I am 42 year old female and have had a stutter my whole life. It's exhausting, but the best thing I did was start admitting it to people. My stutter has improved over the years drastically, but in the last 10 years somehow it's actually gotten worse again. I've started noticing that stressful times in my life somehow brings it on worse. Anyway, I understand what you mean about not being able to show your true self. It's the most frustrating thing about having a stutter - I am actually pretty funny, but so often I'll have something super funny to say but decline to say it because my stutter will destroy the punch line! It's so annoying! With regard to ordering things in restaurants etc. I do just ask my husband to help and I know many stutterers don't like people finishing their sentences but I always nudge my hubby or he just gets it and helps me finish my sentence - I'd rather that than the super awkward silence of the person on the receiving end. People see you and when you're presented well and look confident (I'm a lawyer - not in litigation/court obviously!) they don't expect you to talk like that and then when you do they're very confused and it's just so awkward, so if I can remove any awkwardness in these interactions, I will.