lucky_li0n_d@wg
Peer Supporter
Hey all, I promised a success story to go with my last post that was more just me looking for support, so here we go!
I just graduated yesterday from university and earned my BA + a minor AND honors (Magna Cum Laude). This is already a big huge accomplishment for most people but to me it’s especially a reason to celebrate. When my symptoms first hit, I was only halfway through my university experience. Those first few months of symptom were (and hopefully always WILL be) legit the worst part of my life. I spent the majority of every moment I wasn’t doing homework scrolling chronic pain forums, reading horror stories, feverishly searching the same web pages over and over (and over) again for success stories, and crying to myself in my room because I honestly thought I would never be able to enjoy anything again. I don’t think I even genuinely laughed for an entire two months.
BUT, even though I felt so incredibly awful, other than the doomscrolling I STILL never let myself do anything to harm myself, unlike a lot of ppl who get into such a slump. I never started drinking. I never started doing drugs. I never did anything to physically harm myself. I didn’t change physically in any weird or harmful ways. I never even started drinking soda again (something I quit in high school) let alone anything even more harmful. And I NEVER let my grades drop even once. There was an Econ class that semester my symptoms first appeared that I almost had to drop, but I got it together at the last minute and was able to catch back up in time to save it. Hell I even beat the addiction to the forums that I had grown over the course of those first few months which was REALLY hard to do.
I may not have gotten rid of any of my symptoms yet, but the fact that I was able to keep going through ALL of that and still finish (and not just a “barely” finish, a STRONG finish) makes me feel proud in and of itself.
Now that school is over I am going to have more time to focus on taking care of myself and actually trying to figure this TMS thing out, instead of juggling five classes and a sorority while researching about TMS in the background. Aside from that stuff, I’d like to finally quit biting my nails (I do it when I’m bored) and get out of the habit of rarely getting a full 8 hours of sleep. Overall I’m looking forward to what my first year of being an out-of-college adult will bring. Thank you guys for being supportive and friendly and if I start to make progress, I will share it with ya’ll for sure!!
I just graduated yesterday from university and earned my BA + a minor AND honors (Magna Cum Laude). This is already a big huge accomplishment for most people but to me it’s especially a reason to celebrate. When my symptoms first hit, I was only halfway through my university experience. Those first few months of symptom were (and hopefully always WILL be) legit the worst part of my life. I spent the majority of every moment I wasn’t doing homework scrolling chronic pain forums, reading horror stories, feverishly searching the same web pages over and over (and over) again for success stories, and crying to myself in my room because I honestly thought I would never be able to enjoy anything again. I don’t think I even genuinely laughed for an entire two months.
BUT, even though I felt so incredibly awful, other than the doomscrolling I STILL never let myself do anything to harm myself, unlike a lot of ppl who get into such a slump. I never started drinking. I never started doing drugs. I never did anything to physically harm myself. I didn’t change physically in any weird or harmful ways. I never even started drinking soda again (something I quit in high school) let alone anything even more harmful. And I NEVER let my grades drop even once. There was an Econ class that semester my symptoms first appeared that I almost had to drop, but I got it together at the last minute and was able to catch back up in time to save it. Hell I even beat the addiction to the forums that I had grown over the course of those first few months which was REALLY hard to do.
I may not have gotten rid of any of my symptoms yet, but the fact that I was able to keep going through ALL of that and still finish (and not just a “barely” finish, a STRONG finish) makes me feel proud in and of itself.
Now that school is over I am going to have more time to focus on taking care of myself and actually trying to figure this TMS thing out, instead of juggling five classes and a sorority while researching about TMS in the background. Aside from that stuff, I’d like to finally quit biting my nails (I do it when I’m bored) and get out of the habit of rarely getting a full 8 hours of sleep. Overall I’m looking forward to what my first year of being an out-of-college adult will bring. Thank you guys for being supportive and friendly and if I start to make progress, I will share it with ya’ll for sure!!