Hello,
I'm looking to mail a pen (that's under 20mm thick and weighs under 500g) in a tracked letter to save on postage. The 'Medium C5 envelope Up to 500g' letter for $8.10 seems to fit the bill but I'd prefer to send it in a small bubble mailer.
Can I pay the $8.10 rate but send it in a bubble mailer instead? Would the bubble mailer itself be an added cost?
My psychologist mentioned the possibility of getting an EDCP so we can continue therapy together. I have disordered eating (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder is what we think I have) but don't have Anorexia or Bulimia. I've taken a look at the eligibility and tick some of the boxes outside diagnosis but worried it won't be enough for my GP. Have others been in a similar situation where your request was accepted without having an Anorexia or Bulimia Diagnosis? Is this a matter of getting a support letter from my psychologist to give to my GP?
Thank you!
For almost 2 years I’ve been submitting back to back 3 month medical certificates for Long COVID to waive job seeker obligations. I’ve had no issues in this time but want to know if there’s actually a limit to how many I can submit before they stop accepting them? Unfortunately I couldn’t even get through a single unit at university last semester so full time work doesn’t seem feasible at the moment.
Has anybody been in my situation where they’re just constantly submitting medical certificates and have been ok?
Hello,
I grew up in public housing and still live here due not being able to move out/privately rent as a chronically ill person. We are very fortunate as public housing rent is stable and affordable but my household is very dysfunctional and directly affects my physical health (which affects long term employment). Staying here is no longer an option but I'm very worried about losing the stable housing I currently have if I move out and relinquish my tenancy rights (I am a co-tenant with my mum).
Given my situation as a non-priority person who is already 'in the system,' with long-term health issues, is it possible to apply to relocate into a 1 bedroom unit, community housing or even a share house with stabilized rent? If so, is it a very long waitlist? I can provide supporting documents from my GP, psychologist and specialist if it helps the process
If so, what do improvements look like, how much do you take and how long until you began to see results?
Completed the majority of my degree before catching Long COVID, took a 3 year break and came back this year to complete the remaining two units before the max course duration ends this year (8 years).
By some miracle I passed the first unit last semester with great difficulty and have been in a low grade crash every since (I also caught the flu which fucked everything).
I am DESPERATE to finish this degree and can literally hear the clock ticking but I'm genuinely worried that if I push I will be left in a much worse place.
In the process of requesting the university to extend degree duration for another year and I'm scared they won't accept.
Has anybody who is 'mild' and has pushed through a low grade crash (not totally incapacitated but nearly there/can do things here and there but not a full day on campus every week just yet ) been able to recover with radical resting? Am I playing with fire if I somehow manage to push and pass?
I’m in a bit of dilemma and really don’t know what to do. Both decisions are right and wrong at the same time but I figured getting some advice could help.
I am finally back on campus after 3 years of medical break due to LC. I made great improvements last year, all thanks to effective pacing. I was able to complete the majority of my degree before I went on break and came back this year to complete the remaining two units before the max duration to complete the entire degree ends at the end of this year.
By some miracle I passed my second last unit last semester, with accommodations in place. I completely underestimated how hard it would be for me, both physically and cognitively. I broke my number one rule: pace and avoid crashing. I couldn’t do that and kept crashing until I landed in a bigger crash in the middle of the semester and caught the flu. I managed to catch up and do the bare minimum and passed.
Because I couldn’t properly recover from last semester I’ve been in a low grade crash ever since and have missed 4 weeks of school. It's not severe but ive been napping almost all day and feel like crap. I can do things here and there but can’t do the 5-6 hour day on campus + 12hours study that this unit requires each week. What’s even more complicated this unit is that it’s mostly group work so it’s not like I can work at my own pace without it negatively affecting the rest of the group.
The university is trying its best to accomodate me but if I can’t attend or do the work, then how can they help?
I have two options to choose from:
Wait to get a little better and push through the unit and finally finish my degree (it’s my 8th year, I’ve had enough!!), but risk declining and crashing even further (and I will). I am beyond desperate to finish this degree and maybe my spite will be enough to get me by
or
Apply for a course duration extension and do the unit again next year, leaving me time to radically rest but having to drag this out for another year and potentially making a decision from fear and anxiety. Im also dealing with anxiety and gut issues that have flaired up along with LC. It would be easier to make this decision if I was only dealing with the LC and was fully incapacitated bedbound/housebound but I’m not. I consider this option a ‘preventative tool' for LC but an 'avoidant' one from an anxiety stand point (I hope I'm making sense). I am the kind of person that gives my all before admitting defeat but I've had moments where I've allowed my anxiety to take over
I feel like I’d be doing a disservice to myself for deferring, (I deserve to finally finish) but I also know that long term pacing has increased my baseline and it’s important to respect my health boundaries, even if I think ‘I can make it’ (at what cost though?)
