When this woman is fed up with her sick boyfriend, she asks Reddit:
'AITA for telling my boyfriend I don't feel sorry for him getting sick from gluten?'
My boyfriend and I are long distance. For the past year or so, he's been saying he thinks he has a gluten intolerance, but has always been really bad about actually doing anything to remedy that.
He will occasionally eat gluten free pasta but other than that, he doesn't do anything. He's a big beer drinker, loves pizza and bread, loves pasta, etc.
He hasn't changed anything about his eating habits, just will mention that he thinks he's gluten intolerant every few months when he gets particularly sick.
When this happens, I tell him that we should start buying only gluten-free foods, and that I'll teach him to cook them.
This turns into a neverending cycle of him getting really sick, me reminding him we need to be eating gluten free, him agreeing and then him falling off the wagon once I'm not in town anymore, him getting really sick, repeat ad nauseum (literally).
He is visiting me this week and I did a lot to get ready, including buying a ton of gluten free versions of his favorite foods--I was going to make some gluten free pasta with a vodka sauce for our first night back together.
Once he got here, he mentioned he was completely exhausted and starving and wanted to grab something quick instead of wait for me to cook a more involved meal. Which is completely fair and I know I don't always want to wait for a more involved meal after a day of flying.
So we walked to the co-op down the street from me which has TONS of really great gluten free food. I mentioned to him that there were some frozen pizzas that were gluten free and really delicious.
They also had a bunch of soups that were ready-made. So we could definitely get a super quick gluten-free meal. But he wanted to pick up a beer and a focaccia.
I asked him if he was sure it was a good idea, and he brushed me off. I ended up eating a bowl of soup and his dinner was the entire focaccia and some beer.
Later on, he was just languishing on the couch and groaning. He wanted me to rub his back and keep walking back and forth to get him ice water, tums, etc. I was walking back and forth from the kitchen all evening to get him cups of water.
He then went on his usual spiel of 'I think I'm gluten intolerant, I'm so sick, this is awful.' I told him that I warned him about this and that there were several gluten free options available to him both in my house and in the store.
And that he couldn't keep actively antagonizing his intolerance. He said 'I promise this time I've learned my lesson, this is so bad' (he's said this literally every time).
I just said 'I don't feel bad for you, you should know by now that this will happen.' This led to him leaving to go to my room and saying I'm being inconsiderate and cruel to him when he's sick and that he wants to be left alone.
I probably could have been less harsh, but at the same time he does this to himself. AITA?
Well, let's find out.
txtx73 writes:
NTA, how in the world are you supposed to feel sympathy for self-inflicted gastrointestinal issues?
accuratead76 adds this harsh point:
NTA sounds your bf like he a lazy baby that doesn't want to change his ways and has no self control and likes to coddled.
It's also possibly he has Munchausen syndrome and is doing it purposely as he craves the sympathy and attention he gets when sick.
Just how you describe him irritates me I have numerous health issues and I try everything I can to get relief from them but it usually doesn't work so my poor wife has to put up with my complaints and seeing me unwell which just makes me try harder to find ways to get well.