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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Why is my wife so grumpy ?

16 replies

MrA25 · 08/03/2019 13:24

We've been married for over 7 years and have 3 children between us. I have a 19 year old and she has a 14 year old, and we have a 7 year old. My wife works hard during the week and is often doing work emails in the evening. She is also away for work maybe a couple of times a month for work. At the weekends, our 14 and 7 year olds have sporting activities but my wife seems happier for me to run them around while my wife sits at home playing games on her phone and generally not doing anything at home. We have a cleaner and I do all the washing, ironing and cooking. My wife does little herself. She suffers from fybromyalgia and has frequent headaches, sometimes bad enough to confine her to bed. I work flexibly but i can be out on and off Monday to Saturday, day or evening/ night. Some may say she is grumpy because of exhaustion which I can't deny, but it happens a lot and even after she has slept for maybe 10 hours. She doesn't show much affection but can respond occasionally if I show her affection. I ask her why but she says it isn't something she just does ! She seems to take pleasure in disagreeing with me about things and can be abrupt bordering on condesending. Her father is very similar. I soldier on in the hope she will improve, and sometimes she can be in a very good mood ! Currently until yesterday, she bairly said a word to me for about 3 days and before that she was grumpy for another few days. She has said in the past she doesn't understand why I'm with her and I wouldn't be surprised if she still things that. It crosses my mind to leave her but I know that is not the right thing to do and in truth, I think she can't do without me, yet is grumpy towards me.

Any advice would be nice to hear.

This post was edited by MNHQ

OP posts:
justasking111 · 08/03/2019 13:31

Have asked mods. to clean up this thread.

Cocobean30 · 08/03/2019 13:45

She seems to have low self esteem, maybe exacerbated by her fibromyalgia and feeling tired/like she can’t do as much as she likes. Maybe talking to her about this and pouring some compliments might help?(not saying you don’t do this already) maybe she could look for a different job

ElspethFlashman · 08/03/2019 13:51

Clearly her job is not compatible with fibromyalgia. She's gotten to the stage of never feeling rested no matter what. It's impacting family life as she can't really do anything else but work and outside work does as little as she can. She probably physically isn't really able to do much more.

That said her silent treatment is fairly inexcusable. She is shutting you out and speaking down to you. That could be for any number of reasons but certainly its not on.

Any chance of her taking a second look at whether her job is sustainable? Does she need to take a period of sick leave?

Dodie66 · 08/03/2019 13:56

Gosh doing all that and she has fibromyalgia. No wonder she is grumpy.
With fibromyalgia even sleeping for 10 hours doesn’t help with the exhaustion. I think she should be looking and changing her job or taking some sick leave. Do you work?

Fuzzyheadache · 08/03/2019 14:00

Your not coming across well in this post to be honest

Singlenotsingle · 08/03/2019 14:02

She's taken on too much. Can you manage on your salary alone, or maybe her working pt? I'm quite sorry for her tbh.

Wherearemymarbles · 08/03/2019 14:35

I doubt it will get better. Horrible condition that ultimately affects both of you.

You need to talk to her and find out what she really wants or needs but ultimately you can leave a marriage for any reason.

killpop · 08/03/2019 14:50

I would recommend you to do some research into her condition, and maybe find a support group for partners of people with chronic illness.

oofadoofa · 08/03/2019 15:16

Some prime examples of typical mumsnet nonsense/double standards:

“Your not coming across well in this post to be honest”

“I think she should be looking and changing her job or taking some sick leave. Do you work?”

“Can you manage on your salary alone, or maybe her working pt? I'm quite sorry for her tbh..”

One can only imagine if this was a woman posting about a guy not doing anything at home and being uncommunicative. Regardless of the supposed illness, it’s easy to imagine the ‘man child’ comments, and the rest..

To answer the original question, whatever the issue, she needs to communicate with you, at least show some appreciation for your extra workload, and find ways, together with you, to get herself in the best shape possible. I’ve read it on the site before, that an illness/addiction isn’t an excuse to hide behind, respect still needs to be shown, regardless. If that is not forthcoming, then leaving shouldn’t be something to feel guilty about.

