Diagnoses

@betty41 Actually, if one has CFS symptoms as well, at a certain level exercise is actually contra-indicated. It can takes me weeks to recover from a medium exertion - I pushed my body to the limit for 30 years, then it broke. Now, my recovery time is ridiculous. One doctor's appt. can set me back for 3 to 6 months or more. This loss of energy (they think) is at the cellular level - one can't 'cheat' it; I've tried many times - sometimes resulting in permanent damage.

There are various things to try before you give up on yourself. I suffered for 30 years. I am 68. I am now feeling 30 years younger. The doctors didn’t fix me. I fixed me. Some intentional, some accidental: 1) I have gout or pseudo gout who knows. I experience debilitating pain in my joints and inflammatory reactions from doing simple things. Now I am on allopurinol medicine and all of that pain is gone. If you have gout in your family history, I suggest you talk to your doctor about that. The second thing is insulin resistance. I had insulin resistance for 20 years and because I was good at controlling my diet I was never put on medicine. Now I am on metformin and my body feels so much better. The third thing is taking extra iron and B12 vitamins. I ate two eggs in the morning and I take take Bronson brand biglysinate iron pills ($10 on Amazon) I noticed the difference in two days!!! When we get older, our body doesn’t digest the nutrition as it should. Insufficient iron and B12 can translate for some of us into neuropathies and problems with our nerves. It took me 30 years to get my body to stop having painful inflammatory reactions that shut my life down. But I did it. So please don’t give up on feeling better and know that it is an individual journey to get better.
As far as not having friends and doing stuff— I am a creative person and Artist. I don’t really have any close friends anymore. I happen to enjoy the companionship of animals like my doggie and I can do Art from day and night and enjoy the TMC movie channel watching movies that are 100 years old. I love to read. I really enjoy being at home and most of the activities. I love most in life, involve things that I do by myself. The point is to do what you can to improve your lot in life and learn to accept the rest. Sit down and really focus on investing in yourself and loving and cherishing your own life without the accoutrements that others bring. Yes I envy that the other ladies go to lunch and the other neighbors get together with their families and husbands, but we can’t have it all in life and it’s worth time to figure out what’s really in your soul to do on this earth. There’s a ton of philanthropic stuff you can do by yourself and at home to help others which is very rewarding.