I know people think they are being really helpful when they make suggestions, but I wish they would take a step back and ask first.
I have lived with chronic fatigue for 18 years, and pain longer than that. My hair loss started over 20 years ago, and I can't conceive of what it's like to not wake several times a night, or to feel refreshed in the morning. Whatever they're going to say, I've likely tried it, or researched it, or it's obvious pseudo science that doesn't merit research.
It would be one thing if people had knowledge or expertise, but every time it's something they've seen on Facebook, or something they think helped them with a very minor short-term issue.
Sometimes I'm more forgiving because people don't know my story, but when they know this has been almost my entire adult life, and they tell me to buy a supplement or look into grounding mats (seriously), it really annoys me.
This isn't about health professionals looking at my case and running tests or trying new treatments. It's the people who see me at breaking point and ask if I've tried a pillow spray.
When my first child was born, we only had one cat. He was very attentive during pregnancy then left a dead mouse as a gift right by the crib. He was a mouser when he was young, but hadn't hunted in a few years, so it was obvious that he understood there was a new "kitten" to take care of.
When he was gone and we had one of the cats we have now, I had my second child. Now this cat had never hunted so much ad a spider, but she caught her only prey to date, another mouse, and left it beside a gift bag of baby stuff I had from work.
I could have definitely done without dead mice, but I was pretty touched that they understood and wanted to do something "nice" for the babies.