I love "hearing" your words, Roadie. I am a talker, too... but usually more of a conversationalist than one who writes long, long discourses on a subject. (I have a short attention span... lol) But honestly, I feel people get tired of hearing me talk... In fact, when I don't see an answer to something I've posted, I figure that "no one wants to hear me"...

A big part of my problem is that I crave attention, and sadly, as one gets older it seems it's harder to get peoples' attention.

I'm at a point where I physically feel bad. My back hurts, with pain radiating into other parts of my body. And I am learning what it means to suffer from asthma. My blood pressure has gotten quite high, and yet, when I went to my internist he said my problems were stress-related and simply a part of having asthma.

I felt dismissed and angry. I finally called his office back and complained, so they had me come in again. I told him I was aware of the problems stress can cause, but that I had lived through a lot of stress and thought I deserved to be listened to when I was concerned about physical symptoms that might be something other than symptoms of depression. Cardiac testing was ordered -- and sleep disorder tests (which I am still waiting on).

I'm just too tired to beg people to listen... (not that begging ever helps...)