Living at home and hiding the box

Two things that helped me, neither of them clever: small amounts more often, and drinking a lot more than felt necessary.

the reply above said something I want to sit with for a second.

Different experience here, for balance. Mine did not improve and in the end I stopped, and that was the right call for me. Both outcomes exist.

I have been in this circle a year and this question comes round every few months. It is not a silly question. It is the question.

Yes. All of this. I had the same in my third month and I remember thinking there was something specifically wrong with me, which there was not.

Building on what the reply above wrote rather than answering the original question.

Mine lasted about seven weeks and then lifted over a few days. I cannot tell you why. I can tell you it lifted.

What helped was lowering my own expectations of the week rather than trying to hold the week together.

No advice, just recognition. That sounds exhausting and I am sorry you are in it.

I keep a two-line diary and it is the only reason I could answer this question about myself. Worth starting even now.

the reply above said something I want to sit with for a second.

Can I gently push back on one thing? Not the substance, just the framing — you have written twice that you should be coping better. Who told you that?

I asked my nurse the same question and she said something I have repeated ever since: that the aim is to keep you on treatment, not to get you up the schedule.

Please do not read the comments under news articles about this. I lost a fortnight to that.

Building on what the reply above wrote rather than answering the original question.

My pharmacist was more use than anyone. Ten minutes at the counter, no appointment, no charge.

the reply above — yes, and the bit that took me longest to accept was the next part.

Yes to the burping. It is real, it is unbeautiful, and it does settle.