Most people just don't know or understand these illnesses. They just want to fix what ever is going on. I get upset with people who try to pretend they can fix things or just try to comfort you with their sore knee, or bad cold, when you know they will get better. When you have lived with an illness, it is hard to separate your constant focus on it. You dont want to do anything. There may be only a few things that make you forget about it for a while, but someone will come along and ruin that to. Trying find a way to manage the things that really make your day lousy is the main goal so that you can try to live conforatably. I noticed that people eventually stop trying to give advice and offer support when they know there is not much they can do. I also get the comments, you look really healthy. One thing that I have benefited from is the short term memory loss, because the things that bother me are easily forgoten.