I've also been fatigued lately, my OCD and anxiety has flared up quite a bit in the past year. I've had 2 nose bleeds this year.

The hematologist basically said everything looks fine and that my low ferritin is just from my cycle. I've been menstruating for 20 years and this has never happened before — so is it really normal for it to suddenly start causing iron depletion now? She also recommended ferrous sulfate despite me telling her it previously spiked my saturation.

I have a history of gallbladder removal and a borderline elevated calprotectin in 2023 that was never followed up on. I'm also HLA-DQ2 positive.

Is ferritin of 13 really considered fine? Has anyone else been dismissed like this and found answers elsewhere? Really considering finding a functional medicine doctor at this point.

https://preview.redd.it/ujkdlsin1h6h1.png?width=1192&format=png&auto=webp&s=870e34a3ba4bac7e4c108819b2764dd1dda8ac63

I've been a software engineer for about four years. When I started, AI tools weren't really a thing, and I was building the old-fashioned way. Over time, especially as AI grew, I started incorporating it heavily into my workflow - and honestly it's made me significantly more productive and able to take on more than I could before.

The nature of my work is pretty interdisciplinary. I'm at a small startup with no dedicated UX person, so I end up owning a lot of the design work on top of engineering. I've also worn a lot of hats over the years - QA, technical writing, frontend engineering, and now I'm the go-to person for AI feature development on the team. I've consistently received strong feedback from managers and been told I'm one of the top performers.

Here's my situation: I was told back in November that a compensation adjustment was coming. It's now been seven months of "it's happening soon" and it still hasn't gone through. I'm not here to vent, but it's pushed me to actually look around and see what else is out there.

The problem: I'm genuinely nervous about technical interviews. My strength is in shipping real things, thinking across disciplines, and moving fast. Leetcode-style interviews feel like a completely different skill set and I won't pretend otherwise.

For anyone who's been in a similar spot — real-world experience, heavy AI tooling, maybe a non-traditional path - how did you approach preparing for technical interviews? Any resources, mindset shifts, or types of companies/roles worth targeting that tend to care more about what you've built than whether you can reverse a binary tree on a whiteboard?

Be nice, I know this is a little backwards. Just looking for honest advice.

I've been a software engineer for about four years. When I started, AI tools weren't really a thing, and I was building the old-fashioned way. Over time, especially as AI grew, I started incorporating it heavily into my workflow - and honestly it's made me significantly more productive and able to take on more than I could before.

The nature of my work is pretty interdisciplinary. I'm at a small startup with no dedicated UX person, so I end up owning a lot of the design work on top of engineering. I've also worn a lot of hats over the years - QA, technical writing, frontend engineering, and now I'm the go-to person for AI feature development on the team. I've consistently received strong feedback from managers and been told I'm one of the top performers.

Here's my situation: I was told back in November that a compensation adjustment was coming. It's now been seven months of "it's happening soon" and it still hasn't gone through. I'm not here to vent, but it's pushed me to actually look around and see what else is out there.

The problem: I'm genuinely nervous about technical interviews. My strength is in shipping real things, thinking across disciplines, and moving fast. Leetcode-style interviews feel like a completely different skill set and I won't pretend otherwise.

For anyone who's been in a similar spot — real-world experience, heavy AI tooling, maybe a non-traditional path - how did you approach preparing for technical interviews? Any resources, mindset shifts, or types of companies/roles worth targeting that tend to care more about what you've built than whether you can reverse a binary tree on a whiteboard?

Be nice, I know this is a little backwards. Just looking for honest advice.

I've been a software engineer for about four years. When I started, AI tools weren't really a thing, and I was building the old-fashioned way. Over time, especially as AI grew, I started incorporating it heavily into my workflow, and honestly it's made me significantly more productive and able to take on more than I could before.

The nature of my work is pretty interdisciplinary. I'm at a small startup with no dedicated UX person, so I end up owning a lot of the design work on top of engineering. I've also worn a lot of hats over the years , QA, technical writing, frontend engineering, and now I'm the go-to person for AI feature development on the team. I've consistently received strong feedback from managers and been told I'm one of the top performers.

Here's my situation: I was told back in November that a compensation adjustment was coming. It's now been seven months of "it's happening soon" and it still hasn't gone through. I'm not here to vent - but it's pushed me to actually look around and see what else is out there.

The problem: I'm genuinely nervous about technical interviews. My strength is in shipping real things, thinking across disciplines, and moving fast. Leetcode-style interviews feel like a completely different skill set and I won't pretend otherwise.

For anyone who's been in a similar spot — real-world experience, heavy AI tooling, maybe a non-traditional path — how did you approach preparing for technical interviews? Any resources, mindset shifts, or types of companies/roles worth targeting that tend to care more about what you've built than whether you can reverse a binary tree on a whiteboard?

Be nice, I know this is a little backwards. Just looking for honest advice.