Have been in bits and pieces of pain over the last few days. I keep thinking of my worst ever time with IBS, when I was working full-time in an office, living alone and really struggling with almost constant pain.
I would fight tooth and nail to just make it to the weekend, and then I’d find that I just couldn’t bring myself to do anything useful, like hoovering or washing up. I’d do the food shopping because obviously starving was out of the question, but anything else just had to wait, while I did things I actually enjoyed.
Why? Because it felt like I had to get SOME pleasure out of life, I had to have at least a couple of days a week when I could get to the end of the day and think “Well, that wasn’t too traumatic, wouldn’t mind doing that again”.
And it wasn’t like I was yachting or hanging out at the Ritz, or even hanging out with my friends – I didn’t have the strength for that anyway. It was just the tiny, everyday pleasures, watching TV or playing on my computer, just something, anything to let my heart and soul know that my life was not going to be entirely composed of suffering.
Hello Sophie, I discovered your blog last week and wanted to tell you I know what you’re talking about. IBS is not a disease but it definitely takes away a lot of the simple pleasures of life, like eating without knowing you’ll pay for it later, spending only 30 seconds on the loo and feeling loads lighter and not having to go again until the next day, etc etc…
I have 5 children and I work 30 hours per week. Going to the loo is a constant juggling exercise and mornings are dreadful between getting the kids ready, getting myself ready and leaving the house on time… often the price to pay is horrible tummy pains because I can never spend more than 30 seconds on the toilet without being interrupted! I’ve had IBS for as long as I can remember and I’m only 33. They say it goes away eventually but when? When you have no more stress in your life and no more energy left to enjoy the rest of it? I have days better than others of course but on the whole how I would love to know what it’s like to have an IBS-free life, even for just one day!!!!
Anyway, just wanted to let you know I enjoy reading your posts and I hope you will feel better too, one day…Fingers crossed, and toes…;-)