I’m going to have to apply for the course duration and I don’t even know if they’ll even accept it (I don’t know what I’ll do if they reject it) so I’m not sure why I’m even posting. It’s clear that I can’t really make a wise decision without knowing the outcome but I figured I’d get some advice anyway
Thank you 🙏
Over the last few years I've had several medical professionals recommend I get investigated for ADHD. I clearly use a lot of 'brain energy' when talking (that's what they said) but I think I lean more towards inattentive. If I do investigate and find that I have it, is worth going on meds to see if it could help with the severe brain fog I have?
I’ve been chronically ill, depressed and dissociated for a long time. I know it’s a horrible thing to say but I envy people who were ‘messy’ when struggling through life/dealing with their trauma because I simply went into my own cave and never left. I let years pass me by where I didn’t participate in my own life. I’m now on the other side of dissociation and I’ve finally woken up to how empty the last decade of my life has been. I started seeing a new IFS therapist and I feel ashamed and scared of having to ‘catch up’ on life. When I do things for myself I don’t feel excited or proud of myself, I feel sad and ashamed for not doing it sooner. I also sometimes feel frightened about trying new things which I’m assuming is also connected to the shame. What kind of questions can I ask these parts so we can find a way to work through these issues in a productive way?
My chronic gut issues have always overlapped with my nervous system issues (specifically paresthesia) - whenever I am having a bad gut flair up, my tingling gets much worse. I wouldn't be surprised if I have 'leaky gut' due to gluten exposure + chronic stress and a history of bad diet. I've developed this peculiar psychosomatic symptom that is hard to explain but the visceral hypersensitivity I feel is intense and I feel like my gut is in my nerves and my nerves are in my gut, if that makes sense. Like there's just no barrier between them. The noises and sensations that are typically associated to the digestive tract seem to happen outside the gut. That's really the best way I can describe it and I feel like I'm going a bit crazy. I've taken a look at how close the enteric nerves are to the gut lining and is it correct to say that a compromised gut lining could effect the nervous system like this? Would healing the gut lining help as a result?
2 months ago I saw a gastroenterologist for my chronic gut issues and he mentioned doing a few things (like taking iberogast, nerva app, prebiotics) and if those didn’t work, we could do a 1-2 month trial of rifaximin. I have a small methane overgrowth in my large colon but I it’s not the sole root cause of my gut issues. I also believe I have a decade’s long Candida overgrowth and despite testing negative to sibo many years ago, I think I had the hydrogen sulphite kind that the test didn’t test for.
For those that have methane sibo and possibly Candida as well, did you treat it with rifaximin? And if so, did it help??
I have such severe brain fog that has stopped me from basically partaking in my own life as a ‘mild’ person. Despite it being the biggest nuisance on earth, I think it’s the very thing that has prevented me from physically declining. I got long COVID a few years ago and it was only until then that I realised I’ve had a form of post viral syndrome since age 15 that just never went away. The biggest symptom I’ve had since then is brain fog. I have been able to alleviate some of it through LDN and I had a great few weeks where my brain was actually functioning properly (I think it was from a megadose of b1?) where I got the ‘evidence’ that my theory is true. The more I could think clearly/ the more executive function I had, the more activities I did and the more I felt physically worse. Maybe there is a silver lining to being brain dead? lol
It’s been years since starting TRE and I still feel like an endless pit of grief. I had no idea this was hiding underneath all the dissociation. I don’t feel lighter or ‘cleansed’ or like I’m ‘shedding’ anything after years of bawling my eyes out from TRE induced emotional releases. Just when I think I’ve crossed to the other side there’s even more sadness. And before anybody asks, yes I titrate and I’m mindful of when and if I’m overdoing it ( I don’t do TRE everyday and I make sure to take long breaks after big releases). This is a matter of getting nowhere because I don’t really know how to process what’s come up. It’s clear that I need a therapist to help me through this but I’m just tired of all the work we have to constantly put in. In reality I’m a lot better than I was before starting TRE, it’s just hard to remember this when your state of mind is a lot worse! As I type this I’m realising that although I’m taking breaks between sessions, maybe I’m not integrating properly? I’m chronically ill so a lot of integration that involves physical movement isn’t really accessible to me. Has anybody been in a similar situation?
I genuinely can’t believe how much this condition has chipped away at my personhood. I don’t know who I am outside all of the anxiety and the shit I have to do to ‘manage’ this, which feels impossible to stick to when you’re chronically stressed all the time (and can’t alleviate that cos you can’t change your external circumstances right now). Not to mention developing very peculiar psychosomatic symptoms that have turned out to be even more challenging and humiliating to deal with than the ibs symptoms themselves. I’ve genuinely had enough!!! I know everybody deals with something but I want to deal with something else for my own sanity
I’m really stuck. I’m 30 now but I’ve been dealing with both mental and chronic health issues that have greatly affected my life since I was 15. The last time I worked was when I was 22, In 2022 I had to defer my last semester of my degree for 3 whole years due to Long COVID (I’m back now and barely making it through my last units). Ever since I was a child I have yearned for freedom and yet my reality is telling me that this will never happen. I feel like I stopped developing after 15 years old because I’ve missed out on a lot. I recently got out of chronic dissociation and it’s just made me realise how disconnected I am to myself, that I’ve just been a side character in my own life. There were so many decisions I wanted to make years ago that I finally want to work towards, even if it kills me in the end. The issue is I’ll be swapping the stability I currently have to do this (cheap rent at my parents house, family support) and although this is what life is all about, I think this sub can understand why I’m hesitant to take the plunge when health issues and employment instability, even homelessness are very real concerns. I’d like to move cities and find out if I’m actually capable of being on my own. For people who are stuck in a similar situation and made the leap, did you land on your feet?