Dieu · 08/03/2019 15:29

@oofadoofa

My thoughts exactly, on reading the OP.

'You're not coming across well'. Back in the real world ... Confused

LionelMessy · 09/03/2019 07:32

Oofa and Dieu have a point to be fair.

How do you get a partner to leave house if she doesnt want to though?

Middlrm · 09/03/2019 07:41

My cousin has her illness and I am sure you have read up on it but it sounds hideous... I don’t think that sleep
Cures the exhaustion and the condition can only be managed ... is she on the correct pain meds? My understanding is it causes great pain and pain makes us all very snappy.

That being said I can’t imagine how she is with you really makes you feel great either... and must really sap your strength/ energy and positivity, and it could be the illness but it could also be her as a person.

Has she always had this and was she this person always?

Continuing as you are isn’t going to change anything and she seems aware she is not particularly nice to live with so is she willing to improve on what she can... is couples therapy a thing you can do? Or just simply allocated a night once a week or a month to start where kids are busy and you have a take out or m&s meal deal ( thinking of your work load and her feeling too tired to go out ) where you just talk and eat ... even if you start with the best bits of the past to open up communication again.. remember why you got married ...

If it’s doesn’t change I can’ imagine anyone being able to stay in that relationship, the ignoring you part would do me in it’s just rude.

What do you want ... to leave or work at it if she is willing?

madcatladyforever · 09/03/2019 07:42

Fibromyalgia is a killer, it is incredibly painful and debilitating. If I had it I wouldn't be working.
It's enough to make anyone grumpy.
My husband could never understand my chronic pain from a terrible back injury and whinged 24/7 about my attitude and then dumped me.
After he left I had surgery that turned my life around and i'm a new woman and he regrets out divorce but it's too late for that now.
I'll take the new me and live my life with someone else.
If you're not prepared for the in sickness and in health then why don't you just leave, it seems that's what you are angling for.
Someone with fibrimyaligia simply can't do all of the things that you want her to do. I amazed she does as much as she does.
Maybe research the illness and try and do something useful?

RedElephants · 09/03/2019 08:11

A very good friend of mine, has fibromyalgia, it's an awful thing.

At this present moment in time, she is almost sole carer for her Aunt, who has cancer and is very near the end of her life.
So she sees her every day coaxing her to eat something, generally trying to make her as comfortable as she can. Liaising with the Doctors and McMillian Nurses, and all the rest of the paper work that needs to be done at this time.
She also works, so after work, going to see her Aunt, she comes home does house work, cooks tea and then falls asleep on the sofa for a few hours, going to bed and sleeping more.

She is in pain the majority of the time.
She also has high anxiety, this can come across as controlling I guess to some. It's just the way she deals with it all.

ChipsAreLife · 09/03/2019 09:07

The issue here is not her illness but lack of communication. If she's exhausted, overwhelmed, down - whatever you need to discuss it and find a way to help her together. The face you've posted suggests you want so why not try take her for lunch or a coffee when kids are at clubs and ask her what would help her?

I appreciate she's ill but you're not a mind reader and she needs to open up so you can help. Barely speaking to you in three days suggests she has an issue talking with you?

MitziK · 09/03/2019 11:30

I experienced a couple of bouts of Fibromyalgia as a 'lucky' addition to Psoriatic Arthritis.

To give an idea why she might seem lazy, snappy and grumpy, all I can do is tell you what it felt like for me (taking into consideration I am familiar with feeling ill and in pain with a relatively manageable condition).

When I woke up in the morning, I felt like I'd been hit by a bus, dragged along the road a bit, shovelled up and hurled into a cement mixer with half a ton of cobbles. I felt bruised and battered. My neck felt as though my head was in the process of falling off, I was dizzy, vaguely nauseous and, by the time I was waiting for the bus home for work, if I couldn't sit down out of direct sunlight, I would have to sit on the pavement or risk fainting. I fainted in public three times - walking hurt, my legs felt as though they were made of lead, but it was still easier than having to stand still for a few minutes.

