Game of Moans: The War between Fibromyalgia and IBS

Does it ever feel like your fibromyalgia and IBS are at war with each other, constantly bickering, disagreeing, and disrupting your life? Well, I'm here to tell you that you're not alone.

A short while ago, I wrote an article regarding the use of art and comics to find the humor in IBS. I imagined the image seen here, giggled to myself, and knew I needed to put pen to paper. I knew that this battle we face on a daily basis needed to be shared and discussed with my fellow IBS'ers. Thus, grumpy fibromyalgia and our annoying little friend, IBS were born.

Let's Talk about Stress, Baby

The reason behind this piece was not only to bring an imagined scenario to life, but also -and most importantly -to bring this entire conversation to life! We need to talk about this fight that happens on a daily basis and the stress that inevitably follows. We fret and worry over the constant war we feel between our gastrointestinal system and our muscles and joints; our stomach and our back; our head and our mental health. We need to find a way to reconcile the stress we feel as our fibromyalgia and IBS collide. How do we do that, you ask? That's right, we communicate! We learn to shut out physical and mental pain up and reach out to our support networks, our friends, our loved ones, or even within ourselves. We find strength in realizing that we are, a) not alone; and b), not imagining our problems.

Reconciliation and Surrender

One of the most important things we have to remember when dealing with the daily battles our bodies endure, is that sometimes we must surrender. Although the reconciliation of both sides is certainly the goal, it is not always possible. From time to time, our bodies simply cannot take any more fighting. When this happens, we often must find the lesser evil and try to calm ourselves down -mentally and physically. If you cannot control or calm your fibro/IBS flare ups, surrender to the moment and simply find a way that you can gather strength to fight tomorrow's battle.

It's often never-ending, and ultimately inexorable, but these inner-battles do not have to defeat us. We can survive. We can laugh again. We can live.