The Obstacles We Face on the IBS Journey
So many of us have truly been on quite a life-journey due to irritable bowel syndrome. Some of us go through incredible life changes, to say the least. Some may have had moments when we were forced to get to know ourselves better, which can be kind of mortifying when you’ve been stuck with an illusion you created about yourself for a long time. Nonetheless, I think there are many common obstacles we all face on this journey of having IBS.
For that reason, I want to list out some obstacles that I’ve dealt with personally in hopes that others may be able to relate:
- Irregular bowel movements that can become very painful and embarrassing at times, or many times.
- Constant nausea and gas pain that make you feel like you’re incapable of doing much in life.
- Constant fatigue and body aches that make you feel a lot older and fragile than you actually are.
- Having to cancel on friends and family because of the horrible and hard-to-explain symptoms.
- Calling out of work often due to the difficulty of getting off the toilet in a timely manner every morning.
- Lowered sex libido because the abdominal pain can easily outweigh the excitement and/or pleasure.
- Seeing a number of doctors/specialists who waste your time during appointments.
- Dealing with doctors who don’t take you or your pain seriously.
- Getting a number of tests and procedures are done that in a weird way disappoint you because the results keep coming back negative and you just want to figure out what is going on with you.
- Not knowing what is causing your pain leads to deep depression.
- Not knowing what is causing your pain makes you look and seem incredible and untrustworthy to many of your friends and family members.
- Not knowing what is causing your pain has affected a number of your coworkers’ perception of you and has also caused you to burn many bridges over time.
- Having to drop out of college or quit a job because you couldn’t figure out what was causing your pain or how to properly manage what you were dealing with at the time.
- After many years, you finally get an official diagnosis of IBS, but that doesn’t change the deep depression and hardships you’ve been through prior and are still facing.
- Now that you know what you have, you have to adjust to a new learning curve in life. In other words, learning how to properly manage your condition, and health overall.
- Struggling for a very long time to manage your condition properly while trying to balance a normal lifestyle.
- Realizing you may need to make some drastic lifestyle changes that could possibly affect your family, social, and work-life even more, but is necessary in order to do what is best for you and your health.
- The list continues…
My IBS journey has helped me evolve
When I read through these obstacles or experiences I’ve faced throughout my IBS journey, I realize I’ve endured, fought, and survived through quite a few challenges in my life, and that’s not even half of what I’ve been through. But, I also can’t help but think of others with IBS who have possibly faced something similar or maybe even more extreme. Nonetheless, although having IBS can certainly put one through a turmoil of obstacles in life, it can also help one evolve into a person who learns how to best care and advocate for themselves.
Can any of you relate to many of the obstacles I’ve faced in my life? Do you notice a commend trend of hardships among many IBS sufferers? Please feel free to share it in the comment section below! Thanks!
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