I am so, so sorry. While I understand that not everyone can cope with a chronically ill and suffering partner, there is always a sense of shock and betrayal when they pack up and leave, especially if they do so relatively quickly, and at your lowest point and greatest time of need.

Please stay strong, and if you can get good pain management, use it. Right now your number one job and priority is your health, physical and mental. The passage of time will dull the pain her walking away has caused, but right now it sounds as if you justifiably feel as if your world is falling apart.

Chronic pain alone eats your body and soul and will to live alive. Add in a relationship, and things can get very hard. My marriage didn't make it, but my husband surer tried the best he could.

I'm not sure of the age of your ex, but it's irrelevant as she is an adult. Not knowing her side, I hesitate to condemn her as not all of us are equipped with the skills and patience to be with someone with an chronic illness that puts us in daily agony. Very often the healthy person is forgotten as they try to provide support and navigate this "new" partner that is so foreign to their previously energetic and healthy partner.

And there will always be the selfish ones who simply don't want to bother with a sick partner and run at the first inconvenience and move on to a new relationship in record time. That must hurt like nothing else.

It's a cliche, but all I can say is time will assist in you getting over her. As for your pain, that's a nightmare in itself much harder to deal with. Please be open to trying every pain killer out there. It took years for me to discovery that methadone is the single painkiller that actually made an improvement, where fentanyl patches and OxyContin at very high levels still had me feeling suicidal.

Had I not tried methadone, I am 100% convinced I'd have committed suicide years ago. So,please do not give up hope.

I'm just some random girl on reddit,but if you need to vent, scream, cry or just want to bounce ideas off me (I've been battling chronic pain from a spinal tumor and other spine diseases for 15 years) PM me.

My worst time was so horrible, so painful and I was drugged so much, that my (ex) husband could not bring himself to have sex with me for over four years. And considering I was in so much pain I could not bear for him to touch my skin, and the only time I felt ready for sex was if I was stupid and bumbling due to a high dose of painkillers, how could I blame him?

Chronic pain can very easily kill passion and romance no matter how much each partner tries. Yes, it is hard to date. I rarely date and I am up front with my medical issues so I don't mislead anyone. So far, every single guy has totally underestimated just how bad the pain is and how much it affects every aspect of life, because of course I've only met them on my "good" days and put on a pleasant act and talked about good things.

But, with all that said, it's very possible to find a compassionate partner who can deal with it. It's not easy, especially if we are not of retirement age, but it is possible.

I am here for you. Please don't give up. I wont pretend to know your condition or your prognosis, but maybe you can improve.