Longtermillness

I'm sharing a previously posted story written on here from 4 years ago.

My very last 'surviving' friendship is now also drifting away out of my reach 😔. I hate the loneliness it brings.

Having one friend made everyone else disappearing more bearable. But how am I to feel now I am alone? no more bestie or 'solid' friendship.

Was it me? Am I too oppressive? Could I have done more?! - I'll never know.

To clarify, we had a 10 year friendship and we were each others 'best friend' she is my sons godmother. We were literally thick as thieves - could finish each others sentences, say the same things at the same time. She, my husband and I were the '3 amigos'

So our situation now is that she, and her new husband have moved to another town nearby. She's made new dear friends there,and has slowly weaned off me.

The last time she saw me it was for my birthday 2 weeks after it 😓 it felt like she was feeling awkward after a while. After she left, I never received the 'I really enjoyed seeing you 🥰' etc text message we would normally exchange - even though I sent one myself

What finally made me see it for what it is, is that I was meant to see her tomorrow. We planned this ages ago. But was told yesterday she cannot do the afternoon. Morning only. Then today got a message cancelling entirely

Once before I got sick there was a time where I was all she had, even when everybody left her due to a trauma she experienced, I supported her through.

I really thought after years of bullying and never fitting in due to Autism, I had found my 'forever friend' ❤️ for years and years our social media pages were constantly full of pictures of our 'adventures' and tagging each others names on posts. Almost announcing to the world what a close unbreakable friendship we had. It made me feel lucky and special🤦‍♀️ somebody liked me for me! I had never had a friendship this genuine before (i thought) I feel embarrassed to have felt this way now.

I know people who don't stick around due to illness aren't worth my time. Equally I know people can change and drift apart too, but I thought we were stronger than that?

But it doesn't change the hurt. Especially as this gradually happened over two years, feeling it slip away. Questioning if it was really happening? Surely not?! Then realising the truth, and the painful feelings of being alone, betrayal, of feeling replaced - as if I were a broken toy.

I feel very sad really. Especially as I am housebound, and cannot make friends offline.

Has anybody else been left totally alone other than their spouse/partner?
(im lucky mine is incredible)

This epitomises how I feel

Dear Friends: Please Don't Leave Just Because I Have a Chronic Illness

#friendships  #ChronicIllness  #Loneliness  #Depression  #UCTD #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Autism #ADHD #ASD #AutoimmuneDisease #alone #CheckInWithMe #Sadness #housebound #Longtermillness #hi #Lupus #MixedConnectiveTissueDisease #Fatigue
#ChronicFatigue #ME

Hi, I am new here and am getting the impression that other group members are all under 50 and/or haven’t been sick for a long time (say, more than 20 years), unless they have been sick since childhood.
Anyone else on here who is north of 50 and who is a “old timer”?
I have moderate to severe ME/CFS, moderate interstitial cystitis and mild fibromyalgia and in my past life I was a psychotherapist.