🏳IBS🏳

I’ve recently been struggling with a chronic abdominal pain. I have flare ups that are debilitating and panic attacks from that. Coming into the spoonies tag always helps to distract me and make me feel a little better. Something about the resilience and hope I get combined with sarcasm is enough to help me ride through the pain. Thank you all for being out there and understanding ❤️

-have symptoms that aren’t visible to others

-are able to function even while in extreme pain

-hide their illness well

-who don’t “seem sick”

-who have flareups at night or other times when no one else sees

-fight a daily battle that others can’t see

-feel like they’re making too big of a deal out of their illness because “it could be worse!”

These come from personal experience. They are things people say to chronically ill people that are either an attempt to make them feel better, solve their problem, or just to be rude. Feel free to add your own:

“Your life is an inspiration to me!”

“I couldn’t live a day as you”

“Yeah, I feel tired too sometimes”

“I know you’re in pain, but you need to tough it out”

“Things could be worse”

“You don’t look sick”

“You need to be more active/go to the gym”

“You’re just out of shape. Exercise will help”

“Stop using your illness as an excuse”

“You’re dwelling too much on the pain”

“You just have anxiety”

“Get outside”

It urks me that there are people out there that don’t have to do jack squat to look healthy and sexy while I am literally sleep deprived trying to keep up a healthy life style and work 70 hour weeks.

I lose 3 hours of sleep every morning so that I can get up and work out before my 13 hour work days. I spend countless hours battling my inner demons (including the ones that tell me to starve myself to lose weight). I stand at the employee lunch room weighing my options, do I eat these fries or that salad? Do I eat the same “healthy” meal over and over again or just get instant gratification and get the pizza? I have gone through days where I have almost passed out because I avoid eating until healthy food is available. I have no money to afford a proper nutritionist, so I have spent hundreds of hours researching the best ways to not be obese. I’ve cried myself to sleep because I no longer have time to myself, I can’t take mental health days anymore because I have to keep up my activity levels for fear it will slow my metabolism down and make my IBS worse. I have vomitted several mornings because I stopped consuming salts and sugars (because of several studies saying it was the best way to get healthy) which caused my water to imbalance, causing heat exhaustion. I have worked out through excruciating pain, because i was told by several doctors losing weight would help the problems causing my chronic pains. (Endometriosis, IBS, Plantar Fasciitis, Hip bursitis) I have heat rashes from exercising due to the extra fat that rubs in places I can’t control. I have gone through so many trial and errors to find what is supposed to be the healthiest way to lose weight that I’ve lost count.

~ LOW CAL | Pizza Alternatives ~

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-have symptoms that aren’t visible to others

-are able to function even while in extreme pain

-hide their illness well

-who don’t “seem sick”

-who have flareups at night or other times when no one else sees

-fight a daily battle that others can’t see

-feel like they’re making too big of a deal out of their illness because “it could be worse!”

It’s okay to say “this fucking sucks”

It’s okay to say “I hate this”

It’s okay to think negatively, to have a bad day. Nobody can be positive 24/7

You have the right to be angry, or frustrated, or sad. That doesn’t mean you are dealing with things badly, that doesn’t mean you have been set back, that doesn’t make you a bad person.