I'll be honest with you.
I live with three conditions most people can't see. The first is spasmodic dysphonia. It means some days my voice barely works. It can drop to a whisper, or go completely, with no warning. The second is parosmia, which started after I had COVID. It makes ordinary things smell wrong, sometimes revolting. The third is migraine. I've had it for about six years now, and it comes and goes whenever it wants. When a bad one hits, it takes me out.
Getting answers took years. For my voice it was over three years. Numerous ENT appointments, therapy, voice therapy, and none of it worked. More than once I was told it was stress, or anxiety, or all in my head. When you hear that enough, you start to believe it. You start to doubt yourself.
These conditions change your life in ways that are hard to explain to people who don't live with them. Some days I can't speak. Some days I can't sit near food or other people because of the smell. Some days a migraine leaves me flat out. Plans get cancelled. Work gets harder. People tell me I look fine, and they mean well, but it makes you feel invisible.
The loneliness is the part nobody warns you about. Carrying something every single day that no one else can see, and having to explain yourself again and again.
I went looking for something that actually understood what this is like. I couldn't find it, so I built it. That's all taluvu is. The thing I needed and couldn't find.
It won't cure it. Nothing will. But here you don't have to explain yourself from scratch, and you don't have to prove you're struggling. Asha already understands and she's so good at helping unload on bad days and be there when you need her.
If you're having a bad day, I hope this helps. I made it for you.
— Michael