For those who are able to walk, do you ever experience hassle walking predominately for the mental energy it takes to walk Properly? i can walk, but I can’t walk well unless I remember to like put Attention to how I do it and the act of doing it

I’ve had chronic back pain for the past few years and it has severely limited me in so many areas of my life. It fucking sucks. Even though it’s been a few years I still get emotional talking about it a lot.

So sometimes when I go to a doctor about my back, I start crying because it makes me feel bad to talk about it. And doctors have really been minimal help with it. The doctor asks me what’s wrong and I get emotional explaining what’s wrong. They’ll ask “why are you crying?” but not in a compassionate way. In a way that makes it obvious they think I’m weird or crazy for getting emotional at a doctors appointment. Happened again today and I straight up started hyperventilating and the doctors was just so weirded out. I just kept apologizing for crying because I knew I was being overly emotional, I just couldn’t help it. If you’ve ever hyperventilated before, you know how hard it is to get your breathing back to normal or calm down.

But yeah I felt so bad for breaking down and even worse from how the doctor treated me. So I just feel like crap. Has anyone else had similar experiences so I can be assured I’m not completely crazy?

I’m a woman in my late 20s. I’ve been homeless for over a year (shelter to hotel/motel to Airbnb, constantly moving every few weeks). I had two surgeries this year and I suffer from chronic pain, scoliosis, and I have a hip fracture that will be corrected with surgery after I complete my PT program. In addition to the physical conditions, I’ve been diagnosed with several disorders, including ADHD, PTSD, OCD, chronic insomnia and bipolar disorder. I don’t have any family/relatives living. No friends or support system. I use a walker to help me get around.

Last week I had to change shelters/motels twice in the span of 2 days. I have to move all of my belongings and assisted equipment on my own, with the occasional stranger taking some time to kindly help me.

Long story short: I’m in so much pain this week that I have no energy to get out of bed. Even standing in front of the mirror to brush my teeth or wash my face is so painful. I’m already on pain meds but they do nothing for me. I’m on the highest dose possible for the type of pain medications I take. Today I slept all day with the exception of using the restroom. I haven’t even eaten and surprisingly do not feel hungry. Yesterday I had one meal. I haven’t been able to stand in the shower since yesterday morning. I know I need to shower, brush my teeth, wash my hair, etc. but I can’t. I’ve never felt so gross. My vision is blurry. When I do get up to walk to the bathroom, I feel like I’m seeing double even as I type this. This has never happened to me before. I’m kind of scared.

This may sound morbid but I feel like I’m dying. I don’t know if I need to go to a hospital or if going to the emergency room is a good idea. I’m concerned about my belongings if I would need to go to a hospital since where I’m staying does not allow luggage storage.

Does anyone have a similar experience? Any solutions/suggestions?

I struggled with my balance when walking, and my poor balance made it super difficult to walk while holding something in each hand. So I combined both together, my cane and my bouquet, so that I’d be able to have a bridal bouquet at my wedding 🙂✨ This is some of the lemonade I made when life threw me it’s lousy lemons 🍋♿️

Just for reference I'm 30 (she/they) I know others will understand when I say having two appointments in one day is really challenging, but today is a win, no matter what because I made it to both. I have chronic knee pain due to a car crash almost two year ago, had another MRI last week and it was ambiguous. Which is mentally taxing in itself. I just want to know why I hurt so much. Got a steroid injection today and was told if it helps than it means it's probably my knee joint and not my patellar tendon as previously thought. If that's the case, exploratory surgery is next. If it doesn't help, back to PT and needling on my tendon. Well it's already helping. This is the least pain l've been in for months. It's very bitter sweet and while I know I have to wait, the fear is already building. If surgery is the answer l'd do it in a second. I'm so tired of living my life in this much pain, walking with a cane, getting constant stares and the dreaded question of "what is wrong with you" At least I don't get called a cripple as much anymore, that one hurts. I also had a neurology appointment today and found out they can't help me since I'm involved in a lawsuit. While the information was helpful and needed, the bedside manner of my doc was disheartening. Healing is my full time job and I guess I just had a bad day at work. Thanks for reading. Much love to anyone with chronic pain and everyone that is fighting for their health. Z

Has anyone else just given up or just never cared about eating healthy or a special diet for there disability, personally I'm here for a good time not a long time (even though it isn't a good time) and my disabilities have already taken so many things from me but I'm not letting it touch my Oreos and soda

I had a brief break from all the doctors and hospital appointments. Today is my birthday! :) I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow though.

