invisible illness

[falcongrrl]

1. The illnesses I live with is: IBS and anxiety/depression

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: anxiety - 1992, depression - 1999, IBS - 2006 or 7?

3. But I had symptoms since: Early childhood, for all of them.

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: IBS - not walking too far from home when I exercise and being careful about what I eat. Depression - really understanding that, for me, it's not something that I can just get over but a real physical issue.

5. Most people assume: that I am happy and lighthearted (often I am! Except, of course, when I'm not.) Or people who know me from LJ will be surprised at how bubbly I am offline.

6. The hardest part about mornings are: waking up.

7. Favourite TV Show: Don't watch much TV.

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: a computer

9. The hardest part about nights is: when I have insomnia.

10. Each day I take: Effexor XR, my BCP whose name I can never remember but it starts with an A, and a multivitamin.

11. Regarding alternative treatments I: find that yoga/gentle exercise, aromatherapy, herbs*, EFAs, gentle music, etc. help a lot as supplements to Western treatment. In my case, they work better in addition to (rather than instead of) an SNRI.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: generally I wouldn't trade my problems, though I tend to try to make my invisible illnesses visible, in case it helps someone else to know.

13. Regarding working and career: I worry about dealing with the stress of parenting and working if I should return to a career. I worry that being a SAHM means I'm not pulling my weight enough. I worry that my anxiety contributes to the fact that I haven't returned to work.

14. People would be surprised to know: in spite of everything, I'm grateful for the lessons these illnesses have taught me.

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: even though I'm mostly in remission from depression, sometimes it does come back...and that's okay.

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illnesses that I did was: tell people about my experiences.

17. The commercials about my illnesses: make it sound like I take happy pills.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: not having to take medicine.

19. It was really hard to have to give up: n/a IBS is inconvenient, but I haven't really given up foods, just some I eat less than others.

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: Drawing, gardening

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: be happy not to have stomachaches or worry about going to the bathroom.

22. My illness has taught me: that sorrow is universal and that we are here to help each other, as best we can...but we also are here to learn to be kind and compassionate to our selves. There's a balance to be found.

23. Want to know a secret? I have had to, umm, duck behind a tree.

24. But I love it when people: check in with me casually if they know I'm going through a depressed period.

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: this too shall pass.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: it will be all right.

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: how sometimes I just forget about it

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: probably hold me and let me cry.

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: we all need to look at each other and ourselves with compassion.

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: understood.

*by herbs, I mean chamomile for sleeping or calming an upset tummy, or other blended teas...not St. John's Wort, which can be useful for mild bouts of depression but should not be taken by anyone who is taking another antidepressant medication.

Comments

[meepkitty.livejournal.com]

*lots of hugs*

I also have IBS as well as anxiety. Some days are so easy, one can forget I am ill. Other days are a trial just to stand upright and go more than three feet from the bathroom. Hang in there, hon!

*more hugs*

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I totally get that. The stomach stuff often seems to hit out of the blue for me. I wish I could figure out what triggers it...stress and my period are the only culprits I've really been able to identify.

*hugs*

[rowyn]

Wow, that sucks. :( The two people I know who've been diagnosed with IBS both were triggered by high-fat food, and do fine as long as they avoid fatty foods in any quantity. But I know IBS is pretty much a catch-all for a bucket of symptoms that could be caused by any number of things. :/

[wingywoof.livejournal.com]

Many of the same things here:
Diagnosed with IBS when I was in 7th grade
Anxiety/clinical depression in 2004
Hiatal hernia later that year

Fun times.

Have you seen this article?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=depressions-evolutionary

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

No, I hadn't, but it's really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[momentrabbit.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I think the invisible illnesses we all carry are what really keep us apart - not having them, which most do to one extent or another - but the 'invisible' part leading to believing that everybody else is normal, and we're the only one that's broken... When really, many more of us are broken in some way or another than we all let on.

Such brave little toasters, we. n.n

Thank you for sharing a glimpse. (*hugs*)

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

That's why I think it's really important to share them if we can bring ourselves to do so...there's comfort in solidarity and in the realization that everyone has their own struggles and triumphs.

[dadi.livejournal.com]

Did you ever get tested for food intolerances? Over the years I have realized that most of the times "IBS" is simply a term used for all the things doctors are too lazy or too stingy to test their patients for. I had been diagnosed with IBS too, before knowing about the Crohn's, and much later, about the celiacy, but I certainly had them before! And knowing exactly WHAT makes you sick is certainly a different kind of life.. you can't always avoid it, but mostly. And it helps a lot with the depression too, I have realized.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I haven't, but that does sound like a good idea.

[monkeyman.livejournal.com]

*hugs you hard* I love you.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I love you, too.