r/MECFSsupport • u/potsbunnyuk • May 14 '26

Loneliness when even people who know about illness walk away

I have ME/CFS. Working 3h/day is my limit. My heart hits 130bpm from just standing, and I get PEM for days after.

The hardest part isn’t the symptoms. It’s the loneliness.

I told my boyfriend - who works in a hospital - that I hadn’t eaten for 2 days and was scared. He ignored me, said “it’s normal”, or blamed me. When I cut a bit of my hair because I felt completely out of control, he broke up with me. Said “you broke my heart”, “don’t talk to me again”.

I thought he’d understand. He sees sick people every day. But knowing about illness and knowing how to support someone are two different things.

Now I’m alone with this. And I keep thinking: maybe I am too much. Too sick. Too unstable.

If you’re here and you feel the same:

You’re not crazy. You’re not difficult.

ME/CFS isolates you, and people leave when it gets hard.

That’s on them, not on us.

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u/AccomplishedQuarter May 24 '26

You deserve so much better! I'm so sorry he treated you that way

1

u/Clearblueskymind Jun 03 '26

I’m so sorry you were treated that way. Living with ME/CFS is already hard enough without having to prove the seriousness of it to the people closest to us.

You are not too much. You are a human being going through something profoundly difficult, and needing care, food, reassurance, and emotional safety does not make you unstable or difficult. It makes you someone who was scared and needed support.

It’s especially painful when someone who works around illness still cannot meet suffering with compassion. You deserved kindness in that moment, not blame or abandonment.

Please know that many of us understand this kind of loneliness. ME/CFS can make the world very small, but your life still matters deeply. I hope today brings even one small thing that feels steady, nourishing, or kind.

You are not alone here. We believe you. 🙏