u/RaspberryJammm

I want escapism but I want to see a positive alternative world for people who are like me!

I've been avoiding covid consistently since the start of March 2020. Both myself and my partner have had long covid for 5.5 years and ME/CFS for about 9 years. He's mostly bedbound, I'm mostly housebound.

I'm finding lately i feel deep embarrassment about the fact I mask. Nothing has really happened to cause this, I have only had one significant negative reaction to masking (a doctor was a dick to me about it last year).

Its not just embarrassment but feeling like I am inflicting harm on others by insisting on precautions. I don't mind masking myself as much but I feel so pained at asking other people to wear a mask. I hate that my parents have had so many holidays and medical appointments and every time it resets the clock another week until they can test and its safe to see them.

I've completely started to lack confidence in why I take precautions and in my right to be obviously different to other people.

I just avoid having friends and family visit, and also procrastinate having workmen in because I hate that I'm doing the precaution dance still.

I want to be able bodied again so I only have to worry during peak virus times.

These last few weeks haven't given me any time to rest. I desperately needed to rest after poor sleep for a whole month due to unrelenting heatwaves.

Then suddenly my partner, who also has ME, had a bit of a medical crisis this weekend. Just as I was feeling like I was reaching breaking point, we have had a mice infestation with mice running around all the rooms of the house all hours of the day.

I have been so utterly sleep deprived and brain fogged that I haven't been able to organise pest control or catch the thing/things myself.

I can't sleep at night because I worry about how bold this mouse is and have concern about waking up with it on my face!

And I'm not physically capable of doing the necessary cleaning myself. My partners mum has been over to help but I was too brain fogged to give her clear instructions so nothing really got done about it.

To top this all off, it has retriggered my OCD like crazy and my mental health is really suffering. I'm tired to the bone and it could be weeks before this resolves. Worried about accumulative effect of another month of sleep deprivation.

Worried I've been misdiagnosed. I have had deep burning nerve pains in my legs ranging from moderately bad to agonising, for the last couple of years. Usually moderate-severe, enough to stop me concentrating on anything.

I told the neurologist that I get the urge to move them and sometimes they kick out involuntarily (it builds up then one big kick/twitch) but I'm now realising this is not wholly representative of my experience. More often than not I get the pain without the restlessness.

In fact, it's been two weeks since my neurology appointment and although I have had severe pain all day every day since, I haven't had the urge to move my legs once.

Before I spend £1000s on private treatment and tests, is it possible to have restless legs syndrome without restless legs?

edit: pain is like a deep burning sensation, and also my ferritin levels are low (have been between 11-13 for last couple years)

How do you do it? I can't work it out at all. I can see waiting room and my current staff but can't remember how to place an ad or if thats even an option in DLC.

I saw a neurologist for the agonising leg pains I've been getting these last two years.

She said she ruled out MS and peripheral neuropathy but I wasn't given any scans or tests beyond examination.

She diagnosed me with restless legs syndrome which surprised me. I have had restless legs syndrome before and found it only mildly painful. I do get urge to move my legs at times but my predominant symptom is severe burning leg pains.

I've read a few comments suggesting severe pain isn't a part of the diagnosis. Its worth also noting that I have moderate-severe ME/CFS (mostly housebound) and my ferritin levels are low.

Is severe pain part of restless legs syndrome?

Going through a belated dinosaur obsession now I've hit my mid 30s. Please suggest accessible books for somebody who knows very little about dinos.

I have a wet room floor fitted over vinyl asbestos tiles in the bathroom. Recently I have discovered a pile of rubble where ants have made an entry point in the doorway.

They seem to have so far been chewing through wood for last few days but an ant trap went down today.

The pile of rubble is so far just wood bits and ant poo but I have been having an anxiety attack all evening worrying that they might be disturbing the asbestos tiles and there could be asbestos particles in the bathroom that I'm not even aware of.

Is this a potential risk and should I be taking any precautions when I use this bathroom?

I'm in the UK but wanted to post on this sub as it would be more active right now. Its 1am where I am and I've been having an anxiety attack for an hour straight.