Living with IBS in both fields... IBS-C and IBS-D

I have had stomach/digestive difficulties just about my entire life. When all else fails as a diagnosis then IBS pops up. Oh, yes...the delightful IBS. It most certainly is a life altering condition and one that can't be understood because the average person simply doesn't experience it.

They don't get it

I really find it hard to handle when I will try to explain to someone I know what it is like to live with this condition and they'll respond, "Oh, yes. I get diarrhea at times." Well, no they don't. In the average person a bought of diarrhea comes and go and is over with. With IBS the pain preceding the attack is never understood by those who have never felt it. The pain. The bloat. The sweating. I could tell another woman that it's like labor pain but how can you tell a man that.

Then there's the other side of my life. Oh, yes. The IBS-C. Days and days all you want to do is go to the bathroom. You wait. You hope. However, for me does relief come after a time of constipation when I finally go. No. Then I'll flip in to the uncontrollable and seemingly at times endless diarrhea. You can't be far from a bathroom. All you want is for it to stop.

You're not alone

Yes, this condition causes a whole lot of stress. I fear the most mundane things such as going to the food store. I think of all the stores (not just food stores) I have been in and gotten diarrhea. I fear any social events because when I'm in my IBS-D field I can suffer endless pain during the attack and I sure don't want to be in a public bathroom.

So, I just want anyone reading this who identifies with it to know that you are not alone. I get it. I understand the torture life can bring. I understand the daily struggle of living with this condition. Again...you are not alone.

This is my story.