I’m an eldest daughter which means that growing up, my younger sister may have viewed me as an extension of our mum. I believe this is the root cause of why she likes to keep her personal life private and may have trust issues with me, despite the fact that I have always tried to give her space growing up. We come from a religious upbringing so living double lives was inevitable.
Growing up the times I did try to get close with her and ask her about herself/ life, she wanted nothing to do with me and it felt like I was always invading her privacy by asking simple questions.
Our relationship is much better now but there is still a level of mistrust. I know I’m not entitled to info about her personal life but it’s personally very triggering for me to have my own sister get defensive and uncomfortable when I ask her innocent questions like “what did you get up to in Italy? Do you have photos you want to share?”. It makes me feel untrustworthy and small, like I don’t deserve to hear about her experiences (I’m chronically ill, so my life is sadly small and not adventurous, I like hearing about what my siblings get up to).
I wanted to ask how to navigate this aspect of my life. Whenever I have tried to ask her why she doesn’t like sharing things with me she shuts it down and we don’t really get anywhere. How do I not take it personally?
Edit: i forgot to mention that I’ve stopped asking her about her life a while ago, so this is a matter of trying to respect her boundary, trying to not take it personally and figuring out why I find it triggering in the first place
Now that I’m no longer dissociated and have come to terms with how much I have lost due to my health, I have been carrying a deep sadness with me everyday that doesn’t seem to go away. Besides trying to make up for the lost experiences, how do other women in a similar situation deal with the grief of ‘losing’ an entire decade? I recently turned 30 and I am so sad about it
I mean this with love and respect but I don’t want to read responses about how certain experiences are over glamourised or not chalked out to be from people who had the opportunity to truly live. There’s a difference between getting to live, fail and learn than to have not had those experiences at all. I think that’s what I’m most sad about, missing out on being young, dumb and free (life isn’t as fun when you’re barely making rent and your health keeps you in survival mode)
I’m realising that nobody fully understands my condition and the behaviours/ coping mechanisms I’ve developed because of it. They’re not malicious and I think they genuinely believe that they understand it but they never will and that’s just something I’ll have to deal with. It’s hard because they see other people with chronic illnesses hold down full time jobs and attend social events so they just assume that when I’m rarely at events it’s bevause I don’t want to be there. My family, friends and community just don’t get it lol, even I don’t when I think I’ve been faking the condition on my good days. It’s exhausting man
Got long COVID since 2022 but suspect I’ve had a mild form of CFS all my life which just got worse from LC. I have never been able to enjoy my life due to my health issues which have been complicated by my anxiety issues (or maybe it’s the other way round) so naturally, I feel quite bitter about my life for the lack of experiences and excitement I wanted for myself. I have a younger sister who’s constantly busy and making the best out of her life, as she should.
But whenever I speak with her about her life, I am always consumed by so much internal grief, rage and resentment bevause I want the same for me. I know it’s a younger part within me so I’m at least glad to know that it’s a separate emotional state from my baseline (and not that I’m a genuinely hateful bitter person to my core). It also doesn’t help that she really only comes to me for advice about things and doesn’t really allow me access to what she’s been up to/ has me blocked on stories. I know how this sounds, I know I’m not entitled to her life and it’s not uncommon for younger siblings to want privacy. But the level of privacy/distrust triggers a pattern of thinking for me that says “not only am I not allowed to do the things I want, but I can’t even listen about the experience itself”
Envy/jealousy tells you what you want and lack in your life, and the best way to overcome it would be to go and do those things! But I can’t - so how do I deal with this? Grief is behind it and I feel it all the time but how do I deal with the anger itself? I’m genuinely asking, I don’t want to be one of those miserable older women who projects her anger resentment onto everyone. I truly want to have a healthy relationship with my sister but my younger parts are raging all the time lol
I love the size of the pocket grand voyager but I’m planning on using lots of notebooks which will definitely cause an overhang (and I hate an overhang). The reason I’m interested in the a6 portfolio is for the storage/pockets but also because I’m assuming it will ‘turn’ into a pocket size if I pack it and the leather moulds around it
There arn’t many videos comparing the two sizes (especially showing a comparison of the same amount of notebooks inside) and it’s an expensive investment, so I want to make sure I pick the right one!
For those that have the a6 Portfolio- are you able to add more notebooks in the a6 or do the pockets and single ribbon actually make it harder to do that? July rose on TikTok has an a6 and it looks more pocket size because she’s packed it with many notebooks. Just want to know if it’s the same with other users as well
Thank you :)