So I(F27), have been seeing this guy for a 4 years. He’s really sweet, has the same sense of humour as me and loves gaming, he is the sweetest and cutest guy ive ever met. One thing to note is that he suffers from fibromiyalgia which makes him a bit more tired and he has to focus on preserving energy, which is fine as we spend alot of time indoors gaming and watching netflix etc.
I am a bit more active than him (understandably) I try to go to gym a few times a week and like to do amateur acting in my spare time. He liked to do script writing but hasn’t done so properly in a long time (few years).
All in all I do worry that I am excited about life and achieving goals, jobs etc and prioritising these things, he however is often quite depressed and finds not much to get excited about, his main enjoyment in life seems to come from hanging out with me which is super sweet and i really do value and enjoy our hangs but I just worry that he has no drive.
I have tried to show some encouragement, but he seems to have issues with being consistent in things. I don’t try and the push the issue too much, as I truly can’t know what it’s like living with his illness and that I probably take my energy for granted. I don’t want to be an annoying person in his life.
I’m aware he has fibromialgia and its hard so I don’t try to push him too much less he over exerts. He has become sick for a whole month when that happens.
To be honest its nothing to do with him being physically active, I would love it if he were to maybe do script writing or chase a goal to make himself happy, even if it was just something creative. I understand its hard with his illness to do things after work (he works part time remotely).
Because of all his ailments etc, he usually ends up quite sad and depressed quite a lot of the time. I always try and cheer him up by trying to look at the positive, but it happens so frequently that sometimes I’m quite exhausted and cannot bring anything to the table to cheer him up. I feel bad cause he is trying to improve things, going to the doctors often etc but it doesn’t seem to be improving fast enough or if things do improve they are very quick to step back. Sometimes also no matter how positive I’m trying to be he insists on looking at the negative and that that’s the only way to see things, which may as it be, is just an extremely exhausting way to live for me and him.
Am I expecting far too much for a recovery or to share a life? Am I being very unreasonable? Maybe this will just be his state of being and we are incompatible? It sucks so much to think like that is but if there’s no way out its terrible and I don’t know what to do.
TL;DR:
I (F27) have been with my boyfriend (M25) for 4 years. He has fibromyalgia and struggles with motivation and consistency. I’m more active and goal-oriented, but his lack of drive is leaving me exhausted. Am I expecting too much from him, or are we just incompatible?
Comments
His fibromyalgia isn’t damaging your relationship, his depression is. Sure, having chronic pain doesn’t HELP being depressed but it’s more than that. Have you discussed his depression with him? Is he in therapy? Is he taking medications? Talking to him about pursuing those things could be a good place to start. He has to want to get help for it to work though. You have to decide if you want to wait and see if he gets better or just peace out now.