Do you often feel misunderstood while living with an invisible illness?
Which part of your invisible illness do you wish people would see and understand? We want to hear more about your journey with an invisible illness.
I wish my peers would see that I cannot always do what they can do. I cannot always sit in a classroom and pay attention when my body is burning with pain. I cannot sleep soundly when I am woken to run to a bathroom. I cannot go to parties and drink the night away because in the hours following I will be stuck in a bathroom once again. I wish they could see that I have memorized every scratch and incline of the bathroom I spend my time in. I wish they could see the struggle of carefully going through every food item available and finding that not one of them will settle quietly. I wish they could understand that while I enjoy many different foods, I can no longer eat any of them. I wish they could see that I do not wish to hinder them in their fun and happiness, but I must do what I have to to remain stable for as long as possible. I wish they could see that I do care, and that the care I give will stress me out and cause the pain to return. I wish they could see that I try to be normal.
I can relate to everyone of these things Raed7126. It can so hard sometimes to convey how we are feeling to others and I'm glad you've written about it here, because we get it - Hannah (www.IrritableBowelSyndrome.net Team)
one of the parts I hate is when you can hardly eat and your parents don't understand and they get angry but it's part of it. we didn't chose this life and we don't want it. Or dreading getting up in the morning not knowing how you'll feel I wouldn't wish any of this on my worst enemy the pain is different every other day and I just wish I could snap my fingers and it'd go away.
It's definitely hard to not be understood, saracouch123. There's a lack of knowledge about what the IBS sufferer goes through, which makes people brush it off as 'just IBS'. I'd encourage you to speak to your parents directly about your struggles. I good way to do this might involve showing them this article: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/what-is-it-like-to-have-ibs/. Glenda paints a crystal clear image of what having IBS is like. I hope this helps! - Chris, IrritableBowelSyndrome.net Team Member
This was a very good article. Relatable.
I'm glad you can relate! How have you been feeling lately? Karina (team member)
