I don’t feel fine – I have IBS

   27/07/2018
I don't feel fine with IBS

I once read a post on an IBS forum titled “I don’t feel fine!” that I REALLY related to. It went something like this:

I don’t feel fine. Despite IBS, I managed to get my qualifications. I have a great cv, and I have even managed to get a great job.

Yet I am losing my depth.

IBS has this hold on me. It is taking my energy and concentration.

And every day I do this delicate balancing act, trying to keep it all together. Trying to keep going.  

I look fine on paper. I look fine in person, so much so that no one sees this invisible condition I am battling with.

Even my doctor tells me that I have nothing wrong with me… But I don’t feel fine at all!

That post resonated with me so much.

There are a huge number of us out there, trying and even succeeding to look as if we have it all together, while we are fighting a hard battle. Every day.

Do you feel like that too?

I don’t feel fine – I have IBS

I was a Product Manager for food products. I didn’t feel fine. 

I couldn’t even digest the food products I was marketing any more. How about that for irony!

But I put on my mask and kept going, pushing my IBS aside and forging ahead. I felt that was the right, courageous thing to do.

Until that didn’t work any more.

One week I went to a food exhibition. I was there to meet potential suppliers and taste their new products.

I managed the first tasting.

Then came the chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Along with horrible bloating and a huge flare-up that knocked me out for 2 days.

Using your energy and courage wisely

I don't feel fine. I have IBS. But I want to feel better!

Pushing your IBS aside and carrying on anyway will not cut it. It seems a commendable and courageous way of living. But it won’t work. Your IBS won’t just disappear on it’s own.

Why not use your amazing courage to swim in a direction that will get you to shore?

If your doctor is just giving you medication, ask yourself one thing:

Have they ever had IBS? And have they ever fully recovered from it?

If not, then maybe you need help from someone who has.

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