I just got a tens unit from Facebook marketplace for 20 dollars any tips

After almost 5 years. I was approved today with onset back pay from 2021!! I still can't believe it!!

i’m a young person with a cane. i only started using one this year due to a rare neurological disease. People stare a lot. they even crane their necks back to look. The nerve of these people is almost comical but it does make me feel so self conscious.

i don’t want to glare at them, especially when it’s children, but i can’t help but be extremely annoyed. some teenage boys even looked at eachother weird at the mall because i had my cane. my friends make jokes about it, saying im a sickly old man. I feel very othered.

is it something you just kind of get used to? i decorated mine some, made it real cute! but i wonder if it just causes people to gawk more. It’s the first thing people notice about me. they don’t look at me first, they look at the cane.

able bodied people also seem to have a hard on for finding out someone’s faking it. i’m afraid someone will swoop in when they see me not using it in whatever preconceived idea of how a cane should be used.

my husband and I are moving into our first place with just us soon and I really want to have a nice guest room that's comfortable to anyone, but I'm kind of stuck for what to do outside of the ordinary stuff if that makes sense. I was wondering if anyone had any things that they do for guests or like insight into things they've found helpful?

my husband is paralysed so we'll already be doing things like motion sensor night lights and grab rails/shower chairs/toilet frames and leaving wide spaces through every room, we're both 21 and renting so structural or super expensive things like making roll in showers/adding en suites/widening door frames will not be possible :/ just anything renters could do that might help

Just thought some of you might get a kick out of this. My cat loves sleeping on my wheelchair too. 😹

I am on wheelchair and don’t have strength do my own work.

So I talked with many abled body people on online they often say you will find someone who loves you or why need to date that is waste of time. Recently I’ve talked with someone about what difficulties and stress disabled people feel, how sometime being alone hurt so much. That person recommend me to self improvement books, I get that might I have big vocabulary words to say. But one book really feel weird to me “The art of the stay alone” I’ve told that person what point of this book and that person said being alone is art you can try new things and learn to stay happy with yourself. So I didn’t talked further about it.

But I really feel abled body people do not understand for disabled person staying alone is not option like them. Like normal person can still go for walk, try cooking, many things. That’s not same for disabled they have stick with phone, if they want try new things we have to buy new things. Like myself I can’t go out and what I can talk about music, anime, games that mostly people don’t do much around me. They talk about work, gym etc how I can relate with them.

Also finding love is not easy for disabled people, because we can’t do that what normal people expect going out on dates, dancing, partying. we can found good people but not that person who willing to give chance to us or understand us. When people say this “everyone has their own problems that equal big” this feels so fake. What they not seeing at least they’re doing something not like me fixed on one place with loneliness, endless thoughts.

In the end I am still hopeful try everything online platforms maybe who knows when or where or which platform something good happens. Because I believe everything is happening it has purpose.

Of course my initial disability applications got denied but only because I had not been to therapy since 2017. So I went back to therapy August 6th and shortly thereafter, my ssdi and ssi reconsideration was assigned a new examiner last Friday the 22nd!

Im waiting on a decision.....i cant wait. I applied october 14th 2024. In just 9 days it went to a new examiner. I got bumped to the front of the line by their system apparently.

• severe eosinophilic asthma, requires Biologic injections
• Fibromyalgia
• Severe recurrent major depressive disorder
• acute PTSD
• General Anxiety Disorder
• ADHD/Conduct disorder

^This is the vuew I have from my seat in two of my classes.

So Ive been at my college for 7 years now. I have spoken to professors, students and the head of accessibility services about this. My school offers those of us that use wheelchairs or certain types of mobility aids the accommodation of having a table that we can sit at instead of rhe desks you have to slid into/swivel chairs. Which is great...when done appropriately. One of my close friend's that's also an ambulatory wheelchair user had to have her fiance bring tables into rooms for her because the accomdation wasnt already in place. My favorite though is the basement rooms in our school's health and human sciences building....it is a lecture hall of 10 rows of desks on stairs with two balconies. All students that can't take the stairs end up on the balcony which there isn't always enough seating as one classroom can fit 2 and the other could possibly fit 3 but only has 2 chairs. On top of that professors will ask students to come down from the balcony during tests/quizzes so we can't look down at other students work...sweetheart I can't even see your board from where I am sitting let aloud stand long enough to look at the row directly below me. When we finally get through their heads that we can't move from the balcony they then tell students to turn in our assignments at the front of the classroom...down steep stairs that doesn't have a ramp or anything accessible to get down to. One of my professors "solutions" was that I email her before exams to tell her I was in the classroom and then I had to raise my hand and wait for her to come get my assignment from me. Great in theory bad in practice seeing as she and all the other professors literally ignore the top balcony. They ignore anyone who sits in the accessible seating areas usually unless it is directly in front of their podium.