When I got home, the prospect of having to get up off the settee to go to the toilet was so unappealing due to the pain and the fact I'd be out of breath by the effort, I stopped drinking any fluids at all to reduce the number of times I had to get up (and obviously got very dehydrated and more likely to faint as a result). The effort of sitting upright was exhausting.

I needed (but didn't get) help to get up the stairs, get undressed and get into bed. A shower - with a garden chair placed underneath it - was so much effort, I'd have to rest for a couple of hours afterwards. A bath would have left me stranded in the water because I couldn't get myself out, towel myself dry or bend forwards to wash my hair.

Actually having a shower wasn't fun - the water hurt my scalp and skin. Every pair of shoes hurt my feet. Socks hurt my legs. Bending down to put socks and shoes on hurt and left me needing a rest.

If anybody were to touch me, I'd recoil in horror. A simple medical examination left me feeling beaten - one slightly too enthusiastic press of a thumb on my shoulder joint meant I couldn't use my arm for three months and couldn't sleep on my back or that side ever again.

Bright lights and loud noises drove me nuts. I couldn't cope with the TV at all and, if there were two sound sources going on at once, such as TV+Radio in another room, or TV+somebody talking to me, I couldn't hear either properly.

On the occasions I had a bit of clarity, I was snappy as hell with anybody correcting me, saying something was x when it was y or misunderstanding what I had said. If, through the fog of pain, nausea and dizziness, I had managed to make plans and organise things, if they were altered, criticised or in even the slightest way changed, I'd go ballistic. I could not cope with it - I gave every scrap of physical, emotional and mental energy into getting through the day at work.

Crappy phone games required zero physical energy and allowed my brain to switch off from the unremitting slog. So I could theoretically play them for hours.

The flat was a mess. When it took every last drop of determination and strength to haul myself 1/8 of a mile uphill from the bus stop and up five flights of stairs to my front door at the end of the day, I wasn't going to be doing the washing up, putting clothes away or wiping spills up.

After a few days/weeks/months like that, I wouldn't be able to muster up enough energy for a coherent conversation. I'd be baffled why anybody would want to stay with me - hell, I'd leave me if it were possible.

Oh, and as far as I was concerned, in addition to my 'real medical condition' that could be verified by blood test, xrays, scans and by simply looking at me, I now had a fictional illness that people used to justify their hypochondria. I was seriously pissed off to find out that what I had been taught to believe by my ex/mother/various GPs/politicians/random people in the media was 100% wrong and it was a real thing that I couldn't get over by the power of positive magical thinking, changing my diet, taking vitamins and going for a jog. I hadn't been a dick to anybody publicly, but privately I had thought they probably needed help with their mental health to be able to cope with life and then they'd start feeling better. The universe has very elegant ways of telling you that you've been a complete dick sometimes.

tl;dr Fibro causes pain. Real pain. Real headaches. The sort of tiredness and pain that is normally associated with bad flu. And no amount of sleep can ever be enough. So it's fairly understandable that somebody with it can be grumpy, 'lazy' and snappy and doesn't do physical contact if they can avoid it [memories of the pain caused by people insisting upon shaking hands, putting a hand on my arm or shoulder or, worst of all, hugging me are very strong].

I'm lucky. The symptoms disappeared almost overnight. I'm still not sure whether the shiatsu treatment I tried the day before actually did it (it was a charity five minute thing that the woman decided she would do for 45 minutes for no extra charge as soon as she touched my back - and it really hurt for most of it) or whether it was pure coincidence - but I never want to feel that much pain, sensitivity, dizziness or confusion ever again.

I'll take a flare of Psoriatic Arthritis over Fibro any day. Including any steroid injections directly into my joints.

That's why your wife is so 'grumpy'.

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