Living with the Invisible Disease: 5 misconceptions with IBD

This list could be different for everyone, but there are a lot of things that the public does not know. There are somethings people say off the top of their heads even though they do not understand. 

But if you do have IBD, you know that some of these things are either untrue or just misconceptions based on symptoms.

Also warning these diseases affect everyone differently. Not just the disease but the steroids, the medicine, the symptoms, or the diet in itself.

1. You don't look sick to me.

One of the reasons why this disease is ignored is because it only shows on the inside. 

Unless you lose 20-30 lbs. on your own, people never really look at you. They don't say, "Are you sick?" They'd say, "Oh my! What diet are you on?"

Of course, I'm sick! You just didn't get to look inside my body to see the inflammation. 

2. You look fantastic.

These people are the people trying every weight loss routine or diet. 
From the military diet, Nutrisystem, low carbs, gluten-free, and 80's workouts, they are looking for something new. They jump back in forth from 200 liters of water to leeches will eat the fat out of my stomach. 

I can just imagine the purple headbands and the leg warmers as they are jamming out to, "I wannnaaaaa dance with somebodyyyyyyyyy!"

They look at you and say, "Wow!" "What I'd do to look like you." "How do I get Crohn's?" 

First off you can't get it cause you want it. (It doesn't work like that sweetie.) 
And second, you have no control over how much weight you will lose. You could look like a human zombie.

3. I totally know what you are going through.

Unless you run to the bathroom over a million times a day and have to watch what you eat because you might be running to the bathroom more....You don't understand. 

I know your sinuses acting up is a very straining time but the stabbing pains and fatigue that my body goes through is not a pretty picture. 

I'm sorry you are constipated and have to go on the BRAT diet, (Bananas, Rice, Apple Sauce, and Toast) have to try laxatives? I feel like food is going through me in .2 seconds. 

4. Chrons are caused by stress or diet right?

Even though stress can help rattle the inflammation to wake it up, it is not the cause. The cause is still very unknown for this but at the moment, genetics and the environment are the biggest causes of this disease. 

This one I can understand, because you can't personally see these symptoms or hear about them until they are in a flare-up period. So as an obvious option, they say that that's what causes it. 

A flare-up is when your immune system starts fighting against each other. It is a rogue attack, out of the ordinary.

Diet is also a very interesting explanation as well. I get crazy accusations like, "You don't drink or eat enough protein or milk, that must've caused this horrible disease."

"You could've prevented it," some people say to me in a slightly judgmental voice. I could not prevent this so I'd appreciate you not making me feel bad about myself.

5. Why are you so tired?

In these cases, Chrons for me hits a new extreme.
The fatigue.

This is a beautiful time. (See I'm using my sarcasm again.)

I went from being a kid that pretty much bounces off the walls, to a kid who falls asleep a lot. I used to take offense to people saying I should take naps as a kid. 

Once my high school added not just more classes but made the days longer, it threw me for a loop. I found myself getting off the bus, crawling on the couch, and take a nap till dinner. 

Then once my dad woke me up off the couch, I ate dinner (or as much as I could eat), and then went to bed for the night. There were times where in the morning I had to hurry to do homework in a rush because I was sleeping the fatigue away.

When you go in for the infusions, for the Remicade, they ask how much fatigue do you feel? 
Mild
Moderate
Extreme
or Worse

I crack a joke every time. (Is there an option higher than worse? I can sleep on an ice cold floor if I could.)

But the fatigue I feel is indescribable.

In all honesty, some people really try their bests to understand. They try more than others do and it is not their fault. There are not many Google searches for this disease, so how do we expect people to understand and learn. 

I know those people who lash out at those who don't understand. 

But I think, we are the only ones given the news on medical conditions, for goodness sakes they don't teach about these diseases in classes like Biology. You would think that if a disease was increasing in cases, people would maybe talk about it. I just want try to give these people the opportunity to know and understand these invisible diseases.

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