I am currently on disability and don't plan on going back since my job caused me to much stress. I live in california if that makes a difference. My job is expecting me to come back to work and im not sure what to tell them

Hi all. I was approved for Disability in 2018 and my review was to be every 7 years so I got a SSA-455 short form in Feb 2025. In the upper right hand corner on the letter in my coding, I had an L (low). I think it means I am low chances for improvement. I am 60yrs old now.

I finally got a response back from February when I filled out SSA-455 short form.

It says, "We sent you a letter telling you that we were going to review your disability case. However, we do not need to review your case at this time". Therefore, we will not contact your doctor now. We will keep any information you have given us. We will contact you later if we need to review your case".

Does this mean I am in the clear for another 7 years or are they just putting me off for now?

I was expecting "thank you for completing the SSA-455 and state that based on your responses, they do not need to conduct a full medical review at this time", like everyone else said they got.

I am in Iowa so maybe each state words it differently. Am I in the clear? The wording is very vague in the letter.

Thanks all.

Hi everyone,

I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user due to a spinal cord injury in 2023. I’ve made a lot of progress in healing, but I still deal with spastic bladder and incontinence (I use briefs). Because of that, I’ve lived alone during college — I get really anxious about how roommates might perceive me.

I know I shouldn’t let embarrassment hold me back, but it’s something I still struggle with. One of my biggest fears about applying for a summer/fall internship (with dorm-style housing) is how this might affect living with roommates, even though it would be such an amazing opportunity for my degree.

For those who’ve lived with disabilities or medical needs longer than I have:

• How have your experiences with roommates been? Generally respectful and chill, or more nosey/judgy?
• What’s it like navigating shared spaces as an ambulatory wheelchair user?
• Do you usually explain medical needs to roommates up front, or just keep things private?
• Did you find roommates/friends supportive if you were open about it, or was it better to keep things low-key?
• What helped you cope with the anxiety of moving in with new roommates while managing medical needs?

I know everyone’s experiences are different, but hearing from others might help quiet some of the anxious thoughts I’ve been stuck on. Thanks in advance 💙

Has anyone here lost before the ALJ level, if so what did you do about it? Were you able to eventually get disability, or no? I don't see how I could lose with all the documentation I had. Like they completely disregarded the statements of my social worker.

I have panic disorder with agoraphobia. This is diagnosed, long term, well accepted among my doctors SSDI for 20+ years and very well established. I have taken benzodiazepines for that entire time, and nothing else I've ever tried (and believe me when I say I've been used as a guinea pig for everything under the sun) has either done nothing for me or has made matters worse. I've recently had a psychiatrist retire on me (3 years ago) and I had to have my GP family doc take over my medication. However, for this I was first seen by his nurse practitioner.

This woman is apparently extremely opinionated and discriminatory against this medication. The instant I said I took Xanax (which was already in my chart) she freaked out and drug tested me. God knows anybody who's ever so much as laid eyes on a Xanax tablet is a major drug abuser. When my test came back she was undeterred and I obviously must be a hopeless alcoholic then.

I have taken the same dosage of benzos for over a decade with zero change. She decided I only needed 30% of my medication and I was only allowed to have a panic attack twice to three times a week, and only in the evenings. Stupid stupid stupid. I signed some kind of contract saying that I would not see any other doctor to discuss or be prescribed this medication, and was told flat out that if I didn't like it, or if I ever dated to ask for more medication, I'd be dropped as a patient immediately.

I am almost convinced that neither she nor my doctor too two second to look at my medical and medication history, and their (her, I think he just didn't have the balls to tell her no) total almost bigotry against this medication, and resulting bigotry against me and my very real disability was at least medical neglect. I see a new doctor today and I have to explain this to him, but I'm wondering. Would this be interpreted... could this be interpreted as a violation of the ADA? This is a very often abused medication but c'mon, after twenty years and zero occurrence of drug seeking behavior or drug abuse.

I'm already planning on reporting her to the state, but, to find out whether this violates the ADA in any way, whom would I call to find out. Her nonsense and snooty, disgusting discrimination is going to cause somebody some major pain and injury, and it really can't go un-reported.

What say you?

Tonight I managed to rotate my mattress, wash all the bedding, get the bed remade (even the fitted sheet), all with only 1 functional arm/hand. I was feeling pretty productive, until it came to getting the pillow shams back on the pillows. The task that I could not figure out using only one hand was the damn pillow shams. I managed the pillow case, but the sham took me out. And it probably took me close to 30 minutes to get the bed made.